Little Peepers

I have no idea why, but I decided some time ago that I wanted a few chickens.  We live on a farm, right?  What kind of family farm doesn't have a few chickens?  Right, so there I was picking up a bunch of kids at the LSU Ag Center and 4-H Museum just a few miles down the road from our school and a lady there was selling baby chicks that were just so cute and fuzzy.  

Okay, I managed to resist the temptation, besides I didn't have any cash on me AND I didn't really have a place for outside babies.  Afterall, we do have cats.  Lots of outside cats who eat anything on legs--mice, bugs, lizards, small snakes, birds--they have a varied palate.  How long could a couple of baby chicks last?  So I put the cute fuzzy away, gathered up the kids, and loaded the bus.  About halfway back to school one of the kids tells me he got my favorite chick for me!  I almost ran the whole bus off the road.  One chick?  I was now saddled with one chick?  And he was so sweet about it.  I couldn't hurt his feelings.  

So one chick was coming home.  But then the 4-H sponsor noted that one chick probably wouldn't survive alone and so maybe he should just keep the chick.  Yeah, sure, that worked for two seconds, then our sweet boy decided that he'd give up one of his chicks so my chick would have company.  The one chick dilemma solved.  Well, what the heck!  Chickens were wanted and now we'd have some.  Of course, two chickens weren't what I was thinking, but our sweet boy solved that as well.  

The "ag boys" returned the next day and although I wasn't at school, I got another five chicks.  So, now we have seven.  But wait, there's more!  A couple of teachers also got baby chicks--it is Easter, after all.  Once they found out that I have some chicks and a now a place to house them, they asked if I'd adopt their chicks after Easter, you know, when their kids get tired of caring for the chicks.  

So, there are now seven and possibly more on the way.  Of course, if you have a family farm with a few chickens, it makes sense to have a few ducks and rabbits, too.  Why not?  We have a too big garden, a large pasture with horses no one rides, an occasional cow or two, and lots of room for small fuzzy darlings.  

What we don't have is a protected space for them.  The chicks are quite happy in their borrowed hutch, but that's because they are quite small.  In a few weeks they'll be much too big for the little cage they're in now.  That gives Richard only a couple of weeks to build a bigger birdcage!  We've decided on a large (cat-proof) pen with a hen house near the shed.  I'd like about 15 or so chickens, enough to give us eggs but not so many that they overwhelm us.  Of course, that's my plan.  Richard does everything just a little overwhelming, so we'll see how the plan goes.  In the meantime, I'll keep you posted on both the plan and the fuzzy peepers.

Sweetheart Roses

When she was young and able-bodied, mom had such a pretty yard.  She worked in the field with daddy all day, growing and selling fresh vegetables, then came in to tend to supper, the house and clothes, and her yard.  One of her favorite plants was roses.  She tried her hand at some of the hybrid roses, but was most successful with the older roses.....those that she could snip a cutting from and stick in the ground.

Of the roses that she grew, she especially loved the little pink roses she called sweetheart roses.  She gave cuttings to most of us as we grew up and moved into our own homes.  I had several plants in front of the porch at our first home.  The boys tried with all they had to trample the little plants, but each spring a new bunch of pink sweeties opened up and laughed at them.

When we moved to our current home, I got new cuttings--some from mom and some from the plants at the old house.  I planted three cuttings on each side of our front porch and they've done very well for about 15 years now.  

However, a week or so ago, I noticed that the winter weather killed off two of my bushes.  Luckily, I had dropped a brick on a wayward limb last fall.  As a result, I had a new little cutting rooted in place.  Richard dug it up and moved it to the spot where the other two were, so there's no longer a huge gap on one side of the porch.  I'm hopeful that the new plant will spread and fill in the space. 

What plants are special to you?  Leave a note and tell us why.

Strawberry Fields

Quick! Pick it before the mocking bird gets it!

For the second year in a row, we've planted and raised strawberries for our family.  This year's crop is not as heavy as last year's, but we're starting to fill up!  I put a few in the freezer after we got tired of eating fresh berries, strawberry/banana salad, strawberry shortcake, strawberry everything!

If the weather stays cool, we'll be eating berries
for a few more days.

Our older grandchildren have learned to simply grab the berry basket and race to the garden.  Our younger granddaughters were too little to enjoy the berries last year, but this year we can't seem to pick enough for them.  Marley lives next door, so she's a regular picker.  She and her dad come by, eat a few berries while standing in the garden, then go home again.  He's discovered that picking them while she's there is less stressful.  When she's had enough, he just can't seem to find some red ones.

She wasn't too particular at first, she'd eat the red ones and the pink ones.  Then one day she picked her own.....a white-pink one.  It was a bit more tangy than she could handle.  Her little squinty faces were cute for a while anyway.  Since then she's more particular about the ones she picks now.

What's left after one picking by the big kids.

Caki, on the other hand, lives an hour away, so she gets goodies from Grammy and Poppa only once in a while.  They are a busy little family and gas has reached untouchable prices, so our visits don't happen anywhere as often as we'd like.

When they come for a visit, though, Caki loves to play in the yard and finding her way to the strawberry patch is part of that.

What about you?  Do you have small children in your life?  If so, what do you do to bring nature into their lives?

Frolicking Friday

Pink or brown?

Friday was such a fun day.  I raced home to play in the studio and let nothing get in my way.  Going straight to the stash, I pulled out some pinky-brown fabrics.  There was no rhyme or reason, I just started pulling some really pretty fabrics that I felt like playing with.....a solid, a light small plaid, a floral.  Just a pretty variety of matching fabrics.

