Meet our babies

This is Garnet... isn't she pretty?
That's me and Ruby... they are still very skiddish.
This is Bill the Bull, (Shannon named him)... he is very stand-offish.  I hope to warm them up to me and have them eating out of the palm of my hand very soon.

10:09 - Monday, June 8, 2009 - comments {7} - post comment

The Chicks...

Meet the chicks ;)
This little one above is Cameo's favorite.
Eli looks so sweet and gentle holding his pick of the 10...
Carlie caring for her baby...
And Abe, the runt of our litter, picks the runt of the little when it comes to the chicks...
The kids enjoy playing store...
Now they are in the market for poultry. :)
I hope they remember these days for the rest of their lives...
Sweet
Fun
Silly
I hope *I* remember these days, for the rest of my life... sigh.
***************************
By the way, thank you!
My Vintage Garden Tote has been sold! :)

08:07 - Wednesday, May 27, 2009 - comments {4} - post comment

Meet Captain Cock

11:35 - Sunday, May 24, 2009 - comments {5} - post comment

CHICKEN COOP!

Finally, the blessed day has come, the work on the chicken coop has begun.  I have waited and waited and I am so thrilled.  We have the 'coop' part finished and the hen house is on its way.
Here is the backside of the coop.
Here is the inside of the hen house, we have to build the nesting boxes and the frames inside will be good for roosting.
Here is my little worker... Abe was down at the coop almost the whole day with me... except for when we got the slip-n-slide out. :)
Oh, and Chase is one of his new favorite people. :)
You will notice his overalls... it was a bit warm for his long pant overalls, so  he opted for his shortalls and his front-end loader shirt. :)
Pictures of Captain Cock (the rooster) in his new home to come....

09:14 - Thursday, May 21, 2009 - comments {4} - post comment

New animals on the homestead...

Free...
Can't beat free. :)
We were given three ducks, 2 kittens and a rooster.
Today, here are two of our ducks.
This is Lady Quack with Eli.
Cameo is holding Sir Quack-a-lot.
The third was let loose in the pond without a picture. 
Later on this week, pics of the rooster (who is gorgeous) and our two sweet new kittens, who Abram has fallen head over heels for. He wants to take care of them all the time. It is SO sweet! :)

07:45 - Tuesday, May 19, 2009 - comments {2} - post comment

Beginning stages of our chicken coop...

Well, we have talked and talked and talked till we are blue in the face about getting a chicken coop ready... Now, we would LOVE to have totally free range chickens, but due to the stray dogs in the area and the sad fate of our last free range chickens, it is not a possible option. :( So, we are going to have to build a coop.
My Dad told me he had an old building out behind one of his buildings if he could get to it.  This was a feat in itself because a wall had to be removed just to get to the building.  BUT, over the past few months it happened and now our little silver coop is in place. I had hoped to clean it up over the weekend, but we had rain almost all day, every day... it was good though, it gave us all time to recover from not feeling our best.
Our plans are to build from the side of the coop back. So that the egg gatherer can enter from the front door of the coop and the chickens can come in from the side entry, and then have plenty of room to roam behind.
But, like I said, this will be another rather long drawn out process, I am sure. :) (Remember, Shannon is in school and not getting much time working) So, we will be happy at our turtle pace and one day we will have the homestead dreams we, um *I* ;) am dreaming of...
Have a blessed day my friends...

06:38 - Monday, May 4, 2009 - comments {1} - post comment

Welcome Miss Potter...

Yesterday, as sort of a mini field trip, we visited the Tractor Supply Store.  I had been there one time and this was the rest of the families first trip.  What a great store. We all enjoyed it. 
Well, if you have ever been in the store around Chick Days you know the dangerous ground you are walking on.... chicks, ducklings and bunnies galore!
I warn you now, because this may be the outcome... :)
Meet, Miss Potter.
Since she was a female, Peter was out of the question...
So Miss Beatrix Potter was a MUST in my mind. :)
I think she will be well loved and a happy member of our family.

