Losses

I went out to feed the chickens this morning and to leave the gate open so they can forage and one of my black sex links was just standing there. Her comb was limp and flopped over. She had a messy behind, her eyes were sad. I knew she was sick but had no idea what was wrong with her. She is one and a half and older chickens don't usually have a problem with a pasted vent. She was not straining like she was egg bound. All the chickens seemed fine last night when I put them up. Or maybe I didn't pay close enough attention. I was due to go into town and wasn't sure what to do. Try to clean off her rear end? She actually let me pet her. Then, she walked over against the wall and laid down, sort plopped, actually. I had a feeling.

I got home 5 hours later and she was gone. Sigh....

Chick Pics

Here are the baby chicks at one week old. The darker chick had a very pasted vent earlier this week, but seeing mom wasn't going to take care of it, I did. The chick seems to be doing very well.

I would also like to welcome Joy, from Granny Mountain. She has a cool blog, so go on and check it out. Thank you for joining me.

Chicks and Ticks

Yesterday I must have gone out to the chicken barn (as I call it) and checked on BO (mother hen) and her chick progress about a dozen times. She did not take kindly to all my curiosity and was highly protective and secretive. Other than the one glimpse of three chicks under her, I got nary much else to gawk at. DH gently reminded me that I should leave her alone and let her get used to her new role. Well, what do you think I did the second I got out of the shower this morning (after putting clothes on, of course)? Before I even poured my cup of coffee. Before I even turned the coffee pot on. Before I said my morning prayers. Yep, you sure guessed right. And here is what I found.

Her nest where she has spent the last six weeks nurturing and turning her lovely eggs was empty with some telltale signs of hatched chicks and two that were not as fortunate. And here she is!

Okay, I see one baby chick, I know there are more...

Five chicks! Aren't they cute? It looks like those two in front of her may be quarreling and she is breaking it up, doesn't it?

Okay, enough of my parade about the new additions to our household. Good grief, what will I be like when I'm an actual grandmother of humans?!

Well, yesterday, DD19 came out to the house and she was petting our lovely dog, Cooper, who by the way is no longer limping.  She petted a lump. What kind of lump? The kind that grows and swells with blood. Disgusting! It is going to be a tick year for sure. This is his third tick and it is only mid-June. After the first two, I put that flea and tick medicine on his back that is supposed to spread out on his body and repel ticks. Apparently it doesn't spread to the face. Here you can see it on his jowl. It's as big as my thumbnail!

DH is braving holding the tweezers and pulling the thing off.

Cooper is not too sure about all of this.

There it is...

Baby Chicks!

Do you see the little baby chick poking our from under her chest? I knew it had to be close because this morning I went out to check on her and feed and she was growling at me! I have counted three chicks, but we are trying to not bother her and upset her so this was the only pic I could manage to get. That board in from of her is not laying flat and we don't want the chicks to get caught up underneath of it so I was trying to step on it and flatten it down. Also, you can't really tell in the picture but to the left and right of the front of the crate there are gaps we want to get filled in so the little chicks don't wander off into predator land of the big, mean, cannibal chickens that live next door. I will post more pictures soon and update you on her progress.

Garden Planning

We usually sit down in February when seed catalogs come out and dream up our garden configuration and what we want to plant. Last year, our garden was not as successful. Our potato plants suffered from disease and/or insects, our lettuce did not grow, onions were few and far between, and our corn was not thinned so did poorly. The last two years we grew starts in our greenhouse but for some reason, I just wasn't on the ball, or it wasn't my year.I am hoping we are more successful with our gardening efforts this year.

This week we are cleaning out our greenhouse. It is about 12x12 and there are trees shading the southwest side. I want to get a thermometer and some planter boxes and try growing more in there and not transplanting everything. Does anyone have good suggestions for veggies that grow well in a greenhouse? Also, we need to board up some broken windows in it so it will heat up more. We will start some seeds as well. I think I will plant some lettuce, tomatoes, onion, and maybe some spinach. Oh, yeah, my spinach last year did not do well. Why do some veggies turn bitter before they have even bolted? At any rate, this is our big project this week. We need to prune some shrubs and other miscellaneous yard care, but it is also supposed to snow this week. We'll see how things pan out.

