good morning

i meant to have this put together by now. oops.

how are both kids missing day 21? what happened on day 21??

gotta go back to the dollar store or they’ll have too much candy. dammit.

those are some happy faces.

day one socks and kisses

day one tiny dinos and kisses

you would not believe the dust i just cleaned off this shelf. i hate dusting.

grandpa came and brought more sugar.

yes. yes, i did have to use threats to get all 4 of them to behave long enough for a photo.

research and tea and knitting

p.s. that is his new favorite shirt in the world and he wore it allllll weekend.

smash bros.

more research

nobody is as excited about christmas as this kid is.

good night

my friend joe is a huge nick cave fan. he’s also single so he can do things like fly to DC for a bad seeds concert and then send me an awesome tee.

my tea and my boyfriend, Frédéric Bastiat.

they’re best friends.

37 degrees and slightly cloudy is perfect hiking weather. 

the National Park Service just bought the land that our favorite stretch of the North County Trail runs through. (it had been for sale for several years.) we won’t be able to make our 50 mile goal this year, but we have made 24.28 miles, which isn’t bad for a 4 year old. (obviously, this is a cumulative total 😁) the Mister and the teenager do not enjoy hiking. also after this, Stormageddon told me he was done with hiking as well. guess next year i’ll just aim for the 100 miles on my own. maybe i’ll finally take up listening to audio books.

i don’t think there’s anything better than The Mitten in the fall.

A lot of the NCT runs through private property, but the property owners are kind enough to lease or lend a trail’s width for hikers to traverse.

really high pain weekend. really excellent reading on brain death and organ transplants (comparisons between North America and Japan) though.

outside a mexican restaurant, inexplicably.

our ice maker broke. we buy it by the bag now. who has room for ice cube trays anymore? freezers aren’t designed for them.

ba-gawk.

good morning

bonus cuteness

new tea mugs i simply could not stop myself from purchasing for obvious reasons.

cuban pulled pork prep for what appears to be the annual Family Dinner on The Compound

he went on and on about how his friend deb was going to love this chili when she came to his party. he was very sad when i explained that she couldn’t come to the party because she was all the way home at her house.

she started with the john deere but it ran out of gas

then the weather blew in

then they ran around in the storm until the lightning came

very excited to be allowed to go out on the firing range with the big kids.

showing me his hits

not bad for a little guy with a bb gun

pleased as punch

some of the big kids

marlene and her pornographic mushroom

us

a visiting dog killed at least one of our girls, severely injured at least two others. a couple of girls are MIA entirely.

flowers for the table

edgar allan poke

scraps

damn hell i looked pretty cute this morning before cooking a batch of chili, 2 dozen corn muffins, gluten free pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting, scrubbing down the patio for guests, 1 first degree burn on my finger, 26 rounds of 9mm ammo, a chicken attack, 1 severe thunder storm, 1 mild rain, 1 tornado warning, and a migraine. i should have taken a picture then bathroom

blue coat is a miracle substance that you use on injured chickens – for cuts and bites and what have you. works like a dream. also stains like you wouldn’t believe.

this shit isn’t coming off for a week.

kitchen

looking for something else, i found the missing stash of googley eyes.

hey! i’m taking a class and i don’t hate it!

finally finishing up this project. this was an extremely slow knit, which was mostly purposely.

it kept promising to rain monday and it didn’t and it didn’t and it didn’t, so i washed the Truck Named Ashley J. Williams. and then it rained.

from our garden. they’re mostly too small to carve, but i love them.

the light

foggy sunset

goonight

morning, with fancy french tea. but not in that cup.

so. many. eggs.

the annual last minute fair crunch. SIGH.

poultry diseases. good times.

the judges LOVED her work. of course.

waiting on the poultry project judge.

are we not adorable? yes. yes we are.

i don’t know who made this bench, but it’s awesome.

if you love fall as much as i do, and also are a fan of cider, i strongly recommend this one out of grand rapids, mi.

