The Cabin becomes "The Lodge"

Mr. Bechtel and I went to inspect the cabin today.  Whoa!  It became a lodge while I was in England.  Without feminine influence heavy beams were stained rugged walnut colors, rough cut stones were installed around the fireplace - with a mantle that should support at least 2,000 pounds.  Mr. Bechtel is crazy about it.  He said something like, "this is what my taste was like before we got married..."  I was not reassured by this comment.  But the longer we stayed there the more I liked it and decided it just needed a few area rugs, soft pictures, and throw pillows.This is the loft - my favorite area.  I can imagine grabbing a book from the bookcase at the top of stairs and settling in for a lovely afternoon. 

 I can't resist showing a few of the things I decorated the bookcase with:
Uggh, this is a horrid picture of the bookcase.  It was just in it's "beginning stages".  However, I must point out Grant's checker board, Dad's old coffee pot, my red candle,  and Braeburn's old stripey canoe paddle.  I am confident the canoe paddle is going to be what sells this place!

And look!  We are on the cover!  I love the computer generated grass in front of "The Lodge".  In reality, it is a big mud pit with old wood scattered around.  Don't we love computers?

Let me know if you want to buy this attractive, affordable cabin.  I'm accepting offers.

America for Me

by Henry Van Dyke

'Tis fine to see the old world, and travel up and down

Among the famous palaces and cities of renown,

To admire the crumbly castles and statues of the kings,-

But now I think I've had enough of antiquated things.

So it's home again, and home again,  America for me!

My heart is turning home again, and there I long to be,

In the land of youth and freedom beyond the ocean bars,

Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars.

And that about sums it up.  England was wonderful, the countryside was lovely beyond description, and you couldn't turn around without finding something of historical interest.  But my heart is in the wild, open spaces and I am happy to be home.  

God Bless America.

Leed's Castle Birds of Prey

There was a great falcon show at Leed's Castle when we were there.  I thought of Sam in My Side of the Mountain.  They flew an Eagle from Africa and the Peregrine Falcon and both birds were incredibly fast and powerful as they would zoom over your head.  There was a family of geese right down on the lake and the falcon headed for the little goslings.  Both parents stepped in front of the babies and shielded them from the attack.  We all held our breath until they escaped!

London Temple & Hever Castle

The London Temple has beautiful gardens around it with paths for strolling on.  It was a peaceful oasis that I loved visiting.

Hever Castle is the ancestral home of Anne Boelyn (second wife of Henry the Eighth).  There was a ton of info on this part of English history in here, plus a great hedge maze we figured out and gardens galore.  Sensory overload.

This hedge is carved as a chess set.  See all the pawns in front.  I love the knight - he looks like rabbit!  

And finally, the lovebirds.....

White Cliffs of Dover

Clark says the white cliffs of Dover are "whiter" than he imagined.  They really are white.  You drive through this little village, around some windy back roads, park the car at the edge of a little hedgerow, hike a little further up the road, and suddenly, there is the ocean.  Green on one side of you and a huge expanse of blue on the other, with a tall white line separating the two.

What beautiful skies!  The weather was perfect.  At the half way point in our hike we took a breather in the tall grass - no ticks, no mosquitos!  Really fabulous.

The weather was so clear we could see clear across the channel to France.  The cliffs of Calais were perfectly clear.

In the background you can just see the little harbor where the ferries and cargo ships come in to dock.  The trails go RIGHT to the edge with no fence.  All the black rock on the bottom is the under layer of the chalky cliffs that remains when the white rock has been worn down and washed away.

Canterbury

Canterbury looks just the way I think it should!  The whole old downtown area is walking only (no cars or bikes) so we strolled up and down little winding streets with an occasional glimpse of the cathedral in the background.  Very easy to imagine the early pilgrims coming in from all quarters to give their offerings at the cathedral.  

We spent several hours  in the cathedral, toured the monks herb garden, and then had a fabulous picnic lunch in a sunny courtyard.  There is a private school right next to the cathedral and the high school aged kids would walk 2 by 2 in uniforms with their books on a string through the courtyard between their classes.  

It made me happy for homeschooling!!!

This is just one of MANY stained glass windows in the Cathedral.  Each circle depicts a different  scene from the bible or a Catholic Saint or an event from early Catholic history.  There is so much history, history, history, that after awhile you get immune to it and just walk from room to room looking at gold and silver chalices, altars where Thomas Beckett was murdered, statues of old saints, burial statue for the "black knight", Stained glass windows like this, monks quarters, etc.  I was actually happy to emerge from the dark building into the bright outdoors where things were alive and growing.