I have rhubarb coming up along with daffodils. The chickens have been gleaning around the strawberry plants and thatching under our tree in the front yard. I like them around to fertilize, but boy they can sure make a place look like a pig sty, as they scratch and throw rock and leaves around that I have swept numerous times. Our driveway is a landmine of rocks that they have thrown onto the cement as they glean for bugs in the rock that borders the driveway, not to mention the excrement they leave behind. DH is considering enlarging their pen so they stay put. I like having them around but they do create a mess.

Absolutely Sick...

I am sick to my stomach. I got home from work today and went out to feed the chickens and put them up for the night. As I walk out the chickens run to greet me as they always do, looking forward to food scraps from the kitchen bucket, and some scratch to be strewn upon the ground. Innocent and simple.

Until I walk into the chicken barn and notice that BO is not on her nest and there are only 10 eggs! There is a broken shell and I am looking for mom and some baby chicks. She is out and about without a care in the world. Oh my gosh! What I see next sinks my heart. One of my chickens is running around with a dead baby chick in it's beak with 2 others chasing her trying to steal her catch. I don't know what has happened over the course of the day. I left this morning with mom on her clutch, carefully turning eggs as I fed this morning. Now, half are gone without a trace. Just one eggshell and one dead chick. I don't know if the rest hatched and the other chickens attacked the chicks and mom couldn't keep the others at bay as she tried to defend her little ones. We have never had our hens attack baby chicks and have always had more worries about skunks eating them than anything else.

I am just sick. I came inside to cool down and call DH. I went back out a short while later to see if mom had gotten back on the nest. What I saw made me even madder! One of the chickens was pecking at an egg! I don't know if that is how they all met their demise, from being pecked out to open the shell and then a meal for a mean, nasty hen. Oh,  how nature can be so cruel. I gathered all the rest of the eggs and I just got them in our incubator and have it in the living room. I don't know if anything will come of it, but I can't just let life slip by. They are our chickens and I will try my best to save them.

Counting Chickens Before They Hatch?

 On Tuesday, my DH was out and about tending to chores and the like. Our chickens were happily out of the chicken pen, and about tending to chicken endeavors such as hunting and pecking for food, foraging and having a nice day outside stretching their legs and enjoying life. He noticed as well, that our BO was out. No worries.  She gets up off the nest at least once a day, usually in the afternoons, to take care of her business. We leave the gate to the pen cracked open so they can come and go as they please. So it was not unusual to see her, although we don't generally see her out of the pen when she does get up.

DH noticed that she wasn't going back in the pen and went to investigate. The gate had blown shut and she couldn't get back in! He opened it up and she went right in but didn't go over to her nest. He felt the eggs... cold. He thought she had been out and off the nest for maybe 2 hours. Well, finally,  she did get back on the eggs and has been on them the rest of the week. Maybe she knows something we don't, like how long eggs can be unattended without warmth and still survive. You would think she could tell if the eggs are viable or not. Does anyone have any insight about this?

I hope I am wrong, but unless I am totally off on the days of when our BO started setting on her clutch, we are not going to have any chicks. I am so disappointed. I was really looking forward to having baby chicks around.

She's Still Setting

Our Buff Orpington (BO) is still setting. She looks awfully serious, don't you think. I don't think she took kindly to me taking a snapshot of her, especially since she has been dieting and not able to get off her nest to groom or do much else but grab a quick bite to eat and a sip of water. I'd be cranky, too. I actually have noticed, really though, that she looks fuller and better than the other hens. I think it must be that motherhood glow that makes her so pretty right now.

You can see an egg peeking our from under her chest and that egg off to the side, well, I think she rejected it. Hopefully, it will just be another day or two and we'll have chicks.

BO Pics

When I went out to feed this afternoon, I was hoping to capture a picture of my beautiful BO on her clutch. But as soon as she saw me, she knew it was feeding time an got off her clutch so she could grab a few grains of food and water for sustenance.

Here is her clutch of eggs.

