Shopping In The New Year

I have so wanted to post more frequently this year. So far it just hasn't happened. Let's face it, life is busy even when you intend for it not to be. One of the things that we all have to do is shop to feed our families. It takes up a good deal of time and energy. Can I get an amen?

I took a major shopping trip this week. You know, the one where you end up stocking the pantry a bit unintentionally or slightly intentionally. Ever since the Marietta Farmer's Market has closed for the season I hate going grocery shopping. I truly enjoy knowing where and who our food comes from. It doesn't open again until May. My life might have a few more panic attacks as I have to step into places with florescent lighting and advertisements at every turn. I don't mind Trader Joe's and Harry's so much. It just isn't the same as chatting with the farmer's and enjoying the outdoors.

I guess that I will have to go to my old stand by, Burger's Market. They are family owned and operated. They shop at the big farmer's markets in Atlanta and Asheville. Their stuff always looks great, Is mostly what is in season, has a great price and no advertising. If it is good enough for Alton Brown, it is good enough for me. Just kidding. I don't even watch Alton Brown, but he does shop there.

I think for our meat I am going to try to plan ahead and buy things occasionally from the Bray's. They sell at the Marietta Farmer's Market. Good people. Good food. I have bought from them a lot this year. Their meat is grass fed and delicious. Check out their website. They have photos up from the flooding this summer. They are breathtaking and not in a good way. They may be starting up a CSA this year too. Possibly a meat CSA as well!!

Where do you shop that doesn't begin with a "K", a "P" or a "W"? Do these places give you as much anxiety as they do me? I am curious.

Brrrrrrr.....

It has been four days now with temperatures not rising above thirty two degrees. In the south this is frigid! We had a little snow storm. It was mostly ice on bridges and roads and school closed. I always love a snow day, especially when there is actually snow on the ground. Kids were definitely sledding. What fun!

I am over it now. The temperatures at night have been in the teens with a wind chill in the single digits. Seriously. Cold. There is still a bit of ice on our driveway and sidewalk and snow on the ground too. Our house is old and drafty, read that no insulation in the walls. So keeping our house warm is not the easiest thing to do. We are layering up and I am trying to keep something in the stove at least once a day. I do believe that I will be making bread again this week!

I have been really concerned about our chickens in this weather. I know that chickens live in much colder climates and do just fine. I have been keeping a close eye on them. We ended up buying a heated dog water bowl for their water. It kept freezing, poor girls. Now we don't have to worry about their availability of water, just if it is clean or not. They have definitely slowed down and aren't very active. What is the use in scratching around when the ground is frozen?

We have had one chicken hardship. Jemima's break broke! I have no idea how. When she was younger her beak cracked. I am assuming that with the cold she pecked on something and there was a weak spot. It scared me to death. I walked out and found a bloody breasted bird. For your information, you could compare a chicken's beak to a cat's claw. If you trim a cat's claw down too far it bleeds. Or like a finger nail when cut to the quick. She is okay and her beak looks fine. It doesn't seem to hinder her eating or drinking. Poor girl. I know that it hurt because of the sounds she was making. The other girls were great didn't peck her a bit! Chickens have a tendency to peck at blood or open wounds. I am proud of them for being so kind.

We have been keeping ourselves busy with the process of installing the wood stove. It is a bit slow going. Or slower than I expected. The concrete hearth is now poured. Micah ordered for where the glass goes. Feet for the stove sorted out. Oh, how I wish the stove would have been up and running this weekend. It would have been wonderful. At least we will be prepared for the next round of wintery weather!

This week we are supposed to get back up into the fifties. I think that it will feel like a summer's day compared to what we are experiencing now. I can't wait!!

Any more thoughts on braving the cold? What did you do while snowed in?

Just Another Monday

Today was just another Monday. Nothing special. The first Monday of a new year.

I don't really have much to write about but I want to write. It is cold outside. Seriously cold. I might lose some of my pretty plants tonight. They can take a night or two of this, but a week? I do hope that they survive.

I am trying to make good on some goals. I have bread rising on the stove. So far it looks beautiful. Warm bread sounds like just the thing for a cold night. I really want to get back into the habit of baking bread once a week. It is really therapeutic and so delicious! It will go great with the beef stew simmering on the stove. I hope to master at least two kinds of bread this year.

Dave is at work. I miss him at night. We don't get to see much of each other. It makes our time spent together more special but the weekend seems really far away. So I have Star Trek on, one of his favorite shows. Makes me think of him.

