My Blog

My friends and family are all worried about our chickens being outside during the winter. It's gotten pretty cold here, so it's understandable, but I'd like to put everyone's minds at ease. The chickens are doing great! Our outdoor thermometer got down to almost 0 degrees Fahrenheit a few times last week, but the birdies don't really seem to mind. When the temperature is over 20 and/or it's sunny, they wander around the yard like usual spending time in any sunny spot they find. They are even still dust bathing. When it's colder than 20 and/or it's cloudy, they tend to huddle together near the house on our porch. We keep a close eye on them to make sure they aren't acting weird or getting frostbite and so far so good! We did read online that if you let your birds acclimate to the weather as it gets colder, they will be prepared for it, so unless one of them seems sick or frostbitten, they won't get a heat lamp. Not to repeat myself, but so far so good.

On a different note, our Leghorn has taken to jumping higher and higher though. We have to clip her wing this weekend. I found her on the fence looking into my neighbor's yard this morning. I don't want her to get any ideas. The other three pretty much stick to the ground and don't go up until they go into their hen house at night.

Smile often, keep a song in your heart, and be happy with who you are.

I just wanted to say "hello" to all my loyal readers (of whom I know of 1) who have been patiently waiting my next entry. It's been over a month and I've been busy, morning sick, and just plain lazy. The morning sickness has just about gone away. I still feel queezy if I don't eat for a long period of time (over 2 hours) or if I eat certain foods. I'm starting a list to keep track of which foods make me feel yucky, so I can avoid them better. So far the list is Ravioli and Orange Juice. I am almost 14 weeks which marks the end of the first trimester (yay!). We spent the week before Thanksgiving in Las Vegas and Los Angeles visiting friends and family. Had a nice quiet Thanksgiving at home and are gearing up for Christmas. We put up our Christmas lights and got our Christmas tree cutting permit and have started baking cookies. I am going to get back into the habit of writing at least once a week, but I've got to get busy now.

Smile often, keep a song in your heart, and be happy with who you are.

I know it's been awhile since I've written, but I haven't been feeling well. I've had morning sickness, except it lasts all day and is awful. We found out I was pregnant about 3 weeks ago, and I started feeling ill about 2 weeks ago. It feels longer than that. I have found a few things that work for me though and I will share them in case anyone else is in dire straits.

1) baking soda water
2) lemon water
3) food

Lets see...what to write about today...I guess I will write about a website I like. www.naturalchild.org It has all sorts of articles about raising children "treated with dignity, respect, understanding, and compassion." I truly believe most of what is written there. This website introduced me to Attachment Parenting, Co-Sleeping, breastfeeding babies for more than 1 year, diaper-free babies, and Unschooling. Unfortunately I don't have a baby yet to try it all on, but hopefully soon. One article that has really stuck with me was about diffusing the power struggle between parents and children. If you take the time to find out what you child really needs, why they are arguing with you, you can solve the problem fairly between the two of you with neither one feeling like they lost. There was an example of a child who was on the top of a slide at a park and wouldn't come down, she was blocking other children from sliding down also. In the article, the father tries several tactics to get the child down, after figuring out why she wouldn't come down, and is eventually able to work through the problem without either him or his daughter getting angry. The article is called "Down the Slide, or Up the Anger Escalator?" by Inbal Kashtan.

Smile often, keep a song in your heart, and be happy with who you are.

Last week when started thinking about writing a blog, I had many ideas flowing through my brain. Now, I can't think of anything to write! Lol, not quite true, but I don't know how interesting it is. This week has been a typical week for me. Doing laundry, caring for my chickens, cleaning the bathrooms, changing the sheets, baking casseroles, and of course watching all the TV shows that have returned to TV this week. Before I get into TV shows, I want to share an anecdote about my chickens (I moved this story to the post called "Chicken Story" for ease of categorization)... Back to the TV shows I watch. We don't have cable, but watch TV shows online (cable is not worth paying for). My favorites are Castle, Psych, Warehouse 13, and Eureka. I also enjoy Bones, NCIS, NCIS: LA, and sometimes Glee.