Lost and Found

Poor little Uila died this weekend.  It looks like she got smushed by the other sheep.  Since we only got 2 ewes out of the six lambs born so far, it was a real loss.  She was also my little sweetie - she would lay her head on my shoulder (after she stopped struggling) when I picked her up.  

I read on CL that someone in my area lost 15 sheep!  I know that there is a lot of empty land behind those lots, so the sheep could very well be congregating together somewhere out in the conservation land, but they could have also been stolen.  I think it would be pretty difficult to steal 15 sheep, though, without someone noticing.  

This weekend I found that making tomato sauce out of you own very ripe tomatoes is almost too sweet.  It was fun to make it, even though I don't really have enough to can - which was a goal.  The tomatoes have been producing about 6-8 tomatoes a day, which is pretty much enough for us to eat for salad at dinner, which has been wonderful!  

I should be getting a bunch of cucumbers soon, too. And the peppers are getting tiny little buds on them, so I am hoping they make lots. 

I watch Pearl Harbor on Sunday.  It isn't the greatest movie, and some things don't seem to be accurate (only two planes were able to get up to respond to the bombing, and they were in cane fields, which is how they were missed, for example), but it is remarkably weird to watch even movie bombing of your home - very different than just watching movie bombing of a place you are not familiar with.  I remember feeling that when we went to watch it with my in-laws years ago when it was in theaters - they were young during the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and my mother-in-law actually lived only a couple blocks away from the bomb that went astray and hit a home.  

It is kind of like watching Magnum PI (show from the 80's) and Hawaii 5-0 (the old one is particularly fun, because every thing looks like when I was a kid - or watching 50 First Dates - where they drive down one street and end up at a beach or a building which is in another place altogether (or even on another island).  

Ah, I guess the ramble for the day is over, but the Remembrance of Wars and the reminder of how quick and randomly death can come (not that I anticipate being suffocated by sheep anytime soon) made for a very surreal weekend.  

Three Day Weekend

If it were the end of school, like it is for every other school this year, this wouldn't matter.  But since I have almost two more weeks left - I suppose I should be grateful for a three day weekend!

However, because our registrar wants our grades early, I need to wrap up my classes on Tuesday.  We have student led conferences on Wednesday and Thursday, and three foolish, wasted days (because our grades are due early, and the kids know it).  Not good planning.  That means I really wish I had Monday for classes to help the stragglers with their monster papers I assigned four weeks ago and which are due on Tuesday.  Also, not good planning.

I am also not done completely with the student led conference schedule, it being my year to do that duty.  Mostly, I spent today in a very long meeting, then staring at the student led conference schedule, and then driving my son around to get his work permit and documentation done, as he has a federally funded internship this summer (yay, kid!).  It's in a biology facility, even though they hired him to do computer work, so maybe growing plants will rub off on the boy - although I think his boss is more of a DNA guy than a greenhouse guy.

I am end-of-the year frazzled and yesterday's kicked anthill and sorrow for not understanding that one of my students wasn't just blowing stuff off - she was really hurting - it makes me pretty upset.  I think tomorrow, I need to sleep a little and pray a lot.  I went to church this afternoon while my son was in his last driver's ed class (he passed: again, "yay, kid!") in time for the Exposition.  I had time to pray for my student and her family, and for my own family.  It was peaceful and a good thing.

Bad words, Bad words

I have a student (well, several, really) who have issues with turning in work and coming to school and staying focused on their work when they are in school.  I get frustrated with them, and worried about them, and just wonder where their heads are.

Today was a reminder that sometimes life is overwhelming for some kids outside of school, so school just isn't where their heads can be because of what is happening at home.

I thank God that my husband is a good father to my children, because some kids don't have good fathers.  

Up to My Eyebrows

I feel like a cartoon drawing of myself - just picture a face peering over the top of a stack of papers falling off the desk.  I am not that bad, but it's not that far off.  There are just so many loose ends out there that I am trying to pull together.  I will be relieved when the school year is over, in some ways.  We have a very short summer vacation, well, at least compared to the summers I remember as a kid.  We have 7 weeks.

All the other schools switched back to a more traditional calendar, but we are still on year-round - so today is the last day for most schools (yesterday was the last day for my kids).  I knew when we had the extra week at Christmas and the extra week at Spring that I would be feeling wistful to realize we have two more weeks when everyone else is taking off!  So color me wistful as well as up to my eyebrows.

