three little old ladies sitting on a park bench ....

Sometimes caring for the chickens is a lot like caring for three little old ladies. Little old ladies that all of a sudden decide they are not going to get along. I mean you have to hear them, it is hilarious! I could actually picture Samantha, Lizzie and Maxine sitting on a park bench talking so nicely then all of a sudden one of the ladies says something that upsets another and the squacking begins. It is usually Maxine that decides she is upset with something and lets us all know about it. You can hear her inside with the windows closed. This is about the time that as their caregiver I rush out the door with a snack of some food that is leftover from a meal we just finished, divert the argument and all becomes right again in the coop de chickens. So the answer is food and park benches. Lots of laughing too. Because really who knew chickens could act like three little old ladies sitting on a park bench? :)

silly chicken fact ...

So here's the story... We are in the process of moving. Yes, I said moving! Because of this our lives are a bit turned upside down right now. I am told this is totally normal when you have to buy a house, sell another, end a school year, participate in dance recitals, work and the list goes on and on.. Right about now you have to ask me well where exactly is the "silly chicken fact" in all that complaining? So here it is:

Did you have any idea that there could possibly be a "silly chicken fact" in this picture? Well there is and I only learned it after I about had a heart attack when I  checked on the ladies. I found Lizzie in this exact position on the ground and struggling to get up. I ran into the house to tell my handsome husband that in fact something was WRONG with Lizzie and through all the craziness of the current state of our lives I was sure we were going to loose her. I mean loose her before those beautiful blue eggs could even appear?! Let's just say that the tragedy was already played out in mind. So the handsome husband on mine runs outside to check on her and after seeing her turns to me and laughs. Uh, Kelly the chickens do this as a way to clean themselves and keep the bugs off. Oh! Phew!! Tragedy diverted and the ladies are just fine!

the diva ....

Here she is friends, the DIVA of our feathered family members. Yes, it is true that she will produce the coolest eggs, but really does the attitude have to start long before those beauties arrive? Well, it seems it does.

 

She does however love one person and you can see her little hand in this picture.

Aside from the fact that Lizzie is going to produce the coolest eggs, there is one other reason that I can accept her moody behavior. Take a peek at this picture:

To see anything this little lady has to tilt her head to see past those feathers under her eyes. That would make me moody too!

I will leave you with one final thought ...

Thank goodness strawberries are going to be in season soon!! Wow, the ladies LOVE them!

                              Have a HAPPY day friends!

hello ladies ....

Take a peek at this picture and then I will fill you in on something neat about chickens:

 

Can you see Lizzie at the door to her coop? Guess why she came to that door? Every morning I say "hello ladies" from the distance you can see here and every morning the ladies come to that door excited to greet me. I think they are hoping I am going to let them roam the yard, but it isn't time for that quite yet. Really I had no idea that chickens would like people so much. However, Lizzie is still very much the diva and most often if you are in the coop with her she will stand on the other side, but Sam (sweet, sweet Sam) and Maxine are quite social. And it is quite a sight!

Samantha

Maxine

I will try and get a picture of the diva soon. I am sure she will ask for some makeup and hair time first. Haha!

                          Have a happy day friends!

it's really a beautiful place to be ....

Sometimes when life gets really crazy I like to take a few moments to sit and look at beautiful things. This blog post is going to be dedicated strictly to the sights of a very special and beautiful place. So just sit, relax and enjoy the wonder of life and the beauty of nature.

strawberries

chives

lavender

a mama protecting

her babies

Have a happy day friends!

togetherness....

One early morning I opened our shades to see something that actually took my breath away.

Love

And for a couple of months I have seen these two fly together in our backyard making beautiful mourning dove music, but I had never seen where they were living or would choose to make their nest until yesterday. And it was yesterday that again my breath was taken away.

Building a home

While the mama dove was busy creating her nest and what looked like to me to be preparing to lay her eggs, the daddy dove sat patiently with a watchful eye above her. This is what I love most about the mourning doves, their togetherness in life. That from the moment they decide they are "it" for each other they work together to make their home, feed each other, protect one another and their babies. In fact, I can remember last year watching the mom leave the nest for periods of time and the dad quickly hopped on the eggs to keep them warm and safe.

I look forward to watching these two work together this spring to raise their babies through the dirty window above my kitchen sink. That same sink that has seen a million dirty dishes from the family that my handsome husband and I are raising together in the beautiful place we call home.

when I get older I will eat purple ...

