Bacon Roses, Etc.

I think we've all settled back in nicely after the craziness that was VBS and having company. However it seems I keep forgetting I have a blog, thus the lack of updates. Here are a few random bits from the last few weeks:

Shelly had seen bacon roses somewhere and wanted to try them. Why not, I say! So we hit the grocery store for bacon and the dollar store for fake roses. They were remarkably simple to make, and pretty hilarious. Shelly wants to make her prom date a bacon corsage, so we decided that her qualifications for finding a prom date now include the willingness to find prom attire at the thrift store to avoid ruining a suit with bacon grease.

So...these pictures...it all started when we finished the wolf shirt (post here). I was taking a few pictures of Shelly in her flashy new shirt, and it all went south from there. He, he! Johnathan took the pictures and we just goofed off for the camera. Shelly scored the sombrero at Amish Walmart for only $3. Everyone needs a sombrero, right? The funny thing about these pictures is that the whole time, Shelly kept saying 'you have to post these on facebook! They're so awesome!' and I kept saying 'I'm too old for this! I can't post ridiculous pictures of myself on the internet like this!' In the end, I did post a few (she has the photo shoot in its entirety on her page...) and it totally made her day. :)

While the kids were here we took them to Five Mile Woods, which is a pretty nature preserve near us. I decided not to tell Johnathan that salamanders lived there, because I knew he would stop and turn over every.single.log in the place. That kid is a critter magnet. Although I do aspire to actually see a salamander in this area someday. I have only heard they exist...

Other than that, we've been keeping busy sitting in front of the air conditioner, visiting the library about every other day, or more, picking stuff out of the garden, and finishing TWO chapter books! (By The Banks of Plum Creek and Old Yeller...if you must know)

**P.S. I think I am up to almost 70 pounds from the garden so far. I am nearing the point where I will be hauling stuff in by the bucket every day. And I've said it before, but eating fresh garden tomatoes every day, all day, is one of my favorite luxuries!

Really Old Squirrels

On the day that I set up for VBS, Jeff bravely took Johnathan, James, Shelly and Tyler to the Franklin Institute in Philly. I kept Katie with me. While at the museum our nephew Johnathan wandered over to a lady who was giving a lecture. He listened intently for more than 15 minutes. When he came home, he told me all about it. He said there was this lady, and that she was talking about some really old squirrels. He listened and listened as she talked about the really old squirrels. Then she started talking about how they had writing on them, and he began to get confused. Writing? On a squirrel? She asked what they thought the squirrels were made of, and he answered that they were made of hide. She told him that while there were a few made of hide, most of them were made of parchment. It was at this point in the conversation that I realized he wasn't listening to a speech about really old squirrels, but really old.....scrolls. Dead Sea Scrolls! Needless to say we all had a good laugh about that one. Dead Sea Squirrels! :)

The Beach

The Saga of the Cheese Steak

Note: We spotted one of the few remaining pay phones in the US. An overly helpful homeless chap informed us rather loudly, not once, but three times! that that pay phone didn't work.

Yesterday we put our niece and nephew back on the plane for Colorado. I have mixed feelings about all that. Shelly and I had a blast together, and I miss her already. When the other kids were in VBS, we went off on a few adventures. One day, we dropped the kids off at 9am and drove straight to South Street in Philly. South Street is this eclectic, funky, edgy place...not really sure how else to describe it. It is home to the famous Jim's Steaks. If you are in Philly, the first thing you think of when you hear 'steak' is not a steak in the traditional sense...as in T-Bone, rather it is thinly sliced steak fried on a ginormous griddle and thrown in a hoagie roll along side some 'whiz, as in cheese whiz. The thing you must know is that you can't just meander into the place, spend an hour gazing at the menu, and then mosey up to the counter to order a 'cheese steak with cheese whiz, and...oh, mushrooms sound good. And peppers! Yes, that would make a mighty fine sandwich.' Jim's is usually incredibly busy and manned by some pretty intimidating grill sergeants. Ha, ha! I just made that up. Anyway, the first time we were there Jeff took too long to order and got yelled at. I was so afraid of the wrath of the steak man that I ordered exactly what I heard the person in front of me order. Usually the line at Jim's is out the door and it takes a while to get to the counter. Guess what?! There are precious few people brave enough to eat a steak at 10:30 in the morning. With only one group in front of us, I was feeling pretty fine. Then, one of the GINORMOUS grill sergeants looked at me and said 'Ma'am, with summer school in session we aren't allowed to accommodate school age children until noon.' Now I was taken aback and thought for sure he must be kidding. I asked him as much and he looked at me and said 'Do I look like I'm smiling? I'm serious.' Well, he sure wasn't smiling and he sure looked intimidating, but still! I asked him one more time if he was serious and he said yes. I asked him if I could buy the sandwich and leave the store with it. He gave me this 'I'll let you just this once look' and said yes. I was mentally shaking my head, but also didn't want to tick off GINORMOUS grill sergeant so I just stood there. After a minute or so, he looked at me and told me he was just messing with me. Oh, funny, funny! So I ordered our steak 'wit wiz' because that's the way a Philly steak is meant to be I'm told. My GINORMOUS grill sergeant buddy then harassed me about not ordering a beverage. He kept heckling me about it, but all I could think about was that I was approximately an hour and a half away from a bathroom that wasn't infested with herpes, and didn't want to push my luck.  But how does one explain that to your new-found but intimidating buddy? You don't. After a little back and forth, he went to the fridge to get Shelly's water, and grabbed another one for me. It's 'on me' he said, just in case you get thirsty. Thanks, GINORMOUS grill sergeant buddy, thanks!

