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...

Quiet Weekend

We had a quiet weekend here in our little neck of the woods. We actually got a heavy skiff of snow Sunday afternoon, so we had a white Christmas after all. We went to church and had a quiet Christmas morning opening presents and enjoying some great new pancakes that I discovered.The pancakes are made with whole wheat berries. I was sold on the idea that it was less work to make these whole wheat pancakes, because after all, I didn't have to grind the wheat. But, I was skeptical that the berries would break down in the blender and not have chunks of hard wheat grains that I would be biting down on and cracking a tooth. DH was eyeing the blender in amazement at how fast they broke down. I mean, have you ever tried to bite a wheat berry? They are hard! The pancakes were not gritty or tough, but pleasantly light, fluffy and delicious! And no chipped teeth. Here is the recipe:

Whole Wheat Pancakes

1 C milk
1 C dry wheat berries

Put the milk and whole wheat berries in a glass blender and blend on high for 5 min. until thick. Next add, 2 TB. oil, 2 TB honey or sugar, 2 tsp. baking powder, 2 eggs and a pinch of salt, blend on med. speed for about 30 sec to mix. Pour onto heated and greased griddle, turn when bubbly and cook on other side until light brown. This made 14 pancakes. Serve with butter, syrup or whatever you like. Enjoy!

Here's Cooper enjoying a warm fire after all the frenzy of opening Christmas presents.