farm fresh eggs & landscaping

I thought I'd add this to tonight's blog for you city folks... If you've never had farm fresh eggs, (and I'm not referring to the ones in the store labeled 'farm fresh') you should give them a try. I decided to have a three-egg omelet for dinner tonight. Out came the camera. I decided a little milk in the bowl and a shot of mustard would let you see the difference in the yolk color. I can't wait until the new hens start laying. We have twenty-five that will lay 'Easter eggs'. Their yolk is so dark it's almost the color of an orange. But the taste? WOW! Yes, this omelet was yummy.

The point of my shame... These steps lead from my bedroom balcony to a point halfway between the pool area at the corner of the house and the patio below the deck. Yes, we have lived here five years and still use planks to cross over the mud! We have had many projects that seemed to have pushed their way to the top of the list... i.e. chicken house, horse stalls, goat shed, pastures, front gardens, vegetable garden, raised melon bed, driveway maintenance, chopping wood, electric fences, gates and posts, sick old people... Now, Hubby finally agrees to help me build this steps.

Here's the plan I drew up tonight: a landing at the bottom, four steps up to the pool area, parallel steps going down to the patio area, boulders, blue ornamental grass and pink flowers fill in between the structure and lawn, slightly taller plants bordering the foundation with pink in-between, cedar mulch

Let me know what you think. BTW, for those that will ask how I did this: I used excel to draw the wood plans, then copy/paste to paint to add the finishing details. I don't need a landscaping program.

Rubbing off on Hubby

Normally, Hubby rolls his eyes like a preteen when I pull out the camera. Although, most of the time it's just an act. (Once when his family was over and out came the memory-maker, he made an 'oh no' statement... I said, "Fine. I'll put it away and not take any pictures." He quickly back-stepped!) He rarely suggests that I grab my camera unless there's a beautiful sunset... and I already have tons of those shots.

Anyway, back to my story... I had some huge planters for the front porch and, since there was a break in the rain, was in the process of filling them with the annuals I bought today at the nursery. So Hubby, while standing in front of my weeping pine, says, "Man, this would make a great picture. Why don't you get your camera?"

Well, of course I had to see what would make him want me to pull out the camera. SquirrelQueen ( http://thrusquirreleyes.blogspot.com/ ) would be thrilled with what we found perched on the new growth...

Raindrops clung to the buds appearing as rhinestones.

This huge droplet was perched at the perfect spot for our observation.



If you look closely at the shot above and below,
you will see the reversed reflection like that of a gazing ball.

I'm so proud of Hubby for noticing the tiny droplets in his six-foot-five world!
How about you SQ?

Fun in the Woods

Well, I've finally got the blog's comments working! Yea! Anyway, I didn't want to post just to tell you that, so here's a family video I'd like to share. On one of those nice warm November weekends, my daughter's family came up and played in the woods with us. In this clip, Grand #3 has figured out the sapling/bark catapult game!

Attitude of Gratitude Award!

What a week I'm having! My third award!
I was presented with this Attitude of Gratitude award from Jessica at http://countryfamilyrobinson.blogspot.com

1. Put the logo on your blog or post. -done-

2. Nominate at least 10 blogs that show an Attitude of Gratitude. -um... that's a lot-

3. Link to your nominees within your post. -ok-

4. Comment on their blogs to let them know they've received this award. -yeppers-

5. Share the love and link to this post and the person who nominated you for this award. -done-

Tell us how you've come to have an Attitude of Gratitude.

Thank you to all my followers, as well as those that stop in and comment without following. I am grateful for the kind words of encouragement. I am also grateful for the positive messages I read in your blogs. I have 'met' a lot of interesting people that have worthwhile things to say. I am very blessed!

So now I pass this award on to:

Joan at http://50somethingwoman.blogspot.com/

Jean at http://jakill-jeansmusings.blogspot.com/

Nina at http://newagegrandma.blogspot.com/2009/04/is-cookin-lost-art.html

Kim at http://www.kimberlycullen.com/

Ok, so I didn't do all 10, but it's getting late and I still haven't worked on my book...

Kreativ Award! Whoopee!

Thank you Jessica! I now have two awards to showcase on my blogs. What a wonderful week I'm having! This is a fun one - kinda like a survey bulletin...

I am supposed to tell you about 7 of my favorite things:

1. God. Without Him none of the other things matter.

2. when my grandkids compete over who gets to give me the very last goodbye kiss!

3. walking in the woods with our goats

4. quite time with my horse

5. my camera - I am lost without it.

6. landscaping my humongous yard

7. blogging & writing my book, really anything creative

Now I have to choose 7 blog friends to pass this award on to...
1. http://charmine-myfavorites.blogspot.com/

2. http://thrusquirreleyes.blogspot.com/

3. http://ladykatherineteaparlor.blogspot.com/

4. http://the1000000project.blogspot.com/

5. http://rorofusion.blogspot.com/
6. http://fromthenorthfork.blogspot.com/

7. http://martinfarms.blogspot.com/

The seven I have chosen are quite varied in content, but similarly they all use blogging in a very creative way.

Now go pay it forward my Kreativ friends!

moving day - chick update

Yea! I actually have my garage back! Well, we don't really use it as a garage... It's usually to full of junk. But at least I can use the back door again. A couple of days ago I caught one of the babies standing on the tallest waterer, looking over the wall for a landing zone. Yesterday Hubby had to catch one and put it back in the pen. Plus, since they had quadrupled in size, they were starting to create a smell. So the eviction notice was served. Hubby got busy and finished their new home in the big hen house.

He had no plan on how to get them from point A to point B. Yeah, somehow I knew I was going to get stuck with the dirty work. I got a piece of greenboard that was small enough to handle but large enough to almost reach across their enclosure and slowly herded them down to one end. Then it was just reach in, grab one, stuff it in the kitty-carrier... Hubby took some video of me collecting them for the journey, but he's not so good with the camera. Anyway, I cut out this clip of me showing him one of the birds I call angel wings. It looks so beautiful in the sunlight.

Seeing them sleep took some getting used to. At first we kept thinking they had died! They stick their heads down in the bedding and some of them stretch out in such an abnormal looking posture. As soon as a bunch get into a nice deep slumber, one will come ripping through the crowd to wake them up. It's a wonder any of them got any sleep at all!

I still can't believe we haven't lost a single chick! That's very unusual. Hopefully that won't change now that they are outside. It will be a little harder for Hubby to maintain a constant temperature, but before long they will be acclimated to the outdoor temperature. Wonder how the old gals are going to sleep tonight with all the babies chirping...