Summer in Spring
We got sick last week. Two weeks ago we scrambled the house around, moving everyone's beds so that now we have an office for Aoibheall to work in. The Badb had what seemed like a head cold, so she had light duty. The rest of us shifted heavy beds and furniture. By Monday, all the furniture was where it was supposed to be although the books are not all back on shelves. But I had the cold.
It turned out the cold wasn't just a cold. Apparently there's a nasty stomach flu going around up here. I got it. All week, I felt miserable. Tired, woozy, and my sinuses were everflowing. By the weekend, I was mostly recovered, but Aoibheall had picked it up. She was lagging by a couple of days, and spent all Saturday incapacitated. Our original plan had been for my parents and nephew to come up and visit that weekend and maybe get their help in redecorating the girls' bedroom. Instead, we urged them not to visit and share our cold.
On Thursday morning, Aoibheall said to me that she thought the young chickens were big enough to move out to the big chicken house. They're only a month and a half old, but they are fully fledged. I figured that was fair, so when I got home from work I started moving them out of the garage. They've been in the big house since then, and they're getting used to it. This evening, they even meekly walked back into the house from the yard when I brandished the New Blue Broom of Justice (the pipsqueaks had no respect at all when they were living in the garage).
Yesterday, we were all recovered. This was a good thing, as we'd scheduled a visit to the Exploratorium. Badb had said that what she wanted for her birthday party was to go to the Tactile Dome with a couple of friends, but scheduling had been tough. Yesterday was when our schedule and her friends' had opened up.
One friend was going to meet up with us at the Exploratorium and we picked up the other first thing in the morning. We then drove down into Santa Cruz because Aoibheall and I are taking Tai chi on Saturdays. The class meets in a park with some pretty cool play structures (including some awesome looking slides). The girls played in the park while we learned how to stand and twist. That accomplished, we all piled into the car and started driving north.
We picked up some fruit and lunch stuff at a Whole Foods on the way. We made it to the Exploratorium in plenty of time - we had half an hour to wander around before our 1:45 appointment in the Tactile Dome. We ended up with four adults, one teenager, and four little kids. Unlike last summer when we went to the Exploratorium for Camp Guel Guaynat, we felt little pressure to keep track of everyone. Our ratios were better and everyone had a wonderful time. At closing time we all went out to get a lovely dinner at Pluto's. Everyone was well-fed, although we were all pretty tired from a long day of doing things.
The weather was fabulous. It was warm and sunny, even in San Francisco. We are so suggestible. We came home and made mojitos and watched SpongeBob Squarepants episodes with the kids. (The choice of video was influenced by the zither music from The Third Man - almost at the end of watching that movie, Aoibheall said, "I know why we know that music - it's the same as the background music for SpongeBob!")
The weather was warm and clear again today. I'm back to my spring haircut (I'm sure my Uncle Chuck approves) and Aoibheall cleaned it up this morning. Then we had a big breakfast and got ready to tackle all our piled up chores. The girls needed haircuts and we had the grocery shopping to do. While I was doing the groceries, the girls were getting haircuts and Aoibheall walked through the Cost Plus next to the SuperCuts. We decided that with the beautiful weather we were going to have dinner outside. Well, to do that right we needed a few things. Our patio furniture is plastic and is on the verge of collapse. Cost Plus had some swell chairs and some enamelware that we decided would be perfect for outdoors. We had sangria, limeade, and tostadas out on the deck.
When I took out the compost after dinner, I saw that we'd trapped a rat. Hurrah! Another opportunity for Dagmar and Esme to show their valor! Aoibheall and I set up on the deck with brooms and we brought out the dogs. Dagmar was intensely interested in the rat, who set to squealing as soon as the dogs appeared. Esme decided that she, too, was intensely interested but wanted to be interested from about 15 feet away. Deep defense, I guess. Aoibheall used her broom to open the trap and the rat came scurrying out. It dashed across the deck with Dagmar in pursuit, but our doggie is still not the killer we've been hoping for. The rat got away and fled up the hillside.
Vermin: 3
Dogs: 3
Oh, and speaking of vermin, Oswald has been getting better at hunting. Unfortunately, he's upgraded from moths to bats. I appreciate his enterprise and want to encourage his Hemingway spirit, but I do wish he'd pick on critters that I'd be happier without. We've got plenty of bugs; I like the bats. If only he'd cooperate with the dogs and do something about these rats.
