I Built A Bridge!

[Teila]

Just popped back to share some photos from Christmas Day.

The gals' Christmas pressies:



Dusty & LuLu enjoying their pressies:







Cilla having Christmas Lunch:



Post lunch bath time:



Some of the gals were kind enough to pose for some pics ...

Blondie:



KiKi:




LuLu .. she is a poser!

Crystal:



And a quick snap shot of some of the fish:

 

[drumstick diva]

Teila, what lovely family photos but, we don't get to see you. How do you make those treaties for the girls?

 

[Teila]

Tee hee Diva, no pictures of me!

The treats are simply vol-au-vent shells, cooked empty in the oven for 15mins; leave them to cool, add yogurt and meal worms .. happy chickens!

 

[MistyMountain]

Teila! Such lovely goodies! Chicken treats included. Your girls are beautiful, as always. Thank you for the update. I miss you all!!

We have had a quiet Christmas as well. Normally we host Bryan's parents Christmas Eve and have the whole family over Christmas day for an early dinner (30ish people). Sadly, Bry came down with the virus I had close to 3 weeks ago, and it is a nasty one. I ran a fever for 3 days and coughed violently for close to two weeks. I still have a residual cough from it. We advised everyone to steer clear of our house. So, it is just us and the boys. We are basically electronic free here. Sure we have tv and computers for work, but no ipads or video games so to speak. We go outside or use our imagination. The boys got just what they wanted and it wasn't too much. They have built their own version of Jurassic World spaning over 3 rooms in our house. We all couldn't be more content... well except for dh when his cold meds wear off.

We made and frosted sugar cookies from scratch yesterday for Santa. Not a big feat, but a necessary one. Good thing my recipe only took 1 egg... we're still a bit short here. The flock got their Christmas early. I had been saving a lovely pumpkin since Halloween just for the occasion.

When we cancelled Christmas (that just sounds so sad) I had to make alternate dinner plans. No way was this family of 4 going to finish a 20lb ham! I picked up a choice standing rib roast, which should be ready to come out of the oven any minute now. I'm going to pair that with some cheesy potatoes and the veggie tray I had for the party. I hope it all turns out, lol!

So, Christmas movies it is for us tonight... with the windows open. It was 70 degrees today. Not right at all for us. I want my snow! It has been raining the past few days with no end in sight. We are soaked, to say the least. The chickens are not happy campers! I have to walk carefully down the hill to let them out, the ground is so saturated that I almost wiped out numerous times.

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!!

 

[drumstick diva]

Misty Mountain, sounds like you guys know how to improvise and have fun. I would risk catching the virus, just to come over and watch Christmas movies with you all.

 

[drumstick diva]

Teila your chicken treats sounded great till you got to the meal worm part. Excuse me

but, I'm sorry I asked.

 

[Ballerina Bird]

Vol au vent shells for your chickens! That is so cute and funny; thanks for the Christmas giggle.

 

[MistyMountain]

Hey y'all!! Bracing for our first real snow of the year! And it could be a REALLY big one! 12" on the low side, 24"+ on the high side. We got a dusting yesterday, which made the roads slick and resulted in school closing today. Big snow starts tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday, so no doubt school will be closed tomorrow. I have all the groceries we will need to be house bound for a while. I also have the fixin's for a new cinnamon roll recipe that I want to try for the boys. Pretty excited about that.

The grocery store was pretty busy yesterday, but they still had almost everything in stock. That is, except for snowman noses. I either had to get tiny snowman noses or pay extra for organic. Organic it was, then. You can't build a proper snowman without a carrot for his nose.

New coop is not quite done yet, but close. If we get a warmer dry spell, it could be done pretty quickly. I hope it is done by spring, because I just placed my order for new chicks!!! Yup, I did it again… mailed in my order to Sandhill Preservation. 10 welsummers, 10 mottled javas, and 5 delawares. All straight run, so fingers crossed for lots of girls!!! This is my move to get some true heritage chickens here. Both the welsummers and javas are good foragers, so they should be super happy here on the homestead.

The flock here is doing well, all 18 of them. Two of the three pullets are laying, Esmerelda is a free loader and doesn't look anywhere close to laying! I am up to about a half dozen a day, if I make it out there before they freeze and crack.

I'm taking a bee keeping class and wow, I am just mind blown. So much INTERESTING information! I hope to start keeping bees next summer for honey and pollination, as well as do my part to help save the bees. We just have too much planned for this summer. Besides getting new chicks in the spring, we will be putting in our big garden. I have a long list of stuff to grow for fresh eating and canning. Big year for us! We also need to put up fencing and get my horse, Valentine, here. He's getting old, turning 25 this year. We will also tear down our small barn and rebuild a bigger barn in it's place. We thought about adding on, but that would be more work than taking it down and putting up new. We will reuse almost all the material. I am excited to have more weathered barn wood to use for my rustic signs!!

Anyhow, things are good here. Bundled up and cozy by the fire.

 

[MistyMountain]

Quiet Bridge for a long time now. Thought I might try to wake it up a bit. All is good here. The peach trees are blossoming and spring is in the air.

We have worked hard on pasture all winter and hope to have my horse here by the end of May. Also expected by the end of May are 25 chicks from Sandhill Preservation. 10 mottled javas, 10 welsummers, and 5 blue orpingtons. I will be brooding them in the broody coop using a heating pad instead of the usual heat lamp. Pretty exciting!!

My broody coop has a strange new tenant for the next few weeks. Last night we picked up a bottle baby calf that had been rejected by it's mother. My son calls him Sharky, but we are trying hard not to get attached. We have pasture enough to support a horse and some goats, but no cattle full time.

I think we can officially be called a farm, now!



No other real news. No losses in the flock since I last posted, but I think I need to find two girls a new rooster less home. One is too eager and the other is a target for affection from the roosters. They have been injured too many times now. Sad, they are some of my favorites.

Hope you all are well!

 

[16 paws]

Hi MistyMountain,

Good to be back at the bridge.....

Sounds like you are getting some great new additions to your farm. I have read about the mama heating pad and it sounds like it works great. Dont you use your broodys to raise your chicks? Just curious.
Glad you havent had any losses over there. I wish I could say the same...That bobcat has come back a couple of times when the flock were free-ranging. One time he killed a hen and left her by the fence then went back for another, I was lucky enough to look outside just in time to see him right in front of the coop with my rooster Jake in his mouth!!!!I screamed and he heard and saw me, dropped Jake and ran off. Jake was alive but I had to hand feed him with a syringe for a week before he would eat or drink. He is fine now. A couple of other times I have had hens just disappear, maybe a hawk. So they are not allowed to free range as much now, only in the afternoon when I can be here to watch things. I hate that but I dont want to keep feeding the predators.
We had 7 new chicks hatch on St. Patricks Day which are mixed and i got some feed store chicks for my other broody Taffy. They are 2 Americanas, 2 Salmon Faveroles and 1 Sicillian Buttercup. Cant wait to see them grow up. So that means I now have 46 chickens total

But I really only have 25 according to Tommysgirl. Have you heard from any of the other girls, I miss chatting with them?

That calf is beautiful....Good luck not getting attached to that one....
Keep in touch
Blessings
Marie