Today is National Poinsettia Day

We've always enjoyed having poinsettias grace our mantel, so I was looking for a great deal on these.  I can't believe some places want anywhere from $7 to $13.99 (Hen House Market!)  This year, we lucked out and found some coupons for $2.00 off any holiday flowers so I snagged two beautiful poinsettias for just $1.99 each.  One will go on our mantel and I'll take the other to work to brighten up the office.  And now how about some fun facts about this Christmas plant? 

Did you know.....

• They are native to Mexico and the Aztecs used them to produce a red dye?
• Poinsettias were introduced to the U.S. in 1825 by Joel Poinsett, hence the modern-day name.  Poinsett was an American botanist, physician and Minister to Mexico who sent cuttings of the plant he'd discovered in souther Mexico to his home in Charleston, South Carolina.
• 90% of all poinsettias are exported from the United States?  They are commercially grown in all 50 states and contribute $250 million to the U.S. economy.
• There are over 100 varieties?  My favorite is the peaches and cream.
• December 12th (today!) is National Poinsettia Day.  The day was established in July 2002 to honor the Poinsett's death.
• It is completely untrue that they are poisonous to pets and children?  In fact, according to the American Society of Florists, no consumer plant has been tested for toxicity more than the poinsettia.

Wow, I certainly didn't know all that.  Did you?  Does the poinsettia have a place in your home for the holidays?

I Guess It's Official

Oops...the Farmer's Almanac said our first snow wouldn't be until the week of the 17th!

One of These Things Is Not Like the Other

Remember this from Sesame Street? That's the the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw this egg.  And then I thought, "Well, that had to hurt!"  Something like the equivalent of us humans squeezing out a football.  Eeeeyikes.....

In all seriousness, this is the second humongous egg that someone has laid this week and it's caused me to ultra-curious as to what causes it.  Is it normal?  Do I need to be concerned?  Is this the return of the double yolks or even triple yolks?  A newbie chicken farmer has lots of questions.

Thank goodness for Google because I was able to find lots of great information on this odd phenomena.  Prepare yourself, because you are about to learn more about chicken ovaries and egg laying than you probably want to know.

Hens are alot like us human women in that hormones dictate the development of an egg.  In good layers, a yolk is released approximately every 23 hours and the ovum travels through the reproductive system until a complete egg is formed.  The majority of the egg's time is spent in what's called the "Shell Gland" where the outer shell is added - in fact, it will spend about 20 hours in that gland.  And then, as the egg is laid, the protecting coating or "bloom" is added.  What's happening when we get a double-yolked or triple-yolked egg is that two yolks are relased at the same time or in rapid succession or, for some reason, the first yolk gets stuck in the oviduct.  Apparently, it's pretty common in new layers as they get the hang of it.  And, althought there are some breeds that are more generically predispositioned to laying  multi-yolked eggs than others, there is a still a probability of just 1 in 1000 that an egg will have multiple yolks.  Fascinating, no?  If you really want more info with helpful (gross) pictures, go check out this site.

I'm not sure which of the girls laid these as they are different colors - it may very well be that one is from one of the Austrolorps and the other from a Barred Rock.  I thought I might be able to tell by which hen was walking funny.  (Just kidding.)    Maybe I should start referring to the Austrolorp's as Aus-triches.  (*giggle*)

Okay, enough with the corny jokes.  Hope you're enjoying your day,

Update: Coop is Toasty Warm

It's 27 degrees outside right now.  It's 48.2 degrees in the coop right now, so the girls stayed toasty warm last night!   And that's a good thing, because I don't knit and North Face doesn't make jackets that small.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Despite my ardent wishing for the 70 degree weather to stay around until March, it looks like Old Man Winter is finally here for a visit.  He's a most unwelcome guest in my book.  The mercury is dipping all the way down into the 30's at night and tonight it's even supposed to go to 23 degrees. 

