A Chill is in the Air

As you can see from my lack of posts, it's been a busy summer and quite frankly I'm having a hard time believing that it is over.  School has started, the pumpkins have already turned bright orange and the chill is in the air.  With that chill comes the need to clean the chimney and get the wood stacked in the wood shed in time for the burning season.  One project on my husband's "to do" list was to build a wood box.  This is no ordinary wood box I tell you.  The wood is loaded from the outside thus eliminating the need to lug wood into the house.  This does not mean that my 16 year-old son will avoid the chore of filling it.  I suspect however that my husband will enjoy the task for a while since he's so proud of the box.  He's so smart!   Check it out.

A~

Simple Beauty

One of my favorites times of the year is late May, early June when Lady Slippers bloom in my back yard.  I anxiously wait to see how many will bloom.  This year I counted over 100!

The $500 Egg

My good friend ordered a straight run (not sexed prior to shipping) of 25 chicks last summer.  She wanted to keep approximately 6 hens for herself and give away the rest to anyone interested.  I willingly agreed to take 6 chicks myself and hope that at least 4 turned out to be hens.  My husband and I had talked about getting chickens so he was on board with the idea.  Years earlier, he had built me a small shop/barn where I ran a small herb business.  Since we no longer used the shop for the business, I knew it would be a great space for creating a coop.

When the chicks arrived, I knew I had to get my husband going on building the coop so that when they were big enough to go outside, it would be ready.  Little did he know how much money we (ok, he) would spend on wood and materials, etc.  Little did he know as well, that the first egg wouldn't come for months.  But, $500 and a few weeks later, the coop was finished just in time for the chicks to move in.  Turns out, however, I only had 2 hens and 4 roosters!  We were not interested in keeping roosters so I gave 2 of them to my nephew who shows different breeds in the fall at the local fair and my friend took the other 2 to a free-range farm where they would live a happy (albeit probably short) life.  Meantime, my friend ended up with a few too many hens, so we did some swapping and trading and I ended up with 4 hens, Berniece, Louise, Sylvia and Sara (named after our grandmother's).

The $500 Egg

Raising "the girls" has become one of my favorite new pastimes.   They have the funniest personalities, are hysterical to watch, and best of all, supply my family with fresh eggs which we love!  Oh, and the first egg?  It came on Jan 25th.  Naturally, we let my husband eat it.  I think it was the best egg he ever ate.  For $500, it better be the best right?

A~

Bless You

Achoo!  In the last 72 hours, I have sneezed at least a thousand times and have gone through almost two boxes of Puffs Plus (they are the best tissues in the world!) due to the ever-annoying spring cold.  I don't recall however anyone in my family saying, "Bless you".  It occurred to me yesterday when I was driving my nephew to his high school as a favor to my sister.  Both my son and nephew were in the car when I sneezed and my nephew said, "Bless you".   It just fell off his tongue so naturally.  I then asked my son why he didn't say it to me.  His response?  Well he wasn't really sure why he didn't say it.  I pressed further asking him if he said it to other people like teachers and/or students and he said that he usually did.  Phew, at least I know he has some manners.  I certainly raised both my children to be polite and use such manners as "please" and "thank you" and "bless you" but when it came to saying it to his own mother, I guess it just didn't feel natural.  To me it's just the simple gesture of telling someone to be well.  I actually say, "Bless you" to strangers after they sneeze.  I honestly feel awkward if I say nothing.  Maybe he's just a typical teenage boy, right?  I mean I didn't expect him to say it a thousand times (which would equal the number of times I have sneezed this week) but once would have been nice.  I'll have to work on it; after all, he really is a great kid. He's smart, responsible and for the most part, polite and good mannered.   By the way, nice job Sis!  You've raised a very polite young man as well.

A~