Our Surprise Pumpkin

 We didn't have the best garden this year. Insects ate all the beans I planted, irrigation problems were daunting, and it seemed like we were growing more weeds than anything. So it was a wonderful surprise to find the perfect pumpkin in our garden. This vine had been growing all summer and looked like it wouldn't produce at all. But it did. And finally it was time to harvest.

Desert Boy tried to pick the pumpkin. But it was a little too heavy.

I picked it and gave it to him. Did I mention that it was a little too heavy?

Now the pumpkin is sitting in front of our house. Desert Girl has recently decorated it, and later we'll make it into a jack-o'lantern. And roast the seeds. And make pumpkin juice (whatever that is, but Desert Boy really wants to do it). And make a pumpkin pie. We have big hopes and dreams for our one pumpkin.

Happy October!

Scales and Tails--Close Up with Reptiles

My friend Jenny arranged for Scales and Tails to come out and do a presentation for the elementary schools and community. I missed the first part, but when I arrived, everyone was thoroughly engaged in the presentation. I quickly saw why. Jeremy Westerman was an excellent presenter.

For example, he had Daisy put on huge gloves and prepped her to take out the creature inside the black box. He asked if she had quick reflexes. She said yes. He asked if she was brave. She said yes, a little hesitantly. He told her it was a good thing she was taking the animal out, because he didn't want his fingers to be bitten off. Daisy was a good sport, and although she looked a little uncomfortable, she stayed up there. Finally came the moment of the grand unveiling.

Out came a red-footed tortoise. Not exactly a rip-your-hand off animal.

Then out came Tortellini, the baby tortoise.

If you go small, why not go really big? Here's Twinkle Toes, a 100-pound Suicata tortoise. The kids got to pet the tortoise shell and Twinkle Toes started grazing on the grass. Jeremy pointed out she's the perfect lawn keeper, mowing it in the front and fertilizing it out the back.

Next up was Charlie Brown, a dumeris boa.

And then came the green anaconda, who kept trying to strangle Jeremy. That looked like a really powerful snake!

Meanwhile, Twinkle Toes kept grazing. Some of the kids weren't too sure of it.

Out came one more snake, Nanners, an albino burmese python.

The kids got to pet her too.

Then it was picture time.

This is a monitor, an animal I didn't recall seeing before.

After the show, the younger kids went inside and drew a picture of their favorite animal.

I went back out and saw that the fun was continuing, with a repeat showing of the American alligator, who decided to make a run for it.

This program was entertaining for both kids and adults and we hope to have them back out again.

Our Chicken Mystery

If you've followed this blog, you know we have had trouble with chickens. Over the past year and a half we've bought 12 chickens. Several died in the first few days. A couple got eaten by dogs. A bunch got eaten by skunks. We killed a rooster who had started attacking us. And then we were down to just two chickens. They seemed to be getting on well, but then one of them started not laying in the coop. We searched our bushes but couldn't figure out where she was laying. Then she started disappearing at night. At first we thought a dog or fox had eaten her, but then she appeared again. And throughout the summer, she disappeared for stretches of time, sometimes up to two weeks. If there had been a wild rooster around, I would have thought she was raising chicks, but we're the only ones in the neighborhood who let our chickens free range. And then she disappeared again.

We shrugged our shoulders and accepted it, what else could we do? Our remaining chicken (pictured above) seemed to be getting on okay, although she stopped laying and we talked about giving her away so she would have company.

Then the second chicken reappeared, her comb duller, her legs yellower. And she kept reappearing every day, staying for the whole day, eating food we put out.

Now she's even staying the night in the coop. There must have been a good summer home for her to visit. But now it seems she's back for winter.

The color and size of the combs of the two chickens is quite striking. They used to be nearly identical, but now they're easy to tell apart. (Plus the resident chicken must have had something attack her because she only has one tail feather left.) We're back to an egg a day (the runaway still isn't laying in the coop).

It's nice to have the chickens wandering around the yard. But I still won't give them names.

Hiking and Splashing in Negro Bill Canyon, Moab, Utah

We went to Moab to celebrate a wedding of two friends. While we were there, we went on a fun hike up Negro Bill Canyon. The trailhead is located on Utah Scenic Byway 128, three miles north of the junction with U.S. Highway 191. This hike was listed as a great family activity, and they were right! The main large parking lot was full at 11 am on Sunday (we went to church first, so got a little later start). However, there was plenty of room across the highway to park.

I had the kids put on their new neoprene socks (something I decided we needed after our hike up Kanarra Creek). We tried to make good time up the trail, telling the kids we would hike in the creek on the way back down. But soon I got hot, so we started hiking sections in the creek, and the new game became to find the deepest holes. We saw some small fish in the creek.

The water was chilly, so when we got cold we hiked on the trail and soon warmed up.

The trail crosses the creek several times, sometimes with slippery crossings.

About 1.5 miles up we veered right into the second canyon and in 0.7 miles reached Morning Glory Bridge, the sixth largest natural bridge in the U.S., at 234 feet across. A group was rappelling down the wall next to the bridge. I had read about this trip, where canyoneers start out above this area and do two rappels and hike out. It sounded great, except the group had over 15 people in it and it took each person ten to fifteen minutes to rappel down and they were getting bored and rowdy and started teaching the kids new words that we preferred that they didn't know.

We had brought our lunch, so we tried to get away from that group and enjoy the view.

Water comes out of a crack and flows into a small pool under the bridge.

We knew we had a long drive ahead of us, so we didn't stay too long under the bridge. We started back, with more forays into the creek. This was definitely a hike where the trip to and from was even more fun than the destination!

We did have to watch out for poison ivy, but the kids are pretty good at spotting it. They even learned to tell the difference between the very similar-looking box elder leaves and poison ivy. It helped that the poison ivy was starting to turn a little red.

The rocks along the creek kept changing, and we alternated from shady to sunny sections.

While my husband preferred the drier route, the kids and I were happy to get wet.

We tried a selfie.

Then I gave the camera to my husband.

We hiked in the creek a lot, finding it nearly as easy as the trail and much more fun.

We still got out to warm up from time to time.

This is a great trail and lots of fun with the water. It's free so it can be crowded.

There is so much to see and do in Moab--we'll be back!

A Short Fall Hike

 I could see that the leaves were changing up high on the mountain, one of my favorite sights. So we set off on the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive, where the clouds were making a scenic landscape.

The kids and I  agreed that the quarter-mile nature trail would be sufficient to observe the beautiful fall colors.

Soon we got sidetracked by the stream, where I enjoyed the reflections.

Desert Girl graciously posed by one of my favorite trees. As you can see by her attire, it was cold outside!

We heard some tapping and discovered a woodpecker.

Before long we were back in the car and enjoying more colors. Despite the grey day, the colors were still really vibrant.

Someone once told me that aspens look like candles on the mountain.

As we descended, clouds moved in.

Out in the distance, the mountains looked like they continued forever.

We got into sunshine as we went lower, but the clouds still made interesting appearances.

Another sign of fall: turkey vultures hanging out in the trees, drying their wings. This is such a beautiful time of year!

Hope you are finding some fun fall activities to enjoy.