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! :)