Preparing for a long cold winter

Today I decided that I would work on splitting some more of the wood I had in the side yard. Ariel had the day off from school to go to an all day event with some friends so I decided that Alex could have the day off too. I would rather look at it as he was out of the class room and learning one of life's important lessons - how to put in a hard day's work and embrace the challenges of becoming a man. Well maybe splitting wood doesn't really make you a man but it can teach you a life skill that will be used to keep your family warm in the future and it can always be used as part of obtaining the required credit in PE!

When I was a kid I can remember my father getting a big tri-axle of logs dropped off at the house every year for my brother and I to split. And we did it the hard way with an maul no gas powered machines to aid in our chores. I admit I was younger and didn't really do a lot of the splitting I did most of the moving and stacking of the logs. I of course was also the one who was responsible to get the wood down stairs and stacked on the far wall so there was never a shortage to be fed into our stove.

Now as much as I love splitting wood by hand there was way too much for me to do in one week without cutting into my hunting time so Uncle Tony made it easier on my by letting me borrow his log splitter again.

At first Alex was less than thrilled to be spending his morning performing physical labor but once we got going he cheered right up and we got into a steady rhythm taking turns running the machine and placing the logs. Before I knew it the pile of split wood was growing and the whole log pile was shrinking at a steady pace.

I realize that this next part may cause some controversy but I can remember getting a forbidden treat once in a while growing up such as nip of blackberry brandy at breakfast after a cold morning spent in the woods bow hunting or one of Aunt Concetta's flammable rum balls at Christmas. While I may not have benefited me in any way it sure didn't cause me any harm. This is the same reasoning that I used today when I let Alex have an ice cold Monster Energy drink. As you can imagine he ran up the back stairs to get us each one and partook of it throughout the morning and early afternoon, savoring each tasty sip!

I must admit Alex surprised me today. He really stepped up to the plate and showed me that he is willing to work hard and actually requested that we keep going until all the wood was split. He worked hard loading the truck when we picked up and moved the wood and like a champ assisted with stacking the first cord and a half several weeks ago and proved to me again today that he wasn't afraid of a little hard work. I am proud of my children but today was special in that I watched my son act like an adult and was rewarded with a sense of accomplishment when all the wood was done.

Thankfully we have 4 cord of split wood for the winter ahead, hopefully Gabriel will allow us to use it considering he claimed it as his own before we could finish!

Next week I just might give the kids another day off from the classroom to teach them about stacking wood which of course can be turned into a math lesson about how much wood is in a cord, or the science of proper stacking and defeating the powers of gravity! Plus stacking wood and drinking Monsters beats running laps around the soccer field any day!

Penelope's Grand Adventure

I am going to start from the beginning  in order for you to get the full picture - so please bear with me!

Today was the first day of my Vacation. I woke at 04:00 I headed out for some relaxation with my .35cal rifle as today was the first day of deer season for me. I settled into my tree stand while watching the sun rise and the forest started to come alive with the sounds of birds and other small critters. Shortly after 08:00 I was surprised to see a large doe stand up from her bedding area off to my right. She took a few steps into an opening and I took my shot. She immediately laid back down and I figured I would wait before I climbed down and seeing that she went right down I decided there was no need to take another shot.

Fast forward 5 minutes and my decision not to shoot again would begin replaying over and over in my mind. You guessed it, she stood back up and began to walk away. It was at this point I realized I never cycled my gun and as soon as I did she made for the hills. Turns out I missed her - when the gun went off she decided to lay down to wait and see what all the commotion was. When I finally got down to see if there was any sign of blood or hair she must have finally decided to head from the hills to the next county and almost ran Seth over in the process. I took some time to survey the area from where I originally shot to where I last saw her just to be sure.

As you can imagine I was quite upset and decided to call it a morning and headed home. At 10:00 I headed to the gun range to see if there was something wrong with my gun and was both happy and sad that it still was shooting tight groups at both 50 and 100 yards. I packed up my things and headed back home.

Once home I needed something to distract me from beating myself up over missing a deer and the 3 cords of wood in the side yard waiting to be split was just the cure. Before I knew it I had almost an entire cord split and decided that I would go sit on the other side of the farm for evening stand. I put back on my hunting pants, kissed the family and before I knew it I was back in the woods and despite the morning events I was grateful that I had the day off to get some much needed rest and relaxation.

