My son wants a longer lens for the camera

This snake doesn't have an egg shoved in his mouth and I didn't crop it at all. Though he appears and my son confirms that this is, as he put it, "just a king snake," I'm thinking if I have to upload another 36 pictures of a snake's eye, tongue, and scales that I will need to buy the child the telephoto macro lens he wants to keep him from lying right on top of a bunch of snakes to get, as he puts it, "a decent shot."

I have reminded him that he doesn't work for National Geographic. I also suggested that birds and farm animals are good specimens for pictures, but no. He likes snakes, and he loves the swamp, so I try to remind him of snake safety daily, make sure he has all the books on snakes that he needs to be informed, and try not to get in his way as he wanders past the pines to the swamp looking for four of the six poisonous snakes in Mississippi. The fifth Mississippi poisonous snake, the coral snake, is found south of Hattiesburg only, so I don't have to worry about that elusive snake (at least until he gets his driving license).

I want to encourage his hobbies and interests, but getting close enough to snakes to look into their eyes is a lot to ask of a mom.

Of course, his pictures make my blog more interesting.

We've Eaten Our Vegetables . . .

May we have some dessert?

During the busy months of Summer, quick vegetable based meals reign. Thursday night we had green beans, corn, and cornbread. Friday at lunch we had pasta with sauteed zucchini and Parmesan. After that my meat loving husband said, "I'm starving. When are we going to have a full meal?" We finally had what he deems a full meal last night - Chicken, grilled over a pecan wood fire (we have lots of pecan left from Katrina), baked sweet potatoes, steamed sugar snap peas, and banana pudding.

Banana pudding is a child friendly recipe. Slicing bananas, layering bananas and cookies, and beating egg whites for the meringue can all be done by even the youngest children while you make sure you don't scorch the custard. My children love kitchen duty, especially when the duty involves dessert preparation.

Banana Pudding

1 cup Sugar
¼ cup Flour
1 pinch Salt
4 cup Milk
8 ea Egg Yolks
1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
12 oz Vanilla Wafers (we used Country Choice Organic)
8 ea Banana -- sliced
8 ea Egg Whites
2 tbsp Sugar

Custard - Mix together 1 cup sugar, flour, and salt. Pour milk into a heavy saucepan and add the flour mixture. Heat. Beat the egg yolks. Pour some of the warm milk mixture into the egg yolks and beat briefly. Then, add the egg yolk mixture to the base mixture. Bring slowly to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly and cook slowly until just thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Be careful that the custard doesn't scorch. Add vanilla, remove from heat.

Combination - Line bottom and sides of an oven proof dish with vanilla wafers. Layer banana slices and wafers until all are gone. Pour in custard.

Meringue - Preheat oven to 375. Beat egg whites until soft peaks. Add 2 tbsp sugar and beat to stiff peaks. Spread meringue over top of pudding. Bake until browned (about 15 minutes).

BTW, I didn't add food coloring or enhance the image. My eggs are just that yellow.

What Can You Do To Make A Ten Year Old Boy Supremely Happy?

Give him a flame thrower and let him burn the Bermuda grass out of your garden. You would have never known the job was classified work. The process will have to be repeated a few times before the main garden is planted and he is excited to help. We need more jobs like this.

While Pink Panther torched everything that wasn't too wet to burn, Princess and I cleaned the asparagus beds and got them ready for production. We found a few asparagus tips peeping. How exciting!!!! The temps are supposed to dip to 20 tonight. I hope they don't get nipped.

Nighttime Pacing

Last night Pink Panther went on a Boy Scout bowling outing. They left at 6 p.m. The bowling alley is about an hour away so add in a couple of hours travel. They went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant before bowling so add in another hour or two. Bowling should take a couple of hours.

At 1 a.m. I started pacing the floor. At 2 a.m. I gave up any attempt at being a cool mother (I didn't care whether Pink Panther was embarrassed) and had my husband call the Scout leader to ask him what was going on. At 3 a.m. my 10 year old son came slouching home. Obviously, there was a miscommunication about the outing or things just took longer than expected. I don't know.

What I do know is that I need a non-thinking hobby for time spent waiting, worrying, and trying not to embarrass my son. I tried to read, but I read the same page three times and still hadn't a clue what was said. I piddled on the computer, but news feeds are not calming. I need something productive and quite (so I don't keep everyone else awake). My mother suggested sewing. Perhaps she is right. I could have sewn the curtains for my bedroom and office that have been on the back burner for the two years we have lived in this house. Of course, I would have to plan so I would have fabric, thread, and other necessities on hand.

