Cluck cluck chicken chicken!

It's been a little over a year since we brought home six baby chicks. Two Rhode Island Reds, two Buff Orpingtons and two Americauna's. We built them a large coop so they wouldn't be crowded on the days we couldn't let them out to play. We love watching them play, run for snacks and play in the dirt. The girls especially love getting the eggs every morning. I don't think they feel the same way about feeding them.

 

 

These are Rhode Island Reds.
 We have named them Petunia and Stella.

This is one of my favorites, the Buff Orpington's.
 They are named Spiky and Izzie.

The Ameraucan's lay light blue or green eggs.
They are named Rosetta and Pearl.

These little guy is one of five. Four of them are going to my mother in laws and we are keeping this little guy. She is a Barred Rock. Of course she is allot bigger now. I'll update another time. 

This is our coop.
We buried wire underneath so predators couldn't get in and our pet bunny Biscotti couldn't get out.
We left lots of it screened because it is hotter here in the summer than it is cold in the winter.

Lots of fresh saw dust. The hens weren't too happy I was flapping the shavings bag all over the place so they were staying as far away from me as they could. We have 4 roosting boxes. Yes, some of the chickens actually like to walk up the ladder to get on their roost.

One Americauna blue egg and one of the other's brown eggs. We can't tell the difference between the Buff Orpington and the RIR (Rhode Island Red's) eggs.

Here is Biscotti. He/She likes to rest in the nesting boxes also.

Biscotti and the hens love a fresh backyard salad.

They may look dead but they are just chillen in the sun and taking a dirt bath.

This is their favorite spot in the yard.

That's it today!   Genesis 1:21   So God created the large sea-creatures and every living creature that moves and swarms in the water, according to their kinds. He also created every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Garden April 2013

Genesis 1:11-13 Then God said: Let the earth bring forth vegetation: every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it. And so it happened:The earth brought forth vegetation: every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree that bears fruit with its seed in it. God saw that it was good.13

Evening came, and morning followed

—the third day.

My favorite time of year is here. I love spring and everything it brings. Well, except maybe the sand gnats. You wouldn't understand unless you have ever visited us here on the coast of South Carolina. God created spring for me and other garden lovers. I can't help but notice all the road side weeds flowering, the beautiful crape myrtles and dog wood trees in bloom, the sprinklers going and all that kind of stuff. But my favorite part is planting seeds. I certainly love buying a full grown plant and planting it for instant beauty but I really love planting and babying seeds. So here is how things are looking today on April 9th 2013.

Three of these raised beds have been here for a few years but this year we added the four in the back. So far I've planted strawberries, asparagus, lettuce, bell peppers, okra, herbs, squash and zucchini. I still need to plant the cucumbers, beans and tomatoes.

This is the squash and zucchini bed. It is usually too hot here for my squash to produce very long. I'm hoping by planting on these hills it will help in some way. Not sure but we will find out.

These three squares in the front have dill, parsley and basil.

The back will hold cucumbers and or beans.

I planted thyme in this pot. Of course these ugly tags are temporary. I needed to make something quickly. I found aluminum foil and magic marker was just what I needed in a pinch.

Right now this bed holds bell peppers. But I plan to sow another crop of lettuce on the other end. It's too hot here for lettuce in the summer but I'm hoping the rosemary will shade it just a tad and maybe it wont bolt before we eat it.

Terrible picture of the strawberries and asparagus.

This is the only perennial bed I have for vegetables and fruit.

This side holds Simpson lettuce. This lettuce is so light that it's strange to chew it.

 It's almost buttery or something.

This side was a mixed pack of lettuce. I'm not positive what all was in it. Sure was tasty though.

Yummy!

Verbena! Oh I love this plant. It does great in our hot and humid weather. I have three of these hanging off of our back porch. I decided instant gratification was best for the baskets. It makes it through the winter and also slowly spreads. It comes in red, pink,

white, purple and a mixed purple/white. 

Canna Lillie's are another of my favorites. OK fine everything I have in my yard is a favorite of mine. It is hard for me to choose.

