A home in progress

I've been busily buying and planting new things in our yard lately to replace the dead or dying ones that were abandoned here before we bought the place. We had the house painted in August so that looks good. I am starting a ornamental grasses and perennial herb and butterfly garden on the side by the retaining wall and put in ground cover in front. We really need a barrier for all the people (i.e. middle school and high school kids) who cut through our front yard. Mr. Geek wanted juniper for this and that is just what I got. I also got some Point Reyes kinnickkinnick for me, which will be in front of the juniper as you stand at the front door. I'm not a fan of juniper. I also bought some new rosemary and lavender and planted it up on the retaining wall.

IN the back yard we have a new fig tree and a pomegranate tree. I'm really excited about these. I can't wait for some shade AND some fruit!!

Rob's Favorites at 7

We had our annual interview to find out all of Rob's favorites. Some of them haven't changed too much.

Favorite food: Pad Thai and Dirty Rice
Favorite drink: Strawberry Kiwi Juice
favorite veggie: peas
favorite toy: Lego beach house (he doesn't even own this)
favorite game: Shopping Spree money game from the book order
favorite place: grandma and grandad's
favorite holiday: Christmas
favorite season: winter
favorite color: green
favorite snack: apples
favorite dessert: apple crisp
favorite cookie: cowboy cookies
favorite book: Frog and Toad All Year
favorite school friend: Joshua, Lemar, and Moses

What do you want to be when you grow up?
5th grade teacher

Birthday weekend!

Mr. R turned 7 last Sunday, but we made a whole weekend celebration out of it because Grandma and Grandpa came to town. It was hot (of course!) but we started the weekend off with an ice cream sundae party for relatives and our new neighbors. Rob had a blast. You can see some of the toppings and food items made available at the party. Jokes were made about the jimmies. I made a dark chocolate hot fudge sauce out of Scharffenberger chocolate which was quite decadent, and a lovely homemade caramel sauce as well. It was not a good weekend for dieting, but we had a great time. We played several games of Blokus, a new game Rob got for his birthday. What an awesome game! If you haven't tried it, I highly suggest it. It's a great strategy and spatial relationship skills builder game, kind of like an anti-Tetris. Rob received a Millennium Falcon Transformer toy from our neighbor which he immediately told me was "the best toy he ever received." We went out for pizza that night per his request and then went to San Francisco for the day on Sunday, his actual birthday. He wanted to take the ferry, so we took the Alameda/SF boat and that was a total blast. It's a whole new way to see the bay and it was such a gloriously warm lovely day. We mostly walked around by the Ferry Building and a fishing pier as well as the trolley museum. There was some kind of crazy get out and exercise fair thing going on along the Embracadero which made things a little crazy. We met up with Jon, had some lunch and then ended up taking the ferry home rather than waiting around another 4 hours.

On Monday we went to Dow Wetlands to find the elusive river otters, but they were nowhere to be found (just their droppings!) but we saw lots of birds and other cool things. It's a nice discovery of places to go in our new home town. We have had so many home towns, but most of them seem to be near a river, which makes everything seem a little better. Grandma and Grandpa flew home on Monday evening.

The chickens have hit maturity!

Yes, the girls are really growing up. One laid a first egg on Labor Day, Sept. 1 and we've had one a day since. I think they are each laying once every other day, because the first and third eggs look the same, dark brown with speckles, and the other is just plain dark brown. They are such lovely eggs and we have eaten the first one...yum! It is so fun to have laying hens. I enjoy looking in the nest box for eggs each day. They have managed to lay the eggs in the right place despite not being able to keep the golf ball nest egg in the nest box.

In other news, the kids started up school again last week. Both seem to really like their teachers. The young one is in a combined K-1 class with 12 kids and took to it like a fish to water. He's already bossing the other kindergarteners around. :) My 2nd grader says he liked his class this year. I think the school is probably a better fit for him than the last, though the other had higher test scores and more prestige in the community. Test scores aren't everything.

Mr. R is now 7 years old too. We celebrated his birthday with a ice cream sundae party on Saturday and a trip to San Francisco on his "real" birthday so we could take the ferry from Alameda to SF. It's a great ride, though too short for my liking. The Embarcadero area was VERY crowded and crazy so we didn't stay as long as we planned, but it was still fun. The weather was quite warm as well.

I've posted a few new pics of the "girls", well, just Corsair actually (Ginger wouldn't cooperate) and their handiwork.

