being creative . . .

Lately I have been busy with my Etsy store. Wonderfully busy. It is probably way to early to tell, but this online store is turning out to be EVERYTHING that I have imagined it. A place where I get to create One-of-a kind items for others, be challenged in my creativity, sell my work, and have others really ENJOY the art they get.

Just recently I had a HUGE order for mini chalkboards and some custom letterpress blocks. The great part of this whole process is that people email me with questions and ideas about what they want, and I spend time creating the things that they are thinking. They take ideas from items I have in my store, personalize them, and change them to fit what they need them for, then ask me to make it! It is a creative, collaborative, community experience. Here's an example of a recent piece.

from the garden to the table . . .

The eggmobile is finished, at least for now. The last few nights we haven't lost any to the natives, so I think the floor plan is working. The new floor is also making it easier to move in the morning. We move the run to a new spot, once they have gotten in for the night, then in the morning move the house to meet it. Once we open the small door, they have fresh ground to scrounge around on.

The garden is taking off now. We are able to have fresh lettuce each day for lunch and dinner, and I have enough raddish to last a lifetime! Ildi has been working hard to keep the garden rotating so that once we harvest something, she plants something else. Sort-of from the garden to the table approach.

back in Ohio . . .

I had one of those "what on earth am I doing" flashes yesterday when I was working with the chickens. It happened when I finished putting wire cloth as the sub floor so that the chicken droppings fall onto the ground and fertilize the grass, which makes it easier to clean up as well.

The whole flash happened while I was waiting for the chickens to go in and roost for the evening. It was a full moon, I sat in my camping chair on the back acre of the property drinking an ice coffee and using my wireless Internet service. Two different worlds colliding it seems. I thought about what I was doing only two years ago and how different life here is now. To be back in Ohio after all these years, doing what I was doing last night, all seemed a little surreal.

Meanwhile, the crazy birds haven't gotten the idea that they need to go in the egg mobile. Instead, they all hover in the corner of the run and start roosting for the night. Again last night I had to pick them up one by one and put them in. I need to figure out a new plan.

five chickens later . . .

I think that we are finally done with the Eggmobile. We have made some minor, and somewhat major, adjustments. Tweaking it every other day to help save our little chickens has been the goal.

Two nights ago two chickens lost one of their legs. In the morning when I went to move the eggmobile, they were dead, with their whole thighs ripped off their bodies. From what I gather, an animal (probably a raccoon) is digging under the skid and yanking on the legs of the chickens to have them for a late night snack. I've heard of frog legs . . . but CHICKEN LEGS?

Yesterday, I spent some time building a sub floor for the coop. I ran some studs framing it in and laid some hardboard down as a floor separating the chickens from the ground. This morning, we had all the chickens we had last night so I hope this will solve the problem.

Another addition to the farm is the go-cart. My sister, who lives in the city, gave us the cart to store at our farm. It was the kind of "toy" that sat in her garage without being used. Around a week ago, she offered to let us "store it" out here and let the children use it. Really, it is her just cleaning house. For our children, and those that visit, it has been blast! Nolan mowed a path through lots of the tall grasses around the place making a track of sorts to drive around. Three acres of land helps when you have a go-cart.

using the same design . . .

Nolan and I are on the build again. This time we are building two things. We are building a "run" for the front of the Eggmobile. A run is a place for our girls (which is what I have been calling the pullets) to be outside, but contained. At night we put them in the Eggmobile so they can be safe, and they can nest and roost. Currently we are just using wire circling it around the front door to keep the chicken contained to one area. As they have gotten older though, they are starting to fly out and now we are having to chase them around to keep them out of the garden, and keep the cats from eating them.

The second build is a structure that will be the same design and same shape but we will be using it to house the 25 meat birds I just ordered the other day. These birds will arrive on the 8th of July and will be ready for butchering in 7 weeks when they reach maturity. We will use this structure to house the chickens that are going to become our dinner guests. I am actually looking forward to butchering our own chickens!

eating others . . .

In addition to the 44 chickens we have left (three died the first few days, and some varmint has been eating some others the last few nights) we have some newer kittens around our home. Seven to be exact. Cookie had two and Blacky had five. It is cute to see them follow their mothers around on the front step. They don't venture far from the porch door, and sometimes are under foot when we come out, but it is nice having them around to watch grow.