Ok, gotta get up and tend to things in the kitchen... What are you doing to brave the cold? Got any new recipes? A hearty stew?

Home

As many of you know my friends Rusty and Lynette have been on a long journey with their daughter Olive Hope. I have been praying and rallying for them since her birth. Two days ago they arrived back in the USA from Thailand. What a blessing it is that they all arrived safely. I didn't know it, but they even landed in Atlanta, which I think is pretty cool since so many of you here have been praying for her. And is God's cool little way I received my purchase from the Auction for Olive around the time that they landed here. I think that's pretty cool.

Today Olive Hope goes in for a major surgery. So many people are praying for this little one. She is so special. Check out their updates and lots of pictures on their blog here. What a little miracle.

Many thanks to all of you who have fallen in love with Olive. Your prayers mean so much. I love knowing that my dear friends are so compassionate and caring. I think it also so cool how you have kind of gotten to know my other friends in this crazy blogging world. You mean the world to me!

I am off to start my day and be praying for Olive, her mommy and daddy, the doctors and nurses all along the way.

Oh, and happy New Year's Eve!

And We're Back

Wow, is Christmas really over? It flew by. Christmas eve was lovely, Christmas morning delicious, and the after Christmas celebrations truly enjoyable. I really don't like traveling at the holidays, but I do love our families. They make it worth it.

The highlights of this year's Christmas:

1) Surprising my niece with a guitar! She thought that she was getting one but was really bummed for it not to be under the tree Christmas morning. that is what you get for snooping and reading your mom's emails. That was the saddest kid face I have ever seen on Christmas morning. We showed up with it and knocked her socks off.

2) Time around the fire outside in Deland. So peaceful, restful and relaxing.

3)Gifts not being the focus this year. Seriously you could count the gifts under our tree on your fingers. I want to keep it this way. The real gift is Christ's love for us and our time spent together.

4) A day spent with old friends. I love our Christmas tea times, movie time giggles and times shared. Old friends are the best.

5) Our Christmas tree. I love it!! It was really Charlie Brownish, and true to form magically transformed with all of the ornaments and lights into a beautiful tree.

I suppose that today is the day to take down the decorations. I swore that I would leave them up into the new year. I love our tree!! But we are trying to decide if we can install a wood stove in our living room. That is hard to decide with an evergreen taking up so much floor space!! I will try to get some pictures up soon. And maybe some of a wood stove come to life!!! Here's to hoping!

Wishing You all a Merry Christmas...

Today is one of my favorite days of the year, Christmas Eve. It is a long standing tradition in my family for us to gather together on this special night, exchange gifts and enjoy each other's company. When I was little the anticipation of gifts made dinner seem so long! We would entertain ourselves by playing with candles, searching under the tree for gifts and playing games. My cousins and I shared such joy in passing out all of the gifts. After everyone opened their gifts we were glued to the t.v. to see where Santa's sleigh was. We would come home and Mom and I would watch midnight mass on t.v. before going to bed.

They were magical nights. Some years we started the evening at a church service, others simply around the table. Every year we cherished our time together. And we still do. These days it isn't about the gifts anymore. It is about being together. Celebrating Christ's birth and the year that has past, getting ready to rejoice in the next one. Everyone makes an effort to be there. It is rare that anyone misses our special night together. This is the big one!

We have simplified our time together even more in the past couple of years. Instead of cooking a big dinner we switched to spaghetti so that the focus was on family time, not cooking. This year we have taken it a step further- take out pizza! I am really excited about this. No fuss paper plates and just good time together.

Dave has to work tonight, the duties of a new job. I will miss him. We'll have breakfast with my folks tomorrow and head out for his family tradition. They meet together the day after Christmas! These family times are our favorites. This year the focus is definitely not on gifts but on time spent together. I love it and hope that we can keep it this way.

Do you have any special traditions for this special day?

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Back to Blogging

Ok, I have to get back into blogging mode. Life has gotten the better of me and I haven't sat down to record all of it's happenings. I truly want to keep accounts of my cooking and our life with chickens on a regular basis. I need to.

Things have been hectic around here. Dave started a new job at the beginning of December. It is quite a change and not quite what he was expecting. His schedule has changed a couple of times and currently he works evenings, which means that we hardly see each other during the week. I know that eventually we will appreciate seeing each other more and spend our time together wisely.

