Run Rikard! Run!

Life keeps marching - or running - at break neck speeds. Rikard started middle school this year and is adjusting quite well. His class load includes all the regular required classes with the added bonus of a robotics class.

 

He tried out for the cross country team and finished in the top 10 for his grade level. His first timed run, a practice race last week, was 7 minutes, 30 seconds.

 

His team hosted the first meet of the season yesterday at Mountainside Middle School. There were hundreds of boys from more than a dozen schools at the starting line, and the ranks thinned out along the route.

Rikard is in the center of the photo, wearing very bright blue shoes with orange laces. All races at this level are 1 mile.

At the finish line, he poured on the speed and finished with a time of 6:43, placing 79th in his first race. A great personal improvement and a great first race!

Veterans Day at Green Bluff Grange

Earlier this year Rikard crossed over and became a Boy Scout. He is really enjoying the Scouting experience. This morning started out with the Scouts collecting food donations and delivering two pick-up trucks full of food to the local food bank. The day ended with the troop conducting the flag ceremony at the Green Bluff Grange #300 Veterans Day event.

The Scouts had a few challenges with this event. The greatest challege was that the Grange building has some structural cables stretching across the room that the flag had to navigate under as it made its way to the front of the room.

 Once the colors were posted, the Scouts led the entire gathering in the Pledge of Allegiance. 

Club Pursuit

We are in the midst of club volleyball season and it's been a whirwind of fun for all of us. This is Tatum and Maddie giddy with excitement at the first tournament of the season.

Their team is made up of mostly 12-year-olds, but a couple of older players forced the coaches to register them as a U14 team. They are struggling in tournaments, playing against bigger girls with more experience, but they are sticking together as a team. 

 This is Tatum at the net. She is playing setter (my favorite position on the court) and is learning a lot as she plays all the way around, but only setting from the front row.

I've had a great time as I've met up with a couple of old high school friends whose daughters are playing in the same tournaments. In fact, last weekend we played in a tournament against a team from my hometown and against the club team I belonged to so many years ago. Fun times for all!

Henny Penny's House, Est. Jan. 2012

The roofing crew came and finished putting the tin on the roof. We recycled the old roofing from the shop for the chicken coop. The tin was removed from the shop as the wind had damaged it in several places. But, the shop is much larger than the coop and we had undamaged lengths enough to cover the coop.

This is the final product. In the spring it will get the finishing touches of caulking, paint, window screens, a chicken door at the back and landscaping. We will be adding a fenced and covered run behind it, along the goat pasture fence. The additional space will be necessary as Keeli wants more hens that lay clean (AKA white) eggs and Tatum wants to try raising turkeys. 

 Inside it is warm and toasty, compared the to the rough living the chickens have had the past few months. They have several roosting options and these vintage tin nesting boxes. I found them on the curb as leftovers waiting for the second-hand store to pick up after a local tag sale.

 The girls - and Bob the Rooster - can also access the window for a view of the great outdoors, or at least a view of the goats wandering around the pasture.

C-C-C-Cold Construction

Although we are in the middle of winter, it is - apparently, according to Rick - time to build the chicken coop. It all started with constructing the base and wall frames on the driveway.

 Then, we moved the platform and all four walls out to the "building site" and started assembling. At first Rick wanted to just carry everything across the yard. But, his construction crew consists of me and the puppy. The platform includes 10 4x4s and there is no way I'm carrying that anywhere! We loaded all the parts on the trailer and drove across the yard.

 After the platform was leveled, the walls went up. The door of the coop will face the yard and the chickens will have access to the pasture from a little chicken door at the back of the coop.

 The roof supports and siding went up quick and easy. Thankfully! The wind had picked up and the temperature had started to drop drastically. It was time to call it a day.

Rick was left to contemplate installing the window and how he will provide access for an extention cord for a heat lamp in cold weather. Construction will resume and conclude this weekend!

I found some vintage tin nesting boxes at a junk sale this summer. These will be installed, along with a roost or two, a hanging feeder and a chicken nipple watering system. Can't wait to get the chickens back in a coop and on a regular laying schedule.

Cooter the Crazy Dog

The newest member of our little farm, Cooter, is now 3 months old. Isn't he a handsome little fellow?!

 He is a border collie, Austrialian shephard cross. He currently keeps us on our toes at all times.

Over the past two weekends as we have been constructing the new chicken coop, Cooter has attempted to be as involved as possible, like all the other family members. For him, this meant chewing the corners off random 2x4s, carrying off boxes of screws/nails and engaging Rick in a game of keep away with small hand tools like measuring tapes, pencils and saws.

Another V-ball player!

The 5th grader boys completed their volleyball season the last week of classes before Christmas break. It was his first time on the court trying to master this sport and he did AWESOME! Must be genetic.

He is very focused on learning sports, but struggles for acceptance among the other players as he is usually the smallest on his teams. Size is such a big deal to boys!

 He isn't afraid to show off his mad skilz! LOL. He thinks he is setting, but doesn't quite have all the motor skills happening in the right order or combination yet. For those who think volleyball is easy, it actually requires your entire body to be doing the right things in th right order to move the ball. It isn't an easy sport to master.

