Talking about a weight problem that is not really a weight problem.

I am planning to go visit my family in Korea next year for my mom's birthday.  My mom is getting old and I need to go see her and mend our relationship while I can.  The last time I saw her was 11 years ago and we didn't part in a good way.  I think the most deep rooted problem is our difference in religion. Followed by, "I can make you become a better person by pointing out all of your short comings".  While she was visiting me for a month she constantly reminded me how overweight I was and my lack of housekeeping abilities.  

I am not writing about this to say bad things about my mom.  I think it is actually a cultural thing.  Years ago my friend came to America and we went to meet her at the airport and the first thing she said to me was, "Oh my goodness you got fat!" Can you believe that someone would say that to you?  A lot of Koreans think if you have a close relationship like a good friend or family members, you can say whatever is in your mind and it shouldn't damage the relationship.  It is something like tough love.  Koreans tend to think in a scale of all or nothing.  Either you are fat or have a super model figure.  If skinny jeans are in style, everyone wears skinny jeans, so much that you will have a hard time finding anything else.

I was out for my walk this morning and thinking about seeing all of my family in Korea and the first thought that came to my mind was, "Oh my gosh, I need to lose some weight."  I figure I need to lose about 20 pounds to pass as an acceptable weight for Korean standards in 5 months. I was thinking of ways to accomplish this weight loss.  It seems near impossible to lose that much weight since I have maintained about the same weight for the last twenty years.  I even thought maybe it is better for me if I don't go see my family.  How sad is that?

So how fat am I?  I don't think I am fat at all. I mean I can surely benefit from shedding a few pounds, but according to my doctor I am in a healthy weight zone. I do not have any health problems. I enjoy outdoor activities. I walk an average of 3 miles per day. I am quite content with my life.

I pondered about my initial, "Oh my gosh, I need to lose some weight" thought all day and it bothered me in a couple of ways.

First, it bothered me that I got bothered by the possible comment about my weight from my family and friends.  Why can't I just let that go? I would like to think that I am confident enough to not be bothered by such things.  The interesting thing is that when I am home in America I can totally say, "What they think about me is their business," and it doesn't bother me at all.  So why is it that when I meet (or think about) my family and friends from Korea I am worried about such a thing?  I think it is a little bit weird that I have two different responses to the same issue based on which culture I am dealing with.

Second, it bothered me that my family, who should be more understanding and loving, is the one who usually says more hurtful things to each other.  Like I said before it is a cultural thing, so I am pretty sure I have the same thought process, and it bothered me that I did the very same thing to my children from time to time.  Maybe it shows in a different way, but Americans are not that much different than Koreans in this regard.  We Americans can be so polite to strangers, but not so with family members.  We sometimes hold on to the love from our family like a "get out of jail free card."  We do and say whatever comes to our mind and think that it is okay because they love us.

So am I going to lose weight before I go? I will try, but I hope we can all overlook whatever the short comings we have and be able to enjoy each other's company.  We shall see...

    

Fresh egg display board

Part of the fun of having backyard chickens is daily egg collecting.  It has been five years since we brought our first chicks home.  During that five years we have tried a variety of different ways to store eggs.  We wanted to make sure that we eat the oldest eggs first.  In our first year we wrote the date which we collected the eggs in pencil.  It only worked for a short period of time.  Pretty soon we realized that we had to sort through all the eggs in a basket to make sure we used the older ones.  Not very effective.  

 For the last few years we have been using egg cartons with the tops removed.  This worked out pretty well.  We used them from the front and put new ones in the back.  As you can see in this picture I ran out of egg cartons and had to use an egg carrier that we used for our camping trips.  One problem I had with this method is that they are not very stable.  I knocked over the eggs twice and made a big mess on my kitchen floor.   

There are all kinds of things you can buy online to display fresh eggs.  Some of them are really cute and I would love to have them, but some are very pricey.  We decided to make our own (which means that I decide I want one and Mike has to do all the work).  We decided to use this old board we already had and use the circle saw to cut holes to hold the eggs in place.  

