This is the Christmas Egg

Christmas has been feeling a bit sparse this year,

not many presents,

not much cheer.

So today, I went out to feed and check on the chickens,

I do it every day.

And what to bleary eyes should appear?

One little brown egg

Layed by a  Henny so dear!

This was the first,

So we must not delay,

In building,

And installing,

Nesting boxes right away!

That’s what everyone asks when they find out we moved here.  Well, if a picture is worth a thousand words, then I have several!

Today I had planned to clean house and put out my Christmas decorations, but I never quite got there.  Instead, my hubby called me out to get him a screwdriver to fix his new (to him) riding lawn mower (more about that later).  Then it was some pliers, and by then, well, I just noticed all the stuff that needed doin’ around the place.  Besides, the sun had come out and I wanted to play outside, not in!

So…

I dismantled this mystery construction that was buried underneath the honeysuckle hill I was chopping down.  Then…

I used my homemade debris skid to haul away the mess I had accumulated.  I learned this trick at Dave’s Garden website.  Yes, it is a kiddie wading pool with a rope attached to it, and it really makes clearing up an acre much less painful.  I can pull it along behind me as I work and then take it to the curbside dump pile.  In a previous life the little pool was a baby chick brooder…

Baby chicks then…

Chickens now!

Meanwhile, what was my Sweety doing while I mucked out the chicken run and hutch, cleaned up debris, tore down the mystery construction, and denied the little dog his only pleasure in life?  (see below)

Mowing the acre of leaves to clean them up.  This is almost a whole day’s endeavor.  BTW, He has wanted a riding mower for a very long time.  However, we did not need one in California.  Now he has one, and let me tell ya, it is not as quick and easy as it looks on TV.  In his words, “This is too much like work!”

The process with the leaves in Alabama is to mow them into a pile,  and then burn them.  Everybody does it, well OK, a few put them into plastic bags and and send them to the landfill!  Are we kidding?  I don’t think so!  I can barely stand the thought of running the mower and its pollution, but then to burn/bag them on top of that?  No way!  We are using them as mulch around the trees for the winter and moved the rest back along the fences, and into a pile to break down into leaf mould for the gardens.  Did you know that making leaf mold is a cold process, not a hot one like mulching other garden waste and kitchen scraps?  It takes at least a year to break down leaves into usable material that is good for your garden.  (Yeah, I know, you really wanted to know that.)

Oh yes, and as promised here is the little guy in his best sweater, giving me his best melt your heart, play with me look…

Guess I can’t leave out the Big guy, now can I?

Recently transplanted from California to North Alabama I find myself in awe of my new surroundings.  Gone are the traffic, the smog, and the burning of the mountains and hills of So.Cal.  I have a giant learning curve to adjust to, and find myself not minding it much at all.  This is the beginning of my new life… the one I have wanted for so long.

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Thank you for your consideration,   Lynda  “:<>

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© Lynda Swink  and “Life on the Farmlet,” 2010

I always try to give credit where credit is due, therefore if you are the owner of a picture or graphic I have borrowed, then by all means let me know so I can give you the credit.