A Convoluted Post.

It happens, sometimes.  I read a great blog post that starts me down Memory Lane, which then oddly coincides with the next thing I read online.  My friend, Sylvie, would say it's the sixth sense kicking in (in a very mild way).  I would say it's co-inky-dinks.

This post, by one of my favorite bloggers, dealt with your first real job, what you did and what you were paid to do it.  That got me thinking about all of the 'odd' jobs I have had over the years, leading, eventually, of me thinking about my short-lived stint as a camp cook.  I actually loved that job - it was cooking (good) for kids (good) on great, big, wonderful industrial strength machines (good) for a tasteless, megalomaniac (bad) who was the wife of the guy that ran the camp.  I would zip into the kitchen in the wee hours to whip up a giant batch of Tollhouse cookies or breakfast muffins.  I can humbly say that the kids loved me.  I think that was the beginning of the end.  Mrs. Crabcakes (let's just call her that, shall we?) did not exude warmth and was NOT a favorite of the campers.  The inevitable happened - she invaded my space (the kitchen), tasted my macaroni and cheese (NOT from a box) and told me it was bland.  She then -- in front of my very eyes -- dumped a half cup of garlic powder into it.  She was lucky I was not holding or standing near a sharp object.  I refused to serve the campers the mac 'n garlic, took off my apron and walked out.  I heard there was an uprising once the kids (and their parents, who were there for parents' day) got a whiff of dinner.

All this long rambling to lead to the article I read right after this remembrance.  It was about a Chicago area school that banned homemade, home-packed lunches.  The principal of the school said she was doing it for the kids' sake - and the sake of their good nutrition.  Then the article proceeded to list what the school considered as good nutrition.  Those poor kids -- faced with mystery meat or nothing?  Lots will eat nothing.  And, as was noted in the article and several sidebar articles, that will not help them with their ability to learn.  In some ways, I can see what the principal is trying to do.  Lots of the kids were bringing sodas and chips for lunch.  Not a vegetable in view, unless you want to count the unknown make-up of the chips.  I know that it's not easy to prepare everything from scratch and keep your costs in line, but it ain't impossible!  There seems to be no knowledge of food, health, or creativity involved in school lunches, for the most part.  In California, there are programs (as, I'm sure, there are in other parts of the country) and collaborations where school lunches are good tasting and good for you and the kids even like them!  And then, what about these kids' parents?  What, you can't put together a PBJ on grained bread with some fruit and yogurt?  And not that squirtable yogurt stick thingy.  Grump.  Of course, I could go off on my crotchety old-lady rant about how kids are allowed to choose their foods and tend to only want chicken nuggets and ketchup.  But I won't.  Heehee -- did!  What's your take on all this?

Just a typical weekend on the homestead.

I will have to say, in this weekend's defense, that the weather was glorious -- a perfect spring day with warm sun and light breezes.  It started off with Scrappy showing signs of a urinary infection.  This, after a week of me ranting and raving at what I perceived to be his 'bad' behavior.  Bad me.  Of course, the jury's still out on this.  I managed to get the vet to agree to me driving him up (45 mins each way) for a urine collection that would be sent out to their lab.  I arrived with 5 minutes to spare, to be told that the lab truck had been a half hour early.  So, Scrappy and I went to get cheap gas, a coffee for me and three Munchkins for him.  There is a scarcity of vets near me, and I do like this group except for the fact that they are so far away.  Incidents like this, however, make me rethink sticking with them.

Besides all the extra driving, I did manage to plant onion sets and mulch them; rake off some of the mulch from my garlic, which is coming up nicely; go grocery shopping, where I lost my mind and spent close to $75 on fruit, vegetables and ingredients for my Sunday dinner.  I am weak.  I did some laundry and hung it out on my laundry tree, cleaned up the front yard and took stock of all the damage caused by this winter - three new blueberry bushes snapped in half, branches broken, bent and bruised.  I still have a huge mound of snow in the shady spot in front of the house, and at one end of the other side of the front.  I also found, much to my delight, that Manuel started up almost immediately!  This, after not being run or moved since last fall.  Ole, Manuel!

