Peculiar Ambitions~

Alton and His Friends

2012-02-14T11:30:00.000-08:00

Our yard rabbit, Alton Brown, loves his chickens.

When we let the hens out to run and play,
he gets very excited and runs in circles around them.

Eve compiled this cute and hilarious short video of him and his friends.

Song credit~ "Life's a Happy Song" The Muppets (Original Soundtrack) 2011 Walt Disney Records

TUTORIAL~ Toilet Paper Tube Flower (By Eve)

2012-02-13T11:42:00.000-08:00

I am one of those people (of many) who spend WAY too much time playing around in all the amazing craft ideas on Pinterest. I once came across a picture of a "Toilet Paper Tube Flower" and decided to put together this little recreation for you. Inspired by Corabelle. Found via Pinterest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Supplies:

~A Grand Collection of Empty Toilet Paper Tubes (11 for one large flower)

~Hot Glue Gun

~Paper Cutter (Or Scissors, Ruler and Pencil)

~One Or Two Wonderfully Helpful Cats to Keep You Company

The whole process overall doesn't take too long. The first thing you're going to want to do is plug in your good ol' hot glue gun. The hot glue works very well for this project, it hold together well and you don't half to wait for any drying. You just have to spend some time removing the "spider webs"(as I call them).

First, (if this hasn't already been done) give the toilet paper tube a nice flattening.

Cut the (4 inch) tube into three 1 1/2 inch pieces.

Ezmaralda approves.

Cut those pieces in half again (to 3/4 inch pieces). This just so happens to be the length of the metal strip on the paper cutter, which came in handy. If you are using a scissors and ruler, just mark off every 3/4 inch with a pencil and just hack the thing up in one step.

You can make a whole pile of these (it takes 11 tubes to make the largest flower), or cut as you go.

Place a dab of glue on the side, a bit down from the "point" of the tube (see pic) and stick two together.

I call this the "double petal" shape. You will be using it a lot.

Keep connecting petals until you have a flower of eight.

This is your first layer flower! This is a pretty nice flower in itself. You can use smaller ones like this instead of (or with) the larger ones. They're a lot of fun.

For the next layer, use single petals all around. Put glue on both sides of the petal instead of just one.

And stick between the petals of the last row! All the way around.

Ez and Precious supervised.

I must have been doing a satisfactory job, because they didn't give me too much trouble.

THE SECOND ROW COMPLETE!

Now take a "double petal" and put glue on three sides.

And stick in the space between the last petal row.

THIRD ROW DONE!

For the FINAL ROW take some more "double petals"

and put both in between the last row petals, and the spaces in between.

Almost there...

Here it is!

Hang it up with simply a thumb tack or add a string a hang it from the ceiling (or in a window!).

Hope you have fun making and enjoying these!

Alton and his chickens...

2012-01-28T09:19:00.000-08:00

Last spring we decided to let our rabbits go free. They were pitiful in their hutch, and not being snuggly love bunnies, we could not find them a home where they would not be harvested for their meat or hide.

So we decided to let them live their life feral and free...
Coriander (not shown here) made it a few months and disappeared. Either he wandered so far he did not find his way back, or nature got him.
Alton, on the other hand, snuggled right in by digging a comfortable tunnel in the barn... and spent most of his days by the compost pile, munching away....

Then he found the chickens...

He now lives with them, in their fenced area that we move around.

He eats their food and sleeps in their tree with them.

When I call the hens for snacks, he comes running right along with them, and I have seen him playing run-in-circles with one of the young hens, where they take turns running in circles around one another.

It's so odd.

We love you, Alton Brown.

Peculiar Snow at Peculiar Ambitions~

2012-01-27T08:10:00.000-08:00

Rooster, chicken and dog prints on the deck stairs...

It's been a weird few weeks. Not that there are ever any normal weeks here...
Last week we had some snow! Personally, I am not a fan of the white stuff. Moving from PA to the Pacific Northwest was a nice change for me. In PA we got s.n.o.w... cold stuff that stuck around for months. Here, it snows and is pretty much gone in a few days.

