One Year, Already!

Niwatori Perched on Daughter's Back

It's been one year since my daughter moved back home!  That year has flown by!  I am very thankful she's home with me (especially with my health issues popping up every so often) and she says she's happy to be home.  We've readjusted to living together without any problems, making a few accommodations to keep the house fairly quiet during her work hours since she works from home for the most part.  I do the majority of the cooking and she has been taking on more of the house cleaning, especially the vacuuming after my most recent sciatica flare up (although she dislikes housework).  She's taken over some of the yard work, too, and taking out the trash cans, etc.  I still do most of the driving and she has taken over the online bill paying, since she has assumed responsibility for the utilities.  In a way, we've assumed the sort of relationship my mother and I had (my mother did most of the cooking and I did most of the housework, for example). 

We share the chicken care duties, too.  I wake up early to let them out of the coop into their enclosure and give them breakfast.  Daughter cleans the coop, make sure they have food and cool water (during this summer heat we are having, she puts a bottle of frozen water in their water container to keep the water cool), collects any eggs, and puts them back in the coop for the night.  The hens have laid 16 eggs to date!  We've eaten five of them, given away eight of them (four to M who has helped us so much with getting the coop and enclosure ready and four to neighbor S who brought us dinner tonight!)

Today, being the 1st of August, I made milkrice for breakfast.  Later in the morning, daughter's friend V came over to spend some time with her.  They chatted, played a video game, and did some cross stitching together.  Daughter ordered pizza for lunch and, when V was leaving, gave her the gifts to give her daughters (the fishing game to her older daughter and a board book for her younger daughter).  

Later in the afternoon, we did a load of laundry.  

In the early evening, neighbor S called to ask if we'd like to have some Chinese food she had bought (apparently, she had some company over to lunch).  I said I'd love to have some and she and her mother brought over a feast:

Chinese Food Plus Fruit and Dessert

Daughter and I gifted them with four of the eggs our chickens had laid and they were so happy.

By the way, remember the blanket I crocheted with all the yarn neighbor S's mother had given me?

Crocheted Blanket

A couple of weekends ago, I had taken it over to neighbor S's house and given it to her mother who was very pleased to receive it.  

Later in the evening, daughter and I put the chickens in for the night (she did all the work while I sat in a garden chair and watched "live chicken TV")  LOL.  Niwatori seems to think that daughter makes a good perch and yesterday, she climbed onto daughter's shoulder!

Today, I am grateful for:

- Daughter being home with me
- All the blessings of this last year that she's been home
- Daughter being able to spend some time with her friend
- Neighbor S bringing us dinner
- Chickens providing us with eggs and entertainment

Plans for tomorrow include:

- Watering the house plants
- Cleaning the kitchen
- Decluttering 

How was your Saturday?  What are your plans for Sunday?

July Monthly Photo Challenge: Black and White

The monthly photo challenges are hosted by Eileen and the theme chosen for July was Black and White..

Here are the photos I took for this month's challenge:

Dress Fabric

Bed Sheet

Knitted Top

News Paper Article Headlines

Batter on Black Coated Waffle Iron

Black and White Barred Chicken
(Niwatori)

Piano Keys

Plastic Clothes Hangers at the Store

Woven Chair at a Bakery/Cafe

Plush Pillow Dog

Plush Pillow Cat

Thank you, Eileen for hosting the monthly photo challenge.  Wonder what the theme will be for August?

July Grocery Shopping Part 5

I ordered more groceries on Monday and they were delivered on Tuesday morning.   I had a $2 off digital coupon on the hamburger patties which made them a little more reasonable and I splurged on brand name hamburger buns that we had tried on a previous sale and liked, even though they were $1 more than the store brand hamburger buns.  I stocked up on other "non-essential" items, too, before my digital coupons for them expired.

