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I am the Queen of Keeping New Year Resolutions

Friday, January 2nd, 2009

I am totally on top of my New Year Resolutions. And I mean totally. Look what I finished today:

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Those are Bernie’s hands and feet poking out. He’s a little camera shy today. I meant to take a picture of the back of the quilt, but by the time I remembered Bernie was wrapped in it and had Priscilla on his lap. I mentioned it, but he said “Too late. Silly is sleeping now.” We call Priscilla “Silly”. If you knew her, that would make a lot more sense.

 

I tend to be a little obsessive-compulsive. Once I set my mind to something, it completely consumes me. I worked all day yesterday and all day today on that quilt, and finished it this afternoon. Bernie is thrilled. I’m not sure if that’s because he’s happy to have the quilt, or happy to have his wife back. He really doesn’t like when I get obsessed with something. I used to read two books a week. And when I read a book, I would become completely engrossed in it and do nothing else. Bernie finally told me it was him or the books. A man can only take so much. Then I took to raising chickens. I really hope he doesn’t give me an ultimatum on that one……

 

And in keeping with my New Year Resolutions, I had a nice glass of wine and two hard boiled eggs.

 

I am so totally on top of my New Year Resolutions. So are my hens. They layed me 14 eggs today. Now if only Bernie will keep me supplied with wine…

 

Bee Free,

Penny

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Posted in basic living, chickens, fresh eggs, homestead, homesteading | 4 Comments »

Farewell to 2008

Wednesday, December 31st, 2008

As 2008 draws to an end, I look around here and am quite pleased with what Bernie and I have accomplished on the Homestead this year. The list of things to do is never ending, and I would say it’s gotten shorter but with each task we mark off of it, it seems we add two more. That’s OK. What would I have to blog about if we didn’t have things to do?

 

I trust each of you had a happy holiday season. I enjoyed spending time with my family over Christmas. It was warm down south, but very cold here on the homestead while I was gone. After a couple of nights of 11 degree weather with the daytime temperatures in the low 20s with raging wind, poor Duke got a little frostbite on his comb. I’ve been smearing antibiotic cream on his comb each night and, so far, it doesn’t look as though he will suffer with an infection. Time will tell how much of his comb he ends up losing. I am hoping it is only a couple of tips, but the back section may need to be removed.

 

Our little soft shell layer has begun laying completely shell-less eggs. She’s only laying every four or five days now and the last three have had no shell at all. It makes quite a mess in the nest boxes, but there really is nothing she or I can do about it. I suspect she has some internal issues, and as long as she doesn’t suffer with it, she’ll just be a pet that I occassionally have to clean up after.

 

I started a T-Shirt quilt for Bernie over a year ago. I’m making it from Harley T-Shirts he’s collected over the years. It was supposed to be his Christmas gift in 2007, but that didn’t happen. Then it was supposed to be his Christmas gift for 2008, but that didn’t happen either. I’m hoping to finish it up this weekend and give it to him. I’ve applied the fusible interfacing and cut out the designs for the blocks – and that’s as far as I’ve gotten. Here’s a picture of the blocks:

 

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I plan to put a 1 inch border between each one, and then frame the whole thing with another 1 inch border. I’ll snap some pictures as I go and share them. Maybe that will motivate me to finish up this thing. I’m sure Bernie hopes so.

 

I believe it’s very important to set achievable goals as New Year’s resolutions. Last year my only New Year’s resolution was to eat more ice cream and it was probably the first New Year’s resolution I’ve ever kept. This year my New Year’s resolution is to finish Bernie’s quilt, eat more eggs, and drink more wine. In fact, I will reward myself with two pickled eggs and a glass of wine when I finish Bernie’s quilt this weekend.

 

I hope the hens’ New Year’s resolution is to lay me more eggs, and that Bernie’s is to buy me more wine. And I hope that YOUR New Year’s resolution is to keep reading my blogs and putting up with me.

 

I wish each and every one of you the very best for 2009.

 

Bee Free,

Penny

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Posted in basic living, chickens, fresh eggs, homestead, homesteading, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Brrrrrr. It’s too early for this!

Sunday, November 30th, 2008

We’ve been having an unusually cold November this year. It’s been going down to the low 20′s and high teens at night for the past few weeks. I found the water in the chicken coop frozen solid many mornings, and last weekend I talked Bernie into helping me insulate the coop. We had to empty the coop completely and put all the nest boxes in the chicken yard for the day. It confused the hens something fierce. A few eventually gave in and layed their eggs in the nest boxes outside – but they were clearly not happy about that. I ended up finding a nest by Bernie’s mower under the lean-to in the back yard with seven eggs in it. I was worried that would become a bad habit for them, but once the coop was put back together, they’ve been faithfully laying in the nest boxes again.

