Our hens? You better believe they enjoyed the sunshine, too. Most people say chickens are stupid, but I found their behavior this warm winter day to be quite smart as they gathered along our almost-finished woodshed for a nice warm dirt bath...
Monday, of course, brought cool weather and rain, typical of a Pacific Northwest winter. So our focus has returned to the indoors where I'm enjoying the blooms of my kitchen windowsill orchid along with other random blessings.
Random #1 -- The local deer have been spending their time somewhere other than our place of late, so we were excited to spot this one lounging in our back yard the other day.
Random #2 -- There is nothing like a stevia sweetened latte, hand-crafted by my wonderful husband. Do you see Casper's profile?
Random #3 -- Homemade cranberry almond granola. Recipe coming soon!
Random #4 -- Feasting on homegrown chicken from our freezer along with the last of our russet potatoes and a few homegrown carrots we've had in cold storage.
Random #5 -- Enjoying a dinner made from last year's garden makes us long for freshly picked lettuce and other vegetables. Good thing plans for this year's garden have begun!
Random #5.5 -- Just in time for our garden planning, Susie @ Our Simple Farm has launched a Replacing the Grocery Store Challenge! Would LOVE to have a pantry that looks like this...
[source]
Of course, I'm beyond thankful for the pantry we do have, I'm not complaining! Just imagining how wonderful it would be to have a pantry FULL of homegrown goodness. Not only would such a pantry save us money, it would also provide peace of mind about what I would feed my family if a devastating earthquake or other calamity where to occur. Just so you know, the Pacific Northwest is earthquake territory; we had a 3.7 just last week -- not a big one, I know, but just enough to remind us that they do happen here. Scary!
Counting my blessings one by one and praising God for His abundant provision! What are you thankful for today, my friends? Leave a comment and then join me at Laura's for Gratituesday. :)
~Lisa
Thanks for visiting Happy in Dole Valley! To join us on our journey, look to the upper right to follow or subscribe. :)
That deer looks pretty content. Looks like a lot to be grateful for.
ReplyDeleteIndeed on both scores! Thanks for visiting. :)
ReplyDeleteYour hens are beautiful birds - and smart to be sunning themselves. The hen "of late on the dinner plate," is contributing to a dish that looks mouth watering? In Maine our day-range layers gave us eggs with deep orange yolks. We saw what went into those eggs and cringed. They cackled (rejoiced) over a nest of baby mouse once found under the wood pile, ate tree frogs and kept the strawberry patch free of insects. They snatched up all the beetle grubs during our spring digging. When I see "corn fed" on egg cartons I know it really isn't anything to brag about, rather the poor things are being starved - and missing all the fun of scratching for the hunt.
ReplyDeleteKaren A.
I know, isn't it terrible what passes as chicken (or other animal food) these days? So thankful to have been blessed with the land on which to raise a bit of our own food. Breaking free from corporate food isn't easy or cheap, but it's so worth it. As Joel Salatin might say, so much better to let our chickens experience their chicken-ness. :)
DeleteThanks for visiting, Karen. ~Lisa