Chicken Sex and Purses

The problem with roosters is that they are roosters.
Not that they crow, mind you, I love the crowing 
(as long as it is not right outside my bedroom window). 
It's the testosterone that causes a problem every year.
This year, in particular, it has been a challenge.

I feel the most peace when everything is healthy and happy at Sprout 'n' Wings Farm.
The roosters are messing with my peace and now everything is out of balance.
These are the bantam roosters of which I speak.  The pen down at the barn.
The laying hens on the hill, and their singular, unrivaled rooster, still bring me bliss.

What we have is a situation of eight bantam roosters with little-man ego's,
and four little bantam hens.  This is not good and  hasn't been for awhile.
I have been trying to ignore it.
Morning and evening are the worst times for the gang raping. 
Last night I brought them all treats.  The roosters were very happy about it,
but there wasn't a hen in sight.
Poor things don't dare get off their perches, even for the best of treats.

When I finally coaxed the hens out, the chaos began. 
It is these times when we are all lucky the only weapon I had
was what was in my hands; my purse, my keys and my cell phone. 
I dropped two of the three items and hurled my purse at them like a cannonball,
hoping to take out two or three of them in it's path.
The purse, not being designed as a weapon, was too slow and heavy to get the job done.

That was it for me!  The girls gathered up the four hens and we hauled them up the hill.
We penned them up in the wired part of the the laying hens pen since the layers are free roaming now.
By doing this, I hope to introduce them to the layers gradually, through the chicken wire, and then in a week or so, open the pen and see if the hen pecking is going to be minimal.

I felt better, knowing my little hens don't have to spend so much of their lives in fear of their
male counterparts.  I tried to get my zen back as I walked down to the garden for weeding.
But no sooner had I reached the garden then I saw what I knew in my heart was the inevitable.
Roosters now chasing the weakest of the gang.

I don't think my purse can take much more of this!

  
Seven of the eight bantam roosters.

JOOI

What is JOOI?
Junior Optimist Octagon International

Junior Optimist Octagon International (JOOI), is the world's most dynamic coalition of youth volunteers. JOOI members represent the times well by making their communities better - one service project at a time. With more than 18,500 members in more than 675 communities, JOOI members are constantly working to promote positive change in their communities.

Rikki and Rylee are beginning their 3rd year in JOOI.  It is such a great organization for youth and the community!
This morning the some of the JOOI members took some of the residents of the Norfolk Veterans Home on a fishing trip to Skyview lake.  What a fun experience for all involved!

JOOI members got to help load the bus and got to ride in the bus to the lake.
They then helped them fish and some of the men let the kids use their poles to fish also.
The fun would have continued, but they ran out of bait and had to return home.
What a positive experience!

Silly Animals

This is Tess in the back of our car on a recent trip.
She was too tired to eat her bone,
but wanted to make sure it wasn't stolen from her without her knowing.

This is Ramzie's favorite place to ride in the car.

This is Pickles watching a video of himself on the computer.

Needle Felting Revisited

We used to have a family business called Sisters Five Soap and Lotion Works.
We ran the business out of our home for just over 7 years.
It started out with making  goat's milk soap, then we ventured into making goat's milk lotion.
It seemed every year we added something new.
We added, lip balms, lotion bars, hand creams, gift packages, organic soaps, etc.
The last year we were in operation we branched out into selling packaged Needle Felting Wooly Sheep Kits.

The idea for the kits began with our interest in needle felting.
It was fun and easy and, with the exception of working with a very sharp needle,
something that even a child can learn.

Here are some of our first practice creations.

We experimented with different types of wool.
As you can see, the sheep's wool is more "wooly" and fibrous.
Whereas the alpaca wool is much smoother and almost "slick".

The girls tried making other animals as well.
Even though these projects have been packed away in plastic bags and boxed
for a few years, they still were holding up pretty well for their photo shoot.

This weekend, while I was trying my hand at the drop spindle again,
Rikki decided she would like to try needle felting another sheep,
but this time wanted to make one that was lying down.
I found a picture for her on the Internet
and warned her that it might not all come together as she would like
in one sitting.

Once again, she surprised me.

I think it is the most beautiful  handicapped sheep I have seen
and once she finishes the other three legs
it will be THE most beautiful sheep I have seen.
Way to go Rikki!

