New Chickens-Day 1

Buff Orpington Chick

I awoke at 6:30 this morning to see how the new chickens we added last night and the old two we had were getting along. We had left the new ones in the pet carrier with the door open overnight so they could huddle together and stay warm. When I opened up the coop, the old pair were huddled in the corner staring at the large plastic thing making all kinds of peeping noises. I let down the ramp and they skedaddled down to the grassy area below. The little ones looked fine so I went about my business for a while.

Chuck and I came back a little later. By that time the big ones had had enough. They saw me and immediately started telling me all about it. When we opened the door, some of the little ones had ventured forth. We took the rest out of the pet carrier, showed them the food and water and watched what transpired. The big ones would hop on the perch and walk around them because they were too scared to go near these alien things which had invaded their home.

A little later, Mary went out to check on them. When she opened the coop, the big ones were all huddled together in one of the nest boxes and the little ones were running around eating and exploring. As soon as the big ones saw Mary, they immediately started fussing to her about this strange turn of events.

Chuck took the next turn. He spent time handling the new ones. He found them exploring the coop area and looking over the edge where the ramp is to see the ground below. Some of them were jumping up and down from the perch. The big ones were still in a corner watching them. He saw one of the little ones peck at the leg band of one of our older ones. The big one pecked it back. They then separated to their own corners.

When I just checked on them, the little ones were running around inside the coop and the big ones were outside scratching and grazing. One of them had even laid her egg for the day. We shall see how things progress but they seem to be tolerating each other better. As we say though, it has been a fun day of watching chicken TV.

New Chickens

The baby chicks have quickly grown. They are now fully feathered. We spent the day moving and cleaning the chicken coop. Once a year, you should take everything out of the coop, clean it and sterilize it. Titania and Alania are now back in the coop and roosting for the night. When they wake up in the morning, there will be new friends for them.

It is time to transition the baby chicks to the yard and outside coop. We are going to go over and get the first batch that will be our new layers. Chuck is working on a temporary coop for the ones that will later become chicken dinner. From all of my research, it sounds like one of the best ways to introduce new chickens is to put them on the roost while the other ones are sleeping. We will see if this theory works. We are doing this tonight so we can keep an eye on them tomorrow since we will all be home for most of the day. Will keep you posted.

Tornadoes

A couple of years ago, my husband and daughter went with our church's youth group to do tornado clean-up after a F5 tornado devastated a small town called Parkersburg, Iowa. Both of them worked along side survivors and other volunteers for a week helping clean up the area. They came home with a new outlook on what is important in life and how easily things can be taken away from you in an instant.

Tonight, we watch news coverage of the tornado outbreak in the southern United States yesterday. The death toll stands at 290 with people still missing. Whole neighborhoods full of homes have been turned to splinters. It is hard to comprehend such devastation. Our hearts go out to all those affected by yesterday's tornadoes.

Please remember the victims and families as they bury their dead, clean up the remains of their lives and rebuild. Most of all pray for them. It is going to be a long haul for all. 

Zero Waste Initiative

We received Lexington's Waste Management newsletter in the mail yesterday. As I have stated before, zero waste by 2020 is one of their goals. They are researching ways to accomplish this goal. Lexington does a pretty good job with making recycling easy for people. They also have containers for yard waste which they then turn into mulch and compost. In this newsletter, they were sharing ideas from other cities who are also implementing zero waste initiatives. Here is a sampling of things other cities are currently doing. All of these come from the current Lexington Waste Management newsletter issue.

San Francisco
-mandatory recycling and composting ordinance
-food/organic waste collected and composted
-take out containers must be recyclable or compostable
-"Shop smart" campaign which helps consumers precycle at the store.

New York City
-Establishing neighborhood swap shops to help divert reusuables from landfills.
-ban the collection of grass clippings

Seattle
-working on ways to decrease use of disposable plastic bags
-Work on growing a market for recycled carpet components

Austin
-Provides three different garbage carts for recycling, yard waste and regular trash. Lid on regular trash must be closed and any bags outside of trash can are charged between $4-$8 a bag.

These are all ways to encourage people to recycle, compost and take used things to thrift type stores. Many other cities could do similar programs. What does your city or locality do?

