It has been an amazing summer/fall around here. We had a great vacation to northern Utah in June. We had the whole family home for the 24th of July holiday. We did a lot of kayaking, geocaching, gardening and chicken raising. The last weekend in August we went to Geneva for Bill and Bernice's 5oth wedding aniversary. David took off for college the last week in August. By all reports, he is doing just fine. Labor Day weekend we spent at Joe's Valley reservoir kayaking and geocaching. And lately we have been collecting a few eggs.

Sheep produce wool?

For about 20 years, we have raised sheep on our property and several other pastures around town. They eat. They poop. They make a lot of noise if they are hungry. They create an opportunity for the kids to learn about useful stuff like work and responsibility ( of course). They cost a bit of money for upkeep and such. But who knew that those beasties also produced wool? Our sheep produce wonderful, soft, real wool that can be spun into real yarn.

On a lark, I sent off one of the black fleeces to a fiber mill in SLC that I found by accident on a knitting site. I sent off black because I am the one who insisted on adding a black lamb to the herd a long time ago and no one really knew why. I was just partial to them at the stockshow. I have no idea of wool quality at all. Vic thought this fleece might be a bit too hacked up by the shearer (him) to make a good product. I held the nicest fleece in reserve for later (If there was a "later").

It came back today in the mail. The whole process should have taken 3 months. It took less than one month actually. It is the most beautiful charcoal grey stuff. It has flecks of lighter grey and orange from the sunbleached parts in it. I sent off 5 lbs. I got back 3.3 lbs. They created 14 skeins of wool from one fleece. I don't have any idea if that is good, great or terrible. I am just impressed in my ignorance.

The possibilities are vast. Who knew?

We have had one busy spring. Garden-Soccer-Baseball-Scouts.

Baseball is over. Sad for Kris. It had to end so that it would warm up around here. I went through four packs of handwarmer thingies to keep warm this season. It rained, and it snowed and it was not warm in any way. In the end, Kris was invited to play on a tournament team for a weekend. They didn't win but they all got to play four more games. It was a good experience.

Now..... On to the chickens-

The littlest chicks are about 5 weeks old. There are six of them in the batch- 3 barred rocks, 2 leghorns and a really odd white easter egger. The easter egger is a true ugly duckling (chick) It's head is still yellowish like a chick, it's body is white, it's legs are green. Very distinctive (or just odd). They have survived their first week in the outside run. This group is much more skitish than the first group. They run from anything. The dog would like to "make friends" but the chicks run for cover from the dog, sheep and barn cats.
The "older" hens are checking out their new roosts in the old shed. They are about 12 weeks old but it's hard to tell exactly. It will be about 2 more months before we see the first egg from these birds. The younger ones will start laying maybe by Thanksgiving. David has to finish the nest boxes before he leaves for Logan.

Here are the pics of the chicken shed in it's new version. The building itself is at least 80 years old. Probably closer to 90. We put on a new roof and then provided roosts and a partition wall. The chicks are happy. It is the best chicken shed on the block. There are other chicken sheds on our block by the way, ours just happens to be the newest (or maybe the oldest is a better descriptor).

Have an awesome week and I can't wait to see everyone for the family vacation.

Almost done.

The new edition of the chicken shed is almost done. The roof is on. The wall is up. The pine shavings are waiting to be put on the floor. The older chicks have listened to the construction noises and are awaiting new accommodations. The ewes and lambs are decidedly jealous and want inside the new coop to check it out. This is not an option. The oldest ewe has tried to push her way in and needs a gentle (or not) reminder that the building is not for sheep. The older chicks have been carried (by David) to check out the construction process and have proclaimed the new chicken shed as progressing slowly, but it seems adequate. The younger chicks are outgrowing their inside space and have no idea that there is an outside space for them. I just want chickens out of the house. There are no pictures yet of this massive chicken shed. I can't seem to remember to charge the battery. Oh well. You can come visit and check it out yourself sometime. The younger set at the hardware store seem to think it is a chicken mansion. More reviews are needed.

Just us chickens...

I forget what movie/cartoon that comes from. The old roof is completely off. A new roof is mostly on. The rafters and stringers are in place. We have agreed (shockingly) on a floor plan and the placement of roosts, nest boxes and doors. The metal roofing is ordered and should be here by Wednesday. I am hopeful that by the weekend, there will be a true chicken shed in our back pasture. I am hopeful because there are six chickens in a rubbermaid tub that are getting awfully crowded. The big chicks need a bigger home. The little chicks need a bigger home. Can we all live peacefully in one home? Segregation is not a good thing even for chickens. Is one very large chicken shed big enough for 12 birds? Who knows? I hope these chicks lay good eggs because the time investment is even larger than for a nice garden. Certainly the money investment equals a nice garden.

On another note, it is 45 degrees outside and raining. It feels like it could snow. If it snows, all that gardening work is for nothing. Right now the garden is pretty weed free and everything is germinated and growing properly. A freeze would wipe all of that out. The raspberries look especially promising. They are loaded with berries that I hope to get before the birds do. The corn is up. The pumpkins have sprouted. No bugs have created an infestation. The compost pile is even composting. Yeah, garden! After 25 years in the same house, we have a garden and animal set-up we all like. Is that amazing or what?

Renovations are afoot!