Any suggestions?

Fishing

Yesterday afternoon was a wonderful high blue sky day with temperatures in the lower 80s. I was tied to my computer, but the children decided to go fishing in the neighbor's pond. I wasn't monitoring them closely because they wouldn't have to leave our property until they crossed the fence to get to the pond. I'm not great estimating distances, but I suppose they were only 1/2 a mile away.

After they had been gone a couple of hours Princess comes huffing into the office telling me to get the car. She says that she is "stressed out" and that Pink Panther is too and I need to go get him in the van. When I walked outside I saw that she had been pulling the wagon loaded with every imaginable fishing tool, including a hammer (what was that for). I made some comment about how children should be able to walk a couple of miles even if it is up and down hills and then asked what had stressed Pink Panther so badly that I had to retrieve him.

I got into the van as I was directed and when I got over the hill, I understood fully. The wagon load of stuff Princess brought home was only a fraction of the fishing stuff they carried with them. There were two folding chairs (not the kind in the neat little satchels), another tackle box (huge), three rods, one super long brim master pole, a container of bait, and some other stuff. Pink Panther opened the door of the van and said the obvious, "I think we carried too much stuff. I'm sorry you had to interupt work."

I asked the not so obvious, "How did you get all this stuff here?"
"We had it lashed to the wagon," he said.
"Why didn't you lash it back to the wagon?"
"It wouldn't fit. Princess was too tired. She rode down the hills in the wagon so she could make it home."
"Oh! Make sure you put your daddy's fishing stuff away before he comes home."

Lest you think I was planning to keep the use of his fishing stuff secret, I told my hubby the story when he got home. He said to Pink Panther, "You probably didn't need the hammer." Then he looked at me, smiled, and said, "I guess he takes after me." Hubby and I are complete opposites in packing. I am a minimalist while he wants to be prepared. We have been playing a packing tug of war for twenty years. He has now recruited someone to his end of the rope.

When Words Get Away from You

I have never talked to my children with "children's words." As a result of my inability to verbally meet my children at their level, they possess many words. Possessing words does not necessarily mean you are the master of the words. Frequently, I will hear one or the other child using a word in a bizarre manner and I will ask her/him what the word means. Sometimes she will answer appropriately, but many times she will say she doesn't know. I have warned them not to publicly use words for which they are not sure of the meaning. Speak freely at home, but leave your budding vocabulary at home lest you offend someone.

Today, Princess came running into my office for the exact definition of pathetic. Pink Panther had questioned her use of the phrase, "Pathetic excuse of a life," as it related to a pile of sand. At first, I didn't understand her usage but while I was trying not to laugh at her creative use of words I realized she was right on target. The sand pile is in the yard because we are having some brick/tile work done and the bricklayers are using the sand to make mortar. The children played in the sand so much that once the bricklayers arrived we had to buy more sand. The children have been playing in the sand this afternoon and the life of that sand pile is doomed to pathetic shortness. We will have to buy more sand Monday, but I am laughing!

Pathetic -- arousing pity; informal miserably inadequate

Competition for paying chores

My children have been competing for some of the paying chores lately. A few weeks ago, I jokingly suggested that Princess would get fired from egg collection duty if she kept forgetting to collect and kept missing eggs that were in the hutch but not in the boxes. From that point on, every task with money(we are talking very small money) involved has been up for grabs. The competition seems to make them a bit more excited about doing a good job, but that was never my intention.

I always imagine a completely cooperative environment where everyone is helping, not because of money, but for the good of the family. The children have been saving money for their father's birthday and Christmas, so lately the competition is high. Today it ended in waste.

Pink Panther went to shovel out and put new shavings in the chicken coop. When he started working two hens who have been sitting for almost a week left their nests. Pink Panther grabbed all the eggs and came running into the house screaming fire Princess, fire Princess. He had so many eggs I realized what had happened and I screeched, "Go put those eggs back." So far, only one hen has returned to her nest. We can't eat that dozen eggs because they have been incubated, and since it is cool today the embryos will be wasted if broody doesn't show up in a few minutes.

Never a dull moment here!

The Swagger and Bravado versus Reality

Last night, Pink Panther had a friend spend the night. I listened to much talk that can be expected of 10 year old boys who are trying to impress one another. I could barely keep a straight face as each boy told story after story full of danger, injuries, and bravado. I fully expected that one or the other would pull out an ID card and say, "I am John Wayne." Maybe not, but you get the picture.