Yesterday we went to a Christmas tree farm to cut down our tree. I picked one with not so great pruning practices this year. Who knew?!?! We ended up with our very own Charlie Brownish pine tree. It is on it's way to looking delightful. I have to decorate it today.

Tonight we have friends coming over for dinner. I am really excited as we haven't truly entertained in a while and these folks have never been to our home. I am making a Sombrero Chicken . Haven't made this in a while. I am also making a big ol side of collard greens, mac-n-cheese, lady peas, and trying something new ~ a mixture of sweet potatoes, apples and onions. I found the recipe at Farmgirl Fare. I love this blog! It reminds me of Pioneer Woman, but different. She has tons of recipes!!! I have already made her Easy Beer Bread. We loved it. Go check her out.

Alright, since we have company tonight, I should go finish decorating the Christmas tree. Well, start decorating it actually.

I promise to write again soon!

A Sad Day for Chickens and Roosters in Roswell

You all know that I have chickens. I love my chickens. They are wonderful pets and the only ones that I know of that supply food for their owners when they are happy and content. I have been regularly attending city council meetings in Roswell standing up for people who want to own chickens in their own backyards.

Sadly, last night the Roswell City Council passed an ordinance that severely limits the number the chickens that one can own and banned roosters all together. I know quite a few people that this will affect. They will have to give up their beloved pets, or be ticketed. If this were my community, I would already be out of compliance with 7 chickens. I would not be able to get fertilized eggs from friends to hatch at home or at school because they would no longer have roosters. This is not the end of the battle my friends. People around the world were watching this case and their cities were waiting for this ordinance to be drawn up and passed before they wrote theirs. Here is the article from the AJC.

Roswell approves backyard chicken ordinance

By Ralph Ellis

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The protesters squawked, but the Roswell City Council approved a new backyard chicken ordinance Monday night that bans roosters and uses lot size to determine how many chickens a resident can keep.

The ordinance doesn’t apply to property of two acres or more that’s zoned agricultural or land that’s been annexed from Fulton County, most of which is farmland. And chicken enclosures must be set back at least 50 feet from neighboring property lines.No birds will be allowed at single-family homes on one-third acre or less. Homeowners with one-third to one acre can keep six birds. Homeowners with more than one acre can have 12 birds per acre, up to a maximum of 36. Chickens can also be kept at schools.

The council went back and forth over roosters, which many residents said caused noise problems with crowing.

“Ban the roosters,” said resident Keith Badalamente. “I’m asking for no roosters at all.”

But a last-minute motion by Lori Henry to allow roosters died for lack of a second.

The council spent two-and-a-half hours discussing the ordinance and listened to 20 members of the public who favored and opposed an ordinance. The final vote was 6-2.

Chicken keepers seemed surprised by last minute changes.

Under the most recent version on the table, residents could have kept up to 25 birds in some sort of enclosure at single-family homes, no matter what the lot size. People already keeping more than 25 chickens could have obtained a permit for up to 15 more birds. That version was based largely on Atlanta’s law.

Andrew Wordes, who had led the charge to loosen up the city’s backyard chicken law, seemed stunned after the meeting. He said he has about 150 birds, some miniature sized, and didn't know the proposed ordinance had changed.

“I’ve got .97 acre, so legally I’m allowed six chickens,” Wordes said. “I don’t see how we can have murders happening near city hall and we’re concerned about chickens.”

Roswell code enforcement officers cited Wordes in January for keeping chickens in his backyard. Former Gov. Roy Barnes, a professed chicken lover, took on Wordes’ case. A judge threw out the old ordinance in May because it was vague.

On Monday, several chicken keepers urged the council to take no action, saying various laws on the books already dealt with noise and smell problems that occur with chickens.

Mayor Jere Wood will be affected by the ordinance. He said he keeps two chickens at his law office at Woodstock and Canton streets. Those birds will have to go somewhere else, he said.

The law takes effect right away, but residents were given a 90-day grace period to comply.

So Much to Write About...

I have so much to write about but so little time! I have to get some more chicken pictures up. Sorry that I have been bad about that. We love having the girls around. They are a hoot to watch and be around. We are currently getting 1 to 3 eggs a day. That means that a few girls are laying. We just don't know who the others are.

We did a bunch of traveling for Thanksgiving. And it looks like traveling is on the ticket for Christmas too. I can't believe that it is so soon! I am ready for some time off.

I have to run! Girls night at Ikea. We won't buy too much, don't worry. Actually one of my friends has a list. I don't have one.

I hope to write more soon. Thanks for stopping by!