The icky's, fun pics and a book

It's been 9 days now that I have been sick. I'm not sure what the problem is, but I used to be a "good" sick person. "Good" meaning I wasn't a "high-maintenance" sicky! But something over the years have changed and I've noticed I have become a real pain in the butt when I'm sick! LOL I have a really bad case of PMS (Poor Me Syndrome). Chris is on the tail end of it and Maggie......I am always amazed at how quickly she bounces back from things. She had whatever this is for about 2 days and was done. And she never got it as bad as we did. But that's how she has always been. Knock on wood she can continue to have such a great immune system!
I've been taking my Cod Liver Oil, Acerola, Butter Oil and drinking homemade ginger ale. Fingers crossed it goes away sooner than later!

Because of getting sick the completion of the hen coop has been put on hold. Chris is hoping to get it done (including the electrical) on Monday when he is home.
The chickies had their 5wk birthday on Thursday. I can't believe we have had these little creatures that long already! And even more, I can't believe how BIG they have gotten!

My poor garden is being overtaken with weeds right now. I just don't have the energy to get out there and pull them. Chris has been wonderful to water for me before work in the mornings. Luckily for me I weeded very good right before I got sick, or it would have been worse.

The neighbor brought us a nice round, plump, orange pumpkin last night. I am looking forward to feeling better because I have been craving homemade pumpkin ravioli's! The pumpkin sits on my table....teasing my taste buds! I wonder if I could get a pie out of it too.....hhhmmmm. Can't wait to see!

We don't celebrate Halloween, but Maggie did go to the Harvest Festival last night. Every year Maggie has dressed up as Snow White. Without fail. We can not get her to change if it's to save our lives! The girl gets something stuck in her head and thats it. No changing.....ever!

Here she is last night:



And here she is her first year:


One thing I have been doing since I got sick is reading my new book The Backyard Homestead. I absolutely LOVE it. I really should have been named Backyard Homesteading for Dummies! I don't think it would be much help to someone who has been homesteading, but for a beginner this is like winning the lottery! It covers many subjects, but it doesn't overwhelm you with more than you need to know. If that makes sense.

For the homesteaders out there (if you are still reading!) what's your favorite book?

The Hen Palace

We finally got started on the chicken coop. After many drawings and discussions about what the coop was going to be like we went with the complete opposite of what we were going to do.

Originally the coop was going to sit at the top of my garden area. But we are getting new neighbors and aren't too sure how they will respond to having chickens right next to their bedroom window. So instead I will use that space to make my garden larger this coming Spring which excites me to no end! It's a rather large space and I figure I can do a lot of planting when the time comes!
We decided to move the coop to the opposite side of the house. Our neighbors on that side are awesome, and they are excited about getting fresh eggs so when we asked how they would feel about having the chickie-poopoo's on that side they were not worried about them being there at all.

I am a worrywart by nature when it comes to my pets. And to be completely honest I have been excited about this coop, but so fearful about my beloved girls getting hurt by a predator. We have a lot of mountain lions, coyotes and other creatures around here. In fact, Sunday we were looking out our front window only to see a very large coyote running thru the empty field infront of our house. Of course that made me go outside and take a count of our kitties who reside outside. Everyone was there! YEAY! So while we were outside planning where the coop would sit I started thinking about the predators and already stressing about them being outside. I would keep them in my master bathroom forever if I had to! While measuring and looking around the window in the garage on that side of the house made something click. Why can't we build a coop in the garage with the window being the entrance/exit for them. What a great way to keep them from danger at night when the creatures come out looking for prey! I said something to Chris and *boom* that was it.

Thankfully we have a large garage so it doesn't inconvenience us at all. The coop should be done tomorrow, then the inside will need to be done. It is WAY larger than it needs to be for 6 chickens. I figure it will give us room to grow if we want to. :)

Here is our work in progress!





And the girl having a blast in the coop


Excuse the mess. Those are our holiday decorations which will be stored underneath the coop.


The chicks have been getting treats here and there lately. They have had yogurt, mealworms and fresh greens. They are happy campers! I can't believe they are already 4.5 weeks old!
This has been such a great learning experience for Maggie. She is really into the chickens. She helps feed, water and clean their area. Surprisingly she still pets and holds them. I thought for sure now that they are bigger she would shy away from them, but so far so good. She is really enjoying them. So are her mama and daddy.

Homemade Tropical Muesli

Last night I threw together some homemade muesli for breakfast this morning. I didn't use a recipe, just threw stuff into a container and mixed it up. The main ingredient was Oats. I then cut up walnuts & pecans into halves, coconut, dried pineapple, dried papaya, dried apples, dried strawberries, raisins and cranberries added in wheat germ. The only thing I bought for it when I was out was the papaya and pineapple. I soaked it in milk overnight in the fridge. Couldn't wait until it was time for breakfast. I poured the milk it soaked in along with the muesli into a pan and warmed it up! It was really yummy! Here are some pictures......

cutting up ingredients:


soaking in milk ready to go in fridge for the night:


Cooked.....ready to eat!


