Halloween

 We live out in the country so never have trick or treaters, so don't need to think about that. Our church is having a Halloween party tonight and Rose and I will go.

We paid a handyman friend to replace our fence. It was forty plus years old and rotting and looks SO much better.

Kevin is bush hogging our back three acres today. He started yesterday. It is a big job. We have a tractor and bush hog, and two things broke yesterday, but he got them repaired. He has to do this every few years on the back three just becomes a jungle.

Isaac's car is still being repaired, but he is working with siblings to get to and from work. He is also planning to move back to Dayton when his lease ends next year. He will be commuting to his job in Cincinnati and it will be like 45 minutes, but the current plan is for him to move in with Joseph and Miriam. He spends a lot of time in Dayton going to church and associated activities, and his rent will be substantially diminished with roommates. 

I hate long commutes, but not everyone does. I have had coworkers and friends who think nothing of a 45 minute commute, and I guess Isaac is one of those people, and more power to him!

The trees are gorgeous. I do love autumn.  So lovely and crisp and cool.

I have been reading through a bunch of mysteries by an author named Donna Andrews. I told my mother about the books and she tried a few, and pointed out that they don't really work as mysteries (usually) in that there are no clues leading to the villain. And she is totally right! I have managed to work out who the murderer was more than once because some random person seems to have zero motive and is just drifting around and I think, hmmmm, probably the villain.

So yeah, really not well plotted from a mystery point of view, BUT the prose is fun, and there is a ton of humor, and there are always lots of birds and other animals involved. So I read them based on the joy of the writing and plot, not the mystery.

These books are super successful and it is actually interesting to me, as an author, that such poorly plotted mysteries are such a hit but then again, I adore them because they are funny and well written.

Maybe more to the point, there are lots of readers who aren't looking for tightly plotted anything? I think about my own books, which are generally well received, and I am a pantser. I start with an idea and just start writing, and the plot unspools. And in the end, there is a book with a beginning, a middle, and an end. I don't write mysteries so don't know if Donna Andrews plots the whole thing out or just lets it drift here and there before she decides hmmm, ok, I guess I need to pick out a villain. She might do just that.

Happy October, and tomorrow is November!

Mid October

 Today is the first really chilly day of autumn, with a high in the mid 50s. It was high 40s last night and it felt genuinely cold when I went outside!

Sarah and Daniel got braces last week. We have a genetic predisposition towards narrow mouths and overbites. Daniel will take a year to 18 months, and Sarah a little longer because she has some little complications. Like several of our kids, she is missing teeth and that makes it interesting. Daniel was in quite a bit of pain the day after they were installed, but is much better today. Sarah was less affected.

I rarely show a picture of me. Rose took this picture and I thought, hey, maybe people would like a pic of me!

Petey continues to amuse us. Here he is playing in some water.

The most serious aspect of the week is that Isaac, age 24, was in a car accident, though by God's grace he was not hurt. We are so thankful for that! It was not his fault; a truck merged into his lane and pushed him into an adjacent lane. The car isn't safely drivable so it is at a body shop and he is dealing with insurance and all that. Very much an adulty thing to manage!

October!

 I love sunny autumn days. We have had several nice sunny days after a few gray days. It is lovely.

Last week, we went on a little field trip to a nearby farm where they sell pumpkins. They have pigs, and chickens, and PEACOCKS, and dogs, and cats, and the barn is full of pumpkins.

Lydia with cat

Me with a peacock and a hen in the background.

One of the fascinating things about this farm is that Kevin's paternal grandfather grew up at this farm! It used to belong to the Kendigs, but was sold off to someone else in the last one hundred years.

We bought pumpkins and the kids carved them.

So pretty! (There are lit candles in the pumpkins).

Kevin cut down our crabapple tree. It has not been doing well, and dumping leaves in our gutters, so away it goes.

I bought a helium balloon tank, and some mylar balloons, and we have been having fun with helium!

We launched a new book a little more than a week ago. It is doing reasonably well, especially since stupid Amazon did not send out messages to my followers (again.)

Ah well, such is life.

Thinking about getting colder

 It is inkling towards the end of September, which means it is getting cooler at night. Our pool is still open and techniquely swimmable, but I am a wimp and don't like cold water. I might jump in tomorrow but if so, that will be that for the year.

I made bread today. I cannot eat bread; first becuase it is high carb, and second because wheat is high fructan and my digestive system does not like high fructans. But I like the way it looks, and smells, and live variously through my family eating the bread.

The thing above is not DOUGH, surprisingly enough; it is modeling (white) chocolate. It can be colored and molded and all that. VERY COOL!

