a few pictures

I'm up late waiting for bread to bake, so thought I'd kill a little time posting some recent pictures.

My parents and brother were here this past weekend for Dave's third birthday. Of course, I have very few pictures. I have to get back into the habit of using the camera. Just one thing that's harder with so many kids. It can be a bit of a zoo here.  I'm living in the monkey house!  But it was a great, if short, visit. I'll have to get them to send some of their shots to post up. But I do have a couple from the party itself.

Dave with his Cars cake, with John looking on. Dave is obsessed with Cars, but has yet to see the movie!

Opening a 10-pack of Hot Wheels from Mike's parents. What a hit! He's inseparable from them,still. He also got a little John Deere wheelbarrow frommy parents, which I'm sure will be in many pictures to come down the road - he's constantly loading stuff. He uses it to move firewood and toys. So cute! Mike's Grandma sent a new tricycle, which is also a hit. Joan doesn't have a bike, because she finds them very tricky,but she can use John's old red trike. Now, all three can bike around the yard together at the same time. Today, they were out running races, to the horror of our geese.

 Speaking of our geese, they've been acting a little odd lately. I think they're getting cold out there, and have been nosing around for new places to be. Last night, Mike opened the door, and they strolled right in! They warmed up for a while, had a drink from the cat's dish, then went back outside. It was..um...interesting. And slightly messy. Today, they were acting really weird. They were nervously collecting little piles of grass, and the gander kept bringing the goose things. Mostly little sticks. I had a look online, and it seems they may be trying to build a nest. Seems a little early, but it seems to be what they want to do. Mike found an ad for bedding hay at $1 a bale, so we're thinking of getting them a bunch and clearing out some sheltered spot for them. They seem to have their eye on the chicken coop - they've been poking around in there a LOT. But we need to move out the chickens first!

Our Pekin ducks, patiently waiting in line for a dip in their favourite mud puddle. Tom's busy topping it up for them.

Well, bread's done. I need it for stuffing. We're cooking our first farm-raised turkey tomorrow. I didn't actually "kill" him per se. He started dying of a heart attack right in front of me, so I scooped him up, ran him to the cone and bled him out, so he wouldn't go to waste. A call to my Dad, and a quick look online, and we're reasonably confident he's safe to eat. He seemed to be a happy, healthy guy until then and all of his innards looked completely normal and healthy, except that his heart had exploded out the top. (Meat birds die of heart attacks from growing too fast.) He dressed out to 17 pounds. Hopefully we don't die from eating him. :-P

I'll try to post again soon!