Overheard and Pretty Pictures

Frustrated, tech-savvy son: Why do USB keys keep ending up between my toes?!

And while you chew on that, how about some pretty pictures my daughter took?

Marigold

Cat

Crocus

Whatever the plural of crocus is

More Amigurumi!

 In a June post, I shared with you that my 13-year-old daughter entered a crochet design contest. She didn't win, but that didn't stop her from designing more for another contest. Once again, she would appreciate all the votes she can garner because she would really love to win the prize yarn.

You can vote here.

You will be asked to select your 10 favorite designs and enter your email to ensure no double voting. You can see her fantasy creature designs in the pictures below. This time she created 6 (!) patterns. (Yes, November was a productive month for her; she also took part in NaNoWriMo.) 

Thank you in advance if you have time to help her out. Also, there are some other really cute designs entered you'll need to choose from; have fun!

A goblin

Medusa the Gorgon

A faun

A phoenix

Mothman

Herman the Merman

Vote for Sea Turtles!

 My dear daughter loves to crochet. She even designs crochet patterns. Today voting for a design contest opens, and she would be thankful for your vote. 

You can vote here.

You will be asked to select your 10 favorite designs and enter your email to ensure no double voting. Helen's design is a sea turtle and her baby, and you'll need to scroll down a bit to find it.

Such cute sea turtles!

If she wins she would get quite the prize package; I think it includes being published in a book and lots of yarn (nothing like feeding the addiction). Thanks in advance if you take the time to help her out. 

Lately (Few Words, More Pictures)

Bear vs. compost bin made of pallets

Just one step of fixing up the former guinea coop-- soon-to-be chicken coop

Soon-to-be chickens (I'm trying not to count them!)

Little boy fun

Little boy self-portrait

Warning-- if you have no interest in our new little bee endeavors, scroll no further. It's all bees from here on out.

Bee loaded with pollen

Wax comb-- a little wonky

Wax comb-- a lot wonky

Bees

Bees, a little bit closer, since you're brave

My son holding bees-- pretty stinking brave (I want to do it next time).

The replacement queen (the one with a bit of blue paint) and her attendants

The end. You made it!

What Happens When. . . ?

What happens when a big Nissan van. . .

meets a tiny little killdeer?

Killdeer intimidation

Well, in our van vs. killdeer matchup, our big van backed down.  Why?

Well, that's not close enough for you to see, is it?

How about now?

Well, hello little mama bird!

The tiny little nest was so hard to see in my father's driveway.

Well-hidden nest

Little mama bird protected her three little eggs fiercely. Good job, mama bird!

Turkey

This post is just a short one-- not much more than a less-than-great picture.

Turkeys!

I love it when we have a zoo in our backyard.

He Was a Good Dog

And Then There Were None

A little over a week ago, it was my turn to take our dog out first thing in the morning. This is the sight that greeted me.

In case you can't tell what that is, here's a closer look:

Yep, those are feathers. Lots of feathers. Guinea feathers, to be exact. I knew something was very wrong in guinea paradise. 

Upon further inspection, my son and I confirmed my suspicions-- the remaining two guineas had been brutally murdered by some nocturnal beast. I guess, technically, we could be wrong as we never found the bodies (only a few small chunks attached to feathers), but really, what nocturnal beast that drags guineas through a smallish hole in chicken wire would leave the bodies around as evidence?

As violent as this was, it wasn't heartbreaking to our family because these only two who were left were male and driving us crazy by fighting with each other. 

I guess that's the end of our first fowl experiment. We liked the eggs. We did see a decrease in ticks on our bodies; no Lyme disease while we had the guineas. My favorite thing about the guineas was just watching them; they are so funny!

The downsides to guineas? Well, when we wanted to vacation or visit family for a few days, we had to find somebody who was willing to take care of them. Also, they were not good for our garden; they either dusted and killed plants or ate my greens. We also didn't care for the meanness; they weren't mean to us, they were mean to each other.

In the end, we do plan on getting more fowl-- but not until spring probably. We all want different birds-- guineas, chickens, and ducks. I guess you'll have to tune in next spring to see what we settle on.

Good-bye, Emu

On Saturday morning we met the emu's owner who brought the trailer that would (we hoped) return our emu to its friends.

So how would this emu be caught? Well, not easily, that's for sure. It was lured with food, but it did take a few go-arounds and some corralling. And struggling. And coordination. And strength. And patience.

Phew!

Predictably, the emu was not thrilled to be in the trailer. It tried to poke its head out the back to escape. It failed. My littlest one told me later that the emu was "saying goodbye with him head."

Then, ever-so-quickly, it was all over, and the emu farmer was saying goodbye with his hand.

And that brings us to the end of our little emu drama. There are no more installments. This story will not be continued.

Unless. . . 

 (I did tell you there were more emu sightings the next valley over, right?)

Angles of Emu

The farmer came on Thursday afternoon, but by then the emu was gone. He left some food for it. Later in the evening, the emu was in our backyard again, but that was not where the food was. In an effort to keep that bird around until its owner could come get it, we gave it food (scratch grains, corn, oats) and water. It seemed to like it.

Emu--from the side

Emu- from the side and closer

Emu- from the back- because everybody wants their rear end plastered online!

Emu- from the other side

Man, that bird was hungry! I wish I had snapped a good picture of it drinking the water; that was a hoot to watch as it scooped up water and then stretched its long neck up. Sadly, most of our pictures were blurry through the windows and in the darkening evening.

But that's not all!

To Be Continued. . .

What Happens When. . . Emu Vs. Guinea?

Next the emu began walking around our house in a counterclockwise direction. However, one of our three remaining guinea fowl began walking around the house in a clockwise direction. What happens when they meet?

Emu decides to investigate guinea.

Guinea decided it doesn't want to be investigated by a much larger bird.

Guinea makes haste to deliver himself.

In the end, the emu wasn't interested enough in the guinea to chase it too far, and the guinea wasn't scared enough of the emu to run too far. While we had fun when the "chase" got a little fast-paced, the entire episode was rather short-lived.

But this emu episode is not over!

To Be Continued. . .

P. S. While learning about the emu online, we learned that this week is considered National Emu Week. What a coincidence!

Emu-- Up Close and Personal

If you thought the first emu post was something else, read on, my friend, read on. 

You see, the emu wasn't content just hanging out in the cemetery. It decided it needed to pay us a visit.

Certainly you have figured out that by this time, excitement levels in our house were quite high. The phrase "bouncing off the walls" comes to mind.

At this time, while children were bubbling over with crazy,* I was making phone calls to the town office (although we live 5 miles from town), animal control, and an emu farm. For future reference, if an emu happens to wander into your yard, I found the emu farm to be most helpful. 

I learned that our emu friend was likely from the farm I called which is about 21 miles away; they had several escape last summer. Recently, between here and there, emu sightings have multiplied. However, we heard from another source that another emu farmer in another directions (but also many miles away) had some escapees, too.

Anyway, the emu farmer I talked to hit the road to come check things out at our house.

To be continued. . . 

*FULL DISCLOSURE-- I may also have been on the high energy spectrum, but cut me some slack: who has an emu just show up at their house?!