OK, so I didn't get another load of laundry done yesterday, but I did do more dishes, so that counts. Besides, I'm doing laundry today, and I even updated this site a little more. Namely, I got the quilt camp pictures up.
My niece is graduating on Saturday. I'm happy for her, but bummed I can't be there. I can remember when she was just a baby, and have watched her grow up. I sent her gift off to her today (a quilt and a palm pilot) and since it went Fedex, she should get it tomorrow. She was the flower girl last year in my wedding, if you're curious about what she looks like. If you ever read this, Candice, I love you!
There's not much else going on today, really. I think I may lounge the rest of the day and just cross-stitch, since I'm feeling a little pooped (for no good reason - I slept til 11).
Yesterday was our first anniversary. A whole year, can you believe it? It has just flown by. I guess that's a good thing. If you're wondering, we're still as blissfully happy and giddy and in love as we were in the beginning. (I started to type "as we were last year", but it extended farther back than a year, as you know if you've been reading for that long.) Interesting observation - whenever anyone finds out it's your anniversary, or that it's coming up, they _always_ ask the same question, namely, "What are you doing for your anniversary?" Now, without being completely indelicate here, do you suppose people really want the true answer to that question? I mean, sure they're expecting you to say something like, "We're going to eat out and go visit one of our favorite places" or something equally sappy, but what if that's not what you're going to do. I mean, suppose, just for the sake of argument, that your plan is to crack open your brand new edition of the Kama Sutra and spend the whole day trying each and every position. Twice. Do you think people would really want to know that?
For the record, we stayed home. We played cribbage, we walked around the property making a video of the animals and buildings (probably an annual tradition), we did a (very) little weeding, we sat and talked, we cooked dinner, we read, we cross-stitched (obviously some of these "we's" apply only to one or the other), we had dinner together, followed by wedding cake and fake-pagne, we watched a (very very stupid) movie called Dog Park, and we went to bed. The important thing is, we did _not_ answer email or the phone or see anyone else besides us. OK, Mike read through email before I woke up, and both the UPS and Fedex drivers showed up, but none of that counts. All in all, it was the most perfect day I could've imagined.
As you may know, the first
anniversary is traditionally the one on which you exchange gifts of
"paper". This can present quite a challenge when, as we did, you rule
out books as potential gifts (our standard fall-back gift). My gift to Mike was
three M.C. Escher prints, framed. His
gift to me was an origami starter set. Three packages of origami paper and three
books sets of instructions on the subject. We even spent part
of yesterday making a couple of paper cranes. All in all, our efforts were,
predictably, pitiful, but we had fun.
Oddly enough, today was a very productive day for me. Now, you must bear in mind that "productive" is a relative term. The fact that I'm updating this site is enough to call a day productive, even if it's all I do. But it wasn't! I washed 2 loads of dishes and one of clothes (more laundry to be done after this update), tech-edited a chapter for a book I'm working on about the Internet, did 2 months worth of filing (personal, Lark, and MCW), and made the trek into town to play Egg Lady, make a bank deposit, and buy a few groceries. On the way home, my energy level dropped, and it was a major struggle to keep my eyes open and keep the truck on the road. I think my days of lone town-going may be over, at least for some time.
There's a lot that's happened since my last post, including Quilt Camp, Mother's Day, and Amanda's visit. For now I'll close, and try to toss in bits and pieces of that stuff in future updates.
Yesterday, we went to the Endicott Elementary School, armed with an incubator and a half-dozen eggs. We went into the first grade class, and Mike proceeded to set up the incubator, teaching the kids how to keep an eye on the whole process, and promising them we'd be back in 2 1/2 weeks to check on the progress.
Today, we went to run errands, starting with a visit to the doctor (details on the Pregnancy Diary). This was followed by a trip to the bank and fabric store, back to the doctor, then on to Subway for lunch for me, then the grange for feed and fence posts, then the grocery store. Our last stop on the way out of town was back at the doctor's, to do one more blood pressure check. I came home and took a nap, then checked email, then went into town for a meeting of the Quilt Guild. While I was napping, the new farrier showed up and shoed Danny. Mike tended her (she doesn't "tie", so you have to hold her lead the whole time) for the whole two-hour process, so he wins the Best Daddy in the World award. :)
We moved Casper and her kittens outside today. We've decided to close off the garage to dogs and let them home-base there. Mike put some food and water on the ground near an old sleeping bag, and we lugged the kittens out with the mom. Everyone was very timid at first, but they eventually made their way around the better part of that garage. If Mike or I was standing outside the garage door, they'd come out for a bit (the garage isn't closed completely; it's a couple of inches off the ground) and kind of play around. Mom made sure everything was ok in the garage, and safe, then she went on the prowl. Within about 15 minutes she was back with a mouse. Within 30 minutes she had nabbed another one. I know she caught at least one other today, but can't say for sure how many she got altogether. She's still got her touch. :)
I slept better last night. And I slept a lot today. Several naps. Probably catch-up sleep. Besides that, I've just been working on a quilt for my mother for Mother's Day. It's going together pretty quickly, when I actually feel up to sewing.
