A new garden

This past week I managed to build a nice raised bed in the front planting strip. It's 20 inches high, 12 feet long, and 4 feet wide, with a one-foot wide flower bed on the sidewalk side. I stained it with some eco-friendly stain and filled it halfway up with fill from Jeff's garage project (topsoil and compost to come later). It kind of looks like a sore thumb at the moment, but only one neighbor has expressed skepticism about it (the one who also expressed skepticism about the chickens); everyone else has been curious and encouraging. I did spend one partially sleepless night worrying that I had gotten in over my head by putting such a huge and prominent raised bed in the front yard, where everyone can see it, judge it, steal from it, let their dogs pee on it, and judge my gardening abilities. I think the public exposure will encourage me to be a better gardener - even going so far as to water it regularly and do successive plantings of lettuce. Usually, I plant everything in one burst of early spring enthusiasm, water it occasionally, and then forget about it. This year I even plan to test the soil and use some of the compost I've been saving up. I'll post pictures soon.

Potty training

I've had a couple of requests about potty training progress. Basically, we're working on it, and once we get a few healthy days at home in a row, I think it will go pretty fast. The skills are there; the will fluctuates. But with the strategic use of stickers and Curious George underwear, I think we will have it figured out within the next month or two.

A sick bambina

Poor little M. is sick, which means that I am at home alternating between holding the puke bowl and running around doing odd jobs while she sleeps. It's another case of the strange, on-again-off-again stomach flu that she got last time. She was sick for half a day last Friday, low in energy on Saturday, and seemingly fine on Sunday and Monday; and this morning she is sick again. Apparently this is not abnormal, but it makes it hard to know when you can finally relax. She's such a poor, pathetic, grumpy little thing - on Saturday all she wanted to do was lay outside in the sun with Olallie, who, by the way, is also sick (though you wouldn't know it by looking at him). Right now she is laying on the basement floor (at her insistence), having finally grown tired of the 128th viewing of "Chicken Run."

Olallie has "sterile cystitis," which means that the pH in his bladder is very high, creating sharp little crystals that cut him and make him bleed. It has something to do with stress (probably from being forcibly relocated to my parents' house for a few months, to ease Jeff's allergies) and possibly something to do with eating too many carbs. I will have to feed him some special food for a while and hope that it goes away. If it doesn't, he'll have to go on the Atkins diet, which would probably be good for him anyway. Also, he has some sort of herpes virus in his eye (very common with cats) that makes his eyes tear up, and I have to put ointment in his eyes three times a day for five days. So I guess I might as well just give up on working this week to stay home and be a nurse. If the chickens or Jeff wanted to get sick, this would be a good time.

A dozen eggs all at once

For some reason last night the girls decided to bed down under the house instead of on the deck, and when I went out to move them I noticed a whole PILE of eggs behind them. I sent Melina in to get them (brave girl - she doesn't know about spiders yet) and we counted ten. Tonight I found two more that I think I had overlooked. Unfortunately I don't think any are edible because they've probably all frozen and thawed several times, but it's good to know that the chickens are producing. Now I just need to get them to start laying in the coop.

The Girls

Here are a couple pictures the girls - in the first one, Martha checking out some toy chickens on the windowsill; the second one is a nice portrait of Abigail; and the third one gives you an idea of how ragged Dolley looks in the middle of her winter moult. We still haven't gotten a single egg since December 21. Lately I've had to go out in the 25-degree weather to break the ice on their water can in the mornings. They seem to be holding up pretty well despite the cold - even Dolley, who is missing about half her feathers. (I collect them and give them to the preschool for crafts.)

Melina sings Old MacDonald, with chickens

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Melina writes a story

Yesterday Melina found a little blank book and "wrote" a story in it. (This is her first official act of literature!) Here's the story (as I remember it):

"Goodbye. I am leaving. It is time to go, when mommy comes and picks me up at preschool. Bye-bye, everybody. That is end of the story."

I'm expecting agents to start calling any day now. (Seriously, though, I think it's pretty impressive that she's already writing stories!)

Too perfect.

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Toddler status report (TSR)

Here's an excerpt from an extension publication describing the average two-year-old:

Physical Development

• Children are generally more active than at any other point in their lives. (!)
  
• They walk, run, climb, walk up and down stairs alone, and dig.
  
• They throw balls and kick them forward.
  
• They jump with two feet together. (Melina's been doing this for ages)
  
• They stand on tip toes. (Melina doesn't do this! Strange, because this was one of my favorite activities as a little girl).
  
• They take things apart and put them back together. They like to screw and unscrew lids. (That's the understatement of the year)
  
• They feel discomfort with wet or soiled diapers. (But not enough to actually want to do anything about it)
  
• They start to show an interest in toilet training. (A passing interest)
  

Emotional Development

• They begin to play simple pretend games. Their fantasy play is very short and simple. It does not involve others. (True, unless it involves putting mommy down for a nap, or playing monster with daddy)
  
• They are generally very self-centered and sharing is still difficult. They enjoy playing near other children. (True; Melina will sometimes share with Amanda, but that's about it, and that's pretty rare)
  
• They try to assert themselves by saying "no." (Often)
  
• They sometimes do the opposite of what is asked. (Often)
  
• They like to imitate the behavior of adults and others. They want to help with household tasks. (Melina got me the dustpan today while I was sweeping!)
  
• They become frustrated easily. (Yes, but not as often as six months ago)
  
• They refuse help. (Ditto)
  
• They still need security.
  
• They are more sure of themselves than one-year-old children. (Melina actually seems to have more fears now, because she has more of an imagination)
  

Intellectual Development

• They follow simple directions. (Sometimes)
  
• They use three or more words in combination. (Or ten)
  
• They express their feelings and wishes. (Forcefully)
  
• They use objects to represent other objects.
  
• They still have a very limited attention span.
  
• They can memorize short rhymes. (Or make them up - but then they don't rhyme)
  
• They join in simple songs. (Or make them up)
  
• They begin to think about doing something before doing it. (But not very hard)
  
• They have trouble making choices, but they want to make choices. (I want to do it myself! Help me!)

Melina is talking pretty much constantly now. Her two favorite themes are "Why?" (the Why phase started on December 26) and "One day?" (as in, tell me a story?). She is getting better at making up stories (and they ALWAYS involve her, and often Amanda or kids from preschool). A typical conversation might go:

Melina: Mommy, one day?
Jennifer: Oh, my brain is empty. How about if you tell me a one day?
M: No, one day, one day! One day!
J: OK. One day, Melina was out for a walk when she met a big bear.
M: (Plaintively) Why?
J: Because the bear was out taking a walk.
M: Why?
J: Because it wanted to get out of the house.
M: Why?
J: Why don't you tell me? Why did the bear leave?
M: Because it wanted to eat Melina UP!

She seems pretty much obsessed with monsters lately - friendly monsters who want to hold her hand, scary monsters who want to eat her up, and friendly monsters who tell the scary monsters that "no, you can not eat Melina up." Good thing we have the Monster Spray in the bathroom.

Melina's first 2008 ski trip

We went skiing a few days ago at Teacup Lake. The snow was fantastic - it is absolutely dumping in the mountains, and it fell heavily the entire time. Unfortunately, Melina insisted on keeping the sled roof open, sticking her feet out, and taking her boots off. She doesn't seem to get the connection between "no boots" and "cold feet." Her boots were a little small for her, which is why I think she kept taking them off. Eventually we had to go back to the lodge. Jeff did a short ski circuit by himself while I tried to take Melina sledding; unfortunately that didn't work either because she refused to wear her mittens. Luckily the lodge had a nice hot wood stove, so we warmed up and went back out when Jeff got back. Then, we had some fun, sledding down a little hill by the parking lot. The new sled works great! We're going to go again this next weekend - there should be about two more feet of new snow by then.