This is the Monk's herb garden where the monks would grow their herbs for medicinal use.

Cricket

Sunday afternoon on our walk we came upon a game of cricket.  At first I thought it was baseball in strange uniforms - I had to be informed that this was "cricket".  

The pitcher starts about 20 feet back from the pitchers mound, starts sprinting for the mound, leaps in the air, whips his arms around his head and throws.  Except for he doesn't throw to the batter, he aims for the ground about 15 feet in front of the batter, where the ball bounces once (like in ping pong) and then the batter tries to hit the ball as it bounces up to him.

The batter uses a bat that is flat on one side for hitting.  The only guys we saw hit the ball all fouled out, so I don't know how they run the bases.  We had to press on with our walk.  Love to all of you.

Contest! Contest!

The flowers at Ferndown are beautiful.  There are so many I thought it would be fun to have a little contest.  So here it is:

Correctly name 7 of the 8 flowers below (all taken at Ferndown) and I will bring you a Tunnocks' bar from England.  Tunnocks are those lovely little candy bars made in Scotland people have for treats or tea.  (Or if you're me, you have one whenever you walk through the kitchen...)

Good luck and may the force be with you.  Oh, yeah.  No Cheating!! Don't look at the comments before you write your answers!!

1. 

2.

3.

4.  (the red ones)

5.

6.

7.

8.

Clark's Blog Link

Sorry, I forgot to tell you how to get to Clark's take on things:   rfamilyfun.blogspot.com

Enjoy!

The first 2 Days

These 2 pictures were taken on a walk from Mom and Dad's home our first afternoon.  We strolled along little lanes with little cottages sprinkled here and there.  They all have fabulous names, instead of boring numbers, which I'll have to chronicle in another post.  

We rounded a corner, and here was this little parish church.

This was a typical view on the walk.  Yes, I mean it!

Then today we all went up to London on the train.  Clark and Dad went out on another outing to Lord Baden-Powell's estate (see his blog for pics and write up.)

Mom and I went to the new musical, Wicked, which isn't wicked at all, but very delightful!  This is the Wizard of Oz, from the witches' view.  It may be hard to be satisfied with small town plays after this!  Fantastic - as they say.

Try not to hold your breath til the next post, and kidlets, thanks for helping Mr. Bechtel, you're wonderful!

England

Tomorrow is the big day!  I have all my essentials packed (books), and need to pack some clothes and find my passport! (organized people, take a deep breath).

Trying to decide what books to bring was difficult; there are so many great english authors. 

 I am taking a children's library version of Canterbury Tales, Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, a few Mary Stewart and Agatha Christie novels (well, they are british authors!), and my latest copy of Backwoods Home Magazine.  I've got to have a magazine for the airplane so I'm not stuck pricing patio furniture in the Delta catalog.  I know this is a lot of books, but I don't know what I'll be in the mood to read!

Grandma is also coming over this afternoon to bring me a "little something" to put in my luggage for mom and dad.  I hope it makes it to England...

I will be gone 9 days, which seems terribly long, but Braeburn and Golden Delicious are going to hold down the blog post while I'm gone.  Happy Days!

Culture Night on the Farm

Tonight at FHE we had a little culture.  The kids drew pictures while I read poetry. 

 Here are the results:

Braeburn used india ink to create his cowboy.

Golden Delicious used colored pencils to create her masterpiece.

Nova Spy did the traditional weaponry assortment.  "useful objects".

Prairie Spy went for the "Van Gogh" texture with markers

And Granny Smith gave us the Impressionist Monet watercolor

And for the final bit:  Our favorite poem of the night.

"This is Just to Say"

 I have eaten 

the plums

that were in

the icebox

and which

you were probably

saving

for breakfast

forgive me

they were delicious

so sweet

and so cold

by, William Carlos Williams

Incredible.  We were speechless, and unable to press on to "Ode on a grecian urn", at least for tonight.  So much to look forward to.