Only two more days until we get to see our little boy!! I'm getting so excited. :)
It has been a VERY long time since I did a diary update, I know, or updated this page at all. There is an excuse, although I'm not sure it's a good one. FrontPage suddenly decided it didn't like this particular site anymore. It just refused to open it! Mike could open it from his computer (the data is housed on a common server) and I could open other sites on my computer, but not this one. It was a real stumper, and I finally just gave up on it since it was such a source of frustration. But since lately I've been feeling very pregnant (more on that on the baby page), I wanted to move this computer downstairs but wanted to work out this problem first. It's odd, I feel kind of out of practice, so hopefully you'll bear with me.
Well, lots has gone on, and I can't remember specific dates so I'll just kind of spew things at random. Zorro also had a litter of kittens, but she only had 4. Between the two litters, we got 9 females and 1 male. Since we're planning on spaying all of the females to prevent future litters, this is a pretty non-cost-effective outcome, but there's nothing we can do about it. We moved all of them into the back bathroom when Casper's litter got too mobile and we were worried about them falling from the rafters in the living room. As I update this site more, I'll get more pics of them up. Tomorrow, if the weather is nice, we're going to move Casper and her litter back outside. They're getting extremely stir-crazy, and it's time to start reclaiming that bathroom.
In addition to the 8 chicks (one was killed by the dog, by the way) the broody hen hatched, we managed to hatch 25 more using an incubator. They're isolated in half of the chicken coop, while the broody mom and her babes have been re-integrated with the rest of the flock with apparently no problems. We've had another hen go broody (peck-your-hand-off broody) in the last 4 days, so we'll give her a few eggs to set. Mike's marking these by pencil so there won't be too many for her to handle. Besides these, we're going to take a half-dozen or so up to the school for the first graders to hatch for us. It's almost the end of school there, and this should be a fun little thing for them to end the year with.
We now have turkeys. We got 20 in, and one passed away (no obvious reason) so we now have 19. They got here the day after the incubator-chicks hatched, so they're about the same age.. but you wouldn't know it by their size! They don't grow as fast as ducks, but they do grow FAST.
Speaking of the ducks, they're now at slaughtering size. Which is good, because they eat like little pigs. No, really, they eat ALOT of food. Mike has been trying to sex them so we'll know who to "whack", but this is not the easiest task in the world. So far he thinks he's sexed 3, and he thinks 2 are female and one is male, but he wouldn't swear to that. He bought a 50-gallon tank and sunk it into the ground for a pond, since they just weren't showing any interest in the stone trough (probably because it's about 3 feet off the ground). They just love their pond, and they splash around in it all of the time. Little mini-ponds have sprung up all around it.
The garden is getting weeded, rototilled, and planted, although not by me. Mike has had pretty much complete responsibility for gardening and animal care. He's been incredible about getting everything done, which is good because most days I just don't feel up to it. He's started working for a new start-up, too. That's a good thing, because it means a steady paycheck, whenever the contract details get worked out (I'll post a link to their site when that happens). This means we've got even MORE computers around this house, and Mike is back in battle with the phone company to get more bandwidth dropped in here. Let's just say it's not easy.
We've started boarding four horses for a friend of a friend. Originally, the agreement was for two months, but they're already a week behind on the second payment, so we're not filled with confidence. There are 2 geldings - Ukiah and Musty - a mare (Orion) and a filly (Brea). They're only temporary animals, at least in theory, so I'm debating whether or not to upload pictures. If you're interested, you can look at Mike's page.
I've been spending the last few weeks trying to get obligations taken care of before D-Day. Mostly this means getting quilts made and sent off to their prospective owners. Check the Quilting page for updates, as I get the pictures loaded. Speaking of quilting, a few weeks ago I entered a few items in the St. John Stock Show and Fair. I actually won a purple ribbon!! This was for my stained-glass daffodil quilt. I was really rather proud of myself. :)
Hopefully, I won't fall this far behind again. I'll post more frequently, if FrontPage cooperates, and I'll try to be a little more detailed.
