A Wild Day

The chickens have been outgrowing their home in the dining room, so today they moved outside. Justin fixed up the tractor for them, hung their waterer in there, and there they went. So far, they seem to really be loving their new digs. They were quiet and content, flapping about a little bit playing. The only time they started squawking was when they were tired of looking for their own food and wanted to be fed.
They've been calling for rain though, so we put their "nesting box" in there: an old doghouse claimed from the side of the road. They wouldn't go in there on their own, so last night as they were sleeping I had to crawl in through the front & toss them into it. Not the sweetest moment of their night I'm sure, but they needed to know where shelter was.
This first photo is one of our Buff Orpington pullets. A pullet is a hen who is less than a year old. Our chicks were hatched on 4/4/08. The Buff Orpingtons are quickly becoming favorites: their feathers are remaining silky to the touch, they are extremely gentle (they never seem to mind being picked up, and will even relax while being held), and are very quiet.
This next photo is one of our Partridge Cochin pullets. We got the two of them because friends of ours had a much loved Buff Cochin, and we were hoping to breed. Sadly, we just got the news that their Buff Cochin has "taken off" into the woods, never to return home. That was the sweetest damn bird and this news truly is saddening.
Justin has also been working like a mad-man this weekend to build the chickens their coop. He is making fantastic progress, and has two walls now completed. It is turning out to be much tinier than I had anticipated it to be, but in all honesty, we really don't need a huge coop since we don't plan to keep more than 6 or 7 chickens permanantely. I have several photos of it, and several more photos of the chickens in their tractor. I will work on uploading a slideshow of the photos taken this weekend of the progress on the coop, as well as of the chicks in the tractor.

A New Look

As I'm sure you've noticed, there is a new look to this page. I hope to keep "sprucing" it up some in the near future. I want this blog to be more than just an online diary for me, or just a window into our lives. I would like it to be more fun to see, more informative, more interactive.
So please don't be shy, tell me what you think. What would you like to see? What do you hate seeing? :) I promise to listen.

Solar Power goes to the Dogs

I've been wanting a pond for a while, no big secret there, and the other week we stumbled upon one being sold at our neighbor's yard sale!! Liner & pump, only $25 = SOLD!!! We finally have gotten it in the ground and ordered a solar pump to go with it. We decided that any new "additions" needed to be green ones. I know this photo doesn't show the pond full, or even the pump in there, or even the other flowers we've added around it, but it gives you an idea. We're now eagerly looking forward to adding some water plants and some fish.

One thing that we knew we needed to be a little concerned about though was the dogs. We have an 8 year old Chocolate Lab and a 9 week old American Bulldog/Bandogge Mastiff mix. This isn't intended as a swimming pool for them!! So, we were annoyed but not surprised when we walked out the other day only to find that they had been playing (read "digging") in the mulch and un-dug most of the front of the pond. Ok, put it all back, and now we have a little fence up around that area - going from the rosemary bush across the front of the pond, to the flowers.

Yesterday we come out and they've gone around the new flowers, dug up most of the irises, the coreopsis, and the solar panel. We fixed it all, put them back in the ground (plants, not the dogs), and added some more things to block them from getting in.

Today, I noticed that the solar panel has been broken off of the little spike it rested atop. I'm praying it still works - it is cloudy and overcast, so none of our solar fountains are currently running. I replanted another dug-up iris and put up more barricades that will hopefully hold until we get more fencing up.

I knew solar power can be an expensive alternative - I just didn't think it would come in the form of "because our dogs keep destroying it!"

The next step...

Well, they're here. We ordered chicks and, to our surprise, they arrived on Sunday, April 6th. We had been told it would be the 6th, 7th, or 8th, but didn't think it would be Sunday the 6th. Ok, lesson learned: somewhere, mail runs EVERY DAY!! :)

All the chicks arrived alive and in good condition. We ordered from McMurray Hatchery, and split the order with a lady and her sister. One of her chick's looked a little lethargic, but we couldn't be certain if something was wrong or if it was just tired (after all, they were only hatched on 4.4 at 7:34 pm - they're newborns!). I wish them luck.

We have 13 chicks: 2 Partridge Cochin females, 2 Dark Brahma females (for eggs), 2 Buff Orpington females (for eggs), 4 female Speckled Sussex females (for meat, maybe keep 1 for breeding), Speckled Sussex males (for meat, though we're hoping to find a home for one so we can breed him with our female) & then the one "mystery bird" that McMurray includes for free, one of their exotic breeds - we think it may be a Silver Wyandotte or a Silver Pencil Rock, but we'll see. Speckled Sussexes were a very popular table bird in England over 100 years ago, so this is why we chose it as our meat bird. We really wanted all heirloom breeds.

So far, they're doing well. Shannon really likes them and has been very sweet with them. On the way home from the post office, when we still had all 27 birds who were peeping like crazy, Shannon was saying the following things: "Don't worry baby chicks, we're getting you home," and "The baby chicks want to watch 'Ice Age' with us and then play on the floor" -- wouldn't THAT have made for an interesting YOU TUBE video!?!? ha ha ha!! He also fed them this morning when he got up, without my knowledge or consent, but no harm done, and had to say goodnight to them before he went to bed. Tristan likes them, but seems to forget about them quickly. He likes being picked up to see them, will walk in there to check them out, but mostly so far he seems to delight in the ability to get into all sorts of mischief while I am busy trying to care for them. Which, once Shannon saw me making sure their butt's weren't gunked up with poo he now lets me know, MANY TIMES OVER, that they're pooping in their crate and need their butts wiped. Do we have a gene or something that gives us a pre-disposition to potty humor??