We set the eggs on the top of different sizes of the circle saw to figure out which size to use.  The green egg is a normal size egg and we used that one for the board.  The other two I set them out for fun.  The white egg is smaller than normal and the brown egg is way bigger than normal.  It probably has two egg yolks in it. 

Here Mike is giving the drill time to cool off.  It is half way done.

The finished product! In this picture you can see the different size of eggs.  Some of them are so small they went right through the hole, but that will change as time goes on.  Also notice that some eggs have dirty spots on them.  I do not clean them until they are ready to be used.  When chickens lay their eggs they are covered with a protective layer that prevents them from going bad.  This is the reason I can keep my fresh eggs on my kitchen counter.

Our backyard chickens

I was out in our chicken run one day and saw three girls in a nesting box and Panic was waiting in line to use the nesting box.  I could tell she was getting impatient; she had her neck stretched out to see what was going on in the nesting box and making all kinds of noise.  She waited a little longer, but she was done and pushed herself into the box.  Well, apparently Goldilocks thought four girls were just too many and bailed out.

We have six chickens and just one nesting box wasn't enough.  I have been in line to use a restroom during halftime, and I know exactly how Panic felt waiting to use the nesting box.  It was time to build a new one.  Mike built a nice new  nesting duplex using the wood from our old fence.  But do you see how many nesting boxes are in use?  Go figure.

I've read that fresh or dried herbs are good for the chickens.  The herbs reduce stress, help with fly control, have a calming effect, and many more health benefits.  I have plenty of herbs growing in my garden so once a week or so I add some fresh herbs to the nesting box.  I don't have any way to measure the effects the herbs have on our chickens, but I love the smell when I gather the eggs.

Here I planted some mint in our chicken run.  It is guarded by chicken wire and some logs.  So far it is working and the girls have not been able to dig up the roots.  Having plants in the chicken run is a good idea because it attracts different bugs, gives shade and places to hide.

    

When we went backpacking last week a chipmunk ,or maybe an army of chipmunks (I was asleep so didn't see), chewed through by backpack and got into my nuts.  It was probably no big deal if I ate the nuts, but I just didn't feel like sharing germs with a chipmunk.  When we got home I thought our girls might enjoy them.  I broke them down into smaller sizes for the girls.  Oh my goodness, they loved it.  I saw Cole pecking at the empty plate the next day.  I am pretty sure if she had a tongue she would have licked that plate clean.

I heard that chickens love to stand on logs.  I picked up these logs just for that purpose.  Maybe other chickens love to stand on their logs, but not my girls.  This picture is staged; they don't care about the logs at all.  Goldilocks was a good sport though,  but as soon as the picture was taken she was ready to go back to her normal stuff.  Probably thinking, "things I do for my human."

Hiking trails near Boise

After reading an article in the Idaho Statesman about "Boise's hiking Grand Slam" in April I decided that this was something that Mike and I could do.  Summer was still a bit away, but I get this itch to go hiking, but at the same time I am a casual outdoor person who is not quite ready to stay out all night.  So I thought this is a great solution.  All four trails are located close to Boise and are not terribly long so that we could easily hike in and out in a day. 

May 6th: Cervidae peak
Total: 5 miles

  The trail head was easy to find and easy to follow.  It went up, up, and up some more all the way to the top.  The view was amazing; we could see the Lucky Peak reservoir and Mores creek from the top.  There was a register at the top for signing your name which I thought was nice.  It gives you a sense of ending.  On our way down it started to rain and we could see lightning hitting the hill just next us.  We walked out of there real fast to avoid getting struck by lightning.

This was my second favorite hike of the four.  The hills are so steep that hiking poles are a must have item, especially for coming down the hill. It took us about 3 hours including a lunch break.      
     

Looking down to Lucky Peak

A pretty view of rolling hills

The view from the top

Walking down the trail with the storm following us 

May 13th: Kepros
Total: 11 miles

This was another Saturday afternoon hike.  The trail head was a bit challenging to find.  The article we read said the trail head was 9 miles after exiting the free way, but it turned out it was actually 11 miles.  Right from the beginning we had to climb over a few very steep hills.  It was very windy and cold when we started out.  After a few miles the trail connects to a hunting road and from then on it was an easy walk to the top.  The weather was great and there were plenty of wildflowers to enjoy.  There wan't much shade so I wouldn't hike this in the summer.  There were numerous bypasses that you could follow to avoid steep hills.  The total mileage would be different based on which, or how many, bypasses you follow. 

