I Get the Message

After my last post I realized that my toilet bowl chipmunk had entered the house with a friend. The next day, in an attempt to fight off my cold, I took an afternoon nap and was disturbed in my bedroom by the second rodent as he scrambled onto my cedar chest just under the window. I suspected he saw the great outdoors and was longing for freedom. I opened my ground level window and the back door while closing access to the rest of the house, in hopes that he would find his way out. I believe my plan worked. I haven't seen or heard him for a couple days. I wonder if he left a "Rodent Vacancy" sign on my house as he left? That very same night I spotted a cute little mouse scampering across the mud room floor by the back door. Cute or not, I set the traps, baiting them with a bit of granola bar. These are a completely enclosed trap, designed so I don't have to see the poor dead creature when the deed is done. I went to bed, hoping to be rodent-free by morning. Peering into the trap opening in the morning, I did indeed see something......mouse droppings. What is the mouse trying to tell me about my useless traps when not only does he eat all my granola bar, but then poops on the trap before he leaves? I get the message....crappy trap.


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Not Doing So Well

I woke this morning with the beginnings of a cold and it took hold as the day progressed. I managed to get only a couple hours of schooling in before calling it a day and comforting myself with some chicken noodle soup and fresh, warm, homemade bread.

Though I felt progressively worse as the hours passed, my day did not end as badly as it did for one of the chipmunks that resides in my yard. I noticed, when returning home from Atira's soccer practice, that the back door had been left open all afternoon. This happens frequently and I've often thought that it's surprising that we don't get wild animals wandering into the house. Well, tonight we did. As I walked into the downstairs bathroom I thought that someone had neglected to flush the toilet but upon closer scrutiny, it was in fact a poor little chipmunk who had drowned in my toilet. I'll pass on showing a photo of that one.......

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In"tree"gued

Early last week I had a conversation with Jubal and learned that he needed a Spanish-English dictionary. Apparently, in one year he had managed to destroy the one that had sustained me through my high school days and twenty years beyond. Well, being a necessary item and no longer having a handy Borders up the road, on Friday, I headed to my local liberal hippie-run bookstore, Gulf of Maine on Brunswick's Maine St.. I made this assumption based not so much on the pony-tailed old man in flannel at the counter, but more so by the lack of an appropriate History section and the prominence of the Gay-Lesbian one by comparison. Another clue was the large edition of Marijuana Horticulture among the gardening books. Though the Foreign Language was small, they thankfully had what I needed. Then, while browsing the Maine books, I happened upon an excellent guide to Maine Forest Trees and bought that as well.



The kids and I put it to good use today as we spent a couple hours identifying and labeling our tree types in the yard and surrounding woods. Our exploration came to an end when Tell tripped in the underbrush and scraped his stomach on a jagged stump. I think Nolan was glad for the end of our tree-tagging time. Atira and I, however, quite enjoyed it and may do it again very soon.


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My Favorite Season

What a great start to the Patriot's 2011-2012 season! The Monday Night Football opener against the Dolphins produced a (franchise) record-breaking 517 passing yards for Brady and made for a cheerful Tuesday wake-up for me. As I drove past the church at 7:15 am, after dropping Jubal and Nate off at the Brown's, I left a short note in the church office door for my pastor. He grew up in Florida and Miami is his team. This has naturally produced a friendly football rivalry between us. My note basically stated the following:

Pastor Blundell,
I thought you might be feeling a bit sad this morning after last night's game so I thought that I would write and encourage you by telling you how happy I am!
Your friend (even through football season),
Rachelle

This afternoon's home opener at Gillette, against whiny Phillip Rivers and the Chargers, was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.


What fun to watch big Vince Wilfork's tip, interception and slow sprint down the field and the Pat's Defense prevent a San Diego score on a 4th and goal...I feel a winning momentum for this season in New England!







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Turkey Trails

I encountered a flock of plump wild turkeys this morning. They were hanging out at an intersection between Alna and Wiscasset on this crisp Fall morning. This reminded me that I hadn't seen our local brood of turkeys lately. Wouldn't you know it, a couple of hours later....there they were! Atira was the first to glimpse them, bellowing, "The turkeys are back!" as she sprinted to the window.



They seem to be creatures of habit and have a travel trail that they always follow. It incorporates the dirt road behind our house, crosses a small wooded area to just to our right and then takes them straight down our driveway and back into the woods again. They looked much larger than the small chicks we first encountered this spring. They've filled out nicely and I wonder how many will make it through Turkey Season........


