I Need a Break!

I am taking some vacation days this week and am very excited! This is the most days I have taken off in a row - I know I need help =)

What do I plan to do with my time? I have thought of a few things so far:

• Blog
  
• Make jam with our homegrown strawberries
• Read "In Defense of Food"
• Clean out our third floor room of crap
• Take naps
• Paint the outside tables and chairs (maybe if it doesn't rain)
• Drink coffee on the front porch in the mornings
• Go to the neighborhood meeting
• Volunteer at Cherith Brook
• Go to a farmer's market
  

I have a tendency of making lists beyond what is actually doable but this is fun list that doesn't need to get done. Those are the best kind!

This weekend we took it a little easier than we do sometimes. Trinity went to a conference about medical missions Friday & Saturday and got a lot of inspiration for working toward her nursing degree. We had a great time celebrating Matthew's birthday over a bonfire Friday night, and then went to the Parker Farm's meat CSA picnic with the Sweetens on Saturday. I made some progress on the yard and garden Saturday & Sunday, but didn't push myself too hard. (I even made time to watch one of my childhood favorites Crocodile Dundee Saturday morning!) Sunday morning we went to the Quaker meeting and participated in our first Quaker wedding. Afterward we stocked up at the library, did some housework and then layed out on a blanket in the yard with our new books. We rounded out the weekend by watching a new favorite movie: The World's Fastest Indian, based on a true story about an old man from New Zealand who came to the US in the 50s to break the land speed record for motorcycles. The story is that for the small size of bike that he customized so well no one will ever beat his record!

Earthquake in Honduras

We woke up this morning to news of a major earthquake in Honduras. The 7.1 earthquake had its epicenter about 80 miles off the coast of La Ceiba - one of the cities we have visited many times during our Jewell trips. Because of the severity of the quake, the effects were felt far and wide, killing one boy so far, and knocking down bridges. Many of the cities and places mentioned in this AP report are right where we were just a few months ago, and where a few folks from Jewell are scheduled to head tomorrow morning.

We do not have word yet how this has effected our friends at Proyecto Alcance or at the village of Embarcadero.

6 years!

Yep, that's how long we've been married. So far so good! After reflecting upon it, Trinity and I are glad to report we're both still happily married and planning on many more years together.

And, that's also how old Twister is. He's getting up there... but still going strong. He's not as hyper as he used to be, Allison & Wes can probably attest to the difference (and I must say, thank goodness), but he still just loves having company over, especially when there's food to steal. And I think Agnes keeps him feeling young.

Inside Joke

We just got a great forward from someone in our neighborhood that I thought I'd share with the blog.

Grilling tip

Spring is here, so it's time to get ready for that time honored cooking technique of outdoor grilling!

I have just found out there are many stores where you can get a FREE Bar-B-Q grill! In these tough economic times free useful items are very welcome. You can get a free BBQ grill from any of the following stores:

A&P
Albertsons
Costco
Dan's
Food Lion
Fry's
Home Depot
Big Lots
Brookshire's
Lowes
Publix
Safeway
Sam's Club
Tesco
Target
Vons
Trader Joe's
Wal-Mart
Winn-Dixie


I especially like the higher rack -- which can be used for keeping things warm!
Just make sure to get a metal one... The plastic ones don't do so well.

We're big fans of reusing things at our house, so you might see one of these next time you come over!

Rock Out Reach Out

I've been spending a great deal of energy on planning an event for the Center for Justice & Sustainability at Jewell with Anthony & Andy. It finally went down Saturday night, and I could not be more pleased with it!

Rock Out Reach Out was a huge success! Many thanks to everyone who helped out and came out to support our hard work, and more importantly, the hard work of the justice & sustainability community of Kansas City.

Here are the results:

Five bands & artists performed to benefit the organizations present.
Seventeen bands donated songs for the album (which is still available for a limited time).
Fourteen organizations shared their messages of justice & sustainability.