P.S. All our adventures were part of our YOLOcoaster campaign. I am not really up on ye old young people's vernacular, but apparently YOLO is the new slang for 'You Only Live Once,' which can surely be used as an excuse to indulge in all manner of sketchy and destructive behavior. We, however, used it as the motto for all our fun adventures, and bonus points for actually being able to remember it all later and with no time spent in the slammer. Woo!

VBS Decorations

Here are a few photos of the VBS decorations. The theme was 'Incrediworld Amazement Park'. I couldn't have done it all without the help of my (lovingly called) minions. Incidentally, while the prep took hours upon hours upon hours, the tear down was completed in about an hour. 

Cousins

Being the super Uncle that he is, Jeff decided to dress in his Sunday best to pick up our niece and nephew from the airport.

I don't think they were too surprised, coming from Jeff. Apparently he ended up getting chatty with a Chinese guy, convincing him that this was the trendy thing to wear. The Chinese guy told him that he didn't look right. Somewhere in the conversation Jeff also got to get the guy to neigh like a horse. I really wish I could have witnessed that whole conversation. Poor guy probably went back to China wondering at the state of Americans these days. We have been having a lot of fun with the kids and I am happy to report that the VBS decorations are set up with only minor mishaps. I'll post pictures another day.

Fireworks

Three blog posts in one day...that's a record. I forgot about posting this and want to write it down for posterity. Jeff took the kids to the fireworks stand over the weekend. He came back with a sheepish grin and said that he had 'spent more than he planned on spending.' He rather quickly followed that up with the statement that 'the kids need to have fun.' Yeah. I am sure it was for the kids. Ha! We had a good laugh out of that one. The kids have had fun lighting off a few things each night. Tyler covers his ears, even when we light the 'nakes' as he calls them. (We always called them snakes...the box says glow worms?) Also, as the kids were watching the first snake coil outward, Katie remarked that it looked like the ground was pooping. And I must admit, she wasn't too far off.

It's About To Get Crazy

We found out on Saturday that my niece and nephew are coming...tonight. Craziness! I am really excited they are coming even though things are going to be nuts. I have VBS decorations to set up on Saturday, and I think that might be a bit monumental. Next week is VBS and Tyler's birthday, and then the kids go home on the 14th. Our kids have NO IDEA that their cousins are coming. I decided that with such short notice I could manage to keep it a secret. Tomorrow morning they will wake up to find that two of their Colorado cousins have magically appeared in the house. :) We haven't seen them in 4 years, and they have never met Tyler...I'm excited!

Nitty Gritty Garden Post (Here's To You, MJ!)

The tomato jungle (that's our shed in the background)

Despite the fact that we live right smack dab in the middle of suburbia, I am trying to squeeze in a little piece of 'farm' into my yard. My sister keeps shaking her head at me and telling me to just go and get a farm. And believe me, I wouldn't complain. Although I do know enough about farming to know it is very hard work. I think what would suit me is to have a rambling farm house, with a rambling garden and enough space  for the kids to run free. I would have more chickens, a few fruit trees and maybe convince Jeff to spring for a goat or a cow. Until that happens...I'll make the most of the space we have on our spacious .19 acre Franch. :) 

My main garden

My main garden is about 11' by 50'. It is along the south(ish) side of the house. We actually moved the side fence up to accommodate it. The soil was pretty decent and mainly rock free when I started. However, I have noticed a huge difference over the last 4 years by adding compost and tons of grass clippings. My neighbor doesn't treat his lawn, and he dumps his grass clippings over the fence for me. He also brings me magnolia petals in the spring and leaves in the fall. I use them as mulch to keep weeds down and add nitrogen to the soil. He also brings me scraps for the chickens and the compost pile. Nice neighbors bring you their rotting food, didn't you know? This year I have been able to include compost that includes chicken manure and I think it has made a big difference.

I have three rhubarb plants in a raised bed. They are very productive.

The last two years I have been researching companion planting which has been helpful. Basically, it is about what crops grow well together, even benefit each other. Some plants can repel each other and stunt their growth. Last year, I planted lettuce under a trellis in early spring. Right around last frost, I planted cucumbers. By the time it got a little hot for the lettuce, the cukes were tall enough to provide some shade. I got a ton of lettuce and the cukes did well too. There is a book called Carrots Love Tomatoes that is really good for this. 

