Karlowsky House Happenings

Katie's Babies

2010-04-25T16:36:00.000-07:00

Most of you know, Katie had puppies a few months ago. They are such cuties, so here are a few pics of them.

The proud momma of the little monsters.

Play time with Aunt Weenie.

The ultimate doggy pile!

2009-12-31T12:24:00.000-08:00

Christmas Vacation 2009

We went out to the woods to cut the tree. The kids quickly figured out the icy tire tracks were some of the best sled runs ever! Falynne was first to go...she was bouncing off of the edges and crashed rather hard her first run. Riley wasn't far behind. What a blast!

Kevin had a really nice tree picked out pretty close to the road...I said lets see what is up there. Nearly to the top I found one I liked so that was the one we cut. Then we had to pack it back to the road. I always like the ones at the top of the hill the best...
After we had our tree it was time to drag the kids up the hill on the way to the truck. Falynne hitched a ride on her sled being towed. One more run down the hill and Dad would pick them up at the bottom. It was quite a ride!

Sledding on the Flat

For anyone that has ever gone sledding with us this is the most fun. The three wheelers are a blast in the snow. A ski rope and an inner tube make for a great time!

Katie says catch me if you can!

Katie is quite the sled dog. Riley was hanging out with her and sat in the sled. She towed him down the hill and found she was really good at it. So off she went for the rest of the day. Running at full speed with one of the kids in tow.

Sledding on the Flat

For anyone that has ever gone sledding with us this is the most fun. The three wheelers are a blast in the snow. A ski rope and an inner tube make for a great time!

Katie says catch me if you can!

This is how Scarlet decorates the tree. Sawing logs is the way to go. The People can do the hard work!

Santa Kevin

Falynne in the Santa hat.

Gus thinks he is the top "dog". Crazy cat, he thinks he is really a dog...

Kevin and Riley putting the ornaments on the tree.

And Falynne a few of her own...

2009-12-22T21:05:00.000-08:00

December the kids and I spent some time in Janesville. What a treat, it snowed, and the kids had a great time on the sleds.

Katie thought it was a great time catching and herding the kids down the hill. Built in breaks when she caught you.

Headed up for another run.

2009-11-04T06:57:00.000-08:00

Pumpkin Bash 2009

Wow, what a time. We went to Sore Acres with another family to blow up our pumpkins. The kids loved it. Who can beat the woods, a campfire, good food and firearms of all shapes and sizes!

Riley, Elijah, and Nathan were ready for some fun.

The targets were in place...

What was left of Riley's pumpkin after a few rounds.

The next barrage of bullets.

Falynne's turn, she was really scared at first and decided not to shoot the 410. 22's Just for kids was just a little later and she shot in that round.

Can't see her but she is peppering a pumpkin with the 22.

Girls hanging out by the campfire.

My turn, took me a couple of minutes to get comfortable again. It has been more than a few years since I held a firearm of any kind in my hands.

Nathan taking his shot

Elijah

The aftermath, not much left.

2009-10-31T08:28:00.000-07:00

Riley and Falynne sitting on the giant pumpkins. Riley is just really trilled he is having to get his picture taken, often I wish he wasn't such a scrooge, but we all know where that comes from.

Because of Kevin's arm we opted not to go to the field this year, too much temptation for Kevin to do something he should not be doing. We picked from what they had brought up to the main building. Of course Falynne had to pick one that was at the bottom of the heap and the biggest.

Kevin is just so sweet. I commented that I did not like this picture, the angle of my neck made a bad double chin. His comment " what's bigger the pumpkin or Megan's chins?" Always has to be the funny guy!

We went to see what there was to to see at the wildlife area. We found it to be a little too wild!

October 09

2009-10-21T11:50:00.000-07:00

Well, look out world, Sisters are out in force. Sara came home for a visit and we had a great time. We had a lot of fun laughing and just being together again. Wish it could happen more often.

Grandma Strawn was enjoying spending a little time with my new kitty Gus. He is quite the kitty. He sure knows he is special.