Last week the snow dabbled around a bit for a few days, then wham! We woke on Wed. to 9 inches!
We live in a pocket between mountain ranges in the north part of Clark County, WA. Vancouver (south of us) had a wee bit of not much, but we were STUCK. Trees and poles down over the roads and NO ELECTRIC. Now I am a country girl for sure, but NOT a pioneer. I like my modern conveniences.... plus we are on a well, so no electric= no running water. bah!

Here are some shots of our days, which were spent frolicking in the snow, knitting and managing around the no electricity thing.... and a few of life before the storm.

Life as it is...

(click any image to view a larger version)

Snow fall and the pond...

Across the orchard...

Snow dog eating snowman's (named Baxter) arm.

Cold chicken snuggles.

Purple hair Ann...

This is a week or so before the snow storm, the sun was shining through large rain drops on the pond.

It looked like fairy lights!

Eve was digging up 2 kajillion iris bulbs from the old, old flower bed next to the house.

As she unearthed them, worms popped out.

Ro the hen was right there the entire time and manically grabbed the worms as they showed.

Spoiled chicken.

This is Roger, our new dude. He is so handsome (sigh).

Named after the rooster in Disney's Robin Hood. (voiced by country singer Roger Miller)

You can watch him sing here.

This is our reigning dude, Salatin.

Named after farm guru Joel Salatin (Paul is a huge fan)

This is what happens each time I go outside.

Because I am the bringer of the cookies. The Scooby snacks.

I love this, that they come running.

If I cannot have dancers like Lady Gaga,

then I will settle for a flock of chickens following me around.

~ Reenie

Putting it Out There...

2012-01-13T13:36:00.000-08:00

It's time. Time to put it "Out There." (gulp!)
Anyone who knows us has heard us talk and talk about our "dream farm".
A magical place where we can all gather and learn and grow and push each other out of our boxes.
Paul and I have talked about this since we met, over 17(?!) years ago... a dream a long time in the making and planning, and here we are! (we moved here in Oct. 2010 and have been cleaning up and planning ever since!)
This is the year it will begin to come together, and you have the opportunity to WATCH, right here, on this special blog. The barn has plans to be renovated (oh my, what a project!) into a classroom/studio space. It is very excited about this. (grin)

Once that is going, the class/ workshop schedule will start falling into place. In the meantime, watch for an online shop (coming soon!) and the beginnings of a cidery/winery! (I know, YUM).

view of our very old (almost 100 yrs!) orchard...

I recently enrolled in a very special online course, designed to take a new approach to running a business.

Called Hello Soul, Hello Business!
This class came at the exact perfect time.
Here is my class intro post, which sums it all up perfectly...

Hello!
My name is Reenie and I am SO excited to be part of this amazing experience! I gotta say, I am equally excited and scared…
BUT– it all goes together… like a roller coaster ride! If it isn’t scary, what’s the point?
Anyway— I am a mom, artist, designer, knitter, art journaler, painter, beekeeper, chicken lady and a crazy person!
We (me, my two girls and my man) live on our dream farm in Battle Ground, WA, just a bit north of Portland, OR.
This past year I closed my online yarn shop/boutique (MaterialWhirled) that I ran from home for over six years… a really hard decision to end my store and go for some important lifestyle changes.
THIS year is the start of our family dream… our dream farm, a place to hold classes and retreats and workshops and events and a winery and store and, and….?
We are so very excited about it all and this class came at the exact perfect time, right smack in the middle of the transition and decision making stages.
YAY for divine guidance, eh>? Providing just what we need at the exact time we need it…

That said, please come visit my blogs… there are two, one for my personal antics and one for our FARM, called “Peculiar Ambitions”.
Links below…
I really, truly look forward to meeting everyone and being a part of this very important revolution.
Anyone local to me? Find me please… would love to put faces to names…
Reenie Hanlin
Me~ http://www.ReenieHanlin.com
Facebook~ http://www.facebook.com/ReenieHanlin
Farm blog~ http://www.PeculiarAmbitions.com

our greenhouse

Well, now it's "out there", for all to know our intentions and dreams... this post was written with a lot of tears and "oh, crap", here we go! READY?????

Come join the FUN (RSS link on the right) and follow our antics through this exciting time!

We are so excited to meet you and to share our magical place with you~!

