A little goes a long way.....

This swallow was sitting, but the camera scared her away. I think this is the female. I suppose I could look it up and find out.
Five eggs is a pretty good number. The nest is so close to the ceiling that I can't see in except to take a picture and look at it.

You can tell a lot about something from it's smell. Like if you can eat it.

D was at the indoor arena banding a horse for a show. She has braided for dressage, but this was different, for western pleasure competition. She had a mouth full of Braid Binders (that's what it says on the package). They are little rubber bands that come in different colors for different colored horses. I just needed to talk a bit after trying to ride Janow in the indoor arena.

He had so much energy that it was impossible. There were two beginners in the ring, so the outer edge by the fence was unavailable to use as a brake, and I couldn't ride him in a straight line because he would have just taken off, so I did lateral work and 10 and 8 meter circles and transitions. After a brief demo of how a dressage horse should NOT go, I decided to leave before I endangered the beginners. The beginners didn't seem to know enough of be afraid of us. I had gotten a round of applause from someone who hadn't had her first lesson yet and thought we were wonderful. That's OK, everybody starts there.

C was just finishing tacking up when I walked in after putting Janow away with his beet pulp and mucking out. I told D I had given up, Janow was just too pugnacious to ride. D was trying to talk, but had put too many Braid Binders in her mouth. It's the easiest place to put them because you don't have to reach or look for them when you have a teeny handful of hair attached to a figgity horse. C said "Be careful, don't swallow them! They're very.........non-nutritious? What's the word?"
"They're binding." I supplied. D tried to laugh around the rubber bands. C just gave me a blank look. So I just looked back. She finally figured it out. I don't know if she didn't laugh because she was embarrassed that she didn't get it right away, or embarrassed because it was SO OBVIOUS and she hadn't thought of it first. Or maybe she had but was too tactful to say it. I decided it didn't matter.
She rode up to me the next day and asked me "What was that word you used yesterday?"
All I could think of was 'binding' but she's a nurse and should be familiar with the term, so I just looked at her.
"You used it to describe your horse....pugnacious? Does that mean cheeky?"
I smiled and said it does. She smiled back.



One thing you learn with chickens as pets...a little regularity goes a long way. That's Chica Chicken in front, Paula Pullet in back. Sometimes they sit quietly for petting. Getting them both to do it at the same time is a little tricky. The amazing thing is that they like people.

The Sleepover

The 10th Birthday Party Sleepover was Friday night. It was pretty successfully. This is a Cub Scout Den that has been together for meetings and activities for years, so the group dynamics are pretty well established.

Seven boys came, but two could only stay for the evening, then go home. Memorial Day long weekend has family plans.

They played so hard. Everyone asked me what activities I was planning, but Joseph said they didn't get enough time to just play. At the Den Meetings, all the activities are planned and organized. So at the party, I just planned on letting them play. They had to be called to dinner many times, and came reluctantly. It was Round Table Pizza, which is generally a favorite.
A mom and a grandma stayed for dinner. Each guest was invited to bring a chaperone, in case parents wanted to become familiar with the house before leaving their child overnight, or in case they wanted to drop off a sibling and have a quiet evening alone.

When it started to get darkish, we went inside for cake and presents and goody bags. The presents included two Nerf shooters, and with the shooters Joe already has, there were enough shooters that everyone could have a shooter, so there was war. Yelling, screaming, running from room to room, and it went on and on and on. At 10:30 or so I got them to lay out the sleeping bags and I put in a Goosebumps DVD about a haunted house. I made popcorn. They were settling down. Then Dave put on a Halloween mask and shroud and wandered around the back yard in the dark. They saw him through the glass door and screamed like girls!
G kept saying "This is the best seep over ever!"

They tried to stay up as late as possible. Whenever someone fell asleep, they bugged him. Joe said B snored, so they shot him in the neck with Nerf bullets until he stopped, then he started right back up again. When G fell asleep, they took turns standing on him and doing the Macarena. He didn't wake up.

When I got up at 5:00, three boys were asleep sitting on the couch, never willing to fall asleep at all but unable to stay awake. We had pancakes and sausage with orange juice for breakfast. They were an interesting bunch to watch. R had speared a whole pancake on his fork and was eating it like a cave man. I said "R, would your mom let you eat like that?" (R and Joseph were in playgroup together when they were 2 yrs old, they know their moms know each other.) R said "Yes...........but she wouldn't like it." N would wipe his mouth all over the back of his hand, and then wipe his hand all over his clothes. I asked: "N, do you need a napkin?" "No." He did the wiping thing again and I said "N, you really should have a napkin." So he got one. He still wiped his mouth all over his hand but used the napkin to clean his hand.

B very methodically picked every stray crumb from his placemat and discreetly put it on the floor.
G cut his pancakes into teen tiny bits with his fork, then picked each on up with his fingers to eat it and wiped his fingers on his pants. He was sitting on the sofa later, picking his nose, and I said "G, do you need a Kleenex?"
"No." but he was looking at a booker in his fingers. So I asked "Are you sure you don't need a Kleenex?"
"I'm sure." I don't know if the booger eventually went on his pants or on my couch. I don't want to know.

It was sad when the first parent came at 10:00 for pick up.

Well, that's a deep subject.

Walking out the church doors today, Joseph announced: "Well, we got THAT out of the way!"