This was my third favorite hike of the four.  It took us about 6 hours including lunch and two breaks.  

Lovely view

Following a hunting trail

A lone tree at the top of a hill

We've made it to the top

May 27th: Lucky peak/ Shaw mountain
Total: 15 miles

The person who wrote the article said 10.2 miles so I really don't know where our 5 extra miles came from.  Maybe they know a short cut to the top? 
The trail head is located within the city limits and because of that this was the busiest trail of the four.  The weather was perfect, and we forgot our sunscreen so by the end of the day we looked like cooked lobsters.  When you look at the foothills behind downtown Boise this is the tallest peak there. After the hike whenever I look at the peak while I am driving it just amazes me that we were crazy enough to climb it.  

This was my least favorite hike of the four.  It may have been because of the hot weather and sunburn.  It was a very, very long hike on a very hot day.  It took us 8.5 hours including lunch and a lot of water breaks.         

Looking down at the city of Boise

Loved this part of the trail.

The view from the top

Heading down 

June 3rd: Heinen
Total: 12 miles (Did not make it to the top)

We knew before we left home that this would be the most challenging hike of the four.  The first mile or so was extremely hard, steep climbing on loose rocks and dirt.  I wouldn't even dream about hiking this without hiking poles.  But, can you believe it? when we got to the trail head we realized that we left mine at home.  Now we each had one hiking pole, not a pair.  It was manageable, but it would have been much better if I had my own.  The trail wasn't very easy to follow so we got off the trail a few times.  This was a beautiful hike and I am disappointed that we didn't make it to the top.  Mike was showing symptoms of heat exhaustion, and we were running short on water.  We poured some water on Mike's head to cool him off.  We took a long break under a tree and after drinking more water he was well enough to hike out. 

Even though we didn't finish the hike this was my favorite of the four.  There was an abundance of wild flowers and great views of the river.  I am guessing we completed 90% of the hike and it took us about 9 hours.  I'd like to try this one again next year. We need to go earlier in the spring and take more water than we did.                  

Looking back to the trail head 

What am I going to do if he can't make it back?

This is why I hike

He feels good enough to carry his own backpack.

My garden in July

It is getting pretty hot during the day.  To avoid working in the hot sun I have been getting up early to take care of my garden.  I am not a morning person but I love summer mornings.  I love the sound of birds, the cool morning air, and walking around my vegetables and flowers.  

My onions are doing great.  Their tops are about to fall over and I can see thin yellow skins are forming on the bulbs.  We already harvested few of them for cooking.  I love going out to my garden to pick things right before dinner.  It doesn't get any fresher than that.   

I planted some sunflowers this year.  In the past I haven't had very good luck with them.  Our resident squirrels will get a hold of them and bite off the top.  But this year it is not the squirrels that are causing the problem.  My sunflowers are getting attacked by earwigs. 

After doing some reading I found out a really simple and nontoxic way to fight the earwigs.  What you need is some oil and a shallow dish.  I used an empty tuna can and olive oil (some people suggested fish oil). All you need to do is dig a little hole that is big enough to bury the can and pour a little bit of oil in it.  To spare you seeing a bunch of earwigs drowned in oil I didn't take a  picture of the end result,  but trust me, it works.

Other than the problem with earwigs my sunflowers are doing great.  I am planning to feed my chickens with them in the fall. 
    

After last years experience of trying to find pickling cucumbers I decide to grow my own this year.  The cucumber vines got plenty of flowers because they take a short time to mature.  I can pick a handful of them every morning.  I do not have enough to process, so I am thinking of making some refrigerator pickles with them. 

Today's offering from my garden and  chickens.

Meet our new chickens

Our new chickens are 15 weeks old and they do not look and sound like chicks anymore.  It is fun to watch them and I am pretty sure they think it is fun to watch their humans.  From time to time they will perch on the log outside our window and look in to check out what we are up to. 