And here she is front and center (the blonde) grabbing a quick snack before she sits back on her eggs.

I hope to be posting chick pics soon.

Just Good Eats

DD17 wasn't going to be home for dinner Friday evening because she was going to be working at a local restaurant so I decided to but some shrimp for dinner. Problem was, I didn't know what I wanted to make with them. I love that seafood goes on sale in winter when it is Lenten season, so shrimp meat was $3.99/lb. I had some corn tortillas in the freezer to use up, not to mention a can of cream of shrimp soup that had an expiration of 2008. That's never stopped me before because I know that under proper storage, the canned soup  should still be good. So, I made Shrimp Enchiladas. DH says they're a hit. Here's what I did:

Shrimp Enchiladas
1-1/4 lb. shrimp meat
1 can condensed cream of shrimp soup
2 TB sour cream
3 TB softened cream cheese
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cumin powder
salt and pepper, to taste
shredded cheddar cheese
sliced black olives
8 corn tortillas

Mix soup, sour cream, cream cheese, chili powder, cumin and salt and pepper. Mix about 1/4 C of the soup mixture with the shrimp meat. Lay a tortilla in baking pan and put about 1/4 C of shrimp mixture on the tortilla, then top with a TB or two of shredded cheese. Roll up and set in pan. Continue until all is used up. Spread the tops of the enchiladas with the remaining soup mixture, covering all the edges. Top generously with shredded cheddar cheese and sprinkle with sliced olives. Bake at 375 for 25-30 min. Enjoy!

You might also like a dessert to go with dinner. Here's an apple dessert recipe:

Apple Dessert
1 C sugar
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 C flour
1 TB shortening
1/2 C evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla
 1/2 C chopped nuts, if desired
3 C chopped apples
Mix sugar, baking powder, flour, and shortening. Stir in milk and vanilla. Add nut, if using and apples. Spread in a greased 9-in. square pan.
Topping:
2 TB brown sugar
2 TB butter
1/3 C flour
Cut butter into sugar and butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over apple mixture and bake at 400 for 30-35 min. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. adapted from Simple Recipes Using Food Storage 

For those of you who are interested, our BO is still brooding! She got off her clutch yesterday afternoon when I went out to feed and I counted 22 eggs. We have about a week-week and a half to go. I will let you know how things turn out.

Nothing but Mud

Most of the snow around here has melted, and that means mud... and lots of it. On top of that you can add the rain that has been falling this week. I can't keep our floor clean no matter that we take off our shoes and boots, stuff still gets tracked in. And Cooper, well the only time he doesn't understand "bed" when we let him in the house is when it's wet and muddy around the place. Usually, we let him in the front door and there are 2 entry rugs that lead directly to his coveted bed where he lays down and amuses himself with paw sucking or snoozing to his hearts content. But the paw tracks in the house are never ending! He somehow steps off the rugs on the path to his bed leaving muddy marks. Then, he somehow sneaks around the house and leaves muddy paw prints everywhere. Argghh.

The sun is out today after heavy fog this morning. The chickens are happy and running about, free from their mud hole. We couldn't throw scratch out for them in their pen because it just got lost in the mud, so I threw it into the loafing shed where it was dry, but you know, our 2 horses saunter over and try to nibble up as much of it as they can. Oh, and that Buff O is broody again. She has been setting for about 5-6 days now. I will keep you up to date on her mothering progress.