Either way, there is no going back now. Our neighbors don't yet know they're actually here. The chicken tractor is pretty much finished, but they can't go out there for another 22 days, and even then not full-time, just to learn to forage.

I'm eager to have chicken back on the menu here, though I don't plan to axe all the Sussexes ASAP. I'm eager to have fresh eggs of course. I'm anxious to see how well this goes over with the neighbors. We'll see.

No matter what though, it is the next step towards being more self-sufficient. We've also begun planting some things in the garden. Another growing season is upon us: always a busy time of year, and yet so full of hope and promise. We've gotten a new cherry tree, ordered new types of seeds: plants we haven't tried growing yet. It is very exciting and yet scary too. We're brewing all-grain beer now too, Justin (with Shannon's help) has been re-building our compost piles, we've begun making and using our own soap, and we've gotten another 25 lbs of freshly ground flour from Wade's Mill.

But, no matter what or where we succeed or fail, we're trying. Our children see this and learn from it. Shannon is obsessive about litter needing to be picked up because he knows "it makes Mother Earth feel better." With the gardens, they see where fruits, veggies and herbs come from and can identify them, they're eager to be involved. Now, with the chicks, they'll see where meat comes from. We've been talking to Shannon about it for a while, but now he'll get to see it. No matter where we succeed or fail we're teaching our children about life, the reality of life, the circle of life, and that is something I can be proud of always.

For more pictures of the chicks, visit my myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/thrillbillygypsy - click on 'Pics' under my main picture, then click the "Our Chickens" photo album. We have photos of each type of bird, and I'm sure there will be more added constantly!

Silent too long

I haven't posted in too long. Life here has been crazy, as it tends to be once spring starts arriving and you have little ones running here and there.
Our group, Big Lick-Green Drinks, made the newspaper (http://www.roanoke.com/news/wb/155106 ) which was really exciting & we've also launched a myspace page for it as well: www.myspace.com/biglickgreendrinks - We're now working on co-hosting an event on May 10th with another local group, Drinking Liberally, up at BlackSnake Meadery in Carroll County. Needless to say, it has had us spinning.
Also, our chicks arrive in less than a week. So every weekend lately has been focused on getting ready for that. This weekend will be no exception. Justin is about done building the chicken tractor, so this is very good. We've got their temporary inside home here, just need to give it a good clean out and set it up, hopefully something we can work on this evening. Shannon is very excited about the chicks coming. The Easter Bunny brought him some special boots to wear out back (since the birds will be free-ranging around the yard, and therefore pooping everywhere) - he was very impressed. Also, he has been SO excited about getting to help Daddy build the chicken tractor. It is amazing to watch him grow like this. He thinks that he helped "convert" the back bathroom into a pantry and is immensely proud of himself for it. We're just happy that he no longer thinks that applesauce comes from the bathroom. :)
Tristan is finally starting to try and talk some. It is funny because he also thinks he is being silly and calls things by the wrong name. For some reason his biggest "joke" to play on us is when we're changing his diaper he'll touch himself and say "belly." We'll tell him no, that's his penis, but he just giggles and repeats "belly" with mischief sparkling in his eyes the whole time. He'll say "testicles" but not penis. It's pretty funny.
So that is catching up here. I apologize for the lack of a picture or two this time. My camera and my computer are fighting and not working together, so I've had a hard time getting my photos uploaded. Oh well. If that is all that is wrong in life, right?? I have been able to add some photos on my myspace page (www.myspace.com/thrillbillygypsy ) and also on my Flickr account (the link to that is on the right-hand side of this page). So you can see some photos of life here there. But for now, I have dough that needs to rise and then go into the oven, so I need to quit typing and get back in the kitchen!!!

Freshly Brewed

Normally, of course, if I am talking about something being freshly brewed, it is beer. Not today. I had seen this advertised in a magazine, on ways to be eco-friendly, and had to try it as our coffee pot had kicked the can (faint rim shot anyone?). It is a Toddy Cafe and it cold brews your coffee. You put a pound of coffee in there, let it soak for 24 hours, and then let it drain into the carafe below. It produces a smoother coffee that also has, or so the claim goes, 67% less acidity (this is a BIG one for me!) than regularly brewed coffee, and uses no electricity up to this point. To get hot coffee, use 1/3 concentrate to 2/3 boiling water. I must say, so far, I am in love.

Check it out for yourself: http://www.toddycafe.com/

Failures & Successes

Failures and Successes, today has been full of both of them. We did make the soap. We rendered the cattle fat into tallow and used it, along with olive oil, to make an oatmeal, honey, and cinnamon soap. Today I was able to take it out of the molds. Taste tests to test the ph balance proved the lye was too strong, so the soap is a failure. But really, it isn't. We can use it for laundry detergent, so we will still be saving ourselves a lot of money and it is still a step towards greater self-sufficeincy. And, most importantly, this was our first batch of soap, so it was a good learning experience, and we did learn from it.
And the successes? Shannon has been the epitome of them today, though Tristan is quickly trying to follow along as well. Justin found a "cloth" bag under the couch that a pop-up Thomas the Train tent had come in. Shannon has taken to carrying around his trains in, and then hanging the bag on door-knobs ... just like I hang our cloth grocery bags on some cabinet knobs in the kitchen. They are both pretty taken with recycling, but Shannon is of course much more aware of it. He gets very upset when he sees litter and he runs to pick it up so that "Mother Earth will feel better." He points it out when he sees it and can't get to it and says how it makes Mother Earth feel bad. It's really quite sweet.
Maybe there really haven't been any failures today, just varying degrees of successes. Success as a parent, as a person, as an enviromentalist, as a teacher, as a homemaker, as a homesteader. That's good enough for me.