Earthy Crunchy

autumn ritual

Every autumn, about this time we move our chickens to their winter home.   It's a ritual that marks the true beginning of the season for us.  And it's the time we put our garden to bed until next year.

It's quite the job.  We have to move their house and make it winter proof.   We put up the temporary fence and I worry about them for a few days until they feel safe in their new environment.  The first morning after the move, they somehow got out of the temporary fence and huddled together outside the gate to their summer home.   They're creatures of habit.  So, once again, we captured them one by one and put them back in the garden.

In the garden, they'll have the morning sun.  We will also be able to watch them from our living room during the day.  I find great comfort in watching my hens breaking down the garden for next year.  They truly work for their keep. 

I know any day now, they'll find all the aphids on our broccoli and gobble them up.

halloween!

Good morning!

Well, another Halloween is gone and past.  When Eli woke up this morning he asked if he could have Halloween again today.  Dear sweet boy!  Even though I like the holiday, I think we should move on to Thanksgiving and such.  Thanksgiving is one of my faves!  I love the warmth and togetherness but I also love the challenge of getting a whole lot of food made in about the same time.  It's the challenge that I love.  So, on to Thanksgiving and hopefully the first snow of the season!

But, yesterday was quite the adventure.  All of the costumes came together without too much effort.  Solomon was a ghost.  Just the good old sheet torn and sewn in spots with extra pieces here and there.  Simple and good.  Amelia decided to be a character from Naruto, a Japanese manga series and also a Japanese subtitled anime.  I'm not sure I know what character she was because I don't understand Japanese (!).  But, she looked great and enjoyed her costume.  Eli was an alligator or dragon.  It depended on the moment you asked him.  His first costume, a skeleton, was washed and the glow in the dark paint stuck together quite nicely.  We threw it away.  Thank goodness we had a back-up plan!

Pumpkin carving.  Always a good time.   I especially enjoy watching Dad do it with the kids while I take pictures! : )  He's patient and a natural artist.  It's a good fit.

Right after these pictures were taken, Solomon was inside and got stung by a wasp (he has a history of wasp induced hospital visits).  I spent the next 3 hours in the emergency room with my boy being pumped with fluids, steroids and other things.  Luckily we still made it home in time for trick-or-treating.  We were taken care of very well by everyone at the hospital and Solomon's pale face fit in grandly with his ghost costume.  But darn! We could have done without that!

Yesterday we also pulled up the rest of our beets in anticipation of moving our chickens over to the garden.  It was a full day. 

And some housekeepng notes.  I downgraded my typepad account so, you'll notice my blog looks different.  I may keep it like this for a while.  Who knows?!  

Happy November!

a home

Everyone needs a home. 

This little one made its home in an apple we brought home from Apple Hill.  I don't think this little carterpillar likes taking a bath and decided to high tail it out of there.

Someone else likes our apples too.  It's the mouse that's made its home in our garage, right along with the caterpillar.  I don't blame it.  After all, there's free bags of apples just sitting around to munch on.  He (or she most likely) only has to worry about the occasional human or dog to cramp its style.  That's where I come into the story.

I like apples too.  In fact, I like making apple sauce from them.  You know, especially those caterpillary (Is that even a word??) ones I can't make into pie.

As I write this, the carterpillar is meeting its fate in the chicken yard along with all the other apple peelings.  Good luck little guy.  Now, I have to go talk to the mouse and give her the bad news.  There's only room for one apple loving family in this home and she'll need to pack up her things and move on.

P.S.  Thank you for all the wonderful birthday wishes! : )

honey do

My honey finally did it.  This fence and gate have been on my list for a few years now.  He's slowly over the past few months made our gate which we've loved.  Then, he's added the split rail fence a little at a time.  Last weekend he finished it up.  It looks so much nicer than the temporary fence we had there.

 

Now my chickens are safe from our chicken happy dog who before could just dig right under the flimsy temporary fence.  He now sits watching them all day long waiting for someone to leave the door open so that he can chase them around and eat their droppings.  It's great fun for the dog.  Not so much for the chickens.  But, over the past few months they've gotten more used to each other.

 

Next year, the morning glories will be so beautiful on the fence.  I can't wait to hide our little junk/chicken yard next year.

 

Happy chickens.  Happy Mama.  Thanks honey!

weekend stuff

How did the weekend fly by so quickly?  

I knew THIS weekend would be THAT weekend that I could finally get caught up on all those small projects that are waiting in piles for me. Then, here we are.....it's Sunday and not much to show for it.  I'm just so tired and want to take a nap on some fluffy cloud somewhere!  It must be that little Zephyr that's been waking me up at 5:30 every morning?!  Or maybe, just maybe it's my hen that thinks she's a rooster and does her little half cock-a-doodle-doo at 5:24 am.  It sounds just like a crow but it's missing the "doodle doo"part.  I can hear her out there warming up her voice and I know it's coming.  The only thing that will keep her quiet is the compost scraps I stumble to bring her still in my pajamas.  My little animals have me trained, I tell you!

But this weekend we did have a little adventure at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola.  Jonathan put the swamp cooler in and I finished my first week of training for a 5K this summer.  I guess there's one good thing about waking up early.  I get going on my morning run!

