Mid-April Update

Just because I haven't been blogging much doesn't mean I don't have a lot to share! Things have been hopping around here in so many ways. There's garden news to report, chicken news, emergency preparedness news, homemaking news and more! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures to share, but I will when I go into more detail later on in the month.

In the garden, I'm so excited to see the chives coming back, and I believe the catnip is starting again, too. Unfortunately that's it. I've been meaning to get peas and chard started in our raised beds, but my poor, dear hubby hurt his back nearly 3 weeks ago, so I had picked up some of his "chores". This means that my back is sore! So things have not been planted out there yet. In the green house, the Roma tomatoes are doing well, but I am so glad that I started so many, because I only have a fraction of what I started. I'm thinking I may still have to but a few transplants, but at least I have some of our own. The green peppers are ready to get put into newspaper pots, so that needs to be done soon. And we have 2 marigolds, an onion and some lettuce in there thanks to Princess, who is a member of on of our local gardening store's "Kid's Club". She was quite excited about the marigolds because she knows Mama uses them in the beds to keep pests away.

We may not be getting rid of as many of our hens as I had initially thought. It seems we have a hen that is eating eggs, so that is, in part, why we aren't getting as many as we should. I have no idea how to catch the offender without a video camera. But no one will be relocated until we can discover who it is and how many eggs she is dispatching. We've decided to nix the raising of our own meat birds, at least for now. It  is just is too much for this year, but we're looking at our options for obtaining healthy, pasture raised meat for our family.

I've been pretty bad in the emergency preparedness sector, though today I am taking a CPR/First Aid class through our church. I'm excited about this and perhaps it will get me back on track.

Our dear friend, Chris, was able to fix and update our old desk top computer. It is a huge blessing to have this computer, as next year I will be homeschooling Teddy Bear. I was thinking that we might need to purchase another laptop, but it's no longer necessary with the desktop up and running. I have already installed some of the educational games on it and the kids have been having a blast playing "Oregon Trail" and "Where In the World Is Carmen San Diego?". Having the desktop going has also gotten me inspired to get my home office area and desk cleaned up and organized. I have gotten quite a bit done and have been able to bless some other friends of ours with some organizing things because she will be homeschooling all of her children next school year. When I am done getting my desk organized, I will be sharing it in a post with pictures and links that I used for advice and inspiration.

The 2013 sugaring season is pretty much at a close for us. We just have to finish off about 3 gallons that is nearly syrup and we will be done with boiling. I believe my hubby has pulled all the taps and has to get the buckets cleaned and put away for the year. We have had a much better yield this year, so I've been able to bake with it this year!!!

That is all for now, Friends. Hope you have a lovely Saturday.

Many Blessings,
Kelly

Our At Home Hatch Story

Congratulations Alice and James!!!

O.k., so this is all a little tongue in cheek, I admit, but I'm just so darn happy! Our hen, Alice, who went broody a couple of months ago hatched her first chick.

 We had decided about 3 1/2 weeks ago to let her keep her clutch and moved her to the "infirmary" coop so she would stop stealing more eggs. We set her up with her own food and water, plenty of hay to keep her and her eggs warm and generally left her alone with her nesting and incubation inclination. (Say that 10 times fast!) We checked on her from time to time, making sure she had water and food, that nothing had made it's way in to bother her. But we had no idea if any of the eggs under her were fertile and viable or not. One day when it was warm I had opened her coop door to let in some fresh air. Alice proceeded to take a break from her nest, so I carefully stole her eggs to see if I could candle them. I just couldn't get any of our rooms dark enough to be able to tell, so I gave up and brought the eggs back out to her coop. In the meantime, Alice had proceeded to take up residence in the nesting boxes again and try to steal some of the other girls' eggs. I put the kibosh to that, restoring her to her rightful clutch and shut the door, wondering if we weren't all just wasting our time.

