Hello rain

I hear you on the roof and in the yard. The plants are grateful, I'm sure. I know I am. I've had a hard time sleeping tonight, but thanks to you, I'm a step closer.

Adios con pollo

The time has come, my chicken friends...

In the process of relocating to another house in another part of Henderson (or so I thought), the chickens will also be relocating to my mom's place. They said they wanted to travel. So, travel they must.

The ultimate plan is to build a moveable chicken truck/coop that is super predator-proof (Mom has a few regular coyotes, regular enough that she's named them). In my research, I created this list for my Dad:

Thinking about chickens?

1. CLUCK - Urban Coup Tour 2011

2. Backyard Chickens Forum

3. Chicken Coop Architecture Homegrown Evolution blog

4. Actual plans! Backyard Poultry Magazine

Did the Pilgrims eat spaghetti?

As a second grade teacher, it is a part of my job to teach 7-8 year olds to "tell/explain why important events, people, and/or customs are marked by holidays." In short, why do we celebrate Thanksgiving? In my preparation for this, I found multiple teacher websites with the obligatory hand turkey projects. As much as I love the hand turkey projects (and, yes, my students did trace their hands and write 5 things they were grateful for on the fingers, because teaching gratitude is always an important lesson), I wanted something different. In the early '90s, the Thanksgiving story I "learned" about (read: colored worksheets) was the Pilgrims in their bonnets and Indians in their feathers get together for a jolly feast in the New World. This is mostly fictional. I wanted to teach my students the standard, not fill their sweet brains with yet another lie. We discussed the Mayflower Voyage, the differences and similarities between the Pilgrim and Wampanoag lifestyles, and what the "First" Thanksgiving really was all about. The key points:

• The "First" Thanksgiving was one of very many celebrations centered around gratitude in both the Pilgrim and Wampanoag faiths
• The Wampanoag really saved the Pilgrims' assess that first winter
• The Pilgrims really had no idea what to expect but perservered in spite of it all
• At the time of the 1620 Thanksgiving feast, the Wampanoag and the Pilgrim colony were at a fragile sort of peace.

This evening, I read Blood on the River by Elisa Carbone. I purchased this book for my classroom library when I taught 5th grade. I've been meaning to read it, but, you know...

So, tonight, I read it all at once. On a scale of 1 to 5 (the more the better), this book receives 5 Penrod Points! I recommend this book to children because it is a first person narrative based on historical accounts of the journey to James Town in 1607, 13 years before the First Thanksgiving, and life in the English colonies thereafter until 1622. I recommend this book to adults because no matter how big your colony is, there will always be conflict. Love vs. fear, group vs. self.

" You must obey this now for a law that he that will not work shall not eat, except by sickness he be disabled. For the labors of thirty or forty honest and industrious men shall not be consumed to maintain an hundred and fifty idle loiterers."

- Captain John Smith, quoted in William Symonds, ed, The Proceedings

Foreclosure

This one's for Bank of America...

Toasty treasury on Etsy

Preparation for hibernation.

Housemakin'

I love being home on the weekend. I just don't know what to do first! My list is eminent and I'd hate to be overwhelmed by it. Housemakin' should be a peaceful mind absorbing occuption for the weekend. Something I can remember fondly during my now full time hours as a second grade teacher. Here's a brief list of all of the housemakin' chores I'm starting today (and hopefully finishing):

* Begin the sourdough starter!

* Set up cooler for yogurt makin'

* Water soil in chicken run and prep for cover crop and chickens during the winter

* Bake plum muffins

* Laundry/air dry (beautiful thunderstormy and windy day, lots of ions in the air, makes laundry smell delicious)

* General house love