Chickens and Guineas

We are down to four Guineas. I expanded the fenced area for them to roam in but the new part has no "roof". I expected them to fly out but thought they would get back in with no problem. Well that doesn't seem to be the case, they get scared when they get separated from the rest and can't seem to figure out how to get back in. We have been able to catch them and put them back in but last night it was not possible and this morning I could here it crying but later I could not find it.

Meredith beach

She's growing so fast yet she is still so young. Brielle and I went to the beach for a short time this afternoon. Today I got laid off from my job. Now neither Cassandra or I are working(not good).

Mushrooms and Bread

Brielle and I went for a short walk through the woods today, she looking for things for her Fairy house and me looking for mushrooms. I thought with all the wet weather we have been having we would find some interesting specimens. We did but not as many different kinds as I thought we would. I would like to learn more about them sometime.

Here is a picture of the two loaves of Honey Wheat bread that I made tonight. This has become my regular bread recipe. Here is a link to the recipe http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Honey-Wheat-Bread-I/Detail.aspx I also made some short bread which I wrecked taking out of the pan. It was very simple and tasted very good. I did not use unsalted butter or Lavender but here is the original recipe taken from http://lbinsb.blogspot.com/ Preheat oven to 300. Butter a 9 inch pan. Cream 1 cup plus 2 T unsalted butter and 1/2 cup plus 1 T sugar with a whisk or wooden spoon until pale, light and fluffy. Add 2 scant cups all-purpose flour, sifted or whisked, and about 1-2 tsp dried lavender until you have a smooth dough- use your hands!

Transfer the dough to a floured surface and roll it out about 1 inch thick. Press the rolled dough into your pan, poking so it fits. It won't look pretty now but just wait... Prick the dough all over with a fork then pop it in the preheated oven for 50 min, until lightly golden.

While its still warm, sprinkle with sugar. Cool, cut, enjoy.

Trip to Chris and Esdras'

Well we had a very interesting trip to Massachusetts yesterday. We got about 45 min from Chris and Esdres' when the car developed a bad shake in the front end. Cassandra pulled over to the breakdown lane from the far left lane on Rte 24, at least three lanes I think it was four. I got out to look at the drivers side tire Because I thought that was the offending tire but found nothing. Then I looked at the passenger tire and the picture shows what I found. Cassandra had just had the car at Red Hill Auto and they told her she needed some parts on the front end of the car but it would be OK until we got back from MA. I looked at the invoice she had and it said that two of the studs were missing on the right front tire! I must admit that I knew it had been missing one for a long time as is evident in the picture because the bottom right stud is all rusty but not two. So we called Chris and she came and used her AAA and we towed the car to a Jeep dealer to be fixed the next day. First thing this morning we called and then brought the car into the dealer(we had to drop it across the street from the dealer because it was locked up when we got the car there). They told us they would look at it directly and call to let us know when we could get it back. We then went to Esdres' Father's Funeral, which was the reason we went in the first place. We did end up with the car in the afternoon but we got a rather large bill(the lug nuts cost over 11$ each).

Esdras went to Honduras last year on the rotary trip that Cassandra usually goes on. He really enjoyed it and plans to do it again next year. He is showing Cassandra some of his pics from the trip.
Hope and Caleb are their two children. You can tell they are full of energy especially Caleb.

Yard pics

Our blueberries are ready!! I wanted to post a pic of Egyptian Walking Onions, which I have talked about in the past, I think. If anyone wants some those bulbs at the top can be planted to start new onions. They walk by falling over and starting new plants which grow and fall over to continue the "walking" cycle. We also have a lot of Liatris Spicata, I think that is the right name. They reseed quite prolifically. I also have some white ones but only a few. The last picture is of my zucchini and cucumbers. For some reason my zucchini leaves keep turning brown and shriveling up but the cukes seem fine, so far.

Raspberry picking and "On The Town" musical

Well I always upload the pictures in the wrong order! Ken invited us to see his play, On The Town, tonight. They are having a dress rehearsal and we got to be part of the audience. It was very well done and very funny. It had a bit too much romance(kissing) for Brielle and Alyssa but they loved the dancing and some of the comedic parts. Sam and Debbie, Sumner, Pat Timbury and Mom also went to see the show. Before we went to the play we visited Nathan, Annie, Paige(who just happened to be in the play) and Scabbers, Brielle's old Rat. After that we went to pic Raspberries at Cassandra's Parent's house. I think the picking will be better in another week but we(mostly Cassandra) pickes about three containers.

Raccoon

This is on our screen porch looking out through sliding glass doors. I accidentally left them open last night which allowed this visitor to push open the screen door and enter the house while we slept! Cassandra woke me up at 2 am saying the dog was barking and something was in our room. I never did hear the dog(I was more than half asleep I guess) but I did hear an adjustable wrench fall off of our window sill which I told Cassandra "must have just happened by chance". I finally got up to look around(on Cassandra's insistence) and found the slider open with the raccoon where it is in the picture. I left the screen door open and closed the slider and told Cassandra if it was still there when I got up for work I would shoot it but I didn't want to make a bloody mess on the screen porch if I didn't have too. Lucky for him he was gone in the morning.