and a few anticipated surprises from Santa.
Within minutes he will be ready for more
and we will be blessed by loved ones visiting and sharing in our holiday spirit.
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Christmas
Christmas finally came and brought with it happy children
and a few anticipated surprises from Santa.
Within minutes he will be ready for more
and we will be blessed by loved ones visiting and sharing in our holiday spirit.
and a few anticipated surprises from Santa.
Within minutes he will be ready for more
and we will be blessed by loved ones visiting and sharing in our holiday spirit.
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Christmas Eve
Traditionally we only hunt down a fir tree on Christmas eve. Last time we were in town we had great success at a flea market lot in Glen Burnie, so off we went with only a couple hours to spare before evening. We met with a barren lot and a lot of holiday agitation!
With perseverance and some gnashing of teeth we finally found a lot still trying to unload their Carolina firs. We found a seven foot beauty which soon became our shiny pagan tribute
and stuffing children into church clothes gave us even more joy
Waiting for us at home was a lovely dish which magically appeared, if I recall correctly
and we enjoyed our Christmas meal with only approved levels of shenanigans.
The Dudes
and a lucky Pop thankful for his blessings.
Merry Christmas everyone and peace to you all.
With perseverance and some gnashing of teeth we finally found a lot still trying to unload their Carolina firs. We found a seven foot beauty which soon became our shiny pagan tribute
and stuffing children into church clothes gave us even more joy
Waiting for us at home was a lovely dish which magically appeared, if I recall correctly
and we enjoyed our Christmas meal with only approved levels of shenanigans.
The Dudes
and a lucky Pop thankful for his blessings.
Merry Christmas everyone and peace to you all.
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Cub Scout Campout
Our first cub scout campout
on the lovely shores of the upper Chesapeake Bay
After some volunteer beach cleaning there was enough down time for goofing off with fishing rods and helicopters
and of course bonding with fellows on a hike.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Farewell Party #1
On the girl's last day of school her class threw her a going-away party after lunch. The anticipation of this day had been building for weeks. She made sure to put in her best hair flowers.
It started with her seated in the center of the room with her classmates surrounding her, singing songs to her and the teacher selected students to recite their favorite poetry. This is her best friend taking her turn.
She was thrilled to be the center of attention.
One table containing some of her class friends. Cute kids!
A goodbye hug and kiss for the teacher, who is accustomed to balancing acts. She was fond of her teacher.
At her usual lunch table. Sometime early in the spring she started saying she was going to marry the boy with the glasses. She said they talked about it, and he agreed he loved her.
Back at home, she spent a long, quiet time looking through the pile of pictures that her classmates drew for her. She could identify each student by their symbol - an avatar chosen for them by the teacher at the start of the year.
Our girl, the butterfly of the preschool Butterfly Group. Another school year passes - and a wonderful one it was.
It started with her seated in the center of the room with her classmates surrounding her, singing songs to her and the teacher selected students to recite their favorite poetry. This is her best friend taking her turn.
The teacher helped her distribute first one kind, then another kind of cake baked by Grandma and her best friend.
One table containing some of her class friends. Cute kids!
A goodbye hug and kiss for the teacher, who is accustomed to balancing acts. She was fond of her teacher.
At her usual lunch table. Sometime early in the spring she started saying she was going to marry the boy with the glasses. She said they talked about it, and he agreed he loved her.
Back at home, she spent a long, quiet time looking through the pile of pictures that her classmates drew for her. She could identify each student by their symbol - an avatar chosen for them by the teacher at the start of the year.
Our girl, the butterfly of the preschool Butterfly Group. Another school year passes - and a wonderful one it was.
Monday, May 13, 2013
The Chicks are Born!
This is hot off the presses...the first of the baby chickens have hatched! After three long weeks of waiting, the borrowed hen** sitting on a collection of 24 eggs from a friend's assorted chickens have finally broken their way out of their shells!
This morning there were two...and one working on its shell...and by the end of the day, nine more!
Here we are entering the nursery where the hen is kept in isolation with straw in her own crate.
Grandma removes the hen and sifts through the egg pile to count the shells and chicks.
The chicks are removed from their birthplace once they have dried out, and brought here to be with their fellows in the warm crate.
A lucky girl and boy get to hold the chicks, for a brief moment.
And Grandma closes the crib back up to keep them warm. See you tomorrow!
**For the curious - Grandma had to borrow a hen to do this job, because evidently not all hens are well suited to the task of sitting on eggs! Some are better than others, and out of Grandma's dozen or so chickens, none as so good as this one. This hen is only a year and a half old, but has a very good track record of sitting on eggs until they hatch! She has been sitting in her isolation crate, almost entirely motionless as far as I can tell, for the entire 3 weeks it takes to hatch the little ones. Grandma keeps her full with feed and water in easy reach so she wants for nothing.