By the way, insulating the coop has worked to keep it at least 15 degrees warmer than it is outside. I know those chickens are happy about that.

I wanted to get a few pictures of the chickens for y’all to see how big they are getting, but it’s been raining here all day. I decided to open the front door and snap a few from there. This is what we are greeted with each time we open the front door:

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Doesn’t that just make you smile? Cute little buggers.

About the time I took that picture the rain really started coming down. Most of the hens headed to the chicken run. Duke and a few of the girls took off to get under Bernie’s pickup. And Bobby Lee stayed where he was – hanging out under the eave of the coop:

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About half the girls are laying now. We usually get 10 eggs a day.

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This is what we’ve done with a lot of them:

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We’ve also given away a few dozen to friends. And, naturally, we eat eggs every single solitary day. I’m certainly not complaining. It’s about time these hens started earning their keep around here.

In the first picture I posted above, you may notice a line of mud in the yard. That’s the trench Bernie dug with the Ditch Witch . Then he buried 1 1/4″ PVC conduit to run the electric wire through. By the end of the week I should have electric in my shed and in the coop. Yay! Then he’s going to run electric to the garage. Yay again!

A friend of ours gave us a deer last week. We hung it, skinned it, and butchered it last Wednesday. We let it soak in a cooler until this morning, when we processed it. Another friend gave us 1/2 of a deer that he shot on our property Thanksgiving Day. He even processed the meat before giving it to us. No matter how it arrives, you really can’t complain about free meat – but it sure was nice to recieve that 1/2 deer ready to go into the freezer.

We’ve been cold on the homestead, and we’ve been busy. And we are still loving every minute of it.

Bee Free,
Penny

Posted in basic living, chicken coop, chickens, fresh eggs, homestead, homesteading | 2 Comments »

Hey – I Got a Blog Award!

Sunday, November 16th, 2008

A big shout out to Molly, at Doing It Naturally, for giving me the Premium Dardos Award. Thanks, Molly. I am truly honored.

“With the Premium Dardos, recognize the values that each blogger shows each day in commitment to transmit cultural values, ethical, literary, personal etc. that, in short, demonstrate their creativity by alive thinking that remains intact from their letters and words. ”

What a really nice way to let a blogger know that their musings and writings are of interest. The rules in accepting this award are:

1. Accept the award and post it on your blog along with a link to the person who has awarded you.
2. Pass the award on to 15 other blogs that are worthy of this acknowledgment. Remember to contact each of them to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

My list of 15 blogs is comprised of those I’ve learned a lot from, share a mutual interest with, and/or just plain love reading. Each has its own special way of demonstrating creativity with words, if not actions. They are listed in no particular order because I’d have trouble “ranking” them. I hope you’ll take some time to check each of them out:

Sparrow Haven
Sugar Mountain Farm
Delaware Curmudgeon
Justice Desserts
Life on a Southern Farm
Making it Our Home
Mainely Ewes Farm
Brambleberry Blog
The Inky Spinnery
Losing Our Shirts, Keeping the Farm
This Old Crackhouse
Fancyin’ the Farm Life
The Beginning Farmer
Northwoods Ramblings
Me the Mama

Thanks again, Molly. You made my day!

We’ve been getting rain. Lots of rain. And now it’s getting cold. And windy. This morning we’re getting a little sleet. Oh boy, here we go again.

I’m sure you know by now that I’m not much of a cold weather person. Last year I had to make myself commit to venturing outside at least one time daily during the winter. I think I was successful in meeting that commitment, but I honestly can’t remember. I tend to block out bad memories.

This winter, whether I like it or not, I am committed to venturing outside at least twice daily, regardless of the temperature or anything else Mother Nature tosses my way – because this year I have chickens. And, at the very least, I have to let them out of their coop in the morning, and tuck them in at night. And certainly I’ll have to collect eggs during the day. And then there are the countless number of times each day that a Hamburg will start screaming bloody murder and send me flying out of the house prepared to see a bear eating chickens like popcorn, only to find that the Hamburg simply wandered too far and was a little “stressed” to find herself alone in the yard…… This is going to be a long, cold winter on the homestead.

