Mmmm....Chicken Nuggets

The chickens got to spend their first afternoon outside. This was just a brief visit to wilds of the backyard and we contained them with a cardboard box that didn't have a bottom. They thoroughly enjoyed pecking at the ground. Unfortunately, while my back was turned pulling weeds in the strawberry bed, the dog thoroughly enjoyed knocking over the box and scaring the bejesus out of the chickens. I'm not sure she knew they were dog food, I think she was just nosing at them, but they were sufficiently terrified none the less. They seem quite happy to once again be safely caged. They have reached that awkward, ugly, teenage phase. There are random feathers poking out this way and that and puffs of down sticking out. Exhibit 1:


We started our first foray into making sauerkraut last night. Note to self: do not let the dog eat raw cabbage in the future. Remember that part of Shrek where Donkey's walking along saying, "and then I ate some rotten berries, man, I had some strong gases eekin' out of my butt that day" (ahh...who doesn't enjoy a little potty humor from a donkey now and then?). Anyways, yeah. When you wake up the morning after starting sauerkraut and are bowled over with the smell of rotten cabbage, it is NOT the sauerkraut, it's the dog who ate the raw cabbage. Just for kicks, here's the cabbage before it became 10 pounds of shredded cabbage:


Other fun garden stuff....I'm sure I probably cursed this same butterfly back when it was a caterpillar and happily munching on all the foliage in sight, but man is it pretty (and tame!) now. Thought it was kind cool that it was so involved in drinking nectar, it let me get this close. Josh has an evil plan to create venomous butterflies--he claims it would be the ultimate bioterrorism weapon..."aww, look at the pretty butterfly! Hey, it's landing right on my shoulder! Hey guys, check this....hey, what's it doing? arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" and that person's life fades into black. (why yes, it is wrong for two scientists to marry each other and sit around talking every night instead of watching mindless TV...way too many ideas). I'm pretty sure this particular butterfly was NOT venomous.



Sedona got to try out the little people car for the first time tonight (the battery was disconnected so she couldn't accidently make it go anywhere). Check out the comparison...I finally see the distinct difference between the girls...Sierra's got Josh's eyes (her eyebrows go straight across, Sedona's arch up), and the more pronounced chin. Of course, this is Sedona at 7 months and Sierra at 14, so I imagine Sedona will thin out a bit in the next 7 months.



I made my first true prefold diaper last night. So incredibly easy. For roughly $0.30, I made an infant size (the only size we ever use) 4x8x4 out of flannel. Infant sized prefolds generally run $2/each, so I find this a wonderful deal!!

We rented "An Inconvenient Truth" from the library last weekend and just watched it. I fall squarely into the camp of it doesn't hurt to live a more sustainable lifestyle and there's nothing to lose by making more choices like using solar power, turning the lights off, riding a bike instead of driving, etc... (well, nothing to lose but perhaps profits in big oil's pockets). On the other hand, I find it incredibly funny that someone went to the trouble to make this movie and never realized the irony that every cut away scene shows Al Gore in a foreign country or driving somewhere or on a plane. Hmmm.....last I checked, jet-setting was an incredibly carbon intensive practice. Also, the scientist in me had to immediately wonder if the "before" and "after" pictures of various glaciers and mountains were truly comparable---were they taken at the same time of year, etc...? I don't know the answer to that question, but just showing a picture without further explanation doesn't prove anything to me. Like I said though, I think (as do my poor, confused, brussels sprout plants) things are heating up and it's not just the normal cycle of things. And if I'm wrong, riding a bike or taking a walk now and again, or using cloth diapers, or buying locally grown food ain't gonna hurt anybody (and helps my bottom-line). I wasn't super wowed, but I think it's worth seeing even if you hate al gore with a passion and think global warming is a hoax. Josh on the other hand, proclaimed at the end, "well now I just want to demolish the house and build a yurt". I somehow don't think that will keep us safe from the venomous butterflies.


And last, but most certainly not least, Sierra has been obsessed with taking pictures ever since Sedona was born. In the era of digital cameras, we let her do it b/c we can always just erase the pictures. I was about to do a big "delete" of sierra pictures today when it occurred to me that when run all together, the set is better than some of the stuff you see in modern art museums. Behold, the world from the point of view of a three year old: