Oh MY!

Whew! Christmas is over and here comes the new year ahead. Most of the decorations have been taken down, of course not the tree, not until the New Year is here. I am still not sure why we do that, it is just one of those things that become part of the tradition and you follow it. *Note to self: Find out why we do that*
In the midst of all the Christmas Chaos my dryer died. I was sad for about a minute and a half until I realized that it might not be completely dead. It still ran it just would not get hot. So off came the back of the thing and upon inspecting the heating element it was burnt up. So a new part was quickly ordered online and then we had to wait. Waiting is not something the laundry in this house does very well. It was either too cold or wet outside to hang the clothes on the line so we hung lines across the bedroom. My oldest just shook her head at the hillbilliness (Is that a word? Probably not.) of it all but hey, you do what needs to be done and that is all there is to it. Today the blessed part arrived! Yea! I immediately hooked it all back up, gave it a bit of a spin and voila, heat was made. So, $60 for a part vs. $400 for a new dryer.....we win.
As a family we accumulated quite the stash of games this year for Christmas and boy has it been fun. Sarah got Disney Scene it! for her birthday and Are you smarter than a 5th grader for Christmas, both have been fun and the kids really enjoy playing. We got Yahtzee, which we taught Taylor how to play, Jenga and Pictureka (sp?) Fun, fun and more fun. Blue got a trivia game for the PS3 that has buzzers and it is really cute. Did I mention the "family" got rock band 2? Ok, we all love to play it, but Blue....He holds us all hostage until we play and then keeps saying three more songs until we have done maybe 50. lol He REALLY likes that game. It is good to see him so happy.
The chickens are sooooo mad at me. When it was so cold out we had bought them some Scratch grain as treats in the mornings and evenings because it boosts their body heat. Well the little addicts started holding out for the treats and have slowed on eating the real food, so I cut them off. They are so not happy. They knocked the water over, just for spite. They yelled at me like they were starving to death when the food trays were full. They keep kicking litter into the feed to hide it so I will feel sorry for them, I don't. I threw a hand full of food out like it was scratch and they all went running for it, but when they realized what it was I swear their was some bad words coming from those sharp little tongues. I gave them some greens and went on my merry way, oh I dread the wrath of tomorrow.
Well, in the immortal words of Scarlet, "I'll worry about that tomorrow." Have a great night.

The Three Sisters

For those of you who are stuck inside from the weather and dreaming about the garden you will soon be starting, I wanted to share a story with you. I was born and raised in Oklahoma and the amount of Native American culture that abounds there is amazing. There is so much we can all learn from the way they have always gone about things and that includes planting our gardens. The story goes that there are three sisters and these three are all you need to sustain life. Corn, Beans and Squash are these sisters. They are to be planted together in the same mound. If you do this it will all be good and this is why.... The corn grows tall and provides a pole for the beans to climb, in return the beans provide a stability for the corn against the wind. The squash will spread out at the bottom and take advantage of the shade from the corn and beans. In return the squash provides a natural covering for the ground that prevents weeds and keeps the ground cool and moist. This is the ultimate in companion planting, don't you think?

Hobby Farm Holidays

It has been really hopping around here but not so many pictures have been taken outside lately. That is because it has been raining forever. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the rain, I missed it so much when we were living in CO. Oh it rained there but it was usually short cold rains. When we first moved here I tried explaining to my kids that it was warm rain and they could play in it, they weren't buying it so I had to push them out into it. No that is not mean, they were pleasantly surprised and have come to love to go out when it is raining. But I digress. I really do need to go take some pics of the chics in the rain, it is sad really, they look like drowned rats with beaks. Yes they have a nice cozy hen house and they even have a covered area to play in but for some reason they like to stand in the rain and complain to me about it, it is just how they are.

As we were decorating for the holidays the kids decided that since the dogs have stockings maybe the chickens should too. Oh I had to draw the line. I am NOT going to make 19 stockings to hang for those goofy birds. Can you imagine? My family already thinks I have lost my mind, I am afraid that act would buy me a one way ticket to a padded cell.

We saw Christmas lights at the Tractor Supply that were made out of used shotgun shells but they were very expensive. I wish I knew someone who hunts that would be willing to give me the casings that they use, I would make my own shotgun shell lights to hang on the barn. If you know where I could find a bunch I would love to hear from you.

They say that chickens are stupid animals because their brains are so small, but I am not always sure that is true. My girls know me and trust me. They know that I keep treats in the pocket of my coat and if I do not hand them out quick enough they will see if they can get them all by themselves. Taylor calls them "Crack Ho's" because they will do anything to get their fix. They do however get distracted easily. I made the mistake of painting my nails again. Now the girls follow me around, jumping trying to peck my fingers. When I pet one I have to do it with the back of my hand or the others will peck my nails and freak the petted one out. Ok, so maybe they are not so smart. lol

This is the last day of work and school for my bunch and so I am not sure how much time I will have to post over the next week or so. If I am not back for a bit I hope you all have a beautiful, blessed Christmas.