Preparing

I have been mostly packed for our Kaua'i trip for days, not hard since what I've been reminded that I will wear for the tropics is not what I am wearing for autumn at home. My friend has posted and sent me photos so I am prepared for things to not look postcard-perfect; they are still cleaning up the damage left behind by Hurricane Lowell. We're not sure yet if the botanical gardens we'd like to visit will be open because of that, but we have scheduled a chocolate farm tour, and plan to take a boat and snorkel tour up the Napali Coast if the seas are calm (I'll still have to take anti-nausea meds). Rick and I want to hike and drive to as many scenic spots as we can, and my friend and I plan to ride together as many afternoons (on the beach!) as we can squeeze in. Of course there will be beach/ocean/pool time (my friend has a pool), too, but laying around is not what I'm looking forward to. I want to experience as much of the island as I can on this, the only Hawaiian trip I anticipate I'll ever take.

I picked up some waterproof bandages to wear in the water, because I got a dandy steam burn while canning applesauce Sunday. I need to do at least one more batch of applesauce; I will try to be more careful!

Out of curiosity I contacted my oldest cousin (eldest son of my eldest aunt, who was 18 years older than my mom) to get more information on family history. I knew my aunt, uncle and cousins were missionaries in Hawaii, but that's about it other than these photos of old photos:

My cousin (on far right in first two photos) obliged me with the following:

"Good to hear from you!

1946-1949: Kapa'a, Kaua'i

1949-1952: Hilo, Big Island

1952-1957: Honolulu Central, O'ahu

1957-1959: Traveling evangelist on every island except for Ni'ihau (the Forbidden Isle); home base was Kailua, O'ahu.

"When you are on Kaua'i you can see the church my father pastored. He started a successful poi manufacturing business that helped finance the church school. You will also see a mountain range called Sleeping Giant. High up in it is where we lived when we returned from my family's evangelistic meetings. This is where we had our first horse, Blackfoot."

We were already planning to hike Sleeping Giant, so that will be another fun connection to family history.

I have lots of 'local news' (photos) to share but will pick just some for this post and try to do one more called "Where the wild things are" before we leave. I am not going to take my laptop with me for once, so no posting from Kaua'i! But there will be spinning and hopefully knitting to pass the time on the long flights to and back. Here's a summary of my spinning since the last time I shared my progress:

I used up my blue silk plying (I thought; I found another turtle of it later!)

so plied the rest of this colored merino on itself.

Then I started flick-carding and spinning this darker colored merino.

I might use that found blue silk single to ply some of this!

After some welcomed late summer rain I have been watering the garden again. Harvested some lovely beets to make my favorite raw beet/apple/carrot salad for potluck last Sabbath,

and put the handful of green beans I picked into a delicious yellow curry. Brian won't do anything with/for the garden while we're gone, but more rain is in the forecast, thankfully.

Wool is growing; the sheep are going to need bigger coats soon.

The ground squirrels are moving back in and Poppy is in full hunting mode; she caught and killed two in one week. It's been harder to keep her attention in agility class because of that; we'll see how this Sunday's trial goes!

I don't think Chuckie hunts for anything but attention anymore. He was positively fawning over the farrier this morning!

That's it for now from . . .

Uff da

I shouldn't have wondered what else this month might have in store for us. It has been quite a day – and week.

After working in town Tuesday-Thursday (my part-time job and covering Rick's office for his secretary) and trying to get the loud clunking in my car diagnosed (it refused to reveal itself to the technician – of course), today has been a whirlwind of at-home chores. I got up early to do the vet clinic payroll and review with Rick what he had gotten done on the garden water lines, then did barn chores, chopped thistles, trimmed and swept the front walkway, and worked to complete the water lines. Then I came inside, gathered a load of laundry, went to the basement where the washer is – and spotted a small puddle beside the upright freezer where we keep fruit. With dread I opened the door and found everything thawed. So I hauled all the dripping bags and containers upstairs, stashing what I could fit into our refrigerator/freezer and plotting how much I could use up for potluck dishes and supper (not nearly enough).

While doing all that, I was keeping my ears alert to chicken squawking through multiple windows opened for that purpose. Our next-door neighbor on the east lost one of her two hens to a raccoon Tuesday evening; I chased a raccoon away from the hen yard yesterday afternoon (my chickens had retreated, squawking, into the henhouse), and this morning I learned that last night our same neighbor beat off a raccoon that had grabbed her last hen by the rump and was trying to drag it over the fence. Good thing I was listening, because I did hear squawking, ran down and found a raccoon halfway up the 6' fence of the run! So yep, the hens got shut in early again, and will stay in until we have the chance to turn their run into Fort Knox.

