Chicks!

My chicks came in the mail. I ordered bantams this time. Bantams are the small chickens. I ordered Silkies, white and barred cochins, and red and white frizzles. Aren't they cute?

Two of our granddaughters spent the night and are playing with me all day today. They very happily helped me clean the chick box by holding the chicks while I cleaned the box.

KN holds a little barred cochin bantam chick.

Look at how tiny it is.

MN holds a little Silkie chick. Look at how much fun I have, I get to spend the days ( and some nights) with little granddaughters and baby chickens. Blessings abundant!

My Woolly Valentine

You might recall I received a kit in the mail from Shannon of Kenleigh Acres Fiber Studio *. She issued a fiber art challenge and was generous in providing the whole kit to anyone interested in accepting her challenge. I let my phone calls go to voice-mail today and after the usual needed work around here I just got to work doing something I enjoy. I need a day like this every once in awhile. Above is my little woolly lamb, made using the instructions and materials in the kit. Here again is a picture of what I received in the mail, thank-you Shannon! The instructions were very, very well photographed and explained. Shannon , you are very gifted at writing, photographing, and publishing very easy directions. You are obviously a gifted teacher.

Here is one view of my lamb.

And the other, in which I veered from the pattern and gave him a heart.

Here is my lamb placed next to a sheep we received as a present from my husband's sister and her family. They purchased this from Pottery Barn because they knew we would love it!

I was inspired not only by Shannon's challenge, but also by the special February celebration of Valentine's Day, so I combined the two and unless I change my mind ( which can happen) this is my entry for the felting challenge Shannon issued. The lamb received a heart-shaped bead around his neck, and he is standing on wool I dyed and felted myself, using my Jacob Sheep fleece. The hearts are also of my felted wool. I fiddled with this arrangement , and it took many different forms until I decided it was enough for today.So Shannon this is for you, and thank-you!

The Gladness Of His Heart!

Our brother-in-law Kaare is celebrating an upcoming milestone birthday! This is all the more special and precious because this past fall he had at least 2 heart attacks and spent a fair amount of time in the hospital and in recovery. He is back at work and so thankful to be celebrating LIFE with his family.Kaare sat next to his father who recovered from a heart attack a few years ago, both of them seem to especially appreciate time with loved ones. "Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one's labors in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward." My sister Karen, (left, holding the cake) is Kaare's wife. She arranged this bash at an Italian restaurant because she is beyond happy and thankful for her beloved husband recovering and still here with her. She is still very much in love with her husband of more than 30 years, as he is with her. "Furthermore, as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also empowered him to eat from them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God."

Here is our end of the very long table full of just a few of the many family members Kaare and Karen have. We were so happy to be able to celebrate another year of being together.We never know when one of us, young or old, healthy or infirm will be called home to eternity, and it is often so easy to forget that until we almost lose someone dear." For he will not often consider the years of his life because God keeps him occupied with the gladness of his heart." ~all quotes are from Ecclesiastes 5: 18-20~

Here is a long picture looking all the way from one end of the room to the other, full of family that love Kaare. Happy Birthday Kaare, and may God grant you many more to be occupied with the gladness of your heart!

Jamie Oliver Friday~Italian Bread & Cabbage Soup

I bet you thought I forgot about Jamie Oliver Fridays.My husband thought I did. However, with all the holiday festivities and foods and all the family get-togethers this month there was not time for me to shop especially for the recipes in his book. Had I planned appropriately I would have saved some cabbages from our garden, but cabbages are very affordable and easy to find in just about any supermarket. This recipe is very affordable and easy but I have a few words to say about it first..... .........Jamie, please stream- line your recipes! After I prepare one of your delicious recipes I have always remarked to myself " boy, I could have made that in fewer steps and with a LOT less dishes, pots and pans". This alone makes me absolutely positive he has someone, or hey, even a whole crew cleaning up after him! Unfortunately I am unable to see how I can do this until I make the recipe, my mind doesn't work that way, but our daughter has said the same thing about some of Jamie's recipes she has used. She is smarter than me though and usually figures this out BEFORE she begins cooking. However, I digress~ above is a picture of Italian Bread & Cabbage Soup just before I put it into the oven. I was so excited about this recipe! I photographed the recipe and I believe you can enlarge it. I won't do this anymore, I will write it out, but I wanted you to see how Jamie publishes his recipes. I like the anecdotes he includes and his personal way of speaking comes through in his writing, and my husband and I very much enjoy watching Jamie's cooking program on the Food Network because of the unique and quirky way he prepares and presents foods. Here is my bowl of Italian Bread & Cabbage Soup With Sage Dressing. I thought it was delicious! However, my husband does not like soggy or wet bread and this recipe calls for a lot of that. I liked this hot, but do not think I would like this as left-overs and you can see I made a big pan of this for the two of us. We decided I would make this again but here is what I will do...and I think it will be MUCH better : instead of a layer of bread I will use a layer of toasted cubes of bread, or a bag of purchased non-seasoned stuffing, or even a bag of seasoned stuffing. This would soak up the flavors but not get soggy and my husband would be happy with that. I will make this again, with croutons or stuffing, cut the recipe in half, and simplify the cooking process. So try it, you might like it! (I almost forgot, we grow and use a lot of sage but we did not want the sage dressing so we skipped that part and were happy we did, sorry Jamie.)

