Someday.....

Someday things will work out for me to update this blog regularly. Every time I think things are falling into place for that to happen, something else comes up. This time it's pneumonia. :o( Thank you to each and every one of you who read my blog even though I don't do the best job at updating it lately.

The Santa Story

If I had only known, I would have at least put on a little makeup. So why am I in this picture? Because Megan, who insisted on seeing Santa, wouldn't go near him once we got there.

Megan wants a Swim To Me Puppy for Christmas. She wants one so bad that she begged to see Santa because she wanted to make sure he knew it's what she wants. Yes, she sent him a letter. But that's not as good as telling the person face to face.

So we find out that Santa will be at The Depot Saturday afternoon. I load all three kids in the van and head out. We get there and Jade is the one that gets all excited and rushes right up to sit in Santa's lap. But little miss Megan won't get within five feet of the Jolly Old Elf. So I take Braden up, he takes one look at Santa and screams.

The solution? I sit beside Santa. Braden sits on my lap, Meg stands in front of me and Jade gets in just so she isn't left out. Next year I'll remember that I should do my hair and make up to see Santa.

Easy Homemade Christmas Ornament

This is a total variation of an ornament craft I found in Family Fun Magazine. You can see the original HERE.

I cut polar fleece into 1 1/2 inchish squares and strung 100 of them. Then tied it all up into a wreath shape. After that I added a ribbon and bell to hang it with.

It was so simple and turned out so pretty. I want to do my whole tree in them. We are making these for our 4H craft tomorrow night.

Oh Christmas Tree

It would seem I procrastinated just long enough.  When I got to Meijer yesterday, I found that all the artificial trees were 50% off.  So not only did I get a white tree, I got a prelit white tree.

Here it is in the box....Hmmm....I wonder how long it's going to take to put together.

Well now, that didn't take long at all.  It was in three pieces and just slid nicely into the base.

When Jade got home from school, the girls had so much fun decorating.  All has gone well so far, except that Braden has figured out what the candy canes are for.

And just look at the adorable chicken ornament my mom found me.  I feel ready for Christmas now.

Dreaming Of My Garden

What does one do to drive away the dreary blahs that winter snow brings? Order more seeds for spring planting of course.

I found http://www.humeseeds.com today and boy have I had fun. I wanted to order so much more than I did. I had to keep reminding myself that 1) I'm on a budget, 2) I already ordered several seeds, and 3) my time and garden space are limited.

So I settled on herbs I have been wanting. Basil, garlic chives, dill, Italian parsley, and peppermint. Most of those can be easily grown in containers if I don't get time to prepare the beds early enough. Then I had to order a few things just for fun.

We are getting "Mammoth Grey Stripe" Sunflowers. How beautiful are these? They are supose to grow 6 to 12 feet. I'm going to plant them in a circle to make a playhouse for the kids.


If you have never heard of the sunflower playhouse, here's what you do. You plant the flowers in a circle fairly close together. Then when they are nice and tall, you tie the tops together to make a sort of tee pee out of them. The kids are rather excited about this.

I also ordered a couple other sunflower varieties just for fun. I like to plant them for the wild birds.

Then I had to order a couple things just because they plain looked like fun. The girls are very excited over the ornamental pop corn and the multi-colored carrots.


Now I just have to wait for spring. I told Rob I want my cold frames built as my Valentine's Day present. Hopefully he takes me seriously. I can't wait to get started on my garden now and it's not even Christmas yet!

Friday This and Thats

I think I killed the earth worms. I forgot to bring them in out of the garage when it got below freezing. When I looked in on them, the surface was frozen solid. :o( I'm bringing them in to thaw and hoping that only the edges actually froze and that the worms are alive and well in the center.

The chickens are tolerating the snow covered ground better than I expected. They actually spend a good deal of the day outside in it. They do huddle under the porch at times, or hang out in the coop more. They also aren't leaving the back yard now.

We are getting as many as seven eggs a day now. That's pretty good for this time of year. I wonder if they will lay like this all winter. We are almost to the solstice. For those wondering what that has to do with chickens and eggs, the solstice is the shortest day of the year. Exposure to light directly effects how much chickens lay eggs. Often they stop laying all together once the daylight hours drop below 10-12 hours a day unless they are provided with a supplemental light source.

