where the chicks hang out

To start with some great news...Cade will be here on Saturday-yay! We are all looking forward to having him home :) Hopefully it will be a fun filled summer with bike rides, playing with friends, maybe a vacation, and of course a LITTLE video game playing ;)

Jeff has been REALLY busy with the chicken coop. It is finally almost finished so I wanted to show you the progression. Those are some lucky chicks!

We've also planted our garden: tomatoes, kale, spinach, lettuce, dill, basil, cilantro, sugar snaps.
Our vines and plants are really starting to grow and our trees are finally leafing out. We even got our first pond plants of the season.

Last weekend I got to spend an amazing day with the girls at 2 showers-Tiff's baby shower and Sarah's bridal shower. It was SO FUN!

Of course the photos are out of order, but it's the best I can do. Thanks for stopping by!

The beautiful girls: Grace, Tiff (and baby boy!), me, Sar and Steph


the progression of the chicken coop/run






this is their roost. they knew right away to sit on these and sleep!



When we were (finally) able to get them outside and out of my house Jeff joined them in the coop to make them feel at home :)




planting


enjoying the great outdoors-these are true free roaming chickens :)



Clarence bawls his head off wanting to come outside. What does he want to do? EAT GRASS. Bad boy!


Here he is ignoring a chicken in order to eat grass.



And now he is ignoring chickens to eat chicken food! Isn't it crazy how close the chickies are and don't seem to be scared?!


Working on the chicken run with help from the chicks



enjoying some down time




a few pictures of nature








A view of the roof of the coop from across the street


a little window above the nest boxes


the front door with the next boxes on the right and the run on the left (there will be a vent over the door)


a view of the ramp from the coop into the run



the chickies are pretty intuitive. they knew right away to go into the coop at night and come back out into the run in the morning. We will eventually paint it red to match the house. so fun!


and just a fun pictures of the tulips I brought in from the front yard for our table :)

Springtime

Well, you wouldn't know it by the weather lately...brrrrrr!...but when you look at the pretty flowers there is no denying the Spring has sprung! It's been quite chilly and rainy and so far we've only had 2 days above 70 this month! The weekend promises to be sunny and dry, but then more rain during the week. I am really looking forward to days we can sit on the deck and soak up the sun. Oh well, at least the flowers are getting water :)

Whole Living continued

So I haven’t exactly dived (dove? Jumped head first?) into this with my whole mind/body/pocketbook just yet, but it is important to me, and so I’ve decided to log the steps I take on the ol’ bloggy. The first big thing I did, which didn’t turn out to be that “big” was switch laundry detergent. How did it go, making that wonderful natural stuff, you ask? Good question. I was overwhelmed by the task and didn’t actually make it! BUT, I have a friend who has a friend (you know how it goes) who makes it, and so I bought a gallon. Weeeeeeee! Not only will I start washing our clothes without all those crazy chemicals (which not only get on our clothes and therefore our skin, but also wash into the EARTH) I am also helping to support kids going to camp!
Also on my whole living list was to find and buy reusable bags to replace plastic zip locks. Well I found them and ordered them! I bought 2 different styles, so when they arrive we will try them out and let you know how they do!

Because this process is so overwhelming and will pretty much be a whole lifetime effort, I want to remind myself here and now what we already do! (hey, I’m not bragging, I’m just writing it down, mmmkay?)

Using cloth napkins
Using glass food storage containers
Using silverware to stir rather than plastic stir sticks
Using Seventh Generation dish soap
Buying mostly organic coffee
Buying only organic sugar
Buying only organic beef
Shopping with reusable grocery bags
Owning Chickens as pets and egg providers! (OK, we still have to buy eggs for 4-5 more months, but after that, weeeeeeeeeeeeee!)

Still to do:
Change all light bulbs in the house
Use essential oils and water for air fresheners
Make my own cleaners with vinegar and essential oils
Grow our own veggies
Get rid of non-stock pan
Try using vinegar as a fabric softener-stop buying dryer sheets
Put dual flushers on toilets

Things I feel like it’s impossible to do:
Buy clothes, sheets, etc made of only organic cotton from reputable earthy-friendly stores
Buy shoes not made in labor camps
Buy nothing made with any plastic or chemicals (make up, furniture, etc)
Shop at local stores and buy only local and organic foods and products
Buy/eat/prepare only fresh/raw foods-not packaged
Stop using anti-perspirant
Stop driving to unneeded places

Mothers Day and the Girls

It was great fun to celebrate my mom last Sunday! Scottie came down from Denver and we had a great breakfast at Mimi's :)




And what else is going on in our lives other than the chickies? Pretty much nothing, as you can see! They got to spend time with us outside last weekend because it was so warm! They pretty much just ran around together in the same general area and peep peeped the entire time.

From left to Right:
Carmelita, Ruby, Ophelia


Ruby, Carmelita, Ophelia (see how Carmelita is a bit darker than Ophelia?)

The chickies and their loving mother ;)

And a video commemorating the fact that Ophelia ALWAYS gets the worm. It is so strange and hilarious!

Have a great weekend!