Life, etc, etc, etc

It's been a while since I stopped in here. The summer finally caught up with me and I decided to take a break.

So, much happened over the summer: Camping trips, vacation, the loss of five chickens (including Rooster), the ending of a ten year friendship (a friendship I thought would be lifelong, my head still spins a little about it), a garden that did not do well, my father started bringing produce in from a fellow employee and that has kept me busy for weeks!

And the biggest thing is that I started knitting for money. So, I'm not on here much. I'm sitting over there in the corner knit, knit, knitting. And loving it!

So, I will pop in from time to time, if I have time, and jot down a note or two about life.

Chick Update

The babies have, so far, acclimated well into the flock. All though I would say they are still on the fringe. They come out of the coop into the yard later in the day, never early, and if they have full run of the coop, they are everywhere, checking everything out. However, if the big birds are in the coop they pretty much stay in their safety cage, only coming out after everyone has roosted.


This is where I found them yesterday. All the other chickens were out in the yard. See that one on the far left, yeah, pretty sure that's a roo.



All though, in this picture he sure looks like a Dolly!

Rooster June 2009

What're you lookin at?



Ummm, these are starting to worry me a little.

Cock of the walk.

On Alert.


Rooster n his girls



Struttin it.



Watch out!

That's right, I'm all that.

Lessons on Farm Life

Recently, I casually mentioned a Spring Surprise. I ended up with a broody hen this spring and decided to give it a go. She's been on five eggs and all was going well. Yesterday chick #1 hatched out and we were all very excited. I had decided not to separate the hen and chicks from the rest of the birds, hoping that the Mama would take care of things. Well, she didn't. I'm not sure if she just felt pulled to sit on the remaining eggs or what but the other chickens got a hold of that chick and well they did what chickens do. When we found her she was quite mangled and barely alive. I was just sick to my stomach about it. What to do now, I asked my chicken mentor and she gave me the details on what had to be done, for the dying chick and the mama and possible other chicks. Sooo, with a sad heart I put the chick out of it's misery and then went about moving things around to make sure the remaining eggs/chicks would be safe.

It was a hard lesson to learn. I guess what I wanted to happen was just not going to work with the nature of chickens. So, now the hen and chicks are in my garage safe and sound.

And here's the good stuff:

Holding pen.

Don'tcha love my nest box.

I think she looks pretty cozy in that shirt box.

Checkin out the food supplies.

Mama Hen and three peeps



See the little peep sticking it's head out. There's actually two of them in this picture. One in front and one in back.

Can you see the peep in this pick. It's like an I Spy Pic.

Playing Catch Up

Boy we sure have been busy around here. Once the rain left we got busy on all the outdoor stuff.

Garden bed #1 ready, check.

Flower beds weeded and flowers moved, checked.

Two new veggie patches tilled and amended, check.

Laundry on the line, check.

Spring here in all it's green and flowering goodness, check!

Chickens happy and growing, check.

A lovely Mother's Day gift, check.

A spring surprise, check.

Eggs, Chickens And Butter

Hmm, the title of this post could be some kind of recipe. But it's not.


This site makes me happy everyday. Even if it's dark and gray.

This was a total surprise. The egg wasn't huge or really even largish. But I cracked it open and out popped a double.

He is just so handsome and shiny.

Some of the girls outside for some scratch. Hmmm, what's that over there on the left?

A closer look, I notice this occasionally on different girls. Hmmm, I think someones been taking a ride?

Here's the Butter part of this post. Here she is in sit and stay mode, trying really hard to stay.

And this is what happens when she's in sit and stay and I squat down to try to take a picture at a different angle.

And this is her trying to give me and the camera a great big kiss. This picture is sooo Scooby- Doo to me

Coop Improvement

I saw this grit/shell dispenser over at Farm Mom's blog a while back. That girl is always inspiring me with her ideas. I had C take a look and he said no problem. He had it together in no time and installed it right away. It works great and no more spilled grit or shell.

What to do with all these eggs......

So, we are getting a lot of eggs. Every other day is an eight egg day with the days in between providing 3-4 eggs. They are still on the small to medium size but for a family of four it's a lot of eggs. I'm giving my Aunt a dozen whenever she needs them, she's teaching me how to play the piano (we both think we are getting the better end of the deal, LOL). Once they pickup in size I have a friend at the library who is anxiously waiting to buy some.

In the meantime, I've got to figure out what to do with all these eggs.

Last night I made a spinach, bacon and potato frittata and it was enjoyed by everyone but G (he's seven, okay almost eight and still pretty picky). Tomorrow will be a cookie baking day, I'm quite sure I'll use up several for that.

I requested a few egg cookbooks from my library. Hopefully I will be inspired!

Maybe this will help.

A double yolk

Sorry for the glare. This egg was our first "bigger" egg and when I cracked it open there were two little yolks in there. No Danni, I didn't weigh it. Mainly because I don't have a scale here at home to do so. I'm waiting until after Christmas, just in case someone got the hint that I wanted a scale. ;0)

They Are Beautiful

A Dozen or So

Well, it actually was a Baker's dozen but I had two eggs for breakfast. ;0)

This is interesting, huh? I've named it the bellybutton egg.

Slow but sure

The eggs are coming in slow but sure. First egg on Saturday, then nothing until Tuesday-one egg. Wednesday-one egg. But today we got two eggs. This morning I heard them doing the egg cheer. Brawk, brawk, brawk, BEGAWK! Then when the boys got home from school there was another egg. I'm sooooo excited.

Health wise, I'm doing fine, slow but sure as well. ;0) I'm still sore in my shoulders, I'm told it's from the carbon dioxide they pump you up with. So, I'm dealing with that. I can only eat a little at a time, all soft foods. And I tire very easily. So, lots of napping. I'm looking forward to sleeping in my usual side position.

So Eggciting!

Today was a day of firsts. We culled two roosters (we actually means my DH) I helped once the birds looked like meat. That took quite a bit of time since this was our first time. C said he would just as soon work overtime and pay for natural free range all ready processed birds. So, he's definitely not sold on us doing it ourselves yet. We also took care of Yolkie, he was also a roo and had lots of issues, so he has now went on to the great Hen house in the sky.

Let's see that's two new things, what was the other thing, hmmm, OH YEAH! Now I remember I found our first egg!!!!!!!!! Our Buff's will be 17 weeks on Monday and already an egg. I am soooo Eggcited!

Here it is right where I found it. It took great restraint to not pick it up right away. (I had to run back to the house and get my camera)

Hmmm, could this be the girl who laid it?

Chicken secrets!

Egg on a bed of greens

Our first tiny egg vs. store eggs

Egg in a milk cap

Egg house

Egg on a piano

Egg in a yarn nest(this is my fav)

Ahhh, don't do it!

Egg vs Baseball

4x4 Egg

Mini truck Egg

A precious jewel, for sure.