Day 2.171: Cat swallows wax

I pretty much promised you some birds from our Five Rivers visit. Here they are:

Gray Catbird - one (maybe this one) kindly put on an excellent display of cat-like mewing for us.

Some swallows - this picture came out better than I hoped but I'm still not sure if they are young Tree Sparrows or Northern Rough-winged Swallows or even Bank Swallows...

This, however, is definitely a Cedar Waxwing. Its waxy wing feathers are clearly visible and what about that yellow stripe - zingy!


I even managed to catch some half-decent in-flight shots.

The work-week can be a barren time for the daily-blogger - which encourages me to get out at the weekend (good) and to spend the whole walk looking through the viewfinder (less so). Now - let's hope something of note happens tomorrow...

Day 2.170: Green-red-green

Today, Exile #2 took 'my' little car to have its annual inspection. I'm happy to report that after all its problems, it passed without intervention for the second year running. While waiting for it, she took the kids to have their tea at a nearby 'family restaurant'. The waitress came over to see if the girls need a refill of their drinks. A few minutes later E5N1 decided it was time to investigate this phenomenon - as she was passing he lifted a hand to get her attention and then launched into: "Ree baa izz umm an a tuk erm ur - more joooss" holding up his not-yet-empty-cup. Who could resist?

Pictures are from our walk yesterday. Also seen: various birds (maybe for another day), snapping and painted turtles and, as announced proudly and loudly by E5N1 to some passers-by who asked if we'd seen anything, a BLUE BUG!

Day 2.169: Rivers gear

OK - I'm seriously running out of puns for these shots now.

We had a nice walk at Five Rivers this morning and saw quite a lot of interesting wildlife. During the afternoon, Exile #2 ironed the T-shirts that the kids had decorated earlier in the week and they all proudly wore them to our church gathering.

Thanks to Exile #3's godmother for providing initial materials and inspiration for this project!

Day 2.168: Many Can Gothic

I spent seven hours or so painting again at our new church facility today, with only a few momentary breaks to take pictures - including this tribute to American Gothic, and a few minutes to eat lunch. My body is grumbling now - I suspect its saving the real complaining until tomorrow (or even - as happens increasingly now - the next day).

The colour scheme that Exile #2 put together during a walk-through yesterday came together very well, but many of the surfaces - like the old brick-work in the picture - were heavy work and slowed us down quite a bit. We used six different paint types in the end. Exhausted at 7.30pm, I left J and T (pictured) with most of the brush and roller cleaning still to do - no wonder they are looking so cheesed-off with me (sorry guys!).

Day 2.167: Friday Haikus #2

Getting a bit bored,
Exile #4 said to her Mom,
"Can I do some math?"*

A stranger hugs him
This is not cause for concern
Because he's a pig.

Sun glasses at night
One of life's simple pleasures
Like writing haikus.

* Yes she really did have a book of math(s) problems with her at the baseball - she loves her math!

Day 2.166: Opening night

Today was the opening night of the Tri-City Valley Cats' baseball season. We were there with a group from work. The evening started off hot and sunny.

After five innings with no score and the very dark clouds rolling in, some people were leaving, but we'd seen it before and stayed to tough it out. In fact, the clouds passed us by without a drop of rain (despite major thunderstorms nearby).

In the end, all nine regular innings were run-less, but the visitors scored in the tenth - and the home team responded with their first two runs of the season. By this time it was getting late:

But the kids were still going strong, and so it was time for portraits by firework-light...

Day 2.165: Albi? - no!

White Peacock
Originally uploaded by Lady_Fox

Exile #2 took the kids way out into the rural west today to visit a farm. She failed to take a camera with her, so missed out on getting a picture of the white peacock they saw there. Fortunately thanks to Flickr user Lady Fox, I was able to find this one and in the process find out that it is not an albino, but a white variant of the Indian Blue.

And now you know too.

Day 2.164: The E5N1an Job

Exile #2 was the one who found E5N1 the other day recreating the end of the Italian Job by driving his custom* mini onto the bus**.




* It lost its roof in an unrelated incident in which he was only supposed to blow the doors off!

** I know that purists will say it was meant to go in the back, but this would have been even trickier to pull off at speed.

Day 2.163: What a water baby

This picture was taken back on Day 2.155 - at this point E5N1 was refusing to get back in the water or to get dry and instead was just standing by the pool getting progressively colder and more shivery. He looked cute with the goggles on though.

Last night a friend and former colleague came to stay while passing through on a business trip with his new job. We had a couple of beers and most of a bottle of very nice wine. The conversation turned to our mutual friend, who died last week, on several occasions - but only with a measure of melancholy.