The rabbits seem to be doing well also. I can't believe we breed them in just a month. Hopefully that goes well.

Christmas preparations are underway. I think we have our get together's with extended family scheduled OK. Now I just have to finish up the shopping and get it all wrapped.

That's all for now. Maybe I'll have a nice Christmas cookie post soon. In the mean time, here is a nice picture of the chickens and rabbits for you.

Winter Wonderland

As much as I don't care for the cold, I love the look of nature the morning after a heavy snowfall. There is nothing quite as beautiful as the undisturbed snow clinging to the bare branches of the bushes and trees.

So I headed out with my camera this morning to share the view out my windows.

Daring Caramel Cake

November's Daring Baker's challenge is here and it's Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting.

It starts with making the caramel syrup. I was a bit nervous about this, but it turned out to be so easy.
The cake itself was delicious. I decided to make it in two layers. They came out very fragile. In fact, the bottom layer crumbled as I was taking it out of the pan. I don't think I would make it in layers like this next time.

And here is the finished cake with frosting. The frosting was pretty easy to make and the texture was really nice.

Here are the recipes for the cake and frosting:

CARAMEL CAKE

10 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/4 Cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 Cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)
2 each eggs, at room temperature
splash vanilla extract
2 Cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350F

Butter one tall (2 – 2.5 inch deep) 9-inch cake pan.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar and salt & cream until light and fluffy.

Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl. Scrape down bowl and increase speed. Add eggs/vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl again, beat mixture until light and uniform.

Sift flour and baking powder.

Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the dry ingredients. When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time. Add another third of the dry ingredients, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dry ingredients. {This is called the dry, wet, dry, wet, dry method in cake making. It is often employed when there is a high proportion of liquid in the batter.}

Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds, making sure batter is uniform. Turn batter into prepared cake pan.

Place cake pan on cookie sheet or 1/2 sheet pan. Set first timer for 30 minutes, rotate pan and set timer for another 15-20 minutes. Your own oven will set the pace. Bake until sides pull away from the pan and skewer inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool cake completely before icing it.

Cake will keep for three days outside of the refrigerator.

CARAMEL SYRUP

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup water (for "stopping" the caramelization process)
In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush. Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly: dark amber.

When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and be prepared to step back.

Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers. {Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.}

Note: For safety reasons, have ready a bowl of ice water to plunge your hands into if any caramel should land on your skin.

CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound confectioner’s sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons caramel syrup
Kosher or sea salt to taste

Cook butter until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl, set aside to cool.

Pour cooled brown butter into mixer bowl.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, add confectioner's sugar a little at a time. When mixture looks too chunky to take any more, add a bit of cream and or caramel syrup. Repeat until mixture looks smooth and all confectioner's sugar has been incorporated. Add salt to taste.

Note: Caramelized butter frosting will keep in fridge for up to a month.
To smooth out from cold, microwave a bit, then mix with paddle attachment until smooth and light

This cake was easier to make than I thought it would be. I would make the cake again for sure. However, I don't think I will make the frosting. It's just too sweet for my taste. I think this cake would make a wonderful trifle. I can imagine it layered with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

Thank you to:

Shauna Fish Lydon for her recipe for this cake.

Delores, Alex and Jenny for hosting this months challenge.

Natalie for assisting with gluten free changes. (See the Daring Bakers Blog Roll for gluten free blogs)

Food and Family

Of course everyone looks forward to the food on Thanksgiving. It's the one time that many of us let ourselves indulge to our hearts content without guilt. After having a wonderful meal, I indulged in three different desserts before the night was out. When faced with pumpkin pie, cheesecake and chocolate cake how could I be expected to make a choice?

And would you just look at my mothers beautiful turkey? I will soon be serving myself up some left over breast with a side of sweet potatoes. With each bite I'll remember the day and how great it was to see my family that was there.



We're creating wonderful traditions for our children. They get to play with their cousins and see extended family that rarely get the chance to be in one place at the same time.

Here is Violet with her dad, my brother Justin, I think she was waiting for cake in this picture. She sure looks excited, doesn't she?