The eggs are from various chickens because the more the merrier - hens are not particular about whose eggs they are sitting on! Starting with more eggs means more chicks! And it gives the owner a variety of new chickens.
This morning there were two...and one working on its shell...and by the end of the day, nine more!
Here we are entering the nursery where the hen is kept in isolation with straw in her own crate.
Grandma removes the hen and sifts through the egg pile to count the shells and chicks.
The chicks are removed from their birthplace once they have dried out, and brought here to be with their fellows in the warm crate.
A lucky girl and boy get to hold the chicks, for a brief moment.
And Grandma closes the crib back up to keep them warm. See you tomorrow!
**For the curious - Grandma had to borrow a hen to do this job, because evidently not all hens are well suited to the task of sitting on eggs! Some are better than others, and out of Grandma's dozen or so chickens, none as so good as this one. This hen is only a year and a half old, but has a very good track record of sitting on eggs until they hatch! She has been sitting in her isolation crate, almost entirely motionless as far as I can tell, for the entire 3 weeks it takes to hatch the little ones. Grandma keeps her full with feed and water in easy reach so she wants for nothing.
The eggs are from various chickens because the more the merrier - hens are not particular about whose eggs they are sitting on! Starting with more eggs means more chicks! And it gives the owner a variety of new chickens.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Sunday in Kállósemjén
Sunday is traditionally held as a day of rest here in the village, although not everyone necessarily honors this. But a day of resting and eating grandma's huge Sunday lunches is ok with us.
Today we started with some relaxing in the sun, a survey of family animals
and humans
where the boy and girl dressed in their aprons and were serving the customers, which really turned into writing down prices and presenting each customer with two separate bills, one for each waiter. Grandma was charged for the food she cooked. She took it well.
So continuing the survey with some of the plant life
we finally resolved to go for a family bike ride across the village and into the forest on the north side.
Just past the primary school is a farm road heading out into the fields, and from there we can enter the natural area for a pleasant family ride through the forest.
Our usual stop here is an area with a few folksy houses and a collection of animals. Here we are happily arriving, after some time in the hot sun and pushing our bikes through deep sand, and under some crackling, buzzing hi-voltage lines.
This guy first brought us here after his school class came here with their bikes on a field trip. Pretty cool, a school field trip on bikes! Here he is with survival kit.
Walking through the area is very peaceful, just the chirping of birds and some other animal noise.
Some of the folksy houses - this one features a pile of scrap apples fermenting in the sun - the girl observed that it "smells like beer" -
We like to climb up this tower to see how far we can see
and just past there are these lovely/frightening wild pigs
We made our way back home and prepared for the highly anticipated rainstorm after weeks of drought. It didn't rain much, but we did get some nice pictures out of it. These are looking out of the back of grandma's property, across her cornfield.
and on the other side
Grandma was not thrilled by the amount of rain, and now there is a hail warning. None of it bodes well for the crops. Our fingers are crossed.
Today we started with some relaxing in the sun, a survey of family animals
and humans
where the boy and girl dressed in their aprons and were serving the customers, which really turned into writing down prices and presenting each customer with two separate bills, one for each waiter. Grandma was charged for the food she cooked. She took it well.
So continuing the survey with some of the plant life
we finally resolved to go for a family bike ride across the village and into the forest on the north side.
Just past the primary school is a farm road heading out into the fields, and from there we can enter the natural area for a pleasant family ride through the forest.
Our usual stop here is an area with a few folksy houses and a collection of animals. Here we are happily arriving, after some time in the hot sun and pushing our bikes through deep sand, and under some crackling, buzzing hi-voltage lines.
This guy first brought us here after his school class came here with their bikes on a field trip. Pretty cool, a school field trip on bikes! Here he is with survival kit.
Walking through the area is very peaceful, just the chirping of birds and some other animal noise.
Some of the folksy houses - this one features a pile of scrap apples fermenting in the sun - the girl observed that it "smells like beer" -
We like to climb up this tower to see how far we can see
and just past there are these lovely/frightening wild pigs
We made our way back home and prepared for the highly anticipated rainstorm after weeks of drought. It didn't rain much, but we did get some nice pictures out of it. These are looking out of the back of grandma's property, across her cornfield.
and on the other side
Grandma was not thrilled by the amount of rain, and now there is a hail warning. None of it bodes well for the crops. Our fingers are crossed.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)