The Pumpkins Think It's Funny

Can you believe this??

The pumpkins find it hilarious. It's snowing here-- and has been all day long.

Yes... this is WISCONSIN. Many of our trick-or-treating expeditions involve winter coats and frozen fingers.

But-! I must protest this early snow. There are still so many leaves around here-- at least in Colfax. Many of the trees around our house are oak and still completely green. The rest of the trees are probably close to the peak of their fall color right now.

What should be brilliant red, golden or orange is now muted down and bleached out, under heavy clumps of snow.

Needless to say, the chickens are not amused. They've spent most of the day huddled in their coop or hiding beneath our backyard deck. I tossed them bread crumbs earlier, and they (eventually) came out to eat them... but they looked surly.

Jon is just about done with the winter chicken coop. He built it onto a pallet so that he could move it around the yard as needed, with his Bobcat. It has a roof but no shelves yet.

While Jon was working on the roof the chickens came over to investigate. They even went inside and looked around.

The kids were just home for a four-day weekend (teachers' convention). We were sick for part of it, but well enough to have neighbor kids over on Friday for a pumpkin-carving party.

We grew enough of our own pumpkins this year for each kid (and the neighbor kids) to have their own jack-o'lanterns. I cut the holes out of tops, and they scooped out the "guts", separating the seeds from the rest so we could roast them later.

The scooping took awhile, but Leila LOVED that part. After gutting them each kid cleaned up and designed their face.

The plan was for me to go around with the big knife (one knife, safely handled by the adult) and carve their designs for them. But after some urgent pleading and several nerve-wracking demonstrations of their ability to carve safely, I finally allowed the older kids to try carving their own jack-o'lantern faces.

Luckily no one was injured in the process, and everyone seemed very proud of what they had accomplished. I was proud of them too!

And I did manage to keep the knives away from Leila.

Many important lessons can be learned while carving pumpkins:

• Plan ahead!


• Keep your work spot tidy!


• Safety first!


• Big pumpkins look cool but there's lots of pulp inside.
  
  
• If you beg Mom long enough she'll let you have a KNIFE! (wait... scratch that one)

Jon is working in Superior now, but for the next few weeks plans to drive home at night. He has a company truck, and the guy he rides with would rather commute too. Of course, that means getting up at 3:30 every morning and driving two hours (one way), but he's going to give that a try, at least for a couple of weeks...

Today my "little" brother, Bill, came by for a quick visit, on his way home from Rhinelander. Bill's 25 years old now (can that be true?? He was born when I was still in highschool!).

He had to leave before Michael and Emma came home from school, but Leila and Coco got to see him awhile (Coco is a big fan of Bill's).

Well, I better hurry up and post this little anti-snow rant before the snow melts! Have a good week!