I found a second nest in the horse trailor. There were 20 eggs there, plus the 8 I got from the coop. The ones from the trailor were exceptionally clean already too.Bonus!
Yesterday we went to the statuary and got two birdbaths. One is tall and thin, with a celtic base and square celtic bowl. I am going to paint it green. The second is an ocean scene, with boats in the bowl. It is shorter, one piece and very sturdy. I will paint the base brown and leave the top natural. They are beautiful, and we look forward to birds, butterflies and bees having water.
Brian got to try some homemade mead this weekend and it seems to have clinched the desire to start with bees. We may be ordering our first hive kit today! We are very much enamoured by the top bar hives, but are going to start with a Langstroth this time. I am beyond thrilled that we are undertaking this!
Last night was rough, as my fever spiked and I hurt all over. It is carrying into today, but there is no rest for the mama lol. I hope my kids grow up strong and resiliant, but I also hope they have someone to love them through it. Brian was sweet, turning up the heat and covering me with extra blankets in the wee hours of the morn.
I got a cast iron sauce pan at the thrift store yesterday. I reseasoned it as soon as we got homne and am thrilled to have picked it up for a mere 5 dollars! Bargain hunting is such a thrill!

My blog list grows steadily larger. I love reading the stories of other people, and seeing ways I can better myself and our household. It ties in so nicely with Proverbs. We are reading Proverbs at my Tuesday night ladies group and it is great to go over every word like that. Monday night is couples group here, we are doing "Laugh Your Way to A Better Marriage" and it is Hilarious!!! Brian and I are both getting much out of it, and are happy to see that alot is stuff we have done for the last 16 years anyhow.
It is drizzly again, and supposed to be icy/snowy for a few more days. I am itching for Spring! I want to do more gardens, I want flowers and green and outdoor adventures. I Need to slow down and enjoy winter. I am trying to teach this to the kids, and showing them is of course the best way to teach them. We are drinking hot cocoa, eating soups and stews, sitting by the fire.
The 3 boys in gymnastics shared a class today as their coach was absent. I think he is at a meet out of state, but he forgot to tell anyone. We had a sub who was good at form over function. It was a good change of pace, though we will be glad when Richard is back. We practiced a bit more at home afterwards and they are doing well. Christian did some handstands with us, and wants so badly to go back. His break was too severe and he won't ever get to go back but he can do some things at home so he does. I love his strong spirit.
I am off to bake some bread and who knows whereelse the day will emander.

Brian stayed home from work today. I highly doubt there would have been many customers looking to get pierced during our worst storm of the season, but you never know. It would not have been worthwhile to drive to Tulsa and back for just 1 or 2 people though. Thanks to papertoys.com we had alot of fun. 6/9ths of us played outside for a bit. Even with near whiteout conditions it was awesome. Brian and I walked together to take care of the neighbors beautiful Gypsy Vanner horses. They are a sweet bunch, albeit rather intimadating in a herd like that. It was so peaceful...walking in the snow, hearing our boots crunching, just he and I. He is such a gem, still makes me feel so lucky to have him as mine.
The cinnamon rolls in the bread machine were a HUGE hit. They were easily better than store bought, and really were not difficult to make. It did take almost 2 hrs, but that was 1.5 hrs in the bread machine on the dough cycle.Really not bad, and a great treat that the kids will get once a week. The blueberries on the side made it better for all of us though!
I am thrilled that Logan is truly reading now.He didn't even stumble...once he got it he just ran! Still working with Gavin, he is getting eager which is what I have been watching for. Christian got eager to read and then took off, same with Logan. Oh, how spoiled I was with Trinity. She just read starting at age 4. That's how I did it too. I never expected I would have late readers, never thought I would deal with the disapproval that (especially) homeschoolers face when their child is not ahead of the game. Griffon should read this year also, and Jubilee is showing pre reading skills already, so hopefully the struggling will have been confined to Christian, Gavin, and Logan.I am so proud of them though, that even as non readers they have always had a zest for books.
The guineas are locked up with the chickens tonight. We tried shooing them out so they would go home to Bill( a convicted child molester who lives two houses away, who free ranges his birds but comes knocking to ask where they are if they stay here) but they kept perching in the trees by the hen house. I really don't want them to get eaten, and with this weather and the knowledge that they would just perch in the trees, we let them stay. And will from now on. They are still his, we just feed them and enjoy seeing them around. I think the female has been laying in the laying box, but really...how am I going to know what egg is hers from 16 eggs? I get stuck in regards to my feelings about Bill. He is crazy...literally not all there. He is at least 75, probably more like 85. He comes on our property often, in a skulking kind of way. He reminds me of Gollum...I am horrified by the thought of what he has done, but I pity him for his current state also.Not enough to invite him near my children, but I have often thought of taking some baked goods to him. I do NOT want him to feel like he is welcome near the kids though, and it seems a hard line to see.
My nose is so runny, and my nostril piercing is getting agravated. I have a small bump(scar tissue building up) that bugs me to see. I did sea salt soaks to no avail, and emu oil made no noticable difference, but peroxide has helped alot. The congestion going away would be a good thing though.
Time to tend the fire.

