Love to all of you, hope you're all happy and healthy!!!
Regina
Monday, November 12, 2012
Heaven is...
Hearing my little budding musicians! Here are some short videos of Olivia on cello and Jillian and Collier on piano. I need to get some video of Delaney on piano, too! She's really going to town with her lessons. And Jillian really, really wants to start playing the cello, after listening to Olivia play!
Love to all of you, hope you're all happy and healthy!!!
Regina
Love to all of you, hope you're all happy and healthy!!!
Regina
Friday, November 02, 2012
Avery playing at the park with mom and brother!
Avery was a flower girl in her 2nd wedding!
Drool King with Grandma Barb!
Fall photos with Andee!
Hello Family!Hope this finds everyone doing well! Hard to believe that it is November! The holidays are just around the corner! We have been enjoying these nice days outside when we can and enjoying more time at home together! We had a crazy summer and early fall with lots to do on the weekends to keep us going! We just helped Jillian celebrate her 5th birthday last weekend at the pumpkin patch! That was a beautiful day to be there and enjoy all of the activities! Love and hugs to you all!
Friday, October 12, 2012
This is old, but I found it in the drafts folder and decided to publish it for Jan!! It's from May 1, 2012
Barb
My Goodness! What a week this has been starting with the purchase of 6 young “village” chickens!
Wednesday is market day here in Prizren. I decided I wanted to try to raise some chickens for eggs just as a hobby out here at the camp. Mahir, our driver, had arranged for Janon, another worker here at the camp who speaks English and her brother who has raised chickens and doesn’t speak English to go to the market with us to pick out some good egg layers! Well, off we went and the market was something else. Chickens in pens, chickens and roosters tied to the pens, little puppies in pens, geese, and peacocks which were all wrapped up with their heads and necks poking out. Then there was feed for sale all over and also some pretty nice furniture! Ha! We saw some beautiful hens…nice and fat brown in color but the guy wanted 50 euros each! Then he said 30 Euros. I wanted to start with some younger chickens anyway and Janon’s brother said these black and white ones were good for laying eggs so we went with 5 of those for 20 Euros ( 4 euro each!) and then he said I’ll give you one more for 1 Euro and I said ok. So we came home with 6 chickens I asked what was the name of the chickens and he said they are just village chickens! . The men just don’t understand why I don’t want a rooster! I told them I just wanted to have eggs, not chicks and the chicken expert said, “But you can’t have eggs without a rooster! I said , there will be eggs…and he said “but these are VILLAGE chickens!” Ha! Well, we will wait and see about that!
We also picked up some grain and ground corn and a feeder for 1 Euro and a waterer for 1 Euro. We brought them home and the wind came up suddenly so I brought the cardboard box with chickens into the entryway for a while until the worst of the storm blew over. I put some food in the box and the chickens immediately set to work eating!
Finally I introduced them to their new home. Mike had a little triangular house built with 2 lofts up in the eaves. ( You can open some side panels to collect eggs). We soon realized the chickens didn’t know how to get up there so the workers built a little ladder going up to one side. I left the box turned on it’s side in the cage to give them a little extra security and that’s where they slept the first few nights. They didn’t know what to do with that ladder.
Also the workers didn’t put down wire on the bottom so we asked them to do that to keep weasels, etc out. They have been trying to accommodate us the best they can! When they put the wire fence on the bottom though, there was a seam right down the middle sharp wires sticking up and out .They wanted to put plywood on the whole floor because they thought the wire would hurt the chickens feet. We finally decided to put a board just over the sharp edge. The chickens like to get bugs and worms from the ground. I might add that these 2 workers don’t understand a word I’m telling them! One is Albanian and one is Turkish! But they are willing and try to figure out what I want from them!
I kept the chickens in their coop/pen for 2 whole days before I decided to let them out. I wanted them to feel secure in their new home. They one by one came out and starting scratching for bugs and worms immediately and some wallowed down in the grass and dirt. They really seemed to relish being out in the dirt! They stayed pretty close to the coop for awhile. I sat out there on a bale of hay and some came up to me. I try to catch them and scratch their necks a bit. I read where they like that!