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Bug-Mania

Our usual schedule was modified this morning and instead of needing to be out the door at 6:00 with only Jubal, I had to have all four ready to leave as the sun rose. This way I could head straight to Wiscasset after dropping the sophomore off in Alna and avoid backtracking. The Maine State Museum was hosting Bug-Mania and Nicole Viele had signed us up to be there around 9:00 to avoid the rush of school kids that would surely descend by mid-morning. There were exhibits from many groups, businesses and individuals.They included spiders, beetles, a scorpion, butterflies,



moths, walking sticks, bees (not my favorite), water bugs, bug-consuming birds and animals, jewelry and art pieces made from bugs (a common housefly!), and even an opportunity to write with a feather pen using ink created with insect gall. (I smell an art/science project). Once the hordes arrived via bus, the exhibits became too crowded, the museum became too warm, and Tell became too crabby. It was time to leave. We stopped at the playground in Wiscasset to eat our lunches, then arrived back at the Viele's to find the box of Dunkin' Donuts that Greg Hodgdon had left in the garage for the kids. I know the young ones enjoyed their field trip; I hope they learned some new information about the insect world. What I learned today is that my vehicle is not safe from Greg anywhere in the MidCoast region.


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CGN Family Camp 2011

We've had a long, full day here at Camp Good News' 2nd Annual Family Camp........ Catching up with people I've not seen in a while, enjoying the company of those I love, beautiful bluegrass music by the LaClaires, listening to Dad share from God's word, eating food I didn't have to cook, playing pool with Tell and Atira, watching Nolan win a game of Ga-Ga while Julia Pendleton shimmied her way to the top of the tether ball pole.


working with Heather to steer a canoe through the winding waterway toward the lake with Tell and Julia in tow, an evening bonfire........


and ending the evening with a rousing game of Rhythm, dominated by Annah Brunk in the #1seat. Roger Labbe joined in with some of the young crowd for their first game ever. By the end, Atira, Nolan, Kayla Raymond and even Roger were old pros. The heavy breathing and snores coming from the bunks above are testimony of a well-spent day.


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Is It Potato or Plantain?

Have you ever walked by a fruit or vegetable in the grocery store and wondered, "What does that taste like and how would I prepare it?". Plantains are one of those foods for me. I always thought it was just another version of the banana until I brought the green tough-skinned fruit home. The kids and I researched it and found out that it can be prepared at all stages of ripeness, from green to black, but is always cooked. The fruit sweetens as it ripens so using it to prepare desserts is reserved for the yellow and black stages.






Our plantains were about as green as they come, full of starch, which is perfect for a recipe that mimics mashed potatoes. After peeling, I sliced the plantains in half and boiled them until soft, about 45 minutes. Then I simply mashed them, adding some milk and a large spoonful of cream cheese. If I hadn't prepared them myself, I would have thought they were potatoes. Atira is excited to get a few more, let them ripen and try a dessert recipe next time. I'm sure you'll hear about that attempt when it happens.


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.....And We're Off!

As I sit watching Atira's soccer practice, I'm about 3/4 of the way through the first crazy school day. I started schooling the younger kids a couple weeks ago but it's been sporadic and the rest of the world was still in summer mode. Today was Jubal's first day of school so I was out of the house by 6:25 with Atira, who had awoken early, to pick up Nate Fisher and bring them to Liz Brown's for the commute up to Coastal. Arriving home at 7:30 I found Nolan awake with breakfast eaten and his bed made, ready for schoolwork. (This was discussed last night) I feel so organized at the moment. We had a great school day, Atira's practice has ended and I'm off to pick up Jubal from the Fishers. Thanks to Don, who picked him up from Coastal's soccer practice. Don has a coffee waiting for me and then it's back home to the roast that Nolan is monitoring. Here we go!



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Ending A Superb Summer

The end of summer should smell of freshly grilled food and bring to your ears the laughter of great friends. The last two weekends have done just that. The cookout with the Buxton Crowd last Friday night was conveniently within one day of my birthday. Being both a fabulous host and best friend, she presented me with a whoopie pie cake ablaze with curvy candles and I enjoyed hearing a hearty rendition of "Happy Birthday". I quickly joined in, singing "Happy Birthday to Me", which is much less embarrassing than having people stare and sing at you. The only thing wrong with the evening was the absence of Nicki and Jeremy Redlon who were celebrating Brandon's birthday.




Today's cookout, in good Maine fashion, involved lobster, (I opted for steak), corn on the cob, some blueberry cake and of course, ended with S'mores. The Hodgdon's hosted and the diverse crowd came. There were the quiet and the loud.....(actually a lot of us are loud), the witty and sarcastic, the listeners and the talkers (guess which one Jim is), the observers and the entertainers, those that are kind-hearted and those that fling water and shoot lobster claw bands (you know who you are)....and I love that I ended my summer with all of them.












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Prep and Progress

With a lull in his work this week and materials stockpiled, Jim began work on our shower.



I have been patiently waiting for more than three years, even using pipe instead of a proper shower head.....



but you know, the tiler's wife is always the last to get her custom shower......


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