A Taste

For the past few days, we here in New England have been getting a taste of Summer. It's been 90° and sunny, and perhaps not as humid as it will actually be in actual summer, but without any leaves on the trees to shade us, it has felt plenty hot enough. The kids spent a good percentage of the weekend running through the sprinkler, and we all got a bit sunburned (despite sunblock and sun-proof clothing). We also managed to plant some of the raised beds that my mom put in last year (but went unused aside from a volunteer patch of pumpkins, and some zinnias), with lettuce and broccoli, brussels sprouts, and peas.

If there's anything I find more appealing than a pregnant woman,
it's a pregnant woman in carhartt overalls. Swoon.

gardening at 31 weeks

The chickens finally laid their first egg (though if 6 "laying" hens + 9 days = 1 egg, I am not sure this is something to really celebrate . . . (apparently the stress of a move can cause an egg strike, and indeed that seems to be what's happening)), and Luke, Jaz and Araela have now named them all (Charlie the Rooster, Snowflake, Vulture, Adeline, Stripey, Bikey and Pipey). Catching and holding the hens is a favorite activity (which I find somewhat surprising given that I myself have zero interest in cuddling up with a chicken). We are getting eight baby chicks in a couple of weeks, and then six 4-month-old pullets (about to start laying) a week after the chicks arrive. It is going to be chicken central here soon.

Jaz holding "Stripey"
(or is it "Bikey?" or perhaps "Pipey?")

The goats are now allowed out of their enclosure when we're in the yard, and don't seem to stray far from us. They are incredibly sweet. No signs of impending labor yet, but it could be sometime in the next week or so for Chive.

We leave leashes on the goats just in case we have to catch them quickly.

The cousins continue to fall more and more in love. Not that they don't still have the occasional squabble, of course. Zeben and Araela are the closest in age (there are 25 months between the twins and Araela, 20 months between Araela and Zeben, and 25 months between Zeben and Ezra), and witnessing them trying to negotiate through conflicts can be absolutely hilarious (one of Araela's favorite words). Zeben is, understandably, infatuated with his older cousin, while Araela is, understandably, frequently frustrated with Zeben's lack of communication skills. He has a habit of claiming nearly everything as "mine," and Araela finds this infuriating, especially when he's referring to something that's actually hers. Yesterday they were struggling over one of Araela's baby dolls (the boy doll who we sent her after Zeb was born, and who she named "Zeben"), and while Zeb did eventually hand it over, he did so only with the stipulation, "you can borrow it as long as you're not mean about it." And Araela was like, "but it's MINE!" Jes and I had a good laugh while our children stood beside us in tears.

Tired kids on the way to the grocery store . . .
I think these two look like they could be siblings
(which is surprising since my sister and I look nothing alike).

Even though Summer is not my favorite season, I am tolerating our mini-heat wave quite well. That said, I am thrilled to hear that Spring is expected to return later this week, with leaves on the trees and blossoming flowers and everything. And I am planning to hop back on my blogging bandwagon (somehow I got bounced off during the boys' mini-vacation last week) with a post a day for the rest of this week. So, stay tuned . . .