Happy Halloween!

I'm just a rabbit that chases ducks without long claws

Here are some musings and observations from the last couple of days:



Saturday morning, while we were getting ready for breakfast, Paul was explaining to his father that he was a rabbit that chased ducks."Oh," said Steve, "Do you have long teeth?"

"No!"

"Oh, then do you have sharp claws?"

"NO! I'm just a rabbit that chases ducks without long claws!"

"Oh, then do you have prickly fur?"

"No, I don't have prickly fur."

So Steve asked the only logical question, "So if you chase ducks without long teeth, sharp claws, or prickly fur, then what do you do with the ducks when you catch them?"

Paul responded, "I don't catch them. I just throw them in the water."

...

Yesterday morning, while we were getting dressed to go outside, Paul told me that he wanted to pretend he was a girl.

"Oh really," I asked, "what do little girls do?"

"They pick up purses with their long hooks." And Paul curled his index finger into a claw shape to demonstrate a girl's long hooks.

When I related to Steve what Paul thought little girls do, Steve responded, "That's what I always thought too."

...

After Julia was born I deliberated long and hard about whether or not I wanted to continue to work outside the home, and to what level. To help me decide, I made a list of personal goals and dreams. One of the items on the list was to get all the laundry folded and put away before we had to start the next week's loads. At the time, upon reviewing my list, Steve commented that the laundry item was more of a dream than a goal.


Well, mark the day on your calendars, because this weekend we achieved that dream. In the course of two days, Steve got three loads of laundry washed and folded. I helped with the folding and also helped put away our stuff as well as some of the kids' things that had been waiting in baskets from earlier in the week. I think we're finally ready to move on to the next goal: world domination - bwah-ha-ha-ha!



Julia is very proud of herself because she can find and name the moon in the sky. I remember "moo" was one of Paul's first words too. The other day, Steve was reading to Julia. He said she actually sat still and let him read the pages of the book in order, until they got to a page with a picture of the moon. Then each time Steve tried to turn the page, Julia would grab the book, flip the page back, bounce, and exclaim, "Moo! Moo!"

"Yes, Julia, that's the moon. Very good."

...

Last night we had a curried sauteed fish for supper. I thought that I had fixed enough fish for Steve to take some as leftovers in a lunch. I wasn't counting on Julia really liking the fish. In the past, Paul has eaten fish pretty well, but the last time I prepared it, Julia let it roll out of her mouth. So I figured she would get most of her nutrition from peas last night. Much to my surprise, she gobbled down the seasoned fish and begged for more. I don't know if she really really liked the curry and lime seasoning, or her change of heart was just a result of the vagaries of being a one year old. In any case, she ate at least as much fish as I did last night, plus some rice and peas. She also woke up crying at 12:30 last night. The curry wasn't super hot, but it might have been a little much for her system. I gave her a little dose of baby tummy medicine, and didn't hear another peep out of her until morning. Poor baby.

Upwardly Mobile

It's fascinating to me to see how Julia watches and imitates Paul. She seems to have this understanding that Paul is more like her than mommy and daddy. If she sees me do something, she might be interested in trying it. If she sees Paul do something, just try to keep her from trying it. I think it is as a result of having brother around that she is trying to do many things at a younger age than Paul did.

For example, she's negotiating the stairs by herself now. She and I were upstairs and I noticed she had toddled off toward Paul's room. I made a mental note that I needed to check on her soon so that she didn't malign his stuff too badly. By the time I made it over there, she was halfway down the stairs. She was gently sliding down on her belly like a good girl. I knew that she had been going up and down the stairs at Jenny's house, but those are carpeted and not quite so steep. Oh well. And the next day she climbed up the stairs.

She don't stay where she's put anymore.

She also thinks she's ready to use the telephone, the remote control, and she's starting to reach for door knobs. She has started running away from me, giggling, while I'm trying to get her dressed.

Paul is treating her increased abilities with suspicion and some jealousy. He gets fussy about her messing with his toys, and roars at her to bother her. And I think some of the problem with our lack of potty training progress is that he sees that Julia doesn't have to sit on the potty. He's a little unsure of his position with us. He did make it through the whole morning yesterday with dry underwear. Yaayyyy Paul!

And other times they dance together. We take turns reading Paul appropriate stories, and Julia appropriate stories. I think it's going to be okay.

Fall on the Farm

Before Grandma & Grandpa left last week, they caught a few good shots of Julia sitting with the pumpkins on the front step, Paul painting some small pumpkins on the picnic table, and a beautiful autumn sunset.

Its nice to see the temps starting to fall, and especially to see some more rain finally. A good soaking before it gets cold is well needed and much appreciated.

Now its time to get some final preparations done around the farm before winter, which will hopefully be here soon.

Oktobeerfest '07 Blues Jam Videos

So thanks to the Caryovi for providing some excellent pictures as well as these couple of video clips of the Blues Jam Band. (NOTE: The audio is fairly poor, so you might turn that down first)



And this one features my Dad playing bass so I could sing (see pic)! Good times.

