Lowell Folk Festival

Yesterday we drove up to Lowell to go to the Folk Festival

with Grandpa Dean.
We had a great time wandering around the different booths
and listening to the music.

Being big... or not

Colleen and I took the boys to the Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary
the other day where we hiked around and had a great time...
that is until a huge turkey blocked our path back to the car.
We were unsuccessful in our attempt to scare the turkey off
and ended up being stalked for 200 feet or so down a trail
by the strutting, angry bird.
We eventually looped around a different way,
only to run back into the same feathered road block.
In desperation, we finally made
a humiliating and very ungraceful dash past the turkey
whom we left in the middle of the trail
likely feeling very proud of himself.

Daddy long legs party

The other day while hiking in the woods

I stumbled upon a rare sight...
a daddy long legs convention.
I have never seen so many tangled legs on one leaf.
It is hard to see all of the spiders on the underside
but I think there were 8 total.

Sand King

Dog days at Plashes Pond

Night at the pond

Casey and Orin headed to the pond this evening
for a boys fishing trip with Rowan and Cody.
Apparently, they caught 4 fish
all of which Orin reeled in by himself.

Food for the masses

I love this picture because when I took it I didn't
even see the bluejay in the top center waiting to take a turn.

Open Corner

For the last month, there has been a pile of clothes
in this corner that I couldn't put away because I
kept forgetting to buy hangers.
Today, I finally remembered and liberated
this corner from its mess.

Ahhh... moving in takes a long time.

The run's done!

Just in case you wanted to see one more

picture of the chicken coop progress...

Cornbread

Last night when we were eating dinner, Orin looked over
at me and said "Mommy, look... cornbread!"

Drive In

Today we went to the drive in theater.
I have never been a huge movie fan,
but I have to say the drive in was great.

We went early to get a good spot and let Orin play on the playground.
Then, as the sun set and the stars came out
we watched Cars 2 on the big screen
while the 1950's speakers crackled along with our car radio.
We are already making plans to go again.

Fair part two

County Fair

I find myself in a pickle again...
I have not taken enough pictures to fulfill my one-a-day quota
so I am going to double up pictures I took today at the fair.
Orin, Liam, and Rowan had so much fun running around together.
They rode ponies, played with baby goats,
and went on every kids ride available.
I would have never guessed that Orin would be such
a fan of fair rides, but I suppose it wasn't a bad surprise.
Here they are after a trip to the fireman's booth.

Sick Puppy

Atlas was diagnosed with Lyme disease this morning.
After his diagnosis, he joined the ranks of Eggie, Purple, and Linds
all whom have contracted Lyme by living in the darned NE.
After a day of antibiotics, Atlas will be back to his normal self,
although he will have to take pills for a month.
This schedule will probably work well for him because we embed
them in a tasty morsel, so to him it just means tons of treats.

Back to work...

After everybody left it was back to work for me and Orin.

Today we framed out the chicken run.
Orin helped me dig the holes for the 4x4's,
passed me screws when I needed them, and refilled our drinks.
When he lost interest in being my assistant,
he buried his legs under the pile of sandy dirt that we dug out
to level the ground.
Needless to say, after a hard day's work we both headed for a shower.

Next step: framing out a door.

Niece to stay!

I forgot to mention in my initial post that my niece is here to visit too.
Because my sister is about to move and their new place
doesn't have a fence up yet, Casey and I offered to keep Cashew
for a couple weeks until my sister and Besnik get on their feet.
Here she is in all her glory,
she looks relaxed here don't you think?

Sleeping baby

Today I woke up early and snatched my nephew from my sister
for a little Auntie-bonding time.
I had big ideas about all the things we could do together...
dance to Bob Marley, watch the birds outside at the feeder,
read stories...
but instead all Ardian wanted to do without his mommy was sleep.
Oh well, this is what I got to look at all morning,
I can hardly complain.

The cousins...

Although Orin was a little shy around Ardian at first,

he started to warm up to him on the second day of his visit.
At one point, he even offered to read Ardian a story.
The moment was too cute to miss.

Ardian to visit!

My sister, Besnik, Ardian, and Grandpa Dean arrived today for a visit.
Despite the fact that Ardian is sleeping in all of the pictures
I got of him, he really does spend a lot of time awake
and is a fun little guy to hang out with.

More coop work

In case you were wondering how it was coming...

Today I put the hinges on the chicken coop.
Getting it ready for the girls has become ever-more urgent
because my sister is coming to visit tomorrow
and the chickens are currently in the room next to our guest room.
While listening to chickens in the morning is nice to some of us,
I think my sister may not exactly be in that category of people.
Just a couple more touch-ups and the girls will be moving in!

Trouble's Self Portrait

I think this piece of art should be titled:
"A picture of my former self"
What do you think?
And, yes, this was all brushed out in one sitting.

Refuge

I realize that I have inadvertently posted quite a few pictures
of my chimera stove but, after seeing this,
I knew I would have to post at least one more.

Orin's new game

The other day Orin explained to me that he and Purple had a new game.
He then showed me this:

Purple, as it turns out, doesn't enjoy the game
quite as much as he does,
but mutual desire has never been a prerequisite
for the majority of Orin's games with the dogs.

Summer thunderstorms

One of my favorite things about the east coast...
torrential rains in the middle of hot, humid days.

Beach bums

One of the best parts about living here is how quickly we can get
to the most beautiful beaches.
Tonight after dinner we decided to head to the beach to watch the sunset.
Sunsets never look as good in pictures but this one was truly spectacular.

Company Fishing Trip part 2

So here are the rest of the guys
with a subset of their catches.
All in all, it was a very successful day on the water.

Company Fishing Trip part 1

Despite the fact that Casey's company fishing trip was not a two-day affair,

I have decided to post two pictures of it anyway.
This is partly because it has been one of the
clear highlights of Casey's time here thus far,
and partly because I haven't been taking enough pictures to fill my
one-a-day quota.
So here is the first one: this is one of Casey's fish.

I heard he was quite heavy.
I can attest to the fact that he was quite tasty.

The guy standing with Casey is his boss, Fran.

Lazy afternoons

Coop floor

Have you ever seen a better looking coop floor tile job?

I didn't think so.
Step two (grouting the cracks) comes tomorrow.
Just think what I could do with tile that didn't come from a scrap pile!

Fishing and fireworks

Yesterday we went to a friends house to watch
the fireworks over Bass River.
We made sure to get there early to get in a little
fishing, playing, and swimming time before the show.

New best friends