Yes, that't right, we got more new baby chicks. I swear we've gone insane getting this many new birds on the brink of Winter. Thankfully this time they were much more budget friendly.
When we bought Rowdy's Barred Rocks last week we had to drive for ever away and paid $7 fat ones for each sexed chick. They are adorable and put a smile on his face so they were worth every penny, but that didn't keep me from griping to my local feed store owner as I purchased some starter feed for the new birdies.
The owner let me in on a little town secret. There is a couple that lives LITERALLY 3 minutes from our home that has plenty of chickens for sale among a plethora of other animals. Are you stinking kidding me? The power of ask and you shall receive dumbfounded me this week.We took our recently acquired information and called our newly discovered neighbors and placed our order.
We got in the car for the short ride and pulled into the drive and back to the barn. It was there we met the absolute sweetest couple alive. He worked and she stayed home with their animals and took care of everything during the day. You could see their passion all around us. They gave us a tiny tour because it was dark of their incubator, goat hides, and new automatic watering system for their other critters. They were gracious and that goes a long way when first meeting someone.
We all huddled around the box of chickies that were up for grabs and they were a peeping hot bundle of cuddles. I swear I wanted to take them all, but I must leave some since our coop is staggering upon capacity. The majority of them were Black Austrolop and Coo Coo Morans and they were beautiful. These little balls of blue fluff were just begging me to take them home and talk to them daily even though I know they have no clue what I'm saying. Thankfully no one else is around because I probably sound like I belong in the loony bin. "Precious, wittle, wuvies.....", is totally NOT what I say to them....possibly.
The best thing about the chicks is that we got them for a steal! We paid for ten and came home with 21 We then split them with my brother-in-law. Did I not tell you these people were gracious? They even welcomed us to come back and show us around during the day light hours so we could see they rest of the animals and pick out our future turkey mommas.
Did you catch that? Stayed tuned people because we are getting some turkey lurkeys!! Woot Woot! Thanksgiving is going to be delicious in 2015!
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
The Chicken Stamp Thread Holder
It is WEDNESDAY y'all!!! Whoop, Whoop! Can you tell I'm excited, just an itty bitty bit? On Wednesdays the Hubs takes off work every once and a blue moon. My hard working man works six, usually seven, days a week to provide for our one income family. But, when the moon, ya know that blue one I was talking about, is shinning just right I can talk him into staying home and working on some projects around the house and today was the day.
For this Wednesday I begged and pleaded and with a few bats of my big brown eyes we were on our way to the local hardware store. He agreed to help me make a thread holder from a mirror my mother-in-law broke while we were moving. (Don't even speak of those seven years of bad luck. It shouldn't happen because I made it pretty again right?) I did my best to take some step by step pictures along the way but it got dark outside at the end so stick with me honey pie.
First things first, drop a mirror with a pretty frame on the floor and shatter it to smithereens. Or, get a cheap thrift frame because we are all thrifty people with an eye that could wipe out a Goodwill in 2.5 seconds. Then grab your other supplies:
-peg board cut to the size of your frame
-dowel rods
-paint
-glue gun
-Gorilla glue
-sponge brush
Here it what the peg board looked like with it's first coat of paint. Don't mind the other supplies in the picture. Hubs was working on another chicken pen while I painted. (Does beer count as supplies? Because I've been told it makes working on girly projects with your wife more fun by a certain someone.)
I let it dry for a few and then touched it up just a little bit in areas that were lacking.
Next, when it is completely dry, use your Gorilla glue to attach your frame to the front your peg board.
Proceed to move all this mess into the house because it gets dark at a whopping 4:30 in the afternoon here in the Winter. When you get it all hauled in there flip the frame face up and get ready for the glue gun fun!
Take your dowel rods and put a smidgen of hot glue around the tip end of the rod and place where you would like your threads positioned. I left a hole between each stick and that seemed to be the perfect amount of space.
The dowel rods at our local hardware store came in 36 inch lengths and 59 cents a piece. If your lucky they will be able to cut these for you, but ours could not so we did it ourselves. These are 3 inches each which makes 12 sticks. I bought 5 rods and that worked out perfect for the time being with my collection of thread. You may need more or less.
For this Wednesday I begged and pleaded and with a few bats of my big brown eyes we were on our way to the local hardware store. He agreed to help me make a thread holder from a mirror my mother-in-law broke while we were moving. (Don't even speak of those seven years of bad luck. It shouldn't happen because I made it pretty again right?) I did my best to take some step by step pictures along the way but it got dark outside at the end so stick with me honey pie.
First things first, drop a mirror with a pretty frame on the floor and shatter it to smithereens. Or, get a cheap thrift frame because we are all thrifty people with an eye that could wipe out a Goodwill in 2.5 seconds. Then grab your other supplies:
-peg board cut to the size of your frame
-dowel rods
-paint
-glue gun
-Gorilla glue
-sponge brush
Here it what the peg board looked like with it's first coat of paint. Don't mind the other supplies in the picture. Hubs was working on another chicken pen while I painted. (Does beer count as supplies? Because I've been told it makes working on girly projects with your wife more fun by a certain someone.)
I let it dry for a few and then touched it up just a little bit in areas that were lacking.
Next, when it is completely dry, use your Gorilla glue to attach your frame to the front your peg board.
Proceed to move all this mess into the house because it gets dark at a whopping 4:30 in the afternoon here in the Winter. When you get it all hauled in there flip the frame face up and get ready for the glue gun fun!
Take your dowel rods and put a smidgen of hot glue around the tip end of the rod and place where you would like your threads positioned. I left a hole between each stick and that seemed to be the perfect amount of space.
