Wow. My last post was in August! Where does the time go? Suddenly it's October and I have some catching up to do. These months are flying by faster than they used to. Or, perhaps, my perception of time is skewing to my age ...
Well, let's do some catching up. Amira started 7th grade at the junior high this year. She loves having all the different teachers for each subject and the elective. This year her elective is i-Tech. This is like industrial arts. There is measuring and working with wood and assorted tools (hand and power). She has an awesome teacher. She is also enjoying math this year. Her math teacher does not only teach math but gives lessons in mindfulness which she seems to appreciate. I appreciate that this is being taught in school. Frankly, I could use a little mindfulness training myself. And don't even get me started on how great her history and English teachers are. She is a lucky duck!
Valerie is a sophomore this year and an officer in the FFA. That seems to keep her very busy. She is still raising sheep and taking piano lessons. She found out that there is an FFA orchestra and has dabbled with her cello again. We are still waiting for more than 24 hours in a day so that she can participate in all the activities that interest her. As I write this she is off in San Francisco at the Cow Palace for a sheep show. She also apparently enjoyed a rodeo last night. I think that bull riding now interests her. Thank goodness we don't have time for that and all the chiropractic that comes with it.
Rex is a junior this year. How did that happen? He is still all about the paintball. As I write this he is at a tournament in Las Vegas. He is in his third year of engineering and has taken on a job through school helping a company design side cars for motorcycles. How cool is that?
Michael has kicked off his busy season with trips all over the place including Paris & Barcelona. Thanks for working so hard for us, Honey! When he is home he works very hard around the house maintaining all the crazy animals and appliances and equipment. For relaxation there is playing guitar and watching sports. The sound of a football game playing in the house makes it feel like Fall around here.
Here is a photo flashback from September. Amira and her Girl Scout troop camped out at a water park and basically had a blast. Here they are in front of her leader's house.
Valerie manages to squeeze in some social time with her friends (pictured left to right: Isa, Raelyn, Ruth & Valerie). They went to see a country concert for Raelyn's birthday.
In September Michael and I made a special trip to San Francisco to re-connect with my cousin Lisa and her husband, Peter, who came over from Australia. We took them up to the View on top of the Marriott hotel for the tremendous views and drinks. Then we went out for some tapas and Beach Blanket Babylon. I highly recommend this show to anyone visiting San Francisco. It's always a great evening. And how fun to see Lisa and Peter. Lisa and I were able to pick up where we left off years ago. She is still trying to persuade us to come visit Australia. Peter's family owns a sheep station outside of Canberra. He suggested Valerie might consider being a Jillaroo. Hmmmm ... food for thought. Now we just need thousands of dollars to fly there. Dang.
San Francisco was experiencing its Indian Summer. It was about 80* there. Michael and I were meeting some friends (former Washington Placers for those in the know) for brunch the following day down at the yacht club so we decided that we should take the ubiquitous tourist selfie in front of the Golden Gate Bridge. Our entire weekend was filled with great visits and tremendous views. I might have left my heart in San Francisco. But now there's a bunch of rich hipsters living there. Well, the country life for me now!
October brought my little friend, Ramón, home to live with us. He is a periwinkle blue little budgie. Still young and not quite tamed. But I'm pretty stoked to have my little blue house chicken. Yes, we needed one more animal.
October also brought on an impromptu trip to see more cousins. Caleb & Callie are pretty awesome. I was again blessed with more tremendous views and a great visit with some fantastic cousins! And thanks again to Michael for holding down the fort so I could slip out for a quick visit.
This weekend Michael is in Barcelona, Valerie in San Francisco, Rex in Las Vegas leaving behind Amira and myself to hold down the fort and all its critters. Friday night was Amira's first junior high dance. We had a busy afternoon so we stopped in at In & Out for a quick bite before hand. I chaperoned the dance and stayed after to clean up. It was Hawaiian themed so there were pieces of lei all over the place. Junior High dances are a total kick. I love the innocence and the fun.
This weekend it was a little blustery but not too rainy. My jungle of a summer garden has really passed its prime. I really need to get in there and clean it up. But basically today I ran through and harvested winter squash and sun flowers for the chickens. I still have some zinnias in there cheering the place up. I looooove zinnias!
The chickens said thank you for the seeds. How did they say thanks? With eggs of course. It's like magic. I can turn garden scraps into a quiche!
Knowing that I was going to be late cleaning up the summer garden, Michael helped build planters up to start a new winter garden. Below are my broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage and brussel sprouts. They took a solid beating in a hail storm a week or so ago and also some raids by our sneaky chickens. They are survivors (so far)!!
Here is my winter squash harvest this year. Really shocked that these all survived the aphids and white flies I had. Woo hoo! More survivors. I shall make you into pies!
Below are pictured some sweet potatoes I harvested from the front yard. Man, it's no kidding when they say these can grow in crummy soil. They even broke up some very hard clay. I have some orange ones and purple ones. Also there is a bunch more for me to harvest in the back jungle garden (where the soil is actually quite nice). But that is for another day.
Kahlua yams, anyone?
