Chinese Dragon Boat Festival

The Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional Chinese festival held on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar (varying from late May to June on the modern Gregorian calendar). Commonly known as “Duan Wu” in Chinese, this unique occasion is grandly celebrated everywhere in China and also observed in various other parts of East Asia as "Double Fifth Day". In the West, it is popularly known as “Dragon Boat Festival” and is typically celebrated during the summer months with dragon boat races and competitions being the focus of the activities.  Dragon Boats are painted traditionally green, red, yellow, white, and black. Dragons are powerful of full of good luck, so the Dragon boat races spread good luck.

Here is a great coloring page of a Dragon Boat (here).
Crayola shows how to make Dragon Boat Puppets (here).
I printed out two Dragon Boat cut outs for the kids to color, assemble and race (find it here).

Children on that day wear bracelets of five different colors to protect against Evil, they are called the Five Poison or Wu Du charms.  It is the favorite decoration of this festival. According to Chinese custom, the "double fifth" is the hottest day of the month, when all the poisonous vapors are in the air, so every attempt is made to harmonize yin and yang so that danger and disease can be avoided. The Five Poison Charm is made up of a snake, centipede, scorpion, lizard, toad and sometimes spider. It was thought that the strength of the 4 poisons would counteract the poison of one. It is embroidered on clothing, stamped on cakes, engraved on charms, and used for decorations.  You can read more about the Five Poisons here and print a a Five Posions coloring sheet here.

Celebrating Flag Day

Today is Flag Day in the USA.

The kids and I worked on a 4-H project to help them learn about Flag Day.  I read them a short story about Betsy Ross and how it came about that she sewed the first flag.  McKayla colored a picture of Betsy Ross holding a flag (find it here).  In the story it talked about how a sheet of paper was folded and cut with only a single cut to create a five point star.  I found the directions on how to do this and the kids and I made stars.  They thought that was really cool.  Both Evan and McKayla colored pictures depicting the original 13 colonies flag sewed by Betsy Ross.

I also read the story of the Star Spangled Banner song to them.  We talked about what the flag means to our country and the feelings it invokes in people when they see it.  Finally, we made kazoos from recycled toilet paper rolls and played the Star Spangled Banner on them.

We recorded it all in our 4-H project book as part of our Civil Education portion of this year.

Happy Birthday Evan!

My first born turns eight years old today!  He has requested homemade pizza for dinner.  So, pizza and a movie at home.  We will surprise him with "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" which he has been wanted to watch for months now.  We will have his cake and presents on Saturday with Neil's parents.

Happy Star War's Day!

May the fourth be with you!

Earth Day

Today is Earth Day.  We already do many things everyday that others only think to do today.  For example, we recycle as much as we can, I always pre-cycle if possible (meaning I purchase items with the least amount of packaging involved or with an intended use for the package once it is empty), I shop with cloth or other reusable bags, I use "green" cleaning products, we use hand towels in the kitchen and cotton dishcloths to wash dishes, we grow or raise much of our own food here on the farm, and I buy organic when it is an option.  But when Earth Day comes around I like to get the kids excited and involved with conservation projects.  This year we did lots of fun things.

First the kids made birdhouses from kits they had received at Christmas.

It seemed like a perfect day to build and paint them.  This weekend I will have Neil help me hanging them up.

Then we made Bird Food Pinecones to feed the birds.

I gathered the few ingredients together and we headed out on the deck.  We tied string to four pinecones and set aside.  We then mixed 1 cup vegetable shortening, 2 cups corn meal, 1 cup sunflower seeds and a cup of oatmeal together.

The kids smushed the mixture into the pinecones.  You could roll them in bird seed at this point but we didn't have any on hand. 

Then Evan hung them in the trees out by the kid's playground for the birds to find. 

In the afternoon we packed up the kid's bikes and went over to a local park that has a walking/bike path.  The kid's love going here since we don't really have a good place to ride bikes on our property. 

We rode for a while then stopped to play on the small playground there.  Evan took it upon himself to start picking up litter around the park and ball field.  I was so proud of him!

Then this evening we created some Egghead critters by filling empty egg shells with potting soil and drawing faces on them.  Then we planted some clover seeds in them and watered well.  In a few days our little eggheads should have some crazy hair growing on them.

