eggs and tomatoes

So I don't think I ever mentioned that Tonks (the americauna) started laying eggs. Her eggs are a green color and darken up when they go in the fridge. We've probably gotten a dozen or so eggs from her since she started laying.

Honestly it could be more, I've lost count and we've given some away already.

Well this morning, Luna layed her first egg. It was a peachy color. Very different than Buckbeak, as her's are brown speckled.

I'm excited that all my girls are laying and can't wait to start making more then scrambled eggs with them.

We planted 4 tomato plants this year, 1 beafsteak variety and 3 regulars. One of the regular ones is now over 5 ft tall, closer to 6 feet and the other 2 regulars are around 5 ft tall. The beafsteak is a short guy around 3ft. The tomatoes off of the tallest plant are actually bigger then the beafsteak.
I think because of our wierd summer, most of the tomatoes are still green, but we do get about a dozen tomatoes off the plants a week. And they are still blooming. I think I need to cut the flowers so that I can further along the fruit that is already growing. Anyone know? I really don't want to have a bunch of green tomatoes before fall hits. I've heard that I can cut off the green ones and put them in a bag in a dark place to help ripen them? What about fruit flies? what if I forget where they're at? Okay I'd probably remember where cause there'd be flies everywhere.

Anyways, this morning we are having tomato omlettes with homegrown eggs and tomatoes :)

It's all good.

Our First Egg

We got the girls two months ago and it's been a waiting game ever since.
Yesterday what we suspect to be the oldest, Buckbeak, was walking the fence line, like she didn't know what to do or where to go. I let the girls out and they all were fine. After a while, they all went back into the coop, so I shut the door on them. (When the girls are out of the coop, the dog has to be on a leash. So trying to get anything done with a dog tied to you is nearly impossible, especially with the two kids running around you also.

So back to Bucky, she started pacing again. I went into the coop to try and calm her down, and when I would reach down to pet her, she would stamp her feet and then crouch really low. I just knew her time was approaching.

I opened up the nesting box. I took the divider out cause she looked soo cramped in the space. She would walk in and out of it. Not quite sure of it. I did prop the door open a bit, she seemed more comfy with a little bit of light.

All day nothing. This morning when I let them out of the house, I opened the nest box back up. And sure enough, Buckbeak was back in there. She was in there for most of the morning. When I just went out to check on here. I opened up the hatch, and laying on her left foot, was an egg. Light brown, long, cylindrical, not so rounded egg.

C-man is all egg-cited. If he hadn't already just eaten, he would have had the egg for breakfast he says. So maybe lunch. A scrambled egg sandwich? A "sloppy" egg with toast? He still has a while before he has to decide.

Hen House Names

Since the girls are Buckbeak, Luna, and Tonks; the kids thought it would be fun to name the hen house after a place in HP.
Here's what they've thought of so far:
Hagrid's Hut
Hogwart's School of Magical Eggs
Diagon Alley
The Burrow
Hen's Head (play on Hog's Head)
Shrieking Shack


Any favorites?

Chickens, Cats, Traps and Neighbors, oh my...

I was going to write it out but got distracted, had to do the dishes, and have come to not write out my thoughts. I was able to vent to a third party, thanks A. :)

In other news.......


The girls are going into the henhouse easy peasy now. I just have to tap on the side of the house and in they go. I'm excited that I don't have to chase each of them down to go into the house now. The dog still gets excited when they stretch their legs and wings, but for the most part is calming down. I haven't had to put a muzzle on her for a couple of days now. (She was attacking the fence, so I would put a muzzle on her if she wanted by the fence.) Now she'll lay close to the fence watching her chicken TV.

E is trying to figure out how to put a roof on the run. Right now we just have a tarp covering most of it. But I hate ducking and it's not predator proof. So it's a priority right now. (thought the girls are locked up in the house at night, I still worry.)

Uhm....what else?..... MadCars are just that. They're crazy. It's like the sun is spawning new, wild, crazy children for me. All the rain and now the sun to make it grow. Oye vay! It probably doesn't help that gpa buys sugarcicles for them to "cool" down with.

I better get to bed. well the kids to bed. nite.....

month in review pics

Fishing at Benson Lake. It was in May I think. I can't remember.


