Blah

This is our blah post. We don't really have anything to say right now. Except for that we finally decided on names for our kitties. Mojo & Pepper. They are awesome. Except when they try to eat our noses and our ears and smother us before we wake up in the morning. And except when they try to climb up the new curtains that we just hung last night. And except when they scratch the hell out of the back of our computer chair. And except for when Mojo isn't careful where he is sticking his tooshie. But otherwise, they really are quite adorable and cuddly and fuzzy and all the great things that kitties are. They are our cuddle monsters.

Cuddle time with the Kitties

We had our first full-on cuddle session with the kitties last night. They are really nice kitties. They like to purr alot. Maybe all kitties do....it's been awhile since we've had little ones around the house. :) We've been starting to call them Peanut and Jammers, but as in typical Seager fashion, we're not quite decided yet. Penny and Jude are also potential contenders. Jammers has really beautiful blue eyes, but they keep turning out red in my pictures. Oh...bundle of cuteness!!

Welcome Miss P & Mr. J!!

We brought the kids home from the hospital today. They didn't exactly enjoy the car ride home, and they are not exactly pleased with each other, but they seem to be getting used to their new digs. Miss P is a little scared. Of course, she did just have a hysterectomy. On top of that, her brother keeps growling at her! How rude. Mr. J is super cuddly and likes to purr (and growl) alot. He also seems to like the shower. I guess when the bathroom is all that you have to explore, you better get to every nook & cranny, even if it means wet paws. Paul and I are excited to be kitty parents again, but we are still missing Patches. We haven't been able to agree on official names yet....so if you have any recommendations....send them our way! We want to honor their predecessors by choosing P & J names so that should help narrow down the field of choices a little. :)

WORMS!!

We are now the proud parents of, um.....LOTS of eisenia foetida, otherwise known as red wiggler worms!! My mom was the inspiration on this one actually. She almost couldn't go on the chocolate factory tour a few weeks back because a friend of hers was coming over to help her set up her very own worm bin. I thought, hmmm......worm bin...... and said, well, gosh....as long as you're going to get worm bin construction supplies for yourself, might you pick up some extras for me?? And of course, being the ever-selfless supermom that my mom is, she provided me with the instructions, the bins, and all the necessary parts - right on down to the teflon plumbers tape!! Now all I had to do was find the initiative to put it all together. So....after a few weeks....I read up on the directions, realized I would have to use some power tools, and called in for reinforcements. Usually, at this point, I would just give the job over to the power tool guy, but this time I was determined to do it myself (mostly). Once Paul helped me decide which of his three drills I should use, showed me how to put the drill bit in and how to hold the drill, I was READY. The 1/4 inch drainage holes were pretty easy. The 1 inch hole for the spigot thingy didn't go quite as smoothly. I guess you have to pull the trigger ALL the way back even though it makes a loud and scary noise. :) Paul pinch hit for the two 2 inch holes on the lid, but other than that, my first ever drilling experience was a success! Now I just needed to find some good bedding material and some worms! After way too much research, I settled on a combination of soggy newspaper, cardboard, straw, and a couple handfuls of sand and compost. Now for the worms. Turns out that Kurt Hawley 's mom lives right up the road from us, so instead of having to drive out to Sumas, we got our worms hand-delivered right to our doorstep. Thanks, Kurt! Thanks, Mom! Here's a picture of Paul giving them their first PJ's Patches meal! Mmm mmm good!

Bees on the Move

The bees have begun their Incredible Journey. At one foot each day (on the days we remember, anyway) they should make it to their new sunnier spot in about 3 months according to Paul's precise measurements (see below). We picked blackberries AND blueberries today. The blackberries were ours, and the blueberries were from the Koskela berry farm right around the corner from us. After running the blackberries through our juicer three times, we were left with some delicious blackberry sauce for jam and some tasty blackberry seeds for the chickens. Speaking of which.....apparently Rosie is a rooster. She's the second one from the left - the big one with the comb on her head and the big tailfeathers. Oops. I guess that means we'll be able to make chicken babies ourselves! (Well...not exactly ourselves, but you know what I mean!) Patches says hello from the farm! :)

Ruffin' it in the woods

We took yet another break from the farm (summer harvest season is pretty slow when you don't plant your garden until July) and headed to the hills with the B'ham (note the well-placed apostrophe) gang. It rained on us a little but luckily Julie and Jerry brought the castle tent so we could all (sans dogs) play cards, take naps AND stay dry! Juneau, Julie & Jill had some harrowing canoe adventures, not helped by the 40 pound puppy trying to escape into the lake, but eventually made it safely back to land. Adam and Paul took on religion and everyone pitched in a few words for the crossword. Adam kicked our behinds in Bananagrams, but Paul and I plan to hold training sessions for our victorious comeback. Meals were pretty impressive: locally grown (REALLY local) pesto garlic scape pasta with zucchini and chicken sausage; rice, bean & fresh corn burritos with all the trimmings; french toast, scrambled eggs & sausage; and breakfast burritos with more zucchini, pepper jack cheese & pork sausage. There was even ice cream and of course S'mores. All-in-all, a pretty darn good trip.

Weekend Fun

Our relations from down south came up to visit us this weekend. We of course did the Ferndale farmer's market once again, and saw the great Ferndale Pioneer Days Parade (well...half of it anyway). Then we ventured out to the coolest park structure ever in Lynden, stopping to taste some delicious fruit (and hazelnut) wines at Samson Estates Winery. Back at the ranch, we said hello to our horse neighbors and our people neighbors - we got to meet their chickens and their cows AND take home some TASTY eggs. We played a few games, hula-ed some hoops, read some stories, and captured each-other's flags and then it was time to send the urbanites back home to the big city. UPDATE: We also had LOADS of fun playing with our rent-a-dog, Brindzi, over the weekend. In fact, we had SO MUCH FUN, that we didn't even think of taking any pictures of all the FUN we were having. All we have is this one of Brindzi and Patches looking longingly outside. Next weekend, we'll be sure to get some better pics of the pup!

Our flock of feathered friends :)

So I decided to finish naming our chickens yesterday. I'm copying Adam & Erin's method of naming them after "famous but obscure" women. Except my ladies aren't really that famous or obscure, but have had an impact on me in some way. Also, our Barred Rocks (the black & white ones) are a little slow, so I'm naming them after a few inspirational men instead. :)

Rosie is the leader of the pack - she was initially named by Becca - but is also named after the great Rosa Parks, who had the strength to stand up for what was right. She helps remind me that one person really can make a difference.




The other Rhode Island Reds are Toni, Jodi, Ricki & Miranda: Toni Weschler for teaching women to listen to their own bodies; Ricki Lake for producing The Business of Being Born; Jodi Picoult for writing great novels about controversial issues; and Miranda July for trying to convince non-artists that there is really no such thing. Then there's Ani, the lone Black Sex-Link (of course she was off doing her own thing, so she's not in the picture). She's named after two Ani's actually - Ani DiFranco for being a fierce individualist and incredible musician; and Ani Phyo - for bringing raw food "uncooking" to the masses.






The Barred Rocks are Morgan, Andy & Allie: Morgan Spurlock for his mind-changing media creations, Andrew Bird for being the coolest whistler, singer and violin player EVER (except for my sister of course - who introduced me to his music), and Al Gore for all the work he has done spreading the news about what we are doing to our planet!


Yay for chickens!!

Jasper & Patches

Here are our kitties. Jasper is no longer with us, but Patches in on her 7th life, and still has 2 more good ones left!