So we just kept checking on her. Now, I've been on a bit of hiatus due to, ummhmm, "lady troubles" as I delicately tell my children, so I personally hadn't checked on Alice since Wednesday afternoon. I had asked the kids to, but, well, we all know how that can go. So early this afternoon I decided to take a peek, figuring I was wasting my time. As soon as I opened the coop door, Alice immediately did her puff ball impersonation. This was unusual, she only does that when you try to get near her. Then I heard the cheep cheep of a baby bird. I stuck my upper half further into the coop to make sure it was coming from inside, and sure enough it was. I carefully lifted Alice up and found the cutest little ball of yellow fluff! I was so "eggcited" you would have thought that I had hatched the darn thing myself!!!! I couldn't wait to tell the kiddos and DH.

I know that we are not the first people to have a hen hatch her eggs, but in this day and age of incubators and mail ordered chicks, it's pretty exciting. I admit to being somewhat envious of my fellow homesteading bloggers showing and telling of their new babies in the barn and coop, especially since our Easter Egger chicks aren't due to arrive until mid-May. But now we have our own baby, which Teddy Bear named Jenny for now, or Willy if names need to be changed. (Please pray it stays Jenny!)

Baby Jenny snuggling with Mama.

Mama Alice, with 6 more eggs under her, and her baby.

James and the girls enjoying some birdseed I threw out to them in
celebration of the joyous occasion. It's the chicken equivalent of passing out
cigars. (Yes, I know that they all don't have a clue!)

So, that in an egg shell, is our home hatch story. I'm hoping to have more siblings to join Jenny, but if not, that's o.k., too. Well, I'm going to try to relax for now. I have my laproscopy tomorrow morning, with a long drive before and after, so I think I'm going to just chill and read some blog posts from the Homesteading Barn Hop.

Blessings,

Kelly

An Update and Announcement

Hello Friends! Yes, it's been one of those weeks. It seems as if I take one step forward and about 5 back, promptly ending up on my bottom!!! But things are slowly getting straightened out and coming together, as they always do. It is just so hard to forget that the Lord has a light at the end of our tunnel right when we need it, especially when it seems your blindfolded in a bottomless pit of errands, chores and commitments.

Anywho, I cannot get over this weather! It's been nice to get an early start to the yard and garden work, but chances are when the temperatures get back to seasonal, there will be colds running rampant. And I miss those soft, gray days of rain in the Spring as you slowly watch the land come back to life. This feels more like a "WHAM! You want Spring, I'll show you Spring!".

Boy, seems like I'm doing a lot of grumbling..... I'm sorry! Here are the updates. (They make me smile!)

• St. Patrick's Day was a bit of a non-event at our house this year. I made the typical corned beef and cabbage in the crock pot, but beyond that, nuthin' much special. Although, my Mom and Aunt Jeannie were here to share the dinner. (I'm the only one in the house that really likes it, everyone else had venison!)
• Sugaring season is over! This is both a blessing and a bummer. A blessing because we had syrup to make and my Dear Hubby was getting tired. A bummer because we didn't get as good of a run as last year, though we had some of last year's left, so we're good.
• DH and I decided to go in on an order of "Easter Egger" chicks with some friends, and we're expecting them soon. (O.k., my heart just seized up at the thought that I have. nothing. set. up. for. my . new. babies. N.o.t.h.i.n.g.) So the Light Brahmas are out this year, but there's next year!
• DH and I are currently in negotiations, well really discussion, about going in with some other friends for meat birds. UPDATE: DH came in while I was writing this and I asked him about it. We're going for it!!!!!!
• I have now watched a total of 3 documentaries on food/nutrition/agriculture/medicine while folding laundry. I've watched "Foodmatters", "Forks Over Knives" and "Ingredients". They all have got me thinking about so many things, more than this post allows for. I need to take some time to write things out (it's the only way I can really process information, writing it out in black and white. Or blue and white, depending on what pen I use ;) Once I've done this, I plan on posting a review/synopsis of sorts. Just a note, these will not be paid endorsements, just my humble opinion.
• Sunday afternoon was gorgeous! After church Daddy and the boys worked on yard work while Princess and I started her flower seeds. We sat out at the picnic table. enjoying the warm breeze.  Then the boys came up and started their little pizza garden kits they had received from a local gardening store for joining the kid's club. Good thing they were free. There is no way I would have dropped $10 each for these little kits! They had a good time watching the peat pellets expand and planting the seeds. Their kits came with oregano, basil, tomatoes and green peppers. Princess had a kit, too, though hers was and herb garden. All the trays are sitting up on top of the fridge, waiting to germinate!
• Nearly all of the green peppers that I started about two weeks ago have come up! Hurray!!!!!! I just need to get to my herbs and flowers. I also started some lettuce and spinach on Sunday. I'll have more on that soon.

