Big Creek Farms

Are you sitting down?  I've got some exciting news!

We're expecting!   CHICKS!!!  Wahoo!!!  A dozen of them.

They're hatching Monday and will be here on Wednesday.  I've been bugging (and begging) the Tool Man about getting some chickens for several months.  Finally, after I showed him this coop he gave in.  Thanks, Heather.

Well, my coop doesn't exactly look like the French chateau that Heather built, but it fits in nicely here at Big Creek Farms.  (Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?)  And most importantly, it fits into our budget...that is it cost us next to nothing.  It is teeny tiny, 4 ft. by 4 ft., and it is built mostly with scrap lumber leftover from various projects.

Three cheers for the Tool Man!

Hip Hip Hooray!

Hip Hip Hooray!

Hip Hip Hooray!

I don't call him the Tool Man for nothin'.  Watch your fingers!

Notice the box of Scooby Snacks in the coop.  I guess every tool man needs his nourishment.

Don't forget the hardware cloth!  I don't want any chicken snakes stealing my eggs.

A hinged lid for gathering the eggs.  Good, Tool Man.  Very good!

We're not quite finished with the coop yet. I'll show you more when we're done and we move it out into the yard.  No, I'm not keeping this lovely under my carport.

As for the chickens, we're getting Easter Eggers.  They are supposedly friendly and docile - the kind of chickens that will follow you around in the yard and eat treats out of your hands. 

EE's lay colored eggs - blue, green, brown...I'm looking forward to that.  My chicken-farming friend, Allison, says fresh eggs are the best for baking.  Can't wait to try that out.  If you want to know more about chickens, I've found BackyardChickens.com to be very helpful.  It's also the place where I snatched these pictures.  I'll post my own pictures as soon as the babies arrive!

The Cruise That Wasn't

I'm in mourning.

I'm supposed to be boarding a cruise ship tomorrow for 7 fun-filled days in the Caribbean.

But I decided that kidney stones would be more fun.....................
So, I won't be cruising anytime soon.  (I'm making boo hooing noises now.)

If you've ever heard that kidney stones are painful...they are.
If you've heard that it's worse than childbirth...it is!

And we aren't talking about, "Hey, that kind of hurt" painful.  We're talking "Jesus, help me!  I need morphine NOW!" painful.

Four days in the hospital, dozens of painkillers, 8 X-rays, 1 surgery, thousands of dollars, and misery out the wahzoo.  Yeah, that's definitely more exciting than some old cruise, right?

The absolute worst thing about this whole experience though...

4 days and nights away from my 2 precious monkeys.  There's no cure for that pain.

Thanks for being patient while I wallow in self-pity.

Still waiting on that stone if you know what I mean ;)

Biedenharn Portraits 2010

My mom and I took the monkeys to Biedenharn Gardens last week for a photo shoot.  I love to go over there this time of year - the azaleas are in full bloom now.

It is such a beautiful southern shade garden.  I'm having visions of Scarlett at Tara right now...aaaahhhh.

Here I'll help you visualize.

Only Scarlett wasn't chasing after two wild monkeys.  Just men.  Anyway, back to the 21st century.

Does anyone know how to get a kid to smile?  I mean a REAL smile.

Or just look natural maybe.  Not like some freaky little manequin.

MUCH better. 

Oh, man!  That's one good looking boy, and I double dare triple-DOG dare anyone to say any different.  I'm gonna be beating off the girls left and right.  And I mean it, girls.  I will beat you off.

One girl I won't be beating...

Ooo-Weee!  Ain't she pretty?  And cute and sweet and precious...you get the picture.  I'm in love with this girl.

These pictures crack me up.  He had to go.  You know, GO.  Pretty bad I guess, because he resorted to the potty dance.  Oh, Lord, have mercy!  What would I do without these kids?

Thanks, Mom! 

Can you keep a secret?  I didn't find out 'til a little later, but Ty was picking these flowers off of a camelia bush.  Eek!  Sorry, Mrs. Biedenharn.  I thought he was just gathering blooms that had already fallen to the ground.  Honest, I did.

Oh, well.  I can't think about that today.  I'll just think about that tomorrow.

The Bees Knees

WARNING!  If you have a fear of flying insects, then you might want to look away right about now.

The Tool Man came running into the house yesterday afternoon wanting me to look out into our backyard.  When he opened our back door I could hear insects swarming.

It was bees.  Thousands of them!

I'm not exaggerrating.

Thousands.

Swarming around a tree in our backyard.  Take a look for yourself.

After a few minutes they congregated on a limb in the tree.

This picture gives me the heebee geebees.  Ew, yuck, and gross!  But still kind of cool and interesting.

Thankfully they were gone this morning.  Whew!

Sour Cream Cake

I made this cake for my family get-together on Easter Sunday, and boy howdy, did they like it!  Thanks Kaye C. for sharing the recipe with me.  Wish I would have thought to take a picture of the cake for ya'll before it got devoured.  Hope you enjoy!

Sour Cream Cake

For Cake:

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 stick BUTTER, divided, melted
• 1-8 oz. carton sour cream
• 3/4 cup veg. oil
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 eggs

For Glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3 Tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350.  In a bowl, mix together 1/2 stick melted butter and sugar.  Add cake mix, sour cream, oil, and eggs - one at a time - mixing thoroughly.  Pour batter into a greased 13 X 9 pan.  Melt remaining 1/2 stick of butter and pour over top of batter.  (Everything is better with butter!)  Bake 35-40 minutes or until cake begins to pull away from sides of pan.

Meanwhile combine all ingredients for glaze and mix well.  Drizzle over hot cake.

This cake is SOOOOO good served warm with coffee.  It'll make your tongue want to slap your eyeballs out! Ha.

When Mom's Away...

I leave the Tool Man alone with the monkeys for one hour and this is what happens!

A peaceful evening by the creek, right?  Wrong!!!

Let's take a closer look, shall we.

Gasp!  Up to his liver in mud!

"Hey ya'll! Care to join me?"

Geronimo!

I believe this is what's known as "wallering."  He's not in the water here.  He's waist deep in stinky mud.

Thankfully, after a quick hosing down, he was clean before I made it back home. 

Easter Craft - Potato Stamping

Got a little bit crafty today.  I was making some Easter treat bags for the kids at church, and needed a quick (and cheap) way to pretty them up.  Sooooooo.......Potato Stamping.  I don't know that I have ever actaully done this.  Just got me a tater, sliced it in half, carved a few stripes and circles into the flesh, and, voila!  An Easter egg.  I brushed on some acrylic paint and stamped the potato on the center of each bag.  I think they turned out cute.  No, they're not perfect, but hey, it's potato stamping!