It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times

Today was our Homeschool Immigration unit on Ellis Island. It was given by Jennifer Steward and it was wonderful.  Ellis Island was re-created in the church auditorium and there were 85 homeschooled kids who showed up dressed as steerage passengers from Europe.   They all went through the many procedures it took to be accepted into America, or turned back if they didn't pass.  We then had a lunch of potato soup and bread, got pictures taken in costume to put in with the unit, did quilt blocks, wrote a page of what they had learned and generally learned a lot and had a good time doing it.  Hurray for interactive, immersion type learning!  

But can I relate the happenings on our way to this great learning experience?   Hmm?

The day started with all kinds of upsets and vile attitudes (the word "vile" in this post is not overused) and it made us end up blasting out of here late. We were not one minute from home when there were a flock of wild turkeys in the road and two of them didn't move to the side, so I had to slam on my brakes to avoid a feathery collision.  Not two minutes later we smelled bacon. Oh!! Did the crock pot full of the best potato soup I've ever made tip over? Yes, indeed it had. All over. As in total loss. Twenty servings.  My contribution to the Ellis Island experience, now embedded in car carpet, spilled over our changes of clothes, a skateboard, books, backpacks, etc.  We stopped on the side of the road to clean up the back of the car and we could still see home from the road.  Should we have seen the writing on the wall and turned back then?  Perhaps.  But we were also taking our cat in to be neutered. All the preparations had been made, it seemed like we should push on, so push on we did. And almost immediately the cat's insides decided the stress was too much. Oh, is  there a more vile smell in the world?  I think not!  We had to stop and empty the cat carrier, late or not.  Okay! Back on the road. A few more turns...cat urine. Now really, *that* has GOT to be the most vile odor ever!    More turns, more intestinal production, another stop.  Certainly we must be at the end of this by now and things will start looking up. No.  He ended it all with diarrhea, mixed with the mess already in the carrier and now all in his fur. There was no emptying anything after that and we had a full hour and a half drive left. All this had happened in the first five miles out, before we even hit the highway.  It has to rank up there with one of the most stressful trips I've ever encountered.   I'm surprised they didn't kick us out of  Ellis Island and send us all home. 

And that's the way we did things around here today.  I'm hoping we got it out of our systems because we've got another long drive tomorrow. But no more soup or cats.

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This Years Crop

It's the first year I've tried potatoes. While we didn't get a lot, it was majorly exciting and something we'll definitely do again. We did get lots of volunteer garlic but I didn't think of taking pictures and the same with the tomatoes and the green beans. I planted an entire package of chard and got three little plants, then the deer came along and ate most of that. I have a few leaves in the refrigerator but it seems hardly worth cooking for such a small bit of greens.  I probably should have gotten a picture of that pathetic little harvest.  Harvestette. Anyway, it's still fun and I love having a garden.  

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Not A Water Leak

HoneyHusband was out on the porch and thought he heard water running in a faucet. He checked all over and even turned off the water pump. Still hearing the noise, he tore a board out of the deck siding to find what was making the sound.  Yikes!  Not a water leak at all! The cat was harassing this guy. Isn't life in the country wonderful?


(It's a (now dead) rattlesnake, for those of you fortunate enough to not have them around)

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Beacon Rocks!

Is this a fantastic view of the Columbia River, or what? And this is only halfway up! Trains that look as small as toys run right past the Rock.  It's a glorious place to hike!
Except for the climbing. It's 480 feet high with a mile of switchbacks to get to the top. Fifty two switchbacks to be exact. Bring water. 
Cheerful pose at the top. But guys, it's all downhill from here. You made it! Hurray!  Guys? Hello?  I don't think they are listening.

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We Got To See the Yarn Harlot!

Precious Daughter 1 and I spent a lovely Saturday together, hanging out and going to see Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.  For those who haven't been introduced yet, please stop reading here and go immediately and find yourself delighted.  I've gone to see her on three book tours now and I can hardly wait for the fourth, and even though my shortest travel has been a quick three hour round trip and the longest was a 12 hour round trip, I consider it time well spent. 

Hanging out with my grown up daughters has got to be some of my most fun time ever. I had no idea I was going to enjoy my children this much! I'd love to quit everything and just play with them all day, every day.  They are such a blast!   Precious daughter 2 is coming over tonight to make lasagna with me (her idea!) and we'll have a nice dinner together.  This feels like the calm between storms while there are still struggles with other family members and their growing pains. I love how God can remind me that things will get better and I not only have a lovely now to enjoy, but I still have a future and a hope coming. 

