Tuesday, March 26, 2013
AMAZING EXPERIMENT!
The kids and I are amazed how much these sprouts change from night to morning!!!! It's INCREDIBLE! This morning, after doing chicken chores, Genevieve tended to the sprouts and much to her surprise, we had major progress! Here's a few pics.
Monday, March 25, 2013
Greenhouse Effect!
Things are moving in our make shift kitchen greenhouse! I cannot believe how much changes in 24 hours or less! Time to get excited about all things green and growing, especially as we got easily 2 inches of snow today!
We contribute the sudden grown with the addition of saran wrap over our plastic containers of pots. You can see the moisture on the wrap and it's keeping it in and helping things along. (That was Kenny's idea!) Since we added that, things have been popping!
Here's a look at today's highlights...and boy do I need a macro lens for my camera!
We contribute the sudden grown with the addition of saran wrap over our plastic containers of pots. You can see the moisture on the wrap and it's keeping it in and helping things along. (That was Kenny's idea!) Since we added that, things have been popping!
Here's a look at today's highlights...and boy do I need a macro lens for my camera!
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| PEPPERS are coming red and yellow bells! |
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| Cat Grass! |
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| Cat nip! |
Sunday, March 24, 2013
SROUTS!
Can't believe the progress from FRIDAY to SUNDAY!
This one is growing super fast!
Coli's
Cat Grass for the pussy cats!
Cat Nip! (Glad the kitty gardening is going well!)
Well, so glad the non-food items are coming up! Kenny did see a sprout in one of the pepper pots, however, he sort of covered it back up again so I'm sure it will poke through again shortly!
Exciting stuff!
Friday, March 22, 2013
Everything's Coming Up Roses?
Checking in on our sprouting seeds is a depressing task most days. The minute you look and start to see signs of life in the pot is so wonderful!!!!! I did notice the water patrol has been using a spray bottle and when I checked the soil, it seemed rather dry. I will monitor the kids better because I do not think they are keeping the soil wet enough. We have covered all the pots with plastic wrap to help keep the moisture in and that seems to help as well.
So far, we have some Coli's coming up in the yellow pot which will be nice for our flower gardens! No sign of life in the vegetable pots! Come on little plants! You can do it!
Meanwhile, in the coop, the gang has been getting out sporatically. They do not like to walk in the snow and we've been still seeing some of that here and there. Now that the clocks have changed, we are excited that they have more time outside. I think we finally have them trained to check out the compost bin out first when they mass exit their run. They are having a fun time scratching in the neighbor's empty garden and some freshly cleaned out brush areas my husband spent afew days 'thinning out' to reclaim some yard. We quickly have to work on plans for fencing. I do not want the chickens invading the neighbor's garden once they plant so that will be the next project. I was hoping for some temporary fencing as we will need to close off our garden area as well, but will love to have them access it when it needs cleaning up after the season!
We also have lots of bare back hens. The ones lower on the pecking order are missing feathers. It seems to be Mr Lila's mating habits. We feel bad for the girls. Found you can buy 'aprons' for them that attach around their wings with elastic and protect their back for when he gets on them. Might have to order one as they are pretty inexpensive. My mother could make some more for us if need be. The 2 Easter Eggers, Prissy and Flower, all of a sudden had their beards plucked as well! We aren't sure who the feather plucker is, but Weissy and Rosa, the Barred Rocks are at the top of the pecking order and they are not nearly as sad looking as the other 3 so I suspect they may be involved. Of course, Lila is also a suspect. We still have the heat lamp going and the heater under the water dish. I am so ready to turn all of that off, but unfortuately, our winter here shows no sign of slowing! It was just flurrying afew minutes ago!
So far, we have some Coli's coming up in the yellow pot which will be nice for our flower gardens! No sign of life in the vegetable pots! Come on little plants! You can do it!
Meanwhile, in the coop, the gang has been getting out sporatically. They do not like to walk in the snow and we've been still seeing some of that here and there. Now that the clocks have changed, we are excited that they have more time outside. I think we finally have them trained to check out the compost bin out first when they mass exit their run. They are having a fun time scratching in the neighbor's empty garden and some freshly cleaned out brush areas my husband spent afew days 'thinning out' to reclaim some yard. We quickly have to work on plans for fencing. I do not want the chickens invading the neighbor's garden once they plant so that will be the next project. I was hoping for some temporary fencing as we will need to close off our garden area as well, but will love to have them access it when it needs cleaning up after the season!