Reenie, Paul, Eve and Ann (and the dogs, cats, chickens and rabbit).

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

2012-01-08T10:09:00.000-08:00

Paul came across this Dr. Seuss book this the other day... and the words hit the nail on the head for us right now... wanted to preserve them here and share them with YOU.

(looking out of our caves here at Peculiar Ambitions)

Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss

Congratulations!

Today is your day.

You're off to Great Places!

You're off and away!

You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself

any direction you choose.

You're on your own. And you know what you know.

And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.

About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."

With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,

you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.

And you may not find any

you'll want to go down.

In that case, of course,

you'll head straight out of town.

It's opener there

in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen

and frequently do

to people as brainy

and footsy as you.

And then things start to happen,

don't worry. Don't stew.

Just go right along.

You'll start happening too.

OH!

THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

You'll be on your way up!

You'll be seeing great sights!

You'll join the high fliers

who soar to high heights.

You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed.

You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.

Wherever you fly, you'll be best of the best.

Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don't.

Because, sometimes, you won't.

I'm sorry to say so

but, sadly, it's true

that Bang-ups

and Hang-ups

can happen to you.

You can get all hung up

in a prickle-ly perch.

And your gang will fly on.

You'll be left in a Lurch.

You'll come down from the Lurch

with an unpleasant bump.

And the chances are, then,

that you'll be in a Slump.

And when you're in a Slump,

you're not in for much fun.

Un-slumping yourself

is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.

Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked.

A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin!

Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?

How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And IF you go in, should you turn left or right...

or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?

Or go around back and sneak in from behind?

Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find,

for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused

that you'll start in to race

down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace

and grind on for miles cross weirdish wild space,

headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.

The Waiting Place...

...for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go

or a bus to come, or a plane to go

or the mail to come, or the rain to go

or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow

or the waiting around for a Yes or No

or waiting for their hair to grow.

Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite

or waiting for the wind to fly a kite

or waiting around for Friday night

or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake

or a pot to boil, or a Better Break

or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants

or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.

Everyone is just waiting.

NO!

That's not for you!

Somehow you'll escape

all that waiting and staying

You'll find the bright places

where Boom Bands are playing.

With banner flip-flapping,

once more you'll ride high!

Ready for anything under the sky.

Ready because you're that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!

There are points to be scored. There are games to be won.

And the magical things you can do with that ball

will make you the winning-est winner of all.

Fame! You'll be as famous as famous can be,

with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don't

Because, sometimes they won't.

I'm afraid that some times

you'll play lonely games too.

Games you can't win

'cause you'll play against you.

All Alone!

Whether you like it or not,

Alone will be something

you'll be quite a lot.

And when you're alone, there's a very good chance

you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.

There are some, down the road between hither and yon,

that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.

But on you will go

though the weather be foul.

On you will go

though your enemies prowl.

On you will go

though the Hakken-Kraks howl.

Onward up many

a frightening creek,

though your arms may get sore

and your sneakers may leak.

On and on you will hike,

And I know you'll hike far

and face up to your problems

whatever they are.

You'll get mixed up, of course,

as you already know.

You'll get mixed up

with many strange birds as you go.

So be sure when you step.

Step with care and great tact

and remember that Life's

a Great Balancing Act.

Just never foget to be dexterous and deft.

And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?

Yes! You will, indeed!

(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So...

be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray

or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,

You're off the Great Places!

Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting.

So...get on your way!

*** The above text was copyrighted in 1990 . The complete book which has great pictures to accompany the text is published by Random House and can be purchase at any bookstore. Amazon Link

The Seussical sky at dawn here at Peculiar Ambitions...

(cross posted on my personal blog... )

Chicken Coop Bunting~

2012-01-03T11:35:00.000-08:00

You all know how crazy I am about my chickens...

Like I am about my cats.

Walking that crazy cat lady edge, and of course the crazy chicken lady edge as well...

Yesterday I added a bunting to the coop.

Inspired by Soulemama and the exquisite dottie angel.

One across the front~

One across the back...

Roger and Pearl approve...

Cross posted on my personal blog ReenieHanlin.com ~

Winter Solstice~

2011-12-21T11:21:00.001-08:00

Nature does not seem to care that today is the darkest day of the year...

well not this morning anyway... by late afternoon it will be dark.