'Spin a Yarn'

A few years ago I tried raising my own angora goats in hopes of collecting the shorn hair, which is called "mohair", and spinning the fibers into yarn.
As it turned out, working full time while also trying to maintain our family business, relying on 3 busy teenage daughters to help out with chores, raising a multitude of other assorted animals including diary goats, and trying to manage a 17 acre hobby farm, there was little time left to "sit" let alone "sit and spin".
I did get an hour or so, in the dead of winter, to try my hand at the drop spindle with wool I had purchased online.  I failed miserably.  Like everything else in life - it is NOT as easy as it looks.
I tried a few more times before shoving it away in a drawer intending to pull it out again when I was "wearing purple".
I had the (truly) golden opportunity to drag it out again the other day and even though I wasn't wearing purple I decidedly knew it was a good thing I did.
After struggling with it for a few hours I realized that if I had waited until I was "wearing purple" I was taking the chance of being too arthritic or something to do that much finger work.  As a result, my determination and motivation were bumped up a notch and it all finally came together.

Although the yarn is not as thin or as consistent as I would like,
I am confident now that all it will take is more practice.
My joy in getting a grasp on this new skill overflowed into the rest of my day
and is still surfacing as I share my accomplishment with others.

I love spinning and know I always will.


Age is irrelevant.
  

Rikki's Beadwork

I told the girls it was alright to watch movies during the day in the summer

as long as they kept their hands busy with a craft. 

They chose to do beadwork.

This is an example of some of what Rikki has made.

(Rylee left all her beadwork at a friends house after a sleepover)

I have been wearing one that Rylee made and it is amazingly comfortable and durable.

Unlike the jewelery they made me when they were six,

this braclet has held up through gardening and showering.

Their beadwork is interesting and fun to wear.

The other cool part is that Rikki has been making her own beads out of

strips of magazine pages and clear fingernail polish.  She has decidedly made more paper beads

than she will ever use.  I guess that means she has also watched a lot of movies.

Cool huh?

Pickled Beets

I like to plant beets.  I like to watch them grow.  I like to harvest them.
I always have great hopes of using/eating them.
One year I planted a lot of beets and carrots and put them our root cellar
hoping to have a large supply for using in my juicer all winter long.
A few days later (thankfully it wasn't weeks), I went to check on them.
I nearly cried when I discovered that the groundwater
(thanks to my neighbor flood irrigating his alfalfa field) had risen
and my precious stash was floating in 6" of water.
I brought them all in the house, used the carrots for canning soup,
and sliced and canned the beets.
The soup is long since gone.  But I still have those canned beets.
Four years, three moves, and two states later, I still have those canned beets.

Not this year!  This year I am adding sugar! 
Just the mention of the word has peaked the girls interest.
And the smell of those wonderful spices in the kitchen had them
begging for a taste.
I am convinced that these canned beets
will not make it through this winter, let alone next.

The recipe called for 7-8 lbs of beets, I am not sure how many pounds I had,
but I made 5 pints and probably had enough liquid for 6 pints with this recipe.

1 large onion (or more if you want to)
4 cups vinegar
1 1/2 t. canning salt
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
2 cinnamon sticks
12 whole cloves
12 allspice nuts

I cooked the beets, whole, for 30-40 minutes. 
It works best not to slice them first because they bleed.

Then I cooled them in an ice water bath,
just so I could work with them quicker,

Next, I peeled and sliced the beets
and had Rylee slice the onion for me (cheating - I know)

The trick with the spices is to put them either in cheesecloth or, like I did,

a handy tea strainer.  That way the spices are easily removed before canning.

The liquids and spices, from the recipe above are then heated to a boil
in a non-aluminum pan.
Then the beets and onions are added and allowed to simmer in the spices
 for 5 minutes.

Next, I removed the spice holder and ladled the beets into sterilized jars.

I poured the hot liquid over the beets in the jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space.

Then sealed and water bathed the jars for 30-35 minutes.

I am not sure how long we will wait before trying them,
but I hope to give them a few weeks at least.