There are no pictures for this. The camera was dead when I went to take "before" pictures. Just use your imagination. If you are a family member, you have a clear picture of the old chicken coop. The old chicken coop has been used as a lambing pen, a wood shed and a home for many a creepy crawly. Most of you probably forgot we had a chicken coop at all. It has never housed a poultry type animal. Possibly the ducks lived there when hiding from sheep, but I think they preferred the barn.

It will have a new life and purpose soon. David says this should take a week. I will say it will be done before we go on vacation. It has to be. There are twelve chickens that need a place to live and a chicken coop seems to be what they need. This one will have new walls, a new perch, new nest boxes and proper feeding pans. I hope it becomes a place to gather eggs soon. October would be nice. November may be here before the younger ones start laying. It also needs a name. A creative name would be good. Wait for pictures and news of the grand opening around July 4th. What a way to celebrate!

chickens!

Meet the new chickens. We are the proud (?) owners of six chickens. There are 2 leghorns, 3 rhode island reds, and 1 easter egger in the pen. They are five weeks old. In about 5 more months we expect to have eggs. They are definately pets and not food. They are un-named for the most part. The biggest leghorn is named McNuggets. She was the first to escape the brooder and could have been a tasty treat for the cat. The easter egger is named Chipmunk because that is what the chicks look like when they are a day or two old.

Kris has wanted chickens since he was about 3 years old and saw the chicken chase at the Marysvale rodeo. I can't explain it otherwise. Vic has said that he would never have poultry, but we did keep ducks for a long time. I just like to watch them chase the bugs and they do do a nice job of cleaning up the weedy patches.

The garden is planted. We have strawberries, raspberries, beans, peas, onions, squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, peppers and sunflowers. Don't forget the sunflowers. If nothing else comes up, they will. The peas, onions and carrots look good so far. The rest will have to wait and see what happens. I hope for a great producing garden and cooperative weather.

We have had a great month of May. It's been very busy and so exciting. Adam graduated from USU. David graduated from high school. We have had all of the kids together for both milestones. It's really great the way they managed to get together for this. Grandma B joined us for David's graduation.

6 chickens have joined the family. We hope that they're hens. We hope they lay lots of eggs in the fall. Kris has wanted chickens for a long time. I don't know why. I do look forward to the eggs, though. The more we can cut the grocery bill, the better and fresh eggs is a good contribution.

Fish, Snow and Socks

We are slow to post but we are still here. We spent last Monday ice fishing and snow shoeing at Fishlake. We brought home 2 pretty large rainbows for a great dinner. It was a great day. It was also Valentine's Day so someone (teenagers are all crazy) decorated our front door. If you are following Mom's crazy hobbies, please admire the socks. The third one is already on the needles :). Knitting is therapeutic. Anyone ready to open a yarn shop in Sevier County??? Even Adam has knit a hat! I saw pictures as proof.

Ice fishing, snowshoes and eagles

We spent Saturday and Monday up to Fishlake keeping up our resolution to have more fun. We packed up the snowshoes, skis, and fishing poles and took off. It's not often we both have Martin Luther King Day off.

Saturday was a gorgeous day. It was overcast but a nice day to be out. The fishermen were plentiful. It was hard to find a parking spot in any of the pullouts up by the lake. The fish must have been elsewhere. No one brought home anything. Kris fished for a while, but he preferred the cross country skis. Serena probably wishes she could fish, but she learned to snowshoe anyway. She spent a lot of time sitting in the snow wondering why exercise is good for you. Snowshoes aren't hard to learn to walk in but you do have to be able to see the tracks of the person in front of you. If you fall off the compacted trail that mom makes, the snow is pretty deep and soft. It's easy for her to fall off the trail and sink in a bit. Without snowshoes or skis, it is over my knees. Kris is easily up to his waist when he falls over. Anyway, the three of us spent some good times on the campground road at Mackinaw campground. A gorgeous bald eagle kept circling overhead for most of the time. We had a little picnic back at the truck. Both kids slept on the way home.

Monday was much snowier and colder. The wind chased David and Vic off the lake after about 2 hours. Serena, Kris and I trekked around the same campground and got pretty snowy. The fish were hiding again so we brought nothing home. David created a great lunch from summer sausage and cheese. Chex mix rounded it out to a gourmet treat after our snowy adventure. It must be why we brought him along today. There was a golden eagle flying around for most of our adventure, but the only animals we saw were two does on the way home. I was tired enough today that I slept on the way home.

Keep up with those resolutions!

Winter fun

We are keeping up our resolution to have fun around here. Kris and I went snowshoeing at the park across the street on Saturday. I don't know what the distance is around the circumference of the park but I know that it took us an hour to do it together. It was a bright sunny day and a lot of fun. The kids are off of school today for a teacher prep day so David and Vic went to Fish Lake for a little male bonding experience. I hope we have fish for dinner when they get home.

Update: 6 fish Score: Dad 2 David 4
They brought home four rainbows and 2 splake.
We had a great dinner! Wish you were here.

Lack of time and lazy about postings

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and all other holidays of the fall/winter season. We have been busy and festive. We had a massive feast for Thanksgiving and all of the children were home for that day. We had 4 of 5 kids home for Christmas day and Amanda and Chris came home for the annual New Years Fondue Feast. They came. They cooked. They ate. It is now 2010. The house is a wreck, but thankfully we are all healthy, happy, and still here. Amanda is still teaching and enjoying it. Adam is still in school, but tells us he will graduate in May. David, Serena, and Kris are still in school and still fine. David also graduates in May. All is well. We have much to be thankful for and hope that the new year is prosperous and peaceful.