Polar vortex you say?

I must admit, I have never experienced the cold we have had in the past two days.  Yesterday was the first time I had heard the phrase ” polar vortex”.  I am not a fan of the cold weather whatsoever. If I had my choice I would live in a tropical place and never ever miss the cold weather. I think is the Ecuadorean blood that courses through my veins that makes me crave warmth from the sunshine and heat for any source!

The reality is that I live in a suburb of DC in Maryland. We have had single digit temps for the past 24 hours and it feels like it is not going away. However, usually our winters are not too bad temperature wise so I usually don’t complain. That being said, I now have the added responsibility of hens. So this morning like every other morning I had to go check on the hens at daybreak( actually before daybreak).

Their water was frozen and my crazy hen Liberty was at the chute door. The chute door opens up to their run; opens up to the great outdoors and the 1 degree temp. She stood at the door facing it then looking at me sideways as if to say ” Are you going to open it so I can go outside?”.

“Is she crazy”,  I thought to myself. Don’t these girls know we are in the midst of experiencing a polar vortex?

I changed their water and made sure they had enough  feed and left the chute door closed. (I don’t open the chute door until the sun is out.) Later when I opened the chute they all tumbled out as if they had been waiting for me to open it! Yes everyone is talking about the polar vortex. Apparently, the chickens have never heard of this and are not at all amused nor do they care.

I have to remember that hens put off as much energy as a 60 watt light bulb ( not the LED kind either the illegal type!). So when I step into their coop, it feels comfortable and not nearly as cold as it does outside.  It looked as if they had taken turns in the nesting boxes overnight to keep warm though. I made sure to stash extra hay in the boxes as well as fortifying the side walls by filling in hay  to insulate from the crazy wind that howled last night. Twice, my husband looked out the window to make sure the coop still stood.

The kids and Jack know better. Jack went out with me in the early morning. He usually watches while I take care of the hens from a safe distance behind a railing on the deck. As I was finishing my chore, he got impatient and started barking so the kids would let him in. He had enough of the brisk breath-taking air.

Needless to say today when we go out , we need to cover up completely. Found my daughter’s awesome mittens with a water proof thin exterior shell ,lined, and fur on the edge. I wore them out today and what a difference from the cheap little knit gloves! Why did my 16 year old decide she did not need these warm mittens? Well, she explained to me that whatever extra garments she brings she has to carry them around with her all day and is afraid of losing them . Her loss is my gain! they are definitely Polar Vortex worthy. I did not feel the cold at all on my hands.

Stay toasty everyone!

I am sure I will revisit this post in the high heat of the dog days of summer and remind myself how cold it was and to enjoy the heat.

Sad Bird news

So all the Cat birds had fledged. However they have been learning the ropes of birdhood in the hood. Their parents diligently still chirping about them and encouraging them.

I was so very sad to find one of the 4 fledglings caught up and dead in my blueberry netting.

Unfortunately the little catbird’s head got stuck in the netting and their he died with blueberry stains on his cheeks.

It made me sad because these catbird parents were so diligently feeding their baby birds while in the nest. They would be relaying , bringing food into the nest. We would see a little head pop up to get fed. Soon, we realized that there were four in the nest.  We were so excited to see their were four babies that survived.

Two of the fledglings before the big leap with one of the parents

The sadness I felt was tainted with  some significant guilt. I had covered the berries so that we could have the berries and so the birds would not. I certainly did not wish harm to any of the birds. I was excited to have them in the yard. I just did not want to share. So silly when I look back on it now.

My son was out there digging in the yard for a few days and watched as the parents nurtured the four fledglings. He was with me when I found the catbird. He was sad too. He had named a few of them as he watched them grow.  We decided to take the netting down. We did not want to  see another bird, baby or not, go down because of our “interventions”.  Rest in Peace little guy!

Luckily, the other fledglings are still fluttering around the garden with the parents still close by. They can eat all the berries they want.. and they have!

The lesson that I learned is that sometimes we need to work in tandem with nature. My son asked me if I thought the adults in my life when I was growing up would have taken the netting down. I think and hope they would but I don’t know.  We talked about it and he understands that things happen.  I felt very bad and he understood my regrets about the netting and the results.

It was a  very good  demonstration of  “for every action, there is a reaction” or “everything you do affects others” or “be a good steward of the earth”. These lessons are things I teach the kids regularly.  It is good for them to see it in action. Another lesson, “admit when you are wrong and try to resolve the problem”. Mom makes mistakes too. Mom admits it and tries to make amends.

 

 

 

 

Camping

Took the kids camping. It was my first time. I borrowed my sister’s tent. we went with our 4H group. It was a fun time. I had never in my life been camping.

