New Year's Eve 2013

Here we are again, on the cusp of the new year. So many things to be thankful for like babies and children growing healthy and strong, the old folks getting on well, We are laying low and cooking steaks and baked potatoes tonight. The funk has made its way through the family and I am working short handed while trying to get over a nasty upper respiratory virus.   Yea.  Well, we got to open gifts with the Kiker clan on Christmas Eve and spent a quiet day together  Christmas Day .  My poor Eli and his mommy had the stomach bug on Christmas Day so we postponed our gift exchange until Saturday. It is always good to see the kids. We had barbecue pork, coleslaw and chips and dip.  Really traditional huh? I love it! 

Lots of people are making New Years resolutions tonight.  Yea.  I could make a list.

Anyway, here is some cuteness we all need to resolve to enjoy life to the fullest. Happy new year!

What a great day

Today we drove down to Murfreesboro and picked up Elliott around 1:00 and brought him home for a sleep over. Stacey and Chris went on a limo ride with Justin and Sarah and Mickey. They were going to see the lights at Opryland. Charis and Jared were too sick to go. Eli was such a good boy. He really wants to get a hold of Cricket. Tux had the good sense to stay out of the way. You don't get to be seventeen for nothing. Smart Tux. 

Today Gary made date nut balls and forgotten cookies. Tomorrow Eli and I are going to make chess cake squares and whatever else we can get into!  We are carrying on old traditions and starting new ones.

Beads beads beads

I took my bead company to the next level a few weeks ago. Gary and have done a local market and got a good start. We got our business license and sales tax license and we are ready to roll!  We have a few small shows lined up and we are working every day to get ready. Of course I am seeing Eli as often as possible! He's growing like a weed and as sweet as can be! 

Erin and Eden came to visit last weekend and we all had a ball! Good food, family, and good friends...that's what it's all about!

Good day sunshine

Stacey and Chris had their pool opening yesterday. The little tater tot got in the water twice and it was just cool enough to make him cry.  He really looked like a swimmer with his little bucket hat and swim clothes. Of course I had him dry and snuggled soon after. I have so enjoyed getting to spend time with this little guy!!!

Our pullets have done quite well and four of them have advanced to 'laying hen' status. Their eggs are quite small but the shells are very strong and the flavor is great. I had four of the little guys this morning in an egg sandwich. Yummy!

Our older babies are holding their own. Scout has joint stiffness and discomfort. He has lost a lot of weight in the last few months. He grunts like an old man but hie still wags that tail. Mollie's muzzle is getting whiter but that girl is not slowing down a bit! She runs after the ball as hard as ever. She can run the length or width of the back yard in just seconds. 

Tux is moving pretty slow these days. He spends most of his days laying on a chair on the front or back porch. He insists on going outside unless its bad out that day. He is under weight but he eats well. He walks a little less smoothly but he still struts. 

Cricket had a groom just before the fourth and I had him cut for the summer. He is holding his healthy weight and eats well. His legs are quite wobbly and he just splays them when he turns too fast or gets spooked. He can't hear anything much anymore and his sight is decreased. I can see the blue in his eyes and it makes me sad. 

We love all of our old babies.

And our new two new babies.

I went to the clay store and got a box of clay and some new glazes. I have eight pots ready to fire  which I will do later today. Light mist this morning means good time to get on the wheel. Lazy sunday morning for me. Gary is unloading his gear from his fishing trip yesterday. He had a great time. The rain we've had here lately has the major waterways full of debris and extremely swollen. 

I need to go offer to help him. Have a great sunday!

Penny

Pookie pooh

Gary and I had Elliott last weekend and it was awesome! He is very easy if you know what he wants. It was a rainy weekend which made it perfect for us to have him. We got upwards to six inches of rain over three days. I was really tickled the basement took on no water at all. 

Midsummer was great

I can't believe how fast this year is going by. Little Elliott has found his feet and he is starting to shows signs of teething. He is so cute. 

I think the pullets should start laying any day now.  Gary put golf balls in the nesting boxes to prompt them to lay there. Jodi has pullets that are two weeks older than mine and they started to lay a couple of weeks ago. She says the eggs are small but the shells are strong. Of course the black star hens we gave her are doing well. Three are still  moulting and they won't lay until they are finished. She and her husband love the eggs. 

 Gary's family are all at the beach this week. We were asked to go but we declined. We will go in October. We will celebrate our anniversary when we go. We always have a good time when we go with grandma.

Life has been rather busy lately...

For the last few weeks I have been pretty busy with having the kids come up from Birmingham one weekend. We had a great visit. We went to the Renaissance Festival in Murfreesboro. Erin and little Eden come to see us one weekend and we all had lunch together and it was awesome. my daughters, my nieces and the little ones. I have been seeing little Elliott as much as I can. 

