Sunday, September 30, 2018

Working

For my birthday, Gyunay bought me some long-handled tree trimmers to replace the broken ones I had.  They came with a pair of garden shears, but he has quickly claimed those and wants to use them all the time. 
Yesterday, we did a great deal of yard work.  Gyunay was allowed to clip along the back fence to his heart's content.  Malachi was busy moving all of the branches that have fallen in the yard due to the recent storms.  Elijah re-spread the gravel in the driveway.  Lydia helped organize in the garage.  And Nathaniel and I went to whacking back weeds with machetes.  Here is the spot Nathaniel cleared for a future trampoline:

All four of the kids are eager for a trampoline, and I think we are going to get one, now that we have a cleared, flat space.  (Flat spaces are nearly non-existent around our yard!)

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Book Review - A Secret to Die For by Lisa Harris

A Secret to Die For  A Secret to Die For by Lisa Harris is a non-stop action adventure.  It is definitely more suspense than romance, but that's not a complaint.  The book is fast-paced and most of it encompasses only a few days.  The scenario that Detective Nate and Psychiatrist Grace are trying to stop is a scary and realistic one (I don't want to give away anything).  The short time span of the story didn't leave a lot of time for character development, but the author did a good job of weaving the characters' backstories into the text.  Grace was a more well-defined character than Nate, though, and she had the most depth.  Lisa Harris is a talented author, and her skill shows.  The Christian faith development of the characters was woven into the story well.  Overall, the story is good, although there were a few parts that seemed unrealistic from the police procedure side of things.  I recommend this book for anyone who wants suspense and action. 
I received this book from the publisher, Revell, for the purpose of writing a review, but all opinions are my own.

Thursday, September 20, 2018

Adapting

Because Gyunay is currently unable to write most letters, we have to be creative in working.  We use these letter tiles a lot.  He can place them in the correct spot, even though he can't write all of the letters yet.  

This is also helpful, because sometimes he has trouble pulling the letter name from his head, but he can see it and place it while he finds the right sound.  And the physical action of placing and then tracing the letters seems to help him remember them.  We are making progress!  He can identify his letters and their sounds.

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Panther and Midnight

The kittens have grown, but they are still pretty small cats.  They are almost 6 months old now.
This is Panther looking regal.

And Midnight.  They are very curious cats, and she was fascinated by my camera.





And lastly, this is Gyunay working on cutting.  He's getting better all the time.  He does get frustrated when he can't do things perfectly, so we've been talking about patience and practice.

Monday, September 10, 2018

Pullet Egg

We got our first pullet egg today, and it was from an Americana.
The first eggs a pullet lays are typically small, as you can tell from the comparison in the picture.  It is kinda hard to tell, but this is a green egg, so we knew it was from one of our 3 Americanas.  (We have 1 rooster, 7 hens, and 7 pullets, 3 of which are the Americanas and will lay blue or green eggs, and 4 of which are Buff Orpingtons and will lay brown eggs.  Our 7 hens all lay brown eggs.)
The kids were all very excited to see the egg, and Malachi has already laid claim to eating it.  Hopefully the rest will begin laying soon.
Malachi also wanted pictures of the cooking process:




Saturday, September 8, 2018

Survivor

I think I forgot to mention that we culled all of the roosters except for this one:
He's not at all threatening to us humans, so that is a plus.  He does alert the hens when there's food, and he does crow for a couple of hours in the morning, but not all night, so he seems to be a winner for us right now.

Nathaniel took Lydia, Malachi, and their friends roller skating, so Gyunay, Elijah, and I are hanging out at home.  Gyunay has been basking in attention from his biggest brother:


Saturday, September 1, 2018

August Garden Harvest Totals

We did have a productive garden in August, even though the tomatoes didn't produce as I'd like.  We were happy to have enough for fresh eating, though.

Arugula - 4c
Beans, fresh (mostly Dragon Tongue, some Golden Crescent) - 4 lbs
Beans, dried (Calypso) - 1 lb
Blackberries - 1/2 c
Butternut Squash - 1 (2 lbs)
Cabbage (green) - 1
Carrots, Dragon - 6
Carrots, Little Finger - 9
Corn - 4 ears (Most of the corn got flattened by storms and the house painting project.)
Eggs - 134
Kale - 2 bunches
Kholrabi - 1
Onions - 2
Peppers, Bulgarian - 6
Tomatoes - 42
Tomatoes, black vernissage - 13 (smaller than regular, but bigger than cherry)

Plus herbs - basil, dill, mint, sage, stevia 

So, we ate a lot of green beans, fresh tomatoes, and eggs this month.  :)

I've planted quite a bit of things for a fall garden, so I hope to keep harvesting through October, and maybe later if some of the stuff in pots is dragged inside.  The Dragon beans are done, as are about half of the tomatoes.  We are still harvesting Calypso beans.  More carrots are already growing, so we should get more of those in September.  Kale and arrugula are healthy, and I can pick more any time.  And the sweet potatoes look marvelous - I hope to have a bumper crop of those come fall.