Lesson 1161 – Quotable Chicks

Friday’s Quotes for the Chicks

While I relish our warm months, winter forms our character and brings out our best. Tom Allen

It’s Friday and I’m doing a bit of a happy dance because in a few hours I’ll be driving up to Vermont to bring one of our chicks home for the holidays. He hasn’t been home since he left for school in August so I’m sure this will be a week of eating tons of home cooked meals, connecting with his siblings (we have a new wii video game in the house), and spending time in the laundry room trying to locate some of his winter clothing.

Aaaaaaand, as long as I’m up in Vermont, I might as well stop in at the King Arthur Flour store – um, just to take a look around. I’ve written about it before and I’m sure I’ll write more (maybe even next week) but King Arthur is an adult candy story. I’ll take one of everything.

Although we haven’t had any snow (which is just fine with me) in New Hampshire, the temps have dropped below freezing in the mornings and evenings. For all of us, hats and mittens have been taken out of storage and I’ve personally re-connected with my beloved fingerless gloves which will probably be staying on my hands until the Spring thaw.

With regard to the chickens, they are still free ranging (that usually stops when the snow comes) but we’ve had to plug in the water heater so they can get something to drink. As long as they are free ranging, I won’t be adding supplements to their food, but once the snow comes, we’ll be giving them seed blocks and two suet blocks (27 birds) every other week.

There’s no denying it anymore, winter is coming.

A few notes:

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Lesson 1156 – Quotable Chicks

Friday’s Quotes for the Chicks

Goodbye friend.

There are many things that will definitely get a mom’s attention. “She’s choking” is one, “He’s bleeding” is another and yesterday it was “Mom, there’s a big bird attacking a chicken.”

And I had just written about birds of prey in our neighborhood.

I ran from my desk to the backyard to see a large bird (larger than a hawk, smaller than an eagle, my guess is still falcon) pulling meat from something on the ground. Other than that terrible bird, there were no other chickens in sight.

Lesson 1150 – Quotable Chicks

Friday’s Quotes for the Chicks

I will love you forever, oh baby of mine. 

A reader (Hi Susan!) recently sent me this adorable photo of her niece in California hugging her chicken – James, while rocking a pair of outstanding pink butterfly boots.

What’s remarkable is that this chicken is not trying to get away, he is completely relaxed and allowing himself to be caught up in the embrace.

Even chickens know when someone truly loves them.

 

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 Be safe and see you all next week.

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Wendy Thomas writes about the lessons learned while raising children and chickens in New Hampshire. Contact her at Wendy@SimpleThrift.com

Also, join me on Facebook to find out more about the flock (children and chickens) and see some pretty funny chicken jokes, photos of tiny houses, and even a recipe or two.

Like what you read here? Consider subscribing to this blog so that you’ll never miss a post. And feel free to share with those who may need a little chicken love.

Lesson 1145 – Quotable Chicks

Friday’s Quotes for the Chicks

 

Linus: He’ll come here because I have the most sincere pumpkin patch and he respects sincerity.

 

It’s Halloween! Although the kids have their own plans for the night (some are trick or treating, some are going to parties, one is staying home and playing online games with friends) we still have to do some celebrating in this house.

Perhaps (in my opinion) the most important part of Halloween is the annual sauerkraut fest I prepare. This probably needs a tiny bit of an explanation – when I was young, there was a woman down the street who went all out for Halloween, she would get dressed up as a witch, have a friendly ghost that waved to us (much thanks to fishing line) and she served treats like ghost pie (you “cut” a slice of a flour filled dish and found a coin) and if you wanted a treat you had to reach inside a hallowed out pumpkin to get it.

Not only all that, but her house *always* smelled of sauerkraut. I came to associate that particular pungent smell with Halloween.

Lesson 1142 – Quotable Chicks

Friday’s Quotes for the Chicks

“Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.” Winnie the Pooh

 

Last night, chick number four participated in the new member induction ceremony for the National Honor Society. New members get to light their candles of knowledge while existing members get to hand out roses to the people who have helped them along their academic journey.

Lesson 1137 – Quotable Chicks

Friday’s Quotes for the Chicks

 

Just do it. – Nike

 

What a week, what a week!

I managed to get two major articles out to my editors,  along with blog posts, teaching classes, and transporting kids to soccer games.  And I wrote an outline for a manuscript I’ll be working on during the Nanowrimo challenge. (I wrote it at a friend’s house last weekend where this little guy kept me company.)

I didn’t think I’d be doing Nanowrimo this year (it’s a challenge where you win if you write 50,000 words in one month) because, well life is busy. But you know what? Life is always busy. Here’s the story of why I decided to do it (originally posted on nhwn.wordpress.com)

 

Well who knew? Nanowrimo – here I come

Lesson 1133 – Quotable Chicks

Friday’s Quotes for the Chicks

 

Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow. Helen Keller

Along with fall, change is in the air. Like many others in the tech world, we got caught in the HP re-org and find ourselves, for the first time in a long, long time, on the outside looking in. It’s a shock, but we’ll deal – trust me, in this house we’ve been knocked down before and every time we’ve still managed to get back up.

We’ll do it again.

Lesson 1128 – Quotable Chicks

Friday’s Quotes for the Chicks

“Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.” Omar Khayyam

Friday has, as per its character, sneaked up on us once again.

It’s been a busy week filled with internet attention for those Mammo-graham cookies (and if you are looking for the recipe, it’s right here), articles written (Gift Books for the Holidays, Garden and Farming Boots, and Parenting when you kid has Lyme disease), and a birthday in the house (favorite birthday gift? a fart-piano – proving that boys will always be boys.)

Next week, I hope to carve out some time to work on my own projects, but you know how it goes, the work that brings in the money is that work that gets done first.

This weekend, Marc and I will be visiting our son at Norwich U, Vermont to watch him play in a rugby game. A little bit concerned because I’ve never seen a rugby game and all I know about the game is that pictures of my son suddenly went from this:

Lesson 1123 – Quotable Chicks

Friday’s Quotes for the Chicks

“Food is for eating, and good food is to be enjoyed… I think food is, actually, very beautiful in itself.“

Delia Smith

Last weekend Marc and I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary by having our annual lunch at our favorite restaurant: Pickety Place located in Mason NH.  This restaurant is a New Hampshire treasure located way back in the woods off the path of a windy dirt road.

The restaurant’s claim to fame is that a small gardening shack on the property was the inspiration for the drawings used in a copy of Little Red Riding Hood. *I*, however, think that their true claim to fame is the food. Each lunch is a 5 course meal which uses herbs and flowers grown on the property.

Thought I’d give you a little taste of the fall season at Pickety Place.

Lunch was potato/vegetable gratin. (you have a choice of a veggie meal or one with meat)

There are 3 lunch seatings at the the restaurant, and hey encourage you to walk the grounds until the lunch bell rings. (so we did)

All around the property you’ll find ripe pumpkins that have been artfully placed.

Lesson 1051 – Amazing Lego Mama Hen – GoT

“No Game of Thrones blog post here, they’re all in that direction,” said Amazing Lego Mama Hen.

 

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Wendy Thomas writes about the lessons learned while raising children and chickens in New Hampshire. Contact her at Wendy@SimpleThrift.com

Also, join me on Facebook to find out more about the flock (children and chickens) and see some pretty funny chicken jokes, photos of tiny houses, and even a recipe or two.

Like what you read here? Consider subscribing to this blog so that you’ll never miss a post. And feel free to share with those who may need a little chicken love.