06.01.01 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
Young Jack came to visit early this morning, Kate was out feeding the chickens when I alerted her. She had a collection trip planned after chores and had on her body camera. She turned it on when she saw him and asked that I stream the feed to Maci and Jackson. At a distance he had a surly look and his hair was disheveled. Close up he wavered between surly and sad and his hair was cut at uneven lengths. Kate invited him in for breakfast. During the meal she asked if Charlotte has cut his hair. Head shake no. Brook? Another head shake no. Did you cut it yourself? Head shake yes and the glimmer of tears. Kate said ‘I can tidy it up for you if you like.’ He finally said yes please and gave Kate a big hug. ‘Can you make it look like papa’s?’ ‘I can, but I think your mama would prefer that it look a little more like Cam’s.’ If you come back in a month I will trim it up and cut it a little shorter. We can ease your mama into shorter hair.’ Audra took the children to visit with Ashley and Ryan. Tux and Oliver watched the hair cut up high from the cat shelves. Nemoy offered his support from the table.
I asked Kate about it later why she thought that he did it and she said that Charlotte wanted to put his hair in a pony tail yesterday. He didn’t like it. She said that he has been asking for his hair to look like papa’s for a couple of months, and that Maci should have given in. She said Maci loves the curls and couldn’t bear to part with them. I was shocked by how much older he looked when she had finished the hair cut.
After the hair cut she texted Maci and Jackson and asked if we could take him fishing for a few hours. I was surprised again that we got a yes. Kate said that Maci was likely going to have a sad time and would need the time to collect herself. His hair isn’t all super short. It is fuller on the top than Camden’s, so he still has some curls, but it is tight up the back and sides like his papa’s. He likes it, and it’s out of his eyes.
We had a lovely trip. Jack and Kate caught fish and filled the aquariums, she will go collecting tomorrow. Maci looked like there had been tears when we dropped him off, but gave him a hug and said that his hair looked very nice.
06.01.11 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
Kate has started instructing Charlotte, young Jack, Marley, Jamie, Emmy and Peter on cutting with butter knives. She lets them practice on soft fruit, sandwiches, cakes, cookies, pies and other soft items. They like when we have tastings and group meals so that they can practice. Everybody is usually patient enough to let them serve up the portions.
Kate feels that young Jack and Marley are ready for sharp knives. They don’t flail about and are responsible with the tool so she fabricated child sized body armor. She has them set up with a light to show when the wearer would be in danger of cutting themselves. Both are doing quite well with them. They know that an adult needs to be supervising them when they use them. Maci didn’t initially approve until she saw how well Jack did with the knife.
Kate said traditionally children aren’t gifted with their own pocket knives until about age 7. But with young Jack adventurous enough to cut his own hair she felt earlier instruction was necessary. We didn’t ask if he had used his mothers shears or his papa’s pocket knife to cut his hair. Kate suspects the later. He is more adept with the knife than with scissors.
06.01.22 – 2000 – Log – Dakota
I was visiting with Maci today when Kate popped by with some squash. Maci was complaining that young Jack refused to learn to read and Kate made the pfft sound and then said ‘He taught Riley to read. He won’t read for you because then you’ll push him to learn other things.’ Maci got a little hot under the collar and fired back ‘Prove it Kate!’ We both know Kate. She will prove it and probably in some outlandish way. I wonder if Maci is pregnant again.
06.01.25 – 1600 – Log – Kate
I invited the older children to come and fish at my secret spot. Everything is bigger here. Jack had permission, but Maci has demanded that Elbert pilot the transport because he made the comment that it was fun to fly with me because I go fast. Elbert doesn’t do fast and will only fly if he is piloting. I suspect she is preggers again because of the moodiness. Elbert agreed to pilot for us. Charley wanted to bring Dash, and Ashley thinking this might be too much of a distraction asked if she could join us as well. Jamie stayed with Ryan because he wanted to watch him repair an ax. Charley didn’t want to fish, but she likes to see new places, she hunted for rocks. Marley, Peter and Emmy were thrilled to take a trip and try ‘big fish’ fishing. I packed a pool for Dash to splash and catch bait fish in, special fishing rods with a child assist feature for the bigger fish, aerated holding tanks for the fish we catch, and my fishing gear, then we took off. It took three times longer to get there with Elbert piloting. Jack actually napped, Charlie and Peter did too. Marley and Emmy looked out the windows.
