Wild Estes Park Colorado {Silent Sunday}

1) Bouldering in an Estes Park City Park  2) Face painting at Highland Farmers Market in Denver 3) Market sign at Highland Farmers Market 4) Lil collecting hail in one of three hail storms 5) Wildflowers in Estes Park (We later learned that the pink thistle is invasive.) 6) Alex throwing a snowball in Rocky Mountain National Park  7) Kite flying 8) Scene from our miniature movie inspired by the tiny wild succulent and cactus garden. 9) Elk in Rocky Mountain National Park 10) Stunning view walking into Estes Park Farmers Market 11) Spirit Hound Distillers menu 12) Lyon's Pinball arcade 13) Stream walking at Rocky Mountain National Park 14) Wild parsnip and pollinators at  Rocky Mountain National Park

There's a story behind each of these images - which do you want to read?

Wild Estes Park Colorado {Silent Sunday}

1) Bouldering in an Estes Park City Park  2) Face painting at Highland Farmers Market in Denver 3) Market sign at Highland Farmers Market 4) Lil collecting hail in one of three hail storms 5) Wildflowers in Estes Park (We later learned that the pink thistle is invasive.) 6) Alex throwing a snowball in Rocky Mountain National Park  7) Kite flying 8) Scene from our miniature movie inspired by the tiny wild succulent and cactus garden. 9) Elk in Rocky Mountain National Park 10) Stunning view walking into Estes Park Farmers Market 11) Spirit Hound Distillers menu 12) Lyon's Pinball arcade 13) Stream walking at Rocky Mountain National Park 14) Wild parsnip and pollinators at  Rocky Mountain National Park

There's a story behind each of these images - which do you want to read?

The Cost Of Freedom

Find the cost of freedom,

I mentioned that we recently switched our chickens from a small yard to a much larger pasture system. We loved giving our girls more space to forage and rotating them to a new area when one was hen pecked. They seemed healthier for having the freedom to roam around.

Buried in the ground,

But last Wednesday, we experienced the devastating cost of such independence. A quick and thorough predator slaughtered our entire flock save one hen hidden in the nest box.

The attack happened just after I let the birds out in the morning, a time I've never been worried about predators. The culprit, likely a fox or family of hawks, only took two bodies to presumably eat. When I returned to the yard to feed kitchen scraps, I found fourteen dead or dying bodies scattered like a crime scene.

Mother Earth will swallow you,

My heart raced, momentarily unable to believe my eyes. I didn't know what to do next. No one does in the face of such devastation.

In the end, with the advice and assistance of many friends, we buried the bodies. Our sweet rooster Shakleton, who by the dispersal of feathers clearly fought the predator, lived another eight hours but ultimately succumbed to unknown internal injuries. We buried him as well.

Lay your body down.

As overwhelming as losing the entire flock was, we have always been aware of the possibility of predator attacks. Foxes, raccoons, and hawks all frequent our property. The only way to truly protect chickens would be to confine them completely and that's not the way we wish to raise livestock. So we submit to the occasional interruption of natural predator and prey behavior.

A whole-flock loss, however, especially when the birds weren't even consumed, cannot happen again. We extended fencing on the run to make it a little harder for predators to climb and rehung buntings to deter hawks. We will add geese to the group because they will alert and possibly fight off small predators. And when we return from summer vacation, we'll adopt a dog to help guard the livestock. We're already rebuilding the flock with some chicks raised by our neighbor.

Grief over losing so many favorite birds, including our last remaining chicken from our very first group of hens, ebbs and flows but is generally abating. What still brings tears to my eyes is the outpouring of support. A half dozen friends showed up to help on the day of the slaughter and many more offered their assistance. Hundreds of friends spoke or wrote words of sympathy via social media, at the farmers market, and at our OEFFA tour. We are humbled by the number of people who encourage us.

NB. The interspersed lyrics are from the song 'Find the Cost of Freedom' recorded in 1971 by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. Listen to a live 1971 recording re-released last year. I fully realize that writer Stephen Stills was likely expressing a reaction to the tragic losses in the Vietnam War and a few chickens is no comparison to those events. My father's band sings 'Find the Cost of Freedom' at the end of each performance. Practicing and performing small gigs since I was young, their rendition of this song has helped ground me through losses my entire adulthood, and the lyrics ran through my head for days last week.