Park down the street from us.

I tried to get M to come down just a little so the sun could catch her, but she said it was too bright and wanted to be up higher.

M wearing Farbenmix Yola, was suppose to be for her birthday but she found it and wouldn't take it off for days. C is wearing his picked out space fabric. yucky poly from Joanns. Farbenmix Zoe top and self drafted shorts.
New mama pads for me. my others were getting pretty ragged. And well these are pul backed and smaller and a much better fit. makes a mama happy :)

M showing off her Redondo skirt with an elastic waist, which still falls off her butt if she doesn't wear training undies.
View of garden. The veggies are bigger now.

Free coop off of craigslist, before transformation.
Nugget on the left and Lucy on the right.

Robobug that was on a wooden gate.


S, M, and C at the Jr Rose Parade.
Buckbeak (black and white, barred rock) and Tonks. Luna is in the shadow.

Monkey girl climbed as high as she could to get the scissors and this is what happened....

New members of the H.-D. house

I was perusing craigslist and a lady was selling 2 barred rocks, 2-4 weeks away from laying eggs. I emailed her and was the second in line. I didn't think that I would get them, but she emailed me back and said that the first person never called/showed, so if I wanted them, then they were mine. wooohoooo! We went and picked them up tonight.

One is a bit bigger then the other but they're the same age. She had just gotten them, but the larger one kept flying over to the neighbors'. Mad was sooo excited, she's now saying that she wants a chicken birthday.

I can't find the camera to computer cord or I would upload some pics. Maybe later I can find it.

More Chicken talk

On Sat. went over to Zenger Farms in SE to hear about the chicken co-op that they have going on. It turned out to be a really nice day for it. We listened to Holly talk about the chickens and the duties and the ins/outs of the farm in relation to the chickens.
We were able to enter the area the chickens were in, and the kids went into "I've got to catch a chicken" mode. Mad did catch one, by the tail, as I raced to stop her, the hen flapped dust in her eyes so she let go. She wanted to keep after them, but I didn't take sunscreen and her cheeks were getting red, I picked her up and headed for the car. C on the other hand, I think was afraid of the chickens, as he would try to reach down to catch on, but then would pull back at the last minute. He was upset when he still had not caught his "own" chicken and Patrick said it was time for them to head back up to the barn.

He kept asking when were we going to get chickens? All the way home.

Mad fell asleep in the 5 minute drive home, and E and I talked about the co-op. It didn't sound like we would be able to work at the farm each week, which means that we wouldn't get eggs each week. It lit the fire more for us to have our own chickens. So in that 5 minute drive, E and I talked about that we might not even get chickens until next year cause of the cost factor. Building a coop, getting it secure so animals couldn't get in, food, the cost of the chickens themselves, it would just be hard getting it all done in time to get chicks for this year. We also decided, that we wanted our chicks to be teens or pullets so we didn't have to keep them inside while they were young.

So last night while looking at chicken coop porn and wishing I could build a cool coop for the yard, I was over at craigslist and there in the free section, a chicken coop! So I emailed the person as quick as I could, and I was the first person to respond!!!! E and I went over there this morning and picked it up.


Now it's nothing fancy, it's a dog house that was converted into a coop. And there's some chicken wire, 2 waterers, and 2 feeders.


Just that much closer to our own chickens.

E decided that he wants Barred Rocks.


Oh, we saw 3 racoons coming from the neighbors garden last night. As long as they stay out of my yard, I'll be fine.

chickens....

I got a call from our landlord today about some reciepts, in talking to him, I told him about the garden we planted. He said, wow, you do have a lot! and said all you need now is a goat to get milk from. I said, naw, I was thinking chickens for eggs and compost. He said SURE! I was are you serious, he said YES, He thought it was a cool idea!!!!

Oh my landlord is turning out cooler than I thought!


In other news, we have corn, snow peas, tomatoes, red bell peppers, green bell peppers, cantalope, watermelon, pumpkin, onions, potatoes, strawberries, and baby lettuce planted. we also have rosemary, cilantro, parsley, oregano, and garlic planted in the front of the house, in a planter under the kitchen window that wasn't being used when we moved in.

I think we'll need to plant more letuce and maybe a couple more tomato plants. We love our salads!