It's been eons- and Roo is 5

We've been really busy moving, celebrating Andy's 5th birthday, visiting with grandparents, and fixing up our new home. It's also been HOT, and the computer is in the hottest room upstairs. I hope to post again a little more regularly as we settle in.

The Roo is 5. He loved his cow party this year. HIs friend from school couldn't make it this year, but all of the relatives came. He eagerly ripped paper off his gifts (this is only the second year he has been interested in gifts). ON his actual birthday, he started summer school and stood sadly at the gate watching us leave, crying. That about tore my heart out. I circled back around 15 minutes later and he was still standing there in the same place. I had to fight the urge to run over and hug him and take him home with me, nobody should be so sad on their birthday. The second day he was fine and has been each day since. We only have one more week of summer school and then it's time for a month with no school, which will make the transition to kindergarten in the fall all the more challenging. He doesn't do as well when not in school for extended periods of time.

After the rough first day of school, I took the boys out for lunch at Carlos Ginger (aka Carl's Jr.) I love how Andy calls it Carlos Ginger; Carlos from the Magic School Bus and Ginger from Chicken Run (and the name of our favorite pullet). Andy had his fave chicken stars and "chips" and root beer. Man, I never let the kids eat so much junk generally!

We are liking our new home but regretting the purchase of a 2 story house for many reasons. The stairs are not one of the reasons. It's so hard to cool the air up there and is frequently over 90 up there, even with AC running. Needless to say, I have problems sleeping because it's so hot and stay up way too late and then am sleep deprived during the day. I can't WAIT until summer is over. I say this every year, but this year it's worse. It's been around 110 multiple days this week. UGH!!

I will post more soon, I hope!

I'm adding some pictures that Uncle Jon took at the party.

Life on an urban farm

Our chicks and veggies have really grown! As you can see from the pics, our squash have grown a lot in the few weeks since the last pic was taken. We have been having lots of of squash and cukes from the garden, it will be hard to leave it behind. I'm not sure the beans are going to actually have beans for us to eat before we move, despite the fact it has been plenty of time and they look tall enough. I'm not sure why they haven't flowered yet. It's so much fun to have a little bit of country here in suburbia.

Garden and Chicks

It is a time for growth here at our place! Not only are the kids growing, but our veggies are growing like crazy as are our chicks! It's amazing how fast they grow. They had their first time out of the coop last weekend, when these pictures were taken. They happily ran around devouring dandelions and pulling on grass and eating ants.

Rob had a field trip to a farm last week and brought home a tomato plant, despite the fact I didn't want to have to move more potted plants to our new home. Oh well.

Speaking of new homes, we closed escrow last week and it's OURS! We really like the neighborhood and the neighbors are so friendly and so happy to see a family move in, the place has been vacant for a year. We're a little nervous about it, but we are pretty sure that it will gain some value eventually. It will also mean a MUCH shorter commute for Mr. Geek and with gas at $4/gallon, that's saying something. We still can't get over how low the prices are right now.

Chicken Freedom!

The chicks (or chickteens as it were) weren't overly interested in getting out today, but were content to perch on the side of the coop next to us, particularly Ginger, our sweetie pullet. It was pretty warm today (about 90) so they were panting quite a bit. Corsair is the Welsummer on the left in the 2 chick picture, and Ginger (darker) is on the right.

They will be 7 weeks old tomorrow, believe it or not, which means we have had them for 6 weeks! By late June they should be laying large dark brown eggs for us. They will also double in size again by then.

Sad day

Our 7 week old Ameraucana pullet died today. She was such a bossy, pushy, curious thing, we'll miss her beauty and her funny personality. The kids are very sad about losing our Susie. We're not sure what happened, but it happened pretty quickly. She was a bit lethargic last night and earlier today, and then she died.

We have just loved having chickens. They are fairly easy care pets, they are fun to watch, and FULL of personality. I am sorry she didn't make it to laying, I was looking forward to her bluish/greenish eggs. The two Welsummers appear to be doing fine, let's hope they hang in there.

In other news, we are buying a house! A really nice bigger one in a nice neighborhood. We'll start moving in May and will finish in June. We plan to let the kids finish the school year here since it's a new town and a new district.

The picture here is of our Susie, may she rest in peace. This was taken about a week ago.

