We're headed to Vegas!

We are leaving in a bit for a quick trip to Las Vegas!

Museum of Life and Science

The kids and I spent the afternoon at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, NC.  It is a favorite place to spend time.  We played in the music room, the playground, the Dinosaur Trail and the toddler play area but the kid's really seem to be drawn to the percussion area of the outdoor playground today...

A Family-A-Fair

A Family-A-Fair is an annual event in our county to mark the end of The Week of the Young Child. There are many activities through out Huck Sansbury Park including inflatable slides, hay rides, petting zoo, games, and community awareness booths. Which is why we were there... to help with the Ellette Rangers 4-H table.

L to R: Matthew, Zach, Cheryl and Micheal

McKayla with her 4-H temporary tattoo.

Easter Party

to be updated soon

Sanity day at the races.

Since Neil works long hours off the farm we don't get to spend as much time together as a family as we like. There are times when we just have to look at our never-ending list of projects that need to be done and agree that some family bonding is more important! Today was one of those days!

After chores we packed up the kids and headed north to Clarksville, VA to meet up with Neil's Dad. Clarksville was hosting a weekend of Hydroplane Boat Races which none of us had ever seen in person before.

We had a wonderful day out by the lake watching the races and water skiing show. The kids got sno-cones AND ice cream so they were thrilled! After taking all the walking and sun that we could handle we headed back to the suburban. On the way there we passed by a petting zoo (of which we had all the animals at home, plus more) that was having pony rides. Both the kids got to ride sweet Madeline the pony. Since it was late and they were packing up both kids got a double ride.

It was a good day... until we got home...

This morning while doing chores I discovered that a rabbit hutch door was opened and one of our new quasi-chinchilla rabbits was missing. Neil and I scoured the area around the barn and the woods but found no sign of her. I was disappointed in the possibility of loosing her but knew that she may not go too far and we might catch sight of her over the next few days if we were lucky.

Fast forward to this evening... we returned home from our day, the kids ran out to play and Neil and I headed inside with Taylor. Moments later the kids came running into the house to let me know that Emmie, one of our Anatolian Shepards, had the rabbit and she was "killing it". My heart sank and I ran down to the barn and there was Emmie lying down in the pasture over the rabbit. I feared the worse but walked closer to Emmie to see the condition of the rabbit... she was still breathing.. she was alive!

I knew that I had no chance of getting the rabbit away from Emmie. Once Emmie has something she will fight to keep it. I tried my old trick of trying to lure Emmie away with food but she had no interest in leaving the rabbit. Then the rabbit made a break for it and Emmie was right after it... picking it up over the spine and carrying it around... all the while the poor rabbit was screaming. I just couldn't let Emmie keep her. I used the only weapons I had with me; my voice and the metal food bowl I was still holding. I began hitting Emmie over the head and yelling at her to drop the rabbit. This of course infuriated her and she turned on me (which, in a way, is what I wanted), she dropped the rabbit to attack me... biting at the bowl which I held in front me and then she grazed my right thigh. Meanwhile, the terrified rabbit squeezed through the 4x4" goat fence to safety. I managed to back through a gate and get it closed before Emmie bit at me again.

Neil and I managed to find the poor rabbit hiding behind some sheets of plywood on the far side of the barn behind the milking stanchion. It took some doing to reach her with out risking her bolting again but we got her out and returned her to the rabbit hutch. She was panting pretty hard, her fur was all wet and missing in places but I couldn't see blood anywhere. The stress alone could be enough to kill her. I didn't have much choice but to just let her be for the night and see if she makes it through.

Neil said, "Well, no matter the outcome now, at least you'll know." And he is right, if she had just wondered into the wood and never returned I would never know what happened to her... at least now I will know.

Oh, and my leg will be fine. Two puncture wounds in my jeans and a small abrasion on the skin is all the evidence of Emmie's rage. Emmie, by the way, returned to her placid wonderful self within minutes of the rabbit's escape. She only guards what she feels is hers... if she has nothing to guard her aggression quickly recedes.

Clone troopers, bounty hunters and Vader oh my!

Took the kids to an event at the Science Museum today. There were lots of Star Wars characters walking around: Clone troopers, Boba Fett, Darth Vader, R2D2, Princess Leah and more! We had lots of fun!

Day of Leisure

Neil has been working hard on his days off for awhile now so we decided to take a sanity day today and spend it up at his parent's house in VA.

We went out for an early morning boat ride on Kerr Lake which was lots of fun.

The kids with Mimi Bensen.

This was Taylor's first boat ride... she seemed to enjoy it!

Then we relaxed on the beach as Evan and McKayla swam in the lake.

Later we took the kids to a local craft fair and got ice creams and hand crafted wooden swords and shields for the kids (under strict orders not to hit anyone with them!).

It was a very relaxing day... wish there were more like this!

Flown the coop...

Well, all is quiet in the house now.

Two thirds of my children (Evan, 7 and McKayla, soon to be 5) were picked up by their grandmother at 7:30am this morning. They are traveling to Vermont for a week to visit with family. This time every year there is a large balloon festival in Quechee, VT that they all go to. Evan got to go last year but this is McKayla's first time away from home for so long. Even though I know they will be having lots of fun I will miss them terribly.

So, for the next seven days it will be me and baby Taylor hanging out.

I have grand plans to get lots of stuff done... we will see how productive I really am.