Here is my brother Daniel with his new baby Thomas. Isn't this just one of the sweetest pictures you've ever seen?

And here is sweet little Lily, she's Violet's sister. Good food and kids to play with always makes for a good nap. And when you have mom to sleep on, what could be better?
Jade just wanted to be the one taking the pictures. But I had to get in a nice shot of her. Just look at the attitude she developing. It makes me afraid of what the teenage years have in store for us.
And then there is Braden. We had to put the cake out of reach.
Unfortunately I didn't get any good pictures of Megan, they were all blurry. I also didn't get any pictures of my nephew Logan. The poor little guy was so sick. I hope he's feeling better now and knows we love him.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and cherished the time with your friends and/or family.

A Halloween Post

Yes, I know it's a bit late for this one. But I just finally got faster internet and I wanted to show off my awesome pumpkin carving skills and my adorable children. So I guess you are just going to have to deal with it.

Photo Fun With Our First Egg

So here it is, our very first farm fresh egg. It was small (as you can see in the above photo comparing it to a store bought large egg), it was fresh and it was delicious. It never occurred to me to take a picture of the teeny tiny fried egg sandwich I made with it until after I had eaten it. The white was firm and the yolk was a deep yellow-orange color. It had a flavor like no other egg I've ever eaten before it. I can't wait until I get enough to make a whole big breakfast for the family.

Here are some more pictures of the egg. I was just having some fun with the camera. It looks so much larger than it was in Megan's little hand.

We Have Bunnies

We have rabbits. Two does named Brownie and Snowflake. They are New Zealand / Rex crosses. Both are does. We are going to breed them to a New Zealand buck. We are hoping that Jade will get a decent pen of four for the 4H fair.

These two are the beginning of our breeding stock. They are going to remain the girls pets. But they do understand that when they have babies, we can't keep them and that we will be eating them. So far they say they are OK with that. I hope when the time comes, they stay that way. I'm going to try to keep them from spending too much time oohing and aahing over the babies.

Here are some pictures. They really are the sweetest little rabbits.The girls both seem to be doing a great job of handling them. We are hoping that Megan will be able to show hers at the fair this summer too.

This is Brownie. She is Jade's rabbit.

And this is Snowflake. She is Megan's.

We are looking forward to learning more about them. It's just one more step to having a real farm. I'm still on track for bees in the spring too. Then all I'll need are my goats and I'll be happy.

A Chicken Kind Of Post

I think I'm over due to post some pictures of the chickens. So here are some updated ones that I thought were blog worthy.This is Chief. Megan calls him Big Guy, and he really is! He's a silver laced chochin that we got as our "free rare chick" from the hatchery. He is the sweetest thing so far. I hope he stays that way because I would love to see what he fathers with our mix of hens next spring. Can you imagine a naked necked, feather footed chick?

If you let the three year old have the camera for a while, you are bound to have at least one really good picture. This pullet rarely stands still enough for me to get her picture. But she sure is underfoot if she thinks I have a treat.

This is our little bantam rooster. So far we just call him Noname (pronounced NO-NAAM-A), but he needs a real name. Any suggestions? I had heard it said that bantam roosters are "half the size with twice the personality". That is definatly true of this little guy.

I'm still not 100% sure what this pullet is. I think she may be a silver laced wyandotte, but whatever she is, she has lots of personality.

Fun With The Kids

If there is one thing I don't do enough, it's get out and play with the kids. The other day I let all the house work sit and I just went out side with them. The laundry and dirty dishes will always be there, but my kids won't want me to run and play with them forever, right? I need to remember that more.Do you remember what it feels like to just let loose like this? Just let it all out. No wonder kids laugh so often. They don't let the stress build up.

Thought you could hide this from me did you? HA! Keep trying mom.

Can we PLEASE got for a ride NOW? I've been waiting all day!

Yep, the laundry will always be there. But the kids won't and I need to enjoy them while I can.

Daring Lavash

I did my first challenge this month with Daring Bakers. The recipe was for Lavash Crackers, and we were suppose to make some sort of dip to go with it.