Little by little they started going out along the fence by the garden. The one with the black back seems to be the most adventuresome one. She was the first one to pop out of the box and Vera, my friend, named her Florence since we were in Florence while the coop was being built. I call her Flo …ha!
They are so interesting to watch. They all spread out…then they all come together as if to check on each other. Flo is always in the lead. She is the biggest and probably the oldest. They are between 2 and 3 months of age right now. It’s fun to watch them squabble over a bug or a worm!
Sunday, Mike and I were out in the garden and suddenly a big boom surprised us all! There is a road being built up the mountain side just across the field and a main road. They were dynamiting! Mike and I recovered and saw the dust cloud rise up, but the chickens were frozen in time for probably 20-30 secs with their necks stretched up high! It was the funniest thing to see!
Well, I also acquired a sweet little white bunny this week. Driver Mahir picked it up for his little girl, Havsa, last weekend on our way home from Montenegro. He had planned this for awhile. He told us he sees young boys selling rabbits at the turn off to Kosovo every time he is down there. Sure enough, there were about 5 boys holding rabbits up by the ears last Sunday. They were all various sizes (both boys and rabbits!) Mahir went back to see what they had a brought this little tiny white bunny with dark eyes to the car. I held it all the way home and it was so sweet and calm! The boys had handled it a lot and it was totally comfortable with humans. It laid in my lap with it’s little legs splayed out like a little dog. I gave Mahir a plastic storage box for him to take it home in. Mahir said he only wanted to keep it 2 or 3 weeks because they just have a small apartment, then he would take it to the zoo. I told him to bring it out to me when he was ready to give it up….and here he came on Wed….just a few days later with it! (Decided the bunny is a girl and named it Lily).
Once again the camp guys built us a little hutch. It sits right next to the chicken pen. I’ve been letting the bunny roam free when I am outside and it follows me around. Goes in and out the chicken pen and just seems to be content to be with the chickens. The chickens didn’t know what to think at first and the bunny seems to chase them a bit, but I think she is just being friendly. Now they are both in and out the chicken coop.
Today, I came in to do some dishes up and the bunny was out in the weeds by the coop. I was washing away and looked out and AAGH!!!! There was a big ‘ol hawk out there on the fence post looking down at the chickens! I ran out shooing it away! The chickens had all taken cover under the rabbit hutch and when I ran out there I saw 1 chicken and bunny in the chicken coop. When I counted the chickens I was missing one. I walked through the weeds out by the garden and found it all hunkered down, seemingly unhurt! Now I have to worry about hawks!!!! I was so relieved all were safe. They’ve been pretty subdued all morning, but now are back to roaming around! I am leaving home in a little while so now they are all nicely penned up and SAFE until I get back!
One more chicken story! I finally took the box out of the coop because the chickens weren’t going to the loft. I got inside the coop (which isn’t easy) and put all the chickens in the loft 2 nights ago. Last night, it was almost dark and they all went into the coop so I shut the door and locked it. When I turned around they were all headed up the ladder for bed! I had to laugh because they put themselves to bed for the night. One lone chicken ( the same one is always lost and separated from the others and cheeps really loud) was cheeping for quite awhile….but she eventually got up there with the others!
Barb
My Goodness! What a week this has been starting with the purchase of 6 young “village” chickens!