Purple potatoes that is! I will eat purple potatoes later this summer!

These beauties and some asparagus were planted this weekend in our garden plot. And since I am new to the purple potato scene I am quite excited to see if they taste sweeter than the yukon golds that we just planted. We all know everything gets sweeter with age - even purple potatoes right?! :)

holding onto the simple ...

This week one of us (us being the parents of the house) watched Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution http://www.jamieoliver.com/us/foundation/jamies-food-revolution/news-content/food-revolution-season-2-returns-to-abc. And a couple of days later the other one of us watched the movie Food Inc. http://www.foodincmovie.com/. Now both of us are worried about the state of our food. By this I do not mean what state are we eating our food in, but WHAT is happening to our food?! Where did it come from?! What is it made of? What have we been doing wrong?! Then the thoughts of how in the world can we afford to feed our family with ingredients that are clean and healthy? Do we feed beef ever again? Do we stick to rice and beans? 

We have always taught our children to love and appreciate the outdoors and nature but our food well, it is expected to be OK and now it is not.. So what do we do? In this house we make bread and then, we break it with the family that we love, adore and cherish. Maybe if we all held onto the simple ways of the past in preparing food we could feel less fearful... Maybe, just maybe... 

Thanks B. for the delicious and perfect recipe!

Directions to the simple bread we made:

Mix in a bowl 6 1/2 cups flour, 1 1/2 TBSP yeast, 1 1/2 TBSP salt, 3 cups warm water. 

Only stir until the ingredients are mixed together.  

Then just set it aside with a dish towel over the bowl for a few hours.  It'll double in size.  

*We mixed it in the morning and then baked it right before dinner.  

How to bake:

preheat the oven to 500F with the dutch oven in the oven at the same time.  

use cast iron dutch oven 

Recipe yields 2 nice sized loafs (so split the dough in half and plop one in the pan)  

Bake it for 30 minutes with the lid on the dutch oven and then remove the lid and bake 5 more minutes to brown the top. 

*we sprinkled cracked wheat on the top for the extra crunch

it all has to start somewhere ...

And here is where it starts:

This must win an award for the most beautiful blog picture ever posted!

By now you must be thinking that we are a little nutty to pay for the above dirt and weeds! Well if you don't think "we" are nutty maybe you will think "he" is nutty! Because to him this is decadence:

And that decadence is going to provide us with oodles of yummy fresh fruits and veggies. Like those potatoes I told you about earlier:

Did you know that 1 potato can produce between 2-5lbs of potatoes?!

And there is really no better way to teach the kids where their food comes from than to start from the beginning and dig right in! Because with a little or A LOT of TLC something nutty turns into something wonderful:

something wonderful

ps (do you even "ps" in a blog post?): I need to find some good recipes for Swiss Chard, fennel and chives. Our new community garden friends have shared treasures with us that I do not usually cook with! If you have any suggestions please do share!

it is really funny in the newly expanded chicken house ....

OK, I had to share the hilarious happenings in the newly expanded chicken house (still under my counter). Let me tell you that feathers are flying! Yup, feathers! New beautiful feathers are forming on Lizzie, Maxine and Samantha and with that comes the loss of those beautiful, soft, downy feathers.

So here is what happens, the chicks flap their wings and run around to stir up the little downy feathers that have fallen off.   When those feathers fly the chicks start to argue (in the best chick way) over who gets to catch the feather in the sky. It is hilarious to watch them peck at each other and insist "that feather is mine, back off!" OK, I added the back off part, but the "that feather is mine" is TOTALLY happening in the newly expanded chicken house under my kitchen counter.

See for yourself:

attention...

I think I am going to be finding myself writing quite often the words "I never thought" because again, I have to say it! I NEVER THOUGHT chicks would want attention, but they do!! In fact, I almost didn't realize this switch was happening.

We are all so used to entering the door and being greeted with a wagging tail and leaps of love from our doggies. But who knew chicks would also insist on love and attention when you hadn't given it to them in many hours. And in fact if you try to ignore their beautiful chirps of love you might just find them perched on top of their home ready to walk the grounds to find you!

Let me tell you, this wasn't an isolated event! It turns out that the chicks sleep until I come downstairs to start breakfast. Then once they see me or someone else from the family they try to leave the box to play with us. They don't do this unless we are close to their box. Seems they like us.

