Category Archives: Life

Innocence and Bliss

Posted on April 11, 2017 | 1 comment

Yesterday was wonderful
We strolled around the swales
A sunset bright and beautiful
Boys running through the trails

Pretty buds were blooming
The water overflowed
The innocent enjoyment was
A wonder to behold

The grass is getting greener
The trees have little buds
As the day turned into night
The boys splashed in the mud

The summer heat is coming soon
Blue skies and brightest sun
Sprinklers, frogs and muddy feet
Swimming, biking…fun

Splashing in the swale

Searching for frogs

Racing through the maze

Investigating

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Posted in A to Z Blog Challenge, For the Kids, Garden Stories, Life, Poetry, Writing

Bees Like Dandelions

Posted on April 3, 2017 | 1 comment

Dandelions.

Weed or wildflower?

Good or bad?

Love ’em or hate ’em?

When Ray and I bought our first house, we were determined to have a bright green yard. The dots of yellow dandelions were annoying because, afterall, dandelions are a noxious weed that must be eradicated. Right?

We wanted that perfect manicured lawn, just like our neighbors had and just like lawn care companies told us we should have.

Then we moved to a bigger lot. We wanted to put a garden in, so we started listening to garden podcasts. We started to wonder why we didn’t like dandelions. Why did we want perfect green grass? Why were they so bad?

The more research we did, the more we discovered that the only reason we didn’t like them or want them in our yard was because “they” said dandelions are bad. Whoever “they” are.

So we let them be and our yard looked beautiful.

Dandelions remind me of carnations and marigolds. My boys call them sunflowers because of their bright yellow hue.

They are medicinal.

They are edible…every part.

I like seeing a sea of yellow across my yard.

I like getting dandelion bouquets, picked so carefully and lovingly, from my boys.

I like dandelions.

And what’s more, bees like them too.

Bees need a diverse diet and cannot survive solely on dandelions, but they are one of the first food sources in the Spring. Their bright yellow color tells bees that winter is over.

Bees come for the dandelions and discover other plants and flowers that provide them with a rich diet they need to survive, make honey and raise a healthy brood of bees.

And let’s not forget the joy of making a wish…

Dandelions are good
They are wildflowers, not weeds
I love them so much

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Posted in Garden Stories, Haiku, Life, Writing

Awake

Posted on April 1, 2017 | 1 comment

Today, Joe and I walked around the homestead and heard buzzing, chirping, croaking and singing.

Spring is here, softly waking everything up and gently pushing back on a very determined winter.

We tried to sneak up on the croaking frogs, but before we could sneak all the way to the edge of the pond, the croaking stopped and we heard the plip plop of frogs diving for cover.

We heard the birds talking to each other and the rustle of critters in the grass. Joe was very excited to find worms and other crawly critters.

Buds are forming on trees and the majority of the autumn olive Ray and the boys transplanted last weekend are doing well.

Cherry blossoms are opening. We ended up with a handful of cherries last year that were a bit too sour for my taste. Maybe we will get enough this year to can.

Due to all the rain, our swales are full and overflowing.

The sun was shining and there was only a slight breeze, so we brought the plants out to stretch and bask in the sun and fresh air.

I plan to plant my cabbage and broccoli in the garden today. I may also throw some lettuce and spinach down and replace the carrot seeds the chickens ransacked.

They can withstand cooler temperatures.

The chicks also got to spend a few hours outside. It is still too chilly to leave them out at night with no mama to keep them warm though.

Yep. Spring is definitely here…now if we could just get it to stay put.

