Tuesday Ten: Drudgery

My week was not nearly as exciting as Cathy's , but I am going to go ahead and list my ten things I did this week anyway.

Ten Things I Did This Week:

1. Laundry.

Doesn't matter if it is clean or dirty, there is always laundry going on around here. Even if I do 2 loads a day there is still more to do. At least I don't have to fold it. That's the kids' job. By the way, I made sure that no one's undies were showing when I took the picture. Heaven forbid that I scar my 13 year old daughter for life by putting a picture of her underwear on the internet. But I must say--what is up with half inside out clothes? Or the sock ball? Or the 3 layers of shirts that I have to pull apart to wash?





2. Deciding the thickness of porkchops. I had to make some quick decisions on the phone yesterday about how we want our pigs cut up. How thick do I want the pork chops? Medium, I guess. Do I want pork roast or pork steaks, or both? Both, I guess. How do I want the sausage seasoned? Don't touch the sausage, I will make it myself. Bacon? Ham? Yes. Yes. But we will be taking it somewhere else to get the no nitrite cure. Organs? A resounding NO. Butchering pigs is so exhausting.


3. Taking pictures. I have had my new camera for a week now and I have taken gobs of pictures. I even took it to the gymnastics meet on Saturday. I took it out with me to do chores and took pictures of frosty leaves. Some pictures came out nice, some not so much. I'm not saying which is which just in case I am wrong.












4. Correcting schoolwork. If they would just set it on the correcter pile and leave it be then things would be great. But noooo, we have to follow mom around and say "here's my English" "here's my math" "can I just read this to you?" "can I correct this myself?". It's as if I have never said, "There's the correcter pile, put it there and I will get to it in a minute." And no, you may not correct it yourself, because then you will know what the answers are. I wasn't born yesterday.


5. Driving to gymnastics. Four days a week, drive there and drop off, go back and pick up.
Sometimes on Saturdays drive to a different town for a competition. I don't mind, in fact I enjoy it, but sometimes I feel guilty about doing all of that for one kid.
Saturday she placed 3rd on beam and bars, 4th on floor and vault, and 3rd all around. Fantastic.




6. Dreaming of visiting the coast. Well, visiting my mom at the coast with my sisters. Although I really don't care who it is I am visiting at this point (sorry, Mom) just so I get to go without anyone under the age of 20. Or men. And so long as I don't have to make dinner, make my bed, change my socks, or change anyone elses socks.

7. Buying camera stuff on eBay. One nice thing about my new camera is that all of the old Minolta Maxxum auto focus lenses will fit on it. This means that if I want a different (better) lens than the 18-70mm kit lens that came with it, I can get a used one in perfect condition for 1/10th the price of a new Sony lens. Maybe I got a little more than I needed, but I still spent way less for 6 lenses and 2 bags than I would have for one brand new lens. I need two bags, by the way, one large one for all the equipment, and one smaller and lighter to carry around. If I should choose at a later date I can resell the lenses and make my money back anyway. Current inventory: 28mm f2.8, 50mm f1.7, 18-70mm, 35-70mm with macro, 28-105mm, 80-200mm, and a 100-300mm. All useful in their own way.

8. Cleaning out the refridgerator. No, not really. But I should. It is on the list of things to do.

9. Playing with pictures in Photoshop. What fun. If a picture is to dark, just lighten it up. An unsightly pimple? Remove it. Cool. A picture can go from this:
A little to much shadow and what is that on his face? Jam? Be gone!



What an ugly white background. Zip Zip Zip!



Ta-Dah!!



Maybe a bit too much, but you can see what fun it is to play with pictures.


10. Deciding what to cook for dinner. I often think that I should have this dinner making thing down after so many years of marriage and family. I don't. Maybe it is because I dislike cooking, maybe it is the tight budget, maybe it is because I dislike cooking. I have no shortage of cookbooks, I just have a huge shortage of desire to use them. Tonight for dinner is macaroni and cheese. Good thing that will thrill the masses. Last night was chicken noodle soup and fresh bread, tomorrow is anyone's guess. As long as it doesn't require a cookbook and only uses 3 ingredients (that I have), I will make it.

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See what Cathy has been up to.