Oktobeerfest '07 Results

So here's the complete & official results of the 3rd annual Kuhlman Farm Oktobeerfest. Thanks to everyone that participated by entering a beer into the judging, and thanks again to all our judges.

This year saw 40 unique beer entries in 4 categories. Our 8 member panel of judges was divided up such that 2 members judged each category. In the event of a tie, judges from other categories provide the tie-breaking rating.

The beers were poured by our judging moderator and his staff into numbered, non-opaque cups so the judges could see color, consistency, head retention, etc., but were unaware of what beer was in each cup.

Each beer is judged on a simple 1-5 rating (5 being the best) for overall quality. Pretzels were used by most judges to cleanse the palate between choices.

It all sounds very official, but, as a 3-time judge, I have to report that its darn fun. If you'd be interested in judging in future years, please let me know...we're always looking for more judges to hopefully improve our beer rating accuracy.

Congratulations again to all our winners, who this year received the book, "The Beer Guide" as their prize!

Oktobeerfest '07 Aftermath

Thanks to everyone that came out Friday night to enjoy the 3rd annual Oktobeerfest! While it was a little chilly out, it was the best weather we've yet experienced for this event. As a result, we had the largest turnout ever as over 100 of you showed up to join in the fun.



As we've all come to expect, the brats were excellent, the bonfire was large & warm, the blues jam was rockin', and the beer was diverse and wonderful. But most importantly, the company of so many fine folks was the best part.



Congratulations to the winners: Wes, Lowell, Kevin, & Lou! I'll post the complete results soon, so you can see how all the beers rated. Thanks to our 8-member panel of judges this year for their sacrifice and hard work. ;-)



And thanks to everyone that helped with the preparation and setup, the wonderful folks that brought food, ice, etc., everyone that took pictures, and everyone that stuck around to help cleanup afterwards. Thanks also to the fine members of the blues jam band for all your hard work practicing & preparing for this.
And to all you poor folks that for one reason or another had to miss it this year, be on the lookout for next year's Oktobeerfest date so you can get it on your calender early.

Thanks for another great party everyone!

Oktobeerfest '07 Is Here

The day has finally arrived and the preparations are nearly complete. The barn's been whipped into the best shape I've ever seen it, the grass is mowed, and the brush pile is large and ready to be reduced. We've got the brats and already started setting up the band. And my 3-4 beer entries are ready to go...now all we need is you.

It looks like it oughta be a brisk, but dry, evening with lows dipping into the 30's overnight, so you'll wanna bundle up pretty good. We'll have the fire, of course, and we'll also have a heater going in the barn periodically, so that oughta help. On the plus side, it looks like it won't be nearly as muddy around the fire as it has been the past couple years.

Festivities start rolling around 6:30pm, and the fire will probably get started around 7:30-ish. We look forward to seeing so many of ya'll out at the farm tonight, though we'll certainly miss a bunch of folks who can't make it for one reason or another. As we think of each of you, we'll raise a glass to you who are absent.

I'll try to get the results posted later this weekend for the world to see.

sneaky speedy

Steve's folks are visiting, so our mealtimes are a little bit more leisurely than normal. As a result, Paul was excused from the table while the rest of us finished eating and chatting. I heard him run up to his room for a little bit. Some part of me realized that he probably was not staying in his room, but I squelched it because I was enjoying sitting and finishing my meal. A while later he wandered back into the kitchen, and again, I wasn't really paying attention to him, because I was eating and chatting. He wandered into the bathroom and then zipped out pretty quickly.
Grandpa, "Did you see that?"
Me, "Did he just run out with his stepstool over his head?"
Grandpa, "It wasn't over his head, but he was really sprinting. And he kind of scoped out the group of us before he took off."
Me, "Oh, that's no good." At which I jumped out of my chair and sprinted after him.

Now I have to explain that this is not a lightweight plastic step stool. It is made of wood, and it's a little heavy. I'm really pretty impressed that Paul negotiated the narrow turns around our kitchen table with it as quickly as he did. By the time I reached him, he was halfway up the stairs with it. He asked me for some help getting up the rest of the stairs.

"How about you show me what it is you think you need to reach, and I'll help you."

He lead me into my bedroom where he was eyeing a leggo motorcycle and x-wing fighter on top of a dresser Steve and I share.

"Sorry buddy, not this time."

Darn, he's getting quick.

