Odds and Ends

It didn't rain today!  That is amazing.  My back yard, however, is like a wet sponge.  (Sigh) and it's supposed to rain tomorrow.  According to the meteorologist, this is a pattern we will have for the next 3 weeks.  UGH!

Oh well.  Either way, I had to take the opportunity available to get outside and get some long over due work done.

My main thing was to get the rooster Run cleaned out and ready to house the Bantum hens (and rooster).

We bought a chicken house.run that's supposed to house 3-4 birds.  (Eye roll) it barely houses the 4 Bantums.  So the Rooster run has been readied now and the little darlings are on board.  Moving them was fun.  One got out.  Note to self:  Bantum chickens are harder to catch...BECAUSE THEY FLY!  This hen took off and flew half way across the garden!  But, I was patient and just kept herding her to where I needed her, and eventually I won.  Neener, neener.

 Contrary to the phrase "chasing chickens", ones doesn't actually chase the chicken.  That is highly discouraged.  You will tire yourself out.  The best thing to do is walk slowly, and purposefully; heading off any avenue of escape until you have them cornered.  Then you catch whatever part of the chicken is handy.  So eventually I got her in.  Another of the hens, and she is a full size hen hatched by the tiny Bantum mama, literally started screaming when I caught her.  Interesting sound.  But she calmed down as soon as she realized she was just moving.  So all in all they all got moved and are happily ensconced in their new digs.

Also on the chicken front, we're getting about 4 1/2 dz eggs a week now.  So I'm starting to sell some to offset the cost of feed.  I sold 2 dz today for $6, and plan to sell another 2 dz tomorrow.  I'll do that every week or two.  As we get more, I'll be able to sell more.  That's a nice little benefit. But don't worry, we will still have plenty of eggs for us. 

After all that fun, it was a just matter of repairing the hoop house cover, and cutting the grass.  Yep! We've had mild enough temps to where the grass is growing.  Well the weeds are growing.  It was getting bad.  I'd put pre-emergent on if it wasn't for the fact we'd have no lawn.  lol.  Cutting the grass was interesting on the low end of our property.  It is a mucky yucky mess.  Had to drive very slow to keep from getting stuck.  But I really didn't have a choice.  It needed to be done.

So all that and throw in some kitchen cleaning, floor sweeping, bed making, and doll clothes sewing, and all in all a productive day.  My house is a mess.  The yard needs still more work, but I put in a full day.

That's the important thing.

"You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you"  Psalms 128:2

Rainy Days and Mondays

Had a bit of a sad morning today. We lost one of our oldest hens today. I just think at her age, she couldn't handle all the damp cold we've had recently. We had 3+ inches of rain this past Friday, then turned off cold really quick, and 4+ inches of snow Sat. Then today is the start of another cold 3+ inches of rain today and tomorrow. This has been our weather pattern in the last month. Just can't seem to dry out. I found her semi conscious in one of the nesting boxes when I went out this morning to check on everyone. I brought her into the house and put a warm towel in a box and let her have her last little bit of time in a warm dry area with no other hens walking all over her(yes they were doing that very thing). Chickens, especially these are cold hardy, but I think this was just too much for her. She was 6 years old. Heat lamps can be dangerous, and so we have opted to not put them in the coops, until today. After finding her, I made an executive decision and pulled out the heat lamp and put it in the coop to give them a warmer, dryer spot to stay. For safety, it will be turned off tonight, because we will be asleep and can't watch it. Plus the light can mess their sleep schedule up. So turned off tonight, but in the mean time, it will give them a dryer spot and warmer spot and when they are getting ready for bed, they will be gathered together for warmth. It will go back on tomorrow during the day.

It must be good. I just went outside in the rain to check on the rest of them. The light is still on, and just about every chicken we own is in that one coop next to the light. I'm glad it's helping, I just feel bad we had to lose one before we did this. Smh.

Finally!

Whew!  It has been a long month in regards to our food budget.  The joys of having 3 paychecks in a month is tempered by having to stretch what grocery money you had into 5 weeks instead of 4.  That can get a little tricky.

In addition, I made the mistake many make, I think, after the holidays.  We wanted to get back to eating healthy.  I wanted to encourage everyone in our household to do the same.  While not buying diet food, I did purchase a lot of things I don't normally buy.  My son likes salmon, and wanted to have that on hand for meals so he could stay on track.  I agreed to buy him 1 weeks worth of salmon and asparagus (ours isn't up yet), but he had to take over the rest if he was to stay on it.  I bought protein bars, thinking this would keep me from having to bake cookies.  Both sons enjoy these.  Yes, it did make it where I didn't have to bake cookies, but was way more expensive than if I had just baked cookies, and I question if it was the healthier alternative to home made 100% fresh ground wheat cookies.  So I read the label....yea... I think the cookies would be the better alternative all round.  I bought other things as well.  These are just a few examples.

This was also a time where things needed replenishing.  Some things that I buy in bulk, only have to be purchased every few months or so.  In addition, there were things I had stocked up on in the past that were allowed run out, hoping I would see the items on sale for restocking; sugar was one of those.  I never saw sugar go on a good enough sale.  It went on sale once during the holidays, but it was a limit of 5 4 lb bags of sugar.  That lasts us about a month or so.  Not enough to really replenish anything.

For all of these reasons, January was a tight month when it came to the food budget.  The benefits of this are:

 A)  I have really used up items in the freezer and pantry.  The past couple of weeks, maybe longer, have seen my menu planning based on little bits of things in the pantry, fridge and freezer.  Many times it's re-purposing left overs. 

B) It has pushed me back into what I know and that it scratch baking on a grand scale.  All our breads, cookies, breakfasts items, etc have all been made from scratch.  We haven't been starving, but everything I had to eat, had to be combined to make what I needed.  There wasn't much of  "I'll just grab something".  At least there wasn't until I made it.  This even went so far as making the dog treats.  I have to say I had gotten comfortable buying these in bulk at the warehouse store, but ran out a few weeks ago.  I've decided to keep that going.  It's better for them, and it isn't too had to make these.  If you would like the recipe, it's on my "Pet Care" page.

C)  It really cleans out the pantry, fridge, and freezer!  Makes it really easy to defrost the freezer, organize the pantry, and wipe out the fridge.

So today is the day I finally get groceries!  It's still tight, but that's okay.  I have new resolve to keep doing what I'm doing.  I should have been doing this all along.  But, you know, even a Frugal maven can have an off day (er week, ah month).

So in preparation of today being grocery day; yesterday was spent, primarily, in the kitchen.  I made English muffins, bagels, sandwich bread, hamburger buns, dog treats, coffee creamer, and chocolate syrup.  Granola and cookies will come this afternoon.  I'm out of oats.  I get them today.

Can I just add here, all this scratch baking doesn't take long.  It isn't too hard.  If I can learn to do it, and do it, so can you!  Yes, I was in and out of the kitchen yesterday, but it isn't where I stayed.  The time spent making bread items, is mainly in waiting for it to rise.  It takes about 15 minutes to mix and knead bread dough.  The rest of the time is spent waiting.

I fell into the trap of wanting things convenient.  Yes, buying something pre-made is easier, and if you have little time, then that's what you need to do.  But if you can, then try it.  Start small, make a few things that aren't too taxing.

"A penny saved is a penny earned".  Just remember Uncle Sam hasn't yet figured out a way to tax money you save, but he does know how to tax money you earn.