Chicken Update

This week we added two new hens to our flock. Not that I need seven hens. A friend had to give most of her flock of hens away since she was moving, and she offered me two. They just started laying, and the thought of getting eggs a month or two early was a little more than I could resist. So I Monday evening I drove over to her home and picked out two pretty speckled brown and white hens. I know this isn't the greatest photo I've ever taken of a chicken, but it will have to do for now! I'll take some better ones later on.

It took a little while for my California Whites to adjust to the new hens. The first evening and the next day they pecked and harassed the little brown and white hens. It was pretty hard to watch, especially since the new hens wouldn't do anything to stand up for themselves. I didn't know what to do besides wait it out. I was fairly confident that in a couple of days things would settle down and they would get along. That is what ended up happening. By the third day everyone was pretty much getting along just fine.

It also took the new hens a couple of days to get used to the fact that they have to stay in our yard when we let them out of the coop. Terry and let let our hens out every evening to scratch in the in garden and get their fill of worms and bugs. My California Whites somehow got the message a long time ago that they need to stay in our back yard (it isn't fenced in) and they don't wander off. The first evening we let the brown and white hens out with the rest of the flock, it didn't take long for one to completely disapear, even though we were keeping what we thought was a close eye on them.

After a frantic half hour search with no results, a nieghbor three houses down stopped by and said that one of our chickens was wandering along the road by his house. Sure enough, there was the hen, peacefully pecking away in on the edge of road. Thankfully this hen is pretty sedate and I was able to just pick her up and bring her home (if it had been a California white, I would have never been able to catch her!). They started wandering off a couple of more times, but we were able to shoo them back on to our property, and the past couple of days they seem to be getting the hang of staying in our back yard.

I really would hate to have to keep them cooped up all the time. Chickens really enjoy being able to roam a bit and eat bugs. They seem to think eating bugs is the main reason for there existance. The other day there was a big swarm of bitting red ants near our back porch. I let the hens out, and within 10 minutes they found the ants, and in another 10 minutes there wasn't an ant left in site. The chickens acted like they were in heaven!

I am constantly surprised how picky my hens are. I remember the chickens we had growing eating anything and every thing in site. They were a totally disaster in the garden. These hens, on the other hand won't thouch most vegetables. They won't eat peaches, pears, tomatoes, or most of the left over food scraps that I put out for them. They do melon, cooked squash, and anything that is made with grain (bread, rice, oatmeal, pudding, that sort of thing.) I found out yesterday when Terry's grandchildren were over that they totally love soft taco shells. Liam and Finn had a lot of fun feeding them the tacos. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more---the chickens or the boys!

We have been getting two eggs a day--two medium size brown eggs. That has been really nice.

I love my job!

This has been a perfect fall so far with cool, clear days. Leaves are just starting to turn color and there has been no frost yet so fall blossoms are still bright. Yellow wheat and corn fields and fields full of orange pumpkins dot the country side. And best of all I have the perfect job to enjoy this beautiful fall! At least at the moment my job is perfect.

I'm still in the orientation phase of my new job as a visiting nurse, which means I don't yet have the loads of paper work that comes with being a full fledged case manager (that will come in a month or two--ask me then if I still like my job!). In the meantime, I'm driving around the county doing patient care and getting to enjoy all the lovely sights and smells of fall. There are some really beautiful places in Washtenaw county. I'm reveling in being able to be outside, rather than stuck on the 8th floor of a masive hospital. When I worked 12 hour days in the hospital, during fall and winter, I'd leave for work when it was dark and come home in the dark. Then I would be so tired on my days off, that I would sleep most of the day. It felt like I hardly ever saw real daylight.

There were many reasons I wanted to switch to being a visiting nurse, and right on the top of the list was a desire not to be stuck inside for 12 hour shifts. And with a fall as beautiful as this one, I am very greatful that I do have a job where I get to out in the country frequently, enjoying the beauty of God's creation as I go about the work of caring for my patients.

Tomato Salad

Green zebra, Cherokee purple, and Glacier tomatoes...

