Tag Archives: #love

Chicken Addiction

Posted in 7 Things About Me, Animal Rights/Animals, Chicks and Hens, Uncategorized by

Let me start off with the very true statement = Chicken Math is 100% a real thing.  I always say to Nick, that to me, raising baby chickens seems like it might be like child birth – without the excruciating pain, of course. It seems like such an amazing idea to bring them home with their fuzzy bodies and their lil peepers – peep peep peeping. A few weeks pass, fuzz fades and THEN you want to jump off a bridge. They start getting bigger, and dirtier and smellier.  Of course, by the time you put them outside in the coop, you forget the smells and poop. And that’s why ….. you end up getting new babies- every …single…. year.

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The love of my life – Birdie. She’s as sweet as she looks!

It’s a never ending cycle of love, annoyance, aggravation, and relief.

 

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One of our new Buff Orpingtons- look at those teeny tiny tail feathers!

 

Prior to my new, fancy coop being built and much to the chagrin of my nostrils, I always kept my chicks in my dining room for about 2 – 3 months. Now, thankfully, we have a grow out pen: right in the coop. That makes it easier on the nose and the transition for the chicks.

Is it all worth it? Stinky smells and all? Absolutely.  Im sure any chicken owner would tell you the same thing:

Big Reg! King of the Farm.

All that hard work and stinky smells are a thing of the past the first time your have your very first fresh egg.

This year Nick built me a new run/coop where everyone can be safe and stretch out. We’ve also added 7 more pullets to the flock! Two Silver Spangled Hamburg’s, a Colombian Wyandotte, A Silver Laced Wyandotte, Blue Laced Red Wyandotte, Ancona and a White Conchin! What a crew!

Overall, chicken keeping continues to amaze and entertain me. The girls (and Reggie, of course) bring so much to our family. We have so many laughs – I couldn’t imagine my life without them.

This Week … I Love ….

Posted in Animal Rights/Animals, Garden, Life in General, This Week I Love ... by

 

This Week’s Favorite Thing:

 

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 Amphibians

I’ve been meaning to get to this post for a while. I absolutely, positively, most assuredly LOVE all things amphibian.  Back in my reenacting days – I would scoop them up and carry them around with me for hours. My dad’s nickname for me as a child was Froggy.

When I first moved to The Fabulous Frost Farm – I quickly confirmed that my home was a mecca to a plethora of fine amphibians!  We have plenty of toads – which happen to be a favorite of mine.  They hang out in the rock pile near my bbq and the dogs go nuts over them.  Funny enough, they all look to me to capture them and bring them to safety. Neither Harley nor Molly actually make any attempt to catch one on their own.   It’s fun to watch our good ol’ American Toads change color when they sit on the spigots outside or rub up against our house.  Most of all, my favorite thing in the world is being serenaded by the melodious hum of the Northern Gray Tree frogs and The New Jersey Chorus frogs.  Their funny yet sweet mating calls always remind me summer is right around the corner – or in July’s case – to be mindful that summer is here.

What are some of your favorite things? Are you like me – do you like insects and amphibians?

This Week … I Love …. (2)

Posted in Garden, Life in General, This Week I Love ... by

 

This Week’s Favorite Thing:

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 My 100% accidental pumpkin patch….  

Granted … there are 2 pumpkins …. but they were TOTALLY unintentional.  Last December – as we do every year – Nick and I tossed our old pumpkins into the gigantic dirt pile we have created behind the shed.  It’s always provided a solid pile of pretty fertile soil to dig up and use in pots when Spring arrives.  Normally – we’ve got the occasional Polk weed and dandelion growing out of it … SO you can imagine my surprise when I started to notice the unmistakable leaves of a vine plant! At first – I thought it might have been a cucumber or squash plant – perhaps some hidden seed that we tossed into the mulch pile.  AND THEN … I realized that’s exactly what it was – it was a pumpkin vine from the old pumpkins we had tossed the winter before!  The TIPS I have for having a Great Pumpkin of your own? Get yourself a beagle…. evidently it worked for Charlie Brown and me 🙂

This Week … I Love …. (1)

Everyone has been trying to post or blog about 3 things they are grateful for, 100 Days of Happiness, or taking Positivity Challenges. Naturally, I found myself wanting to do one. So I sat down at my computer and eagerly began to list all the things I was grateful for – but alas! I could think of nothing. It surely wasn’t because I am not grateful for all of my blessings. It was because I wanted each one of my reasons to have “meaning” and “purpose” behind them. I opted to come back to the computer at another time.

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Cruelty Free Commitment

Posted in Animal Rights/Animals, Life in General by

Ever since I was very young – I have been absurdly fascinated with saving animals. Every month – I would eagerly check the mail for my Doris Day animal league and Humane Society magazines.  Staring at the pictures of neglected, abused, and rescued animals – I was filled with the kind of determination – only children are filled with.  I WAS going to make a difference.  Alone or with friends – I was going to single handedly save every unjustly treated animal on the planet. I suppose I could credit my mother with my zest for saving fuzzy creatures.  She was the one that would write down lists of products that animal tested, send my friends and me into grocery stores armed with a pack of “an animal suffered to make this product” stickers, and watch proudly as we labeled hundreds of bottles of Tide and PaperMate Pens. It was satisfying. I was young yet making a difference. Informing hundreds of people – the only way I knew how – pre(internet) of the reality of laboratory testing. I memorized the lists – knew every product by heart. But it was the 80’s and information and resources were hard to come by.  Cruelty-free products were difficult to find on shelves at local stores and “Earth Friendly” supermarkets weren’t even in anyone’s vocabulary.  At one point – a small Earth “boutique” opened up a few miles from my childhood home. Prices were outrageous – especially must too expensive for my parents to “grocery shop”, household cleaners and beauty supplies were sparse and the store (much to my chagrin) soon went out of business.

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Faith, Kids, and Berries … Oh My!

I’ve fallen off the radar for the past few weeks …. something I’m not extraordinarily proud of, but it’s been hectic here to say the least.

  • Nubbins is home – to much fanfare. After being passed around – something similar to the Olympic torch – he has settled in nicely. He loves Persnickety and except for the occasional Big Momma Headbutt – she’s really taken to him too.
    Peek-A-Book

    Peek-A-Boo

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Memorial Day

Posted in Holidays by

According to Oxford Dictionary Memorial Day – is “(NOUN) A day on which those who died in active military service are remembered, traditionally observed on May 30 but now officially observed on the last Monday in May. Also called (especially formerly) Decoration Day.”

 For me – it’s a whole lot more. Sure, everyone knows someone who’s served in our Military.  I can still recall my first phone call from my Operation Desert Storm pen pal – Marvin. My dad served in the army in the early 1960’s – just missing Vietnam and I’ve had plenty of college friends serve for a time after September 11.

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