Spring Chicks!!

I waited impatiently all day Thursday for the chicks to arrive. I called the Post Office to see if they had them yet...Nope. I set up the brooder box just in case! This is it--a plastic tub. I put an old towel in the bottom. They need something like that for the first week so they don't develop spraddle leg-- then you can change to a litter. I set up the heat lamp--you have to use a red bulb to prevent pecking. I put feed and water in. I was set!! No chicks. I was bummed! I called the Ideal Poultry place to see if they had been shipped. They said they had been sent out Wed. so I should have them by Fri.

This is the water feeder. You buy the basin and attach a mason jar to the top! I like the look of it ~mason jars are just country! ha! I read you need to put a 1/4 tsp of sugar to give the new chicks a boost. I put colored glass rocks in it to keep the chicks from drowning. The rocks also are an attraction to them and will entice them to peck and encourage drinking. You have to keep the water on the opposite side from the heat lamp--chicks don't like to drink hot water and will refuse. After 3 days of clean fresh water I can add an electrolyte solution.

I thought you might be wondering why I seem to know so much about taking care of these chicks! Well....it's because I've done A LOT of reading!!

So...I got a phone call at 7:30am this morning from the Post Office that they had a box of chicks for me and could I come pick it up! OH YES! YES! So I dropped the kids off at school and went by to get them. I walked in the Post Office and you could hear them--cheep--cheep! This is the box they arrived in. I ran the heater in the van to try to keep them warm and comfortable. They peeped all the way home!!

I took each chick out one by one and looked them over. Then I stuck their beak in the water to encourage them to drink. They all looked good and all of them began drinking and eating right away. I had no casualties in the box from shipping. The hatchery that I ordered from has a very good reputation for getting you healthy alive chicks. But I was worried with the change in weather --we are having a cold front--that they might get distressed. The darker chicks are my keepers and the yellow chicks are the extra males. The extras were marked with a purple-red mark on their heads. My keepers are 8 hens and 1 rooster--he was marked with a green dot on his head. The hatchery marks them with washable marker to tell who is who! I separated the extras out into a separate brooder box.

For now this is where they are--in my living room! That is our wood stove in the background. Keeps us toasty in the winter!! --it almost feels like winter today. I hope this is the last cold front of the season...I'm ready for warm weather that is here to stay!! The keeper chicks are in the brooder to the left in the picture and the extra males in the right. I cut a large square hole in the lid to the plastic bin and covered it with hail screen (like chicken wire only smaller holes). The sides to the lid will keep out drafts and the screen will keep children's hands out and dog noses!! However, Blue has already checked them out and isn't very interested in getting to know them. She just huffed and went to lay under the dining table where she can keep an eye on things.


I'm having a hard time getting a good picture of the babies because of the red light coming from the heat lamp. But here is one of the Wyndotte girls! I can already tell them apart by looking at their markings. The 3 Buttercup girls are yellow with brown markings, the 2 Silver-Gray Dorking girls are almost all black with a silver stripe down their backs, and the Wyndotte Rooster looks just like the girls but with his green dot on his head! I am already enjoying them so much! They are so fun to watch!! The kids came in from school so excited to have chirping chicks in their living room!! It will be a fun adventure I'm sure...can't wait to share it with all of you!!

Coop Beginnings & A Litter Trained Bunny!

The coop is being built!! Sherman has up the frame. I'm so excited that my chickens will have a home! They will be arriving next week. I still need to get my supplies and make my brooder box. But that should be simple. The coop is about 8x8, will have a slant roof, the door and a window in front, chicken door on the left side, egg checking door on right side. The chicken run will be built out to the left towards the tree & telephone poll in pic. I'll keep you posted on the progress!

Gunther is happy! We got him a few fun things for his cage. He has a litter box and it only took one day to train him to use it! He has a bed made out of edible grass, he loves it! It's been fun to watch him nibble on hay, veggies, and grass. We gave him a container of grass you grow and they can eat...he mowed it down so fast! I had to take it out so it can regrow!! We've let him out to roam around...he hops and flops and does tricks! He's so fun to watch! The kids are really enjoying him! When we let him out to play, we put the litter box down too...he will go and use it!! So cool!! I had a bunny as a child and he would use the cat's litter box. So, I was excited to see if I could get our bunny trained too! They make it so easy with a box you buy that fits in the corner of the cage and comes with a scooper and litter. You put it in the corner (most bunnies soil in one corner) that you see him getting dirty and he will continue to return to that area and use the box. Once his scent is in it, you can take it anywhere and he will return to it...even if he's running around the house. If he drops droppings other places, you scoop them up and put them in the box to reinforce that's the area this goes into. He is still dropping other places but the urinating is all being done in the litter box!! Which is awesome!!

I'm hoping that after we get the chicks in and settled I can make him a bunny run...just a cage without a bottom that I can put outside and let him get some fresh air and grass! I think he would LOVE that!! It would be fun to sit outside and watch him nibble in the sunshine!!

Meet Gunther!

Everyone this is Gunther! A cute brown lop-ear bunny! The newest addition to our family and our farm!