Bernie rented the Ditch Witch and got the trenches dug to start running electric wire to the outbuildings and coop. The Ditch Witch was an experience unto itself and I wish I had gotten pictures of that monster. It was a huge and scary piece of equipment. My hiney was tingling the entire time Bernie was using that thing. It’s basically a gargantuan chain saw looking thing that you stand behind and try to control as it lurches about and eats a trench in the yard. Bernie handled it beautifully and made short work of the 150 feet of trenching he put in. The chickens and I stood around trembling and fretting, and when it was finished we all ran over to check out the new trenches. The chickens found a lot of nice, juicy earth worms, and I found comfort in the fact that we all lived through it. Bernie laid the PVC pipes on Friday, and as soon as it dries up a little, he’ll start running the electric wire.

I’ve been pickling eggs – LOTS of eggs. 51 of them, to be egg-xact. If you are one of my Christmas Victims, I hope you like pickled eggs.

With all the rainy weather, Bernie spent some time inside, refinishing a Hercules 12-gauge double barrel shotgun that was his grandfathers, and handed down to Bernie. It was made in the early 1900′s, and looked every day of it’s age. When Bernie received it, the stock was broken in a few places and held together with black electrical tape. He fixed the stock with some wood glue, sanded down the stock and forearm, and then re – stained them. It looks wonderful and Bernie is pretty darn proud of it. As you can see:

Is he not the cutest thing? And the gun looks really nice, too. OH – and you can also see the “free” wood stove my father gave us. Don’t let it’s size fool you – that bad boy can pump out some heat. And it has certainly allowed us to keep with our vow of only heating with wood this year.

I guess I should bundle up and go check for some eggs and tend to the chickens. I told them about my Blog Award, but they are not nearly as impressed with it as I am. I explained to them that I am now famous, and mentioned they could at least reward me with a few extra eggs. Judging by the massive amount of eye rolls I got, I’m guessing that’s just not going to happen.

Bee Free,
Penny

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Posted in basic living, chickens, fresh eggs, homestead, homesteading | 6 Comments »

In the Kitchen and in the Yard

Sunday, November 9th, 2008

Other than crowing about being The Fish Whisperer, I’ve been busy catching up around here. Tabasco peppers come in just as the weather gets cool around here, and although it’s been cool for a while, I managed to harvest mine before it was too late. I made some hot sauce out of them, and thought you may be interested in the recipe.

Let me explain that true “Tabasco Sauce” (like you buy in the store) is aged in oak barrels for three years. Unless you have three years and all the accoutrements, you may appreciate using a recipe similar to this one instead:

Penny’s Piping Hot Pepper Sauce

2 dozen tabasco fresh peppers (more or less)
1 cup white vinegar
1 heaping tablespoon minced garlic
Salt to taste

Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely. Pour the entire thing into the blender and blend well. Strain through a seive, or something similar. Pour liquid into a bottle.

And there you have it. Some of the best-tasting-kick-your-hiney-hot-sauce you’ve ever tasted.

The hens have been blessing us with about a half dozen eggs a day, so while I was in the kitchen I decided to make some pickled eggs. The number of eggs you use will depend on the size of your eggs. Basically, this recipe is for as many eggs as you can fit in a quart size canning jar. If you are making more, adjust the recipe accordingly:

Penny’s Pickled Eggs with Jalapenos

peeled hard boiled eggs (you may want to enlist your spouse’s help in the “peeling” part of this)
2 cups white vinegar
1/2 to 1 jar pickled jalapenos with juice (depending on how much heat you want)
1 onion, sliced into chunks
1 heaping teaspoon garlic
1 to 2 tablespoon salt (optional)

Combine vinegar, jalapenos, onion, garlic, salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer 15 minutes. Fill quart sized canning jar with eggs, leaving 1 inch headspace. Pour hot contents of saucepan over top of eggs, being sure to include the jalapenos, onion, and garlic. Seal the jar with the lid and store in the refrigerator for at least six weeks. Then sit back and try to wait six weeks before opening the jar to taste…..

OK, we’ve spent enough time in the kitchen. Let’s get outside.

Bernie is still chopping and splitting wood for our wood burner. Poor guy – our challenge to only heat with wood this year is certainly harder on him than it is on me. But I am proud to report that it is working, and our home is cozy warm each day because of it. Not that he gets to enjoy much of it….

As I mentioned, these worthless hens are finally giving us some eggs. I’d like to think that’s the result of the countless “pep talks” I’ve had with them these past few weeks. In truth, it’s the result of these hens doing exactly what they want to do. I’m so darn happy to have eggs that I don’t even care why they’re doing it at this point.

With the exception of one, all the hens are laying in the nest boxes Bernie and I labored to make for them. I was worried that allowing them to free range would mean I’d be searching 65 acres looking for eggs each day. But they all lay in their nest box, except one. One little Phoenix prefers to lay on the floor of the coop, regardless of the amount of time I’ve spent begging her to do otherwise. I finally decided to just clean her “laying” area up and that really seemed to make her happy. She leaves us an egg in that spot nearly every day. There’s more than one way to pluck a chicken…….

