Let's just jump right in ...

With a snake picture!  Apparently they like the nice warm weather too. 

No big deal really, except that I had *just* gone down these steps 1 minute before.  I turned around to go back up and there he was.  The close up picture is actually taken with the mac-daddy zoom on my camera.  I'm no where near this close to the snake.  See the open door to the left?  Yep, that's right where he went.  Into the garage....  I just got the willies typing that.

We had a boy turn 8.  This was at his party at Incredible John's.  The Las Vegas like Chuck E. Cheese in Roseville.  Fun was had by all!



We cleared an area in the back yard for a play set.  There had been a wooden floor with cement footings here.  Greg broke it all apart with the tractor and flattened the area. 

The play set is cool, with the exception that none of the parts were labeled.  It's okay, we just figured it out ourselves, measuring each. and. every. piece, then labeling with all of the post it notes we owned.  After about 4 hours we had to cover it all up with tarps and head in because it started to rain.

No worries though right?  Well, we didn't get back out there to work on assembly until the next weekend.  Giving some critter plenty of time to chew all the post it notes off and build a nest under the tarp.  Yep, we're giving like that.....

The instructions said this would take 2 people 10-12 hours to build.  Hahahahahahahaha.... breathe. hahahahahaha.  And we used power tools.  The idiots in the video are screwing everything with the smart little tool by hand.  The spiral slide is 2-3 more hours of nothing but pure. fun.

Glad to say that after about 1 month of working around weather, sore backs, and other activities, the play set is now complete!  I will go take a picture of it today.  We decided to put this up so that the kids had something to play on while we start to grade down hill for the garden.  See the blue tarp off the right side of the above picture?  That is the greenhouse Greg gave me for my birthday last year.  That project should go just about as well, considering those boxes have sat outside for winter rain, snow, not to mention GOATS.  They loved to run up on the box and chew on it until I almost got there, then tear off of it.  *(&^% goats.

Well, off to clean things up to take to the children's consignment store.  Wish me luck!

Chicken Math...

Lesson 1 Probability: If you get one, you will probably get more...

Lesson 2: Addition: If you add one, you will definitely add another, so no one is "lonely"

Lesson 3: Division: No matter your best intentions, you will need to divide your chickies into more individual groups than you originally anticipated, which won't work, so see Lesson #4 Multiplication

Lesson 4: Multiplication: Coops and brooders must multiply by 3, every 6 months.

Lesson 5: Algebra: X number of chickens will always produce Y number of chickens, of which Z amount will actually be claimed as "real" "countable" chickens.

Lesson 6: Calculus: If Z amount of chickens are not actual chickens, and only Y can equal Z, then R must equal two times S, which means A is less than B, ...and if A is less than B, then you still have room for more before you are considered a hoarder!!

I got that from SunnyCalifornia on Backyard Chickens. 

With that said, get ready for some total cuteness!  The following are the breeds, not their names.  I'm not sure these gal's are going to have names, trying to not make 'pets' out of them.  Just too upsetting if something happens to them....

Ancona

 Barred Rock

 Brown Leghorn

 Blue Andalusian...  jury is out, looks like a boy to me.

 Cochin (has feathered legs)

 Delaware

Dominique

Rhode Island Red 

 Ameruacana (Easter Egger) #1

 Ameruacana (Easter Egger) #2

Gotta love chicken math...

Nermackerdoshious. AKA Otis.

My little Co-pilOtis.  Naughty Otis.  Oter-rifriskris.

No one has velvetier ears than you. No one can do the 'gig' better than you. Man, will I ever miss you.....

Dec 2000 - March 2011

More Random Updates...

I'm back from ScrapCamp 2011.  Had a blast, good food, good friends, lots of talking.....  I officially brought the least amount of supplies.  That is my seat, and that is *everything* I brought.  Turned out to be a productive time for me though, and I got almost completely caught up with Christmas!

This is my pile of completed layouts to be put into albums.  Currently I am doing a layout of each kids Christmas and a one for a family album.  None are the same, so this takes me for.ever.

Last week the weather kept threatening to get nasty.  Finally on Wednesday it made good on the threat, opening up with a thunder/lightning/hail storm.  Declan kept an eye on the chickens out in the yard.  We thought they would head for cover as soon as it was thundering, but they waited until the hail started pelting them to get in the coop.  Sassy (bantam Cochin who bites...) actually flew across the yard directly into the open door on the coop.  Pretty funny!

Then school was canceled on Thursday and Friday due to bad weather and no power at the school.  I thought I'd take the kids to the mall to poke around.  I also thought I would buy trinkets at the Disney Store to dole out while on our trip to DisneyLand, but the store was closed due to the fire at the mall last Fall.  So, instead I paid $8 for 3 kids to ride the carousel and bought pretzels....  While poking around I found the next car/SUV on my wish list.....

I actually have a funny story about this car/SUV.  Back in the Fall when I flew to Arizona, Dan (dad) picked me up at the airport.  While driving we were discussing where to go and what to do.  We pull up at a red light and I see this exact SUV at the light.  I tell Dan to look at it so he can tell me if it's just an overpriced sled.  In literally a fraction of a second, the car behind us honks at us to turn.  Dan said, "Welcome home!  You haven't even been home 30 minutes and someone is already honking!"  We must have laughed the whole way to my home away from home, Scottsdale Fashion Square.

Anywhoooo, it probably is just an overpriced sled, but at least it looks good.  I'd be willing to give it a test drive, see if I can get 3 car seats in the back.  I think Greg should have flopped for the 1st (convertible VW Beetle) or 2nd (VW Thing) car on my list, as I could get both of those for what this Range Rover sells for.