I left them alone as much as I could safely do. But at 3 a.m. I heard the screen door slam and felt the need to investigate. They, who had yet to sleep, said, "We had to go to the bathroom." "We don't have an outhouse and our inside plumbing is working," I said. I also reminded them that the friend's mother would be here at nine a.m. to pick them up for Country Day and that perhaps they needed to think about sleeping. Pink Panther said, "I don't need sleep." The friend said, "I'm not sleepy." Completely ignoring my suggestion and sanity, they continued their project. Swagger.

At 5:30 I got up to feed the cats (so the older chickens don't eat the cat food), then got back in bed. A few minutes later, I heard the screen door slam. They were going out to explore. I got them to feed the young chickens and got back in bed. They were back at the house by 6:15. They said they were hungry, but I knew they just didn't have the strength to walk to the spring stream after staying up all night. I made flap jacks and bacon for breakfast since I was feeding cowboys. They ate and talked about their night. The friend, apparently, fell asleep for a few hours. Pink Panther did not and he was proud of it. He said he wasn't tired and was ready to go to Country Day. Being an expert in all nighters, I tried to talk him out of it because I knew the crash would come while he was at the festival. "Naw momma, I'm not tired." Bravado.

He and his friend sat down at the computer to play Crazy Machines. A few minutes later, I went to the living room to put things back in order. Pink Panther was asleep on the sofa. Shortly afterwards, the friend's mother arrived and I tried to wake him. He couldn't even sit. He hasn't budged in 3 hours. Reality.

I'm Sorry!

I have not been able to post or even access blogger all day. I'm not sure if it was blogger or my service provider. I have a great post, but I need sleep. I will catch up with everyone in the morning.

BTW, The Pink Panther is fine. He has a black place on his arm but it is not deep or infected. I honestly think the old remedy of applying a paste of meat tenderizer brought the poison to the surface before it had a chance to do much damage. I believe in an early response with meat tenderizer for all insect bites. This time it helped.

Spiders

Today, one of my natural insect control bit the wrong thing. I had to send The Pink Panther for a break while helping Princess with a troubling bit of school. He went out and started playing in a pile of ancient bricks we have been saving for a project. He was bitten by a poisonous spider. We assume it was a black widow, but he didn't see it and we can't find it.

I called him back to school. He came in and started complaining about his arm hurting. I looked and saw what looked like a wasp sting only larger with two marks. I got the beef tenderizer out and made a paste and applied it. I still didn't realize it was a spider. He, then, started saying he didn't feel well. He was light headed and nauseated. I started to realize what was going on and went for the Benydrl. By the time I got back with it his small spot was a blister. I spooned in a mega serving of Benydrl and went for the phone.

By the time I had warned the doctor we were on our way, Pink Panther was feeling better. It's a long way to the doctor, so regardless of how he was feeling at that moment we were going. We drove an hour and fifteen minutes. Our wonderful older doctor said that this was the first real spider bite he had seen. He said many people walk in with a suspected bite, but none were the real McCoy. He also said that unless Pink Panther had a life threatening reaction, which he has not, the anti-venom is too dangerous since it is a product using horse antibodies. He also said that no one dies of spider bites unless there are other extenuating circumstances.

The Pink Panther has an amazing immune system. He reacts to little. Now that the sun has gone down and the doctor is miles away, his stomach is cramping and his arm is stiffening. I am just a little nervous even though the doctor assured us that if a serious reaction was going to occur it would have started. Stomach cramping and the wilting skin is scary enough.

Legs in the Window

Yesterday, I was cleaning the disaster left by our first week of school. I vow to have a dedicated school room by next year. Our hub of school activity is the kitchen table. While that seems so cozy, it is also so messy. Even with my new under counter organization system, there are piles of stuff and the microscope, slides, samples and . . . . Imagine the worst, then triple it. Anyway, I know you are wondering, "What does the messy kitchen table have to do with legs in the window?"

When I was trying to find a permanent solution to the messy kitchen table and countertops, I kept seeing Princess's feet appear through the window in the kitchen door. She was in the dog trot practicing handstands and standing on her head. I could only see her legs and feet as they wobbled, found their center, and then either crashed to the doors she was using as a safety net or to the floor. Seeing the feet pop in and out of the window made me smile. I thought they might make you smile, too!