Now, you have to share...

I've been wondering how the other birds were laying new eggs in the same box that Silkie Sue was in.

Now I know

Gardening is around the corner

I had planned to rent a tiller to get my garden ready.  Then I realized I wanted to scrape the top layer of dirt off some areas to expand the garden, which would require a bobcat or tractor.  So I figured I would have to rent that AND a tiller.  And then I found someone who would come and do the work for me, and only charge me $25 more than what it would cost for me to rent the equipment.

It was getting dark when he finished

 Good timing too, because check out my tray of lettuce seeds.  They don't go into the ground for a couple weeks, but clearly I need to start measuring the rows and planning things.  The first seeds go into the ground the first week in March.

A whole tray of lettuce

Fertilized Eggs

If you've ever wondered what a fertilized chicken egg looks like, this is it.  

The egg on the left has a white-ish circle in the middle of the yolk, that's the fertilized one.

A weekend of work

This weekend was a major weekend of work.

Saturday we spent the day pulling trash out of the woods.  I was determined to do a final trip to the scrap metal yard so we were getting serious about finding everything.   We dragged another water heater out, a washer machine, an oven, a piece to an old tractor, a huge propane tank, a metal headboard, and tons of rusty cans.

We even found this saw.  I thought about hanging it up in the house, but figured I have enough "stuff" already.

Saturday night, I got my February seeds planted inside, on the dinning room table.

The cups on the right were the ones I made out of shredded newspaper

ALL of the cups like these have various tomatoes

This whole tray is a variety of lettuce

Sunday I was outside with the chainsaw, my favorite tool.  I have been meaning to cut up some trees that I had to cut down a few months ago and dragging dead trees and branches out from the woods.  I was trying to clean up the back side of the house.

After seeing the pictures my son took - I need to work on NOT making faces when I'm working

I also borrowed a hacksaw to cut the tires off of a bunch of rusty rims we found in the woods.

Sunday night we picked up a trailer I rented and went to get some mulch.  Shoveling mulch is far less fun than it sounds.  I thought we got a good amount, until I saw the piles we unloaded.  Looks like I will be getting more.

Monday morning, we loaded all the scrap metal in the trailer and headed to the recycling center.

The dumped pile.

The payday

Don't get too excited, this money plus the money we got from the last load, is going to pay a landscaping guy to come do some work in my garden today.

The day had only just started.  From here we went to Lowe's to pick up some stuff I needed, then to pick up some pallets of wood for another project.  We went home to eat before heading out to get 2 yards of soil that we shoveled into the garden and into a raised flower bed I've been working on, and then to another town to pick up an old swing set and slide that I'm going to use for the goats.

Honestly, I had another pair of strong(er) hands to help with the shoveling of the soil and the swing set, or there is no way I could have gotten this all done.

I didn't get everything I wanted done - I still want to get a load of mulch, and I didn't get a load of hay like I wanted to... but my body is pretty darn sore today.

She's gone broody

Not all chickens will sit on a nest of eggs and let them hatch.  It's a hormonal thing and they decide to do it whenever they decide to do it.

It's called "going broody" (brew-dy).

Silkie Sue has gone broody.  I have only seen her on the nest for the past 3 or 4 days.  Today was my chance to see if she really was going broody or if my timing was just off.  I let all of the birds out to free range this morning, and Silkie Sue wasn't moving.

A few hours later she came out to drink some water and get some snacks.

Silkie Sue is our girl with the apron

I ran to the coop so see the 5 or 6 eggs she had been sitting on...

I think that's more than 5 or 6 eggs

THIRTEEN eggs?  And that green one in the middle is HUGE.  She's only laid three of those eggs (she lays small green ones)  so I have no idea how she got the other eggs.

I wrote the dates on the eggs because I think I will try to get any other ones that are laid.  I've never hatched eggs before, so we will see what happens.

Apparently my animals seem to think this is the time to have babies because Jenny has gotten HUGE.  There has got to be more than one kid in there.  

If you like it, then you better put a ring on it

As soon as I let the birds out of the coop, Clyde wants to do his deed.  He goes chasing after one bird after another for several minutes.  I keep meaning to get a video of it so today I finally got my phone out quick enough to catch one of the chases... but Buffy was not about to give in.  

That's my girl, make him buy you a ring first  :)

Have you ever heard a fox "barking"?