It was a great experience. It was fun to do it with friends.  I was very happy to have the experienced 4-H mom’s to help me with this virgin trip.

The kids had a blast because they could explore with their pals. The teen girls adjourned to the large tent and whispered and giggled about all those things teen girls do.

The younger tween girls made up games and explored. they discovered a lonely box turtle near a fallen tree.       Rather they disturbed this guys solitude. Being good stewards of the Earth and all it’s inhabitants, the girls got a picture and then put him gently back where they found him.

The teen boys chopped wood and kept the fire going. they talked a lot. they stoked the fire and I heard them talking about nature, fishing, and animals.

I was the lucky mom who got to hang with the 3 teen girls and 2 tweenagers in the big tent for the overnight. I tried to keep quiet at first. The two different conversations were a funny juxtaposition of sensible vs silliness.  There was at one point an eruption of giggling laughter followed by a lull and reminder that quiet time at the camp was ten PM. It was well past that time. The girls settled down and the snoring and sleep talking ensued. It seemed like a short nights sleep for me.

I awoke with the birds at about 5AM. It was nice to sit outside in a comfortable folding chair and read and listen to all the different birds calling us to wake.

A cool morning in the woods…

Went on a hike this morning.

In my enthusiasm to be cool, I climbed a tree with my kids. It was such a thick and large tree, none of us realized that it was a Poison Ivy tree! The thing must have been about 18 inches in diameter. It looked like a legit tree.

We were looking at the leaves then realized it was  leaves of three and waxy ones!!!!

We decided YOLO ( you only live once)! I mean we were already on the tree.

   Then there were the deer… We had been taking a path off the trail. It was a well-worn path but it was also narrow.   I thought we would be just beyond the brush.  It turned out that this trail was probably blazed by the deer! We heard a rustle in the leaves just beyond us . We followed this winding trail as the grasses got taller. Then I could hear the water from the creek.  What I heard was the pair of deer swimming across the creek away from us!

They were a bit camera-shy!

It was a nice cool morning. I feel lucky that we are not itching. Hope our camping trip will work out tomorrow.

Dinner and dessert

    Radish, pea, potato, and lettuce salad for dinner!

I am always impatient when it comes to the potato.  i want to start digging at them once the plants are a respectable 12-16 inches tall. I don’t wait for flowers or wilting.

Today, i just put my fingers in the ground near a plant and yielded  4 nice sized potatoes.

There were a few radishes ready to roll and some lettuce. Julia tasted the peas and thought they were good so i grabbed about a dozen to shell and put in the salad fresh and raw:)

For me there is nothing better than working in the garden in my bare feet with my kids by my side.  They worked hard today. We went down the street to collect sticks for our tomato supports. Jules  helped me   weed the main area. Pamela and Philip made a protective cover for the strawberries.  And of course they taste testing the peas!

In between we studied the weather and our homemade barometer. We have been studying the weather. Luckily we have had some stormy weather lately so cloud identification has been a regular exercise.  It has been fun to watch the barometer that we made out of household items ( mason jar, balloon, rubber band, straw and cardboard.. It works. Really

It is fun to see the kids making the connections between the science we learn and the natural world around them.

Later, Pamela made dessert! 

She is my little baker. She is working on a baking business. She loves to bake !  And her brother is  a master photo bomber!

Pam has taken a class called Suzy homemaker at the farm this semester. She has learned among other things:  poise, organization, home economics, and has made some good friends. I was totally cool with her taking this class because it was a practical class. Also she is a little tomboy who loves to skateboard , ride her bike,  and rarely wears a skirt. I considered this class was a help in making her more well rounded. In addition, the class was at the farm and the kids love the animal care aspect of the classes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

family hike

This morning after my overnight shift, we had a nice breakfast then a family hike.

We did talk about how today is memorial day and you need to think about the people who have made sacrifices, served, fought , and died for our freedoms. Freedom comes at a price.

We talked about the different wars and how things have changed throughout the years in regards to wars, the draft, women in combat, etc.

I wanted to make sure they understood  that it wasn’t just an extra day that Daddy was home or that we didn’t “school”. We don’t go shopping.

We go on a hike.

We went to Rock creek park and took one of our off the beaten path routes. It was a warm slightly humid morning. Everything is  green  and the trail is muddy.  There were others out. We found a few swimming holes or wading pools. We spotted a lot of birds. the water was flowing a bit more rapidly as it had stormed last night.

    We observed these birds first in early spring.  The Kingfisher swoop back and forth across the creek with their unusual call.

Phil and I taught the kids how to skip stones. We found little clams and Julia had little minnows tickling her feet under water.

Waded around and resisted to lay down and let the current take us down stream. There are so many fallen trees, rocks and broken glass we need to be cautious.

We moved on and found a treasure. this little guy was curled up near the trail we took. I remember seeing the deer near this area.