It is glowing and beautiful here, the sun is knitting it's way across the top of our mountain, barely peeking over, and shining magically through the misty tree tops.

I took a walk alone this morning, something I rarely do alone... and had to take photos so I could share what I saw with you.

After tonight the days will start to be longer. A renewal. And a great metaphor for where I am right now...

I have been stuck. Becoming unstuck is sometimes painful, but necessary. Yay for transitions... and Yay for ruts. It's all about the journey, after all... and I plan to savor each step of it.

"It may be when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work, and that when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey." Wendell Berry

Yay for being stuck,... and Yay for our painful transitions...

It's all about the journey, after all... and I want to savor each step of it.

around the orchard...

down the lane...

to the front of the house, where my chicken babies are living right now... they come running towards me, I tell myself it's because they love me, but really they just want snacks.

around the house...

to the pond...

reflection in the water, off the slippery, slimy deck...

behind the pond to the tree line at the base of the mountain...

and inside my favorite giant cedar tree...

where I thought about taking a nap, but its damp and mossy in there!

Great place to put a hammock... hmmm...

Have a magical solstice, love to all.

Loving Life

2011-12-13T09:35:00.001-08:00

Things have been quiet on the blog, but not in life.
We lost a dear friend to Melanoma last week, which just... well, it just sucks.
Life lesson is that life is short. and beautiful. even when it hurts.
That's all I have to say.

I leave you with some photos of life these past few weeks...

Making things sparkle with Jackie Sparkles...

Semi-frozen pond... pretty but. brrrrr (ugh).

Twig star...

Latest Hats~ Zoe's Thorpe hat and Ann's Earflap Hat from handspun~

Maureen is molting. She looks horrific and it's cold. Silly chicken.

Measuring the tree height. Tall man ruler.

Hauling to the tree shaker... where they shake out the critters and dead stuff.

MOM! Stop taking my picture!

Mamma likes the barn siding on the tree farm.

Take note for OUR barn/studio renovation coming this spring.

Tree on car!

The tree is still in the barn, in it's stand, still bound,

waiting for us to dig a hole so it can come inside... perhaps today?

Happy Chickens~

2011-12-01T10:59:00.001-08:00

I love my chickens.
It may even be the beginning of a sickness.
Always had bird-ick-itis... but I am enjoying them as much as I do my cats. (gasp! I know, right?!)
I have even been considering making them some accessories and outfits, but have managed to keep that obsession at bay... for now (grin).

Today we adopt 14 new hens and a second rooster. No pics of them yet, they have not arrived, but here are some portraits of my ladies and dude, taken by Eve & Ann. (will take pics of the new angels once they adapt).

(click images to see larger versions)

One of my favorite photos. See the white bunny? That is Alton, he has a tunnel-home he dug in the barn where he sleeps at night. He spends his days hanging out in the clover patch or with the chickens.

I love this shot because it shows how our animals all co-exist peacefully (not typical, I know).

Stella considers them her pack and protects them.

Alton and her play chase frequently, but she never tries to catch him, she only gives him licks.

See how Salatin is checking the bunny out to make sure he is not danger? They are probably talking about the dog.

This is Salatin, the current reigning dude.

One of the pretty Rhode Island ladies posing for Eve on the deck.

Cheese!

Any day I am home I let them loose from their "area"...

They then entertain the cats and myself on the deck. We call it Chicken TV.

Here is one of the Rhode Islands when they were younger, playing "Chicken of the World".

Bambi, the broody mamma, when she was sitting on Pippin's egg. Here she is all puffed up in warning. I love the chirpy sound they make when they are broody. Feisty!

Here comes Pippin! It takes about 24 hours for a chick to work it's way out.

It's important they do it themselves... makes them stronger.

Hello beautiful! Welcome to the world.

Pippin is now about 3+ months old, and so far is looking like a GIRL! and looks to be pure Rhode Island, so Bambi was her adopted mother, not her biological mother. Love that.

Bambi sat on three eggs, so not all of them were necessarily laid by her.

Bambi is a Buff Orphington, the rooster is a Rhode Island Red.

