Category Archives: Spring

Out with the Old…

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Well, old Omelette  is gone. She was our first ever chicken here at the old homestead. We got her and Black Chicken and together they were Salt and Pepper. Pepper died so we renamed “Salt” to Omelette. She was an ornery old chicken and we never were able to hold her or pet her since she was not hand raised. She never trusted us or really even came close to us, but everyone lived harmoniously. She is even the chicken on the header of this website!

But ever since she started laying strange, shell-less eggs, then stopped laying completely, and finally being mean and broody on a nest of unfertilized eggs, we decided she was ready for a new home. We posted an ad on Craigslist and found a home where chickens like her can live out the rest of their days on a farm scratching around.

The person even told us to come visit the farm and see her there. You never know if they are actually going to eat her, but that is always a valid option. I eat meat, I even eat chickens. I just haven’t gotten up to the actual killing part. So this worked out really well.

…And in with the New!

Britton said if we got rid of her that we could get some new chicks. That was another motivating factor. We thought we would just get 2 more, but the first store didn’t have any Ameraucanas/Americanas, so now we have three! They are so sweet.We have a Barred Plymouth Rock, another Leghorn (Omelette 2), and the Ameraucana. Take a look!


The three chicks on a chair


Two in a bowl -Yin Yang -esque


One miniature Omelette

 

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Josephine B. Jones Park in Greeley

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Britton and I love to take walks. We try to walk for 20-40 minutes every day. It’s a great way to spend time together, vent and decompress from our day and of course get some exercise. Usually we take Schnoodle and go around Ramseier Farm Park as it is next to our neighborhood. It is a great park and everyone is out with their kids and dogs. And often when we are just driving around we go to Bittersweet Park or Sandborn (Westlake) Park. We also absolutely love Glenmere Park. That is probably our favorite.

But sometimes going to the same old parks gets, well, old. Today was lovely weather so after we did a few errands we decided to take a walk. But where? I told Britton I wanted to go to a park I hadn’t ever been. Was that possible in Greeley? He remembered a park that he had been to as a kid, and I’m so glad he did. It’s called the Josephine Jones Park in Greeley after an active Greeleyite. Here’s a little history of Josephine B. Jones.


Me at Josephine Jones Park

It is a beautiful expanse of xeriscaped land (apprx 36 acres) that stretches from the former home of Jones at 2631 52nd Ave Ct in Greeley (now the Greeley Forestry Department’s headquarters) all the way nearly to Highway 34 on the south. It crosses the ditch and has a small pond, playground area and a gravel walking path. Quite a few joggers were zipping past us enjoying less impact on their joints and the natural area.


Park looking southeast toward the pond and playground equipment

It was a happy surprise similar to Houston Gardens or Evans Riverside Park. I definitely think we’ll be back! What a nice park.

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Hen House Migration

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Twice a year we have a migration of the hen house. The chicken coop goes in the greenhouse in the fall through winter and it comes out spring through summer. It works out well because inside the greenhouse it can be 40 degrees warmer than the ambient air in the winter when we aren’t growing anything in there. If it’s still cold in the day or snow’s on the ground they have a dry spot to peck around in. It still gets cold at night, but with the coop inside the greenhouse with a heat lamp and blanket insulation really our chickens are more spoiled than most.


Britton moving the coop with the help of Kitty (standing looking into the coop), Greenfoot and Football

But then we have to drag it back out (by we I mean Britton of course) in the spring. This is nice because we get our greenhouse back, but it also kind of stinks because that means opening them up in the morning and shutting them in once the sun goes down. We didn’t use to do that but we learned our lesson after the hen house attack last summer.

But all the hassle is ok because like daylight savings, it’s a sign of finally moving out from under winter’s long grip, and I’m all right with that!


Another sign of spring: white crocus

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Good Food in February

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February is a hard month to get through. Even if you have a few nice days, you know that spring is not quite here yet and so there is no sense in doing any yard work. It’s still a little too early to start the seedlings and so all you can do is wait it out. At least the chickens have started laying again and we know spring is around the corner.

So with all this inside time, we’ve been cooking up some really good food!

We’ve had Mexican food night with tacos and burritos filled with seasoned lean natural beef, refried beans, sliced red bell peppers, jalapeños, lettuce, cheese, whole wheat tortillas from a local Mexican food shop, avocado slices and greek yogurt (same great taste as sour cream with more protein and no fat! I highly recommend it!)


Britton enjoying his Mexican food meal

We’ve also made chicken with mushrooms, a veggie mix, cous cous and sliced oranges.


Chicken dinner

I’ve been working as an interpreter with a nutritionist at work and she’s been teaching people the “plate method”. This chicken dinner is a great example of this. Take a small plate (this is a salad plate), fill half with vegetables (the mixed veggies, mushrooms and oranges), one forth with a starch (cous cous) and one forth protein (chicken breast). Tastes great and good nutrition to boot!


Our weekends are our favorite for food because we can lazily sleep in and then make a great breakfast. Britton had been making some fantastic pancakes, and so I thought waffles would be really good continuation of this. We didn’t have a waffle iron, however. So we went down to a thrift store on their 50% off day and picked one up for about $4! Now we’ve been eating waffles every weekend (and sometimes I’ll have one for lunch if we have leftover batter).


Waffle with strawberries, blueberries and our chicken’s egg

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