The coop seems to be about 4 to 5 degrees warmer than the the outside temp without any kind of intervention.  I certainly don't want the girls to suffer from any frozen feet or combs and I'd rather avoid having their water freeze up, so I hit Target and found this little mini heater that I setup for them. It's got a fan and a thermostat which I set at 60 degrees, the lowest setting.  I just stuck it in one of built-in nesting boxes that they refuse to use right now.  I hate doing this at the last minute after they've already roosted for the night, and I hope they're not disturbed by the fan (it seems to be pretty darn quiet.)  That'll have to work until the weekend when I can get a timer on it rather than using the thermostat.  

Wishing for warmer weather,

This is Madness

Just a quick note before I go snooze.  And, yes, I realize it's 2:00 p.m.  I wasn't planning on going out for Black Friday today until J. saw the Cabela's ad where they're selling a Ruger 10/22 for just $169 as a doorbuster.  That and the opportunity to win a gun, free sweatshirt or up to a $100 gift card if you're one of the first 800 people in line.

We headed over there at midnight and ended up 328 and 329 in line.  The weather was actually pretty nice compared to this time last year.  It was 48 degrees at midnight but that darn Cabelas is in the middle of a wind tunnel, so it felt more like 32!  We thought we were smart in taking our camp chairs with us but you couldn't sit down or your butt would freeze off.  And the guy in front of us had shorts and a light jacket on.  He was hatin' life by 5 a.m. when they opened.

I do have to say, however, that Cabelas had the most orderly Black Friday event of any retailer I have been to.  No pushing, no shoving.  The store wouldn't even let you get close to the doors and, since they were handing out envelopes with your "prize" in them, you had to go single file.  Kudos to Cabelas!

J. ended up getting his 10/22 and we were out of there very quickly, owing to the fact that they did all the paperwork outside before the store even opened.  Used a $10 off $50 and the $40 he got for selling the Kindle that he won, so we got a pretty good deal (especially since we are seeing these going for well over $200 at auction for used guns!)  Then it was off to Tractor Supply to pick up a cheapie air compressor for the farm.  The one we have out there is just way too small.  Especially since J. is known for having flat tires on everything he owns. 

Hope you had a nice, uneventful day after Thanksgiving.  I'm out!

Happy Thanksgiving

It's finally arrived the - the big day of eating too much, afternoon naps, the Macy's parade and football.  J. and I will be feasting on ham and turkey today - in fact, I need to get downstairs and get the bird all fluffed and buffed and put in the oven.  We're trying the Boar's Head brown sugar and spice glaze on the ham this year and I can't wait to see how it turns out.  I can't wait for the smell of turkey and trimmings to fill the house.  And I can't wait to get out and get a paper so that I can flip through all the ads.

But, in all seriousness, Thanksgiving Day is time when we should all pause (if even for just 5 minutes) to reflect on what we have even if we don't "have" everything we think we need or want.  When we were at dinner Tuesday night, I mentioned to J. that I thought we were very blessed.  We have each other, our health, a nice home, good jobs and wondeful friends and family.  There are many people right now that don't have one or all of those things, especially in our current economy.  My boss just lost his wife of 40 years which, to me, is unimaginable.  I certainly don't take these things for granted and never will.  So, please, take a minute somewhere in between the mashed potatoes and the football game to be thankful for what you have.

J. and I hope your Thanksgiving finds you surrounded by family, friends and feast.  Happy Thanksgiving!

The Coop Goes Hi-Tech

How could a bunch of nerds have a chicken coop and NOT put technology in it?  The answer is "they can't".  I've been debating about whether or not to heat the chicken coop and extend their daylight hours.  It has been basically impossible to find a remote dimmer that's also a timer, and I'm not an electrical engineer so I won't be cobbling together my own.   But that's a problem that will have to be tackled another day.

J. surprised me today with this Ambient Weather WS-0101 wireless thermohygrometer with optional humidity calibration remote weather monitor that he installed in the coop.  So now I can at least see what the temperature is in the chicken's bedroom without leaving the comfort of our home office!  That's pretty darn cool, if you ask me.  And, with one of the windows still slightly open in the coop, it's staying about 4 degrees above outside temp.  This morning when it was 34 degrees outside, the girls were a cozy 38.  (Hey, they have the equivalent of a down comforter on - they're not cold, trust me.  How do I know this? Because they run around like a bunch of maniacs when I let them out.)