You know. So I don't run for the hills after a rough day like today. 

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A Cracked Time/Space Continuum

This has been two weeks that seem like anything but two weeks. A space/time rip is all I can imagine it could be. Feel free to forward my address to any authority in charge of investigating such matters. You never know if my experience is the thing that might possibly solve the time travel conundrum.  I hope they have a reward of something or other. 

So, what crippled me the most these last two weeks? No phone service? No cell phone reception? No internet? (no furniture, no dishes, no cooking utensils) Nope.  Well, yes, but primarily it turned out to be having no camera.  I had no idea how dependent I have gotten on documenting our days.  I finally bought a disposable one, but I missed so much before that.

I had to call Precious Daughter 1 while I was driving on the freeway in order to have her use the internet and find me a place to get a broken window fixed 14 hours from where she was.  She steered me to the only laundromat in town while she was at it. It is a very strange feeling to be so unconnected to the world, let me tell you.  In fact, once she called me very concerned about our Houston relatives having to evacuate and that was the first I knew there was even a hurricane. Bizarreness. And I have phone calls still unreturned to see how they are doing. 

While we were doing more errands one day we found a circus going through. It was a great circus and we rode the elephants. Wonderful afternoon! I have pictures from my phone of the elephant but I have to figure how to get them to the computer first and then I'll post them. 

There is a chiropractor in The Dalles who will be presented with my Queen Award (I'll send him some cookies). He fixed my plantar fasciitis and heel spur while I was there, and I've been out of commission with my feet for months and months. Gregory Keilman. Check him out if you are ever in the area. Or anywhere near by. I traveled a three hour round trip five times while I was there and consider it a highlight of my trip. Thanks, Dr. Greg!

And for all those five trips to The Dalles, I had errands to run for my sister. Measuring things is not her strong suit and we had to get the blinds cut three times before they fit the windows. And then when she was finally able to hang them, she found the windows are 60 inches long and she had bought blinds that were 48 inches long.  It's one of those things where you simply take a breath and move along. 

There was a black widow spider in a box of stuff from a storage facility and we kept it in a gallon jar and fed it flies until we left. 

One day we went across the Columbia River into Washington and climbed Beacon Rock. It's an awesomely beautiful climb. The Rock is 480 feet tall and the path winds back and forth through 52 switchbacks for a mile to get that high. You can see boats on the Columbia and trains run practically right beneath you. It's breathtaking. Especially with four children who run ahead and aren't afraid of getting too close to the edge and who love to climb over the rails.  That we survived unscathed should have been a headline. The excitement is in the climb and the view. The thrill is counting heads once we are down and finding a full count and no blood. 

Then Jason got a dirt clod thrown into his eye one night and his eye was almost swollen shut by morning even after removing all the dirt.  In the morning I could see his cornea was scratched and he was having trouble seeing but he was better the next day and he's so fine I cancelled his visit to the eye doctor. Sheesh. His list of emergency room visits and hospitalizations is pretty amazing and I'm glad we dodged another one.

It took us two days to get home. I have trouble staying awake when I'm driving and at the halfway home mark I fell asleep at the wheel briefly and found myself about to plow into the side of a hill. Jerking the car back to the road scared us all and we found a motel with a pool and an internet connection and started to get rested, refreshed and reconnected with the modern world. 

Honeyhusband had a delicious dinner waiting for us, he straightened the pantry and he bought new baking sheets.  Precious Daughter 2 had been watching the place and left us a beautiful loaf of her special chocolate chip banana bread in the freezer for us.  Awesome homecoming! I will be delighting in this for ages! 

 

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Going to See My Sister!

My sister and I haven't just gotten to hang out in years and years. Probably ever. And in a few days I am going up to her place in Oregon and she's coming from Denver and we are going to spend a couple of weeks getting her place ready to sell since she's, you know, living in Denver.

Because it's too far to commute from Oregon to Denver on a daily basis.

Unless she had a private airplane and a license she hasn't told me about. 

And she hasn't. 

So.  We are planning on working hard and playing hard. And yes, I'm taking all four of the still at home lovelies. 

We'll have a blast.  Terri is the one who taught my children to bark for treats in Wal-Mart.  She's such a good influence on my children.  

I can hardly wait!

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