Showing posts with label Eggs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eggs. Show all posts

Tuesday

~ It's the country life for me....

Hello friends ~
Spring fever is alive and well around here. 
I worked outside all day yesterday, as the weather was so nice and mild. I believe our high temperatures for the day were in the mid-60-degree range. 
We cleaned windows, and we've begun cutting back the ornamental grasses. 
I leave them for winter interest and cut them right back in the spring.
Some splits have been promised to neighbors, so after they are all cut back then in May, perhaps April, I will split them.

The girls have been laying beautiful eggs for us.
We have 6 fluffy butt hens, and an average of 4 eggs a day. 
When it's especially cold and windy, we can collect as few as 2 a day.
That's when the girls get 'the talk'. 
My husband reminds them to earn their keep, and not become soup pot chickens. It's all in jest of course, but of the two times that they've been given 'the talk', sure enough, the next day we have more eggs to collect ***smile**.


Noah's Ark.  
The above ark, with the red roof, I found at our local D.I. (close to us, but not in our town)!
 Let me just say, it was meant to be! We had stopped by the D.I on the way to get our taxes prepared and they were having computer issues, so they couldn't complete a sale. As D.I. is a non~profit thrift store, I offered to pay the manager the asking price in cash, and then they could complete the sale later on in the day, once the computer system was up and running. 
I paid $8.00 for the ark and about 5 wooden animals inside.

Later, once I had a chance to get a good look at the ark, I started cleaning it and noticed that it had a business card tacked to the underside of the ark, and it was signed and dated.
Would you believe that the crafts~woman that made the ark was from our town?! And, she is actually the second counselor in our bishopric's wife?!! 
What are the odds?
It was made in 2015.
My husband called her to see if she happened to have any extra animals and would she be interested in seeing our ark and painting some animals for our ark? 
We met and she let us pick out the animals that we wanted; we wanted to pick out animals that our four yr. old grandson can relate to.
She sells the ark and nearly 80 animals, plus Noah and 'Mrs. Noah' for $400.00.
Considering the cost, it quite caught her off guard that someone would donate the ark to the thrift store.
A week later and approx. eighty dollars later, we picked up our ark and newly painted animals. We didn't get too many more animals, but just the right amount for our Grands.
This was the first request that she has ever had to paint additional animals, and she also did some minor repairs and repainting of our ark.
Her cousin is a doctor and has one of her arks in his office and he called her to replace some of the animals that had been 'poached' from his ark, but other than that, we are the first people that have ever requested new animals for our ark.
We will be keeping our Noah's ark here for all of our Grands to play with.
The lady that makes the arks is busy with orders for 6 more arks. She never advertises..... just by word of mouth she receives orders. 

We often go for rides. We have a quiet life; a country lifestyle all the way!
Old houses, wildlife, country vistas,putter~butting,  etc. it's all perfect for me!
In a neighboring small town, there is this beautiful pioneer-era house made with cut blocks of lava rock. 

The house is nestled against the hills, and deer are often seen sleeping and grazing on the property. I will try to remember to get a full picture of the house and post it soon.
On a separate ride, we realized that we live super close to this most beautiful canyon.
Pioneer era cabin evokes a feeling of days gone by. 

The canyon is full of beautiful outcroppings of rocks and cliffs, and a clear creek runs through the canyon.

I am looking forward to enjoy the canyon's beauty in the springtime. 

We'll be able to ride out side by side to the canyon and have a picnic, or hobo dinner.

 Not too much exciting .... just living a quiet country life~style and loving every minute of it!!

Thursday

All Around the Cottage......

 All around the cottage...daily life, and preparing for Christmas.
I went to a little shop, looking for a unique gift.
I found a few unique, and wonderful gifts.
I also found a beautiful, heavy framed mirror.
After the holidays are over, I'm going to re-paint, and re-decorate the bathroom, and this mirror will be perfect.
Love when a plan comes together.
I also have a new tube for the bike tire.
I think I waited a little to long to repair the tire though... we ended up with quite a few inches of new snow.
Also, temperatures.... are just downright cold!
Winter officially starts tomorrow, and we're certainly  having winter  like weather.
 "The Girls" have been laying beautiful brown eggs.
Today, we'll be cracking eggs, and doing some Christmas baking.
Like every Christmas season, we are baking up a storm, and making treats.
Chex mix, Cinnamon baked nuts, fudge, and gingerbread cookies, dipped in chocolate.

Hope all your holiday plans are going well, and you are enjoying the magic of the season.
Wishing you, happy baking, candy making, gift wrapping, Christmas carol singing, craft making, and most of all.... enjoying that warm feeling that comes with remembering the reason for the season.... our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Attitude of gratitude:
~I am so grateful for the power of prayer.  A few nights ago, around midnight, I was waiting for our son to get home from work. The snow was coming down hard, and visibility was practically non-existent.  I felt prompted to kneel down and to offer a prayer on his behalf.
I prayed for his safety.
A few minutes later, he arrived home .. safe and sound.
He told me that just outside of town, the roads were super slick with snow and ice, and suddenly in the middle of the road, there were two deer. He knew that he could not stop in time. He heard a still small voice , tell him to honk the horn. He did... over and over again.  Suddenly, the deer ran off and he slid right by on the road, where the deer had been standing.
He didn't hit the deer, or run off the road.
When he got home, I told him that at that moment, I had been praying for his safe return. He felt the power of my prayers, and he told me "mom, I know that your prayers helped me."
How very grateful I am for the power of prayer, and for the blessings that our Heavenly Father blesses us with...... each and every single day.

*Just a little side note: generally speaking.. deer do not run off when you honk your horn.  They will freeze and stand there just looking at you.