But, Rikard gives it his all everytime!

We have a few weeks before his basketball season starts up at school. Tatum's club volleyball season starts up the first week of the new year. She was moved up to a U-14 tournament team (she's only 12), so the heat is on.

Christmas memories

Christmas this year was fairly low-key at our house. No visitors. Just us. An an agenda to rip open all the presents we could and eat all the cookies and candy in the kitchen!

After what seemed like hours and hours of getting chores done (can you hear the whiny pre-teen?), throwing the turkey in the oven, attending a quick church service and getting some breakfast, the kids finally got to attack their presents. Rikard wanted to take a few minutes and organize all the gifts into piles for each receiver so it was quicker handing them out later. It was quite comical to watch him compare the sizes and sounds all the boxes made.

Keeli, in true 7-year-old fashion, didn't need much more than the first gift she opened. She has been "arting" (as she calls what she does with an art set) up a storm ever since. We didn't see or hear much from Tatum all day as she found an e-reader under the tree and is now absorbed in an endless supply of books.

Before the morning was over, the kids pitched in and cleaned up the mess. I don't decorate much and the trees will remain up during Rick and the kids' break from school.

Christmas Cookies

The kids were invited last weekend to a cookie decorating party at Legacy Farms (the Christmas tree farm that neighbors our property). They grabbed their aprons and raced over!

 More than 300 shaped sugar cookies were waiting for the army of kids that arrived on their doorstep. Rikard and Tatum were among the "older" kids who took part, that's why he looks so tall next to the others. If you look closely, each of Rikard's cookies is covered with jelly beans. Sprinkles just weren't enough for him.

Keeli was very methodical. She chose three of each shape, decorated the trees green, the Santas red, the chickens yellow, the stars white, etc. And, showing her frugal side, she made sure she didn't open a full bottle of sprinkles until checking to see if there was a partially used one already on the table somewhere.

There were also craft projects for the kids to create ornaments, picture frames and other holiday decorations. It is amazing how some paper, foam sheets, cut outs, scissors and glue can transform a room filled with crazy kids into a room filled with quiet, busy kids.

In all, 20 kids participated and took home containers filled to the brim with beautiful cookies they took pride in creating.

When we were all done, the all the kids posed outside with Annabelle (the vintage Chevy) and Miss Lisa (in the red apron). Tatum is standing next to Lisa (yes, in shorts), Keeli is in the center front on the truck bed in the purple jacket and Rikard is in the top row on the truck bed straight above Tatum in a black/white sweatshirt.

Santa Claus

Santa paid a visit to Greenbluff so the kids lined up to tell him their wants/needs/desires and get their photo taken. We had a great time at the Greenbluff Grange's Christmas party! They even got to bring home to giant jingle bell necklaces - how lucky was that?!

Trouble with William

Rikard has been pestering us for about two years about wanting to switch his goat business from focusing on raising meat goats to raising fiber goats. Over the summer he met a woman who rescued some pygora goats and arranged to get these two - Trouble and William - at no cost. Maybe he has a future in business!

My friend Francine and I made a road trip over the weekend to bring these guys home. Currently our herd is seperated and these guys are settling in with the babies born last spring quite nicely.

William appears to be a standard angora. He is the biggest goat in our herd other than the billy. He is nearly 2 years old and was recently castrated so hopefully he and his horns stop growing.

He has 6-8 weeks of growth right now and won't be sheered again until early spring. His wool is a nice creamy white color and hangs in lovely ringlet curls.

Meet Trouble. Trouble and William are brothers, but not twins. LOL. Trouble is about the same size as our 2-year-old withers. He has a sweet little face and is a very gentle little guy.

His wool is straigher than a standard angora and grows straight out from his skin. He is like a big black/grey puff ball. He also has about 6-8 weeks of growth, but he doesn't produce as much length as quickly as William.

And, over at the hen house, we welcomed Lucy and Ethel. I found these girls listed on craigslist. They are urban chicks who lived a life of luxury sharing a big house and yard for the past three years. Their lease was up! They are slowly but surely adjusting to country life with a big family on Green Bluff.

Gone Visitin'

We spent the weekend on a spur of the moment road trip to the Yakima Valley to visit family and - of course - collect some fantastic fruit.

The kids all got some extra hugs and giggles from Grandma Bert. Bert had ordered us eight 40 lbs boxes of fresh pears. We spent the next several days waiting for them to ripen. Since then we've been canning and baking all sorts of wonderful things.

We made a quick trip out to the farm to visit Papa Charlie. He gave the kids another of his famous tours around the yard and helped them pick apples that were way to green. He taught the kids to use them to play fetch with Girly the dog.

And, what's a visit to the farm without a little bit of time spent giving back to Uncle Joe what he dishes out! Actually, when we arrived he was taking a nap and he was so tired from all the "work" they'd been doing, these three monsters and the overexcited Girly didn't interupt his snores!

