We're Perfectly Normal....

We just have chickens living in the basement.

So this morning, Prospector informs me that the Americauna, who was living in the basement, has laid an egg in the centre of the coop floor now that she's moved out.

Also, the Wyandottes that have been moved inside, have laid an egg at the very back of their cage, and that he leaves me to collect that one.  Also, he suggests that we should maybe figure out some kind of laying box for the 'hospital,' so that they don't become accustomed to laying out of the boxes.

So I go downstairs, to collect said egg.

And completely forgot that the Wyandottes that are in there now, are not 'tame' like the Americauna was.  As in, with the Americauna, you would go downstairs, open the door, she would follow you to the feed, follow you back, and eat right out of your hand.  She was becoming more pet-like than farm animal like.

I open the cage door, and the egg is, way, way back there.  There is no way of getting it unless I either crawl through the chicken poop to it, or use a tool to reach it.

I choose tool.  Tool of choice is the broom... I can sweep it out.

This worked just fine with the Americauna.  She was tame, remember?

The Wyandottes, while being quite friendly, are not pets.  Not at all.  So they see a large tool coming towards them, and panic.  And one... flys out.

I have a loose hen in my basement. 

Now, I don't know about you, but my basement?  Is a dumping ground.  There are tools, old boxes, a pile of stuff that is headed for a yardsale, patio furniture waiting for warmer weather, etc.

Now, this nimble little hen can walk all over and around these landmines.

I..... cannot.

I chase her back & forth,and back & forth.

She got close to the cage at one point, so I opened the door, and tried to shoo her in.

I'm sure you all know what happened next.

Yes, now I have two hens running around my basement.

Eventually, one runs into the cage.  I don't know if it was the first or second escapee.

The other one keeps running to the back of the cage, and is trying to join her friend... but whenever she gets close to the cage door, I cannot open it without her running away, and can't leave it open, 'cause then I'll have... TWO HENS running around again!!

Eventually, I remember that the hospital is a extra large dog cage.

And that, it is a cage that is designed to be shrunk with a divider panel.

Also, that I tried to remove the panel a few days ago, but it was stuck on one side, so it is simply folded against the wall.

Once my brain started working, I got her in pretty quick... unfolded the divider, with the other hen on the far side of it, shooed the first hen in, then re-folded the divider.

I go now to make an egg box.... one that can be placed near the door!!

SOLD!

One dozen eating eggs: $3 (totally ripped ourselves off here without realizing it)
Seven hatching eggs: $17.50

dang birds are starting to earn their keep!!

365 - Week One

Jan 2 - Playing 'Thomases'

Jan 3 - Chuck made cupcakes for dessert

Jan 4 - Chick-de-Ville on the left, Taj-Ma-Chicken on the right

Jan 5 - A little late taking our Chistmas shots this year.  I think this one should TOTALLY grace our cards next year!

Jan 6 - I'm just LOOKING at him mom

Jan 7 - New eyewear

Seven Little Eggs......

The photos that go with this post

Merry Christmas 2010

In an attempt to save paper this year, Our "Christmas Letter" is online instead of being mailed out!  Here is a  "snapshot" on us in 2010:

We started off 2010 with Prospector throwing a surprise 30th birthday party for Mama.  He was very sneaky.  We thank all of our friends for coming out that day.

Another big event of 2010 was Chuck finally getting her cast off!  She broke her leg on Aug 21, 2009, and was finally castless, caneless, and crutchless on Jan 21, exactly five months later.

The kids enjoyed playing in the snow all winter.  They spent a lot of time tobogganing together outside the back window.  We didn't get enough snow to build a run like the previous year, but so far this year, things are looking good for a sled run!

In March, we starting renovating our main floor.  We completed the tear out, and then... the summer weather came along, and we played outside instead of finishing up!  We've started working on it again though, and the goal now is to be done by New Years.

In April, we added these 10 fuzzy little guys to our family:

They ended up being 7 boys and 3 girls though, so some of the boys were sent to freezer boot camp in the fall.