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Pig Day

Last week I finally decided that the pigs had to go. After the Summer 2005 pig butchering adventure we decided to leave it to the experts, so I called up the butcher and set up a time for them to come: Saturday at noon. How nice, I thought, right about the time I am leaving for a gymnastics meet. Works for me.

They showed up early. I did not expect that. I thought we (middle daughter, who hates the thought of killing the pigs, and I) would be long gone by the time the butcher guy showed up. But he was almost and hour early, so I got to witness at least half of the job.

Yes, half. I had to leave about 20 minutes after they got there and they were over half way done when I left. Do you know how long it took my husband and I to butcher ONE pig? FIVE HOURS. These two men did FOUR pigs in less than ONE hour.

First he shot them all and bled them out.

Then they dragged them over to the back of the truck.

Next they removed all four feet and tucked them under the body to use as stablizers.

Then they washed them off good and started skinning.

They hung them up and finished skinning, then moved them into the truck.

That looks gross. Right now I am chantng "Bacon and ham, bacon and ham." "Pork chops, pork roast, SAUSAGE!!!" Now I feel better. Sorry if the pictures made anyone gag, but you know, sometimes a person has to stay true to their blog title and post something about their little farm.

What a pretty picture.

I mentioned before that I have been sorting through and organizing my photos on the computer. I came across this wonderful picture when going through the baby file. I had forgotten all about it or I am sure I would have deleted it long ago. I probably blocked it out of my memory.

What I want to know is what goes through your mind when you see this photo?

Well, besides the obvious--new baby, loving parents, and so on.

I will tell you what goes through mine.

Why, oh why, did my sister (whom I love dearly but who also gets to take the blame for this piece of gross negligence) choose to send this, of all pictures, to our dad so he could see a picture of his 13th grandchild? I think I would have said "hmm, I don't seem to have any photos of the new baby. Let me see if I can get one the next time I see him." Anything would be better than this.

Of course my dad decided that the little guy didn't take after his side of the family at all.

Rest assured, my baby did not look like that. The problem is that there was a flash bulb going off in his face at close range when he had only been in this world for a few minutes. I am sure anyone else would look even worse at that point.

Here is a better picture:



Funny thing, after seeing this picture, grandpa decided that he was a spittin' image. Imagine that.

By the way, Cathy is a wonderful photographer. I am sure she will be even better when her loving husband gets a clue and buys her a digital SLR camera. That should get rid of those pesky flash problems.




Yes, I'd say his looks have definitely improved.

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My New Camera: A Story in Pictures

...uh, pictures mostly taken by my Hitachi DVD Cam that also happens to have snapshot capabilities (such as they are).

To start off though, I need to explain that although I mentioned that I had ordered my camera online and was impatiently waiting for it to arrive, I ended up doing something else. I decided that instead of purchasing 2 extra lenses (that don't get all that great of reviews) and bunch of cheap extras that I didn't really have any choice about, I would buy the camera with the kit lens (18-70mm) at the local camera shop and then scope out some good deals on used lenses of the type that I want the most.














And he thinks I won't let him use the camera.

Well, I'm not if he's just going to fool around.

Hurry up!

It just sat there all morning. I was afraid to take that first picture. I don't know why.

First picture, just stuck it on auto and clicked away. Taken in my very light bathroom.

I took these on auto setting and I think the camera was picking up the bright light from the window right behind the kids so the picture itself turned out very yellow. This is with overhead light only, no flash!

Same picture, after I fooled with it in Photoshop.

With these three I changed the setting to ISO400 and set the white balance for indoor light. Still no flash and not lightened in Photoshop at all. I don't like the shadows on the second one and the white walls are icky. In the third picture she was being stubborn and wouldn't smile pretty so I snapped as soon as she opened her mouth. Serves her right.

Now it is time to go outside.

Tuesday Ten: Ten things I have said to my kids at least 500 times

I admit I have a slight tendency to become sarcastic with my kids, but when a person has said the same thing so many times it is difficult not to. How many times do I have to say these things, anyway? Yeah, yeah, as many as it takes (times 8), blah, blah blah. I still don't like to repeat myself.



Ten things I have said to my kids at least 500 (billion) times:

1. "Don't sit on the baby." Okay, the fact that I have so many kids probably has something to do with why I have had to say this so many times. It seems like a no brainer to me, but I guess it is hard to remember that babies are breakable. Go figure.