Oktobeerfest '07 Prep

The date is fast approaching and there's still a good bit to be done to prepare, but things are coming together well. The barn's been cleaned up, the homebrew's been bottled & tasted, and the blues jam band had its last practice yesterday. And I have to say, we sounded really good, too. So here's some reminders for those of you interested in coming:

• Date: Oct 12 - This Friday!
• Time: 6:30 - ???
• Location: Kuhlman Farm
• Brats & sauerkraut provided
• Bring beer to share & be judged (Maybe win a prize!)
• 4 Beer categories (1 winner for each category):
1. Light lager, pilsner, light hybrid, American hybrid
2. English pale ale, Scottish & Irish ale, American ale, IPA
3. European amber lager, English brown ale, dark lager, bock, porter, stout
4. German wheat & rye, Belgian & French ale, Belgian strong ale, sour ale, strong ale, fruit, spice/herb/vegetable, smoke-flavored & wood-aged, specialty
• Bonfire & blues jam will get rolling after dark
• Drink responsibly -- if you need to, the hay loft is available for folks to stay the night (and its reportedly darn comfy with a thick bed of straw)
• Please make a point to RSVP if you haven't so we have enough brats (BBQKing95@aol.com)
  
• We hope to see ya'll there!
  

Coming Off

It would appear that all those sunburns I got as a kid, and even the few I've gotten since, have taken their toll a bit on me. I had some moles shaved several weeks ago for a biopsy and one of 'em came back "atypical" or "pre-cancerous". Praise God none of them were cancerous! But I get to go in later today to have the bad one completely removed, which means I'll have stitches in the back of my leg for the next couple weeks, probably. Its a good thing we got all the heavy lifting kinda prep work done for the Oktobeerfest this past weekend...oh wait, I still gotta retrieve my bass rig from church. Hmm, it looks like I'll be asking for help for that one.

Efficiency

Under clear blue skies and a couple of thin & dry looking black walnut trees, 14 of my current flock met their end this Saturday. We got rolling a little before 9 when Larry showed up, and we managed to get the entire flock separated, the keepers all banded, and the 14 processed and cleaned up by a little after 1 that afternoon. That is certainly as quickly as we've ever accomplished this task. Thanks so much to Steve & Erin, Larry, and my folks for coming out to help!

And once we were mostly cleaned up from the chickens and had some lunch in us, David showed up and we got the barn cleaned up and ready for the Oktobeerfest this weekend. Thanks to everyone who stuck around to help with that, the barn is the cleanest I've ever seen it! And now that's all set, we can focus on getting some additional lights installed in the barn this week.

Julia @ 15 Months

I took Julia in for her 15 month checkup yesterday. She's doing just fine, and here are some observations from the day.

As we were getting ready to leave for the trip, Paul was suggesting that I should leave him home by himself. I was hearing comments like, "I don't want to go to the doctor's house. I want to stay home." "I want to be lonely." "I will stay home and be lost and lonely."

I asked him, "Instead of lost and lonely, why don't you come, and then you can be crowded and misunderstood."

-"Okay!"

He really embraced that idea and kept cheerfully reminding me that he was misunderstood.

Julia did really well for her checkup, but was clearly feeling insecure. She cried pretty piteously when she was on the scale and when they measured the circumference of her head.

She weighed in at 22 pounds, which puts her at about the 40th percentile. I don't think they got her fully stretched out when they measured her length. The official measurement was 28.5 inches, and I'm guessing she's at least a half inch longer than that. Anyway, 28.5" puts her at about the 8th percentile. In any case, she's clearly not going to be towering over her peers. Sorry, baby. That would be mommy's fault.

Developmentally she is right on target for walking and starting to use words. The kids were sitting on the floor snacking on dried cranberries while the doctor asked me the development questions. Just as the doctor asked, "Is she starting to imitate you?" Julia started copying Paul's example of banging on the step to the exam table. Oh looky there - she is a little monkey.

Poor Julia got 3 injections yesterday. It was pretty sad. And then Paul got a sucker for being a good boy. There's just something wrong with that.

Later yesterday evening, our family went to visit one of our neighbors. We spent some time chatting with the dad, who is a father of 5 girls. While Julia was toddling through the leaves near him, she looked up a couple times and gave him sort of a judgemental look. He grinned and shook his head saying, "Ornery. Ornery times 2." I think she's going to give us all a good run for our money.

Grass Comeback

After having one of the hottest & driest summers I can remember here in Ohio, we finally started to see some relief in the past week. The temperatures have been trying to drop for a while, though its still warm for the season. We're at least seeing some nights in the 40's & 50's, so the fact that we're still hitting 80's consistently doesn't feel too bad yet.

But most importantly, we got our first rain in about 3 weeks or so this past week! It rained on and off for about 2 1/2 days, which we really needed. Other than a few shady & damp spots, the grass had been brown and crunchy for a couple weeks, and the most of the trees are already giving up and starting to drop their brown & yellow leaves. But even before the rain was done last week, the grass was starting to look a lot more green. And so, with rain in the forecast for today too, I decided to mow for the first time in about 2 months yesterday. Somewhat amazingly, the tractor & mower both worked flawlessly the whole time. I was able to get the grass completely mowed and a good bit of the push-mowing done, and I didn't feel like I was killing the grass just by walking or driving on it. There were certainly spots that were a little rougher than most, but in general its coming back rather well. This old well-established farm grass is some good stuff!