resources

I recently decided to add a book to my library. One that'll be a fabulous resource for me as I continue in my journey as a chicken farmer. It's Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens. It's a comprehensive guide to basically all you need to know about starting out and being successful in chicken farming.

One book I contemplated adding to my Amazon order was the Chicken Encyclopedia {also a Storey's book}. I didn't though... I was too frugal to spend the extra money right now. Then, low and behold, New Life on a Homestead decided to do a giveaway where I {or you!!} could be the lucky owner of this incredible book!

Let me know if you enter {and of course, if you win!}

expect success

Guess what's on my mind today? A clutch of eggs that my broody hen is setting upon.

I've been wanting to have the experience of hatching my own eggs - naturally - for quite some time now. That means, no brooder. No incubator. Simply...

HEN + ROOSTER = FERTILE EGGS

I really must admit that I don't know much about the whole process, and may have disrupted the normal cycle by plucking out the eggs prematurely. Because before I picked up "Living with Chickens" from the library, I figured if the hen allowed the eggs to get cool, they were no longer good. Wrong! For the last few days I've allowed the eggs to sit in the box as she came and went. Since I have buyers for those delicious eggs, it was hard to leave them alone, knowing they could go bad and I wouldn't have chicks. Now that I read it's normal for them to cool during the laying phase, I know the eggs may still be good enough to hatch out little ones later this month.

{notice the single egg outside the warmth of her body? when we collect eggs from the other hens we place them next to one of the hens and she will instinctively and carefully tuck it under her with her beak.}

So why did I title this blog post "expect success" when it sounds like I'm planning to fail? Because now that I know a little more about the process, I'm jumping two feet into this venture expecting to see little fuzzy yellow chicks peck their way into this world in approximately 21 days.

Can you imagine the what an experience this will be for the kids... and me?! I'm giddy with anticipation. Like a midwife awaiting the birth of her patient, I'll be attending to my not just one, but two broody Buff Orpingtons as they become first time mothers. It's hard to believe I fought my husband about moving out into the country 7 years ago!

I wouldn't change this for anything.

Expecting success also played into my weight loss this week. After a wonderful week of reaching a weight loss milestone of 25# gone, I followed it up with another 1.2# loss this week. This week, I'm aiming to exercise {formally or informally} every day this week. Yesterday I did my treadmill-pilates routine. Today, the kids and I parked at a nearby park and walked to the library instead of driving there. A little brisk, but so fun to spend that quality time with them and get the exercise.

Other Hilfarm updates:

-We are wrapping up the rest of the woodwork for the upstairs remodel. We should be able to get the bathroom functioning soon and the carpet ordered.

-My garden will get an overhaul this summer with the removal of the rocky, weedy soil and the addition of good rich garden topsoil. We'll also be adding a fence around the perimeter of the garden that will include a shabby chic gate! I can't wait! We also added a new gate to the pasture area and found the perfect home for the sign my Dad made us when we moved here. Looks great!


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-The kiddos are on spring break this week and we are loving the extra time together. We made a plan of walking the entire Wiouwash Trail this summer - one segment at a time! We headed out to do one segment this past Monday and saw a beautiful creek, learned about naturally occuring clay and broke out the bikes for the first trail ride of the season!

slow and steady...

But I don't feel skinny.

This is what I've been telling myself over the last few weeks. While the pounds have been dripping away, I still find myself feeling like I look the same as I did at the beginning. Call it a "fat day" or whatever, it's frustrating! But, then I see pictures of myself, or I hear a friend say "wow!" after not seeing me for a while, all is well in the world again. I know I've been working hard, and I know there's a difference. Deep down I know. Still, for anyone who's been working hard at something, it truly feels wonderful when others acknowledge the process and the progress.

This week marks an important milestone. It marks a goal that's been accomplished. And while I had originally set out to reach this goal a little over a month ago, I'm not dwelling on that. Rather, I'm simply happy that I got there. Do you remember my Valentine's Day goal? Well, I finally did it.

I'm officially down 25 pounds after another 1.2 # loss this week!

I got a 25# medallion and another 5# star. Both Weight Watchers awards. Both indicating my hard work. But neither feels as good as having that weight gone for good.

I know some of you are working on similar goals along with me and I want to hear your progress. Please share!

i'll be brief...

For the last two weeks, I'll be honest, I was on again, off again with my tracking. And this weather. This glorious weather. Well, it made for many a cook-out let's just say. I took the easy way out last week and skipped the meeting for two reasons. 1) My husband was supposed to work late, ie making it so I wouldn't be able to go {which he didn't end up having to} and 2) Again with the glorious weather. I vowed to myself that I would get back on track so I wouldn't show a gain at Weight Watchers, but alas, another stupendous weekend. Lots of visitors. Loads of yummy food. I went to weigh in tonight, not fully knowing what to expect, and while I gained, I was surprised it was a mere .4#'s. It could'a been a lot worse!