And now, for that announcement! In lieu of the fact that it has been hectic for me lately, I've decided to focus on at least one weekly post, which I will be calling Thrifty Thursdays. If someone else out there in the blogosphere is using this, I really apologize. Sincerely, truly. But I have some really neat things to share, and I don't feel that I can commit to any more than one post a week at this time. Although, I'm thinking of sharing more things on my face book page, so if you haven't "liked" me there, you can find some more of me and my ramblings. Tomorrow I will be sharing my up cycled outfit from a pair of jeans and a second hand dress, so make sure you visit!

Thank you all, Friends, for stopping buy and taking time to read. I pray you have a lovely night.
Blessings,
Kelly

A Quick Update

Hello, Friends! I thought I'd "pop in" for a few quick updates from up here on our hill. The weekend (o.k., well Saturday!) was CRAZY busy, and I'm still working on getting caught up on house work, but I have been working on other things, as well, and trying to help my DH with sugaring. So, here goes! (I find it easier to quick posts in bullets so that I don't get too long winded! ;o)

• I got the sweet pepper seeds started! Yay!!!!!! They are up on the fridge, hopefully germinating their little hearts out.
• My DH finished off another 2 quarts and a pint of maple syrup. The grand total for the 2012 season is 4 quarts and a pint. (Of course, we've already eaten a quart of that total!!!)
• I made a skirt out of a pair of jeans that I was going to re purpose into something less glorious. (Like hot pads for the dining room table!) It turned out beautiful, if I may say so myself, (and I do!) and will be sharing soon.
• I bought some lettuce and spinach seeds which I hope to get planted either today or tomorrow using a method I read about in "Mother Earth News." (I don't necessarily agree with some of the articles, or even the name of the magazine, but it has been an absolute treasure trove of information for me!)
• Last night at dinner, I started labeling sticks for our family's Prayer Pail. The child that I thought was going to be the most resistant was actually the one with the most ideas! I'm really looking forward to this part of the day, and praying that the rest of the family will, too.
• I multi-tasked this morning. (I know, what else is new for a woman!) I folded laundry while watching "Foodmatters" on Netflix. Now, I did not realize that this was a huge site, with products, etc., but I will say that if you are interested in all about eating better for your health, this documentary will really make you think. I recommend it for everyone, but especially those dealing with chronic health issues. I will be posting a more in depth review* at a later (hopefully sooner!) date.
• When looking into Home Depot for seed starting items, etc., I discovered that Burpee makes seeds and accompanying products with Disney Princesses. My first impulse was to scarf one of each up to bring home to my Princess, but I quickly came to my senses and realized that we could grow flower seeds in a regular (although home decorated version, of course!) seed flat with our own frilly homemade plant markers as we could the cutsie little pink ones that were quite high priced. I did, however, but a packet of the Disney seeds because I'd never seen that variety of flower before and it's beautiful. So Princess and I have a mother/daughter girly gardening project.
• The injured girls (which are quite recovered) have been integrated back into the flock. They all seem to be getting along so far. It's been less that 24 hours, but I'm praying that we won't need to separate them again anytime soon.

