Snow days and little chickie nugglies.

After such a brief mention of our pilgrimage to Illinois last time, I remembered a few things that deserve mention. One; somewhere between December 23rd and 24th, there was a huge ice storm up in Mendota, Il, where Trip and I happened to be located at the time. The power in the apartment above the dentist office flickered on and off, then eventually off. A pretty light show ensued, as the transformers all around the neighborhood were exploding beautiful shades of blue all around. A decently sized tree just between the office and the house (they are in the same yard, to those who don't know) got hit with too much of the good stuff, and one of it's huge branches fell down. It took out a window in Doc and Marilyn's house, too, right above their bedroom, without notice. No surprise there. As it were, Trip and my own sleepy head were only a few feet from said carnage. I guess I was too busy with visions of sugar plum fairies to wake. Above you can see Woodford and his new bestest friend, Mocha, Trip's uncle's dog. He finally found a canine to match his inferior intelligence!


The second story worthy of mention involves Trip clogging my parents' toilet and flooding the upstairs bathroom so that it seeped through the vents into the basement.





















One would think that with men like my father and brother under the same roof, this sort of thing must happen all the time. I inform you that it indeed has never happened. A man of talent, he is!


For a brief time toward the end of January, it was pretty good outside here. Trip and I took advantage of said goodness and headed over to a local hiking hotspot, along with every other human in SW Virginia, to burn some fat and see a waterfall. The Cascades are about 20 minutes west of Blacksburg, where you turn at a neat little convenience store with a delicious cafe. The spot serves as the jumping-off point for a lot of guided fishing trips, canoe trips, and things of the sort. If anyone ever comes to visit, these falls will probably be a destination. It's a pretty easy hike upward with absolutely scrumptious greenery. You follow the Little Stony Creek for a considerable distance. Apparently trout are pretty plentiful there, judging by the quantity of men in waders with floofy lures flying around in the air. It was pretty, and there was still a bit of ice, but most had thawed at that point. I heard it was pretty bomb-ass frozen.






Work is still going pretty well for me, haven't heard anything new on the full-time sitch. I just plug away, feeding and tucking beetles in all day. These are not the exact species of beetle I work with at the Quarantine Lab, but it is the one I worked with in the Insectary. Mine looks just like this but kind of red. There aren't any pictures of it on Google. Boo.




Trip's work is still going ok, too. He has some hard times, but he did get his new laptop at the beginning of the week. It's great! It's an HP of some sort, and it's pretty. All shiny and stuff. It even came with a remote control for playing music, I guess. It will save him so much time... time he could be professing his love for me or massaging my feet! Yeah right! Either way, he deserves it, and I am so happy for him.






One day we grabbed din-din at the Ethiopian restaurant downtown to celebrate... life? It's only a takeout place, so unfortunately the general public didn't get to view Trip nommin' on his first platter of empty hopes and dreams (kidding!). Ethiopian food is pretty tasty, I had some good stuff in New Jersey once. My meal there was easily within the top three meals I've ever had in my life. The cool thing about Ethiopian food is that you don't use silverware. You use this bread/wrap stuff called Injear to pick up the food and eat it. It has a sourdough-like taste and a chewy texture. This is another place that visitors would be suggested. The food is so savory, delicious, and it has a very comforting feel. Yumbly!



I'm sure you've heard about this snow thing we've been getting a lot of. We have more now than the Winter Olympics, even. Check that out, Canada. Apparently, some places here have received about three feet this season. Shit! We've got a huge ton around here. As it turns out, Virginians close down the world with a threat of snow or ice. We've had a couple snow days so far, including Friday. It was coming down Antarctica style! I went to work in the morning, but feared I wouldn't be able to get my little four-bangin' beast anywhere if there was as large of an accumulation as they were calling for. I don't know why I was worried, she gets me where I want to be. Anyway, here is a short video of our Friday afternoon well spent.








Saturday we headed over to the Pandapa's Pond trail system for Trip to take his snowboard on an unsuccessful run through the woods. While Trip was not having any luck going down hills, I spent my afternoon trying to get Woodford to fall into the semi-frozen creek. Unsuccess, but whatevs. Either way, it was nice to get out and see some familiar outside stuff. The rhododendrons looked pretty and plastic under the snowfall and bright sunlight. See!














































Also worth a mention are Woodford's newest and biggest friends. We go for a walk every day that weather allows, and happen upon a small pasture with two horses; a sorrel gelding and a pregnant bay mare. Every day I arrive at the fence and the gelding will come a strollin' over for a pat on the head. The mare reluctantly follows. Woodford runs around behind/between/circling them in all the wrong places searching for poop morsels. Thats his favorite part. Except the playing part. The gelding will actually play with him, bucking and running around with him. It's pretty funny. I'll get a video of it someday, but until then, here is a picture.





This past weekend we went to see Trip's man-crush star in his most recent film; Up in the Air. It was pretty good, also pretty depressing. But I have to admit, I've never really understood all the hype about Mr. Clooney. Uhhh, now I don't understand how I never understood. Whoa, Georgie Porgie!

When we returned from downtown Blacksburg's Saturday night activities, the house seemed perfectly nestled under her blanket of snow, radiating warmth and glowing with love. The clouds were low, and you can see the city lights of Christiansburg behind/above Price Mountain. They almost look like aurora borealis! Here is Woodford playing with his favorite toy, Trip, and their soccer ball. Trip kicked it down the drive and into the road, thats why I make a whiny voice at him at the end. It's the only whiny voice I've ever made at him, and for that I am glad to have captured such an event on film!




Also, in case you haven't heard, Monday I got four little bebe chickies. They all hatched Super Bowl Sunday, ready to partaay. There are three Blue Orpingtons and one Splash Orpington. I purchased them for a very modest price from a lovely lady in Catawba. She even shared the food with me! Anyway, this breed is dual-purpose, meaning they are great layers and also good for eatin' on. They get quite large, and they are known for being very friendly, supposedly one of the best for beginning chicken-keepers. They are also considered a Heritage Breed, meaning they have been around a very long time and a pure strain, not hybrids like many of the new commercial strains. That was an important factor to me, as many breeds of heritage animals (cows, chickens, pigs, turkeys) are getting faded out by the newer breeds used by commercial facilities. Heritage breeds tend to be pretty durable in the sense of pest-resistance and heat/cold hardiness, so I'm sure these ladies will be alright. I'm hoping that I'll get at least two females, as my primary interest is scramblin' eggs. However, my chick sexing skills are pretty rough... as they should be, I'm straight! *Couldn't resist.






I didn't name them yet, as I don't want attach myself before their gender becomes apparent. If I do get roosters, their names are probably going to end up "Noodle" and/or "Nugget" unless they're REALLY nice. It's like a feminist's revenge! Here is what the hens will look like as adults (blue first, then splash), and also included for your viewing pleasure is a video of my four little munchies. Enjoy looking at how cute they are, but not having to clean up the MASSIVE amount of dump they produce. Seriously, I had no idea they pooped so much.