Christmas Cat!

Roofus the cat manages to get on top of the TV cabinet every night. I caught him dozing. This is his favorite spot, especially when the Christmas tree is up.

So that you are not wondering, I want to tell you why his name is spelled the way it is. We rescued him off of the roof of the church-- hence the name Roofus!

Gourds o'Plenty

Here are a couple of our finished gourds - we made a bunch into birdhouses for our family and friends. we're already planning our next crop - we may try to sell them at the local farmer's market. so cute!

Food Pantry

Some of our home school co-op group was able to meet to work at the local food pantry. We all had a great time and really got a lot accomplished. All of the white bags behind the kids are the bags that they made up - probably at least 200! whew!

Funnel Cake - yum

Having a yummy time at Knott's Berry Farm!

Killin' Crab

we picked up 17 fresh crab off a boat in Half Moon Bay and brought them home to have a feast! This is a picture of the guys gutting the crab before cooking them. Oh yum. It was especially wonderful two days later when one of the dogs decided to roll in the leftover crab guts. What a smell!

Lighthouse Tour

while on our trip, we visited several lighthouses. I think this was the one in Pacific Grove, near Monterey. Wouldn't it be awesome to live in a lighthouse? What a view!

Monterey

This is a picture of us at the wharf in Monterey and then one at the aquarium. It was a beautiful day. We had a great time visiting the aquarium.

Tree Bones Resort

Sitting on the deck of a yurt in Big Sur - does it get any better than this? If you're in the area - check out Tree Bones Resort - awesome!

Hearst Castle

A trip worth taking for sure -- Hearst Castle at Christmas time. It was breath taking!

Pismo Beach

Having a great time!
The weather was beautiful. We took a little walk along Pismo Beach on our way north for Thanksgiving.

Sunrise in Yosemite

I found this beautiful picture on my camera and just had to share it.
This is from this summer when we camped just outside of Yosemite.
Gorgeous!

Where ya been?

We've been all over - and really not on the computer. I have a ton of pictures to post, but due to our lack of technology and lack of high speed Internet, in order to post pictures I have to go to a spot where I can access free high speed. I hope to do that soon - maybe today.
We're on break from school right now and loving the relaxed schedule. J. had back to back parties yesterday and T. went to work with Dad. A. had a great time digging ditches around the property - for a huge/dangerous air soft course. I am forcing the kids to make gingerbread houses today -- well, forcing one of the kids, the other two are happy to oblige! I am going to allow them to shoot them or blow them up or whatever they choose - after I take a picture.
Merry Christmas!

Pheasant Hunting

The guys went pheasant hunting yesterday and got 4. Well, the guys got three, the dog got one. Good dog! We brought three of them home to eat and one was made into sausage. How weird is that? We decided against having pheasant for Thanksgiving dinner, but will probably cook it up tomorrow night. Happy Thanksgiving!

Yeeee Hawwww!

We went out to Brawley this past weekend to camp, hunt and go to the rodeo. Our friends invited us to join them on this annual event. It was really fun. I wasn't sure what to think about attending a rodeo and it was great. I especially liked the Mutton Bustin' event. Kids 10 and under strap on helmets, jump on the back of a lamb or sheep or mutton, or whatever, try to grab and handful of wool and hang on! It was so cute. (just to clarify - I thought mutton was the meat of a sheep, but what do I know?) I assure you, these guys were alive! I guess Lamb Bustin' just doesn't sound as good.
The dove hunting was great (I heard). We also attended the Brawley Parade and had a yummy BBQ lunch provided by the Elk's club. The kids had a chance to explore the farm, climb hay bales, shoot the pellet gun, swing on the rope swing and just hang out. It was a great weekend and quite an experience. For sure worth the trip to Brawley. Forgot my camera - so no pictures. Bummer.

Lassoing a Chicken

Our poor chickens. No wonder they don't seem to be producing as much as I think they should. Travis came in yesterday laughing so hard, I thought he was crying. He went out to do chicken chores and Tulip, our sweet little Buff Orpington hen was sitting in the favorite place to lay eggs. When he came in to collect the eggs, she refused to move and decided to peck at him - I don't think she was finished doing her business. Anyway, he thought it would be fun to see if he could lasso her around the neck and drag her from the nest -- gently, I'm sure! Well, he did it - he lassoed her and she freaked out and started running around the hen house - squawking and going crazy. This brought in several on-lookers to see what was going on. If Travis thought it was tough to lasso a chicken, he realized the tough part was unlassoing one! (is that really a word?) After much effort and flying feathers, he grabbed her by the legs, flipped her over so she would calm down and undid the lasso and tossed her - again gently, I'm sure, out the hen house door into the yard. She partially slid, partially tumbled, mostly on her back down the ramp into the fray of the chicken yard. At this point - all of the chickens were sure that they were next and completely lost it! Travis left smiling and happy that his work there was done! Boys!

