In Which I Have Not Decamped to a Deserted Isle

It's a good thing that I mentioned in my previous post that I might not be posting much, because, well, I haven't been posting much. I have however, given up my beloved twice-monthly cleaning service in lieu of DSL for the home computer connection. At least, I hope we will have DSL; we are still in that bizarre waiting period in which we would love to give our local phone company more money for a service that they have been promoting heavily, but they are not yet sure that they can provide said service. It's almost as if we made it up in our minds and then called them to pitch their service reps on a really cool product that we'd like to sell to them.

So I'm keeping my fingers crossed about that whole DSL, joining-the-modern-world thing, but patience isn't a virtue that I possess in spades. I have not yet taken to following the company's shiny red vans to see if they are going to my house (please!?), but I'm not far off.

October has been a mite better than September, on the home front. No one has been dropping any unauthorized bombs in my domestic sphere, and I think we all know that bomb-dropping is the quickest way to piss-off a Virgo. That and forgetting to sweep or flush. This past weekend involved a lot of unexpected mucking about underneath the kitchen sink to fix a few odd leaks, but there were no catastrophic floods, so we all coped pretty well. We also get to replace more floor tiles, which means perhaps a fourth pattern in our collection of temporary stick-on vinyl tiles. I swear, one day I would like to actually live in a house that we aren't in the process of demolishing and rebuilding.

The flock has seen some changes as of late. We both had and then lost two very sweet ducklings in the first two weeks of the month, but I had prepared The Young Man (and myself) for the inevitable. We tried to support the out-of-season hatching, but it's awfully hard to do without removing the ducklings, and I was not ready for another experience like that of raising 5 chickens in my utility room. So we let Mama Duck do her best, and she was pretty good. Not good enough to raise two ducklings in October, but close enough that I would let her sit on a nest again. However, I would also isolate her from the flock, and try harder to get her to accept some sort of shelter. Miles and I picked up eight two-year old chickens on Saturday morning from some friends who operate a small organic farm, and so far the new ladies look a bit stunned but seem to be integrating well. They are Rhode Island Reds and Black Stars, and are already laying again. They wouldn't lay enough over the winter or next year for the farm to justify feeding them, but for free chickens, I'm willing to give them a go. My previous experience with a more production-type breed (Golden Comets) was mixed ... the hens lay heavily through their third year, and then started to wear out and die off the following winter. I now have one Golden Comet (Blondie) out of the ten I took in. So, they initially scored well for thrift, temperament, and laying, but I would not personally run out and buy them, as I know I tend to keep hens around. The die-off is also pretty depressing. But the good news is eight new chickens, with perhaps more to come.

I've chosen my next read in the 1% Well-Read challenge, although I have not started it. I'll be reading Doris Lessing's The Grass is Singing, which I have a sneaking suspicion I may have already read. If not, I may go for The Golden Notebook, even if it isn't on the list. In the meantime, an evil work-friend has introduced me to the Twilight series, and I may just have to stop eating or sleeping until I finish all four books. It's like I'm reading Harry Potter, only with less whining from male characters. I've heard that the third and fourth books are not as good, but I don't want to know. Lalalalala ... I cannot hear you because my fingers are in my ears.

While on (or at least near) the topic of challenges, I am contemplating signing on for Stash and Burn's Socktober. I think there's a board on Ravelry that I could keep up with ... I have mentioned previously how I hate knitting socks, but that isn't quite accurate. I actually like knitting one sock ... it's the second sock that does me in every time. So, with a gift card to Borders I purchased Two-At-A-Time Socks by Melissa Morga-Oakes. Rebbecca first mentioned this technique to me, and since then I've been very, very curious. So we'll see. By the time I make up my mind, Socktober may be passed.

The garden is in the last stages of producing ... I harvested a stroller-full (what? you don't measure produce in terms of strollers, sand buckets and the carrying capacity of your T-shirt?) of Roma tomatoes yesterday, and the mint, nasturtiums and husk-tomatoes seem to be doing well. Pears are winding down but still pretty prolific, and I'd like to do more with the chestnuts this year. The perennial garden also need care, but I seem to be deaf to its pleas.

Miss T has learned how to say "No!" and "Mine!" and uses both words to great effect. She is also working on sentences, but so far only if one word of two is "Mine!"

We are still working on Miles' tantrums, but with a bit more compassion and a lot better planning for hunger, exhaustion and difficult transition times, we are all treating one another a bit better. With assistance from his beloved Uncle Conor, Miles learned how to ride his bike without training wheels last week. There is no stopping him now, and yesterday we went to a recreational trail for a family outing and he pedaled for about 3 miles. Pics to come, when I get them off the camera, and it hopefully doesn't take me three hours to upload. Look, there goes a shiny red van now ...