Chicken & Vistors

My  work week starts Tuesday to Saturday & my weekends are Sunday & Monday.  I should have know it was going to be a messed up week when Tuesday morning almost as soon as I let the chickens out to free range for the day a hawk comes after 1 of my little Phoenix hens, I screamed and it flew off but I worried about them until I got home that night. Everyone was fine & in their coop. So for 2 days they stayed locked up until I thought the hawk was gone and so far no hawk. So my chickens are back out free ranging again and much happier now.  

Chickens free ranging for the day.

 Sunday was very busy it was time to clean 2 chest freezers, so I had to cram everything I could into 1 freezer until I got 1 cleaned then move everything to the clean 1 after it had been plugged back in for an hour. Then do the other 1, took me 4 hours to get that done. It took me all day to get my dozen things done on my To Do List for the day.  I even got to do 1 thing on my list that I have been wanting to start all week. Amish Friendship Bread Starter is now going, so in 10 days I will be back to winter baking of goodies.

Friendship starter

                                                                 

Today was go get chicken laying feed. I was not happy it is up by $2.00 a bag in a month. If this keeps up I may have to cut the number of chickens I have back to just a dozen hens & 1 rooster. Right now I have 22 hens & 2 roosters. also we have a new friend hanging around & home it decides to make this its home.. meet chunky.

A bunny visitor.

   We think it may have been someones pet who got out or was set free.It was playing with the chickens for a bit it would follow them & then they would follow it. I wish I could have gotten a few photos of that, it was so cute.  I had a little fall today, fell over my dog and  busted my knee pretty good so I have been hoping around trying to get some things done until I took a couple Advil. They knocked me out for a few hours & now it fills a lot better. Hopefully it will be a ok in a few days if I stay off it.  I hope everyone has a good weekend all in all mine was good. And today I got a call from my baby sister with some super great News.  They are now land & home owners. They got their loan all paid off. That made this a super great day in my book.  Congratulations !!! Little Sis I love ya.

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.

Just a little pecking around.

The girls hope you are having a great Sunday too.

My hen laid a big 1.

I got the biggest egg I have ever got this past Sunday a 88 gram or 3 1/8 oz.. And I fill so sorry for the poor  Leghorn hen who laid it. And last night we open the egg to see what we has inside.

We got a double yolk, that made my day. 

Here a few photos of the last few days when a snow storm took out the power and a tree branch took out the Internet. We did just fine with the help of a generator and some drop cords run to 2 heats, our 2 freezers and when needed for cooking with a griddle and my rice cooker.The chickens wouldn't come out the coop until Sunday evening, but the girls did their part and gave us lots of eggs to keep us feed too along with all the green beans I had on hand that I picked Friday morning and what was left got blanched and are in the freezer until we need them all 18 lbs of them. And the clean up of 2 trees started at 7:30 am Monday morning. I think I will be glad to go back to work tomorrow I could use the rest.

This last photo is of the last tree that has to be trimmed back and it is also the biggest of all our maples, and the only 1 to lose 1 small branch.

Who ordered this white stuff.

                  It was only raining when I went to bed. And I got up to all this stuff. 

                         It is way to soon for this stuff to be falling for me.

The path out to take care of my chickens

our poor barn who needs a new roof

Under all that snow is 2 big piles of chips from our trees that were getting trimmed

my persimmon tree

I don't think the garden is liking this and it done for the year.

Branches going down.

This tree is on the to trim list but couldn't wait.
It done some of its own pruning with the help of the snow.

                                                  

T. seeing why the Internet was down.

We think this one took out the Internet when it came down.

Road on our way to work

Almost to work

It has took out our power & a tree branch took out the Internet line.  I am at work posting this, because it will be a few days before we get our Internet back up. So I will not be on line for a few days.

Green beans, Kale greens and Maple trees

It has been a very busy week at home.  I have been trying to pick as much as I can from the fall garden. Also I have been trying to dehydrate kale greens & green bean for soups & long term storage.  There was so many green beans I have been putting them into the freezer.  And Friday our tree man came to get started on our maple trees. He got 4 of them done. We don't think the trees have ever been trimmed before we moved here. But he said they weren't as bad as some he has seen and done. The other 3 in our front yard will have to wait just a bit longer for right now. We have a snow storm on the way in and they ran out of day light to do the last 3 trees. I think it has been a good week. Now if the snow would just miss us, It would be a super week.

Dried green beans

Green beans ready for the freezer

A tray of dried kale

Crushed dried kale for soup

2 more 5 gal. buckets of green beans

 Josh is up there some were in that tree.

The ground crew Joey & Stevie

First tree getting it's trim

I think I want 1 of those chippers.

I think I can see him now.

They did a great job on the trees !!

 This 1 looks so much better now too.

      I can't wait to see all the chips from the trees, I will have to use this spring.