Field Tripping

What an amazing weekend. Friday started with another field trip for Valerie's class. We went to a living history trapper camp, much like the one I went on with Rex's class a couple of years ago. So, an hour in the car with 6 fourth graders was actually pretty fun (on the way there). We learned about trapping, trading, camp keeping, hunting and what it was like along the Sacramento River before gold was discovered. This was followed by a picnic in the park.

Here you see Valerie helping the "Camp Keeper" with the water buckets. Although it looks like some poor other chap has to do the heavy lifting.



Of course, usually healthy as a horse, I ignored the sinus headache that had been coming on a couple of days earlier. And on the drive home I was crushed under the weight of pain. My eyes hurt, my teeth hurt, my ears hurt. I had a vision of traumatizing the kids as my head might have exploded all over the windshield. Fortunately, this did not happen. But after dumping the kids off I went and got some medicine to relieve the sinus pressure and took a nap in the car until the kids were dismissed. Then I crawled through the hall and propped myself on the floor against the wall outside of Amira's class. I was unable to put on the air of having everything being okay.

So, I went home and proceeded to drink tons of my gypsy cold care tea (I swear by this) and rinse my sinuses with the netty pot. My friend Holly sent over some herbs and I picked up a bunch of homeopathic stuff. Miraculously by Saturday, although still tired and stuffed, the pain was gone.



The kids had some friends over and I was well enough to bake them some snickerdoodles, get together a big batch of kale chips, and start charring pablano peppers for the chiles rellenos I was going to make for a pot luck on Sunday.

By Sunday I was feeling way better. And I was surprised to see that it was raining outside. The potluck was still on. So, I scrambled together my rellenos, a salad and cut up the most amazing casaba melon I picked up from GRUB and then a pretty terrific salad complete with pomegranate from my backyard.

May I interject here that I love GRUB? This is the best CSA ever!



We arrived at Holly's house to celebrate the 100th Birthday of her House. Also, she and Casey had made homemade Carnitas with homemade tortillas. I should mention here, this was all compliments of Vino, Holly's pig who was so lovingly cared for and now was nourishing her family and friends. And there was some talk at the party of going in on a pig share with some other families. I think I totally want to do that.

Anyhow, people brought roasted garlic and onions, sourdough bread, homemade potato salad, pies and Eric grilled up some crazy catfish in fig leaves. I don't think I'll ever be hungry again. Oh, did I mention the black beans with homemade andouille sausage? This was a foodie/locavore delight. And Portia is always good for bringing an amazing cake. I wish I had a picture. There were little peas, corn, tomatoes and pumpkins complete with their vines decorating the sides of the cake.

My camera card is full. So, I will have to deal with that and get it ready for our next adventure so I can post here.

I don't want to jinx it, but I am slowly feeling better. If any of you get a horrible sinus head cold, start drinking the Gypsy Cold Care tea by Traditional Medincinals. Also, Sinusalia and Cold Calm put out by Boiron are good supplements. And a netty pot is indispensable. And if you have a friend with access to kick ass Chinese herbs, take her up on it. With Michael traveling so much this month, I have to stay healthy-ish.

Remember September

Once again, it has been so long since visiting, that I don't know where to begin! First, let me say that we are reeling with assorted pet tragedy. You may have heard that we lost our dear Turbo Fluff just before returning from Costa Rica. Upon our return we had a little memorial for him.

Then a few weeks ago Sally (our Americauna from the original batch of chickens) started staggering around the backyard not looking so good. I didn't know what was wrong or what to do about it. I had to admit it had been a while since I'd treated the chickens for parasites, so I went to my source for Ivermectin. Sadly, I believe I aspirated my poor dear Sally of the delightfully green eggs with 1/2 cc of medicine. That's all it takes.

On the first day of school this year for Amira and Valerie, the excitement was tempered with loss. To add insult to injury, I had Sally sent to UC Davis for a necropsy. The result? Other than drowning in her medicine, she was a healthy chicken. I felt terrible. But in other news ... no salmonella or other crazy chicken diseases. And I still don't know why she was staggering. Whatever it was is not of the usual contagious disease variety.