Riley showing off his buck. 1 shot again this year. He sure likes hunting.

My new kitty Gus. He is quite the character.

2009-09-07T13:14:00.000-07:00

Miss Bailey and her baby chick. She is the ultimate mother hen, she loves babies, any babies. This is the chick the kids have been caring for. She is well mothered any time she decided she does not want to be in the box.

Katie loves her too. We have to watch her closely as Kate has a tendency to put her paws on her so that she can wash her face.

Little social butterfly being watched closely.

2009-09-07T13:02:00.000-07:00

Kevin's boss, Jay, took the guys fishing out in the ocean last weekend. They really needed thier little mini vacation and the salmon is tasty to boot.

Kevin's Catch

Kevin and Tom with their fish.

Tom's catch glistening in the sun.

Fishing at Riffe Lake

2009-09-07T12:53:00.000-07:00

The kids and I went fishing with Grandpa Bill a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed our day. Falynne got to drive the boat a little and Riley relaxed a bit. It was a nice day.

A little bit of scenery.

The Great Mammoth Excavation

2009-08-07T17:30:00.000-07:00

A Mammoth Adventure

The kids were having a blast when we were getting ready to leave. One of the volunteers offered them to have thier picture taken with the model femer bone. Falynne could not get over just how big these guys were. She says "With bones that big, they were HUGE! I would not want to be an indian hunting him."

The boys were not quite sure what to think if what was going on at first. It was a bit much for them to get thier minds around that they were actually standing on an archaeological dig.
This young man was screening the dirt he had taken out of his hole. They were looking for any little bones or hints of what else was in this layer.

This young lady was excavating some smaller bones. The pros had not decided what they were exactly, but they thought they may have been bison. There had been other bison bones found in other plots.

This gal had a rib she was working on the right wasexcavating a vertibrae. It was one from the hump in the neck so it had a large bone on the top. Really neat to watch her work.

Winston Oregon

2009-07-20T12:41:00.000-07:00

When I took the kids to meet up with my parents, we were going by a great wildlife park, so we decided to make a day of it. What a great time! The kids really thought it was an interesting way to go to the zoo. A DRIVE through zoo. Great for a hot day in central Oregon.

A couple of years ago an injured deer was nursed back to health by some people in Oregon, only to have her taken away because they had already given all of the permits out for the year. She is now in their petting zoo. She really liked the guy tending to her pen. He was her friend and she knew it. I was going to get a pic, but I missed that one. Maybe next time....

This funny little zebra really liked this giraffe . The giraffe was taking all of the shade the little tree was giving off, so the zebra was using the shade the giraffe was creating, while the rest of the zebra were hanging out together keeping cool in other ways. Maybe these two were just friends, Melman and Marty come to mind....hmm

These funny bears were a bit warm, so they were playing in the water. Riley took lots of pictures of them, they were just plain cute!

We had a bit of a slow drive in "africa" this friendly guy was "directing trafic". He decided that using whe road was better than through the field. We saw him earlier leading the way for other cars too. This must have been his pass time. He seemed to enjoy it.

Riley took this rather beautiful picture of this guy. He likes photography, and is really good at it!

Anyone up for a car wash? We had to have these pretty little ladies wash our car! They were so funny! The man in the brown was thier handler and he sure enjoyed his job. The elephants sure seemed to enjoy their's too.

Strike a Pose. They saw the camera and struck this pose. Smile for the Camera!

Clean window???

Out came the spunges...

A good strong rinse...

Monkeys playing on their jungle gym.

African deer... I can't remember what they were called. I will have to ask Riley.
Kilp Springer

The white ones, the kids know what they are called I will ask...Riley says it is the Follow deer

Simba the cheetas friend an Anatolian Shepherd. We didn't get to see the cheeta he was in his house.