2. "No, your birthday isn't tomorrow. Yes, you can have a pink Build-a-Bear for your birthday. Of course, with a phone." This is since big sister came home with one a week after Christmas, mind you. We have 88 days to go.

3. "When you put trash in the garbage can, please make sure it will stay there when the next person opens the cupboard." Of course the "next person" is usually me, which must be why I have to say this so much. The garbage can doesn't hold an infinite amount of trash, and even more interesting, it doesn't squash the garbage down by itself.

4. "NO." I don't care what you want, or why you want it. No. Stop asking me. You think I don't know why you are asking, so you need to explain it to me--but trust me, I do know why you are asking. And the answer is still no.

5. "Who was the last person to _____?" ...go through the door, ...play with the Legos, ...open the refridgerator, ---fill in the blank. They think I am asking because I don't know. I know all right, and I am just asking so they know I know. And something needs to be done about it quick.

6. "Do your chores." Do your chores. Do your chores. Do your chores. Do your chores. I should just go through the house chanting "Do your chores" every morning. Coming in my room and lolling on the bed until I ask "Have you done your chores?" is not impressing me. Continuing to loll after confirming that you have not done your chores is even more unimpressive. Try to impress me for once and do your chores without being asked. That would be impressive.

By the way, said chores may or may not include (depending on age): brush teeth and hair (if you have any to brush), make bed and straighten room. Wash your own breakfast dish. One person wipes off the table. One person/week cleans the kids' bathroom. Maybe fold some laundry. That's all. Big whoop. It shouldn't take all morning for 3 people to clean one bedroom that is 10'x10', but if that is how you want to spend your time, go for it.

7. "What is that in your mouth?" Closely related to "That's not for babies." Babies put everything in their mouths. Dirt, rocks, legos, gross stuff that I would rather not think about.

8. "Where is the ____?" Not to be confused with what my kids say to me on a regular basis: "I can't find my ____." Then they stand there. As if I know where they stashed their favorite Playmobil guy. Or their shoes. The first question I always ask is "Did you look for it?" Which seems like a silly question, but you would be surprised to know how many times the answer is "no". No, when I ask where something is it is usually because someone used the item (scissors, erasers, timer, pencil sharpener, nail clippers, etc.) and DIDN'T PUT IT AWAY.

9. "Stay away from the computer and television until your schoolwork is done." I am such a spoil sport. How do my kids even bear it? How cruel of me to require that they learn a little math and english before they go play Pac Man on the computer.

10. "If the baby is screaming, it means he doesn't like what you are doing." Is it just me or does it seem glaringly obvious that if a nonverbal child hollers when you are trying to pick him up or take his toys or go "googey" in his face, that he doesn't want you to? I have tried to tell the kids that if he yells then stop but they don't. Of course, the baby may eventually learn that all he needs to do is screech and he gets what he wants, so that can become a problem as well. There must be a better way (aside from forbidding anyone to touch, look at, or communicate in any way with said child). I don't know what it is.

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Cathy's Tuesday Ten

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Crabby

I am feeling so crabby lately. Or I should say crabbier than usual. I just feel out of sorts with everyone and everything. I don't want to go out and feed the animals--it is too cold. I don't want to make dinner--that is all I have been doing for the last 19 years it seems. Homeschooling? Bleah.

Having kids around is a nice thing because there is never a dull moment--but it does have it's drawbacks. Like there is never a dull moment. I dream of dull moments sometimes.

However, there is hope. I ordered my new camera yesterday. After looking around town and on the internet I finally settled on the Sony DSLR-A100. It is bothering me that it says SONY on the front instead of Nikon or Canon, since Sony isn't a big camera name, but essentially it is a Minolta camera with a Sony name on it. Plus it has great reviews and is a pretty nice looking camera. I was just looking at midrange point and shoots at first but my husband kept going to the nice big SLRs.



"That kind is too expensive." I said.

"You need to have a nice camera to take good pictures," he said.

"Okay," I said. I am so easy to win over. Besides, what I really want to do is take super cool closeup pictures. You need a good camera for that.



Now I just need to learn how to use it. I have been interested in photography for a long time but never had the equipment to do much about it. I am a little afraid I won't be able to live up to this camera. I am afraid I will even be a little bit embarrassed to have such a nice camera. It isn't like I do a lot of photography, I just want to. I keep thinking I should have just gotten a small digital point and shoot. It would probably do for a while. But...but...but...