Wednesday is market day here in Prizren. I decided I wanted to try to raise some chickens for eggs just as a hobby out here at the camp. Mahir, our driver, had arranged for Janon, another worker here at the camp who speaks English and her brother who has raised chickens and doesn’t speak English to go to the market with us to pick out some good egg layers! Well, off we went and the market was something else. Chickens in pens, chickens and roosters tied to the pens, little puppies in pens, geese, and peacocks which were all wrapped up with their heads and necks poking out. Then there was feed for sale all over and also some pretty nice furniture! Ha! We saw some beautiful hens…nice and fat brown in color but the guy wanted 50 euros each! Then he said 30 Euros. I wanted to start with some younger chickens anyway and Janon’s brother said these black and white ones were good for laying eggs so we went with 5 of those for 20 Euros ( 4 euro each!) and then he said I’ll give you one more for 1 Euro and I said ok. So we came home with 6 chickens I asked what was the name of the chickens and he said they are just village chickens! . The men just don’t understand why I don’t want a rooster! I told them I just wanted to have eggs, not chicks and the chicken expert said, “But you can’t have eggs without a rooster! I said , there will be eggs…and he said “but these are VILLAGE chickens!” Ha! Well, we will wait and see about that!
We also picked up some grain and ground corn and a feeder for 1 Euro and a waterer for 1 Euro. We brought them home and the wind came up suddenly so I brought the cardboard box with chickens into the entryway for a while until the worst of the storm blew over. I put some food in the box and the chickens immediately set to work eating!
Finally I introduced them to their new home. Mike had a little triangular house built with 2 lofts up in the eaves. ( You can open some side panels to collect eggs). We soon realized the chickens didn’t know how to get up there so the workers built a little ladder going up to one side. I left the box turned on it’s side in the cage to give them a little extra security and that’s where they slept the first few nights. They didn’t know what to do with that ladder.
Also the workers didn’t put down wire on the bottom so we asked them to do that to keep weasels, etc out. They have been trying to accommodate us the best they can! When they put the wire fence on the bottom though, there was a seam right down the middle sharp wires sticking up and out .They wanted to put plywood on the whole floor because they thought the wire would hurt the chickens feet. We finally decided to put a board just over the sharp edge. The chickens like to get bugs and worms from the ground. I might add that these 2 workers don’t understand a word I’m telling them! One is Albanian and one is Turkish! But they are willing and try to figure out what I want from them!
I kept the chickens in their coop/pen for 2 whole days before I decided to let them out. I wanted them to feel secure in their new home. They one by one came out and starting scratching for bugs and worms immediately and some wallowed down in the grass and dirt. They really seemed to relish being out in the dirt! They stayed pretty close to the coop for awhile. I sat out there on a bale of hay and some came up to me. I try to catch them and scratch their necks a bit. I read where they like that!
Little by little they started going out along the fence by the garden. The one with the black back seems to be the most adventuresome one. She was the first one to pop out of the box and Vera, my friend, named her Florence since we were in Florence while the coop was being built. I call her Flo …ha!
They are so interesting to watch. They all spread out…then they all come together as if to check on each other. Flo is always in the lead. She is the biggest and probably the oldest. They are between 2 and 3 months of age right now. It’s fun to watch them squabble over a bug or a worm!
Sunday, Mike and I were out in the garden and suddenly a big boom surprised us all! There is a road being built up the mountain side just across the field and a main road. They were dynamiting! Mike and I recovered and saw the dust cloud rise up, but the chickens were frozen in time for probably 20-30 secs with their necks stretched up high! It was the funniest thing to see!
Well, I also acquired a sweet little white bunny this week. Driver Mahir picked it up for his little girl, Havsa, last weekend on our way home from Montenegro. He had planned this for awhile. He told us he sees young boys selling rabbits at the turn off to Kosovo every time he is down there. Sure enough, there were about 5 boys holding rabbits up by the ears last Sunday. They were all various sizes (both boys and rabbits!) Mahir went back to see what they had a brought this little tiny white bunny with dark eyes to the car. I held it all the way home and it was so sweet and calm! The boys had handled it a lot and it was totally comfortable with humans. It laid in my lap with it’s little legs splayed out like a little dog. I gave Mahir a plastic storage box for him to take it home in. Mahir said he only wanted to keep it 2 or 3 weeks because they just have a small apartment, then he would take it to the zoo. I told him to bring it out to me when he was ready to give it up….and here he came on Wed….just a few days later with it! (Decided the bunny is a girl and named it Lily).