I went to the store this morning and was just amazed at how many people were out shopping and buying big ticket items. One man had a huge flat screen TV in his cart and most shopping carts were full of food, clothes, and just stuff. I had TP and bananas in my cart and I had bought milk yesterday, so my cart looked a little pathetic. I'm on a whole milk kick now after reading Whistleblower's (WND) article "The Oiling of America" about how whole foods, especially animal fats, have been demonized and how unhealthful, synthetic foods have been enshrined over the last 100 years. I used to buy 2% milk (you know, to save 40 calories per glass) and found out that low fat milks have powdered oxygenated milk in them to give them mouth appeal. I'll buy raw milk if I can find it somewhere. It's true if you think about it. You always see very heavy people drinking diet coke and eating non-fat sour cream, and reduced fat cheese, and baked potato chips. But they're still overweight. I have noticed that ever since I started buying whole foods ( sour cream, cheese, butter, mayo), about 10 years ago, I am more easily satisfied when I eat since I am not still hungry after eating all those chemicals and empty calories. I still could lose a few pounds, but I can maintain my weight more easily. I remember when I have tried to lose weight (after children and again after the death of my parents) and bought all that non-fat and reduced fat stuff and it was so hard to lose weight. I have only served real butter, real sour cream and so forth in my house for over 10 years. I find that I eat less because whole foods fill you up. I had a friend that went on a whole foods kick and eliminated all hydrogenated products from her diet. She lost almost 30 pounds in just over a year without trying. It just makes sense.

This and That...

Well, it's been pretty quiet around here. Not much to blog about, but in case you're wondering what has been up in my neck of the woods, here's a summary.

We got all that snow a week and a half ago, and some bright Rhode Is. Red got the bright idea to sneak out of the barn. We have no clue how she got out, but she did. I saw her outside the back door last weekend, and found her tracks around the house, and then saw her tracks in the snow from the barn to the house. She took up residence under the front porch has been living underneath the front porch for a week now.  She comes out and squawks but then runs back under the porch. I don't know what to do with her. I can't catch her and I don't think she will venture back to the barn until the snow thaws. Snow just does something weird to chicken brains, they can't figure out how to function in it. In the meantime, she is attracting magpies and rabbits.


It is Spirit Week at my school and tomorrow I get to go to school in my PJ's. Tuesday is twin day and I am blessed with wearing yellow all day. I will have to tally how many people ask me if I am feeling okay, as yellow makes me look putrid. Wednesday= wild and crazy day, Thursday is sports day and I will dress up like a basketball sports star. I didn't think it would be appropriate for anyone to see me in volleyball attire. And Friday is an all schools mass in the morning and then I'm off for the rest of the day!

One thing that has been absorbing much of my time is that we are making a change in our faith. It has been an educational and stressful endeavor the past couple of months, but I know that we are doing the right thing. Gosh, it's just one of those times where I can't think of much to say. I will blog about something more interesting later. I hope everyone has a good rest of the weekend and an enjoyable start to their week.

BO Update & Jar Mixes

Our beautiful BO has decided that motherhood is not for her, at least not for now anyway. She stopped brooding a few days ago and has been off scratching and pecking with her hen pals. I hope she gets the urge again this spring, and sticks with it. It is such fun to have little chicks running around, and the young cocks cook up wonderfully. They are very tender and tasty. They have dark meat that is so flavorful the store bought chickens don't hold a candle to home grown. I will again, keep you posted.

On another note. I have been busy putting together quart jars of dried meals. You just layer the ingredients in a quart mason jar and seal. You have a quick meal with little prep that is filling and delicious. Here is one that I put together. You can also halve the recipe and put in a pint jar, just adjust the amount of liquid and meat accordingly when you go to prepare the soup. I do this for my oldest daughter who has recently moved out and the smaller jars are great if there are only two to cook for.

Pasta Soup


1 3/4 C macaroni or other hearty pasta
3/4 C dried lentils
3/4 C dried mushrooms
1/2 C parmesan cheese
2 TB dried onion
2 1/2 TB chicken bouillon granules
1 TB Italian seasoning
1 TB parsley
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 TB dried vegetable flakes (optional)
Layer in a quart jar. Seal. (I use my vacum sealer wide mouth lid attachment). Or put an oxygen absorber in and cap.

To use: Boil 10 C water. Add soup mix and 1 pint cooked chicken with liquid or 2 C cooked chicken (you can use cooked ground beef as well). Reduce heat and simmer 40-50 min. until lentils are tender, stir occasionally.

I also made Chicken and Rice, Skillet Lasagna and Tortilla Soup, which is one I haven't tried yet. And I  made another jar of Scalloped Potatoes which are way better than the store bought boxes, not to mention cheaper  more frugal. I will need to dehydrate more potatoes next weekend as I have almost used all of mine up. I just love them and would use them all the time if I had more. If anyone is interested in any of the other jar mixes I made, let me know and I will post additional recipes.

