Chickens

This post is long overdue.

But here it is, how we ended up with chickens:

In June, I went to Walmart to get a few things and noticed a chicken coop they had for sale that was nice but cheap.

When I got home I casually mentioned it to Stephen which led to us getting chickens that weekend.

Because that is what we do.

It wasn't as impulsive as it sounds, we have been talking about getting chickens for years but have never lived in one place long enough for it to be worth while.

We decided after some research that we wanted to get Rhode Island Red chickens since they are good layers (about 5 eggs a week) and they are a very docile breed.

So we found someone selling Rhode Island Red chicks an hour from us so on a Saturday we went to pick up 4.

In the city limits of Baton Rouge you are allowed to have 3 hens and no roosters.

We decided to get 4 in case one died and because you can't tell the sex until they are older, so in case one was a rooster.

But when we got there there were only 5 chicks left so he just gave us the extra one for free.

I think in all they cost $5 or so.

All the way home Alice was saying "peep, peep" like the chicks.

She was really good with being gentle with them.

One chick that seemed sickly from the beginning died a day or two later.

When they got enough feathers to keep them warm, we started letting them go outside in a little chicken run we made.

Unfortunately, one evening the dogs broke into it and killed 2 of the chicks.

Never seen Stephen so mad!  He wouldn't talk to or touch the dogs for days.

So then we were left with just 2 chicks.

So I went back on craigslist and found someone selling Rhode Island Red hens that were the same age as ours so I went and got 3, just in case.

When Stephen started building the chicken coop we got at Walmart, we discovered quite a few pieces missing, like entire walls.

So we returned it but they didn't have any more.

So Stephen had to build a coop from scratch.

I decided to paint it blue but it didn't turn out the blue I was hoping for.

It's more of a bright, masking tape blue, which was not what I was going for but oh well.

We were surprised at how hard it was to tell if the chickens were hens or roosters as they got older.

Finally after some googling we realized that the 2 chickens left for our original 5 were roosters!

We put the roosters on craigslist and gave them away for free.

Stephen asked the guy (a very redneck looking, heavy accented guy) who took one of the roosters what he was going to do with it, he said "My wife likes to watch the roosters in the yard when she is drinking her coffee in the morning".  Um...ok.

So now we have our 3 hens.

We would name them, but we cant tell them apart.

Alice really likes them and they are really docile and have never pecked us or anything.

They spend the day "free range" in our yard eating bugs and such.

Stephen likes to joke that eggs are just processed bugs...I try not to think about it.

Thankfully the dogs leave them alone, well, other than a little chase every once in a while.

Which always makes us laugh because the chickens make a loud "bock, bock" noise and sound like their dignity has been offended.

But we don't have to worry about the dogs hurting them, not sure if that's because the chickens are big now or because Stephen made very clear our disapproval of them going after the chickens.

Or maybe it's because they like the chicken droppings...I try not to think about it.

We feed them lots of kitchen scraps and I make their feed from whole grains that I order in bulk and mix together.

They started laying eggs in November and now we get about 2-3 eggs a day.

Whether or not we are actually saving any money is questionable but overall it's been a good experience for all of us.

New Camera

Using my Christmas money I was able to get a new camera!

Some of you may be wondering why I needed a new camera seeing as that I obviously already have a nice camera (my Canon Rebel XTi)

Maybe this picture will shed some light on my reasoning.

See that huge camera?  Though it takes very nice pictures, it is a pain to carry around.

Because of this we usually end up not taking it with us on outings.

Now that we have Alice and a diaper bag to carry around, we really don't want to carry this big guy around.

But also now that we have Alice, I really want to have pictures from when we go out and do things (other than on my iPhone).

Hence the new camera.

It's a Panasonic DMC-LX7.

It's really cute and small and takes nice pictures.

I have actually had it for a few weeks now but I was having a hard time figuring out how to download the pictures onto the computer.

Thanks to Stephen and our computer genius friend Nick Dunne, we got it figured out.

Of course since we got my new camera we haven't gone and done anything, so I have just taken some random pictures around the house.

Here is the camera.

Here is Alice smiling.

Here is Alice crying (because she is in the car seat).

Here is Alice asleep when we failed in trying to keep her awake so she would nap during church.

Here is Lilo watching Alice.

Did you notice what is the same in all those pictures?  

It's the giraffe, Sophie the Giraffe to be exact.

It squeaks.

It squeaks exactly like Lilo's favorite dog toys.

Lilo really wants that giraffe.

Here is Alice grabbing Lilo's nose, she then proceeded to yank on the hair around Lilo's mouth. 

Lilo took it like a trooper.

 Here is Alice in her highchair for the first time.

 The end.

Tiger Lily

I have a confession to make.

I have been keeping a secret from you.

I haven't told you something for fear of you thinking we are totally nuts.

But I am going to tell you now because I think I have gathered enough evidence to win you over to our craziness.

In the end of December..

we got...

a kitten.

I know, as if two dogs and two cats weren't enough.

Keep in mind though that at the time we were sure that we would soon be moving to a house with 10 acres and what is one more cat when you have 10 acres?

And you really can't start too early on your barn cat collection, right?

Also, our cat Bagheera spends all his time outside and Giselle spends all her time inside.

Giselle seemed to be getting really lonely.

So we got her this:

Meet Tiger Lily

AKA T. Lily, Tiger Smack, Squeaks, Trouble, Tiny and many more



The name of course is continuing our Disney theme. (Tiger Lily from Peter Pan)

And here are some reasons why we love her and you should too.

