Troublemakers

I've been waiting for the chickens to get big enough to fly over the fence. Tonight I came home from a young women's activity at the church, checked on the chickens and this is what I saw...



It's lucky this happened tonight and not tomorrow night when we are away. The whole run is now covered with a tarp, which makes it hard to go in since it's only 4 feet tall. It should keep the chickens from flying away to higher trees though.

My Practice Scarf

Between what I've been shown, the internets, and my knitting for beginners guide, I have figured out how to purl. That means that I am now capable of creating endless patterns. Here's a basket weave. If the yarn lasts, it will be a scarf. If it doesn't, it will be a TV cozy or something for my sister's mister. (Hey Q. I know you don't read this blog, but you should!)

The Grass is Always Greener...

An Apology

I heard a story recently. It is about a woman whose family came to the US from Mexico when she was five. FIVE. She is now a mother herself, happily married. She works hard to help support her young family. The US is the only home she knows. She speaks fluent english, and from the times I have talked to her, I can't hear an accent. She is a melting-pot-american.

She works at a fast food restaurant. On May 1st, when the walk outs were planned, she went to work. Why? Because her boss, who she respects, asked her to come in. As she greeted customers, and rang up orders, a customer called her some really foul, racist names. Why would someone do that?

For anyone who experiences similar things in their own lives, I am deeply sorry. I cannot imagine what would drive a person to be so hateful to fellow human beings.

To that cruel and unfeeling fast food customer, shame on you. Do you think that being hateful is going to solve all immigration problems? This may come as a shock, but it's not helping, and it never will help. If you feel strongly about the issue, contact your congressman. Write letters. Do something to help find a solution, but please, don't vent hateful feelings on people who are just trying live a good life.

Sincerely,

Allie

Knitting

This is my third dish rag.



The first is a little wonky, and I gave the second one to my mom. This one I may keep for myself, or I might give it to a friend. I haven't decided yet. My mother-in-law makes dish rags (and she makes them much faster than I do) and I don't want to take over her dish rag making. :) It's been good practice for me though. Small projects with lots of repetition.

After this dish rag is done, I'm going to practice purling. When I get competent at purling, I'll combine the knit stitch and the purl stitch. I'm hoping to make a baby blanket with a basket weave pattern in it. we'll see. I might make a basket weave scarf first (small projects are much less intimidating, plus there's less yarn to waste if I mess up and ruin the whole thing).

Who let the chickens out, who who who who...

Okay, so that is a really lame title, but I'm running out of chicken related titles...

They're outside in the pen, in their house, with new windows cut for ventilation. I was really worried that it would be too cold, so we turned the heat lamp on the first night they were out. Last night I left the lamp off, since they pile on top of each other anyway.

They did fine, and were perfectly happy when I let them out this morning.

Taja the dog is less than thrilled about them. She paces around the fence whenever she is outside.

They like to hide under the house in the shade.

Here they are...

Garden Bling Bling

I got these tomato towers for my birthday (an early birthday present, I'll be enjoying tomatoes when my birthday actually arrives).



The only things left to plant are corn and beans. I'm also inheriting some onion plants, but they may have to be tucked around everything else. I bought way too much of the large take-over-the-garden-with-vines type of plants. It should be interesting.

I have one Beefsteak tomato
one brandywine
one christmas grape (cherry tomato that my 4-year-old picked out all by himself)
ten Romas
sugar snap peas
alladin pumpkin
orange smoothie pumpkin
Red Warty Thing (a fun cross between a pumpkin and a hubbard squash)
two yellow crookneck squashes
one zucchini plant
two acorn squash
one cantalope
4 california wonder green peppers
4 some other type of green pepper
4 anaheim peppers
some sort of salad mix

In my 4-year-olds section of the garden, he has his christmas grape, a tight cluster of peas, a zucchini or pumpkin or something? and a few corn stalks here and there.

The Great Chicken Adventure

I took the girls on their first outing into the backyard this afternoon. They were a little hesitant and kept hopping back onto the cement, but I think they enjoyed themselves. The pecked at the dirt and bugs, they scratched around, and they fluffed up their feathers.

It looks like chicken watching may become a fun family activity around here.



The girls, (clockwise, starting under the chair) Chickie, Red, and Black are 6 weeks old today. I've turned off their heating lamp, which makes the hen house pretty dark. I'm hoping to get some windows cut tomorrow to let them have a little more light.

A "Talk" with the teacher

I picked up my 4-year-old from preschool today, and as I was buckling him in, his teacher came over to "talk" to me. I was a little worried, until she said that it was a good report, not a bad one.

The boy is way ahead of the other kids in his class as far as reading skills go. (Actually, there is one little girl who is also advanced.) The other kids know about three sight words, and she hasn't been able to teach them much more because he and the other little girl read the words before anyone else can sound them out, and the other kids are just repeating what he and the little girl say.

She asked if we would be interested in signing him up in her summer reading skills tutoring program. It's for kids who have finished kindergarten and are going into first grade, but she said he's ready for it.

She also said she didn't want to pressure us into signing up with her, but that if we didn't want to, to let her know and she'd give us ideas on what we can do with him over the summer because he needs more than the reading packet she hands out at graduation.

I always knew he was a smart kid. I think he's great all the way around.

I've been Relieved!

(I mean released).

When you do something for so long, you start to forget that someday, you may not have to do it anymore. The day arrived though. I handed over my primary binder and my church keys. I've actually know that I was going to get released for two weeks, so I've had time to get used to the idea.

I worried a little about who the new primary president would be. Would she do things right? Would she visit the kids we've been focusing on as much as she should? I can say, that it sure feels good to hear the name of the new person and know that she will be wonderful.

It felt really good walking home from church past the homes of some kids we have been trying to get to come to primary and know that while I can (and will) be a good neighbor and invite them to church, it is no longer my responsibility to visit and encourage the way that I did when I was primary president.

Last sunday I sat in primary as we were singing the closing song I felt really sad. I'm going to miss it. I'm really going to miss the close association with the women I worked with for the last two and a half years. We worked well together, and they are good friends.

I won't have a break from sunday service though. I've been called as the Mia Maid advisor in the young women's program. I'm looking forward to it. There will be very different challenges, and a lot of new people to get to know. I always use to think that I didn't ever want a calling in the young women program. It intimidated me. Being in primary and having the responsibilities I have had has made me realize that I can do it (and I can even be excited about it).