All Boxed Up

Backyard Poultry

Into the Moving Van

Well, putting an ornery rooster in a box is much easier said than done. As we found out, it's actually more a delicate balance between coaxing and shoving! Here you can see how we accomplished it: one person shook a cup of scratch in a little window cut in the box side, while the other stood ready to shut the door on the opposite side as soon as Puzzle entered. See the really thick gloves we're wearing? It actually worked pretty well.
At the time it seemed very sad to see Puzzle go! Only one chicken got to witness it: did you spot Pepper in the nest box?

All Boxed Up

Can you guess who's in here? See those air holes we carefully cut all around the bottom? Wait a minute . . . that was supposed to be the top . . . I think somebody wasn't paying attention! During the drive there, the woodchips gradually filtered out of those holes, all over the floor of our van. The rooster's constant scratching for the scratch we'd put in didn't help anything!

"Puzzling" Problem

Backyard Poultry

Puzzle's Last Day in the Coop

 And now, back to our chicken story. The problems with Puzzle kept increasing; each day he seemed to grow bigger and bossier, as the house appeared to get smaller. And each day the snow kept the hens shut indoors with the giant rooster. The chicken saddles helped immensely with the problem of lost feathers during mating activities. But, interestingly enough, the saddles seemed to make Puzzle feel all the more frustrated and 'cooped up.' I could tell the rooster wanted to be out on the pasture protecting his hens from predators, crowing at the sunrise, and just strutting his stuff. A 4x8 coop wasn't the place to do that. I was finally ready to part with Puzzle, provided we could find a good home for him. And we did! The pieces all fell into place to give him to a friend who lived not 20 minutes away, and had a much larger flock and chicken coop. It was a wonderful answer! Now, just one question: how do you transport a huge bossy rooster that bites?

Snowy Marbled Cake

Gluten-Free Gourmet

Chewy Delight

Well, all this trecking around is making me hungry, how about you? Try out this delicious cake to top off any dinner! The marbled chocolate and white batter has a simply wonderful texture, and the sugar-free icing tops it all off with perfection.

To start, combine:

2 c. coarsely sifted oat-rice flour                        1 t. baking powder

1/2 t. cinnamon                    1/4 t. nutmeg                 1/4 t. salt

Melt in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring to combine:

1/2 c. raw honey                1/2 c. canola oil                  2 T. butter

In a separate bowl, beat 4 eggs well. Add 1/2 t. vanilla, and almost all of the honey mixture, leaving 2 T. in the saucepan. Then beat this egg mixture into the flour combination. Did you get all that?

Last step: add to the saucepan of honey/oil mixture and stir:

5 t. unsweetened cocoa powder                 2 T. water

Now for the fun part! Pour half of the cake batter into a buttered glass pan (9x9 or 7x12 is great). Stir another quarter of the batter (half of what's left) into the pan of cocoa and drizzle over the pan of batter. Finally, pour the rest of the white batter on top. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until cake is almost set and browned on top. Cool and remove from pan.

Enjoy a piece of warm cake topped with whipped cream or cream cheese frosting. To make your own sugar-free whipped cream, beat 1/2 c. of cold whipping cream with a handmixer. After about 30 seconds, add 1 t. vanilla and 1/4 c. honey (or to suit your liking). Here's a cake you can feel good about eating!
I will also take the opportunity to say Happy Birthday to my wonderful mother! If it were possible to send an e-cake, I would be the first--I'm sending this one to her!!



Lego City

Ohio History

The Western Front

Did you ever wonder what a town would look like that was built entirely of Legos? Take a look at these pictures! We saw half a dozen of these amazing miniature Lego dioramas. The one above is a western fort encircled by a little train (I don't think it was running though!). What other buildings can you see? Below is a carnival scene--I think that ferris wheel is so cute! Please don't ask me exactly why that boat is in the harbor . . . The other scene I liked was a tiny medieval-style castle.

But there was plenty for little hands to do as well as see! In nearby Lego Land, bins filled with thousands of Lego blocks invited young hands to experiment, build, and try new ideas. I had never seen so many Legos before at one time. It was a really neat idea!

Can you spot the flower bed that spells LEGO?

 

Discover the Animals

Ohio History

Here Kitty-Kitty-Kitty

 Another must-see at Boonshoft is the completely-indoor Discovery Zoo. Over one hundred animals and insects call it home--from otters and porcupines to ducks and turtles. Above is the little bobcat, named Madison according to the website. He looked a little lonely in his big pen! The meerkats were also curious little creatures, looking like a cross between a prairie dog and a groundhog. They scampered back and forth in their rocky pen, cocked their little heads at us, and chewed on carrots in their food bowl.

The Beiser Discovery Center is another place to spot animals, namely, Rajeev, a 16-foot-long Burmese python! I can't say we spent long in that room! Finally, at the Tidal Pool, children can touch starfish and seashells on a simulated sandy beach shoreline. There were some beautiful specimens in that exhibit. It really felt like an indoor zoo!

