The Power of a Vow

We are eating chicken tonight.

We are eating chicken because of a rash vow made in anger. By me.

You see, while I was out yesterday, the gate to the garden either blew open or was left open and some of the chickens came in and decimated my carrots and some of my lettuce/swiss chard. I was really, really mad. Probably more mad than I should have been. Anyway, I sent a message to Andrew saying, "May the fox eat your chickens. So be it." I knew as I typed that had I left it with the first sentence, it would have been merely dramatic ramblings. But as I typed in the 'so be it,' I knew in my little inner knower that I was crossing the line. Unfortunately, in my anger, I didn't care. I wanted vengeance. So much so, that last evening before I went to bed, I purposefully ignored the little voice that said, "Go shut the door to the coop" (You see, we've left if open at night for a long time... and nothing had happened).

So, this morning shortly after 5:00, we were awakened to the distressed cries of one of our young chickens. As my eyes were snapping open, I knew what it was and I knew the cause without a doubt.

We scared the fox away - probably not permanently (as in, we didn't get any lead into it); I was shaking too hard to hold a gun and Andrew's eyes and glasses weren't cooperating with the scope.

Only two of the chickens are dead. Thankfully. My only fear is that the power of my vow still holds. But, there is repentance. I am very sobered by the recognition of the power of words. I also am very thankful that I learned this lesson first hand, but that the only cost was the life of a couple replaceable and edible chickens.

There is much power in the words we speak. There is more power in vows we make.

Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to You!

General Tiger Tom

Well, MooShoo has been replaced! Yesterday evening, Andrew came home with a very handsome kitty who I immediately dubbed General Tso (is that how you spell it?). Abigail said, "O! I wanted to name him Tiger Tom!" Tiger Tom suits him much better so I easily gave in... but secretly am keeping the 'General'. This little tiger is more wily than the others and you can tell he is destined to be a great hunter. He chases and stalks bugs on a regular basis. I think he is quite a fine little kitty!

Some More Additions!

Below you will see some pictures of the newest additions to the Bajus mini-farm! I have to confess that they are not very high on my list of favorites, but I sure am getting a kick out of watching the children with them. Their purpose is to reduce the number of chipmunks around here - they sure have their work cut out for 'em! In the pictures below, Liam is holding the one named "Chow Mein" and Abigail is holding "MooShoo." Yes, I named them. I honestly can't believe Chow Mein tolerates Liam holding him! In fact, he seems to like it!

And here is my monkey:

There really is no holding him back. I remember climbing on precarious things as a child; I survived (and so did my mother!)

Finally, here is a picture of calendula blossoms from my garden. I'm drying them so I can use them in skin salve making. How exciting to use herbs from my own little garden!!

Darla is a Genius and I am a Chicken Herder

We went away this weekend! Andrew took the boys on a canoe/camping trip and I and the girls visited with my friend Darla and her daughter (and the young boys; her husband and oldest three went canoeing too.) Anyway, during our visit, the ever industrial Darla made homemade baby wipes using paper towels and a very simple formula. While she was putting them together she remarked that she should make some cleaning wipes to keep in the bathroom; all you need to do is take a paper towel, wipe the counter, the sink and the toilet and voila! Done!

Well, I capitalized on her brilliant idea and now have a container of cleaning wipes in each bathroom... and a 5 year old girl eager to assume the responsibility of the one upstairs! Here is the formula I used:

Solution:

1/3 c White Vinegar

1 2/3 c Water

Nice squirt of Dish Soap

6-8 drops Grapefruit Seed Extract

5 Drops Orange Essential Oil

5 Drops Lemongrass Essential Oil (Obviously, you can use something different, if you want!)

Pour Solution into your container (I used a plastic tupperware container that the 1/2 PT roll fit nicely into)

Cut a paper towel roll in half

Remove the cardboard thingy from the middle (you pull the wipes from the center - ingenious!)

Let paper towels soak up the solution

Clean away!!! (Or find a 5 year old to do it!)

As you can see Darla is a genius.

And I am a chicken herder: this morning after breakfast we all went outside and found that one of the chickens flown the coop, so to speak. Actually, she flew over their "playpen" - the fence to corral them during the day to the specific part of the hogweed infested yard that we want them to peck around in. So Mario (yes, the chicken is a girl, but she has this black mark on her beak that looks just like a mustache) was clucking like crazy, very anxious about being separated from the rest of the girls. I tried to convince her that I was just going to return her to the playpen, but she didn't understand my clucking. So, I had to chase her ALL the way around the fence, stumbling over rocks and fallen trees, tiptoeing around nasty hogweed, around the Ash tree and then FINALLY she ran into the shed where I cornered her and grabbed her!

She, of course, was much relieved... and the kids were much amused.

