A quick trip to the river

I hung out my first load of wash on the new clothes line this morning and it didn't even fall down! That was a sign that it would be a good day I think! Put the cows out into a different field as they have cropped the grass quite nicely in the other two fields and it was time to move them onto greener pasture. The kids badly wanted to go to the river today so after lunch we packed up bathing suits and towels and drove the five kilometers to the Riverside Trails and the Farmer's Picnic ground. Thankfully there weren't many people there(its usually crawling with the trashy variety of people with their beer cans and loud obnoxious music) so we set up our towels on the bank(not much beach today) and the kids went to work on making mud castles and moats.

We only stayed for about two hours as our daily thunderstorm started rolling in and I decided I didn't want to be caught in a down pour. The kids were not pleased about me making them leave. Got home in time to take my wash off the line before the weather was upon us. Some terrific thunder with this storm! I let the dogs in the house as Indi is pretty terrified of thunder and I'm a sucker for that puppy dog face. After it was all said and done, we got a treat to enjoy which almost makes enduring all this rain worth while.

The best laid plans...

School is over, birthday parties all wrapped up, summer has begun! I feel like I can breathe and get down to brass tacks when it comes to projects around the 'farm.' I've been procrastinating over the 'chicken tractor' for a while. I finally bought all the materials I needed last week but everything was so busy that I never got to it. Today I decided that I needed to get a start on it. I went looking for everything I would need- hand saw, work bench, hammer etc. The looking-for-things-I-need always seems to take up more time that the actual project. Why is that?

I cut my two eight foot 2x4's in half and then went to find some nails or screws to start building the frame. Can you believe that I didn't have either? No nails. No screws. And there was no way in hell I was making a 40 minute round trip drive to town for $3.00 worth of nails. There is nothing I hate more than getting started on a project only to have to stop for something as ridiculous as not having nails! Where is my parents tool shed when I need it? I'm sure they would have had nails! Grrr!

So I went and weeded the garden instead. I hate weeding the garden! But I do love my flowers!

Jacob's Ladder
Granny's bonnet Columbine
Lewisia

And I weeded the veggie garden too. *sigh* I love green.

After weeding, I felt pretty energized so I thought, hey maybe I'll dig some holes for my clothes line posts.

I'm glad the ground is fairly wet, it makes digging two feet down in the clay a bit easier. Dug two holes, put my eight foot posts in, tamped them down and strung up the clothes line. Ta da! I'll have fresh laundry on the line tomorrow! And now that I've crossed that project off my husband's To-Do list, hopefully he'll be able to spend that much more time with us when he's home!

Storm Chaser

Another storm moved in from the south last night. It had been threatening all day but finally around 10:00 the real show began. We've been in Alberta for four years now(not including the two years in Edmonton before we moved back to BC) and I don't think I have ever seen so many lightning storms in a row. This was the fourth one in a row but thankfully it didn't dump rain on us, it sort of just circled around!

I went outside and hoped to catch some pictures of lightning. Not the easiest thing to do. I had to take about 20 pictures to get these ones. By that point my fingers were cold and my brain was saying, "take the picture!" and my fingers were saying, "what?"

There was some pretty spectacular lightning that I didn't catch - several bolts at the same time going in all different directions but... the summer is still young I'm sure I'll have plenty more opportunity! Enjoy!

By this point it was pretty dark so the last two are pretty grainy.

An early Birthday

Though my daughter's birthday isn't until next month, we wanted to have it when school ended so that we could be sure that her little school friends wouldn't be gone away on summer vacations.

I spent the whole day yesterday getting the house tidied, the cake made, the lawn mowed and goody bags put together. Do a bunch of Kindergarteners really notice how clean your bathroom sinks are? Probably not but I cleaned them anyway!

The friends arrived at noon and got the tour of my daughters bedroom while I BBQed hot dogs. Everyone ate and then headed outside to jump on the trampoline(thankfully there was no barfing of the hot dogs after jumping!). That was a huge hit!


Then back inside to open presents

And play with new toys. She got some pretty cool stuff!

It wasn't long before they were demanding cake. One fell for my, "Cake? There's no cake" joke. At least there weren't any tears.