This was my first attempt at making crackers. I was rather excited to try. The recipe turned out more like a thin pita bread than crackers. I may try it again sometime without the yeast to see if that makes a difference. Either way, it is delicious and I will be making it again in the future.

The recipe was for making it either with gluten or gluten free. I thought about doing it gluten free, but I couldn't justify the cost when I had the ingredients on hand to make it with wheat flour.

For my dip, I chose to make a salsa with cherry tomatoes and sweet banana peppers.

Here is the recipe as I made it:

Lavash Crackers

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 T sugar
1 T olive oil
1/3 C to 1/2 C + 2 T water
Salt, Sesame seeds and Paprika for toppings

1) In a mixing bowl stir together the flour, salt, yeast sugar, oil and just enough water to form dough. You probably won't need all the water. (I think I only needed about the 1/3 C)

2) Knead the dough for 10-20 minutes, or until it is firm and smooth. Dough should not be tacky.

3) Oil a bowl. Put a dough in the bowl and roll it around to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 90 minutes, or until about double in size.

4) Mist counter lightly with cooking spray. Gently roll the dough into a 12 x15 inch rectangle. You may need to stop a few times to let the gluten relax so the dough will hold it's shape. Be sure to cover it when it is resting. Also, lift the dough occasionally.

5) Place the dough on parchment on a baking sheet. Spritz lightly with water and sprinkle with alternating rows of sesame seeds and paprika. Then sprinkle salt over the whole thing.

Here is what my dough looked like just before it went in the oven:

6) Bake in an oven that has been preheated to 350 degrees F. for 15-20 minutes, or until the crackers are evenly brown., or until the crackers begin to brown evenly across the top.

7) Remove from oven and let cook in the pan for about 10 minutes. Break (or tear) apart and serve with your choice of dip.

Cherry Tomato, Banana Pepper Salsa

2 C. Cherry tomatoes
3 banana peppers
1 small onion
1 tsp salt
2 cloves of garlic

Put all ingredients in a food processor and process to your desired consistency. I did mine fine and then used a mesh strainer to strain off the excess liquid.

Planning for next year

Now that my garden is almost done for this year, it's time to start thinking about what I want to grow next year.  I do think I tried to put too much in my space this year.  With the raised beds, it all grew very well as planted, but as things bushed out, it made harvesting rather difficult.  So I'm planning to have two (at least) more raised beds.  This way I can spread things out in a way that will make them easier to manage.  Also, I'm going to plant pole beans rather than bush beans next year.  I think it will be wise to make use of vertical space as much as possible.

So now that I have that decided I am moving on to what exactly I want to plant.  I'm thinking mostly heirloom veggies.  I came to that decision when I found Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. 

Of course I won't be able to get everything from there.  It would cost too much.  But how fun to grow things I can't get elsewhere? 

I'm even planning for gardens beyond next year.  I've been talking to Rob about raising a couple pigs next year.  My hope is to put them in a pen just off the east side of the lawn.  Then in 2010 I can use that space for squash and corn. 

I'm sure I'll come up with more plans as time goes on.  I just love coming up with new ideas.

I Made Soap!

It was so much easier than I thought it would be.  I was worried about using lye, but in truth it wasn't a big deal.  Yes, the safety precautions were necessary.  If something does happen to go wrong with lye, you need to be prepared.

So I made the soap and used a stick blender to get it to "trace".  That took about 20 minutes.  I did take breaks and just hand stir from time to time because the motor on the blender was getting a bit hot.  Even though I only paid $1 for it doesn't mean it's ok to blow up the motor on the first batch.

The soap had to sit in the mold for two days.  So last night I unmolded it and cut it into bars.  Now it just needs 3-4 weeks to harden.  I got 12 medium sized bars from it.  Since it's my first batch I didn't worry about cutting them perfectly even.  I just eye balled it the best I could.I have a feeling I'll be making quite a lot of soap in the near future. 

If you are on my Christmas list, I hope you like soap!

R.I.P. Rocky

Last night I went outside to find about 1/2 the chickens huddled under the front porch. When I startled them out, a large hawk flew up from the end of the house. Upon investigation I found Rocky, my favorite of the three roosters, headless on the ground still warm.

