Winding Down

Bunny visits bird feeding area

Yes, not the greatest picture, but I lost the one of the Indigo Bunting and Mr. Bunny is the substitute. Not sure what he was eating but it did provide a bit of interest for the kids.

Life is almost settling into a summer routine, of sorts. There is just a fragment of school left: spelling and math drills withe Nolan and Trevor, and then the last of the Latin & Greek roots. We finished up the final word this morning ("amo, amatum!") and will do review and quizzing, next week.

So my happy morning routine at the moment is as follows:

-wake up and hit the treamill
-breakfast and first cup of coffee
-get boys to brush teeth, one of them does the dishes, followed by their computer drills
-Latin & Greek
-give them one hour of game time ("Oh boy!")

And then...

Two more lovely cups of strong coffee while nestled on the couch with a book that requires quiet and a bit of concentration. Usually something remotely theological or philosophical.

It's like....THE BEST TIME OF THE DAY!!

I have almost finished a wonderful little gem by Roger E. Olson, "How to be Evangelical Without Being Conservative." It's not as heretical as it sounds. Actually, it's not heretical at all. I can even think or one or two people that might enjoy reading it.

Anyway, I'm calling this time, "Summer-School-of-Ma's-Improvement."

In weather news, looks like the inundation of rains has ceased. Sooner or later I will have to do some weeding.

Theoretically.

I guess.

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Stormin' Around

Something broke off from one of these trees....

...and landed here.

Well, it's nothing compared to what happened other places, but  perhaps we can see why the boys, who were on their computers next to the second tier of windows, skedaddled for the downstairs during that storm.

Thinking back, I should  have called them earlier, but the lightning hadn't started as yet. The wind did come up rather suddenly, however.

Anyway, that's that. We cleaned up the branches in the yard next morning, as well as those nearby the bins of the farmer's property. Might as well, I figured.

Seems like every day this week has involved something out of the ordinary. And we end up with a continuation of that theme, because...

Ma will be traveling down to Des Moines for Kendra's graduation banquet, this evening!

Oh boy, more fun and frivolity :-D

Staying overnight with Kendra in a motel, and then the rest of the family will head down for the graduation ceremony Saturday morning.

I keep telling Trevor and Nolan that they will have to leave earlier than they usually crawl out of bed on Sundays, but I don't think that's sunk in to their brains, as yet.

Extra vacation fer Ma, not being here to roust the troops on an early Saturday :-) My capable second in domestic command (Carolyn) will have that privilege.

Must hold up a small pretense of normal life for a bit, including mustering my students for their last computer drills of the week....

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First Hummer of the Year

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Cruising in for a sugary sip.

Saw the oriole there, later, but didn't get him snapped.

Wow but it's been warm. Kinda had one week of spring, two days of snow, another week of spring, then...

BAM!

It's summer.

Ethan has been mowing like crazy. First over at DeFords, where he got a fairly spectacular sunburn.

Then around our house.

Ethan's mowing leaves me freer to work in the garden. As does everyone finishing their math. Trevor completed his reading today and grammar will be done tomorrow. Little, by little...

Yesterday I put in some Swiss chard (bright lights) and also planted the tomatoes and peppers. The tomatoes ended up being quite a project because of blight considerations, application of mulch, and reordering nearby day-lilies in a clever, diagonal protective barrier from the fungal-bearing soil.

Today I had Nolan go out and dig up a section for his pumpkin patch. He did most of it but I helped a bit with the hard grass at the end of the bed. Then I told him we'd have to keep an eye out for eggs of the vine borer....."Huh?" 

Life is always more complicated then you think it will be.

Today I was able to dig up a small section for kohlrabi and then a larger and MUCH grassier area for the beans. Got them planted so it's taking shape. Much more to do, however. Mostly to finish up some new projects and clear away litter and regrown weeds from last year.

Guess that's all for now. Loren and I are leaving soon to go see Iron Man while the kids pig out on frozen pizza and an Ice Age (3) they haven't seen yet.

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More Birds, More Life

Pretty sure this is Harris's Sparrow. Rather exciting as it's another migratory visitor. Not sure if we've ever seen this one before, though Melinda would probably remember. Ethan is the one who alerted me to this guy, today.

I do love the House Finch.  They always come around and I think they are a snazzy lookin' bird. Did I post this one already this year? Who can remember...it's worth seeing again.

The Rose-Breasted Grosbeak comes back again...don't know how much longer we'll see this beauty around our place.

Still behind in posting and still feelin' the guilt....argh.

Anyway, more beautiful birds to look at. Am especially excited to see the Harris's Sparrow. He is indeed a handsome fellow.

Life progresses toward the end of the school year. As of today, every one of the kids has finished their math, which is always a huge relief (both for them and me...but mostly for them).

Yesterday it hit 96 degrees, setting  a new record. Naturally, it is still too early turn on the air conditioning....*cough, cough*....but I figure we will get there by July. The hot flashes have returned to haunt Ma so that is not making this weather any more fun. Also tremendous wind, yesterday, but today is less so maybe I can get outside to a couple of my million work projects? Who knows.

They are delivering manure from the hot lots to the field across the road (huge, huge tankers) so we'll see what the "atmosphere" is like.

(one of these days I am going to have a spring and summer I can enjoy, without school or other commitments that infringe on my outside fun)

Kendra has been here for a few days and we are looking forward to her graduation from Des Moines University. The whole family will be there! And we are going out to eat afterwards for more family celebratoriness...can't wait! Perhaps a picture or two will be had; fodder for this year's Christmas photocard.

Well, it is a little hard to think of Christmas right this second.. In fact, I should be thinking of lunch....

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Birds, Birds, BIRDS !

The White Crowned Sparrow. One of my absolute favorites because we only see them for a few days on their way up the Article circle.

Brown Thrasher, back again. One of the best songsters, ever.

Towhee! A first timer at our bird feeder area....so excited :-)

What to do when the Baltimore Orioles come back but you've forgotten to buy oranges? Set out some grape jelly. Nolan will have to make do with something else, for lunch.

Bought a new bird feeder, extra large (and on sale!) complete with a packet of dk. pink cosmos seeds. The goldfinches show their approval.

Ethan caught this male cardinal when I wasn't around. Guess they come for breakfast earlier than I get out of bed, ha ha.

So...just bunches of birds stopping by. What a treat! I hardly get the pictures uploaded to my computer fast enough. And now that I've cleaned the window we might get even better photos (you probably noticed the glare on the thrasher picture).

And there was a slight problem with my computer for a day or so, but it seems less unstable, today. However, I should probably post these before Firefox crashes again...

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Hmmmmm

...I guess they were wrong about the weather advisory ending at 1p.m. yesterday

Robins. After two days of arguing over whose idea it was to come north, it appears they are no longer on speaking terms.

Into infinity, and beyond!

I don't suppose two cancellations in May due to snow is something that happens very often.

Can't even recall snow occurring in May once, let alone two days in a row.

Not the weather you expect to see when there are only 3 weeks (officially) left in school!

Did I mentioned that it has snowed for two days in a row?

Speaking of school, we received the test scores for Nolan and Trevor and I am completely and shockingly relieved to the point of disbelief happy to report that we have enough improvement to warrant postponement (however temporary) of my internment to the looney-bin-for-old-ladies.

Doubt if our insurance would pay for that, anyway.

Must carry on through the inclement weather, however. Ethan might have to fire up the skid loader and clear the driveway.

Again.

But eventually I will post a few more pictures of the Tuesday's spring walk at Prairie Bridges Park.

You know, back when it was warm...

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