Wednesday, December 29, 2010

meet dottie


she is my new cuckoo marans hen. she is a bit nervous right now and has not come out of the coop, probably because the buzzards are circling....


well, right below her, just waiting to establish that pecking order. it's not a pretty sight, but it will all come together, eventually. i hope.


i think she is right pretty and



i can't wait to get my first egg. merry christmas to me. enjoy.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

wise guy eh?

who thought it would be cute to ask santa for snow? i know i didn't, but it started last night and is still coming down. we don't usually get too much in these here parts, but we are on track for at least a foot! here is my view from my living room couch, kinda nice, for the moment.


enjoy.

Friday, December 24, 2010

merry christmas!


merry christmas from beth, jamie, caroline and travis!

oh, also lucy, abby, minnie, daisy, cora, rosie, ruby chicken and lily the dog!

oh, also the whole herd of unnamed dust bunnies under my bed!

enjoy.



Sunday, December 19, 2010

easiest peanut butter fudge evah


two ingredients is all it takes to make this yummy fudge. when i saw the recipe on the net i just knew i had to give it a try.

here is what you do:

butter an  8x8 pan, in a microwave nuke for one minute each, a tub of vanilla frosting and one 16oz jar of peanut butter, mix together till blended, spread into your prepared pan and then pop into the fridge till firm. you are done.  i am now thinking chocolate frosting and peanut butter? chunky peanut butter? almond butter? hmmmmm.....

enjoy. i know i did.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

cinnamon and sugar pretzels


these are so easy and super fast to make. i snagged the recipe from baking junkie after seeing her pretzels posted on foodgawker. i like'em. i am going to make more, but with one change, i am upping the cinnamon to a full tablespoon. yum. go make a batch for snacking and packing, now. enjoy.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

cappuccino fudge


caroline loves fudge and i usually make a simple recipe using  a popular sweetened condensed milk, which is pretty much fool proof, but the other day i stumbled across annie's eats  and her recipe for cappuccino fudge.  i knew i had to give it a try. i am so glad i did. it is delicious. it is creamy, smooth with big coffee flavor. caroline gave it two thumbs up, well, as she was licking her fingers, they flew up in the air, so i counted them. go whip up a batch today. it makes a great breakfast treat, well, in my house anyway. enjoy.

Monday, December 6, 2010

project "coop re-do"

well jamie had an entire week off of work, so you know what that means? it is "create a project" time and pass it off like beth asked for it. this time is was a new coop for the chickens. there was nothing wrong with the old one and i didn't ask for the new one, but it is nice. we retrofitted our garden shed to accommodate "my" birds.


so, we are leaving this behind, santa and all....


jamie got busy, first by dividing the shed....keeping one side for storage.



like the previous coop, he built this one with mostly recycled goods, like reusing our old screen door from our house garage....


nest boxes in the making....




i just couldn't resist hillbilly-ing it up some more....



inside shot of nest boxes, roosts and poop boards....yee haw.






the hinged gang plank to the nest boxes, which i can lift and latch to get in there and clean....no eggs today, ye must walk the plank matey, arrr!




installing super thick waterproof plastic, that will be covered in pine shaving, but will hopefully prevent the wooden floor beneath from rotting.



little extra storage created with the coop ceiling....perfect place for pine shaving, dust and feathers to accumulate. awesome.


pop door time! nosey critters keep running over to check the saw out. i was afraid one might end up like headless mike!! go look, it is for real, no hoax.



door cut, nothing fancy here, yet, we are planning to install an automatic coop door opener. i can not wait, no more trekking out there in the cold, rain, snow, you name it to let them out or in.


spoiled chickens....



well, it is pretty much done, maybe a little of bit of tweaking here and there, but they are in and they are confused. i have got some sleeping on the floor, in the nest boxes and the roosts. i have some laying on the floor and in the nest boxes. the first night, three made it in and the other four were huddle up on the gangplank to the old coop. i had to hand shove them through the pop door. they will figure it out. they better or it will be the stew pot. yea, right.



almost forgot, the backside of the nest boxes, where i can lift the doors and gather my bounty, well that is if they figure it out and not lay on the floor! santa, your alive!



as for the original coop, remember i said earlier we are big into recycling aka cheap, it is burning in the wood stove right now. actually, we had to take it apart to get it out of the run, but i truly wish i could have donated it to another backyard chicken beginner, like myself. oh well.

below is a link for a little chicken television for your viewing pleasure courtesy of me and my southern draw. enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtV2rmbpQXE





Saturday, December 4, 2010

christmas is here finally....

at my house. i just finished decorating the christmas tree while the kids slept. it didn't go too bad, down two ornaments, courtesy of travis, and i swore only a tiny bit. things are joyful.


enjoy.