Saturday, September 30, 2017

Out and About

This was a great week!  We were out and about for two of the four days, and it was so much fun.  That's not our usual operating system, but this week and for a couple of weeks in October it will be.  That's because we are having three "fall mini-sessions" with the master gardeners and they started this week.  They will fall on Wednesdays (this week's, and October 11 and 25) but we still plan to take our usual Tuesday outings.  We have places to go and people to see!

As already documented in the special edition post from Tuesday, we had a fabulous time at Fox Wire Alpaca Farm this week.  For those of you who subscribe to the Virginia Gazette, check out the Williamsburg Magazine insert from Wednesday- there's a feature on Farmer John and the farm!  Since we already posted a lot of pics, here are a few more glimpses into our day.  


Patrick getting some goat love!


The miniature donkeys delighted Alexis and Kevin!


Do you see the black garter snake?  After he fell from the rafters and startled Carol and Kacie, he scooted off along this wall...


Finally, here's a pretty good look at a few of the alpacas, such beautiful animals.


When we traveled on Wednesday, we began the day at Freedom Park where our master gardener friends had us harvest a few goodies.  Devin picked fresh basil that we would use in Friday's spaghetti sauce!


Sam snipped flowers and Josie combined the pretty colors.  We put them in a jar for a lovely arrangement.


Alexis and Patrick picked some peppers and then spotted something in the fennel.


It was this little guy!


Bees and butterflies weren't the only things buzzing in the garden on this very warm morning!  These guys are looking for pepper plants that got lost when the zinnias overtook the plot!


During the education session, the master gardeners found out that we already knew quite a bit about Johnny Appleseed (whose "day" is Sept. 26) because we had brushed up on him before our visit!  


We weren't as familiar with the history and origins behind certain apples.  They taught us that the Granny Smith apple came from Australia and the Golden Delicious came from none other than our neighbor, West Virginia!  We got to sample several varieties of apples, as well as apple cider.  We also tasted zucchini bread, which had been made by our friend Karen back in the summer and frozen until she saw us again!  They treat us well, and we enjoy our time with them very much.


Paying attention...😁


After our apple lesson, we had time to walk to the footbridge.  Here's the group of hearty hikers who made it this week!  (It was very warm and humid, so some of our friends stopped while still in the shaded area.  We always follow their lead on days like this.)


Our lunch was enjoyed at the picnic area behind the interpretive center.  Chris and Sam demonstrate how to chill while waiting for the rest of us to finish eating!


After lunch, we headed to the Fox Wire Alpaca Store so we could see the many end products made from alpaca fur as well as other items related to the farm.  Unfortunately, we were so busy helping everyone spend their money that we forgot to take pictures.  So we recommend you check it out for yourself either in person or on the web at Fox Wire Boutique! 😉

It almost seemed odd to stay at AFCC on Thursday, but we did!  Michael was able to switch Tai Chi days so we could go to the garden on Wednesday, so our day got off to a relaxing start.  We aren't actually working on "Tai Chi" moves per se these days, as Michael realizes our guys can benefit more from exercises that help improve range of motion, balance, and core strength.  Here, he challenges Kate and Kacie to lunge at him and extend their arms forcefully against him in an effort to explain that the power of our whole body can be used in defense...if need be.  Neither of them really socked it to him, but they seemed to understand the point he was trying to make.



In this sweet picture, Devin is concentrating so hard on balance and trying to raise one hand and the opposite leg at the same time.  He's determined to master this move and Carol is his personal cheerleader !


During Choice Time, the laptops were in use!


Xavier preferred to color happily and quietly.


Later in the day, we began a craft project.  Here, Laura cuts her paper plate.


Next, the plates were sponge-painted.  Read on to see what the craft turned out to be when we finished it on Friday!


Friday morning began with cooler temperatures so we started it off by celebrating National Coffee Day! (With OJ for our non-coffee drinkers!)


Mr. Howard and Mr. Stutt joined us for a sociable beginning to the day.


Since we also enjoyed zucchini bread left over from our visit with the master gardeners, we had to have an energetic dance party after our coffee break, and Bo got down to the tune of "Step in Time" from the movie Mary Poppins!


Alexis, Liz, and Bo had a bit of Eaton work to take care of after dancing.


Drew and Devin worked on literacy skills at the Learning Lab.