We went to see Sherman's mom in Burnet,
over by Austin, and on the way home
I wanted to stop in at Tractor Supply in Brady.
Their store is bigger than the one here
in San Angelo. While we were looking around I
spotted a rabbit hutch with several bunnies
inside. There tucked in a corner was this cute
brown lop-ear. I reached inside and got him. He
snuggled up in my arms and I was hooked!
Course, the kids were chanting, "Can we get him, PLEASE!?" and I had already decided YES!
Sherman took some convincing...and well
sometimes you just have to do something
spontaneous and fun. Out of the box...just because! No rhyme or reason...it just feels like OK it would be fun to have a bunny to play with! I mean we live on a farm, for Pete's sake, we need animals! Even cute little cuddly bunnies to hold and love! I know, I know I have chicks coming in the mail next week! So, what am I thinking getting a bunny? I don't know! I don't have an answer except, if I can get chicks why not a bunny too?!

Maddie's friend shows rabbits for 4-H, so this may be something we can take farther later on. We'll see how well she can take care of Gunther. This will be a way to teach her some responsibility as well. Cleaning up poo, even if it does come from a cute bunny, is never fun! We'll see if she grows weary of the up keep, or if she enjoys the care taking. I'll be curious to see. BUT, isn't he a cutie!

I did a little Flea Market...junk shopping while at my In-Laws. I found this green school chair for Maddie's desk! It was a steal! Great find! Sherman found an old music stand he was very happy about. He's been playing the guitar quite a bit and was getting tired of looking down at the music. He got a great deal on it. He has already set it up and tried it out. We all gathered 'round and sang a little!

Sherman did a little digging in one junk store and came across pants stretchers! We got 2 sets! You put one in each leg of your jeans and you hang them out on the clothesline to dry. You get a great crease in your pants. They are great for guys like my husband who like that starched, creased Wrangler look! I tried them out today on a couple of pairs of his jeans and they work nicely!

I was praying for rain and we got some! 3 days worth! It was bitterly cold as well but the rain was very nice! We needed it so badly! Thank you Lord for the rain! Now I have to really get busy outside clearing garden beds and preparing for planting time. Everything was so thirsty it drank the rain right up! You could almost sit and watch the grass grow! There were blue bonnets blooming all the way to Austin. Soon Spring flowers will be popping up everywhere! I'm stating another goal...to have pretty flowers in my flower beds and yard this year! I would like to have a pretty green yard with lovely flowers this year! And a wonderful garden full of veggies!! And have my chickens lay an abundance of eggs!! AM I asking for too much?! Naaah!! Nothing hard work, determination, faith and the blessings only the LORD can provide!!

Laundry & A Lizard!

I had a hard time getting motivated today. I really was wishing the sky would open up and rain would fall and quench the land. Then I wouldn't get to do my laundry and I could stay in and listen to it pour. But that didn't happen. So, I got up and moved around and started the laundry process.

I have so much laundry that still isn't finished!
I decided to start with Sherman's work clothes
and then if it didn't rain I'd hang out the jeans
and so on... Well, so far still no rain. You can see

how dry it is here by all the yellow dry grass.

But what I really wanted you to see was the line

of work shirts!! I mean, REALLY, who needs a

line and a half full of shirts?! The real sad thing is,

that's not even all of them! There are clean shirts in his drawer, plus the one he's wearing today!
Let's just say he could wear a different shirt everyday for about a month!! I know it's crazy!! But, that's my guy!!

So while I was hanging the clothes out I heard a ruckus over by the barn and wood pile. I looked over and saw an animal...I wasn't sure if it was one of mine or something else. I went and got the gun, just in case. When I snuck over to the barn there was my tom-cat George with a huge lizard in his mouth. I went in to get the camera, but by the time I got back out he had let it loose and chased it around some more.

He has the lizard pinned under his paw but you can't see it. One of the other cats helped him in the chase and Blue (our Blue Heeler) joined in too.

This is Sweetie. They ended up loosing the lizard in the wood pile. I wish they wouldn't kill them, they are good to eat bugs. I have to give my barn cats kudos! They truly are awesome cats! They bring me many presents...dead mice, birds, you name it they kill it! They've even cornered a large rattlesnake. I have 3 cats...Little Bit wasn't in on the lizard chase so I didn't get a pic of her. Usually they do hunt all together, but she must've been off having a nap!

I accomplished 5 loads of laundry today. As I write this I still hold hope for a nice rain. I hear the beautiful 80* temps we've had are about to disappear and we will drop down into the 50*s by the end of this week. Just in time for Spring Break! Funny how that works! But hot summer temps will be here before we know it and we'll be ready for relief by winter months and the cycle continues! Like everything else in life, including the weather, guess we need to learn to be content in what we're given! Still I will pray for rain!!

Farmgirl Lesson #1

I'm trying to not be fooled by the beautiful weather! Rule of thumb is...don't count on Spring till after Easter. Don't be fooled and plant your garden early because we've been known to have an inch of snow Easter Sunday! But it's hard!! The nice 90* days make me want to get busy outside. My trees have bloomed, the Mocking birds are singing, the sun is shinning...it's just lovely. Sherman always says another sure sign of Spring is seeing Scissor Tails. They don't show up until there is no threat left of a freeze. There are none.