I didn't take a picture of the groceries, however, but, here's the receipt:

Order Summary

Original Item Total$72.82

Item Coupons/Sales-$30.30

Order Coupons-$2.00

Fulfillment Fee+$0.00

Other Fees+$0.40

Sales Tax$0.00

Order Total$40.92

---

Item Details

10 Items

Bakery Fresh Chocolate Chip Cookies, 12 count$3.00

1 x $3.00 each

BOOST HIGH PROTEIN Balanced Nutritional Drink Chocolate Bottle, 48 fluid ounces$6.99

1 x $6.99 $15.99 each

BOOST HIGH PROTEIN Balanced Nutritional Drink Vanilla Carton 6pk, 48 fluid ounces$6.99

1 x $6.99 $15.99 each

Kroger® 80/20 Ground Beef Patties, 8 ct / 30.4 ounce$10.00

1 x $10.00 $12.00 each

Item Coupon/Sale: -$2.00 (digital coupon)

*Kroger® French Onion Sour Cream Dip and Spread, 16 oz$2.29*

1 x $2.29 $2.59 each

Kroger® Pink Lady® Apples – 3 Pound Bag, 3 lb$4.29

1 x $4.29 each

Private Selection® Coffee Ice Cream Pint, 16 oz$1.99

1 x $1.99 $4.99 each

Private Selection® Double Vanilla Ice Cream Pint, 16 oz$3.98

2 x $1.99 $4.99 each

Western Hearth® Brioche Sandwich Buns, 8 ct / 24 oz$2.99

1 x $2.99 $3.99 each

---

Order Coupons

-$2.00

Store Coupon-$2.00

---

Other Fees

$0.40

Bag Fee$0.40

4 x $0.10 each

The French Onion Sour Cream Dip was not something I ordered and it wasn't included in the groceries I received.  I don't know why I was charged for it. I was able to request a refund through the store's website and I received an email that the refund went through and the $2.29 will be credited within five days (and it was).

So, my total spent on this order should be $38. 63

My July Grocery Budget (for food items only) = $250 + $11.51 carried over from June = $261.51

Spent to Date = $78.71 + $33.99 + $47.26 + $7.50 + $46.47 + $38.64= $252.56

Balance left in July Grocery Budget = $261.51 - $252.56= $8.95

I will be carrying that balance over to August, most probably. 

I am pleased that I came under this month's grocery budget.  

I am grateful for:

- The store's refund policy
- Being able to order groceries online
- Being able to have the groceries delivered
- No delivery fees provided I order more than $35 worth of items and select next day delivery
- Coming under budget

Gone Fishing!

The Fish Pond

Daughter's friend V's older daughter H turned four earlier this month.  It's the same little girl for whom my daughter crocheted the Vampire Squid (which was made to be given as a gift from H's mother, although daughter received a thank you card for it from H, with a little help from her father!) 

Since little H is now into ocean animals (her parents took her to an aquarium for her birthday), daughter thought that H might like to try a bit of fishing!  So, she crocheted five little fishies with needle felted eyes:

Five Little Fishies

Here they are, swimming in their own little pond:

Swimming in their Pond

Add a little fishing rod:

Fishing Rod

Hold the fishing rod over the fish and go fishing:

The Purple Fish Got Hooked!

Actually, all the fish are magnetic, so H can catch any or all the fish.  She can count the fish, identify their colors, and practice a bit of eye-hand coordination at the same time while she plays.

After playing, the fish go back into their fish pond and, if the drawstring is pulled, the pond becomes a little pouch:

Fish Pond Pouch

Which becomes convenient storage for the fish and a carrying pouch, as well.

Birthday Card

Daughter made the birthday card with H's favorite Vampire Squid cartoon character peeking from the inside:

Birthday Card Inside

All pictures were taken by daughter.

