Black and Blue

Belgian D'Uccle Pullets

These two little beauties don't even have names yet but they are beautiful and friendly and apparently find lemon balm very, very tasty.

Canning

I confess that as rewarding as canning is, it is my least favorite part of gardening. Inside and over a hot stove, it smacks of cooking and we all know how I feel about that! Oh, I can do it. I just have better things to do with my time than cook for kids who would rather eat mac and cheese 24/7. Yeah, file that under "mom of the year award".  Unfortunately, I can't justify gardening if I am not productive with it and so - with MUCH prodding and help from my husband - I can. Under protest.

It's a circle of life kinda thing...

One of many advantages when trying live sustainably is less waste. For instance: we harvest grapes and make jellies and wine, the chickens eat the grape seeds and any bad grapes, the chickens then lay eggs and give us fertilizer to help the garden produce more grapes and other tasty treats. It's a circle of life kinda thing.

(Pictured on the left: 

Bawk, Squawk, Buford, Princess, 

Daphne, and Velma.)

Sugar & Spice

Sugar and Spice are my first foray into the world of bantam (miniature) chickens. I am continually amazed at the intelligence and personality of these little birds. In fact, I'm quite taken with them.

truth and love

Truth and love are inextricable intertwined. Separated, they become destructive parodies of the originals. Without love, truth becomes harsh and deadly to the soul. Without truth, love becomes sickly and false.

-Zonoma

New Roost for the Girls

I'm pretty excited about the new roosts. I'm ready for the girls to have a home of their own. I've blocked off the nest boxes for the near future until they learn how to sleep on the roosts. This should prevent them from developing the bad habit of sleeping in a nest box and hence prevent poopy eggs.

Trooper: Master Chicken Tamer

First of all, don't worry: That is fresh, never-been-pooped-on sand. Having said that, Trooper is turning into quite the patient and adept chicken trainer.