Friday’s Quotes for the Chicks
While I relish our warm months, winter forms our character and brings out our best. Tom Allen
It’s Friday and I’m doing a bit of a happy dance because in a few hours I’ll be driving up to Vermont to bring one of our chicks home for the holidays. He hasn’t been home since he left for school in August so I’m sure this will be a week of eating tons of home cooked meals, connecting with his siblings (we have a new wii video game in the house), and spending time in the laundry room trying to locate some of his winter clothing.
Aaaaaaand, as long as I’m up in Vermont, I might as well stop in at the King Arthur Flour store – um, just to take a look around. I’ve written about it before and I’m sure I’ll write more (maybe even next week) but King Arthur is an adult candy story. I’ll take one of everything.
Although we haven’t had any snow (which is just fine with me) in New Hampshire, the temps have dropped below freezing in the mornings and evenings. For all of us, hats and mittens have been taken out of storage and I’ve personally re-connected with my beloved fingerless gloves which will probably be staying on my hands until the Spring thaw.
With regard to the chickens, they are still free ranging (that usually stops when the snow comes) but we’ve had to plug in the water heater so they can get something to drink. As long as they are free ranging, I won’t be adding supplements to their food, but once the snow comes, we’ll be giving them seed blocks and two suet blocks (27 birds) every other week.
There’s no denying it anymore, winter is coming.
A few notes:
- I’ve been asked to write up the Zelda hen-rooster-hen story for a national poultry magazine – will let you know when it gets published.
- An edited blog post of mine is published in the recent edition of Mother Earth News.
- I’m working on a project for my college and full-time working – aged chicks on how to combine some home cooking with premade foods (I’ll be using Whole Foods Market buffet foods) in order to make quick, healthy, and delicious meals that are cheaper and better for you than the fast food they’ve been eating (evidenced by the bags and wrappers in their cars.) I get it, cooking is tough and it’s especially difficult to cook for one, (or maybe two someday? ), but trust me on this, it’s not impossible – I’ll show you how.
STOP BUYING BIG MACS NOW! – love mom
I had wanted to start that cookbook project last week but then the Zelda story took over. With the kids home next week, I’m sure I’ll be able to find enough taste testers for each recipe, so after Thanksgiving, I’ll start putting up parts of the cookbook on the blog.
- I’m a sucker for sappy Christmas and Holiday stories (we don’t get the Hallmark Channel because I don’t think the world has enough Kleenex for that to happen.) I’ve recently read these two feel-good holiday books – check them out if you need a little boost of that warm and tingly feeling:
- The 13th Gift – quick read, true story about the strength of a family that tries to deal with a recent death during the holiday season, will put you in the holiday spirit
- A Redbird Christmas – while a delightful (if somewhat predictable), happy Christmas story, I loved the attention to detail with regard to the wildlife and plants around the town. Made me want to take a trip in order to do a little bird watching myself.
Be safe and see you all next week.
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Wendy Thomas writes about the lessons learned while raising children and chickens in New Hampshire. Contact her at [email protected]
Also, join me on Facebook to find out more about the flock (children and chickens) and see some pretty funny chicken jokes, photos of tiny houses, and even a recipe or two.
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