I know I haven't posted much lately, life has pretty much taken over, and with the holiday's just around the corner, I wanted to let all of you know that, you can still keep up with all the comings and goings in our life by checking out my husbands blog when I'm too busy to blog.
www.heirloomhomestead.com
Monday, October 24, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
Things Have Not Been Pleasant
As I write this, I think back to the past few weeks and all we have encountered on our little homestead here in Wescosville. I think a part of me has been hesitant to really think about what has happend, one reason being, I could have avoided it, second reason being, it hurts to much to think about it.
We said goodbye to our girls, and Pat a few weeks ago, and it's been hard not having them around. Every time I'm at my kitchen sink I look over to see them in their pen, and they are not there.
When the hurricanes his earlier this summer, about six weeks ago, our lower yard became the resting spot for the deluge of rain. Honestly, it doesn't bother me that much, not as much as it bothers others. We haven't been inconvenienced by the water sitting in the yard, but our neighbor certainly doesn't appreciate the new pond outside his window as he's trying to sell his house. That being the main issue. Ever since the lower macungie deluge of development, our yard has become the spot where the water sits. The developer who built the homes behind us gave no concern to where the rainwater would go, if it rained really good, hence the pond.
This past rain, from these two hurricanes, has been the most rainfall in 100 years.....our home is 102 years old. We actually had the kids in a raft boating around the water, because there is that much water.
I was home one day with a sick kid when the letter came in the mail from the township, telling us we were not aloud to have the chickens. The letter was vague, it was hard to tell if they meant the amount of chickens or just chickens overall. We had 6, are only suppose to have 4 per acre, but I misunderstood and thought it was 5, Tractor supply only sold in sets of 6 so it's all I could do to buy six, with the thought that one might not make it....well, they all survived....lol.
Now back to the letter. When we got the letter, we urgently put feelers out to see who would be willing to take our one Roo and a hen, luckily we found a great woman named Dawn who took them both, they are now free ranging. We supplied the township with a letter telling them that we are now down to 4 and all should be ok, but no, all is not ok, we couldn't have them at all because we are 10,000 sq feet short of an acre. Even though our pen is in the center of our property, more than 100 feet on all sides away from any neighbor, we could not keep our girls without a fight that would hurt us financially.
So I checked with Dawn, and she was willing to take the other 4 to free range with the other two. It was very hard, and still is, to let them go. They were my girls, they sat on my lap, they ate from my hands and they were always anxious to let me know when they left something in the coop for me.
It wasn't until a few weeks ago that I was able to figure out what really went down with our chickens. Turns out, instead of our neighbor coming to us first, about figuring out what to do with this water, he went right to the township, who spent the past six weeks in my yard, back and forth, watching the water situation. See, our township won't lift a finger to help dispose of the water, they tell us they are broke, but they are worried about a west nile outbreak, so they keep checking to see where the level is at. That's why my chickens had to go, not that they disturbed anyone (although the Roo might have) but because they were in my yard and saw them, I had to get rid of them.
I can fight this, I can pay probably over $1000 to hire an attorney and file the proper paperwork and see what can be done, which I may still do, but what I am also doing is making the situation know to all who will listen. Homesteading is a way of life, it's what people do now more than ever with the skyrocketing price of food. We grow our food, can it, share it, it's the way things use to be! We need to make homesteading the new way of life, we need to communicate more with our neighbors, share what we have, have an understanding about each other to make it through one of the worst economic times in history. People, things are not getting better, they are going to get much worse before they even make an attempt to turn around.
In the mean time, I have a new pond to boat in, possibly an ice skating rink this winter and I have the prospects of two new pets in our house, my son has been putting together a big guinea pig cage for a while now......I'm sure there is more news to come.
If you would like to follow our story, I've created a facebook page about our chickens, it's called "Bring our chickens back" and you can follow all the updates on what's going on in our township of lower macungie, pa and how we intend to get our girls back.
We said goodbye to our girls, and Pat a few weeks ago, and it's been hard not having them around. Every time I'm at my kitchen sink I look over to see them in their pen, and they are not there.