We also added two of these guys:

And towards the end of January, we'll have this addition:

And recently, one of these:

And six of these:

Chuck was in her school play last winter, in the role of "Cathy" in "High School Musical."  She had a great performance, after several weeks of hard work.  She celebrated her 13th birthday in the spring with a sleepover party.   She also decided that she was done with her long hair, and cut it short! She's now trying to grow it back.....She loves sailing with her Dad in the summer, and goes to all the regattas with him.  She spent last winter in Pathfinders, including completing a winter camping weekend in a tent, something Mama has never done.  She's anxiously looking forward to high school now, and has decided that she's going to audition for the school of the arts.  Wish her luck!

Buddy celebrated his 2nd Birthday in April.  He also started "school" towards the end of August, when Mama got a new job.  He loves going and learning, and is very happy there.  He is very happy to see his school in the mornings, but happy when we come pick him up at night!  He chatters during the drive to and from school every day. He decided after four days at the new school that, being one of the few children still in diapers, he was done, and told me "No more diapers Mommy."  It was a long haul, but he is fairly well trained now.  He likes the chickens a lot, and the cows next door.  Any farm animal he loves.  He likes things done his way though, and has a very strong personality!  He moved to a toddler bed in the winter, and will be moving to a twin bed shortly, so that his crib is free for the new baby.  He loves sailing on the boat with his Dad, and gets upset when daddy goes to the boat without him!

We spent some time in Algonquin this summer, where we visited the logging museum and walked a few hiking trails.  Buddy was a trooper, and walked them all really well, except the last one. Mommy decided that he'd done so well on the 2km trails that we would try a 3.5 km trail.   It was maybe a smidge too long for him.  Mom & Chuck took turns piggy backing him along towards the end.

We entered our chickens in the local fair this year, just for the heck of it.  Our Chanty chickens are rare, and so we were hoping to win from them.  Unfortunately, we entered them all (including the Americauna's) into the wrong category.  We were allowed to let them show, but not be judged.  A few weeks after the fair though... we received a cheque in the mail for $24.  It would seem that, although they were not publicly judged, since we entered the only Americauna's, and there was only one other Chanty, they were 'quietly' judged on the side!

We travelled to Montreal in the fall, to pick up our new puppy, Bernie.  Chuck is learning to take care of Bernie, and Buddy is tolerating her.  He tolerates her best when she is sleeping.  Then, he wants to play!  As far as the puppy is concerned, Buddy is a another puppy like her.  If he leaves us, she tries to heard him back.  That strong personality of his doesn't appreciate being told what to do by a puppy though!

Prospector and Mama both took new jobs this year, and are now working together.  It is a different environment for both of us. 

We've been attempting to eat locally grown food over the past few months, which has been an interesting challenge.  So far, we've purchased a quarter cow (butchered & frozen) from a farmer down the road, we've done lots of canning of fruits; peaches & pears from Niagara (though grocery store bought), Apples from the farmer up the road, Strawberries from another local farmer, we have squash stored from a third local farmer, and our chickens are starting to produce eggs for us.  We were amazed at how different one of our own chickens tasted compared to store bought chicken.  We're trying, as much as possible, to eat Ontario or at least Canadian grown & packaged food.

That's all for us, and we hope to see you all soon!

Prospector, Mama, Chuck, Buddy, Baby, et al

Crib Sheet

For our soon-to-be nephew.

Flannel, for a winter baby, and double thick, so that it's harder to kick off. And slightly larger than commercial, to make it easier to tuck in!!



Now, to make some for our new baby...

Felt Lunch Bag

This is for Sweet Pea for Christmas, but Buddy liked it so much, that I need to make one for him now too!!



Lunch Bag, two slices of bread, ham & lettuce OR peanut butter & jelly, carrot, strawberries, and an oreo cookie:

All in the bag:

Ready to go!!

29 Weeks & 2 Days

Taken Nov 17

Why I am thanking God for the nesting instinct right now....