The dowel rods at our local hardware store came in 36 inch lengths and 59 cents a piece. If your lucky they will be able to cut these for you, but ours could not so we did it ourselves. These are 3 inches each which makes 12 sticks. I bought 5 rods and that worked out perfect for the time being with my collection of thread. You may need more or less.
And here we are at the end! Isn't she beautiful? I think its the bantam chick feet prints that really set it apart from all the other Pinterest beauties that I was going for. She thought it was appropriate to add her touch as the paint was drying. Most would have freaked out, but the Hubs and I felt it was the perfect touch and an explanation of us and our lifestyle.
I hope you enjoyed the short and sweet tutorial! Thanks for reading.
Its always sweet in the life of the Farmhouse Wife!
Sunday's Craigslist Find
Sundays around here are pretty routine. Cricket and I wake up, praise the Lord from our living room on whether it be on the television or during our quiet time. Hubs unfortunately, works every weekend so he misses out on most church opportunities. We as a family decided to be a one vehicle family for a couple reasons. Obviously, one was the money we could save (monthly payment, insurance, gas) and the other was the time it would give us to spend together.
Usually on Sundays there aren't many errands that require me to run to town and take care of right away, and that was going to be the plan this past Sunday.
Do any of you have a slightly unhealthy obsession with checking the "Farm & Garden" section on Craigslist daily (or more like multiple times a day)? Our family definitely does, and; as usual I had found what we have been looking for the past few weeks.
Rowdy is my step-son and he has earned that nickname wholeheartedly in his almost 7 years of life. He also has an unhealthy obsession. The boy LOVES to research different kind of chickens and make a list of all the ones that we need to add to our flock of lovely ladies (and one docile rooster). For his birthday that is less than a week before Christmas he told everyone who asked that he wanted a Barred Rock. Do you know how hard it is to find a baby chick this time of year for a reasonable price? Its stinking hard!
Meet the four new additions to our flock! I would tell you their names but as of now they don't have one designated to them. Until Hubs and I can present them to Rowdy in a card board box with a big blue bow they will remain nameless. These were our Sunday Craigslist find. I had met a gentleman and one of our local Farmer's Markets by the name of The Duckman. He had plenty of chickens that day, but they were all older than we were looking for and the older they are the more expensive they get. Yesterday the Duckman made a post of Craigslist. He had 200 Barred Rock chicks available! The downer, we had to drive 45 min to pick them up because there was no way they would survive the trip in the cold to next weekends flea market. So we called him up to place our order.
The GPS took us the scenic route of which we had never traveled. I loved it. The Hubs, Cricket, and I enjoyed the view and gasped in awe at many of the fancy farms we drove past dreaming of one day owning our own giant operation. As usual the GPS took us to the wrong location since we were in the middle of nowhere. After a couple phone calls and directions including turn by the post office, pass the yellow house, and its the 3rd house past the cemetery, we arrived at his gate. He came out new birdies in hard, or more like in box in hand. It was love at first chirp. They are perfect! We can't wait to present these to Rowdy when he comes home this weekend,
Our family doesn't always have much materialistic wise, but we have all the important things: God, family, love, and joy. When was the last time you gave your child a $7 dollar birthday present and it went over like syrup on hotcakes? It doesn't take much to make them smile and we pride ourselves in keeping things simple.
Its always sweet in the life of a Farmhouse Wife!
Usually on Sundays there aren't many errands that require me to run to town and take care of right away, and that was going to be the plan this past Sunday.
Do any of you have a slightly unhealthy obsession with checking the "Farm & Garden" section on Craigslist daily (or more like multiple times a day)? Our family definitely does, and; as usual I had found what we have been looking for the past few weeks.
Rowdy is my step-son and he has earned that nickname wholeheartedly in his almost 7 years of life. He also has an unhealthy obsession. The boy LOVES to research different kind of chickens and make a list of all the ones that we need to add to our flock of lovely ladies (and one docile rooster). For his birthday that is less than a week before Christmas he told everyone who asked that he wanted a Barred Rock. Do you know how hard it is to find a baby chick this time of year for a reasonable price? Its stinking hard!
Meet the four new additions to our flock! I would tell you their names but as of now they don't have one designated to them. Until Hubs and I can present them to Rowdy in a card board box with a big blue bow they will remain nameless. These were our Sunday Craigslist find. I had met a gentleman and one of our local Farmer's Markets by the name of The Duckman. He had plenty of chickens that day, but they were all older than we were looking for and the older they are the more expensive they get. Yesterday the Duckman made a post of Craigslist. He had 200 Barred Rock chicks available! The downer, we had to drive 45 min to pick them up because there was no way they would survive the trip in the cold to next weekends flea market. So we called him up to place our order.
The GPS took us the scenic route of which we had never traveled. I loved it. The Hubs, Cricket, and I enjoyed the view and gasped in awe at many of the fancy farms we drove past dreaming of one day owning our own giant operation. As usual the GPS took us to the wrong location since we were in the middle of nowhere. After a couple phone calls and directions including turn by the post office, pass the yellow house, and its the 3rd house past the cemetery, we arrived at his gate. He came out new birdies in hard, or more like in box in hand. It was love at first chirp. They are perfect! We can't wait to present these to Rowdy when he comes home this weekend,
Our family doesn't always have much materialistic wise, but we have all the important things: God, family, love, and joy. When was the last time you gave your child a $7 dollar birthday present and it went over like syrup on hotcakes? It doesn't take much to make them smile and we pride ourselves in keeping things simple.
Its always sweet in the life of a Farmhouse Wife!
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