Not too exciting around here! Thank goodness!

Not much going on around here. Yesterday we just stayed home and worked on school and I worked on paperwork. Not too exciting. We finally finished planting the winter garden. We still have a few pumpkins growing, but they don't seem to be turning orange -- maybe it's just too chilly at night for them. I'm excited to see how the lavender and sweet peas do - I never remember to plant the sweet peas at the right time, so this will be great. Many little shoots coming up - we just need to keep the peacocks out. I think they think it's an all you can eat buffet, just for them. The lettuce, spinach and Swiss chard seem to be doing the best. We're baking bread today and trying to finish up another batch of apple jam. We've made about 15 jars. Still more apples though! Better ring the school bell - it's 8:00 a.m.
~c~

The Hazards of Country Living

Got up this morning as the sun was coming up. Staggered outside, barefoot - with coffee in hand - leaving for the beach and promptly stepped on something that seemed a bit off. After regaining my balance and desperately trying to not spill my much needed coffee - I realized it was a big bird claw! Just the claw. No, not a leftover Halloween decoration. I guess it was the dead fellow from yesterday's shooting. I found the rest of him, or his feathers in the backyard when I went back to do chicken chores. Note to self --- always wear shoes, especially when you can't see where you are walking!

Life on the Homestead

What's going on around here? Our 14 chickens are still laying eggs but not as much as we'd like. We haven't taken the time to "cull" and harvest/slaughter the lazy layers. It could be too many roosters in the coop are stressing the girls out. Now that the days are shorter and it's getting colder, we anticipate less eggs - we're getting about 6 a day. We planted our "winter" garden awhile back. We planted peas, beans, squash, peppers, broccoli, chard, lettuce, spinach and onions. We still need to plant the sweet peas and lavender. Today a peacock died from "lead poisoning". He was way too interested in the tender shoots coming up in the garden, so the big hunter had to take care of him. It's funny, once you shoot a few of the peacocks, all the others seem to stay away, for awhile at least. I guess they aren't as dumb as we think. Sorry to offend any peacock lovers! We have a few pumpkins that are still a bit green - so we're letting them continue. We carved a couple pumpkins, now we need to find some good pumpkin recipes --- pie is always a good option! Today is our big class day - we have art, science, history, etc. Always a fun day! Better get down to business - the books are calling!
~c&j~

A Boy and His Dog

Travis and Chloe enjoying recess or was it a nap? I sent Travis out to run around and play with the dogs - next thing I see, he is sacked out on the grass and Chloe is pawing at him trying to get him to play with her! So much for running around!

Playing Hooky!

Yesterday we played hooky and went down to Balboa Park to take advantage of free museum day. We visited Reuben H. Fleet Science Center and the Natural History Museum. How fun. It makes me realize how few days like this I will have with Alex since he is planning to leave the nest in the Fall to go to College. I was so thrilled that he wanted to join us - I'm sure it was us - not the fact that he was happy to miss Physics class - no really, he wanted to spend time with us!
~c~

Mom, I think he's high!

This is a picture of a bike that was resting in a tree down at Balboa Park yesterday. Jordan was appalled that I was taking a picture of it - since the owner of the bike was sitting nearby and she was sure he was "high" since he parked his bike like that --- well, that, and the fact that he was lying on the concrete and mumbling to himself just a few minutes earlier. I missed all of that when I left my poor little babies unattended while I went off in search of coffee.
~c~

Swing Your Partner!