Here's a picture of Sally & Buffy. Sally is the darker hen laying down.







So, along comes the end of September and we are all ready to do our annual trip to see Uncle Dave in Santa Cruz. Every year we have a three day stint where we go to the Monterey Aquarium, the Santa Cruz Boardwalk and the beach. Well, along the way down there something came over me that we just had to have a bunny. The house felt so empty. And every time I had a bunch of cilantro in my hands, it felt odd to not feed it to a furry little critter. Anyway, we found an organization called Rabbit Haven . They hooked us up with our new little guy, Napoleon Bunnyparts. Or, as the kids have proclaimed, "Napoleon Bunnyparts Dynamite Santa Cruz".



He's a crazy little guy. We think he is pretty young. He's a dwarf agouti bunny. He likes to hang out on the book shelf behind the chair at night and listen to stories. He loves to run around the living room rug like a race track. And he is litter box trained. What a good little bunny!!



Upon bringing our new family member home, our excitement was tempered by yet another loss. Our little cuckoo maran, Lucky, went missing Friday afternoon while we were gone. And a red tail hawk had been spotted sitting in our yard Wednesday before we left town. While harvesting squash from the garden I found the crime scene. Pretty sure it was a hawk. Poor Lucky probably never saw it coming. She was the sweetest, dumbest chicken I've ever had. I will miss feeling her little feathers on my legs when I hang out laundry. She had a knack for digging in the laundry basket looking for treats and running around my ankles.

Here's a picture of the four "chicks" we got in March. Lucky is the black and white speckled hen. And, of course Happy turned out to be a rooster. So, of all these guys we just have Olive and Perch. (Olive looks like Sally and Perch is the fluffy white chicken).



So, we are officially down to 4 chickens. We have Buffy (our menopausal hen), Agnes (who is in molt), Perch (who is broody as all get out) and Olive who has also gone broody. Not so many eggs for this chicken family. Oh the irony have having this much chicken poop and no eggs!

Anyhow, that is our sad news. Now, on to the fun stuff! Santa Cruz was a blast. Each year the kids get a little taller and are able to ride more of the rides. And although not taller, I was conned into getting on a roller coaster with Valerie.













Also, the aquarium has some new features like these interactive videos where they pop your face up on a screen. But I have to say we miss the big tank.



Rex and Valerie grabbed the camera and got some great shots of seals out in the bay.



I think Uncle Dave survived. Not sure. We haven't heard from him since returning.

In other news I went on an overnight field trip with Valerie's class to the Grinding Rock State Park where we camped like Miwok in Umach'cas (bark tee pees). One of the dads was in charge of all the cooking and menu planning. That was a relief to me. And how nice was it to wake to nice hot coffee in the morning. Usually I'm brewing it. I tell you, camping has never appealed to me because it's like all the cooking and cleaning I do anyway but more difficult because it's all dirty. This was actually fun. And the weather was fantastic. I didn't even need a sweatshirt.





The kids got to go on a night hike, hear Native American tales by the fire, drink hot cocoa, make honor bead necklaces and medicine pouches and help with all those chores like cooking, cleaning, hauling water, etc.



Lastly, on the long drive home there was much monkey business in the back of my van (what with five kids and all!) Anyhow, Valerie stuck something in her mouth, someone else ripped it out and her bottom tooth went flying through the air and was caught by another student.

When she got home she was re-enacting the story to Amira. And as Amira ripped some cloth out of Valerie's mouth, out popped the bottom tooth on the otherside. Here's Valerie showing off her toothless smile.

Crafticapped

I believe I am paving a road with all my good intentions. I'm not sure where this road leads, but I'm suddenly having an idea.

As much as I am inspired by all those craftacular people out there who can bake a cake to look like a castle, create a gingerbread house with stained glass windows, whip out a blanket, dress, custom or other nifty doo-dad on their sewing machine as well as knit and crochet anything in a matter of minutes, alas, I am not one of them.