The Cost Of Freedom

Find the cost of freedom,

I mentioned that we recently switched our chickens from a small yard to a much larger pasture system. We loved giving our girls more space to forage and rotating them to a new area when one was hen pecked. They seemed healthier for having the freedom to roam around.

Buried in the ground,

But last Wednesday, we experienced the devastating cost of such independence. A quick and thorough predator slaughtered our entire flock save one hen hidden in the nest box.

The attack happened just after I let the birds out in the morning, a time I've never been worried about predators. The culprit, likely a fox or family of hawks, only took two bodies to presumably eat. When I returned to the yard to feed kitchen scraps, I found fourteen dead or dying bodies scattered like a crime scene.

Mother Earth will swallow you,

My heart raced, momentarily unable to believe my eyes. I didn't know what to do next. No one does in the face of such devastation.

In the end, with the advice and assistance of many friends, we buried the bodies. Our sweet rooster Shakleton, who by the dispersal of feathers clearly fought the predator, lived another eight hours but ultimately succumbed to unknown internal injuries. We buried him as well.

Lay your body down.

As overwhelming as losing the entire flock was, we have always been aware of the possibility of predator attacks. Foxes, raccoons, and hawks all frequent our property. The only way to truly protect chickens would be to confine them completely and that's not the way we wish to raise livestock. So we submit to the occasional interruption of natural predator and prey behavior.

A whole-flock loss, however, especially when the birds weren't even consumed, cannot happen again. We extended fencing on the run to make it a little harder for predators to climb and rehung buntings to deter hawks. We will add geese to the group because they will alert and possibly fight off small predators. And when we return from summer vacation, we'll adopt a dog to help guard the livestock. We're already rebuilding the flock with some chicks raised by our neighbor.

Grief over losing so many favorite birds, including our last remaining chicken from our very first group of hens, ebbs and flows but is generally abating. What still brings tears to my eyes is the outpouring of support. A half dozen friends showed up to help on the day of the slaughter and many more offered their assistance. Hundreds of friends spoke or wrote words of sympathy via social media, at the farmers market, and at our OEFFA tour. We are humbled by the number of people who encourage us.

NB. The interspersed lyrics are from the song 'Find the Cost of Freedom' recorded in 1971 by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. Listen to a live 1971 recording re-released last year. I fully realize that writer Stephen Stills was likely expressing a reaction to the tragic losses in the Vietnam War and a few chickens is no comparison to those events. My father's band sings 'Find the Cost of Freedom' at the end of each performance. Practicing and performing small gigs since I was young, their rendition of this song has helped ground me through losses my entire adulthood, and the lyrics ran through my head for days last week.

Billy Ireland Cartoon Museum

On a chilly day in the middle of our kitchen remodel, Lil and I took a break to visit the new Billy Ireland Cartoon Museum at the Ohio State University. Leonard, the DIY whiz, and our friends Kate and Darren came along.

The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library, held at OSU since 1977, is the world's largest collection of American cartoon art. The museum, opened in late fall 2013, now makes parts of the collection available in well-curated displays to the public.

I'm picky about museums - high school career tests always said I should be a librarian or museum curator - because I want the experience to be as high quality as the content. The Cartoon Museum succeeds at both. It's a small space of three open galleries that held the attention of our group of folks ages 5 to 65.

To make best use of the display area, and perhaps to give children something physical to do, the Walker Gallery contained many originals in drawers and poster doors that could be pulled out and discovered by the museum goer. No afficianado myself, I still appreciated the breadth and depth of the collections. I could find an original of every comic I've ever heard of and discovered many more new to me.

Through August, the museum is exhibiting a portion of Bill Watterson's series of work highlighting Calvin and Hobbes, the clever and smart comic about a boy and his stuffed imaginary friend tiger companion. Throughout the gallery you could hear giggles and growls as children and adults read originals. The exhibit included displays about how Watterson created the comics, his influences, and favorite tools.

I'm thrilled to find comics and graphic novels experiencing a resurgence these days. Once classified as daily newspaper amusement, cartoons are now being given their due as a valid form of intellectual commentary, art, and story telling. Cartoons and graphic novels help teach Lil to read and think in an engaging format. If you are new to family-friendly graphic novels, I recommend starting with the epic quest tale Bone by Ohio-writer Jeff Smith and the Olympians series by George O'Connor.