Gary has been fishing about once or twice a month. He has had a good time. He has done so much work in the yard. He completely overhauled the front beds and planted new shrubs. It looks so good. He has mowed the yard twice weekly since I bought him his lawn tractor with the cart attachment. 

New homes for everyone

The six Black Star hens we've had for a year went to live with my friend last Friday. She was happy to take them and have the immediate eggs. Her chicks are not laying yet. They are only about twelve weeks old. 

Sunday afternoon she called me and said one of my hens was acting like she was choking. My friend did everything she could but the hen was found dead this morning when she went out to check on the animals. It was probably the stress of transferring them to her house. A fellow who works with Gary says the symptoms are consistent to the ones she observed. The hen was acting like she was having trouble breathing. It is always hard to lose an animal, even a chicken. 

They will go home and bury her tonight. Rest in peace little one. Thanks for the good eggs and the companionship. 

Four leaf clover

The year is almost half over and we are supposed to be finished with all cold weather. The weather forecast is calling for a frost on Monday, May 13th. We just cut our first broccoli from the plants Gary put out. The onions and garlic is growing well. I still haven't planted the Cherokee tears. The ground has been too wet. We had three to four inches of rain two weeks ago and another one to two since then. Today was gorgeous. Cool and sunny.

Four leaf clovers make us think of luck. Lucky to be in good health. Lucky to have our loved ones. So many things that happen are just luck. I copied this one from off the Internet. Let the hope of good things come to you!

Pullets

Our pullets are really getting bigger and are out growing the big brooder that Gary built for me.
I decided to re home our six black star hens and keep the ten new pullets. When we got the chicks, I read that you can lose forty to fifty percent due toe the fact that they are so delicate. I bought more than I needed to compensate for the possible losses. They ALL survived. I am glad they did. I was dreading finding and dead babies. Now that they are 9 weeks old it is time to get them out to the coop. Alyce Dobbins, the founder of UCAN ( urban chicken advocates of Nashville) is helping me find a family that would like to take them. Re homing the girls will mean not having to modify our existing coop ( which I love).
As a result of moving the pullets out to the coop, I will be able to move my potters wheel back into use. I am committed to getting back on the wheel and getting better at my art. We'll see!

Blackberry winter

Finally we have started to get some spring days here in Nashville. The flowers at the nearby Home Depot are fresh from the greenhouse and inspire me to plant. I have to buy them early and keep them protected from late frosts. Here in the south, we have late frosts that we name locust winter, blackberry winter, dogwood winter. They coincide with the blooming of each. I love this time of year as the natural world renews itself and brings us into the growing season. We had planted our onions, garlic, cabbage, brussel sprouts, and broccoli earlier and they are doing well. Soon we will plant our green beans, cucumbers and tomatoes. I will also plant Cherokee tears for natural beads. They are in the corn family and are an heirloom plant that has been used for food in some instances. I love growing them. They send out stems with the beads on them which remind me of a line of pearls.
Our chicks are doing well and I have enjoyed watching them grow and thrive. I have four Buff Orpingtons, three Barred Rocks, and three Rhode Island Reds. They are eight weeks old now and they eat voraciously. There is one little Buff that has taken to me. She is the most tame of them all and I just love it! I love all of our pets young and old and look forward to watching them all interact.
Happy Ostera to all.

Sweetness

On March 20th we had a new addition to the family, Elliott Michael Patrick. He is healthy and he and his mother are doing well. We are so happy to have two little grandsons and look forward to another grandchild when Charis has a child of her own someday. I say that because I know how much she wants one.
I still hold out hope for the day the family can all be together again. I call these pics my daily dose of cuteness. I look at them often.

New diggs

Today Gary built the chicks a new habitat. He spent all day working on it. It is a very sound structure and I am really happy with it!

Our new baby

Our new grandson made his appearance yesterday on the first day of spring. He was delivered by c-section and is healthy and beautiful. His parents are already sleepless but very happy he is here. It stings a little when I think about the people who aren't here celebrating his arrival with me. Granny would eat him up. Paw would steal him and talk jibberish and play with him. I will never have a hallmark moment that I won't think about them. They were the best. There are others who aren't part of this happy time as well. Time we can't get back.
Welcome little Elliott. Your nonnie and paw Kiker wi will try to be as good to you as paw and granny were to your mommie. Those are very big shoes to fill, but we will try. We will love and spoil and cherish you.