The pretty Flamingos

Dik Dik

Pool Party

2009-07-20T11:48:00.001-07:00

Pool Party

Kevin and I decided to rent to pool for the kids and thier friends. They had a great time and the kids pushed their boundries. Falynne even went down the great big slide. She said she felt like she was never going to come up. She had no interest in going down again. Maybe next time.

Molly floating along with the mats.

Falynne is practicing her surfing skills.

Jimmy taking a break and just floating a bit.

Falynne the tug boat.

I think this is Riley getting ready to hit the water.

Jared hitting the water and making a big plash.

Another big splash.

Riley's big jump....

Events of the 4th

2009-07-07T12:23:00.000-07:00

The Ape Caves

We took a day to play in the cave. This one is 3/4 of a mile long and really a fun trip. Christina and I made a picnic lunch for after our adventure.

Riley and Alex Jr. were reading up on all of what they saw. They really liked the science behind its creation. After lunch they spent more time studying up on all of the other small caves in the area. There were some where the lava burnt out stumps and they were just holes to inspect. Oh so much fun.

Kevin and Falynne checking things out in the tunnel.

Fireworks

The boys bought some extra fuse and put all of the fireworks together. The put on quite a show.

Elisia really liked all of the fireworks.

Falynne was having a blast too.

Sparklers are so much fun too.

Riley's 12th Birthday

2009-07-07T12:04:00.000-07:00

Due to the long holiday weekend we decided to have just a family birthday, and a friend party later this week. He had a nice evening and looking fwd to the pool party we are having with all of thier friends on Friday.

2009-06-25T17:45:00.000-07:00

Camping in the NW. Always carry "blue sky". The kids and Kevins 'Coon Camp. Falynne's Mud Pie with wild flower accents. Katie looks on to appearing to wonder just what in the world she was doing.

Riley and the cheesecake that was much more mouthwatering.

Why do you need a motor on your wagon when you have a big brother!

This and That

2009-06-02T09:41:00.000-07:00

Weenie in the bucket.... we could not figure out what was bothering Katie so much, she was barking up a storm and you could hear Scarlet growling and squeaking. This is what we found. Scarlet had jumped into the dog food bucket and Katie wanted some too. We fed them a little early that night, but with a full bowl , Scarlet still thought it was more fun to sit in the bucket.

Visitors in the back yard. These girls are here every spring, I do believe they were all born in the back woods. They were looking really heavy. More babies in the coming weeks.

Riley took this picture of Katie, she is such a beautiful puppy.

Scarlet and Falynne enjoying the beautiful weather.

Pretty flowers in the front bed.

Really Cold Water

2009-05-27T11:41:00.000-07:00

Well once they got used to the water all bets were off. They were sliding on their knees and jumping over each others splashes, and having a blast!

Falynne, jumping over the water rope??? Jump rope without a rope, just a water stream.

Spring has finally come.

2009-05-18T10:32:00.000-07:00

Getting the ground ready for the pool.

Setting up the pool....

Playing in the freezing cold water. Burr, our well water is just barely above freezing.

Falynne is 7

2009-05-17T15:17:00.001-07:00

Falynne had lots of fun at her party. She had a wonderful time with her friends. They played all afternoon with all of her toys and dress up drawers. After lunch it was time to open presents.

Blowing out the candles.

Opening presents...

A very special stick horse. Riley slipped a supply list in my purse and said he needed them to make a present for his sister... Really neat stick horse in one of his magazines.

Riley horsing around a bit.

Thank Goodness For Old Dogs

2009-05-17T14:55:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness for Bailey. She has bonded well with these two little monsters and is quite the mother hen. She spends much of her time referee of the latest fight for Queen of the mountain. She was watching Katie drag things around faster than I could clean them up in this photo. Katie has a tendency to "pet" everyone, this gets her growled at often. She will learn not to pet Bailey in the face, bugs her a bit...

Love the Katie... she just got scolded for petting Bailey, a few hurt feelings.

Scarlet won the battle for the pillow. Since this Photo Kate has found she is much bigger and just picks poor weenie up by the scruff of her neck and moves her. Not much of a fight and really ticks Scarlet off.