A little bit of everything bread

I love it when my house smells like fresh baked bread--that is half the reason why I bake, and it is why I made bread today. My house smells so musty when it rains. Baking bread freshens the house so nicely. I rarely ever follow a recipe when I make bread. Often people ask me for my bread recipes. Honestly, usually there isn't one. I usually just throw in whatever I have at the moment--that is what I did today.

I started out with the basics--yeast, water, and honey, whole wheat bread flour and a little white bread flour. That all got mixed together in my kitchen aid mixer. Then I added some left over mashed potatoes, rice flour, teff flour and some fava bean flour. It wasn't until my dough was pretty stiff that I realized I had forgotten to put in oil and salt (I am a very disorganized baker!), so I threw in some oil, salt and flax seeds. In spite of my haphazard approach, 99% of the time my bread turns out great and smells fabulous.

I love my kitchen aid mixer. I can throw in all my ingredients, put in on speed 2, and putter around the kitchen for twenty minutes or so, and take out beautiful elastic dough.

Canning jars

I've know for a while that I have a canning jar problem. I have this compulsion to collect canning jars. If I see a canning jar in someone's recycling, I will stop and pick it up. If there are free canning jars on Craig's List I will happily take them off the giver's hands. If I see a canning jar for ten cents at the thrift store, I will buy it. In the 6 years I have been canning in Ann Arbor, I have amassed a large collection of canning jars, with only actually buying two dozen jars the first year I made pickles.

Lately, I have been good. I've realized that if I keep collecting jars at the rate I have been, pretty soon there won't be any space left for me to live in. Terry will tempt me on a regular basis by showing me free or very cheap canning jars on Craig's List. I've actually turned a lot of free jars this year! I haven't bought any cheap jars at second hand stores this year either. I will still pick up jars on the side of the road though and if someone actually hands me a jar and says, "Do you want this?" there is no way that I am going to turn the offering down! If you start canning, free canning jars somehow start materializing when you are around. Most people, I am sure, have the common sense to turn them down once they have collected a reasonable number.

I knew I had a lot of jars, but until yesterday I really had no idea how many. Terry had to rearrange some things in the garage, and that forced me to move a bunch of canning jars--9 dozen canning jars to exact. To be honest, I had no idea I even owned 9 dozen canning jars. And those were only the ones in the garage. I went down to the basement and counted 7 dozen jars. Then I climbed up to the loft and counted 5 dozen jars. I didn't have the energy at the time to get a step ladder and see how many I have up in the attic. I don't even want to know how many dozens of jars are up there! And this is not counting the 75 or so jars in the pantry that are full of pickles, tomatoes, salsa, beets, and jam.

I've always collected canning jars, as my sisters will tell you. I took over the family canning when I was 13. A big part of my problem is that canning jars represent food security to me. There were several winters when I was a little girl that my family lived on potatoes and soy beans. Those hungry winters made a big impression on me. As a teenager doing the family canning I knew that if I filled those jars with fruits and berries, tomatoes and pickles, we would be sure to have some to eat other than soy beans and potatoes. This wasn't something I consciously thought about it, but I've come to realize as a adult that I have this fear of being hungry and I'm sure it has to do with not having much food at certain times when I was little. If I have lots of canning jars, I will not need to go hungry. I can always fill them with food when it is plentiful and have it avaible when food is scarce.

Security blanket or not, I really don't need 21 dozen or more canning jars right now. I put four dozen out on the curb right away (thankfully with an ad on Craig's List, they were snapped up within half an hour, so I resisted the temptation to bring them back inside). I probably would have put more out there, except that Terry pointed out that someday I might need all these canning jars. Good point there. Someday I might have 12 children and need lots and lots of canning jars (though I seriously doubt I will ever have 12 children). Or someday I might have a 3 acre garden and have lots and lots of food to can (though even if I ever do have that big of garden, I seriously doubt I will be canning that much food). In any case, as Terry pointed out, some day I might need 21 dozen canning jars, so I shouldn't get rid of TOO many of my precious jars!

So in conclusion: I currently have enough canning jars. Please don't give me any more. Find someone else who grew up poor and canning who will appreciate them! And if you or some one you know is in despert need of canning jars, I would be happy to share a couple of dozen with you.