Once again the camp guys built us a little hutch. It sits right next to the chicken pen. I’ve been letting the bunny roam free when I am outside and it follows me around. Goes in and out the chicken pen and just seems to be content to be with the chickens. The chickens didn’t know what to think at first and the bunny seems to chase them a bit, but I think she is just being friendly. Now they are both in and out the chicken coop.
Today, I came in to do some dishes up and the bunny was out in the weeds by the coop. I was washing away and looked out and AAGH!!!! There was a big ‘ol hawk out there on the fence post looking down at the chickens! I ran out shooing it away! The chickens had all taken cover under the rabbit hutch and when I ran out there I saw 1 chicken and bunny in the chicken coop. When I counted the chickens I was missing one. I walked through the weeds out by the garden and found it all hunkered down, seemingly unhurt! Now I have to worry about hawks!!!! I was so relieved all were safe. They’ve been pretty subdued all morning, but now are back to roaming around! I am leaving home in a little while so now they are all nicely penned up and SAFE until I get back!
One more chicken story! I finally took the box out of the coop because the chickens weren’t going to the loft. I got inside the coop (which isn’t easy) and put all the chickens in the loft 2 nights ago. Last night, it was almost dark and they all went into the coop so I shut the door and locked it. When I turned around they were all headed up the ladder for bed! I had to laugh because they put themselves to bed for the night. One lone chicken ( the same one is always lost and separated from the others and cheeps really loud) was cheeping for quite awhile….but she eventually got up there with the others!
Chicken Dance!
That's chick feed all over the floor! Henny does NOT like the feed IN the feeder, she thinks they have to eat off of the cement floor! The bedding is scratched into a different corner every day, but the chicks are warm, happy and growing! They are getting tall, and you can see tail feathers on some of them already! Henny still takes them to the pet carrier at night for a warm place to sleep. Last weekend it was 23 degrees F. and they were all nestled under her wings in the carrier chirping away!
Tuesday, October 09, 2012
Wednesday, October 03, 2012
From the Farm
This will give you a little idea of what's going on with us! The ten chicks are doing good, this is day four! Hopefully Henny will continue to take good care of them 'like an ole' mother hen'!! They find refuge under her wings at night. It is pretty amazing, really!
Thursday, August 09, 2012
Favorite Pics from Colorado...
Wanted to share a few of my favorite pictures from our family vacation in Colorado. We camped 2 nights in Central City at a KOA (west of Denver) and the rest of our time at Printer Boy Campground, near Turquoise Lake and Leadville.
Tuesday, May 01, 2012
Our newest hobby!
My Goodness! What a week this has been starting with the purchase of 6 young “village” chickens!
Wednesday is market day here in Prizren. I decided I wanted to try to raise some chickens for eggs just as a hobby out here at the camp. Mahir, our driver, had arranged for Janon, another worker here at the camp who speaks English and her brother who has raised chickens and doesn’t speak English to go to the market with us to pick out some good egg layers! Well, off we went and the market was something else. Chickens in pens, chickens and roosters tied to the pens, little puppies in pens, geese, and peacocks which were all wrapped up with their heads and necks poking out. Then there was feed for sale all over and also some pretty nice furniture! Ha! We saw some beautiful hens…nice and fat brown in color but the guy wanted 50 euros each! Then he said 30 Euros. I wanted to start with some younger chickens anyway and Janon’s brother said these black and white ones were good for laying eggs so we went with 5 of those for 20 Euros ( 4 euro each!) and then he said I’ll give you one more for 1 Euro and I said ok. So we came home with 6 chickens I asked what was the name of the chickens and he said they are just village chickens! . The men just don’t understand why I don’t want a rooster! I told them I just wanted to have eggs, not chicks and the chicken expert said, “But you can’t have eggs without a rooster! I said , there will be eggs…and he said “but these are VILLAGE chickens!” Ha! Well, we will wait and see about that!
