Friendship

They can play just as hard as they fight. It all depends on whether the stars are perfectly lined up, and how long it's been since they had a good snack. But then, there are these certain quiet moments that speak loud and clear...



I Heart Faces - Friendship

Random issues

Scavenger Hunt at Ashley's! It's been awhile since I played.

1. Seeing double/two

We've fallen in love.

I will send them out to the barn... I will send them out to the barn... I will send them out to the barn... I will...

Yes I will. They've only been in the house a week. It's not an issue (yet).



2. Whatever

Socks with my off-brand Crocs. Crocs? Is that even how it's spelled?

I've already proven that I'm a fashion queen.

*sigh* Whatever.



I have control issues. I had to painfully force myself to switch to shooting in plain old jpg for my own day-to-day pictures. Three weddings worth of RAW images to process pushed me over the edge. (I am not a wedding photographer. Just had a few opportunities to test the water.)

3. Sweet

I have attention issues. I forgot to change back to RAW format when we were under the mixed (artificial and natural) lighting in the coop.

My baby with one of her "beebee peep". So sweet.



Sticking my fingers in my ears while singing "la la la" and blissfully ignoring my white balance issues by slapping the ill-fated jpg straight into black and white... sweet. Okay. Not really sweet, but it works. Sort of.

4. Space

The always variable amount of acceptable minimum space between these two brothers fascinates me.



The amount of acceptable minimum space between the Older Brother and The Bean is not variable. Ever. It's starting to become a real issue.

5. Bright

Did I say I have attention issues? My goal here was to take an artistic picture of grass. Don't ask.



He was sitting on a gigantic round bale of hay (grass). I was just a little distracted by his bright shiny eyes.

The popcorn maze

I'm embracing Tara Whitney's mantra of "perfect imperfection" on these photos. I love them. All of them.

Tell me a popcorn maze isn't fun. I dare you.





Here's where I hold my camera above my head and fire away blindly. Bad focus. Wonky composition. Tell me to delete these two? No. Way.





One of us was not obeying the boundaries of the maize, no matter how many times we tried to correct him of his deviant ways. Guess who.





And then he parked his fat behind in the middle of the sunflower hallway.

Honestly, Marshall.



In other news, a grand total of one of our Morning Glory seeds sprouted.



The Older Brother is so so very excited at how much our poor little pumpkin plant has grown since we transplanted it a week ago. All the pumpkin seeds rotted the first time we planted (are you noticing a trend here?). I can't imagine autumn without pumpkins, so we threw caution to the wind and tried again.



That's right, my friends. We're gonna be harvesting pumpkins when it's twenty below zero.

KinderGARDENS - week 13

Through the gate

Our new babies cried tonight, after I put my sweet Bean to bed. This was followed by an odd noise that I couldn't quite place, but the babies immediately stopped crying. All was quiet. All seemed well.

Half an hour or so later, my curiosity drove me to peek toward her room. There she was, at the very top of the stairs... crumpled on top of her blanket, thumb safely in her mouth, eyes glued at something down the stairs.

She gave me a silly smile and a soft, "mommmmmy".

This was her view:



Her new "beebee heeeeee!" were staring right back at her.



I felt a bit guilty tossing The Bean back into bed.

And wouldn't you know it. The kitties started to cry again after their girl was tucked away out of sight.

Edited to add: I'm aware that the gate was a ridiculous idea. I figured it would contain them to one room give them some peace from The Bean for about half a day. I was almost right.

A shiny red thing

A flash of bright red caught my eye through all the weeds.

My first thought: Now what the heck did I leave over by the spinach. My second thought: Wasn't the older brother working with his Daddy out here yesterday? What the heck did he leave out here. Must be a plastic sandbox toy.

He left his ten-inch-long piece of PVC pipe culvert out in the yard last week. Our grass grows freakishly fast. It disappeared underneath the jungle and his Daddy inadvertently blasted it to smithereens when he mowed.

It was not a good day. The older brother mournfully gathered up the plastic shrapnel that remained and left it in a respectful pile by our house. He is not only a plumber. He's also the Road Superintendent of miniature towns built around our yard.

I thought perhaps it was a good lesson though. You know, on leaving things lying about the yard.

And then my dear husband admonished me for abandoning a metal electric fence post in the garden corral. It was on it's side in the grass. The mower actually chewed that thing in half and tossed it aside like a toothpick.

I swear, I did not leave it out there. And for the record... he also mowed off the top of our metal ratchet sprinkler and then questioned the boys as to who broke the dumb thing.

