New Baby Chicks

Oh, and today was the first day we found two eggs in the chicken coop laid by… I don’t know, by I suspect that the two Golden Comets, Pixie and Peep, were the first to lay beautiful brown eggs! Even my husband was excited about it. He loves eggs. Especially beautiful brown free range chicken eggs.

If you remember, when we originally got the chickens, I had a total of fourteen. Unfortunately about two months into that, something forced its way into the coop and slaughtered ten of them in one night. The one “hen” who survived (three of the chickens were on a road trip to campmeeting with me) has now turned out to be a rooster. His name is Lucky. We then got five more chicks, one of which got sick and died of a respiratory illness, so were ended up with a total of eight chickens who are all getting ready to start laying any time.

You can see my girls here roosting on my back porch. Not necessarily a good thing. But they are just so cute!

Of the eight pictured above we have…
2 Buff Orpingtons (one is a rooster) – Buttercup, Lucky
2 Golden Comets – Pixie, Peep
3 Rhode Island Reds – Penny, Violet, K.C. (short for Kentucky Chicken)
1 Amberlink – Speckles

Now, for our new baby chicks hatched October 5, 2011…

3 Americanas (the brown striped chicks) – pink, blue, and green eggs
5 Marans (the black chicks) – dark chocolate eggs
1 Golden Comet (the yellow chick with red stripes on back) – brown eggs
2 Buff Orpingtons (the yellow chicks) – brown eggs
3 California Spotted Whites (the yellow chicks with black polka dots) – white eggs

Not sure what we’ll name these adorable little ones. I like to wait until they get their feathers and I learn more about each individual hen. Although, amazingly enough, they look different enough we can tell them apart. Hannah and Laura are already trying to come up with names for the ones they claimed as their own. It’s just so much fun!

Speaking of Mason Jars…

…it’s that time of year again. My husband went to the Farmer’s Market in Asheville, NC on Friday with plans for going back this coming Thursday for more produce. I love it, but that also means, the pressure is on! I have canned <a href=”http://melissaringstaff.blogspot.com/2011/01/preserving-new-year.html”>a lot of produce since January</a>.

Some of the produce I have to get put up came from our garden … [read more]

Mason Jars

Have you missed me? This summer flew by, oh wait, summer been over for… weeks! Yes, fall is quickly passing me by as well it seems. I have had next to no time for my blog or website, much to my great disappointment. But I have learned over the years – 10 years blogging – that life needs to come first, family needs to come first. So I live by that rule when it comes to computer time. Anyway… here is a nifty little tip.

I love Mason Jars. I mean, really, what’s not to love? I use them for drinking, food storage, canning, flower vases, organizing, and more.

I have purchased quite a few boxes of Ball plastic lids for my Mason Jars. I love them. I can’t seem to get enough of them. But then I discovered that your typical mayonnaise jar and some peanut butter jar plastic lids fit a regular mouth Mason Jar. Talk about frugal and recycling at the same time!

Bottle Cap Magnets

For decades years I have been saving bottle caps. I don’t know why. When I was a little girl I would make “pies” for my dollhouse with salt dough and a bottle cap as the pie tin. Hmmm. I like this idea from Better Homes and Gardens.

52 Weeks of Organizing – Week #6

I had a very productive yesterday! I organized my homeschool closet. I didn’t take before photos because it was just too bad. I couldn’t bring myself to be that vulnerable if you know what I mean!

Homeschooling is one of those things that really gets me when it comes to organizing. I just never can seem to find the perfect solution to #1 papers and #2 books.

We homeschool in our family room in the basement. Our family room is a very cozy place. I’ll share photos of the girls desks later. Our homeschool closet is under the stairs. It is a nice space but never seems big enough! We live in a 61 year old brick home and it has a lot of character… and my homeschool and craft closets reflect that!

All in all I feel really good about the space. I think it is better than it has ever been and I hope to keep it this way! I feel energized to keep organizing my home! It feels so good and it makes me happy.

You can find lots more ideas over at Organizing Junkie!

Laundry Buckets

I have four girls still at home. We have a lot of laundry. There are two ways I make laundry chores easier for myself are:

1. My two teen daughters do their own laundry. They have set days. Sarah’s laundry  day is Sunday and Emily’s is Monday.This means I have less to do. And they cannot complain to me if something is not washed.
2. My two younger daughters have laundry buckets. When I fold their clothes, I place them in these handy dandy buckets which are labeled with their names. Then, they can easily carry the laundry up stairs to their room. The bucket is really just a re-purposed large sized dishpan.

52 Weeks of Organizing – Week #5

Remember the empty shelf in my craft closet after I organized that I was so excited about ? I found a use for it! Yarn!

You can find lots more ideas on how to organize your home over at Organizing Junkie!

Cupcakes!

There is something so intrinsically sweet about cupcakes. Here are a few of my favorite finds:

What littler girl wouldn’t love adding these adorable cupcakes to her “kitchen?” You can purchase the .pdf pattern to make these cupcakes from Too Cute for only $5.00.

These cupcake cards and boxes are so sweet – you could use them for birthdays, valentine’s day, or everyday! Just change your papers and embellishments – the possibilities are endless! Best of all, the patterns are free to print at Mel Stampz!

This hair clip from LexiLou is very cute, don’t you think?

Or this one by Dee’s Doodads?

This Cupcake Soap and Washcloth set would make a sweet gift for your little girl on Valentine’s Day and it’s only $2.50 from Fun4Kids!

A cupcake dish anyone? From Angel Heart Designs.

And, finally, here is a sweet apron from Meech Boutique. Who can resist a cupcake?

52 Weeks of Organizing – Week #4

Last night, with a burst of energy I decided to tackle my craft closet which was… more than a disaster. I didn’t take before pictures because it was just too much. It took me less than an hour to pull everything out and put everything back and it looks SO MUCH BETTER. We can find our stuff now!

52 Weeks of Organizing – Week #2

I had a burst of energy tonight… I guess snuggling in bed with sick children watching a good movie is refreshing after all! So, after cooking supper and cleaning the kitchen, I decided to tackle one of my kitchen pantry cabinets.

I don’t usually show before pictures, just because, well you know. It’s embarrassing! But, I figured this would be good for the soul. Last year was incredibly busy – even for me. So, while the main areas of the house stay reasonably neat, the closets and cupboards are another story!

This is one of the cabinets that I store my bulk foods in.

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As you can see it was very disorganized! You can also see my peeling paint with the old yellow paint showing through. This has to be one of the biggest discouragements for me ever! I spent weeks painting my kitchen and all the cupboards inside and out only to discover after I was done that the paint was peeling because the original paint was oil based. I haven’t had the energy or the heart to redo it. Oh well.

I finished the cabinet fairly quickly and I feel really good about the end results!

What have you done this week to organize your home? You can find lots more ideas over at Organizing Junkie!

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