Eggs....

My hens have been laying for about two months now, and we've passed the 100 egg mark already! The two birds I ended up with (post raccoon attacks) are only supposed to lay four eggs per week. I've ended up with an average of 13 eggs each week instead of 8. Schitzo, the Barred Rock on the left (a type of Plymouth Rock) and Henny Penny, the Black Sex Link (aka Black Star) are laying at the same basic rate.

Yesterday, for the second time, Penny (I know, Mandy, you told me not to name them!) laid a huge egg. I mean, HUGE! Usually the eggs are about 55 grams. This was a whopping 87 grams!

According to the limited research I did, it's either because the hen's system hasn't regulated laying yet, or it's a genetic mutation that causes some breeds to lay double-yolked eggs. That is why it's so large, she's done it once before.

I also dicovered that sometimes birds lay two shelled eggs with what's called a 'wind' egg in the center of another shell. No yolk in either egg. Okay, way more information than you wanted, but there it is!

The Day After Christmas

This year, John decided that it might be a good thing for us to think about someone other than ourselves during Christmas. He contacted a group in Placerville that feeds the homeless people up there. They agreed to 'let us' come with a meal for about 40 people on the 26th. (I say 'let us' because they have many groups that bring meals on a regular basis. They are always looking for more help, of course, but they must get offers that never materialize because they were quick to make other plans.) We were a bit late in responding to them, and someone else took on the lunch, so we offered to bring snacks and supplement the one meal these folks get for the day.
I baked cinnamon rolls and pumpkin muffins, then we added some vienna sausages and peanuts to round out the sweets.The family assembled everthing that morning and we were off!
The 'camps' are located behind stores, parks and motels. I guess if I had really been looking, I'd have noticed excess trash in the area, or a flash of blue tenting. Generally, I would have never known there were people living there. In one area, we only met one person. She took 14 meals in to the campers. We went to about four places. Some of the people had cars; it looked like they were living in them. One man was pretty drunk and very talkative. Ben said that he told them that beer is more filling and cheaper than food. Now I understand why homeless people have a reputation for being drunks. Not only does it fill their tummies, it helps them escape reality for a while.
The woman who was showing us the ropes was incredibly nice. She and her 18 year old son have been supplying meals for about a year now. Not very often, just "once or twice a month". She didn't look like she had money to spare, but she was willing to share what she did! It seems to me that those who have a lot tend to be cautious about who they give to, and those who have little share freely, especially with those who have very little.
Anyway, I had a good feeling as we left and I hope we can do this again. (Notice Ben's face? This is him thinking "Enough with the pictures, Mom! I actually took my camera with us, then realized how weird it would have been to take pictures, so my family was 'overshot'.)

Snow...In Folsom!

It has been cold here for the past two days. I mean 'Utah cold'! Yesterday, Savanah told me that the forcast for today was snow/rain. I thought for sure the weatherman got it wrong! This morning, I awoke to about 1" of snow on the ground. It's now almost 11:00am and the snow is still in our back yard although water is falling from the roof.Who'd have thunk? Snow in California! We've lived here for 18 years and have never seen the snow stick like this. I was just noticing a bunch of posts from people on Facebook wondering if Al Gore is eating his hat about supporting global warming. (I don't think so, it was a machine for accruing wealth for him. I don't believe he sees it as anything but a money maker.)So, we'll 'enjoy' the snow while it lasts. I hope it doesn't snarl traffic too badly....

Christmas Tree time!

Saturday was the designated day for picking up our Christmas tree! We have a 'tradition' of driving 30 minutes to Slough House to cut down our own tree. Partly because it's $35 for any tree on the lot, and partly because when the kids were little, we got free hot cider at the Inn next door. The Inn is now closed, but the tree farm has vendors there on the weekend selling things like ice cream (it's too cold for ice cream!), kettle corn, and mandarine oranges by the bag.
On the drive down there, I remembered that I hadn't brought my wallet, so we detoured to Sunrise for an ATM machine and then some food!
We finally made it to the farm and began the search for the perfect tree. Pat (Ben's brother from another mother) came with us...well, we kind of kidnapped him. Anyway, the three 'kids' spent some time playing hide-n-seek through the forest. I lost sight of everyone and couldn't get them to answer me even though I used mom's trick of 'singing' their names. The place was packed with people, and I kept hearing what I thought were their voices. I'd head toward them only to find they weren't my family!
I finally went back to the truck and found John. The kids had decided that there weren't good trees in the area we were in, and crossed to another section.
We picked out a great tree, cut it down and brought it home. Okay, so it sounds so simple when I put it that way. In reality, John trimmed off some lower branches, and Ben and Savanah chided him for taking them off on the good side of the tree. It worked out just fine, though. John actually had to trim a bit more off for anything to fit underneath the tree. He said he does it every year, we just don't see it!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! (And God bless us, every one!)

The chicken saga continues: After dealing with raccoon attacks all summer long, we finally got the problem of him thinking the coop is a fast food stop solved. I found tooth marks on one of the latches, but the coop remains closed each morning when I check on it.

Maybe we really scared him off for good when we chased him around the backyard in our jammies about a month ago! The quieter of the two hens that are left had gone into the pool to get away from the predator and the other hen was under the raccoon in the middle of the lawn. I went for the coon with no weapon in hand, just my hands.

My oldest hen is about 26 weeks old and I just found her first egg last night! I knew she was getting to that age range, but wasn't sure she'd be laying as the weather is turning colder now. Anyway, I opened the coop last night and Roxy went in and immediately found the egg. The girls had already pecked it open and she started licking out the insides as fast as she could.