The afternoon went by in a flash and at 16:35 I climbed down from my tree stand and headed for the truck.
As I got closer to my truck I saw something moving under it. I quickened my pace and when I was within 30 feet of the truck I was greeted with much joy and song by Penelope!

Who is Penelope you may ask...She is a Chicken! I began looking around to see if there were any others because at this point I didn't realize she was one of my chickens. I reached the truck and she came running out from under my truck clucking as if to say "Hey - I know you, are you surprised?" I looked down and saw the purple leg band and realized that it was one of the girls from our newer flock.

It seems that while I was splitting wood she found that my engine compartment was warm and cozy and roosted in it for an afternoon nap. I am still amazed that she was able to hang in there for the 16 mile ride from our house to the farm. I can only imagine what was going through her little bird brain as we went down dirt roads to paved roads and then down Rt.191 before turning into the field at the farm. It's a good thing I decided to hunt where I did because I considered hunting the upper portion of the property which would have meant a trip across the river where she more than likely would have been swept away!

I am glad it was dark out on the ride home because I'm sure there would have been lots of strange looks if people realized I was driving with a chicken roosting on my leg!

Hopefully this is the last time she will hide out in the undercarriage of my vehicle but if she ever does it again and survives at least I will have another great story to tell you all about and hopefully put as big a smile on your face as I have on mine!

From stilllife to wildlife

I started learning how to use my new camera by taking pictures of objects that wouldn't run a way from me - I am proud to say that I have graduated to taking pictures of living creatures. Ariel has taken an interest in the camera too and the pictures of the cat and bunny below are hers. Since taking these I have discovered many more settings so I will be experimenting with them over the next coupled days.

 Sadie - our house rabbit

 Annabeth - Queen of the castle 

 One of our many betta fish - Thank you Seth and Sara

 Gabriel supervising play time

 Navarre and Alex playing keep away with the ball

 Our sweet lady at the door looking for a snack

Watching Alex unwrap crackers for them

Sadie looking for a treat

 Annabeth is not pleased her nap was disturbed!

My little old man

If I close my eyes maybe you will go away!

The click of the shutter is music to my ears.

Rebecca and I don't usually go crazy with lots of presents for each other on our birthday's or Christmas. Usually we end up purchasing something that was needed or wanted but outside the normal realm of daily spending. The past year Rebecca has caught me looking at camera's and began to inquire about what I was interested in. I have been living off of point and press camera's ever since the age of digital cameras was ushered in and my 110 camera was no longer a valid option. I have to admit though that I don't miss dealing with rolls of 35 mm. film, although I think we still have a few rolls hanging around that never got sent out for developing. I was torn between getting a Nikon or a Cannon but didn't want to have to get another job to pay for it. After reading hundreds of reviews I found the Cannon Rebel series and had my heart set on the EOS Rebel T3. It was everything an aspiring photographer would need and was fairly simple to use out of the box with lots of options to use as I advanced. I was a little surprised when I found out that I was actually getting it for my birthday present from Rebecca and the kids and began nagging every day since if there was any updated tracking information. This morning I was extremely excited when Rebecca let me know that it was on the truck for delivery - Today I would finally own a real camera.

I don't think the Fed-Ex driver had made it back to his truck before I started unpacking the camera and all the extras that came in the bundle purchased for me. I placed the battery on the charger and read through the manual and CD-ROM's that came with it. I played with the two tri-pods and different lenses then finally, after what seemed like an eternity the green light came on the charger letting me know I could finally start taking pictures. I installed the battery and the memory card into the camera and as soon as it finished formatting the memory card I began clicking away. Here are some of the pictures I took tonight of our fall bouquet and the inside of the wood stove. Pretty good for a novice don't ya think!

I am looking forward to sharing many more high quality pictures with you from this day forward!

Birthday Celebration

This past Friday was my Birthday and for the first time in a long time I took the day off from work to ensure a day full of relaxation. Rebecca and the kids made me an amazing breakfast which was enjoyed in bed.