By the time I got back with the gun, the hawk had left the area. Jade and I buried Rocky where we found him and placed a large stone over the grave as a marker. I promised the girls I would paint his name on it for them.

I knew that predators were something we would most likely have to deal with. I think I was just refusing to believe it might really happen to us. Now I'm afraid to even let the chickens out of their coop. We don't have a run for them yet. The posts are in place, but the fencing isn't up yet. I guess I will need to do that this week and go get some netting to go over head.

I will miss seeing them run around to the front first thing in the morning. They love to sit under the lilacs. But I'd rather contain them better than loose more to a hawk. I'm also considering a great Pyrenees puppy and some guineas to protect and sound the alarm next time.

This weeks musings

People tend to pull together in times of tragedy. It seems there is just something in our nature that draws us near when things go wrong. I've seen this first hand this week.

The Hersey General Store burned early Monday morning. The building was a total loss. It was 139 years old and was the oldest operating General Store in the state of Michigan. It was one of the few buildings to survive a severe fire in the early 1900's.

Historically speaking, for the small village of Hersey, it has been a great loss. But the bigger loss has been the actual store in the here and now. Not just because we all liked to shop there, but because the owner is such a sweet and unique person. She's that rare person that sees the potential and doesn't seem to listen to the people who say "it won't work", or "you'll fail". All she sees is what might be if she tries.

It was about seven years ago when Jamie re-opened the store. It had been closed for at least two years by then. There wasn't much in Hersey at the time. There certainly wasn't anything that would make Hersey a destination that most people would visit on purpose.

The Hersey General Store under Jamie's ownership was so unique that people started to go out of their way just to see this unique little store they heard about from friends. It had a little of everything. There were, of course, the basic staple grocery items. But also ice cream, a deli counter (where you could get a fresh made sandwich that tasted like your grandma made it), gifts and home decor you could find anywhere else. There were fishing items and bait. Soda, chips and candy. But the thing that seemed to keep me coming back were the fresh baked goodies that Jamie's mom, Nancy, made. How could a cookie the size of a dinner plate be so soft at the edges and perfectly cooked in the center? And lets not forget those brownies. As someone who loves to bake, I can't even begin to come close to Nancy's wonderful brownies.

What I'm trying to say, is that the most recent incarnation of the Hersey General Store has been more than just a new owner opening the store. It was the catalyst that took a forgotten community to new heights. It reminded me, and I'm sure many others, that Hersey still has something to offer.

While the loss of the building is heartbreakingly tragic, there is still a future in Hersey and the community is pulling together to prove that now. With a bake sale next week, and a benefit planned for next month, the residents are making it known that we love Jamie and we love the General Store. We aren't going down without a fight.

Would you just look at this little boy?!? What happened? Isn't he still suppose to be my baby? He just looks too old to me in this picture.We were at Meet The Teacher night at Megan's preschool and Braden was completely enthralled with the toy kitchen. He kept trying to cook on the plates and mirowave the ketchup and mustard.

Now this picture is what I harvested from the garden on Sunday morning. We had more than enough fresh veggies for our cookout.
I would have liked for the carrots to be a little bit bigger, but considering the dry spell we have had, I was pleased to get so much. We are still eating leftovers. It's amazing how wonderful truly fresh food tastes.

Just because I think it's so beautiful, here is one of our morning glories that just started to bloom.
Actually they are some of the flowers Jade chose for the garden. Even from the house, that bright blue catches my eye first thing in the morning and makes me smile.

And last, but by no means least, the tomatoes are FINALLY starting to ripen.
I think I will be eating these two for lunch tomorrow.

Life Is Good

As I sit here writing I should be getting the house ready for the company I'm having tomorrow. Not that there is much to do, but I do need to tweak things a bit.

We are having some family and friends over tomorrow. It's the first gathering we've had this summer. I'm excited, even if getting ready is stressful. Family and friends are an important part of our lives. I can't imagine my life without them in it.

Sure, I dream of living in North Carolina, or anywhere else for that matter. I want to see new places and really experience what life is like in those places. At the same time, I love where I am because it keeps me closer to family and friends.