A banana farmer my husband met brought us a large box of bananas and plantains.  In return, we gave him a large amount of eggs.  Eggs are the other thing I am up to my eyebrows in - I could sell them at work, but I always forget to ask who wants.  I was feeling bad about the amount of eggs we gave him - not sure how anyone uses 5 or 6 dozen eggs - but then I started thinking about 35 lbs of bananas when my freezer is already full of frozen bananas I need to turn into smoothies and banana bread.....I guess we're even.

My husband and I are in disagreement about the need for a stand- alone freezer.  I want one; he has visions of a sky high electric bill.  We have the highest kilowatt hour price in the nation, I believe, so he has a valid point - but I keep thinking of what I could do if I could freeze a bunch of chickens or lamb, or veggies.....

Versatile?

Thanks, Chai Chai for the Versatile Blogger award.  I haven't responded both because the end of a school year is fairly nuts, and because I was really pondering the "versatile" label.

Compared to some of the teachers with whom I work I feel like a one trick pony.  I know English Language Arts very well, but when it comes to teaching an elective, all the other things I can do - bake, ride a horse, worm a sheep - aren't very school worthy.  Even after 6 years of French in high school and college, I can barely read it, and speak not at all - pidgin English is the closest I get to a foreign language.  I am a peg which fits my hole in life very well - not sure I would be versatile enough to move to another place on the pegboard, to extend the metaphor.

I even spent some time thinking of  7 things I could say about myself that you couldn't read for yourself here on Hapless.  But here we go:

1) I am not good with change - at first.  I adjust when I need to, but my first reaction is panic.

2) When people are talking and talking, I tend to tune out, which can be highly embarrassing when someone asks you a question in a whole staff meeting.

3) Even though I have spent my professional life with teenagers, sometimes my own baffle me.

4) I suspect my kids are well aware of number two, and start talking and talking so I tune out and say, "Uh huh, sure" when they want to have me say, "Yes".  It doesn't work, but it is pretty clever of them.

5) I am ridiculously tender-hearted and cry at stupid movies and even touching commercials - which cracks up both my kids and my students to no end.

7) I am ridiculously over-educated, but my lifelong dream was to get my PhD.  At this point, the amount of comfortable work years and the cost of a PhD don't make sense, but it was still a dream of mine.

I know I need to pass on my Versatile Blogger award to another blogger, but that will have to wait until later - I think all the bloggers whom I read frequently deserve it - but I am extremely late for an appointment - arrgh, just noticed the time.

Fencing Issues

The sheep have discovered that they can get under the electric fencing.  I hate when things go wrong with fences.  I have to keep the sheep confined to their stall and their dry pen until we can figure it out to protect my taro, olive trees and other fruit trees.  I think that taro in large amounts isn't good for sheep either - so I am protecting them, too.  This is not a fun thing.  

I think that maybe the fence has a faulty connection somewhere, but at the moment, I can not find it. 

They got out again this afternoon - I just had to grab Elvis with a dog leash and a can of feed and they all followed him to the barn.  Except, of course, the new Dorpers, who are still confused.  They led me on a merry chase - the ram lamb jumped over the horse water trough and the ewe fell in, necessitating a rescue.  I think she is too pregnant to really be agile (I remember the feeling well).  

I think I am going to have enough cucumbers to make pickles and eat cucumbers fresh in great amounts.  My tomatoes have a lot of fruit, although I am just getting a few a day at the moment.  I do want a bunch to get ripe at the same time so I can try my hand at canning sauce.  Based on the blossoms on my eggplants, I may get a good amount of the asian long eggplant - so good for stir fry and curry.  I wish I'd planted more peas, they aren't as prolific as I'd hoped.  I have two kinds of peppers: Jalapeno and bell, but the plants are growing slowly.  

I have chicken thighs in the crock pot (making bbq shredded chicken sandwiches for dinner) and bread in the oven, and I made a batch of my "treasure cookies" - they should probably be called "Everything But the Kitchen Sink" Cookies.  We're going to the late Mass because my daughter got called in to work, so we'll eat pretty late tonight.  I need to write a test for Period 5 and print out some other things for periods 3 and 4, and there are at least 6 loads of laundry waiting to be folded.  Just a normal Sunday.  

