Happy Summer Solstice.

Tonight we went to tour another coop in Madison. It was neat. I hope our chicks will be moved into their own new coop by this weekend. Luckily, we've framed the thing (well, mostly Paul did while I went to Chicago), and used all lumber that we found in our house. Plus last night we scored a whole bunch of extra 2x4s and posts which someone put out on the curb. Now we just need to put in the roosts and nest box, put on the sides, and figure out the doors and hinges. Oh yah, and actually make a fence. Gosh, there's still a bit of work to do.

It's summer
1.) fireflies!
2.) Paul joined the sailing club and now has access to all sailboats for the year. He can take passengers for free, so I'm hoping that we can do some fun sails on lake mendota this summer.
3.) It's hot. But we have yet to turn on the a/c. We're gonna try without it all summer.

Paul & I have joined a soccer team. He's been on it for a while as goalie (which is obvious once you see him-- he is scraped and bruised all over!) and Wednesday was the first game for me. I sucked. And I am SO OUT OF SHAPE it is sad. I was sore all over for two days after. Even, inexplicably my arms (and no, I didn't do a throw-in). I wasn't terrible, but I definitely didn't play like I should have. The sad part is that I knew where I was supposed to be and what to do but my body would just not cooperate to get me there. Some of it might have had to do with the super hot weather, but the other 90% was definitely due to my out of shape body.

BUT, on the other hand, I am in decent biking shape. Yesterday Paul & I woke up and biked out to Blue Mounds State Park. We took the Military Ridge Trail, which is a bike/walking trail that follows and old train track (so it's graded pretty well and there's not huge hills). About 70% of our ride was on a dirt path, which made it a bit more slow going than usual but we still made decent time. When we got to the park entrance we suddenly found ourselves at the finish line of a 100/200km bike race, which was hilarious, because there were people on the sidelines rooting us on (assuming we were part of the race, even though we were the only ones not in skin-tight bike jerseys), and Paul even had his picture taken by the photographer at the finish line!

By mid-afternoon we had biked back home, pedaling fast because we thought the predicted t-storms were going to hit us (they never came). Our route ended up being 57 miles round trip and at the end we both felt wonderful. I felt like I could have gone for many miles more, even on my slow hybrid. And the best thing is that I'm not even sore today! I'm hoping that we can do some longer weekend trips (maybe even overnight?) this summer.

Last night we started planning the details our of chicken coop, and this morning we settled on a basic design. Hopefully in an hour or so we'll head to home depot and pick up the needed items to start building. Luckily, there is a lot of extra lumber laying around our house from the previous owners, so we shouldn't have to buy too much. The biggest expense will probably be for the fencing.

Today Ruthie is coming to visit as she drive from Minneapolis to Chicago. And the best thing is that I'm catching a ride with her into the city. I was going to take the bus, but this is a much better solution all around. I love when things work out so perfectly. And I'm excited to spend a little more time with Ruthie.

I'll be spending the night at Sylvie's place (who's almost done with med school - hurray!) and hanging out with Karin all of Monday. I haven't seen either of them since college graduation, our last day as roommmates in college, so this should be fun. Karin is back from South Asia just for a few days, so I'm lucky to take a day off to get to see her.

Summer is off to a great start, with lots of unexpected visitors (Ruthie and Craig) and bbqs with neighbors, chicken coop building, bike rides and fun plans. Also, hopefully, a boundary waters trip in July!

Petunia didn't make it through the night. :o(

Poor Petunia (that's the Light Brahma, the only one with a name so far) is crying right now. I'm not sure how to help her. I cleaned her up and held her while she slept for a while, but there's not more that I can do. I'm worried she's not eating and drinking enough....maybe she has internal issues to go along with her hurt leg? I know she definitely breathes differently (faster and harder) than the other chicks. She finally is having her tail feathers grow in, but she hasn't made any attempt to jump or fly yet, while the other three are getting quite good at both.

