Denim Deb Hay, hay, hay. Thank the Lord!

[Denim Deb]

You really are suited to that job. Perhaps you should reconsider leaving and make it into something. You certainly seem to have a knack for that kind of work and you sound happier since you started there.
JMHO
Trim sends
//bt//

It's not a matter of me wanting to stay or leave-it's only a summer position, so I don't have any choice. However I am planning on trying to see if I can get some after school programs interested in nature lessons where they pay per child. Plus, I have a ton of lessons that I've taught for 4 H, etc that I'm hoping I can maybe get into a better format and see if I can't get them publish. At the very least, maybe I can self publish and drum up some income that way.

Dawn, at times I do feel like I am looking for goofballs, so maybe you didn't misread it!

SSD, I HOPE he's not one of those guys! After all, he's old enough to be MY dad! And I'm sorry, but that kind of look is bad enough on a young person, on an older gentleman it would look ridiculous!

Today we were back at the park for a tour. Neither JT nor I were really up to doing a lot of extra today-we were both beat! And of course, today we had the largest group we've had all week! We had planned on looking for some (ant)lions, but we're just too tired to even look. Didn't mention the persimmon trees, didn't stop and examine any scat, just took the kids out on a no pick scavenger hunt. They got all excited because they saw a turtle in the stream and the one kid got excited every time he saw a daddy longlegger (havest man). And, since they're common in the area at this time of year, he saw a lot of them.

During lunch time I really missed my lounge chair and pad. I so wanted to take a nap, but couldn't-and not for lack of trying. But, the floor is just too hard, and a rolled up vest doesn't make a very good pillow.

I let the chickens loose again when I got to the farm, and they've finally caught on to where the door to get back in is! I didn't have to call them or anything when I was ready to take care of them. They saw me heading over that way, and went on their own.

I did stay at the farm longer than I had intended. The goats are almost impossible to keep penned up. And, they had gotten in w/KN's horse. If it was any other horse, I wouldn't have worried about it. But, her horse is on a special diet. She can't eat hay and can't keep 3 or 4 goats out of her feed dish. RU was working on the fence, and the electric is no longer connected in that area. So, I made sure it was all up properly, then tied it into my electric. I'm hoping they'll get a shock if they try to go under again. If not, I'm not sure what we're going to do. I know KN keeps talking about BBQ goat, and I can't say I blame her.

 

[Denim Deb]

I can't sleep. My knee is bugging me, so I'm sitting here w/an ice bag on my knee. Plus, there's an owl hooting in the woods. One of these days, I'm going to actually going to be able to go out when I hear an owl and see if I can find it.

 

[Denim Deb]

Went to another county park today. And, I'm almost ashamed to admit that I had never been to this park. I was always under the impression that this park was far away and was shocked when I realized how close it actually is. This is a historical park, dating from the Revolutionary War. An important battle was fought there, one that was a key victory for us, and I never even knew it! But, w/only 400 men, the American troops were able to hold off 2000 Hessians. Almost 400 of the Hessians were killed, as compared to less than 40 Americans! And, while the fort there (Fort Mercer) was later captured by British troops, it was after this victory that France decided to help the American army.

The fort was built on the grounds of the Whitall farm. For the Whitalls, this had to be tough. They were Quakers, and the fort wasn't even 1/4 mile from their house! The wife, Ann, refused to leave her home and according to one story, a cannon ball went thru the wall into the room where she was sitting at a spinning wheel. So, she very calmly picked up her spinning wheel and went into the basement to finish. Plus, the wounded were carried into her house, and her house was turned into a hospital.

The house is beautiful. And, while it wouldn't be considered large by today's standards, back then, it was quite large. I think I impressed the person doing the tour because of how much I knew about things like making butter, making soap, why so many floor boards from back then have dips in them, why the glass in the windows was wavy, etc.

After we were done the tour of the house, we explored the grounds. The park sits on the banks of the Delaware River. We could see Philly across the water. The river used to be wider there, but was dredged to make it deeper, and the dredgings were piled along the bank. I don't know how long ago that was done. But, there was a massive ash tree in this strip that had to be quite old. I was able to answer some questions for people as to what various plants were. It's impossible to know all of them, but I think I'm a bit more familiar w/a lot of these than JT is.

Since I didn't sleep that well last night, I tried once again to take a nap. Might have worked-if the phone hadn't kept ringing. But, it kept it up all afternoon. At times, I'd hang up only to have it ring again B4 I had taken my hand off of it! I got more of my tree project done. I might not get it all done by tomorrow, but that's OK. I'm at the park often enough anyway so if I don't get done, I can do the last little bit another day. Main thing I need to do now is to get the pics I needed, get them on the computer and then figure out how to add them.