After breakfast we went out as a family researching firearms as Ariel and I are both in the market for new guns. We had a great day and found a gun store that we didn't know about which turned out to be Alex's favorite part of the trip. The employees at the shop were very friendly and once they realized that Alex had been researching different firearm manufactures they were more than happy to spend time giving him history lessons on some of their vintage guns and let him handle several different models he was interested in. After a day full of looking at guns we were all really hungry and found ourselves just around the corner from our favorite restaurant, U.S.S. Chowder Pot IV. Much to our surprise they were still offering the early bird dinners so Alex opted for a Salmon dinner, Rebecca had the Tuna steak, Ariel had the Seafood Imperial and I, being the birthday boy decided to have the Surf and Turf  - Prime Rib and Lobster tail! After dinner we drove to Friendly's for dessert. It was a great Birthday spent with my wife and kids and I look forward to many, many more.

Yesterday afternoon Rebecca's family came over for the family birthday celebration. I felt extremely special when I saw the care Rebecca put into setting the table which included a bouquet of fall flowers.

I had requested Chicken Pot Pie for the meal and upon entering the house the smell of the food cooking made me hungrier than a growing teenage boy! Along with the Pot Pie there were olives, cinnamon pickles, tossed salad with Nina's amazing homemade citrus dressing and Mom Rathbun's homemade Coffee spice bread. I added my own twist by pairing my dinner with a Harpoon's Chocolate Stout which was a perfect accompaniment to lunch.

For dessert we had cake - I know that may seem normal for most birthday celebrations but as many of you know I am not a fan of eating cake. There are however a few cakes that make me very happy such as cheesecake, pineapple upside down cake, gelatin poke cake and rum cake! I was lucky enough to get a combination of two of the above mentioned cakes. It was a pineapple upside down cake with a gelatin glaze rather than the typical brown sugar coating. It was Delicious and the leftovers were gone before day break!

I was excited thinking it was all for me and everyone else was getting something else - turns out I had to share - despite being older I still feel like a little kid, especially when it comes to time for dessert!

More Pumpkin Fun

We enjoyed using our pumpkins for ambient lighting during a few dinners but time is not kind to a carved pumpkin so today they went outside. After my celebratory lunch the kids and I went outside for a backwoods send off the pumpkins via our trusty Mossberg .410!

Once we were done the remaining pumpkins were a given to the chickens for a much appreciated snack.

38 is Great!

My daughter made the first full day of my 38th year of life extra special. Today was the first of the two CT youth deer hunting days. We both were awake hours before the sun and made our way to the grand stand with darkness to spare. It was a crisp cool 40 degree morning and any day that I get to spend one on one time with my kids makes it a good day. We waited patiently for the daylight to make its much anticipated appearance and enjoyed some cuddle time in the comfort of the tree stand 20 feet in the air.

It was a quiet, peaceful morning and we enjoyed being in each others presence which included some joking back and forth and the occasional power nap by Ariel which were cut short by the noisy geese flying overhead. While you always anticipate the chance to harvest a deer when your out hunting in your mind you know that it isn't guaranteed, heck you might not even see one. Ariel has been blessed the past 2 years with multiple opportunities and success each year but knows that the most important thing is to enjoy her time in the woods while taking in the wonders of God's magnificent creation.

The morning was going by quickly and I was originally scheduled to work in Boston at noon so despite enjoying every moment with my daughter I was anticipating our departure and found myself watching the clock. At 08:30 I received word that it didn't look like I would be needed at the Boston job site and was told to enjoy my morning hunting with Ariel.

It was less than 5 minutes later that I was pointing out a spot in the woods to Ariel that kept catching my attention which was driving me crazy and she replied "Ya, there is a squirrel that just got me all worked up" and as she went to point it out she declared "Wait, its not a squirrel - it's a deer!"

I immediately began scanning the forest floor trying to see what she was seeing. At the same time she was readying her rifle which finally gave me location to focus on. It took me a moment but sure enough there was a doe working her way towards us.