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New Year's

We took a ski trip to Colorado for New Year's. I'm sure this conjures images of snowy mountain peaks and chic young people shushing down mountainsides with hot toddies in their mittened hands. Unfortunately the place we went was five degrees, with 45-mile an hour winds and snow that blew so hard it never actually had a chance to collect on the ground. Nevertheless, we did have fun. The highlight (for me) was a horse drawn sleigh ride with friends, singing Jingle Bells and talking to the driver (is that what they're called?) about mule teams. We also managed a bit of skiing (Jeff more than me), and once we got into the trees, the snow was deep and powdery. There was a bit of faux ice skating (if we'd had a sail we could have easily sailed across on the wind) and innertubing down a fun sledding hill. It was nice to catch up with my friends, too, though actually I didn't feel like I did much catching up because we were usually busy tracking down children, preventing squabbles, etc. Every family there had a kid under 3.5, so after a certain point in the evening we all had to go tend to our little ones, which put a damper on the partying. Times, they are a-changing. Maybe next year I'll have a child-free cocktail party - but that would involve more entertaining (see below).

Here's a video of the horses pulling the sleigh:


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Christmas

Well, I guess it's time to update the ole blog. Starting with Christmas, which was a whirlwind of activity complete with unexpected guests, a snow flurry and an embarrassment of toys. Melina really raked it in this year, what with the new dollhouse, a hobby horse that whinnies and neighs, dolls, a cool button/clasp book that my mom made, books, Playmobil toys, and even a brand new sled. It was great (she needed some new toys), but also a bit overwhelming, and I purged a bunch of her old toys soon afterward. I think this is the first year she's actually "gotten it" about Santa Claus. The eerie thing is that she said, a few days before Christmas, "Santa Claus is bringing me a dollhouse." Which he was. Prescient, huh?

This was also the year where I really began to understand the role of women in keeping the Christmas tradition alive. I was feeling a bit stressed (and that's an understatement) by all the entertaining, particularly since I had just put on a dinner party for nine the week before. (Next year I'm limiting the entertaining to one event with fewer than ten people entering the front door in any given day.) It occurred to me in the middle of it all how I was the one in charge of the entertaining now. I remembered all of the Christmases past where I sat around and played and read books and ate up all the food prepared by grandmas and aunts and moms, all without a second thought about how all this food actually came to be, how all the decorating got done, how this entire image of Christmas had to begin in someone's mind and memory. To me, this was just how Christmas was, had always been, and always would be. I remember all the men sitting around watching the game while the women cooked and bickered and laughed and cleaned in the kitchen. (At least, I *think* I remember that - my dad was probably in there doing the dishes too, but I seem to remember it mainly being a female thing.) And suddenly I felt like all this tradition was on my shoulders (I did get help, but still, the "vision" was mine). It was a strange feeling, like suddenly realizing that I'm an adult and I can't just lay around and read and watch TV while someone else does Christmas for me. Kind of a sobering thought - I can no longer be a slacker in my own life.

Here's Melina on her new sled, taken yesterday at Teacup Lake sno-park.

This is us on our New Year's trip in Colorado. The temperature was about 17; notice the snow blowing sideways.

Here's Melina cuddling with Ollalie. Mr. O is currently on vacation at my parents' house in order to reduce Jeff's allergies. When springtime comes he'll be back here living in a kitty condo on the porch. At least, that's the plan.

I'm a bit behind in my posting lately, so I thought I'd post some photos to calm the masses who are clamoring for a new post. Here's a handsome photo of the chickens basking in a rare sun break. We have gotten no new eggs since the Solstice on December 21.

A strange week

Melina went through a strange week recently where she had a major meltdown tantrum once a day for about five days in a row. These were full on, possessed-by-devils tantrums with all the stops pulled out - flailing, head banging, screaming, hitting. The only thing missing was the rotating head. Everyone I talked to assured me that this was great, that she was "working on something" and about to make some huge intellectual or physical breakthrough, like maybe learning to work differential equations or tightrope between skyscrapers. And then suddenly it stopped. In general, she has just been the sweetest little friendly thing ever since. I haven't figured out what it was that she was working on, but I half suspect I'll find an unfinished novel under her crib mattress the next time I look.

Nursemaid's elbow

Melina took her first trip to the Emergency Room on the day after Thanksgiving. We were on a walk with Jeff and my parents, and she was horsing around with Jeff, holding on to his arm and collapsing on the ground. She did this one too many times and twisted her forearm out of whack. It was a pretty unpleasant experience for us all. She couldn't, or wouldn't, move her forearm. After driving home to Portland from Monmouth (during which she napped, luckily), I called her doctor, who diagnosed the problem as "nursemaid's elbow." It's a common injury for the 2-5 set, sometimes caused by a parent (or nursemaid) yanking on a recalcitrant child's arm. The doctor described a maneuver for me to do (holding the arm at the elbow and rotating the hand), but all this did was cause more pain, so we ended up taking Melina to the E.R. around 7:00 p.m. Luckily, the hospital here has a really nice separate E.R. for children, so there were no scary bleeding people to traumatize her. Also, the doctor who treated her ended up being an old neighbor of ours with kids of his own who suffer from nursemaid's elbow. After five arm X-rays, Doctor Scott did a maneuver on Melina's arm - correctly this time - and it popped right back into place. Fifteen seconds later she said "Oh! I feel better now!" - And she's been fine ever since. I've studied up on it and how to fix it in case it happens again.

Excuses, excuses

Well, my parents, who I am convinced are just about the only people who read this blog other than occasionally Becky and Melinda, are getting on my case for not posting enough. The reasons are: a) busy at work, and feeling guilty about posting there; b) busy knitting in the evenings at home (obsessively trying to finish a red sweater for Melina); c) not wanting to complain any more about the terrible twos; d) general malaise. I'll try to do better!

Molting

The chickens are definitely molting now. There are big piles of wind-blown chicken feathers in the corner of the run. From what I can tell, the two Wyandottes, Martha and Abigail, are losing the most feathers. I can't tell if Dolley is molting or not. Actually, none of them look any different than normal, which is surprising considering how many feathers are piling up. I'm collecting the nicest ones to take to Melina's preschool, where they will use them for arts and crafts. What useful pets these are!

Oh, and one other thing. I've noticed that Dolley, the barred rock, has taken to sleeping on the roost instead of piling in the corner with the other two hens. I've heard that Wyandottes don't usually roost like most chickens; I guess it's true. I feel kind of sorry for Dolley, sitting there in the cold air away from her warm brethren. But I guess it's her choice. And she probably sleeps better there anyway.

Chickens on vacation

Fall is here, and egg production has gone on hiatus at the Gilden-Holmes Chicken Farm. The girls may be molting - it's hard to tell, at least for me - which further reduces their egg production. Lately we've been getting one egg every other day, which is kind of pathetic, though normal. I had to actually buy eggs the other day. Actually, I asked Jeff to buy them, and he got some sort of off-brand factory eggs that had pale yolks and runny whites. It was a stark contrast to the firm orange gems we get. I could light up the coop at night to increase the girls' output, but that also appears to decrease their life span. So I will have to buy eggs during the winter, I guess, and keep the chickens longer. Apparently we should be getting more eggs again in February or March.

"I just climbed out"

Last week Melina mastered the art of climbing out of her crib, which filled both Jeff and I with horror. Melina was very proud of her accomplishment, but we were NOT ready for her to sleep in a toddler bed, bouncing up out of bed all night long. Then we discovered the crib tent. This ingenious device keeps toddlers in their cribs, and if you present it to them as a very special tent just for them, they love it. Melina is WAY into it. Last night when Jeff was putting her to bed, he was stroking her face trying to get her to sleep when she said, "please zip it closed." We haven't had a problem with her climbing out since. Maybe we will use it when we go camping to keep out the mosquitos - though I have to say it's a *bitch* to assemble (it was next to impossible to get one of the pole ends into its sleeve). I can't imagine voluntarily taking it down and putting it back up again.