One of the interesting things about having nine kids is every one is different and every one has different interests. Rose is my cooking and baking and candy enthusiast. She likes to watch shows about making cakes and candy, and every time we go to the library, she checks out a bunch of cook books.

An orange!

Rose also likes playing with our giant magnets.

Petey is still a big hit. Kevin found some videos about training your pigeon to like you, and we have been teaching him to eat out of our hands. He is doing so with alacrity.

Yesterday we had a bird escape, though, and he is a bit more nervous today. Kevin was feeding him, and had the door to the cage wider open than usual. Petey ate away happily, and then got bored (apparently) and flew off! That was a surprise :-). We moved his cage into the sun room while he perched on the mantle, and then encouraged him to fly out into the sun room. I had to follow him around and he did not like that, so he is a bit more anxious today about people in general, and hands in particular, than a couple of days ago.

Pigeons apparently get nervous about hands, which are grabby and also maybe look like claws?

Rose drew a waistcoat, hat, and monocle on a picture of Petey.

Sarah is definitely a "science girl" and I realized that since she may end up going to college for engineering and/or science, we need to push a little faster with math. 22 years into this homeschool thing, I have concluded that most people don't really need to learn trigonometry and calculus. But if she is gonna be an engineer, she needs to have both of those and right now she is doing Algebra 1 and Geometry.

So we will work on that.

She definitely has a scientific mind. She reads books about science and often asks me complicated questions about chemistry and physics.

In writing news. I am getting near the end of a Christmas Book. It is early for that, but being done is nice. I am like five chapters away from being done, probably? 

Stained glass window

 

Kevin and I are church hunting. The church we have attended the last couple of years is almost certainly dying in less than a month; the pastor of 34 years is retiring, and it is a teeny tiny church and we don't think we'll be able to find a pastor to fill his shoes.

So last Sunday, we visited a church within ten minutes of us. The sanctuary is old and beautiful, and the window above is the largest of the windows.

Kevin was moving around during the sermon and finally whispered that he realized one of the words at the bottom was Kendig.

So I moved around as well, and sure enough, the bottom says: In Memory of Julia H. Kendig. Harry R. Kendig and Family.

I found Julia and her husband Harry. They both were born in the late 1800s. Harry lived to a ripe old age and he and Julia (and a bunch of other relatives) are buried in the giant cemetary which rings the church we attended.

So that was interesting. Probably a relation? I haven't found a connection between Harry and Kevin's paternal grandfather, Albert. I might poke around some more because it is fascinating.

In other news, we have a new refrigerator arriving on Friday. Our current one is not as cold as it should be. We are vaguely indignant that this one is dying at only 3+ years old, but such is life.

We have had a mild stomach bug. Irritating.

The first week of September has been warm; today is supposed to hit 90. It WILL cool off soonish but for now, our pool is delightful.

I think that is about it!

Late August

 

Petey the Pigeon got to spend two full days in the sun room this last week. You can see him at the far left of the picture. The weather cooled down so our sun room was not too hot. He had a fabulous time. He got to fly all over. 

The younger girls spent a lot of time hanging out with him, doing school and just being friends. He never excretes on top of us, which is good. We have disposable table cloths protecting the hot tub, and newspapers on his favorite perches.

Now it is hotter again and our sun room is too warm for him, and he is back in his cage. He is noticeably better at flying than he was back when we first got him.

I am tired today. Last night there was a lunar eclipse and the skies were delightfully clear. The three younger kids all stayed up until around midnight to watch it. I loved that they could do that and then sleep in this morning!

I stayed up too. It was awesome. I love eclipses.

This week, Kevin spent hours and hours editing the last book I finished. I took over food shopping and prep for the week (he usually manages all that). On Wednesday, Lydia had to take her car in for some work, and I ended up driving her to work and then picked up her car later and picked her up at work. I don't mind at all, and am glad that my young adult kids have parents and sibs who can help out when things like this happen.

It does feel like a busy week though. It is easy to forget how much work it is to care for kids and house and home when Kevin has been doing so much of the work for the last few years. I am grateful to and for him!

We have a very hot few days coming, but September will be upon us soon, which means that the nights are closing in on 12 hours long, and the pool is going to get cold, and the leaves will turn, and all that.

I will not have to worry about chiggers soon! I have not had a chigger bite in two years, but it didn't just happen. I take twice daily showers.

Petey in the Sun Room

It is a cool day so not too hot in the sun room, and Petey is wandering around. He likes it. We have covered precious things with newspaper as he is, of course, defecating.

He is such a nice bird.