Rain

I saw on the local weather report that it has already been the rainiest April ever here in Lexington. We have  had, maybe, 1-2 days between rain events here this month. The only thing I have planted in the garden are my first round of cold weather crops. Normally, I have all three rounds planted by now. I am hoping to get them in the ground soon or it will be too late for them. Cool weather crops do not handle our hot summer sun well here in this area.

Last night, we had one day between rain events. We spent the afternoon and evening quickly getting the grass mowed (along with the rest of the neighborhood) and planting a couple of plants that I could reach from the edge of the garden and flower beds. The good news is my grass seed I put down this spring is doing well. Our backyard has filled back in nicely. Chuck even mowed it for the first time last night. I then went around and put grass seed back down in the small little patches that were missed the first time around.

I am hoping we get a break from the rain soon so we can get the rest of our garden plants in the ground. It is almost time to put peppers, tomatoes and other warm loving crops out. The other good news is the little bit I did get in the ground is growing great.

Bunny Cake

One of our Easter traditions here is to make a bunny cake. We made this for one of the Easter dinner desserts when I was growing up and I continued the tradition with my girls. It is easy to make and turns out a nice looking cake for the celebration. Here is the recipe:

1 yellow or white cake baked in 2-8" or 9" round cake pans
1 recipe white frosting
jelly beans (eyes, nose, mouth)
red shoe string licorice (whiskers)
sprinkles OR M&M shaped candy OR more jelly beans
coconutu

Put 1 round cake in center of board (I use a clean board covered with foil.) Take other cake and cut ears out of each side. Cut off tips of each one to make flat surface to fit edge of cake. Use remainder of cut-up cake as bowtie. Frost cake with white frosting. Tint a small amount of the coconut pink with red food coloring. Put in center of each ear. Sprinkle white coconut over outside of ears and face (for fur). You can eliminate this step if your family does not like coconut. Put sprinkles, M&M shaped candy or jelly beans on bowtie as polka dots. Put whole jelly beans on face for eyes and nose. Cut up 1-2 jelly beans in smaller pieces to make mouth. Use string licorice (or you can cut up more jelly beans) to make whiskers. Eat and enjoy.

This is fun to do with children and has been a good tradition for our family.  

Happy Easter

Holy Week is always very busy for us. My husband and I do a lot of the music for our church. Our church practices the tridium (3 Holy Week services) which means church Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil as well as Sunday morning which includes Easter breakfast and a huge church service.

Today, was a great day. Mary and Makenzie were excited about their Easter baskets. We ate a delicious breakfast prepared by our church youth to help raise funds for their mission trip. We then had a joyous service. One of my favorites of the year. We always end the service by singing The Happy Song and batting balloons around. It is so much fun to see the smiling faces that appear as the balloons appear. 

We came home for a quick nap. Makenzie was up to 1:30 AM and a malfunctioning carbon monoxide detector woke us up at 4:45 AM. It was a very short night. We then ended the day by going to our friends house, sharing a meal with them and celebrating their daughter's confirmation. A very nice day.

Hope all the readers of this blog had a very happy Easter!

Storms

Last night, we had our Good Friday service at church. During the middle of the sermon, one of our church's neighbors came in the door and got my daughter Mary's attention. He told her that there had been a possible tornado in the town to the west of us and there was a tornado warning for our county. Mary thanked the gentleman for the warning and came back into church to let us know what was going on. Fayette county being large, we decided to look on the computer. When we saw where the projected path of the tornado was we knew our church was in the direct path.

Mary and I went in to the church secretary who was sitting in the back pew to inform her of the situation. She wrote a note to Pastor and the next time he sat down, I went up, sat next to him, whispered there is a tornado warning and it is coming our way, then handed him the note. The next time he got up he informed the congregation of the tornado warning and told people they were welcome to leave or seek shelter. He calmly continued on with his sermon.

My husband, Chuck, went out to watch the sky so he could warn us if there was a funnel cloud coming towards us. The sky grew black and turned the eery color of green I have learned to recognize as possible tornado in the vicinity. We continued on with our Good Friday service with this sky as our backdrop. Somehow, it was very appropriate setting for the service that was at hand.

Finally, the clouds broke. Chuck came back in to say the impending storm had passed. We finished the service and came home. The storm had gone past our house also but there was no damage and our electricity was on. Because we live in a neighborhood with many mature trees, it is not unusual for a storm to knock out the electricity. All this made for an interesting evening.  