Winter, raging and railing
Holds tight to the cold
It roars into March
Pushing with rain and snow

Spring, sighing and shushing
Quietly stands against the cold
It whispers soft sounds
And stands determined and bold

#atozchallenge

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Posted in A to Z Blog Challenge, Chickens!, For the Kids, Garden Stories, Life, Permaculture, Poetry, Writing

A Little Wet

Posted on March 30, 2017 | Leave a comment

It rained a little bit today
Ok, it really poured
The hens were flooded
The garage was soaked
A stream flowed down the yard

The chickens seemed upset
A little mad at me
They splashed with rage
Squawked and glowered
Irate, enraged…angry

I sighed and tried to soothe them
But they wouldn’t have a bit
They turned their backs
They stomped their feet
They threw a little fit

Then, I turned and looked out
Across our puddled lawn
My boys were splashing
I heard them laughing
And my chicken woes were gone

Rain or snow or sunshine
My boys are playing hard
They love to splash
They love to splish
In our wet and soaking yard

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Posted in Chickens!, For the Kids, Life, Poetry, Writing

Cool Weather

Posted on March 27, 2017 | Leave a comment

We let the chickens out for a little while yesterday to shake the mud off their feet and have some much needed alone time.

I think the girls, and Pecky, are all sick of this temperamental Spring weather. They’ve become even more aggressive with each other than usual, and poor Pecky is constantly under attack from four or five of the hens.

Joe is very upset with the hens and their bullying. He even wrote a story about it. He called it “Chickens Don’t Listen”.

He’s a boy after my own heart.

Unfortunately, when we let the chickens out, no one told them that the area of the kitchen garden with orange flags was off limits. I’m sure all the seeds we planted a few weeks ago are in their bellies.

While the girls were roaming, Ray and the boys took a few cuttings from our autumn olive, dipped the ends in rooting hormone and planted them between the trees in the swales.

We are trying to propagate more this year from cuttings. We are hoping at least a few of them will take as they are considered to be invasive.

At the end of the day, Ray cleaned the coop out and moved the girls out of the kitchen garden to start their long trek out to the tall grass and swales. We’ll move them daily since the ground is so soft and they are so excited to be on fresh vegetation.

Once they are out in the swales, maybe they will pick on eachother less.

We can only hope.

Picking, poking, pecking
The hens are bored…or mean
Poor Pecky’s scraggly feathers
Are the worst that we have seen

He doesn’t try to stop them
He runs around the pen
I’m waiting for the day
That bird gets his revenge

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Posted in Chickens!, Garden Stories, Life

Feathers and Fluffballs

Posted on March 23, 2017 | 4 comments

We’ve had a whirlwind few days with chicks hatching and cheeping day and night.

Seven eggs had hatched fully by the end of Tuesday. It was getting a little crowded in the incubator, so we decided to risk  the 8th egg in order to get the other chicks in their new home, under a heat lamp and with food and water.

The incubator is temperature and humidity controlled to mimic the warmth of a mother hen sitting on her eggs. Once the egg has a pip, a small opening for the chick to work its way out, opening the incubator exposes the egg to dry air.

Drying the pip could make it more difficult for the chick to break through the egg without assistance.

The final egg had pipped before we opened the incubator, so we knew the risks.

After we had settled all of the chicks, we sprayed the sides of the incubator down with water to try and keep the humidity in and put the lid back on…and waited.

In the wee hours, the final egg hatched and a scraggly, wet little chick stumbled into the empty shells on clumsy claws. We let its feathers dry out a bit, before moving it with the others.

The boys and my nieces have named them all…although the names have changed frequently since we moved them.

Here’s the final list…for now.

Yellow Feather
Nita
Cheep Cheep
Sir Hubert McFeatherington
Fluffy
Fin
Cheepy
Flappy

A few of them have a couple gray dots like their father and they all have big feet with feathers on their legs.

This has been an exciting and amazing project for the boys. Joe has been so careful and gentle with the chicks and the eggs. He lets us know when it is time to leave the room so “the chicks can sleep”.

We’ve also learned a lot about the chicken…from anatomy to the lifecycle to how the chicks are able to go a few days without food and water.

I think the best part was when I asked Joe if he wanted to look at a piece of shell under the microscope.

While we were oohing and aahing over the little yellow fluffballs, my niece asked me “what if they are all roosters?”

Hmm. I didn’t consider that eventuality. Didn’t I order all hens? I’m sure Pecky and I talked about it, didn’t we?

