Chicken or the Egg

Since moving to my little corner of the countryside I have thought it doesn't make much sense to have a couple of rural acres empty of any sort of animal life. So the obvious choice-being low maintenance and useful-keeping chickens. Backyard chickens have, recently, become trendy and the internet is a vast resource for information on their care.

They are a great source of healthy protein, compost and pest control.

Once the order for our little flock had been placed we began construction on the coop.

It's a lean to style structure with a chicken entrance on the front and a human entrance in the wall of the barn. 

                                                    Pressure treated 4x4 posts in concrete.

Radio Flyer

This is my brothers' Radio Flyer wagon...they got it in about 1989.

I had been using it as makeshift wheelbarrow, but now having an actual wheelbarrow, realized it needed a new role, a purpose, a use. And so it became a planter.

Half a dozen drainage holes (don't ask how they got there), some rocks to line the bottom, and a bag of potting soil. Then a dozen annuals: marigold, sweet potato vine, moss roses. Familiar and comforting classics. And behold a childhood toy reborn. These things we cherish should not be left to rust. But should be re imagined and made new. 

From Russia with Love

This year our annual pre-Christmas extravaganza will celebrate none other than Mother-Russia.
That's right the land of Tzars, communism, caviar and borscht.
There will be 15-20 guests, my sister in law is graciously hosting again this year as she is the only one with a house large and solid enough to accommodate our...exuberance.

Here is the current menu:
Borscht (a traditional soup made of beets and potatoes accented with sour cream)
Salade Olivier (this is a French origin dish that is beloved in Russia. It's a mayonnaise based potato salad)
Sauerkraut (as a side dish)
Pirozhki (pastry filled with meat and spices)
Smelana (sour cream as a condiment)
Pickles
Sochivo (lentil based stew)

Almond Cake and Baked Apples for dessert.

oh and Vodka...lots of Vodka....

Things have happened, are happening, will continue to happen...The flowers have bloomed, the monarchs have migrated the leaves have fallen...These things are inevitable, constant and expected. Other things that happen are less easy to predict. Falling in love, your house being robbed, opportunities being dropped in your lap.
My house is in a transitional phase. I have worked as the executive secretary for a non profit organization for about a year. In order to save money-and service our members better-the office will be moving into my front bedroom. This presents both a great opportunity and a challenge. It will be nice to be able to write the newsletter in my pajamas, but at less than 800 square feet giving up an entire room for a single use presents a number of challenges.
The move has forced me to do some serious rearranging and soul searching: how many pairs of boots does one woman need? I have pared down, reorganized and tossed things that I realized I had been saving simply because it required less thought than throwing them away. I probably don't need an iPod Classic with 25 songs on or the cables for every electronic I've ever owned. It it so easy when you are settled somewhere, comfortable and secure, to take the things tucked away in drawers for granted. To forget them and yet know that they are there, gathering dust and slowly growing obsolete.Change is good.