Preparations For Spring....

This is Swallow Lane Barnaby. He is 11 months old and he has been having a lot of fun with a small flock of ewes ( female sheep ). Barnaby needed to be sheared and then moved to a pen away from the ewes who are due to lamb ( have babies) anytime now. So this afternoon my shearer, actually Lanny's* shearer & husband, came over to shear Barnaby and a 3 other sheep.Barnaby is now a very naked ram lamb and I decided to spare him the embarrassment of displaying his nakedness online, but I am happy with his condition and he appears to be a ram that will out-ram Goth, given the chance. We'll see.....

Here is my Grandson, also my first grandchild. Hallelujah and thank-you Lord, he is a hard worker and he is now old enough and big enough to do hard work for ME ! Here he stops to pose for me by the goat's house and pen.

As you can see Thorin & Bombadil can really make a mess of their place. CT has been working hard to keep their place fairly clean, they do not cooperate though. So this provides CT with a job. And this is a job that needs doing every few weeks, so one could say Thorin and Bombadil are providing CT a valuable employment opportunity, very definitely steady income.

See? And Thorin and Bombadil also provide manure and rotted hay for compost and garden fertilizer. Once in a while I spread all this around our fruit trees and blueberry bushes. You could even say Thorin and Bombadil are regular producers of a valuable commodity in one way or another.

CT is quick about the job, wasting no time to dilly dally.

Younger sister MN is feeding the goats their favorite treat, soda crackers.Here Bombadil eats out of her hand.

Thora , Goth's sister peers over Naomi's back as I snap a picture of my two newly sheared girls. Naomi and Thora have both uddered up and Naomi looks ready to have lambs any day. Spring is in the air....

They Jump !

I have a very similar story to the little drama shown below. Only it was my husband who was going to save me from a very big wolf spider that had been on the wall all evening. My husband worked swing shift at the time and I watched and checked on that spider all night just waiting for my husband to come home and get rid of it. I would not attempt this myself because you know, spiders can see you with all those eyes, I know this because I have watched their eyes follow me, and there is this--spiders jump! Well, my brave husband came home and I showed him the spider I had been observing all night. My husband laughed at me for being so silly and not taking care of this myself. Then he got a container to take care of it, climbed onto the couch to reach it and IT JUMPED RIGHT AT HIM! I did not know my husband could scream like that. In fact I have never heard him scream like that before or since. The spider scrambled under the sofa where my husband decided it could be left alone....and I never did know where that spider went but you can bet I did not sit on the sofa for quite awhile and for sure did not allow my naked feet to hang below the cushions. A spider like that could easily be waiting for a tasty chunk of foot or toe.

Spot On Freshly Gathered Eggs

I just gathered my eggs and took a picture of them. Aren't eggs beautiful? These eggs come from the chicks I posted about last year. The chicks that grew up into chickens.The chicks were Ameracauna and Cuckoo Marans. The Ameracauna hens are Aracauna chickens bred with different varieties of chickens and the shade of green, from blue to mossy green depends upon which variety of chicken the Aracauna is bred with. If an Aracauna is bred with a brown egg layer the hen will lay the darker mossy green eggs. If the Aracauna is bred with a white egg layer the eggs will be a light minty green to almost aqua or blue. These are my favorites. The Cuckoo Marans lay a dark brown egg. The best of the Marans lay an egg that is a dark chocolate brown, my desired brown egg color. My favorite way to eat freshly gathered eggs is to whisk 3 or 4 eggs with a dash of soy sauce and Johnny's seasoning salt to taste. I cook the eggs in a small frying pan turning and turning with a spatula until the eggs are JUST done and not a bit more. I then add a lot of grated cheddar cheese, turn over in the pan again until the cheese is melted then flip it onto a plate. I pour myself a cup of freshly ground and brewed coffee and butter bread right out of the toaster to add to the plate. This is the best brunch ever!( I don't eat breakfast, my tummy does not desire it) A brunch like this is often all I need to sustain me for the whole day and I am very happy to repeat this again the next day.If you're unable to raise chickens yourself it is well worth it for you to find a source of fresh eggs from a local egg seller, the difference in taste of fresh eggs versus the best eggs from the average supermarket is vast. Try it, you'll like it, fresh eggs that is.