On a happier note, here is another picture (or three) of E5N1 in water-play mode. Exile #3's friends braved the cloudy sky and warm, but not hot temperatures to run through the sprinkler in their bathing suits on Saturday. E5N1 joined in rather less appropriately dressed, but with more staying power than the girls.

Click to see this bigger and to get the full impact of the wetness!

Day 2.162: Five Guys and two girls

Only two guys pictured at lunch at Five Guys:

This was Exile #4's Father's Day greeting for me (that's me at the top, my legs from the knee down stretch all the way around Exile #4 who is doing yellow jazz-hands!

And here are three of the four sides of Exile #3's card for me:

The back page was a picture of us chopping branches off the tree from Day 2.157, and jumping over waves on Day 1.197:

Happy memories for me too!

Day 2.161: Going for Goldie (and White-Tail)

Some images from Exile #3's birthday. First thing this morning E5N1 helped with the present unwrapping:

At noon the girls from her class started arriving. The rain held off until they all left (just like last year). They spent a good deal of the time outside, but (unlike last year) also retreated to Exile #3's room. I found this on the floor outside when I investigated:

(Do not come in except for party girls)

Later, the cake made a starring appearance.

After the party, we went to buy fish to put in the tank that we prepared late last night and presented to Exile #3 this morning. After looking at every type of fish, Exile #3 finally decided. "I like these ones," she said slightly sheepishly. Fair enough. They were all of 13 cents each. The aquarium and the trappings were donated by the mother of one of the birthday girl's classmates. This one is called Goldie, the other one is White-Tail. 26 cents (plus tax) well spent!

One of the party girls gave her a ribbon-on-a-stick for dancing (or rhythmic gymnastics possibly). She gave an enthusiastic, if inexpert recital for me after tea.

It's pop pun 101 for title watchers - a nod to today's celebration and where I might have liked to spend it. (I know it's been a long time since PP 100, but...) I never said never, ever - you took the words right out of my mouth.

Day 2.160: Between rock and the cards

It was Rock Band night tonight - the regulars who weren't camping in Maine were joined by these summer migrants (they spend winter weekends at a ski resort) for a fun evening. We called a halt at 11 pm to allow time for getting some jobs done ready for tomorrow's birthday and party and to allow the kids to get a decent rest - they claim to sleep through the sounds of rocking, but we're not always convinced the next day.

Kindly, when it was time to put the guitar and the microphone down, B&C offered to help and ended up putting in a good hour of cake decoration and present preparation before they finally excused themselves.

Hopefully we will manage to pull everything together tomorrow. Exile #2 is starting with a migraine this evening and we're expecting rain, so it may be an interesting challenge.

Day 2.159: As much E5 as N1

E5N1 now has a British passport to go with his U.S. one. This will make things slightly easier next time we visit - and significantly easier if employment or immigration issues force us back to the U.K. more permanently. This is his latest passport photo - fortunately they relax the prohibition on smiling for under six year-olds!

His passport application hit a back-log at the British Embassy in Washington D.C., so it has taken a while. Not that we can go anywhere at the moment, with the rest of us subject to pending visa-renewal applications.

So here he is - the newly documented British/American dual citizen - he can legally live and work (well OK, live) in any number of places in North America and Europe. Well, just look at that picture, what country could turn him away?

Day 2.158: Homecoming scenes

I never quite know what I will find waiting for me when I get home.

Yesterday it was the tree dismantling project, today it was a gift of shirts and a belt from Marshalls. On Monday however, it was this arrangement. E5N1 summoned me with the word 'drum' and then sat down with those improvised orange drum-sticks. I sat down with the other sticks and we were a very happy percussion section for a few minutes.

Day 2.157: Storm force two

Although I avoided travel disruption and we missed out on the hail that affected several areas nearby when the storms came through yesterday, just the torrential rain seems to have finally done for this apple tree that has been leaning over significantly since the ice storm back in December.

Exile #2 and Exile #3 had cut some small branches and taken them out for collection earlier in the day and since she was keen Exile #3 helped me for another shift of removing-what-we-could. Soon I will need to bring the chainsaw to bear I think.

I made a couple of time-lapse videos - they're not very good, but give an idea of our achievements in the half-an-hour or so that we were working this evening. The picture shows what's left to remove - i.e. still most of the tree!

Day 2.156: Fun and farewell

Here is a picture and a video from our rather excellent Sunday afternoon. The water was cool, but it's still the first half of June after all.

My work week started with news of the worst kind. A friend, former colleague and reader of this blog died at the weekend completely unexpectedly and far too young. One time I was in contact with him a while back he said, with characteristic candour, that I was "driving him mad with the f***ing pop puns" - sorry mate! I can hardly believe that he's gone and my heart goes out to his wife and three boys.

