Field Trips: Scout camp, CUB scout camp, and Family Days on the Farm

This has been a very full week of fun.  We swam at our friends' pool, gave another family a homeschool lesson on raising rabbits, and had friends over for dinner. Those are the things I did not document with pictures. And Hubby was gone to scout camp all week.

Brother M had his first cub scout day camp experience on Thursday and Friday. He shot a BB gun for the first time, fished, swam, hiked, and had a grand time.

Parents were invited to join the fun Friday evening for skits and dinner.

He skipped the hike and service project on Saturday in favor of coming with the rest of us to "Family Days on the Farm".  It was the best Amish/Mennonite activity that we have done so far. Their were hundreds of people there.

  One half of the parking area was for cars and the other half was for buggies.

 The atmosphere reminded me of a stake activity.  There was a big buffet lunch and a workshop with classes.  All the food was homemade.  I watched little boys hand cranking the potato cutter and giving them to the girls to fry them up as french fries.  They had soups, salads and fruit. Fresh homemade potato chips and popcorn with nutritional yeast seasoning.  Shoefly pie and ice cream.  One of the drink choices was homemade kefir!
They had classes all day on various farm topics. I wanted to go to all of them. Since hubby was still away at scout camp I had to be very strategic about which classes I attended. I figured out that the Gardener's tent was next to the Children's activity tent and was able to sit on the benches toward the back on the side near the children's tent.  The kids played in the children's area during my classes and I was able to take notes.

I was trying to be respectful of the Amish and did not take many pictures (although it was all so picturesque!), but I had to get Miss L on her pony ride.  She was so excited to ride. 

 Even big sister A with all her riding experience wanted to do it so that she could be on a horse again. She has not been doing lessons for the last 2 years.

 

 The kids also had a barrel ride.

  Their were tents for classes and also tents with vendors.  Several of the vendors had herbal remedies, teas, and extracts. I enjoyed talking with them. Almost everything other than the vendor tents was free.  They just had donation boxes posted around.  I was very confused about it at first.  No entry fee. No cashiers outside the buffet tent.  It was all free, just donate what you could to help cover the costs. Wow.

 We saw a horse treadmill for the first time.  The horse walks and it charges up a battery. Or there is also a feed mill attachment (red bucket thing center foreground) and the horsepower can be used to grind up the grain.

I have to write this down so I don't forget.  The tents were circus tent size with huge poles standing in the center and sides.  Well, while I was sitting in the orcharding class, a young amish boy climbed up to the top of one of the huge tent poles to retrieve a balloon. No one said a word to him.  I saw one amish lady nudge another like maybe we should tell him not to do that, and she just said "not my kin".  I later learned that their was a group of boys going around and collecting balloons and making them into a long chain of helium balloons to pull around. Very creative. And it was amazing how many people at this event had no shoes on. Apparently that is not necessary in the summer if you are Amish.

Field Trip: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11

Last night we had a picnic with the astronomy club to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first lunar landing.  We listened to some older club members talk about were they were during the landing and how they felt.  Many of them are space buffs and went on to tell about how much more we learned from the later lunar landings and told funny stories about how they were connected with the space program. Then we went to our local observatory where a bunch of folks had gathered on the lawn with their telescopes to share the view.  We saw Saturn and its rings, Jupiter and three of its principle moons, and Antares. 

Sorry the pics are pretty bad -- so dark, but you get the idea. Here is S looking through a telescope:

  Big sister A looking at Jupiter:

Quick Indoor Project: Kids' Bathroom

Earlier this month we had some dry weather and the weeding was fairly under control.  I knocked out a couple painting projects.  I cleaned and restained the deck railings. No pics because it was pretty boring, just an important part of maintenance. 

 And since I already had my painting clothes on, I finally tackled the scratched up vanity in the kids' bathroom.

 I cleaned everything really well with dirtex first.  Then big sister A (who has been dying to help with a painting project) helped me paint everything with BM's Hale Navy. 

 Much tidier looking and goes well with the stained glass window. Also, I replaced the previous owner's spray painted hardware with some actual black hardware. Now it matches the light fixtures.  Big sister A took all these pictures, otherwise this probably would have gone undocumented.

Farm Projects: High Tunnel Progress

We have had these poles in the ground for about 6 months... just waiting for us to get on with the next phase. 

 After he finished the back fence line Hubby cleaned and made a big space in the barn. Then he built the arches, laying them on top of each other to keep them exactly the same.

 My brother P and a few guys from church came over yesterday (Saturday) to raise the roof.

 My brother P is tall, but the roof is 15 feet high. He had to use a 10 foot long notched 2" by 4" to lift and steady each roof peak while the others set the corners into the side pipes. Once things got rolling they were finished in about an hour.  I was watching P's kids while they worked and didn't get any pictures of the progress. It was also almost 100 degrees while they lifted the arches into place. They took regular breaks in the shade and were done by 11am.

 Then this crazy hubby of mine braved the heat and installed the ridge poles.  He stood on some scaffolding between two ladders.

 Here it is with the ridge poles complete:

Summer Fun: Fourth of July Celebrations

The kids and hubby went to the holiday parade and fireworks. 

 Cool cars, floats, and skateboarders! The kids all came home and told me how much they enjoyed the skate boarders' tricks. They also caught way too much candy as the floats passed by.

 Fireworks, per tradition, watching from the back lawn of the elementary school.

And we saw a few more fireworks for fourth of July from our windows.

Farm Fresh: July in the garden

One of the first things I planted when we moved into this house were two hazelnut twigs from Tractor Supply.  My expectations were high and now finally they have been rewarded!  After three years we have our first dozen hazelnuts growing. Huzzah!

Far right side is the hazelnut bush. 

 The Japanese beetles have been about twice as abundant as I have ever seen them before in the garden. They really like rhubarb!? I was hesitant to harvest it until they were under control, but that never really happened.  I ended up choosing which stalks to pick based on highest level of leaf damage.  Five rhubarb plants made plenty for jam and freezing.

We have been harvesting potatoes along the same lines.  I can't seem to keep ahead of the potato beetles. They are multiplying like crazy.  I have picked them off every day, but they are like the Yankees in Gone with the Wind, "Always coming and coming, more and more". Well, I surrender! I will not plant potatoes next year. That should give the bugs a chance to die out.  This is the harvest from two plants that the bugs decimated. Not bad given that they had only a short season.

I am in full canning mode now. Mostly pressure canning meals in jars using this book.  This week I did about 7 jars each night.  I harvested almost everything I needed from the garden for Minestrone soup and French onion soup.  I also tested a baked bean recipe that the kids loved.

 I used 30 lbs of the first big wave of tomatoes to make spaghetti sauce.

 I was sad to harvest the feverfew. It is so pretty in the garden, but mid July the flowers peak and that is supposed to be best for tea and tincturing.