It turned out the cold wasn't just a cold. Apparently there's a nasty stomach flu going around up here. I got it. All week, I felt miserable. Tired, woozy, and my sinuses were everflowing. By the weekend, I was mostly recovered, but Aoibheall had picked it up. She was lagging by a couple of days, and spent all Saturday incapacitated. Our original plan had been for my parents and nephew to come up and visit that weekend and maybe get their help in redecorating the girls' bedroom. Instead, we urged them not to visit and share our cold.
On Thursday morning, Aoibheall said to me that she thought the young chickens were big enough to move out to the big chicken house. They're only a month and a half old, but they are fully fledged. I figured that was fair, so when I got home from work I started moving them out of the garage. They've been in the big house since then, and they're getting used to it. This evening, they even meekly walked back into the house from the yard when I brandished the New Blue Broom of Justice (the pipsqueaks had no respect at all when they were living in the garage).
Yesterday, we were all recovered. This was a good thing, as we'd scheduled a visit to the Exploratorium. Badb had said that what she wanted for her birthday party was to go to the Tactile Dome with a couple of friends, but scheduling had been tough. Yesterday was when our schedule and her friends' had opened up.
One friend was going to meet up with us at the Exploratorium and we picked up the other first thing in the morning. We then drove down into Santa Cruz because Aoibheall and I are taking Tai chi on Saturdays. The class meets in a park with some pretty cool play structures (including some awesome looking slides). The girls played in the park while we learned how to stand and twist. That accomplished, we all piled into the car and started driving north.
We picked up some fruit and lunch stuff at a Whole Foods on the way. We made it to the Exploratorium in plenty of time - we had half an hour to wander around before our 1:45 appointment in the Tactile Dome. We ended up with four adults, one teenager, and four little kids. Unlike last summer when we went to the Exploratorium for Camp Guel Guaynat, we felt little pressure to keep track of everyone. Our ratios were better and everyone had a wonderful time. At closing time we all went out to get a lovely dinner at Pluto's. Everyone was well-fed, although we were all pretty tired from a long day of doing things.
The weather was fabulous. It was warm and sunny, even in San Francisco. We are so suggestible. We came home and made mojitos and watched SpongeBob Squarepants episodes with the kids. (The choice of video was influenced by the zither music from The Third Man - almost at the end of watching that movie, Aoibheall said, "I know why we know that music - it's the same as the background music for SpongeBob!")
The weather was warm and clear again today. I'm back to my spring haircut (I'm sure my Uncle Chuck approves) and Aoibheall cleaned it up this morning. Then we had a big breakfast and got ready to tackle all our piled up chores. The girls needed haircuts and we had the grocery shopping to do. While I was doing the groceries, the girls were getting haircuts and Aoibheall walked through the Cost Plus next to the SuperCuts. We decided that with the beautiful weather we were going to have dinner outside. Well, to do that right we needed a few things. Our patio furniture is plastic and is on the verge of collapse. Cost Plus had some swell chairs and some enamelware that we decided would be perfect for outdoors. We had sangria, limeade, and tostadas out on the deck.
When I took out the compost after dinner, I saw that we'd trapped a rat. Hurrah! Another opportunity for Dagmar and Esme to show their valor! Aoibheall and I set up on the deck with brooms and we brought out the dogs. Dagmar was intensely interested in the rat, who set to squealing as soon as the dogs appeared. Esme decided that she, too, was intensely interested but wanted to be interested from about 15 feet away. Deep defense, I guess. Aoibheall used her broom to open the trap and the rat came scurrying out. It dashed across the deck with Dagmar in pursuit, but our doggie is still not the killer we've been hoping for. The rat got away and fled up the hillside.
Vermin: 3
Dogs: 3
Oh, and speaking of vermin, Oswald has been getting better at hunting. Unfortunately, he's upgraded from moths to bats. I appreciate his enterprise and want to encourage his Hemingway spirit, but I do wish he'd pick on critters that I'd be happier without. We've got plenty of bugs; I like the bats. If only he'd cooperate with the dogs and do something about these rats.
posted by PirateGuillermo | 8:18 PM
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