Guests can browse the Billy Ireland Cartoon Museum galleries in 60-90 minutes. Admission is free and parking is easy in the OSU parking garages or ride the bus - the Sullivant Hall building housing the museum is right on High Street with a bus stop right in front.

Enhance a visit with some browsing at the library's collections website - http://cartoons.osu.edu/collections/. Here you can search a portion of the collection which has been digitized, find information on artists, and learn more about donating and upcoming exhibits.

Have you been to the Cartoon Museum? What did you think?

Billy Ireland Cartoon Museum Sullivant Hall - 1813 N High St Columbus OH 43210 High and 15th, enter from plaza also containing Wexner Center Open Tuesday - Sunday 1 pm - 5 pm

If you go, consider our other favorite destinations around OSU campus: Orton Hall Museum - free small collection of Ohio fossils and minerals Thompson Library - inspirational tall stacks of books and nice view of the city on the top floor Buckeye Donuts - I'll let Breakfast With Nick tell you about this campus institution

Billy Ireland Cartoon Museum

On a chilly day in the middle of our kitchen remodel, Lil and I took a break to visit the new Billy Ireland Cartoon Museum at the Ohio State University. Leonard, the DIY whiz, and our friends Kate and Darren came along.

The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library, held at OSU since 1977, is the world's largest collection of American cartoon art. The museum, opened in late fall 2013, now makes parts of the collection available in well-curated displays to the public.

I'm picky about museums - high school career tests always said I should be a librarian or museum curator - because I want the experience to be as high quality as the content. The Cartoon Museum succeeds at both. It's a small space of three open galleries that held the attention of our group of folks ages 5 to 65.

To make best use of the display area, and perhaps to give children something physical to do, the Walker Gallery contained many originals in drawers and poster doors that could be pulled out and discovered by the museum goer. No afficianado myself, I still appreciated the breadth and depth of the collections. I could find an original of every comic I've ever heard of and discovered many more new to me.

Through August, the museum is exhibiting a portion of Bill Watterson's series of work highlighting Calvin and Hobbes, the clever and smart comic about a boy and his stuffed imaginary friend tiger companion. Throughout the gallery you could hear giggles and growls as children and adults read originals. The exhibit included displays about how Watterson created the comics, his influences, and favorite tools.

I'm thrilled to find comics and graphic novels experiencing a resurgence these days. Once classified as daily newspaper amusement, cartoons are now being given their due as a valid form of intellectual commentary, art, and story telling. Cartoons and graphic novels help teach Lil to read and think in an engaging format. If you are new to family-friendly graphic novels, I recommend starting with the epic quest tale Bone by Ohio-writer Jeff Smith and the Olympians series by George O'Connor.

Guests can browse the Billy Ireland Cartoon Museum galleries in 60-90 minutes. Admission is free and parking is easy in the OSU parking garages or ride the bus - the Sullivant Hall building housing the museum is right on High Street with a bus stop right in front.

Enhance a visit with some browsing at the library's collections website - http://cartoons.osu.edu/collections/. Here you can search a portion of the collection which has been digitized, find information on artists, and learn more about donating and upcoming exhibits.

Have you been to the Cartoon Museum? What did you think?

Billy Ireland Cartoon Museum Sullivant Hall - 1813 N High St Columbus OH 43210 High and 15th, enter from plaza also containing Wexner Center Open Tuesday - Sunday 1 pm - 5 pm

If you go, consider our other favorite destinations around OSU campus: Orton Hall Museum - free small collection of Ohio fossils and minerals Thompson Library - inspirational tall stacks of books and nice view of the city on the top floor Buckeye Donuts - I'll let Breakfast With Nick tell you about this campus institution

The DIY Kitchen Master Plan

I asked on Facebook about what parts of our DIY kitchen renovation you want to hear about and people commented that they want it all. Ok, here we go: The master plan.

Overall Vision

We plan to create a highly functional cooking space by updating to more powerful appliances and adding much more storage. We're aiming for a clean farmhouse look with stained white cabinets and warm, earthy accents.

From The Bottom Up

After the old cabinets are re-purposed in other areas of our home and the old flooring is sent to the dump (sadly, we can't think of anything to do with cracked tile and worn vinyl), we'll lay in new wood or bamboo flooring. Unlike last kitchen when we spent big bucks for cork, this go-round we will choose something within our budget from whatever's in stock at a local flooring company.

