My Old Man. . .

Farm Boy had a birthday this week.

We got to have a quick kid-less dinner on the day and then some cake before we put the runts to bed.
Yesterday I made his birthday dinner and presented him with his card.
Morgan picked him his favorite wildflowers (daisy fleabane), which smell delightful!




 When I was 19 years old I met a man that would become my best friend. 
Three years later he would become my husband. 
Eight years ago Morgan made him the father of my children. 
Two months ago he became my Farm Boy in earnest. 
Today he continues to be the hardest working, most dedicated man I know.
 I get to share my life with this amazing man.

Happy Birthday, Love!!!

Flower Card. . .

I made an attempt last week to get my craft room organized a bit so that I could put together a few birthday cards. . .my sister-in-law's was WAY overdue, but I will do a separate post for her just to make sure she has had time to get her card in the mail.

I made this card for my mamma.





I wanted the card to match her gift. . .


I like things that are matchy-matchy. It is one of my obsessions.




I saw this vase at Anthropology and knew it needed to be in her home.

She loves flowers, and birds, and babies and her puppies

Happy Birthday, Mom!!!

The Hands Of A Farmer. . .

What do you think of when you picture the hands of  a farmer?

Dirty

Rough

Grease Stained

Calloused

While all those things may be true, perhaps the most crucial is the ability to be. . .

Gentle

Protective

Tender

Safe




My man's hands are all of those things.

I was awoken from my nap to the sounds of "peeping" coming from my kitchen.
Earlier in the day I had told Farm Boy about one of our girls that I thought wasn't doing well.
I had noticed the day before that she seemed sleepy and slightly smaller than the rest of the chicks, but when I went down this morning you could tell that she was noticeably smaller (they are getting bigger everyday) and kept huddling in the  edges of their box.

He brought her up to the house and filled a small cup with water and dipped her beak into it.

She drank, and drank, and drank some more. . .It appears that this little girl has not followed the lead of the other chicks and figured out the water system that we are using, so she hasn't been drinking. It is amazing that just the lack of water would affect her size so much.

After she drank her fill several times she perked up quite a bit and was content to rest on Farm Boy's arm and "peep" away happily.

Our plan is to check on her several times a day and make sure she gets fresh water along with trying to teach her how to use the water-er that the other girls are doing quite well with. . .you can read about the technical stuff here on the Even Meadow site.

No matter what happens, little fluffy chick, you can rest knowing that you are in good hands.

Meet Our New Peeps. . .

After reading and studying and talking and planning we got in the Jeep yesterday, drove to the feed store and became farmers.

We welcomed 12 little peeps into our ever expanding family!



There are 10 Golden Comets and 2 Rhode Island Reds
(they are the two darker chicks on either side of the feeder).

Hello, girls!

When Golden Comets hatch the males are white and the females are yellow, so we know for sure that we brought home ten girls.

Eat up ladies! You gotta get big and fat and start layin' mamma some eggs!
If you do the math we will most likely end up with about a dozen eggs a day. . .
I imagine I will start being called the"egg lady" as I peddle my eggs around town.

So, what do you do for now with 12 chicks?

 

 

You stare at them. . . a lot. . .

And you keep them warm, and fed and watered. . .and away from the cats. . .

Bircher Müesli

It is the special treat that sounds weird, looks weird, but my kids dance with joy when we have some in the fridge.

 My mom used to make this for us growing up and since no one else I had ever met had heard of it I was starting to suspect that she made it up. I had heard of  müesli which is a mix of oats, nuts and dried fruit that you eat like granola sprinkled on stuff, but I never quite knew where the "Bicher" came from. Turns out it is actually the name of the guy who invented müesli. He was a Swiss doctor that went against current turn of the 20th century beliefs and was eating raw fruits and grains as a healthy start to the day. People thought he was a quack, but we now know that he was just ahead of his time.

And that concludes the history lesson. . .

While doing my research I couldn't find a similar recipe to my mom's, but I think that I like hers the best. I guess she did make it up after all!

Most of the other recipes use milk instead of yogurt, no fresh fruit and have the addition of nuts. . .

I don't do nuts in my food, but if you do then feel free. . .



Here's what we use around here. . .the big tub of vanilla yogurt, strawberries, blueberries, banana, raisins, apple and old fashioned oats.

 Dump the yogurt into a big bowl. Add fruit diced into bite sized pieces (except for the raisins and blueberries, 'cause they are already bite sized. . .but I'll bet you figured that one out on your own)

Bring on the oats!

Give it all a stir and then. . this is crucial. . .put it in the fridge for at least two hours. . .

This is the step that is torture for the kids, but it allows the oats to soften, the raisins to get a teensy bit plump and the strawberries to give everything a slightly pink tinge.

When it is done, dish it up and enjoy!

Feel free to change up the fruit to what your family likes, but I personally wouldn't eat it without the apples and raisins. . . they make my tummy happy.


Here is the handy dandy printable recipe!

PS. We normally end up eating this for lunch, or an afternoon snack, but if you had made it the day before it would also make a lovely breakfast. . .it is versatile like that. . .but I have been known to eat Korean dumplings for breakfast, so I might not be the best judge of what people like to eat for breakfast! Ha!