Since our chickens have been experiencing some trouble with the locals, I told Ildi it would be a great time to get a dog. We are looking into getting a pedigree. We need something to scare off the riffraff. One of the chickens, the children lovingly refer to as "Stumpy," got his/her little leg chewed off by the nasty varmints. Both Amory and Macy have been nursing it back to health by bandaging it, putting salve on it, and mothering it. It has a great life. Sherri Thompson would be PROUD!

touching the chickens . . .

Today I did not spend any time in that hammock pictured below. Although I should have!

Ildi has been talking about getting some more chickens. She wants to fill the freezer up for the year with meat birds. Nolan says no. He's the one that does most of the chores. I say YES, get more birds . . . we can handle it. Actually, now that we have a few, 47 now, it seems like they are no work at all.

I told Ildi that I would be willing to buy her as many as she wanted and also help Nolan out with the chores of raising them. In reality, I'll have Nolan groom Asher into doing the work. I think one of Nolan's biggest hesitations about getting more birds is that he is not looking forward to butchering them. He's a little squeamish about actually TOUCHING the chickens. The texture of the legs, and the possibility of getting pecked still freaks him out a bit.

Gresham on the other hand has no problem touching the chicks. The other day I let him take one out of the pen and "play" with it. You know, like a toy. Only a live toy. He is so funny, and quite happy to pick them up at any time. He is actually a little rough with them. He still does not understand though that they could actually die. Like the other day when he tried to stick a chick's neck into the cinder block hole. And then there was yesterday when he put one of the 4 week old kittens into the kiddie pool to swim. He is such a hoot! I don't think he will ever remember what it was like to live without having animals around. What a great life for him! And us.

not a sound . . .

Here's how I spent my late morning.

For those who live in California, think . . . at the beach, warm and very windy, blue sky and a hint of moisture in the air. In addition, pretend that no one went the beach except for you, and that there was not even a noise from another living soul. (I did have an one ATV and one car drive down our rode during the hours I spent there)

For those that think I am lazy . . . go ahead. And I am a huge fat sinner as well . . . comfortable in my Brazilian hammock. :)

meandering . . .

The chickens . . . and the garden are now growing! It is fun to watch them, and the vegetables get bigger and bigger by the week.

My newest venture with farm finds . . . an up-cycled bird bath made from: a metal pole with bed spring wire wrapped around it, an old disc from the neighbors junk pile, a rusted tuna can in the middle, and a sofa spring arched to create some interesting design. All together it stands 4 foot tall and sinks into the ground around 10 inches. This kind of stuff excites me!

A walk through the grass path . . . we have an area that I am letting grow and have mowed a path for the children to walk through it. It meanders through the grass around and back out in two spots. To give you some scale . . . Amory is 5'8" tall.

having guests . . .

We've started harvesting from our garden already. Small pieces so far, but still harvesting!


My lunch sandwich yesterday consisted of a couple of radishes that were ripe for picking. Macy plucked them from the dirt, and I had a great time washing, cutting, and gingerly placing them on by butter smattered, homemade (and ground) whole wheat bread. As I was eating it I thought this small sandwich, cut a little more decoratively, might make a great finger food at a wedding reception before the main meal. I can see it now, maybe a farm wedding in Ohio . . . including the picturesque farm scenery, the wholesome good food, the quietness of the expanse . . .

Lately, like the last three years, I have had vision for turning our homestead into a visitors center of sorts. A place where people come to retreat, enjoy, and get refreshed to go back to their world. The bug in me started a few years ago when I was introduced to what Mary Jane Butters does on her farm out in Idaho. Since I read about her and visited her site I can't help but think about the many times we have have visitors in our home over the years, and how enjoyable it is to host people. In recollection, we have had people from all over the world stay with us. Che and Justin, two single men from Australia, stayed for a week while attending a conference in Los Angeles. Also from Australia, we had Lisa who stayed for a month while studying American culture. The nice thing about her stay was that we have stayed in touch and 10 years after her first visit, she came and stayed again. Our dear friends the Unfreids, came to live with us for 6 months while they looked for a home to purchase. And then there was Fiona, and later two men from South Africa who stayed as well. In addition, we have had Grandma Fout every other summer come to stay for a week, my sister, and Deb Allen came and stayed for a visit as well.

It seems that in hindsight we have always had people come and stay with us. I think I want to continue the pattern. For those that follow us here on FOUTFOLK . . . call to set up a reservation. :)