Feathers and fluffballs
Yellow chicks with small gray dots
I hope they’re all hens

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Posted in Chickens!, For the Kids, Haiku, Life, Writing

Pruning

Posted on March 6, 2017 | Leave a comment

Trailing after daddy
An eager little boy
Pruning back the vines
Filled with pride and joy

Watching daddy closely
Wanting to do it right
Puffing up with pride
When daddy says, “That’s right!”

Working til the sun sets
Big to smaller shoulder
Sighing with contentment
Feeling a little older

I see their smiling faces
I hear their laughter too
I smell the dirt and sunshine
I feel humbled anew

This man I hold so dearly
Will take care of us all
These boys I love so fiercely
Will soon grow big and tall

So as that time draws nearer
I’ll relish every day
From working in the sunshine
To all the games we play

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Posted in For the Kids, Garden Stories, Life, Poetry, Writing

Midwest Winter

Posted on February 20, 2017 | 2 comments

The weather is mild
The grass is confused
The birds are returning
The trees aren’t amused

This mild midwest winter
Calls plants to awake
Calls spiders to come out
And frogs to the lake

If this warmth continues
My garden will thrive!
Extending the season
More produce and life!

But if it gets colder
My roses will freeze
My strawberries wither
And what of the trees?

But worries are useless
Concerns do no good
I’ll laugh and enjoy it
As everyone should!

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Leaves are budding on the rose bushes

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New strawberries are peeking up through the mulch.

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Posted in Garden Stories, Life, Poetry, Writing

Crisp

Posted on November 21, 2016 | Leave a comment

Sparkling in the sunlight
The frosty, glittering ground
The chickens now are ready
For cold and wind to sound

They moved into the garden
To do their very best
They scratch and shuffle all around
Eating weeds and pests

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They’re now outside our window
And each and every morn
Pecky has confused our light
And crows before the dawn

The cats both like their new spot
As guardians of the flock
They bask in warm, soft sunlight
Ignoring ruffled bawks

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The sky is bright and blue now
But soon it will be gray
And snow will fall so softly
Crisp winter’s here to stay


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Posted in Chickens!, Garden Stories, Life, Pecky Greenleg, Poetry, Writing

Winter Fertilizer

Posted on November 18, 2016 | Leave a comment

The cold weather approaches and it is just about time to move the chickens closer to the house to keep them out of the bitter winter winds that rip through our small homestead.

We’ve let the plants go to seed so that our girls will have a nice treat during the long winter. We will have moved them all over the garden so that by Spring our soil will be rich and crawling with squiggly worms.

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Perhaps telling the boys that it was time to “destroy the garden” was a little short sighted; but it was worth it to see how much fun they had chopping, pulling and stomping all over the kitchen garden.

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Since it has been warm, the borage and lovage are confused. They think they still have time to multiply and grow.

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Borage. It’s all over the garden and some is even in the yard.

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Lovage – smells like celery.

We found a ton of cherry tomatoes on the vine. They are so sweet! We fed some to the chickens and snacked on some ourselves. Most of the broccoli had gone to seed so we gave that to the chickens too.

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I ran around front to see if the strawberries were confused as well…no such luck. I did find a few roses blooming though.

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The chickens “accidentally” got loose so the boys spent an hour or so chasing them around, catching them, letting them go and catching them again.

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Pecky stood guard over the coop while this was happening. He was reluctant to get involved in the shenanigans.

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I think the girls may be picking on him a little bit. He has a few feathers missing on his rear and a few raw spots as well. A couple of the hens have missing feathers on their heads too. I guess chickens must have cat fights too.

The boys are both very gentle with the chickens. They can catch them much easier than Ray or I can. The hens seem almost docile with them.

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We had a beautiful day working outside. I like all seasons, but I sure am going to miss these nice weather days when we are cooped up.

Snow is on its way
Winter days are coming fast
Autumn falls away

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Posted in Chickens!, For the Kids, Garden Stories, Haiku, Life, Writing