Why I Haven't Been Writing.....

The Smell of Onions

I was finding myself gagging each time I had to walk by the onion patch, and so I decided to harvest them. And I timed it well with all this hot weather we are having.

There are currently 87 onions sunning themselves in this excellent Indian Summer weather we are having. (Is it Indian Summer yet?)

We go through so many onions in the winter, my mom and I share. I think I need to double the planting next spring.

Anyone have any onion tips?

I'm Just Not Done With Summer

Yes, I know, countless moms across the blogging world are posting shots of their little ones going off to school, but not me! I'm just not done with summer. Our summer was so late in coming. We went camping in the middle of July and got rained on, for example. And now the boys are back to school and we are supposed to have a week of 90 degree heat! I just didn't get in enough river swims. So, the picture of B's first day of school will be coming.

But, for now, I am posting pictures that show I'm in school denial:

Friday Photo

A Successful Adoption-Friday Photos July 2nd

Oh the anticipation! Our mama hen has been wanting baby chicks for weeks now. I had great empathy for her. She was like Sarah of the Bible, just wanting a baby so bad. She'd sit all day and all night on eggs, but no chicks would ever come; we do not have a rooster.



Lucky for us and lucky for our hen, a friend placed an order for 25 chicks, and let us have two of them.



Both have been named: Squeak and Favorite Lightning Squeak---after the chicken Grandpa so ruthlessly butchered.



My middle son announced that his, "Has a hair dude." Guess the feathers on the top of the chick's head stand up a bit.



We were told to wait until the dark of night to slip the babies under the fluffy mama's wings, but none of us could wait, so we did it around 6 pm. It took. She clucked and poofed out her feathers and is sitting quite contently on her brood. She hardly lets them out for food. I think she's in hen heaven.



Oscar, the dog, is also very interested. He sits right by their cage dreaming of chicken salad.



Two of the aunts, two of the other hens, went into the hen house to check it all out and made quite a lot of ruckus.


Ah farm life....small things are so exciting.

No More Roosters

Not even their pleading eyes could sway the heart of the old farmer. The oldest went out. Then the middle. They pleaded their case. Let him live! I asked him if Grandpa heard. "No, he did not listen to me." Yes, he looked them in the eye, but his heart was not moved. And so the axe sliced the life out of Favorite Lightning Squeak. Yep, our special, unique chicken is no more.

He was the leader, always first out the door in the morning. He lead his brood from one tasty bug feast to the next. He clustered his hens to him. They gathered warmth from his feathers.

But, no one likes the idea of fertilized eggs and this was soon going to become a reality. More than once this last week my boys noticed some strange chicken fighting, so I guess the best was done. (We did have a good discussion about monogamy and divorce from this and how animal don't get married. Good times.)

We promised my oldest a duck. They both seem fine and hardly jaded from death of their beloved pet. I think I was the one who wanted it to be their "beloved" pet while they had not really bonded with the guy much at all.

I'm still not going to eat him though. When my husband placed his butchered body in the sink I just couldn't do it. I put him in the freezer, but I think he may be boiled and served to the cats. I know, too much information.

Free Range Chickens....Tender and Tasty

Our chickens love their lives. They have to be the happiest chickens around. They can go where they please, hunt and peck in any flower bed or leaf pile. I can look out any window of my house, and I may catch a glimpse of one of these white beauties.

We ordered 25, got 27. We were supposed to only get one extra one....a rare bread. Guess mistakes happen in the chicken business. I ordered a straight run, to save a few pennies. My destiny of boys continues even with the chickens. When we are all done butchering I will only have six chickens left, the hens. Not a very good rate. I should have just paid a bit more for a straight run of hens. But I had this idea that it would be fun and yummy to eat our own chickens. Good thing I have a large, upright freezer for all those birds.

The first Saturday that we butchered the boys were quite intrigued, so was our dog.

My middle son comforted me after the first head rolled, actually it flopped and was promptly snagged by our dog Oscar---swallowed in one gulp.



It is quite the process. Chop head on stump. Dip bird in hot water. Pluck feathers. Cut/Butcher. Place whole birds in cold water in freezer chest. Disinfect knives several times after the day of work is done. Stuff whole birds in freezer bags. Place in freezer. Scour pots. Scour freezer chest.