Oh well, I should probably just stop worrying about it and get over myself.

I have to wait because I ordered the camera on the internet and it hasn't shipped yet. I wanted to buy local--we went down to a camera store and talked to the sales guy there for a while--but I found a package deal where I get the camera, 3 lenses, and a bunch of other accessories for less than I would pay for the camera and 2 lenses at the camera store. Sorry guys, but I had to go with the package. I just hope it ships soon.

In the meantime I am spending oodles of time organizing my pictures into folders and albums using Picasa, a free download photo organizer from Google. It is very simple and yet has quite a few features that are useful.


I am not under any illusion that a new camera will cure my crabbiness--I think that nicer weather and a maid/cook is the only solution for that. Perhaps when the garage is finished, AHEM, someday, and there is more room for kids to play then I won't be so crabby. I will post a garage update soon, by the way, I have just been waiting for the stairs to be finished.

Stop laughing.

Tuesday Ten: Chickens

Henrietta

Since Cathy now has chickens, that is all she wants to talk about. In an effort to get this out of her system, we are doing a Tuesday Ten about chickens. For myself, I am a little more relaxed about chickens having had them for almost four years, but I understand since I was a new chicken owner once. Plus I like chickens and I like talking about them.

*Pardon all my horrible blurry chicken pictures but that is all I can manage with my crappy camera. Soon I am going to have complained long enough to my husband about wanting a nicer digital camera, and he will break down and tell me to buy one. Then I will be able to take nice non-blurry chicken pictures. Oh, and better pictures of my kids, which would be the main purpose of having a new camera.

Ten Random Thoughts About Chickens

1. Chickens do not make good house pets. They are messy animals and don't house train well (see #10). I cannot think of one good reason to let a chicken in your house. I realize that people do this--they put little "chicken diapers" on the chickens and let them inside, but those people are deranged. Chickens belong outside where there are bugs and grass. And places to poop.

2. Chickens will survive if they have to be outside in 19 degree weather. Don't worry, they will be fine. They don't mind a little cold (see #10). A little place to roost is nice so they don't get stuck to the ground in the ice. Cuz they don't stop poopin' when they start sleepin'---warm poop, cold ground, chicken feet...nevermind. If you can't sleep, run an extension cord out to their coop with a light bulb. Don't run them in and out of your garage every night and morning, almost killing yourself when you slip on the deck. Aren't there chickens in colder climates than ours? Wisconsin? Northern Minnesota? Nunavut? Hmmm? What do you suppose they are eating for breakfast with their caribou sausage? Eggs.

3. On the other hand, chickens will not survive without food and water. They can't fill their feed and water dishes themselves (see #10). I have had to point this out to my daughter on a number of occasions. Now the rule is feed the chickens before you feed yourself. Amazing how well that works.

4. Fresh eggs are better than store bought eggs. Well, they are. That is why they cost more. Don't try to hard boil fresh eggs, though, since they are impossible to peel. Leave hard boiling for the second rate 6 month old store eggs. Give chickens a little place to run around and some food and water and they will lay eggs. They don't mind at all (see #10).

Also, if you would like to know what it is like to gather eggs in 29 degree weather (with freezing rain) do this: Go to your freezer and get out 8 ice cubes. Put six of them in your pockets and hold the last two in your hands. Go outside and walk around for 2-3 minutes. Go back inside and put down ice cubes. Take ice cubes out of pockets. Shake hands and curse silently (there are children present). Wash hands. Curse (silently) again because water is hot and hands are cold. Wish winter was over.

5. Chicken is a tasty treat. When a chicken stops paying its way by laying eggs (see #10), one option is to make it into a chicken stew. Another option is roast chicken. Or chicken stir fry, chicken pot pie, fried chicken...the possibilities are endless. Actually, if the chicken is old enough to have stopped laying eggs chicken stew or soup is the best choice. It will be too tough and chewy for anything else. That is why we raise broiler chickens for the other chicken dishes. Broiler chickens are young and tender and yummy.



6. Any more than one rooster per twelve hens and your hens will not have feathers on their backs. When we first got chickens (and they grew up because we got them when they were tiny chicks) my oldest daughter would ask "Why does the rooster like to sit on the hens?"

