I Wanna Go Back Outside...But There's a Skunk Out There!

Yes, we're aware that there hasn't been a new post for a couple of weeks. No, we're not sorry.

It's summer in Northern Vermont, and that means that it is the season to spend as much time outdoors as possible. Winter is coming - must enjoy the warm weather NOW! Unfortunately, NorthernBaby must be updated every once in a while, and today it is time to be chained to the computer.....(and there's a skunk in the back yard right now, so....)

NorthernToddler addresses the ball as the gallery falls silent...all he needs is one short chip shot to the green......he decides that his normal club has too much flex in the shaft for how he wants to play this shot, and calls for the "big gun" from his caddie....


NorthernToddler got to experience "Fluff" for the first time this weekend. We were visiting relatives, and someone decided that lunch should consist of a Fluffernutter. Readers not residing in the Northeast might be scratching their heads and asking, "What's a Fluffernutter?" Well, a Fluffernutter is a sandwich made of two slices of bread, peanut butter, and Marshmallow Fluff. Now, those same readers are asking,"What's Marshmallow Fluff?...and what's with this guy writing about all these foreign things?!" To enlighten you, Marshmallow Fluff is a sticky white spread made with corn syrup, sugar syrup, vanilla flavoring, and egg whites. It tastes like a super-sweet marshmallow paste. Or sh**, if you don't particularly like it. Guess which camp NorthernDaddy is in?

NorthernMommy made up a Fluffernotwortheatingnutter sandwich and served it to NorthernToddler, who was anxiously awaiting his lunch. Two bites later, he appeared to be in a junk-food-induced coma. See photo below. Droopy eyes, nodding head, looking like he's ready to hurl....yup - that's what we want to feed our young boy! (Bad Parenting Skills 101 taught this week by NorthernMommy and Cousin Linda!)

Voted "Best Use of a Canoe 2010"

All recovered from his FlufferDiaperStuffer sandwich, NorthernToddler and Daddy hang out on the porch of the beautiful Smith camp. (How come NorthernToddler is always better-dressed than Daddy?!)

Step back and let me cut loose on the dance floor!

NorthernDaddy truly wishes that he could dance as well as his two-year-old son. That boy's got the moves, the care-free attitude to not care what others think, and the cute boyish charm to pull all the girls onto the dance floor. Come to think of it, NorthernDaddy has that charm thing going, just have to work on the not dancing like a dying fish thing!



Beads. 'Nuff said.

Just the Rabbit, Chickens, and Me

It's a busy time of year for NorthernToddler - he hasn't been home very much. First a week at Grammy's (Northeast Kingdom), then some camping, then off to Grandma's (Northern Virginia). Other than the camping, NorthernDaddy has only had a few short hours with NorthernToddler and NorthernMommy.

Here are two photos from the camping: NorthernToddler fishing (he actually catches real fish, too!) and enjoying a snack (notice the "huh? Why are you interrupting me?" look!)

After the weekend camping, it was back to Grammy's house for NorthernMommy and Toddler. NorthernDaddy went back to the daily work grind. (A fun grind it is - bossman laid some really freaky/deep work news on NorthernDaddy, and he can't talk about it to anyone - not NorthernMommy, not even co-workers. Can you say, "I need a beer?!)

NorthernMommy and Toddler made it home on Wednesday night for a 'pit stop'. Just enough time to wash clothes and repack before leaving Friday morning. Oh, yeah - the NorthernBaby Adventuremobile needed servicing. Front brake pads - the rears were done the week before, but the fronts required a tool that NorthernDaddy didn't have. Grandpa Peter sent over the tool that we thought was the right one, but it wasn't. NorthernDaddy has more than 65 hex wrenches of varying sizes, but none bigger than 7mm. Grandpa Peter's handle had sizes 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10mm. Which one's not in that set? Guess who made a late-night dash to the hardware store to buy the only 9mm hex wrench in the Burlington area instead of cuddling with his pretty wife? That's right - instead of snuggling with NorthernMommy after her being gone for a week, NorthernDaddy was up until 11 pm swapping brake pads. (The original title for the post NorthernDaddy was going to write was 'Love, Hate, and a 9mm'. It was going to be a great post ranting about automotive engineers and their choices of obscure tools for essential maintenance tasks. It's probably better that the post was never written....)

