Scribblings from a twenty-year homeschool veteran about homeschooling, life after homeschooling, occasional peeks into the world of writing for children, and the ups and downs of life in general.
Show and Tell with Mary! Don't miss it! Click the graphic!
Out of desperation for Blog Fodder this week, I decided to share with you some of our favorite "livestock and other creatures" moments through the years. This is a pictorial adventure which I hope you will enjoy (in no particular order):
A boy's best friend is his . . . hen?
A girl's best friend is a little smaller . . .
Uh, Grandpa . . . are you SURE it's safe to carry him like this? I mean . . . he's still clicking those claws!
(True, not a farm critter, but crabbing was a favorite activity when visiting Grandpa and Grandma.)
How many more of these critters do we have to feed, Mom?
When you're too little for the real thing, a calf works in a pinch.
Now, that's what I'm talking about!
(Note braided tail. This horse was a pet in the truest sense of the word).
This is the biggest frog we ever saw on our place. Don't know where Chad found the thing!
"Oh give me a home, where the critters all roam,
Where the children stay outside all day!
Where often is heard, sweet laughter and words,
Saying, 'Please can I go out and play?''"
"Home, home on the farm,
Where the critters and children live well.
Where each day is so fine...
Be it rain or sunshine...
And the old place we never will sell."
--by Susan Marlow, with apologies to "Home on the Range."
This is quick because I'm out the door to teach my writing class at the co-op. Fridays are crazy for me, but I want to share this picture. Did you know God made pine cones this big? This is a Sugar Pine cone. We picked it up at about 7,000 feet in the Sierras. I have a couple others, but I hesitated to get the pitch all over Kaetlyn for the picture. Messy things, fir and cone trees. I spent my childhood climbing Douglas fir, sliding down the branches, and coming home with hands streaked with black. The pitch is clear, but picks up dirt galore. And it doesn't come off. I went around the house and to school smelling like a forest many days.
I'll try to get around and say hi to everyone later this afternoon!
Show and Tell with Mary!
This is a quick show and tell. Three pictures can't begin to describe my week in sunny California, but everybody's seen pictures of Yosemite so I'm not even going to show more than the one that proves I was really there. LOL
So, with no further chatter, enjoy the quick takes of some fun in the sun (and yes, it is raining back home in WA. It's like we passed under a cloud in the middle of Oregon and are now trapped).
Yep, that's me sitting on the (very) small brick wall on the edge of a cliff. To the left is El Capitan. I only know about El Capitan from watching Star Trek V, The Final Frontier. It is the worst Star Trek movie I've ever seen (and I'm a Trekkie).
This kind of thing is more to my liking. This fellow drove us on part of the original road to Yosemite. Can you imagine riding all day in this stage in the dust--up and down steep mountains--to go into the Valley? And that was from Wawona, near the entrance to the park. Yikes!
(Oh, that's me up with the driver). He was a hoot and told the most incredible stories during our 10-minute ride).
The best part of our trip was driving around the High Sierra the next day. We hiked up to the top of Fresno Dome---7,000 feet high. A relatively easy hike from the backside, but sheer cliffs all around the 3 other sides. It gave me the shivers and I stayed in the middle and did not venture near the sides--not even to look over the edge. The drop is about 3,000 feet to the valley below (the valley already being at 4,000 ft).
It was opening weekend for bear hunting, and it's like they needed a traffic light up there in the middle of nowhere! We passed a good number of men and dogs and pickups. The biggest surprise was nearly running a small angus calf over at 6,000 feet in the mountains. We couldn't see his mother, and he started following our truck, bawling. Poor thing. We thought it was a small black bear at first. We didn't stop for a picture for fear we'd end up with an orphan calf on our hands. LOL
I couldn't decide whether to show the brand new pillar for our rock wall on the homestead blog or a bread-making day. Since I've used the homestead blog twice for S&T, the little helpers won out this time.
I've ground my own wheat for years and years (can't wait to grind wheat from our trial plot, but it hasn't been threshed quite yet). LOL
On this bread-making day I had two eager helpers, who shaped their bits of dough into what looks like a pizza crust and a dough ball. I wish I could visit everybody's S&T this week, but alas! I have to teach a writing class all morning, and as soon as I get home, I'm off to California for a week. So I'll be off the grid. Maybe...just maybe...a hotel will have a wireless connection.
I hate to do this to you again, but my Show and Tell is over here: FarmLifeFarmWife.
It's a homestead Show and Tell about our wheat "harvest." Don't laugh!
I was gone all week, so I'm having a hard time catching up. I missed the Homeschool Memoirs meme on Wed. Rats. I doubt I can make it up now. I've tons to do.
I have a new picture of Christian. He's finally stopped crying long enough to allow his mommy to take a picture of him with his eyes open! Isn't he a cutey? Christian Martin Adair Ross; 5 days old
A fun birth date: 08-08-08; 7# 3 oz. 20 1/2 inches long.
Here's the sweater set I crocheted for him. Kristel wanted everything white this time: blanket, sweater, and hat.
Again this week my Show and Tell is over on my FarmLife homestead blog. It was supposed to be a S&T about my DD's new baby, but the little guy has not made an appearance yet, although I was called home from my writers conference early because Kristel was in labor. Yes, she still is. This fella wants to stay "inside" awhile longer.
I wish I could visit everybody's S&T this week, but alas! I have to teach a writing class all morning, and as soon as I get home, I'm off to California for a week. So I'll be off the grid. Maybe...just maybe...a hotel will have a wireless connection.
Christian Martin Adair Ross; 5 days old
Kristel wanted everything white this time: blanket, sweater, and hat. 
