I’m the proud new owner of my very own canning pot!!! This arrived in my kitchen this evening!

I’m going to the book store to get this tomorrow!

I’d love to order it, a much better price, but I don’t have time for it to arrive before Saturday.

I am making home made yogurt tonight so it will be ready for breakfast tomorrow. Saturday we are going to the farmer’s market and I’ll get some cucumbers. I plan to spend Saturday making kosher dills and salsa. Wish me luck!

I know that there is a common argument opinion about tractors. Red or Green. Since I’m not a decendent of a farmer, I just don’t feel that I have the knowledge to argue which is better.

My favorite colors are actually red and green. Green was the very first “favorite color” I remember having way back in something like first grade. Then along came red, oh I guess,in junior high school. I could never let green go, though.  Maybe it’s because Green is such an important color. Green trees, green grass, green veggies, green eyes and who can forget-green MONEY!

So I am sure you are wondering where I am going with this post titled “Green”.  Well…here ya go!

I do love this song AND Jason Aldean’s other music!  So what’s your favorite tractor color?

Enjoy!

‘Nuf said.

In case you couldn’t tell by my post title, I’m mad. Very mad. The ordinance for chickens needs to be changed.

I  just found a few web links about an awesome Amarillo, Texas resident that is trying to have the city ordinance for owning chickens in the city limits changed.

AMEN to you, Mr David Rodriguez, resident of the area of town called San Jacinto! I am sure it is his house I used to drive by just to take a look at his beautiful birds. Then all of a sudden, they were gone and I didn’t know why. Now I know.

David has owned chickens, goats and rabbits on his small city sized lot in the dream of being self-sufficient. He has also started his garden, and plans to grow 1500 pounds of fresh produce for his family.

What is wrong with this man’s dream? City ordinances, that’s what!

The city allows us to own goats and pigs (though recommends minitures), but not chickens(unless your lot is larger than 1/4 acre, then you can have 4). WTF??!! Do they think that larger animals aren’t smellier/dirtier, etc than a few chickens??  Boy do they have a lot to learn!!! How many “city” sized lots are larger than 1/4 acre??? Not many.

Go visit this awesome forum and see just what the joys of owning chickens are and how many hundreds of thousands of urban farmers there are in the USA!  www.backyardchickens.com/forum

There are hundreds of MAJOR cities in our beautiful nation that embrace those families choosing to live a more self-sufficient life and allow them to own chickens.  Even if allowed to own as few as 6-8 chickens (on ANY size lot), those wonderful, sweet birds can provide a family with plenty of fresh eggs and companionship each day. Yes, roosters can crow. Yes, roosters can be loud. But, one doesn’t have to own a rooster in order for their hens to provide fresh eggs to their family. So allow some hens, but keep a ordinance in line for noisy or “nusiance” roosters, just as there is in place for nusiance dog barking. Let those hens have a place in our urban backdrops.

As many citizens of Amarillo will tell you, we live many days with what is referred to around here as “the smell of money”.  That stintch is the foul smell of cow dung from the dozens of cattle feedlots in the Texas Panhandle and Eastern New Mexico. A majority of our winds blow in here from the southwest, so this smell prevails, I would estimate, 75% of our days.  What the heck do people think of that?  Unless owners of chickens absolutely neglect their care and routine maintenance of their coops and runs, chickens NEVER smell at all!

Another trait of chickens is the ability to function as therapy animals. My autistic son much prefers holding our “house” chickens over paying attention to our dogs or cat. Yes, I own chickens! I am proud to own chickens! I am not proud that I have to keep my birds in the house in cages as “house pets” because of the ordinance in place. My chickens are no more difficult to take care of (indoors) than any other breed of domesticated bird. They live in a huge rabbit cage and are very spoiled babies. Mind you though, I own Seramas, which are the worlds’ smallest chickens. Full grown, a Serama only weighs around 1 pound. They are very tiny and very personable.

Even though no change was made through Mr. Rodriguez’s fight, I do plan to keep tabs on this and hope and pray that the city makes changes to the ordinance.  We have planned for the past 2 years to move from the city to the country in order to have our animals. Wouldn’t it be nice to keep the Amarillo citizens in the city than lose them???  Self-sufficiency is what the country is turning to and this city needs to re-evaluate their thinking and keep up with changing times.

If you’d like to read more about this and about Mr. Rodriguez, here are some links.
http://www.newschannel10.com/Global/story.asp?s=12338185&clienttype=printable
http://www.connectamarillo.com/news/story.aspx?list=195070&id=445293
http://www.connectamarillo.com/news/story.aspx?list=195070&id=446396
http://www.amarillo.com/stories/042010/new_news4.shtml

I sure hope this isn’t the end of this issue in this city. We like living in the city, with all the conveniences, but are more than willing to leave it in order to live a more self-sufficient way of life.

Lookie here! Orono, ME just made changes! http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/143248.html SO AWESOME!

Here’s some information on cities: http://www.homegrownevolution.com/2008/02/poultry-outlaws-chicken-laws-around-us.html

http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/6516/Coalition_Says_Modernize_Chicken_Laws

Lookie at this, just a few hours from us, in Denver/Colorado Springs: “That would make Denver about as progressive as Colorado Springs, which allows up to ten chickens and four goats without a special permit.” This was found here: http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2009/03/fowl_lovers_unite_to_streamlin.php

Look here for ordinances for your location:
http://urbanchickens.org/chicken-ordinances-and-laws

Here, too…., the best in my opinion, http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewforum.php?id=37

Ok. I’m calling it a night. I’m off to go spend some times with my own chickens.

My oldest sister lives in Louisiana. Her favorite flower is the Peony, but she has never lived far enough north to be able to grow them in her own yard.

In the yard of the place we are renting, there is a Peony bush and I’ve just been waiting for the blooms to open to share them with my sister.

Here ya go, Lynne…can you smell them from there?? Click on the images to make them larger.

The bush absolutely exploded yesterday. The fragrance is to die for!

Enjoy!

Happy Mother’s Day to everyone!

Yesterday, I didn’t touch the computer all day. Hubby, kids and brother-in-law took care of everything around the house and I was able to sew all.day.long!

The fact that I am sick sure didn’t help matters. I got a lot of unfinished projects done, but had I felt better, I could have knocked out more.

This photo shows most of what I completed. There is 1 pair of shorts and 1 pair of flannel lounge pants missing. Gregory wore the shorts to school today, and the pants last night. The pants have now disappeared someplace and I couldn’t find them for the photo.

Complete!: 4 pairs of Bermuda shorts and 2 pair of flannel lounge pants for Gregory, 2 flannel night gowns (1 for Felicity and 1 for a family friend), 2 skirts (1 for Felicity and 1 for Katie), 2 pillowcases (1 for Felicity and 1 for Steve: bro-in-law), and a quilted table runner!  All are COMPLETE!!! I won’t even tell you how long some of those items have been sitting, unfinished, on my sewing table. LOL  I hope to get a few more projects done today.

The weather here today is warm and sunny but OH SO WINDY! We are expecting wind gusts of up to 60mph this afternoon!  Thank goodness, even though it’s windy alot up here, that spring is the worst and those crazy gusty days will pass soon.

Have a great Monday!

The rain has finally stopped and the sun is shining today. We’re going to find something fun to do this afternoon, just not sure what yet. I love this photo and definitely miss the Bluebonnets this time of year. We don’t have Bluebonnets up here in Amarillo.

I have changed the scent in my Scentsy burner, we’re enjoying . Thunderstorm is “very refreshing, sharp, spicy; an outdoor fragrance, like the breeze in a storm.”

Happy Sunday!

On days like we’ve had for the past 3 days, I don’t miss living in the south at all. I realize just how much I love our dry (and sometimes very windy) weather here in the Texas Panhandle.  It’s so humid here right now, I feel like I need to take several showers a day to feel clean.

We don’t see these very often here.

The trees and plants are green-ing up nicely with all the moisture, though.

My clothes line looks so lonely in the wet backyard.

According to the weather forecast, we’re going to be sopping wet for another 2 days. Guess that means no yard work this weekend. Instead it’s time to work on some sewing and quilting I want to do.

Our house smells wonderfully tropical and inviting, though. The Scentsy scent that fills the air is .

Happy Friday!

Spring is definitely in the air in the Texas Panhandle!

For the first time in my life, I have experienced fresh Lilacs and actually known what they are.  We have a wonderful Lilac bush in our yard.

When we walk out our front door, the beautiful scent just surrounds us.

There is also a Peony bush in our yard, and with all the buds present, it will be absolutely stunning with blooms very soon.  The Iris bulbs are up and will be blooming soon, as well.

We are currently renting an 84 year old home and suspect that all these lovely plants may have been planted by, if not the original owner, definitely one of the early owners.

Mike is now working at the Therapy Center where Gregory attends all of his therapies and school. He loves it!  The hours are fantastic and his co-workers just love him.

Gregory is now talking, eating several solid foods, off the bottle and potty trained except at night!!! WOOT!!! He will turn 6 years old on the 15th of April. He is doing fantastic!

Felicity is just Felicity. Overachiever, smarty pants, tomboy, animal lover. She loves school, reading 2 levels above her grade and makes the A honor roll every report card.  She broke her ankle 3 weeks ago today. A week and a half later had to undergo surgery to repair the break. Today she got the cast on her leg. She should be out of the cast and her ankle as good as new by the start of summer. She turned 9 on February 8th.

Mike’s brother, Steve (from Wisconsin), has moved in with us. It’s good to have him here. He will be attending college and helps us with the kiddos.

I am doing well. It’s been a long winter. MUCH, MUCH snow and cold. I love the snow, but this winter we had so much I was ready for it to be over. I am still working at JoAnn’s part time, it’s fun and I meet alot of great people. I decided, too, to get going with this blog (and my others) once again.  I had gotten in such a rut, but enjoy blogging as well as reading so many other peoples’ blogs. I am now also a Scentsy consultant. You can see my personal webpage for Scentsy here.

I am so glad to be back blogging.  The summer is going to be a wonderful summer of give-aways!  Some things that will be given away are: The Pioneer Woman’s cookbook, The Home Creamery Book and an apron made by me, a Scentsy warmer and tart bar, an afghan made by me and more!  Be sure to invite all your friends to join us here so they can be in on the give-aways!

New Beginnings:  while we are currently living in the city limits, I have had to keep my animals very limited. We have our 3 dogs and took in a stray cat that is just such a sweetie.  Mike agreed to let me hatch a few chicks because I was missing my Serama, Nonnie (rehomed in Oct) so much.  I have a trio of Seramas in a huge rabbit cage in our family room. They are extremely spoiled. Left to right, they are: Lillian (Lilly), Roosevelt(he’s Felicity’s) and Eleanor.

We had 4 new babies hatch today. Here is a photo of 3, with the 4th nearly hatched.

We continue our search for our perfect place, our farm, our home. We will find it, when the time is right.

Glad to be back, everyone!

No, I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth, though some may think so.

There’s not been much exciting going on around our house right now, plus “writer’s block” equals no posts.

Anyhow, here’s what I’ve been up to.  I’m going back to work.

Conception and Beyond is a turnkey store for Momma, Baby and Young Children. The business/site is for sale. You can see it live at www.conceptionandbeyond.com. This business is being sold through my new web design business, www.workathomedesignworks.com

Most of my readers aren’t aware that I designed and manufactured a line of cloth diapering accessories a few years ago.  In 2006, I sold the business, thinking I really just wanted to be a Stay at Home Mom.  I’m coming out of retirement with a fabulous line of products very soon. I’m ready to “rock-n-roll”! I’m so jazzed about my new businesses!

Other than that, not much is going on around our house.  Too many chickens equals we re-homed 9 last week.  We have about a dozen more to re-home, but we’re waiting to find out if they are roosters or pullets first.

I’ll be back soon!