So, with NorthernToddler and Mommy down in the South, what has NorthernDaddy been doing? The answer is DiddleySquat. Lounging in a chair on the patio drinking ice-cold lemonade. (Envious? Come on over and join him!)

Actually, there have been a few little things that NorthernDaddy has fixed around the house - little things that have annoyed him for a year or two...

Rebuilt the entry steps. SouthernUncleJeremy (how's that for a name?! Can't wait to hear NorthernToddler try and say that!) had restacked the blocks leading to the mudroom way back when we moved into the house - and did a stellar job considering the materials he had to work with! The only problem was that over time, the steps started to rock back and forth, and the top slab would slide several inches every day. NorthernDaddy got tired of that on Saturday and ran up to Jerihill to pick up some cement blocks. In the ever-awesome POS Prizm. The kid helping load the blocks was worried about getting the carpet in the trunk dirty - NorthernDaddy doesn't care about the carpet - what about the bumper dragging on the ground?! Ten cement blocks don't weigh that much until you put them into the trunk of a tired old car; the drive home was like piloting a fully loaded river barge. Then, once home, there was the job of making the blocks perfectly level and the right height. Finally, the steps are in place and not the slightest bit wobbly. Not bad for an investment of $20 in cement block.



Next up is the rain barrel. NorthernDaddy decided to empty the barrel and raise it up onto some blocks. When he emptied it, he found the overflow hose and fitting that has been sitting in it for the year-and-a-half that the barrel has been in use at the house. NorthernMommy didn't say anything about a hose being inside when she brought this thing home - it was just sitting there for NorthernDaddy to hook up to the gutter. Which he did. When the barrel started to overflow, he constructed a drain hose. When the barrel continued to overflow out of a big ol' hole near the drain hose, he made a note on the job list to plug the big hole. Imagine NorthernDaddy's surprise when inside the barrel a year later he found a 2" hose and elbow that fit that big ol' hole perfectly! Kick in the head, it is....

NorthernDaddy took three hours out of his relaxing Saturday afternoon to figure out why the riding mower was cutting weird patterns in the grass. Look at the photo below and see if you can figure it out. The blade on the right is off the parts tractor (what? You don't have a parts tractor at your house?!) and only has about fifteen hours of use. The one on the left is the one mucking up the lawn. It's all chewed up and about as sharp as your pinkie. The blades off the parts tractor are now sharpened and on the working mower. Of course, it only took three hours of struggling with rusty bolts (and breaking out the angle grinder) to swap them. One of NorthernDaddy's big financial goals (besides buying an old truck) is having a riding lawn mower that turns well, is fairly quiet, and DOESN'T NEED TO BE WORKED ON EVERY TIME THE LAWN GETS MOWED!

NorthernMommy - here is the garden in bloom that you are missing.

Last job for the weekend was putting a sloped roof on the nesting boxes to keep the chickens from roosting on top and spreading droppings all over the nests. It was a quick job of screwing a piece of plywood in place. Hinged for easy access for cleaning and egg collection. The string above is to keep the chickens from roosting on that plywood edge.

When NorthernDaddy went out to close the coop up for the night, he found two chickens tangled up in the string, one desperately trying to cling to a precarious roost on the angled plywood, and one chicken AWOL. Okay....cut the string and free the two birds, talk the one off of his little ski jump, and search for bird number four. Not in another corner of the coop...not in the run....chicken number four was found roosting on the top of the piece of plywood dividing the two nests - under the sloping top. There's only about four inches of room there, and that dumb chicken was hunched down and ducking her head to roost in there.