Updated cuteness...please don't vomit.

Free Range

We've been letting the chickens free range it in the backyard. Surprisingly, Tinker hasn't ate a single one! Luna seems to be more of the danger to them. Or me, if they don't keep out of my tomato plants. It's relaxing to sit back and watch the chicks roam. A neighborhood kid brings friends over daily to watch, and occasionally chase them. Make note: if you come to visit, you will leave with chicken poop on your shoes. We are getting 4 eggs a day now. I've been trading veggies for 18 eggs a week from some folks from craigslist, but now with our chicks laying as well, we are over run with eggs. We've been eating combinations of eggs and zucchini for most meals and dessert.

Whitey is still alive...and crowing. I always thought roosters only crowed in the morning, but whitey seems to do it throughout the day. I was awoken at 5:15 this morning by his crow, which I love, but not sure if the neighbors do? He's turning into quite a beautiful bird, we hate to see him go, but we must keep peace with the neighbors...and the law.

New Addition

I won a piano! This piano was given away in a raffle at work that I was probably the only one that entered. It needs repairs that would cost more than it's worth, but we still jumped at the chance. It needs a tuning, but we'll live with it's other imperfections. It's beautiful, with actual ivory keys. I'm sure hundreds of people have played this piano in it's lifetime. Luna is loving it and we all look forward to learning to play.

Catching up on cuteness

Haven't posted many pictures of Luna lately, so I thought I'd just wallpaper you with pictures of our little bean...

An unwelcome visit from the tooth fairy

Luna had the misfortune of losing her first tooth. The worst was having to tell the dentist how it happened. See, Luna has a love of beer. She pulled a beer bottle out of the recycling and was drinking the air out of it. We, being the hip (read: irresponsible) parents we are, thought it was cute and grabbed the camera to capture the cuteness. Then, she fell. With the bottle in her mouth. Screams. Blood. Tooth (root and all) falls to the ground. Not so cute anymore. We called a pediatric dentist and they said there was nothing we could do and it won't grow back until she's 6 years old. So much for family portraits. Poor baby.


Good times gone bad...blood on shirt, 3 teeth on top.

Fences

Fences, that's what our life is about. My reason for lack of blogs are fences. First, we had to build the chickens a fence. You see, we added 6 new girls to our family back in March. Looking forward to eggs in September. We haven't named them because they all look the same except one...Whitey. He's named for the simple fact that he's whiter than the others. Whitey has always had a lot of attitude, pecking at us and being protective of the other chicks. We now believe we know why...she might be a he...a rooster...dinner.

Breast or thigh?

Home sweet chicken home.

Second, we had to fence in the backyard to keep Luna out of harms way and Tinker from attacking evil skateboarders that menace her. Tinker believes skateboarding is a crime. This fence is Gig's pride, he consulted many library books on fence building and would sit out at night enjoying a beer while admiring his work.

A man and his fence.

Third, we had to fence the garden as Luna and Tinker love to trample through it. We ripped up a good spot of land for veggie gardens. The rustic look that I was hoping for wasn't in the cards, so I went for bright instead. I think it'll look great when the veggies and nasturtiums are overflowing. Imagine a picket gate and colorful faux birdhouses on top of the posts. I also pulled up all of the roses along the front walkway and planted cucumbers and added 4 winter sqaush beds outside the fence. Still need more garden space, hoping to grow enough to harvest and store for the winter someday. We want to plant grapes and more fruit trees as well. What I love about this place is that we've put in tons of garden space and chickens and haven't even touched an ounce of our property. Love it!

Luna making sure the posthole was deep enough.

Next up for home improvement is a deck off the back of the house. One day we will rest, but until then we will keep building, digging, and growing...and have a nice rooster dinner after we're done.

Where does the time go?

So I started this blog post in March (It's now June) with announcing Luna's first birthday (which was even a month past due for that). She's now 16 months and I'm finally getting around to finishing that post. I can't believe how time has flown by, I'm still tired and often frazzled, but she's worth it. She's becoming such a little person, talking non-stop (not that it makes any sense), dancing, getting into everything, fussing when she doesn't get her way, and melting our hearts and making us laugh just as we're about to throw her out with the trash. She is becoming quite the little helper, always having to carry the water out to the chickens and wanting to feed Tinker. It's a pleasure seeing her become the little lady she is.