Salato Wildlife Center

I teach a science class to 1-3 graders at a home school co-op here locally on Thursday mornings. This semester we have been learning about various species of native Kentucky animals. Today, we took a field trip to Salato Wildlife Center in Frankfort, KY. It is run by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. It is meant as a way to encourage people to enjoy outdoor recreation and appreciate the animals and fauna that are native to Kentucky. The children as well as the adults had a great time.

We saw a variety of living native Kentucky animals from venomous snakes (Makenzie's favorite), fish and reptiles to a living elk, bison, black bear and bobcat. There are also interactive exhibits including a living stream that you can walk through a tunnel and see the fish. There are also short trails which represent different ecosystems within Kentucky.

The best part of this place is that it is free. There is a place where you can put donations if you wish. If you would like to learn more about this fun place, here is a link to their website. Salato Wildlife Center 

Honeysuckle

It is amazing to me how difficult it is to kill honeysuckle. Our church has an outdoor worship area that was carved out by our youth group several years ago from an area overgrown with honeysuckle. Last year, the current youth group and several church members spent time cutting the honeysuckle back in order to contain it. Yesterday, Mary and I went down to this same area to check on how it was doing and spent a good hour pulling and cutting back all the new honeysuckle starts from last years trimmings. The idea is to keep the area open and plant native bushes and plants to eventually naturalize the area and win the war against the honeysuckle. We planted some things last year but they did not do well because of the drought we had. This year, we are trying again. We started with 2 rhododendrum bushes. We hope to add more as well as some native plants. Time will tell whether we win the war over the ever advancing honeysuckle. Wish us luck!

Bernheim Forest and Arboretum

On Sunday, Chuck and I went to Bernheim Forest and Arboretum. It was our first time visiting this beautiful place. Admission was $5 per car and this place is well worth the small price. Our first stop was the Visitor's Center. It is fairly new and is LEED Platinum certified. LEED certification is for buildings that are environmentally friendly. Platinum is the highest rating. The inside of the building is open and well lit from natural light. There is an information desk, interpretive area and small gift shop. We picked up a map of the park which included sites as well as trails.

We decided to go check out the forest area and the Canopy Tree Walk. It is a short walk out to an overlook area that goes at the level of the surrounding trees. We then decided to take the Iron Ore Hill Loop. It was a nicely marked trail with little traffic. It climbed up and down the different ridge areas. We enjoyed seeing some of the wildflowers. There were also a few small stream crossings that were easily accomplished by jumping across or stepping on a few well placed rocks.

After our hike, we then walked around the two ponds that are by the arboretum.area. We stood on a bridge and watched several turtles swimming around. It was fun to watch their antics. We enjoyed the wonderfully sweet smelling trees and bushes that were around the area in full bloom. We then decided it was time to head home due to the time.

We definitely will be returning. There were several areas we did not even get to see or explore. There is a pretty lake we saw from a distance, the arboretum area and most of all several more trails. This was a great place to visit and it is worth a day stop if you are traveling in the Kentucky area. If you live nearby take a day or two to explore this great park. 

Road Less Traveled

One thing that Chuck and I have always enjoyed doing is taking the back roads and exploring an area versus the interstate. Today, we decided to go to Bernheim Forest outside of Bardstown, KY. We decided to take the back way. We drove out highway 62 then up 48 then across on 509. Finally, we took the last couple miles on 245 which took us to the main entrance of the arboretum. It was a pretty drive and the weather was sunny. The trip took us through Versailles and Lawrenceburg. After that, most of the trip was countryside. Farms, rolling hills and streams. It was relaxing and enjoyable.

We seem to spend so much time rushing to get to the next place sometimes, it seems that we forget about getting off the fast pace, slowing down and just relaxing. Today's drive reminded me of that. Tomorrow it is back to the real world but at least today I got to enjoy some quiet, peaceful time with my husband and see some new territory.  

OIl Used for Food Production

I have heard that one reason to buy local was because of the amount of oil and gas that is used to transport our food. The carbon footprint on non local food is very large. I knew about the oil used to transport our food from far away places so we can have fresh fruits and vegetables of our choice at any time during the season but forgot about the many hidden oil and carbon footprint creation in our food process. Here are just a few:

1) Energy used in making and transporting the synthetic fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides.
2) Energy used in making the packaging that comes on all of our food products including the plastic bags we put produce in and the bags we bring home our groceries in each time.
3) Energy to make all the processed food we eat as well as transportation of raw ingredients to the factory to make them as well as transporting them to the stores.
4) Energy used to make the planes, trucks, tractors and other equipment to grow and transport the food.

