A hen with an agenda

Okay, so I have a hen who is pretty determined to get what she wants. You see Miss Moulon is kind of mean to the new babies....she takes out thier tail feathers and leaves them scattered across the yard, just her presence makes them all run, roosters included. It all started when I decided to start merging the older hens with the almost 16 week old younger chicks and deliberately left Moulon out of the event. In order to voice her displeasure she came to find me to let me know how unhappy she was with her circumstances. She came through my back living room, where the door is, through my kitchen and dining room and walked right up to my husband who was sitting at my desk. She was not happy. She was fluffing and bock bocking all over the place. This was our conversation.

Moulon: "I was going to be good!"

Me: "you are never nice to the babies, they run from you"

Moulon: "well, they get the better food!"

Me: "you are a hen, and need more substance in your food"

Moulon: "that's not fair!"

Me: "Fine, I'll put you in, but if there are any feathers laying around, you are going to be grounded to the inside coop."

Moulon: "I'm not the only one doing it."

Me: "Yes you are"

I put her in the coop and she behaved herself. I guess we both got what we wanted!

My job today

     Hey, I'm doing good! It hasn't been a month since my last post! I figured I'd post something short and sweet. Today, apparently, I have one job. That job is to pick a ball up, and throw it. Gracie has decided that this is a fun game, for her. I have to stop and take a moment to appreciate what she is actually doing for me. She is making me take a break from everything else but her and her ball. There are so many other things I should be doing but she has deemed this small moment in time as "ball time". Good dog Gracie, good dog.

I'm ready....can you see me? I'm ready...stop typing now.
Seriously, I'm ready!

Look Mom! I found two balls!

 

Yes, it's been this long

     My last post addressed my inability to take a moment and sit down and just type something...anything. This post took even longer than the last. A lot has happend in this past month and I feel like I don't have a moment to come up for air sometimes. I feel sad, yet determined to make the best of what my life is right now. I always try to live in the moment and remember how fortunate I am. And I am indeed very fortunate.
     BUT, things are tough right now. Money is tight, stress is high and I feel like I'm a walking zombie sometimes. I find solice in eating outside while my chickens peck at the grass, and when I'm spending time with my boys. Just yesterday I took my two youngest to watch B-25 Bombers fly over the Air Force Museum in honor of the Doolittle Raid over Japan. It was amazing to see! I don't like war but I think that we can learn a lot from our past and my two boys just love airplanes!
     Have you ever looked around and just felt alone? My kids are flying the nest, with the expection of my youngest son, and I find myself reevaluating my life and what it is now. I would love to have a small farm but possess few skills outside of animal care. I am growing a garden this year, which I'm hoping will be successful. I'm wondering if a small farm is too much for just me. I feel like my childhood dreams are coming to a close....what do I replace them with? So many things are becoming much clearer to me that they were before, and it's almost scary that I know now that I need to make changes to my life. I want a peaceful and quiet existance. I have lived 41 of my years for someone else, and very few moments were for me alone. I'm trying to get the guts up to stand up for myself and claim the life I deserve to live. But it's hard when you love everyone else more than you love yourself.

Wow, has it really been that long?

     I enjoy blogging, I really do. But why does it take me so long to put a quick post up? I spend lots of time during the day thinking about what I can blog about, but can't seem to make it to my computer to type it in. It's not like it's difficult to do or anything. I think it all amounts to the fact that I spend as much time censoring my thoughts that I put on here. I read a lot of blogs, some happy and bouncy and some that are true life and make me think. I have been an war inside myself trying to figure out what direction that I want to take in my blog. I want to show my happiness, but I also want to show my life....the real one that isn't always rosey. I've been reading a book lately "Life is a Verb" by Patti Digh. This Patti lady is a talented writer. I love her wit and observations about life. I feel like I know her in a way and I have learned some tremendous lessons from this book. I wish I could write with as much clarity as she does. But I guess I'm taking the first step, I'm writing.
     So, with that, I plan on using this blog as a journey. A journey of learning, a journey of remembering, and a journey of documenting my life. One day my children might take a moment to read my private thoughts and have a better understanding of what kind of mother and person I really was. I fear that in my real life that I am too stoic. When in fact I'm a very warm and fuzzy kind of person. I take everything to heart, EVERYTHING. I have learned to keep a tough exterior and I can stay this with strong conviction, very few people "really know" me. Very few. I'm really trying to find a way to get a voice in my own life, to step out from behind the people that I am behind so that I can life the life I am meant to live. It's not a glamorous life I'm after, I want simiplier and happier times. I want to travel but not in comfort, I want to exist among the people I see. My whole life I have read about what my life looks like from the pages of the lives of others. I want to live mine now. I just cannot figure out how to merge my current life with that life. I guess we all struggle with that. How many of us are living the life that we truly want to live?
     With this blog, I plan on documenting books I'm reading and what thoughts they provoke, classes I'm taking and the interests I'm pursuing. I will also document my life changes as I move from a mother of six growing children to a mother of one growing child. My oldest five kids have either made or are making that leap from High School to College and then into Life. Those of you who know that transition know the new set of challenges that come with that! I'm hoping that I can be my own best friend and that I will be kind to myself if I don't live up to my own expectations. I hope you will all be forgiving as well. For now, I will promise myself to blog more and to let more thoughts see the light of day. Maybe then I will make those changes that I need to make!

sad news...

