Walker on the Fence

Russell and I have been watching The Walking Dead for a couple of years now.  For those who don't know, it's a post-apocalyptic drama set in the aftermath of a world overrun by zombies.  When we watch it, we inevitably start discussing what we would do if there were an apocalypse, zombie or otherwise.  I guess we have some "prepper" tendencies!  In any case, it doesn't hurt to be a little prepared and think about these sorts of things.  Not that I believe the world will be overrun by zombies, but just in the case of a natural disaster or several day power outage. We do have extra food and water in case of an emergency.

In the show The Walking Dead by season 3 the original survival group and main characters makes their way to a prison and holes up there due to the relative security from the zombies.  (In the show the zombies are dubbed "walkers.")  Around the prison there are double walled very tall chain-link fences with barbed wire on top.  One of the main conflicts in the current season is the possibilities of the "walker" horde pushing the fences over and gaining access to the safe zone in the prison where a small clan of survivors is trying to live.

When Russell and I saw Claire standing up clinging to the baby gate like you see below all we could think of was The Walking Dead and a "walker on the fence!"

A walker on the fence!

This is the gate we have between the dining room and the kitchen.  When we are in the kitchen she crawls up to the gate and then stands like this and talks to us.  It's really cute.

Let me in!

If I'm cute will you let me in?

I'm going to chew my way through!

If you haven't already, check out The Walking Dead.  Older seasons are currently on Netflix and the current season is Sunday nights on AMC.  It's really a pretty good show.

And Claire is much cuter than a walker.  Heh.

Love, Jane

Bullets and Baby Jail

We did a bit more shopping for Claire this weekend.  We've been in need of a play-pen for a few weeks now.  Claire is getting more and more mobile and is also getting faster and faster on the floor.  She can crawl pretty efficiently now and before we know it, if we look away even for just a moment, she's getting in to something she shouldn't.  Shoes and electronics are her current favorites. In a matter of seconds she'll crawl her way over to the stereo and TV and immediately start putting cords in her mouth.  

So we went to Target and WalMart and in addition to the play pen we got a Baby Bullet.

There was a bit of confusion on our part regarding the Baby Bullet.  We actually thought it would be small enough to make single servings in the little containers.  It turns out it's not.  It's almost exactly the same size as the Magic Bullet we already have.  It's about 2 mm smaller in diameter making the parts not interchangeable.  I kind of feel like we got a bit ripped off here.  The major difference is in the blade.  It sticks out a bit farther on the Baby Bullet enabling it to puree more completely.  Once we realized it's actually just a repainted Magic Bullet we considered returning it.  In the end we decided to keep it.  I  did put it to good use this weekend and made several purees for Claire.

Mmmm.  ground pork!

Mom and Dad grew the most delicious looking winter squash this year so I baked it and pureed it for Claire.  I also made some spinach, sweet potato and pork.  I really like the idea of just grinding up what we are already eating to feed Claire.  She seems to like it better too.

Butternut and delicata courtesy of the Walner garden.

Baby bullet in action.  The faces are really rather cute.

In other food related news, my coworker picked a bunch of fresh chantrell mushrooms the other day.  I cleaned and dried them and then Russell and I put them in with some New York steaks that we got last weekend at a really good buy.  It was a feast fit for kings.  Absolutely delicious!

Fresh picked Oregon Chantrelles

Claire got to test out her new play-pen, which we jokingly call "Baby Jail."  She seems to like it.  She doesn't fuss too much while inside.  It's going to be perfect for travelling as well since it folds up nicely and has casters for rolling it around.  

Look how well Claire is sitting up now.  I just can't believe how quickly she's developing!

Doing time.

Looking at Daddy.

Sitting up!  Amazing!

We we lucky enough to have some absolutely fabulous sunny and warm weather this weekend so we put the play-pen outside to enjoy some fresh air.  It was so nice.  Too bad I know it's not going to last.

I hope everyone had an equally fantastic weekend.

Jane