Ariel, readied herself and waited patiently for the deer to present a clean shot. I was very proud of her as she repeatedly calmed herself down during the approximately 15 minutes that this deer worked back and forth between several trees. When the moment was right she squeezed the trigger and much to my dismay the deer ran about 20 feet and stood there. Ariel could no longer see the deer but I could and informed her that I thought she missed. You could see a bit of panic in her eyes while at the same time a look of "Really Father - why do you doubt me?" I looked back and the deer was gone.

I scanned the area and didn't see the deer anywhere. After 10 minutes I climbed down and rather than going to the spot the deer was standing when she shot I made my way over to where I last saw the deer standing.

I got within 10 yards and saw that the deer was down! I ran back to the stand and assisted Ariel with descending from the stand. We made our way over to the deer and I quietly said a prayer of thanks for the opportunity to not only spend a day in the woods with my daughter and make memories with her much like I made with my father growing up but also for the meat that this animal would provide for our family.

Because she is under 16 I still do the dirty work and field dress her deer for her but due to the long haul back to the truck she stepped up and helped with getting it there. Ariel has been blessed with harvesting a deer 3 years in a row and the memories that have been made will be cherished for a life time. It was amazing watching how differently she handled herself today than she did on her first deer hunt. She was confident in her ability to make a humane shot, respectful of the animal in life and death but her understanding and enjoyment of the hunt had matured. I can honestly say that despite it being a day after my birthday my morning spent with Ariel was one of the best presents that I could have ever asked for. I am proud of the ethical sportsmen and young lady she is quickly becoming.

Annual Family Pumpkin Carving

We have made it a family tradition to carve pumpkins every fall. This year autumn came and went and due to my work schedule and the short season caused by a spring frost we never got a chance to go apple picking. It was earlier this week I realized that we never purchased any mums for the front flower pots or pumpkins which we normally carve and then roast the seeds for a yummy snack. I can honestly say I was bummed and when the kids both brought it up I was considering buying a pumpkin from the grocery store even though it would be expensive just to keep the tradition going. 

Thankfully I didn't have to get a store bought pumpkin, on my way home from work I was driving by a local farm stand which had closed for the season and they had placed a large wooden crate full of their left over pumpkins from the season out by the road with a great big sign saying they were free for the taking! There were multiple vehicles that pulled in full of children excited to pick a pumpkin of their own so I decided not to be greedy and only took four one for each member of our family.

Ariel decided to carve an owl into her pumpkin. And took a moment out of her teenage telephone conversation to pose for picture with her creation!

Alex decided he wanted to carve a Medieval Knight into his pumpkin.

I decided to carve a majestic buck into my pumpkin - in hopes of Ariel getting a real one this weekend!

Rebecca was busy with work so we decided to carve hers into a Fleur-de-Lis

Here they are all together and they made for a great candle lite dinner!

I'm very thankful for the farmer who decided to give away the left over pumpkins not only did we enjoy time together with our family pumpkin carving night we also have a big bag of roasted pumpkin seeds to snack on the next several days and once the pumpkins start to get soft they will make the chickens very happy and will mean extra dark orange yolks which will be great for making eggnog!

The Pitter Patter of Paint Brushes

So the last time I had a chance to post I was just starting to spruce up the house with the plethora of paint I purchased. I am happy to say I made some serious progress this week after taking a vacation day and the aid of my GWOC (guaranteed weekend off call.) I took lots of pictures throughout the progression but decided that I can't stand pictures were everything is disorganized so I am posting the pictures I took after Rebecca started cleaning up after me. I have to say my hatred of painting was renewed during this project although I now realize I don't mind painting the walls its the doors and trim that make me grumpy. Thankfully my wife is an amazing woman who is not only my helper in every step of life but also is a great painter of trim and turned this weekend into a success. I was able to put up most of the corner trim which really added a great touch to the walls and will hopefully protect the corners from me, the kids and our dog Navarre. I now only have the Master Bedroom, the kids bathroom and the ceilings left and if all goes as planned I will be finished by Thanksgiving.

 View of the hallway and back dining area wall.

 Entrance way and front wall

 Another view of the hallway corner trim

 Facing the kitchen breakfast bar

View into the kitchen and laundry areas

 Kitchen overhang accent

 Ariel's room with new furniture

 Ariel chilling out in her messy room :)