Bachelor Camping Day Three :: Edge of the World

Bachelor Camping Day One

David, Thomas and Michael took off for a long-weekend camping excursion with some homeschool friends. Since we've been having record heat, the lake was much used.

Here is Michael testing the pontoon boat he built for the trip.

Could probably use some more boyancy..

Wild monkeys swimming...

Home Made Pontoon Boat

Bead Love

I got a bee in my bonnet recently, and have decided that the blinds in the windows have to go.  Not all at once, and not necessarily now, but they need to be phased out.  It started with the dining room being painted; we took down the blinds before the sanding, and I'm determined not to put them back up (the windows are still bare, until after the painting is done).

Next came the bathroom.  We've got mermaids and shells in there, with a nice, soft, mossy-ish green, and I wanted to kind of keep with the water theme.

This is what I found.

It's hard to see in the photo how the sunlight is being captured by the beads, but it really add a nice light to the bathroom.  I really like the "sheet of rain" pattern.

Yeah, bead curtains are hokey.  Maybe even a little bit tacky.  But they make a really cool sound when you move them.  And these ones in particular make me smile every time I go pee.

I found them here, by the way, and they were pretty reasonably priced.  They came door-length, so I trimmed them to fit the window.  The pattern accommodated perfectly.

Bread Love

This was baked in the crock pot.  Really.  Not as crispy as when it's baked in the oven, but wonderfully soft, much easier, and way less mess.  And it doesn't heat up the kitchen like the oven does.  Too cool.

A friend of mine Pinned this idea on Pinterest (If you haven't been there yet, don't go.  Really.  You'll thank me later when you start hearing from all of your friends how much time they're wasting on the site).  The authors of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day blogged enthusiastically about the method.

Waiting for the heat

If you haven't tried the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day because it seemed complicated and you didn't have all the stuff you need to bake it with, then this is the way to do it.  Even though I have all the stuff and the technique, I'm not sure I'll be baking our bread in the oven ever again.

Birthday Cake

For his birthday, William wanted a chocolate cake with vanilla icing and strawberry decorations.  He got it...

...though the "day" didn't quite fit.

Kids Recycled Shorts Camping Apron

I'd been messing around with this idea of making an apron from a pair (or more) of the kids' outgrown shorts.  I've been collecting pre-loved denim from cut-offs for quite a while (which are currently going into the Camping Patch Quilt), and somehow once you're collecting and reusing denim legs from cut-off jeans, you kind of feel wrong about just getting rid of the shorts once they're outgrown.  Weird, I know.

Anyway, I needed a camp apron.  I didn't want to take my only kitchen apron camping with me, because, well, camping cooking is just messier and more industrial than cooking in your kitchen at home.  And, I was thinking all those pockets and belt loops and hammer loops, and how handy those would be on an apron, and how sturdy denim would be, and how the  material would already be broken in if I used shorts.  Kind of rambly, huh?

Well, somehow, I ended up trying out this idea on an apron for a kid, instead of one for me.  Not sure how that happened, but this is what I did.

A pair of shorts and scissors.

These were once one of Thomas' favorite shorts.  You can tell by the paint.

I cut up the front of the shorts, on the right and left of the zipper, a few inches from the front pockets, and opened it out.

The back-side of the crotch seam made it pook out funny, so I pinned a straight-ish line from the inside, sewed it and trimmed it so the front would lay flat.

And, by the way, what clever person rolled up my tape measure backwards?

Did a simple double-turned seam up both sides, and it was done.  No need for a tie; since there are already beltloops, you can just use your belt to keep it on.  Lazy, I know.

Ready for chow duty on our next camping trip.

No, somehow, I don't have a camping apron yet.  But, I'm thinking about using a full-length jean for mine, so it will be longer.  Whatcha think?

Snake Two

Today we had yet another visitor. I actually like this part of living where we live....even in the suburbs, we get wildlife.

While watering the lower garden, my attention was grabbed (in a very primitive, survival-instinct kind of way) by a snake hanging out under a pile of chopped-up tree trunk. After hearing the rustling (and freezing and stopping breathing), I caught sight of a snake under the pile. It was black-and-something. But, I saw it's underside, which made me wonder if it wasn't dying or in distress in some way. No, I did not hang around to find out. I promptly finished up my watering, told the kids to stay away from that area or risk being eaten, and advised David as soon as he got home that his attention was required to tend to a certain visitor.

Dearest Hubby did get around to fishing the critter out. He found the tail end of a brown snake under the woodpile, and pulled on it. It resisted in a dead-weight kind of way, even though it was not moving. He pulled again. It resisted again. Eventually what he pulled out and snagged in his fishing net was this.

"Bit off more than he could chew"

Yep, that would be a black snake eating a brown snake head-first.

Now, there is now way I would have thought that that black snake could have eaten that entire brown snake in one meal. I mean, he doesn't even have a wooden leg to put it in.....where's it going to go?!? We watched for a while before David scooped up the entire meal-in-progress in his fishing net and deposited it in a large storage bin.

At that point, having his meal interrupted and everything, Blackie spit out his dinner, took a gander of his situation, and then proceeded to again suck down his meal.

About half down.

Just about done.



(Can't really see it that well, be he's got just a bit of tail sticking out of his mouth).

"Just hate when I get snake stuck in my teeth."