I do believe we’ll have electricity in our out buildings within the next couple of weeks. I think Bernie is getting desperate for a break in chopping and splitting wood. He mentioned renting a tool to dig trenches so he can lay the wire for the electric to the buildings. Woo hoo! I can be fully illuminated when I tuck the chickens in at night – night gown, house coat, cammo jacket, rubber boots, and all. Now that’s a sight worth lighting up.

We’re doing well on the homestead. This journey continues to take twists and turns, but we don’t mind. We’re just along for the ride.

Bee free,
Penny

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Posted in basic living, chickens, fresh eggs, homestead, homesteading, recipe | 3 Comments »

What’s All the Squawking About?

Friday, October 10th, 2008

My dad was kind enough to give us his old wood burning stove. We figured it was free, so the price was certainly right. It ended up being as free as a “free puppy”. Once we got it home, we realized we’d need to install a chimney where none previously existed, buy all the pipe for it, put a stove board up, and come up with a fire proof platform for it to sit upon. But at least we got a FREE wood burning stove, darnit! And we really do love it. This year our goal is to use absolutely nothing but wood to heat this house. The stove dad gave us is perfect.

Yesterday, while we were working on the finishes touches involved in installing our “free” stove, I heard one of the hens squawking like crazy. When I looked outside, I could see that all the other chickens were in the chicken yard, but one hen was in the coop, and she was carrying on something fierce. I got really excited and told Bernie “I bet she’s laying an egg!” I went running out to the coop, opened the door, stuck my head inside, and looked all around the coop. No egg. I came back inside quite disappointed.

Later in the afternoon I went into the chicken run to change out the water. As I opened the door and walked into the coop, I saw this:

Can you believe it? These hens are two days shy of 21 weeks, and they are starting to lay! I was excited beyond words. You would have thought I’d found a golden egg – and to me, it was worth every bit as much.

When I ran out looking for the egg the first time, I didn’t step inside. The egg was nestled down in a little divot the hen had dug. When I stepped up into the coop, I saw it right away. What a wonderful day!

The egg was absolutely perfect. A little small, but beautifully shaped with a hard shell. Here’s a picture of it in Bernie’s palm:

Is that not the cutest little thing? And here it is next to a store bought egg (keep in mind the store bought egg is an extra large):

And here it is after I cracked it and put it next to the cracked store bought egg:

Look at the deep, luscious color of that yolk. Yum! I have to tell you that was one fine fried egg. I savored every bite of it.

It’s late in the evening now, and I haven’t found another egg today. I am a little disappointed. I had a little chat with the girls about it when I went in to give them a snack. They seemed surprised to learn that I’m actually expecting a little in return for feeding their worthless butts all these months. I mentioned the home made yogurt, the home made whole wheat corn bread, the meal worms, the garden vegetables they get fairly regularly, and all the time I spend catching crickets and earth worms for them. Other than pecking moles off my legs and hopping on my shoulders to peck at my hair, they didn’t seem to be paying any attention to me at all. Chickens these days. Honestly. You just can’t do anything with them.

Bee Free,
Penny

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Egg On My Face

Monday, September 15th, 2008

I’ve always heard that placing a golf ball, or some type of fake egg, in a nest box will encourage chickens to lay their eggs in the nest boxes, rather than on the floor or other places. I was reminded of that this weekend when I read a post on a chicken forum from someone who was having trouble getting her chickens to lay eggs in their nest boxes. I remembered that I had some fake plastic eggs that came with an egg basket I inherited from someone a little while ago. I got to thinking that my hens are just about at the laying age, so I grabbed the plastic eggs and set one in each nest box last night. And then I completely forgot all about them.

This morning I opened the chicken door to let the chickens out and, as I do each morning, I opened the “human” door to walk inside the coop and make sure there was plenty of food and water. I looked over at the hen boxes and almost screamed for joy. Eggs! Perfectly beautiful eggs! My heart was beating uncontrollably. I thought I would cry. I kept thinking “They are so white, so perfectly formed, so clean, so large, and there is one in each box! One in each box? Wait a minute…. those….. are…… plastic.” I was looking at the plastic eggs I had placed in those boxes just the night before.

I’m sure I turned every shade of red. But it does give me hope. If my chickens are half as stupid as I am, they may just really believe those are real eggs in those nest boxes and lay theirs right beside them.

Lordy, I sure hope they fall for it. If they don’t, you’ll never know. I promise.

Bee Free,
Penny


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