chicken diapers

As we get ready to scoot off to Colorado for a conference, I've realized I've got nothing to pack my shampoo and conditioner in... usually I'd just use that as a great excuse to skip a shower, but instead I whipped up this ruffly little bag.



On a slightly more exciting note, I spent my Christmas evening stitching chicken diapers. Yes, diapers. I wanted them done before Christmas, so the girls could come in to open presents, but that didn't happen. So they came the next day to watch a little football with their daddy. Danica enjoyed being inside and actually did watch TV. India stood still and would only move if motivated by F-U-D. For Hope, it was a different story. As soon as I strapped on her diaper, it was like a switch was flipped and she did everything backwards.



The video above shows the two chickens handling the diapers well, and Hope reversing into and tripping over the ShopVac.


My super model.

snow!

The girls were so excited for their first snow! They really weren't sure what to think of it. I was fondly reminded of the children's story Henny Penny - "the sky is falling! the sky is falling!"



India followed everyone around eating the snow off of their backs...until she realized her own back was covered in snow.


My nieces, Lilly and Julia came for a visit. They delightfully hold the family titles of Chicken Tamer and, of course, Chicken Tamer Assistant.



Lilly teaching them to dance for treats.

thankful

The Smanlon family spent Thanksgiving with dear friends, here in Virginia, this year. Certainly missing our family, but so thankful for friends!

Thanks to the gypsy moth quarantine and the inspections required to ship even a single tree, we had to forgo our traditional holiday package from my dad. And so, for the first time ever, a Hanlon family member BOUGHT a Christmas tree. Thankfully, Lowe's had a good deal on our favorite tree, probably grown in Michigan, even likely grown by a cousin of ours. But importantly, bug-free.



the girls sharing their thanksgiving treat - gingerbread crumbs and grits!




Violet helped mom and dad decorate the tree this year.



made quite the haul from the scrap bin at Lowe's.

Nap Time

I looked out the window this afternoon and caught my little pretties getting into some trouble... as usual. After they scratched up all the mulch out of my side garden, they were completely exhausted and had to take a rest. Best place? In the sunshine, in my potato bag!

Our Grand-Egg!

I would like to introduce the world to our first grand-egg! We're so proud!!

My girls

My little family has a routine. Every morning mumsie rises between 6 and 6:30 - very active internal clock/very sunny bedroom. I am hurried downstairs by Violet - noisily doing laps in her cage... I let her out and we sit on the rug in front of the kitchen sink together - scratching here and there, and if I quit, she bites me. Grab a quick bite to eat and kick V back in her cage.



She does like to kiss me!




I head outside to a begging choir of peeps. Let us out! Let us out!!!! The girls all scurry out in single file, India is always the last. They begin their morning bug patrol and weed taming while I start my coffee. Usually by the time I get back out with my book and coffee, they are all lined up beneath the grill, where it's shady, taking their morning break. Here we sit, reading and resting, until the sun gets too warm to stand - which is quick these days.

And since dad works nights, he joins us in the late afternoon for musical chickens and playing in the sprinkler.

City Chicks!

Living in a two bedroom apartment, in sweltering west Texas, all I could dream about was farming - stretching my legs out between the rows of tomatoes in the garden as I weeded, dirt under my fingernails, sun burning through the t-shirt on my back. I knew the next place we lived I had to have a garden! As we neared our moving time, I became acquainted with a new friend and love - Urban Farm Magazine!

http://www.hobbyfarms.com/urban-farm/urban-farm.aspx

This fantastic magazine helped to expand my little dream of a simple garden into something...well, larger.

I started to imagine having a miniature version of a farm - a farming system, a huge compost pile, tons and tons of food to enjoy and to preserve, and a flock of hens. Well, I'm here tonight to announce that my dream has been realized! A few days ago my husband completed our top secret, undercover chicken coop and a day later we brought home four bouncing bundles of feathers and joy!