I walked outside to lock the birds up and I heard that darn fox again...

There is nothing to see because it was so dark outside, but you can hear it barking.  This is their mating call and will go on for hours at times.  The first time I heard it, it was about 150 feet from my bedroom window.  This time it was about 300 feet from the goats and chicken coop.

The video isn't the best since it was on my cell phone... and you'll have to ignore the clinking in the middle of the video (I was latching the coop closed), but you can definitely hear the barking and yelping.  

Meeting with the Project Manager

The Project Manager/Negotiator was at my home last night with the blueprints of the expected changes.  

I started by saying I didn't see why we needed an access road.  I pointed out that a nearby 4 lane road had rural residential homes, and far more traffic than we have, and those homes don't have access road.  I pointed out that we haven't had any issues with accidents because of vehicles pulling into our driveways.  He admitted that he didn't really know why the access road needed to be there.

I then pointed out that this dead end road they were going to build on my property was going to go over a stream.  And was 50 feet away from an easement on the neighboring property.  Why wouldn't they put this dead end on the property that already has an easement?  He agreed that it would make more sense.

He told me repeatedly that he understood my concerns and issues and could see exactly what I was talking about when I pointed out the 40+ year old Black Walnut trees, my parking space that would be taken, the privacy and noise barrier, etc.

He told me that these plans were not approved, they were only in the initial stages of this process and that he had a meeting this morning with the county.  He said he would point out my concerns and see what he could do.

I know I can't stop them from widening the road and taking land from me, my only hope is to stop them from taking even MORE land from me for this access road (that my neighbor and I don't want - and it would only serve us) and from cutting down the trees that provide us with a noise and privacy barrier.

The plans actually had a noise barrier wall across the street, protecting all of those new pretty homes from the noise from the increased traffic that this project will bring.  I pointed out that it was odd that they would build that wall for THOSE people, but then cut down my noise barrier.

He showed me how far back the right of way would be (the land they actually take from me) and it was 73 feet back from the edge of the road.  It would cut down the first 5 feet of trees in that area.  

He then told me that the electric company has to move the overhead lines back, and this would be 23 additional feet, and they would be cutting down all of the trees to do that.  

So now I wait.  My inspection is next Tuesday night for the appraisal on the land and the decrease in my property value.  He said it would be at least a week (if not more) before he would know anything about changing the access road and dead end.

(I will add pictures once I can figure out how to crop the blue prints he left next to each other so you can see the full road - and with my personal info blurred out)

What they will take from us

We went out to the stream today to collect rocks for two projects (I will share them once they are complete.)

All I could think about what "THIS is what they will be taking from us [when the county comes to take away part of my land]."

Homesteading, butter, and bread

I kept finding a bunch of cool ideas on various blogs and websites that had the word homesteading in the title.  I had no idea what this was, I mean I figured it had something to do with country living, but that was all I knew.  So I finally looked it up.

I know I will never be one of those people who is really self sufficient.  There are too many modern conveniences that I wouldn't be willing to give up and I am just not willing to kill an animal (but I will eat them).  

I suppose I have already been on a path that leads to me being more self sufficient.

Years ago I was eating dinner at a restaurant and I suddenly stopped and thought "Why am I paying for this meal? I could easily make this."  It was a basic chicken and pasta dish and it just dawned on me that it was a waste of money to be paying for it at a restaurant.  That helped to start my cooking spree, and lead to me taking a sushi class (because it was the only food I really liked to eat that I couldn't make myself.)

Living out here, getting eggs from the chicken, having a garden, wanting to get into canning and freezing... It all leads to being a little more self-sufficient, and also ties in to me being more "green".  It also means I save a little money.  I like those ideas.

So I am now consciously being more self sufficient.  Even if I am only trying to do something once, just to see if I can.

So today I made this mush of shredded newspaper

Which I baked into these cups

And next weekend I will plant seeds in them and get them growing on my table before the outdoor planting season starts.  The newspaper cups will dissolve in the dirt once they are in the ground.

And then I made butter and buttermilk...

That is pure butter :)

 And I used the buttermilk to make biscuits

Yes, I use a plastic wine glass as my biscuit cutter

I made a lot of them (18 buttermilk and about 30 with the fresh butter) so I froze them all.

And then I made two more loaves of bread (I made two last night).