Ten Random Things....

1.  Greg said I can get more chickens in the Spring, I'm already planing which to get and where to put them all.....

2.  I'm going to Scrapcamp 2011 in less than 2 weeks.  I'm barely prepared at all...

3.  I'm putting off laundry by updating my blog.

4.  I don't like Shocktop Beer anymore.

5.  I stress every morning about Declan and Teagan waking Maren before I can get them to the school bus.

6.  I think my house should look like it belongs in a Country Living magazine all the time.

7.  Once it's landscaped, I think someone should submit my house for Country Living magazine!  LOL!

8.  I've let Maren go out in her Jammies.  Lots of times.

9.  I wake up every morning thinking of how much I'm going to get accomplished, but never get anywhere near that much done.

10.  I always pour one more cup of coffee than I actually drink, then feel guilty for the creamer I wasted when I pour it out later.

Thanks for coming by!

The "Spa" post

Our spa gets it's own post today!  When we bought the house the spa was partially covered and many critters lived (and died) in it.  One day last year I got the wild hair to see if it worked.  I did what anyone would do who has no experience with something....  I made a call to a repair man!  Well, several repairmen actually.  Turns out no one could come out right that minute.  Me, being one that can rarely wait two minutes,  I put on my rain boots (same ones I put on to kill the baby rattlesnake...) went out to figure it out myself.  After finding out the make/model I Googled it and found the manual online.  Out I went to drain and clean the spa!  The living critters (frogs) were appalled at my idea.  I was appalled at how many dead lizards were in there. 

After cleaning and filling the spa, I switched the thing on to see what would happen.  Well, I'll be... the dang thing worked!  For 4 minutes.  Then it turned off and had an error code on the screen.  I drained the water out, covered it back up and figured I'd deal with it another day.... 

Fast forward to last Wednesday.  Same wild hair reappeared.  I think it has something to do with the sunshine.  This time the repair guy I called could come right out so I had a good feeling about the whole thing.  Turned out the valves were not all the way open, starving the pump of water, thus shutting the motor off.  He opened the valves, cleaned the filters, filled it and turned it on - it worked!  He offered to clean it and put chemicals in it, get it ready to go.  He said I could be drinking my glass of wine in it that night.  We had a deal.

To say the kids were excited is an understatement.  They all came out in their swimsuits while he was still cleaning it!  The water was 59 degrees.  The water didn't heat up enough for us to go in that night.  The excitement continued to build until the kids finally got to go in on Friday night.  Declan stayed the night at a friends house on Saturday so Greg, the girls and I went in on Saturday night.   After much pestering we let Declan and Teagan go in yesterday, but the fun was short lived as Declan choked on water and puked in the spa......  I'm still trying to figure out what to do about that.....

The big question now is what color cover to get.  With the house being yellow, white trim and a green/black roof, I'd love to hear your suggestions for color.  Here is a picture to whet your whistle for suggestions.

Thanks for coming by!

I think he wants chicken for dinner....or breakfast!

So I go out one morning to let the chickens out and just happen to notice this guy sitting on the handrail by my kitchen door.  I had no idea what he was so I went inside to get a better look from the dining room. 

Then I got sneaky and peeked out the kitchen window to get an even better look.  There was no sneaking up on him though, he's a predator!  I think he was waiting for Sassy, my little biting chicken.  Just to be safe I didn't let the chickens out.  He watched as I helped newly 3 legged Otis go out.  When I got too close he swooped off into a nearby tree and continued to keep his eye on us. 

I've made the homemade pizza's a few more times and figured I'd post the recipe here for those interested.  I use my bread machine to make the dough, add them in the order listed here.

Pizza Dough

1 1/2 C Water

1 1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 1/2 Sugar

1 1/2 tsp Salt

3 3/4 Bread Flour *

1 1/2 tsp Active Dry Yeast

*Add 1 Tbsp of Vital Wheat Gluten per cup of flour.  I mill my flour from hard white wheat berries.  If you are using pre-milled flour, I'd look for whole wheat white flour, I like King Arthur.

1.  Measure all ingredients except yeast into the bread machine baking pan in the order listed.  Tap the baking pan to level ingredients.  Make a depression in middle of flour and sprinkle in  the yeast, making sure it doesn't touch any liquids.

2.  Insert baking pan into bread machine and select DOUGH setting, press START.  This takes 2 hours in my machine.

3.  When done, remove dough from machine.  Preheat oven to 400.

4.  Make the dough into the shape you want, I have cut into 5 pieces so we each have our own pizza.  Lightly brush with Olive Oil, cover and let sit for 15 minutes (oops, I have never done this!).

5.  Spoon pizza sauce (BELOW) onto crust and add any toppings.

6.  Bake 20 - 25 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and crust is golden brown.

Makes (2) 12 inch pizzas.

Easy Pizza Sauce

1 15oz can of Diced Tomatoes

1 6oz can Tomato Paste

1 Tbsp ground Oregano

1 1/2 tsp minced Garlic (I use fresh)

1 tsp ground Paprika

1/2 Tbsp ground Basil

1/2 tsp Sugar

1/2 tsp Onion Powder

I put it all in my blender and it's ready in 15 seconds.  If I have extra I freeze it for next time!

And here is one last picture, Otis doing his very best pathetic look, so you feel really bad for putting the 'cone of shame' on him!

Thanks for coming back by!