Day 14

The eggs are at day 14, only 7 to go before we anticipate the arrival of new little chicks. We have to keep a check on the temperature. As they develop and life begins to form the temperature increases. Won't be long now. I can remember years ago when Sandra was still living at home, we set up most of the night watching them hatch. You can hear them chirp inside the egg and can see the egg starting to crack as their little beak pecks away.
Yesterday was my day off and I spent the majority of it outside, mowing the lawn and working in my flower beds. I mowed around the pond and noticed quite a few bull frogs. Now that the weather is warmer you can hear them into the night. Trust me they are as big as they sound. Daddy has all the Martin boxes up except for a few gourds. The Martins came in last week. As each day passes more come. Last year we counted over 40 birds. That old saying, "there is no place like home" is so true for me. There is no place I would rather be.
Home Sweet Home.....

Cookie Classes....

Saturday evening I helped Sarah make iced sugar cookies. She is like me, enjoys cooking especially baking sweets. Sarah is a good cook and enjoys being in her kitchen. She has made cookies since she was a little girl but sugar cookies takes more time. You have to prepare the dough and then wait 6 to 12 hours for it to chill. She had everything ready when I got there. She was excited, "lets get started, I have everything ready." I taught her the tricks of the trade and showed her some short cuts. After the third dozen came out of the oven I felt she had everything down pat. I headed home to prepare supper for Thomas. I called her later in the evening and she had baked 115 cookies, and had most of them iced. Thomas talked to her and informed her that at least a dozen was his and he would be down on Sunday to collect. They were good but I told her each time she makes them they will get better and better.
She took the majority of them to her boyfriend Pat and his son Jordan. She said when she pulled up to the house they both came out helped their self to a cookie even before she could get them packed inside. Sarah told them she had created monsters. So, now I guess Sarah has to bake the boys cookies instead of me. Thomas said, "now I don't have to share mine with the boys."
Baking cookies and sharing them is a good thing.

Friday's ramblings......

It's exciting to walk through my gardens to see what flowers have popped up. Yesterday, I took Bristol and Lily for a early walk and then again in the afternoon and it was amazing how some flowers had peeked through the soil in just a few hours. I noticed in the afternoon that my Bleeding Hearts were almost ready to bloom. My Magnolia is in full bloom, it's gorgeous
Sarah called and we were talking about her gardens and she wondered if some of her flowers would have made it through the winter. We had to do some digging last fall in one of her gardens to repair some drain lines and she kept telling everyone, "now watch out for my flowers." She wanted Mom to come down and check on them.
So there we were on our knees moving soil with our fingers looking for life, sure enough they made it, their just a little slow. We discussed taking down her shutters and painting them. She had lost 2 due to the high winds last fall. So I guess that's a job for ole Mom on my day off.
The eggs are doing great, Thomas adjusted the temperature this morning, water level was fine. Just a few more weeks....
Sandra called just a bit ago and wanted to know if the Easter Bunny had her basket finished yet and I informed her that he did....but it was not Easter morning yet....she is 25 but she is still a little girl at heart.
Last night at our community church dinner we fried 50lbs of fish and feed 81 people. Everyone pitched in and worked hard. It's work but we have good fellowship. Sunday will be a early day. Sunrise service is at 6:30am with breakfast at 7. So if you all are up, come to Uniontown Baptist. The biscuits will be drenched with gravy, the eggs will be farm fresh and the bacon will be crisp all served with orange juice.

It's Friday.....

Today was a good day, the Lord blessed me with another day. We had a good day at the shop. We were doing funeral work and wedding work. This is a big wedding and there were lots of flowers. I think from all we did they placed flowers in every nook and cranny they could find. Everyone is gone now and it's quiet in here. I remember the days in my shop after I put up the closed sign it was quiet and I would gather my thoughts and get organized for the next day.

The 32 eggs are doing great. The only thing we have to do now and for the next few days is keep check on the water level and the temperature. Now that spring is here the chickens are back to laying. Yesterday Daddy gathered 13 eggs and the day before that there were 11.

My girls, Sarah and Sandra called today and wanted to know if I was going to bake Easter cookies next week. Seems they are getting spoiled with all the iced sugar cookies I've been baking lately. Yes, girls their will be bunny shaped cookies in your Easter basket. Sandra has always called them, "Bunny-Hoppers." My girls look forward to getting a basket. Now days it has other items like hand cream, make-up, fuzzy footie's and other neat things. But it still has lots of candy also.

Well, I better get off of here and head home. Thomas had the day off and he will have supper almost ready by the time I get there. There's no place like home.........

32 eggs....

Thomas and I put 32 eggs in the incubator last evening. This is not an easy task. There are so many things that have to be done each day for the eggs to hatch in 21 days. We have Rhode Island Reds now and they seem to be our favorite to raise. Most folks have no ideal where their eggs come from or what the chickens living conditions are or how they are raised or what conditions they live it. My chickens are happy and don't live in a 12x12 wire cage. They are free to graze in their pen and have plenty room to roam and scratch around. They are not given hormones to produce more eggs and we feed them ground corn. They are just country chickens raised the old fashion way!
So stay turned up updates.....

Shelley's Birthday....

Yesterday was Shelley's birthday....(she was 39) after work I went and took her some goodies. We (and Perry) had the best time setting around the kitchen table talking and catching up on things and just spending time with dear friends. Shelley and I don't get to spend as much time as we would like with each other but in the time of need we would drop everything for each other.

Good friends are hard to find, trust me I know. Good friends love you through the thick and thin, the good and the bad and the ups and downs of life . Even if sometimes you don't live up to their expectations they don't judge, they just keep loving you cause that's what being a true friend is all about.

I hope Shelley enjoyed her day and that she lives to be 100....Love ya Girlfriend!!!

Spring is on it's way....

This past weekend was just beautiful. A little cool but the sun was shinning and that's something we haven't seen for quite some time. Thomas and I was out on Saturday afternoon enjoying the sun and we let our Doxies run and boy did they run. It was good to see them play. It was funny to see them run and then they would come running back to us for a hug and they were off again.
I walked around the yard and checked on my my Dogwood trees that I had transplanted from the flower shop in town. I worried about moving them back last fall, but I took the chance and moved them. We made sure they were setting just the way they did at the shop. I kept plenty of dirt around the roots. They had to be moved by a skid steer they were so heavy. I was so excited to see them budding out...wow that is just awesome!! All the trees and bushes are budding and my tulips and daffodils are popping up also. I can barley wait to get my hands in the soil and start mowing grass.