Since I made "Butterfly Kisses," I've wanted to make another in the same modern style but with a twist.  The fabrics felt perfect for another butterfly quilt, so I set to playing with the butterflies.  I didn't get very far Friday night (the grandkids interrupted the play time) but I did get most of the piecing for the background done.

This morning I woke up later than I wanted to, but eventually I found my way into the studio to complete the background.  I used the butterfly patterns I'd made for "Butterfly Kisses" so it didn't take long to see the finished top. 

Close up of quilting motif--stippling with butterflies

 It was a perfect spring project for such a beautiful spring day.  At some point I threw the curtains open and at some later point, I was forced to turn on the A/C.  The weather was gorgeous--cool, brisk, clean and bright.  Although the indoors got a little too warm, it was surprisingly chilly outdoors.

After lunch I dug around in the stash again for something just a little different for a focus fabric.  I'd had an idea that included many of the same pinkish-browns.  Just where this idea came from I could not say.  I thought of making a family tree quilt with enough leaves for each family member.  Once I found the bird fabric, I knew it would come together.  And here are the results!

Writing and Poetry

As a writer, I've had wonderful opportunities to meet and work with colleagues and teachers through the Acadiana Writing Project.  The AWP is a supportive group of writers at the University of Louisiana - Lafayette who were instrumental in my growth from a classroom English teacher to a  writing instructor at Louisiana State University at Alexandria.  


I've given presentations throughout the southern part of Louisiana, at several state conferences and at the National Association of English Teachers.  In these presentations I not only model writing for other teachers and give them lessons and ideas for their classrooms, I model my own writing.  Sitting down with pen and paper or computer when they do and composing something, anything that I would be willing to share with my peers.  


The following poem is one of those somethings.  I'll share a few more of my poems in the coming weeks.  In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this one.  Please leave a message either way, I'd love to hear from you.



Categorical Aftermath

Camille, Andrew, Charley, Ivan, Frances, Hugo, Jeanne, Katrina

Lettered. Numbered. Categorized. Alphabetized.

Twist their way into human memory.

Turn their wrath on human lives.

Entwine the human psyche.

Devastation of

Shattered lives

Drowning in mementos,

Coffered in attics.

Hunger thirst death

Take their toll,

Count their rations.

Wind, water, heat

Spin into

Mother Earth’s Darwinist theory

Force

Elders, illness, infants into weaklings,

Survival reliant on instinct and ability.

Faith, hope, dreams

Become ruins

Build into communities of desperation,

Buttress the losses,

Befit that restoration.

Cities rising like Phoenix burned.

Return.

Rebuild.

Restore.

Renew.

Human spirit.

Human lives.

Human survival.

Blue Monday continues

For today's Blue Monday post, I'm introducing the Blue Bonnet Club.  A quilt I made a few years ago, I finally quilted it after getting the long arm.  Rather than talk a whole lot about what it is and has, I'll just let the photos explain.  Hope you enjoy and give me your honest opinion.....the girls and I can take it.

The Blue Bonnet Club

Close up of stippling and trapunto hearts.  Note the girls are all wearing blue but their accessories are different.

The border with a narrow ruched border to add some texture.

Hope you enjoyed.  Leave a note.

Palmetto Island State Park

We spent the weekend with our children and grandchildren who live in Rayne, La.  Enjoyed a wonderful dinner at a nearby restaurant, played with the grandkids, attended mass and then spent a couple hours in our favorite state.  Palmetto Island State Park hasn't been over for very long, and Rory has mentioned it several times.  So we decided to drive down and check it out.

The park is very nice and has many amenities, although the gravel and shell roads are not one.  The dust was pretty bad and Richard and I wondered how much worse it will be come summertime.  I'm not one to "rough it" too much.  I've done my share of camping in sand, sun and grit while raising the boys.  These days I'm more of a clean, quiet cabin type when it comes to camping and such.  I don't have to have the luxuries of  five-star hotels, but they definitely get my high scores.

One of the amenities of the park is the water pad.  Imagine taking the kids out for a picnic, a long hike, fishing or boating and then top it off with a romp in the cool, clean water streaming from every angle.  Doesn't that sound like the perfect way to close out the day?  Clean them off and cool them down, then settle in the car for the drive home, everyone's irritations and weariness washed away on the large colorful water pad.

The photos on this page and the following description are all from the Louisiana State Office of State Parks website.


Palmetto Island State Park
Located on the Vermilion River, Palmetto Island State Park offers a real south Louisiana outdoors experience. A boat launch provides access to the river for fishing and boating, while the interior lagoons allow canoers and kayakers an up-close look at the native plant and animal life.

Overnight guests can stay in one of six vacation cabins, each sleeping up to 8 people comfortably. The cabins, nestled among the trees and foliage, are outfitted with a full kitchen and bathroom, fireplaces for those chilly winter evenings and a screened-in porch for listening to the crickets and frogs sing out their evening melodies.96 campsites are available for RV camping (20 sites include an extra tent camping pad), for those who like to get a little closer to nature.

The visitor center complex will defintely be a "must do" for the day-use visitor, with a water playground and bathhouse. A multi-purpose room can be rented for meetings, family gatherings, weddings and many other events.The ever-present palmetto plants, for which the park is named, are echoed in many of the architectural elements around the park; so pack a picnic and have a scavenger hunt for them all!

http://www.crt.state.la.us/parks/ipalmetto.ASPX#