Now that I know at least one of them is laying, I'll look out for eggs every day and hopefully find them before the hens eat them. It might help if I put a wooden egg in the laying box; they won't be able to peck it open, and they'll be encouraged to lay in the spot I made for them to lay! (I guess John was right about them not realizing the boxes were for that purpose.)

Ben's Home!

The time to get Ben has come and gone, and I have failed to blog anything about the whole experience. Let me just say this: It was wonderful!

Someone asked me if I cried when I saw him. No! I squealed like a little girl on Christmas morning and ran to give him a hug. (He could hug me because I'm his mom!) Actually he hugged both of his sisters too, then his dad (that's legal).

He took us on a tour of the Gudalajara. It was great to meet people he'd known and worked with during the past two years. Most of them wanted to feed us or give us drinks or something. Some of them asked us to come back so they could barbecue for us. It was obvious that they felt a deep love for our son! I found myself close to tears many times.

So now, he's back! We are once again a family of five and loving every minute of it! (Love you, Ben!)

House Boat 2009

Some of 'the girls'; King of the Hill; Leanne, Wyatt, Maddie

The Gang!; The Moms

Houseboating! Paige and the kids have been invited to join Sue Webb, her kids and a bunch of other moms and kids for a houseboating week over the past 12 years. It's a great time to relax, play, talk, laugh and teach each other new things.

This past week was no exception: Savanah learned to wakeboard the day before we left for the houseboat. She got to practice a bit while we were there. Tessa practiced her wakeboarding too! (She turned 19 on the last day of the trip!)

We missed our good friend, Kathy, who died in a tragic car accident on June 20th of this year. We've been mourning her loss, and shed a few tears while we were there. We came home to a memorial service for her on the 26th of July. It gives us comfort to know that we have not seen the last of her, nor she of us.

We did get to have Zona with us this year, and that was all right! Here's to friends; Sue, Lori, Zona, Leanne, Julie, Diane, (Me), and Phyllis, and all the things we are to each other.

Wicked...the musical

Tessa and I got to go see Wicked when it was playing in LA in October of '07. Savanah chose to stay home and go on a campout with Dad. (They got rained out!)

I promised Savanah that I'd take her to see it. Now it's playing in San Francisco and I bought tickets for it in January. June 24th was the day, and John was too busy to come with us. So, we took Savanah's friend, Amelia Eversole with us. We had a great time and made it back in time for the YW boating activity!

Savanah's Sunflower

Just a quick demo of how well 'volunteer' plants can grow when given the chance. (Most volunteers can be considered weeds because they usually sprout where you don't want them!)

Savanah insisted on planting a sunflower two years ago. Last year it came up again. This year, guess what? It must have been a hybrid because it has changed over the years... all two of them. Here's Savanah (5'7") standing by her sunflower. I'm guessing it's between 9' and 10' tall.

This year I decided to try raising some chickens. I thought that the experience would be good in case we ever need to provide our own food (eggs and meat). Then there was the thought that at least I'd know 1) what was going into the eggs I was eating, and 2) how well the animals were treated. I knew that there would be some 'yuck' involved in the whole process, but overall, it was kind of fun to choose the breed of chicks - Barred Rock - and build the coop. I did most of it myself but John helped with a couple of the steps. He also helped me carry the coop to the final resting place in my garden, (It was HEAVY!!) and put up with the mess on the back porch for a week or so ;).

Yesterday morning I walked out to find the coop open and the chickens in the garden, scratching and pecking away at the bugs. I had actually picked up a few more birds - two Black Sex-link and two Austrolorps. One of the Black Sex-Links was gone. It was in the lawn, half eaten. Sadness! It must have been a raccoon to be able to open the latch. I think I need more secure latches for the doors!

I had to remind myself that this is all part of life; a part that most of us are sheltered from our entire lives because we don't grow our own food. (I'm sounding 'granola cruncher'!) While I was reading up on chickens, I found a response to a post that said something like: "You should just buy your meat from the store where they don't harm the animals!" Hmmmm. I'll keep the chickens, even with the threats from our unfriendly neighborhoood raccoon!

These adorable blondes (the two on either side of me) are my daughters. Yes, I married for love, but I got the added benefit of some

upwardly mobile (tall) offspring!

(I am not short!)

The Elder on the far right is our missionary. (Yes, he's tall too!) This is the latest picture we have of him. I should add that he has been more focused on the work he is there to do than sending things to his mom. Ya think he stands out in a crowd in Mexico?

JULY 6, 2009



We're only six weeks away (that's almost one hand of fingers!) from picking Ben up from the Guadalajara Mexico mission office! I am just a bit excited!!! (Just a bit...)

Until then, Savanah has a few volleyball camps. It's also possible that she will be able to go spend a week with Nana. We've been a bit difficult in that department (sorry, Nana!) but are trying to get her to Kentucky!

The girls have a houseboating trip (sorry John!) with a few other moms and kids. I say 'few' but in reality there will be over 20 people on the boat. I'm looking forward to having some time to talk and laugh with my friends. We may even cry a bit. We are one friend short this year, and will feel Kathy's loss greatly. It's a great time to share with each other: tips, recipes, thoughts, feelings, songs - kind of a 'working vacation'.

For the fourth of July this year we were invited by the David Hamilton family to join them for dessert and fireworks. (Can you see the correltaion there?) The court was packed with about 25 families for the festivities. Once it was dark enough, it was pretty much a free-for-all with the smoke bombs, strobes, and noise makers. Even sitting outside of the 'ring of fire' wasn't enough to protect you from a possible errant ball of fire. It was fun, though! A great way to celebrate the country that we live in and enjoy the benefits of every day.


Happy July, everybody!