07:14 - Tuesday, March 31, 2009 - comments {8} - post comment

Planning for the future...

Good Morning Friends!  I hope you are doing wonderful today. 
***A view from the future chicken coop area.***
I have a question for you... what are you doing in the area of planning for the future.  Now, mind you, I am not spazzing out and worrying about what lies ahead, my trust lies in Him,  but I do feel that God has given us enough sense to be prepared for our family.  Of course you know about the hobbit hole, that is one of our ways to be prepared.  I am harvesting ALL that we can get our hands on.  We buy in bulk when it is cheaper... I bought a 50 lb bag of potatoes.  A 5 lb bag was $5.00, a 50 lb bag was $17... yeah, easy decision I thought too.  I brought 5 or so lbs in the house for use and the rest are in the cellar. 
My next project is a chicken coop... now I am not talking about a little bitty thing, I am talking about a 30x30 pen size and then to have a little house for them to roost and lay. 

07:42 - Monday, October 13, 2008 - comments {5} - post comment

Homesteading

Good morning my wonderful friends! I am up early with an extra dose of zeal this morning... probably due to the fact I was able to sit and have coffee with my husband, feed him breakfast and see him off to work this morning.  He is working with his brother today and we are thankful.  We are waiting and praying and watching for God to open doors.
For a long time I have considered us homesteaders... I mean, we raise a lot of our own food from our garden and then we put by what surplus we harvest.  But it seems that when you have animals, you truly 'feel' homesteady.  You know of our tragic loss of our beloved fowl last year.  Well, I would like to introduce you to the newest member of our homestead family... Einstein!
Isn't he a beauty? He is a White Crested Black Polish Rooster
Isn't his name absolutely perfect? My clever husband came up with it... I am a bit jealous... I was looking towards Mr. Feather-Brain... but Einstein is SO much better! :)
Cameo is in total love with him.  Finally, we are on our way to having some animals again... besides the cats and dogs. :)
We were given Einstein by a friend Shannon worked with.  We went to pick Shannon up from his out of town job Saturday and Rodney gave him to us.  The kids loved Rodney's house... he had A LOT of chickens, and 4 goats.  The kids had a BLAST!
So be it a little step, it is a step none the less... a step back in the direction of our goal.  Now to get him some lady friends. :)
I hope to share with you some pictures of our root cellar in the next week or two, some of our projects we have planned, and a great recipe or two. 
Have a glorious day, and take time to enjoy the little things.
My Cup Runneth Over...

07:14 - Tuesday, September 9, 2008 - comments {3} - post comment

Our first Chicken Day

Good Morning my friends!  I am happy to be here with you this morning! I am looking forward to a great day ahead... today will be my bulk shopping day.  I hope to finally get my stockpile going again. At least a bit...
Saturday was our first attempt at chicken butchering.  We got together with some dear friends of ours and did it together so they could teach us how and what to do.
My dear husband... bless his heart, he gets a bit sickly at the sight of blood, but he did a wonderful job after the first one. He is fabulous!
K explained to us the difference between using the killing cone and just chopping off their heads or wringing their necks.  The killing cone is just plain easier, and the chickens are less distressed before they are killed.
Using the killing cone, you slit the throat and let the blood drain for a few minutes, it makes the rest of the jobs a bit less messy.
After the blood has drained you give them a spray off with the water hose and then into the scalder they go for about a minute... this makes the plucking MUCH easier!
After the first couple of chickens, plucking became a breeze...
After we plucked the chickens the men cut off the heads and feet and took out the innards.  That is what the pots are for.
Feet in one and innards in the other... Shannon has requested that I make him some chicken livers one night.  The feet and hearts and gizzards will be used to make a very rich stock.
Chicken day was a success and we have 15 lovely birds in the freezer.  Along with the parts to make a good bit of healthy stock.  Thank you my friends for teaching us how to do this, I am very thankful to you guys!
We are looking forward to the fall when hopefully we will learn how to process a deer!
My Cup Runneth Over...Chas

07:38 - Monday, June 23, 2008 - comments {11} - post comment