Our week at the Mountain House!

The 5 of us returned home Tuesday evening from nearly a full week in wild, wonderful West Virginia. My parents and Tala went above and beyond in treating us not only to a week away while they tended to the farm, but we also returned home to a house that was much cleaner than the one we had left. I think I'll likely be finding their touches for days to come (e.g. when I walked into the garden shed for the first time I wondered where our whey buckets had gone for a split second until I realized that someone--Tala gets credit for this one!--had washed them all so they were almost unrecognizable!). We even arrived home to a delicious Tala-cooked meal and Mom's extra arms to help unload the very full trunk (Dad was on chicken-watch duty). We are so grateful! For anyone interested in taking a meander through our week, here's some of the highlights we jotted down as the week went along.

Wednesday, July 7

After a whirlwind morning of chores, garden harvests and stuffing all our things in my parents' vehicle (SO glad for the extra space!), we were off! We had a few stops on the way out of town, most importantly one to purchase some additional hula hoops and another for some snacks. We purchased some snacks at the co-op but then stopped at friends' for the best snack - fresh plums from their tree!! We savored that gallon of plums all throughout the week (finishing them up on the eve of our return home, when we were invited to stop on our way home to fill up our bucket once again)!

It wasn't long after we arrived and unpacked that we were googling "nose hooping" and then, as we often do, got side tracked watching other things (our recent subscription to Hulu gets us access to the current season of America's Got Talent). But then the storm rolled in and we lost electricity (including internet connection). So we were left to entertain in more rudimentary ways. :) 

When electricity didn't look like it would be restored in time for cooking anything inside, we made a little fire in the driveway and made s'mores. We had gotten mini-marshmallows at the co-op on a whim to try roasting. I would say it is not worth it for s'mores, but Alida got into trying to throw them up and catch them in her mouth so they had a decent amount of entertainment value. We also toasted bread over the fire to have with cheese, pesto, etc... I hadn't exactly packed thinking of cooking over an outdoor fire, but we made do and the power outage added a little extra adventure to our first evening there.

Kali and Jason sat out by the fire until the power came back on sometime around 11 p.m. The younger gals and I went in and got ready for bed by flashlight and snuggled and read together (I was probably the first one asleep!).

Thursday, July 8

Alida successfully got up in time to crash our morning coffee/reading time. She was very pleased about that and tried some mini marshmallows in coffee. I think she determined that she'll take her marshmallows plain. For brunch, we made 4 kinds of quiches (corn, sausage, mushroom, and herb) and had our first dill cucumber salad of the season to the side (thanks to feathery dill in Mom and Dad's garden and cucumbers we picked prior to leaving). While brunching, we played our first game of Upwords. Thankfully, I won so all attitudes remained positive!

We then hunkered down for some more family screen time where we watched an old movie (The Cutting Edge) and then 2 of 6 episodes of the Netflix series We are the Champions. The first challenge was "cheese rolling" and the second was "chili eating." We watched the remaining 4 episodes throughout the week, which included fantasy hairstyling, dog dancing, yo-yo, and frog jumping. Entertaining and educational for sure! The younger gals pulled our yo-yo out today and asked if I know any tricks. Not a one!

At some point in the day Alida snagged Jason for some undivided daddy-time and that gave Terah the idea to snag me for some mommy-time. Kali graciously and contentedly communed with one of my parents' old newspapers out at the swing set. Terah and I took a stroll to the labyrinth and picked a bouquet of flowers. There was some music jammin' time for Jason, Alida and Terah and then we had a family favorite meal, which will be the only time for this year - I squirreled enough peas away for one small round of rice, peas and cheese sauce. We savored that and I am already eager for peas next year (didn't get our fill this year for sure).

By evening we were ready for an outing so we headed to Davis for ice cream (which we thankfully had just enough cash on hand to each get 1 scoop). I was thrilled they had a coffee ice cream option. We sat along the side walk and took in the main drag in Davis before driving on to Blackwater Falls State Park where we hiked out to Lindy Point through blooming rhododendron. We also did two short walks out to two look outs for Blackwater Falls - at the one closest to the falls, Terah was covering her ears the whole time because the falls were so loud. We had both observation decks all to ourselves and it was getting dark as we headed back to the car.

Friday, July 9

We must have tuckered all 3 kiddos out enough that no one woke before Jason and I enjoyed coffee and a chapter of Raising Free People on the porch. Alida then joined us for a game of cribbage prior to Terah waking and joining us in pouncing on Kali. We enjoyed a pancake brunch with all sorts of fun additions - the most popular being to sprinkle rye grits on the batter while it was frying for a toasty crunch! Once we were all filled up on pancakes and bacon, we were ready for our next adventure. It looked like our best weather day so we took off for Seneca Rocks.

For the record, Terah hiked all the way up and back without being picked up once (even when several dogs passed by us on the trail). I got inspired by some of the graffiti at the top. The river felt great following our hike. We tore ourselves away to have a picnic and play some Rook before heading home.

Saturday, July 10

Kali slept in even later than usual after being up until 1:30 a.m. with Jason watching, and then talking about, the movie Seven Pounds (one Jason had started while donating platelets but didn't get to finish). 

