The Journey of a Roaster Chicken
Last night we enjoyed our first roasted chicken from a Cornish Rock chicken we raised ourselves! Roasted with thyme, rosemary and lemon it was very tasty, tender and moist. This was a little chicken harvested...
The Ducks Have New Digs!
The ducks have finally moved out of the garage brooder and into their permanent digs. One month old and they've left home. This little structure was the house and run for our first batch of meat chickens. We came to the realization that the meat...
Twelve
Twelve years ago today, darling Hannah entered into our lives. She took her own sweet time arriving on the scene two weeks late. Not much has changed on that front. My due date of July 23 came and went. When the doctor said that they were going to...
Chickens on a Roost
I gave the girls an outdoor roost to break the monotony of life in their chicken run. A couple of cinder blocks with a branch draped across did the trick. They like to hop up here when they see me heading down to the coop area. I think it gives...
Oscar Got His Quack
Oscar got his quack! Quackers is close and the other two have a little catching up to do. Exciting stuff. I harvested the rest of my garlic today so I was able to expand their temporary play area in my garden. This gave us room to set up a bigger...
Chicken Math at Work
We went to town today for a roll of 6' x 50' chicken wire and came home with four bantam chicks and no chicken wire. How did that happen? It had to be Chicken Math. These little cuties were $1 each - end of the season left-over chick sale. Who can...
I Love My Prius
We made a trip to town yesterday and turned the Prius into a pickup truck again. As we were cruising along, the AC blasting to keep the child in the back seat happy, I looked down at the mileage display and snapped this pic (Paul was driving). 418...
The Beauty of Bar Harbor
After a meeting in Bar Harbor today I paused for a moment to snap a couple of pictures. This is the Margaret Todd, a four-masted windjammer heading out of the harbor for a sail. How fortunate we are to live in such a beautiful area!
Anniversary No. 14
Fourteen years ago, I married my best friend. This has not been an inconsequential partnership so far. Four ducks: $25 One gold fish: $28 Thirteen chickens: $77 Two cats: $1,153 Three dogs: $4,760 One half-grown child: $103,850 One home in the...
Weed and Feed
I love these afternoons when I finish work early enough to putter in the garden before dinner. This afternoon I did some weeding and deadheading and just enjoyed being outdoors - ducks looking on from their garden plot. Weed and feed at my house...
Ducks on the Run
One moment I'm refilling their bathing pool. The next I look up and see the ducks sitting in my garden - on the other side of the fence! Thankfully they seem to like traveling together so it wasn't too tough for the three of us to herd them back...
Ducklings in the Garden
Meet our ducklings! Today I harvested half of my garlic crop. In the empty space I erected a temporary enclosure for the ducks and covered it with deer netting so they would be safe from hawks. Now that they are out of the brooder we noticed that...
Saturday at the Farmer’s Market
Saturdays in the the summer we make a habit of visiting the Milbridge Farmers Market. There are so many things we enjoy purchasing at the market that we've set a $20 limit for our outings. Each week there is a drawing for a market basket - goodies...
Happy Birthday, Dad!
Dad's birthday was on the 17th. I made this card for him featuring his chicken namesake, but couldn't share it until I knew he had received it in the mail (I was a little late on the draw - as usual). Happy Birthday, Dad!
Cute in a Bucket
Cute in a bucket. Enough said.
Summer Camp Woes
My girl has flown the coop. Left the nest. Gone to summer camp. At eleven years old, this is only her second time away from home alone. The first was a one-night sleep over in town. This week she is on the Sunbeam, a 75’ long ship owned by the...
Squirrel Family: The Sequel
I was sitting on the porch this afternoon getting snow peas ready to blanch and freeze when I heard a chitter. I looked up and saw these two in Hannah's bird house watching me. It's been so long since I last saw them that I thought they'd moved...
The Summer Scent of Lavender
These days when you step out onto the porch, you smell a burst of lavender. My lavender, both pink and purple, is in full bloom. It's an old-fashioned smell that will always remind me of summer. More flower posts: 19 June 2011: In My Lavender Today...
Shy Week Old Ducklings
Our baby ducklings are one week old today! They are the silliest little things. When I stop by to take a peek at them they tend to huddle up together in the corner. They're quite shy. Their favorite past time is chasing flies around their brooder....
They Get It!
We've spent the last three nights since we introduced The Girls and The Colonel to their run chasing them to put them away for the night (read about that debacle here). Tonight, at about 8:30 we went outside and prepared for round four. I figured...
Flying the Coop?
It's been 5 days since The Girls and The Colonel moved to their chicken coop. We read that it's good to let them spend some time in the coop before letting them out into the yard so they realize it's their new home. The truth is we just finished...
Settling in for the Night
The sun was setting tonight as Paul and I finished putting the roofing on the chicken coop. The frogs were croaking, the crickets chirping and the mosquitoes were on the war path. Halfway up the ladder I peered through the coop window and saw that...
Baby Ducklings!
Look who moved in today! Four baby Pekin ducklings have taken up temporary residence in our garage. These little babies are all Paul's doing. He tells me that duck eggs are beyond wonderful. Growing up he had two Pekin ducks - Oscar and Susan....
The Colonel
My father is a U.S. Army Colonel (retired). Full-bird Colonel. Said Colonel thinks I'm off my rocker jumping into hobby farm life here in Maine. So in Dad's honor, we've named our one and only rooster "The Colonel!" Love you, Dad!
Empty Nest!
The girls left home today. Left our mudroom and moved into their new hen house. The Girls and The Colonel looked very happy in their new digs, running around and pecking wildly at the clover and deadheaded viola flowers we tossed in. Paul finished...