Amira's soon to be first grade teacher came for a home visit a couple of weeks ago to see where Amira lives and what she likes. While she was here I dragged out many a half completed project (fairy house, apron, skirt) to display my desire to be able to sew and yet my lack of ability. Amira will be in a class with kids who have moms who actually make money sewing skirts and putting on fashion shows. And, yet, somehow I volunteered or got volunteered to sew 30 bean bags for the class. Yes, that's right, THIRTY.

I consoled myself. Bean bags, that should be pretty easy as projects go. It could be a lot worse. I mean, those crayon pouches look like a lot of work.

Well, it took me an entire weekend to make the bean bags. It's always daunting to start with giant bolts of fabric and a sack of beans and imagine the finished project. (Well, it may not be hard for some people, but I am crafticapped after all).

Michael and I made a little assembly line. I sewed pouches, he turned them right side in and filled them with beans and then I filled them with a little lavender I dried from our garden and sewed them up. The process was not difficult. Finding the time to set aside was a little daunting. It took a couple of days.



I really felt triumphant as I dropped of a 15 pound bag of wonderful smelling bean bags into the classroom. I did my duty and now I'm done.

But then I saw a note from my friend Caryl who had gotten volunteered to do those crayon pouches. She suddenly realized there were not enough hours in life to deal with them and needed someone else to take over.




I guess I was a little high on lavender scented bean bags when I wrote to her and said, "Is there a pattern? Why don't you just drop the stuff off at my house and I'll do it for you." Caryl tried to warn me, "Really? Are you sure? She wants these by the first day of school and it's going to take some time." Like a case of turrets, here it came, "How hard can it be?"

I about cried when I saw the gigantic bolt of fabric take up my entire living room. And there was a piece of paper with a sort of directions. But I decided I could do it. Failure was not an option.

Sadly, you know that saying,



I remembered it too ... after I cut. So, making one crayon pouch is not a problem. Making 30 of them identical is a challenge. Let's just say I can't make two matching mittens when I knit. So, thirty of these rascals are all over the map. I just hope the kids can fit their crayons into them without it falling apart.




And I have a new respect for those poor people in the sewing sweat shops around the world ... and their talent to put out identical garments!

So, here's my pile of 30 crayon pouches. They are bundled up so the size difference won't be apparent until the kids start comparing.



On the plus side, if the job is that bad, I might be fired. Then I won't have to worry about any more sewing jobs! And also on the plus side, I can thread a sewing machine and tear apart a bobbin case like it's nobody's business. I'm feeling more confident in that realm. It's the measuring and cutting I need to work on in the future.

I'm so fired.

Mysterious Mrs. McHenry

A funny thing happened last Sunday. While our kids were up at the cabin with Neni & John, I was simultaneously convalescing and trying to get errands done for the week. Our phone rang. Not the ominous sort of ring you get from a school when you know your kid is either throwing up or full of lice. It was a friendly sort of ring.

Our neighbors, Bob & Mary, who live around the block from us called to tell us they have a duck in their back yard. Well, naturally, why wouldn't you call us with news like that? They are well acquainted with our kids and back yard menagerie. Mary said she woke up to quacking that morning and they've been trying to catch this seemingly flightless duck all morning. I said I'd gladly come over and try to help them catch the duck but I was trying to do some cooking for the week (lunches and dinners). Anyhow, I sent Michael round the block to check it out. His firm response was, "We are not getting a duck!"

About thirty minutes later, Michael pulls up with a duck in the back seat of Old Bessie. I was so thrilled! A duck!!! I hear they are great for gardens. Supposedly they eat all the slugs and snails and weeds and do not eat up your food and till it under the way our naughty chickens do.



We put Mrs. McHenry in the garden with a big bowl of water. She looked a little curious about her surroundings. My garden does resemble a bit of a jungle at this point. There are winter squash vines crawling all over everything, including the tomatoes. Our chickens peered at her with that sideways glance that chickens give. Mrs. McHenry washed her bill and began snacking on weeds. I couldn't have been happier.



Soon Michael and I had to begin our journey up the mountain to pick up the kids. Of course the battery in the newly serviced van exploded in an attempt to thwart our efforts. But that's another story.