New Sheep

I picked up my new Dorpers yesterday - a little ram lamb and a pregnant ewe.  They are very calm and manageable compared to my current flock, although rather smaller.  My sheep, including Elvis, the big bad ram, were frightened of them.

Here are some pictures:

 Here is the ewe lamb.  She is a yearling due on June 23.  You can see Calico checking her out.

Here is the four month old ram lamb.  I am considering naming him Spot.  

The are pretty solid animals, if a bit small in stature compared to the rest of my flock.

Minnie is looking things over from her usual "safe place".  She is the bravest of my first sheep - she shared the feeding bucket with the newcomers first.   You can see little Uila next to Minnie - I think she is going to be brave like her mom.










In other news, the rooster died, apparently of injuries sustained by being stepped on by Gib.   It was quiet this morning, but at least we can go into the coop without fear of attack.  I should have processed him before he died, but I thought he was just a bit bruised and lacking in tail feathers and that he'd recover.  Waste of a bird, but it was a bit stupid of him to think he could attack a horse....

Oh My Goodness!

What a crazy day I am having!

I had to get my latest news story burned on dvd and Fed Ex'd to the PBS station on Oahu.  I was supposed to upload it through cyberduck, but it won't go.  I am going to have to drive to Starbucks to try upload from there, because I suspect a blocked port here.

But here is a sneak peek!  (If you live in Hawaii, we're airing on Monday at 5 pm on PBS Hawaii).

That was a fun day - and it sure makes me want goats.  They may be hard to contain, but they are much less loud and annoying than my sheep.

Speaking of sheep - I am going to pick up my Dorpers today, a pregnant ewe and the ram lamb (tentatively named Spot).  I forgot my dog crate!  I have to put them in the back of my very old station wagon.  Fortunately, there are still layers of feed bags in the back from last week's straw buying trip.

I also forgot the taro hulis I was meant to bring the Kumu at my kids' school...but knowing him, I bet he won't remember, either, so that will probably be all good.

The Weirdness of Blogs

My husband looked at my blog the first time last night.  As he was reading the "Productive Day" entry, he got this odd look on his face.

"It's weird that people like this - the little details of someone's life."  I think that was his nice way of saying that my blog is boring.

Clearly, he hasn't explored many blogs - I, personally, love to read to the minutiae of other people's farms and lives.  But it got me to thinking about blogging as phenomenon.  On one hand, it is precious to me to "meet" other people who share their lives with farm animals and work to be more self-sufficient, but at the same time, it's amazing to think about  talking to people so instantly from all over the world - and to people who don't always comment but stop in to visit through reading.  

My first foray into talking across oceans to a stranger was a pen pal I had from New Zealand when I was 17.  We're still in touch, actually, but it isn't letters anymore - it's email and Facebook.  I actually did meet her several years after we'd started writing when she came to visit when I was newly married.  Although I kind of miss letters, I adore my email, I must say.  And I enjoy comments on my blog very much, too!

Thanks to everyone who stops by and for those of you who take the time to leave a comment, too!

Sharing the Farm

I was so blessed this weekend that all four of my parents (parents and step-parents) were out for the Confirmation and I got to share our farm with them.

It was particularly fun to watch faces when the sheep come in for the evening; sheep sure are loud, aren't they?  Everyone seemed to get a kick out of the nightly chicken wrangling, too.  Most of them converge when they see the feed can, but there are always a couple dumb clucks who are behind the game.  My dad worked on a chicken farm when he was a teenager and even got a degree in chicken farming before walking across the street to work on the loading docks at Chrysler, so it was also very cool to hear him reminisce about chicken feeding on a farm with several thousand birds back in the day (or "a hundred years ago" as my step-mother put it).

The reading for Mass was the Good Shepherd reading, and (what a spectacular blessing), my favorite priest has been given the post of Vicar General and was delegated to do our Confirmation.  He did a great homily, but I told him that he needed a little more information on sheep to do a really convincing, knowledgeable homily - so he should definitely come up for the evening feeding time next time he is over from Oahu.  It will add depth to his understanding of what exactly the Good Shepherd.

It was so good to see Father.  He has been a part of our family's life for a long time.  He was at my parent's house the night my husband asked me out for our first date (Father was actually teasing me that my husband-to-be liked me).  He officiated at our wedding and did our pre-wedding counseling. It was wonderful to have him do my son's Confirmation, too.

