Chicken Information...Sometimes it does not match up to my reality!

I just got a new book...I shall leave it unnamed for the time being, till I evaluate it more. It had some information that I feel was not good for the city chicken keeper (the book is geared to the homesteader in non traditional environments). It stated that a person can let the chicken forrage off the land during gardening season for its food. I agree they can forrage, but I firmly belive they also need supplmental food from the human that is keeping them. Most yards are not big enough to offer adaquate nutrition for chickens, nor are most diverse enough to supply the chickens with a diet they need to produce eggs and grow correctly. Our girls have a large city yard. They have had access to it (not by our choice many times!) They have a large fenced pen and a nice coop. Lots of area to find bugs, seeds, and so forth. But we have fed them well consistantly, and have reaped the very good side to that...lots of eggs and healthy chickens! So just be careful as to what you read (or as to what advice you follow is a better way to put it)...many folks might write books, but they might not really know how to do what it is they are writing about!

I would love to reccomend Becky's Homestead. She has a blog, and I have purchased her DVD to have to watch (the videos are on the i tunes for free...that is how we came across her)  It is a lot of very good information for homesteading, and covers many areas, to include chickens. I watched and gleaned a lot from her long information before we ever got chickens. She knows what she is talking about because she has DONE it! Plus she is positive and fun to watch!

We have a healthy flock whom are laying about an egg a day per chicken even though it is daylight savings time...which can cause for lower egg production. I think if I had followed the forrage advice during our growing season , our chickens would be unhealthy and not producing yet. If you have lots of land, that is a whole different story, but for those of us in the city, feed your chickens!

How I Use My Time

We each have 24 hours in a day. We might be richer, poorer, younger, older...but we all have 24 hours in a day.  I have said for years I get more done in a day with 4 kids than I did when I had 2. I figure it has to do with having to watch how you use your time. Less to do gives one more time to spend without having to be purposeful. With my kids no longer being babies (we had diapers almost solid on somebody for about 10 years) I find that I am once again needing to get motivated about how I spend my time. It is so easy to surf the Internet, watch a tv show, or just piddle. Just a little bit her and there adds up..and sometimes we don't even realize it. There is nothing wrong with enjoying these things of course...just how much they occupy your 24 hours is the issue. Where do we want to end up in 5, 20, 50 years? If we are not intentional, we will be saddened then I think.

So I am going to make some goals for myself. Things I need to do...like organize the pantry (again!), and mulch the plants. And things that are vital, like playing games with the kids one on one, or doing something with them specifically. I need to make sure those important things don't get lost in my 24 hours. It is SO easy to do! I plan to strive for this in the next week. To use my 24 hours for others, and for my family. To leave a legacy for them, to bless them, and to let them each know how important they are to me.

The Best Yet Chicken Escape...Totally Crazy!

So today was quiet and calm...mostly. Then one of my daughters went to feed a dog and found 3 of 4 chickens missing from the coop!!! She said they were in the neighbors yard! So my son and I gathered up our jackets and went to find them...and after a while of chicken chasing we caught the three escapees. The fourth had managed to yet again get out of the coop and into the yard! The amazing thing was how they managed to get to the neighbors yard. We have a 6' wooden privacy fence and they got out UNDER it! Yep, they dug a little spot over time and got out. I am most thankful they did not go to the road...we live right on a 5 lane road with a lot of traffic. IF they had feathers would have went flying!!  The spot did not appear that they could get under it, but it was the only way we can figure they could have gotten out. So I worked on placing boards up so the small gaps are even smaller. With all this new chicken drama, we are going to have to make some revisions to the chicken area!

I will try to get pics to post of the before and after. They have a lovely coop, I just wish they would stay in it! And I have to say, our neighbor (a young guy) came out to help us get the chickens...I don't pick them up too often so it was good to have others help corral them. That was a blessing too. And to make it all even better my Hubby came home with a DD coffee for me...which was nice because after catching the chickens, and working on their coop, it was cold! He did not know they had gotten loose of course, he was just being a great guy! And wouldn't you know it...I had showered and had on my clothes to go to Church tonight when I ended up crawling around in the coop:) Yuck-o! lol ;)

Games! Games! Simple Family Time!

We really enjoy games. And now that our kids can play more than Candyland and Uno, it is getting even better! We have been expanding our collection via thrift stores and amazon. It is great way to spend time together chatting and having fun. I try to get games that teach the brain as well as those that are fun to play. So here are our newer games that we enjoy.

Sequence: States and Capitals.... My husband and I play this a lot. It is fun mentally stimulating. Ages 7 and up it says...

Qwirkle ...This is SO fun! Plus the blocks double with younger kids to sort and build with. I play this with all our kids, even the 4 year old is learning the  rules, &  my hubby and I play too!