We did get a postcard in the mail today... from Wisconsin.  I am not sure how they knew that both Evan and I are fond of big red barns...

Easter Party

to be updated soon

Taylor's 1st Birthday

I can't believe my baby turns one today! What a fast year that was. We had cake and presents up at Neil's parent's house after dinner. She liked her cake very much...

Happy Thanksgiving

My favorite holiday! Family, food, games... I love it all.

We spent the day with Neil's parents. Had a wonderful meal of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, peas and hard crusty rolls (my contribution to dinner). My MIL and I played Chicken Foot with the kids. Chicken Foot is a domino variation that I learned after joining this family. We stopped for dessert, which was an apple pie that I had made. It was declared the best apple pie I had ever made! Later McKayla and I played the board game "Sorry" but it got too late and we couldn't finish. I was a good day... now sleep.

Happy Independence Day!

We went to see the fireworks in town tonight. I was a good show for a small town and the kids had fun with their sparklers.

Happy 5th Birthday McKayla!

This past Thursday was our daughter McKayla's 5th birthday. Since she was traveling home from Vermont that day we didn't get to celebrate the event. So, today we had a birthday party for her. It was her first birthday party in which she got to invite friends over and not just family. Our good friends from SC came up for the event and some new local friends came as well.

The kids played for quite some time, then we stopped and made hand puppets, played some more, had cake, they did a bit more playing and then had a pinata to open! Everyone seemed to have a fun time!

McKayla was thrilled because she got the new bike she has been asking for and many other cool toys as well.

Independence Day Update #4

Happy Memorial Day!

A couple from Danville, VA came and bought some ducks today. They were here in December and purchased three of our Muscovy ducks and an Embden goose. They recently lost their drake and came back to get another. They also ended up getting another mature duck and a month old duckling. They will all have a wonderful new home with this couple as pets on their pond.

Here is my weekly IDC update:

Plant something - Russet potatos, Glaskins Perpetual Rhubarb, Drunken Woman Lettuce, Iceburg Lettuce, Kuroda Long Carrots, Radishes, Bush Pickle Cucumber and Straight 8 Cucumber.

Harvest something - Fresh free range eggs from our chickens. Plantain (the herb/weed) from our yard, wild mint.

Preserve something - Froze fresh mint leaves, dried plantain leaves.

Reduce Waste - Did our usual recycling efforts. Took our once a week trip to town to save on gas. The kitchen scraps went to the chickens and/or the compost bin. Got a Little Tike basketball hoop off of Freecycle for the kids.

Preparation and Storage - Not much on this front this week.

Eat the Food -

Evan's Birthday Celebration

Monday is Evan's 7th birthday but due to several factors it was better to celebrate the occasion today instead. It was a quiet gathering with just us and Mimi and Grampa Bensen. Evan loved the castle cake I made and he got "most" of the gifts that he hoped to get so he was happy.

Happy Mother's Day!

I can't be with my mom today as we live 855 miles apart, her in Maine and me in North Carolina. I treasure the time she is able to spend here on the farm with us once or twice a year. I miss her and love her very much. Happy Mother's Day Mom!

On the home front Neil snuck the two older kids away for an hour or so last night. The kids were giddy with delight at whatever it was they were working on with Daddy and had the hardest time not bursting out the secret of what they were doing.

I was later presented with three concrete stepping stones that the kids helped make and decorate! Each one was imprinted with their names. What a wonderfully thoughtful gift that I can enjoy forever in my garden. Thank you Evan, McKayla, Taylor and Daddy!

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Easter!

The kids stayed last night over at the grandparents house so they returned home this morning to find that the Easter Bunny had not forgotten them!

Easter morning aftermath.

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!

Bunnies for Easter?

This morning during chores I discovered that both of our American Chinchilla rabbit does were pulling fur. I have to admit I have been so busy that I haven't been counting the days since I put the buck in with the does. I thought I had another week before they were due to kindle.... I guess not! I put nesting boxes in both of their hutches and filled them with fresh straw. Both does immediately started gathering straw to nest build with. They both seemed agitated and would often stretch out and pant and then jump up to arrange the nest box some more.

