Lisa Zahn

This has been one long and somewhat difficult project. If I'd have known how much time (three weeks) and thought (George designed it himself based on these plans which we did not buy and used mostly salvaged materials to build it) and trauma (the bee sting incident I suffered while moving the compost pile from the site) the coop would take, I think I would've skipped the chickens. However, now that the end of building is nigh and its almost time to pick up the hens from my friend Vicki, we're getting excited. We hope the chickens are as much fun as others have said they are! I unknowingly scooped this into the wheelbarrow when I was moving the compost pile. I guess I can see why I got swarmed and stung a few times! That was scary... The pieces resting in the garage...We certainly have the "Cadillac of chicken coops", eh? Preparing the site. As luck would have it, someone posted an offer of 20 cinder blocks on our area Freecycle today. We were the first to rep...

Yesterday we spent three hours picking 3 gallons of blueberries--an hour a gallon, I guess. We went to a local u-pick farm, Grayson's Berryland in Clearwater. The berries are yummy! The photos were taken by Rose; we've decided she's an excellent photographer, don't you think? When I think of Zen, I think of Elijah in a blueberry patch. When we went last year, for the first time, Eli spent most of the time sitting cross-legged in the grass "shining up" each blueberry he picked and then popping it in his mouth. Needless to say, not much of his berries either last year of this year ended up in his pint basket. But that's okay... Elijah remembered last year's experience well. As we drove up to the farm, he announced that "if you rub a blueberry it gets shiny. And the little ones are sweeter. And if they have a slightly pinkish tinge they're still sour." Precious advice from an 11-year old. I call him my not-so-little-anymore teddy bea...

Yesterday while I was at work, George took the kids to nearby St. John's Arboretum for a homeschool class on bugs. Both kids said they already knew most of the stuff they were taught, but they did see some cool bugs and the frog in the photo above. Can you see him, so well camouflaged in there? Speaking of bugs, I put a post up on my Herbalist blog today about a favorite herbal remedy for bug bites and bee stings, Let Me Introduce You To My Friend Plantain . Please check it out!

The famous Aerial Lift Bridge We spent yesterday in Duluth, Minnesota about 140 miles northeast of our home on the shore of Lake Superior. There is nowhere like Duluth...at least, nowhere near here. Some photos: Skipping rocks on the shore... Scenes from the Lake Walk... We ate dinner on the patio of the famous Grandma's Restaurant, with an awesome view of the lift bridge. We even toughed it out through a rain shower, but it was well worth it since we got to see this ship come through and under the bridge. The Canadian Enterprise...