I'm back. For those of you that follow my blog, you may have thought that I fell off the face of the earth. Although some of the events that took place since my last post (October 22, 2012) made me feel like I had fallen off the face of the earth, I am still here. The earth being a round sphere also makes it a bit difficult to "fall off" the face of the earth. The best I could do is just run in circles.
So many things have happened and I want fill you in. I'll hit the highlights in this post, and then give you additional topical updates on the bees, chickens and other things around the home in separate posts in the next week or so. Here we go...
My posting vacancy started with a Thanksgiving week family trip to AZ to visit dear friends we left behind when we moved to VA. The one thing that I wanted to do while I lived in AZ that never happened was put on the priority list of my visit. I quick suggesting to my old college roommate, who was also my co-worker in Phoenix, and we were on our way to Antelope Canyon.
It really is that beautiful and amazing. The colors that come down from above and bounce off the sandstone are incredible. Our guide told us that when they have a flash flood through the canyon, it can add or remove up to nine feed of sand, raising and lowering the canyon floor. NINE FEET! It is hard to believe until you see footage of a flash flood in that area.
Our guide did a great job of keeping other tourists out of our photos. During the busy months the five licensed tour companies take an estimated 1500 people through the canyon per day. If you haven't been there and seen Antelope Canyon, I highly recommend it.
Upon returning to VA after our family vacation, I got laid off from my job. How is that for timing? Never having been laid off before, I was a bit nervous to say the least. I think the Good Wife took it all better than I did. My severance package took me through the end of the year, so at least I could enjoy the Christmas holiday.
First some friends from AZ that moved to WA before we moved to VA came to visit us for Christmas. We happened to be touring through Washington, DC when the NRA was making their public statement after the Newtown shooting. We got swarmed by foreign reports looking for sound bites.
I'm not sure why they latched onto us for questions, other than we were the only ones in the area wearing camo jackets and blaze orange hats. They figured we must be pro gun. They were right!
Once they headed back to WA after a very nice visit, I headed to WI with the boys. Remember, I'm unemployed at this point, so why not? I left the Good Wife home to work some extra shifts at the ER. At least she said she was working!
They were having some very cold weather in WI during our visit to my parents, so the boys got to experience walking on water. Or at least walking on ice on water.
Once we got back from WI, it was time to get to work. Finding a job that is. They say it is a full time job finding a job and I have to agree. Sitting at the internet surfing job sites doesn't work. Getting out and meeting people face to face and networking is what works.
We did take a little time out to go squirrel hunting at our friends cabin. We saw tons of squirrels in the fall while hunting turkey, but didn't see any on this trip. We did come across a snake though and Oldest Son dispatched it quickly.
I'll give a separate post later about the bees, but it was a good and bad year. Good in that all my hives made it through the winter. But bad because we had so much cold and rain in the spring with a couple weeks of mid-summer temperatures, that all my hives ended up swarming. I'll elaborate more later.
I was able to find a new job here in the Richmond, VA area so we didn't have to go anywhere. That started in mid-March, so I am finally settling into my new position and enjoying the work.
We did another batch of meat chickens this spring. One of the Oldest Son's friends wanted to experience the butchering, and jumped right in and did a large portion of the killing. He also got projectile pooped on during the process.
We took a family vacation, that was planned before the layoff, to Morocco to visit the Good Wife's parents. We all had a great time and I will post separately about that. Concerning our rural living experiences, the Oldest Son got to learn how to butcher rabbits. That was a highlight for him on that trip.
Our egg chickens are doing fine, but we have a coyote or fox that is slowly picking off our chickens one at a time. That is making us keep them locked up in their run for most of the day until the boys get home from school and let them out to free range while we are around. Some of our broody hens hatched out a few chicks and the Oldest Son bought a rooster at a chicken swap.
Are you starting to see a trend here? Oldest Son seems to keep getting us involved in more and more activities when we are trying to take more time to ourselves and slow down a bit. I don't think it is going to happen until he heads off to college. The scary part is, it will be less than four years!