As much as I would have liked to stick around to see how things progress I know that my presence only causes the does stress. I did all that I could do and planned to come back in a few hours.

After lunch I snuck back out to the barn. I discovered big fluffy wiggly piles of rabbit fur in both nest boxes. I pulled back the top layer of fur to confirm the presence of kits (and snapped the photo above). I replaced the fur and let them be for now. I find it is best not to handle the kits too much the first few days. I will wait 3-4 days before I pull them out of the nest box to count them.

I got a bit into the Easter mood by making Rice Crispie Eggs for the kids to decorate. I made the eggs up while the kids were outside playing.

When they came in all I had to do was melt some chocolate and pour the sprinkles into a bowl. A very quick and easy Easter treat... if they last until Easter that is!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

After carving the pumpkins yesterday I saved the seeds to be roasted. I ran out of time last night so this afternoon I roasted them up so the kids and I could snack on them. Traditionally, I have only roasted and salted them (which is yummy) but this year I thought I would do something a bit different. I made a candied version that the kids much preferred:

Candied Pumpkin Seeds
1 cup raw pumpkin seeds, rinsed and dried
4 tablespoons white sugar, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 tablespoon butter

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Spread pumpkin seeds in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toast for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until dry and toasted. Larger seeds may take longer.

In a clean bowl, stir together 2 tablespoons of white sugar, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside. Heat the butter and remaining sugar in a large skillet over medium-high heat until sugar is melted. Add the pumpkin seeds and stir about 45 seconds. Pour seeds into the bowl with the spiced sugar and stir until coated. Allow to cool before serving. Store in an airtight container at room temperature (if they last that long).

Pumpkin Carving

Fall has truly set in here (as much as Fall is in NC). The weather has been getting cooler and cooler the past few weeks. I have been donning a fleece jacket when out doing chores even. Inside the house has been maintaining a comfortable temp up until a few days ago when it started getting cool enough that I had to start wearing my slippers around the house and wearing long sleeve shirts more often then not.

We don't use our central heat. The house is set up for propane but we don't even keep a tank here. Instead we have a wood stove that heats the house. With the front hall project still unfinished we had stacks of boxes in front of the wood stove. Today I decided I needed to fire it up for the season. I moved all the "stuff" from the front of the wood stove, cleaned out the old ashes and wiped all the dust off from it. It was so nice to get that first fire started. It didn't take long to chase away the cool damp air in the house. This evening we are nice and toasty.

After the house started to warm back up the kids and I set about carving our Halloween pumpkins. I cut the lids into them and the kids did all the seed scraping by themselves. Evan, at 6 years old, carved out his own scary monster design. McKayla, at only 4 years old, carved out the eyes and nose and drew on a mouth that I then cut out for her. She then drew on whiskers to create her dog pumpkin. I went pretty simple this year and carved out a kitty cat face. We all had a fun time!

Evan with his scary monster pumpkin.

McKayla with her doggy pumpkin (before whiskers).

Monster, Mommy's Kitty Cat Pumpkin and Doggy.

Labor Day - a day to relax

In celebration of Labor Day today. I packed up a picnic lunch (grilled jumbo shrimp wrapped in bacon, grilled corn on the cob, grilled pork country style ribs, apple cole slaw and a watermelon, yummy) and Neil hooked up the boat and we all headed to Lake Kerr for the day.


It was a bit breezy when we got there but the sun was shining. Neil took the kids down to the lake for a swim while I cooked lunch on the grill. After lunch as we were cleaning up the skies became dark, the wind picked up and soon it was raining cats and dogs. Luckily we had set up under one of the wooden picnic enclosures and were able to stay dry while watching the rain and doing a bit of coloring. Evan also did a bit of playing in the rain as you can see here...

The rain did finally pass and soon everyone had returned to the lake. A group near to us was preparing gear to go parasailing right from the beach below us. That was fun to watch. Neil took the kids swimming again and they had lots of fun. Unfortunately, we lost too much time to the rain and never got the boat out on the lake ourselves. I wanted to get home before dark to get evening chores done. But still, we had an enjoyable and relaxing day at the lake.