And even though I know that our chickens are so much better, cleaner, and healthier....I feel a bit grossed out by the yellow skin. Then I am grossed out that the skin of chickens from the store are white. I tell myself it is a breed issue. Right?













Now my kids know that when we say we are eating chicken, we really are. I'm hoping this transfers to beef and fish. I do like that my kids get food and get where it comes from. I'm glad that my cupboards are full of summer canning and that the pears they ask for come from our trees. I'm happy to feed my baby applesauce I prepared.







I'm also happy to let you all know that in no way has this seemingly "violent" act scared or harmed my children. They like our chickens. They like to hold them and take care of them, and .....enjoy them in soup.









They know the difference between hens and roosters.....girls vs. boys. My oldest is always determined to hold a hen since they were the clear minority and more of a challenge to catch. However, after this last round the hens should be easier to capture....we are planning to keep one rooster, Favorite Lightning Squeak. He's the rare breed that the boys actually named.

2010 Calendar Farm Quotes Continues

"Trade increases the wealth and glory of a country; but is real strength and stamina are to be looked for among the cultivators of the land." William Pitt


"I know of not pursuit in which more real and important services can be rendered to any country than my improving its agriculture." George Washington





"When tillage begins, and other arts follow. The farmers, therefore, are the founds of human civilization." Daniel Webster


"The farmer has to be an optimist or he wouldn't still be a farmer." Will Rogers






"Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you're a thousand miles from the cornfield." Dwight D. Eisenhower.

"Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days." Henri Alain

2010 Calendar

Remember those black and white calendars that featured kids doing romantic things, all dressed up and carrying colored red roses? Yep, had one of those. I also had a Norman Rockwell calendar that I loved. My son gets his first calendar this year; he actually requested this. How can a mother deny that request? So, my mom found the perfect one.....an NRA sponsored calendar from my deceased Grandfather's pile. Now, I am not a fan nor member of the NRA, but it does have perfect boy pictures on it. Each month features another dog with his boy. (Oh, and a strategically placed gun.) I'm holding the whole gun/weapon thing loosely these days: I have boys. Boys seem strangely drawn toward weapons. All of our current weapons are made of plastic. Note: I'm pretty sure this calendar is not going to send my son down a path of violence.

OK, that was a lot of blabber just to say that I have a new favorite calendar this year put out by the Oregon Farm Bureau. The farmer in me sings. Each month mirrors the seasons outside my window. April=tulips. May=orchard blossoms. June=berries. You get the idea.

The best part are the quotes that accompany each month. Here are my favorites:

"The first farmer was the first man. All historic nobility rests on the possession and use of the land." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to the real wealth, good morals, and happiness." Thomas Jefferson

"I had rather be on my farm than be the emperor of the world." George Washington

"Life on a cattle ranch...was a fine, healthy life; it taught a man self-reliance, hardihood, and the value of instant decision." Theodore Roosevelt

"The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways." JFK

"If you tickle the earth with a hoe, she laughs with a harvest." Douglas William Jerrold

OK, so I basically like them all. I'll make the other quotes another blog post. Keep it short, and hopefully you'll read them all.

No Martha Stewart!

Martha Stewart would find me a complete disgrace. I did get her magazine, ages ago....before kids. I got it because it looked so---nice. Those cakes on the cover, so delicious. But I soon canceled after I attempted to make a few of her creations and wasn't even sure where to find many of the ingredients in the grocery store. Perhaps they didn't even carry those specialty items in the grocery store I frequented.

I would never make it on her staff. My ideas would be snubbed and guffawed at. But, still, I have a few good ideas, and so welcome to my version of Home and Garden/Real Simple.



Here is to little tables and art spaces for kids! My mom found this for me last summer at a garage sale for three dollars; it came with three chairs. It has saved our dinning table. Before, I was always having to clean off all their projects to make way for meal times, and then after I got meals all cleaned up....again appeared the creative messes. Also, children love to have a space just their size. Since we embraced this space, my oldest has really gotten in to coloring and drawing and writing. It also makes a perfect spot for their Lego projects. I stole the idea of a ribbon for hanging their art work on, but it is a good one!



I am so glad I gave up on trying to get their crayons back in the crayon boxes. I tried all sorts of other containers, but nothing seemed to stick until I came across this large, glass jar! It is perfect. I highly recommend it.