Scarlet very softly moves in for the smooch.....

Got Ya! She loves Kevin.

Scarlet runs to Bailey for protection after she has started a rumble.

Riley Canoeing class

2009-04-21T18:50:00.000-07:00

Riley is taking Dangerous Class for Boys in Friday School. He is loving all of the classes so far, too many to mention them all but Carrie took some great pictures of the hands on canoeing on Friday. He had a blast and really wants to do more of it.

Easter fun!

2009-04-14T11:59:00.000-07:00

I am so bummed, I was so tired after working my graveyard shift, I didn't get any pictures of the kids decorating eggs with Grandma Doris. I am so sad! I did manage to get some pictures of the Easter egg hunts we did.

The kids thought this hiding place was funny. I hid matching eggs in the hamster cages. They were really hard to see. The lamp was missed for quite some time. Falynne finally figured it out too.

I can never get Riley to take pictures anymore but here is one of Falynne..

Messy, Messy, Messy

2009-04-14T11:29:00.000-07:00

Well we are learning some great lessons on making sure the house is puppy proof. Kevin knocked his allergy TP off of the night stand and these little monkeys had a hay day. Everyone ran to see what Dad said "woops" to, in a rather funny tone.

Tug of war over the tube....

Not really a fair one....

The victor... Katie was sure proud!

Puppies

2009-04-14T10:41:00.001-07:00

Riley and Falynne got their puppies a week and a half ago. I have not had time to get the pics up so here we go.

Falynne picked out this pretty little Doxie puppy, which she has named Scarlet. She was the runt of her litter and has quite the personality. Falynne has found that some of her clothes for her stuffed animals fit her and likes to play dress up with her.

Riley and Miss Katie. She is often called Kate but is really a cute little Aussie. He is really liking that fact that she is so sweet, and she talks all of the time. You talk to her and she whines in response. She has lots to say. Katie is really getting to be quite the sweetie!

Katie was so happy to get out of the car. She still does not like to ride.

Falynne's Camera Adventures

2009-02-09T17:47:00.001-08:00

Two Crazy Girls!

Falynne and Bethany had a great afternoon last week. The sun was shining and the boys were outside. They spent time doing their hair and make-up. Oh, what fun it was for them. After the inside was boring they had a picnic on the lawn and spent some time in the swing. They asked if they could take some pictures, so I let them. It is always fun to see what is interesting to the little eyes.

There were lots of pics of the chickens. There was also a great conversation we overheard . It went something like this....
Bethany and Falynne were talking about what each of the chickens were and what kind there were.
Bethany asked " what kind is that big one? it looks like it is 2 chickens put together. "

Falynne asked " Do you mean the one with the bald head?"

Beth replies "yes"

Falynne answered " That one is a turkey, silly"

Beth says "Oh, I have never seen one in real life, just in books."

Marcie, the girls and I had quite a laugh... You don't think of how things are so foreign when you always had them around. Kids always have such a great way of putting things.. will love the turkey story for years!

Jet trails.... This is where the questions about how the planes make the trails in the sky later. Just normal to us but a great science discussion.

Happy Birthday, Kevin

2009-02-08T12:18:00.000-08:00

Kevin is still insisting that he is 37, but the kids and I did the math... Sorry, honey it just isn't happening! It was rather funny, as there was not guessing on where the kids went shopping for dad. They used the Cabelas plastic bags as tissue paper.That was quite funny to them all!

We got him a hunting game for the Wii and a nice new sweatshirt as he is always on the hunt for one that looks decent. Mom and Paul sent him a nice sweatshirt. This one he will not wear for work and will come in handy this week as he has to go to a concrete school in Seattle. He still has lots to learn and is often needing nicer clothes for meetings, bidding and things.