This is Panic she is an Ameraucana.  I heard they lay blue eggs so we made a special trip to our neighboring city to get her.  When we got there she was the only one left and she was not happy about it and she was letting everyone knew she was not happy.  She was practically panicking all the way home and would not settle down.  So she earned her name Panic.  she was fine after she joined the other chicks.

This is Charcoal because when she was a baby she was black like a lump of coal.  We call her Cole for short and she is a Barred Plymouth Rock.

We named her queen B (Beatrice).  She is a white leghorn.  We had leghorns before and they are more aggressive compared to other breeds.  We thought she would become the alpha female, but so far she is very quiet and shy and does not show any interest in becoming the queen of the flock.

This is a brown leghorn named Doughnut.  Sometimes it is hard to choose a name for the chickens especially when they are just normal average chickens.  But who knew she is anything but average. I think this group of girls is going to be ruled by Doughnut. My husband calls her Batman for reasons that are unexplained and probably unexplainable. 

This is Aurora and she is a Gold Sex Link.  She is really mellow and just minds her own business most of the time.  She was not very cooperative of getting her picture taken, so this it the best one I got.  If she wants to look like a fool with her mouth open, more power to her (actually she has her mouth open and her wings spread out because she is hot).

Goldilocks is another Gold Sex Link.  She had really pretty golden feathers when she was a baby and I think she still looks lovely.  By far she is the the friendliest of them all.


I think it is almost time for them to start laying eggs and I can't wait to see what color eggs they will produce.  

Family Camping trip

Stanley, ID is my favorite place to go in the summer.  The view of the Sawtooth wilderness is amazing and there are plenty of things to do.  It is overshadowed by McCall, the very popular summer destination, but I just love small town Stanley with its surrounding area.  There are plenty of things to do for everyone.  A boat ride at Redfish lake, fishing in the Salmon river, horseback riding, water sports, backpacking to numerous mountain lakes, hiking and camping just to name a few.

It was my birthday this week and both of our daughters had the day off from work and were able to join us.  We decided to take them to Sawtooth lake for an easy day hike.  Even though they love to go camping and fishing they have never gone on a long hike before. 
  

We got to Iron creek late in the afternoon and the first order of business is, of course, to put up a tent. Or spray insect repellent in Jennifer's case.

After putting up the tents we had to build a campfire so we can cook our dinner.  We left fire building to Jennifer, our resident fire bug.

We had salmon, BBQ beans, and steamed broccoli and summer squash for dinner.  And S'mores for dessert.

The next morning after breaking our camp we packed our day pack with water and lunch and we were ready to go into the wilderness.

First we had to fill out a wilderness permit.  We had to answer questions like how many are in our group, our destination, and how many days.

Here we are at the the trail head ready to start our hike.

Taking a break before we ascend some steep hills.

The snow reminded me of the harsh winter we had.  By this time of the year this small meadow is usually covered in wildflowers,  but this year there was water from melting snow everywhere.

When there is snow you got to build a snowman. Rhiannon's very very small snowman.

After the meadow the trail was still under a lot of snow but we decided to give it a go.  We are practically going cross country by this time, and doing our best to follow what we thought was the trail.  We had only gone a little way when I heard a scream and I turned around to see the bottom half of Rhiannon's body was gone under the snow. She had stepped on the soft snow and fell into a hole between two fallen trees.  After a little bit of crying, and when we were sure she didn't break any body part, we decided to call off the hiking.

Summer is still a way out in this part of the mountains.  We ran into two young men who actually hiked to Alpine lake which is lower than Sawtooth lake that we were planning to go to.  They said the whole lake is still covered in snow except one small patch of open water.

Even though we didn't make it to our lake, it was great fun to be out with my family. Here the girls are pointing out a tree that is growing out of a boulder.

Jennifer and her dad

The biggest challenge of taking a photo of wild animals is that they make horrible models.  But look at these two! They were being perfect models.  On the top we have a tree squirrel and on the bottom a mountain goat.