Little pullets

Today I took a day off from work. I was in need of a little ME time which I feel makes better WE time. Good day for getting done some things I've put off. I love days like this, especially in the spring. Coming out of winter with a little exuberance.
The chicks are almost double the size they were ten days ago when I bought them. They are eating well. They waste more food than they eat but we don't mind. Gary helps immensely with their care and is enjoying the chicks as much as I am. I try to make sure I hold them daily so they won't be skittish when I try to touch them. They have fully developed wing feathers and can fly short distances. I am considering thinning my adult flock so that we don't have to add on to the coop. Gary will do whatever I want (as usual), but I'm trying not to bring attention to the fact that we have more hens. I think we could re-home two or three of our adult hens and a couple of the chicks and keep around eight or ten. I try to stay objective about it.
We are still waiting for Elliott's arrival. Stacey is happier now that she's at home and can get more rest. John Franklin is walking this week and we are so overdue for a visit! We will go after the baby comes. The kids are good to post video and we face time often but there's nothing like being there!
Baby love and peace to you all!

Sitting on go....

We are expecting a little boy who will be named Elliott in the next few weeks. His mommy, Stacey, has been put on "bed rest". Not to say she has to stay in bed, she just has to rest and not go to work. She is much more comfortable and seems to be more relaxed. I am looking forward to this little guys arrival!

Jared and Charis are doing great. They are closer than ever and they are the happiest they have ever been. They are working hard and it shows. I think they will be next in line with some baby news!

The new chicks are doing well.  They are eating a lot but scattering more than they are eating.  I wasn't counting on getting this many chicks but they are so dang cute! My Black Star hens outside are about two years old now and they look amazing. Considering it is winter and the temps vary from 20 degrees to 70 degrees we have managed to get anywhere from two to five eggs daily.  We have been supplementing light with a brooder light in the coop. We are very happy with the way things have been going this winter.  The hens have grown and look happy and healthy!

Don't count your chickens

I decided I wanted some raise some chicks. Of course Gary let's me do whatever I want so he was on board with the idea immediately. We went to the Davidson County Farmers Co-op which is our favorite spot for all of our pet needs. I really wanted some Barred Plymouth Rock chicks and Buff Orpingtons. They were almost out of chicks so all we got was four Rhode Island Reds. We brought them home and Gary got the idea to go to the Rutherford County Co-op. We were able to get three Barred Rocks and three Buff Orpingtons. We came home with these little babies and put together our cardboard brooder and placed our brooder light on it. Gary fabricated a nice lid made of wood and chicken wire to keep Tux out of trouble. It all works great! The chicks are moving about like they are happy and they are eating and pooping up a storm! I got more chicks than I need in case of loss but my guess is I will have to re-home some of them. I just love babies!

New baby

So today my niece Daphne had a baby girl. Her name is Annastyn. She is daphne and Brian's second child. Their first child, Brody is a precious little guy who is a bundle of energy at four years old. He is going to be a great big brother to little Annastyn. I can't wait to see them all!

Busy January weekend

Gary, Cricket and I went to Birmingham for Grandma's (Evelyn Kiker) 75 birthday. Sherry, Gary's younger sister put together a nice surprise gathering of about thirty five family and friends! We had rigatoni and lasagna, a great salad, ( I only put it together ) and toasted garlic bread ( I only watched it cook ). There were familiar faces, the Opelika cousins, friends that we see at Christmas, and then there was Howard Butler. Mr. Butler took Gary's father in when he was a child after his family had given him up. He was a coal miner back in the days before respirators were used in the mines. As Gary put it, " as they came out of the mine the were "covered in black dust". Mr. Butler is now eighty nine and still wearing his signature "Liberty" blue jean overalls. He was in a wheelchair but was very alert and enjoyed the day. I just love getting together with the family and hearing their stories of survival. We spent several hours with little John Franklin who is now nine months old. He is teething and fussy at times, but still so precious. We had a great time visiting with Joey and Ashleigh.
Cricket traveled well but came home exhausted.

Chickens in the garden

Today it was in the 50's in Nashville and we let the chickens out in the garden. They will scratch and peck and start turning over the soil for our spring planting. I threw some cracked corn out to give them an added incentive. The corn also gives them added protein in their died to support the hens metabolism and help them stay warm in the colder temperatures expected this week. Our hens have continued to lay for us over the winter. We supplemented their length of day by putting a brooder light in the run area which also gave them a little supplemental heat. We have had no frozen combs or waddles so far and I feel the light has helped. Gary placed a radiant heater on the back wall of the roost box. I hope it keeps the coop warm without any problems. We will see!

Everyone gets along so well!

The days her in Nashville have been warm and wet and it has been a great opportunity to let the hens roam around in the yard and forage. Th dogs have acclimated so well to the girls that they move around them without bothering them at all. I was more worried about Molly bothering them than I was about Scout because Molly is a dachshund/beagle mix and she is routinely seen treeing a squirrel or charging a bird. When the hens " came home to roost" we had to tell the dogs no when they went to the fence at the run and barked at the girls. After a while I guess the got used to each other, and now I can let the girls run around freely when the dogs are out.