Hamster Hat Fashion Show

2009-01-06T17:16:00.000-08:00

Grandma Nancy made such cute hats for the sock monkeys the kids suggested the hamsters needed some too. They came in the mail addressed to The Karlowsky Hamsters. Cookie (Riley's is much calmer and just sits but Rose is always on the move. She needed a little help to sit still for the camera. Thanks Grandma Nancy, Riley and Falynne

Rose had to be coaxed with a peanut to get her to sit still. She is really a busy little girl.

Cookie just hangs out to see what it next. Nothing much gets her stirred up.

Happy Birthday to the Sisters

2009-01-04T12:56:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday Heather (yesterday) and Adrienne (today) The kids and I made you a nice chocolate birthday cake as a toast to you. It was very tasty. Happy birthday, we love you, Megan Kevin Riley and Falynne

More Snow

2009-01-04T12:42:00.000-08:00

There is was more snow on Friday morning and it is still here. The grass is starting to peak through here and there but it is still really cold.

The kids broke the ice on the stream as the ducks went for an icy dip. The chickens all stood around amazed that they would dream of getting wet. They all got a drink and went back to their nice warm house.

Riley and Kevin's igloo.

2009-01-04T12:30:00.000-08:00

I just got around to getting these up, but here is the finishing of the igloo. Riley was having trouble getting everything in place and staying there. Great Father son project. They had a great time.

The completed igloo!

Christmas Morning

2008-12-26T15:16:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning

Opening presents was a blast. Riley and Falynne both got something on their Santa list. Riley is so good he plays along for Falynne's sake.

Falynne got a great big case of make-up and rings. Dolled Grandpa up real nice later in the evening. She couldn't stop giggling at the pink headband, blue eyebrows, and don't forget the glitter.

This present was hard to figure out what it might be. They had to work really hard to open it.

Once the letter started to show and they knew what it was. The squealing started and then things got a little fuzzy.

Grandma and Doris got dolled up pot holders and towels They turned out really nicely and the bonus, they were hand made by their grand kids.

Layers! Parfait, the best thing on the whole darn planet

2008-12-26T11:46:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve dessert was a lesson in Katie Brown's Workshop. Falynne likes her and wanted to make Parfait in the "Holy Grail" glasses!

This is how you do it Grandpa, Very good job! Delicious!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-18T10:46:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas

Rather than send out Christmas cards We have decided to send greetings through our blog. We had a good time taking pictures and as usual Kevin was messing around in the background and the pictures reflect that. Oh well, enjoy the pictures and have a Merry Christmas.

Christmas Snow

2008-12-18T10:28:00.000-08:00

Oh, what fun! The kids have been non stop in the snow. They started with this funny little snow man and quickly started steeling my plastic bins for thier ventures. Their igloo is starting to take shape and they are now trying to figure out how to make the top. Bailey is still not quite sure what to think of it. She sits on the porch and watches it come down, and periodically goes to see the progress on what the kids are making. She sure is getting old! She no longer plays in it, just sits and watches.

Oh Christmas Tree

2008-12-10T12:44:00.000-08:00

High in the clouds there we hunt for the most beautiful tree. Our family finally made the cut.

Silly Dad, always goofing around off camera.

Kevin and Riley carried it to the truck. Along the way we had a discussion about the fact that we were really walking in the clouds. This was a hard concept for Falynne to grasp, but her little brain was really turning.

The critters at the petting zoo are always sure to check all of the little hands for a treat if they have one. Falynne really liked the little goats and Riley was partial to this little white ewe.

We got to watch the reindeer sparing out a disagreement. The are sure pretty to watch.

OMSI

2008-12-01T07:10:00.000-08:00

We went to OMSI a couple of weeks ago and had a great time. We can't wait until we get to go back! So much to see and not enough time to spend doing it. The kids would like to go on the submarine tour and spend more time in the puzzles and games.

The hearing center

Bones, bones and more bones.

Riley and "Fred"

Infrared cameras were great fun!

Mind Benders...Ouch!

Presentaion Night

2008-11-20T21:01:00.000-08:00

Riley playing his guitar.