We also picked up some grain and ground corn and a feeder for 1 Euro and a waterer for 1 Euro. We brought them home and the wind came up suddenly so I brought the cardboard box with chickens into the entryway for a while until the worst of the storm blew over. I put some food in the box and the chickens immediately set to work eating!
Finally I introduced them to their new home. Mike had a little triangular house built with 2 lofts up in the eaves. ( You can open some side panels to collect eggs). We soon realized the chickens didn’t know how to get up there so the workers built a little ladder going up to one side. I left the box turned on it’s side in the cage to give them a little extra security and that’s where they slept the first few nights. They didn’t know what to do with that ladder.
Also the workers didn’t put down wire on the bottom so we asked them to do that to keep weasels, etc out. They have been trying to accommodate us the best they can! When they put the wire fence on the bottom though, there was a seam right down the middle sharp wires sticking up and out .They wanted to put plywood on the whole floor because they thought the wire would hurt the chickens feet. We finally decided to put a board just over the sharp edge. The chickens like to get bugs and worms from the ground. I might add that these 2 workers don’t understand a word I’m telling them! One is Albanian and one is Turkish! But they are willing and try to figure out what I want from them!
I kept the chickens in their coop/pen for 2 whole days before I decided to let them out. I wanted them to feel secure in their new home. They one by one came out and starting scratching for bugs and worms immediately and some wallowed down in the grass and dirt. They really seemed to relish being out in the dirt! They stayed pretty close to the coop for awhile. I sat out there on a bale of hay and some came up to me. I try to catch them and scratch their necks a bit. I read where they like that!
Little by little they started going out along the fence by the garden. The one with the black back seems to be the most adventuresome one. She was the first one to pop out of the box and Vera, my friend, named her Florence since we were in Florence while the coop was being built. I call her Flo …ha!
They are so interesting to watch. They all spread out…then they all come together as if to check on each other. Flo is always in the lead. She is the biggest and probably the oldest. They are between 2 and 3 months of age right now. It’s fun to watch them squabble over a bug or a worm!
Sunday, Mike and I were out in the garden and suddenly a big boom surprised us all! There is a road being built up the mountain side just across the field and a main road. They were dynamiting! Mike and I recovered and saw the dust cloud rise up, but the chickens were frozen in time for probably 20-30 secs with their necks stretched up high! It was the funniest thing to see!
Well, I also acquired a sweet little white bunny this week. Driver Mahir picked it up for his little girl, Havsa, last weekend on our way home from Montenegro. He had planned this for awhile. He told us he sees young boys selling rabbits at the turn off to Kosovo every time he is down there. Sure enough, there were about 5 boys holding rabbits up by the ears last Sunday. They were all various sizes (both boys and rabbits!) Mahir went back to see what they had a brought this little tiny white bunny with dark eyes to the car. I held it all the way home and it was so sweet and calm! The boys had handled it a lot and it was totally comfortable with humans. It laid in my lap with it’s little legs splayed out like a little dog. I gave Mahir a plastic storage box for him to take it home in. Mahir said he only wanted to keep it 2 or 3 weeks because they just have a small apartment, then he would take it to the zoo. I told him to bring it out to me when he was ready to give it up….and here he came on Wed….just a few days later with it! (Decided the bunny is a girl and named it Lily).
Once again the camp guys built us a little hutch. It sits right next to the chicken pen. I’ve been letting the bunny roam free when I am outside and it follows me around. Goes in and out the chicken pen and just seems to be content to be with the chickens. The chickens didn’t know what to think at first and the bunny seems to chase them a bit, but I think she is just being friendly. Now they are both in and out the chicken coop.
Today, I came in to do some dishes up and the bunny was out in the weeds by the coop. I was washing away and looked out and AAGH!!!! There was a big ‘ol hawk out there on the fence post looking down at the chickens! I ran out shooing it away! The chickens had all taken cover under the rabbit hutch and when I ran out there I saw 1 chicken and bunny in the chicken coop. When I counted the chickens I was missing one. I walked through the weeds out by the garden and found it all hunkered down, seemingly unhurt! Now I have to worry about hawks!!!! I was so relieved all were safe. They’ve been pretty subdued all morning, but now are back to roaming around! I am leaving home in a little while so now they are all nicely penned up and SAFE until I get back!