 

 

 

 

I hope you had a nice weekend!?

life according to zephyr

The dreaded thistle.  It's amazingly complex and colorful yet spiky and invasive.  I saw this thistle on our walk the other day and couldn't pass it by without taking it's picture.  Then I thought, "who wants to see a picture of a thistle?!"   You have to admit that thistles are darn amazing.

This picture was taken on the same walk at the Sparks Marina with Zephyr.  He's going to have so much fun in the mountains this summer!

Zephyr has been seriously monopolizing our time.  He's such a fun little soul to have around the house though.  I have to admit that the dog world was totally off my radar.  Now, I have to think about life according to Zephyr.

Life according to Zephyr is always checking on the chickens as soon as we go outside!  He just stares at them waiting for me to to let him in.  He's been very nice to the chickens but he wants very badly to play with them.  The first time he saw them,  his whole body shook because he was so scared.  He's used to them now and has found that chicken poop is delicious!  Oh, that totally grosses me out!

Zephyr loves flip flops : )  He knows his name now and we've taught him how to fetch a toy.  Who knew that dogs have to be taught how to fetch?  Zephyr likes to hang out in the garden and help us water.  He's only barked a few times but other than that, he's really a quiet little guy.

Wishing you a relaxing and fun weekend! 

broody

One of my hens has the rest of the girls in an uproar.

She's been brooding.  It got me thinking about the meaning of the word.  First off, the word brood:  to hover over and protect, to sit on or hatch, all the children in a family, to keep thinking about something in a distressed or troubled way, to hover or loom, hang low.  It's curious to me how so many words about human motherhood are rooted in the behavior of birds...or chickens.

Mother Hen

Nesting

Brood, Brooding, Broody.

My one hen has a serious case of mothering instinct running through her veins.  She's staying in the hen house, protecting her clutch of nothing.   She's literally sitting on nothing mostly.  Unless she happens to find an egg or two that one of the other hens has laid.  We don't even have a rooster.  But she sits and sits on nothing or close to nothing all day long!  If she only knew that there are some nice eggs in the next box.  I've learned that while brooding, they don't lay eggs or defecate in the box.  They'll come off the eggs once a day to relieve themselves, eat and drink.

It's a strong instinct.  Yeah, I knew that.

See the red in her eyes?  When I open the hen house, she growls and fluffs up her feathers.  I know how you feel sister!  If some messes with my kids, I get pretty mad too!

Much to her befuddlement, I remove her from the box a few times a day.  For which she runs around fluffing her feathers acting defensive!   I'm trying to break her from acting broody.  If that's even possible  Although, I appreciate her instinct being there.  My other hens (she's a Salmon Faverolle, a heritage breed that is listed as critical on the American Livestock Breed Conservancy endangered list. and known to be broody) don't give a darn about their eggs.  I wish we lived on a farm,  had a rooster and could raise some chicks.  Until then, I want her to get out for water, food and fresh air!

I've been watching my hens a lot lately.  I watch my broody girl interacting with the other hens.  This morning, one of the Wyandottes pecked at her and she immediately gave her a peck right back.  I imagine the short interaction in human terms.  Because, I have times ( like once a month?!) when I'm sure I'm NOT being hormonal : ) 

It went something like this....

One hen says, "You're being SO emotional, You're totally blowing this out of proportion!!" (peck broody girl on the head)

Broody girl responds, "I am NOT, Hmmph!" (peck back and walk away)

I learn so much from my chickens.  We're really not so different.

For further similarities I have with chickens, you can read this post I wrote just about a  year ago.

the red hen

We lost our friend Jasmine on Monday. She was the leader of the bunch.  If she found the back door open, she was always the first to sneak into the kitchen to find crumbs on the floor. 

 (2007 Jasmine, second from left)

This time of year, I transfer the chickens over to their summer home on the west side of the house where they can have morning shade. While working on a permanent split rail fence for their yard,  they've gotten the run of the place.  They love to run up and down the hill pecking, scratching and dusting themselves in the dirt.  Jasmine and the other girls love this time of year because they can be so free!

(Jasmine, far left, last week)

It was the sad to lose our first chicken. 

One day I noticed she was hanging by the back door with eyes closed.  Over the next couple of days, we kept an eye on her.  She gradually went downhill.  Not wanting to move or eat.  She stayed in the shaded coop or walked slowly to sit by herself under the trampoline .  The kids and I tried our best to offer her special food and love.

I took her to the vet on Monday.  The kids and I sat under the tree with her while we waited to see the doctor.  She stood on the grass as we offered her worms the kids found.  She wasn't even interested in worms!  The doctor said she was very skinny and her abdomen was really bloated.  This is the hen I was concerned about earlier for laying soft shelled eggs.  Even though I tried everything to remedy it.

We left the kids in the waiting room while I took Jasmine in the back to talk to the doctor.  As we were standing there, Jasmine starting seizing.  It was awful.  I asked the vet to put her down while I took the kids outside so they wouldn't hear her. 

It may sound crazy but the other girls were looking for her the next morning.  We all miss you Jasmine!

this moment

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. Inspired by Amanda. 

the light is coming back

My chickens told me so.

 

When I looked in the chicken coop yesterday, I found this stunning green and speckled egg.  It's from one of our Americana hens who hasn't laid since the fall, when she molted.  It was a happy surprise!

Proof here, the light is really coming back!

If you like Lisa Leonard Designs, A Journey to a Simple Happy Life is having a give-away!