The boys have started 6:30 a.m practices this week--yep, lovin' that.
NOT!
However this is the signal that school is just around the corner. This summer went quickly, as summers often do. I had hoped we could get out of town more often and take at least one long trip to somewhere interesting, but truthfully we are not summer travelers.
We prefer to travel in the Fall when it is cooler and we can be outside more. I am going to look at the boys school schedule and plan a trip to Iowa to visit oldest son and his girlfriend in approximately two weeks. We also have several weekend trips to Kansas City planned this Fall to take classes at the Culinary Center and to Cabellos.
All said, I am looking forward to having the cooler weather come. Most of the yard work as far as building new flower beds and any landscaping has been put on hold until then. I also want to build an enclosure and coop for some Bantam chickens. We can have hens in city limits, but not roosters (understandably). I have always wanted chickens, so this Fall I am going to have the coop and pen area built so that it can sit through the winter season and be ready for chicks in the Spring. This will also let me see how the snow and wind will wrap around the coop and allow me to be able to make any changes before the chickens actually get here. I have talked about it for over a year, so this year I am going to make it happen. I was going to put the house and pens under a tree that grows right up against the fence in the corner of the yard, but have decided not to do that since it might allow cats an easy way into the enclosure. Instead we are going to cut that tree down since it is pushing against the fence and crowding out the redbud tree next to it.
The boys start high school this year. It seems weird. Time sure flies and before you know it, they are grown up.
I have put down all my other knitting projects (except the shawl, which is plugging along) in order to concentrate on the Fiddlehead mittens. I really like this pattern. As predicted, I had to go up a needle size and knit the largest size. I am still needing to go up a needle size to actually get gauge, but I think by knitting the largest size, I will be fine. The pattern is pretty easy to follow, but as with all colorwork, you do have to focus. I am working on loosening up my knitting though. I usually knit tight anyway, but since colorwork tends to pull in, I have to really concentrate on getting more relaxed stitches.
I am seriously considering learning to weave this Fall. There are classes being offered at CityArts and I have wanted to learn for a long time. One of the ladies that teaches the advanced weaving class comes into Twist from time to time. Last time she was in, we had a conversation about weaving and I was hooked. I will have to put all our family activities on the calendar for this season and see if there is time. The boys are freshmen this year and they both play football, which means Monday night games. Usually hubby goes to the games solo since the rules of football escape me, but he is working towards his master's degree and I think he may have class on Mondays. That means I will be going. I am glad we are starting a mitten of the month club at Twist.
I am anticipating lots of bleacher knitting.
3 comments:
I wanted chickens, but my husband grew up with them, and pronounced them ugly, nasty birds. That was part of the point, I thought, since if they're cute they're pets, and that makes 'em hard to eat when they stop laying.
Nevertheless, he ran all over the Internet researching, and announced we were getting ducks instead. And now we have eight 300-egg-a-year Khaki Campbells in our backyard. Or rather, seven, since the eighth is an accidental drake (we ordered six hens and got two "bonus" ducklings, which turned out to be one of each).
They're a lightweight breed and not a bantam, but if you decide you want ducks instead of chickens, you're welcome to some of our eggs next spring, or ducklings if we get enough people wanting them that we end up borrowing an incubator (ducks are poor brooders).
Wow Karen! Thanks for that offer! I may have to seriously consider it. My Hubby is not sure of the feathered facination, but he just goes along..We are going to be building the coop and enclosure this Fall--How do ducks differ from keeping chicks?
Chiefly, the difference is the amount of water they need. Campbells apparently don't actually need water to swim in (ours have a kiddie pool, though) but they still need a lot of water, frequently changed, to drink. They dabble in mud and rinse their bills, and they can't eat dry food as easily as chickens can.
Other than that, a lot of trivial differences in feed, coop construction (ducks don't roost, or require nesting boxes), and so forth, but nothing terribly monumental. We have a couple of duck-raising books, if you want to borrow them sometime.
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