Falynne playing her shakers....

and her recorder.

Family photo after the big event.

Grandma Time

2008-11-20T19:34:00.000-08:00

Sock Monkey Saturday

Mom and grandma came with projects! prepared for the rain that never came. The weather was beautiful but we managed to get some of them done. Riley really got into making his and is becoming quite proud of his sewing skills. He had a great time learning to finish his Monkey. Falynne was having a lot of fun too. It took her quite a bit longer to get the hang of things but she managed. She really mastered the stuffing part though.

Ready for Sunday School

It's Monday! Time for school.

Falynne is working away on her "hard math" she is so excited to be doing things that look like what Riley does. "She is getting so smart don't you know. " The way she puts things are so funny...ha ha She is doing so well on her reading too. Falynne is doing really well in all of her studies.

Riley was finding it really, really hard to focus. He managed to get the basics done and he did very well at them. He is so excited, he is consistently getting high 80's and 90's on all of his math assignments. He is noticing how important it is to form his numbers correctly as he has missed some when his 6 looked like a 0. The beauty of self correcting.

Becoming Quite the Little Man

2008-11-05T12:14:00.000-08:00

I just thought I would write a note to say how proud I am of Riley. He spent last weekend keeping up with the men on the mountain hunting elk. He had been attacked by the rooster earlier in the week, and as Kevin was cleaning up outside Honey, the rooster, attacked Kevin. Between the two, they decided, he had to go before someone got hurt. Riley, with his dads help, and a hurting heart disposed of his rooster. Kevin was willing to do the duty but Riley decided that it was his rooster he should be the one to do it. He is growing up so, so fast!

2008-11-05T12:02:00.000-08:00

Halloween Night

We went to our friends Chris and Carrie Leingangs church for their festivities. Dinner, games, "trunk-r-treating" and great friends. What a great combination!

Riley was Mutt and Falynne a Princess

Falynne won the little kids pumpkin carving contest for the little kids division.

Pumpkin Pleasure

2008-11-05T11:37:00.000-08:00

The kids were in heaven at the pumpkin patch, so many to choose from, the next better than the last.

After a quick argument over which one was theirs, thank goodness for mud etc to compare in pictures, they were down to the business of carving them.

I (Falynne) carved my pumpkin as a alien.

Riley carved his pumpkin as cross bones.

The Art of Eluding Kevin

2008-11-03T09:24:00.000-08:00

Riley and Falynne found the little buck snacking on what was left of the green beans. He was very artful at making sure that Kevin was gone before coming around, you know it is hunting season!

Garden's Bounty

2008-11-03T08:59:00.000-08:00

Well just what do i do with all of this? The hail put holes in the plastic so it was time to clean the greenhouse. The buckets of tomatoes just kept coming Yellow,green red and any color in between was in need to be processed. I have slowly windled it down by making sauce and eating them as they come ripe. if they spoil the chickens really enjoy them, and now we are down to mostly green ones. Found a great fried green tomato recipe and going to try some mincemeat and green tomato relish soon. Can't wait until next years garden!

FROM VAUDIS CAMPBELL (JOY'S FAVORITE)

1 lb green tomatoes (4 medium)

3 Tbs flour

3 Tbs grated Parmesan cheese

1 Tbs sugar *

2 tsp (or so) salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1 egg

2 Tbs water

4c bite size crispy corn squares, crushed = 1 1/4 c (could use bread crumbs)*

If less tart tomato flavor is desired, sprinkle slices lightly with a little extra sugarCombine flour, cheese, sugar, salt and pepper, set aside.Beat egg and water, set aside.Cut tomatoes in 1/4 inch slicesDip green tomato slice in flour mixture to coat both sides. Dip in egg, then into cereal crumbs to coat thoroughly.Allow slices to dry slightly while heating enough oil to cover bottom of frying pan.Fry until browned, turning once.