Hens, still safe

Pullets, still safe

Believe it or not, on top of all that the power went out for over two hours late this afternoon. Since I couldn't do much else, I enjoyed the chance to SIT and spin for awhile, guilt-free!

On a more soothing note, my iris bouquet has been opening up to reveal rich, royal purple blooms. My little orchid is not only holding onto its three blossoms, it's developing more flower stalks. And after a long hiatus, my African violet is finally blooming again (unlike the African violets I cultivated at the office, which bloom non-stop thanks to regular feeding).

That's it for May from . . .

March madness

I almost titled this post "Sloppy Spring." It's been wet and grey and cold for days; the ground (including the arena) is saturated and squishy; the covered chicken run alternates between a river, a lake, and a swampland. Ugh. Then yesterday afternoon the snow flurries started, and continued off and on through the night. Nothing stuck, though, until after 8:00 this morning. It's melted now (adding to the slop), but we could get more of the same over the next few nights/mornings. Stereotypical weather for lambing, but none of my girls are close to that yet; I know, because I felt them all up this morning. For some reason, poor Blaise was very lame in her right rear leg/hip. I suspect she got roughed up by someone. I fed her a couple crumbled molasses-rich horse cookies to boost her energy and will check on her again later.

We're very thankful to still have some firewood left to keep the house comfortable. Hay supplies are good, too. The ewes, of course, are getting regular pasture time; without that I would probably run out of sheep hay before this year's crop is in. Having them out as much as possible also keeps the Sheep Sheraton from getting disgusting as quickly, and can't help but contribute to the health of ewes and their eventual offspring. It's hard not to be impatient; I want to see what's 'cooking'!

I'll have to wait for these beauties, too; I'm not digging a hole in the mud to plant them yet. Gotta love Costco's prices – and plants that the deer leave alone! I must admit, though, that I've seen very few deer — and NO mice — in quite some time. Interesting, especially about the mice.

That's it for the first day of March from . . .

We've gone to the dogs

I had a lovely week with my mom, but believe it or not, the only photo I got of her was when we played dominoes for my birthday! (That was a rare treat as Rick rarely plays table games.) Other than that, we didn't really do anything out of the ordinary, mostly visiting and cooking, it was just good to be together.

During that week, Rick looked through the available dogs on the Pacific NW Bulldog Rescue website, the same rescue from which we adopted Dozer, and saw a French bulldog he liked. I have been campaigning to get Poppy a playmate, and although I wouldn't have chosen a brachiocephalic dog, Rick has been bringing up Frenchies periodically and I figured I'd better go with what he was open to. We filled out an application, then texted our contact (from Dozer) with some questions. She texted back that the one Rick liked was already adopted, but she had other options. In a flurry of texts, she told us about a sibling pair of Frenchies that were being surrendered in another state that we could possibly foster with an eye toward adopting one. We said we were interested, and mentally prepared to meet them this weekend. But because of incoming weather and volunteer transport availability, that got moved up to last Thursday night!

Oy; what a day. I got up at 1:45 a.m. to get Mom to the airport in time, came back and tried to sleep a couple more hours, got up for work and appointments in town, came home for less than an hour before leaving for agility class with Poppy, and then drove to another town to meet our rescue contact and transfer two traumatized, tired, soiled dogs to our car for the ride home.

Leo and Gracie are intact 11-month-old French bulldog siblings and Gracie is in heat, so that complicates things as they must be kept apart for now. The rescue pays for their neutering surgeries and other expenses while they are in foster care, and we provide love, routine, training, and exposure to new things for evaluation. They were from one of the last litters produced by a reputable breeder known to our contact and sold together as puppies. Last month, the breeder happened to drive past their current residence and saw the pups outside in sub-freezing weather without shelter, food, or water and promptly confiscated them. Normally the breeder would have taken responsibility to rehome them herself, but she is dealing with a dying father so contacted the rescue.

Poppy is being a wonderful hostess, interested, friendly, offering them toys, trying to get them to play, and letting them follow her around when they are less sure of us humans. So far they haven't responded much to her overtures (much to her disappointment), but hopefully that will change. They are definitely getting more comfortable and warming up to us in just two days; today they showed interest in toys for the first time. Below are photos from Thursday night to tonight; Gracie is in the mint harness, Leo is in the black one. (I have some cute videos but can't get them loaded right now.)

To close, I have to turn the spotlight back on Poppy. This morning I heard a rustle near the front door when I stepped out to get firewood, and thought I saw a gray form huddled behind a pot. I called Poppy over, and she grabbed a RAT.

That's the dog saga for now from . . .