Camping

It's been a while since we've gone camping.  Aidan goes pretty regularly with the Boy Scouts and Bridget has been bemoaning the fact that she never gets to go camping.

A few weeks ago, the Scouts were going to some place in Oklahoma called Beavers Bend.  Ray thought it would be a good idea if we piggy-backed on their trip.  The campgrounds don't take reservations, and by heading up mid-week, we'd be able to help the Scouts in securing some campsites.

The first chore of course was locating and dusting off all the old camping gear and inspecting it all to see what was still in good condition.  Apparently, somewhere along the line, we have divested ourselves of a stove, but other than that we were in pretty good shape.  Having a Very Large Car is a good thing, as we don't have to leave anything at home!

The drive up was interesting and pretty.  We went through lots of little towns, which is always intersting in Texas.  Small towns in Texas do City Hall really well...  beautiful and stately stone buildings, typically right on the town square.  Sadly, many of these towns and the surrounding Victorian-style homes were built with now-departed oil money, so what once may have been a charming and thriving town square, surrounded by lovely homes is now desolate and sad.  Shuttered businesses, peeling paint, yet the stone edifice of Town Hall still remains, seeming almost.... hopeful.

It's always fun to stop in some small town and try to find a cafe or diner where the "locals" go, and we had burgers on the way up in Paris, TX, and an amazing brunch on the way home in Mena, Arkansas.

Once we got to Hochatown, OK the quest for the Perfect Campsite began.  There are lots of sites right on Broken Bow lake, and then down below the dam plenty of river sites as well.  After inspecting everything, and evaluating tree cover, bathrooms, site sizes, etc. we selected a gorgeous site right on the river.



The water temperature was cool and lovely!  Being so near the water made the heat almost a non-issue (except at night when I was trying to sleep - then I missed the air conditioning!).  The river was wide, deep, and while there wasn't a strong current, it moved swiftly enough to keep it clear, clean and fresh.

Directly across from our campsite were some great slate rock formations.  Great for climbing on and.... jumping off!

Aidan did quite a bit of fishing and we had delicious fresh trout for dinner.  As part of his fishing merit badge, he was required to cook it.  Since we had plenty, he cooked two and delivered them to his Scoutmaster's site.  His preparation method couldn't be simpler or more delicious.....  wrap two trout in a foil pouch with salt, pepper, and about a half a stick of buttah.  Set them on a rock in the coals of a very hot fire, and in about 12 minutes the packet puffs up and the fish are done.  Delish!

One afternoon, Bridget and I went to the local stables and had a nice trail ride.  It was through a densely wooded area and we saw lots of deer.  And we were highly entertained by the very vocal woman behind me who hadn't been on a horse in over 50 years and used humor to disguise her nervousness.

We spent one morning on Broken Bow lake.  We hit the Redneck Yacht Club and rented a boat and spent a couple of hours tourturing each other on wakeboards and tubes.

In typical "Boy" fashion, Aidan wanted to catch a squirrel.  Using the tried and true "box, stick, and string" method, he created a trail of Cheerios and had several squirrels come investigate.

He was rewarded a couple of times by catching either one slow and stupid squirrel, or a couple of different ones.

There were a couple of places nearby to rent kayaks and canoes, and we did that a couple of times.  It's such a relaxing way to see the river!

The Boy Scouts also had kayaks and canoes, and after they had done the serious work of specific merit badge skills, they entertained us by playing games like "How Many Boys Can You Fit In A 2-Man Kayak" and other silly activities.

I think my camp cooking skills have grown a little rusty, but the family was forgiving.  Bridget invented The Perfect S'more by substituting soft chocolate chip cookies for graham crackers!

On the way home, we took a couple of hours to head in to southwest Arkansas and check out the Ouachita region.  Simply gorgeous, with peaks and valleys, beautiful forests, etc.  We'll definitely be back!

It isn't just chickens anymore!

Well, if I am the Crazy Chicken Lady of our neighborhood, my husband has become the Crazy Bird Man.

He's always wanted to keep birds, and so when he built me the coop for The Girls, he designed it like an aviary and used very fine mesh to enclose the whole thing.  We can stand up inside, and there is plenty of room for my seven hens and his six finches.

Yes,finches!  Three pairs (we hope to breed them - BABIES!), each of a different variety.  Gouldians (the really colorful ones), Stars (speckly with bright heads), and Owls (black, white & gray with owlish faces).

Just like with the chickens, there is Drama.  These guys are better than TV.  Turns out, Owl Finches are known escape artists, and within a few days, the female went missing.  While Ray spent time trying to find and repair any possible openings she could have used, the remaining male Owl began to set up housekeeping with the male Star.  Leaving the poor female Star alone in the corner drinking cosmopolitans and reading magazines about How to Keep Your Man.