I like to make a surprise cake for my kids' birthdays. I try to go all out on it, or at least as far as my creativity can go. This year my daughter asked for a fairy cake with pink and blue flowers and green leaves. What do you think? The pink and blue flowers are made out of white chocolate with food coloring added. They were a hit!
She was thoroughly impressed. Especially with the fairy because its the one she'd been eyeing up at Chapters for a long time.
After cake and ice cream someone asked if we were going to play games. Crap! I knew there was something I hadn't thought of! They played a rousing game of 'Simon says' for about 2.8 seconds(not my suggestion) before I suggested 'Hide and Seek' outside. A chorus of 'yeahs!' and we were out the door. Not long after, the parents arrived and to be perfectly honest, I wished I had made the party an extra hour because we all had a lot of fun!

And now I am completely exhausted! I am not doing anything else tonight except going to bed... right after I run the dishwasher, fold laundry, close up animals...

Have a pleasant evening!

The farm of death

There was another fatality today- one of the white chickens. It looks like it just keeled over and died as there is no visible marks on it to say that one of my 'guard dogs' was looking for an afternoon snack.

The dogs have been 'guarding' this dead chicken for a little while now. They both know that they aren't allowed to touch it so Indi is protecting it fiercely, if I can't eat it then I'm gonna guard it with my life. She even made up an excuse to draw Zama a way from it(do dogs make up excuses?) by barking her fool head off and running across the yard. Zama of course followed wondering what all the commotion was and Indi then quickly circled back around the house and returned to her chicken.

A little teeth baring at Dexter who thought she was hilarious and started flitting around her barking.
Not the face of a dog I would like to come across in a dark alley.

Indi does have her redeeming qualities. She is a good chicken guard whether they are alive or dead!

A summer storm and peach cobbler

We had our second storm of the summer today. Alberta is famous for them. This one was even more severe than the one that blew through yesterday. I managed to get the front lawn cut before it rolled in at least! It started with lightning and thunder, then the torrential down pour. I am always worried about water around our house when it rains as we have a below ground basement and water has a tendency to pool in the window wells.

Then the hail started...
Then the water started pouring into the window wells and I had to gear up and go outside to bale them out. Realizing that the problem was also with the eaves troughs I got my 6 foot ladder and had to climb up to unclog the downspouts which shot water 4 feet out once the clog was removed. (And at this point in my story my parents are gasping, "you climbed a ladder in a lightning storm? Have we taught you nothing you lunatic?" I was wearing a hard hat, okay?)

Instead of taking my daughter to the last soccer game of the season(I don't think it was raining in town) I was cleaning gutters and bailing out window wells. We did try to head to town but the rain was coming down so hard that even with my windshield wipers doing double time I still couldn't see anything. So we came home and I had to bail everything out again then we went to hide in the basement while the lightning cracked right over our heads.

The rain finally subsided leaving everything under water. *sigh* no run for me tonight unless I want to be up to my knees in mud... which I don't.

My poor Delphiniums

We usually go to DQ after soccer but since we didn't go to soccer tonight I made Peach Cobbler instead. The picture isn't terrific but the dessert was!
Here's the recipe which I got from a website called joyofbaking.com. Lots of great recipes!

Peach Cobbler

Filling:

4-5 lbs ripe peaches

juice of half a lemon

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 TBSP cornstarch

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Biscuit Dough:

1 1/3 cups flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup cold butter cut into pieces

1/2 cup milk or cream

Peel and cut peaches into thick wedges(I left skin on) Place peaches in large bowl and toss with the lemon juice.

In small bowl stir together sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon. Sprinkle over fruit and toss gently to coat. Transfer to a 9 inch deep dish pie plate or a 8x8 baking dish. Place on a cookie sheet to catch drips while baking.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

To make biscuit dough mix together flour, sugar and baking powder. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or two forks. Add the milk and stir until combined before turning onto floured surface and kneading a couple times. Roll out to 1/2 inch thickness and cut out biscuits with a
round cookie cutter or glass. Gently place biscuits on top of fruit. Brush tops with a bit of cream. Bake for 30-40 minutes until fruit is bubbly and biscuits are golden brown. If biscuits brown too quickly cover loosely with foil. Remove from oven and cool slightly before serving.