Our home school co-op group gets together quarterly for a birthday barn dance. We all get together to play and eat dinner and then dancing. The pictures show the kids playing games and dancing. We all did some square dancing and line dancing, even Donald! We also had an exciting time of fixing broken water lines - from a very rowdy football game and setting off fireworks! So much fun!
~c~

Soccer Saturday

Saturday was soccer marathon day. Travis had a game at 8:00 and then another at 12:30. His team won the first game and lost the second. They are in second place in the playoffs.
~c~

Hippie Halloween

This year I dressed up as a hippie. This picture shows me with the pumpkins I carved. Peace Man! :)

Jordan =^..^=

Surfin' Safari

Friday we headed down to Oceanside to attend Travis's surf PE class. When we arrived at 7:00 a.m. the air temp was 45* and the water was 61*. I hope he was getting extra credit for risking hypothermia to participate in class!
I went over to Maui Wowie for a yummy pumpkin spice latte and to correct papers - it was too cold to walk. What a wimp!

History the Homeschool Way Part 2

I finished my "postcard" mentioned in History the Homeschool Way Part 1. It turned out great. Here is one of the pictures that went onto my "postcard". It's of the Acropolis in Athens. Here is a (very) brief history lesson on the Acropolis. The Acropolis was in the middle of the Ancient Greek city of Athens and it was the highest part of the city. Acropolis literally means 'high city'. This part of the city was jammed packed with temples and the houses of the rich. It was considered the most cultured part of the city. So there you have it a (extremely) brief lecture on Ancient Greece. I'm off to have my authentic Greek snack of Greek yogurt with honey and dried fruit.

Jordan =^..^=

wind-powered dryer

Several months ago I decided to stop using my dryer. Donald hung a clothesline and the rest is history. I have pretty much consistently used only the clothesline ever since. It is really awesome - so relaxing! Sometimes it can be annoying or more time consuming, but normally I just love the opportunity to get out in the fresh air, think about each family member as I am hanging their clothes and save money too. I'm not exactly sure how much we're saving each month, but every bit helps. As it gets colder, I'm sure I'll have to go back to the dryer - but for now - I love it!
This picture shows our little clothes line, our shed/chicken coop in the background and also one of our cats, Rufus -- who we rescued off a roof of a church a couple of years ago, but that's a whole different story.
~cindy~

History the Homeschool Way

I'm learning about Ancient Greece in History right now, so I'm just about start making a "postcard" from Ancient Greece. This will be a project that will include pictures of Ancient Greek landmarks, ie temples, statues, and other important places. I might post a picture or two later.

Jordan =^..^=

Jam packed day

We made Dutch Apple Pie Jam today along with a batch of applesauce. Too bad no one is getting credit for a cooking class. It was so rewarding to hear those little metal lids snap down in place - sort of like when you're vacuuming and you hear all that junk, that you didn't know was there get sucked up. photo taken by Jordan.
~cindy~

Apple pickin'

We took a field trip to an apple farm and picked 53 pounds of apples. All different varieties. It was really fun. They juiced a bunch of apples for us while we were there and we all had yummy,fresh squeezed apple juice. Travis came home and immediately baked an apple cobbler - Home Ec. right?
Photo taken at our kitchen table by Jordan.
~cindy~

lazy layers

I just started reading this interesting book called The Backyard Homestead by Carleen Madigan. I just cracked up a section in the book that compared good layers to lazy hens. The book suggests that you can improve your overall laying average by culling and slaughtering the lazy layers. Culling is actually one of Travis's vocabulary words for this week - so in true homeschool fashion, I think I will have Travis cull and slaughter our lazy roosters who will never lay an egg and only seem to eat, poop and wake us up at 4:00 a.m. Cull - verb, to pick out, select, to examine carefully.
In case anyone is interested, a good laying hen produces about 20 dozen eggs in her first year. Productivity seems to drop off as they get older, but not by much. They lay larger eggs as they get older. There is actually a series of "easy" tests you can do on your hens to see which ones are good candidates for "harvesting". Such as looking at her comb and wattle - which I guess I can do. However, once the book started to tell me to check out the hen's vent and pubic bone - I was done. I'm off to have scrambled eggs!
~c~

Gourds and Pumpkins Galore

Bumper Crop!!

chicken house

Here is the promised picture of our chickens. Isn't the chicken house adorable?? My dad built it.They have the yard and they can go up their ramp into the enclosed house when it gets chilly.
Jordan =^..^=

summer fun

Here is a picture of our garden, early in the season. The bean tee-pee was a big hit. You can also see our corn, tomatoes, squash and our adorable bucket-head scarecrow! When Jordan saw the title summer fun - she couldn't believe that I was referring to our garden. fun? the garden?
~C~

brown, white and blue

Aren't they beautiful?!

