3 Ring Binder

Last weekend the coop, this weekend, the run. Too bad they're not actually connected. We were lucky enough to get a big dog kennel for the price of unscrewing and picking it up at my friend's house - thanks Sue! The large kennel will enable us to keep the chickens safe, but move them all about the yard in sort of a free-but-safe-range set-up (yes, just like my parenting). On Saturday we rebuilt the kennel in our backyard. If you've ever worked with over 40 linear feet of 5 1/2 foot high chain link fence - you know how much fun that was. Then we had to figure out how to actually move the chick-chickens from the coop into the run, which again, is not attached to the coop, so they could enjoy their days outside. Today, that process went something like this: "Let's open the door and see if they come out." "Approach them slowly so they don't spook." "I've got this one! You get that one!" "Hey. Where'd they go?" "All...

1. Minimalist fun with Stringfever. 2. Anne-Sophie Mutter playing Vivaldi's The Four Seasons (short compilation trailer). 3. Having a ten year-old daughter who will join a local string orchestra in the fall.

Middle Age, Middle Place, Middle-earth: Which mean should I choose? The one where “Super White Teeth!” Slowly replaced the obsession for shoes? Or the one where being both parent and child Occupy the same bittersweet hour? Or where fantastic beings unite To battle evil – the seduction of Power. Some of these things I cannot choose, But more important are the things I can. And within the limitations of my one life, I choose to be a rational man. Understanding the difference between the chosen And the facts of the metaphysically given, I'm slowly working for my life in the extreme; There is no average by which I am driven.

“By a selective re-creation, art isolates and integrates those aspects of reality which represent man’s fundamental view of himself and of existence. Out of the countless number of concretes—of single, disorganized and (seemingly) contradictory attributes, actions and entities—an artist isolates the things which he regards as metaphysically essential and integrates them into a single new concrete that represents an embodied abstraction.” Ayn Rand “The Psycho-Epistemology of Art,” The Romantic Manifesto , 19. 1. Delight If food can be art, then this piece of art speaks to my very soul (in that it attracts me like no other cake has before). Its obviously stable, but seemingly precarious fanciful form, vibrant, celebratory colors, and crisp animal print icing compels me to look at it over and over again, and smile each time. (via Cake Wrecks – a hilarious blog – and created by Sharon of Sharon’s Cake Art ) Hello…Stephen…are you reading this? October isn’t too far away. 2. Justice “…And ...

In a campaign to urge our homeschool chorus to pick "Schoolhouse Rock" as our theme for next year, I'd like to showcase a variety of song stylings put forth by those little educational videos of the 70s (and I have to scoop Amy ). Talk about wistful.

This weekend was all about remembering those who have bravely served our country, and getting the chickens out of the garage and into their coop. Sites from our tiny local parade: My favorite part of the High School band (on the right in both pictures): Sure, I bet she has both pearl earrings on. I’m not sure you can see it, so I wanted to point out the cheetah detailing on the sunglasses. Also momentous this weekend was the moving of the transitional chicks into their permanent home: the Schechter Poultry Corp. coop (sign still in design phase). Stephen had been working very hard to get the girls into the coop. He buried hardcloth underneath the entire shed’s dirt floor (good tip from Beth at A is A Academy ) and ran it up the sides for at least six inches. He constructed sturdy perches, nesting boxes, and droppings boards according to the instructions in Building Chicken Coops by Gail Damerow. He even made a little chicken door/ramp for them to walk into and out of the coop. The re...

1. Someone from the Lutheran Medical Center came to my site on a quest for “Hugh Jackman Australia shirtless”; 2. This story of US soldier brings new meaning to military gear (via Illustrated Ideas ); 3. As her kids try to make sense of the world around them, Rational Jenn makes the best of it.