Chick time

It's (nearly) Spring again and is time for us to get a few new chicks to add into our backyard flock, as we will be "retiring" 4 of our current layers this Fall... bringing our ending total to an even 6 hens.

I always forget how small and adorable they are at this age. :)

(sorry the pic is so blurry and grainy... all I had was a phone camera)

A day off from "work"

Since today is Presidents day and the non-profit agency I work for gives us most federal holidays off, I had the pleasure of having a day off from work. Well... at least a day off from the work I get paid for.

I finally got some much needed cleaning done, did some laundry, cleaned the kitchen and started working on a tardis cake for a neighbor boy's 6th birthday who I hear is an avid Dr. Who fan. I must admit I have never seen the show. Coincidentally, while Nick and I had Netflix pulled up on the XBOX the other day, the Kinect must have heard something in our conversation resembling "Dr. Who" and it suddenly started playing. We looked at each other and started laughing. :)

Another thing I did today was collect chicken eggs.

Because of our cool weather and the bloom on the eggs, they can safely be kept unrefrigerated for weeks, and in fact this is how they are kept in many countries around the world. However I don't do this. I collect them every few days, gently set them in a clean sink, carefully wash each egg, and refrigerate. If there is an abundance, I will steam a layer of eggs in my steaming pot. This is the best way I have found to easily hard "boil" fresh eggs and be able to peel them simply and quickly... the shell just about slides right off.

Now that we are having nicer weather, I am getting anxious to start planting a garden. This year I am planting cold weather crops only. No more attempts at tomatoes, corn, or peppers! Since it's not quite time to plant outside, I have planted some herbs indoors. I had planted 5 different pots with seed, but as our dogs have knocked them out of the window sills, I now have 2 remaining... both chives. They have been moved to my kitchen window and are safe and sound from the beasts. :)

Lastly, I really enjoyed my restful yet productive day at home. It was satisfying to be able to get dinner in the crockpot this morning and have a nice chicken stew ready for dinner when Nick gets home. I didn't follow any recipe, but rather put a chicken (homegrown) I have had in the freezer in the crockpot and added some veggies on hand... parsnip, rutabega, carrot, onion, corn, edamame, asparagus and peas. It smells great!

Spring is in the air...

... I can feel it!

A recent sunset on our island

'tis the season to be... jolly?

This morning Nick and I drove to a friend of ours family's tree farm to pick out a Christmas tree. It's been 3 years I do believe since we've had a real-live Christmas tree. The past few years we've used a small 2ft tall artificial one my coworker bought me. We haven't really been in the holiday spirit since starting our 4 year and counting adoption journey. The holid

ays are such a magical time for children and we want nothing more than to have a little one(s) of our own to share this time of year with. To say it's a difficult time for us is an understatement.

However, this year is different for me. I can't explain it and don't know why, but I'm feeling quite holly-jolly this time around. I hung up some new stockings for both us and our boys, Chewie and James (dogs - not real children - but they're all we have). I set out all our red & green candles, cinnamon pinecones, artificial greenery garlands and the little christmas village I painted years ago - with cotton snow and all. I decorated the little 2ft tall tree in our den, and just finished decorating the deliciously aromatic tree we cut today.

Here are a couple pictures of the big - and I mean BIG - tree in our living room. It's funny how much smaller they look out at the tree farm. I must say though, these pictures do it no justice. They don't capture how twinkly and sparkly it is, but here they are anyway...

This little guy is hiding in a bare area - love it!

Okay, well maybe not...

A quick update on our seemingly endless adoption. We received an email today stating that Kaed's birth country is in complete disarray. Elections are going on, people are getting killed, communication is nearly impossible. So, while things looked up in August, things are looking less than stellar right now.

We'll just keep trudging along in hopes that someday we may be able to bring this little guy home. Until then (if ever!) i'm still trying to catch that darn ovulation, and I think we're going to proceed in getting our foster license through our state and see where that takes us.