We first spotted a doe and two others.  My oldest said look. I could see nothing. Finally she said look down! There was this little fawn. I remember when we monitored Blue birds at a local golf course, the groundskeeper who was a naturalist as well said sometimes, they “hide” like this near a tree.   This little guy’s Mom was close by.

   It was a treasured moment. We all agreed that was most unexpected and wonderful surprise.

Farm Days…

  Goat is saying hi to Jules. We went to the farm for the end of year picnic(s) for Philip and Pamela’s farm classes.

Both days were great. I know Jules misses the farm classes so it is especially fun to take this day and get our feet wet and hands dirty helping out.

We joke that the goats are mush like dogs. They all have some interesting personalities.

They associate us with food so they follow us around the farm-yard. The farm acquired a total of seven kid goats the newest is only a week old. The added fun is to bottle feed these little guys. they will be bottle fed and slowly weaned off the bottle and onto grain and grasses before the end of the summer.

 

We will be helping out over the summer a few days in July and hopefully some in August .

For those who know me , know this is like a dream come true to be able to work on the farm.  Luckily my kids are just as outdoor crazy as I am.

During Farm Animal Care training , I learned how to castrate a young goat and give sub-cu shots. We learned about the different breeds of goats, chickens and pigs. The pigs that started out at about 8-10 pounds will be a good 250 by the time they go to market in Oct /Nov. It  is a great educational opportunity for us. I love that the kids get to spend some time every week here.

Pam will be taking the vet science class next year.

some of the kid goats

First harvest

Delicious and fresh from the garden. This is the first non herb harvest from the garden!

Actually I got about a dozen spicy little red globes! I shared with my neighbor. She has been giving me fuel for my compost( fresh organic peels, rinds and wilty lettuce leaves.)

I guess this is good, it means she is not offended by my homemade composting device( old metal trash can with holes drilled into it with a lid!)

I have lettuce and tomatoes and my peas are filling out. So happy the garden is growing well!

Today my teenaged daughter and I spent an hour weeding, harvesting and reseeding the radishes and greens.  It is nice to be under the sun with my lovely daughter talking about “stuff” , barefoot in the garden. I cannot remember caring to have a conversation let alone hang with my Mom when I was 15, so I cherished that moment.

The radishes were peppery and  a delicious addition to my salad.

I have some greens  and peas that will be ready for the weekend harvest.

So glad my Dad taught me about growing a garden so many years ago. it has become a part of our lives. I think if we didn’t have a garden the kids would wonder where the summer veggies were going to be grown if not in our front yard!

Gardener

My little farm girl:)

This is my little farm girl. About a year ago Pamela asked me to buy her overalls.  Do you know how difficult it is to acquire overalls for a girl in a size 10?

There are Osh Kosh brand that goes up to size 4 toddler size. I finally found a seed and feed place online to order her overalls. She loved them and wore them until they got too short. Now she has cut them off like shorts. Great  for the summer!

 

So we have planted Tomatoes (seeds indoors), peas, potatoes, radish greens and carrots…and corn.

Tuesday, we put the tomato plants that were ready , in the ground. We were lucky to have rain directly after. Lots of lovely gentle rain.

The radishes are beginning to get the third pair of leaves. Corn is popping up, potatoes are about a foot tall as well as the peas. Herbs are growing well and the blueberries are coming and green.

We had a blanket of maple seed pods over the beds before worked the ground. I should have offered the kids pennies for pods! there are all these little maple seedlings popping up!

Radish… basic red globe

I am thinking of putting a blanket of  wet newspaper down then maybe some hay.  I live to weed but not so much spending the summer on my knees picking out little maple seedlings.

 

Looking forward to a radish sandwich!

Weird weather 0 Birds 2+

Well despite the crazy weather, both Robin and Cardinal families have survived and thrived. I regularly watch Poppa Cardinal return to the nest to help feed momma C and babies.

  I love to hear their chatter.  They built such a deep nest most of the time you can only see Momma C’s tail feather out the back of the nest. Clever!  It is a little frustrating for us bird watchers because even when we use a ladder form about 3 feet away, all I see is a beak:)

 

Robins have been less modest. I can see the babies’ heads popping up when the parents bring home some supper.

The Robins are tolerant of Anthem when she is in the back and fly in and out of the nest without hesitation. But when Jack the overgrown puppy is back there, Robins are more cautious and don’t hang out on the fence. They wait in tree limbs  until the coast is clear.

 

   There are two babies that I can see. One robin baby is waiting for food with his beak pointing northward. The other is bobbing his head around trying to figure it all out( his is the bump behind the beak:)

 

I guess the birds know what they can handle.  It has been fun to watch but I think the robins are close to fledging!