Over 300 people came out to the event.
Over 100 people signed up with the organizations present.
Over $2000 was raised for these organizations.

We shared the vision of the Center for Justice & Sustainability with Kansas City.
Learn. Practice. Partner.

And we're not the only ones who feel this way either. Check out this glowing review at the Pitch's blog: http://blogs.pitch.com/wayward/2009/04/rock_out_reach_out_roundup.php

Yes, you read that right, it says RORO "could serve as a model for all benefit rock shows to come." I new we did a good job, but now I am in shock!

We had a beautiful spring evening here in KC tonight, so after work we spent a couple hours catching up on some yard work & gardening. The neighborhood kids were out enjoying the weather too, so they came over to "help." Trinity did a good job of finding them some helpful things to do, and I showed them how to use the reel lawn mower. They helped Trinity clean out the winter mulch cover from the strawberry patch.

The chickens seemed to have a good night in their new home. Every time we looked in on them they looked like they just settled right in. We opened the trap door this morning so they could get down to the grass, but they never ventured down there on their own. So, when we got home, Trinity grabbed each of them and showed them the way down!

After showing them the way, they enjoyed dinner down there and then when it started to get dark made their way back upstairs for the night. Success! We built a coop and it works! As long as it keeps the predators out... We sent Benton (our three-legged cat) out to be the first predator - I watch him stalk birds out the back window often - and he definitely tried to get in there. So far, we still have three chickens and one hungry cat. Here are pictures:





Benton also basked in the sun for a while before he went back to hunting.

The Ladies

The Ladies are spending their first night outside in the new coop tonight! I finally put the finishing touches on it after work today and we just put them out there. We'll let you know how it goes!

I worked on the coop a bit more today. Here it is - the only thing left to do is figure out our roof. We were going to use some shingles that my Dad had left over, but our door is causing some confusion on my part as to how to roof it. I started to put them on, but the shingles need to overlap, and if they overlap at the hinges, then we can't open the door... Not to mention the fact that our moveable coop would be a lot heavier with the asphalt shingles. Today I slathered water-sealer everywhere I could reach.



I used some of the scraps to make a nesting box. The consensus online is that one nesting box should be enough for our three chickens. Speaking of the chickens, here they are, definitely getting bigger. They're starting to cluck a little bit instead of just chirping like chicks! I am eager to get the roof figured out so they can stretch they're legs outside.

We started the day with rain, so I spent a couple hours working on one of out other unfinished projects. We might regret this later, but we decided to take down the plaster walls in the bathroom. They were cracked and patched so many times that we decided they just needed a fresh start.


And, I'm also trying to start some seeds indoors. It's going okay, but our drafty house is definitely stunting their growth. It's been pretty slow going, but making some progress.

Chicken update

We started building the chicken coop this weekend (finally). We were trying to get it finished before "winter returned again, but after an hour in the increasingly cold rain this morning, we decided the roof would have to wait - well, our numb dysfunctional fingers decided for us... The chicks are growing quickly - actually they are "pullets" now, which means adolescent chickens - but the farmer we got them from said they're still too small to go out in this cold spell, so we still have time to finish the coop. Here are some pictures from the building process. Not too bad considering it's the first thing Trinity or I have ever built from scratch, if I do say so myself!

We think we've decided to call the chickens the Ladies, like we used to call the goldfish the Guys. We can't really tell them apart enough to give them each names. We brought them outside for a few hours while we worked on their new home. It was a beautiful day, and they loved it. We could tell right away that they're ready to be outside instead of stuck inside. If only the weather would cooperate.

The chickens are already bringing people together. Neighbors saw us working on the coop and stopped by all day, including these girls. They stop by all the time anyway, but they were especially interested in the chickens.

I was determined to get as much done as possible this weekend, so we kept working until we could barely see anymore. I got up this morning pretty early and got a lot more done, but I haven't taken any more pictures since it started raining. All we have left to do is shingles and painting the few parts that won't be covered by shingles. We're almost done!