Gratitude Sunday

This week I have felt grateful for the kindness of strangers. For the lovely family who drove an hour each way to pick up and re-home our lonely duck, and brought me a jar of homemade jam on top of it all. For the kids who came up to me tell me how 'awesome' my dog is while we watched the parade at Finn's school. And for the check out guy at the grocery store who asked about my day and really seemed to mean it. We have had a tough couple of months around here (more about that soon), and sometimes the smallest acts of kindness can mean so very much.
I tried to put a positive spin on the sad duck tales of the past several days, and yesterday we got a baby pool for the kids for our backyard. This was something that never could have happened with ducks, as they would be in (and pooping in) the pool before you could say the word gross. So, we are reclaiming the backyard. Making plans for how to use our new space. And I didn't have to wake up at 5:12 this morning and let them out (I just had to get up at 5:25 to let out Puppy Cow... apparently, he is still on the duck's schedule). I can be grateful for that, even if I am still really sad about losing our feathered friends.
I am also so thankful for this beautiful place that I call home. To have the mountains, the coast and the river all within easy driving distance is pretty amazing. There are so many places to explore and so much beauty. We drove to the coast today, just for the day, and I kept thinking how thankful I was to have a car and be able to drive to the ocean.
And lastly, I am so very grateful that I only have a few more days of work (and Finn a few more days of school) before summer break. That means a break from grading, packing lunches, and rushing around every morning! And it means a lot of fun adventures, because that's what summer is for, right?

What have you felt grateful for this week?

Playing along with the other Taryn of Wooly Moss Roots.

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Fare Thee Well, Sweet Mutter

Well, after 5+ years, we are a duck-free home. Today we packed up Mutter for her new home on a farm in Washington. She will have TWO ponds, lots of duck friends, and no raccoons living next door. The family who came to get her was so sweet (they even brought me a jar of homemade jam!) and Mutter got to ride home in the cab of a truck that also had two kids, two teeny kittens, and a dog. I guess she will feel right at home. 
When I was getting Mutter ready to go, I tried to pack her in a medium sized box and as soon as I set her in, she flew right out. So I packed her in this huge 3 foot box that the kids were saving to use for a fort (sorry kids). But, when the woman arrived, the box was too tall for her car... so Mutter just rode in the backseat (with the kids and the kittens). I hope she stayed put and didn't do any flying on the drive to her new home....
Phoebe and I bid her farewell. There were duck- snuggles and a couple of tears shed. What can I say.... it's the end of an era. We really had no choice though... the raccoon was back yesterday morning and again yesterday evening trying to get her. I hope to have ducks again, one day, when I live somewhere a bit safer.
Until then, I will miss my ladies! Pin It Now!

Goodbye Rye

I just went out to put the ducks to bed and found Rye, one of our two ducks, dead. It was a huge mess (enough said) so I am guessing she was attacked by a raccoon. It is so heartbreaking. In the 5+ years that we have had ducks, this is the first one that we have seen die. And I knew that when it happened, it wouldn't be easy, but I didn't realize how upset I would actually be.
The saddest part was that Rye's mama is the surviving duck. When I tried to put her in her coop for the night, she ran around quacking because Rye's body was next to the coop. I covered Rye up, but I still couldn't get mama duck to walk by her... and when she finally did, she crouched down and looked away from the area. Poor mama duck was witness to her daughter's death. How tragic.
Anyways, I think that we are going to try and re-home Mutter, the mama. We aren't ready to get new ducks right now (especially after this attack) and I think a lone duck would be a sad duck.
All I know is that I don't think I am cut out for farm life. In the back of my mind, I always thought I would end up living on a farm at some point. But now, when I have to see the sad and messy side of farm life, I don't think I can do it.

Rye was our silly duck. She almost didn't survive as a duckling because she had rye neck (hence the name Rye). I had to catch her everyday when she was a duckling and feed her vitamins out of an eye dropper. I would chase her around, and she would fuss, but every time I caught her she would go limp and relax in my arms.
She spent the last couple of weeks building a lovely nest in our yard, where she faithfully sat on a rock all day long. I guess she was literally a sitting duck.

Rye girl-- you will be missed. Hope there are lots of rocks for you to sit on in duck heaven. Pin It Now!

Our May Garden

Our yard is so full of color and life right now. I love it. We have had a warm and dry spring, so the garden seems to be a bit ahead of schedule. We are eating strawberries and snap peas on a daily basis. We have a whole bunch of different varieties of squash just starting to leaf out, tomatoes that are just beginning to get flowers, blueberries that are still a ways from blue, and blackberries that have flowered too. We have peppers and potatoes, some chard and kale. And of course, a whole assortment of flowers and herbs!
I still have a lot of planting that I am hoping to fit in, but the longer I wait the less room there is because everything else keeps growing! Next week I will do another round of salad greens and beets. Yum.
Our youngest of our two ducks decided to build herself a very lovely next this year. She has worked very hard on it. We don't have any males, so her eggs are not fertile... which is OK, because she has decided to sit on a rock instead. She does lay her eggs in her nest, but we take them each morning and then she lovingly sits on and protects her rock for most of the day. It's like she is practicing to get broody. Hehe. Good, cheap entertainment.

How does your garden grow?

 

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DIY: Family Cloths

Several months ago, I made a whole stack of family cloths. Essentially each cloth is just a piece of soft flannel folded in half, sewed together, with the edges trimmed using pinking shears so they don't get too frayed. They were super quick and easy to make, and I used leftover fabric so I didn't spend a dime.
I initially made these because as Phoebe was learning how to wipe herself, she was having a really hard time judging how much t.p. to use. This has completely solved that problem as she knows that she can just grab a wipe-- and that should be exactly what she needs to dry off.
The logistics of my system are that we keep the wipes on the back of the toilet, within easy reach for a 4 year old. Right next to the toilet is a bucket to deposit used wipes. Wipes are for wiping pee only (no poop!), and can also be used for blowing your nose, or can be moistened and use to wipe off body parts. Since it is only pee, there is no smell at all, and I wash these when I wash our towels so there is no extra laundry.
So far this system has worked magic in our house. No more wasted toilet paper, no more wet hands and bums from not using enough toilet paper, and less resource use overall.Two thumbs up from me! Pin It Now!

Yarn Along

Joining with Ginny at Small Thing's for this week's Yarn Along .

How is it already time for another yarn along? This week has flown by.....

I am still knitting myself a slouchy hat. Very, very slowly. I have finished the ribbing and have moved on to the mindless portion now... but I just haven't had much downtime for knitting these days..... the garden and outdoor chores are keeping me on my toes, in a good way.

I am mostly reading Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. I am nearing the end.  I have a stack of half-finished books on my nightstand, all calling my name, but am pretty eager to figure out the mystery of this one.

What are you reading? What are you knitting?

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A Weekend Adventure

This past weekend, the kids and I took a day trip to the Columbia Gorge. We went to the dam to check out the fish ladders, where we saw a handful of salmon swimming upstream to spawn. We went to the fish hatchery and paid a visit to Herman, the 70 year old white sturgeon. And then we hiked up to Wachlella Falls. It was a bit crowded, probably because of the 3-day weekend, but the views were stunning and their were tons of wild flowers. It was a perfect half day adventure!

 

 

 

How was your weekend?

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