Chickies Week 2

Their little wing feathers are growing. They are still cute, however, I know they are about to hit their "awkward" stage when their cute little furry feathers start turning into real feathers...not too cute.

Nervous

Well, this is the month we are to breed Cherry. I have a buck rag given to us by the lady who sold Cherry to us. Basically, it is a washcloth that she took and wiped down the male goat with so it has that musky smell. We are to take that and tie it to the fence and watch for Cherry to start "flirting" and flagging to alert us to her being in heat. When I see that, I will come in and call the lady who has the buck, get her there and hope for the best. After she is bred, we only have 5 months until she freshens (or gives birth). ...oh my goodness. There is so much to do in that 5 months. Read and watch You Tube on kidding to make sure I am prepared for the birth and any emergencies that might arise, get the milk house ready, make sure we have milking equipment, keep Cherry healthy and warm and happy and...oh my goodness. Am I ready for this??? Uh, no. But am I going to do it anyway??? Uh, yes...

"Borrowed" Book

First let me say, Mom, I will send you your book back....after I try an experiment.


I found a book that was given to my mother by one of her friends. Don't Sweat the Small Stuff with Your Family. (I hope she didn't get that because of me??) Regardless, I have been feeling, um, "off" a bit lately. Divine intervention maybe? Well, what I am going to do is take my time and work on a chapter at time and see if it makes a difference. There are 100 steps, so we will see how many I actually get to or go through.


Chapter 1. Set a postive emotional climate.


So the other day when everyone left and I walked around and got all mad and huffy and upset, I wasn't setting a "positive emotional climate?" Things I will be working on. Does this need to be done yesterday? Do I allow the children to get one chore done before giving them another to do because I could have gotten it done by now? Do we need to hurry to get this done, really? Hmm...So what steps have I taken today to achieve a more positive emotional climate? I have purposely slowed down when speaking to the children and made sure they knew I was focusing exclusively on their conversation, even simply turning my chair away from the computer, even though I was working. Some things should take precedence over work. We all know that our attitude is the main ingredient that we can control, yes, we can control it, when it comes to our emotional environment. We can chose to be peaceful and understanding and slow to anger, pretty much as God intended. Or we can rant and rave and work ourselves into frenzy for naught except high blood pressure. I think I like the former.

So, can I move on to chapter two yet?? Didn't think so. This may take a few days. In fact, according to the author, it may have taken years to create the environment we are living now(yes, I do have an anxious personality), and may take time to create a new one...

Mom, I might just have to buy you a new book!

Just One of Those Days

The family had gone to town to do some shopping (Kohl's cash to be spent before it expired) and see if we could get a belt for the tiller. Meanwhile, I stayed here, hoping to get some work done, both on the computer and outside. Cherry and Penny free ranged for a while as I tried to pull up some weeds just in case the tiller was fixed today. After an hour with the shovel, I had about a 2 foot square of weedless clay. After putting Cherry and Penny back up, I headed indoors, shoulders slumped, head down. Started thinking about all the things I needed to get done and how many things I haven't accomplished yet. Doggone! There was that bad attitude again. Those sneaky thoughts that bring you down. Once the family got back, I was not in a good mood. But, as always, Bruce talked to me and reminded me of what I do have and have accomplished and not to worry so much. Yes, poor man, has to remind me often. There are days I can catch myself, and there are days, I can't. Today was an I can't day. Well, it is afternoon to evening now and I am better. And, I did get some things accomplished, when I look at it with a better attitude.

Missed the Pond!

As you recall, I had an encounter with a snake in my baby chicken coop. I took the snake remains and threw it into the pond for the snapping turtle to enjoy. Apparently I missed. The pond is down severely with the drought. I guess the buzzards found it instead. It was a bit eerie to see the big black shadows fly by my window.

NOTE TO SELF: Make sure carcasses are disposed of properly to avoid Edgar Allen Poe nightmares---in the middle of the day!!

Seedlings

My several trays of cooler crops are doing fairly well. Apparently mice or voles or whatever is getting fat on my seeds, really enjoy my lettuce varieties-arrrghh! I have picture evidence of where they have dug out my seeds (see below). I have to do another tray and see if I can get any worthwhile from that, as well as some spinach that they devoured. Beets, collars, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and kale are doing well. The timing should be just about right. The plants and garden beds should be ready about the same time. I do have some basil that I am hoping will have enough time to grow, even if I have to bring them in, so that I can dry some and make some pesto to have on hand. I still want broccoli and mustard greens. I think I have a few seeds left. Yes, my not-so-good furry friends feasted on those too. So far, I am pleased with how things are going.

Waste

It hit me like a ton of bricks today. When I veer from my healthy habits, my waste expands...no pun intended. I just happened to pay attention to the kitchen wastebasket when I threw away something after lunch. No, I am not going to air my dirty laundry, I am too ashamed of how I have been the last few days, but just the visible items told the story. IF, if I had been eating appropriately, lots of the fresh vegetables and fruits that I really do love and love the way they make me feel, I would have little to no trash in that can. My compost would be slightly bigger, but that all comes back to me. I have been eating and worse, feeding my family, quick, sugary, salty, chemical-laced things-not food by any stretch of the imagination, that I abhor!! How modern-American of me. What in the world? And then let's step on the scale...now we can talk about waist expansion!! And what about waste of money. Does your local grocery store have "meal deals" or "deal of a meal?" And what do those normally include? Our typical deal would be two frozen pizzas, a frozen "appetizer" such as wings or potato skins, ice cream or ice cream dessert and a 2-liter of cola...all for the price of $13.98! That is a savings of over $15! Come on, that is a good deal, right? Less than half-price! But what, pray-tell, could one get for $14. At another store boneless skinless chicken breasts are $1.98 per pound...I could get 7 pounds of chicken and stretch that into a good week's worth of meals! Or 7 pounds of hamburger for $1.99 at another store. Again, a week's worth of meaty meals. A box of pasta, buy one get one free, would be about about 28 boxes! Yes, that is a lot of pasta, but you see where I am going with this. And, no, these things aren't something that is super nutritional alone, but are FAR better than the one meal you can get. And the amount of fresh vegetables one could get with $14 would make such an improvement on a person's health and well-being before they were even finished!
I love food...real food...it makes in difference in how I feel, how I look, what I get accomplished and apparently, how much gas I waste hauling trash off!!