Boys and Puppies

You know that we have a puppy - he is exceedingly cute and it is hard for the children (especially Phin) to resist taunting, teasing, chasing, being chased and just plain roughing around with him. The kids aren't supposed to rile him up in the house. Tonight Phin 'forgot' so I had him take a breather by me in the kitchen while I was doing dishes. Eventually, Andrew started serving the much awaited dishes of ice cream and Phin got a little nervous, afraid he was going to miss out because I told him he was going to sit there "FOREVER (or until I say so)". He started his repentance: "I promise I won't get the dog riled up ever again in the house, I won't ever again take his toys and I won't ever chase him or try and get him to chase me, except for outside, but only if you say so. And I won't make him growl or bark at me again when he is eating by teasing him. And I promise I won't make him run and I will only pet him gently and I won't pull on the rope or tease him with it." (I was trying so hard not to laugh out loud by this point.) "Ok, Ok son, go sit at the table and wait for your ice cream."

Another phenomenon revolving around puppies and boys is the absurd fascination that boys have with poking dogs with sticks. This, of course, is a big no-no. Both boys have swiftly found that to assault Elroy with a stick results in an unpleasant confrontation with either the Carpenter or (if he happens to be at work) his right hand woman. Phinehas only tried it once; Liam had to try it again. Hopefully he has learned his lesson.

Elroy likes squirrel meat. Andrew saw an unwise squirrel digging in my garden and promptly decided to end its life. (NO ONE digs in Mama's garden!) Now, whenever either boy sees a squirrel they want someone, ANYone, to shoot it. For Elroy of course. No, son... Elroy can only eat one at a time.

ELROY! (finally!)

Pretty Cute, Isn't He?

Lovely New Life (and a word on not-so-lovely GMO's)

From the back porch I can look out across the yard up toward Heart Attack Hill. A pale green haze is misting on the borders of the woods as baby leaves reach tentatively out from red hued buds. White violets, braver than their purple cousins, are scattered across the lawn. Scattered, that is, until they are gobbled up by Abigail. The wind is fresh and strong, bringing with its gusts the spring songs of twitterpated birds and white clouds leaping across the blue sky. The sun has warmed the earth and dried up most of the wet places so that now we can run along barefooted and feel the soft cushion of new grass and moss as they carpet the ground. School lessons have slowed to almost a stop and house chores are the last thing on anyone’s mind (specifically the laundry). And my fingers are itchy to start gardening – even though I know it is too early.

We are going to start small: The Carpenter is going to build three 4’ x 4’ squares and we are going to attempt square-foot gardening. I am super excited – especially now that lettuce and swiss chard are emerging in the window boxes on our enclosed front porch. I really want to get some Heritage Seeds.

[Speaking of Heritage Seeds, I just read a very disturbing book: Seeds of Deception by Jeffery Smith. It exposes the truth about GM (Genetically Modified) Foods. I can’t even begin to give a brief report on what was included in that book. Suffice it to say that the FDA and Big Agriculture do NOT have your best interest in mind. The foods we are eating may very well be killing us. I recommend that you try and get a hold of this book (I found a copy at my local library) and determine for yourself if GM Foods are something you want to be ingesting.]

Enough of that! We have been very much enjoying Elroy (though I’ve taken to calling him Rory) and the chicks (though we are down to 16 – no, we didn’t eat the others). I’ve been exceedingly glad that the weather has been warm and sunny because that has made it very easy to keep ‘Elrory’ outside all day long – which helps cut back on the number of accidents he has in the house. (Does anyone have any tips for housebreaking?) The chicks are growing like weeds. There is one little white one that looks absolutely TINY in comparison to the others; I hope she makes it. My favorites are still the brown ones. Andrew has been working on a coop so that by the time the chickies are big enough they’ll have a nice place to hide away from chicken-eatin’ critters. As you can see, we are pretty busy!

New Additions

With the arrival of Spring comes an increase of outdoor play and a decrease of typing on the computer. That doesn’t mean my mind has been lax… no, I’ve composed many an entry while sitting outside. But alas, my ideas quickly vaporize as my days fill with other thoughts and things. Filled with other things…

You’d be surprised if you visited our country home. The number of critters around the house has expanded exponentially. First, as you know, Sally and Mander entered our lives. They are very entertaining and very easy to take care of. The biggest problem I’ve had with these little newts is that I find myself watching them catch little water worms when I should be doing the dishes. In addition to these little amphibians, we now have 21 baby chicks chirping on our front porch. Liam is constantly commenting on how cute they are: “Chicks. Cute.” Abigail has begun naming them – the gray one with the pale yellow head is Gracie. And Phinehas, compassionate Phinehas, told me with a soft voice that he really doesn’t want to eat the little chickies. I assured him that most likely they are all hens and rather than eating them we will eat their eggs – someday.

The same day our chicks arrived, Elroy entered our life. Though I have tried to deny it, Elroy has stolen my heart and I really like the critter. He is soft, very cuddly, and he looks up at me with the most trusting, love filled eyes. I think he has claimed me as his mother. Yes, Elroy is a puppy. He is mostly black with a horizontal white stripe on his chest, brown boots and brown eyebrows. And, he likes me. Actually, to be fair, he likes everyone. And everyone likes him – everyone, that is, except for Lydia. The bouncing ball of dark fur that tries to lick her face intimidates her. I can’t really blame her; if I had a creature that came leaping at me with a gaping mouth and a lolling tongue, I’m pretty sure I would shriek, too. Especially if I couldn’t get away! Plus, to Lydia, little Elroy really isn’t so little!

So there you are! We have a whole slew of new additions to out household! Looks like we will be having a very fun filled summer!