Passed Curfew

Shortly after writing tonight's blog entry I went outside to lock up all the creatures for the night. This stubborn old hen was roosting on the duck's open door(which gets closed at night.) Well, did she ever put up a fuss when her roost disappeared from under her. This is what happens when you stay out late and don't get home by curfew. I hope that this will be a lesson to her for future. For tonight, she is sleeping in the tree.



I wonder, when my kids are older and the need for curfews comes into effect do you think I could make them sleep in trees if they don't make it home on time?

Don't blink

Have you ever heard "don't blink or you'll miss it." It's usually in reference to a small town that one might be travelling through. I heard this today at my daughter's Kindergarten 'graduation.' It is so shockingly true. I didn't in my wildest dreams expect that time was going to start rolling on by as quickly as it has. You get caught up in different stages of your child's life that you can't wait to be over- diapers, the terrible twos, the even more terrible threes and before you know it, an entire year of Kindergarten has come and gone and you truly don't know where all the days went. A newsletter came home from school at the beginning of June and it was then that reality hit me- we were a month away from the end of school. I mentioned it to my mom and she(who watched the years ticking by faster than a blink of an eye with my brother and I) said in that knowing way, "that's how the next 12 years are going to go."

So I guess the only thing I can do is duct tape my eye lids to my forehead so that I can't blink any more. Maybe then my eyes will become so dry that I won't be able to cry about my baby growing up. *sniff*

Each child had been asked a few questions before hand and then the teacher read out what they had said. This is what she said about mine:

"F is five years old. Her favorite thing to do at school is go to music. Her mom works on the farm because that is where they live. Dad climbs up towers and works in places like Grande Prairie and Fort Nelson. She would like to be an Archaeologist when she grows up. She would like to live in Edmonton when she grows up because that is where her friend lives and they could have sleep overs all the time. In her spare time she likes to sit in her room and read books."



And because my mood was a little under the weather after all that... a torrential down pour blew in and watered everything.
The puddle ducks of course enjoyed themselves.

Hope your summer is off to a wonderful start. Don't forget... don't blink.

Hindsight is 20/20

The little baby chick died this evening for reasons unknown. I suspect that the 'mother' was eating all the food and water and not leaving any for the chick. Looking back I should have known that she wasn't going to take care of it because once all her eggs were gone it was like her purpose as a mother disappeared and she became once again just a regular chicken. I wish that I had just taken the chick, put it under heat and made sure it had food and water. But... hindsight is 20/20. Rest in peace little chicky.

The case of the missing eggs

Last Monday I went and bought 15 White Leghorn hens because I needed more eggs not only for us but also for my egg customers. I was very impressed on Tuesday when I collected 19 eggs from my hens. I figured that was a great start and it would only get better from there. Well the next day I collected 14 eggs. Hmmm, maybe they are having an off day. The next day; 11...

Yesterday:

And today:

Four eggs? From 26 hens? That's a little ridiculous! I expect my animals to earn their keep whether its eggs, beef, or guard duty. Four eggs from 26 hens is not earning their keep!

So I have a few thoughts as to what has happened to the eggs:
1. The lady who sold me the white leghorns lied as to how well they were actually laying.
2. Someone or something is stealing the eggs.
3. The chickens are holding those eggs in until I open the gate before they head for the bushes to lay them(my husband thinks perhaps the hens and dogs are in cahoots somehow)

Whatever the reason for the missing eggs, the chickens should know that it is in their best interest to "show me the money" or it's off with their heads!

Good day.

'Steward of the Environment'

A couple weeks ago my daughter came home from school with the weekly newsletter and in it they were asking for volunteers to take one of two composters home for the summer to make compost for the school garden. Well that was right up my alley! So I called and volunteered to take one and also to weed and water the school garden over the summer while the kids are out of school.

Today we went to the school and picked up the composter. It was pretty clear that there hadn't been much interest in the idea. The teacher was pretty near falling at my feet to thank me for taking it! It amazes me that more people don't compost. Even my step Dad composts and he's about as red neck as a British Columbian can get!

So now we have all summer to make new soil for the school garden! I'm pretty excited about it! And I get to call myself a 'Steward of the Environment.' And I didn't even have to get a degree or anything!

Chick Update

Well I think that this will be the last 'official' Chick Update. They are now four weeks old and can go outside though I have yet to build them something that they can go outside in and not get eaten by passing hawks, ravens, coyotes, cats etc. I managed to keep every single one of them alive though there is still the little mangled one- what's his name? Oh yes, Gimpy Von Legster(thanks Lissy) For a first time chick raiser, I think I've done pretty well so far!