Once Ray was sure the enclosure was secure, he went back to the breeder and got another Owl female.  She got used to the aviary right away, figured out who Her Man was, and went to work on wooing him.  The male Star became jealous and worried he would lose his drinking buddy, so he started pulling out her tail feathers.  He probably figured she wouldn't be attractive at last call if she had no tail feathers, and he could be assured of going home to the man cave with his buddy the male Owl.

Meanwhile, the male Star continues to be the most aggressive nest builder in the bunch, and his construction helper is the male Owl, not the female Star.  This is definitely a Man Cave they are working on and not a Nursery.

So, we will probably have to capture the Star pair, and isolate them from the rest of the charm (yes, that IS what a group of finches is called, isn't that charming?) so that the Stars can spend some quality time alone together, and the two boys can forget all about their college dorm years, beer pong, and whatever else has been going on in that man cave.

Hen down!

A while back, it was finally warm enough outside to move the chickens out of the corner in the garage by the hot water heaters and into the driveway for an afternoon of sunshine.

One thing I've learned about chickens so far is that when confronted with something new, they completely freak out.

They started squawking fluttering all over the place - trying to hide in the corners.  Since I speak chicken now, I could totally hear them saying "The light! The light! Stay away from the light!"

But then, the brave one, Queenie, left the seething mass of squawking feathers and tenatively stepped into the center of the box.

And then she keeled over and died.

"Hen down! We have a hen down!" I yelled.  Ray came over to investigate.  Queenie's body deflated and she spread out one of her wings as if to display all her grown-up feathers.

Ray and I were perplexed.  Queenie and Bossie both started alternating between this strange behavior and running back to the mosh pit where the rest of the girls were continuing to freak out about the glowing orb in the sky.

Eventually, the other chickens started keeling over on the floor, deflating, and spreading out their wings.

As usual, my photography skills were lacking and I didn't realize the camera was focusing on the wire and not the chicken playing possum, but you get the idea.

We figured they must be sunbathing.  A quick internet search confirmed that for us.  Apparently this is "normal" chicken behavior.

What is NOT "normal" chicken behavior is trembling and weak legs.  We really do have a hen down, sadly, and it's Baby Ducky.  It started a few days ago, so I've isolated this one from the rest of the flock.  It continues to eat and drink, and seems pretty pissed off to be missing the party in the crate next door, but this is the way it has to be until I reach some sort of conclusion about what is wrong with this chicken.

Many less-than-quick internet searches have revealed not much.  So, I figure one of three things will happen.  It will get better, it will die, or it will be wobbly all it's life.  We shall see.  Sadly, this is the one chicken that everybody gravitates to.  It could be the crazy feathers, or the diminuitive size (it's the only bantam in our flock).  Or maybe it's the "pluck" (ha!  get it?  chicken humor!) that this little runt exhibits.  I will keep you posted. 

Meanwhile, work has started in earnest on the coop so that we can move the girls out to their own apartment now that they are old enough.  Ray and I have been doing our research, talking to other chicken owners, touring local coops and cobbling together a basic plan.  Which, of course, changes frequently in the course of construction based on materials available, new ideas, and the odd mistake.  It IS just a chicken coop, after all.

But it is a literary chicken coop.  Even though the girls can't read, visitors will be able to ponder a short piece of poetry called Home to Roost, by the current Poet Laureate, Kay Ryan.  We just won't dwell on the fact that the poem is really a metaphor for one's mistakes clouding one's mind.  It's just about chickens!

Bridget has really gotten into the decorative aspects of the coop.  She asked Ray to make a couple of rooster-shaped cutouts from wood and she painted them.  They will adorn the doors where we gather the eggs.

It's coming along!  I will be excited when the girls make their big move.  And like that big, bright, orb in the sky - the changes are sure to freak them out.

Well furnished

This year, Ray decided to make each of the kids their own desk.  They are old enough to do their homework in their rooms independently, and it was time to relcaim the dining room so that it no longer looks like a one-room school house.

Ray looked at a lot of plans, catalogs, etc. and eventually came up with his own design.  (Kind of sounds like how I cook!) Lots of storage room, lovely lines with tapered legs, beautiful dovetail joinery.  The desks are similar, yet different.  Aidan's top is chunkier, more masculine.  Bridget's is more elegant, with detail routed into the edges.  The legs on Bridget's are slightly slimmer than Aidan's desk as well.

One of my favorite features is the slanted top.  It isn't so steep that things slide off, unless you pile the clutter too high.  Sort of a self-regulating clean-up reminder!