We also have lots of bare back hens. The ones lower on the pecking order are missing feathers. It seems to be Mr Lila's mating habits. We feel bad for the girls. Found you can buy 'aprons' for them that attach around their wings with elastic and protect their back for when he gets on them. Might have to order one as they are pretty inexpensive. My mother could make some more for us if need be. The 2 Easter Eggers, Prissy and Flower, all of a sudden had their beards plucked as well! We aren't sure who the feather plucker is, but Weissy and Rosa, the Barred Rocks are at the top of the pecking order and they are not nearly as sad looking as the other 3 so I suspect they may be involved. Of course, Lila is also a suspect. We still have the heat lamp going and the heater under the water dish. I am so ready to turn all of that off, but unfortuately, our winter here shows no sign of slowing! It was just flurrying afew minutes ago!
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
A New Season Approaches....
Spring is Springing!
I don't feel it has truly SPRUNG just yet. But it's getting there! Our goal this summer, is to continue the venture of being a little more self sufficient. When we first moved in, we had a small garden that Kenny cared for (as I spent the first 9 months of life in this house pregnant and later tending to back to back kids). As we got busy with the babies, the garden fell by the wayside and was seeded back into yard. Last year's goal was to raise our chickens. So far so good! They provide us with 4-5 eggs per day and it's so nice to not have to buy them at the grocery store! This year, we are going back to the garden. I ordered some heirloom seeds (hopefully SIMPLE things to grow) so we can take a stab at it. I celebrated my birthday on Sunday (on the river....) and my daughter took it upon herself to get the seeds potted and planted. She did a great job. Now we sit and wait and watch.
Kenny selected the spot in the yard he wanted to make into a garden and while cleaning out our brush, he decided what better way to destroy the grass than start a bonfire. Hopefully this was a good idea!
We now have a lovely charred spot in our backyard! Hopefully the kids will have fun digging it up as we plan on enlisting them!
As you can see....I am constantly being stalked by my little friend. Afew minutes later, I opened the door a speck and he almost came at me. I quickly slammed it shut and a second later I might have had his head on a platter, darn.
As for my birthday.......all I can say is....
I don't feel it has truly SPRUNG just yet. But it's getting there! Our goal this summer, is to continue the venture of being a little more self sufficient. When we first moved in, we had a small garden that Kenny cared for (as I spent the first 9 months of life in this house pregnant and later tending to back to back kids). As we got busy with the babies, the garden fell by the wayside and was seeded back into yard. Last year's goal was to raise our chickens. So far so good! They provide us with 4-5 eggs per day and it's so nice to not have to buy them at the grocery store! This year, we are going back to the garden. I ordered some heirloom seeds (hopefully SIMPLE things to grow) so we can take a stab at it. I celebrated my birthday on Sunday (on the river....) and my daughter took it upon herself to get the seeds potted and planted. She did a great job. Now we sit and wait and watch.
Kenny selected the spot in the yard he wanted to make into a garden and while cleaning out our brush, he decided what better way to destroy the grass than start a bonfire. Hopefully this was a good idea!
As you can see....I am constantly being stalked by my little friend. Afew minutes later, I opened the door a speck and he almost came at me. I quickly slammed it shut and a second later I might have had his head on a platter, darn.
As for my birthday.......all I can say is....
SNOW GEESE STALKING!
And afew hours in my kayak on the Lehigh River!
42 is FABULOUS!
This MotherClucker received a card from her bestie with the following awesome quote credited to Abraham Lincoln:
It's not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years!
-Peace Cluckers!
Malissa
Friday, March 1, 2013
Hen on Nest Glass aka Hon on Nest
My life is full of things that I have stumbled across and took a liking to. Sometimes it's something a friend introduced me to and other times it's something that I discovered or rediscovered on my own. This week, I noticed a post on Facebook in one of the chicken forums I am a fan of. There was a picture showing a glass hen on a nest candy bowl. Instantly, I think of every old person I know and how I'm sure I've seen many of them in homes throughout the years. I am pretty sure my mother didn't have one, however, I would not bet my life on that....if she does have one, I know exactly where to look for it next time I stop by for a visit!