A couple years ago, all I could think was that I wanted a change. I wanted just go and leave this place with my family (Rob and the girls--Braden was not born yet). I could not see where I could have the things I wanted right where I am.

It's amazing how things can change in just a couple years time. I don't know what we would have done when Braden was born if we hadn't been as close as we are to our family and friends. I'm so thankful that with all the trauma that the girls were able to stay in their own home and Jade never had to miss school. They got to keep the security of home and routine.

I have my chickens, I'm getting bees and goats. We are talking about other elements that would make the life I long for. I have a husband who loves me and wants to make me happy. What more could a girl ask for? For the first time, my dreams don't hinge on my leaving. It feels go to be happy where I am.

I Want A Farm...NOW

It's so hard to be patient. I want my farm and I want it now. I want big beautiful gardens full of stuff to eat and sell. I want eggs, lots of yummy brown eggs to eat for breakfast. I want fresh, raw honey from my own back yard. I want two or three or ten milking goats. I want to make cheese, ice cream and soap. I want to be able to look out and see it all in reality the way I see it in my imagination.

Oh, and let's not forget bacon. I want bacon....and ham....and pork chops....and sausage. Yes, I've decided I want to raise some pigs. Then there's rabbits. Jade wants rabbits. And I say "why not?". If we have to build a barn for the goats, there's not reason we can't just build in room for rabbits too. And why not a beef cow too? We could really be nearly self sufficient.

Basically, I want it all and I want it now. But I can't have it now. I have something called a husband. I have to let him have a say in some of this too. Even though I am the one taking care of the animals, he has to build the housing and the fencing. He's also the one making the money at this point.

So for today I will content myself with the chickens and keep looking for beekeeping equipment. But one day in the future you will hear me say "I am a farmer!"

You call that a crow?

It's been down right chilly here lately. The house got down to 66 degrees last night. The last week or so of July was in the mid 80's, so I was really dreading the heat of August. It's odd for it to only be getting to the mid 70's at night. A friend's husband says we are going to have an early winter. I wonder if he is right. I hope not. At least I'll have my chickens.

Speaking of chickens, two of the three roosters are trying to crow now. Rocky (ameraucana) was the first. Poor guy sounds like he's choking on a bull frog. Now Cheif (Cochin) is trying. His sounds almost like a cackle and then ends with a canadian goose call. It's kind of pitiful. Anyone know how long it takes for them to sound like real roosters?

The garden is doing good. I've been getting enough beans to have them with dinner about every other day for the last week or so. We eat them up so fast that I'm not sure any are going to get canned. Meg likes to come out and eat them straight from the garden. The carrots should be ready by the end of the month and the lima beans too. I have lots of cherry tomatoes and they are still flowering. Some of them are nearing the size of golf balls. I didn't think they could get that big. At least they will be sauce worthy at that size. If only they would ripen. The corn is coming along good. I was a little worried since we planted late. But it looks like we will have around 30 ears off 12 plants. I don't know if that's good or not, but I'll take it.

I decided to plant some peas as a fall crop since my spring ones didn't make it. I don't know if they will come up or not. Rob found some old seeds (from 2000) when he was going through a box so I planted them all to see what happens. I'm not expecting anything really.

Ten Things I've Learned This Week.

1) Be sure the cute small green pepper your friend gave you from her garden isn't really a huge jalapeno BEFORE you put a chunk in your mouth.

2) My chickens are smart enough to go in out of the rain all on their own.

3) No matter how much I want it to happen, the kitchen will never clean itself.

4) Braden likes goats almost as much as I do.

5) I shouldn't pick black berries or dew berries while wearing shorts and sandals.

6) Leaving my daughter at summer camp for the first time was hardder than I expected.

7) If I water the garden, it will rain the next day.

8) My cat is afraid of my chickens.

9) My chickens aren't afraid of my cat.

10) If you have chickens loose in your backyard, be sure to always wear shoes.

The Camera Has Been Found

So here are some picture of the chickens in their coop as promised.













Just ingnore the debris around the coop. It's been removed now that they are coming out of their hosue. So far they don't seem to like wandering too far from the coop. Maybe I can get some pictures of them in the "great outdoors" tonight.