To Mom ~

Our Family 1977 BG... (before Grant) 

To Mom,

I just wanted to make a little list of some of the things you've done for me:

• dressing me in ringlets
• doing school with me in Pennsylvania
• feeding me ham & beans on bread in the cinder block house
• making clown costumes
• making royal blue flapper girl outfit with fringe
• taking me to Young Artists
• taking me to violin
• taking me to piano
• singing The King of Love my Shepherd Is with you directing in Boise choir
• making banana cream pie, and oatmeal cake with coconut nut frosting
• going to Salt Lake to go shopping
• letting me drive in Issaquah
• teaching me what faith to be healed means
• taking me to voice lessons
• typing my college application when it was too overwhelming
• going on walks to discuss  "A" and "B"
• letting me get married in the Manti temple even though it wasn't convenient
• being a great midwife assistant
• making little dresses and little overalls
• coming to visit in Laramie
• helping me buy couches and a book case in Springville
• helping me move to the Lehi house, the St.Anthony house, the cottage, the cabin, etc
• making donuts
• calling me from England

and loving me.  I love you.  Happy Mother's Day.

Creamy Cilantro Salad Dressing

Last fall Golden Delicious and I went to San Francisco to visit my brother and sister in law. 

We had a fabulous vacation - and the food they fed us was divine.

So last week when we had company I just copied their meal - no use reinventing perfection, right? 

 

This salad dressing is like Cafe Rio's Tomatillo Salad Dressing.  Very Fabulous.

Creamy Cilantro Dressing:

Place the following in a blender:

3 fresh tomatillos, cut into quarters

juice of 1/2 lime

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup sour cream

1 package dry ranch buttermilk dressing mix

1 cup cilantro

5 stalks of green onions

2 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

3tsp. sugar

Combine well in blender and chill.

Enjoy.  Yum. Yum. 

Goat Kidding 2008 - Part 4

 I am happy to report that our final doe kidded and the 2008 goat kidding season is now over.  And no, she did not have a doe.  She had one buck. 

 That makes a total this year of six bucks and three does.  I think this is a blessing in disguise since we need to trim down our herd, and we all know we can't keep the bucks, so it will be easier to decrease herd numbers.  Now we just have to decide who to keep and who to sell.  We all have different opinions on this so it could be an interesting discussion.

My biggest lessons learned this year:

First time mothers are flighty and need extra coaching.

Once goats start milking, I change my mind about who my favorites are based on who is easier to milk!  

Also, I have learned a lot about milking.  We've never had this many milking does and some of them are easier to milk than others.  I used to think they were all pretty much the same.  Not at all.  Yes, I am a goat raiser green horn.  I admit it.  But I still like it.  

England Bluebells

I know, I wonder if this picture could possibly be real too.  Imagine beauty like this within walking distance of your house.  Incredible.  Mom and Dad say the bluebells cover the whole forest floor for 2 weeks every spring.  I'm going over to investigate!  8 more days

Rodents of Unusual Size - and Temperament

We have been invaded!  There are millions of mice and voles on our property.  I believe we could supply at least a dozen hawks with dinner daily.  Our ditch bank has so many holes that it appears riddled with machine gun fire.

Enter Granny Smith:  He is in LOVE with these beasts.  I think it comes from watching too many Tom and Jerry cartoons.  We have to empty all traps and hide the D-Con while he is occupied elsewhere.  For his birthday he asked for a pet mouse.  This I could not do.  I told him mice belonged outside.  (mean, huh?) And that he could be friends with all the rodents outside.

Next thing I know, he has discovered a tame vole in the Orchard.  Very strange.  I wouldn't let him touch it, so he just "petted it" with a piece of dried grass.  Ugggh.  But Granny Smith was very happy with this arrangement.  The vole has since disappeared - without my help - and I am feeding the cats less in the barn.  Hunting Encouragement.

Merry Olde England

Ten days and counting. England here I come!

Down Home Wisdom

If anyone is searching for the answers to life's questions, I highly recommend a visit to your local feed store/grain mill. 

 Not only can they tell you why your chickens aren't laying and what you can do about it,

they can also fill you in on lots of other nuggets of truth that you may or may not want to know about.
 I went to the mill to get chicken feed, and while there told the owner about my non-laying hens.  I described how I had started feeding them whole dried corn as a scratch mix and wondered if that could possibly be the cause of them not laying.  

"Oh Yes.  You bet.  The corn is only 8% protein, where their real feed is 16%.:

"But I'm only feeding it to them as scratch mix."

"Don't matter.  They ate enough and it threw them off their real feed, and now they're not laying for you."

I thanked him and got ready to go, but he had some more instructions for me.

"There's three things in life that are temperamental:

 laying hens, milking cows, and women. 

 You've got to treat them all just right or else your hens won't give you any eggs, your milk cow won't milk and you won't get any loving.  Know what I mean?"

Hmmm.

So, now my hens are laying and I am much wiser. 

 As my Grandpa used to say, "Now don't that beat all."

Happy May Day