Busy morning so far...I will be back in a bit to write more. I am making bread machine cinnamon rolls that look amazing. I got the recipe off the money saving mom blog on FB. I also am entering to win a cool homesteading video on the blog here: http://newlifeonahomestead.com/ . That would be very cool! So anyway...be back soon.

There is supposed to be an ice storm headin in tomorrow. The predictions make it sound as if it will be worse than the 07 storm that knocked out our power for 2+ weeks, a thought that has me sick. I am not actually fearing the storm, but a feeling of dread fills my stomache as I recall trying to keep us all warm and put on a happy face for two dirty and frigid weeks sleeping in one room of 8 people.
I have stacked wood in the laundry room, we have a stocked pantry, and I will spend the day cooking tomorrow so we will have ready to eat food. The generator will be ready, water is on hand. I hope we do not need to use any of this precautinary stuff, but definately better safe than sorry. Brian is kinda excited to use the snow chains some more.*eyeroll* Silly man...
I completely redid my school area, deep cleaned and decluttered the library, deep cleaned and decluttered the master bathroom.It is some kind of odd nesting, except I am not pregnant.It feels good to simplify our already simple stuff though.
I have been doing good with the coupons. We save a consistant 15 dollars each trip. I know there are families that do way better, but this is working for us. So we save what we can, and plan on enlarging the gardens, plan on getting our piglets, and being as self sufficient as we can for right now. We should be getting about 8-10 chicks in a week or so. :)
The kids are playing happily outside...it is beautiful. There is a slight cloudiness, but the sun is shining and jackets are not even needed. Very nice winter weather :P ...a great precursor to ice storms.
We will be feeding the neighbours horses while they go to a show again, and M called to iron out details this morning. She wants to pay us for being neighborly, which I prefer her not to do. She really pushed though, and offered to bring over a round bale for the donkeys and llama which would be a HUGE help to us, so I reluctantly, but happily agreed. This feels extremely uneven though, so I need to cook up some goodies to help balance things a but more.

I figured I would blog about our loverly animals today. It is a gorgeous foggy day and I spent a good portion outside working to the sweet birdsounds of 20+ chickens and two loud guineas. We have a rooster named Goliath(black Jersey Giant), a bantam roosetr who I don't know the name of, a bantam rooster named Dusty, and a flock of prolific egg laying hens. We get 6 on a bad day, 20 on a great day. Pink, brown, green, and white. We will be getting more hens in a couple months to supplement the pigs with eggs.
Twinkie is our yellow lab. She is old, moves slow, and allows the baby to climb all over her. She smells bad at times, but I can not imagine a sweeter dog,ever. We got her from the pound two years ago and she is Christian's best friend.
Tigger is our orange inside cat. He is old, ashmatic, and aloof. We got him from the pound 9 years ago and he has been a really great cat.
Panther is our black outside tomcat. He is Very aloof, a fantastic survivor, and surprisingly cool to have around. Most of our cats have vanished outdoors(coyotes, stray dogs, any number of predators) but he stays alive and dominates. We got him from a friend of my sisters.
There are 4 fish in 2 tanks. I don't care for fish, they are not mine, but I do feed them.
There is Copper. He is a royal(or ball) python and has grown alot since we got him for Gavin's birthday in June. He eats live mice, fast thankfully, but still. I will hold him if someone has him out, but I do not stick my hand into his home and I don't particularly care to hold him. He is beautiful though, and I marvel at God's diversity in animals.
Two donkeys reside out back. Not little grey cute donkeys, large black pretty girls. They came to us as a rescue mission, and Brian adores them. They are good for nothing right now(as in we can't ride them until they are older) but they are still pretty cool. Cuzco the llama lives with them. Brian called me one day and said he bought a llama. WHy? Because he could. Yes, he spits, but only at the donkeys.

Tulsa Zoo Tragedy

Yet another animal has died at the Tulsa Zoo. They just brought in two females to breed with the male giraffe and both have died. The giraffes arrived in October and the first one died in Dec, the second one died yesterday. Although they are a good zoo I can't help but think they have an unusually high animal mortality rate. The two brown bears also died last year, the polar bear died. I think this is going to bring a huge amount of negative publicity, maybe some cut funding, and it will all really hurt the zoo.
I think I am going to get some decor for my hair. I like the peyote stitches alot and they seem a bit more natural looking than the beads, although I like the beads too.
I am going to do my placenta print tree of life this week. I found one on the web that I am going to model mine after, it was beautiful!!!I want to use reds, oranges, and several greens to accent it, and possibly coat it with a sparkle gold dust. I am nervous...I only have the one placenta so I really need to get it right!