She and Giselle are friends.

Giselle cleans and cuddles her all the time.



They kind of blend together, it's hard to tell where one ends and the other begins.





Then they play/fight.





Here is Giselle holding on to Tiger Lily while they sleep.



She totally had both arms around Tiger Lily.

Tiger Lily loves Lilo

She is always rubbing up against her and wanting to cuddle with her.



Lilo usually lays there and growls but doesn't do anything.



She still isn't too happy about sharing her water bowl with her.



But she puts up with it.



Tiger Lily plays fetch.

She LOVES paper balls.

If she hears paper crumpling she comes running.

If you throw it for her she will take death defying leaps to get it.







Then she will bring it back.





She is a great lap cat, she is currently on my lap now.

When we first got her she would wake us up by nibbling on our faces, thankfully we trained that out of her.

Her and Giselle sleep on our bed at night, usually curled up together.

So hopefully her cuteness is enough to forgive our craziness.

I claim temporary insanity caused by cute fluffy cuddliness.

Snow

Monday I woke up to this:





One of my favorite things about snow is how its always something you wake up too.

There is something so magical about waking up in the morning and looking out the window and seeing everything covered in white.

Especially when you have no reason to leave the house that day.

Snow is still kind of a novelty to me.

Growing up in California I rarely saw snow.

It never snowed where I lived.

Once it hailed and it was slushy and covered the deck so we shoveled some up and put it in the bathtub and made a tiny snowman.

I know, Californians right.

A couple times we drove up to the mountains for a day trip to go sledding but that is nothing like living in a place where it snows.

My first winter in New Jersey during Grad school was quite an experience.

There are so many little things about snow that I love.

At the time, I worked at Starbucks at 4:30 am every morning.

So when I would get up it would be completely silent outside and the snow completely undisturbed.

I love the sound of the snow falling.

That wonderful crunch sound when you step in it.

The beauty of a pure white landscape and the snow "highlighting" the tree limbs.

It was magical.

That being said, I hate how cold it is when it snows, I hate the gross dirty snow on the side of the road and I hate trying to get the ice and snow off my car.

I have decided I want to live in a place where there is one good snow a year.

Not a place where you get snowed in.

Or there is snow on the ground from November to March.

Just one good snow.

Because someday I want to see Stephen play with our kids like he does with the dogs.

Well maybe not the exact same way...

Stephen throws snow in Lilo's face and she tries to catch it by biting at it.



Then there is this fun sequence:







Stephen holding on to Willow about to toss snow all over her.

If you look closely at this picture (if you click on it you can see it bigger), there is a pleading look in her eyes that say "Please, have mercy! I'm a Hawaii dog and I don't do cold and snow!"



Then she runs to me for protection.



Lilo, on the other hand, was made for the snow.



This picture makes me laugh, it looks like Stephen's about to tackle her and wrestle her to the ground.





Snow or no snow, Willow loves to run.

Friday

Ah Friday.

Yes, even a homemaker can enjoy Friday.

This particular Friday I am enjoying because I finished the yard work today.

I mowed all the lawns with our push mower.

I have never ever in my entire life mowed a lawn.

I had hoped to die with that achievement.

(That and never having tasted spam)

But it had to be done (the lawns, not eating spam)

Unfortunately the lawns hadn't been mowed for a really really long time.

Mowing overgrown lawns with a push mower is seriously hard work.

And the mower kept making this awful squealing noise and I have no idea where the WD40 is.

But I got it done.

I also pulled all the weeds.

This was one of the "weeds" I found:



And I trimmed the hedges with our electric hedge trimmer which I am always sure I am going to chop off my leg with.

(No worries, my legs are still intact...for now)

Before I show you the picture of the yard, let me just say I hate the landscaping.

Just so you know.

So here is the front of the house with lawn mowed and hedges trimmed.



And 2 ugly palm trees (I'll say more about them in a minute)

Here is the backyard, looking from the back of the house towards the garage.



Notice the hot mess those fanning palms are.

Here is the yard from the garage facing the back of the house.



Now in the backyard there are three palm trees (not counting those fanning ones).

I hate them.

I hate them because their tops look like this:



(Notice the pretty palm trees in our neighbors yard, why couldn't we have had those kind of palms?)

I hate them because their bottoms look like this:



And nothing will grow around them.

And little berry things drop from them and make a mess.

In summary, palm trees = ugly mess.

Also today I gave the dogs a much needed bath.

After their bath I put them in the house while I finished some of the yard work.

(If I leave them outside, they are bound to run around and roll in the dirt)

When I came back in the house, I found them like this:







Then came lunch time.

Now I am about to tell you about something amazing, but you may not believe me.

Now you have to trust me.

Have I ever led you astray?

No.

Ok so believe me when I say that kabocha, goat cheese and caramelized red onions are an amazing combination.

(Kabocha is a winter squash like butternut squash, only better)

So for lunch I took some kabocha I had roasted and pureed, some goat cheese and some caramelized red onions and put them on a tortilla.

(Now remember to trust me)



I then folded it in half and fried it like a quesadilla.

Then all the ingredients melt together into this amazingness:



You have to admit that it looks good.

And it so is.

Now to spend the afternoon finishing some chores around the house and this evening to give myself a much needed pedicure while watching Gnomeo and Juliet.

(One of the plus sides to Stephen being gone is being able to watch all the movies he doesn't want to watch)