As you can well imagine the list could go on and on. The main point of this is that there is a lot of hidden carbon generation in our food as we eat it today. Here are some practical ways to cut down on your food carbon footprint.

1) Decrease consumption of "convenience" foods. Most of them are not that good for you anyway.
2) Eat fresh vegetables and fruits in season.
3) Buy your fruits and vegetables at local Farmer's Market or from the farmer's themselves.
4) Grow as many of your own fruits and vegetables.
5) Look for or ask for local foods within your stores.
6) Look for local sources of food.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

These are one of my favorite comfort foods. Had not made them for a while but made them yesterday. I wanted to share the recipe with all of you. Instead of quick oats, I take my mixture of regular oats and barley flakes, throw them in the food processor and make them the same size as quick oats.

Here is the recipe.

OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES

1 cup butter, softened
¾ cup white sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup white flour
¾ cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup raisins

Cream butter and sugars until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla until fluffy. Stir together flour, soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Gradually beat into mixture. Stir in oats and raisins. Bake 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees or until golden brown. Cool slightly. Remove from sheet to wire rack to cool completely.

Dandelions

I know many people despise dandelions but I have always enjoyed the bright yellow color they bring to the monochrome green lawn. Mary and now Makenzie have brought me many bouquets of them from the yard. I know the greens, flower and root are all edible but have never tried them. Dandelions are not native to the USA but were brought over to help feed the imported bees the colonists brought with them as well as provide early spring greens for themselves.

This year, I have found a new use for the dandelions that dare to occupy my garden and flower beds. My rabbits and chickens love them. I seem to have an overabundance of them this year. I pull them up and then give them to the rabbits or chickens to eat. Thumper, my daughter's pet rabbit, loves them. She eagerly waits for me at the door of her hutch when she sees me bringing her a handful of these delicacies and she quickly gobbles them down. My chicken yolks are turning a bright orange from all the betocarotene the chickens are eating. Before adding that weed killer this year, think about the beauty of those pretty, yellow flowers. 

Ronald McDonald House

Last night, the homeschooling group Mary participates in and I teach spent the night preparing a meal for the families at the Ronald McDonald House (RMD) here in Lexington. As I stated in an earlier post, our family has used the Cleveland and Cincinnati RMD in the past as we have sought treatment for our youngest daughter. We have been very blessed by both of these organizations. One of the things all RMDs offer is free meals to families that are usually prepared by volunteer organizations. This helps the families cut down their costs which can be overwhelming in the stress of serious illness of a child. The meals are served in a group kitchen and families are encouraged to sit together while they eat.

I would encourage any group looking for a way to help in the community to seriously consider preparing a meal. The procedure is fairly simple. Here is what we did. I looked on the local RMD website here. I found the phone number and e-mail of volunteer coordinator and then contacted her. We scheduled a date that did not already have someone serving that evening and was open for us. She then sent us a confirmation e-mail with some menu suggestions. The students then planned what we were going to make. Next, I e-mailed all the people involved in our organization the quantities of food ingredients we needed to bring and everyone signed up to bring something for the meal.

Last night, we all arrived at 5:00 (dinner is served at 7:00 here locally). We all brought the ingredients we had agreed to bring. All food must be prepared there or in a commercial kitchen ahead of time because of health department guidelines. Everyone took a task to do including keeping up with the cleaning of our prep dishes as we cooked. We set up the food and table service on their kitchen countertop area in a buffet line style. At 7:00 the families came and ate it. We ate along with them. Afterwards, we put away the food, cleaned up the serving dishes and wiped down the countertops. Families do their own dishes from the meal. I probably can speak for all that it was a very rewarding evening. Several families and staff members expressed their gratitude about the meal. We enjoyed some fellowship time together as a group and the work was not hard at all.

I would encourage you if you live in a city where a RMD is located. Check into preparing a meal. It is fairly simple service event to organize and do. I think you will find it to be a very rewarding experience.