Now we just have to tackle the light and heat issue.  And plan where to put the Christmas lights.  :-)

Roadtrip for Warm Cider Donuts

If you live anywhere near Kansas City, you probably have heard of or even been to Louisburg Cider Mill.  Ask anyone and they'll probably say "Ohhh, their warm cider donuts are to die for!"  Well, believe it or not, J. and I have never been there...at least not until today. I had wanted to go for Ciderfest, which is in October and somehow totally missed it.  They have all kinds of crafts, a gigantic pumpkin patch, a corn maze, and you can watch them make the cider and the donuts.  The place is absolutely packed, and the fields surrounding the mill are filled with parked cars.  Can't say I feel like I missed that crowd.

So J. and I headed down there this afternoon with friend Paula and her daught Amanda.  It's about a 20 mile ride south from the KC area.  On a beautiful 70-degree day in late November, I don't think any of us much minded being out and about.

The mill is actually a collection of old barns (some of them over 120 years old!) set on 80 acres.  The one in the picture above is where they actually make the cider.  It wasn't open today, but the store was and we had alot of fun looking at all the stuff they had for sale (cider, of course, but also teas, root beer, sarsparilla, farm cheeses, homemade candy, gift sets).  J. grabbed a jar of apple butter and four 1/2 gallons of honeycrisp apple cider to bring back with us.  I couldn't resist the rooster cookie cutter.  And then we all ordered some of their fresh cider donuts and cider slushies.  Mmmmmm....

Served up warm in a white paper sack by the half dozen or dozen.  Everything I've heard previously was right...these are incredibly good.  Kind of like a cake donut - soft and moist with a slight hint of apple cider.  The only thing I would change would be to add some chocolate.

Droolingly yours,

What's Old is New Again

Here's what we've been up to the past couple of days:  A couple of weekends ago, J. and I hit an auction (which is where we usually are on the weekends) and I picked up these old oil lamps for $12 each.  They didn't look like that picture, though.  They were dirty, the brass was dull, and the wicks were old. 

J. put gas in the reservoirs to remove all the old, sticky residue - you just let it sit for a day or two and it comes right off.  We cleaned the burners with steel wool (or a stiff brass brush works also) and the chimneys with soap and water.  New wicks and clear oil lamp from Ace Hardware and they're just like new again!

Gettin' Ready for Strawberries

J. is a strawberry lover. I have to confess that I've never grown strawberries before, but I'm willing to try. We had some parts and pieces left over from the two big raised beds that we put in this Spring, so we spent the beautiful day today (65 degrees in mid-November!) cobbling together a Franken-bed.

First, the pieces. These are part of a vinyl fence that was cut up as part of our initial raised bed project. Since we only had 4 pieces, this one was going to be 1/2 the size of the others at about 4' x 4'.

Next we took the 4" x 4" vinyl fence post and cut it into 17 3/4" pieces and then cut out a slot for the panels to fit into.  These panels just happened to be 3/4" thick and 12" tall.  This is pretty easy to do with a Sonicrafter, which is what we used, or you could use a drill and a jigsaw.  Here's J. cleaning up the plastic burrs with a pocket knife.  He would make a great hand model, don'tcha think?

Next, put everything together and square it up.  Two panels should run long all the way through the corner posts and the other two side panels will butt up against them (see the pic below to see what I'm talking about).  Our yard has a slight slope to it, so we had to dig down one side to get everything level.  Once it's where you want it, cut some rebar and hammer it into the inside corner.  This will keep everything together.

When you're done, it will look like this:

And then all that's left is to fill it with dirt. 

It took 3/4 of a pallet of 40 lb bags of top soil and 15 bags of MooNure to fill this bed.  We mixed it all in together, so it should be a great place to transplant my strawberry plants to.  Right now, they're living where the watermelons were.

By the way, I had to giggle over the MooNure bags.   Not only does it prominently features a cow's *ss, but it also states "We are Number 1 in the Number 2 business".  I've known some people in my life that might challenge them for the title of "King of Bullshit".  LOL. 

This post is part of the Homestead Barn Hop.  Click on the button below to check out what other homesteadin' folks are up to!