The March Lion Cometh

Last day in March and it's not only going out like a lion, he brought a few friends.

You can tell it's a heavy snow by the pine trees weighted down.

Go chase that Lion away Sky!

I've seen enough...... I'm going back in.

Getting My Hands Dirty

Did you know gardening is therapeutic?  That's what the experts say. 

 I will have to agree.

I planted one big planter last week and have a few things up.

Their so cute!!

Yesterday the rest of my seeds came in the mail so I got busy playing in the dirt;

 .....and of course I soon found out I will need another big planter .  

I was able to find some organic seeds at Meijer, but the rest I had to order from Gardens Alive and The Sustainable Seed Company.  If you have trouble finding all organic, try heirloom seeds.

Important: use organic dirt! 

 Elise looked at me like I was crazy, but my dear, not all dirt is organic.

I used a toothpick to get the little seeds down.

  These were not the littlest.

....and a medicine cup for watering ..... use what you got.

Make sure to use water from the outside faucet if you have a water softener like we do.

 You may like a little salt on your veggies, but you're veggies, do not.

and now we wait.........

that and get another planter to finish this project up.

Signs of Spring

It doesn't feel like spring on this St. Patrick's Day.  The March wind is blowing fierce and the temps have dipped down.  But I took a few shots of "Signs of Spring" today anyways. Hope you enjoy!!

Do you see it????  A little bit of tiny open water on the pond.

Little easier to see it on the edge.

And now that the snow is mostly melted, we can resume ball playing.

The chickens are laying lots more eggs everyday.  

Should be able to start selling soon.

Note: Bare feet around here isn't a sign of spring.Must be their Canadian blood.

And a definite sign of spring....

The first snake!!

I have not blogged in awhile.  I do think this will have to become a habit in order to keep it up.  Plus, sometimes I don't think much interesting stuff is going on. That should change with the season.  We just went through February.  It's a hard month to get through for us Mid-Westerners.  It's now early March and we got our first 40 degrees yesterday.  What does that mean if you live in MI?  Well first off, if you're married to a Canadian from the prairies, it means this:

Yep!!  He put on shorts, shoveled off the fire pit, the picnic table, and one chair for me, so he could cook outside.

If you are a Michigander.....  You get minion 2 to shovel a path for you and Sky Boy so you can sit in the sunshine and smell the wood burning; love that smell.  The snow was still quite deep, especially for a not so tall dog.

If felt nice after this winter and the sub-zero temps. of last month to sit in the warmth of the sun.  I did not wear shorts however, I assure you.  My feet were still cold, but my face, was warm.

I had a nice view too....

The Birthday boy, turned 8 yesterday.

Mmmmm.... the best stew is always made on an open fire pit in a cast iron dutch oven.

And thus began our cooking outside season this year, 

and we couldn't be happier about it!

My Favorite Cookies

I made my favorite cookies today.  They are easy, fast, and I always eat more than I should.

No-Bake Cookies, love them!

There are lots of recipes for these out there, here is what I do.
Melt 1 stick of butter with 2 oz of baking chocolate.
Add 2 cups sugar and 1/2 cup milk, than bring to a boil.
Boil for about 2 minutes, turn off heat and add 1 tsp. of vanilla (I make my own)
Add to bowl that already contains 3 cups quick oats
and 2-3 tbls of peanut butter (smooth)
Mix quickly and start dropping on parchment paper, they set up fast.  Enjoy!

We sure did!!

Chicken Hospital

Here is our chicken hospital and patient.  Ginger was acting funny Friday so she came in on Saturday.  AJ, my middle child also call 'the chicken whisperer', has been diligently treating her.

    

Thinking she was egg bound, AJ has given her lots of warm soaking baths to relax the muscles.  We have feed her yogurt with calcium. She did the steam from underneath suggestions.  And generally babied her.  Of course lots of prayers were said too.  AJ loves her chickens.   

Yesterday Ginger spent some time back in the coop.   You see, chickens are dumb, really dumb.  If we keep her inside to long, for like a week, the other chickens might completely forget her.  Chickens do not treat newcomers very nice, to put it mildly.  Today AJ and her little sister EN (bunny girl) gave her and her coop mates a break out of the garden onto a little patch of grass showing through.

We will not touch the snow!!  

I think she really enjoyed the company, she is feeling much better.

It was a very sunny day here in the Midwest and chickens like to sun themselves just as much as a teen girl in the 80's and 90's.

In other news, I made homemade Sesame Chicken for dinner, with broccoli from our garden this past summer.  Please note:  None of our chickens were harmed with the making of this meal.  You can't eat anything you name.  It's a farm rule.  At least it should be!

Funnykins Bunnykins

Last night was our 4-H meeting for our youngest daughter and her bunny.  Funnykins Bunnykins isn't his real name.  My husband has a thing for nicknames and started calling him that and it just stuck. His actually name is Cream Puff, but he doesn't know that.  He is a Holland Lop and super cute.  He even got his nails done and a bath for the big night.  Oh look, he is sitting still so nice.

Ha, that was a rare moment.  This is more of what happened.  He was very uncooperative.

Did I mention both my daughter and the bunny are new to 4-H?

 "I'm gonna make a run for it, I do not want to learn Showmanship"

So she and bunny will be spending lots of time together for training.  And than there was this....

 10 oz over??  Sorry bunny, but you're on a diet...........

"Wait, what did you say?!"

Meet the chickens (at least the ones who would come out in the snow)

The chickens currently live in the garden in 3 coops.  Once we are done with the garden for the year, they move in.  They eat up all the left overs and hopefully all the weed seeds.  And they spread fertilizer all over the garden for us.  It's a win-win.


There are actually 6 chickens living in this coop.  We raised them from 2-day old chicks 2 1/2 yrs ago but they refuse to touch snow.  Spoiled little things.  

Only Sunshine came out and almost got done to the corn treat waiting for her; she never made it.

This summer we got 3 new chickens from a family who had to move and could not take them with them.  They were treated as pets also and have no interest in snow as well.  

Then there are the 8 hens and 2 roosters that we got this fall from a guy that did not treat them like pets.  They have no problem coming out in the snow for cracked corn.

Close up of the big guy.

We named him Foghorn Leghorn.  If you've ever seen Bugs Bunny than I don't need to tell you why.  But I just call him The Big Guy.  It suits him, and it's easier to say.

When the snow melts I'll show you the rest.  The wimpy ones who won't touch snow, not even for corn!!  

Welcome

I decided to start blogging.  I've been thinking about it for awhile and with the new Year, well, why not.  A smigin was chosen cause I plan on this blog to have a little bit of everything.  What will you get to read about?  My life.  First I'm a child of the King.  I am also a wife and mother.  I homeschool my 3 children, 16, 14, 11;  and been married for over 18 years to a Type A+ personality, who is also Canadian.  I'm love cooking, gardening, canning, and believe animals should out number people in the family.  Be patient with me, technology isn't really my thing; but you're welcome to come along and read about my journey through this life.  Now, how do I figure this blog thingy out??