The garden (looking out toward the street and my neighbor's giant motor home)

I also recently planted 3 blueberry bushes along the side of the chicken run. I don't think they'll produce this year, but I was able to find nice tall bushes from our CSA for $10 a piece! Along the other side of the yard I dug a bed this spring but it doesn't get a lot of sun so I think I'll stick with greens and flowers over there. 

Oh, look! Chickens! They make sure to trim anything that grows near the fence except of course the poisonous pokeweed that grows everywhere around here (on right). 

This is my lame-o side 'garden'. You can't really tell but there are flowers on the left near the compost bin, and unplanted on the other side. Next year...

There you go...probably way more than you wanted to know. ;) 

Well, That Was Interesting

Yesterday Jeff planned on replacing his radiator. I took the younger two and left James with Jeff. I was browsing in Tar-jay when the cell phone rang. It was James. Now James never uses the phone, so I knew something was up. He was very calm, and said 'Dad cut his finger. You need to come home.' I told him I would come right home and hung up. I felt surprisingly calm, despite the fact that I knew he must have severed a major appendage in order to justify a phone call. I didn't even think to ask how bad it was or anything. On the short way home, James called again to see how long it would be before I got there. Then I started to really wonder what had happened. He told me it was really bad and we needed to take Dad to the hospital. Turns out while the cut wasn't particularly large, it was very deep. He cut through a vein and it wouldn't stop bleeding. His hand had slipped when he was working under the car and he cut it on something. Fortunately the ER got him in right away and stitched him up. He was pretty nauseous and had to get a tetanus shot, but all is well now. And yes, he did come home and somehow manage to install the new radiator with very limited use of his hand. I am pretty sure the doctor would not approve of that one.

Chappy, Garlic, Etc.

A few pictures of Katie and her Chappy

The kids love their Chappy

And I must say, he IS pretty awesome!

James' Class Picnic

My little farmer helping me harvest the garlic

I've never grown garlic and didn't know what to expect, but boy, was I ever surprised when I dug it up! 27 huge heads of garlic weighing in at about 12 pounds total, all from 1 pound of seed. 

The garlic weighed an average of 7 ounces per head, with a few weighing in at a half a pound! I am going to give the credit for this phenomena to the lovely composted chicken manure I added when I planted them. 

VBS, Etc.

So somehow I got wrangled into doing the decorations for our church's VBS this year. I did actually say yes, and there was no gun to my head. I decided to do it because it was a way to use my artistic skillz, which have been sorely neglected since I had babies. That is the really nice thing about being at a large(ish) church. There are a lot of opportunities to use creativity. The thing to know about our church is that I think their motto for VBS is 'Go big, or go home.' I have been told that one year they transformed the platform into a Pirate Ship. No pressure or anything. This year's theme is 'Incrediworld' and it is a creation-themed amusement park. All I can say is that I am having a lot of fun working on it, and it's going to be cool. I'll post pictures when it's done. That is, if I have any remaining brain cells after the spray paint fumes wear off.

P.S. They gave me minions! All sorts of lovely people showed up over the last several weeks to do whatever I needed them to do. It was awesome, and I felt like jumping into the air and clicking my heels. Until I remembered that I'd probably break a hip or something. And don't worry, I refrained from calling any of them minions, although one girl asked permission to go to the bathroom. Um, yes! You can! No hall pass required. :)

In other news, James finished school today! Finally. He came out sad, and I asked him why. He found out his best buddy is going to be going to another school next year. :( I am sure he'll get over it but it was sad to see him so disappointed.

I Hit The (Trashy) Jackpot

A few days ago on my run I spotted something on the curb. It was a street I never run on, and wouldn't really have paid attention to. I just saw the corner of it behind a truck, but went over to see if it was really a) a doll house, and b) not totally trashed. I ran home as quick as I could and got the truck and came back and got it. That sucker is heavy! Every single missing piece was in the attic of the house, even down to the missing shingles. I am so excited to fix it up for Katie, and it further enforces my belief that sometimes God puts awesome things in the trash for us to find! :)

Lancaster Photo Dump

The view was quite nice!

The farm cat napped under the tree by the door. Tyler was obsessed with the cat. I don't think the feeling was mutual,
however the cat did stick around and put up with his antics.

Swing and playhouse right out the door

Finally got a cat to make friends with him

I don't want to hurt you, really I don't.

The innkeeper went and dug this out of the barn for the kids. It ended up causing a lot of fights and we had to put it away, but that's another story...

Pretty flowers (and the girl is pretty darn cute too!)

Swimming in the pond

Tyler spent his time relocating the baby frogs back into the water where he thought they wanted to go. He ended up squeezing a few a little too much.

James was in heaven!

Katie wearing the bonnet I wore as a little girl

One of the little frogs. They were everywhere!

Catching frogs and tadpoles

Neighboring Farm

Old-fashioned Fireplace

Chicken Dinner: All the (Slightly) Gory Details

Rachel, this post is for you! :)