July Week 4 Meal Plan Review and Week 5 Options

Tuesday Brunch: Pancakes, sausages, blueberry compote

This was my July Week 4 Meal Plan:

Brunches:  Cold cuts sandwiches✓, Cereal, Tortillas with scrambled eggs and lunu miris, pancakes with sausages and blueberry compote✓, frozen burritos(for dinner)✓, leftovers✓

Dinners:  Chicken pot pies (Monday)✓, Sauteed salmon with rice, green peas, beans, and cucumber salad✓, Smoked sausage stir fry with rice, leftovers✓, Hamburger patties with boxed pasta mix and salad, Rice and curries (tbd) (chicken curry sauteed curried green beans)✓Italian food from restaurant

Snacks/Desserts: Fruit, jello, faluda, peanut butter and crackers apple slices, popcorn, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate mousse cake, ice cream

Here's how that plan worked out:

Monday:
Brunch:  Cold cuts sandwich (me); last piece of sauteed chicken (daughter)
Dinner:  Chicken pot pies
Snacks/Dessert: Apple slices with peanut butter, melon candy (me; daughter doesn't like melon candy), dates and cashews

Tuesday:

Brunch:  Pancakes, sausages, blueberry compote
Dinner:  Pancake with chicken curry (me), burrito (daughter)
Snacks/Dessert:  Protein drink (shared with daughter); apple slices with peanut butter, dates and cashews, hot cheeto puffs (daughter)

Wednesday:

Brunch:  Leftover pancake,s sausages, syrup (me); scrambled eggs (daughter)
Dinner:  Salmon sandwich (me); sauteed salmon (daughter)
Snacks/Dessert:  Apple slices, crackers with peanut butter, melon candy, protein drink (daughter)

Thursday:

Brunch:  Cold cuts sandwiches
Dinner:  Rice, sauteed salmon, green beans, cucumber salad
Snacks/Dessert:  Protein shakes, apple slices with peanut butter

Friday:

Brunch:  Cold cuts sandwiches
Dinner:  Italian food from a restaurant: soup, pasta, breadsticks
Snacks/Dessert:  Chocolate chip cookies; chocolate mousse cake

Saturday:

Brunch:  Leftover pasta
Dinner:  Soup and breadsticks
Snacks/Dessert: Chocolate chip cookies, ice cream, orange

Sunday:

Brunch:  Tortilla with chicken curry
Dinner:  Rice, chicken curry, sauteed curried green beans, peach chutney
Snacks/Dessert: Protein shake; ice cream, apple slices with peanut butter

Scrambled Eggs (homegrown and store bought comparison) 

I didn't take many food pictures this week.  

Moving on to this last week in July, here are my meal plan options:

Brunches:  Egg salad sandwiches; Cold cuts sandwiches; tortillas with eggs and lunu miris; French toast; Leftovers

Dinners:  Smoked sausage stir fry with rice;  Rice and chicken curry with cucumber salad and peach chutney; Tortillas with chicken curry; Leftovers/Planned overs

Snacks/Desserts:  Fruit, Peanut butter and apple slices/crackers, ice cream, protein shakes, maybe muffins?

We'll see how that works out, especially since I am planning to do another grocery delivery towards the end of the week.

How about you?  Are you doing any meal planning?

On Sunday

 

They wanted to roost on the door to the inner coop!

On Sunday morning, I got up at 8:00 a.m. and let the chickens out of the inner coop and gave them more food.  They both let me pet them a little bit before I went back inside.  

The morning was relatively cool and after I had a cup of tea and said my morning prayers, I decided to sweep and mop the kitchen floor and, later, I cooked a chicken curry (we won't tell Niwatori and Henny Penny about that!) for dinner.  I also folded and put away a load of laundry.

My daughter checked on the chickens and cleaned out the coop a little after noon and she found one brown egg!  She said she took a few blueberries out to them and held out the berries in her gloved hand and they came up to her and pecked the berries from her hand!  She said that while she was there, Niwatori went into the hen house and we assumed she went to the nest box at the back of the hen house.  Sure enough, when daugher went to check on them later in the afternoon, there was another egg in the nest box!  That makes a total of seven eggs since we got them on Tuesday! 

