Bday Menu 2013 - Ducks with a side of chips and Apple

Saturday was my Birthday and nothing is better than a homemade card, saving some ducks and a trip to the Apple Store.

The best part of the whole day was being greeted with my Birthday card from Nicky!! I have been searching high and low for the new Lay's Sriracha potato chip.  It is a test flavor they have on the market for a short period of time and I have been dying to try them.  That is by far my favorite hot sauce.  Nicky, my husband, called Lay's and long story short he found the chips.  AMAZING that man!!  He then wrote on the bag to make it my birthday card.  I was laughing so hard when he pulled a bag of chips out of his closet!!  The bonus was at the end of his message.  It said, " I hope you enjoy your i?"  I just looked at him puzzled and he said, " you know...ipad, iPhone, ipackage...whatever you choose???" 

We both had a case of the giggles laughing about the whole scenario.  So the day went on and it was time to take my nephew, Owen, to drum lessons.  Of course as we pull into the parking lot I see a female Mallard and 12 babies.  Dodging cars left and right.  After a few phone calls and patience we (Nicky, Owen and I) managed to get the whole team to safety and water.  

STEP 1: Getting them out of the parking lot to the sidewalk

STEP 2: Finding grass/water in the area

STEP 3: SUCCESS

After rescuing the ducks we were off to the Apple store.  Problem is anyone who knows me well also knows that most decisions do not come easy for me.  I must research and weigh the options before making a purchase.  So after approx. 2 1/2 hours... I finally made my decision. YES, I said 2 1/2 hours.  After that trip to the Apple store Nicky may ban me from going back!!! 

Luckily we got done just in time to head to my Mother-in-laws house for chicken and noodles, greens, and some awesome mashed potatoes. Oh, and homemade dinner rolls!!

Overall it was an AMAZING day!!! Thanks to everyone for all the gifts, cards, and Birthday wishes.  

PS- the chips are really good!!

Surprise...New Arrivals

Just a quick post tonight from Lumpkin Lodge!! Thanks to Miss Ava we have six new baby chicks added to Coop 'deville.  She has taken amazing care of these little ones so it makes it much easier for them to adjust to their new home.  They have a nice baby coop set up with everything they love!!! Below are a couple pics of the newbies. 

Thanks again Miss Ava and Happy Birthday!!!

Trial and Error...or shall I say SHOCK!

Many of you already knew we were preparing to install an electric fence around the coop.  The main reason is to keep the chickens from destroying the garden.  The second reason was to deter predators around the coop so the chickens can come in and out a bit more freely.  After rain, work, more rain, two trips to the hardware store, and four calls to Kencove we finally managed to completely install the electric poultry netting that we got from Kencove.com.  I am giving them a shout out because every time I have called and had questions they were extremely helpful.  

In the end I ordered:

• 165' of electric poultry netting
• Kencove 1 joule Dual Purpose energizer
• Quick Ground Rod
• Insulated Cable (to run from fence to building)
• 4 Extra Net Post - for additional support
• 3 packs of anchor stakes
• 1 Jumper lead clip to connect underground wire to fence
• 1 Ground rod clamp to connect wire to ground rod
• Voltage tester

This fence went up so easy for it to be our first time.  AND if we knew more about electrical work it probably would not have taken more than an hour to complete the assembly from start to finish!! We wanted to bury the cable from the coop to the building that was housing the energizer which added a little more work.  You can just hook up a battery to the energizer as well but we preferred an outlet.

After all was said and done we were quite happy!! We opened the coop and let the chickens out into their new fenced territory to see what happened.  At first they were just happy to get out of the coop and get some treats. Then they decided to flutter around and get all worked up and one Hen did manage to fly out.  Once they all calmed back down it was exploration time.  They would creep close to the fence and peck around and then get curious about the fence and peck at it... only to realize OUCH that was not cool!! 

In this video the white Hen touches the fence with her comb and runs in to opposite direction and shakes it off!!

Long story short it is working. I think over the next few days they will realize the amount of respect they should have for the fence.  My one and only concern is when they get spooked they do attempt to fly to safety/cover. Hopefully they will learn to go back into the coop instead.  I guess it is a waiting game at this point. 

Spring has SPRUNG!!

Wow, what a beautiful day here in Ohio.  Makes me want to lay outside in the sun.  Not only am I enjoying this nice sunny weather but so are the Chickens.  They are not going to pass up a chance to get a nice DUST bath in for the day.  Yes, I said dust bath. It may sound a bit ironic but chickens take dust baths to stay clean and mite/lice free.  Basically they attempt to bury themselves as much as possible by flapping their wings and scratching their feet in the dirt.  Then once they are done with the dusting they stand up and shake and flap till all the dust comes off.  After you watch the video you are probably thinking... there is no way that white chicken will be white after rolling in all that dirt???  However I promise you if I was to take a picture of that same chicken later today you would have no clue she doused herself in dirt earlier today!!

