Live Free

swapping, hatching, and the daffodils look lovely today

on saturday morning i took my little box of swap goodies to the post office to mail to my swap partner. i sent her a jar of body butter, salsa, a bar of lavender soap, a paper star, two beeswax candles, and a jar of peach preserves.  the postman said she would receive the package today. i hope she likes everything!  

in other news, three weeks ago, our extension agency delivered an incubator and a dozen of eggs to hatch. well, last year i tried this project twice with no luck at all. so, this year, i gladly took the project on, but kept my guard up on it actually being a success. i kept the temperature steady by placing large stones in the incubator to help hold the heat at a consistent temperature, and i kept wet sponges and a wet cloth to help hold the humidity around 60%. i turned the eggs three times a day (and did not let little hands do it, unlike last year).  but still, i was skeptical the whole entire time. well, as unattached as i was to the eggs hatching, we woke up this morning to an incubator of cheeping eggs! 

our original plan of taking a field trip to the natural history museum was chucked in favor of inviting our school friends over to watch with awe these little feathered friends peck their way out of their shells. they hung around until lunchtime with no actual witnessing of the hatch.  but soon after everyone went home, our first chick hatched. the others are still working on it. it's so cute. bea has named the first chick julie. julie cheeps loudly when we walk away from the incubator. i think bea and i have imprinted on her! 

and...daffodils are blooming. i have just a few planted around a tree on the corner of our lot. daffodils make me so happy. they last for what seems just a few hours here in texas before they wilt away in the heat. but still, they are just pure gorgeousness in the meantime. 

and that's a wrap for this monday. pretty exciting. between all of this happy stuff, we squeezed in a vet visit for pebbles (altercation with a racoon last week), and dealt with some very strong emotions. 

xo,

nichole

Beatrix and Pebbles

Hi there! 

Well...I took a little respite for a couple of weeks there. I have to say, I enjoyed it. It was only this evening that I thought that I kind of missed writing here. So I'm giving it a go.

It's always hard to jump in again after I've been away for awhile. I want to tell you everything that we've been up to, but then I realize that a post filling in on the absence would be way to tedious for my distracted mine and totally boring for whoever still reads this thing!  

Summer is so good. Very hot. As usual. But I love these months with just my girl!  What an exuberant, funny, creative, silly kid she is. These weeks are so free and relaxed. Days of swimming, trips to the library, snuggles in bed while reading books, books, and more books, playdates with friends, and just the normal day to day house chores and whatnot. It's a great respite to just be mama for a bit. 

In other (exciting) news, if you follow me on Instagram or are friends with me on FB, you might have already figured this one out, but we adopted a shelter kitty a couple of weeks ago. We had been contemplating this one for awhile. We frequently visit the animal shelter - it is walking distance to our house. Beatrix adores visiting and giving rubs to all of the cats and dogs. She definitely wants to work at the shelter "at least one day a week" when she grows up. So, as I was saying, we stopped by one day on our way to the pool and the place was just overflowing with young kitties. That morning, we held and admired so many kitties. There were so many extroverted and very forward kitties, pushing there way through the others and meowing ferverently. But, in the kitty apartment (which is one whole bedroom size room with several kittens playing freely) there sat a quiet, little gray one, perched midway on the kitten tower. Sitting pretty. Keeping to herself. Not saying a word to draw attention. Bea went straight to her and declared that she was the one. Pebbles was her name. 

We took Pebbles home and she and Bea have been absolutely inseparable. She lets Bea hold her like a baby for v.e.r.y. long stretches of time. Bea rocks her and sings to her and tries to micro-manage her for sure! Pebbles and Bea make the perfect pair. Pebbles is so relaxed and laid back and Bea, well, is NOT!! But what she is, is so very sweet to her. Bea is in 100% kitty mama mode constantly reassuring Pebbles that everything is going to be just fine. That she's safe and loved. And "Pebbles you are just soooo cccuuuttteee!" 

Blackie, our 9 year old cat, is going through an adjustment and learning to share his home and his caregivers with Pebbles. Poor guy. I don't know if he misses the constant bombardment of Bea or is relieved that there is someone cuter and tinier to distract Bea from him. There's enough love for everyone, I say. 

So, there it is, a new chapter. Our four year old has a kitty of her own. Pebbles and Beatrix. I foresee a long and endearing story about these two special creatures.