Holidays

Melina is just starting to learn about Halloween and Christmas. I think I've thoroughly confused her by reading her The Nightmare Before Christmas, which is about a Halloween skeleton that takes over Santa's job and botches it up. So now Melina probably thinks that Santa is a skeletal creature with ghost reindeer who brings little vampire toys to children. Anyway, the other day I told her that Santa brings toys to little girls and boys. "To me?" she said, excited. I think this will be a fun Christmas.

For Halloween, I bought some fake fur and my friend Sue helped me make a little cavegirl outfit. She tried it on yesterday and complained that it was itchy, so it may take some tweaking before I can get her to wear it. I don't think she knows yet that Halloween means candy, but she knows it means pumpkins. It will be a fun Halloween, too.

Stories

Melina is now both now a listener and a teller of fairy tales. On those rare occasions where I put her to bed (Jeff usually does it), she wants to hear stories about herself, her friend Amanda, Amanda's mother Molly, and now all the kids at preschool - Aria, Sanju, and Hank seem to be favorites. And she's very particular that stories start with the words "One day..." instead of "Once up on a time." After that, she doesn't seem to care much where they go, although sometimes she makes special requests for trains or cars. So my stories usually go something like this:

One day, Melina and Amanda got in the car and Melina drove them to the beach. They drove and drove, over the mountains and through the woods and through the valleys and through the forest. Finally, they got to the beach. And there, they hired a little boat and rowed out into the ocean. They rowed and rowed and rowed, and suddenly along came a huge whale. "Hello," said the whale, "What are you doing way out here in the ocean?" "We're having an adventure," said Melina. And the whale said "Well, come on down to my palace under the sea and I'll show you around." So Melina and Amanda and the whale swam down to the whale's palace, and while they were there they came upon a teeny tiny jellyfish that was looking for its mama...

For some reason (maybe because I work in fisheries?) it seems like 90% of my stories (and Jeff's, for that matter) revolve around swimming deep down in the ocean or flying through the sky on the back of a bird. Usually there is some sort of animal that needs help - often a bear with a thorn in its paw. It's interesting to think about where these stories come from.

Melina has also been telling some stories of her own. Usually they're pretty short, like "Once upon a time there was a car. The end." (Unlike us, she is allowed to say "once upon a time.") Her stories are getting more complex, though. I will try to remember some and write them down here.

Two point five

Melina is now firmly established in her twos. Every once in a while I think "oh, this two thing isn't so hard," and I assure my friends that their 1.5-year olds are much more difficult. And then there comes a day like today, when somebody seemed to have whisked Melina away to another dimension and replaced her with the Child From Hell. I suspect that she did not sleep at preschool (they went to the pumpkin patch, which was probably way too exciting). Around 5:30 she started on a major meltdown that lasted about 45 minutes. She had been playing with water and got her teeshirt wet, and she was determined to take it off herself. On the other hand, her alternate personality wanted help taking off the teeshirt. At one point she was yelling "I want to do it MYSELF!! HELP ME!". What are you supposed to do with that? I tried helping and got thoroughly screamed at, but if I didn't help she broke down in tears and began banging her head against the floor, screaming. I approached her, I ignored her. I ate my dinner (Jeff was at a work party). I finally forcibly removed the objectionable item of clothing (which she had pulled down around her waist), and she became hysterical. Finally she calmed enough so I could hold her, and we lay down on the couch for a few minutes. Then she ate dinner (only the outer edges of the tortellini) and took a bath. In the bath, she was completely manic, sloshing the water around and wanting to stand up and "swim" in the bathtub. She was completely and utterly over-tired. I read to her for about an hour and told her endless stories about how Melina and her little friend Amanda swam through the ocean finding the mommies and daddies of little lost jellyfish. Finally, exhausted, in denial, she fell asleep. And now I probably will too.

Chicken update

I think I have finally reached the point where I can sit back and rake in the returns of all my chicken-related efforts. We now have three excellent layers providing 2-3 eggs a day, and they have a relatively predator-proof run where I can leave them during the day. (Dad helped me build it. I quickly realized that I am not detailed-oriented enough to build a sturdy chicken run by myself).

Not that there aren't still challenges. Yesterday I made the mistake of letting them free-range in the back yard while I went to pick Melina up from preschool; I had forgotten to close the bamboo fence across the driveway, and when I returned, there were no chickens in the back yard at all. Melina picked up on my little wave of panic and started crying, but pretty soon we found them all under the bushes in the front yard. This was the first time they've all left the back yard, so I guess we're entering a new era of chicken adventurousness.

And speaking of adventurousness, chicken Dolly (pictured above) has become so tame (and demanding) that she now goes in the kitchen whenever possible to eat the cat food. (Note to self: buy the fish-flavored, not the poultry). She also begs at the table whenever we eat outside. She seems to like being picked up; both Melina and I can carry her around in our arms when we want. That's kind of nice, because I've gotten home late a few times this week and have had to move all the chickens from their roosting place on the deck to their coop. Dolly is the easiest to move, by far; Martha will put up with it, but Abigail acts like you're trying to kill her.

Two

I remember someone saying once that their daughter's personality changed overnight when she turned two - her sweet, compliant little angel turned into an unrecognizable, screeching harpy. I congratulated myself for several months that this hadn't happened with Melina (no doubt due to my superior parenting skills), but now I have to take it back. Melina CAN be a screeching, demanding, unforgiving, thankless little dictator. Luckily these spells never last too long (a few days here and there), but when they're upon her, it's brutal. Pretty much all she wants to do is eat popsicles (limit: one a day), and watch "Wheels on the Bus" on YouTube. And when she does get to watch Wheels on the Bus, she wants to watch a different version of Wheels on the Bus. And then a different version. At this point I would willingly pay someone to create a new version of Wheels on the Bus for YouTube just so I could watch something new.

And then there are the spoons and forks. Melina has always been picky about which spoons and forks she uses, but now it's a bigger deal. Spoons go in and out of favor (right now she likes the Big Bird spoon, or as she says, "Big Duck"). A favorite spoon or fork one day is out the window the next. And of course the blueberries have to be put in just the right spot on the tray, and the milk has to be put in just the right type of glass or cup. Very persnickety.

And then there's the Scary Slide at Wilshire Park. It's an old 1970s metal corkscrew version, pre-lawsuit, that's 9.5 feet high (I looked it up). If a kid sits in the wrong place and doesn't hold on, they drop straight down the middle of the slide or go flying off. I know of at least two kids who have fallen off. Of course, it's Melina's favorite slide. Usually I don't worry TOO much about it, because she's very coordinated, she goes down safely (holding on), and I stand in the danger zone to catch her if she should fall. But yesterday she observed some older girls going down it BACKWARD. Wayyyy dangerous. Melina started to go down it backward and I had to pull her back up by the arms, at which point she tried again, and again, while all other little kids were waiting below. I couldn't grab her and take her back down the steps (too high and hazardous with a squirming child) and I couldn't let her go down it backward. I also couldn't go down it with her (not big enough for me). Finally I let her go partway down it lying down, and then I descended to catch her in case she fell. She made it without falling, but I think it scared her enough that she didn't want to do it again.

I've thought about calling or emailing the Parks Department about that slide. I know that it's the bane of other parents' existence, too. It says "Not for small children" in big letters, but small children can't read. I don't to be one of those overprotective parents who takes away the favorite piece of playground equipment because her child stubbed a toe or something, but I think that most parents would be relieved if that thing was gone. I guess if Melina keeps wanting to go down it backwards I will just have to forbid it altogether, but that will make trips to the park into a living hell. It will stand there like forbidden fruit, leading to endless temper tantrums - at least until she's old enough to reason with.

Will she ever be old enough to reason with?

So many changes!