Is There a Chicken Shrink in the House?

BO decided to get off the nest the other day, Wednesday, and in her place were a black sex link and a RI Red. She was in another corner of the barn, on the floor of course. DH said she had been off the nest most of the day and in her new spot. So, here we have a clutch of eggs that she had been brooding on for a week, and then she changes her address. I don't know if the other 2 pullets were trying out her method of squatting in a corner, but I sure wish I had taken a picture. I don't know if they were laying eggs, taking turns with her keeping the eggs warm, trying to be copycats, or what.

Now, what to do with the eggs. You see, I don't keep tabs on BO cock, so I don't know who he is servicing, or what. But I do know that I don't want to collect the eggs and break one open into the frying pan only to find a chick embryo. Ick! Call me squeamish, but that would just about put me over the top and then I'd never want an egg again. Instead, I had DD collect the eggs on the floor of the barn and get rid of them.

But whom do I find on the original nest yesterday and today? My confused BO pullet. Is this what they call sowing your wild oats in the chicken world? She is starting all over again. I would have left the first batch, but hubby said she hadn't been on them at all, and there were the other 2 squatting, or laying, or doing whatever on the clutch. I am hoping there is some chicken shrinks out there to help me out. Next time, do I just leave the eggs that appear abandoned? I know she has to get off to get food and water, but honestly, she just let 2 other hens hijack her clutch and then abandon it. Does she know she is starting over? What if she gets off in 2 weeks? I can't make chickens or eggs out of her. The last time I had a hen brood, she did so out of sight. We never even knew she had been brooding until one day she appeared in the barn with a dozen adorable little chicks. I will try to be patient and let her sort out her nesting instincts.

Musings and Cookies

If you've read my blog the last couple of days then you know about my BO sitting on a clutch of eggs on the floor of the barn in the dead of winter. The pic I posted yesterday showed her with some of the eggs the other pullets had laid around her because she was in their "spot." Well, I wasn't wearing gloves and picked up 2 of the eggs that were furthest from her beak reach, leaving the others that were within striking distance with her, on the assumption that I would return later with gloves and be able to grab them unscathed by a sharp, blood drawing peck on the hand. Yes, I know your're thinking it, go ahead, yes, I was chicken to grab the eggs. I know...
Of course, when I went out later, they were gone. Yep, she had added them to her clutch. Now, those eggs are newer than what she already has under her, I can't help but wonder how often while I was gone at work that she snuck more eggs to brood. Good heavens, Lord knows how many eggs are under her, and I don't want to take the chance disturbing her and then she leaves the eggs for good. I will keep you informed of her progress.

Our 2 daughters are off on the big adventure of driving to the city to go Christmas shopping, which is 45 min. away. We have a couple of stores in town and some quaint (expensive) stores in downtown, so they had to go to "the mall" to shop. They stopped along the way at Target to check out what they had. They've been gone for 3 hours and just called. They just finished lunch and are heading home. They found everything they wanted at Target. I have to tell you this because I hate to say it but they are victims of our secular public school and "have" to shop at American Eagle, Rue 21 and other stores that I hate. They "need" to have the name brands. I got away with buying at Target when they were little, but once middle school hit, forget it. That's when they found themselves buying a lot of clothes with their own money, and even then only if it passed mom's inspections. Like, no cleavage showing. No skinny jeans. No inappropriate slogans, pictures or anything else. I can't understand parents (?) who allow their children to cloak themselves with images of death, you know, skulls, dark images, and the like. Why on earth would anyone WANT to represent death and wear signs of death? It is an invitation towards evil if you want my opinion. Anyway, I am secretly smiling inside, because now that they both have jobs and DD18 is living on her own, money is a much more precious commodity. DD18 is paying her way through college. They both like to buy clothes and I totally understand because I did too when I was their age. But they are both making frugal inexpensive choices. Yeah! They spent less than they budgeted. I am so proud of their choices and they didn't even "have to go to the mall."