The wood is maple, and beautifully figured.

I know Ray had a lot of fun building these, and I had fun during the times that I helped.  Woodworking is often like a big logic puzzle and I've learned a lot helping Ray.

Cucumbers are better than.....

This week at the farmer's market, I bought every cucumber they had.  I love cucumbers.  After all, they stay hard in the crisper for weeks, you know.  I got all sizes, because you know, size doesn't matter - and a cucumber will never try to convince you otherwise.  And even thought I bought a LOT of cucumbers, none of them seemed to have a problem with the fact that I could handle ALL those cucumbers.

OK.  I'll stop now.  My intentions for the cucumbers are purely culinary.  Seriously.

Ray even got interested in the cucumbers.  Culinarily speaking of course.  Seriously.

We both wanted pickles.  Dill for Ray, bread-n-butter for me.  Ray even got green tomatoes to pickle as well.  Hmmm....  are green tomatoes better than women and I missed the joke?

Back to the cucumbers.  Seriously.

And this is VERY serious, because I even broke out the French mandolin to slice 'em purty and didn't even lose any of my parts in the process.  Tricky things, them mandolins.  I also sliced onions and salted the whole mess of 'em and let them drain.  A little finely minced sweet red pepper went in there too.

As usual, no particular recipe was followed, but I just tossed in various ingredients that I'd seen listed in the recipes I perused on canning websites.  Tumeric, mustard seed, clove, garlic...  All simmered in a pot with equal parts cider vinegar and brown sugar.

In go the cucumber slices to heat through, and then fill and process the jars.  The hardest part of the whole ordeal is waiting the 3 weeks until they're ready.  I hope they're good, because I've already given a few jars away.

Ray is using a fermentation process for his dill pickles, which won't require water bath processing.  Being a beer maker, he's more comfortable with that whole fermentation thang than I am.  I should have helped him and maybe I'd learn a thing or two about how to properly treat a cucumber.  But Bunko the night before, followed by 5:30 wakeup for swim practice and a 9am meeting, and well, I confess I was sleeping in the middle of the day while my husband was in the kitchen having his way with several dozen cucumbers.  I know.  I missed out.

We'll let you know in a few weeks how good those cucumbers actually are!  Or maybe we won't.  We're shy that way.

Random Musings

Nothing major going on here.... just lots of life's little joys and challenges.  Knock on wood, but I kinda like it that way.

So, in no particular order, I give you:

The Junior Girl Scout troop working on their Bronze Award.  Bridget is 2nd from the left in this photo. 

The Bronze Award is the highest award they can get at this age and these girls are doing something amazing!  They chose a local charity, Spirit Horse, for their community service project.  Spirit Horse is quite an operation and gives riding lessons to children who are physically, mentally or socially disadvantaged.  So, our girls started off by baking home-made horse treats.  They then took these to a horse show and sold them.  With the cash they earned, they bought a trailerload of stall shavings which they donated to Spirit Horse.  They also are spending their May meetings on site at Spirit Horse doing chores.  Last week, they stained the stalls of a recently constructed barn.  Yep, a crew of 11-yr old girls stained an entire barn full of horse stalls.  In 2 hours.  They were a mess, but the stalls looked beauitful.  This week, they're painting fences. 

This next picture is just plain funny.  It's Aidan after a swim meet.

He's pretty tired, eh?

Speaking of Aidan.....  not to be outdone by his smartie pants sister, he recently surprised himself by qualifying for the National Junior Honor Society.

Pssst, Aidan!  The secret is out!  You ARE smart, and you CAN get good grades!

We're proud of you, son!

And now for another photo of Bridget!  This was taken at a recent riding lesson by someone with a much better camera (and photography skills) than I.

Pssst!  Bridget, the secret is out!  You CAN jump a horse!

We are finally beginning to get some fresh local produce around here.  My own garden got in late due to running a B and B and L and D for much of March and April, but I have neighbors with mad skillz in the gardening department.  They gave me these cute 8-ball zuchinnis and I stuffed 'em w/ turkey sausage.  Yummy!

They also gave me a bunch of cucumbers.  Which I promptly stuffed in the blender along with some parsley, mint, argula, scallion, chili oil, cayenne and sour cream.....  Soup's on!  It was delish and I can't wait to make it again.  I could LIVE on that kind of stuff!

And now for something completely different....  a photo of Ray!  As you may know, his company is in NY, so when he's not on the road, he works from home.  While he has a very nice home office where he is sequestered for much of the day, sometimes a change of scenery is nice.

I wonder if the other conference call participants can hear the waterfall?