Rush Hour...the Jr and the regular versions.This is a solo game. It is GREAT! And there are expander packs for it. This is portable and great for the car, Dr office waits, or quiet time.

Top Trumps...USA....We enjoy this. At first I thought we will learn nothing from it! Many rounds later, and I learned I was wrong!

Hidden Hints....this is a neat game. I thought it was boring at first. Not anymore!

In a pickle...great party game...fast paced, great with a group

The LadyBug Game...good for all under age 8. More complex than CandyLand. Enjoyable.

The Scrambles States of America...super fast & fun

Spot It...looks so simple, not so! Five variations of play with the deck. Fun!

Trigger...good for thinking and fun. Great for laughs!

No Stress Chess...teaches you how to play chess, the also doubles as a regular chess set. Great!'

Scrabble...Slam...good for younger kids and for a quick game. We end up with laughs on this one!

The Great Chicken Escape!

As I posted before, the hawk and chicken thing happened. The hawk lost that round, but we promptly put up wildlife netting over the top of our entire chicken run. We left a small opening (like the size of a little plastic stepping stool) uncovered as it was up against the fence and next to the nesting box. We have a part that covers our gate that lifts open but it was left open and our chicken Flour made her way to our yard! I was not yet up and could hear her making a fuss...I thought she was having issues laying her egg.  I was impressed! But we got her all settled back in and covered the gate. Then much to our dismay she was out for a walk this morning! The little space is all that she could have managed to get out from...again I am impressed with her escaping, but I won't be impressed if the hawk gets her, so now we will try to tweak it so she cannot escape.

It is amazing to watch the chickens. They each have have a personality! Flour is determined to get out, and Snowflake likes to sit. Bambi is mellow and Princess likes to follow Flour. She was a fellow escapee prior to the netting going up. The others just follow the rules..something  they probably were just happy with when the Hawk had it's claws on Princess!!! This spring we plan to add to our flock, maybe adding 6-8 baby chicks. That will make for many new escapees.

Home Sweet Homeschool

We are currently home educating all of our children. When we began we had a totally great space...a room that was about 17' x 10'. It was a fully renovated space above the two car garage. That was 170 dedicated square classroom feet! After a while I found that we did not need a formal class area (as many, many, many other homeschool mom's had said prior to my deciding I did need it!...Live and learn...but it would have been easier to glean from the start their wisdom!). Now I have no formal area. Each child has a desk, and we have a cubby system for their school books,  to keep things tidy. We have our school computer in our new "barn" which is a small cute Amish styled building we have had wired. It also doubles as our art center as it as a built in workbench that is quite spacious. It houses our puzzles and other things. There is also seating in there for puzzles, games, or reading.

 The thing I miss most is my desk....I don't have one currently. I keep my things filed in boxes, but am working on a way to make space for a desk that can function as I need it to, in an area that will be beneficial for not only schooling, but for other times like letter writing, bill paying, etc.

I have found that a smaller space is in ways better for our educational purposes. I can keep an eye much easier on what each child is doing. Before, if someone was going to read upstairs, for example, I might not get to check on them as frequently when helping another child as I now can. And as all mom's know, we can simply listen and know what they are up to! And a smaller home helps me keep tabs on who needs encouragement, or who's snack break is running a bit long! Our cubby storage is located by our front door. I had it made to go beside my stackable washer /dryer, but then found it to be perfect to hold the books in lieu of the iron and soap! Here is a pic (we like rustic looking furniture as you will notice) The short one is where I store my keys, workbooks, books not currently in use for school, paper, and so forth and the tall one opens to 4 cubbies, perfect for our 4 children!

Holidays in a Small Home

We just celebrated our first Christmas in our limited space home. We chose to have no tree...there just was no way to put one up without moving something out, like seating!  So it was a minimalist decor year! Next year we might do an outdoor tree for the birds and squirrels. That was actually my idea for this year, but it was soooo warm here that I thought the tree might just not make it till Christmas.

Now we are looking towards Valentine's Day...it is one of my top favorites. I am not all that into the gushy romantic side of it, but into the greatness of the Love aspect. As a Christian, I think that is the very best thing ever...to celebrate Love...true Love...not love as the culture defines it, but rather as God does. So I have been planning on how we will decorate for that!

Trying to simplify means I need to curb my desire to just go buy stuff and use what I have if I can. I did that in part this weekend and am SO happy with the results. I pulled out some fabric I had stored (I drastically reduced my fabric stash when I moved...) and two disposable plates and made this cute wreath while we watched a kids movie together. I am happy with it. Not sure where it will go just yet...perhaps on our covered porch or on our backdoor.