Eggs

We got our first egg from the chicks we bought this spring!! Isn’t it cute? I thought I would show you the difference in sizes. The one on left is the pullet egg, the middle one is our regular size and the one on the right is our extra large. We have a few white hens that were gave to us last year. They are the ones who lay the extra large white ones. Anyway, I guess it doesn’t take a lot to get us excited.

Here’s a picture of Chuck and Hubby working on the car Sunday. They replaced several things. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if that fixed it or not. The girls and I have been busy this morning doing laundry and some house cleaning. Our Pastor brought us a 5 gal. bucket of peaches Sunday night. We are going to work those up after lunch.

Not much else going on that I can think of. I hope you all have a great 4th of July and God bless.

July 3, 2012 4

Little Chicks New Home

We’ve been busy getting the little chicks new home ready for them. They are growing so fast. They have outgrown their little coup and are in need of a bigger home. We decided this building would work great for them. It was a metal shed we built several years ago to store the lawn mower in. It needed planks on the inside to keep it warm in the winter. The girls and I put them up Friday evening. Then this morning, we all went out and got started fixing the front. It now has a nice door and a window and is fully enclosed. All we lack now is making some nests for them and putting up the fence and building the gate. Okay, so that sounds like we lack quite a bit but we are one step closer now than we were yesterday. You can see one of the old hens in front of the house. They were so curious as to why we were blocking off the shed as it is one of their favorite places to take a dust bath.

Today was cool here. Temperatures were in the high 40’s-lower 50’s. We wore light jackets all day while we were working. We came in and ate supper. I knew today would be a long day outside working so this morning I put some pork in the crockpot and some pinto beans in another crockpot. All I had to do when we came in was fry some potatoes and make cornbread. I then decided to build a fire as it was about 60 degrees in the house. We are nice and warm now. There is just something very comforting about a wood fire. So relaxing.

I hope you all have a great evening and God bless.

April 28, 2012 4

A Glimpse of Fall

Just a little glimpse that fall is on the way. Dried corn stalks are definitely a sign. Yesterday, the girls and I went to play with the boys while Jess went to have another ultra sound. This time Katie was in the birth position instead of breech. Praise the Lord! I want to thank you all for praying for her and ask that you continue to pray. She has about 9 weeks to go.

Today, we will finish up the pears. I think I will make juice from what is left. I may end up canning some more. I’ll wait and see. Tomorrow we plan on spending the day with the Horns. We are going to Paint Bank. I will hopefully get lots of pictures to show you. We are so looking forward to this. It has been several years since we have been there and the Horns have never been. I hope they enjoy it as much as we do. Our hens have picked up some on their laying. Yesterday, we got 5 eggs. We haven’t gave them any scraps (except just a few little treats).

This lone tree sits in the field behind our house. If you look closely, you can see the leaves are starting to change. It has been so dry here, I’m not sure if we will have very much color. I hope so, though. I so enjoy the colors of fall.

I hope you all have a great day and God bless.

September 2, 2011 5

Grapes

Beautiful grapes! Last night a friend of ours called and said they had some grapes that we could have if we wanted them. They had already used all they wanted so we loaded up and went over to pick. We picked about 3 bushels. The girls and I have been busy all day, processing them. We are using the steam juicer. I think we will end up with about 20 qts, maybe more. What a blessing. God is so good!

Guess what? We have a broody hen! Well, where I come from we call them setting hens but here most folks call them broody. Anyway, she is only 4 months old. I don’t think I have ever known one to set that young. We have kept Mr. Rooster separate from the hens so her eggs would not hatch but she doesn’t seem to know that. The girls and I wanted to put her back in the coup with Mr. Rooster so we could let her set but Hubby said no. No more chickens-(this year). Anyway, we moved her out into her own little coup for a few days. The other hens were glad as she was hogging the only nest they will use. They have two other nests but for some reason they all prefer to use just this one.

I hope you all have a wonderful day and God bless.

August 27, 2011 4

More Space

Saturday we got the chickens more space in their lot. They really seem to enjoy having more room. We put the additional 5 hens in with our hens. It will take them a while to get used to being in there. You see the coup at the far side of the lot. That is what they have been in since they were bought by the man who gave them to us. They don’t really understand the concept of being able to run about. When we turn them all out in the evening, those 5 don’t really know to go outside. I’m sure they will figure it out pretty soon though. The small coup you see in the front is just for emergency use. In case we need to separate a hen from the rest of them for a short time.

Yesterday, we made salsa. We ended up with 16 pts. The Horn’s came over for a while in the evening. We ate supper, talked, picked a few blackberries and talked some more. It seemed like it had been a long time since they had come over. We had a really nice evening and even got a little rain. God is good! Our temperatures have definitely been cooler this week. This morning it was 60 degrees when we got up. There is a slight feel of fall in the air. Humidity is not near as bad. That always makes it seem cooler.

I hope you all have a great day and God bless.

August 11, 2011 5

Double Duty

Here is a picture of our hens hard at work. For some reason, they all want to use the same nest. Yes, they do have other nests. At least, these are big enough for two at one time. Our rooster is still under consideration. We have not put the new chickens in with the old ones yet. We plan on increasing the size of our lot this Saturday. Anyway, I have a few questions to ask. My experience with roosters is not too pleasant so I think I might be prejudice. When I think of roosters, I think of flogging and aggressiveness. What do you all think? Have you all had good experiences with roosters. The girls have made such big pets of our hens. They will sit out there in the lot and pet them and the hens love it. Do you think a rooster would go along with that or would he try to run the girls out of the lot? As I said, I have not had good experiences with roosters and I do not want this to happen to the girls. We so enjoy hearing him crow but I’m just not sure. Please share your opinion on this. Here are a few pictures of flowers that are blooming around the house.

A rose of sharon bush my mother-in-law gave me when we first moved here.

A white hibiscus. Or as my aunt used to call them “a high biscuit”. We had a great time with the boys yesterday. We played outside, saw the chickens LOTS of times, picked blackberries and drank homemade apple juice. God is good!

Today, the girls and I will spend some time cleaning our poor, neglected home. Canning takes priority and the housecleaning gets behind. Enjoy your day and God bless.

August 5, 2011 4

New Ladies

Meet one of our new ladies. We have been blessed to receive 5 new hens and 1 rooster for free. A family that lives across the Parkway from us purchased these chickens on Easter weekend. That makes them about 1 month younger than ours. They decided chickens were not for them. They gave them to us with the coup. We brought them to their new home today. Julie will have to work on petting them up but I don’t think it will take her long. We are going to increase the size of our fenced in area and then put them all together. We think our older ladies like having a rooster around. We received 6 eggs today and one of them was a double yoke. We do not really want the rooster though. We are thinking of giving him away.

It is HOT here. Temperature is 95 degrees. I’m not sure what the heat index is but it is definitely hot. Enjoy your day, stay cool and God bless.

July 30, 2011 5