Why indeed?

She would look at my few rooster decorations and say "You need one of a rooster sitting on a hen."

No I don't. No pornographic rooster art in my house, thankyouverymuch.

So I explained that the rooster was fertilizing the eggs. She also pointed out that the hen didn't seem to be enjoying it too much. Well, it doesn't happen too often with 1 rooster/12 hens. But with my pen of 8 roosters/13 hens it does, and I really need to get rid of some of the roosters. Or at least move them to another pen. Maybe the one with 0 roosters/17 hens. Or the one with 0 roosters/7 hens. Or the freezer.


7. Pecking order is a real concept. Never move new chickens into an established pen. Bad things will happen. Right now, I have my seven new hens in a wire pen right next to the pen of 21 chickens. They can see each other but not get to each other. This is frustrating the roosters to no end (see #10). The plan is for them to get used to each other then move them together. Pretty crafty, huh?

8. Don't turn your back on a mean rooster. He will run up and spur you. He is just being protective of his territory (see#10). Kick him into next week.


9. "I have always thought chickens were sensual creatures." A quote from the movie I watched with my husband last night. Why I waste my time on such drivel I have no idea. I don't remember who said it or why--it had nothing to do with the plot of the movie--but I thought it was funny. Especially since I was sitting there on the couch with pencil in hand writing down 10 random thoughts about chickens. Personally I don't think chickens have the capacity to be sensual (see #10).

10. The chicken brain is the size of a hazelnut. Food. Water. Poop. Hens-lay a few eggs. Roosters-sit on a few hens and spur people. There is no more room in the brain of a chicken for anything else. "But MY chickens looooove me," you say. "They have their own personalities and they cluck about so excitedly when they see me coming." Whatever. I still say they are dumb. When chickens get all excited when you come to their pen it is because you feed them. Try not feeding them for a while and see what happens. They will forget all about you. My kids are always coming up with elaborate reasons why the chickens do the things they do. I say it is because they have a brain smaller than an eraser. Nope, they can't figure out there are two layers of wire between them and the hens, they can't figure out not to spur the person that has kicked them 5 times in the last week. And they certainly can't reason out that if they lay eggs it will keep them from the stew pot.

I still like it when my chickens run to me when they see me coming. I have no illusions of love--I know they see the feed bucket in my hand. Chickens are fun and easy to keep, and that is why I have them.

Bonus: If it sits still a chicken will poop on it. Anything laying about near where there are chickens will get poop on it. Oh, and don't let them into your flowerbeds or garden if there are small green plants growing there. Don't say I didn't warn you.

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Cathy's Thoughts on Chickens

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Frozen

Now that it has snowed, everything is frozen. The puddles are frozen, the animal water is frozen, the barn pipes are frozen. Thankfully, the house pipes are not frozen, and even more thankfully, I in my cozy little house am not frozen.

I went out to feed the animals and collect eggs this morning and the eggs were frozen. This wouldn't be a problem, except the shells crack when the eggs freeze. I will be collecting eggs in the afternoons for a while to prevent any more frozen eggs.

The poor little chickens aren't frozen, but they aren't spending a lot of time outside either.



He looks cold.

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Snow Day

It snowed last night! It rarely snows here so the kids had to go out and play instead of staying inside and doing schoolwork. The snow was perfect--nice and powdery, not too soppy wet, so the playing lasted a long time.

Did you know that pirates don't sleep? Yep, you heard it here first. This is according to my 5 year old--and when asked (by his 3 year old sister) he answered in that Doesn't Everyone Know That? tone of voice.

Also he was extremly pleased to learn that if today was his birthday (it's not), he would indeed receive presents. I was a little baffled when he asked and when answering I may have used the same previously mentioned tone of voice, but then one of the older kids reminded me of my most recent rant around the house about kids who leave stuff out and then get it taken away only to leave it there in my closet for months on end without a care in the world for doing a chore or two to get it back.

"Those kinds of kids don't deserve more toys," I had said. "They don't need new things to play with." Well, I was crabby and fed up with tripping over toys and stepping on army men--let me tell you, legos and hot wheels have nothing on army men when it comes to pain--and my closet is full enough of my own things without adding kid stuff to it.