Attracting Birds

As I sit here writing, I am watching a bird pick up loose straw from my yard. I am guessing it is using it to make its nest for the season. Yesterday morning, I watched a small bird fly back and forth for quite a while collecting that loose straw. The straw is left over from where we had to reseed several places in our yard from last years severe drought. I used to put string, loose straw and other such items out for the birds this time of year to help with their nest building. I had gotten away from it the last couple of years being so busy trying to get the garden in and finishing out the school year with the girls. It was a great way to attract birds to the yard. I might have to try that again. It is also great way to recycle those old strings and other similar items. The best part is watching all the many birds who also eat the many bugs in the lawn, garden and air.  

Asparagus

Last night, we ate our first asparagus of the season from our patch. It was so sweet and tender. I planted the patch three years ago so this is the first year I can cut it the full season. It still is not huge but am hoping it continues to expand over the years. I first was intimadated about planting asparagus after reading all of the instructions but I found it to not be as difficult as it all seemed. Here is what I have found out with my patch.

The first and most important thing is place it somewhere that you will remember where it is and will not plant something over it. I have mine located next to a fence that edges one side of my garden. The next thing is to buy good one year old crowns from a local nursery or reputable seed catalog. I have both purple and green asparagus and like both of them. After obtaining the crowns, plant them in a trench according to package directions. Keep filling the trench as it grows until it is plant level. Asparagus must be planted deep enough or the spears will come up spindly.

After your asparagus is started, you need to get it established. That means no cutting the first year. The second year you can do a few light cuttings. The third year you can harvest a full 8 weeks. One of the farmers at the local farmer's market told me when the spears consistently get thinner than your little pinkie finger, then it is time to stop harvesting. The plants will then send up spears which eventually get pretty red berries on them. The only other thing to do is once the fronds die back in the fall, cut them to the ground to help with pest control.

When the spears first come up in the spring, they look like the ones you buy in the store. They will be of different widths. Break them off at the ground to harvest them. Our favorite way to cook them is to put a little olive oil in a small pan or aluminum foil, put a little sea salt over the top of them and roast them until just tender. You can also put them on the grill this way. Just make sure they are fully enclosed so they do not get too hard. Eat and enjoy. You will not believe the difference in taste between your home grown ones and store bought.   

Family Visit

Abby petting yearlings

Yesterday, Chuck's sister, Tina and her family stopped by for a visit. They live on the coast of Virginia so we do not get to see them very often. They had spent the week in Indy with Chuck's parents and stopped by for the afternoon and evening on their way back to Virginia. It is always surprising how much our neice and nephew grow up in the time periods between visits.

Tyler, Chuck, Tina petting yearlings

We had an enjoyable day. We looked at our new rabbits and saw our chickens. I took them on a tour of all the new landscaping that we had done since last year. Next, we went to our friends house to peek in on the baby chicks who have almost doubled in size in the last 1 1/2 weeks. We then took them out to the horse farm friend where our friend works to see the new babies that have been born in past couple of months. They got to pet and watch them. Then we left the children in the capable hands of our daughter Mary and went out to have some uninterrupted adult conversation. It all came to an end way too fast.

I always enjoy their visits and going out to see them in Virginia. We are hoping to make it out there sometime this summer. We will have to see how things go. 

City Chickens Can Save Taxpayer Money

I have started reading a book I found in the library called City Chicks by Patricia Forman. In the first chapter she tells about the city of Diest in Flanders, Belgium. They put a line item in the city budget to provide 3 laying hens for free to 2000 households to reduce their trash collection fees. There collection fees were so high, they were expecting to save up to $600000 annually by this program. Yes, you have read it correctly, a city actually put in their budget to buy chickens for 2000 households. How can that save taxpayer dollars? I had to investigate further.

In an average city, about 25% of trash that goes to the landfill is considered biomass-grass clippings, coffee grounds, food waste, etc. Chickens eat their body weight in food each month. They are omnivores which means they eat both plant and animal material. An average chicken weighs about 8 lbs. In an average city about 5% of households can be expected to have a small flock of chickens. That would be 5415 households here in Lexington according to 2000 census figures (latest ones available). Trash collection costs about $7000000 annually in budget and approximately 190,000 tons are hauled off each year. Here are some figures.

