Old-fashioned, hand-cranked ice cream

Hot summer days are great for enjoying some cold ice cream, but there's is nothing better than ice cream you make yourself. Best of all, there are no mystery ingredients.

If you are lucky enough to have access to an old-fashioned, hand-cranked ice cream maker, it is a great activity for the kids. They will all be excited to take a turn cranking the handle, and since it will take 20-30 minutes for the ice cream to solidify, you should be able to give all the kids a chance.

To make the ice cream, you will need:

* 1/2 half gallon Half & Half
* one 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
* two tablespoons vanilla extract
* coarse salt
* lots of chopped ice

Place the wet ingredients into the ice cream canister and seal it up. Place the canister into the mixing tub. Fill the tub with ice, occasionally adding the salt to the ice. Crank the ice cream for 20-30 minutes or until the ice cream reaches the desired consistency.

The importance of being on time

This weekend, our Boy Scout troop participated in the Mountain Man Rendezvous campout. It as an event where patrols compete for points (represented as beads) at several events. The winner gets to take home a buckskin trophy which is mounted on a frame of poles that have been lashed together (although it has to be returned the following year). The boys are also supposed to dress up in period costume.

Our patrol consisted of two older boys, one in the middle (my son Nathan), and four scouts who had just crossed over from Cub Scouts this year. The patrol got off to a slow start, showing up for camp flags on Saturday morning. For that, they only received 5 out of 10 points. They did very well for the rest of the day, including setting a new record at the fire-building station. They managed to start a fire (without using matches or a lighter), cook a pancake (which they got to eat), put out the fire, and clean up, all in less than 10 minutes. Most patrols took about 30 minutes to complete that event. They struggled a little bit at archery where they lost some points for not following all of the safety rules, and they probably could have scored more points at the highland strength games if they had more older and stronger scouts.

The dinner was worth 30 points, it has to be prepared entirely by the patrol, and they had to invite a guest from the staff. The boys invited "Catapult Ken". During lunchtime, they began preparing a Dutch oven stew, and it sat on coals for the afternoon. After returning from their final events, they prepared an appetizer which was essentially Italian bread pizza, and they also prepared garlic bread for the dinner. One of the rules is that you have to pick your guest up for the meal to start at 6:30, and you can't be early, and you can't be late. Some troops had their food ready too early, while one had their cooking get caught in the rain, so they weren't prepared to eat until around 7:40. "Catapult Ken" absolutely loved the boys' cooking, as well as their hospitality, and they earned full points for dinner.

On Sunday morning, they reveal who won the event by doing a countdown. "If you have X points, take a step forward." This continues until only one patrol is still moving, and they can then claim the trophy skin. Our patrol had a total of 180 points out of a possible 190, although some bonus points were given out. As the countdown reached 150, there were only a few patrols still moving forward. They got to 170, and there were only two. They got to 180, and our patrol leader took a step forward, while the other patrol's leader didn't. Momentarily, it looked like the countdown was over, but the leader doing the countdown corrected the other patrol leader and told him to step forward. Knowing that we had reached our total, this now meant that we had lost out. The leader then told anybody with 181 points to step forward, and signalled to the other troop to keep going. They were the winners.

It turns out that the other troop had 184 points, beating our troop by a mere four points. In hindsight, had our boys not shown up late to the morning flags, they would have won by a single point. Although they were a little bit heartbroken to come so close twice -- they lost by only three points last year -- they still took heart in what a great job they did, especially when you consider that their patrol consisted mostly of younger scouts, while the patrol that won it consisted mostly of older scouts. Perhaps with an additional year of learning the Boy Scout skills, they will win it all next year.

Soda bottle rockets

Most people are familiar with model rockets, but here I have made a "rocket" out of an ordinary 2-liter soda bottle, and the "launch pad" is constructed out of PVC pipe. The "fuel" is air and water.

To make the launch pad, I used a 5' length of 1/2" PVC water pipe. I cut two 11" lengths which were glued into a slip/threaded T connector. One end was capped, while the other end was capped with a cap where a hole was drilled and a universal valve stem was inserted through the hole.

A threaded connector was screwed into the T connector, and I glued a 32" length of pipe into that. A 90 degree elbow connector was glued onto the open end, and the remaining 6" length of pipe was inserted into the elbow. At the end of the 6" piece, another male threaded connector was glued on, and the threads were wrapped a few times with electrical tape, just enough to make a tight seal when the 2-liter bottle is placed over the top. Test fit a soda bottle over the end to see if you have the right amount of tape.

To launch the rocket, a soda bottle is filled about 1/3 full of water. (Too much water will make the rocket too heavy to go high, while not enough water will prevent it from building up enough pressure.) Invert the bottle and quickly put it over the taped end, twisting it in the direction of the tape to ensure a good seal. (If you twist it the opposite way of the tape, you could cause the tape to loosen up and come off.) Use a bicycle pump attached to the valve to pump air into the system until enough pressure is built up and the rocket launches into the air. By using an automatic friction release, we won't end up putting so much air into the system that the bottle might explode before launch.