First Try At Pickles

How I have come this far in life and not made my own pickles, I am not sure. 
Maybe it was the fact that I never planted enough or the right kind of cucumbers.
Or the fact that, I just didn't think I would like them even if I did make them.
Whatever it was - I am over it.  I am officially a pickle-maker.
And, just in case I did something wrong following a recipe,
I bought a pre-mix to try also.

I started with fresh cucumbers straight out of the garden.

Then I soaked them in an ice water bath for at least 2 hours, adding ice as needed.
The ice bath is supposed to help make a nice crisp pickle.

Next I packed the cucumbers tightly into jars.

For this batch, I used the store-bought mix and just followed the directions;
heated it to a boil, poured the mixture into the jars of cucumbers,
sealed the jars and boiled them in a water bath for 15 minutes.

I also sliced some of the larger cucumbers.

I didn't really like how yellow they looked after the water bath,

but the contents cleared up some after sitting for awhile.

The pre-mixed seasoning packed smelled wonderful and I am excited to find out how it tastes,

but I am really hoping the pickles I made by adding my own spices turn out good too.

I really like how I can see the garlic and dill in the jars.

This is the pre-mixed seasoning I purchased at Walmart. 

 It was less than $2 a package and makes 7 quarts.

I also bought this mix to try.   I will let you know how we like it.

So - that is all there was to it. 

It was easy and fun and all of us really like pickles, so hopefully it was a success. 

I guess we will know in about 4 weeks.

Under Construction

New look, new feel, hopefully a slightly new direction, stay tuned....

Goals That Inspire Me

Within the next 12 months:

Start knitting a pair of socks with my own hand spun yarn.
Read Walden by Thoreau again,and this time really read it.
Plant a small vineyard.
Put up a cloths line.
Buy a pick up.

What goals inspire you?

I Don't Feel Like Dancin' Video

Check out the dance video we made for the family reunion talent night.We really had fun with this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o57ZfdidRqc

My Talented Twins

Rikki is fast becoming a top lab assistant.
After a long hard day surface water sampling, I like to stop by and pick her up and take her to the lab with me to help out.  I really do appreciate her work.
Today she told me that she could probably do most of it by herself.

Rylee is the cookie baker around our house.
She really does have a knack for it and I am not just saying that!
All of her cookies seem to turn out just right.
Here are photos of her latest creation.

These have so many chocolate chips I said we need to think of them more as a candy than cookies.

Mmmmmmm good!

Dilly Beans

These are Dilly Beans (before the water bath) made from Dragons Tongue heritage beans.
The dill is from our wonderful neighbor who gave us starter plants earlier this summer.
This is our first year of pickling anything - because I always thought it was hard.
I was so wrong!
Now I want to pickle everything.
Well - almost everything.
When I was making the Dilly Beans I was also boiling eggs.
Rikki asked if I was going to make pickled eggs.
I don't think so.

Trip to Omaha for the Farmers Market

Each year we look forward to making the early trip to Omaha for the Farmers Market

This year was no different, except that I thought I had figured out a different route that would take me into the back side of Omaha, from Iowa, and I would be able to find my way there with ease.

Not the case.

We ended up calling Sasha and putting her on speaker phone.  She was my tomtom as she got on her computer and offered up directions.  Thank you Sasha!!

The trip there was interesting.  Hot and humid even by the time we left at 7:15 a.m.
There was fog most of the way.
We crossed what I think is the only toll bridge in Nebraska, just out of Decatur, crossing the Missouri River.

Rikki took this photo from the passengers seat and yes that is a crack in the windshield.

Next we saw this amazing lily pad place or something like it.  These aren't like the lily pads I have seen in Wyoming, so maybe they are another type of plant.
Nonetheless, they were beautiful in the morning fog

By the time we got the the market it was extremely hot and there was quite a crowd.
We made our way around and picked up a few things while trying to stay in the shade.
It was still fun and still beautiful.

There is always lots of interesting entertainment at the market.

We needed something cold to drink.
Rylee had a little problem with the ice tea dispenser.
Rikki and I didn't even tell her we saw that, until later that day.
She, of course, never mentioned it.

 

We also shopped at a few stores in the old town area - mainly to get out of the heat and the crowds.

I love old town.

After that, we ate at a pizzeria.

Then we walked back to this parking lot where our car was,

and headed home.