EKjourney Backup

Yes, you read that right! Like I said, I have learned a lot about chickens! I am currently learning about the different breeds and their characteristics. Our newbies are called Silkies and they are so adorable. They seem to be quite laid back and docile. They are little "furballs" because their feathers resemble fur rather than feathers. We have two (so far) and I am hoping to get a partridge (brown, rusty color) and a splash (light gray) to go along with the blues (dark gray) that we got. I am interested in raising and selling this breed. We shall see.

This is our new chicken Watusi. We saw her for sale online and thought she was hilarious. We figured there may be room for one more. She adapted fairly well and is "queen bee" of the coop. We had to put an chicken down. It developed some sort of leg problem and couldn't stand up straight. I did a lot of research online and am worried about a virus. There is nothing we can do about it at this point so we are hoping that it doesn't affect anyone else. This is the part of Urban Farming that I don't like. We have lost a chick due to who knows what, our rooster to raccoons, and now another chicken. I have to say raising chickens is a lot more complicated than I thought. I have learned a lot about diseases, how to introduce new birds, the nature of flocks, vaccinations, predators, etc.. All things I am hoping to pass down to my children. I want them to know all about animal care and growing their own food.

Checking out the weaponry Phil's look of concentration (note the wrinkle above the eyes) passed from father to son I know she is mine, but not only is she WONDERFUL, she is beautiful as well. DARN yellow jackets!!!! I saw it happen in slow motion. I had just warned Sawyer about the bee and then it moved over to Sissy and she brushed her face and it stung. I had a dirt and spit mud mix on her face in about 2 seconds. Poor thing!

I just have to share my garage sale finds! On a whim, while on our way to the Renaissance Faire, we stopped by a garage sale and found some of the older style toys. I don't know the definition of vintage but I would guess these are 10-15 years old. These have been washed and are drying on towels for your viewing pleasure. On the far left, we have a mass of legos. We have lots of the building block style already but these had so many fun extras like helicopters, airplanes, train cars, big foundation pieces, etc. that we just grabbed the whole box. Moving on to the middle...we have the little people (I think it is called) farm house, silo, animals and lots of people (whoohoo what a find) plus the airplane, bus, and a few other misc vehicles. We have several other misc toys that were thrown in the mix. Last towel, we have a push toy that Evi LOVES, a set of lincoln logs (Grand Hotel), and two Mr. Potato heads. What a find right???? Grand total.....drum roll please.....ten doll...

The children like to ride their motorcycle and go on vacation or to Wilco. This girl has a beautiful servant's heart! She is always doing sweet things for others.

I am redoing the raised beds to make garden spaces around the chicken house. Having to plan a yard around the placement of a chicken pen that has to be 10 feet from property lines is a bit tricky. But the chicken house and placement are whimsically wonderful and I will have a nice little garden all around it. Here the children are playing in the fresh dirt of what may end up being the strawberry bed. By the way, those rocks will be replaced with wood for a polished, finished, level, clean look. I must have married a math teacher or something!!

On a whim, I decided to brew myself some tea this morning. I grabbed a handful of spearmint, peppermint, catnip, and lemon balm from the garden and then threw in a couple of rosehips. It was yummy. I hope this cantaloupe is edible. The others have not been. The honeydew look good. I hope they will be tastee!

What to do in a freshly dug hole (besides transplant the apple trees) Sometimes chairs fall over backwards And sister's are there to support you The broodiest hen ever! We got this seabrite hen to replace Sawyer's rooster. She is a baby herself and under her wings are two tiny black cochin frizzle chicks. I meant to get only one more but the supplier gave us one for free. One Eyed Jack (he has a weird eye) the other rooster will be finding a new home soon. He isn't very friendly.

It was so nice to have a Saturday together as a family!!!  With Phil working 70 hour weeks, we all live for the weekends.  We had a tragedy this morning.  Last night, we decided to leave the chickens out in their yard for the first time.  We have 1 inch chicken wire all around the cage, a plywood covering around one section, and 2x4 supports holding everything together including the bottom which is partially dug into the dirt.  We hadn't seen any signs of animals digging and the chickens were asleep under the covered area so we assumed it was safe for them to be out.  This morning, there was a pile of feathers on the outside of the cage and Sawyer's rooster was gone.  I am flabbergasted that something (raccoon) was able to reach in and pull an entire chicken through a 1 inch hole (only 1 tiny wire was broken).  There were lots of tears.  It was horrible.  We went back to the place where we bought the chickens originally and got Sawyer an...

The last time we were at IKEA, we picked up some black frames for Phil's desk. Yesterday, I printed out these pictures for him. I also did a family picture of all of us at Crater Lake (I posted it before). LOVE the dirty faces!!! LOL!

Phil "officially" starts back to school today. He has been so busy all summer that it isn't going to be that much of a change. He won't have the flexibility so we will be missing a couple of random hours with him throughout the day and I miss that dreadfully already!! We are more or less ready around here though. We have been working on outside things - the Fall is such a busy time of the year in the garden. I have a loose schedule and a very simple school plan. I won't get into anything complicated until the weather turns bad but I think the children are ready for a change. They have been asking me to stay inside to play and do school. Eating grapes Setting up the Fall garden Friends Sunday morning