Back to School

Today, everyone returned to school for the 2011-2012 year. It was Tatum's first day of middle school - such a "precious" time. She was completely unhappy that I was snapping pictures as she is too old for this. Can you tell?

 Next, it was a race to the bus. You can just see Rikard reaching the bus door and Keeli scrambling to catch up. Not only was it Keeli's first day of 1st grade, but it was her 7th birthday! Happy Birthday to Keeli! The shopping bag is filled with her favorite snacks, cheese and Ritz crackers for everyone.

Rick is teaching 8th grade science this year, specifically physics and earth science. He had to move his classroom down the hall and around the corner at the end of last school year, but on the up-side he now has a window to the outside. A little sunshine never hurt anyone's perspective.

Bob vs. Stubby

There is no love lost between these two competitors. When they enter the cage (aka barnyard) IT - IS - ON! Stubby gets her coyote face on, snaps her jaws, yips and darts at Bob. Bob doesn't even flinch. He lets Stubby take a couple of stabs and then he charges her. She takes off running, only to come back for Round 2, and Round 3 and Round 4. If we let them, it would go on from sun up to sun down.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

We gathered recently to celebrate Grandma Mary's 90th birthday!

As most of you know, I have a BIG family that can sometimes overwhelm. We are missing a few, but I'm going to attempt to name everyone. Front row (l-r): Tatum Holestine, Keeli Holestine, Manda Moore, Rikard Holestine, Charlie Lyons. Middle row (l-r): Bailey Gilchrist, Kelly Lyons, Tabitha Lopez, Shaney Lyons, BIRTHDAY GIRL MARY LYONS, Jim Lyons, Madison Lyons, Michael Lyons. Back row (l-r): Kate' Lyons-Holestine (that's me), Rick Holestine, Jennifer, Brian Lux, Joyce Lyons, Brett Lyons, Tami Lyons.

Fruity Cordials

I will pick the last of the raspberries from the patch tonight and head out to a local orchard (Cherry Hill) tomorrow for my last batch of fresh picked cherries. I need a few more pie cherries to dry and maybe make a cherry crisp.

After every batch of jam I've made the past few weeks, there has been enough berries to do something with, but not enough for another batch of jam. What to do?! Then, I remembered a good friend saying something about cordial so I searched the internet for recipes. Be careful what you seek, there are nearly as many cordial recipes as there are people who drink cordial.

The raspberry cordial (on the right) is made with 2 lbs. of whole berries, 2 cups of vodka and 1 cup of sugar. It took about 5 days for the sugar to dissolve and the fruit to start breaking down. You can see a layer of seeds at the bottom of the jar.

The cherry cordial is made with a mix of bing and rainier cherries. I had two large bowls full of cherries and am home alone for a few days. It contains 2 lbs. cherries, 2 cups sugar, 3 whole allspice, 1 cup of brandy and 1 cup of rum. Hopefully the bing cherries will add some of their deep red color to the mix. I don't like the dirty look of the rum/brandy mix. The sugar dissolved better in this mixture, but you can still see a thin film of sugar at the bottom of the jar. I'm sure this is going to be one "sweet" drink when it is ready.

I used these wonderful 2 quart Kerr canning jars that I rescued from my aunt's garage. As a kid I remember her making grape juice in them - it was wonderful stuff. I'm hoping these cordial recipes turn out as well.

Happy 2011!

We started our New Year's Eve celebration off at the top of the world - or as close as we could get staying near home. We went sledding near the top of Mt. Spokane and had a great time. It was very, very cold, but there was enough sunshine to keep everyone's spirits up and smiles wide.

This was an enormous hill with a healthy drop at the top to get our speed up and a long run at the bottom to keep the thrill going! The entire run was 200+ yards long. Yes, our crazy dog, Stubby, chased every sled down the hill at breakneck speed and happily romped up the hill with the kids. The fun really started once the kids realized Stubby would chase an empty sled down the hill.

This is the fabulous view afforded us from near the peak of Mt. Spokane. This is looking southwest at about 3:30 p.m.

The temperatures dropped to 2-degrees F by dinner time. We stayed home, near the fireplace with a big simmering pot of chili, some cornbread and sparkling apple cider to ring in 2011. Watch out Jan. 1, 2011 - we're headed to a New Year's Day auction at State Line.

Fiascos and other fun

Tatum attempted to make her first fancy cake in a fluted pan. This is a vintage Bundt® pressed aluminum pan that we picked up at a yardsale for 50¢ last summer. She's been itching to use it and with Nana coming to visit, she decided to try. Next time she will remember to treat the pan with some sort of spray or oil. The top half of the cake is stuck in the pan.

Keeli decided to take advantage of Nana's visit by getting a pink and purple toenail painting session. One toe is pink, the next is purple, the next is pink ... You get the idea. Nana has 5 more glorious days of this treatment.

This is Rick having the most fun he's had in weeks. It may be 7:44 a.m. on Sunday, but he isn't gearing up for fantasty football. He's headed across the skybridge to the airport and ultimately Los Cabos. Wait for me!