Oh, and I still haven't gotten official notice that tomorrow is my last day. JT and I are both kinda hoping that they'll forget to lay me off for awhile. A couple more weeks would make a big difference.

Got to the farm and let the chickens out. Today, they didn't do as good about getting in. They were on the other side of the fence in the parking area. And, wouldn't you know, someone had moved the gate on them! After all, it's supposed to be near their pen, not all the way down the other end near my tack shed. I managed to get 3 of the 5 to finally follow me, first Penny, then Roxi and Sissy, but Ralph and Angel couldn't figure it out. So I finally left them while I did the last couple of things I needed to do B4 leaving. Of course that's when they finally figured it out. And by then, I had the door shut! So, I had to go back over, open the gate up, then encourage them to find it since someone had moved that gate too. But, at least they're all in. I think this getting out has been good for them. I don't seem to be using the feed as much, and my egg production has picked up a bit. But then again, it could just be the weather.

 

[moolie]

I had to look up your use of "Hessian" because I only know it as another name for fabric that is like burlap. Makes sense that it also refers to people from a region of Germany, but I had no idea that the Brits employed German soldiers during your Revolutionary War! Learn something new every day...

Hope the job hangs on a bit longer!

 

[Denim Deb]

That's one of those facts you learn in your school days, and never realize that others may not know what it is. Sorry about that.

 

[FarmerJamie]

Cool history note, Deb. It IS amazing how much history that is around us that we don't take advantage of.

 

[Denim Deb]

I've lived near Philly all my life, but have rarely ever gone to the historical spots. Plus, there's all kinds of history up and down NJ-and I don't really know about it. But, I've taken the time to go to both Gettysburg, Valley Forge and Brandwine, all historical spots much farther away. Kind of makes me ashamed. Oh, I forgot to say, the house and grounds are supposedly haunted by all the soldiers that died there-including the Hessian general. Plus, Ann Whitall helped nurse the soldiers and earned the name, the Angel of Red Bank. (That's what the battlefield is called.) In order to help keep the Hessians from attacking, the American army cut down all 300 trees in the apple orchard and arranged them in such a way that the Hessian soldiers could not get thru them. Many of them died trying since it left them opened to the gunfire from the fort. The fort wasn't brick and mortar, or even logs, but just dug into the ground. I'm not sure exactly how it was constructed since I didn't notice any drawings of what it looked like, only how the defenses were arranged.

 

[Denim Deb]

Today was a bittersweet kind of day. Today, we went to the last of the county parks. This one has both aquatic and meadow features but it was so hot we just hiked along the lake and tried to stay in the shade. I think today I did more teaching than JT. To get to this park, we had to go near the farm, so on the way back, we made a bit of a detour since she wanted to see the horses. So, we swung past the farm on the way back to the park.

Once we got back, it was almost lunch time. So, other than listening to some messages, JT didn't stay long. During my lunch break, I pretty much packed up everything I still had there. After lunch, I worked on my project a bit more-but didn't finish it. I'll be there a bit for the next couple of weeks doing some volunteering, so I'll finish it up then. Then, for the last time, I cleaned the nature center. I hung the list of canoe/kayaking reservations on the nail by the door. Took the keys out of my pocket and stuck them in an envelop and placed it on JT's desk. Then, I got my stuff, walked out of the nature center and locked it behind me. All that's left of mine there is my canoeing stuff and the only reason it's still there is because we're going canoeing on Wednesday, so I'll get it all then.

Neither JT nor TD wanted to see me go. They told me I was the best summer help they'd ever had. But, they had no control. Order came down from the county, so I'm done. One part of me is glad I'm not going to be getting home so late, nor will I be working so hard. But, I'm really going to miss this job. JT does think that my idea of contacting different after school programs, homeschooling groups, church groups, etc and offering to do a nature lesson for a price is a good one, so we'll see how that goes.

So, I'm no longer a paid employee over there, I've been demoted back to volunteer.

 

[moolie]

T JT does think that my idea of contacting different after school programs, homeschooling groups, church groups, etc and offering to do a nature lesson for a price is a good one, so we'll see how that goes.

This is a brilliant idea, definitely go for it--and do it early! Make up a brochure and get it into as many schools and groups as possible, you'll be surprised by how many will take you up on the offer.

 

[lazyday]

T JT does think that my idea of contacting different after school programs, homeschooling groups, church groups, etc and offering to do a nature lesson for a price is a good one, so we'll see how that goes.

This is a brilliant idea, definitely go for it--and do it early! Make up a brochure and get it into as many schools and groups as possible, you'll be surprised by how many will take you up on the offer.

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