I haven't been able to post lately because I've been crazy busy both at work and at home. On August 28 we got back from a ten-day trip to the Boston area and Maine. Melina did great on the plane both ways and she had a fantastic time being adored by the grandparents. One of my favorite memories of the trip is of Melina sitting in the front of granddad's boat on a lake in Maine, bouncing up and down as we sped across the lake, saying "faster! faster!" She also enjoyed getting down on her stomach at the dock to look at the big frog that lived there, and I'm sure she enjoyed all the wonderful Greek and Italian food prepared by Aunt Bette, Yaya, and Grammy Alba. We also got to see my friend Melinda (who should be posting a response to this any day now) and her brother's kids. Funny how ten days really doesn't seem very long at all once you're in the middle of it.

Almost as soon as we got home, I went away for a private retreat with my friend Tara at Breitenbush Hot Springs. It was the first time I've been away for non-work purposes, and Tara's first time away ever. We went for a good hike; spent lots of time alone (reading, doing sudoku puzzles, meditating, walking); talked a lot; ate lots of organic carbohydrates (quinoa being a favorite); slept; and soaked in the hot tubs and pools. I am happy to report that the peace of mind gained from two days at a new age resort is worth the small amount of guilt I may have felt for leaving Melina behind with her daddy and grandparents. Especially since when I got back, nobody seemed to have noticed that I was gone. Melina barely raised an eyebrow when I got home. I'm not sure if she was giving me the silent treatment, if she had forgotten that I existed, or if she was just distracted. Either way, we all survived.

And then Melina started preschool. She is going to a small private preschool near our house; there about 12 kids attending. So far, she seems to really like it; she never wants to leave when I come to pick her up. This week the kids made paper, went to the gym, made pizza, sang songs, and spent lots of time outside playing. Melina even napped - easily. And I had a few free hours to go to the grocery store and build a new chicken run. (I pick her up after she finishes her nap, around 3:30). It will be interesting to see how this new schedule changes our lives.

OK, gotta run. More soon.

Our feral child

We found this cave-child while we were camping near Olallie Lake.

Backpacking at Olallie Lake

Our fourth backpacking trip of the season was in the Olallie Lake Scenic Area, one of my favorite places in Oregon. [This photo is from the Redwoods; haven't had time to download the Olallie Lake photos yet.] Olallie Lake is about 2.5 hours from Portland, and the trail starts at the Olallie Lake resort. We arrived at around 6:00 on a Friday, and since there were several other cars at the trailhead, we decided that Jeff should run ahead to check out the camping situation (we weren't sure which lake to head to - Timber Lake or Top Lake - or how many spots were at each lake).

"Olallie" means berry, and in August the trails are lined with huckleberry bushes - some with big powdery blue berries; some with dark purple, almost black, berries; some with tiny little red berries. They are all about two feet tall - just the right size for a two-year-old who could happily consume huckleberries for weeks on end. I purposely did not point out the huckleberries to Melina because I knew we wouldn't be going anywhere once she discovered them; and surprisingly, she didn't immediately realize they were. She hiked almost the entire 1+ mile to the campsite, stopping occasionally to point out a pine needle or a rock, and constantly asking "what'sat? What'sat?" Eventually we came across another group of hikers who commented on all the huckleberries and showed them to Melina. After that, progress was slow.

Once Jeff took off to find us a campsite (stashing his backpack behind a rock), it was just Melina and me in the wilderness. Even though there was no-one around, the trail was easy, there was plenty of light, and I had a good map and knew where we were going, I was a little nervous. During our last four backpacking trips I've had plenty of time to ponder all of the things that could go wrong during a trip:

• Angry bear could attack.
  
• Angry mountain lion could attack.
  
• Mosquito could carry West Nile virus, causing extended suffering.
  
• Tree could fall on tent (this happened to me when I was eight years old).
  
• Earthquake could cause rocks and trees to fall on hikers, tent.
  
• Melina could fall off a cliff.
  
• Melina could drown in a lake.
  
• Jeff or Melina could get lost. (I'm not worried about ME getting lost).
  
• Crazy mountain man or Yahoo could attack.
  
• Forest fire could trap us. (We were hiking at Olallie Lake when a large forest fire started once, so this fear is not completely unfounded).
  
• Unknown creature could grab leg while swimming in the lake.
  
• Giardia.
  
• Could experience heart attack while jumping into cold water.
  
• Jeff could get leg pinned between two boulders while searching for firewood, etc.
  
• UFO could hover over campsite, abducting occupants. (This seems completely real late at night under the spreading stars).
  
• Nuclear war could erupt and we wouldn't know about it.
  
• Could find dead body in remote location.
  
• Melina could freeze or suffocate in her sleeping bag (requiring me to check on her frequently during the night).
  

OK, so some of these are more likely than others. I've realized that being out in the (somewhat remote) wilderness is a good way to examine your fears and figure out which ones are worth the effort. In the end, none of these things happened, though I was a bit concerned about a "nearby" forest fire (actually about 60 miles away) that sent smoke our way when the wind was from the east.

Jeff found us a nice spot on Timber Lake. There were a few other parties there during the weekend, and we saw quite a few hikers during the day, but everyone was friendly and polite and there wasn't too much negative Yahoo energy. On the second day we did a loop hike and bushwhacked down to a couple of lakes that had no trails leading to them. We found some nice campsites on these remote lakes and plan to return; I'm pretty sure we would have the lakes completely to ourselves, even on a busy weekend.

Melina did great, as she has always done on hiking trips. I think she's a born hiker. She slept well, only waking up once on Sunday night; she climbed like a mountain goat over rocks and trees; she played in the dirt to hear heart's content and found new ways to pass the time with her little Playmobil people. I've found that's actually easier being with Melina when we're out in the wilderness - because there's less that I have to do, because Jeff is always around, and because she entertains herself really well. She becomes this self-reliant, confident, able-bodied kid who barely resembles the two-year-old I was afraid she might be. She's a pretty cool kid!

Backpacking baby

We have gone on four backpacking trips with Melina this summer, and it turns out that she's a natural. I don't know many two-year-olds who can hike a mile over rocky terrain... but then again, I don't know many two-year-olds at all, so maybe this is normal? Anyway, in late July we went on a weeklong trip to the Redwoods, with two two-night backpacking trips separated by two nights at the Patrick Creek Lodge. The first trip was a one-mile hike down to Redwood Creek, a beautiful, clear creek hemmed in by tall redwood stands. The water level was low, so you could hike for miles along the gravel bars, wading through the water when necessary. It felt very remote and wild; a bear crossed our path as we drove in on a gravel road. The stream was full of caddis fly larvae (a sign of a healthy stream) and baby trout, and we saw some interesting new bugs, including a little inchworm with big black eyes and a giant green grasshopper.

Redwood Creek is a great place to backpack with kids. The trail in is rather steep, but short; there are lots of hollowed out redwoods to play house in; the water in the creek is pretty shallow and not too cold in July; and because you're camping on gravel, there's a minimum of dirt. (Nevertheless, Melina managed to get completely filthy several times over).

Our second backpacking trip was along the Doe Flat trail to Buck Lake in the Six Rivers Recreation Area. This trail was 1.8 miles long, and the early stretches had some scary cliffs, so Melina rode on Jeff's shoulders much of the time. Other than that, this was another great trail for kids. The first day we had Buck Lake all to ourselves - just us, a tame doe that broke into our bag of gorp and continued creeping around the campsite at night, some chipmunks, and a bear (briefly) splashing in the lake the following morning. It was absolutely silent - almost too silent for someone used to hearing fans and air filters blowing at night. The second night, a large family showed up and camped on the other side of the lake. Even though they were fairly quiet, their presence brought out my xenophobic tendencies and I realized that I'd really like to go backpacking somewhere where you don't see other people. Isn't that the whole point of backpacking? Of course, when you can only go a mile or two in, you don't get all THAT remote.

