I'm baaaack, part deux

Okay, I know, I have been totally negligent in posting...but I vow to be better - I do! Really!
School has started...Captain Smartypants is now a senior in high school! When did that happen?! Yesterday, we ordered his cap & gown (gasp!) and invitations (aargh!) for graduation. Next week, we have a college interview. I just can't believe that my little baby is graduating and going off to college in less than a year...where does the time go?
The Large Child is playing Varsity football at his junior high - one of only two eighth graders on the team. Go Cougs! They are undefeated in league play so far, their cumulative points are something like 79-6. We hope they continue their winning streak and are league champs.
My foray into chicken farming is going pretty well. Since I got the first 8 chicks, I've also acquired 4 older chickens, 3 hens and 1 rooster. Two of the hens lay regularly, the other isn't laying at all and is destined for that soup pot in the sky. Then, I got 4 more - purebred Welsummers. They lay a very dark brown egg. These guys (3 hens and a rooster) are about 4months old and I'm hoping for eggs soon. They start laying later than most breeds, so we'll see. I am enjoying the fresh eggs, though. I can't wait for more!!
My photography is going well - I did a Senior portrait shoot with my photography meetup group and C.S. picked one that I took to go in the school yearbook. We got copies of all the photos we liked, and he got his Senior Portraits for free!! It only costs a few cents each to make more copies. Then, I did a pregnancy photo shoot with my friend's son and daughter-in-law. That was fun! I'll ask her if I can post some here. (I think they turned out really well!)
I'm reading 4 different how-to books on Photoshop CS2, I should have that figured out in 5 or 10 years. About the same time I figure out how to use my camera...
My DH was laid off again...after working only 3 1/2 months in the last year. Our renter moved out of our condo and the taxes are due at the end of the month. I pray daily that he gets re-hired and we find a new renter.
So, that's what's been happening here. I PROMISE I'll lost more often!!

I'm baaaack

Wow, has it been that long since I last posted? I know I said I'd be back on the 11th, but things have been so busy!! My big news for this week is that I finally got some chicks. Yea! Finally...
I kept them in the coop for a couple of days, then decided it was time to let them out into their run. They immediately found an escape route through the chain-link fence. One had to be caught, the other three squeezed back through. I put them back in the coop while I covered the fence with chicken wire.
Okay, so now it's time to let them out again. I was out there with them for about 5 minutes, when from out of nowhere a hawk comes swooping down, talons at the ready to carry off my little babies! Thanks goodness I was right there and was able to scare it off before it grabbed one. The Large Child, who was inside the house at the time, heard me yelling, as did the other Tall One and my DH, who were in the driveway. They all thought the dog had gotten in the coop. Out came the bird netting, and I'm proud to report that all 8 are now safe and secure. (I'm surprised they all didn't drop dead from fright right then and there!!) Here are a couple of pics...

On Vacation

Well, in the frenzy to get out of here Friday morning, I forgot to post that we were going on vacation. I am now at our friend's in the Bellingham area, and starting today we will be camping with no internet access. (sigh) Last weekend we were at my husband's family reunion, (also camping), so that's why I haven't kept up on my posting. Look for some great pictures and a new post on August 11th. Until then, have fun and enjoy your summer!

Do you need a smile? Just watch this!

My favorite recipe links

I don't have any new pictures or stories to post today, so I thought I'd dedicate today's blog to some of my favorite recipe links. Enjoy!!

For your abundance of zucchini...
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/

Homemade Yogurt. Mmmmmm. Can you say "fresh raspberries"?
http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=70639#p70639

Bacon-wrapped jalapeno thingies
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/07/bacon-wrapped_j/

Onion Strings
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/03/onion-strings-oh-yeah-baby/

Citrus-Basil Vinaigrette (my favorite salad dressing)
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Citrus-Basil-Vinaigrette/Detail.aspx

Well, that should keep you busy for a couple of days. Give any of these a try, and let me know what you think!