Mamma and Pippin hanging out in the nesting boxes.

Ladies all in a row, laying their magical eggs.

An egg photo... the greenish blue eggs are laid by our Ameracauna hens.

One of our Ameracauna ladies.. they are so pretty, and comical.

They remind me of Muppets. Plus they lay the green eggs!

Fluffy Ameracauna butt.

This is Agatha, our granny hen. She came to us from a friend, and I don't think she lays anymore, but she is harmless and healthy and occasionally gives Salatin some happy-time, so she is welcome to stay as long as she needs...

Meet Maureen. I named her after myself because she is chubby and the first to come running for snacks. She looks mad here, probably because there were no snacks.

Posing ladies on the deck.

Freed ladies scratching in the flower beds for bugs and worms.

Is that enough Chicken info for today?

xo Reenie

Turkey Soup!

2011-11-28T13:03:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I used the turkey remains to make a big batch of soup. With homemade egg noodles!
It turned out so delicious I wanted to share.

Here is a rough recipe... since everyone has different ingredients and different sized turkeys... plus I don't cook in measurements, I go more with my instincts, like my art!

Pick all remaining meat from the turkey bones and set aside.
Add the carcass to a large pot and cover with water. Our turkey was 21 lb. so I used a pretty large stock pot. I added two large onions (roughly chopped) and about 6 carrots (big pieces are easier to fish out later), as well as salt, pepper and some garlic powder.
Bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer and let it go for and hour or two, depending on how big your turkey is. I simmered it for almost two hours (probably more, I didn't time).

Remove the solids (I used a colander) and return the broth to the pot.
In a cast iron pan, sauté two onions in a blop or two of olive oil. If it seems too dry add some of the broth to keep it from burning. When the onions are clear, add 6-8 minced garlic cloves and seasonings (I used dried parsley, oregano and black pepper). Once all hot and mixed together well, add to the broth. Sautéing the onions and garlic give them a different flavor than boiling them in the soup.... more savory I think.

Slice carrots and add to the broth and bring to a boil to soften. Use your instincts as to how many carrots, depending on how much broth you have. I think I used 10-12 skinny carrots.

When carrots are soft, it's time to make your noodles!

I used this recipe, and it took four batches for my soup. Since I did not have any tiny cookie cutters (on the list to buy), I used the top of a glass bottle to cut mine out. But I really like the idea of making stars or hearts so I am definitely getting some cutters....

Add noodles to the broth, making sure it is at a rolling boil. If they are thin and smaller they only take about 10 minutes to cook. Once the noodles were in for a while I added the remaining shredded turkey meat (since it was already cooked it only needed heated, adding too soon makes it chewy and overcooked) and chard ribbons (chard cut into long pieces). The chard only takes a a few minutes to cook, so add them last.

SO good! Plus plenty to share with the friends and neighbors.

Add a crunchy salad and some homemake bread and enjoy!

Thankful (by Paul)

2011-11-24T17:08:00.001-08:00

Today we forgot celery for the stuffing. Big problem right?

It's a tradition to have Reenie's grandma's stuffing recipe and it "needs" celery!

I know you're probably wondering how this relates to being thankful and I'm glad you asked. :)

Here's how...

Ann was riding with me to the store (because we forgot celery) and the local radio station has already started playing Christmas carols. She said, "Wow I can't believe summer's over already". Of course I did the old Dad thing and said, "The older you get the faster time goes". I started thinking about that on the drive and listened to her singing Christmas songs with the radio and I let myself slow down and be thankful (because today is the day to do that)...

...and I also thought of the eulogy in the link below and Steve Jobs last words. I don't know if you're a Steve Jobs fan or not or believe in what he did or if you're an Apple fan or not and I really don't care...for once let all of that go. In all fairness you have to admit the man was amazing. We all have our faults.

My point is, I don't necessarily consider Thanksgiving my favorite holiday...I am more enthralled by New Year's and celebrating new beginnings, reflecting on lessons learned and looking forward to a fresh start....but today (this is also due to a very sick friend battling hard against cancer) Thanksgiving struck much deeper....

I want to be thankful and happy with where I am and what I have.

I want to be thankful we forgot the celery and I had that time to spend with my beautiful, healthy daughter.