While we were in the area we went on a day hike to Devil's Punchbowl, a higher elevation alpine lake three miles from our camp. We actually never made it to the lake because the trail became more and more rocky and steep, my fear of heights kicked in, and neither Jeff or I thought it was safe to continue on with Melina in the backpack. So instead we found a hidden pool, populated only by a garter snake, and had lunch there. Jeff skinny dipped and I stuck my head under a waterfall, and we were all entertained watching the ants carry away pieces of our lunch. On the way back, Melina developed some strong preferences about pine cones and kept asking for different pine cones along the way. There were some huge ones there, including Ponderosa pine cones that were about ten inches long.

One other thing: on our hike in, we saw a creature that I could only identify as a mountain beaver. Who knew there was such a thing as a mountain beaver? I learned about it in a wildlife book I bought at the ranger station office. It's not a beaver at all - more like a large fuzzy loaf of bread. I staked out a mountain beaver colony for a while in the early morning, but I didn't see a thing.

Melina's third Country Fair

It's hard to believe that Melina's only two and has already gone to three Oregon Country Fairs (the first when she was only three months old). The first time we used my parents' VW bus; the second time we camped; and this time we camped again. Next time I intend to use my parents' trailer (hint hint) because I just don't know if I can take another stretch of three sleepless nights, laying there in the tent listening to drunk twenty-somethings whoop around the camp at 3:00 a.m. That part just isn't fun anymore. Especially since I am essentially tent-bound at 11:00, trying (unsuccessfully) to sleep because I know that Melina will be waking me up at 7:30. (Jeff can stay out later because he seems to thrive on less sleep). Oh, the exquisite joy of being kept up until all hours, only to be woken at sunrise by a car alarm going off, somebody's baby screaming, or my own daughter wanting to jump on the bed.

I have to admit there were times during this OCF that I felt like I was just too old for this anymore. Or too something. (Nevermind the many aging hippies who thrive in that environment.) I told someone that it seemed less magical to me this time, and they pointed out that I had spent several days chasing a two-year-old around. Oh, yeah. During the 20 minutes when Jeff and Melina got lost trying to find the kids' area, it DID feel kind of magical. With a two-year-old there's never any time to actually get INTO anything, or relax, or go to a talk, or focus on the music...

Oh well. It was fun to watch Melina having fun. She LOVED it. She talked to lots of people, and ate corn on the cob, and ate tamales, and drank huge amounts of lemonade, and climbed on things, and rolled in the dust, and played with our friend's three sons, and darted out into the road, and got to sleep in a tent, and saw horses, and rode in a yellow school bus, and admired the water truck, and swam in the muddy lake, and saw a big striped bug, and ate illicit jellybeans for breakfast, and pretty much lived on fried things and sugar for a while. She even sat still long enough to watch some bellydancers, and part of a puppet show, and part of a couple juggling shows. By the end, she looked like a brown dusty little hippy baby who has never had a bath. (I took a shower at the fair for $8; Melina stood on a stool and mixed up the shampoo and body soap so I ended up washing my hair with Dr. Bronner's).

There were a few sweet moments after Melina went to bed where I got to roam around Zumwalt (our campground) with friends. (Usually that was when Jeff was putting Melina to bed, or shortly afterward. We did have about half an hour together when a friend babysat for us). Jeff's friends Monica and Cipriano were there, and I really enjoyed talking to them, sitting by the big bonfire and listening to music. Sibelia and Simon and their three sons camped next to us, and Jeff's friend Chris was also there. It was nice hanging out with them all. Zumwalt is great because it's next to Fern Ridge Reservoir, which cools the air in the evening and at night; and the same people go there year after year, so a community forms. A couple of my coworkers have started going there, which is nice.

Next time, if we go (and I'm sure Jeff and Melina will want to), I am going to bring a) ear plugs; b) my parents' trailer; c) sleeping pills and d) an eye shade. And a nanny. And THEN I will feel the magic.

Our first egg!

Today one of chickens laid her first egg, a nice little brown specimen, very clean and perfect looking. I'm not sure which chicken laid it, but this morning I did this "thing" that I learned on the Portland Backyard Chicken group where you sort of tap their backs and they hunker down if they're going to start laying eggs soon. Dolly and Abigail both hunkered down (Martha didn't), so I think it was one of them. Apparently this "hunkering" has to do with showing the proper respect towards a rooster.

We went to the Country Fair this weekend and it sounds like the chickens had a wild time in our absence. They wandered into our neighbor's yard for the first time ever (of course it had to be the neighbor who isn't crazy about chickens) and then they were let loose for several hours by a friend of one of the neighbor girls. Their mom didn't know the chickens had been let out until about 11:00 p.m. She came over here to search for them and couldn't find them anywhere - apparently she even went under the porch with a flashlight and drove around the neighborhood looking for them. She didn't sleep too well that night (and neither would I have if I had known!) but the chickens were found safe and sound in the garage the next morning. I think, given the number of poops I found, that they had slept under the wisteria vine on the deck. It's a very secure spot where they're almost invisible. Also, I should note that the little girls spread chicken feed all over the yard to try to lure them back to the coop. So now the yard is a patchwork of dead grass and chicken feed. I think we should just start over with it in the fall.

Tonight I worked on putting together a permanent pen for the girls to use when we're out of town, so I don't to ask a neighbor to let them out and round them up every evening. I have sort of a quasi-run now, but it's not very pretty and it still needs a lot of work.

By the way, our camera got lost at the Country Fair, so I don't have a photo of the Egg. I'm posting a photo of a similar (Portland, July) egg instead.

(And I'll post about the County Fair soon too).

Our first backpacking trip

We went on our first official backpacking trip with Melina last weekend, to the Salmon River trail near Mt. Hood. It's a beautiful low-elevation old growth forest and a great place to backpack with a kid. The trip started out a bit rough since Melina never napped on the way to the trailhead, and had a very short fuse. She refused to stay in the baby pack (which, since I was carrying all 27 pounds of her plus some gear, was fine with me) but she also refused to hold anyone's hand on the steep parts of the trail. Jeff ended up carrying her a lot of the way. About a mile in (yes, a mile) we found a really nice spot and decided to set up camp. Melina was very excited about sleeping in a tent, and she slept pretty well. Since we don't have a three-person backpacking tent, Jeff slept in his little one-person tent and I slept with Melina in the two-person tent. (When we go for two nights, we'll trade off). Melina went to bed around 8:00 and woke up around 7:40, just like she does at home.

While she was awake, there were lots of things in the forest to entertain her. She enjoyed climbing up on logs and jumping off them, looking for wild strawberries, throwing rocks in the river, staring at bugs, walking across the little stream near our campsite, and running down the forest trails. Jeff also got to take a dip in the ice-cold river, and I spent a nice hour sitting on some exposed tree roots in the river drinking a little airplane-sized Grand Marnier and watching the dusk gather while Jeff put Melina to bed. It's such a beautiful, wild river - obviously there has been a lot of change in the last few decades, with new gravel bars from flooding, new growth, and old stands of white alders looking like Russian birches along the riverbank. I waited for a family of Sasquatches to dart of the undergrowth to slurp water from the river, but they never came. Actually we didn't see much wildlife at all, apart from baby trout, caddis fly larvae in the rivers, crows, and a water ouzel.

Here's a recent photo of Little Miss M at a lake on Sauvie Island.

A dog in the chicken yard

The other day our neighbor's dog ran into the backyard and began chasing Abigail around. All the chickens were squawking and flying as high as they could, I was yelling, the neighbor was yelling, the dog was barking - I'm sure it was very entertaining to all the neighbors, most of whom seemed to be outside in their backyards. Luckily the dog gave up before he caught a chicken. I'm not sure if he was really set on a chicken dinner or if he was just curious and having fun, but it was a close call. I reinforced the fence and we haven't had any incidents since.