Monterey Peninsula

We made our annual spring pilgrimage to the Monterey/Carmel/Pacific Grove area last week. It was wonderful as always. We spent most of the day at Point Lobos. It was really busy there, but a gorgeous day all the same. We didn't see any otters like we usually do, but we did see harbor seals and sea lions AND we found a cool tidepool with lots of sea urchins and chitons. After a fun day of exploring, we stopped off at the Sea Harvest and had clam chowder and fish. The boys, of course, had chicken. I guess we are lucky that this year Andy will eat chicken. There was nothing on the menu that he would eat last year. Point Lobos has to be one of the most beautiful places in California, if not the whole west coast. It is just amazing.

Chicks!!

We finally got some babies! It was weird how it all came about. We were lamenting that all of the hatcheries seemed to be out of the bantam layers we wanted and were ready to just get a few smaller standards. So we researched some of the smaller sized standards and decided we would be ok with them. It would be nice to have some full sized eggs.

Mr. Geek REALLY wanted to get some chickens, but we couldn't find any we wanted. I decided to check craigslist and found someone with Aracaunas and Welsummers, two standard breeds on our short list. We drove 1.5 hours each way and picked out the last Aracauna and 2 week old Welsummers. They are all so cute. Susie the Aracauna (so named by Rob) is about a month old and quite the escape artist who required a bit of wing trim her first night with us, and Ginger and Corsair are smaller, but definitely using their wings too, and it won't be too long. I love their chipmunky look. They are all going to be so lovely as they get older, and they are quite engaging and amusing now. Susie will eventually lay medium to large bluish green eggs by summer time and Ginger and Corsair will lay large dark brown eggs.

It has been a very chicken spring break so far and it was so fun to have some little peeps for Easter here with us! They are such awesome pets.

First Harvest!

Rob pulled the first of the radishes yesterday. He thought that was so much fun and especially loved eating the pretty little Easter Egg radishes. We'll have more again in a few weeks. We now have lettuce planted and will soon be planting some carrots.

7 years

We've been married 7 years today. 7 years of wedded bliss. Ok, so a lot of it hasn't been blissful. We've had two wonderful children, both of whom have special needs and challenges, and that takes its toll on a couple, no matter how much we love them (and we do!) We haven't ever gone away by ourselves because Mr. Geek doesn't want to, though once in a while I would like it. We've gone through my severe depression, job terminations, career changes, and we've lived in 7 homes in 7 years. That's a LOT for a couple. But here we are, still together. Neither of us is the happy type (we tend to be moody and broody) but we are happier with each other than we'd be with anyone else, I think. Here's to many more years. :)

Just another (fun!) day at the Martinez Marina

I forgot to journal about a recent trip to Martinez (weekend before last). It was a gorgeous (albeit windy) spring-like day and everything was crystal clear. We saw the usual gulls (western), avocets, western grebes, etc. But this time we also saw a sea lion off the side of the jetty. It was pretty cool! Usually there are a bunch of people fishing out there. A fisherman came along and told us that the sea lion likes to hang around when they are fishing and steal the fish right off the line! What a clever bugger! It was fun to watch and the boys were enthralled. Andy was making roaring and growling sounds at it after hearing it was a sea LION. Silly boy!

We love going out there, there's always so much to see and you can see the train tracks, small craft in the marina, large ships, and TWO bridges: Carquinez and Benicia. It's also a nice spot to go in the summer because it's windy and cooler than the surrounding areas. It's one of our favorite local landmarks.

Spring has sprung!

I've been so busy and infected with spring FEVER! It's been so great here. I've been outside creating and amending 4 planting beds (building them up from a gravel pit, it's been a lot of work!) Mr. Geek has helped a lot on weekends at well. I think I may finally have them ready for planting in a few weeks.

So, along with garden fever I have somehow ALSO contracted chicken fever. We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our dear little chicks. We've finally found a feed store that will order the kinds we want (bantams that will lay a reasonable number of eggs) plus a few silkie chickens for fun and because they are supposed to make great pets. I have learned more than I ever would have thought I would know about chickens. I can't wait to raise some baby chicks as well. It may be another month before we get them, but I can be patient, I think. We are hoping to get one or more of the following: Ameraucana (they lay blue and green eggs!!), Barred Plymouth rocks, Buff Orpingtons, and the aforementioned silkies. All of these are supposed to be gentle, sweet natured hens, and we look forward to adding them to the family. The coop is almost done, and it looks pretty good.

So, with all of this garden and chicken fever I haven't done much scrapbooking. It's bound to happen in the springtime for me though. Spring and fall are my favorite seasons and I like to be outside working in the yard. I get a lot more scrapping done in the summer and winter when it's either raining or too hot to be outside.