One more chicken story! I finally took the box out of the coop because the chickens weren’t going to the loft. I got inside the coop (which isn’t easy) and put all the chickens in the loft 2 nights ago. Last night, it was almost dark and they all went into the coop so I shut the door and locked it. When I turned around they were all headed up the ladder for bed! I had to laugh because they put themselves to bed for the night. One lone chicken ( the same one is always lost and separated from the others and cheeps really loud) was cheeping for quite awhile….but she eventually got up there with the others!
Wednesday is market day here in Prizren. I decided I wanted to try to raise some chickens for eggs just as a hobby out here at the camp. Mahir, our driver, had arranged for Janon, another worker here at the camp who speaks English and her brother who has raised chickens and doesn’t speak English to go to the market with us to pick out some good egg layers! Well, off we went and the market was something else. Chickens in pens, chickens and roosters tied to the pens, little puppies in pens, geese, and peacocks which were all wrapped up with their heads and necks poking out. Then there was feed for sale all over and also some pretty nice furniture! Ha! We saw some beautiful hens…nice and fat brown in color but the guy wanted 50 euros each! Then he said 30 Euros. I wanted to start with some younger chickens anyway and Janon’s brother said these black and white ones were good for laying eggs so we went with 5 of those for 20 Euros ( 4 euro each!) and then he said I’ll give you one more for 1 Euro and I said ok. So we came home with 6 chickens I asked what was the name of the chickens and he said they are just village chickens! . The men just don’t understand why I don’t want a rooster! I told them I just wanted to have eggs, not chicks and the chicken expert said, “But you can’t have eggs without a rooster! I said , there will be eggs…and he said “but these are VILLAGE chickens!” Ha! Well, we will wait and see about that!
We also picked up some grain and ground corn and a feeder for 1 Euro and a waterer for 1 Euro. We brought them home and the wind came up suddenly so I brought the cardboard box with chickens into the entryway for a while until the worst of the storm blew over. I put some food in the box and the chickens immediately set to work eating!
Finally I introduced them to their new home. Mike had a little triangular house built with 2 lofts up in the eaves. ( You can open some side panels to collect eggs). We soon realized the chickens didn’t know how to get up there so the workers built a little ladder going up to one side. I left the box turned on it’s side in the cage to give them a little extra security and that’s where they slept the first few nights. They didn’t know what to do with that ladder.
Also the workers didn’t put down wire on the bottom so we asked them to do that to keep weasels, etc out. They have been trying to accommodate us the best they can! When they put the wire fence on the bottom though, there was a seam right down the middle sharp wires sticking up and out .They wanted to put plywood on the whole floor because they thought the wire would hurt the chickens feet. We finally decided to put a board just over the sharp edge. The chickens like to get bugs and worms from the ground. I might add that these 2 workers don’t understand a word I’m telling them! One is Albanian and one is Turkish! But they are willing and try to figure out what I want from them!
I kept the chickens in their coop/pen for 2 whole days before I decided to let them out. I wanted them to feel secure in their new home. They one by one came out and starting scratching for bugs and worms immediately and some wallowed down in the grass and dirt. They really seemed to relish being out in the dirt! They stayed pretty close to the coop for awhile. I sat out there on a bale of hay and some came up to me. I try to catch them and scratch their necks a bit. I read where they like that!
Little by little they started going out along the fence by the garden. The one with the black back seems to be the most adventuresome one. She was the first one to pop out of the box and Vera, my friend, named her Florence since we were in Florence while the coop was being built. I call her Flo …ha!
They are so interesting to watch. They all spread out…then they all come together as if to check on each other. Flo is always in the lead. She is the biggest and probably the oldest. They are between 2 and 3 months of age right now. It’s fun to watch them squabble over a bug or a worm!