Mina do it

Melina is getting more and more independent and willful. We're definitely well into the Twos. Lately she has begun openly defying me on such issues as "can I walk on the neighbor's front porch," (not when the neighbor is home), "can I run over the kitty with my shopping cart," and "can I cross the street without holding your hand." When we get to this stage I usually get down on her level and speak to her firmly, and when she repeats the behavior I either take her home or take away the shopping cart (or put the cat out). I wonder if I should be using timeouts or some other disciplinary tool. I don't really believe in "punishment" because I think it ends up backfiring later, but on the other hand I can't let her get away with murder, either. I feel like I need to learn more about this.

There's also the question of what to do when she won't share, or when she gets in a tussle with one of her small friends. Apparently in Japan they have the philosophy that the parent never intervenes in these little dramas unless there's a question of safety. I kind of like that - let the kids work out their own problems - but if other parents don't share that philosophy then you can get into trouble. I know that two-year-olds just aren't into sharing, and that's that. I'll be glad when we're out of this stage. (Not that Melina NEVER shares; sometimes she willingly hands over crackers or toys - but she definitely has a strong sense of property rights!).

A trip to Foster City

I went down to Foster City, California, this week for work. I have to say it was a pretty boring trip. Usually we all go out somewhere interesting for dinner, but this time the energy never manifested and we settled for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres in the hotel bar. The committee meeting I staffed was kind of boring, too. But Melina and Jeff had fun while I was gone, and Melina got to see lots of planes at the airport. The big ones are called "Mama planes." I guess that means the little ones are baby planes. I was glad to come home.

Our first farm box

We received our first farm box (well, bag) today from Sungold Farm. As I mentioned before, Molly & I are splitting a share. We loaded the girls into Molly's red Radio Flyer wagon and wheeled them over to the park, where the farmer was delivering. Today's delivery included Hood strawberries (the best tasting of all), fava beans (which I plan to grill on Sunday), sugar snap peas, snow peas, rhubarb (which I traded with Molly for more fava beans), flowers, and bok choi. I stir fried the bok choi with garlic & sesame oil, and it was delicious. I can already tell this is going to lead to more vegetable consumption chez Melina.

Speaking of Melina, when we got the park she insisted on going down the Scary Slide several times. It's a very tall, old-fashioned, twisty slide that I'm sure many children have fallen from throughout the ages. Melina loves it. She is fearless, and she loves slides. The other day she figured out how to go down a baby slide backwards, sitting up. She also recently enjoyed coasting down the neighbor's driveway backwards on her trike. I fear.... I fear.

Turns out chickens aren't very smart.

I let the girls out this evening to see if they could figure out how to get back in their coop at dusk, which chickens are supposed to do. After about an hour of happy pecking in the yard (while I had a glass of wine and soaked my feet in the kiddy pool), they started a low peeping that got increasingly more urgent as the sun went down. They went over to their coop, then came back toward me, then went back to the coop, then came over to me again. If chickens could talk they would definitely have been saying "How the heck do we get back in the coop?" Well, you could go back in the way you came out, but I guess that's too obvious. I herded them over but they still couldn't figure out how to get in (and I have to say, in their defense, that the coop is backed up against some bushes so the door is kind of hidden; but they could have gone through the top, too, which was wide open...) Anyway, I was getting tired of the game, so I caught them all one by one and put them in. I wonder if they would have ever figured it out?

Dolley, the barred rock, is so tame that I can carry her around and pet her now. The other two are little more jumpy. I think Martha Washington, the golden-laced Wyandotte, is the dominant chicken, though it's hard to say. She keeps ruffling her feathers like you would think a dominant hen would do.

By the way, I have now informed all of my neighbors about the chicken project. Three of them were enthusiastic and one said "yuck," but I think she's coming around. (Interestingly, all of my neighbors are single women. Not that that has anything to do with chickens.)

My parents asked me to post a recent photo of Melina on the blog, so here it is. This was taken at Wahclella Falls on Mother's Day/Jeff's Birthday.

Welcome, baby Rebekah!

Our friends Aaron & Brenda are the proud parents of the sweet little girl pictured here. She is a really adorable little thing, 7 lbs. 7 oz. at birth. Funny to think that she and Melina will probably end up being friends. Welcome Rebekah!

The chickens go out

Last week the chickens went on their first excursion out of the coop. This is a photo of them thinkng about leaving the coop, but not really doing it. The first day I decided to let them out, they all refused to go except Dolley, who then spent most of the time worriedly conversing with her sisters on the other side of the chickenwire. The next day I tried again and they all came out and spent a good hour wandering around the backyard in close formation. Molly and Amanda, our neighbors, were over, and Melina and Amanda played in the kiddie pool while the chickens pecked around them. Then Molly's husband showed up, and then the construction guy came to work on the garage, and then Jeff showed up - it was a regular party at the farm. I have to say it's pretty funny seeing three chickens running around in the backyard. All we need is a goat or a pony to complete the effect.

Boondang!

For several months now Melina has been really into construction equipment (I think it started when Jeff rented a little frontloader for the garage work). Now whenever she sees a construction crane or construction equipment of any kind she says "Boondang!" or maybe "Boomdang!" Now we're all in the habit of exclaiming "boondang!" whenever we go by a construction site.

Here's the daddy!

Lately Melina calls Jeff "the daddy." Yesterday when he drove up she yelled "Here's the daddy!" Sometimes she'll say "Where's the daddy? There it is!!" I can't correct her because it's just too freakin' cute.

Lately she's also been saying "songing" instead of "singing," as in "more songing?" She also has musical preferences already. We were on a car trip this weekend and when we'd put on music she'd say "different baby song? Different baby song?" She seems to know which music is "baby songs," but she prefers reggae over just about everything else.

She also says "yeah" to just about everything. You can ask her just about any question (Did you see Elvis at the playground today? Are you a Martian?) and she'll say "Yeah," in a really knowing way. It's hilarious.

Our family holiday

Yesterday for our family holiday (Mother's Day plus Jeff's birthday) we took a hike at Wahclella Falls, a pretty waterfall not too far from Portland. The first quarter mile is a nice wide, flat gravel path (probably an old road) that was perfect for a running toddler. Then the trail got more steep and narrow, with big drop-offs, and we had to force - er, put - Melina in the backpack. For about five minutes she kept up a steady "out! out!" interspersed with general whining. Then I gave her part of a chocolate energy bar, and she was content until we reached the falls. [This raises the question of how we will manage backpacking this summer. I think we all want to do it - even Melina, who gets excited about a hike - but we won't be able to go very far if Little Miss M refuses to go in the backpack herself.]

When we got to the end of the trail, we let Melina out so she could crawl around on the smooth river rocks by the creek. She and Jeff threw rocks into the water while I took pictures. What is it about little kids throwing rocks in the water? We went hiking with six (count 'em - SIX) little boys last weekend (OK, so one was two months old) - but their main interest was in throwing boulders down cliffs and into the river. That, and playing with toy swords. Melina isn't so much into dislodging boulders yet, but she really enjoys throwing rocks and making big splashes.

After the hike we went to McMenamins Edgefield for brunch. Our reservation was at 3:00 and we didn't get there until 3:30, but this ended up being a good thing because it meant we could sit outside on their beautiful lawn under the clearing afternoon sky. We had the outdoor tables almost to ourselves, and Melina enjoyed running around randomly with a piece of bacon in her hand. I took a little break from my diet and enjoyed a truly marvelous Belgian waffle and a couple of mimosas, along with other typical brunch options. Yum! Afterward, we toured the grounds, Melina climbed up and down stairs, and she and Jeff played chase in the herb garden. All in all, a lovely day.