     I've got sad news to report. We lost a chick this week. I think she got piled on by her sibs and probably suffocated. This is the first chick I've lost, she was black and one of the Americauna/Buffs. That brings my chick total to twelve now. I do better now that I did in the past when I lost a bird, I am learning that it happens sometimes and I try not to take it too personal. I know that while my hens are with me that they are living the good life with lots of attention and special treats. That makes me feel better. The others are doing great and are beginning to feather in. One chick in particular is starting to stand out from the others. He/She isn't the largest chick, isn't the prettiest colored chick and is actually rather plain looking. But everytime I put my hand into the brooder it always approaches me. I'm thinking this little chick could be an up and coming rooster....it's the only one who approaches me with curiosity. I'm hoping that it's a hen instead. I adore friendly hens! As for my three girls outside, they are doing great with all of the cold weather that we have had lately. I added fresh bedding today since they have been kicking so much against the door. I took them hot eggs and corn for breakfast this morning when it was only 17 degrees outside and they had already laid thier eggs for the day. They are good girls!
     I have also been working on a craft project this week. I saw this idea on the Nate Berkus Show. Instead of having a pigeon type of bird I decided on (what else?) Chickens! These pictures sit above my desk and I love looking up and seeing them everyday. I've never been all that crafty, but I like getting in touch with that side of me again!

oh I love these chickies!

Dinner is done, the freshly painted living room is getting a new curtain, and wall decor and now I can sit down with a little quiet for a minute. I just had to go check on the chicks. I don't normally wear hoodies, but it just so happens that today I am. I now have a pocket full of chicks making little adorable chick noises. We are bonding and they are content and sleeping with thier little heads peeping out from the sides of my sweat shirt pockets. Sometimes simple things can be so soothing!

hardworking girls



Miss Pancake posing by the rake

Miss Roxy digging through last years garden soil, I'm not
sure what she's going to find in there. Nothing grew in it!

 I thought I'd add a few recent pcitures from our recent warm winter day. The girls and kitties had a good time getting out and basking in the sun. They needed this day as much as me!









My girls looking for a snack










busy weekend!

     Bless thier little fuzzy butts...........my little chicks are here! I ended up coming home with more than the original ten chicks I had planned and instead I came home with thirteen. They are so tiny and so cute! So many different colors! They are so much smaller than the chicks that I got last March. I was pretty sure that my husband wouldn't mind (too much) a few extra chicks. I decided that since I was taking a straight run there would be a chance that I would get some males in the group, so taking thirteen seemed reasonable...and did I mention that they are so cute? I'm posting a few pictures of Gracie checking out the new babies, she is so intrigued but I'm not entirely always sure that she isn't wanting to have a little taste. 

I want to hold one and lick one...

sweet babies!

    











     Our weekend was busy, we (mostly my husband) painted my living room (again). It used to be a tan type color that NOT an inpiring color. We decided to stay with our current bright color theme a little bit country while livin' at the beach. I suppose that since we can't be at the beach, we are bringing it here! I love the new vibe it brings in. Now I have to get new wall art and sell off the old stuff!

     We also had our grandson visiting for the weekend. He is a busy little man I'll tell ya! I got up early to start painting on Saturday morning and right as my feet hit the floor at seven am, here he came. "Nana, I'm hungry". He noticed that I was wearing a bandana on my head and asked me why I was wearing it. I told him I had it on to not get paint in my hair. He said "No, you are wearing it because you are making me waffles and it's like the lady on the syrup bottle". I quickly thought to myself "I look like Aunt Jemima?" this is so not good! We took off from painting about at about two so I could take my youngest son to a birthday party at a waterpark. Perfect for wearing out a little boys energy! So, while I frolicked in the water with the little men, my husband and daughter finished up my living room (sweeties!)

Haircut!

Water fun!

     We also had dinner with some old friends and had them over to see some of the changes in the house. It will be hard leaving so many people that we've come to know when we move, but I'm so looking forward to new friendly faces in Florida! Have a great week everyone!

finding a bright spot

Today has been a typical day. Get up early, get kids to school, get myself to school. But I wasn't feeling it. Maybe it's the weather (cold, grey and cloudy). I'm thinking of brighter places, like Florida. I just need a change. A lot of things have changed my opinion of Ohio. As much as I love the state, with it's open fields and little farms. It's time for a change. I want sunshine, I want different faces, friendly faces. I dread staying here another year. Kids and commitments keep me here. I'm trying to stay upbeat and focus on all of the new things coming my way this year, like the ten new chicks I'm getting this weekend. A whole bunch of hodge-podge little mixed breeds. All of my favorite breeds just mixed together. Some black copper maran with Auracauna and a dash of sussex.....my kind of birds! I'm also getting ready to plan my new garden. I'm hoping for new and improved from last years flop of a garden, maybe even something my chickens will WANT to get into!