DD18 is gluten free. I am putting together a gift basket for her for Christmas with gluten free items and I am shopping for a gluten free cookbook. I made Christmas cookies today with gluten free flour just for her so she can enjoy some Christmas cookies. They actually turned out pretty good, very flaky. I have made these cookies every year since I was a child and I still have the original cookie molds. Here is my recipe:

Merry Christmas Cookies

1 1/2 C flour (I used Augason Farms Featherlite flour for the gluten free cookies)
1/2 C softened butter
3/4 C powdered sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1-2 TB milk if dough is too dry
Blend in mixer until it forms a dough. Divide into 24 portions and press into cookie molds, or roll out 1/4 in. thick on floured surface and cut with cookie cutters. Lightly brush with milk and decorate with sprinkles, etc. Bake at 350 for 8-12 min or until lightly browned on edges. Enjoy!

BO on Nest

Here's a pic with my new camera of my Buff Orpington (BO) on her clutch. I put some straw next to her this morning for her nest, along with some scratch to eat. You can see there's just a few pieces of straw that she didn't use. The eggs you see were laid today from the other pullets.

Chicken Timing

I just love having chickens around. You get to eat the most delicious and freshest eggs every day, they eat pesky little bugs around your place, and it's just plain fun to have them around to watch. But they are are not the brightest, and think about the little sayings folks picked up over the years by observing them. "Hen Pecked, pecking order, scared as a chicken, running around like a chicken with it's head cut off, she's no spring chicken, they laid an egg, don't chicken out, that's chicken feed, don't count your chickens before they hatch, scared as a chicken, when the chickens come home to roost, go to bed with the chickens, if it isn't chicken, it's feathers, and it's a chicken and egg situation." I'm sure there are more but I can't think of any right now off the top of my head. If you know one, go ahead and add it in a comment.

Well, my point is that they are not that smart. Most animals and birds have their young in the spring and summer, when the temperatures are warmer and the days are longer. That just makes sense for viability issues. We have had a Buff Orpington brooding on the floor of the hen house. There is a corner where several chickens have gotten in the poor habit of laying eggs on the floor, and not in the boxes. I noticed about 2 weeks ago when I went out to put them up for the night, that she was sitting in the corner and didn't get up and run out the door like a scaredy cat chicken usually does. The next morning she was not on the eggs and they were cold, so I collected them. I think she was doing a dry run, because now, she has been on the eggs for the last three days when we have gone out in the morning and evening. I guess if she was doing a dry run, that would mean she has some forethought. I don't know how many eggs there are, but I would love to have little chicks running around. They are so cute. But it is December, and here it has been cold and foggy with lows of 10-14 to highs of 28 the last 3 weeks. The chicks take 3 weeks to incubate, so we could very well have snow on the ground, wind, and obviously, more cold weather. I hope she does brood and we get some little chicks. I hope with that little pea brain of hers, she knows what she is doing. I hope as well that they will survive. We have a pen where we will put them away from the others when (if) they hatch. I don't know that I agree with her timing, but I am hopeful. I will keep you posted.

Apples and Eggs

I'm still trying to gain headway with my apple abundance. If you've been reading my blog, you know that I have made apple cider, apple coffee cake, apple pie filling, applesauce, and dehydrated apples over the course of several weekends. Today I dehydrated another batch. Still got more to go. A reader suggested making apple butter, which would make good Christmas gifts. I may still do that. I guess all I can do is to keep plodding along.

Along with an overage of apples, we get about 8-9 eggs a day. At least, that's the eggs that I find in the hen house. I occasionally find clutches of eggs in odd places, like under the tractor mower attachment. We let our chickens free range during the day, and then put them up at night. So, since we don't go through that many eggs on a daily basis, we have way too many. DH sells some to a coworker, and I have mentioned that I have eggs at work, but no one seems to want them. So, here we are with eggs coming out our ears. Not to mention that I have gotten very creative in the frig.