A room of her own

I am happy to report that Melina now has her very own bedroom. Until now, she has been sleeping first in our bed, then in a crib in our room, then in a crib in a nook off our bedroom. All of those arrangements meant that we had to be very quiet and very dark after 8:00 or so. Now Miss M is happily ensconced downstairs in our former guest room. I think we waited until just the right time to move here there. She's into the possessive stage, where she doesn't want anyone else to play with her toys (unless she gives them over herself). I think she likes the idea of having a room that's all hers. (Last week I made her a teepee out of a blanket and she pushed me out of it, saying "get out!" I didn't take it personally). She's transitioned really well. The first morning she woke up at 4:00 (and eventually ended up in our bed); the second morning she didn't wake up until her usual time. Today she woke up at 5:30 and I brought her in bed so we didn't have to go through a Monday-morning screamfest. I think she'll soon get used to waking up in her own room. Going to sleep there is no problem - she seems almost eager these days!

Octopus Jenny's Wind Energy Investment Report

(I did this research for a friend who was curious about wind energy investments. I'm not a pro; I just did this for fun and thought my other friends might be interested, so keep that in mind as you read...)

Wind power is the fastest growing energy source in the world. However, it is hard to invest in pure wind energy because many small companies are privately owned, most public companies are located in Europe, and the bigger companies (like GE) often do other things that progressive investors don't want to touch. (For example, GE Wind only makes up 1.5% of GE). Investing in wind energy is complex because wind companies range from turbine manufacturers (like Vestas) to parts manufacturers and utilities. In addition, the wind energy market in the U.S. depends on the existence of tax credits that serve as an incentive for wind developers and buyers.

Investing in Individual Stocks: Too hard, too risky for folks like us.

Aurora Investment News writes, "[This] kind of growth usually presents interesting opportunities for investors. But traders in the U.S. will find it frustrating to get in on it. The main reason is the mere absence of stocks available for U.S. investors."

Currently, most large, public wind energy companies are located in Europe (Denmark or Germany), and are listed on foreign stock exchanges. Germany has the largest wind market in the world.

Although there are two small U.S. based wind energy companies, they both have major drawbacks. U.S. Wind Farming (USWF.PK) is a penny stock that had a "nasty run-in" with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Western Wind Energy (WNDEF) is trading at $0.96 and has no apparent revenue.

According to Progressive Investor, the wind market is dominated by 10 major companies:

• Vestas (VWSYF.PK) - Danish company. The world's largest wind turbine manufacturer. 34% of market. Considered a "good long term investment" by Progressive Investor. However, Vestas is not listed by Charles Schwab (see below).
  
• Gamesa (GAM.MC) - Spanish company starting operations in the U.S. 18% of market. Considered a "good long term investment."
  
• Enercon (ENDC.PK) - Germany company. 15% of market.
  
• Nordex (NRDXF.PK) - Germany company. 2% of market. Considered a "good long term investment."
  
• GE Wind. 11% of market. (Impossible to invest solely in this sector of GE).
  
• Siemens. 6% of market. (Impossible to invest solely in this sector of Siemens).
  
• Suzlon. 4% of market.
  
• REpower. 3% of market. Considered a "good long term investment."
  
• Mitsubishi. 2% of market.
  
• Ecotecnia (Spain). 2% of market.
  

Other companies include:

• NEG Micon (NEGMF.PK) - Danish company
  
• Bonus (BONU.CO) - Danish company (appears to have been bought by Siemens)
  
• Accionia (ANA.MC) - a wind developer. Considered a "good long term investment."
  
• Novera (NVE.L) - a wind developer. Considered a "good long term investment."
  
• Boralex (BLX-A.TO) - a wind developer. Considered a "good long term investment." Their website points to the Boralex Income Fund - worth looking into later.
  
• Canadian Hydro Developers (KHD.TO) - an independent utility that develops and owns wind farms and market the electricity. Considered a "good long term investment."
  
• Clipper. Considered a "good long term investment." (But shares are not currently available to US residents, even though they are located in California).
  

Since most of these are foreign companies, they must bought "over the counter" using "pink sheets." (See this for information on how to buy OTC stocks).

What are Pink Sheets?

From what I can tell, buying something on the "Pink Sheets" is like going into a dark alley to buy drugs. The "Pink Sheet" is an electronic system published by Pink Sheets LLC that lists penny stocks and other OTC securities. Apparently, it's where good companies go to die. Companies listed there do not have to fulfill any requirements (audits, etc.) like they do to be listed on the NYSE and NASDAQ. The SEC sees companies listed on Pink Sheets as "among the most risky investments" and advises potential investors to heavily research the companies in which they plan to invest. However, some reputable foreign companies (Heineken, Volkswagen, Nestle) are also listed on the pink sheets. ("While these are hardly fly-by-night businesses, investors should still take extra care, because European accounting and disclosure laws are different.")

From Wikipedia: "Buying Pink Sheets shares is supposed to be difficult; broker-dealers are enjoined to weed-out "widows and orphans" who may get an e-mail or word-of-mouth tip about a small stock." (Does that include us?)

To buy a stock from the Pink Sheets, you must get an account with a brokerage firm. Schwab does not sell Vestas stock. Other brokerage firms include E*Trade, Ameritrade, Accutrade, etc. (I briefly had some stocks through a broker and found that their fees were way, way too high to justify my small amount of stock.)

Cautions about Vestas (from Aurora Investment News, undated)

This year, [an analyst] estimates Vestas' revenue growth will slow to 6%... Vestas is also trying to broaden its reach into the U.S., winning a contract to supply Horizon Wind with 127 mills for the Wild Horse project in Washington state. Vestas is building a factory in China to supply the U.S. market.

While recent earnings have been stronger than analysts were expecting, Vestas still faces a number of obstacles ahead. ...The company faces quality problems in some of the turbines it recently shipped, it's suffering a supply bottleneck and component shortage among its suppliers, and competition is growing among Gamesa, GE Wind and New Dehli-based Suzlon.

"It will take time for Vestas to solve these problems," Frederiksen said, noting that the risks "are in our view not discounted in the currently high share price." Vestas' shares have only risen further since his report was issued last month.

Such caution is essential in a sector where certain growth attracts competitors who compete on price and innovation to gain an edge. A correction in Vestas' price might provide a good entry point should the company fix the problems facing it. That leaves Gamesa as the prime candidate for now.

Wind power is an industry that will continue to grow, if only because governments are willing to subsidize the technology as the only real viable alternative energy that can be easily deployed on a large scale. But extra caution is needed: Not only are most players based abroad, but the fortunes in the industry can change as fast as the wind itself.

Investing in Mutual Funds

I've found three mutual funds that invest in wind energy. There are probably more, but this is all I had time for for now.

Portfolio 21 (PORTX)

Portfolio 21 (PORTX) is a Portland-based socially responsible investment fund that focuses on energy. Three-year returns have been about 15% (though in 2006 they were 24%). PORTX's Morningstar rating is 3 stars (out of 5). Schwab lists it as "average return, above average risk." I generally try to pick stocks where the return is greater than the risk (using the simplified Schwab symbols), so this is not one I would normally pick. In addition, out of their top 10 holdings, only 4 seem to have anything to do with wind, though the other companies might be peripherally related to wind. (They include Staples, IBM, Nokia, Siemens, Canon, and others). Every holding is under 3%, so they must invest in a huge number of different companies, but I was disappointed to see that the majority of these are not directly related to wind power. This might be OK if you wanted a local, socially responsible fund with a decent return.

New Alternatives Fund (NALFX)

The New Alternatives Fund began operations in 1982 as "the first environmental mutual fund," and the first with a significant concentration in alternative energy. The Economist called it "the greenest fund in the U.S." Their list of investments is clearly focused on the alternative energy sector. (There is some hydro in there too). This fund has a front load, which means you pay up front when you buy it (max 4.75%). The Morningstar rating is 2 out of 5. Like PORTX, it's "average return, above average risk." In 2006, the fund grew 33%, which is great; so far this year it's grown about 16%. In 2002, it went *down* 30%. (Since inception, it's grown 10%). The Reuters site gives this mediocre ratings for returns and expenses. In general, this might be OK if you weren't trying to make a lot of money but wanted to get involved in alternative energy funds.