Horsin Around With Hoof Art Theme: Foals

Here is a vest I made for the Horsin Around With Hoof Art Theme. I haven't participated a lot in this group. I think they do a new theme every week! That's too much for me. But this one seemed like fun and I had an idea.


I made the vest and then added the collage. It's a size large. Machine washable.



The vest is made of all new fabric, the collage is a blend of new and vintage,some knit and home dec, and some ribbon and beads.




The fabrics are all sewn together securely by machine.

Most of this group are painters, so this project is different from theirs. I haven't quilt found out where I fit yet. My projects are always different from everybody else's






It's listed on ebay:

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZdoublecatbatik

The listing has a link to other items from the same challenge

Gobble

Finally caught two guys in the spring mating dance. They had quite a rivalry going! I didn't see any hens around, I think they got bored and left!They were making a lot of noise too, it's very loud "gobble gobble gobble!"
The funny part of the whole display to me is that this is a spring display. It started a little while ago and is almost done for the year. It is exactly OPPOSITE of Fall when all the school kids will drawing pictures of turkeys looking like this.

Now I have to go finsh my May Theme week project! We are supposed to list on ebay today! I dont know if I'll make it.

Hunt and Peck

These pictures are from May 2, they are growing so fast! I need to take new pictures, but I am a little bit behind. They have become very friendly, Paula especially. If I set her on my lap and pet her, she will sit down and just look around. Joseph usually holds Chica and he is not as patient with just petting, so Chica isn't either. I need to hold her more.

I am working on two challenges. One is for Horsin Around with Hoof Art and the theme is Foals. They don't call it a challenge, they call it theme week. Most of them work faster than I do. Most of them paint. I'm not a painter. It's pretty interesting, I'll put a picture if it in progress tomorrow, I hope.
The other is for Folk-of-Art-friends. Everyone is supposed to use the same doll pattern to make a project. Most of them are doll makers. I'm not, so my project is not really a doll. That should be interesting.



I also got involved with Cedara who is reading a book on handwritten correspondence and started a snail mail project on the FOAF forum. She said she'd put tips in her blog. I sent 11 snail mails already but am still waiting for the tips!

http://www.thrutheatticdoor.blogspot.com
Go here and see if she posted her tips yet!

Egg?

Well, after the fallen nest problem, I was concerned. I had to go on the camp-out with Den 2 and I worried about the swallows. Tuseday, it looked like they were sitting, so I brought my camera and took a picture. The nest is so high up it was easier to just hold the camera up high and then see what I got.
As you can see, they have one egg. It looks huge for such small birds!
"Oh, so your finally done?
It's my turn now.
What have you got to eat?"
A swallow came in to sit, so I had to take one more picture.

Camping Out

The Cub Scout Webelos camp-out at Fremont Peak started with a hike.

A steep hike. With lots of switchbacks.

Some people made it to the top.













Then we went back down and pitched camp at Doe Flats.

These guys are Jeremy, Neil and Joseph. I don't think they got much sleep. I had allergies and took Benedryl, so I slept fine.

They cooked breakfast on Mother's Day. The pancakes were for the scouts, the parents had bagels.

Many of the scouts wanted bagels instead. Safer, maybe. They earned actitvity badge credit for making the pancakes, not for eating them. That was good because there were enough pancakes left for the parents who wanted them, like me. I put cream cheese on mine.

The campout was really great. It was far enough out that we could not run into a town or zip back home for what we forgot, so there was a lot of sharing and loaning. I borrowed a walking stick and needed help with precarious footing on the hike. Having a spinal cord injury and a left leg that is asleep is normal for me, but a major liability in some situations. I loaned a flashlight because I had two and somebody forgot to bring even one. I gave Benedryl to another parent who would otherwise have had to go home.



Tomorrow, I start adding some new things!

Growing

This picture was taken last Sunday. They are interesting pets. Really getting tame. If you dit them on your lap they will sit while you pet them, and shrip quietly. But...they have to BOTH be there. You can't separate them!


They are kind of like the Wal*Mart version of parrots. "Rolling back the prices" Parrots, $1.50

Webelos Campout at Fremont Peak starts this morning. We are there until tomorrow at about 11:00 am. Only one paretn may go, but I parent must go. That is me. I'm not taking a project to work on. I'm hoping my roll will be primarily ornamental.

Swallow disaster yesterday. I was ready to cry. I was riding Janow, and came back to see the nest on the ground and the parents screeching. I untacked quickly and then gently put the nest back up, with a wad of duct tape betweent the nest and the platform. It wasn't down for long because it was intact when I left on my ride---maybe gone 40 miutes or so.

The parents flew away, but eventually came back. One was in the nest fixing the linning, the other was looking on.

No eggs yet, at least. It was lined with dark horse hair-so not Janow's, and feathers of larger birds.

Nesting

I took these pictures in Janow's stall yesterday morning. The two were flying in and out a lot, taking turns and making a lot of noise. I think the mud phase is finished and now they are lining it. Janow is shedding like crazy, so there is planty of material to line it with.

There was another pair that picked a spot along the same wall, but I think there were territorial problems and they left to find another spot.

Denise says she has a pair nesting in Dodger's trailer. I hope Dodger doesn't have to go anywhere until the babies are out!