Well, that's all I can come up for for now. Have a lovely day all!
Blessings,
Kelly

Chicken Saddles and Imaginary Conversation With the Cat

I know you've all been waiting with bated (baited?) breath for the spring line. I could hardly stand the suspense my self! It took some doing, searching and researching, pinning, cutting, measuring, fittings with ill tempered models. Their agents squawking and crowing at the smallest adjustment. But now, without further ado, I give you..........................

Alright, I'm just not clever enough to keep up that shtick! I finally got chicken saddles made for some of my ladies. This is Babalouis (Wheels named her after a local bakery that makes wonderful bread!) from her first fitting. I had to take in the elastic a bit so that the saddle wouldn't go all screwy, but it's fitting her now and has actually stayed on since yesterday afternoon.

"You know you look ridiculous, don't you? You won't catch ME parading around
in such garb. Why, the nerve!"

It took a bit of figuring, but I came up with a pattern to my liking. I had looked online, to no avail, until about a week ago when Homesteading Today got a thread reestablished with a pattern. Then I bought a copy of the February/March 2012 Backyard Poultry magazine that happens to have a picture of a pattern. Using these two as a guide, along with pictures from Chicken Scratch, I was able to figure out my own pattern. I measured and fiddled until I got a pattern made out of a piece of corrugated cardboard. Then I sewed the first saddle, sans elastic, and headed out to the coop/run. Fortunately, there was a lady laying in the nesting boxes, so I just layed the saddle on top of her and quickly sized the elastic on her. The saddle was the right size and I had a good idea of how long the elastic had to be. So I headed back in to sew on the elastic and back out to try it on my first victim lady. The elastic was a bit too long, so I had to go back in to take it in. Phew! I got tuckered out just typing about it! Then back out for the final fitting. Babalouis did pretty well with it, and only walked backwards a couple steps after I first put it on.

Now, I'm going to attempt to describe how I made these saddles. I'm not so good at this, as in my attempts to make things clear, I tend to muck up instructions with too many words. Here it goes.....

I used some standard (but pretty colored) cotton material and some quilted material. (You know that material that has some thin batting already sewn onto it that you can use to make baby blankets with?) I used 3/8" wide elastic because that is what I had. And you need thread, some pins, scissors (obviously right, like I really needed to type that.) and a sewing machine. (Unless you want to sew them by hand, more power to you!) And here is a pic of my pattern with the dimensions written out. (Actually it's a pic of my pattern traced onto a sheet of paper so that it is easier to see)

I laid the quilted material face up, then put the cotton material on top and traced around the pattern with a white marking pencil. Then cut both materials at once, on the line. I measured my elastic to the length needed and cut two straps.

Taking the plain material off of the quilted, I pinned the elastic to the top of the saddle, crossed the straps, and pinned the elastic to the "shoulder" area of the saddle. Then I laid the plain material back on and carefully re-pinned with the batting material face up. (You might be better at this than I am, but remember those Martha Stewart tendencies of mine? Right, moving along!) You want the batting material facing up so that it doesn't catch on the mechanism that feeds the material through the sewing machine. Using about a 1/4" to 1/3" seem allowance, sew around the saddle, leaving an opening at the bottom of the saddle so that you can turn it right side out. I stitched back and forth over the elastic a couple of times to make sure it was secure. Turn your saddle right side out and sew it closed. Ta-da! You've got a saddle made for your chicken-ista!

See the elastic peeking out? Make sure to trim it before turning the saddle out.

Oh, and I also sewed two lines down the back to make it have a little more body and to help it mold to the chicken's back. Sew, did I make sense? Sorry if I didn't. My Martha tendencies don't extend to any gift for giving explanations.

 

Babalouis, Bigfoot and Fanny with their Spring fashions. Fanny refused to be made
into a Worldly hen, preferring the modesty of her buff feathers. (I think she might be Amish.)