We also found 2 similar bowls with ducks instead of hens, which was pretty cool too. This bowl was a little more expensive at about $20, but it was very pretty. There were many examples of other carnival glass in this same color about the store, so we all agreed it was a nice choice. Oh, and I know it was called Carnival Glass, because I commented to the older gentleman who checked us out that the iridescent is what sold us on this particular piece. He told me this was carnival glass. So of course, when I got home I hit the web. There is lots of info on these dishes and the companies who manufactured them. Our particular hen has a flat tail. The white milk glass hen above had a 3-D tail. I do believe the hen we purchased was made by Indiana Glass, who went out of business in 2002. According to one source I found, there were only 3 Carnival Colors manufactured including the amber we have. Indiana glass made hordes of colors and manufactured this particular hen for 70+ years. The Carnival colors were made in the 1970's. I believe I will look for more hens as we travel to different flea markets and sales throughout the summer. I will also try to learn about the makers and markings on the pieces so that I will do better identifying them when I find them. I still would love a dark green or cranberry piece so will keep my eyes peeled! The kids were very excited by the purchase and look forward to finding more in our travels. The husband, however, was not as excited by this fine piece of Americana as we were! Funny how once you get yourself some chickens, you are drawn to chicken art!
Tonight, we stopped by a pretty cool antique store, Black Rose Antiques, which is a huge place full of dealers who rent space and all sell in one store. Each space is sort of it's own little theme and it's quite fun poking around to see the wares. I have not been there in a few years and both things I had my eye on (MINT Lane cedar chest with beautiful perfect veneer still reeking of aromatic cedar, one of natures truly awesome scents and a lovely Heywood Wakefield Blonde 1950's Modern dining set) were long gone. I did, however, remember the posting of the Hen on Nest glass and decided (especially to give my kids something to look for as entertainment) we needed to find ourselves a hen! As we meandered through the spaces and rows and rediscovered things of our past....like those cool metal fans my grandmother had that had gaps so wide a small hand could slip in and the metal blades would chop it right off! I love telling stories to my kids and I made sure to point out how dangerous these fans were and as neat as they look it was definitely not a force to be reckoned with! Trent spent an extra minute in awe and touched the blades commenting on how he could see why it was so dangerous.
It didn't take too long until we found our first hen. The kids squealed in delight! (as did I and if you know me personally, I'm sure you can imagine my excitement!) We found 3 pieces in one little 'shop'. 2 were identical 'WHITE MILK GLASS' hens with painted red combs. I personally wasn't digging the painted parts and wanted to keep looking. There was also a clear glass model. Prices ranged for $10-15 so I decided that was affordable and I convinced the gang we need not decide yet, because there may be more to find!
It didn't take too long until we found our first hen. The kids squealed in delight! (as did I and if you know me personally, I'm sure you can imagine my excitement!) We found 3 pieces in one little 'shop'. 2 were identical 'WHITE MILK GLASS' hens with painted red combs. I personally wasn't digging the painted parts and wanted to keep looking. There was also a clear glass model. Prices ranged for $10-15 so I decided that was affordable and I convinced the gang we need not decide yet, because there may be more to find!
It didn't take long until we found a few more color options. The above amber glass was on the same shelf as the iridescent amber glass (below). I was really hoping for a dark cranberry or even an olive green, but alas, there were none there. A clear frosted hen was pretty, but still not colorful. Turns out, many manufacturers made these cute little bowls and they can be found in a crazy amount of colors. We took home the iridescent amber bowl (below) after I was overthrown by my kids to take it over the plain amber one above.
As you can see, the plain amber glass has darker undertones than the carnival glass, which has pink/purple undertones much like oil stains look like on the macadam.
We also found 2 similar bowls with ducks instead of hens, which was pretty cool too. This bowl was a little more expensive at about $20, but it was very pretty. There were many examples of other carnival glass in this same color about the store, so we all agreed it was a nice choice. Oh, and I know it was called Carnival Glass, because I commented to the older gentleman who checked us out that the iridescent is what sold us on this particular piece. He told me this was carnival glass. So of course, when I got home I hit the web. There is lots of info on these dishes and the companies who manufactured them. Our particular hen has a flat tail. The white milk glass hen above had a 3-D tail. I do believe the hen we purchased was made by Indiana Glass, who went out of business in 2002. According to one source I found, there were only 3 Carnival Colors manufactured including the amber we have. Indiana glass made hordes of colors and manufactured this particular hen for 70+ years. The Carnival colors were made in the 1970's. I believe I will look for more hens as we travel to different flea markets and sales throughout the summer. I will also try to learn about the makers and markings on the pieces so that I will do better identifying them when I find them. I still would love a dark green or cranberry piece so will keep my eyes peeled! The kids were very excited by the purchase and look forward to finding more in our travels. The husband, however, was not as excited by this fine piece of Americana as we were! Funny how once you get yourself some chickens, you are drawn to chicken art!
One person's junk is another man's treasure!
Malissa
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