Finally, after 17 years, DD17 is eating eggs. But, only if they are hard boiled. So, if you raise chickens or are lucky enough to have access to fresh eggs, then you know how frustrating it is to hard boil a fresh egg. See, it just doesn't work. Why? Because the eggs are fresh and the yolk and white take up the whole inside of the egg. So when you hard boil them and then go and try to peel one, yeah, they don't peel. The white is still kind of attached to the shell. The egg will kind of have shell and white come off in grotesque chunks. Not the kind of egg you want on your deviled egg party tray this Christmas.

For the best hard boiled eggs, you need to age the eggs. I mean, they need to be hanging out in your frig for 4-5 weeks for the best results. And put them in the carton with the narrow end down. This way, some of the white evaporates through the pores of the egg. This leaves a little air pocket in the larger end of the egg. You can check to see if your eggs are ready for hard boiling by putting them in a pan of water. If they lay flat on their side, they are too fresh. If the large end floats up a tad bit, or really sticks up in the water, they are perfect. That means there is an air pocket. Now, if your egg totally floats, get rid of it! It has spoiled.

For perfect hard boiled eggs, put them in cold water and check that the big end stands up a bit in the water. Next, bring them to a boil. When the water boils, turn off the heat, but leave the pan on the burner. Set the timer for 16 min. When the time is up, immediately chill with ice water. You will find that your eggs will peel smoothly because that air pocket allows space between the white and shell. Your yolk will be fully cooked but will not have that nasty greenish-gray coloring around the yolk. That is from over cooking your eggs. I should mention that the 16 min. is for large to extra large eggs. If you have medium eggs, cook for 15. min. I have found that this method works for me every time, although, I do on occasion, get that one egg that just refuses to peel.

Happenings That Build Faith Update

My DH talked with our neighbor today and I had to keep you posted as to the happenings in our neighborhood. In my previous post, I talked about how the coyotes had been exploring the chicken barn and how our dog, Cooper, had barked his alarm warnings and by the time we went out to investigate the girls, all that was left were coyote prints in the snow, which Cooper eagerly familiarized himself with. Well, our neighbor lost 9 chickens that night. Yep, they dug under his barn and stole 9 laying hens. I know how it feels to lose your livestock, so I am even more determined to keep those rascals out. DH made sure to lock them in tonight, but we also have a dirt floor, and night creatures are determined when they are hungry. I will pray that we will be blessed with no chicken losses.

Our DD17 who was disappointed with the basketball outcome, has signed up for another Running Start class at the local college for winter quarter. This will keep her busy and focused. I will pray that she does well and that a new open door will present itself to her soon.

La Nina Comes Knocking

A La Nina winter is predicted here in the PACNW which means more snow and precipitation. The La Nina trend is to get stronger as fall turns into winter. Meteorologists are calling for an Arctic Oscillation as well. This means that there can be a sudden change of brief, unseasonably warm temperatures and precipitation which can cause sudden melting snow, or rain on snow, and subsequent flooding. The arctic oscillation can generate strong changes in the weather patterns and can wreak havoc so be prepared.

It is already getting cold here. This morning it was 30. It got down to 19 degrees about a week and a half ago, and this evening when I went out to feed the chickens and put them up it was a very cold wind. I have a water heater plugged in for the chicken water but won't know if it is working until it freezes. We still need to get the horse water heater in. Not to mention our dog's heated water dish and Cooper needs a heated bed, too. His is old and torn up and not working. But gosh they are expensive. One year I put hot water bottles out for him to lay on every night. What was I thinking?

We have not gotten everything winterized and ready. DSH got snow tires and they are ready to put on cars. We have the Drize the air in the camp trailer. I think most hoses are put up, except on the front porch. We need to cover the garden with a tarp.I got out our snow boots and have ice scrapers in the car. The tractor has fuel and is ready for DSW to plow the driveway. We have a 1/2 mile long driveway and we get the wind so snowdrifts can get really bad and we have been snow bound for a couple of days before. We have never lost power for more than a couple of hours but the generator is ready if needed and we will manage if we need without power. Got candles and can cook because we have propane.

Oh, and have you bought some peanut butter lately? The price is jumping by leaps and bounds. I got a rain check for some that was on sale and a 40 oz. jar of Skippy was $8.58. Better stock up. Are you ready for winter?