And, of course, Merlin knew I was up to something for the chickens. Her tail was all bent out of shape as I fired up the sewing machine. Seriously, I think she really knew. I have photographic evidence! See:

"Now you're sewing for THEM!!!!! Really? Get a grip lady! That's it, I've had it.
I'm calling PETA, the ASPCA, that Dog Whisperer guy! Can't you see how
neglected I am?"

Oh, really?

Miserable life, isn't it, Merlin?

Isn't that you scarfing down the homegrown catnip?

And isn't that YOU sleeping on Princess' lap?

"Alright, you win. Now, go scamper off and make something for those noisemakers
on legs so I can take a nap. I've only had 12 today."
;)

Have a lovely day, Friends!
Blessings,
Kelly

A New Coop and Other Chicken News

Well, despite my best intentions last week with a "flock block", we still had to bring in a girl from the coop. In case you've lost count, we now have FIVE ladies residing in the basement. Now, I love my chickens, but I do not want to share living quarters with them. They stink, make a mess and are noisy. Unlike children, they do not grow out of this (at least the kids cease to be stinky and can pick up after themselves!). So my darling husband began building a second, smaller coop. Fortunately we had left over building materials for this coop, although we did have to buy a few 4x4s and a pack of shingles, but no biggy. DH has been working on this in the evenings after dinner and over the past weekend. Wheels has been the biggest helper, with Teddy Bear and Princess helping when the mood strikes. Here it is:

The coop is currently in the basement. We have a garage door, so when the time comes
we can get it outside. The dimensions are roughly 4ftx4ft.

Yes, a fancy floor! We had these sticky backed tiles from a bathroom floor redo
about 8 or so years ago. We felt it would make the floor easier to clean and less likely to
rot out on us.

The door that we'll use for access and cleaning out.

This coop will be used as an infirmary and for new chicken arrivals. It will be close to the bigger coop, with access to the addition of the run. Last summer we realized that we needed a bigger run, so instead of tearing down a side of the fence, we just added on to it and cut an entrance for it in the fencing. We can block this entrance off from the main run area so that the chickens can see each other, but not harm each other. This will be important because we'll have to re-introduce the ladies inside to the rest of the flock.

We have also decided to get some more ladies this spring. We're not sure of what breed or how many, but we would like to have some eggs to sell and off-set the cost of having our own chickens. At one time last year we had 21 chickens! But with some of them being roosters and the death of one of our pullets, we are down to just 11 ladies and our roo, James. Two of our ladies are older and are only laying about every other day, even in the summer. And we have a least one girl that has a fondness for going broody. She's done it twice on us, but blessedly, came out of it rather quickly each time. We just kept taking the eggs out from under her, and after a while she snapped out of it.

Also in chicken news, I have purchased some material to make some chicken saddles. No, we will not be attempting to ride our ladies, chicken saddles are like aprons that they wear on their backs to protect them from overly amorous roosters and the resulting feather loss. Here is a wonderful blog post from Jocelyn over at Chicken Scratch if you would like to learn more about chicken saddles. (By the way, even if you don't give a hoot about chicken saddles, you have GOT to read this post, it is absolutely hilarious! Seriously, it's too funny- as in "Tears running down my face, my sides hurt, my children think I'm a maniac, I think I wet my britches!" funny!) I'm hoping to get these made soon, as nearly half of my girls are starting to show some wear from James' attentions.

And just because I've been yucking it up about the chickens, I feel the need to add a picture of our sweet (and incredibly spoiled, pain in the butt every time you head to the kitchen) kitty cat.

Blessings,
Kelly

Flock Block Take 2 and A Craft

Sweet chicken ecstasy- nothing but feathers and dirt when the girls and
James get down and dirty taking dust baths! I felt almost like a Peeping
Thomasina!