I guess everyone even chicks like attention. In fact, on our way back out the door that night my daughter noticed that our neighbor had a bouquet of flowers delivered to her house. We all thought that was so neat and then kept our night moving forward. At the end of that night my son came to me and said "Mom, I made something for you." Well, I have to say that the attention he gave me that night melted my heart! :)

Origami Roses

one cute chick ... let's make that three cute chicks..

It is hard to believe that it has been almost 2 weeks since our little feathered family members came home. They definitely continue to entertain us.

We are sure Samantha is going to be the cutest of the bunch with her black and white feathers. She has a boyfriend and I should probably be jealous because he is also my handsome husband. Let's just say when he is around she is quick to hop up on his hand and look deep into his eyes. She doesn't seem to like me much, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Samantha

Oh what can I say about Lizzie other than she is quite the character. She can fly for short spurts and if it didn't look so silly I would post the picture of her first flight. She loves her wings and attention from everyone.

Lizzie

And then there is Maxine. She is the walker of the family. If you put your hand or even your foot in their house she will walk right up. Not much stops her once she is on the move which makes for some silly times especially when she stops on top of your head.

Maxine

The family seems to be getting along well, but I can tell that a new/larger home is going to be needed soon. In fact I wonder each morning if I will come downstairs to find them walking around the house. That is definitely going to be a funny morning. 

To learn more about our feathered family members I thought I would check out a really neat place in Portland. Here is the link: http://www.pistilsnursery.com/chicken-keeping

high hopes ....

OK, I admit it. I have very high hopes for each and every weekend of my life. Why weekends you ask? Well the weekends are the time that my family is ALL together. This is the time that we do not always have to worry about the "time." We can plan our life based upon what we want to do and what makes us truly happy.

So this weekend we had planned to visit a rummage sale and then join a good friend at our community garden for a garden party which marked the beginning of the gardening season. Instead one of mine held a bucket, rest against a pillow and said often "Mom my tummy hurts." This meant it was handsome husband who spent his hours in our garden plot ripping out large weeds and mending the soil alone.

Since I felt so badly, I thought I would surprise him at the garden with a delicious Italian Meatloaf. Friends, if you want your house to smell delicious you have to prepare this recipe. And boy with all those yummy aromas floating through my house my hopes of bringing a smile to my handsome husband's face when we surprised him at the garden plot were quite high. ONLY.... one slip of the hand and my masterpiece made its way into the kitchen sink and shattered everywhere. Very quickly specks of glass sparkled amongst the delicious pork, beef, garlic and red peppers. :( ...

It seems sometimes life takes a few clicks of the shutter to get all your chicks in a row:

Ladies the camera is over here

Because we all know perfection takes time and effort. 

See that wasn't hard

      Now how many days until next weekend? Just the thought of it makes me smile.

If you happen to want to try to and fix a delicious meatloaf, here is the recipe:
Italian Meatloaf:
2  ounces pancetta
1tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup finely diced yellow onion
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup shredded carrots
1 large egg
3 Tbsps milk
1 cup Italian-style bread crumbs
1Tbsp herbs de Provence
1 Tbsp dried basil
1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
1/4 cup roasted red peppers
1/2 cup shredded mozarella cheese

Simplified directions: (because we all know how to make meatloaf, it is just the ingredients that matter). So brown the pancetta. Save the grease, add olive oil. Saute the onions and garlic then set aside. Combine remaining ingredients including the cooled veggies. Bake at 350 degrees for 1.15 hrs.

they say ...

"They" say it is good to vacuum around a sleeping baby, but can the same be said for sleeping chicks? Since Maxine, Lizzie and Samantha live under my kitchen counter and today is housecleaning day I am going to soon find out!

And handsome husband ordered loads of seeds last night for our community garden plot. From the sounds of it we are going to have loads of onions to share so if you happen to need any let me know. And if you have a favorite seed that you like to use I would love to learn about it. Please feel free to leave a comment or email me. Now back to the vacuum!

i never thought ...