We had a lovely time. I set the children up with the fishing poles, a net and their own holding tank, Ashley helped me get Dash’s pool and fish ready, he had a good time for himself. Then I tended to the cameras that I have there. I caught my fish and packed them in the shuttle. Jack caught a big fish and thought it was the biggest fish ever and asked if we could keep it alive and put it in my pond, so we put it in his holding tank. Marley caught one too and wanted it to be with its friend. After the two fish were safely stowed away we started packing up. We had all but Dash’s pool in the shuttle when a proximity sensor went off. Ashley and I moved the children and Dash into the shuttle. The shuttle has shielding; it was quite a safe place to be. A giant stag set off the sensor. It approached the lake for a drink and then noticed the shuttle. When it started to step towards us Dash started barking his little head off and wouldn’t be stopped. Rather than running away it stopped, looked and cautiously approached. Dash just about lost his mind barking. The next thing I know I heard the release of a crossbow and Ashley say ‘venison.’ Her shot was good; it staggered towards the shuttle then dropped. It bumped the shuttle on the way down. I grabbed my pistol and Ashley reloaded and then we were on the landing pad and the whole town was there looking at us in shock. Elbert had freaked out when the shuttle was jostled and ringed us back. It might be a while before Jack goes on another field trip with us. The security system auto-suspended the deer when we ringed in, alerted everyone of an emergency ring event and delayed our arrival long enough for everyone to get there. We moved the children and Elbert out of the shuttle then Ashley finished the deer ‘just in case’ and unsuspended it. Jackson was appropriately impressed with young Jacks fish.
We will be eating venison for quite some time. Ashley has requested that we make some of it into jerky. Everybody loves jerky.
06.01.25 – 1740 – Log – Jackson
Kate had an outing to the ‘land of the big’, her primo fishing spot with the older children, Dash and Ashley. Jack brought back a massive fish. Marley brought one of his fish friends for company. Kate let them put the fish in her pond and then felt that they might get lonely so she went back and collected some other fish friends for them, and some feeder fish as well. She put a transmitter in them so they can be tracked, and so that Jack can visit it. Jack named his ‘Stripy.’
Ashley bagged a massive buck. Jack told me that Kate had told the children not to mess with the crossbow, ‘it was strapped to the ceiling and we couldn’t reach it anyway, but she didn’t tell aunty not to.’ My sister isn’t a hunter; I don’t know what got into her. I think Kate was pretty surprised too.
06.01.27 – 1830 – Log – Camden
An interesting thing happened today. I was waiting for Jack in his kitchen when young Jack came in and put two chickens from Kate on the counter. His mother told him to ‘put the stew bird in the refrigerator and leave the fryer on the counter please.’ Well, Maci left to go check the laundry and Jack came in. Young Jack had put one of the birds in the fridge and looked at the other asked his dad what ‘iratum gallus’ meant. Jack didn’t know so I told him it meant the angry rooster. I asked what was written on the other bird and he said ‘Beaky.’ I got up to look and sure enough ‘iratum gallus Nugget’ was written on the wrapping paper of the chicken on the counter. Jack had a good laugh. Kate got rid of two of her crankiest birds and proved a point.
06.11.30 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
Young Jack came by today and was a little surly. Apparently his papa put him in charge of keeping the kindling box full, and he was grumpy because ‘Papa uses half of the kindling when he starts a fire. Mama does a better job.’ Kate had a good laugh, and said ‘Well, lets see if we can find some easy solutions.’ They spent the day looking for solutions. One included offering to clean Zane and Alana’s workshop for their scraps and sawdust. She said she had plans for the sawdust. They also went to the mill to clean and pick up offcuts and sawdust there. When they got back to the house Kate pulled one of the kindling splitters that she has. She has been experimenting with them and has several. The one that she brought out is a stationary wedge device with a holding ring that you use a small mallet with. Young Jack had a good time and had made enough kindling to fill the box at home several times. After it sat in the nano kiln to dry Kate offered him a spot in the workshop to store his bounty, and sent him home with a following sled with enough to fill the box at home. She asked him to come back tomorrow to see another trick she had for him.