3 chickens per household x 8 lbs month = 24 lbs food waste diverted
24 lbs x 12 months =288 lbs year
288 lbs x 5415 households =1559520 lbs/year diverted (779.76 tons/year)
$7000000/190000 tons=$36.84/ton average cost to tax payers for landfill bound trash
$36.84 x 779.76 tons/year diverted=$28,726.35/year savings

This seems like a small amount but that is just using 3 chickens. Most people have between 3-6 chickens. But in tight budgets, almost $29,000 can help pay a police officer or fireman's salary. Just by allowing to have chickens within city limits (at no cost to them), cities can save money on their waste collection budgets. The real benefit here is the amount of trash not going to the landfill. It also does not take into account compost created from excrement. The natural pesticide and herbicide jobs they perform for your garden and yard as they gobble up bugs and seeds from your garden and yard. Having chickens in the city provides more than eggs. It helps divert some of the waste out of our land fills. 

Valley View Ferry

About 15 minutes from our house is a small car ferry that takes people across the Kentucky River. It has been in existence for over 200 years. When I was doing home health in Madison County many years ago I would take it home at least once a week. At that time the original family still owned it and it had the distinction of being the oldest continuous business in the state of Kentucky. At the end of the time I did home health in the area, the elderly gentleman developed health problems and could no longer run the ferry. There was not another family member to take it over so it was shut down. Many people used the ferry to go back and forth on the river. In addition, it was a popular tourist place so eventually the three counties (Madison, Jessamine and Fayette) that meet at the at spot bought the ferry and reopened it. They now jointly run it.

We now frequently take this ferry across the river to go to our friends farm in Richmond. Although it is the shortest distance, it is not always the shortest time. We love going that way though. At night or when the river is too high we will take the interstate but the ferry is our favorite. The drive down to the ferry is scenic and helps me slow down when I need to relax. I love the few minutes we spend on the boat going across the river. This is a frequent place we take out of town company. On the Fayette/Jessamine County side there is now a park where you can stop and overlook the river as well as have a picnic. Many people will do this on a pretty day. The best part is the boat travels across the river in the middle of the Kentucky River Palisades which are beautiful any time of year. 

If you live in the area and have not been across the ferry, it is worth a drive down. You can access it from either of the counties via Tates Creek Road. If you are visiting put it on your agenda. The ferry is free.

Spring Weather

It has been a beautiful day here in Lexington. It is 74 degrees and sunny. After church today, Mary and I stayed for a little bit to get the flowerbeds back into shape after the winter. We then came home and have been working here in the yard ever since. We reinstalled 1/2 inch hardware cloth in the new bunny hutch floor. We found the 1/4 inch we put in does not let the rabbit droppings go down automatically. We then moved the chicken coop to a fresh place in the garden. The last thing I will work on tonight is getting the rest of the broccoli planted and hopefully get a start on the second round of onions and potatoes. Tomorrow afternoon and Tuesday we are supposed to have rain so I am trying to get as much as planted as possible so it gets watered in well. Hope you are all having a good day no matter what your weather. 

Habitat Restore

They have opened a Habitat Restore close by our house. It is a great second hand store to support because all the proceeds go to support Habitat for Humanity. Habitat is a nonprofit organization who builds homes for those who would not normally be able to buy their own home. Their mission is to end poverty housing and homelessness around the world. The houses are not simply given away though. The family must make a down payment, pay monthly mortgage payments and volunteer hundreds of hours to help build their home as well as others. All mortgage payments are put back into the habitat fund and then used again to help another family. This is a great program. and is world wide. If you would like more information on how Habitat for Humanity works, follow this link to their home page. Habitat for Humanity

All proceeds from the Restore go to Habitat for Humanity. They carry gently used furniture and appliances. In addition, they have light and water fixtures, cabinetry, bathroom accessories and lots of different types of building materials. Not only do you support Habitat with your purchase but you keep these used items from the landfills. It is a win-win situation. Next time, you need some building materials check your local store out. It will be well worth your time. Also, instead of throwing away a gently used item that is listed above, take it to your local store to donate.

Eagle Cam

My friend sent me this link today. I wanted to share it with you. It is a live feed webcam of an eagle nest in Decorah, Iowa. The 3 eggs were laid the end of February and are due to hatch today (or the next couple of days). It has been interesting to watch. Thought I would share the link so you could also enjoy it. Looking forward to seeing the babies and watching the parents care for them over the next weeks.

Eagle Cam