Remember my homemade flock block? Well, the temperature dipped down last night, so I figured the JIC's (Jerks in The Coop) would be holed up in the coop today. I do NOT want any more boarders in the basement, so last night I made another flock block. This time I had a lovely assistant.

I don't know why the picture is blurry. Hope no one has motion
sickness that views this!

When making the flock block this time, I didn't add any apple, and I used 3 whole eggs. I think the addition of 2 more eggs helped in holding it together better. I also put all of the recipe into just one loaf pan. It baked at 200* for about an hour, then turned the temp up to 300* for about another 2 hours. I took it out and let it cool on a wrack. I tried to get it out of the pan and learned a valuable lesson: use Crisco or butter to grease the pan, not just canola oil. Last time they came right out of the pans. This time my Darling Hubby got it out of the pan after I had given up. (I just love that man!) the block sat out over night to dry out a little bit more.

Flock block baking right along while our waffles and bacon stay warm
for dinner. Told you I hate to run the oven for just one thing!

My DH put the block out in the coop this morning. When I checked on the chickees after lunch, only a little corner was pecked at. {sigh} No one looked injured, so that's good.

Earlier this afternoon I took a break from housework and culinary efforts for the animals to make a Valentine's Day craft. I don't have very many Valentine's decorations because I'm rather fussy. It's been hard to find decorations that go with my country decor and that I'm willing to shell money out for. So I looked on Tipnut.com's Valentine's Day page for inspiration. While perusing the pages, I thought of my own craft to make that would be cheap and easy to make. Here it is:

Finished product! Whaddya think?

It was soooo easy, and only took a little bit of time. What took the longest was getting just the right heart shape for templates. I used scrap paper to make my templates, but you could use a manila folder or card stock. I plan on making more of these in the future. Here is what you need:

I wasn't sure which buttons to use!!

2 sheets of felt
4 heart templates in small, medium, large and extra large
hot glue gun
marker for tracing
2 fabric scraps
twine or ribbon
decorative buttons or other doo-dads
scissors (you could use pinking shears for an even fancier look- I was too lazy to dig for mine!)

Here is what to cut: 1 small heart, 2 medium hearts, 2 large hearts and 1 extra large heart
I cut my hearts out free form, but if you want them to all be alike, you could find a template and increase or decrease the size using a scanner and printer. When I went to cut them out, I folded the felt in half and traced the template with a marker.

Then I laid out my hearts and used a glue gun to glue them together. I flipped over the hearts and spaced them out to where I wanted them. Next, I took a length of twine twice as long as I wanted it to be and made a knot at the top to hang this from. Using the glue gun, I attached the twine to all three sets of hearts.

I took the 2 scraps of homespun fabric and tied a single knot in the middle of each. I then glued these between the hearts. After letting the glue cool and dry I flipped everything over. Play time! I took out different buttons and trims to find the perfect look. Here's what I selected for the top and bottom hearts:

Chickee buttons of course!!!!! I just couldn't resist ;0)

This would be a really great craft for kids. If younger kiddos are making these, you could use good ol' Elmer's glue, though it would take longer for things to dry. I'm thinking you can do lots of different shapes for the holidays, or even for year round.

Well, I'm one tired and sore Mama with a busy day tomorrow. Have a lovely evening, Friends!
Blessings,
Kelly

[The] Baking Is For the Birds

Now, I realize that some of you are going to think I'm off my rocker. I can't say as though I blame you. I've been doing all sorts of weird things with food lately, (like using them in the bathroom!) but now I am baking for my chickens. {insert eye roll here} This endeavour in the kitchen is not a labor of love, but of necessity.