Riley's Big Hunt

2008-10-29T18:51:00.000-07:00

Riley's Big Hunt

My Dad and I are going hunting today. We are heading up the hill behind the hay barn in the mule. The mule is a small truck that we use to go irrigate the fields and do the other farm chores on the ranch.

We are just coming up over the top and spot 2 doe's and their fawns grazing on the right side of the road next to the cliff. As we drove a little further to the bee boxes and I saw a really nice buck standing by a great big Oak tree. I very quietly rested my gun on the front of the mule. I shot one cartridge at it, but I missed. We continued on but found no more deer.

Dad and I decided to head in for a little rest and some breakfast. When we woke up, it was time to do chores around the farm. We helped Aunt Judy and Uncle John de-horn the calves. Dad held the calves still while Aunt Heather shaved their heads. I worked the chute controls, while Aunt Judy put the de-horning paste on the nub's. Grandma Nancy leashed and tied the calves to the fence. After the de-horning paste soaked in we took off the halters and let them go with their moms.

Later in the evening we took the mule up to the top of the hill. We waited approximately 20 minutes, when we were ready to go, we took one last look as a buck rose from the brush. My Dad and I snuck very slowly up to it until we were about 200 yards away. My dad let me rest my gun on his shoulder and I took one shot, but I missed the buck. It was getting dark so dad and i searched the area for blood. We did not find any so we headed back to the house for a good nights sleep after a tiring day.

When I got up in the morning, dad was hurrying me along, because there was a decent buck by the barn. I got dressed and ready for my day, started to mule and drove up to the barn. We looked around for a good place to shoot from. We spotted an old wooden axle and i rested my gun on it. I carefully aimed and shot it in the neck. The deer did a back flip and its antlers were banging into a rock.

Dad loaded it into the pickup and took it to Uncle John's to skin and gut him. We cut him in half and wrapped him in a bunch of old sheets to keep the flies off. Dad and Uncle John hooked his legs to some hooks and hung him in the wood shed.

2008-09-17T08:23:00.000-07:00

These things just won't quit growing! They got a hair cut a couple of weeks ago and now they are hangning from the ceiling again. The ceiling is 7' tall so that is how tall the tomatoes are. The ones at the back are Brandywine's that were just the first 2 leaves when we put the plastic on in June.

Time to get the canner going, too. These guys are all ready to go so that will be my morning chore on a regular basis for a couple of weeks.

The eggplant are really doing well, we have eaten 2 already and more are on their way.

Kevin's Fish

2008-09-17T08:14:00.000-07:00

Kevin had great success last week too. He caught this one on Wednesday night after work and then caught the other on Saturday morning with Riley. So much fun to fill the freezer as a family! More fishing to come soon as the river was just opened for king retention so now we get to go for the big boys and girls.

2008-09-05T08:35:00.000-07:00

Fishing Success

After all of these years in the boat Falynne and I have finally caught something. She cought a pretty nice little Harvest Trout and I caught a nice silver. We had a beautiful morning to fish and were very successful. We caught another Harvey, he was too small, and another Silver, he was wild, so they had to go back to the river. Will be going out as much as we can in the next couple of weeks and try for some more.

2008-08-24T18:11:00.000-07:00

Cannon Ball

The kids are sure getting brave. Riley is really getting good at cannon balls! He loves to see how big the splash will be.

Scuba goggles on loan. One from a friend left after a swim party and the others dads scuba gear. Those little noses were sure getting tired of getting pinched.

2008-08-24T17:32:00.000-07:00

Swimming

Falynne was so proud she just couldn't wait for dad to get home and see. She can swim! She finally let Riley take the life vest of and give it a whirl. To he surprize she really could swim.

Big feet make big splashes. Little feet make little splashes. Oh well she will have to grow some more to catch up with her brother.

Birds in the Freezer

2008-08-10T18:54:00.000-07:00

Kevin spent some time getting his gadgets prepared to make the big weekend a bit easier. He built a guiateen/chopping block and a chicken plucker. He had a lot of fun desingning his version of a drill run plucker. We still want to build a wizbang tub style one but ran out of time this summer. Maybe next time!