I set my goal weight with my leader tonight too. It makes it seem all that much more real. Tangible. Possible. Just saying the number. Whew. Less than 20#'s to go. I'm over half way there.

I. Can. Do. This.

DIY chair

Like I need another project!

That's seriously what went through my mind the morning I happened upon a moving sale on a warm March Friday morning. I saw it. I wanted it. It was dirt cheap. And somehow, despite having a plethora of projects lined up at home, I found it on my front passenger seat for the ride home.

What's done is done. But I wasn't about to let it just sit around in the pile of to-do's in the garage. I knew it would be a fairly simple redo, so I set to work on it last Saturday. One trip to the home improvement store, and I was set with gloss white spray paint and a gloss enamel spray.

The rest of the materials I had at home, but if you want a quick weekend project, here's a comprehensive list of the things you'll need to have:

chair
sandpaper
spray paint
enamel spray
thin cotton batting cut 6" wider and longer than the size of your chair pad
upholstery fabric cut the same as the batting
staple gun
staples

The first thing I did was sand down the whole chair. You want to give the paint something to adhere to. I bought spray paint that was meant for wood furniture. Then wipe down the whole chair with a damp cloth and allow it to dry.

{my husband wanted to make sure you all knew I was having fun}

Next, start spraying. Follow the directions on the can and just keep applying light coats. I would spend a minute spraying then walk away for 20 minutes, and come back to it. Over and over until it was fully coated.

The next day I had my dear husband tighten up this antique beauty so it wasn't wobbly. Then I went to do one final coat of paint. That's when we hit a snafoo. For some reason, the paint decided to bubble up in random areas of the chair. To this day I have no idea what cause it, but it did set me back. My husband had out his belt sander so he took pity on me in my ranting state and sanded down all the troublesome spots. He even repainted and applied the enamel spray for me! {he knows my love language is acts of service}

While the chair was in the stages of drying I worked on reupholstering the cushion. The fabric that was on there wasn't awful, but I wanted something more classic and shabby-chic looking. I had batting and fabric on hand already to use {what fabric lover doesn't have an enormous stash just waiting to go on a chair seat??} I took the batting and stapled it right over the old fabric. I didn't bother removing the old fabric because there was plenty of room for the seat to slide in and out of the chair so I knew there was room for the extra bulk of more fabric without having to remove the old. You can remove the old if you want to.

Simply staple on the batting, then lay out your fabric and staple that on as well. I took a detail photo of the corner so you can see how I did that. I'm no expert, but I think it turned out great!



Here it is finished!



Once everything on the chair was dry, I popped the seat in and voila! A super cottage-y shabby girly-girl chair perfect for my little princesses room!

new look

Like my new look? It may be long term, it may be temporary. I just had to give myself a pat on the back for figuring out how to edit the html code to incorporate this super awesome blogger template from shabby blogs. They have a bunch of other fun add-ons that I'd love to put on here, but my limited abilities has prevented me from figuring that out just yet. {laugh all you want my techie friends!}

splooch

mud. slush. puddles. wet dog. muck boots.

seeds. garden plan. hanging laundry. grilling. walks.

ah yes. spring is virtually upon us, and yet it took winter storm Crystal to really get me in the mood for tulips and light jackets. i live in Wisconsin because i truly do love the changing seasons - even winter. and when i didn't feel like i really got a winter this year to enjoy, this last storm was what i needed in one last ditch effort to enjoy a day of being cozy inside my own personal snow globe. now that Crystal's over and unseasonable 50 degree weather has set in, the six inches of snow has transformed into puddles and mud. i find myself hop-skipping my way down our cobbled path to get from the house to the mailbox in an effort to stay dry. but i love it. today, i stepped foot on the deck and allowed myself to drink in the warmth that the air held. i smiled as i watched my five year old run in the driveway in her nightgown and pink rain boots - blonde curls whipping in the wind. it totally reminded me of something i saw in a Little House on the Prairie episode once.

one of my favorite things about living in the boonies where we do has to be seeing our children enjoying the space we've been blessed with. a space where they can run full tilt and still be in our yard. a place where they can shout and laugh and play without disturbing others. a space where they can learn about the world around them.

today i encourage you to step out your front door and look for the blessings in your space.

later this week, i will be blogging about forcing tulip bulbs so you can enjoy them indoors before they poke their beautiful purple, yellow and pink heads out of the soil.

and what about the ever changing me? i lost .4 #'s this week. not stellar. but i'll take it. my husband and i both celebrated birthdays this past weekend and there was much in the way of eating - to put it lightly. this week i'm back on track and hope to do two things: loose at least one more pound, therefore awarding me with my 5th five-pound star at Weight Watchers {you do the math} and secondly, meet with my leader to set my goal weight. if all goes as planned, i should only have about 17 pounds to go to get to my goal, and thus maintenance!! i may decide to lose another five down the road, but i would be immensely happy losing those 17 and feeling great as a size 8.

tell me... those of you getting healthy along with me... how have you been doing? accountability rocks!