Sunday, Mike and I were out in the garden and suddenly a big boom surprised us all! There is a road being built up the mountain side just across the field and a main road. They were dynamiting! Mike and I recovered and saw the dust cloud rise up, but the chickens were frozen in time for probably 20-30 secs with their necks stretched up high! It was the funniest thing to see!
Well, I also acquired a sweet little white bunny this week. Driver Mahir picked it up for his little girl, Havsa, last weekend on our way home from Montenegro. He had planned this for awhile. He told us he sees young boys selling rabbits at the turn off to Kosovo every time he is down there. Sure enough, there were about 5 boys holding rabbits up by the ears last Sunday. They were all various sizes (both boys and rabbits!) Mahir went back to see what they had a brought this little tiny white bunny with dark eyes to the car. I held it all the way home and it was so sweet and calm! The boys had handled it a lot and it was totally comfortable with humans. It laid in my lap with it’s little legs splayed out like a little dog. I gave Mahir a plastic storage box for him to take it home in. Mahir said he only wanted to keep it 2 or 3 weeks because they just have a small apartment, then he would take it to the zoo. I told him to bring it out to me when he was ready to give it up….and here he came on Wed….just a few days later with it! (Decided the bunny is a girl and named it Lily).
Once again the camp guys built us a little hutch. It sits right next to the chicken pen. I’ve been letting the bunny roam free when I am outside and it follows me around. Goes in and out the chicken pen and just seems to be content to be with the chickens. The chickens didn’t know what to think at first and the bunny seems to chase them a bit, but I think she is just being friendly. Now they are both in and out the chicken coop.
Today, I came in to do some dishes up and the bunny was out in the weeds by the coop. I was washing away and looked out and AAGH!!!! There was a big ‘ol hawk out there on the fence post looking down at the chickens! I ran out shooing it away! The chickens had all taken cover under the rabbit hutch and when I ran out there I saw 1 chicken and bunny in the chicken coop. When I counted the chickens I was missing one. I walked through the weeds out by the garden and found it all hunkered down, seemingly unhurt! Now I have to worry about hawks!!!! I was so relieved all were safe. They’ve been pretty subdued all morning, but now are back to roaming around! I am leaving home in a little while so now they are all nicely penned up and SAFE until I get back!
One more chicken story! I finally took the box out of the coop because the chickens weren’t going to the loft. I got inside the coop (which isn’t easy) and put all the chickens in the loft 2 nights ago. Last night, it was almost dark and they all went into the coop so I shut the door and locked it. When I turned around they were all headed up the ladder for bed! I had to laugh because they put themselves to bed for the night. One lone chicken ( the same one is always lost and separated from the others and cheeps really loud) was cheeping for quite awhile….but she eventually got up there with the others!
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| The girls! |
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| The chicken coop and bunny pen |
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| chicken and bunny |
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| Looking for a worm |
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Birthday pics, etc...
I have uploaded quite a few pictures of the kids' birthdays and our trip to Dallas. If you want to hear the latest, check out my blog! :)
http://thebicknell5.blogspot.com
Love to you all!
Regina
http://thebicknell5.blogspot.com
Love to you all!
Regina
Friday, February 17, 2012
European Vacation - Rettele Style
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| There she is, the Eiffel Tower, as seen from the sidewalk outside our hotel! |
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| A cloudy cold breezy day we chose to ascend the Eiffel Tower! |
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| And a view from up top, looking down the Seine River. |
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| And this is day two already! After a fun subway ride ride into the underground level of the Louvre... here we are in one section of the museum, all we were able to take in that half day. But lots to see, too much to absorb, but a fantastic architectural wonder - a must see on everyone's bucket list! |
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| So much sacred art! Dennis gladly poses in a bright spot. 'No flash' photos only, a challenge for my little Olympus point and shoot! |
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| Nike. Should have polished up on my Greek Mythology before the visit to the Louvre. That nine weeks class at good ole' HHS was too long ago!! |
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| I loved all of the angels! And the ceilings had the most amazing colorful artwork. Too bad my pictures didn't really do them justice. |
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| THAT is the darling little Mona Lisa! You can see how the mobs arrive to view and photograph her! |
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Six of our group. Dennis and I, Fred and Liz, and Ruby and Harold outside the Louvre.