When the hurricanes his earlier this summer, about six weeks ago, our lower yard became the resting spot for the deluge of rain. Honestly, it doesn't bother me that much, not as much as it bothers others. We haven't been inconvenienced by the water sitting in the yard, but our neighbor certainly doesn't appreciate the new pond outside his window as he's trying to sell his house. That being the main issue. Ever since the lower macungie deluge of development, our yard has become the spot where the water sits. The developer who built the homes behind us gave no concern to where the rainwater would go, if it rained really good, hence the pond.
This past rain, from these two hurricanes, has been the most rainfall in 100 years.....our home is 102 years old. We actually had the kids in a raft boating around the water, because there is that much water.
I was home one day with a sick kid when the letter came in the mail from the township, telling us we were not aloud to have the chickens. The letter was vague, it was hard to tell if they meant the amount of chickens or just chickens overall. We had 6, are only suppose to have 4 per acre, but I misunderstood and thought it was 5, Tractor supply only sold in sets of 6 so it's all I could do to buy six, with the thought that one might not make it....well, they all survived....lol.
Now back to the letter. When we got the letter, we urgently put feelers out to see who would be willing to take our one Roo and a hen, luckily we found a great woman named Dawn who took them both, they are now free ranging. We supplied the township with a letter telling them that we are now down to 4 and all should be ok, but no, all is not ok, we couldn't have them at all because we are 10,000 sq feet short of an acre. Even though our pen is in the center of our property, more than 100 feet on all sides away from any neighbor, we could not keep our girls without a fight that would hurt us financially.
So I checked with Dawn, and she was willing to take the other 4 to free range with the other two. It was very hard, and still is, to let them go. They were my girls, they sat on my lap, they ate from my hands and they were always anxious to let me know when they left something in the coop for me.
It wasn't until a few weeks ago that I was able to figure out what really went down with our chickens. Turns out, instead of our neighbor coming to us first, about figuring out what to do with this water, he went right to the township, who spent the past six weeks in my yard, back and forth, watching the water situation. See, our township won't lift a finger to help dispose of the water, they tell us they are broke, but they are worried about a west nile outbreak, so they keep checking to see where the level is at. That's why my chickens had to go, not that they disturbed anyone (although the Roo might have) but because they were in my yard and saw them, I had to get rid of them.
I can fight this, I can pay probably over $1000 to hire an attorney and file the proper paperwork and see what can be done, which I may still do, but what I am also doing is making the situation know to all who will listen. Homesteading is a way of life, it's what people do now more than ever with the skyrocketing price of food. We grow our food, can it, share it, it's the way things use to be! We need to make homesteading the new way of life, we need to communicate more with our neighbors, share what we have, have an understanding about each other to make it through one of the worst economic times in history. People, things are not getting better, they are going to get much worse before they even make an attempt to turn around.
In the mean time, I have a new pond to boat in, possibly an ice skating rink this winter and I have the prospects of two new pets in our house, my son has been putting together a big guinea pig cage for a while now......I'm sure there is more news to come.
If you would like to follow our story, I've created a facebook page about our chickens, it's called "Bring our chickens back" and you can follow all the updates on what's going on in our township of lower macungie, pa and how we intend to get our girls back.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
It's Time For Eggs!
The time has finally come where our girls are starting to lay eggs. I went out this morning and found evidence of three possible eggs that were laid, most likely overnight, but the eggs are still not strong enough to form an egg. One of the photos you can obviously see that there was an egg but it was paper thin, the other photo is totally scrambled.....just wish it was scrambled in my frying pan.....
The girls were so proud of what they tried to do, when I took the lid off the coop they all hopped in, were talking up a storm and crowding around me as if to say "Mom, did you see what we did?"
It's an exciting time here on our homestead!
The girls were so proud of what they tried to do, when I took the lid off the coop they all hopped in, were talking up a storm and crowding around me as if to say "Mom, did you see what we did?"
It's an exciting time here on our homestead!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Where do I start?
It's almost the end of July, and I feel like I need at least two more months so I can feel like I've got something accomplished. I don't forsee any canning in my future this year, I'm a bit overwhelmed with all the other tasks I have to accomplish. Wishing I was Laura Ingalls and could spend the days, the 70 degree days, on my little farm getting everything just the way I like it.
The Chicken Coop is done, for the most part, with many kudos to my Dad for lending his expertise and tools, and my nephew Noah and my son Jake, they helped on Saturday's to get this job done and we are so happy it's done.
