Wit, Wisdom & Wonder

Weekend mornings around here feed my soul. This morning, I got up before Josh and went outside in my bathrobe since the arctic storm has finally blown away. I let the chickens out of both coops, fed the birds, then wandered back up onto the porch to feed the Libby Kitty and dogs. Started coffee, tried and failed to wake Josh up, then wandered about from window to window watching the ducks head off down the driveway and off to their adventures. Thank the Gods for amused neighbors who find the ducks charming. I may have to put up a duck crosssing sign sometime soon.

Yesterday while we were shopping at Home Depot, one of my neighbors called me to warm me that there were three law enforcement vehicles in front of our home: one sheriff and two Coupeville cops. Given that we live outside town limits, I wasn't too worried. I haven't broken any Coupeville laws that I know of, though I have neglected to pick up a library hold down there. I expect they don't send out the town cops for that sort of irresponsibility. We raced home only to find all of the law enforcement gone. I called the Sheriff Dispatch office who kindly told me they had used the thick foliage of our border to hide the vehicles while they walked nextdoor. Glad to be of use to the men in blue. I now have the perfect excuse not to trim the hedge and so I am most grateful.

As I type, Libby is goofing around in a ppaer grocery bag. I imagine that one of the Bassets pulled it out of the recycling bin for her. Or Josh. The Bassets are asleep already in their early mid-day nap. Gracie is now off on adventures with Joshua, who upon request, is delivering the leftover mashed potatoes to Kevin. Looks like I may be doing a bit of cooking for Kevin's home. Thankfully, while not fancy or complex, my cooking is passable. And much to my eternal surprise my dear friends do make requests.

Today, I am contemplating making Turkey Pot Pie with the leftovers.

Busy day around here, poor Josh likely wishes he'd gone to work at the Navy base vs the Honey Do List. With the new addition of the closet pole & shelf falling down just after he pulled off a shirt. Needless to say, this required him to donate 25 or so shirts to the Deer Lagoon's Rummage Sale in early December.

I had my annual dentist appoint, who unfortunately found a cavity so now I have that to deal with in December. Josh had a physical therapy appointment so we were both in town but nowhere near each other this afternoon.

The appointments ate up most of the afternoon, so I'm struggling to catch up with housework: run the dishwasher, laundry, vacuum the bedrooms and dust, etc. Thank Gods for leftovers. And the rain, so I have absolutely zero responsibility for taking them to the dogpark today!

Getting down to the wire now. Due to the brown egg shells, I've been unable to do much candling, so we're flying by the seat of our pants here. On Thursday, I'll be cracking open the incubator and removing the turning shelf. That will be replaced by a flat bin with a soft layer of wood shavings or similar and the eggs will be laid on their side. Then, I'll lock down the incubator and it won't be open again until the chicks are dry and fluffy, hopefully on Saturday. Which means, I need to set up a brooder in the den or study. The incubator can be used as one by swapping out the white lamp for a heat lamp, then we'll have to keep careful tabs on the temp. So I need a backup in case of overheating. I need to buy more sawdust, which is fine as I also need feed - dog, cat & duck. Those sneaky ducks have been checking out the neighbors' yards for vittles, fortunately they always come home.

Tuesdays are Bathroom days, so I've already got much of the guestbath done - counter tops, toilet, shower/tub. All that's left are the floors, which I'll get to later today. Ditto for my bathroom.

The weather has changed to the Pacific Northwest's finest - overcast and rain. Friends to the south will no doubt be experiencing snow, but up here its rain in the low 50s until the weekend with a slight break on Wednesday for sun. Nights are thankfully expected to stay in the 40s, which is very doable for the bunnies and chickens. The ducks I don't much worry about, the ducklings have been curling up on the back porch at night, which makes for some very predictable messes come morning.

Josh has tomorrow off, a rare three day weekend given by his new command. I, of course, have to work tomorrow (as does Flash) so he'll have a quiet day at home hopefully working on getting the exterior of the house power washed, including my coop! I can't paint the coop or fix the lousy trim paint until that's done and I really hate painting to begin with. I can do some of the inside stuff until Thursday, when we're expecting a rare 63F day so I can possibly get the trim and part of the coop painted then!

Anyone available to help with painting on Thursday, locally? Will pay in eggs and Frizzle pettings!

My expectations of a clean house tend to fall under the 'like a museum' motif. I don't get to live within that expectation, mostly because of three dogs whom I adore utterly. But the husband shares some responsibility here. My Marital Counseling textbook directs us to clearly state our expectations. So here goes.

( I would like to live in a home: )

Any to add, folks?

Spent the day running errands with Josh, in between his classes and treatment for his back. Gracie and Boo are sporting shorter haircuts, Boo's feathering was snipped off and Gracie is shaved down to the fuzzies. She's frisky as all get out and giving her brothers a hell of a time. What a great girl!

The Grange meeting went well and we even managed to spend some time hanging out with Louise. Louise is probably somewhere about 80 or thereabouts, runs a massage and holistic health center out of her home, takes in boarders and is incredibly active in her community. She's a huge asset to our little Grange, and loads of fun to boot. This afternoon she gave us an old stainless steel utility sink/poultry tank (3x3 feet, something like 14 inches deep) for our little ducklings.

Speaking of which, Duckling Hatch 2010 is still counting down to hatch. I'm having to slightly tease the mommas so they step above the nest so I can see if we have ducklings. I am still concerned about our ability to protect this many separate sets of ducklings, but I'm confident that with some tweaking, we could make our resources work.