06.11.31 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
Young Jack came back today. He and Kate went to see Tyler for waste bees wax. They offered a barter for some of the ‘end product’ that they were going to make with it or some of the kindling wood they had. Tyler, knowing Kate, went with some of the ‘end product’ without even knowing what that was. After they got the wax they went and got small flammable things; scraps of used note paper, the fluff from the milkweed pods, dryer lint, waste yarn and old rags. They cut the rags just big enough to fill with a small amount of paper, fluff, lint, and sawdust, but still be large enough to pull the edges together and tie off at the top. After they made a bunch of these they melted the wax and immersed the little bundles almost all the way. They were left to drain and harden on a rack over a sheet of parchment. The drippings will be reused. They put one in the bread oven on a tray and put a camera on it to record the burn time. It burned for about twenty minutes. Kate told Jack to give Tyler five of the little bundles with a note that says use a tray in a stove and that he would know what it was, and to leave five on the kindling box after his next refill with the same note. She told him he should put the rest in the store with the video, a comment to use a liner to protect the bottom of the stove if used in one and to charge a fair price for them. The store part was easy for him, because he just told the computer what he wanted. The notes part took him longer.
06.13.04 – 1630 – Log – Tyler
Kate set young Jack up with a genius small business idea. Grace loves these fire starters. I set her up with a ceramic tray to start them on so they don’t make a mess. We use them in the grill.
06.13.07 – 2000 – Log – Elbert – Young Jack came by today and asked Kate if he could make more of the fire starters. There is still wax left so she set him up and supervised the dipping. The first batch sold quickly. I think young Jack is torn between giving most of them to his papa or selling them in the store. They do really well.
06.13.10 – 1322 – Log – Alana
Zane has just bought the last of young Jacks fire starters. He loves them, we have been using them outside. But I think if we used them in the stove I don’t expect it will mean more than an extra chimney cleaning a season. If that doesn’t do it Kate can set us up with a nano cleaner if we ask. They probably wont last that long.
06.13.16 – 1322 – Log – Elbert
Young Jack came by a little sad today. The last of the wax is gone and Jackson is going through kindling at an alarming rate again. (They have regular campfires.) It lasted him several batches. Kate suggested that they could go looking for fat wood and that would work much the same as the little bundles. So they spent the day searching and fishing and came home with quantities of both. They even found some at the sawmill. Both of them were a mess, covered in pitch. She cleaned him up before sending him home. He will come back tomorrow and they will process the mess.
06.13.16 – 1842 – Log – Maci
Jack came home from a day of fishing with Kate cleaner than when he left. Mischief is afoot. They must have had a great day if he got dirty enough that she cleaned him before sending him home.
06.13.17 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
The fire starter bundles were far less messy than these. Fortunately they did the work in the outdoor kitchen. They have fat wood, globs of solidified pitch, and small branches and pine cones covered in pitch. Kate’s solution for the pine cones and small branches was to place them in a container of sawdust and warm everything enough to soften the pitch. They then compressed the sawdust around the pine cones and branches. After everything was cool they took the pieces out and dusted off the loose sawdust. This took care of the stickiness. The fat wood was cut and split into smaller easy to use pieces and the chunks of pitch were left in chunks and packaged neatly. Jack gave his papa the covered pine cones and small branches for the evening fire pit. The fat wood and the pitch went into the store.
06.13.17 – 2111 – Log – Jackson
Jack gave me a kindling box of saw dust covered pine cones! These will be great for the fire pit. They should last a good long time. Maci will be happy that they won’t leave a sticky mess everywhere.
06.13.17 – 2122 – Log – Alana
Zane has set up an alert to let him know when young Jack adds anything to his space in the store. The little guy had globs of pitch and fat wood this time. He battled with Tyler for the pitch. Unbelievable. We have two young children and he is all over the camping stuff. Like we are going to take babies on long hikes like that. No, we would take an RV with a bathroom and a kitchen.
06.13.19 – 1802 – Log – Camden
Jack had sawdust covered pine cones at his fire pit last night. I asked where he got them and he said young Jack made them. Probably with Kate. I put a kindling box of the same on the want list. He accepted the commission and gave me a delivery date of four to seven days. He said they don’t burn as long as the fire starters. They don’t need to if the wood is dry. And they start easy.
06.13.19 – 1914 – Log – Zane
Young Jack came by to clean the workshop today. Like clockwork. He is a reliable, industrious little fellow. I tried to convince him to give me the heads up the next time he has solidified pitch again. Tyler elbowed me good last time. That stuff is great for camping.
The Great Experiment 