Friday, July 5, 2013
Posted with Blogsy
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Friday, June 28, 2013
Kitchen times
I turned around in the kitchen the other day to find this group of girls with their heads sticking through the window smiling and watching me. They'd caught me singing like I do when no one is around and were enjoying the show while I was busy washing dishes and going about my kitchen business.
the centipede
Why do I always scan the ground when I head outside? This here is one of the reasons why. This here is how our day started in the kitchen this morning.
The centipede pictured below goes by many different names depending on where you live- Vietnamese Centipede, Chinese Red Head, Jungle Centipede etc. Laos happens to be one of the countries where these centipedes live. Our kitchen seems to be quite popular too, so it works well that our kids are good at getting away from them.
This morning, the kids and I had just entered our kitchen area downstairs when one of them spotted the centipede streaking across the floor. Whichever child that was gave one of the special screams that means they've spotted either a snake or a centipede. Eva was instantaneously back up the stairs. Elijah jumped onto the nearest piece of furniture. Zach stood where he was but put his arms up in the air, which was helpful since the critter was running right by his feet, and I was able to grab him up and over the centipede easily. I've learned to keep my eye on whatever the dangerous thing might be while calling for Nathan, so he quickly killed the thing for all of us. Not the best way to start the morning, but it didn't completely paralyze my day as I thought it might. :)
These centipedes are actually quite dangerous. They are fast and aggressive and go after anything they think they can kill. They use the front legs as claws, and then inject venom to kill their prey. For adults, they're less dangerous but still cause severe pain, swelling, bruising. For kids, they are very dangerous.
Since we moved into our house about seven months ago, we've probably killed about fifteen or twenty or of these centipedes. Most of them have been while digging in the ground, since they like the soil and like to hang out under rocks, logs etc. We took the pictures below a few weeks ago after we found one outside. Nathan and Elijah, brave as they are, demonstrate the size of these things below.
The centipede pictured below goes by many different names depending on where you live- Vietnamese Centipede, Chinese Red Head, Jungle Centipede etc. Laos happens to be one of the countries where these centipedes live. Our kitchen seems to be quite popular too, so it works well that our kids are good at getting away from them.
This morning, the kids and I had just entered our kitchen area downstairs when one of them spotted the centipede streaking across the floor. Whichever child that was gave one of the special screams that means they've spotted either a snake or a centipede. Eva was instantaneously back up the stairs. Elijah jumped onto the nearest piece of furniture. Zach stood where he was but put his arms up in the air, which was helpful since the critter was running right by his feet, and I was able to grab him up and over the centipede easily. I've learned to keep my eye on whatever the dangerous thing might be while calling for Nathan, so he quickly killed the thing for all of us. Not the best way to start the morning, but it didn't completely paralyze my day as I thought it might. :)
These centipedes are actually quite dangerous. They are fast and aggressive and go after anything they think they can kill. They use the front legs as claws, and then inject venom to kill their prey. For adults, they're less dangerous but still cause severe pain, swelling, bruising. For kids, they are very dangerous.
Since we moved into our house about seven months ago, we've probably killed about fifteen or twenty or of these centipedes. Most of them have been while digging in the ground, since they like the soil and like to hang out under rocks, logs etc. We took the pictures below a few weeks ago after we found one outside. Nathan and Elijah, brave as they are, demonstrate the size of these things below.
Saturday, June 22, 2013
DamNa
This old lady planting rice in a rather dry field directly behind our house.
The patch of green grass is actually very densely planted rice seedlings. These are then transplanted to like in the picture above.
Zach watching dad clear a path to the neighbors footbridge across the adjacent stream.
Nathan, second from the left, helping plant rice (DamNa)
Rice seedlings just after transplant.
Elijah is bravely running along the trail dad just blazed. He is off to go find dad.
Jan helping the old lady plant rice in the dry field. Zach squats nearby.
Elijah running along the creek towards the footbridge.
Nathan is holding the rice seedlings for transplant.
Jan is such a stud. Go Jan!
A view of the wall in back of our house. It is not a prison!
The fields behind our house.
Elijah braves the brown water of the creek.
