costumed

costume inspiration

What was my costume? Why, the Queen of Hearts of course. I saw a picture of a little girl's version of the costume and loved the graphic elements of the Disney movie character design. With the help of a corset pattern and Suzanne's sewing experience with gored skirts, the costume worked out pretty well. My favorite part was the bright red poufy petticoat worn under the skirt. The costume got worn first at the company Halloween party and I felt quite regal.

driving with a petticoat is entertaining

the queen on halloween

We had no party to attend on Halloween, so I implemented my genius plan: get dressed up and go out to dinner at a favorite restaurant.

John Lennon, a chef, the queen, and Indiana ready to party with tasty italian food

gratuitous shot of handsome Charlie

We ate good food and then came back to our house for an evening of playing Beatles rock band, in costume of course. Except for Charlie since he couldn't rock in his chef's coat and hat.

Fall

Sometimes living in the woods is a lot of work. But sometimes it is
beautiful. (and at least I don't have to rake the leaves on the road!)

Saturation

Ok. I'm happy because someone is making some money selling fine Indian
black tea at whole foods. But, please...does it have to be Twilight-
branded? Really?

Planet Steam

I love German board games, the kind that are so damn big that they
cover your entire coffee table.

beary big

I went to get eggs this afternoon, and saw that the girl's yellow treat bucket was overturned. It was up against the side of the coop, covering an enormous hole. My guess? A bear. Something chewed through a one inch thick piece of wood and then peeled back the hardware cloth to get at the bucket. A cat or raccoon would have swarmed right through that hole and eaten all of the chickens. Luckily, when he pulled the squash and other bits out of the treat bin it was left covering the hole, or else the chickens could have just walked right through it. The picture doesn't show the scale very well, but that hole is the size of a basketball.

Sorry girls, no more treats for a while!

Brownian National Park: Cleanup '09

In honor of Charlie's, ah, fervent dislike of spiders: an enormous guest.

the only two pumpkins that grew in the garden...misshapen, but homegrown!

Today was day 1 of Brownian National Park Cleanup '09: The Driveway. The leaves haven't started to drop heavily yet, but they are so enormous and unwieldy that I decided to tidy up the front of the house so that I would have a clean slate to rake on. I pruned the ivy that had started to creep onto the driveway, neatened up some of my favorite ferns, moved windblown sticks and limbs, and pulled the last of the tenacious weeds. And then I met my fall friend the leaf blower. Five hours later, the front yard is looking relatively tidy. I'm kind of dreading the big push that will come next week or the one after. At first the dinner-plate sized broadleaf maple leaves seem like a great workout (and they are) but after days and days of raking and piling and dragging and throwing I am completely exhausted.

the chickens regard you from the coop

clean driveway, ready to be covered with leaves and cedar bits

While taking a break, I took the chickens some treats and checked the nestbox. Success! Two eggs laid today and both of them were sitting in the bottom tray waiting for me.

tasty x 2

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Eggs laid in the coop today: 2
Eggs laid this year: 725

Chevron

With Suzanne's excellent help, there was much sewing today. I am
almost ready for Halloween...