I want to be thankful that I had a place to go to buy celery and that there was a store stocked with organic celery.

I want to always remember to be thankful and look at everything with the last words that Steve Jobs said...you have to read it (you have to read the eulogy to get his last words). You'll get it.

A Sister's Eulogy for Steve Jobs... (link)

Mason Jar Bird Feeder~

2011-11-16T17:27:00.001-08:00

Hello!

Today we spent some time poking around our local farmstore, one of my favorite places!

We came across some chicken feeders that fit on a mason jar!!!

So I bought one and we rigged a bird feeder for our deck.

The base is a repurposed cement succulent planter...

(I cannot seem to keep succulents alive...shhh)

The feeder fit inside perfectly...

We attached a 2 quart mason jar...

...and gave it a pie tin hat!

It is on the deck, filled with sunflower seeds, waiting for the birdies to arrive...

Still in test mode, if the pie tin keeps the rain out of the base, I will epoxy it to the base of the jar.

LOVE the way it looks on the deck!

So far, no birds, and the sun is going down...

Tomorrow we will try to get pics of it with the birds.

Morning Gratitude Walks~

2011-11-07T11:37:00.000-08:00

One of our favorite things to do as a couple is walk around our farm.

We call them our "Gratitude Walks". We follow the rhythm of the seasons, noting changes and discussing plans for future events and modifications....we love to plan.

Yesterday morning I came across this lacy, lovely, dewey beauty.

Reflections...

Misty orchard as seen from the forest edge.

Our house waking up...

I am so very thankful for this man and for my girls, and for my lovely, magical farm.

The Hanlin's Flying Fish~

2011-07-03T09:06:00.001-07:00

Eve shot this video of the trout jumping in our pond...

They jump and eat the baby dragonflies and other bugs that hover over the water.

Otter Visit~ & Critter Invasions!

2011-05-31T21:08:00.000-07:00

Sunday we had a very special visitor in our pond.

We named him William.

Monday morning he was gone, moved on to his next adventure I suppose...
The girls filmed him and took lots of photos...
We could walk to the edge of the pond and he just floated there and watched us.
He ate a ton of newts, which is ok since we have about a kajillion of them.

Japonica Japanese azaela bush blooming by the pond. LOVE the color. coral! yum.

Hummingbird!

Western Tanager. Male's head turns during mating season.

Adventures never cease here. Peculiar Ambitions is an appropriate name!
Last two days have brought some frightening bald eagle attacks on our hens! Yesterday it got away with one of the Ameracauna babies, but today it tried for Maureen (my chubby old hen I named after myself), but I screamed like an insane person and Xena barked and we scared it off. shudder.
That thing is HUGE! The eagle stood at about 3-4 feet tall. Wing span of 6-7 feet.
Hopefully it does not try again tomorrow.

Be Content~

2011-05-19T09:41:00.000-07:00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun has finally come out here in the pnw, and it is so beautiful!

Nature is waking up, and so is my brain~ phew!

One of our hives sent out a swarm yesterday and we caught it!
So exciting... we will be putting more about it in our bee blog... (stay tuned).
As you can see below, we had a chance to video it!

Cross posted with my art blog~

Garden over our heads~

2011-05-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

We chose where our garden was going to be a few months ago. It's in the lower field south of the workshop/barn and below the pond bank.

So Paul started tilling and plowing and tilling and tilling and tilling again...

It's HUGE.
We are in so far over our heads... haha.
See the pink arrow? That is Paul, shown for scale.

Plated so far are 20 blueberry bushes, some raspberry and some marionberry.

Also three rows of potatoes.

This week the asparagus crowns will go in (YUM).

Wanna come weed?

Cow Visitation

2011-05-08T15:40:00.000-07:00

The property next door is a beautiful ranch, called Basket Flat Ranch (link ) ... they sell some pretty awesome free range, grass fed beef.
Since we have pasture that needs mowed, we offered to graze some cow critters instead.
They arrived a few days ago and are so fun to watch! A week or so will do the trick and they will come back for another visit in late spring.

Welcome, cow energy.

Oh- and our mountain is getting green and fuzzy... yay spring!