Meanwhile, Chef Sam was whipping up a tasty meat sauce for our spaghetti lunch.  He got lots of thumbs up when it was time to eat! 😉


Baker Kacie carefully arranged the cookies before popping them into the oven.


Then they worked together to create this delicious Caesar salad!


Remember the craft we were working on Thursday?  It was to wrap up our extended "celebration" of Elephant Appreciation Day.  (Our guys learned a lot of elephant facts...see if their memories are as good as an elephant's and ask them to share a few!)  Here's the final product:


What to do with them at home, you may wonder?  Here's a great idea from Devin's mom!  😎


Shout outs to Kacie for finding this fun craft and to Kate for her idea of putting them on the sticks!  What a great team effort!

Next week we plan to make some more fall decorations for our room.  Here's what else is on tap for next week:

Tuesday:  It's a bowling and pizza lunch day!  Wear your Arc shirts and your walking shoes!  Thanks in advance to Kate's family for being our pizza sponsors!!

Wednesday:  Dress for Tai Chi and be prepared to enjoy tacos for lunch (soft) since it's National Taco Day...we cannot ignore that one!  And since it's Walk to School Day, we will work them off with our modified version called Walk Around the School Day!

Thursday:  It's National Get Funky Day!  We hope to turn up the mood with lots of laughing, dancing, smiles, and enthusiasm as we boogie down to generate positivity!  We will also travel to CW for our monthly visit with Christina at the Art Museum.  Lunch on your own. Please wear Arc shirts!

Friday:  We are excited to celebrate a couple of our own on this day!  First, it's Lisa's birthday and everyone knows how we feel about birthdays!  But it's also National Noodle Day and National German-American Day.  Our new custodian, Heike, is German and she has graciously offered to prepare a German noodle dish for Lisa's birthday lunch!  That will be something new for us (it features kielbasa as well as noodles), but hopefully most of our friends will be on board with trying it.  We'll also have a fruity side dish and of course, cupcakes!

Saturday:  It's finally here...the 5K!  If you've been on the fence about coming, it's not too late!  We would love to see you!  Sign up here:  Run for the Arc !

Have a great weekend,

Lisa, Carol, and Nan









Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Alpaca Farm!

This is a special, extra edition of our weekly update.  We visited Fox Wire Alpaca Farm in Toano today and had one of the best times we've ever had!  We hope your associate shared with you about their day...every one of them smiled a lot today.  We were proud of their attention to the vast amount of information Farmer John shared with us and also the excellent questions they asked!  We took so many pictures, we decided to share them in a post of their own.  Enjoy!

We met Farmer John at the store on Richmond Road where we loaded onto the farm tour bus and headed out to the farm, which is located off Forge Road near the Little Creek Reservoir.  Our first lesson was on how the farm observes all the rules of keeping the water clean by not letting nitrates and phosphates (from animal waste) run off into the creek, which leads to the Chickahominy River and ultimately to the Chesapeake Bay.




Next we learned about hydroponics!  In a rather small room, the farm grows feed in these tubs...with just seeds and water.  There is enough in one 20 lb tub to feed 15 alpacas!  There were frogs and spiders all over the walls, too...which help keep pests from getting in the plants.  On the way out the door...thank goodness Carol was leading the way...a black garter snake fell from the rafter right down in front of us!  Too bad we didn't get a picture of that!



The first animal stop was the playful goats.  We had a lot of fun with them!



Here are some Jersey steers, rescued from slaughter and being trained (ultimately) to give farm visitors oxcart rides.


We caught Devin's reaction after the cow licked his fingers!



There are 88 alpacas on the farm, with 8 babies due in October.  Here, a young "cria" is nursed by her mother.


Being still and quiet while the alpacas get used to us.






Enjoying lunch...


Hard to tell, but these are mini donkeys.  We fed them, too!




These guys are Jack and Ross...they are guard llamas!  They were trained by a Marine Sargeant to protect the alpacas.  There toenails are filed to resemble a serrated knife and they can rotate their legs in their shoulder joints like humans.  That makes them great at attacking coyotes, which are predators.  



We were great listeners!


John demonstrates with Kacie how the guard llamas will attack if a predator (including a human) doesn't turn his back and walk away.


There are four Tennessee Walkers on the farm, and they love carrots!





These are Kune Kune piglets.  They are native to New Zealand.  We ended our great tour with these cuties! 





There was a little feed left after feeding the piglets, so Kacie fed it to the mommas!


As you can see, we had a delightful time.  We can't wait to visit again!