This barrel holds parsley, chocolate mint and a few purple zinnias. 

The yard is also full of caterpillars. My daughters have caught over 50 so far!

I've also planted some zinnia's, sunflowers and some marigold. If your just starting out with seeds and your nervous about it then start with these three. Nothing could be easier to grow from seed. If your wanting to grow a vegetable from seed then start with squash and zucchini. The key is to have a weed free area that is lightly tilled, sun and water everyday. Good gardening!

Thrifty Easter decorations

I love Easter. It is the most meaningful of all holidays I celebrate. It's a celebration and remembrance of Jesus Christ dying on the cross and rising again. He didn't have to suffer for us, Jesus is holy and without sin (1 Peter 2:22).   But he took our sins on as his responsibility and paid the price for them that we should have paid which is death (2 Cor 5:21). Jesus died on a cross for you, me, friends, enemies, bad people and good people, people of all colors, young and old, dyed hair, tattoo's, piercings, drinkers, smokers, druggies, business people, stay at home moms, factory workers, gas station clerks and lawyers. He doesn't care who you are, what you look like, what your past holds or where your from. He loves you for you. He died for you! He didn't have too, he did this by choice because he loves us. John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not parish but have everlasting life. There is nothing more you can do to save yourself from your sins but to know Jesus died and paid your debt for you. You can't be extra good, you can't work your way to heaven. God already loves you and paid the price for you. The good news is that Jesus did not stay on that cross. Three days later he rose again! He is sitting by the Father in heaven. Trust Jesus with your life. If you don't already know him as your personal savior then ask him into your heart today. For anyone reading my post I pray this for you in Jesus' name.

 

 

 

This is the first year I've ever decorated for Easter and my oldest daughter and I had a blast coming up with thrifty ways to decorate. We decorated the front porch, living room, kitchen and back porch for only eight bucks! We mainly used things we had around the house. So here it goes.

 

This is in the living room. I paid one dollar for the shredded grass. I picked rosemary out of the yard and added it to a vase I already had. I already had the Bible, the cross and the candle. I used crafting supplies to add the bow.

 

This is also in the living room. I paid $1 for the grass and $2 for the eggs. I already had everything else in the picture. I added a raffia bow to the jar holding the eggs. Riley and I decorated the existing candles.

 

 

Here is the candle before and after. We used construction paper, lace, ribbon and fun scissors to create these festive candles.

 

 

This is the kitchen table. My middle daughter had bought me the little bunny in the middle when she went off with her Granny. The egg and the bunny were $1 each.

This banner in the kitchen was $2.

I switched out our regular fruit bowl with last years Easter basket.

This sits on the coffee table in the living room. The frame was super old, brown and ugly. I gave it a fresh coat of paint I had leftover from painting the kids room, then I sprinkled it with glitter. I found the subway art HERE on pinterest.

 

I'm sure by now you have seen this idea somewhere online. I just loved the idea! First I tried grass seed but it didn't grow. Now it has chia seeds on it and I'm not sure if it will grow or not. Thankfully a friend of mine has offered some wheat seeds to try. I can't Wait for the background to fill in with beautiful green grass.

Last but not least the front porch. I added some of the eggs to another of last years Easter baskets. Then I made a cross out of sticks in the yard. I happened to have the perfect width of purple fabric to add to the cross.

So that's it! Thrifty and fun Easter decor!

Frozen yogurt banana pops

I have a major sweet tooth.

If I don't keep some kind of healthy dessert on hand I can guarantee you a trip to Dairy Queen or the gas station for a candy bar.

I love those boxed frozen banana treats that come covered in chocolate and nuts. MMMmmmm. But, I wanted a healthier version. First let me say that I know my picture is terrible. The kids were seconds away from grabbing them! I had to snap the picture quickly. Anyways, these are super simple. I cut larger bananas in half, stuck broken plastic forks in the bottom and froze them. After they were nice and frozen I rolled them in plain Greek yogurt. Then we sprinkled them with different goodies. The kids went with sprinkles, granola and as you can see they had to have red gel as smiley faces. I tried to explain it was bad for you but kids don't care. Mine and the hubs are the ones on the very left and right. So after you dress them up put them back into the freezer until the yogurt is frozen. This shouldn't take long but we left ours in over night.