Early this evening a line of thunderstorms came though and deluged the area with heavy rain and hail accompanied by some impressive thunder and lightning. Fortunately as I was about to leave work to try and beat it home I remembered my own advice "Next time maybe I'll wait it out at work" and so I had a relatively uneventful end to the day - which was just fine with me.

Day 2.155: A little horse

With plans for a pool party and barbecue this afternoon, there was a temptation to have a quiet morning. We resisted it. Instead we ventured out to a local farm (mostly a pick-your-own establishment) for a local food festival. We didn't stay too long but had a wonderful time tasting (and buying) some local produce, visiting the animals in the petting zoo and the girls had two-minute pony rides which they loved:

Meanwhile, E5N1 adopted a more modern means of transport - although he was going nowhere in the sand.

We had a great day all round and I feel that this non-stop three-day weekend has made up for some of the more sedentary ones we've had recently.

Day 2.154: Swing, coat

I left the rest of the family to have a day at home to recover from the excitement of (and resulting mess from) the beach trip to go to our soon-to-be useable church facility. We painted all the walls in one large meeting space, finished off constructing some other walls, did some priming and removed a huge amount of debris. Quite satisfying, but a fairly relentless day of work.

I understand that the girls spent a good deal of the day swinging. Here is a library picture from Day 2.152 of the girls in the pyjamas testing the strength of the ground anchors. They held up fine.

Day 2.153: Rained, ate...

After yesterday turned out to be cloudy but dry - the threat of thunderstorms coming to nothing - we were concerned that invoking the rain-date for Exile #4's birthday party would have proven to be an error. Let's see...

First we packed up the car. Fortunately it was only a small party with two of Exile #4's best friends and their families joining us at the beach. It didn't look like the fixings for a small party mind you!

As we approached the park we drove up the hill into a rain cloud and it was raining steadily. After ten minutes or so it stopped raining and we ventured out.

Soon despite the lowering skies, the kids were getting into the swing of the beach-party.


Gradually the skies started to clear,

and we had a very nice time - including an encore by the birthday cupcakes and a Exile-special group-shot!

As we ready to leave, the windscreen wipers came on and reminded us of our less-than-hopeful arrival,


and before long we were on our way home with a car full of happily exhausted kids.


Success!

Day 2.152: Five take two

It was the second fifth birthday of the Exile today. Where Exile #3 went back on Day 161, Exile #4 has now followed.

The day started with pyjama-clad present opening. As ever Exile #4 seemed genuinely delighted with each thing in turn.

Then we sent them out onto the deck to discover our late-night construction - which got the reaction we were hoping for:

And then a well-it-is-your birthday dispensation to go and try it out bare-footed and night-clothed.

I spent the day at work since we have delayed our birthday day-out until tomorrow due to the weather forecast (fingers crossed we made the right call!) When I got home it was time for cake...

...and some more swinging!

Day 2.151: Alas, no magic torch!

Friend and colleague Jamie came over after work to help me construct this swing-set in time for Exile #4's birthday tomorrow. Work and the desire for a surprise meant that we didn't get started until 7 pm. We got finished at about 10.30 pm. This picture does not do justice for how dark it is in our back yard at that time of night. We did the late detailed work in the garage and only the final couple of fixings had to be done out the back in the dark.

I promised to thank him with beer - and it occurred to me that we might also get something to eat after we were done, but Exile #2 returned with Exile #3 from the school graduation ceremony some time before we were finished, so on our triumphant completion we had a weary beer in the kitchen and called it a night. I hope the kids like it!

Day 2.150: Vending taboo

Exile #2 and I went to the movie theater tonight to see Terminator Salvation. We had a great time with friends - dinner and a good film - not great but good. Plenty of action, a good story, not quite enough substance for my liking, but the special effects were very cool of course.

I spotted the traditional 'personal products' vending machine in the "men's room" - but was slightly surprised that it was stocked with candy and painkillers rather than the 'difficult-to-find item' of yesteryear - maybe they're just to easy-to-find now to make it worth stocking them here. Or maybe everyone just has a headache, or bad breath, or both.

There was one 'taboo' item however - your three quarters could buy you a pack of 'taboo tattoos'.

Youthful rebellion is not quite dead - but like Arnie it's not really the all-action hero it once was.

Day 2.149: African art

Exile #3 has been studying Africa this year. On two occasions recently we were invited to visit their classroom to see what they have been up to.

A scene involving large models of various African animals - Exile #3 made the giraffe that she is standing in front of.

We love this picture of a girl dancing.

Here is her clay model of a chimpanzee.