This little bird had no idea what was up. He was happily pecking away at that tasty grass.

The Guiateen

The Plucker

We later found that the plucker was easier to use and got in the small crevices better when it was only one PVC cap wide so he took one off. Now we have 2! Really quite easy to use and made quick work of a chicken!

The Executioners!!

Riley and Falynne had Quit a time catching all of the birds and walking them to the house. We all helped out if they got behind but they kept up pretty well.

A little teamwork went a long way. Riley and Rey (Tom's son) had quite a time doing the deed of killing the birds. They got really good at it too.

The plucker in action. Kevin had a great time with his little knock off. It did a great job on all of the little feathers. There were always a few left for us to get off by hand but it make quick work of a time consuming job. we figured he had it ready for the manual pluckers in less than 2 minutes.

Rey and Falynne working on a chicken and getting it ready for Tom.

Falynne found making them dance on that table was lots of fun. The Naked Chicken Dance got quite a laugh.

Riley and Tom checking out what they can find! They were making some pretty interesting faces at first. It doesn't look like they are quite sure where to start. Riley and Falynne were asking what each part was and we were doing our best to figure it all out. Pretty great science lesson don't you think. By the end of the weekend it was all pretty routine.

After Tom was done it was my turn! We found some great freezer bags and I had read that a man was vacuum sealing his with the shop vac. Works like a charm! stick the hose in, turn it on, sin it and put the twist tie on. Ready for the freezer! Nobody took pictures but me so those are missing. Oh well maybe next time! Any way, between all of us we managed to butcher 56 birds in a short amount of time each day. It was quite an eventful weekend! Now we have 25 to go when my friend Lori gets home from vacation.

Color

2008-08-01T21:54:00.000-07:00

Orange soon to be Red

If you look carefully there is an orange tomato! Won't be long and it will be red. It is finally supposed to get warm here so hopefully there are many more not far behind. Happy gardening to all!

I Found Them!

2008-08-01T21:43:00.001-07:00

7-23-08 Look Heather, Mators! After about 3 hours of pruning last week we finally found them all. The vines were so thick it was like a jungle.There are lots and lots of tomatoes. The cherries are over our heads and now having to be tied to the support pipes from the ceilings. Bumber crop there! This is an early girl and they are only about 4 feet tall but have overgrown their cages. Ropes from the rafters for them too. The heirlooms that I started this spring are starting to catch up! they are very tall too, and healthy but just now starting to set fruit. Won't be long though!

Gone To The Birds

2008-08-01T20:37:00.000-07:00

Thieves!!!! Caught in the act!

This gate is going to need some more dog proofing. Bailey and Fergie wait until the turkeys are distracted and go in for an egg. Poor Bailey has earned the new nick name Porkey. She is really getting fat! Going to have to do something about that this weekend!

Kisses and Hugs for Gruntilla

Cocoa the little rooster that goes with the 6 little hens that are getting Oh So spoiled right now. They are trained to jump in the blue box at dusk as we carry them to the garage for the night. Gruntilla is the one Falynne loves to hold. They have mastered swinging and helping to control the bug populations in the greenhouse for me

Cocoa the little chicken

Dinner!

These guys are soon to be going into the freezer. We will start butchering some of them next weekend as it is going to be a huge job! There are 38 left due to a very large opossum that was living next door. He is now a very dead one but he took out 7 before he was got by our neighbor. We now lock them in the "box" at night to prevent any more slaughter. These guys do not perch in the tree with the rest of them so they are really, really easy picking for preditors. We are not sure we will raise them again. They are not "normal", man has created are really fast growing bird but not the brightest things we have ever met.

A New Way

2008-07-29T07:30:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

I have started this great project to have a new way to keep in touch with you all and display pics too. I hope this will be a fun thing for the kids to post their days too. They are starting to enjoy creating things on the computer so I am sure they will be very involved. So here goes.....