In the Chickens Again

Another day, another batch of grandkids, another trip after eggs.  This time we took Schwartzbeere's kids with us.  They were a little younger than Blaubeere's kids so it was all the more new to them.  Yes, we took Blaubeere's kids out a while back but I didn't get around to posting on that trip.  Anyway, Schwartzbeere's oldest is only four and little kids and farm animals are so cute together.

So Grandma ducked into the pen to gather eggs while the kids waited and watched with Grandpa.

Chickens make such a gentle sound when they're calm.  This time they were a little excited because they thought they might be getting something to eat.  But they calmed down pretty quick.

The kids were quite content to watch through the fence.

Lots of questions.  They were pretty fascinated.

Checking out this angle and that, getting a good look at the chickens.

Pretty soon Grandma came out with the eggs she'd gathered up this trip.  Two dozen, about normal.

Then a last few minutes watching the chickens and it was time to go.

You know how it is, Grandma needed lots of help carrying the eggs.  They are eggs, after all.  Can't be too careful.  It was a fun visit.

On the Wheels

Weather and schedule.  That's what keeps me from riding my bike more often.  But tonight, they did not interfere and I was able to get out.  And what's even better, Brombeere came with!   We had been out once before several weeks again but her bike had issues and we ended up cutting that ride short.  After I got back I made some adjustments to her bike.  This evening, as I was getting ready to go, she said she wanted to go so our first stop to put some air in her tires and then off we went!

Then it was off to the trail.  The plan was to just go as far as Brombeere wanted, this was only her second ride of the season, while I have been several times since that first ride.

I like these trails, and tonight we only ran into one person.

So on we rode.  One thing I like about the trail is the scenery we got to ride by.

Flowering trees, spring time is good for this kind.  They get loaded up with blossoms pretty heavy in the spring.

All the farm land we rode by was freshly planted, or in the process of being tilled and planted  This spring has been nice to the farmers.

So we rode out, turned around, and came back.  All in all, it was a very nice ride.  I'm hoping there will be more rides like tonight.  I like riding with my favorite person.

Spring Has Sprung

Normally, in the fall, there's stuff you do to get the yard ready for winter, one last mowing, clean off leaves and other stuff, put the mower away for the winter. All that jazz. I'm the one that usually does most of that kind of stuff in the fall. However, I was a bit distracted last fall when all this should have been happening. In October, Blaubeere and her kids came over and gave us some much appreciated help with the last mowing of the lawn and raking the front yard.  But the backyard, other than getting mowed, didn't get much attention.  Then, winter and grandkids happened and the yard got a lot of use over the winter and into spring.  By spring the yard was in pretty rugged shape. 

Every time you mow the lawn you need to walk over it and check for stuff.  Stuff you don't want to hit with the mower.

The first mowing of the season is usually a little more work.  This time, since we'd had some nice weather and the little grandkids had been here about a week before and left a mess out back, it was more work than normal. 

Early spring growth is uneven, especially if you have a dog.  A bigger dog makes it even more noticeable.  They fertilize in some places and burn the grass in other spots. Uneven grass, lots of clumps.  Yeah.

All over the backyard

And the barrel of toys had been tipped over and scattered up by the house.  So, yeah.  It took a little more time to walk the lawn and clean up the toys, both the kids toys and the dog  toys. This dog doesn't fetch.  You throw something, you might get it back once but almost never twice.

Put I got that stuff  picked up and got to the mowing.

About two and a half hours later it was all done.

I like a freshly mowed lawn, 

And all the clumps of grass were gone.  Couldn't do much about the burned spots, though.

In any case, the yard looked a lot better.  Mowing a lawn provides an opportunity to get a close look at the lawn.  We need to get the sprinklers turned on.  It was pretty dry.

Cackleberries

Some friends of ours have a daughter that recently got into the egg business.  So she got some chickens and set them up on the family property and put the word out that she was in business.

Her pricing schedule gives a discount if you gather the eggs yourself rather than her gathering them so that's what we do.  That way the eggs are only just a little more expensive than what you buy at the store. 

Plus you get the joy of interacting with all those chickens.  Not that they're real social creatures, they just like to gather around anyone that might be there to feed them.

So once a week we go out and gather eggs.  We even bought a cute little basket for it. 

We go out and gather about two dozen eggs each time.  Now chickens are not the cleanest creatures with their eggs.  So when we get home we have to wash and clean the eggs up.

This week we came home and had scrambled eggs.  We like to spice them up with peppers, onions, and cheese.  Sometime we put other things in them as well but we didn't have any of that stuff on hand this particular evening.

Farm to table, right?   Farm-fresh eggs.  Pretty nice to my way of thinking. 

Kitchen Helper

For Mothers Day today we tried a new recipe and I needed a helper.  Enter Schwartzbeere's oldest.  Today he was a very willing helper.  That was a fun thing.  And we were using the instapot, which makes things real simple.  So, with a little supervision from his little sister, we set about the job. 

We started by dumping the baby potatoes and chicken breasts in a big bowl and adding all the spices.

He liked that part.  The only requirement was to hit the bowl without spilling.

Stirring was a little more challenging, we took turns with that to make sure it all got mixed up thoroughly.

Then the chicken had to go in the pot first.  So we had to pick it out from all the little potatoes.  He was up for it.

Then, last but not least, all potatoes went in on top of the chicken.

I set the instapot and then it was just a matter of waiting.  So during the fifteen minutes while the chicken and potatoes cooked, we got everything else ready and got the table set.  Then it was just a matter of serving it up.

Pretty soon, everything was ready and all we needed was the grandma, the mother at our house. 

So we drug everybody to table and dug in.  It was pretty good. Yummy chicken and tender potatoes. This was a recipe that Brombeere had come across earlier and had wanted to try.  We felt good when she pronounced it delicious.  Me and my helper had a hit, a Mothers Day success.   Well done, little man!

Commonplace Book

A Commonplace Book. “Commonplace”, from the Latin 'locus communis', meaning “a theme or argument of general application.”  For me, it is a collection of thoughts, ideas, anecdotes, poems, observations, and quotes that stood out and caught my attention, some with comment, some without. Essentially a scrapbook, a repository of thoughts too good to just pass over and let go.

"Listening is high religious art ... capable of attending to other people, listening to them, talking gently to them in a way that is powerfully affirming without for a moment being bland or assuming that all is well with the world or with them. The reason this is both interesting and important is that it is hard to know how to listen to God if we do not know how to listen to other people. And how can we expect God to listen to us if we are incapable of listening to others?" 

(Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Words That Heal, Tazria-Metzora 5780, April 22, 2020) 

“I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no where else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day."

(Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), 16th President of the United States)

"How often we look upon God as our last and feeblest resource! We go to Him because we have nowhere else to go. And then we learn that the storms of life have driven us, not upon the rocks, but into the desired haven." 

(George MacDonald (1824-1905), Scottish author, poet & minister)

 "If we have faith in Jesus Christ, the hardest as well as the easiest times in life can be a blessing."

(Henry B Eyring, April Conference 2012)

 "Every storm runs out of rain."

(Maya Angelou, 1928-2014, American poet, singer, memoirist, and civil rights activist)

 “When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive, to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”

(Marcus Aurelius, 121-180. Roman emperor and philosopher)