Feed, Fertilizer & First Aid

Above is a picture of our dog Daisy. She is covered with flower/weed debris after chasing peacocks in the grove. Isn't she cute? She looks like she is smiling.

Yesterday was another interesting and eventful day on the homeschool homestead. Not much homeschooling happened on this homestead. The boys had a First Aid/CPR class in order to renew their certificates -- good to know that someone could save me - if they really wanted to!

Donald is trying to be helpful and keep busy, so he decided to tear out a couple of flower beds - I ask for trimming and cleaning up - I get a whole new nursery in my backyard - and a huge mess! He means well.

Our poor little chickens were on a diet for a day. Well, not really, we just had a limited amount of feed left, so we gave them tons of weeds and veggies. Anyway, they thought they were starving. Around dinner time, I remembered and I skidded into the feed store just as they were closing and was able to buy some more food for them. Tulip practically jumped into the food bin when I came in to feed everyone. They are eating so much lately, we're thinking that we need to thin the crop a bit - ie, reducing the non-producers. eek!

J and I are off to the coffee shop to have our weekly coffee/history time together before going to ballet.

We will try to add a couple of posts that have more pictures attached. Due to our lack of modern technology at the homestead, we can only add pictures when we are working on the lap top in town - thank goodness for Wi-Fi!
~Cindy~

the girls....and boys

We have chickens and we get 5-6 eggs a day. It doesn't sound like much but it really adds up! We have even started giving away some eggs as "Thank Yous".
Our hens lay white, brown and blue-green eggs. The blue ones are beautiful, they look like robin's eggs. My favorite chicken is Nugget, she is a small Buttercup hen. She's golden with speckles of black. She is so cute and sweet looking. Her husband's name is Mc --- as in McNugget! hee hee! He is our smallest rooster, but seems to have a bit of a Napoleon Complex - what a bully!
Our chicken coop is painted to look like a barn - red with gray trim. We will add picture once we figure out how to do it.
Jordan =^..^=

What we're all about!

I realized today as I was posting our very first blog - that if anyone really ever reads this, they would have no idea how this started. So I thought I would give a little background. First, this blog exists because Jordan, my 12 year old daughter, thought it would be fun to write about our life. Also, because my friend Laura, thought that our friends & family would get a kick out of all of the crazy things that seem to happen on a regular basis at our little homeschool homestead.

One memorable event was when a peacock flew across our property right into a power line - killing itself and blowing the power for about 3 miles. Really, it happened! Maybe we will have to go back in time and share a few of these interesting events.

About us - we're a family of five. Donald, Cindy, Alex, Travis and Jordan. We live on 4 acres in Southern California. We just started our 10th year of home schooling. Alex is a senior, Travis a freshmen and Jordan is in 7th grade. We have 3 dogs, 3 cats, 2 birds, 1 turtle, 1 fish, 14 chickens (11 hens and 3 roosters) and too many wild peacocks to count! We have all kinds of science and zoology experiments happening everyday right in our own backyard.

We planted a giant garden this year and enjoyed the fruits of our labor - literally. The kids even set up and worked a vegetable stand to earn extra money. Now that we are in the throes of another school year, it's a bit more difficult to spend time working the garden. But we have loved it - well, sort of - I think it's a bit of a love/hate thing.

My hope is that we will be able to share news, events and pictures with our friends and family. It could even turn into a bit of a computer, photography and writing lesson for each of us. Except for Donald - he doesn't "do technology"!
~Cindy~

Pumpkins & Surfing

Friday's are always our Surf PE day - only in So. Cal, right? Travis and I leave early in the morning and head to Buccaneer Beach. Surfing is from 7:00 - 10:00 a.m. I normally hang out and have coffee at Buccaneer Brew while I correct papers. If I'm pretty caught up on my correcting, I have time to take a walk. The exciting life of homeschoolers!
Today, I went for coffee and a bike ride with Laura. How fun! It was sunny, warm and beautiful. The surf was a up a bit today, the water was about 69 degrees and there was almost no wind. While I was working hard at the beach, Donald and Alex picked pumpkins and birdhouse gourds. We had a pretty good crop. We're not sure yet what we will do with all of the gourds. We need to finish cleaning things up a bit in the garden and then get to planting our winter garden. Oh my - I think I will have a few family members ready to strike soon. They are so done with the garden! But after all of the summer veggies - don't we need to try the winter ones?
~cindy~