Done with dinner. Now time to re-locate.

Touching is the best part.

After surviving a paparazzi of people taking multiple pictures of him eating his dinner, our friend was scooped up by Papa Bear and delivered to the "wilds" of the area surrounding the creek that runs through our (very) suburban neighborhood.

Ice Block

I'm not sure where the idea for this project came from, but yesterday Michael decided he wanted to make a big block of ice. With a canteen in it. By the time I was informed of this project, it had reached this stage:


He had even cleared out a space in our full-sized stand-up freezer for it to go. He just needed me to lift it in, which I did.

We talked about how long he/I thought it would take to freeze to a solid block of ice. We mutually decided to set the kitchen timer for 1/2 hour and check on its progress.

Half hour later, it was still pretty much liquid. We tried three hours, and this is how it looked:

Just a thin sheet of ice, but moving in the right direction. So, we left it in until after dinnertime, and this is what it looked like:

A nice sheet of ice on top, but not so thick it could not be broken through (which it was). After playing with ice chunks for a bit, back into the freezer it went (somehow the chisel had to be tossed in with the canteen).

Today, we had our solid block of ice:

Out it came, on the back deck. Okay, first it was on the kitchen floor, then in the garage, then I insisited that, really, the back deck would be a better place for this.

It didn't take very long for the canteen and chisel to be freed from the ice. The water inside the canteen had partially frozen, but not entirely.

End of project.

Springy Shoes

I wish I'd gotten video of these puppies in action before they bit the dust. But the virgin test flight took place at Park Day, and I didn't have my camera with me (what was I thinking, not having my camera on me at all times?).



The concept and implementation were pretty simple. Attach some springs to the bottom of some shoes so you can bounce. (I'll give you one guess who's project this is).

The "springs" are actually snow cone holders from our snow cone making kit (they hold the cone-shaped paper upright to free up your hands). The shoes are hand-me-downs that he wears from time-to-time, but he's just not a dress-me-up kinda kid. Michael started out using different types of tape, but they didn't hold up very well. Liquid Nails (construction adhesive) did the trick.

Once we reached the park and had a suitable audience of other kids and apprecitive moms, Michael donned his Springy Shoes and, sure enough, bounced all over. He actually had pretty good control and did not suffer any mishaps (though a couple of us moms agreed that a crash helmet would probably have been a good idea). He got a pretty good work out before one of the springs loosed itself from shoe.

Then he was off to the next "thing".

7.5 (sigh)

The 7.5 was William's A1c today. The sigh was not one of contentment or satisfaction.

Today was our quarterly appointment with our endocrinologist. Dr A had a scheduling conflict, so we met with Dr. S for the first time. William was a little disappointed not to see Dr. A, because he is genuinely fond of him. And I was a little nervous meeting with another doctor, because I am comfortable with Dr. A and he knows our history. In other words, I know the he knows how hard I work at keeping William healthy, even when it is not reflected in his A1c, and how much I try to stay informed and educate myself. But Dr. S was very nice, and very supportive. Two thumbs up.

Today was also our annual blood draw, something that William truly dreads, and I can hardly blame him. I hate blood draws, too. Frankly, I kind of dread it, too. The first time we did this, it took me and two burly nurses to hold him down and he screamed the entire time. Not happy-making for either of us. The second time, last year, he was really worried about it, but he managed to get through it without screaming and being held down. This time, he was anxious and tense, but he got himself through it with minimal fuss. I was so very proud of him.

But, back to the A1c. 7.5 is a really good number, and Dr. S said so. I just could not feel really good about it, because I know that number was due in large part to all of the lows William has been suffering through. He's been suffering through highs, too. In fact his log sheet for the past few weeks has had more red (high) and purple (low) on it than white (target range). Despite my best efforts and coordinating with our endo office, he's only been in target range about 20% of the time, and that's bad for his health.

Dr. S knows how tough it is to manage D, especially in kids, and he was perfectly non-judgemental, kind, and supportive. One thing he said to me really made me feel like I have been doing everything I can, like I've been doing it right despite all the colors on the log sheet. After looking over the logs, he said to me,

"You're right. There's no pattern here."

That, right there, was perfect confirmation that I have not suddenly forgotten everything I have learned about D, that I am doing everything "right", and few people could do any more than I am doing to keep my son healthy.

So, overall, I guess it was a good checkup ;)

Another Visitor

Is it only boys who have a knack for finding toads and frogs, or do girls find them as frequently? ;)

Bread Making

Today we were supposed to go on a field trip to a local bakery with our homeschool group. But, frankly, KitMama and I have been so over-loaded with the "other stuff" going on in our family's lives, we just did not have the gumption to pack all six kids into the car and drive an hour (one way) to see how bread is made. Especially since we already make bread at home. So, we skipped the tour, stayed home, and Michael made some bread, mostly on his own with a little direction from me.

Carefully measuring out the flour using the "scoop and scrape" method.

Mixing the wet and the dry.

Kneading the dough.

Rolling out pieces for....

...the twist (ready to bake).

The rest of the dough went into "twisty-topped loaf".

Michael used a very basic, very easy bread recipe that I'd gotten from our larger homeschool group a few years ago. It's pretty much one of those can't-miss recipes, as you can see. And very, very yummy! Nope. No leftovers ;)