poultry has to be pullorum tested. the tester hit an artery in one of her birds. there was much bleeding.

i think i have one of these for every year he’s been alive.

all he cared about was the shake.

damn hell steak n shake bathroom. there’s also a damn hell portajohn bathroom and a damn hell sweetwater’s bathroom, but i’m sparing you. you’re welcome.

sweetwater’s trip.

everybody loves sweetwater’s.

still more adorableness.

fairs are inherently creepy.

he was meh-ing and clanging his bell.

i think these might be out of order …

this ride went on so long he actually tried to climb off of it while it was still moving.

he loves the rides. he’s perpetually bummed he can’t go on the big kid ones.

farewell breakfast. *sniff*

if you haven’t clicked away yet, i’ll leave you with the giant moo.

good morning, chickens. just me. no stormageddon. weird, huh.

i feel like amanda palmer in this pic except i’m wearing clothes. i’m only posting because it’s hilarious.

the only time i drink coffee is when it’s iced.

if you like murder mysteries you should check out the In Death series by J.D. Robb. Set in the future. Bad ass female hero. Plus there’s like 40 of them, so loads to read.

the cleanest this bathroom has been in an embarrassingly long time.

spontaneous trip to hastings.

i absolutely was not going to go to hastings for the Plucky Pop-Up shop to spend money i most definitely did not need to spend. but then the belt broke on the John Deere, and the only store that had a replacement just happened to be in hastings. so there i was. in my defense, who knows when there will be another Plucky Pop-Up, if ever. and i did buy the cheapest base they had.

so. much. delicious. yarn.

yarn, with husband, abstracted.

the colorway is Pure Michigan. that made me happy. 

terrifying sculpture in downtown hastings.

i don’t want to live my life again … 

bagawk

the garden is sprouting nicely. 

the squidlets came home and i somehow did not take any more photos. in fact, i shot significantly fewer photos all day than i normally do. i just kept forgetting. 

sweet dreams, chickens.

supernatural, knitting

still knitting. one dishcloth down, one to go.

some pizza sometime

dragging my family to a viking encampment that was a little on the disappointing side and that is why my family never wants to do anything with me

tools

everybody’s favorite tent – the weapons

chain mail is heavy

the teenager refused to participate, even though she is literally named for a valkyrie (her middle name). she refused to let me take her picture all day.

i worked at this library when i was in high school, except back then it was less than half the size and in a different location. still my favorite job ever.

my gran

“i can wear your cow hat?”

shooting some finished knits.

editing, diet dr. pepper, knitting

evidently next week is teacher appreciation week. every day has a different theme. monday is “homemade,” so friday i ran up and got some dishcloth cotton so i could whip up a couple of dishcloths for Stormageddon’s teacher. but only because i like her.

stormageddon’s sprouts

and then my dinner, which was tasty, disagreed with my stomach, and there was vomit.

but all that green is making my soul happy.

and this zen

and this shirt, which i still think i need on a poster for my office. and may also be the best shirt ever.

honestly. how does this mirror get so dirty?

he was making a face, but i can’t remember why. probably zombie related.

good stuff. i think.

yep. it’s zombies.

look at these awesome zombies. and also this chalk. sister.

sort of a semi-hit with the baskets i guess. i dunno. i hate easter.

i’m glad he showed up, cos my arm was getting tired.

early easter pizza lunch preparations.

chocolate peanut butter squares. like reese’s but better.

squeezing in some time on this sweater before we go to dinner.

going to dinner.

my ami’s (aunt marie’s) house has tinker toys.

she was actively shoving me so i couldn’t take her picture.

damn hell easter dinner bathroom. don’t let my face fool you. i love these people.

eggs. and marie’s gorgeous bamboo floors.

easter wall.

the Mister. possibly feeling a little ax murdery. who can say, really?

what random photo day would be complete without a shot of my tea?

this tiny dinosaur props up my phone so i can read while i knit. proof that literally everything is better with tiny dinosaurs.

mom? you sing a scooby doo song?

sweet dreams, chickens.