And finally, some African cloth - mouse-over for the original.

Tomorrow is field day and the last full day of school so all this excellent work is coming home at the moment. I'm not quite sure what we will do with it.

Day 2.148: Make me a sandwich!

We'd only just finished breakfast when Exile #4 called through to me in the next room, "Daddy, make me a sandwich!"

I was quite surprised - even more so when I saw what she meant.

Today was a quiet day at home apart from our church gathering. The last two and a half days of school are ahead, then the birthday season starts!

Day 2.147: Hold on tight!

I was lone-guardian of the kids today. After breakfast, we had decided to go to a slightly-further-away playground and I was in the process of organising brushing of teeth and finding of shoes when one of Exile #3's classmates' mothers called to offer the chance for her to go and see a movie. She was very keen (to say the least) so we dropped her off. While there I was joking that now I needed to find a way to lose the other two. All that didn't seem funny three hours later when I left Exile #4 and E5N1 out the front of the house for about a minute and returned to find no sign of them.

I'm not one to panic in these situations - I knew they couldn't be far, so I checked the front yard where they had been, the garage, the house, the back yard. OK - by this time I was starting to be a bit concerned. I checked the yard again, then went next door to ask if our next door neighbour had seen them. He went to the next house while I went back to check the house again. Still no sign. I checked the car again, the house - with much shouting and heart-pounding. By this time five neighbours from three different households were out searching. Finally I opened the boot (trunk) of the van to find E5N1 smiling at me. They had not just got in and closed the doors, but had lain down behind the middle seats so that I failed to see them when I opened the side door to look for them.

I called off the search with relief and many thanks to the neighbours. Now I know that you'd have to have pretty rotten neighbours for them not to join a search for two missing children, but we really have very good ones.

In between 'losing' Exile #3 and losing the others, the three of us had a very nice time at the park. Exile #2 is now home and all the kids are safely sleeping in their own beds.

Day 2.146: Friday Haikus #1

Very busy day.
Morning: school for show of work
Evening: great party*

Daddy is alone
Exile #2 is on retreat**
Back tomorrow night.



* How many syllables does 'evening' have for the sake of haiku writing?
** If you pronounce it "Exile number two" - sorry!

Day 2.145: Processing status

One of the things that I have discovered through my involvement with the wonderful world of Flickr is the joy of post-processing pictures. Not that I have ever been afraid to lighten up a dark picture, crop one to give it more punch or even combine a few E5N1s to torment his sister, but there are so many other possibilities.

This week, a discussion in a group dedicated to the wonderful open-source image processing program GIMP brought together a technique involving GEGL, c2g and a color-mode layer (would you believe?). Anyway, it sounds strange, and sometimes looks pretty weird too, but here are two of my creations using it that I actually quite like (in a not-very-subtle sort of way).

Process and status - I pronounce then Pr-oh-cess and State-us, much as I try to use US pronunciation and spelling at work, changing these words remains hard to pross-'S'. The effect of this has been for the UK forms to find a foothold with at least one of my US colleagues - those particular ones just don't come up enough in 'normal' conversation to fight the infection I suppose.

Day 2.144: Let me see that!

Last night's bedtime story. E5N1 oscillates from finding a book, or frankly anything, to use as a drum and diving head-first into whatever story the girls are enjoying - a shame he's so literal about it at times.

Exile #3 has been back at school today. Hopefully she can make it to the end of the school year without missing any more days. Unbelievably, that only involves her staying well for a week!

Day 2.143: Careful now!

Exile #3 was off school again today but seemed almost entirely well by the end of the day, so we're hopeful that she can get back to normal tomorrow.

Just over a week ago E5N1 (pre-haircut) had a lot of fun dropping shells into this bucket - but were we being bad parents by letting him near it?

A closer look at the side of the bucket suggests that we probably were:

I'm not convinced that the picture is very convincing at communicating the message "Children can fall into bucket and drown" - there's no way that child is going to get wet. In any case E5N1 survived the experience unharmed (in case you were concerned).

While we're talking about warning signs, today at lunchtime regular contributor locals grinned pointed out that there was something fishy (or should I say cheesy) about the vegan wrap at lunchtime (thanks locals!).

If you're wondering about the title I was thinking about this (Viewer Discretion is Advised!) "Father Ted: Down with this sort of thing!".

Day 2.142: Struggle

Today has been slightly difficult - Exile #3 has been off-school and significantly unwell - the picture of her doing very careful colouring is from yesterday. Exile #2 has been coping with looking after her and with a healthy E5N1 whilst wrestling with a migraine. I was at work explaining why my travel plans were curtailed and trying to stay awake and be productive after only getting about five hours of sleep last night.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a step forward again.