I am not one of those moms who created a Pottery Barn theme for my kids' rooms. I did get a bit inspired for my son's nursery....we did a simple star theme, but when we moved to our new home I was so overwhelmed by all the other rooms I needed to decorate that the boys' rooms got the shaft. However, this has actually worked in my favor.

My oldest is just now starting to care about his space and how he decorates his room. I'm so glad I didn't go all out with a Cars theme or baseball only to discover that was a passing fancy.

The catalyst for this room ownership seemed to be the shelf pictured above. What I love about this shelf is that it is fastened into the wall and is one less piece of furniture they can move around and launch themselves from. This shelf, nestled next to his bed, made him feel a sense of ownership. The first night he slept next to it he said, "Oh, I just love my shelf. It is perfect." Then he requested a ribbon for hanging art. We put it next to his bed, so he could look at it at night. Then he got inspired and requested a chalkboard. (Pictures coming later. I did a chalkboard that you paint onto the wall.) The best part is he now wants to keep his room clean, spotless! Love it! I never have to ask him to clean his room. The other day we went to the hardware store, and he picked out colors--two different tones of blue. We will work on that next month.

He started receiving posters for each birthday and Christmas. This reflects his changing likes and interests and is way more cost effective than deciding that his whole room is a theme like ships or cars or frogs. His theme: things he likes!

To add a bit of splash and color I let the boys hang these birthday table cloths. They love them; they hang above their beds. Cheap and fun. Also, easy to remove when they no longer like Spiderman or Cars.




My youngest loves cars. He also does not like to sleep in total darkness, so this race car light my mom got him for his birthday is perfect.


It gives off the right amount of light, enough to comfort, but also doesn't keep him awake.

Lastly, the thing that will not only horrify Martha but most of you....my sock drawer.



I hate finding matching socks. I find the whole thing to be rather frustrating. So, when I see a sock I just throw it into this drawer next to my dryer. Then when I can't close it anymore, I know it is time to sort....surely I'll find a few pairs.

Think what you will....it works for me.

Our Adolescent Teenagers

My sister finally came to visit the chickens. My niece commented that they were no longer babies, but were teenagers like herself....developing and blossoming. And it is true. The yellow fluff is being replaced by white feathers. Their necks are getting longer and they are looking a bit awkward, like the classic awkward middle schooler.

My boys and I sit on the hay bail in the chicken house and watch. The males are starting to strut and fight. We think they are potential roosters. It is quite exciting when they fly to roost.

I'm loving the book I recommended a few weeks ago: Your Chickens by Gail Damerow. I keep renewing it at the library, so I think I need to find it and order it--used.

Here are some of my favorite facts:

The skeleton of a chicken looks like the skeleton of a dinosaur.
A spent chicken is a chicken who no longer lays eggs.

The chickens we bought, White Rocks, are endangered. Many dual-purpose breeds are on the endangered list.

A chicken might attack you if your pants flap in the breeze.

Avoid feeding your birds strong-tasting foods like onions, garlic, or fish, which can make their eggs and meat taste funny. Yuck!

One way to tell if you have a good laying hen, is if you can press two or three fingers between the public bone, and three fingers between the keel and the pubic bone. And they have moist vents. Anyone want to test this out? I've never liked the word moist.

A laying hen can have as many as 4,000 eggs in her body! Woe!

Cockerels learn to crow at 6-8 weeks.

Lightning Favorite Squeak

The chickens came. All 25 survived the flight from Indiana. They arrived via US Mail in a little box with wholes. They are so cute. The boys are in love. We visit them several times a day. Oscar, our dog, is also in love... in love with the idea of chicken pot pie. He peeks his head in the windows by propping his front paws against the window frame. Don't worry the windows are glass, not just mere wire. We plan on keeping him and the chickens separate. (He carved our pumpkins the other day, so I know he's in the mood to use this teeth and be creative.)

We got one rare breed; he's the odd, brown one. The rest are yellow, soon to be white since they are White Rocks. No idea what our rare one is. The boys love him though, and he's the only one with a name: Lightning Favorite Squeak.

I got some books on chickens from the library. If you have chickens or are thinking about getting chickens you may want to check them out: