Chicken Ranchers!

I feel like a big city girl who got thrown sideways and headlong into a country life! I still work in the city, and I still do city girl things, like go to Starbucks (even though my husband's coffee is better) and go shopping, but lately, I've been feeling quite a bit like a redneck! (Now, for those of you who are offended by my use of the word "redneck," you need to know that it's a term of endearment around here!)

We started off the day shopping at the most redneck store there is - Bass Pro Shop
Here's a silly picture of my friend Beth, posing a la "redneck" for a goofy photo :)

Also, upping the redneck factor even more than usual, we're new "parents" to four hens - a Black Australorp, a Speckled Sussex, and two Rhode Island Reds. One girl had even gotten her leg wrapped in some string from a feed bag, thanks to a gnarly wind that blew all day yesterday, and in the process, blew feed bags all over the place - but we managed to get her untangled and she's good as new! JP even wrangled the hens out of the dog kennel we transported them in and into their coop. I'm proud!

I'm gonna have to get some work boots, by the way. If I'm gonna be a ranch girl, I can't be having chicken poo (among other things) all over my nice shoes!

So how did we become, as my husband likes to call us, "Chicken Ranchers"? Well, we were gifted an old chicken coop by a friend of ours who has a farm - she owns many sheep, goats, and alpaca, which are fiber animals - and I'm a shareholder. (If you're a crafty person and love fiber for spinning or want to support a fabulous cause, or just love handspun yarn, check it out - Fancy Fibers Farm. You can be a shareholder too!) Anyway, Mary had too many hens... well, you can read about it here! This coop was well-loved, so JP and myself painted it and replaced a few parts, added some new chicken wire, and it's as good as new! And perfect for our little brood!

We brought the girls home and promptly got them all settled in their new home. I did check on them at around 9pm and they were roosting in their nests, snuggled safe inside their little A-frame home!

JP and I love our little homestead here and are excited that sometime in the near future (maybe sooner, maybe later) we'll have fresh eggs to eat and share! I hope someday we'll have a garden, but that might be a stretch for me!

After all that was said and done, we got cleaned up and ready for a night on the town - my friend's little orchestra class was performing at a holiday event, and we went to cheer them on and eat some good grub! We had a great time!

Just a day in the life of Chicken Ranchers!

House Hunting 2/26/12

Today, we started up our home search once again. JP and I are looking for something to accommodate our family of three, our business, and hopefully a handful of chickens and/or goats. We ended up with some really good prospects. There was one house we especially loved. Two of them were a no-go.

This is a beautiful little home. The home itself was really nicely taken care of on the inside and out. The floors matched throughout, and it looked freshly painted. We only noticed a bit of a slope in the flooring in the kitchen and in one bedroom, but didn't see any wall cracks or cracked brick or slab on the outside - good! The acre of property was completely fenced in, with an electric fence even for the three large dogs. Also a bonus! The floorplan was slightly odd - we could tell they had done some massive remodeling - with a shower and potty in the laundry room (making the "second" bathroom), but with a cute pocket door, made it really nice. The other bathroom had a marble-topped counter - gorgeous! The only blemish we noticed was where the owners have cut into the wall to make room for this super-nice stainless fridge - and covered the hole they cut with either thin plywood or paneling. Bummer. Fortunately, it wasn't noticeable. Out in the back, there was a very nice, unique looking, purple martin birdhouse. We could tell this family loved plants and birds, as there were many nice house plants and outside was accommodated for the birds and the other animals. The yard was nicely manicured and everything was very tidy inside. This would have been the perfect house - except that someone had smoked inside! :( Ugh! Both of our allergies have been acting up all afternoon afterwards. The owners did make a concerted effort to cover up the smell, and the only really strong smells were in the living room/kitchen and front bathroom, but it was too much for us. Major bummer there! Otherwise, a truly nice place!

Our second no-go of the day was this home.  We didn't even go inside. We pulled up, and the residents were clearly home, even though we were there within our allotted appointment time. Children were playing in the front yard (always a good sight to see), and a woman was walking from what I'll call the "livestock area" back to the house. The pictures on this listing make this look decent, but this place was a big mess on the outside. Tons of trash everywhere, from furniture to toys to actual garbage. There were six vehicles parked in the drive (which was all dirt - no pavement anywhere). The house itself didn't look too bad in the photos, but on one side, the skirt is completely gone. The photos of inside the house don't look bad, but after seeing the house we had just come from, we decided we didn't even need to look - there was too much outside the house we'd have to fix for it to be worth our while.

The house we're making an offer on, obviously we won't post here. But keep your fingers crossed for us! We are hopeful that this is *the* one! :)

Until next time,

BP and JP