To Do before I get Too Huge to do it:

1. Clean & empty 'Crafting Area' of Computer Room. Find new location for materials.
2. Sell Drafting table from Computer Room that is no longer on Kijiji
3. Clean 'Sewing Area' of Computer Room. Find new location for materials. 
4. Sell sewing desk.
5. Clean "Guiding" drawing in computer room.  Give away relevant materials to current Guiders.
6. Empty closet in Computer Room. Find new locations for items in closet in Computer Room. Board games relocated, wrapping paper still looking for a home, Buddy's too big clothes relocated to Chuck's current room, his future room.
7. Pitch tons of crap from Computer Room
8. Burn tons of crap from Computer Room
9. Get Hubby to hang remaining drywall in Computer room, new downstairs bath, new downstairs hall closet, 2nd closet in Computer room.  Really, I'd be happy with just the drywall inside the bedroom, as it's the highest priority (at least for me) right now.
10. Mud drywall in new bedroom. Sand drywall in new bedroom. Mud drywall again.  Sand drywall again.  Prime Drywall. Maybe even paint the drywall.
11. Declare that the Computer room is no longer a computer room, and is now Master Bedroom.
12. Move Bed into Master Bedroom
13. Move Chuckles into former master bedroom.  Get new dresser, for either her or me.  Probably me, then we don't need to move my current one at all.
14. Purchase new mattress for Chuckles.  Give Buddy old mattress. Move him out of toddler bed (as it is our crib as well).  Make crib look unappealing to him, so that the transition to the big boy bed is easier.
15. Move Buddy into Chuckles current Bedroom
16. Re-set up Buddy's room as nursery. Dig rocker out of basement.
17. Make Sheets for Family Heirloom Cradle that are gender neutral. - Edited to add.... my aunt has volunteered to do this!  Or for the bassinet. Or, possibly get rid of bassinet, since I don't think we'll need both.
18. Make Halo-Type swaddler sleepsacks for thing-three, since our house gets cold overnight. Or, possibly break down & purchase Halo Sleepsacks. But I already have the material. And if I make the sleep sack, that will help with task #3 above.  Alternatively, win a Halo sleep sack from one of the ten contests I entered last week.  And hope that the contest was indeed open to Canadians, 'cause many aren't....(didn't win, too bad....)
19. Make Felt Lunch box for Buddy's Christmas present, since he liked Sweet Pea's, and thought it was for him. Maybe he'd like this for his birthday instead.....
20. Make new cloths for Bum-cleanings, since I prefer cloth to disposable. This should not be hard, I have old flannel, it needs to be cut into squares & just stitched around to prevent fraying. On second thought….Edited... mom said she'd help with this one.
21. Improve Chuck's sewing machine skills by having her work on a few 'samplers.' She can cut them into squares, and just stitch around to prevent fraying….. hmmmm……..
22. Dig out receiving blankets & wash. Luckily, most other equipment has been washed & pulled out, as the kids new 2nd cousin will be visiting Ontario from New Brunswick for December, so will be borrowing some items.

How DO we take our Chicks to the Fair?

We are not farmers. We don't have any farm vehicles, pick up trucks, or any of that.

And, this was the first time we had to bring the Chicks anywhere since we brought them all home in a teeny tiny shoebox. We couldn't even fit one in that shoebox now, let alone all nine.

So in our brainstorming, we came up with:

Disclaimer: No, we would not have used any of these options. It was just a silly conversation around the dinner table!!!

• Have them roost on the roof racks at night, then tie their feet down so that they can't fly off. It would help our gas mileage if they flap on the drive
• Chuck suggested putting them in Girl Guide cookie boxes... um.... "Hi, would you like to buy a box of.... CLUCK CLUCK CLUCK"
• We have two 2-drawer filing cabinets that we aren't using. we could stick them two to a drawer, and just stack them in the mini-van
• Let them loose in the van. They would get exercise flying around on the way to the fair
• Fly birdie, fly!

In reality, we put the two Americauna's into a cat carrier that we use to transport the rabbit, the three female Chanty's into a Rubbermaid, and the four male Chanty's into the dog's crate.

The only downside to this was that the dog crate fit, but Chuck's knees were right against it (it's a good thing that the drive wasn't very long)

We had no where to leave the dog now... so she had to come with us.

so we crammed Mom & dad in the front.

The dog crate full of roosters in the middle

The two kids and the dog in the back row

And the Americauna's & Hen's in the trunk.

It was a very, very full mini-van.


To come home, we decided that the dog crate was not very practical, and that the birds were able to move a bit too much in it. There was too much 'cubic' feet.

So, we put one Americauna into the cat carrier

A rooster & a hen into the Rubbermaid that the hens had come down in

A rooster, a hen, and an Americauna into an old vacuum box, taped shut

A rooster in a banker's box, taped shut

And a rooster & a hen into another Rubbermaid


So again, Mom & Dad in the front

Two Rubbermaid's & two boxes in the middle.

