August Week 3 Review

Chickens Exploring Outside their Coop

This week has been rather warm with the highs being in the upper 90s (F) and the "feels like" temperatures being in the triple digits.  Our summer has truly started!

Monday, August 17:  I woke up early and fed the chickens, etc., and watered the back garden before it got too hot.  I would have liked to have done a little weeding, too, but, my back was still complaining from some of the bending and pruning I did the previous week and I didn't want to trigger another sciatica flareup, so I resisted the temptation to weed.  Instead, I went back inside and did a load of laundry, including my bed sheets.  Later, I remade the bed using the same sheets to avoid having to fold and put them away!  LOL.   

In the evening, I drove my daughter to her friend's apartment to pick up some chocolate chip pistachio cookie dough balls her friend had made and give her four of our chickens' eggs in return (her friend loves eggs).  After we came home, daughter helped me put the trash/yardwaste/recycling bins by the curb for pick up in the morning.

Tuesday, August 18:  I woke up before the alarm went off at 8:00 a.m. (having gone to bed around 4:00 a.m.) and tended to the chickens.  Then, I went back to bed and slept a bit more.  After I woke up for the second time, I brought the emptied trash bins in, previewed the upcoming grocery ads, watched some videos and cut out more green hexagons for my quilt border.  In the evening, daughter baked the cookie dough that her friend had given her and we had cookies to celebrate the fact that it has been four weeks since our chickens arrived!  In those four weeks, we've bonded with them and they've taken to perching on my daughter's shoulders and/or her head!  

Wednesday, August 19:  Again, I went to bed at 4:00 a.m., woke up at 8:00 a.m. to tend to the chickens, debated if I wanted to stay up or go back to bed, decided I needed more sleep, and slept for another couple of hours.  M arrived to tend to the garden and he brought us an onion he had grown in his garden.  We have tried growing onions in my garden without much success in previous years and didn't try to grow them this year.  We gave him some cookies that daughter had baked with the dough her friend made.  

Later, I ordered groceries to be delivered on Thursday and went to the pharmacy to pick up some of my medication refills that were ready.  I received another $4 off coupon and redeemed it for a 1lb. bag of honey roasted peanuts that was on sale for $3.99. 

The library had notified me that a book I had placed on hold had arrived, so, I drove to the library to pick up the book that was on hold and to return the book I had borrowed, earlier.  

On the way from the pharmacy to the library, I stopped at a grocery store that had advertised pork chops on sale for $1.99/lb., but, I was not able to find them.  I asked the guy at the meat counter and he showed me the beef tri-tip roast that was also on sale, but, he didn't understand me when I said, "Pork chops" and I wasn't quite sure if "chuletas" was the correct word in Spanish (it is and now I know).

Thursday, August 20:  Another hot day.  I woke up at 7:00 a.m. to tend to the chickens and stayed up because I was having the groceries delivered between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. and I wanted to be awake if they texted me to notify me of substitutions, etc.  The groceries were delivered just before 9:00 a.m.; I received everything I had ordered.

Later, I debated if I should go back to the other grocery store to look for the pork chops.  Instead, I checked their website and found that they had a delivery option and that the paid membership I had to a different store was also valid at this store, too, since both were owned by the same parent company!  Woo hoo!  I was very excited about that and put in an order for additional groceries to be delivered on Friday.

Friday, August 21:  My groceries were delivered before 9:00 a.m., again and I have already posted about it and the substitution of the English cucumbers instead of the regular cucumbers that were on sale.  

M was here in the evening to tend to the garden and we let the chickens out of their enclosure to explore the garden for the first time!  The chickens were very interested in the big outdoors (although they just explored the area immediately in front of the enclosure) and Mochi, one of the garden kitties, was very interested in the chickens!  LOL.  I was in charge of making sure Mochi didn't get too close to the chickens and that the chickens didn't hide under the plumbago bush (it would be almost impossible for us to get them out from under it) while daughter got the inner coop ready for the night, putting food and water in there for them and refilling the bigger water dish in readiness for the morning, etc.  M joined in the fun to watch "chicken TV" and both Henny Penny and Niwatori decided that he made a good perch:

Niwatori and Henny Penny Make Friends with M

M loved it and thought we should get more chickens!  LOL.  We sent him home with four eggs, compliments of Niwatori and Henny Penny.  

Saturday, August 22:  Once again, I stayed up after I got up to tend to the chickens.  I cooked a curry with the beef chuck roast I had delivered on Thursday, cleaned out one of the fridge drawers, made freshly squeezed orange juice with the six oranges that were still there that I had received from my friend's tree back in June, and made a bread pudding from all the bread ends/heels/crusts I had left from several store bought loaves of sandwich bread.  Since I had the oven on to bake the bread pudding, my daughter and I retreated into my bedroom and switched on the room air conditioner for just the second time this summer!  While we were in the cool bedroom, I started reading my library book and daughter started to cut out and sew herself a sari blouse, setting up the sewing machine in the bedroom.  

The only problem with being in the air conditioned bedroom is we don't want to leave the coolness of the room!  And when we do come out of the room for whatever reason, the rest of the house feels even hotter!  We enjoyed a piece of the still warm from the oven bread pudding and a cup of tea while we were still in the bedroom and stayed in the room until around 7:00 p.m.  Then, it was cool enough to open the doors and windows to get the cooling evening air into the house and it was time to tend to the chickens.  We let them out to explore the yard a bit more and again, Mochi crept quite close to watch what was going on!  I don't know if Mochi wants to make friends with the chickens or is thinking they are dinner on legs!  LOL.  

Neighbor S called in the evening and wanted to bring over the container in which we gave her and her mother some eggs when they brought us Chinese food a few weeks ago.  She brought us an eggplant and a big red pepper as well.  I offered her a piece of bread pudding, but, she declined saying she had lots of desserts in her house and she's gaining weight!  

Sunday, August 23:  I went to bed at 2:30 a.m., so it wasn't quite as bad as 4:00 a.m., but, I went back to bed after I got up at 8:00 a.m. to tend to the chickens.  I had the beginnings of a headache when I woke up later, but, a cup of tea, some of the orange juice I had made earlier, and brunch took care of the headache.  I am also trying to drink enough water as I tend to get dehydrated fairly easily.  

It's almost 5:00 p.m. as I write this and 95F outside ("feels like" 101F per the weather app) and it's 90F inside the house in the family room.  I didn't put the A/C on today and I am feeling comfortable enough, especially since I didn't turn the oven on to bake anything.  I want to cook a chicken curry, later tonight; otherwise, I have nothing planned for the rest of the day.  

The week ahead promises to be another hot week with triple degree temperatures.  I don't have any appointments scheduled, so I am planning to have a relaxed week.

How was your week?   What are your plans for next week?

Niwatori and Henny Penny