I hope chickens like sand. Because mine are coming with me. Just looking at this picture I can smell the ocean air and feel the sun on my skin. I'm hoping that I find like minded people in Florida, people who like chickens, farms and things that are just natural. I'm tired of school, tired of gloomy weather, tired of negativity.......bring on the sunshine!

so many blogs, so little time!

dear bloggers,
I love you all. I want to read you all. I'm trying very hard to keep up with you while also trying to create my own little spot in the blogging garden. I want to take beautiful pictures and write witty words. I want to can my food, grow a bigger garden and post creative ideas. I feel like I've come to a party late and that I'm trying to make my rounds and learn everyone's name (which I'm not good at anyway). I'm just going to have to go with the old phrase "Better late than never". So far, I'm enjoying this stage of the game and I'm also learning that I'm a bit more of a perfectionist than I thought I was. Should it really take me over an hour to type a post? I have many grand ideas but lack the ability to get them on my screen. Hopefully that will come with time!

Painting continues..

     Hi again! We have finally tackled and repainted the kitchen. I will try to get some before shots to go along with the after pictures. We painted for over 8 hours, that included the repairs we had to make to the chair railing that the previous owners put up. They must have used some sort of NASA wallpaper glue to adhere the wallpaper to the wall underneath the railing. After loosing all of my nail polish and most of my patience we now have beautiful results. My husband, the resident decorator, chose the color. I think he did a fine job! Even though we just went through a winter sleet storm here in Ohio, my house feels warm and cozy. I found some cute things at a local thrift store to decorate with. I love old things and like the country feel they bring! I included pictures of those treasures too!

      It's very cold here today and while I dread the walk to check on the girls, it's necessary! They have a heat lamp in their coop and it's gotten them through some radical cold temps so far this year but I need to make sure it's keeping up from this cold front. For only having three hens, they are keeping us caught up on eggs though, the little dears are putting out at least two eggs a day still!  Love their little chicken hearts! I found some fresh corn on the cob at the grocery store and bought some for them to play with. I also gave them a head of fresh lettuce to tear apart (an idea I found on some one's blog). I want to keep them busy since they haven't gotten out of the coop in a couple of days. I'm making plans for the next group of chickens. We are expanding our flock, even if we move they are coming with us. Won't that be a funny sight, a moving truck with a car on back, and a truck with a camper full with chickens. I'm not sure where the dogs and cats will be but it's sure to be a sight! Many exciting things are coming my way! We don't plan to take a lot of furniture with us, what we don't sell, we will divide among our older kids.

Kitchen "after"

Sink Area

Microwave area

Gravy boat

Old canning jar

Last but not least, my 1914 Calender wall picture. I found the frame at the same store and it hides the picture imperfections around the edges perfectly. Love this!

A good change

ahhhh, it's Sunday. This weekend has been a busy one. Husband and I are slowly moving toward a new beginning. We are trying to paint and spruce up our house in the "suburban" ridge to begin preparing for a sale and an eventual move to Florida, time frame not determined yet. In the new dining room we changed the decor from a failed attempt at the "tuscan" theme to a more comfortable "farm chic" style. As I am typing you, I can't help but look into my "new" beautiful "celery green" dining room. Yuck! Celery green you say? But this color is so warm with the natural light in the room. I'm proud of it's new simplistic decor and color.....it is calming and nice. I may finally be finding my style after all. The kitchen is next. Now that hubby is getting a clearer vision of my design taste things are coming together, a bit late for this house though. But what I'm learning here I'm taking with me to our next house. Here is a quick view of the new dining room before and after. The previous room was a half maroon/yellow paint color. This is so much more calmer and natural. I'm looking forward to changing the kitchen as well. Lots to do in there!
The chickens are enjoying a day in the snow. This is the first snow they have expereinced and I had to laugh at them taking a step and then liftin thier claws to figure out just what they were walking in. Chickens are such simple creatures and thier antics are amusing on even my worse day!

After

Before

Good Morning! Pull up a seat and have a cup of coffee (or beverage of your choosing) with me! Here I am up early again. So, I'm thinking that this is a good time to do my first post. I'm surrounded by snoring dogs and lazy cats, which is a conforting feeling. Although, the calm will be broken soon since my kids will be up and getting ready to head out the door to school. I will follow shortly after. I'm hoping that this blog offers some sort of a happy and quiet retreat for you, as I have found a happy home among other blogs.
What inspired me to do this blog? I've always read that you should write down the things that you aspire to and that doing so will helps them evolve into reality. So, here I am, waiting for a new reality. Some aspirations I have for 2012 are to expand my little farm. I'm not the farmer in the traditional sense but more in the wanna be sense. I have chickens, three to be exact. I originally had six, but a neighbors dog changed that. Since I live in the city expanding my little operation will be challenging to say the least. I want to grow more food and depend on the grocery store less, my three hens are working hard and putting out nearly an egg a day so I've gone almost all winter without buying a single egg! I've been stockpiling seeds and am trying to design a garden that is both dog/hen/kid and husband friendly. I have lots of ideas, but a limited amount of $$ to do it. I am inspired by other blogs and money saving ideas that they have posted. Maybe one day I'll post some of my own ideas! Until then, have a great day!