So, we tilled the garden plot and cleaned up the area where the chicken coop will be. We did busy work that has to be done before all the fun planting can take place. My garden area will be a little different this year. The chicken coop will take up a portion of where part of my garden has been the last couple of years. So, I'm moving the garden into 2 sections...kinda like raised beds. One area will hold the plants that spread like squash and zukes. The other area is up against a fence and would be nice for things that climb like beans or cukes. I'm excited about changing it up a bit this year and making it new!

Sherman has most if the material for the coop. Maybe he can start building in the next couple of weeks. I'll be sure to post pics of the project. The area where the coop and run will be, we've cleared and is just about ready. We tilled it up... So, I'm going to buy grass seed to plant and give the chickens a nice start. I know they will eventually scratch it up, but it will look nice in the beginning! I want them to begin in a nice home!!

Another goal I have for this growing season is to have peaches. My peach tree puts out peaches every year, but I've yet to get even one edible peach off. The bugs or birds seem to always get to them first. I'm not sure what to do. I've read about a net you put over the tree to keep the birds off. I might have to check into that more. I wonder how the folks down in Fredricksburg get such lovely peaches?! I'm so disappointed every year when all these wonderful peaches start to produce and I don't get to put even one in my mouth. It's so sad!

I've heard that there is a chance for rain this coming week! Ohh! That would be wonderful. The land is so parched...dry as a bone! We need rain desperately! I pray it's so and a wonderful soaking rain drenches us good! Farmgirls know the importance of a good rain! Maybe that's Farmgirl lesson #1!!

Oooh, Oooh, Look What I Found!

This was the first surprise received today! This cute John Deere tractor blanket for Parker's room! His room is decorated in John Deere!! He was very excited to get it. Thanks Sandra!!

Later in the day I decided to go do a little junk shopping. I found some great items!! I came across this embroidered towel with two birds on it...I liked it!!

But the thing I got SO EXCITED about was a gallon milk jug with rubber cork in it!! Milk jugs are in every junk shop but finding one with a cork is SO rare! I squealed when I found it!! ha!

I found a nice creamer jar too!! It'll make my morning coffee so much better!

I can't wait to drink the cold, crisp milk out of these glass jugs....there is just something about it! Milk just tastes so good!! The lady at the register asked me about the jugs and if I used them or just collected them. Her husband worked for Borden's Milk Co. and collected the Borden's milk jugs. I asked her how he gets them clean and she said with Polident! Like what you clean dentures with! I will have to try it! I try to pick the cleanest ones but they are hard to wash deep down inside! I'll give it a try and let you know how it works...

This Thesaurus was a neat find! It was published in 1966. The circles in the baggie are tops to old milk jugs. They are washable and reusable. I tried them out and they will fit a quart jug I already have. They were a steal for $1.00!!

I loved this towel is says..."Good Luck on Wednesday" I thought it was a good fit! Finding good junk is sometimes about having a little luck....Today...Wednesday...was a good day for junk!!

Spring Means Sprouts...

When I think of Spring it brings to mind so many images! My garden, the trees in bloom, flowers, and of course the birds singing! This is where my daily choir lives! In their little home! They greet each morning with a lovely tune! I love to go out in the morning and listen to them, they flitter around and play in the sky! I had two of these houses, one was over on the other side of the yard, but we had a terrible wind storm a few months ago and it came crashing down. I was so sad. I will have to look for one to replace it! I'm hot with Spring fever! I'm anxiously awaiting all the things Spring brings. It puts me in a whole new mood. Everything is fresh and new and green and growing! I feel inspired to Spring clean...and not just the dusting and such but the cleaning out! It is getting rid of the junk, cleaning out closets, giving away old toys...It's a fresh start! To me, it's really when the New Year begins! Jan. & Feb. are still cold, dreary..the same...But March brings the beginning of something new! I love it!!

I planted seeds this year. It's my first time to attempt starting plants from seeds that will be transplanted into the garden. Sherman got me a little plastic greenhouse planter that comes with peet moss, a lid and planting instructions. "This will be easy!" I thought. I harvested seeds from our jalapeno plants we had last year, along with tomato seeds and chili peppers. The jalapeno plants took right off, but the tomatoes look a little wilted. Not sure what will actually survive long enough to be transplanted. Guess I will have to wait and see! This is a problem I've always had whenever I've tried to grow something from a seed. It takes off great, looks healthy and then wilts and dies. Don't get it!! I don't have much of a green thumb! I start my squash, zukes, corn, beans, peas, and cukes from seeds planted right into the garden...come planting time. But, tomatoes, okra, peppers and eggplant I've planted as hearty plants I picked up at the store. Well...time will tell if my little sprouts will become grown-ups!

Spring in the country is so alive! There are new babies, sprouts...signs of life everywhere! Spring brings Easter! The reminder of what our Lord Jesus did for us...and Resurrection...bringing new life! It's such a perfect picture! I'm SO ready for Spring!!!!!