Checking on the mama turkey who is still sitting on an egg. She’s been pretty dedicated and made a nest in the tall grass. It was rather difficult to find her, you would not know she was there unless you walked up on her!
Garrett wanted a chess lesson. I gave him a good lesson in the basics. We used his new set that Granny sent.
I sucked it up and went back up into the attic to make some progress on the bathroom project. I found the vent for the downstairs hall bathroom, venting directly to the attic. I’ll add that to the list of things to fix.
I had left an A/C duct disconnected, so I went up to fix that. I also cleared out some insulation around the existing fan and made a hole in the ceiling, so I can access the area from the bottom. I need to rewire the fan and light on to their own circuit. Also, as you can see, it also vents directly to the attic space, so that’s my next trick, to install a roof vent and properly escape the humid air.
The heat has been crazy, but its cooled off a bit and both Meagan and I were in a bit of a funk. But we’ve been getting out of that, and now back at it with the projects!
Today was largely a recovery day for Jarek. He was in the throws of the cold, and skipped swimming. Evan was off to Soccer practice instead of swimming for a three hour camp. Arya came back from swimming, then headed out to a Grandma day with Grandma!
I cut open my rosemary loaf this morning, and it came out quite well. My harshest critic, Meagan, who told me she didn’t like rosemary in bread, said that she did, in fact like it! Highest complement indeed!
Friday was a pretty relaxed day, we started out with chores and then I went off to do some shopping and errands. We needed to make a trash run and get hay and animal feed as well.
Monday was a busy day, and I didn’t get a post out. Let’s catch up!
Monday is typically our ‘worst’ day of the week, as it has the most activities on it.
We started of with swim team practice in the morning after animal chores.
Then, after swim team, it was back home and after a short break for lunch, and swim lessons for the littles, it was off to music lessons for the kids.
I checked on our pool, it is doing much better now!
I checked in on the pool – looking great1
Meagan captured this interesting creature, which, according to search seems to be some sort of case bearing moth larva.
Randal shows off his house that he built to Momma. He is very excited about it!
After music lessons, everyone went to the library!
While all of this was going on, I was working with our neighbor who is going to help us teach the kids history. I was also working on some more sourdough bread experimentation.
Randal helped give some treats to the goats while Jarek, Arya and Alan were at Scouts.
Bread, home school stuss
Tuesday, 2 June 2026
The kids all lined up at swim practice!
While they were out, I baked my Cheddar & Jalapeno loaf. I put it aside to cool and would try it later in the afternoon. I had several errands to run, followed by a Costco trip!
Garrett: “Randal and I are playing cook. I cook the food and he serves it to you!”
The chef and his waiter!
Randal helping clean up his play food!
Arya and her friend play “college.” This is one of their favorite games to play.
Here is the cross section of the sourdough loaf. The crumb was pretty good, but either I forgot the salt or it needed more with the addition of the jalapeno and cheddar. We all decided that it needed more of both jalapenos and cheddar.
I went out to check on the baby chicks and found they had run out of food, so I topped them up for dinner time!
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Today started out like most other days, with the animal chores.
I took a video of the geese, ducks, and chickens being let out of their tractor this morning. They were very excited to be free!
Radnal of course was my helper.
Evan and Meagan were busy with the goats.
We then checked the mail, because that’s what you do.
After the animals were tended to it was off to the pool to check on it.
Clarity is improving, lots of particulates/dead algae in the water still. I added some more chlorine and some algicide and clarifier.
Tomorrow I will do another vacuum pass. I have some other things coming to assist with the pool, but it’s probably ‘good enough’ for the kids by Sunday.
One of our neighbors had some trees cut down. We arranged for them to drop off the branches. The goats really enjoy them. Then we grind up the branches with a chipper to add organic matter to the soil.
After that, it was off to the homeschool meet up for Meagan and the kids.
I was having a look at one of the trees that is having some issues. Looks like this one will be coming down sooner than later. Another fun project, yay! The one on the other side of the house has a similar issue, so maybe I will try to tackle them both together.
In the afternoon, we did a family DnD session with Jarek and our neighbor.
Then it was time to do evening animal chores. Zanzi, the white goat, prefers to have treehouse dining.
The goose was giving me the hairy eyeball when I went to check on them. They don’t really like being locked up for the evening, but better safe than sorry with the fox on the loose around us.
Saturday we will be up early as the big three kids have a swim meet starting at 7!