The kids love to play with the chickens, and the rooster, yeah, we have Pat, the unknown bird that is now known...we will fatten pat up and then....say goodbye...I don't want to upset my neighbors with a rooster.
We also have spent some time at our local baseball games, the Iron Pigs, last week we were given tickets to some VIP seats that we just loved, here is Jake enjoying the game.
We also have one summer birthday under our belt , Emma turned 10 in July and we celebrated by giving her a surprise Luau at her grandparents pool. We all had a great time and beautiful weather. Here is a photo of Emma celebrating in Sunday School.
I will try to update again soon, when I find time......anyone willing to give some of their time, I'll forward my address...lol
The Chicken Coop is done, for the most part, with many kudos to my Dad for lending his expertise and tools, and my nephew Noah and my son Jake, they helped on Saturday's to get this job done and we are so happy it's done.
The kids love to play with the chickens, and the rooster, yeah, we have Pat, the unknown bird that is now known...we will fatten pat up and then....say goodbye...I don't want to upset my neighbors with a rooster.
We also have spent some time at our local baseball games, the Iron Pigs, last week we were given tickets to some VIP seats that we just loved, here is Jake enjoying the game.
We also have one summer birthday under our belt , Emma turned 10 in July and we celebrated by giving her a surprise Luau at her grandparents pool. We all had a great time and beautiful weather. Here is a photo of Emma celebrating in Sunday School.
I will try to update again soon, when I find time......anyone willing to give some of their time, I'll forward my address...lol
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
The Work Keeps Coming
On the homestead that is. My girls (and one boy) need their run finished. We have the area somewhat fenced in now, have to put the top boards up and move the coop in to the spot so they can run around. It's been fun and motivating for me to get this done, I can't wait to sit and watch my girls run around and make noises....quiet noises...lol
The garden is growing, potatoes are really tall, tomatoes are in and the bunnies are everywhere.
I wish it was cooler out so I could spend more time in my yard, I'm not a fan of the heat, Scott isn't iether, so this isn't always fun but it has to get done.
The garden is growing, potatoes are really tall, tomatoes are in and the bunnies are everywhere.
I wish it was cooler out so I could spend more time in my yard, I'm not a fan of the heat, Scott isn't iether, so this isn't always fun but it has to get done.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Specialized For Children? Not Exactly
Everything started out fine, we knew she wasn't "critical" so we had no issues with those who seemed more urgent moving in quicker...we were doing our best to help her breath through her pain and encouraging her with our words and hugs, she seemed to get through the intial part pretty well.
I would say we spent about 15-20 minutes out in the waiting area total. Once we were taken back to the Children's ER, which means you walk through the normal ER, we were seen by a nurse pretty quickly, changed into an ADULT gown and were told by the nurse that the Dr. would be in shortly, that she didn't want to really poke around too much because the Dr. would do just that.
We sat in that room for an hour and a half, possibly a bit longer, before we saw the Dr., never once had a Dr. pop in to do a quick check, nothing.........I had to initially ask if she was aloud to use the bathroom because she had to pee, where they then place the cup in the toilet so she could give them a urine sample. That was probably half way through our stay.
We didn't get a Dr. into the room until I went out and voiced my opinion to the insane wait we had to endure, in a Children's ER that was not busy, all while we listend to nurses and whoever else was around discuss weekend plans, play with the other children in the ER, I think we counted 3.
Now, by the time the Dr. did come in, of course the pain was gone. The nurse mentioned twice while she was in and out telling us the Dr. would be in, that her white cell counts were elevated and she probably had a UTI, but that was it.
She did get some water and animal crackers to eat after the Dr. did finally see her, I think they wanted to see if the pain would come back with eating, since we were discharged after she ate they were not around to see that the pain did in fact come back after she ate, but they could have seen that if they would have stopped in the room earlier than 1 1/2 hours after we got there.
