We raised the roof

And there is a new excitement about the fort. It's a great place for meals and reading!

Wood!!

We are almost set for next winter, thanks to a major score from a single yard about two miles away. 

One of several hauls. 

Land O Lakes Infinity

Alder wanted to see if the box of land o lakes that the lady was holding on the land o lakes box, also had another lady on it holding a land o lakes box....... and on and on and...

What a dissapointment. 

Hole

Alder has decided to dig a hole. Quite some time spent so far and he does not like talk of having to fill it in. So, at this point I am wondering what fruit tree to plant. 

Bring it on Fall Cankerworms!

We decided to use tanglefoot this year to give our oaks a break from another year of Fall cankerworms.  For the past three years, the oaks, and most other hardwoods in our neighborhood essentially have to leaf out twice due to the larvae ("inchworms") devouring tender new leaves.

In short the lifecycle is in winter the flightless/wingless, bizarre looking female moths ascend trees, climbing very very slowly.  Males are attracted by pheromones and they mate along the way.  Once the females reach upper branches, they lay eggs, LOTS of eggs.  Those eggs hatch into inchworms, timed perfectly with early spring leafout.  They eat LOTS and then metamorphose into adults.  And so on…  The crazy thing is that these tiny moths are doing their thing in the dead of winter. 

So we wrap our trees in a strip of flexible paper, spread tanglefoot on it and the females get stuck in that, never making it to the top of the tree.  Lifecycle is stopped, and we are thoroughly entertained, by the number of these things that are caught, and moreover, by the variety of other insects that are caught too!  Folks, everything is not dormant, hibernating, or dead in the winter.  Its been COLD, and these little things are making their living!

Having talked about it at work some, Lesley has offerred our yard as a residential setting study site for some cankerworm research at VCU. In addition to surveys of females and males caught (yes the males fly right up to the stuck females, and get themselves stuck as well), the researchers/students are now putting out cankerworm eggs to study the even smaller parasitoid wasps (This link is to a pic of a parasitiod of stinkbug eggs, which are larger) that lay their eggs on the cankerworm eggs. YES!  There are wasps, even tinier than the head-of-a-pin cankerworm eggs, that lay their eggs on the cankerworm eggs, so that their young use them for food.  You can barely barely see these wasps with the naked eye.  

Full moon

There is nothing like going out in a cool full moon night to get the week's dry wood. Easy old time fiddle just hangs in the air.

Could that be a haiku?.... Agh... Nope.

More of Thanksgiving 2014

A select few here...

If the boys ever start a punk band, I will make sure this makes the album cover.

The weather was perfect for kite-flying.  

It was "cold" for the beach, but not too, by any means.  This was early morning Thanksgiving.  It actually got quite warm, especially out of the wind.

Jonah working on our project.  We had the forethought to bring three real (not beach toy) shovels...

Only one braving bare feet that early.

The project.  These three holes got so big that we tunneled between them, with tunnels so big, the boys could crawl through them.

Daddy (Travis) and Teagan.  She was getting over some sickness, but man is she sweet and sociable.  It  wa so nice to get to know her, and spend substantial time with Jonah too.  I cant wait to watch her keep this smiling reputation.

Amazing sunrises and sets...

2014 Richmond Marathon

I am getting nervous, but mostly excited about the weekend coming.  Travis, Ana, Jonah and Teagan, and our friends Jason and Nicole are all coming to visit.  Saturday will be my first full marathon, which I have spent, with support from my wife and boys of course, many hours running/training for since the first of September.  I'll be running with the collective adrenaline of over 16,000 others running, starting in prime upper 20's temperature, with no rain.  I think Lesley and the boys at least will be able to make to the route to cheer some around mile 8 and/or 12ish.  I have warm clothes to start in and jettison as I need. All that is in my favor.

Who knows what I will feel like afterwards, but I must recover in time for a Neighborhood Fall Festival that we have been helpin to organize - live bluegrass, BBQ, bonfire, local brewery beer - as a fundraiser for our pool.  (the 7pm end-time on the flier is not true)  Locals reading this, come on out!

The marathon is also significant because (1) I have often said, I would never have the desire to do that.    I had no idea.   So far the worst part is the time spent training - many  many weekend mornings spent just running.  This in itself is good for some reasons, but it is a bit monotonous.  So far the best part is that I can hit the road right now and run anywhere from 8 to 13 miles with no discomfort at all.  I hope I can stay in this shape, to be able to jump out and run for an hour or 90 minutes whenever I want, and then justcarry on with the rest of the day.  Its also a significant personal goal becaue (2) a year ago I was not walking.

I cannot believe that through all of this training, my foot has given me zero problem.  I think this points to the importance of doing what the doc and Physical Therapists say to do.  And most of all, I think this goes to show that pretty much anyone can do this, or at least something like this.  It just takes the desire and training.  All that said… still knock on wood.  Alot can still go wrong.  Feel good though.

Little knife safety

Heath likes this picture because it shows the blintzes flying off. Totally his vocabulary for the shavings. 

Today we are putting kitchen back together and going to cut/haul firewood. 

Fort phase 1

Is done: a six foot high deck with dumb waiter and safe enough for solo play.

(Note Alders immense patience.)

Future phases will entail hanging and climbing activities off a beam off one side, a roof and sand underneath.  And for the adults a clothesline!  We have missed the one we left at the old house.