My belly is full and content! Try it. It's economical, its nutritious. Use what you already have in your pantry!

If you make it, what do you put in yours?

Monday, Birthday,Cool Weather and Other Stuff

Happy Monday everyone! I don't know what it's like where you are but the weather here is cool, crisp and so clean. We are suppose to get a good rain storm tomorrow and I am SO looking forward to it! I have my fig candles lit, the house smells absolutely delicious. A small fire in the wood stove. This is my kind of day! I feel energized and ready to take on the world!

Today is a special day. Today is Chris' 40th Birthday. I remember back 2 years ago when he relentlessly teased me about turning 40. I have spared him the same in return. I think turning 40 is a wonderful experience. I can honestly say that I have changed and have really started to figure out who I am and what I really want in the last few years. 40 is something to look forward to, not fear! One memory I have of one of my aunts was sitting in her apartment with my parents and she was just beside herself because she was turning 40. I had that in my mind for years and thought 40 was the end of the world. LOL It's not the end.
I just want to quickly say Happy Birthday to my BEST friend. I love you lots!

It's also Thanksgiving in Canada! So Happy Thanksgiving to you all! Have a blessed day!

On today's agenda I am cleaning my pantry, rearranging my pot/pan cupboards, cleaning the dogs crates, working on the chicken coop with Chris,(the cluckers are restless in the master bathroom and need their own space), weed the garden, make some homemade chicken noodle soup and starting my meal planning for the next 2 weeks.
Maggie and I are also making an apple pie for Chris' birthday. Maggie isn't too happy about it. She was bound and determined to make daddy a watermelon cake with lemon juice. And once she gets something in her sweet little head it's near impossible to get it out. Some say she gets that from me. But I deny it. ;)

I've been kickin' around on the 'net searching out for more good blogs to read. I found a few I would like to share with you.

The first I would like to talk about is From Seed to Table
Michelle is a California gardner who has a very inspiring garden. I love all the photographs of not only her garden but of her harvest too! I kinda doubt that my garden will ever be like hers, but it's nice to have such inspiration right at my fingertips!

The second one is The Tie That Binds Us Brenda is a homeschooling mama to 5. I found her by doing a search on chickens. I clicked the link and found the taj mahal of chicken coops. Luckily for Chris I saw the pictures AFTER our coop got started! She has some great downloads too, so go check her out!

The third one I can say I have literally spent HOURS on. I am hoping when she looks at her status of readers and sees how much time I have spent on her blog she doesn't think I'm a stalker! LOL
Rhonda Jean at Down To Earth is who I want to be when I grow up! LOL She and her husband live in Queensland, Australia. She has everything I could ever want to read right on her blog. One stop blogging! Everything from budgeting to gardening to stockpiling to canning to some of the best recipes I have ever read. I copied a bunch of recipes and can't wait to try some of her bread, lemon butter and orange coconut cake. She would be the perfect mother-in-law, aunt, close relative! LOL

Stop by these blogs, I think you will really enjoy them all!

Maggie and I are now going to sit down and enjoy our hot pot of tea!

Have a blessed day!

S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G and Reading

We have a got the spelling and reading bug in our house! I can not tell you how many times a day I hear "Mom, how do I spell _______". And, it's not only limited to the house, it's been a really fun thing while driving. She sees something and wants to know. It's a great way to pass the time while driving from Point A to Point B. Especially since we live a small driving distance to get anywhere around where we live.

I wanted to make sure that not only was she learning how to spell words, but I want her to be able to recognize them when written down. I thought the easiest way to do that was to get 3x5 cards and write a word on each card. Only problem is, the girl can't read yet so that wasn't enough. So on color words I wrote the word in the color it is. Example: RED is written in red. I am not a great drawer, ok, who am I kidding.....I STINK at drawing! But I did my best and tried to draw a picture, for instance, SUN has a sun drawn next to it. I have the cards hanging on the kitchen door. She passes by the door often and sits next to it when at the kitchen table.

So far this really seems to be helping! She is having a blast. We are on our first week of doing this. We have 7 words that we are working on. As she starts to get a word down I will move the card up higher on the door and rotate a new one in.

I am also starting Lesson Pathways K Reading and Phonics. Along with her interest in spelling she is also dying to read. LP has a really great pathway broken down very simply for me to help Maggie. I'm so thankful that rhyming is on the first day. I have had such a difficult time explaining rhyming in a way she gets. She always yells out "hey mom! I rhymed! RED and RED" or something similar. I try to explain it but she hasn't quite grasped it yet. So I hope that the pathway helps me help her!

Anyone have any good suggestions on how you taught your child/ren how to read? I am up for any advice! I really want Maggie to have a love for reading. Anything I can do to help that I am up for!!