Peep Progression~

2011-05-07T12:24:00.000-07:00

The Rhode Island Red chicks (from this post) are now about 10 weeks old and have been living in the coop with the 'big' chickens for over a week.

They are spoiled rotten. Ann is our chicken whisperer... she took this video.

They come running when we are around and peep with happiness.
Come fall they will make us a lot of yummy eggs, well, except for the two that are roosters, they are named Guavo and Popeye.

The Ameracauna peeps are still in the brooder box. They are 4 weeks old and get to play outside in a small fenced area when the sun shines. They will give us pretty blue/green eggs this fall. Not sure if any are roosters, it's hard to sex this breed. Time will tell...

A Tree in Gram's Memory~

2011-05-07T12:11:00.000-07:00

My grandmother passed away in April, just a few days past her 94th birthday.

A week later my dad and brother came from PA for a visit.

A perfect time to plant a tree in gram's memory!

I chose a Kwanzan flowering cherry tree, which will bloom fluffy pink blossoms each year right around her birthday! Gram LOVED pink.

We put it here... (like my drawing?)

It's on the far side of the pond.

Me giving a speech...

We miss you gram!

Polar Bear Swim

2011-05-07T12:00:00.000-07:00

My crazy family.
They decided it was time to take a dip in the pond. The pond is creek fed, from a mountain spring. This water will never, ever get warm.
But nevertheless, it had to be done.

Eve went first...

Then Paul...

Then Jack (my brother)...

Then Ann...

Crazy people.

Welcome Salatin~

2011-05-07T11:37:00.000-07:00

Here he is! The MAN.

We needed a rooster to keep our ladies protected.

A few craigslist inquiries and we found this handsome fellow.

Named Salatin after Paul's hero, Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms.

Here he is on the coop, crowing to remind us all (and the hawks) that he is in CHARGE.

Such a pretty guy.

Here Come the Chickens!

2011-05-07T11:12:00.000-07:00

Once we ordered our peeps, we set about designing hte coop. We had some time, or so we thought, until they were big enough to move from the brooder box to the coop.

Then our friend Monique planned a trip to France, and asked us to adopt her 7 hens.

SURE! They are already laying almost daily, our peeps will not lay eggs until fall.

Then our friend Lisa asked if we would take two of her hens... she was getting bombarded with more eggs than they could consume.

So 9 hens were scheduled to arrive. The coop was pushed to the top of the to-do list.

First to arrive were Bambi and Roho.

Roho's name was changed to Ro, after our realtor, Rowena.

The next day Monique's flock arrived. Here they all are together inside the coop.

We set about clipping everyone's wings, which keeps them from flying over the fence. Clipping does NOT hurt them... really you just turn them upside down (which makes them sort of hypnotized) and cut the tips of the wing feathers off, NOT their actual wings.

We introduced Stella to the flock, so she would learn that they are not fun toys to chase around.

So now the chickens are part of her "pack" and they both (her and Xena) guard them.

Every now than then I find Stella inside the fenced area... she thinks she is a chicken!

Each day we get about 5 eggs... beautiful, perfect eggs.

The difference between store-bought eggs and pastured eggs is profound!

Not just in looks and texture, but nutritionally too.

Here is a GREAT post about it on Simple Bites.

Our egg is on the left. The yolks are orange!

PLUS the store bought egg shown here is an 'organic, cage-free' commercial egg.

So... buy farm fresh eggs whenever you can.

Next post... Welcome Salatin!

The Chicken Coop~

2011-05-07T10:40:00.000-07:00

It's been well over a month since we have had our chickens set up,

and we enjoy them so very much!

Only issue so far was a coyote attack when they were free ranging in the upper pasture.

During the DAY!

We have one wiley coyote here, it is way too unafraid. Dangerous.

Anyway, here are pics of the progression of our coop.

It started with sketches by Paul, then was modified during the construction phase.

Designed to hold 30 chickens...

Paul designed these nifty "forks" for the tractor bucket. They are used to move the coop around the pastures and can be used to move large things, like trees, etc.

Here he is practicing and testing the forks.

We calculated one nest box for every five laying hens... here is a shot of the nest boxes, accessible from the back so we can clean them and collect eggs!