Anyway Chick Update day did not start off very well in other departments. My son woke up with a cold and in his case coughing means barfing so that was fun. Then I had to clean up this:

(Thanks again to Indi who will now be officially residing outside)

Here is the baby chick with his 'mom'.

Look how tiny he is!!
And here we have the chicks(or rather some of them)

"I don't think we'll be fighting any fires today,boys. We are completely surrounded by giant chickens!"

Yeah someone disappeared the police car too so now I'm down to a ladderless fire truck.

Here is Daisy with her kittens because they are growing faster than the chicks! Look at that face! If she wasn't purring I might think she was going to rip my face off!

Look at that face! Isn't he precious! So that's it for Chick Updates. I will certainly continue to blog about them just maybe not every Thursday! Hope you have a wonderful Thursday and your dog did not sh*t on your carpet!

Quote of the day

I haven't done a quote of the day in a while. Obviously my kids are constantly saying hilarious things but some days I just can't remember to write it down.

Today however, I could not let this one slide...

"Mommy, when I grow up can I pay my own bills?" from my 3 year old son.

Yes my son, you most certainly can!

A little surprise

Remember way back in May I told you about the hens that were competing to incubate eggs? Well the young hen gave up the race a long time ago and this old bird kept on going. Sitting on them day and night, only leaving to eat some breakfast in the morning. About a week ago I went to gather eggs and discovered one of the incubated eggs crushed with a fully formed chick inside. It was probably a day or two from hatching. That was pretty disappointing to see. I figured she was sitting on the rest of the eggs for naught and nothing would come of it. Yesterday while I was collecting eggs I had to move the broody hen because she is in the habit of stealing eggs to add to her clutch. She of course had an extra egg in her nest which I took and then happened to hear a little peeping noise. All the eggs were still there and there wasn't a chick to be seen. I realized that the peeping was coming from inside one of the eggs. Now that is pretty neat if you ask me.

This morning I picked the broody hen up to check for stolen eggs and what did I find? Two little yellow chicks! She actually hatched two eggs! I was so excited! I couldn't wait to tell the Toothless Wonder(my daughter) when she got home from school.
Unfortunately for whatever reason, one of the chicks was dead when I took my girl to see. So that leaves one chick and four unhatched eggs. I wonder if she'll hatch the rest?

Cute little guy huh?

Plain tuckered out

When my kids are tired they refer to it as being 'tuckered out.' I think its something my mom says and they picked it up from her because it isn't something that I say. Today the boy and I went to town for our 'Town Day.' Every Tuesday while my daughter is at school, the boy and I do the grocery shopping and whatever running around that needs to be done. It is far easier to do all that with only one kid in tow. Plus it has the added benefit of no fighting, screaming, kicking, yelling etc.

We got home around 2 ish and the boy said he wanted to go into the house. I had to unload dog food, chicken scratch, wood chips, garbage cans(because Tuesday is also dump-run day) and groceries. After I finished I checked for eggs and then came into a very quiet house. Usually quiet means that somebody is up to no good. I peeked into my son's bedroom and found that he had tucked himself into bed and fallen asleep.

They are so peaceful when they sleep... and quiet... and cute... and sweet. Makes your heart squeeze a little...
and then they wake up.

Welcome to the farm, Ladies

The kids and I drove up to Onoway this morning to buy some more hens. I have this egg customer who wants crazy amounts of farm fresh eggs and my 3-5 dozen a week was just not cutting it. Its gotten to the point where we don't even eat eggs anymore because I'm selling them all to her. Great for my 'egg money jar' but kind of not the point of having your own chickens when you can't even eat farm fresh eggs yourself!

So I decided to buy 15 White Leghorns. They are prolific egg layers which is exactly what I'm looking for. These are some of the new girls:


Here they are trying to mingle with my 11 original hens. Lets just say that my browns are not being very welcoming.

And Cornelius(the little white rooster in the front right) is definitely not being welcoming. I think he thinks they are roosters too. He has his neck feathers up in typical rooster fight stance. It might take him a couple days to realize that these are girls which means more tail for him! *smile*