And now for something completely different - a photo of Pam's brain!  Well, not really - but what is occupying a large chunck of my brain lately......

It's a very bad photo of my calendar.  The good news is I've recently discovered Cozi, which is an online calendar perfect for families.  You can track everyone's separate schedules all on one calendar and have regular emails sent to each family member with the week's activities.  The bad news is just like this time last year, it's getting a little bit Out Of Control.  The hairy scary details include multiple swim practice changes to accomodate wildly out of synch schedules of 2 different school districts, talent show rehearsals and performances, choir rehearsals and performances, field trips and money and forms needed for all manner of things.  End of year pool parties, sleepover parties, water park parties, paint ball parties, and one much needed Mommy Luncheon which may (hopefully) include wine.

Speaking of wine.....  we hosted our neighborhood Wine Club this past weekend and had a lot of wine fun.  We have a lot of really fun neighbors and we gather on a regular basis to enjoy wine and each other's company.  These four were the only ones who allowed me to photograph them.  The names have been withheld to protect the innocent. 

 We drank explored blended wines and then experimented with blending our own.

Ray found these really cool wine blending kits on woot.com  They come with several splits of a variety of "pure" wines (cab, syrah, merlot, etc.), tasting notes on each, some "recipe" ideas and measuring devices.  We divided our party into 3 groups and each group had to come up with a blend.  We then had a blind tasting.

In addition to the splits of pure wines, there was also a bottle of a blend that won a wine competition using these very same ingredients.  Two of our groups took a lot of time to explore the various qualities of each bottle and discussed the type of blend they wanted to achieve.  They considered bouquet, finish, mouth feel, etc. and were very into it.  One of our groups CHEATED and just dumped the "winner" bottle into their decanter.  And you will never guess which blend was the resounding winner, getting about twice as many votes as the other two blends combined.  That's right, the CHEATER's blend!  And they still took the prizes!  Harumph!  You know who you are! :-)

And finally, I give you.....  Dixie.  No, you can't HAVE her.  She's OURS.  All ours, as she seems to be settling in quite well.  We're all a little disappointed in Scamp though, as he doesn't deign to play with her, he just walks away aloofly whenever she tries to get him to romp with her.  Hopefully he'll come around.

She's learned our house rules, and where the perimeter of the shock fence is.  She chases a ball, but hasn't learned to bring it back.  Any clues on how to train a dog to do this?  She's getting better on my 3 mile walk but still a little nervous when I take her out into the world.  And she recently climbed into Ray's lap and spent the better part of an evening there.

We are in the downslope of another school year.  8 years done for Aidan, and 7 more to go for Bridget, so we are more than half way done.  It seems strange that I'll be way less involved with school now that we're done with elementary school, but I have to take heart in small things like the fact that my middle schooler still seems to want me to chaperone on field trips, even though he has banned me from coming in to have lunch with him.

Which reminds me.  I must go have lunch with Bridget at least one more time before she leaves elementary school.  You take what you can, when you can.  You never know when those opportunities will no longer be there.

"It's so tiring being a princess....."

... is what Bridget said to me when I tucked her into bed Saturday night.

It was the annual Father/Daughter Prom and she and Ray had the time of their lives again.

"There are so many moments!" Ray said.  Like when he was slow-dancing with Bridget.  She was standing on his feet, leaning her head against him.  Ray was looking around at all the other couples, and suddenly he feels Bridget's hands on either cheek pulling his head down and she says "Hey!  Eyes down here, buddy!"

She has learned that her dates must be attentive.

As usual, we had our yearly "pre-prom" cocktail party here and it is so much fun to see the girls vibrating with excitement.  As each one arrives there is much exclaiming over the dresses, the shoes, the hair.

"You look just like a fairy!" I said to Kimberly, who had on a gorgeous white dress.

"You look just like a fairy!" said Ray, to Kim's dad.

We have just enough time for the girls to snack a little bit, drink some "bubbly" and pose for photos.  Then it's out to the cars where the daddies hold the doors for them and they get to ride "shotgun" like ladies.

At the prom, they have formal photos taken, eat dinner, and dance.  And run around playing tag behind the curtains - they're still little girls, after all.

Meanwhile, the mommies have a civilized dinner and (mostly) civilized conversation.  The brothers run around in the woods shooting each other with pellet guns and have a campfire when it get too dark to shoot.

Ray says Bridget began to wilt about 8:30 but insisted on remaining until the 9pm bitter end.  She curled up under his blazer in the car and went promptly to sleep on the way home.

It's such a sweet tradition and a wonderful evening.  Ray says that Bridget said "I love you, Daddy!" several times over the course of the evening.

So sweet!