Archive for April, 2012

Yeow!

Posted on April 30th, 2012 by Tonia 4 Comments


The first week of “Oklahoma!” performances is over, and they have been going really well! It’s a thrill to be up there in front of an audience and hear them laughing at our jokes. Bringing joy to people makes all the hard work worth it.

Performing every night is really exhausting, so I am grateful for the two days of rest we get now before the second week of performances. I’m catching up on sleep and giving my husband and our animals extra attention. They’ve all been really good sports while I’ve been off on this time-and-energy-consuming adventure.

I’m so grateful for the chance to do something outside my comfort zone like this…it feels good to face a fear and conquer it. A huge thank-you to the friends and family who have come to see the play- it means a lot to have you guys out there in the audience!!

Here’s to a successful second week!

Thanks to Bemused Design & Photography for taking these photos at our dress rehearsal!

Reuse Tues: Caine’s Arcade

Posted on April 24th, 2012 by Tonia 5 Comments

Lately around here we’ve been putting old cardboard boxes to use as starter homes for our baby chickens and turkeys. But the little feller in this video does something WAY cooler with them:

Caine’s Arcade from Nirvan Mullick on Vimeo.

I want a Fun Pass!

Raising Backyard Chickens: The First Week

Posted on April 24th, 2012 by Tonia 5 Comments

These are the “baby pictures” I took of our chickies on the day they arrived in the mail. They made quick work of drinking their fill of water and then hunkering down under the hot bulb as soon as I introduced them to their new home.

A week later, they’re twice as big, ten times more lively, and still just as cute. In addition to their regular chick feed, they love a treat of cooked quinoa mixed with a little bit of plain yogurt {thanks to my friend Jen for showing me this yummy and nutritious snack for my babies!}

The meat birds {the light yellow ones} are really starting to surpass the others in size. We may have to separate them soon, so they don’t keep our layers from getting enough to eat.

Mike spent the weekend building the chickens and turkeys new, bigger, fancier homes. I can’t believe how fast they outgrew their cardboard boxes! The new digs have nice chicken-wire tops that lift off so I can feed and water them easily.

The turkeys like to fly out as soon as I open it, because they get all excited when they see me. They may be teenagers now, but they still love their mama. 😉

For Best Results, Water Daily.

Posted on April 19th, 2012 by Tonia 1 Comment

One time {ONE TIME!} I accidentally didn’t water Mike’s precious little exotic plants {olive trees, baobab trees, and a redwood tree} that he so bravely tried to grow on our chilly bedroom window sill. He was out of town on a business trip and left me with strict instructions to not let those plants die.

Well, they died. {It was definitively my fault and had nothing to do with the fact that they were Mediterranean plants trying to stay alive in NORTHERN WISCONSIN. In the middle of winter. With aprox. 2 hours of daylight. Definitely my fault.}

And now every time Mike leaves on trips, he gets a hernia because he thinks I’m going to burn the house down or forget to feed the dogs or survive on nothing but cereal and re-runs of Jersey Shore the whole time he’s gone…..wait, that last one is actually what I do do.

But not this time! Mike’s in sunny San Fran, and I am doing a ridiculously awesome job of holding down the fort. The pig and I are BFFs now because she realized I’m really good at back-scratches, the chickens are scurrying around in their box happily, the turkeys and I snuggle on the couch sometimes, and the seed-starts that Mike planted right before he left are SUPER ALIVE:

So, honey, if you’re reading this, everything here is fine. And I sure hope you’re bringing home goodies from Tartine