Oh, and I do have one picture and one little bit of news. (Sorry for lying to you earlier!)

Meet my new babies!!! I answered a Craiglist ad for a poultry waterer and feeder (15 bucks!!) and when I got there I was greeted by an abundance of cats and kittens. These two are brother and sister and are about 4 weeks old. They will be ready to come home with me when I get back from vacation on the 9th. Maybe I should have a naming contest? Let me know what you think! The female is on the left,male on the right. Aren't they darling?!

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Click on that to leave one! Thanks!

Photo stroll at Ft. Steilacoom Park

Last night, Bev and I went to Ft. Steilacoom Park with my Photography Meetup group.
(For those of you who have never heard of Meetup.com, check it out!)
We were able to get some fun shots of the barns and Waughop Lake in the evening light.

They have a fantastic off-leash dog park. It's HUGE!

This is Belle, our Meetup organizer's dog.

This is one of the other dogs at the park. What a sweetie!


Anyway, it was a fun evening meeting new people and getting some fun shots. To see more, click here.

A Tour Through the Foothills of Mt. Rainier

On Saturday, Jeff and I went riding with some friends on "The Big-O Poker Run", a 75-mile route through the foothills, beginning and ending in Orting. We left Orting at 10am, and the first stop was just up the road at the Kapowsin Ale House. That's Jeff, Leann, Larry, and Anthony.

I do not enjoy seeing signs like this when I'm riding.




Next stop, Eatonville Eagles. Here's a good picture of Kristi and Larry.

As you can see, the weather didn't look too promising. I was the only one wearing chaps, and the only one who was still warm. (The fur-lined leather gloves and wool scarf didn't hurt, either!)

Anthony and Kristi.

Apparently, Anthony doesn't find whatever Kristi's saying very amusing!




Here's where we decided to add some mileage and scenery to the route. Instead of heading towards Buckley for the next stop, we continued on to Elbe. You can't go to Elbe without visiting the Little White Church.

Kristi's sister Leann mentioned the fact that she was surprised that Kristi didn't spontaneously combust when she got too close, and I had to tell the story about when The Large Child was about 7, (God, was he THAT old? This story is even more embarassing than I thought!), we had been sledding at Paradise on Mt. Rainier with my mom, sister, nephew, and The Tall Ones, when we stopped in Elbe on the way home. We'd only been there for a few minutes when I look over, and there is TLC, PEEING ON THE SIDE OF THE LITTLE WHITE CHURCH! I almost died right then and there. I figured if God wasn't going to strike him dead on the spot for peeing on the Little White Church, then he was sure going to strike me dead for what was about to come out of my mouth!

Here's a shot of Alder Lake at 60mph. Notice the lovely blue sky?

At Lake Kapowsin, we decide to stop by the side of the road at a sunny spot to try and warm up a bit.

Instead of going to Buckley, we decide to stop in Wilkeson, where they were holding the National Hand Car Races. Wilkeson is an old coal town, and the races were held at Coke Oven Park, where the mined coal was brought in on rail cars, then loaded into the brick ovens on the side of the hill, then"coked", or cooked, until all the impurities were burned out. Then, it was loaded back on rail cars, and shipped to Tacoma and beyond. You can still see remnants of the the ovens. Too bad people have decided to trash them.

Here's looking up into one of the ovens, toward the vent.

We stopped by a Civil War reenactment camp. Pretty cool.

We decided to have lunch while we were there. Not one of the best decisions of the day. We waited an hour for our food, (burgers), and then they only brought 5 of the 6 orders, and 4 of those were messed up. Larry's burger was raw. While waiting, we tried our luck at launching a dollar bill at the ceiling. Step one, sign the bill. Step two, Gorilla Glue. Step three, lay it glue-side-up on a bill-sized "launcher" and palm it straight up, sticking it on the ceiling. Great entertainment for only a buck!


Here's Kristi's attempt.

And Jeff's. (He's so cool, he doesn't even get off his bar stool!)

And, did you notice that he wore his best shirt?!