Productive Day

I cleaned the stalls and put fresh straw in the sheep stall, and I transplanted some peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant.  I didn't grade papers, but I did think about the transfer from HCPS III to CCSS which was mind-bending enough as far as work goes.

Tonight is my son's Confirmation, my parents and step-parents are in town.  My mom and step-dad are staying here, and my youngest and my mom are making a baked pie shell or two that I am meant to fill with melted chocolate (I told my daughter to melt it in her solar oven as a practice run for this week's task/test in science) and lemon curd, which I have as yet to make.  I sent a kid out to pick two lemons for that, and I certainly have enough eggs.

I am making an egg puff for lunch topped with tomatoes, green onion, and basil from my greenhouse.  The only thing not produced on my property will be the cheese - that's the next big dream: dairy animal and cheese-making.

Happy Sunday, everyone!

Miracles Never Cease

I called home to ask my 18 year old to clean certain areas of the house and she answered with, "I am already trying."  I don't know if that qualifies as a miracle (especially as I don't know what "trying" meant), but I will take it.

Also, the morning meeting went well.  The regular DOE (I work at a charter) has already done the work that I was planning to do today in correlating the new Common Core State Standards to our Hawaii Content Performance Standards, and although the results for the 9th and 10th grade standards is dismal, at least the initial part of it doesn't need to be done by me.  Phew.  Fortunately, we were already ahead of the game in the 11th and 12th grade levels, so most of the rewriting needs to come in the lower levels.

I will need to rewrite all the curriculum for the lower division classes at our school, but since we never did have text books all it will take is the sweat of my brow.

On the farm end of things, the weather has been junk and now we have south winds, which means vog again.  I hope it doesn't kill my olive trees.  The young couple I bought them from said it would not.  We'll see.  I am going to head to the feed store to buy some straw bales to plant potatoes.  I hope it works, and that our wet weather won't defeat the potato growing attempt, because I really cook with a lot of potatoes.

My tomatoes are starting to ripen.  I am getting a few each day, which means cheese and tomato sandwiches, cheese and tomato salad.  I am hoping for a big harvest all at once somewhere along the way so I can try my hand at canning tomato sauce.  The taro my husband planted a month ago is doing very well in all the rain we've had.  I need to let more lau (leaves) develop - but I keep looking out there and thinking of chicken luau....  Now we have three varieties of taro growing.

3 and a half weeks left.

These are the Times that Try Teachers' Souls...

Those last few weeks of the school year....I have to remind myself that there are always really stupid decisions being made on the fly by administrators - especially in a school where they don't listen to teachers.  I have to remind myself that people adjust, and even this current round of soul-killing stupidity will be adjusted to.  Once I have pointed out the ramifications of said stupid and soul-killing decisions, there really isn't anything else I can do.

On the bright (and slightly stressful at the same time) side, my parents are coming for the weekend.  The 16 year old is finally getting Confirmed!  As excited as I am to see everyone, my house is dusty, the kids' rooms are close-the-door scary and both Middle Schoolers have performances this week - which means last night (practice) and tonight and tomorrow night are booked solid.  I have a stack of grading an inch high and those peppers and eggplants need transplanting.  My step-father is allergic to cats and dust, so I really need to find time to dust and wash bedding thoroughly.

Take a deep breath, phew.  Somehow, it will all work out.

Another Chasing Around Day

All the chickens were out.  The horses got out.  I had to catch the little ram lamb to castrate him.  I hate doing it, but I am over run with ram lambs.

On the fun side, I was having a non-fun work related email conversation and I mentioned I had to go outside and castrate the lamb. My coworker said anytime things get tense, I should just bring up castrating a lamb.  I had a mental picture of telling one of my more mouthy, unpleasant students, "Hey, yesterday I castrated a lamb!"  as a sort of non-sequitor.  I wonder if they would take it as a threat?

At least I found out that Minnie has learned to be a good mama finally.  She kept forgetting them the first few days.  She was loud enough today, and kept checking on both her lambs all evening.

Everyone is back in now, happily fed and watered.  That includes the two legged critters, too.