I made an interesting discovery while clearing a planting bed in front of weeds today. I found 4 perfectly intact squirrel skulls. I think they must fall or get knocked out of the palm trees out front (which are right next to this planting bed).

I've been busy at Rob's school helping in the classroom and helping at Andy's school as well. Andy is going on his first field trip this Friday. They are going to a farm. I am driving him to the farm. We also have Pinewood Derby this week and a few other things, and next week looks hectic as well. Then we get a week off to just chill. That will also be when I start planting parts of my garden. Can't wait! My radishes are getting close to harvest time...I can't believe how slow they have been to "round out" but they are doing pretty well now. Not a single one has been attacked by a predator (leaves anyway). I guess containers are the way to go for radishes. I started some baby leaf lettuces from seed too, but I won't see them pop up for another week. Soon it will be carrot planting time too! Well, as soon as those radishes come out.

Theft and inclement weather

Somebody came by during the night or very early Saturday morning and very neatly cut my daffodils. I have more bulbs that are still coming up, thank goodness. What kind of person comes along and steals flowers from someone's front yard? I can't figure out WHO would do something like that. It REALLY, REALLY made me mad. It was obviously someone who planned it, because the cuts were made with scissors, which kinda rules out punk kids wandering along. Housewife stealing a bouquet while out for an early morning walk with the dog? Old lady and her walker? Good grief. I know there are worse crimes, but geez, this is pretty crappy and low.

It has been rainy and windy pretty much all weekend. We went out for a drive in it for the heck of it on Sunday afternoon. I made some beer cheese bread and Mr. Geek bottled his bitter stout ale he's been working on. We've had at least 2 inches of rain and there are a lot of branches and pieces of our palm trees out in our yard and on the street. Dratted palms, HATE THEM! I think I may have a lost a lot of my radish seedlings as well, despite my precautions. They may surprise me yet. Atleast it's supposed to be dry the rest of the week.

In other news, despite all odds, one of my little muscari is blooming! Woo hoo! I didn't think I'd get any this year!

Fave Feb Pics

Just had to share a few of my feb faves...

President's Day check in

I'd better quick post so I get another Feb post in!!

We had a pretty good Prez weekend. On Saturday we went to Hayward marsh and got to watch a seagull attempt to eat a shark. It was pretty comical. Poor guy just couldn't open the tough carcass and struggled to carry it. Other gulls arrived so he had to start posturing and look big and tough so no one else could take his shark. No swallows at Hayward yet, we'll have to go back in a month or so. The wintering ducks have mostly left for the season so there wasn't too much to see, just a lot of Least Sandpipers, some willets, and a few curlew and herons.

The boys have been holding hands lately when we walk places. It's pretty cute! I will be making a scrapbook page about it, I think.

We ripped out the crappy Aralia trees that were blocking the light to my scraproom. It's a whole new world!! Those trees were really bugging me. First, they blocked my wonderful morning light. Second, they had these hideous black berries that the robins ate and pooped all over our cars and sidewalk. And they are covered with ants. Goodbye and good riddance!! We bought a nice shrubby ceanothus to replace it. I'm liking this idea because it is low growing (under the window) and a native plant so it should thrive. Of course, right now it looks puny, but it should grow pretty quickly.

We also worked on raking and cleaning things up. We did a lot of pruning, adding to our compost bin, and more soil prep for our garden. Mr. Geek painted his chicken coop colonial red. It looks like a little barn. It will be fun to have some chicks next month. I definitely got a good yard work workout this weekend.

I am a little bummed that I didn't get any scrapping done, but the weather was so wonderful and I like working outdoors. Organic gardening is rapidly turning into my next big hobby. There's so much to learn. I wish I still could ask Grandpa questions, he was such an expert on garden matters. I feel closer to him when I work on it. It also makes me miss him more.

Back to school and craziness tomorrow!

February's here!

Yikes, it's been a few weeks. Last weekend we ventured out between the storms on Super Bowl Sunday (like we watch...ha!) to go for a walk in Tilden. We stopped by the little farm and then walked out to Jewel Lake. There was SO much water there, the amount of water going over the dam was pretty cool. I personally liked seeing the pigs at the farm, oink, oink. The boys as always loved seeing the chickens. They can't wait until we get a few chicks in the spring. Mr. Geek is working on the coop right now as I type.

We had a couple of days without illness around here, now Rob is back to having a fever. Great. 'tis the season, I guess.

We planted our radish seeds in the old water table today and in a pot. I'm hoping these work out better than the ones we planted in Marysville. I guess we will know in a month. Rob was a great help planting.