See that hen up there in the picture. Let me introduce you to Bigfoot. (We have monster truck fans in the house!) Bigfoot and 3 of her flock mates have recently taken up residence in our basement. It seems as though the rest of the flock (that we not-so-lovingly refer to as "the jerks in the coop") were bored during our last cold snap, and decided to peck at some of those lower in the pecking order. We lost 1 hen to this horrible behaviour. My DH had gone out to the coop one evening to check their food and water, and discovered our dead hen. She was laying half in/half out of a nesting box. We had no idea how she had died (at that moment anyway) but she had been pecked. Whether this had occurred before or after the time of death, we were unsure of. (In case you are wondering, we are currently thinking of opening our own Chicken Scene Investigation practice. Kidding! :0) We chalked it up to the inevitable fact that livestock die, and moved on.

The following week I was alarmed to have Teddy Bear come screaming into the house that he saw "meat" on one of the chickens and he was very upset. I ran out to investigate, and discover not 1, but 2 very injured hens. So we set up chicken triage quarters in the basement and have been making the jerks in the coop go out in the run every day. We still ended up with yet another injured girl, but fortunately my DH discovered her early.

I did quite a bit of research on line about why chickens turn to this disgusting behaviour, and there are many. I'm pretty sure that the answer to our riddle is quite simply boredom of being cooped up. (No pun intended) So I looked for suggestions to help this. Most of the articles I read suggested offering the chickens something else to peck, rather than their fellow flock mates. I remembered seeing a Purina Flock Block at our local Tractor Supply Company, and thought that that would be a great idea for the chickens. But it would be a very bad idea for our budget! So I went about finding a recipe for a homemade "flock block". It was not easy, I really had to sift through a lot of links that the search engines brought up, but I finally found 2 different links, both on message forums. Here they are: Alberta Chickens you will have to scroll down a bit to find the recipe. Backyard Chickens I've read quite a few of the other pages from these links and found many other good ideas, and some really bad ones (like the one where a neighbor suggested giving them Styrofoam to peck at or putting Vick's Vaporub on the injured birds.)

This is what I did to make my own "flock block".

And here is my recipe:
2 C. oatmeal
4 C. birdseed
1 C. cornmeal
1/4 C. olive oil
3/4 C. molasses
1/4 C. water
1/2 C, honey
1 small apple, chopped
1 egg, shell crushed and added as well

I mixed the dry ingredients well in a large bowl.

Then I added the wet ingredients, and the apple. I also added half of a peanut butter sandwich that my middle child did not eat at school yesterday for his lunch.

Using a rubber spatula I spread and packed the mix into 2 very well greased loaf pans. (I used Crisco, but lard would be a good choice, too, if you have it.)

I used a bamboo skewer to make a hole for hanging before I put these in a 300* oven for an hour and a half. Then I turned off the oven and let them stay in there for another 30 minutes. I then removed the blocks from the pans and set them on a cooling rack. Unfortunately, one of the blocks broke in half despite my efforts to carefully tip it out of the pan.

I put the flock blocks back into the oven to dry further and left them in there until the oven was completely cool. Now it's time to give one of these to the jerks in the coop. I put an old shoelace through the hole of the block that was not broken and headed out to the coop with it. It broke in half. {sigh} So I hung up the half with the shoe string and put the other half on the floor of the coop by their feeder.

The Jerks in the Coop.

I couldn't wait around to get pictures of the chickens pecking at the block, but by the next day, it had been completely consumed! They liked it! I kept the next block for if we have another cold snap or (dare I hope!) a snow fall where the chickees would be confined in the coop again. We had snow (for all of 2 days!) earlier this week, so I put half of the second block in the coop. My DH had also built a shelf in the coop to give them some more room. These two measures seem to be helping.

I left out the sugar, salt and reduced the baking soda for the chickee's corn bread.

Above is Star, chowing down. Pictured below is Flower, who for once was quiet!
(Can you guess who named these girls? I mean, really! Star and Flower?)

And now for some more gratuitous photos of our kitty cat Merlin. She was absolutely fuming that I was making those bird brains a treat and won't even bothering to open her a can of tuna!

"Is that for me?"

"What do you mean "NO"?!!!???!!!"

Watching from the top of the basement stairs as the girls in the
basement chow down on corn bread.