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Presently working on building chicken tractor # 2 with my little helpers.
A few stops and starts and a couple extra trips to the store, but progress has been made. Another trip to the store tomorrow. The hinges I ordered haven’t come in yet, so off to get some off the shelf. I made the initial parts order via online for pick up, but apparently I picked something that wasn’t available.
Randal helps me by holding the roosting bars up so I can secure the brace for the nesting boxes.
Another day or two, and it will be ready for prime time! Which will be great as the little chicks are growing up fast!
After Zion, we departed for Bryce Canyon National Park. We had some awesome views of arches along the way and wildlife.
There was a herd of Bison along the road.
After arriving at our camp site, I set up the RV and went to go fix the bathroom shower door. One of the screws had come out of the track wheels and it fell of the track. Fairly easy fix, but to do so involved lifting the heavy glass doors out and reseating them in the track.
We stayed at Ruby’s Inn and Campground, just outside the park. The site we had was very large and we had our own grassy area and fire pit area. The kids loved it as they could play in the grass near the RV.
Taking a break from the heat. The kids were coloring and journaling in the shade. The blue cube is a misting fan we picked up to help combat the heat in the dry air.
We went to the Visitor Center, which is just down the road from the campground. It was busy, but not as busy as Zion. The kids did their books and got their badges. We learned in the museum that the whole area of Utah and parts of Colorado and Arizona, referred to as the Grand Staircase, is connected through geology (NPS, Wiki).
A depiction of the layers and their ages. Best viewed enlarged.
I got Ducky his own Camelbak and his own Junior Ranger hat. He is very proud of them. This way he carries his own water, and if I need to put him in the pack, I can strap his water to it so it’s accessible.
Ready to head out on the Mossy Cave trail. Ducky wanted to walk. I’m getting the GoPro ready to record the hike (yet to be processed…). You can view the Mossy Cave hike log here.
After a short hike, we made it to Mossy Cave, which is more of a grotto. We also found our first Hoodoo medallion.
The kids look on at the cave and watch the water flow.
Victory shot – shenanigans may have been involved!
From there, we hiked over to the Tropic Ditch. The kids enjoyed putting their hands in the water and feeling the speed of the current.
From there, we could take a short walk and see the Tropic Ditch waterfall and see other visitors playing in the pool.
After the hike, we did the scenic drive and got some awesome views of the Bryce Canyon formations.
Back at the campground, Ducky asked me to take him for a walk. So, we went on a walk around the campground and he told me all about the ghosts in the campground. Ducky is apparently very into ghosts right now. But we did meet another little boy, who was camping with his family that was an only child and was very excited to share his toys and have someone to play with.
Randal enjoys dinner in the cool evening. The building behind him is the Inn across the lake.
Everyone has a good time catching up with friends back home via video chat!
Evan takes Randal out for bike rids on Garrett’s bike. Randal really enjoys the rides!
Meagan, Jarek, and Randal went out for the Bristlecone Loop trail one morning and found their Hoodoo medallion.
Views from Bristlecone.
Views from Bristlecone.
Afterward, they went to check out the nearby town of Tropic.
Do you ever feel that you are having trouble navigating life?
Queens Garden – Navajo Loop Hike
We mounted up the family for a big hike to do the Queens Garden – Thor’s hammer – Navajo Loop Hike. You can view the GPS log of the hike.
So this was how it started…
The trail started off with a decent descent down the sandstone slope into the canyon.
We were rewarded with numerous spectacular formations along the trail.
Family shot at the bottom!
There were several places where the trail was carved through the rocks. Fortunately, it wasn’t as bad as Carlsbad Caverns where I had to crawl on my hands and knees.
The “Queen Victoria” Hoodoo.
Documenting the Hoodoo for the quest!
The Navajo Loop Hoodoo!
Taking a break on the way up.
Wait, you mean we have to back up all that?
How it ended… Family portrait at the (almost top) with Thor’s Hammer off to the left.
As we were headed out, we passed the start of the Wall Street trail, which we elected to not do, as we were all pretty tired after this hike.
Ducky and Randal enjoyed some playtime after the hike.
We made it back to the Visitor Center in time to get our Hoodoo stickers!
After the hike, we took a rest day.
I’d like to speak to the manager about my milk rations….
Meagan and the kids baked cookies for a treat.
Jarek get some cuddle time with Firefly and Gambit snoozes in his favorite spot on my chair.
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