Leonard Krashoc, mastermind behind the mudroom and children's book author (go buy his books!), will help us out with the kitchen. He's a whiz with drywall, so he's going to expand a doorway to allow easier flow through the house. He'll also help extend the gas line, fix the goofy wiring, and troubleshoot any unexpected projects we might uncover. Everyone cross your fingers that we don't find too much trouble behind the walls.

We went to IKEA today to order cabinets during their 20% off kitchen sale. It's not as boring as Lil makes it out to be - if you've done your homework with the 3D kitchen planner like we did, staff just does a double check, prints the list of every individual part, and collects payment. We opted for $149 delivery to our house which could have come as soon as this Sunday! (But we pushed them off a week because we aren't quite ready for stacks of cabinet boxes.)

All the base cabinets we ordered, including those in the island, are full of drawers. We miss drawers! Because we despise corner cabinets, we arranged for straight runs of cabinet only. Straight lines will make counter construction easier too.

We're going to make our own countertops again - this time with zinc over a plywood base. Zinc is food safe, easy to work, and will patina over time to add to the farmhouse feel. Catch up with how we made wooden countertops at our previous house in 2009.

The next big purchase to be made is the gas range top, double ovens, and outside vent hood. We're going with large, semi-professional grade cooking appliances in brushed stainless finish. We are not replacing the dishwasher and refrigerator right now because they're still working fine and we're wanting to stay within our budget of cash saved.

Lighting, paint, and decor will be simple and comprised of some pieces we already have.

Our plans sound straightforward when I write them out and perhaps that's why I only have ten days set aside for the project. I'll share our schedule and why I think we can remodel a kitchen in this timeline soon.

What do you think of the master plan? Will our third IKEA kitchen be our last?

The DIY Kitchen Master Plan

I asked on Facebook about what parts of our DIY kitchen renovation you want to hear about and people commented that they want it all. Ok, here we go: The master plan.

Overall Vision

We plan to create a highly functional cooking space by updating to more powerful appliances and adding much more storage. We're aiming for a clean farmhouse look with stained white cabinets and warm, earthy accents.

From The Bottom Up

After the old cabinets are re-purposed in other areas of our home and the old flooring is sent to the dump (sadly, we can't think of anything to do with cracked tile and worn vinyl), we'll lay in new wood or bamboo flooring. Unlike last kitchen when we spent big bucks for cork, this go-round we will choose something within our budget from whatever's in stock at a local flooring company.

Leonard Krashoc, mastermind behind the mudroom and children's book author (go buy his books!), will help us out with the kitchen. He's a whiz with drywall, so he's going to expand a doorway to allow easier flow through the house. He'll also help extend the gas line, fix the goofy wiring, and troubleshoot any unexpected projects we might uncover. Everyone cross your fingers that we don't find too much trouble behind the walls.

We went to IKEA today to order cabinets during their 20% off kitchen sale. It's not as boring as Lil makes it out to be - if you've done your homework with the 3D kitchen planner like we did, staff just does a double check, prints the list of every individual part, and collects payment. We opted for $149 delivery to our house which could have come as soon as this Sunday! (But we pushed them off a week because we aren't quite ready for stacks of cabinet boxes.)

All the base cabinets we ordered, including those in the island, are full of drawers. We miss drawers! Because we despise corner cabinets, we arranged for straight runs of cabinet only. Straight lines will make counter construction easier too.

We're going to make our own countertops again - this time with zinc over a plywood base. Zinc is food safe, easy to work, and will patina over time to add to the farmhouse feel. Catch up with how we made wooden countertops at our previous house in 2009.

The next big purchase to be made is the gas range top, double ovens, and outside vent hood. We're going with large, semi-professional grade cooking appliances in brushed stainless finish. We are not replacing the dishwasher and refrigerator right now because they're still working fine and we're wanting to stay within our budget of cash saved.

Lighting, paint, and decor will be simple and comprised of some pieces we already have.

Our plans sound straightforward when I write them out and perhaps that's why I only have ten days set aside for the project. I'll share our schedule and why I think we can remodel a kitchen in this timeline soon.

What do you think of the master plan? Will our third IKEA kitchen be our last?