Got extra egg cartons? Please save them!
When we first started our farm, we ordered 19 baby chicks. We lost one baby chick, but have maintained 18 so far. Everyone questioned why so many especially because our daughter Ava has an egg allergy. We believe she has outgrown it for the most part, but we still restrict how much she consumes and always carry an epipen with us. With that being said, we do not consume that many eggs. If all of our hens and silkies were laying one egg per day, we would have 16 eggs each day. Our vision for raising this many chickens was to help those in need of food. Organic food especially protein is expensive and hard for many to afford, much less to donate.
We started last week putting a dozen eggs each in two separate blessing boxes in town along with a scripture of encouragement because in reality we all need that right now. Ducks lay eggs too. We have 12 ladies that will hopefully be laying their eggs in the Spring as well. So, if that all goes well we should be getting 28 eggs per day around then.
To take that vision even further, we also garden. Last year it took us so long to get the areas prepped for that we ended up getting a late start. Even still, we grew too much for just ourselves to eat. Now that those areas are ready to go for next garden season, we should be able to get an earlier start. In the Spring, we are looking at setting up a “Farmer’s Blessing Box” filling that up with garden grown veggies in addition to our farm fresh eggs.
If interested in helping us with this vision, saving unwanted egg cartons would be a great help!
In addition to the veggies and eggs, I am propagated trees in my greenhouse right now to also share in our Farmer’s blessing box. I believe it is important to enrich the land around us and teach our children to do that as well. Ava and Shepard each have a magnolia tree in the greenhouse that they will help me plant in the ground during the Spring. It is going to be their responsibility to water it and take care of it.
And apparently Scott is going to have to build me a door for the greenhouse to keep kids and animals out so that anything will actually have a chance to grow in there.
Toy of the week! I had one of these play doh hair dresser toys when I was a kid and I remember playing with it for hours. Apparently, that apple didn’t fall too far from the tree. Both kiddos have been playing together making their creations and of course a huge mess. Their favorite part is mixing the play doh colors together and seeing what color hair comes out. Over and over and they are still surprised every time!
Sliding backwards and turning inside the slide while going down is Ava’s new skill she has taught Shepard. This also amuses them for quite some time. Scott and I can only wonder what she will come up with next to teach him.
The weather was all over the place for planning Ava’s birthday ride, but we decided to take a chance and go for it at the last minute. It turned out not to be terribly cold and it did not rain on us. It was pretty foggy and peaceful…so peaceful that Ava fell asleep through the first 30-45 minutes of the ride. She managed to stay asleep through all the bumps and mud puddles. Shep on the other hand was having a good time saying “weee” every time we drove through a mud puddle, which was a bunch.
This Week’s Books
“Big Bunny” was the surprising favorite this week. It is a pretty strange story, which probably explains why both kids enjoyed it so much. The stranger the better so it seems.
“Sheep in a Jeep” was Shepard’s favorite bedtime story. It is a super cute and short read…perfect for his age.
Ava officially received her last book from Dolly Parton Imagination Library. I am doing my best not to let that completely sink in yet. I have so loved her being able to receive those books every month for the last 5 years. I am a big fan of Dolly Parton. I don’t really tend to find much inspiration from many celebrities, but Dolly is one of them. Thankfully, Shepard still has a few years left until his last book.
Gluten Free & Dairy Free Menu
- Rice bowl with beef, cilantro, jalapeños, and broccoli.
- Paleo chocolate coconut cups.
- Vegan Queso with beef, cilantro, tortilla chips, and jalapeños.
I have finally made a vegan queso that is yummy! I got so tired of looking for one at the grocery store, which is practically impossible to find. And if you do, it likely has all kinds of preservatives and nonsense in it. This one is from scratch and is pretty easy to make. The fam also gave it rave reviews. Another new family favorite we discovered this week is paleo chocolate coconut cups. They are also delicious and pretty easy with just 4 ingredients.
Farm Animals
When Bonnie comes in for playtime, the kids enjoy “cat fishing”. She is a super playful and sweet kitty.
I dunno what is with these girls, but every time it rains these girls just hang outside and get drenched. And now that the temps have been getting below freezing, it’s hard for us to just put them in the coop for bedtime when they are soaking wet and shivering. If you ask me, I think they just want to get some extra fluff with the blow dryer. Thelma goes from looking like the left to the right in just a few minutes. Scott has commented on their extra volume the days following their blow dryer treatment. We will have to add a silkie salon section when we get our barn built…haha.
While everyone else is bundled up and staying inside to keep warm on the blistery cold and rainy days, the quackers are outside throwing a party. That seems to be their favorite weather. They are all over the place from the pond to just checking out all the new puddles forming from the rain.
Workouts
I thought I would share one of my workout playlists I use for jogging this week. For me, playlists kinda make it or break it when it comes to a good run, so I am always looking for new stuff and making new playlists. Scott runs with no music. I don’t understand it, but I guess that is his prerogative.
On Another Note…
Apparently we might need to read up on this. Even though Bonnie is slightly handicapped, she still acts like she can handle a chicken. Right now it looks like she just plays with them, but just to be on the safe side we need to do some proper training.
This Week in the Shop..
Just working like an elf making Christmas presents!
Have a Merry Christmas this week! Remember the reason for the season and God Bless!