Blah

The rain is getting to me, and the usual end of the school year stress.  It is always at this time of the year that all kinds of decisions are made, and since we teachers are often left out of the loop, they seem crazy or not completely thought through.  I usually hit a wall somewhere in May where the amount of work I need to do and the changes I will need to think through become pretty overwhelming.

I think today was "Wall Day".

The owl died, and my eleven year old dug a grave and then asked me to help bury it.  She was very sad, and I must say, the sight of such a beautiful bird prostrate in the box we sheltered him in was moving.  My former student who was helping us via FB stopped by school today to ask how the bird was doing - she did say that they often do die - that in fact, although they get approximately an owl a week at the vet center, they've only saved three.  She's been working there for several years.  I guess I feel less bad about losing the poor bird.

Today, I need to castrate the new little black ram lamb, whose name is Hekili (thunder). I have decided to call the girl Ua (rain).  I don't like doing it, but I am up to my eyebrows in rams - three intact and one wether and now this little guy.

I have to decide what to do now - do I sell Elvis?  I have so many ewes related to him now, and I am buying that little Dorper ram to improve my hair sheep.  I can't believe I went from 4 sheep to 10 in 6.5 months.  That is amazing.

Barn Owls and Hackers

Busy day at our house.  When I came home from the Driving Lesson and errand run routine, my daughter said there was a pueo (Hawaiian owl) on the branches we cut from the pines last weekend.  I got a good look at him, and he is actually a barn owl.

I threw a blanket over him and bundled him (or her, I suppose) into a cardboard box and called around to see if anyone could take care of owls.  Hmm - I just thought of some one else to call - my husband's cousin.....he is more of a nene goose kind of guy, but he might know someone.  The Humane Society was a bust and no one answered at the DLNR.  I really don't think this owl has a chance, really, but it is worth a try.

Another "exciting" happening was my younger son's computer getting hacked.  Some person with no taste and a cruel sense of humor decided it would be fun to remotely access my son's desktop and write rude things on his facebook wall.  My son first thought it was a FB hacker, but it was someone on his desktop.  He chatted with my son and a friend on the IM and attempted to change him to "female", but they fought with the mouse - my son kept moving it before he could change the settings.  We started running the Spyware doctor.

My older son, who is a computer guy, found the offender's IP address and sent him about a million packets to slow down his computer.  They "talked" through notepad on the younger son's desktop, and apparently, the hacker realized he was a bit overwhelmed, so he just typed "I'm done!" closed his trojan and seems to have gone quiet.  Of course, he is still dealing with the million packets hitting his OS, and the realization that we have his IP address.   I told my older son not to crash the guy's computer, but to make sure the back door is gone. It was a good lesson to everyone to turn off their computer at night.

I am extremely angry with this person, and grateful that my son could help his brother deal with the issue.

The Craziest Moment of the Day

My craziest moment (and this is saying a lot, considering I teach in a high school) is the evening feeding time.  This is because we have been letting the chickens out to free range during the day and some of them have decided the horse stall is their hang out.  For some reason, they can figure out how to get into the horse stall, but not out - or at least not out on the correct side of the fence.

I can open the divider between the sheep and horse stalls a bit - enough for a chicken, but not enough for a ram, but there is always one hen (and I think it is the same one every day) runs up to the opening, and then zips to the side at the last moment.

At the same time, Crazy Horse is freaking out at the little zippy feathered body, the sheep are bellowing for food and the rooster is on the other side of the fence accusing me of abusing his spouse as loudly as he possible can.  The hen in question is not so quiet herself, probably egging on her rooster.

I have tried luring her through the tack room with feed, using two manure forks to extend the reach of my arms to herd her through the hole, trying to grab her and toss her over the fence (this actually has worked a few times, but she is getting better at avoiding my grab at the last nanosecond).  It is always a circus.

My husband, on the other hand, opens the divider, scares on chicken through, and they all run through one after another - even the hen with avoidance issues.  This is just so not fair, but I am grateful he's been home to help lately.

Today is driving lesson day - so that means I hang in Hilo for 2 hours driving around in the old beater that is the only car we allow kids to drive.  The heater is on perpetually, which on a sunny day makes it less than fun - but on a rainy day is really not fun, because you can't open the window.  I might hit the farmer's market today, and I definitely have to pay a few bills.  I should stop by work and do some copying for Monday, because we were busy doing planning for next year yesterday and I didn't finish prepping for the week ahead.  I feel less resentful about having to leave the property today, because it is raining so hard, there isn't a lot I can do today beyond repotting a few peppers in the greenhouse and starting a few seeds.