Two kids and the Americauna in the back seat.

And the puppy got to stay home.


Some of the boxes were shaking. I think if we start doing this on a regular basis... we're gonna have to get some proper chicken transporting devices!



And as for winning... well, us silly city folk apparently didn't know what classes our birds were, and so unfortunately, they were all disqualified. We entered the Chanty's as AOV Standard (All Other Variety), when they should have been entered as AOV Standard - American.

And the Americauna's we entered into the Americauna - Bantam category. Our Americauna's are Standards, and there wasn't a category for Standard Americauna's. They should have been entered as AOV' - Standard.

BUT, we did have a five day break from needing to take care of them, which was nice.

HOWEVER... there was ONE other Chanty entered, and NO other Americauna's. If we had entered them correctly, we would have won between $40 - $42, depending on where the other Chanty placed.

Oh well.  It was our first fair, live & learn.  Next time, we know better!!

Did you know....

That you can fit two parents, a 13 year old, a toddler, nine chickens, and a dog in a mini-van?

And that when you stop for gas, and open the side door to let the puppy out for a walk, and there is a giant dog cage holding four of those chickens... people are going to look twice.  At least.  But think of the story they will have to tell when they get home that night!

(I'm just glad we didn't enter the bunny in the fair too!)

They followed me home.....

These ones are "my" chickens.

Easter Eggers. They lay blue & green eggs.

They are a day old in this photo, they hatched on Wednesday, May 26.

Hosted by Cecilyand Mamarazzi

The "Berrrrr" Cake

For Buddy's Birthday this year, I made him a "Berrrr" (Bear) cake.

It was dead simple.

I made a chocolate cake from an easy scratch recipe. One 8" circle, one 6" circle, and five jumbo cupcakes.

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Cut one of the cupcakes in half, this makes the ears, and position the circles like above.

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Position a large Ramekin on the tummy, and a smaller one over the nose, then ice the rest of the cake with chocolate icing.
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Pop the two ramekins off. Give them to your hovering children to lick the edges.

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Fill in the holes with a Light chocolate icing

(I used a white icing, and added a smidge of cocoa powder to tint it)

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On the paws, use four chocolate M & M's & a chocolate circle. the eyes are Hershey kisses stuck in upside down. The nose is another chocolate circle, and then the mouth is red M & M's

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A berrr cake!

A new challenge

We are attempting to purchase mostly 'Canadian' groceries.

Obviously, there will be exceptions - COFFEE for one.

But after doing some research, and finding how many 'Canadian' products are not actually Canadian, we are going to change our habits.

In order for a product to be "product of Canada," it only needs to be produced here. As in, Apples can be turned into concentrate oversees, shipped to Canada, and turned into Apple Juice with the 'Canadian' stamp on it.



ok, so how are we doing this:

• I already make all or our jam and jelly, and most of the time, the fruit comes from local farms.
• I already can peaches & pears at the end of the summer, product of Ontario
• I tried to make a sourdough starter a few months back, which was a dismal failure. BUT, I think that that is because our house gets too cold during the day. I'm going to try again in the spring.

Alright, so we have left meat and veggies.

Meat, well, I don't have quite enough land for a farm. BUT, we can look into buying large chunks of meat from local farmers.

Veggies. I'm looking into a pressure canner. Then I can either grow & can, or go to the farmers market & can.

Locally, we have:

• An Apple farm up the road about five km. Did you know that if you store Apples properly, they can keep until June? I bought a 1/2 bushel in November, and they just ran out. Not a single one rotted
• A Strawberry farm, about 7 km away
• a three hour drive away, we can get to the Niagara region, famous for it's 'soft fruits' (Or, these come into our grocery stores in late summer)

In the past, we've had success growing:

• Pumpkins. Still have tons in the freezer.
• Tomatoes

But, we have tons of space for a garden. I'd like to try a variation of the 'square foot gardening' this summer. Veggies I hope to put in include:

• Tomatoes
• Peas
• Winter Squash
• Green Beans
• Potatoes
• English Cucumbers
• Pickling Cucumbers

And on the property, we have Apple trees suitable for Apple Butter, and a few Black Currant Bushes. The Black Currants can be propagated, and I think that they need to be moved so that they are in more sun.