Once up at the cabin, we gleefully showed pictures of Mrs. McHenry to the kids and grandparents. The girls were thrilled. The grandparents shook their heads at yet another animal in the yard. Poor Rex didn't want to have another pet because it was just going to die like Turbofluff. Who came blame the kid for being gun shy? But soon he warmed up to the idea and was quite excited.

We arrived back in Chico at 10pm to find Agnes, our "Good night Chicken" by the back door. She never made it to the safety of the coop before the photo sensitive door shut her out. And Mrs. McHenry was waiting for us by the back bedroom door.

We put Agnes to bed in her coop and we put Mrs. McHenry in the coop formerly used by the younger chickens. I felt good that they were all safely put to bed.

At 6:30am the next morning, I saw Mrs. McHenry crane her long duck neck out of the coop and look around. She flapped out into the yard where she was promptly chased around by Lucky. (Lucky is the lowest on the pecking order, so she was a little excited to have a new kid on the block). Mrs. McHenry waddled around quacking her head off. I brought out a big bowl of water and pondered getting a used kiddie pool for her. We sat there and looked at each other for a bit. Then she flapped her wings broadly and took off in the great wild yonder at approximately 6:50am.

I mean, that duck didn't just hop the fence into the neighbor's yard. She flew up, up and away.

I was a little sad. No duck. Good-bye Mrs. McHenry.

I went back inside to make breakfast and pack lunch for Rex. At 7:00am Rex jumped out of bed and ran to the back yard to look for Mrs. McHenry. Well, I suddenly felt very guilty. I had to inform him of the situation. Apparently we are only an Inn on the great duck highway. She was not a pet after all.

Well, I figured that was the end of the story. But on Wednesday my neighbor from across the street, Terri (Valerie's piano teacher), came over to use the phone as she'd locked herself out of her house. She said as she stepped inside, "By the way, you guys haven't seen a duck around the neighborhood, have you?"

We had to tell her the tale of Mrs. McHenry. Apparently Terri's sons found the duck out near Highway 32 and noticed she couldn't fly. They were worried she'd get hit by a car, so they brought her home. Terri put her in the backyard. Evidently she'd hopped the fence Saturday night into Bob & Mary's yard behind Terri. The rest, as they say, is history.



The mystery of Mrs. McHenry solved. I suppose she's off looking for a Mr. McHenry at this very minute.

Above is the name of the best restaurant in the city of San Ramon. Our driver Alex and his friend Eduardo (seen below with Michael and the kids) brought us here on our way back to San Jose from Arenal. Oh, and Alex wanted me to know that he's not "just a driver" but THE BEST driver in Costa Rica. We had a fantastic Arroz con Pollo with fried yucca, plantains, etc. It all came attractively displayed on a banana leaf. We were too full to try any of their amazing fruit smoothies in such exotic flavors as guanabana, cass and tamarind.




Here you see the kids with Senor Tucan out front of our lodging at Los Lagos Hotel in La Fortuna.



Our room looked upon the Arenal Volcano which was delightfully active and rumbly. We would wake in the night to hear the rumbles and hear rocks and stuff clattering down the side of the mountain.





One of the features of Los Lagos was the hot springs and water slides. These and the swim up bar were enjoyed daily.





Los Lagos also sported a menagerie. Here you see one of the crocs. It was a little odd to look at all the butterflies, frogs, etc. in a zoo format after seeing them in the wild. But we were happy to see the crocs with a barrier between us.




Directly across from our room was not only the volcano, but a beautiful hillside with these painted horses grazing and scampering around. We often sat on the porch outside our room listening to the calls of tucans while watching the horses and the steaming volcano.





Before we came to La Fortuna/Arenal tourist haven, we were still enjoying the wild Osa Peninsula. Here you see Rex with a butterfly and the lush flora behind him.



Also on the Osa we played at Playa Preciosia and stayed a couple nights at the Iguana Lodge. They had boogie boards for use.



This is a moment from our stay at the Lapa's Nest House (just after the Tree House). You can see the amazing panorama with rainbow on this day. We were treated to fantastic animal shows (tucans, macaws, monkeys) and lightening shows at night. It was very peaceful and just what you imagine a tropical vacation ought to be.

Costa Rica photos 8

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