Raccoons are not cute!

Okay, I know that a lot of you think of raccoons are these cute little masked guys. But they are not! They climb fences, even well built fences intended to keep the likes of them out! They will eat chickens... yes I know! First I think, okay - they can eat a chicken - I like them too. But they kill chickens for sport! Ripping off heads, leaving various parts of chickens laying around and not cleaning up after themselves. They are vicious, angry animals. Angry I say, cause why else would you be able to kill and mame seven to eight chickens in a matter of minutes? Twice! So now we carefully pack up the chickens we have left into the coop before nightfall (which means the sun has just barely hit the horizon. They are grateful for the protection of the coop. and so are we.

Canada June 2009

I cannot go to much longer without blogging about our recent June trip to Canada.... We allowed JJ to come along he is Briana's boyfriend of four years. JJ is a natural... everything. He plays basketball well, he can pick up just about any sport and do it well. Thats why we hate him. Otherwise, he is a kind and gentle soul... thats why we love him.

So- Craig and JJ go to Gander Mountain and get fishing poles etc. We had to explain things to him cause he did not have a lot of experience in the fishing department. But remember I said he was a natural at sports? Yeah, we get to Canada out on Sturgeon Lake (no, they do not have sturgeon in this lake??) JJ makes his first cast and there on the line, a tropy walleye! He prevailed at catching a lot of nice, nice fish this two weeks that we were there!~ what the heck.

The first week was cold and we did a lot of shivering on the boat. The fish were unpredictable, and all over the place. We would try to fish for Northern and caught lake trout, out for trout and caught walleye... very confusing. Thought we were going to starve to death, but thankfully Mom (me) came to the rescue with speghetti, and oher non-canada type meals.

The second week went much better, it warmed up, Danny the fisherman of the century arrived and we finally did the traditional "normal" Canada fishing trip! The lake trout were where God intended them to be so that we could catch them and have a proper fish boil. The walleye were where they were supposed to be, so that we could deep fry them back at the cabin. So- we had to actually manage our fish so that we would not waste any... now that is more like it.

Chickens

Now that it is nearly eight weeks since we had the cute little chicks that so sadly turn into ugly, mean, peck the top of my foot chickens..... It is almost time to take them to meet thier maker, and my freezer. I am gearing up for the one day blitze of taking them to the amish lady that will "deal" with them, so I can pick them up and have them clean and in a cooler. But then I will be cutting, cooking, baking and deboning a lot of chicken. Hopefully, Brenda will be able to help a great deal, but then she gets her breaks... claims of needing to nurse Jamie, change Jessica, stop Jacob from painting my house with mud etc. All in all, I would rather be stirring a pot of chicken broth... than trying to explain to Jacob why Nanna (me) does not want to have all her plants pulled up and stacked neatly by the kitchen door. The other nicer red hens will be happy not to have to fight beak and claw for thier food and water two times a day with the more aggressive - crazy hungery cousins. I am anxious to have just my six (yes I know there were eleven.... another story) red hens to mature and get ready to lay me some eggs in about six months. Next spring we are going to get a more exotic mix of hens from a farm in Iowa... I know! exciting! Then we will get our usual white, ugly, chickens that make you hate them and love them in the freezer chickens. Oh, Why then the ugly chickens? Well, you all know how you cannot compare a garden tomato to a grocery store tomato? Well the same is true for the home grown chicken. So much more "chicken-ey" flavor... and you know what they were brought up in, and fed etc. The cost is about the same as any other organic, free range chicken that you would buy, but I get about 8 pounds of chicken for that price, not just 3 -4 pound chickens... Craig wants me to get some turkeys next year... I think that would be fun.

Chickens

Chickens, Chickens,Chickens! Brenda and I decided that
we did not have enough to do, so we thought we would raise some chikens. I ordered 80 cornish rocks (white, huge ugly ones) and 10 (they gave me 11) cute little red hens for egg laying. Brenda had to deal with the baby chicks as they came in (from the post office no yet...) while she was taking care of the four residents, her two very young children and a newborn.... so we added nearly a 100 baby chicks to the mix. Now, it was and still is very much worth it (especially since I did not have to do it). But aren't the pictures adorable?! This is Jessica and Jacob "holding" the babies. It looks like Jessica was squeezing the fluff off this one, but she was actually very gentle with it. She still asked me today at the Baptism service to go see the chicks. (Which sounded a lot like "stick - with a "t" at the end....)

Flat Stanley

Flat Stanley is on his way!

Thank you Rygh for sending Flat Stanley to us! We had so much fun with him. He arrived and spent the first day on our refrigerator before being introduced to your second cousins Jacob & Jessica.

He then ate breakfast with one of our residents of our adult family home:

Off to work with your great uncle Craig where he went all around the area picking up frieght from local factories and businesses. Some of those were cranberry bogs, and cheese factories. These are important industries around here.

Since it was Easter, Flat Stanley ate Easter dinner with the family, Danny & Andria, Briana and JJ, Brenda & Jason (with Jessica & Jacob) Brenda is expecting "new baby girl" in May, also the four residents and your great Uncle Craig and myself (great aunt Valerie!) Well, I need to get Flat Stanley in the mail, so I better get going!

Craig was honored today at a luncheon for his 4th year of consecutative safe driving. Prior he had gotten up to three years of safe driving, had a bad year and now has gotten back up to four years in a row.

To be eligible, a driver must be a full time employee operator who lives and drives in Wisconsin, who drives a minimum of 10,000 miles on public streets/highways. Craig now drives approximately 35,000 (because he now drives city it is not as high). A driver must be nominated for the President's Safe Driver Club by a company official, with 36 months of accident and citation free driving both professional and personally. (So year one is really year four of safe driving....)

After earning membership in the club, a driver must remain accident and citation free professionally and personally for each consecutive year. Any accident or citation the driver will lose that particular year toward accrued continuous membership.

Craig has been accident/citation free for three years, (then another three in the club) then a bad year (we won't get into details) and now the four consecutive years... way to go Craig - ten years total in the Presidents Safe Driver's Club!

We celebrated with an awards luncheon, and a moment out together.

My heart is full... so full it aches. I do mistake it sometimes for sadness, or loneliness though. My heart is full of love, dreams and aspirations for my kids, thier families and all the other things that worry a mom with more than one generation to worry about. It is something that I am just trying to get used too... so many to pray for, think about, worry over which inveriably makes me come back to my knees in prayer. My heart is full because I can pray and it is a privelage to pray. My heart is full because Jesus has soaked up all the extra space and is surely pushing His way into other areas. Yes today I feel the ache. My heart aches today because I want to love more, be loved more by those whom I seek favor. People in my life, my family, myself, and my Jesus.