A., a 21 month old, who is one of our neighbors came with his mom to visit the chicks last night. He loved it, and it was cute to see him petting the birds.

Paul is stuck in DC. He was supposed to fly out this afternoon, but after sitting on the tarmac for 6 hours they turned the plane back and rebooked them for 4pm TOMORROW arriving in Madison at 8:00pm. boo. His cell is dying and the charger isn't working (same for ipod)....I hope he doesn't have the sleep at the airport. This sucks because he's missing his sailing lessons which he's been anticipating for quite a while, and also hanging out with family who are coming to visit tomorrow. Luckily the concert we are going to (The National) is at 9:30, so hopefully he'll make it to that. I'm glad I'm not flying today!

I biked home early today because of a tornado threat (and possible storms and large hail). It's nice that I can work from home whenever I'd like. What is not nice is stupid allergies. I am even taking an allergy pill and they are still getting to me...no fun.

The chicks are one week old. It still amazes me how fast they grow. I come home from work each day to see amazing progress. Feet feathers, tail feathers, huge wingspans. Even my little Light Brahma is growing well...I think she's only a day to a day and a half behind the others. She's still limping; she might limp for the rest of her life.

Anna came over last night to meet the babies. The Silver Laced Wyandotte took a liking to her and *flew*!! up to her hand, perched on her finger, and took a nap. What a cutie. That one is the fast grower and is the most active. We had all four babies out with us on the living room floor. At first I was scared that they would start zipping around the house and that we'd never be able to catch them, but they stayed near us and just played. It was really fun.

Since the little ones are starting to fly/jump/leap and be more active I needed to find a cover for their brooder. I went to Ace and bought some wire mesh, but realized that it wouldn't be so ideal as a cover. So I got creative. I figured that since it's hot out we probably won't be using our oven for a while, so now our two oven racks are over the top of the birds. They're perfect for the job. :o)

I now have some photos up on my flickr account. Send me an email if you want to see them.

Today has been a great day so far. This morning I went to the Hilldale Farmer's Market and bought some spinach and salad greens while Paul cleaned out and organized the garage. Then I spent a ton of money at the grocery store since our kitchen is very bare. Lots of good things to eat now.

We just got back from an afternoon bike ride. The weather report made it seem like it was going to rain and storm all day but it ended up clearing up and it's sunny and perfect now. So we set off on the Capitol City Trail and did a 22 mile loop in under two hours. A nice leisurely pace, but we didn't stop along the way...it felt so much shorter than that! There's a neat state park about 25 miles out of Madison so after this easy bike ride today we're thinking it would be a good day bike ride to go there in a the morning, hang out, and then come back. 50 miles shouldn't be bad for one day.

Now I'm on the front porch with our laptop cooling off and having a Berry Weis Beer. yum. I love how the park across the street is completely green now and the foliage is all in. I've missed the greenness.

The chicks are still happy and content. They are growing up SO FAST it's unbelievable. Seriously. In just 2 days they are super different. I wish I could do slow motion photography with one photo an hour to let you guys see how fast their wings are growing in.

Last night I bought tickets to head to Iowa July 5-9th. I'll be in Shaller, Iowa, the popcorn capitol of the world (at least it used to be) and also one of the smallest towns ever. The closest "big" town is Storm Lake. Shaller will be hosting it's annual Popcorn Days celebration, and that's also the time for class reunions. My grama grew up in Shaller and is now attending her 70th high school reunion. We'll be watching the parade (the parade basically consists of every tractor every built driving by in order by year) and eating lots of free popcorn. It should be fun and boring at the same time. I went about 10 years ago but haven't had a chance to attend since then. This year I'm surprising my grama since she has no idea I'm planning on coming. So I'll probably meet her and mom my in the Omaha airport. I'll also get to see some of my great aunts and uncles who I don't really keep in contact with very often.

ok time to flikr it up with lots of chick photos!