Showing posts with label Chickens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chickens. Show all posts

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Spring Chickens and Scenes From a Sunday

No, not Easter Sunday, you know me, I have yet to get around to those pics. This was actually the previous Sunday, far more mellow, way less action packed, and much more sunshiney. It was just a nice little day at home.

Chaos in the Kitchen

My morning started off with stacks of dishes to be done, laundry, floors desperately in need of vacuuming, and the general chaos that ensues when a gang of four rowdy kids, all under the age of five, are let loose in your home…

Lived-In Living Room

Have a closer look…

Morning Scatterings

Now extrapolate this to the entire house.

I will admit that on a less beautiful day, one not quite so filled with bird song, rose-scented breezes, and the warm promise of Spring, things may have been off to a discouraging start.

However, on this particular day, it was the words “a beautiful mess” that came to mind and even inspired me to get out my camera and try to capture the sort of chaos that makes a house feel like a home, lived in, loved.

Nevermind that there are CRAYONS strewn across the wood floors… don’t their tiny pops of color look pretty through the rose-colored glasses of a perfect Spring day?

The Gang

Ah, the culprits! They may look innocent, but do not be fooled. I actually did a double-take when I walked out the back door, after having whipped the house back into some sort of order, and stumbled upon this rare little scene.

Clover and the neighbor kids, all squished into the sandbox, playing together quietly, happily, no crying, no throwing sand, no arguing over sand toys… I’m telling you, it was weird. I had to run and get my camera!

Lil' Helper

Later that afternoon, we spent some family time in the garden. Lucas and Clover planted some small blueberry bushes. He started digging the hole and she ran right over to get her tiny shovel from the sandbox to help. She loves being papa’s little garden helper.

The Picker and the Planter

Clover moved on to the patch of wild onion under the plum tree for some flower picking, while I joined in on the planting. You can never have too many strawberry plants strewn about the yard.

I didn’t even have to ask Lucas to take my picture… that’s how magical of a day it was ;)

Wild Onion Bouquet

Clover taking pride in her onion-scented bouquet.

Chard

Someone told us recently that chard is great on pizza. It’s now on my to-try list. You can never have too many chard recipes at your disposal.

Double Yolker!

A double-yolker!

Yup, it turns out one of our chickens will every once in awhile lay an egg that is quite a bit larger than a normal sized egg and has two yolks instead of one. This is the third one we’ve found!

Hiccup

We’re still not sure which hen is laying them, but Lucas and I both have our money on Hiccup.

Being Broody

Little Kettle Corn went broody on us for a few days. Luckily, after gently picking her up and moving her off the nest a few times, she seems to have snapped out of it.

Dust Bath

When we let the girls out to free-range, usually toward the end of the day, the first thing they do is run straight to the back corner of the yard to their favorite dust bathing spot. As counter-intuitive as it may seem, it turns out the key to a clean, well-groomed, parasite-free chicken is a good honest roll in the dirt!

Foraging

Charming Chicken

See how pretty they look after.

Pretty Poultry

I sat under the willow with my camera poised as they pranced through the backlit flowers after their dust bath. I couldn’t help but edit in some soft-focus...

Handsome Hen

Glamour shots for chickens, anyone?

Flower Garden

Happy Spring planting!

Monday, January 31, 2011

Around Here

Lily and her purple plastic purse.

The obese Puss in Boots from Shrek Forever After.

The princess from Shelly Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre version of Puss in Boots.

The characters, while in a constant state of flux, remain a constant these days. At this point I'm starting to miss my daughter Clover, it's been awhile now since we've seen her. Not that I haven't enjoyed hanging out with these folks, as well as, Mary Poppins, Olivia the Pig, Goldilocks, Peter Rabbit's Mom, the list is ever growing, while this obsession of hers appears to have no end in sight.

Hmm, it's a wonder I haven't felt like putting much thought into dressing myself lately ;)

By the way, have you ever tried to explain to a determined three-year-old that putting things like say a floor lamp or a hat stand (nevermind the fact that we don't own either of these things) into the thrifted floral tote you gave her to use as her Mary Poppins carpet bag is just not going to happen? If so, apparently I could use some helpful tips on how to do so effectively.

I have been enjoying getting used to my new camera while capturing Clover's sartorial shenanigans though. I need to get a tripod sturdy enough to use it for self-timer shots. Assuming I will one day find the energy to get back to some sartorial shenanigans of my own, that is.




With the long run of spring-like weather we just had, our backyard hasn't been the muddy standing water swamp that it usually is this time of year. Yay! We've been letting the chickens out of their coop to roam free more. They are LOVING IT, and as you can see I've been following them around with the camera some too.

Now, lest you should think I caught Clover in a rare un-costumed moment, the red polka dot dress and black pants were remnants of the Minnie Mouse outfit she wore to pre-school that day. Her fuzzy white ears hat was involved with a red ribbon headband and a big black bow. Seriously, the fun never stops ;)

Sorry about the sparser than usual posting. Having trouble finding the time and energy for blog life lately. Bear with me, I'm sure I'll pull myself out of this slump soon enough!

I actually did manage to get a decent little outfit going the other day, involving a favorite new thrift find, and Clover and I went out for a lovely little hike. I even managed to take some pics. I'll get those posted soon. Until then, hope you're all well :)