We chose a red paint (called pinot noir), so I tinted the primer pink... I really considered leaving it this color. We just left some pink touches under the eaves instead.

There are three roosting poles inside, something for everyone!

The bottom was initially just wire, but we added a piece of plywood to keep the draft out. Plus the bedding can build up and compost itself this way. Keeps the odors down and the bedding can later be added to the compost bin!

Paul installed latches on the front to keep predators out.

Moving it took some slow tractor driving, but the forks work perfectly!

A ramp for easy entry and exit...

at night we remove the ramp and lock the door so they are safe from coyotes!

I would love to rig some sort of timer so the door opens itself in the mornings, our rooster (Salatin) wants out to crow and the crack of dawn.

The coop is surrounded by a moveable chicken wire fence.

This has been somewhat adequate, but we recently ordered an electric mesh fence, since our coyotes here are NOT nocturnal. The dogs and I have run them off on several occasions... trying to get into the fenced area... and during the DAY.

We have moved the coop to three different locations so far, this gives them fresh pasture to eat and pick and scratch in and keep the poo moving around to fertilize the fields.

More posts coming soon... too much to put into one post. :)

Brooder Box #2~

2011-04-10T18:49:00.000-07:00

The girls are growing fast, and our redneck hippie-rigged brooder box only

worked for a few weeks for 15 babies...

So Paul built a larger brooder box from plywood.

Plenty of room to grow.

They are almost four weeks old, so they will go in the coop

with the older ladies in about 2 weeks.

Stella LOVES the peeps.

They are Rhode Island Red chicks~

New Beginnings~ Spring Flowers

2011-04-10T16:13:00.000-07:00

We are LOVING watching the flowers come up. Since this is our first spring here, each blossom that comes up is an exciting discovery. My favorite so far are the daffodils that are all through the field.

Chicken coop/ tractor... pink primer. Will be RED.

2011-04-09T13:22:00.001-07:00

New Ameracauna chicks!

2011-04-08T13:39:00.001-07:00

Five new girls... they will lay blue/green eggs.

Chicken Nuggets~

2011-03-18T09:09:00.000-07:00

As requested, here are more Peep pics!

They are 5 days old.

15 Rhode Island Reds. They are all healthy and skippy, only one has some poo crusted on her butt feathers. We call her Poopsy. Tried to get the poo off, but it is ON there. Any suggestions?

First Peeps!

2011-03-16T17:50:00.000-07:00

We went to our farm store today to get all of our supplies ready for our peep arrival on Friday.

We ordered 15 Rhode Island Red pullets for Fri. arrival.

BUT... when we got there they had some in stock!

Since our redneck-hippie-rigged brooder box was all prepared we decided to bring some home today!

Here they are getting loaded into their "chicken nugget" box, as Ann called it.

Cute overload!

Happy peepy mamma. That makes her a mother hen, right? harharhar...

Time to go into the brooder box. This one has a stripe on her head!

Warming under the lamp...

That is all the pics for now, the peeps were a bit stressed out so we are letting them settle in for now.

Now to plan the chicken tractor (moveable coop)~

Redneck Hippie-Rigged Brooder Box~

2011-03-16T16:22:00.000-07:00

Every farm needs chickens... proud, feisty egg laying ladies!

Our first farm critters will be CHICKENS!

We have been deliberating what type of brooder box we will need for our peeps.

Should we use cardboard boxes or storage bins?

(both of which I was concerned about a fire hazard with the heat lamps...)

Or build one out of plywood?

This morning we were discussing our options over coffee and Paul went out to see what scrap wood we had in the barn when he walked by THIS...

A crusty old wooden gun case left here by the previous owners. We have not had time to conquer the workshop yet, it still needs unpacked and rearranged. Good thing, because this gem would have met the burn pile!

He knocked out the gun rack part and the drawers on the bottom and laid it on it's back.

Perfection!

Perfect size and the doors work as a lid to keep the heat in at night.

Here it is all set up before the peeps were added.

We since moved it to the cellar under our kitchen.

Since it is under the woodstove, the temperature is about 15 degrees warmer than the workshop.

There you have it, the perfect redneck, hippie-rigged brooder box!

Our First Greenhouse March 2011

2011-03-13T16:22:00.001-07:00