Gloomy, Rainy Day

It's actually nice down in town.  I came home early because there was plenty of coverage for the student teacher b-ball game, and I still feel peaky.  The bug is definitely going around at school.

I was a bit worried about the new lamb last night - we let them out to pasture with their mom and when everyone came running in for their evening meal, she was wandering around from sheep to sheep looking for her mom.  When she searched for an udder on Elvis, I knew she was confused (so was he).  Her grandma, Audrey, was kind about shoo-ing her away, but Dodie just butts her.  Just in case, I bought some milk replacer, but when I got home today, she was mastering the flock and keeping with mom well and she no longer looks skinny.  Phew.

I thought I would update everyone on the lambs, but I really am feeling bad - going to take a nap before I have to drive down to get the kids.  We have an extra couple of kids tonight.  There is no school tomorrow, so that people can set up for the annual big fundraiser, so some friends will be coming over.  I guess I should start the pizza dough now.  Another kid is still here from last night (college classes are over - finals next week), so that makes three extra plates for dinner - every one likes pizza, though. Maybe the 11 year old can make the dough like she did last week so I can sleep some more.

The Care and Feeding of Lambs

So, I am at work (lunch) and worrying about the little ewe lamb.  She seems active and she's not crying, but I am just wondering if she is getting enough milk.  Her little tail isn't moving, and she just seems thinner than the ram lamb.  They seem to go to the same side, but I don't see any unevenness in the udder, milk seems to be flowing.

I am probably worrying too much, as usual, but I am wondering if I should pick up some milk replacer just to give her a bottle or two a year.  I read that a ewe might not have as much milk as a more experienced ewe.

I worried over the last ewe, too, and one of the rams - and they are huge now!

Lamb pics

from my phone this morning.  I hope to get more later on a real camera.

Minnie's new arrivals.

Well, Minnie got a little confused and left the ewe alone, but we got everyone sorted out and confined her in the jug with her two little ones.  They aren't that big, but they've nursed and are lively, had their navels dipped and everyone is doing well.

My little girl left the stall open and the horses got out in the yard.  Gib led me on a merry chase for a 45 minutes or so - he is DARN hard to catch, even with a bucket of grain.  I finally just asked for some angels to just get on and ride already - I was only half joking - and sure enough he turned around and ran right into the stall and out to the pasture.  I was laughing, but most of it was relief - because I am covered with amniotic fluid, dirt and a little bit of blood and I need a bath.

Notice my priorities...I stopped to blog about it before having my bath.

I will post pictures tomorrow after work :).

Minnie's Behavior - We May be in Labor

She is standing 50 feet away from the others and stamping her feet, stretching her back, and looking at her stomach.  I do believe we are in labor - or possibly, the lamb(s) are very active and irritating her today.  Only the next few hours will tell, I guess.

My son had his last Confirmation class today! Very happy to say that, after defending it to grumpy dad for two years(why did we go to the far church, why did they have to have it on Sunday after Mass, why is Confirmation two years now, it was one year back in the day etc. etc.).  In two weeks, my parents will be coming over for the big day.  I am a sponsor this year, too - my student asked me to sponsor her, which was quite an honor.

We went to a funeral at the beach, and my eleven year old was excited because that meant she got to go to her Makali'i training - which was a sailing lesson today.  (She didn't really know the man who'd died - we're more friends with his mother and brother).  I had a terrible headache (day 8 of the big headache), so I took a nap.

Some mom instinct in me woke me up, because I was expecting my oldest home from work and she hadn't come.  It is close enough to walk, but I am a worry wort.  I called her, though, and she picked up a few more hours, which is great.  She wants to take a year off college and move to the mainland in the fall to get residency in a different state.  I am very torn - I am so proud of her wanting to try to make it on her own - but she is so young!  And I think things are going to get worse before they get better and am worried about her being able to get a job and I am worried that she won't go back to college....so many worries.  More hours means she will get to her goal faster, though.

And when I woke up to worry about that - I looked out in the pasture and saw Minnie.  Hoping for an easy delivery and a healthy lamb.  It's her first time, so not really expecting two - but she is quite rotund, so maybe I am wrong.