Ah, yes. The shiny red object that caught my eye? It was only this.



Swiss Chard. So beautiful. So tempting to grab a handful and...

I can see them over by the barn. I'm giddy as I look for a poo-and-thistle-free area to flop myself down under our orchard (I'll call it whatever I want, regardless of what it looks like). They eyeball me, weighing whether the lure in my hand is worth the trip across the yard.

I hold my breath... waiting for them to run me over.



Then suddenly, the thundering stampede. They're of one mind, once one of them finally makes the decision. A herd of tiny Tyranasaurus race out of the black entrance of their lair, feet pounding the earth, bodies swaying from side to side.

But they're suspicious. What if I'm trying to poison them!



For your own good, Kim, look away. The last time I did this you said I broke your Chard lovin' heart.



They're hypnotized by the sweet prize. Is this a dream? Is it edible?



The insatiable reptiles rip their meal to shreds. It's a vicious attack, the kind of thing that is fascinating but horrifying to watch. Lightening fast, with precisely aimed strikes.

The Chard has no chance.



For a moment, I imagine them the size of a large carnivorous dinosaur. Pretty sure the T-Rex in Jurassic Park was modeled after a chicken.



Then again, I have small children.

Let's not go there.



KinderGARDENS week 12

Confessions of a chicken snob

A few weeks ago, I drove down the road oblivious to the fact that I would have no defense for what I was about to see. I was going to do chores for a neighbor. Innocent enough, right?

Defenseless, I tell you.

My resolve had been broken slightly the week before, when I did chores for the other neighbor. I'm considering blaming this whole thing on them.

I didn't even see it the first time I walked in the door.

It was sitting in the corner. On the floor. Naked wings spread out trying to protect a runaway pile of eggs that a normal sized chicken could easily have covered. It avoided eye contact with me, because that is the best way to hide. Even my two-year-old Bean knows that much.

I picked it up by it's armpits. Do chickens have armpits?

It quivered and shook.

I aimed it at my husband and squealed, "What is this thing!?"



And then I fell in love with it's bald head...



and it's wings, which apparently used to have feathers...



and it's tiny feathered feet...



I wanted to take her home.

I'm a hypocrite of a chicken rancher.

There. I said it.

I agonized for months over what breed of chicken to order when I started my flock. Months? It was more like all winter. I had to have a heritage breed. It was the only thing that made sense to me. I wanted to have a hardy flock with real history, and a real future.

Well, that was all good until I couldn't decide between Barred Rocks or Buff Orpingtons. Both have a reputation for being remarkable birds. So I ordered both, thinking I would decide which I liked better and harvest the others when the time came.

The next Spring, since I had followed through with my plan so well (ahem), I ended up with mixed breed chicks. They were beautiful. I kept three and gave the others away. Then, quite by accident, I discovered that my particular mixed breed was actually one that is commonly sold.

I held my head sort of high once again.

You see how well this "heritage flock" thing is working out for me?

I wanted to take her home, you know.



But she doesn't belong in my barn.

So instead I took these. The most disorganized mixture of hilarious chickens-to-be you've ever seen.



I took them straight home to my barn, and tucked them underneath my own grumpy hen. Nine more days... and The Old Nichols Farm will have fugly chickens too.

They make me laugh. I'm pretty sure that's more important anyway.

But if I ever manage to bribe convince my husband to let me keep turkeys, let me tell you... I guarantee they're going to be the most beautiful, intelligent, personable, heritage breed Bourbon Red Turkeys you've ever laid your eyes on.

Tapatoes

The week 11 KinderGARDEN assignment was to capture macro (close-up) images of the garden. I don't have a macro lens, but I do know a few tricks.

We're having a blast growin' baby birds.



This year's crop of dragonflies was incredible.



On our cranberry bush? We found ants tending herds of aphids. Great science lesson right there. And then we blasted them with soapy water. Darn aphids.



This is all so confusing for me. KinderSWAMPS, KinderCRITTERS...

Let me try again. The KinderGARDEN:

Tomatoes and potatoes. You'd be very entertained to hear the little brother talk about them.





"Mommy, do tomatoes grow underneath the ground?"

"Ummm... the roots do.

"MOM. Tomatoes grow under the ground."

"Sure! The ROOTS grow underneath the ground."

"No."

"You mean potatoes?"

"Yeah! Tapatoes!"

"Right."

Moving along...

It looks like we are gonna have an insane amount of raspberries. Finally.



But only three apples, which is a whole lot better than last year. How to split three apples peacefully among a five-person family, that is what we have yet to figure out.



KinderGARDENS week 11