So anyway I guess he was a little worried that IF today was his birthday he wouldn't get any presents. I felt a little bad because I was mostly talking to the 8, 9, and 11 year olds and he kind of got lumped into that group by accident.

Here I am again, racking up more therapy points.

Tuesday Ten: Wasting Time

This week's topic: wasting time. I wasn't sure whether it was supposed to be just the I-am-supposed-to-be-doing-something-else-more-important-but-here
-I-am-doing-this kind of wasting time or if I should include the kind of wasting time that one does when they don't have anything better to do. I have decided to do both, since I don't have a lot of time to waste.

1. Computer games/Video games. Number one because I waste quite a bit of time on these things.It's relaxing and I enjoy puzzles. My current favorites are: web sudoku, word whomp on pogo.com, notpron riddles (kind of like qwyzzle), Myst (an adventure/puzzle solving computer game), and Katamari Damancy on the PS2. Actually Katamari Damancy isn't a puzzle, it is just fun. The katamari is a sticky ball that gets rolled around picking up stuff. The object is to either roll up items until the ball is a certain size to make a star or roll up specific items in relation to whatever constellation is being made. It is a great game for the kids-a change from anything violent and gory. Well, until the katamari gets big enough to roll up people, that is. Heh heh nevermind.

2. Watching tv. I watch too much and I should be doing other things in the evenings. It just sucks you in and pretty soon you can't live without The Amazing Race or Survivor, or The Apprentice, or ER, or... I should be sewing or working on the shelves I want to put up or a billion other projects.

3. Blogging. Let's face it. No one cares in the least what my pigs are doing, or whether my husband got stuck in the mud, or what my 3 year old is wearing today. Except maybe my mom (one of the 4 people that read my blog) and I could just email her if I wanted to. But it is fun to write about it anyway so I do it. What I am supposed to be doing is working on my dad's website or homeschooling my children.

4. Making lists of household chores I want to do but probably won't (therefore making it a waste of time). I am feeling like I am just maintaining right now and there are a ton of heavy cleaning tasks that need my attention. I know this because I made a list of them all rather than doing them. So now, not only did I waste time making the list, it is sitting there making me feel guilty for not being able to cross anything off it. I should just throw it away-- but, one, then I will just stare at the cobwebs guiltily, and two, there won't be a list to cross anything off of once I do get my rear in gear and get the chores done.

5. Going to the gym. How can that be a waste of time, you ask? If you are sitting and watching kids do gymnastics, I answer. I spend a lot of time at the gym watching my 11 year old daughter do her workout. It is fun and I do enjoy it but I often think I shouldn't go so much. I just hate missing it when she does new things. And not just her, most of the girls on her team have been together for several years so I enjoy watching all of them and chatting with the other moms. I probably spend 5-6 hours a week sitting at the gym. Maybe I should take up knitting socks, a nice portable project.

6. Answering the phone when a salesperson calls. If you are looking to waste time, this could be good. I always hang up immediately, myself. What I want to do is hand the phone to my 16 month old or just set the phone down on the counter and walk away but I don't have time for such a silly waste of time.

7. Sudoku puzzles. What a great way to waste some time. I have a book that I keep in the car for when I am waiting to pick up oldest son at the bus drop off. I often take it when I go into the gym. Wow, wasting time while wasting time. Multitasking! I have made my way through the easy puzzles to intermediate, challenging, and now--tough. It takes me several days of bus stop pick ups to finish one of those.

8. Collecting eggs. With 30 some odd hens there are always eggs to collect. I could spend copious amounts of time going out to the hen houses and collecting eggs.

9. Telling my kids anything. I am just going to have to repeat myself. I have been telling my 4th grade son about capitalization and punctuation since he was in first grade and he still doesn't do it unless I make him go back and correct his papers. Oh and "check your work before you give it to me" how about that? Do they do it? No. And apparently actually reading the science chapter before answering the questions is a waste of time as well.

10. Building stairs. Don't do it. Hire someone to do it, it will go much faster I assure you. We are coming close to the end but the amount of time we have wasted on putting things up, taking them down, figuring, refiguring, re-refiguring, going to the home improvement store for a piece of plywood we didn't need because the measurement that was thought to be wrong was indeed correct, could have been better spent.

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Cathy's Time Wasters