After a ponhoss, eggs and collard greens brunch we took off for Chip Shots Foot Golf. How fun! It's a 9 hole "golf" course where you use soccer balls and try to get your ball in the hole in as few kicks at possible. We played one round individually and then did a second round collaboratively (they gave us the local discount - allowing us to play as many rounds as we wanted for the price of one). By taking the best kick each round, we made or beat par all except for the last hole. Lots of laughing (especially on the first round when Jason was notorious for kicking his ball into the weeds or onto another part of the course) and enough sweating that we were ready to move on to some shade and a cooler activity. 

We headed through Canaan and did the Blackwater River Trail. Thankfully it was less than a mile long trail (we probably should have focused on more of a rest/snack break before trying a hike). On to Davis to the ice cream shop for a second time WITH more cash on hand!! We got our ice cream and walked to a little park where we ate and played some Rook rounds. While at the playground we called and ordered pizza. You would think we had learned our lesson but this place also didn't accept credit cards. Thankfully the girls had brought their purses this time and Terah spotted us one 20, three 10's and two 5's (yes, we are required to reimburse her with the same bills!).  It was a 1.5 hour wait so we decided to play 7 Up 7 Down (or Up and Down the River, which we played by the river!). Kali won, only bidding incorrectly the first and last rounds of the entire game. 

We took our pizza back to the Mountain House to enjoy there (and we negotiated to play ONE more round of Upwords).

Sunday, July 11

Terah was noting how we hadn't spent a full day at the Mountain House, so today was the day! No kids showed up downstairs until about 10:30 a.m. Jason and I had enjoyed coffee (with cold pepperoni pizza for Jason, which I tried once and decided that was enough for me - but I did move from hot coffee to iced coffee as the day wore on) and reading on the front porch. We then transitioned to the recliner and couch where we read and took a snooze before any kids woke for the first time! I guess reading Pleasure Activism by Adrienne Maree Brown was a good choice for the morning.

We had leftover pizza and quiche for brunch before some playtime outside with frisbee and bubbles. Kali, Alida and I played Rook on the porch for a bit while Terah got to fulfill her dream of climbing out onto the roof with her daddy. 

More games, watching We are the Champions and a bite to eat and we were ready for some stream fun. We walked down to the labyrinth and then on to Horse Camp Run. We spent hours damming the stream and were able to get the water level high enough that Kali and I managed to float and kind of swim for very brief moments in a very small area. It was so refreshing (ok, cold!) and very fun!! 

We found a heart rock to be our dam spillway. It reminded us of Nora!

We warmed up around our second fire in the driveway. Some of us were chased into the garage during a short shower, but then the rain held off until we were snuggled in bed together. The hit of the evening was roasting pieces of leftover pizza over the fire. It truly made the mostly ordinary pizza into really yummy pizza. 

Monday, July 12

Our last day at the Mountain House ended up being really low key with our one planned outing/visit with family sadly cancelled due to illness. It was a day of some repeat activities - watched some things together (including another old movie, Cool Runnings), played a bunch of games (finally got in some Boggle), went back to the stream to break our dam and have more fun with paint rocks (I got my face painted by Alida), ate leftovers, popcorn, ice cream and a pasta dinner (some with pesto and some with sausage), more snuggling and savoring time together (probably a good dose of wrestling with daddy in there somewhere). We played Farkel Party in the evening and Terah creamed all of us. She didn't lose her score on any round in the entire dice game!

Tuesday, July 13

It came too soon for most of us! Alida and I had mixed up cinnamon rolls the night before so that scent was wafting through the house as we started packing. At one point Terah was walking around and she piped up, "I just can't stop sniffing!" We scurried around doing laundry, cleaning and packing up with the whole array of emotions that come at the end of a special week together and a transition back to "normal life." We spent some time looking over pictures of our week since we knew the land home might not allow for that at a more leisurely pace. I enjoyed one more round of iced coffee (which I enjoy so much more now knowing that it was a treat that my Grandma Bucher also enjoyed!).

Now we are back here at Tangly Woods! 

I didn't get much reading in while in WV, but I did manage to read two The Sun magazines (still not caught up, but closer). From the Correspondence section, one contributor shared the perspective on life they were gifted from loved ones they journeyed with through the dying process. I'm rolling it around within me as I got about my days: It will end. Enjoy it and be grateful for what it is. You are a tiny speck in the scheme of things!

Everything but our time away...

I've got some serious "scrapbook catch up" to do! I'm going to have to split the updates in two once again. Here's some snippets from before our family's time away at the Mountain House.

The first is an update that I wish was not necessary and that is that Alida's pet chicken Forsythia died at the beginning of this month. Alida was very upset a few days before her death when it appeared unlikely she was going to get better. Alida had the foresight to grab the camera and take a few selfies of them together, which we are now grateful to have. There was no formal funeral this time around, but there were some tears shed wondering if she would remember this particular chicken friend. I think there is little doubt she will, even as she moves on to tame additional birds! Alida has become a very integral part of the chicken projects at Tangly Woods and is eager to be part of most (all?) breeding discussions/decisions. A recent family meeting has us moving towards combining two of Jason's breeding projects - the Cub Run Crele and the Black's Run Brown. I know it's very enjoyable for Jason to have some enthusiasm from kiddos who are eager to be involved, even if it can add some complications or a slowing down of some processes. It feels very good and healthy!

