Guest Shots! Cadie!

Cadence (her full name's too pretty to not use occasionally) took these pictures of my children while I blabbed with abandon to Titi. She sent them to me with her usual well-written and amusing commentary, but I'm too sick of this blog to copy and paste anything else onto it right now. Plus, I tried to cut and paste some already, but ripping it from the context of her whole email and the pictures in their entirety didn't do her narrative justice. Blah! said the AbiToad.

A few pictures she took in the woods:


Millie with a salamander-- perhaps kin to the one of whom I took a picture?



Cadie planted these morning glories. They were at their glorious zenith when we visited, so I'm glad she included a picture.

I changed my mind already. Cadie's commentary is much more interesting than mine, even ripped from its context. I'll slant her words (italicize, for you smarties) and leave mine straight...

I helped Susannah feed the chicks/chickens first. She was excited to feed them, just as she had been when she was trying to stick the morning glories through the fence for them to eat. I showed her how to cup her hands together, and then poured some feed into them. Then I had to get a good chick (i.e. pecks feed gently) to eat out of her hands. When I had got one and brought it over to Susannah, it had no qualms about taking a nice large mouthful of feed out of her hands, which was a bit too forceful. "Ow! Ow," Susannah repeated quietly to herself, after her initial startlement. I was sorry; I tried to get ones that were more gentle to eat from her hand. Some of the chicks inadvertently peck a little hard as they eat from your hand--they're so greedy to eat it all that they peck quite voraciously. (I suppose maybe I should have gotten a full-grown chicken instead, but they're a little shyer. And with bigger beaks, I thought they might be worse in that regard.) Susannah was eager to have them eat out of her hand, but would quickly pull back and wipe her hands off when they pecked a little too hard (not that I blame her). Then she went wandering off to find other amusements in the chicken-yard, and seemed pleased with everything she saw, having this funny little grin on her face.


The chicken pictures were the others that I really wanted to send. Deirdre has been on this chicken kick (phase) where she goes to the chicken coop every single day to visit her friends the chicks. ("Boy, the chicks sure are my friends!" she said.) She even named a couple of them. So it was nice that Millie could share her interest:




Millie and Deirdre climbed up even higher, to where they could get a better view of the chickens on the roosting bars. Every time one of the roosters on the bars crowed, Millie would clamp her hands over her ears. (It is pretty loud when you're in the same room as him.) She declared that that was one she didn't ever want to hold. :-)

Deirdre getting eggs from one of the hutches the hens did lay in, and handing them to Annika.



The white blotch under Annika's eye is from a poultice Cadie applied after a bee stung Annie. She takes pictures of my children AND applies poultices...AND removes burdocks from hair! Now you see why I don't even remember to get the camera out when we're there. Why bother when everything is taken care of so swimmingly for me?


Susannah got an egg, too.




It was a precious thing, that egg. And she pushed it into the egg carton good and hard.



And to end this post on an exciting note, here's one of Owen, just for fun.


He's attacking Millie, just for fun.


It's only fair, considering she, along with my other little angel, poked sticks at people-- on purpose-- and enjoyed it, as I learned when I saw this picture. Millie totally deserved punishment by the sword.