Tomorrow's project... Electrified poultry netting for the chickens because yes it is gardening season and last year they had their way with it. NOT this year!!! I did not even get one cantaloupe last year because of my feathered friends.  So much to my disappointment I have to rope'em in for a bit.  That being said I am giving them more than enough space to roam about outside to eat their bugs and grass.

Have a GREAT day and if it is nice in your part of the WORLD (yes I have readers from around the world) GET OUTSIDE!!!!

Happy SPRING!!!

Beautiful Bride!!!

Well, I have finally returned from a wonderful time with my family back in Texas.  Not only to celebrate Easter but my Beautiful sister got "hitched".  I would like to officially welcome my new Bro-in-law, Luke to the fambam.

On a side note Nicky and I are collecting to many of the same names in our families. Nicky and I each have an Andy, Luke, and Owen.  You should hear us have a conversation: Me -" I was talking to Andy the other day...", Nicky- "My Andy or your Andy?"

Anyways, the wedding was wonderful and everyone had a great time.  My sister put me to the creativity test. I helped her with the invitations, corsage/boutonnieres and the photography.  It was worth all the work to see her happy on her special day!!

Blacked out to protect the innocent!!

Corsage for the Moms

For Luke and the Boys

Hope all of my readers had a WONDERFUL Easter weekend!!  It is finally warm enough to start in the garden so get ready!!!

CONGRATS and Happy Honeymooning to my lil' Sis!!

Welcome Spring!

Another exciting week here in Ohio.  Nothing like welcoming Spring than with a nice Snow fall????!!!!

We did manage to get one nice day this week so we could introduce the ladies to their new nest boxes.  As soon as we installed them they were hopping in and out trying to figure out what was going on.  The roosters were just as curious. Overall we love these front roll out nest boxes.  As soon as the Hen lays an egg it rolls forward into a small basket under the perch.  No more broken, pecked at, stepped on eggs!! Yeah!!

Even though we had snow this week, Nicky had started the garden seeds inside last week so we could get a jump start on the garden.  He started onion seed, two types of tomato seed, herbs, peppers and a few others. As it warms up we will slowly introduce them to the outdoors. Giving them a few hours of sun and getting them toughened up to be transplanted.  We have about six to eight trays of seeds started which means when it is time to take them out it is six to eight trips to get them outside.  SOLUTION- we found a little greenhouse called the Early Start Greenhouse at Home Depot. It isn't anything fancy but with two people it will be one trip to get the new plants outside. 

That just about sums up my wisdom and knowledge for this week... Have a BLESSED Easter weekend and enjoy the time with your friends and family. 

PS: Cool idea for coloring eggs (from Facebook)

SHAVING CREAM EGG DYE
1. Spread cheap white shaving cream in a cookie sheet
2. Apply drops of neon food coloring across surface
3. Use toothpicks to swirl colors around
4. Roll the dried, cooled hardboiled eggs in the colorful cream (use disposable kitchen gloves to reduce the tattoo effect)
5. Allow to set for 3-4 minutes on a paper plate
6. Wipe off shaving cream with paper towel and rinse! Done!!

SO much....so little time!

So much to talk about this week I almost don't know where to start.  Maybe I will just lay it all out there.
First, I got new nesting boxes (for the ladies) for my B-day and although they are not actually in the coop they are put together and look fantastic!!! Thanks Mom!

6 Hole Front Roll-Out Nest box

Second, Nicky and I sent a GIGANTIC mixer (5 gallon bowl) to get painted and after 9 months we finally got it back. He is like a kid in a candy store when he can play with big kitchen equipment!

Why would we paint a mixer you ask??? That was the marital deal... must be painted and cleaned before coming into the house.  This thing is huge. It used to be used at an Elementary School in town and Nicky had to have it.  He can now make more pasta, bread and pizza dough easier/faster so it was worth it.

Making Pasta

So needless to say we (Nicky) have been busy. We made a ton of different pasta and stored it in the freezer and we also have some amazing bread. 

And for any of you bread and butter lovers out there I have quite the treat for you!! Amish Roll Butter.  That's right a big huge chunk of DELISH fat/lard/cream whatever you want to call it. It is great on homemade bread. It comes in one huge log. We prefer to slice the roll and then put the extra in the freezer. We can then just remove one piece at a time. 

As you can tell between chickens/Coop, work, helping Chef Nicky, and everything in between it was a fun filled week.  

Last but not least I am sure you're all on the edge of your seats wondering how the cleanse is going... we are currently in week two and as you can see from our dinner we have adopted the philosophy that it is all about balance!!!!

You know what I mean.  Eat homemade pizza then FLUSH it out with cabbage!!!