We also have a food dehydrator, which is another method of preserving. Dehydrated food is good for taking camping, sailing, hiking, etc. Buddy like dried apples, which are healthy (it's just an apple... nothing added), and clean (think toddler with juicy apple.... yup.)

Painting

I have been waffling for about a month now on colour for the bedroom.

This shade yellow & This shade blue... or maybe this yellow.... or do you think that this yellow makes the curtains look washed out??? Or should we go with the yellow, and change the curtains?

One blue wall, three yellow walls?? Two & two? how 'bout top half yellow, bottom half blue.... OR, top half blue, bottom half yellow?

When I left work yesterday, I still had no final decision. BUT, I had primed the room on the weekend, our bed was out, we're camping in the (unheated) basement with a baby monitor upstairs to hear the kids. I got home, tossed out all the paint chips I didn't like, choose two, didn't think about it, didn't look back.

Stopped to make supper.

Drove the carpool to Pathfinders with Hubby.

Got him to drop me off at Home Hardware on the way, drive the girls, and come back for me.

When he came back, I had two gallon cans of paint.

Got home around 7:30, drew my line about three feet up, and started painting the top half yellow.

I started with the top for two reasons:

1. Yellow is lighter than blue, so if I paint too far down, the blue will cover it up
2. Hubby will be doing the ceiling, but not until after I paint. if I do the top, then he can do the ceiling at any time.

Finished the yellow around 10:00 at night. looked at the already taped off, only three feet high, lower half that was going to be blue. It is probably about 1/3 of the space of the yellow.

Got a clean brush & tray.

finished the bottom at 11:30. cleaned up, and fell into bed at 11:45.

I must say, for someone who at 3:30 yesterday had no idea what they were going to do... I got a Heck of a lot done!!

It looks very "Caribbean" we think... I'll post pics in a few days.

Thanks!

Thanks to everyone who came out and / or sent a card for my Birthday on Saturday!

It was an excellent day, and I was so happy to see you all!

We've put the new China cabinet in place, and begun loading our treasures into it:

A few weeks ago when I was getting ready for Christmas dinner at our house, I said to Chris that we really should get a proper display cabinet for some things.... little did I know that there was one on the way!


It is a perfect match for the sideboard, which you can see here

Thanks all,
Leslie

On New Years' Resolutions

This year I made a New years Resolution. This isn't something I normally do.

The goal is to cook one "new" meal weekly.

Week one, I forgot. So not off to a good start. I was going to cook something new on Friday, then on Thursday night signed Buddy up for swimming lessons starting the next night, making Friday a rush, etc.

Week two: Thursday night got home. Remembered the whole "rush" thing from last Friday. Went oh crap, what do I have the ingredients for, that I haven't cooked before. And I actually managed something.

Week three.. hopefully I'll remember to plan ahead a little further!!

Bringing the Outdoors In

Every year in January, my Guide unit and the Brownie unit that meets in our building does a "Bringing the Outdoors in" meeting.

We start off by telling the girls that we are pretending that it is spring, and we're going to be going camping next week.

It is a great mood booster, especially when there's a couple of feet of snow on the ground.

This year, the stations that we ran were:

Station One – Waterproof a Sleeping Bag (gym one)

Station Two – Pitch a Tent (gym one)

Station Three – Menu Planning(lunchroom)

Station Four – Compasses (gym two)

Station Five – Pack your Camping Backpack (gym two)

Chuckles ran station one, while I ran station five, and the other leaders ran the other three stations.

For a full run down of our meeting, visit here

Christmas Socks

When Hubby and I had our first Christmas together, we realized that we didn't have Christmas socks that 'matched at all (size, shape, etc.). So I sat down one night to a very tired sewing machine, and cranked out three new ones, one for me, one for him, and one for Chuck.

His & mine were done with alternating 'colours,' ie my trim was his main sock fabric, and vice versa.

His sock:

My sock:

And for

Chuck's I did completly different fabric:

Last year, for Buddy's first Christmas, I had to crank out another. This time, and I had a fancy, fairly new machine to work with. It went much faster, and much smoother, since the machine didn't jam every minute.

Buddy's Sock:

But I don't think I like his as much as those first three. The trim dosne't really contrast with the sock. I think I'm gonna have to pull it off, and give his a plain white toe & trim for next year.