I spent about $3 at Lowe's on the PVC pipe and components, and an additional $3 at an auto parts store for a pair of valve stems. I had to purchase more PVC glue for about $4 because I had run out. (I still had a bottle of PVC cleaner.)

So, the total cost in materials was about $10. My kids spent the entire afternoon launching soda bottles into the air, so it was well worth it.

How to make a birdfeeder

This is a fairly easy project for making a birdfeeder from a plastic milk jug or juice bottle. This can be used toward Tiger elective 32, Wolf achievement 5e, Wolf elective 13, Bear achievement 5b, or the Webelos Craftsman activity pin (which could also be helpful for completing the Naturalist activity pin).

To make this, you will need a plastic milk jug or juice bottle (with the cap!), a drill, a utility knife (or a hobby knife or good scissors), a hot glue gun, a 5/8" dowel (approximately 12" long, depending on the size of the jug or bottle), and waterproof rope. Optionally, you will need permanent markers or waterproof paints to decorate the birdfeeder once you are done.

First, thoroughly clean the jug and soak it in hot water to remove any labels. Then dry it off.

Next, use the drill to make a small hole in one of the side panels. Use your knife or scissors to cut out an opening so the birds can get in and out. Make sure the bottom of the opening is high enough so that there will be room at the bottom of the jug for plenty of food. Otherwise, you will have to refill the birdfeeder frequently. Depending on the shape of the jug, make a second opening on either the adjacent side or the opposite side.

Drill a 5/8" hole below each of the openings, then slide the wooden dowel through. Use the hot glue gun to seal around the edges where the dowel pokes through the jug.

Drill two holes at the top of the jug, big enough for the rope to fit through. Feed the rope through the holes.

Optionally, you can decorate the birdfeeder with some bright colors to help attract the birds. At the very least, you should paint the wooden perch to help protect it from the weather.

Hang the birdfeeder about 4' to 6' above the ground. Try to pick a place that birds would consider "safe". Hopefully, birds will spot your birdfeeder, and you should have regular visitors after a few days.

No-mess model rocket painting

If your son is like mine, painting a model rocket can be a messy proposition. If he holds the rocket with one hand while he paints with the other, he will inevitably get paint all over his hands.

To keep his hands from getting messy, you will need a metal coat hanger. These can be found at dollar stores in packs of 10 or 12. Take the triangular portion of the coat hanger and pull the neck away from the long, straight end, thus turning the triangle into a square. Beck the neck at a 90 degree angle, perpindicular to the square. Straighten out the neck and bend it into a zig-zag shape.

Your son can now slide the launch lug (the part that looks like a small piece from a drinking straw) over the open end of the hangar, and the entire assembly can be set down on a table. You should still lay out some newspapers to catch drips, but at least the paint won't be all over his hands!

Birdwatching update

Today, I saw a red-winged blackbird eating from our birdfeeder. That's the first one of those I've seen all spring, and it's also the first bird other than a sparrow that I've seen at the feeder.

So far this year, I've seen many different birds in my neighborhood. I've seen house sparrows, red-winged blackbirds, mourning doves, crows, robins, Canadian geese, cardinals, northern mockingbirds, starlings, and red-tailed hawks. Not too far from my house, I've seen blue jays, mallards, and wild turkeys.

When you stop and take the time to look around, you will find that there are many different types of birds in your area.

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's... no, wait, it's a bird!

Over the past few years, we've seen plenty of birds in our yard. We have robins that like to make nests under our deck, and I've seen plenty of house sparrows, red-winged blackbirds, and other species that I am not so sure of.

A few weeks ago, my kids and I constructed a birdfeeder from a plastic juice jug and hung it in a cherry blossom tree in the front yard. We were hoping it would attract birds not only to the feeder, but to a birdhouse that we hung in the same tree. So far, the feeder has been dominated by the house sparrows, and we've been able to get some close-up looks at them (both male and female varieties) out of our living room, as the feeder is only a few feet away from a window. (A feeding sparrow can be seen in the picture at the upper left. This is the view as you look out the window, although the camera gets obscured/confused by the mesh screen.) So far, still no takers on the birdhouse.

As the temperatures finally start to warm up in Rochester, I'm starting to see some new species arrive. Until recently, all I've seen in my yard have been the robins and house sparrows. Lately, I've been seeing something in my neighborhood that looks similar to the house sparrow -- possibly a fox sparrow? This morning, I saw a pair of northern mockingbirds in my front yard, with one coming very close to a window so I could get a good look at it.

For help on identifying birds, I suggest trying whatbird.com or Scotts bird identifier. (Yes, that's the same company that makes all the grass seed and fertilizier.) It is important to make note of as many details as you can before you rush off to try to identify it. If you keep track of its size, coloring, beak shape, etc., your ability to identify it will greatly increase.