I guess you can tell my thoughts on this new ER are not good, and I probably won't be back in there any time soon with an emergency. I really should have used my gut instinct and gone to St. Lukes, but, I was thinking more about how quick I thought they could help my little girl, and I was wrong.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
I'm not leaving
But I have been asked to take part in a new blog format in my area and I made my first attempt yesterday. I would love your thoughts on how you think my first blog went....good or bad...
http://lowermacungie.patch.com/blog_posts/why-do-we-worry
http://lowermacungie.patch.com/blog_posts/why-do-we-worry
Friday, May 6, 2011
Monday, May 2, 2011
It's been a few weeks
And things are changing so fast in our house...it's hard to keep up anymore.
The chickens are growing like the weeds in my garden, the weeds I can do without, but my girls are getting their voices and plumping up nicely.
The new coop made it's way over from Pop Pop's house, Jake and Pop worked on it along with Jakes' cousin Noah, they did an awesome job and the girls love their new house.
Now in the midst of playing with our six new family members and tending to their needs, we are in the midst of soccer yet again. Jake has decided to play with his U12 team again from last year, they did a great job in the fall and have even more team members this year. Yesterday was our second game and for the second time we won 2-0, with Jake and Mike scoring the two goals from yesterday's game. So very proud of Jake and how far he has come.
Our weeks ahead look just as busy, with the school year coming to a close, spring concerts this week, Emma and her orchestra concert this week, it's looking to be a nice, exciting and adventure filled spring.
The chickens are growing like the weeds in my garden, the weeds I can do without, but my girls are getting their voices and plumping up nicely.
The new coop made it's way over from Pop Pop's house, Jake and Pop worked on it along with Jakes' cousin Noah, they did an awesome job and the girls love their new house.
Now in the midst of playing with our six new family members and tending to their needs, we are in the midst of soccer yet again. Jake has decided to play with his U12 team again from last year, they did a great job in the fall and have even more team members this year. Yesterday was our second game and for the second time we won 2-0, with Jake and Mike scoring the two goals from yesterday's game. So very proud of Jake and how far he has come.
Our weeks ahead look just as busy, with the school year coming to a close, spring concerts this week, Emma and her orchestra concert this week, it's looking to be a nice, exciting and adventure filled spring.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
It's been a week!
Since we got our chicks and what a difference a week makes. They went from furry little fuzz balls that chirp to strong winged fuzz balls that can yell!
We certainly are having a blast with them though, I especially love when you hold one and it feels all warm and secure in your hand and falls asleep, how sweet.
They moved into a huge water heater box a few days ago because we noticed them "lifting off" pretty often, so I wanted something with higher sides.
We also put a wooden dowel through the box for them to practice pirching.....and they love it.
Yesterday we wanted to clean the box out completely so we moved them back into their old clear box for a bit so we could do some cleaning, then once I realized I didn't have the room to clean out the box in the laundry room I decided to place the chicks in the living room while I cleaned....well...out came chazzy kitty to check out all the noise, I took a few pics but saved one of my favorites for this post, I'm sure my husband's blog will have more of the pics soon, I saved one especially for his blog as well.
We certainly are having a blast with them though, I especially love when you hold one and it feels all warm and secure in your hand and falls asleep, how sweet.
They moved into a huge water heater box a few days ago because we noticed them "lifting off" pretty often, so I wanted something with higher sides.
We also put a wooden dowel through the box for them to practice pirching.....and they love it.
Yesterday we wanted to clean the box out completely so we moved them back into their old clear box for a bit so we could do some cleaning, then once I realized I didn't have the room to clean out the box in the laundry room I decided to place the chicks in the living room while I cleaned....well...out came chazzy kitty to check out all the noise, I took a few pics but saved one of my favorites for this post, I'm sure my husband's blog will have more of the pics soon, I saved one especially for his blog as well.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
One day down!
We have completed our first day with our six new babies. I was one worried Momma last night though, checking the temp in their brooder box, making sure it didn't go too low , stayed up late doing wash so I could peek in on them and adjust their light if need be. They seem to have done well overnight, they were all asleep when I came down this AM.
I noticed the pine shavings were pretty wet, they are messy birds, love to get wet and make a mess of their water feeder, I had to shovel out the pine shavings and add fresh ones this morning.
Also had to check some vents, two of them were kind of messy, they had a nice warm cloth on their bums to clean them off, then they also had messy belly's, fixed that as well, the funny part was as soon as the warm cloth went on their belly, they fell asleep in your hand. They really are the sweetest little things, will definitely be enjoying their smallness the next few weeks, they grow up fast.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Chirp Chirp Chirp
Monday, March 28, 2011
Chick time!
