Two Posts in One

I have some pictures to share. The common denominator is my kids are in all of them! The unrelated part....I'm providing pictures of knitted items and then pictures from the rodeo. These pictures were all taken the same day, so there is that.

I set a goal for last week: to finish a project a day. I have so, so many things on my knitting needles; and it was just getting ridiculous. While I did not quite reach the goal of a project for every day, I did finish 5 things in the last week and a half! I finished a hat, two cowls, and 2 washcloths. I didn't picture the washcloths, but I do have several listed in my etsy shop (wink!).

Let's face it; the following pictures are really just of the kids. My attempts at proper lighting and showing the details of my knitting never actually happened!

Susanna was enjoying a banana coconut muffin while stylin' the oversized hat.

Lydia takes her job of saying cheese for the camera very seriously!

Jacob knows a good cowl when he sees one. Abigail decided not to partake in this photo session because the cowls were "too hot for today". Okay!

Now, we have a few rodeo pictures. The North Washington Rodeo is a great time! It has become a family tradition. Jacob's favorite part is the bull riding. Abigail enjoyed a root beer float and screaming "woohoo" in my ear :) Lydia enjoyed her glow necklace and "horses and bulls too, mom". Susanna pointed to all the horses (takes after mama) and bites of ice cream and french fries were savored.

Tuesday night was family night. My husband said we got our money's worth because kids got in free with paying parents. The weather was great, and my husband and I enjoyed watching our kids taking in the sights. I was scoping out styles of cowboy boots and thinking of a possible Christmas present idea...just being honest! I like the plain brown leather with maybe a touch of turquoise accents :)

Happy end-of-summer-back-to-school to you! Squeeze in these last summer drops of fun!

A Little Midweek Update

1. Potty training!! Lydia is doing well - during the day she gets to wear little undies! Her treat is 2-3 M&M's depending on what is in the potty. I do have a picture of her sitting on the potty, but she looks like she woke up on the wrong side of the bed. One of those - only a mother could love faces - I'll spare you.

2. Let's put up pictures of inanimate objects! These are what we collected today, minus the white egg (just there for size reference).

3. School books have been finalized/decided upon/ordered. We hope to start the day after Labor Day. This is the last year of not having to report to the state!

4. My grandma is not doing well - she is in her nineties, and it looks like there is cancer throughout her body (tumor in her back and cancer in her bone marrow). She taught me how to bake an apple pie when I was 12! She and my grandad (who is 94) have always been such an example of hard work and contentment.

5. I'm closing this blog post, as I must run to the feed store to pick up some fleece. I bartered some of my soap and lotion bars for a couple of fleece.

TTFN!

Chicken Down

A death of a chicken is discussed in this post. Please refrain from reading if you do not want to feel a little sad.

So, we lost our first chicken yesterday. Actually, I take that back. We had to get rid of a baby chick two years ago because it was running around pecking all the other chicks' eyes. We lost our first chicken due to causes beyond our control yesterday. Our flock of 14 decreased by one. This flock is pullets hatched in mid-spring. My frustration stems from that fact that I don't know what was wrong with the creature!

She was a Speckled Sussex, and she very well could have been the chicken that started laying the first eggs. Maybe she just wasn't ready? Is that possible? I noticed yesterday morning that she was lethargic and not interested in the grain and veggie treats that the other pullets were gobbling down. I checked again on her yesterday afternoon, and she was just standing in the shade not moving. I was able to catch and pick her up with no struggling. The other chickens would have given me a run for my money to catch them.

She seemed like she was, um, constipated. She kept pushing her little bottom, but nothing was coming out. I wanted to try to relieve that and try to get things moving. I soaked her for several minutes in a warm tub of water hoping to help something come out. Then, I called a friend who used to raise chickens on a commercial basis. He suggested an eye dropper of warm water mixed with Epsom salts. I didn't have the salts, so he said just regular salt - a saline solution. My mom and I were able to give her the water/salt solution, but that's when things went from bad to worse. Maybe we gave her too much? Maybe she was too plugged up to take anything into her digestive system? She went downhill very fast from that point on.

I did not want to see her suffer, and she obviously was. I made the executive decision, and my husband quickly put her out of her misery. None of my other chickens are showing signs of anything. I've done a little reading but have not come up with anything conclusive yet. Any of you have ideas? I would think she was a bit young to be egg bound, but maybe? Would producing eggs too early be something? How do you help a constipated chicken?

On a lighter note there were a few chicken butt jokes bandied about last night. I can speak with some authority on that now :)