They were so good!

 

Cheerio's bird snack

This is a super easy, cheap and self explanatory craft to do with the kids. The best part is that you don't feel bad throwing it away because the birds will eat it.




All you need is pipe cleaner and Cheerios. You could also use apple jacks or fruit loops. Make a loop with the pipe cleaner and add the Cheerios and your done!

Don't throw out your egg shells!

Egg shells have so many great uses. Today I'm going to show you how to make calcium plant food. All plants need calcium but some are well known for needing more. Think tomatoes and peppers.  Ever had blossom end rot on your tomatoes? This is probably do to not watering properly, too much rain at once, but also due to a lack of calcium. Of course there are other ways to get calcium in your garden, but why pay when the egg shells

 from your breakfast are free?!

 

Obviously you will need egg shells. I keep this container in the fridge and fill it up as we eat eggs.

Preheat your oven to 275

Bake the egg shells for 10 -30 minutes.

Just until they are nice and dry.

Then blend them till powdery in your blender or food processor.

Ta Da! Now just add a small scoop to each of your plants as you plant them. You can also throw the shells straight into your compost pile. I'll be sprinkling a little of this in the worm bin.

They love this stuff!

Berry oatmeal casserole

My kids love oatmeal. The only problem is they like those little packets of oatmeal with all the artificial flavor and lots of sugar. I'm glad they like oatmeal but not so glad they like that junk. I'm not going to lie, I like it too. But we are cleaning up our diet around here and that's one of the things that needs to go. I have found many recipes online and especially on pinterest for different baked oatmeal. Nothing wrong with them but I made up my own recipe based off of a bunch of random recipes. So what you have here is a healthy, berry, bananay (not a word) oatmeal casserole. I used less sugar and milk than the others called for. I also pre soaked my oats and used almonds instead of chocolate chips or other nuts. Oh and I didn't add butter. I'm sure butter taste great in it but I decided not to use it.

Before I tell you the ingredient list you should know that you should soak your rolled oats 12 - 24 hours ahead of time. I'll let someone else explain why. Just click HERE.

 

As you can see from the picture above you will need

2 cups of soaked oats. Soak with 4 cups of warm water and preferably a tablespoon of lemon juice or yogurt.

Some nuts. I chose almonds and also soaked them overnight. Then I cut them up.

As you can see from the picture below you will need

------------

Brown Sugar 2TBS

Maple syrup 1TBS

Baking powder 1/2 tsp

Salt 1tsp

Cinnamon 1tsp

-------------

Ripe banana cut into slices.

Berries of choice. The blueberries are so good in it. About 1 cup

----------------

Milk 3/4 cup

Egg 1

Vanilla extract 1 tsp

 

 

Preheat your over to 375 degrees Fahrenheit

Drain your oats and almonds. Cut the almonds up.

In a mixing bowl add the oats, almonds, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, maple syrup and half the berries.

Have a helper mix that up for you.

flatten it into a 9x13" baking pan.

Having another helper lay the sliced bananas and the rest of the berries on top.

Mix together the egg, milk and vanilla. Double check to make sure your helper mixed the egg in well. Or like me you will see egg on top of your casserole.

Place it in the over for 35 minutes.

Do some school (so what my kids still has on her pj's for brunch and school!), read (if you have no kids at home), do some chores or drink your coffee while you wait. We chose to do school and I drank my coffee.

I recommend letting it sit about five minutes so it sets like a casserole but we couldn't wait any longer. We were already calling it brunch instead of breakfast.

It was good! We didn't want to waste it so we ate the rest of it at snack time.

I hope you enjoyed this post. This seems to be a recipe you can switch up without worrying too much, so just have fun with it.

 

Here is where I got most of my inspiration! You may just like her version better.

Give either a try, I'm sure you'll like it.