Tonight we begin our chick adventure. Supplies are needed before we bring those cute little chicks home, so off to tractor supply we go to find everything we need to keep them warm, fed and happy until they can go out into their new coop currently being built by Jake and Pop Pop.
The kids are excited at the thoughts of 5 new friends living on our property, and mom is excited for fresh eggs for baking just in time for the Holiday's.
Will post photos of our chick adventure so you can see just how much fun were having......
We really need Tractor Supply to be able to keep the chicks in stock, seems they are a big seller!
Now what to do with Chaz and Izzie, our two cats..lol
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
On the hunt
For all the chicken facts again. Seems the kids and I have the chicken bug once again, always happens come spring. I've emailed the township and am waiting for word, figure it best to go straight to the officials for the yes or no on chickens.
We picked up our potato starters this weekend in Lancaster County, as well as our onion sets and peas, last night we found heirloom tomato seeds locally that I will start this week. Looks like the planning has begun and we are so looking forward to growing alot of our own food again.
The kids have been informed that if gas prices keep going up, there will be less visits to the grandparents this summer to swim, unless of course the grandparents want to keep them over night, then we don't have a problem, but our neighbor has already offered her pool to the kids and since we will have the garden and possibly chickens to tend to, I'm all for staying in the comfort of my surroundings at home and working my land to benefit us all.
If anyone out there reading this has any tips or advice from chicken world, feel free to post here, all the advice is welcome.
We picked up our potato starters this weekend in Lancaster County, as well as our onion sets and peas, last night we found heirloom tomato seeds locally that I will start this week. Looks like the planning has begun and we are so looking forward to growing alot of our own food again.
The kids have been informed that if gas prices keep going up, there will be less visits to the grandparents this summer to swim, unless of course the grandparents want to keep them over night, then we don't have a problem, but our neighbor has already offered her pool to the kids and since we will have the garden and possibly chickens to tend to, I'm all for staying in the comfort of my surroundings at home and working my land to benefit us all.
If anyone out there reading this has any tips or advice from chicken world, feel free to post here, all the advice is welcome.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Sad day for our Country
The saddest part about this whole shooting in Arizona, in my own personal opinion, is the disregard by people of just how devastating this shooting is, when their focus is on how, when and who reported what.
I'm tired of arguing with people and trying to make them see that their simple mindedness is just insane when we are hearing about six people dying because of some off the wall 22 year old....oh, but who reported it first, and who reported she died, and who reported this....get over yourselves already.
Reporters are on the scene to report what they HEAR, every single news station reported that this Congresswoman died....no butts about it....it wasn't until maybe a half hour afterwards that the stations started pulling back on that report and correcting what was reported, yet also stating that they are reporting what they are TOLD from the scene of the incident.
A 9 year old girl died yesterday. My daughter is 9 years old, this little girl who died was studying our political system in her school and a neighbor of hers thought it would be interesting to go to this event...she gave her life, an innocent child...did nothing to this whack job who shot all these people. It kills me inside to think that most of the talk yesterday and today had to do with a news station and not the fact that people died.
People, pray for these people who were injured, who have died, pray for the officials trying to figure this whole ordeal out. Stop being so ridiculous about how things are reported.
I'm tired of arguing with people and trying to make them see that their simple mindedness is just insane when we are hearing about six people dying because of some off the wall 22 year old....oh, but who reported it first, and who reported she died, and who reported this....get over yourselves already.
Reporters are on the scene to report what they HEAR, every single news station reported that this Congresswoman died....no butts about it....it wasn't until maybe a half hour afterwards that the stations started pulling back on that report and correcting what was reported, yet also stating that they are reporting what they are TOLD from the scene of the incident.
A 9 year old girl died yesterday. My daughter is 9 years old, this little girl who died was studying our political system in her school and a neighbor of hers thought it would be interesting to go to this event...she gave her life, an innocent child...did nothing to this whack job who shot all these people. It kills me inside to think that most of the talk yesterday and today had to do with a news station and not the fact that people died.
People, pray for these people who were injured, who have died, pray for the officials trying to figure this whole ordeal out. Stop being so ridiculous about how things are reported.
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