One of several garden projects that needed doing before we departed was getting the rye and wheat threshed and winnowed. It's not a project I got in on (other than photographing it), but threshing seems to be something that draws Terah especially so she hung out with Jason a fair amount. While a somewhat tedious and long job, it is so very clear how much Jason enjoys it!

A previous job up on the concrete pad had been processing the winter peas. Any that were not harvested for the seed supply, Tala rescued from the vines and put to good use making multiple delicious pea dishes to give us some ideas for how they might be used in the future (that is, if we can inspire some kiddos to help with the harvesting/processing!). 

The racks are now set up in the garage again as the summer harvests commence. First up was getting the garlic in before we left. Sadly, it as a pretty horrible garlic year - bushels less than last year. We have learned that the rotation of the root patch the garlic was in this year is also where some underground wet-weather springs appear to be. We had water seeping up in that spot in the spring when everything was saturated. We'd love more of that rain now, but it appears that maybe it was too much then and the soil may have become somewhat anaerobic. Whatever it was, we did not have an abundant garlic harvest so I'll be back to cooking with cloves of garlic rather than bulbs!

While on a depressing gardening note, I'll just add two more things and then shift to happier updates. The squirrels, chipmunks and ground hogs seem to be really hungry, really abundant in numbers and/or a bit greedy! It seems there is no end to their appetites this year and we are feeling it. Right now the chipmunks and squirrels are the focal point of our frustration. The squirrels have more or less cleared the best apples from the few trees that had apples - they are spotted scampering from woods to tree and then back to the woods with green apples in their mouths. And the worst infraction to date was the chipmunks coming and helping themselves to our Green Arrow pea seed right as it was ripening - we came out one morning to find the aisle littered with pea shells. So no Green Arrow seed for us this year, which means a chipmunk-proof cage for growing out seeds is on the short term project list for us this fall/winter!

And, finally, on the animal front - our goldfish of a good number of years now (bought when Jason was on his 40th birthday trip to see the sandhill cranes) died a few weeks back. Our best hypotheses are that a buildup of rat feces in the gutters may have washed into the barrel and gobbled the oxygen for decomposition, or else the fish simply outgrew the rain barrel. It seemed fine until a number of weeks back when the goldfish would hang out at the top of the water kind of gulping for air. We replaced much of the water and tried to aerate it, but our remedy didn't last long. It seems it needed a bigger area and/or more constant aeration, or to block out or trap the rats. Why do they love to hang out in the gutters? So goldfish are probably not the long term solution, as we don't really want to buy them knowing that in a few years' time they won't be able to survive life in a rain barrel. We'll need something that stays smaller or doesn't need much oxygen. For a quick solution before we left (so we weren't breeding mosquitos in our absence), I caught some minnows in the stream near our home. Jason and the girls seemed dubious about my abilities to catch minnows with a net, so you can be assured I didn't come home until I got some! Sadly only 1 (we think) of the 3 have made it this far. So while early on in this experiment, I'm assuming it will be a failed one! Next up might be a small blue gill from a neighboring pond. Or maybe a frog?

On a more positive note, we are enjoying blueberry season! It's coming to an end fast, but we are savoring having lots of fresh berries! We didn't get to the patch as much this year with our trip in the middle of the season. Also I realized we had gone overboard last year and still had gallons in the freezer!

The best way to shift to lots of happier news is to give some kid updates! We are having lots of shows around here these days. Mostly centered on hula hoops, with the occasional jump rope thrown in to spice things up. They have a lot of fodder for tricks they can work at from the many youtube videos we have watched of hula hoopers! It's really fun to see them enjoying trying out new things and even sometimes surprising themselves - the first time Terah went down on her knees and came back up without stopping, she exclaimed, "I didn't know I could do that?!" 

All three of them put on a little show the evening Jonathan and Christen came over to celebrate Christen's bday around the fire! Alida is working a lot on her arm moves, to the point where she had bruises on her arm from throwing the hoop in the air and catching it. 

Two other news flashes! The first is that Alida has officially accomplished her goal of surpassing Tala in height. And we aren't sure when/how it happened as the last time we checked she had a little ways to go. That girl is just shooting up rapidly right now!!

And, speaking of growing up, we were all finally ready to part with our little series of Mother Goose baby board books. But before doing so, we had to do a quick re-enactment of Jason trying to put Kali to sleep for a nap using said books. It was one of those books that had teeth marks on it from Jason's frustration being vented onto it during one of the many long reading sessions while I was at work. Kali was easily able to outlast Jason and not fall asleep despite many, many books. Some things have not changed after many years...

Well, it's time to put the final touches on brunch, so I'll get back to sharing about our week away at another time. I'll end with our July 1 picture of the Tangly Woods' bunch because, well, I just love them!