Crystal Rocks

Ohio History

An Unusual Specimen

What does this unique object look like? I know I immediately think of a ham hock. If you tried to eat it, however, you would be biting into agate rock! This is just one of the beautiful rocks on display on the second-floor exhibit of Boonshoft Museum. Below is a piece of gypsum, which is covered in large white crystal. I got a really sharp picture, didn't I? That's not easy in museums!

Frosty Icicles?

In the next room was the Splash! exhibit. It explained everything you could want to know about our water cycles, waste management, and water usage, as well as detailed information about Montgomery County's water systems. Of course, the best part was posing behind large cut-outs and becoming a plumber, scientist, or engineer!

Season Murals

Ohio History

Autumn Forest

Experience the seasons as you stroll through a hallway painted with life-size scenes from nature. These colorful murals really caught my eye--they looked so real! Amid the scenes from spring, summer, fall, and winter, we could spot busy animals and birds hidden in the paintings. It reminded me of the Maysville Murals we saw painted on floodwalls in Kentucky--only these were indoors.

Winter Mural & Doors to Treehouse

We then followed the hallway through these doors, and entered the Mead Treehouse. In this fully enclosed, indoor enclosure, it really felt like we were in the treetops! Looking out past the treehouse's beautiful woodworking, we could watch birds dart in and out of the trees to the birdfeeders. It was a very peaceful spot; I would love to come in the winter and watch for birds on the ice-covered branches!

Rosetta Stone

Ohio History



The Famous Stone

The African Room was filled with all kinds of interesting artifacts to look at. Intricate carvings, traditional clothing, pottery, jewelry, and even a mummy filled the shelves. There was also a replica of the Rosetta Stone framed on the wall, large enough to read its script (if you knew the languages). The Rosetta Stone displays passages written in three different languages: Greek, demotic, and Egyptian hieroglyphics. Because all three languages say the same thing, scholars were able to crack the code of the long-lost hieroglyphic language. It was amazing to think how someone etched all those intricate letters into the stone...a bit different than typing on a computer keyboard!

Artifacts & More

Ohio History

Egyptian Geese

The next area we entered transported us to a land halfway around the globe: the Sonoran Desert. A massive turtle shell, life-size cacti, and replicates of desert animals filled the sand-covered floor of the desert. Displays explained the difference between day-time and night-time temperatures and creatures in the desert. And the setting was perfect for the exhibit in the very next room, which was full of African and Egyptian artifacts. The wall hanging above was one of my favorites, very typical of old Egyptian art.

Glowing Rocks

Ohio History

Glow-in-the-Dark Exhibit

This was such a neat geology exhibit, I just had to include it. This display looked like ordinary rocks, until you flipped a switch and they came alive with color! From deep blue to electric green, red, and royal purple, these rocks shimmered with light. They slowly became more intense, then faded away. Scientifically, it was a special ultraviolet light that caused certain metals in the rocks to begin emitting light. We had never seen anything like it before!

360-Earth

Ohio History

The Floating Sphere

A 68-inch diameter globe, suspended in mid-air, transported us to every place on earth in Boonshoft's "Science-on-a-Sphere" exhibit. The white ball showed projections of population, weather, industry, and geography in turn as it rotated like the earth. At the same time, a narrator explained interesting facts about each topic we were viewing. With the rest of the room darkened, it really felt like we were looking down on Earth from a spaceship!

Water Wheels

Ohio History

Water Works

There was plenty to do in the science center of Boonshoft Discovery Museum. Our favorite was the water table. Water flowed through a winding channel into a lake created by a miniature canal lock. There were plenty of floating and non-floating items to experiment with. In addition, a user-operated pump put all the waterwheels into spinning motion with a cascade of water. Below is a picture of the wheels from above.

Water Table from Above

The science lab had lots of other curiosities too. The Bernoulli Blower held a ball suspended in mid-air above a blowing stream of air. Gravitron explored gravity by dropping a ball through a series of connectible tubes. The Color Wall was also intriguing. Color projected against a wall created amazing shapes out of the figures of whoever stood in front of it!

Boonshoft Museum

Ohio History

Hall of the Universe

The Boonshoft Museum of Discovery isn't just one of those regular museum experiences: stand and look at the displays, read the signs, and move on. Instead, it's a hands-on experience geared specifically toward children, helping them to explore the world and the universe, experiment with scientific principles, and have educational fun. But Boonshoft isn't just for children. There are plenty of things for grown-ups to observe and learn too! That's why it's such a popular destination for families in the suburbs of Dayton, which is where the museum is located. Even though it was almost an hour's drive for us, we went to check out Boonshoft last summer, and had a lot of fun!

In the Hall of the Universe, it felt like we had stepped into a giant solar system. There were stars all over the walls and glowing planets mounted on eye-level stands. The planets were actually animated projections cast onto white balls, so we could see swirling clouds on the earth and the sandstorm on Jupiter's surface! As a note, I combined both pictures above; the planets were actually in the correct order as we explored the cosmic hall.