A nice brisk walk along the Seine River
 And the grand Notre Dame Cathedral!  And out front - the gentlemen that guard her...  The most amazing stained glass! And we attended weekday mass here!! 
Sitting in the cafe at the train staion in Paris, (trying to stay warm!)
awaiting our train to Lille-Flanders and then a train to Brugge, Belgium.
 A little stopover and change of trains in Lille-Flanders. Sunny but COLD this day!  
Always feels like home when you see the golden arches!
 Thinking there sure are a lot of bikes around here!! 
And THIS is Brugge! After our high-speed train trip, we arrived safe and sound in this beautiful town.
We walked about four blocks to our Hotel New Holland, rested briefly then took off on foot to check out the town.
 this is one of the town squares with a beautiful fountain, not functioning in this cold weather! This was close to our hotel, the performing arts center, and the bus stop.  Lots of beautiful churches, this one is Saint Savior's Cathedral, under renovation inside.  I loved this little statue! Didn't notice the mural till I uploaded the picture!  Isn't it gorgeous? Had hoped to get to mass here on Saturday night, but we didn't make it back from Ghent in time. More on Ghent later!  Once again, it was very cold here! But such beautiful buildings and brick streets!  
That's Bryndon smiling because there is eel on the menu tonite! (But he was smiling most of the time, anyway!)
And those are french fries in parfait cups! And that's Bryndon's wife Julie beside him, they are the NH dealers from Marysville that hosted this trip! And Heinen's next to Dennis. Fred and Liz called it a night earlier. The trip to the New Holland plant is the next day and everyone's excited!
ALAS! What we really came for - New Holland machinery!! After a short bus ride we arrived in Zedelgem.
They make combines (both rotor and conventional) big square balers and choppers at this plant.
 That's our double-decker bus outside!  Our group of Kansans and one couple from Nebraska! 
And that's Ken. You know, Barbie's friend?!
There's a combine rolling off of the production line for a test drive!
And no picture-taking in the plant, sorry!
 
That's Julie toy-shopping, she left four kiddos at home!!
Most of the women headed back to Brugge for a little shopping and sight-seeing.
And guess what? It snowed!
Isn't it beautiful!?
Mmmm, Belgian Chocolate!
The Town Square
 Angels come in all shapes and sizes!  Snow angels in the town square!  
Ruby, Julie and Lois
 Next day, Saturday, was this huge farmers market right across from our Hotel! Just look at all the goodies! 
Pastries of every sort!
Cheese!
Burgers! With pineapple, bacon, you name it!
 Rotisseries of chicken, among other things! 
Dennis wanted some of these sausages! Customs would have confiscated it, though!!
A trendy shoppe downtown.
Bread!
 Later that afternoon, we took a bus tour to Ghent. This is our tour guide, a history professor, didn't catch his name, but he had good English!  The meat house. Those are real hams hanging up there, and they were for sale! 
We toured this castle!
  
After leaving the castle, we travelled to the Battlefields of World War I.
 
Huge cemeteries with the Allied Forces war dead. Some Germans were buried here as well.
This was Tyne Cote Cemetery near Ieper, Belgium.
If you remember the poem: In Flanders fields the poppies blow... that poem
was written right here during WW I.
 
An original bunker.
  They played the movie "Passchendaele" on the bus. That was a famous battle right in this area of Belgium. Over 600,000 were killed here in just a few months time. And they are still finding artillery all over the battlefield areas. 
The next day, Sunday, we headed to the train station about 5:30am.
Then we flew out of Brussels, Belgium to begin our journey home.
And we're back home, landing in Chicago!
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