I planted peas, too, and discovered that the spinach I had planted under cover last fall was still perking along, albeit pretty flattened.  So I uncovered it and it's popped right up.  I buried Ginger, the rabbit, who had langquished frozen until I could dig a proper hole.  I cleaned out the rabbit cages and trimmed some horrendous mats off Little Brother.  I took a huge load of trash and recycleables to the transfer station and, when I returned, I was thinking about taking a nice, long shower, sweeping off my deck, and then starting up dinner preparations, when I heard the unmistakable poultry alarm.  I raced into the poultry yard and found all the chickens gathered in a semi-circle outside of the coop, staring at it.  Yep.  Mink #2.  So I quickly closed it in and called my neighbor.  While I was waiting for him to arrive, another neighbor backed into the drive with my new-to-me, double spinning composter.  They were not using it and would not take anything in trade or cash for it.  Good golly.  Once I figure out where it's going and get it set up, I will post a picture so you can all be totally jealous.  Then another neighbor pulled in to pick up my tiller and shovel up llama beans.  And other neighbor pulled in to say hi.  And Kay pulled up to give me pansies (thank you again, Kay - they are beeutiful).  Then I raced in to take a shower, while Kay sat guard, and Marianne showed up with wine and Hummingbird Cake.  Then the armed neighbor showed up and he dispatched the mink.  Another healthy male specimen.  My new motto may be, "If It's Sunday, It's Mink".  I sure hope not...

While Marianne was here, we autopsied my bee hive.  They were, indeed, all dead.  It appears there was too much moisture trapped in the hive.  The only upside of this is that it happened early and the hive was filled with honey.  It will be interesting to see just how much there is, but we figure there will be over 4 gallons.  An expensive lesson learned, both in bee deaths and $$.  But it is a lesson -- be sure that there is enough ventilation to allow moisture to escape.  The bees had sealed the vent in the inner cover with propolis, and the entrance and screened bottom board had been too often covered with snow.  There was no place for the moisture to go.  I hadn't known the ventilation was sealed off at the top, as I was told not to open it AT ALL during the winter.  You better believe I will be checking it when weather allows on the next hives.

Sylvia showed up, also bearing wine, to see the lambs and have dinner, then we went inside an enjoyed a nice bottle of wine, with rabbit braised in white wine with olives and lemon, and lots of great conversation.  We topped it off with Marianne's Hummingbird Cake - my new favorite cake!  It was a non-stop and eventful weekend, some good, some bad. 

Sheep Things.

We are at three lambs and holding.  It's hard to tell who will go next -- Cocoa or Juno.  But it will be a little while, in any event.  Yesterday, the sweaters came off as we are supposed to have some more appropriate weather for the season.  Here are some shots taken yesterday morning.

Sweet face and lovely fleece.

Nice place for a nap.

Is that a cookie in your pocket?

Enjoying the sun - one last shot with a sweater!


On Monday, to celebrate the arrival of lambs, I wore these to work:

I apologize - they're a little out of focus.  They are the cutest earrings ever!  Melanie's mother makes them from beads.  The detail is wonderful - they have dear little faces.  They were quite a hit at the office.

The Cuteness Continues...

Peggy Sue at 5 days old.

Sheep Hierarchy.

It's fascinating to watch the ongoing soap opera that is my sheep's daily life.  Since the arrival of the lambs, subtle but interesting shifts in the flock hierarchy have occurred.  I had taken the first step - I lowered the entryway space to the main hoop house so that Hoosier couldn't get his wide butt in there and take up all the room.

During better weather (all three hours of it that we've had since Sunday), Flora, Freyda and their lambs nestle down in the primo real estate under the big pine tree.  Everyone else is catch-as-catch-can.  Once the rain really starts coming down, the Grand Dames and offspring sashay into the main hoop house and oust anyone already in residence.  That leaves Bartie, Juno and Coco(nut) to shuttle to the not-as-nice hoop house.  Which then puts Hoosier back outside under the tree.  And so it goes.

The little black-faced ewe lamb (who's name seems to be developing into Sally) is very vocal and has figured out that the hoop house = warm + dry.  She spent some time this morning going into the hoop house and bleating for her mother to follow.  Flora, however, was hock-deep into her breakfast hay.  Sally gave up and went back under the tree.  She tried, ever more loudly, to convince her mother to move three more times.  Flora finally gave up and followed her in, to find that I'd hung hay in hay bags.  She never looked back.

It is waaay too much fun watching those lambs.  I almost forgot to go to work today!

The babes.

Thank goodness Kay and Melanie have come and taken pictures.  A photographer I am not.  But here are some pix thanks to Kay.  All seem to be eating and warm, even if there is quite a wind blowing.  Hopefully, Melanie will post her pictures on her blog -- Kay has more pix on Facebook.



Flora's little white ewe lamb

Flora's little black-faced ewe lamb.

Freyda's BIG ram lamb on right.

The sweaters were a downloadable pattern from Kristin Nicholas you can find here.

Lambs!!!

As I gazed out of the sliding glass doors this morning, I didn't focus immediately on what I was seeing.  Lambs!  Apparently, Flora and Freyda decided to have them very early this morning when I wasn't looking.  Flora had twin ewe lambs and Freyda presented us with a single ram lamb.  Pictures to come!  Time for more coffee!!!!