I know this is a very abbreviated post since I finally broke radio silence after almost a year. In the next week or so, I'll have more detailed updates on the chickens, bees, our trip to Morocco, meat rabbits and our garden. I'm glad to be back!
So many things have happened and I want fill you in. I'll hit the highlights in this post, and then give you additional topical updates on the bees, chickens and other things around the home in separate posts in the next week or so. Here we go...
My posting vacancy started with a Thanksgiving week family trip to AZ to visit dear friends we left behind when we moved to VA. The one thing that I wanted to do while I lived in AZ that never happened was put on the priority list of my visit. I quick suggesting to my old college roommate, who was also my co-worker in Phoenix, and we were on our way to Antelope Canyon.
It really is that beautiful and amazing. The colors that come down from above and bounce off the sandstone are incredible. Our guide told us that when they have a flash flood through the canyon, it can add or remove up to nine feed of sand, raising and lowering the canyon floor. NINE FEET! It is hard to believe until you see footage of a flash flood in that area.
Our guide did a great job of keeping other tourists out of our photos. During the busy months the five licensed tour companies take an estimated 1500 people through the canyon per day. If you haven't been there and seen Antelope Canyon, I highly recommend it.
Upon returning to VA after our family vacation, I got laid off from my job. How is that for timing? Never having been laid off before, I was a bit nervous to say the least. I think the Good Wife took it all better than I did. My severance package took me through the end of the year, so at least I could enjoy the Christmas holiday.
First some friends from AZ that moved to WA before we moved to VA came to visit us for Christmas. We happened to be touring through Washington, DC when the NRA was making their public statement after the Newtown shooting. We got swarmed by foreign reports looking for sound bites.
I'm not sure why they latched onto us for questions, other than we were the only ones in the area wearing camo jackets and blaze orange hats. They figured we must be pro gun. They were right!
Once they headed back to WA after a very nice visit, I headed to WI with the boys. Remember, I'm unemployed at this point, so why not? I left the Good Wife home to work some extra shifts at the ER. At least she said she was working!
They were having some very cold weather in WI during our visit to my parents, so the boys got to experience walking on water. Or at least walking on ice on water.
Once we got back from WI, it was time to get to work. Finding a job that is. They say it is a full time job finding a job and I have to agree. Sitting at the internet surfing job sites doesn't work. Getting out and meeting people face to face and networking is what works.
We did take a little time out to go squirrel hunting at our friends cabin. We saw tons of squirrels in the fall while hunting turkey, but didn't see any on this trip. We did come across a snake though and Oldest Son dispatched it quickly.
I'll give a separate post later about the bees, but it was a good and bad year. Good in that all my hives made it through the winter. But bad because we had so much cold and rain in the spring with a couple weeks of mid-summer temperatures, that all my hives ended up swarming. I'll elaborate more later.
I was able to find a new job here in the Richmond, VA area so we didn't have to go anywhere. That started in mid-March, so I am finally settling into my new position and enjoying the work.
We did another batch of meat chickens this spring. One of the Oldest Son's friends wanted to experience the butchering, and jumped right in and did a large portion of the killing. He also got projectile pooped on during the process.
We took a family vacation, that was planned before the layoff, to Morocco to visit the Good Wife's parents. We all had a great time and I will post separately about that. Concerning our rural living experiences, the Oldest Son got to learn how to butcher rabbits. That was a highlight for him on that trip.
Our egg chickens are doing fine, but we have a coyote or fox that is slowly picking off our chickens one at a time. That is making us keep them locked up in their run for most of the day until the boys get home from school and let them out to free range while we are around. Some of our broody hens hatched out a few chicks and the Oldest Son bought a rooster at a chicken swap.
Are you starting to see a trend here? Oldest Son seems to keep getting us involved in more and more activities when we are trying to take more time to ourselves and slow down a bit. I don't think it is going to happen until he heads off to college. The scary part is, it will be less than four years!
I know this is a very abbreviated post since I finally broke radio silence after almost a year. In the next week or so, I'll have more detailed updates on the chickens, bees, our trip to Morocco, meat rabbits and our garden. I'm glad to be back!