Muscovy duck with FOURTEEN newly hatched ducklings!

I sold a pair of American Chinchilla rabbits yesterday and two of the juvenile goslings this afternoon!

Evening update: Got a new batch of goat's milk soap made up tonight. I made a cornmeal scrub soap scented with cedar and orange. It should be a refreshing soap to use after doing chores. It will be 5-6 weeks before the soap has cured enough to use. At that time I will be selling some on our Etsy site and also (hopefully) at a local farm store here in town as well.

Quest for Nano Gold!

The kids and I spent the majority of the day at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, NC today. We always have fun when we go to this great museum but today the kids got to be involved in a fun program designed by four Duke University students.

The program was called the Quest for Nano Gold. The small group of kids got to be involved with several fun hands on experiments and then they ended the program by making ice cream from liquid nitrogen!

McKayla with one of the Duke students preparing crystals to view under the microscope.

Evan performing litmus tests on liquids to determine if they are acids or bases.

All the kids loved the nitrogen gas spilling out of the ice cream bowl!

The whole group.

After the hour in the museum lab the kids I and hit some of our favorite exhibits: space, the playground, water syphon park, train caboose, Red wolves (a favorite of mine), the marshland boardwalk. We would have done even more outside things but it started to rain on and off and poor baby Taylor was strapped to me in the front carrier and I didn't have a rain hood for it.

One of many bullfrogs seen at the marshland exhibit.

After the museum I took the rare event of being in the big city of Durham to take a trip over to Whole Foods Market. I have been wanting to come for some time but at over an hour away from us it doesn't make for a cost effective grocery trip. I stocked up on some great things I can't find in our small town stores: nori sheets for homemade sushi, fish sauce for Thai dinners, organic grains, and gallon jugs of organic milk (I can only get half gallons in town for about the same price) among many other things. I do wish we where closer to this store so I could come more often.

It was a great day filled with fun but we didn't get home until almost 7pm then had to unload the groceries, feed the kids, nurse the baby... I am ready to sleep!

Easter Egg Hunt

Our local Volunteer Fire Department (who's fire house sits on the far side of our pasture) hosted an Easter event at Mayo Park today. Mayo Park is a campground only about 1/2 mile from the farm set on Mayo Lake. They were having games, food, bounce houses, the Easter Bunny and an Easter Egg Hunt.

Myself, Neil and my MIL spent about 3 hours enjoying the kids at the event. They spent a lot of time in the bounce houses (which are always a huge hit with my kids), did the egg hunt, had hot dogs for lunch, played some more... it was a fun day!

This and That

I was happy to see this morning that all sixteen chicks survived the night out in the chicken coop. They were all piled up on each other when I opened the coop door and popped up at the sound.

I found another turkey egg on the floor of the coop and slide it under one of my broody Buff Orpington hens that is sitting on two other turkey eggs for me. So now she has three and seems quite happy with her post... pecking at my hand when I check for any chicken eggs under her.

One of our Muscovy ducks has laid her eggs in the hollow tree stump out by my raised beds. She is sitting on about twenty eggs. I also have two nests of duck eggs in the barn and one in the chicken coop. If they all hatch out I will have plenty of ducklings this season!

I managed to get my hands on our rabbit buck at feeding time today and removed him from the does. He has been with them for about three weeks now. I have been so busy that I haven't had the time to catch him before now. You see he is wise to my presence when he is with the girls and will stay out of reach in their pen. This morning though he made the mistake of eating with his back to me. A swift move on my part and I scooped him up and returned him to his adjoining pen. All went well until he jumped into his pen and ripped three holes in my shirt with his back feet. It was a nice t-shirt too!

This afternoon, Neil and I took the kid's out to lunch at a restaurant and then visited with friends (classmates of Neil's from HS) in Durham, NC. One of Neil's friends was here visiting from "up North" and it was great for Neil to see her and for me to meet her for the first time. We had a wonderful visit and the kids played while we had some adult time. What a relaxing afternoon!

Personality Uptown 2008

Personality Uptown is the annual showcase event for our small rural area. The two-day festival is normally held early in September but this year due to hurricane Hana it was postponed until November. It opened last night with rides and a street dance but it was pouring rain here at the house with threats of thunderstorms into today. I was pleased when I awoke this morning to sunny skies and warm winds.

Neil and I took the kids over to see what there was to see. It was a nice small fair with live music, dancing, craft booths, fair food and a dozen or so carnival rides. The first thing we all did was get on the Ferris wheel. The Ferris wheel has always been one of my favorite rides but I have never before gotten the kids to ride with me on it. This year it was their idea to all go so I was excited.

Evan and I sat together (which made taking his picture difficult).

McKayla and Daddy sat together directly opposite of Evan and I.

After the Ferris wheel ride we walked around and let the kids go on some of the kid oriented "rides" like the super slide, bounce obstacle course and the fun house.

As good as the fair food smelled it was a bit pricey for all of us so we ended up eating at a sit down pizza place for a late lunch. We got to sit at a booth next to the windows so we were able to look out and watch the rides which was fun too.

Just before heading out we stopped and listened to the live country music and the kids "danced" and ran around on the wooden dance floor they had set up. It was so wonderful to watch the kids let the music take them and move their bodies without any fear of being watched by the crowd. If only we all felt so free and uninhibited!