Honestly, I NEVER thought I would have to tell my kids to stop playing with their chickens and start doing their homework! Life you really do make me giggle from time to time.

always looking for a bargain

OK, I am going to say it right here, right now! I am a bargain shopper!! No, you will never catch me wearing a pair of $200 jeans even though my very bestest swears they will change my life. I just can't do it! But what I can do and will continue to do is enjoy my bargain shopping! In fact, you can expect to find me at neighborhood garage sales and circling the isles of Goodwill whenever possible to find treasures. Or sometimes my bargain shopping takes us on ADVENTURES (I just love that word).

Like this past weekend when we headed out of town to pick up a $3 bale of hay. You see, Samantha, Maxine and Lizzie are going to need lots of hay for their coup and our community garden is also going to need some as we are planning to build up rows (more on that later). So we were off to country to escape the noise, enjoy the views and be together as a family for an hour before the craziness of homework and nightly routines set in. Ahh, just thinking about that drive relaxes me.

Did you know 500cu in of hay in the store costs $11?

When I think about all this bargain shopping I am reminded on how excited my kids are for the garage sale season. You see, not only do we teach our kids to recycle for our compost pile (yes handsome husband I will work on remembering to compost our napkins) we are also teaching them the value of recycling toys and clothes. Really why pay $10 for a bakugan when you can buy it for 50 cents at a yard sale and have $9.50 to buy something else or save for the future? My kids love it and have made wish lists for this summer's sailing. :)

Speaking of bargains, I heard today that Coastal Farm and Ranch is going to offer 5 free chicks this weekend if you purchase food. Bummer our city only allows us to have three feathered family members!

potatoes, chicken wings and friends

This weekend marks the beginning of our new relationship with our community garden plots. Yes, I say relationship because there is going to be a lot of love put into that soil of ours to produce some amazing fruits and veggies. And what better way to start our garden than with something we already have - potatoes. Yup, we've got some yummy yukon gold potatoes that we can no longer eat (because they have sprouted) ready to plant into the soil that will soon be freshly amended.

Nice slicing handsome husband

 And something else exciting is happening around here. Maxine, Lizzie and Samantha are growing their wings! It is hard to believe how quickly this is happening!  What is that saying about "wings and independence?" Thankfully these little girls are still content in their warm little box. :)

Lizzie's wings have grown the fastest so far.

Oh my, I almost forgot to mention a new friend of the girl's. Blog visitors meet Mia. She is half black lab and half golden retriever. In a matter of months Mia will be sharing her backyard space with Maxine, Lizzie and Samantha so there really is no better time than the present to spark up a friendship!

it really is scary in the dark ....

Day three of living with chickens and we had our first chick meltdown. No, we didn't force our chicks to skip their naps, remove their food or ask them to drink whole milk for the added fat rather than the delicious water they have been hydrating themselves with. We simply turned off their light!

Yes, I know that light looks very soothing with its warm amber glow. But, really, we had NO IDEA of the panic that would set in when these little feathered family members were forced to live in the dark for 5 mins! And to think that handsome husband of mine insists we continue doing it. I vote for a nightlight in the chicken coop! :)

and the chicks came home

OK, I have never even considered writing a blog until now! But somehow it seems only appropriate since I have finally caved and allowed my handsome husband to bring Maxine, Lizzie and Samantha into our home. Yes, I said "into our home" because that is precisely where our 3 new feathered family members are currently living. In fact, they are right under my kitchen counter!

I should probably give you a little background on these chicks of ours. See, the handsome husband of mine started asking for chickens a couple of years ago and I consistently told him "I am not a bird person." But what I am is a Mom that wishes she could raise her family in the country and he does too. So throughout these past couple of years we have been looking for farmland to not only have chickens but find a place that my husband can get his hands in the dirt and cultivate the land.

Sadly even with a drop in house prices we just can't seem to find the right piece of land that provides my handsome husband with a commute under an hour. Then as fate would have it, our dreams started to change shape into something we already had. We have a backyard! In fact a beautiful backyard with more than enough space for our chickens to range free. And through one random facebook post a friend notified me that some new community garden plots were now available and we wouldn't have to wait the traditional one year to get in! So in a matter of one day two dreams were fulfilled.

Now back to our little feathered family members:

  Maxine is a Golden Sex Link and she will produce brown eggs.

Maxine

Samantha is a Barred Plymouth Rock and she will produce brown eggs.

Samantha

Lizzie is an Ameraucana and she will produce blue and green eggs!!She is also the diva of the bunch with her dark eyeliner. :)

Lizzie

 And I guess when my handsome husband asks for chickens, well he gets them! :)