Chickens, Friends & a few goodbyes.

I thought long and hard about it and decided I wasn't going to hatch chicks this year. And yesterday I said goodbye to 6 Phoenix hens 3 of them belonged to my friend Penny, who was so sweet in hatching out chicks for me with her 3 sweet girls and loaning me those girls to take care and raise the chicks.  I also gave her my other 3 phoenix hens that had hatched out this spring. She is getting new chicks to add to her flock soon and these hens make and are great mamas. So she will be needing broody hens and these girls are great broodies. I was sad and glad at the same time. Knowing the girls were going home with Penny was very heart warming because she is a great chicken mama to her flock. I will miss those girls talking and running up to me to see what I am doing or have for them when I am in the yard. And so after we had a nice visit with Penny and Bernie they gave us some scrapple and we gave them some sausage, they had to headed home.  She posted this to me on FB when they got home.  (( The girls made it home just fine. Did you teach them to sing? I swear they were harmonizing to Alan Jackson on the radio........ Ha! --   I posted back to her this... I think they love listening to T. when he played the radio in the garage on our days off work... ))    This morning I so missed those 6 girls when I went out to feed and water the 16 hens and 2 roosters I still have. It just seem a little to quiet after all the noise the girls make first thing in the morning when they get their scratch. But the roosters were letting me know they missed those girls too, by the talk they gave me. lol  But I think in time now that all my chickens are in 1 coop and not 2 they will settle down and the boys have new girls to make relationships with they will soon all be happy again. I know the girls that got moved are enjoy a much bigger coop and more nest boxes to choose from I got 6 eggs before I came to work today. :-)  And if by chance I decide I want chicks I still have 2 Phoenix mix hens and if they are like their mama was I still may have a broody hen come spring.  I so love having chickens, they help keep me sane but can drive me nuts at times too. 

Good bye 2011 Hello 2012

As I sit here and think about the year 2011 and all that has gone by in it some bad some good. I know we all have to take the bad with the good, That is how we learn to live life.  I also don't think about what's got done and what didn't those things don't really matter it seems. What does is the great gifts God has given us. Family, Friends, Love, a roof over our heads, food on the table. And the beauty in all the everyday things I see as I look around me.
Being able to sit out in the yard and see the mountains, clouds over head, watching the chickens doing their thing, putting in a garden and seeing it grow and then harvesting it, to eat, for canning or share with others. Waving at a neighbor as they drive by or even better yet if they stop for a chat, it can make your day. I think more of all that we are given each and everyday we wake up. That we have been given another day to enjoy all that we love & matter to us, our family, good friends, home and our critters.
Being able to give someone a hug, a kind word, a smile or just a ear to talk to, saying a prayer for someone who ask for it,can mean so much.

 I hope this new year bring as much love & joy this past year has.

Been a fun & great few days.

Got to meet a new friend from Germany while she was here visiting her friend & mine, Penny from www.backtobasicliving.com/. We all had a great visit & I am so happy I got to meet & Elinor and her husband Ule. They are very sweet & nice people.

She gifted me with this lovely sun catcher

And this little chicken family

Sunday was my clean the house day so not much happen. Today has been a very busy day. Our friends were back to do the very last tree. I worked on cleaning a fence off of all the honeysuckle, so I can put a few new post in & then some new fencing. I forgot to get photos of it. But will post some of that soon.

The last tree to get done

All done !!

And another friend showed up with a case of radishes. So we tried something new with supper tonight, baked radishes. And it was a nice surprise and found we liked them. Also had deer pieces with mushrooms in brown gravy, that went over white rice.  Then I got all the radishes cleaned & in the fridge.

A case of fresh radishes

getting ready to be roasted

These roasted radishes were good.

Deer pieces with mushrooms & brown gravy.

We are so lucky to have good friends who help us out. And I would like to say Bless them  all for thinking of us, for their kindness and for being our friends.