After 4 failed attempts, we need more Gorilla Glue!





And, here it is! I'm the one who finally got it to stick, but because I am the photographer, once again there is no picture of me! Oh, well.

Can you see it? Right there in the middle.



Between Wilkeson and Buckley.

Kristi is gesturing that my shirt is flying up. I'm not sure why Larry has such a big smile on his face. He's probably laughing. I see that Leann and Anthony are smart enough not too look. One glance at my fat roll hanging over my jeans and Anthony may crash.


Well, the food took so long that by the time we left, we had little time left to complete the course. We got to the Buckley Eagles, and they had already left. Ditto at the Wagon Wheel in South Prairie. So, we headed back to Orting to get our last three cards.

Nobody won anything, but we did have a great ride.
For a look at all of my pics of the day, click here.

Mt. Rainier shots

The Tall Ones and I went out to the lake again today, and since I'm taking this cool online photography course, I took my camera so I could play with my ISO settings and (hopefully) get some great shots of the mountain. So let me know, which one do you like best?

The shot is the same, just the settings are different. There's a subtle difference in exposures. Can you tell? Does it make a difference? Let me know what you think!

The Tall Ones

The Tall Ones and I went out on the lake for a couple of hours the other afternoon, and while I didn't get any Chance-of-a-Lifetime photos of bald eagles, I did get some pretty good shots of the boys while wakeboarding. Here's a sampling...

Here's Cole, aka Captain Smartypants

We like to call him Captain Smartypants because he thinks he knows everything. But then, don't all 17-year-olds?

Here's Daniel...the Large Child.

"Oooohhh, what happened to my head?!"

Uh oh, this can't be good!

"Ooohh, what happened to my body?!"

Here they are together, acting like they like each other.

How did I end up with such handsome boys?

And for my final parting shot, the ever-awesome and majestic Mt. Rainier.

I love living in the Pacific NW!!

The Chicken Coop

I've always wanted chickens. So, about a month ago I decided to build a chicken coop. I have never built anything in my life. I knew I had my work cut out for me, but there was always my DH Jeff to ask for help. The first step was to read anything I could find about raising chickens. I got most of my information from this site. I already had a spot picked out - we have an old garden shed/greenhouse out back with a chain-link fence around it. I decided to build it lean-to style against the wall of the shed. But first I had to clean up the area a little.

Okay, maybe more than a little.

I had stacks and stacks of plant pots stockpiled, so I put those on Freecycle and they were gone from my life by that evening. The rest of the junk I threw out or moved to a different area. Now I had to find materials. I knew I had to do this as inexpensively as possible, so I started looking around. We had some 2x4's, a couple of treated fence posts, and some plywood.

I had been driving past this pile of stuff for almost a month before I decided to stop and get a closer look.

They were some kind of metal panels with about an inch and a half of insulation between them. Perfect for insulating the coop walls!

My first purchase was a 50' roll of chicken wire and 2 bags of cement. Cost- about $16.

I made the run first.

Then, I started building the walls.

I just framed right around those panels. Now I needed plywood to cover them. I went on Craigslist and found someone liquidating their farm on Canyon Rd. (Aaah...progress!). He had 7 or 8 4'x18' panels that had been a large advertising sign in its previous life. Cost - $25. Those were used for the walls and the roof, too. I also went to our friends Kristi and Larry's house and raided their wood pile of 2x4's. Cost - free. I needed some other things that I wasn't finding for free, so I made a trip to the hardware store for framing brackets, another fence post, some concrete piers, and more 2x4's. Cost - $90.

I found an old door in another shed, and an old gate laying out on the property.

Jeff built some nest boxes for me.

Here's a look from the outside. Notice the remnants of the advertisement on the roof panels.

So, what's left? I need to finish roofing (after a trip to Home Depot to buy more tar paper and shingles) and I need to bury 8-10 inches of chicken wire around the bottom of the shed to keep the critters out. Then, I'm all ready for the chickens! Yea!