PowerShares

These include the CleanTech and WilderHill funds that I wrote about in the previous post. (I bought the Powershares WilderHill Clean Energy Portfolio yesterday and have already managed to lose $18 on it. But it's a bad day for the market).

So what to do?

At this point, I would say forget investing in individual wind power companies until more publicly traded companies are available in the US. You could try to go through a broker to buy Vestas or Gamena if you were really committed to buying wind power. Or you could just sign up to get wind energy at home through your local utility, which isn't exactly an investment, but it does support wind energy. It might be interesting to invest in one of the mutual funds or PowerShare stocks, but it would depend on whether you're doing it to earn a lot of money or just because you're excited about wind energy. Over time, of course, these may grow a lot, so perhaps it IS the right time to invest in them. But so far they haven't had spectacular returns.

Octopus Jenny's Alternative Energy Investment Report

My friend Tara has been, um, pestering me for a while to research alternative energy stocks for her, so I started looking into them last week when I had some time to spare. It was a lot more interesting than I thought it was going to be. I wrote up two reports for her (and other friends who are interested)... here they are.

Needless to say, I'm not a pro at this, and I mainly just wrote them for Tara, so if you invest in these and lose money, it's not my fault. That said, I have to say that my tiny little portfolio has been doing extremely well lately!

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This morning I researched four solar power companies and three alternative energy indices:

First Solar (FSLR), MEMC Electronics (WFR), Evergreen Solar (ESLR) and Sunpower Corporation (SPWR). I also researched WilderHill Clean Energy ETF (PBW), Powershares CleanTeach ETF (PZD), and WilderHill Progressive Energy Portfolio ETF (PUW).

FYI, "ETFs are a rapidly growing class of low-cost index funds that trade like stocks. With the liquidity of stocks, they can be bought and sold throughout the market day and offer exposure to market, industry, sector, and asset indexes. ETFs enable traders to trade a group of stocks or bonds within a particular market sector by trading a single security. ETFs are automatically diversified equities, greatly reducing risk because there is minimal exposure to any one individual stock."

Here's what I found about each, along with my recommendation (which is mainly based on recommendations from Reuters, which provides really useful investment information). I also get information from Charles Schwab and other sites.

First Solar (FSLR). This company designs and manufactures solar modules using a thin film semiconductor technology. It has been around for just about a year, so it's quite risky. However, it has already expanded, is building a plant in Germany, and has long-term contracts with six suppliers in Europe. The product it creates is pretty cool - thin film solar panels - but it also has some really major competitors, like BP, Sanyo, Sharp, etc. The Reuters recommendation is OUTPERFORM, which means it's probably an OK time to buy. Not the best, but OK. I definitely wouldn't put many eggs into this basket, but it might be fun to invest a little and see how it does.

MEMC (WFR). MEMC makes silicon wafers for solar panels, semiconductors, and other uses. They have 50 years' experience making wafers, but have just started making solar wafers. They are a big company with revenues around $460 million. Reuters' consensus recommendation is OUTPERFORM. This seems pretty safe to me.

Evergreen Solar (ESLR). This company is a seller of weather-proof solar modules (the type of thing you might put on your house). This stock is very volatile, and they have a lot of huge competitors. The Reuters' recommendation is HOLD ( do not buy).

Sunpower (SPWR). This company "designs, develops, manufactures, markets and sells solar electric power products, systems and services." The interesting thing here is that Walmart is purchasing solar power from a subsidiary of this corporation as part of a pilot project to make 22 stores solar powered. (Its goal is to make 100% of stores solar powered.) So if they do go ahead with that, and use SunPower, then that is a huge plus for this stock. However, they also have a lot of big competitors. The Reuters recommendation is OUTPERFORM (OK to buy).

Wilderhill Clean Energy ETF (PBW). This is a diversified, small-cap fund that started in 2005. It includes stocks in MEMC, First Solar, Evergreen, and others. (80% of its holdings are "companies engaged in the business of the advancement of cleaner energy and conservation.") The growth chart for this isn't very smooth (there was a big surge of growth at the beginning of 2006, then a huge drop, but in general the fund is growing). Based on that, I think this would be good for the long term.

Powershares CleanTech ETF (PZD). This fund has only been around since October of 2006, and has grown about 10% since its inception. Its holdings are very similar to the one above (PBW). Since it's so new, I think I'd wait a while.

Wilderhill Progressive Energy ETF (PUW). This has also only been around since October of last year. It's grown 7% since then. This one focuses on the progressive energy business and has slightly different stocks than the other two.

In general, I'm not sure about the three ETFs. They are so new that it's hard to tell where they're going. On the other hand, this is a pretty new field, and is getting really big, so it might be a good time to invest a little and see where they go.

Melina being cute

Here's a video of Melina being cute. I think she was doing it on purpose. She was a little overtired, which usually sends her into hyper-cute, energetic, or fussy mode.


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We have walls!

The garage is finally coming together. Last week the concrete slab was poured and the framers came and put up three walls. It looks like we actually will get a garage out of this! When the slab was poured, Teresa came over with her set of cement stamps and we wrote "Jeff build this garage [well, at least the foundation] with blood, sweat and tears in 2007-2008," plus our names (and Ollalie's). Then Melina walked around and left her mark in the wet cement (a little more than we were planning on). This week Jeff is working on ordering trusses for the roof, and next week we should see more progress. Then it will be up to Jeff to do the finishing.

Here are some photos:

Fresh from the farm

We've signed up to split a "harvest box" with our neighbors Molly & Trent. That means that every week we get a box of vegetables, fruits, and flowers fresh from Sungold Farm in Forest Grove. The deliveries start in June, so we haven't gotten one yet, but I'm excited. I'll have to come up with new ways to prepare vegetables (which will be good for me, since I'm not a huge vegetable fan). They have an open house in June, as well, so it will be fun to show Melina where our food is grown. Probably a little early for her to really understand it, but what the hey. I like the thought of getting fresh eggs from our backyard and fresh fruits and vegetables from a neighboring farm.

Zoning with the hens

I spent about half an hour today just watching the chickens. It's so.... relaxing. Here, you can try.

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The one who keeps staring at the camera is Martha, a golden-laced Wyandotte; the small one near the back is Dolley, a barred Plymouth Rock; and the black and white one who just appears at the beginning of the clip is Abigail, a silver-laced Wyandotte.

Weight Watchers

I've been doing Weight Watchers for the last month and a half because I needed to lose some baby weight (and pre-baby weight) that was hanging around far too long. So far, I've lost 8 pounds and one clothing size, and I've convinced a few other people to do the same. I always had sort of negative feelings about WW - it sounded so cheesy and bourgeois - that is, middle class and boring. But hey, it WORKS! I've been using their online program (no meetings), and have been very impressed. In general, I've been losing about a pound a week, which is a very healthy rate. (The first week I lost four pounds, which is not unusual at the beginning; last week I gained 2/10ths of a pound because I was taking a little vacation from the diet, which involved eating a lot of cake and German sausages).

At times, it has been a challenge. On the first afternoon I had a little temper tantrum and railed against living my life according to the dictates of a multinational corporation - how dare they tell me what I could eat? But then I went out and bought a bunch of healthy snacks (vitally important) and things got a little more rational. I had to deal with some serious hunger pangs, lightheadedness, and a general hunger-induced daze during the first two weeks, but now my body seems to have adjusted, though I still have occasional hungry days. I also have a big incentive to work out, because the more you work out, the more you can eat.

Of course, maintaining the weight loss will be a challenge. There's lots of information out there about how most people who lose weight gain it back. I know people who have gained it back, but I also know people who have lost it for good. And since my weight gain was the result of a) pregnancy b) liking dessert too much and c) a sedentary job, I think I will be able to keep it off with some minor lifestyle changes. I don't seem to have major psychological issues around food; I don't eat when I'm stressed or when I'm bored. I just like it a lot. Especially cake.