"Just leave that cage door open for a minute and I'll get my own chicken treat! MWAH-HA-HA-HA!"**





*I do honestly realize that all of this pecking is a part of regular chicken behavior, as horrible as it is, and not a matter of chicken personalities!
**I really have no idea what Merlin was thinking, but I think it's a pretty safe bet that I'm pretty close!


I'm hoping this is helpful for all of my fellow chicken owners. If you don't own chickens, though, and are fond of feeding wild birds, this would be a great idea to make for them as well. Have a lovely day, Friends!

Blessings,
Kelly

Friday Update

Friday greetings, Friends! Just a short update to let you all know what has been happening up on our hill, and some things to be looking for in upcoming posts!

• Youth hunting weekend starts tomorrow, so Daddy and I will be up bright and early to take the boys out. Prayers for a successful hunt would be greatly appreciated!
• I've been working since Weds. so I'm a little behind on house work, but so glad that I had my dinners planned out. I'm looking to next week's plan and will be posting that as soon as I come up with it!
• I finally got my printer unhooked from my piece of junk very old desk top computer so that the cord is accessible for my laptop.
• Yesterday I subbed for the receptionist, so I was able to bring in my laptop to work on my Holiday Planner sheets. I'm hoping to share these in PDF format, though I'm not very tech savvy, it's questionable!
• We have some chicken drama and trauma. Our poor hen, Fanny, is being very badly abused by her coop mates. There is something about her that the roosters can't resist, so her back is nearly completely bald. Despite repeated sprayings of Blue Kote, she is being terrorized by the other ladies. She stays in the coop for the majority of the time, but is skittish. I just don't know what to do to help her out. Any suggestions?
• We gave away 3 of our 4 roosters about 2 weeks ago. They are currently residing in my mother-in-law's cousin's garden to fatten up for the butcher block. They have quite a setup there, and I'm curious as to whether or not they all make it to the dinner table.
• I've been able to do some research on Thanksgiving traditions, Advent traditions and the Jesse Tree. This is only our third year of celebrating Advent, and would like to add the Jesse Tree to our tradition. The children really enjoy the Advent wreath, and it has truly enriched our holiday season.

Well, that's all for now! I hope to have a post tomorrow, though I can't guarantee it, what with hunting and baking! Have a lovely Friday!
Blessings,
Kelly

Nesting Boxes, Substituting and Soccer Practice

The new nesting boxes that my father in law built for us.

Attached to the side of the coop. Almost finished!

My planner turned to this week's page, with my apple shaped post-it reminders for the kids' chores and menu planning!

This is the post I thought would never happen! I've tried a few times to get a chance to get it done, but the computer would freeze, or I'd run out of time. It's about quarter after seven, the kids are still showering and need to get to bed, as do I! It's been a crazy day for this Mama, and the week has just begun!

In homesteading news, my father in law got the nesting boxes finished, and my D.H. got them hooked onto the coop with his father's and brother in law's help. The girls are happy, I think, although some are still insisting on squeezing in with Alice, our broody girl! We still have to finish putting on trim, insulating and staining the coop. But we're getting there!

I subbed at the kids' school today, after doing my grocery shopping and some quick chores around the house. I'm truly thankful for my crock pot because Wheels had a soccer game tonight. I bought a whole chicken this morning because they were on sale, got home and threw it in the crock with some onion, garlic, thyme and sage. It was done just in time, and tasted wonderful! There were lots of juices in the crock to make gravy with, and we left the carcass in the crock, so now I'm making stock!

The rest of the week is looking pretty full, with a full day at the school tomorrow, evening soccer practices, a volunteer class in Princess' class and a washing machine that isn't working. That means a trip to the laundromat! I'm wishing I had one of those old ringer washer's right now.

That's all for this evening. I'm hoping to be back Wednesday for another post. Have a lovely evening!
Blessings,
Kelly