In the evening, I went with daughter when she went to her gymnastics session (the first time she's gone this month) and stayed in the car and read my book while I waited for her.  

After we came home, daughter put the chickens into the inner coop while I cooked a pot of rice.  We had rice with chicken curry, green beans, and peach chutney for dinner and ice cream for dessert.

On Sunday, I am grateful for:
- Two more eggs from our chickens
- What I was able to accomplish
- Washing machines and dishwashers
- A safe drive to the gymnastics center and back (we passed a multi-car accident on our way back)
- Fans to keep us cool

Sunday's joyful activities included collecting more eggs!

Plans for Monday include:

- Returning my library books
- Picking up my medications
- Maybe a visit from friend R 
- Taking the trash and recycling out to the bins (daughter will wheel out the bins to the curb)
- Watering the indoor plants (daughter will water the garden)
- Making my meal plan options
- Scheduling a car service for an oil change, etc.

How was your Sunday?  What are your plans for Monday?

Got Eggs?

 

Two on Friday

On Friday morning, I woke up at 6:30 a.m., well before my alarm went off!  Long time blog readers know that I tend to stay up till the wee hours of the morning and sleep in, but, apparently, having chickens is making me want to wake up early!  Anyway, I went out and let the chickens out of the coop into the bigger enclosure.  I checked the coop, but didn't see any eggs.  But, that was fine; we had read that chickens will not always lay an egg a day, sometimes, they might lay every other day.  

However, daughter and I went out to check on them and give them fresh water and food around 10:00 a.m. when daughter had a break, and we found Henny Penny sitting in the nest box!  We were surprised because, earlier, neither hen wanted to go inside the enclosed part of the coop itself and quickly left it even when daughter put them inside.  They seemed to prefer the open area under the coop and the small run area, which is where I found the very first egg on Wednesday.  But, apparently, Henny Penny had found the nest box and was sitting there while Niwatori was walking around making some cackling noises.  

Daughter went to clean the coop during her lunch break and when she came back, she called to me to come and see what she found.  Not one, but TWO eggs in the nest box!  We had read that chickens will usually lay only one egg per day, but not two eggs at a time.  So, we are wondering if Niwatori had also laid an egg in the nest box either before or after Henny Penny did!

We were so excited to find two eggs!  We offered one to gardener friend M who was here in the evening to tend to the garden and to help daughter with some further coop reinforcements, but, he thanked us and declined the offer because he had just purchased a dozen eggs earlier that day.  He did say that he will accept an egg later on.

Once again, I took a picture of the two eggs with a store bought egg (size large) for comparison:

Friday's Eggs in Comparison with Store Bought Egg

Our okra plants didn't do well at all, this year (it got too hot after we planted them) and only two tiny okra pods formed on them.  We gave the okra pods to the chickens (after checking if they were okay for the chickens to eat) and they loved them!

Today (Saturday), I woke up at 8:00 a.m. when my alarm went off, but, daughter had woken up earlier and had let the chicken out of the coop, given them fresh water and food, etc., so, I went back to sleep for another couple of hours.  Then, she went at noon to clean the coop and guess what?

Saturday's Eggs!

She found two more eggs in the nest box!  One was brown and the other was a pale tan and slightly smaller.  We read that some variation in egg shell coloration was normal.  Both eggs were well formed with firm shells.  

Gardener M texted to ask if there were any more eggs and I was able to tell him that, yes, we had two more!  He's just as excited about our chickens as we are!

The chickens arrived on Tuesday afternoon and we have had a total of five eggs already!  How wonderful is that?  I am assuming that it is a sign that they are happy in their new home?  

I think there will be scrambled eggs for breakfast, tomorrow!!  

I am grateful for:
- The hens are laying 

- The fresh eggs we are collecting
- M's help with the garden and the chicken coop 

- Daughter doing all the work of cleaning the coop, etc.
-The joy of backyard chickens

Niwatori and Henny Penny