Spring Break

We are getting some 'push-back' from the kids about how much work they are having to do during 'vacation'.  But we have been reminding them that alot of kids have school work that has to be done during Spring Break.  (so if you have kids who have 'homework assignments' during spring break, please let us know!)  It's not a vacation from life, it's a chance to have a change of pace and learn different things in a different environment.   So we have been busy outside as much as possible (well almost as much as possible, there were two days last week when it was nice enough to be out there, but we did indoor stuff instead.)  Yesterday the weather REALLY warmed up though, and we got a TON done out in the back yard.

I'm going to mostly let this be a photo blog.  The pictures are all of the outdoor projects so far, I'll post the indoor stuff when we are all done with that.  (there is painting that will need to be done, in two of the rooms, so it might be a bit)  --  here is stuff from last week, and yesterday...

Last week we mostly focused on getting trench dug for the rubble trench foundation for the chicken coop...  The chickens were enjoying all the yummy bugs/worms we were so kindly digging up for them in the process...

 There were times when we had to stop working because they were so under-foot - the white one there, Pistachio, is particularly bold, and will come right up to a shovel-full of dirt on it's way to the wheel-barrow and pick off a worm!!

The day we worked out last week was on the chilly side, though...

Getting Tommy to wear anything but shorts and put something on his feet that might resemble shoes is a whole 'nother challenge.   Anyway, we got the brick all into the trench by the end of the day on Thursday.  The gaps in the corners will be filled in with pipe and rubble, and the gap, there in front, will be where the door is going to be.  It's on the downhill side and will make it nice for cleaning things out.   You can see all the leaves on the ground, there in the back-ground.

Sunday we started out by clearing away the leaves where we will build a second natural building hut, this one mostly for Emma, but the experience of building it is for all of us.  It will be her little cabin in the woods, though, when we are done (I believe I mentioned in a previous post, something about not taking the sofa from her 'little room' upstairs just yet, as there was something else 'in the works' - this is the 'something else in the works') It will not have any plumbing or electricity, so it can technically be called a 'play house' but she will likely sleep in it at least some of the time.

 Once we got started clearing leaves, we decided to clear most of them out of the back yard and have a burn pile.  We had alot of sticks from trees that drop sticks during storms, etc. and all of the leaves and other debris, and had a great bonfire in the evening - - you can see from these pictures that the weather was a bit nicer on Sunday than it had been earlier in the week.   We also had three extra sets of hands on deck, as we were watching the children of a friend who had gone over to Arkansas, where her husband has started a new job, to scout houses and schools, before they move in May.  Their kids were a great influence on ours, their daughter and Mayahna worked very hard, picking up the little prickly balls that covered the one section of 'lawn' that we have in the back. 

At the end of the day, we lit the pile and had a great bon-fire going for about two hours, into the evening, and roasted marshmellows, etc.  It was a nice way to end the day.  

Annie, who is our resident photographer, somehow forgot to get any pictures of the fire, but she did find this cool stick, with a piece of rope grown into it, and took a picture of it.

 

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 Today, it's RAINING - in fact we are currently on "Thunderstorm Warning" (level two of the four-level warning system, I suppose - #1-Thunderstorm Watch, #2-Thunderstorm Warning, #3-Tornado Watch, #4-Tornado Warning are the levels.  We don't do much at this level - unplug a few things, avoid taking baths and using the land-line phone, try not to have to drive anywhere, as the rain can be quite heavy and hard to drive in, and check to be sure the path is cleared in the garage, to the shelter, etc - Tornado watch, we put instruments into the closet under the stairs and get shoes and jackets handy, Tornado warning, we go in the shelter.   Most of the time, things progress nicely through all of the levels, so you get plenty of warning, but there was one time, last fall, were we went straight from Thunderstorm WATCH, to Tornado WARNING, that was a little disconcerting.  But it is pretty unusual! )  Anyway, there are some great thunder boomers going over and a good deal of rain falling too...  it will be tomorrow before we can get back out and finish up what we didn't get done Sunday.  Today I'll work on finishing up some of the 'switch-a-roo' indoor projects...