Apologies...

Well, I have to start with an apology for not blogging in forever. I know many people were curious about the chickens, the laying of eggs and how the garden turned out this summer. Unfortunately I never got the chance to blog about any of it because I was extremely sick with "morning sickness" starting on Memorial Day. From that day on it was a struggle to even get from my bed to the couch due to feeling so horrible all day long. That also meant a lot didn't get done this summer in the backyard. I was planning on doing a good portion of the gardening because I have the summers off and was really looking forward to seeing how green my thumb was. Well, as previously mentioned that did not happen. My only job consisted of trying to remind Bill every few days to feed/water the chickens. I am happy to report that the girls give us about a dozen eggs every other day. So we are well stocked with brown eggs and are usually looking for people to sell or give them away too. So if you want eggs and are in the area, please let us know! My plan is to get a few pictures up in the near future of the girls and also the digging of the new dry well. The dry well broke over the winter and therefore turned into this summer's main project.

So I think our blog from now on will not only have to be about the adventures in our backyard but also the adventures in life with a new baby on the way.

Blessings,
Amy

They make their way outdoors

Though this happened around two weeks ago, I still wanted to share with you the pictures of the girls and their first steps into the outside world. It was actually quite funny because the board that is their ramp in and out is actually quite slippery. So I watched one chicken after another step out onto the ramp, start sliding, and then somehow manage to half slide, half fly out into the wild. It gave me a few good laughs. I called Bill and said we had to fix this that evening otherwise I wasn't sure they were going to make it back into the coop. Here are the pictures of the girls finding their way out of the coop.


The ramp leading to the outside world....



One interested chicken....



Two interested chickens....



Several interested chickens....



One chicken successfully making the leap to the outside world....



Watch out, that first step is slippery....



All the girls are happy, enjoying the outdoors....

Tulip Time

In honor of Tulip Time, the world famous festival in Holland, Michigan I mention that I miss seeing the thousands of tulips each spring that grow around town. Now, thanks to family, I had some tulips growing in my yard this year and they were gorgeous. Also, recently when my parents and aunt were in town we were able to check out some pretty cool tulips growing across the street from Zingermans. It really made me want to check out for next year some really cool varieties of tulips to plant. I love tulips, I think they are my third favorite flower. They follow closely behind gerbera daisies and pansies. Anyhoo, mine are past their prime now, but I had some beauties growing. but I had to make a shout out to good ol' tulip time (and all the elephant ears I will never eat again!) Its amazing what creativity God put even into flowers. Its truly amazing when you start to think about it all!!

Gotta Love Family

Well, I know this post is seriously belated, but I wanted to write it anyway. A few weeks ago Dad and Mom Vincent came for the weekend and put in some serious hard work in the yard. Dad and Mom Marshall also joined in the fun. It was a lot of hard work and caused a lot of sore muscles but the following happened: chicken coop painted, nesting boxes in place, weeding and mulching of one side of our house, mowing, chicken coop fence put up, laying out of the garden area, and planting tons of transplants of flowers from Holland (and many other things I have probably already forgotten). Here are some pictures from the weekend. I must say I think our yard and planting areas look 100 times better than they did before we started. Thanks families!!!



This area used to be entirely full of weeds...












































Work on the coop!! Bill sweeping in order to put in the flooring next, dads painting, mom using her sewing skills to weave the two part of the fence together, and the nesting boxes before they were taken inside the coop

This one is for my friend Mindy

I have several things I need to post, but it is approaching my bedtime here soon, so I needed to choose only one thing to talk about. Well, I just wanted to give my friend Mindy some much needed thanking. A portion of my flower beds look spectacular thanks to her. At my birthday party last fall, Mindy spent an hour or so out in the freezing cold digging in the dirt trying to get some bulbs in the ground. Well her hard work paid off and I have beautiful flowers this spring to prove it. Thanks Mindy!! (Oh, and don't forget you did say that you wanted to help with the garden this spring...I might have to hold you to that one!)

Yes! I am so excited these days due to the fact that there is officially a chicken coop in the back yard. I am so happy! Bill and his dad spent a good portion of last Friday building the chicken coop. Eventually, our good friend Bruce, a carpenter, joined in on the fun. (Thanks so much, Bruce, for all of your help!!!) On Friday the coop got its base, and four walls with three of them being finished. On Saturday, Bill and dad spent a good portion more time adding a roof, the fourth wall, and a window. My wonderful father-in-law continues to faithfully come over every day since then to finish up the odds and ends of the building process. There are just a few more things that need to be done and we will be able to put the girls out there. On another note, with all this gorgeous weather we have been having, everything seems to be growing and in bloom. It is so fun to watch everything come back to life after this long winter. We are also growing six different kinds of tomatoes under a grow light in the basement and also some herbs. We hope to plant some lettuces/greens here in the next week or so as well. We are pretty pumped about the growing of our food thing and it gets more and more exciting every day. God is so good to bless us with the space and ability to grow our own food. Here are some pictures from Friday:



Dad starting the whole process in the garage,

Bruce's truck and the reinforcements (ie: a generator, nail gun, and professional carpenter skills!),


All three of the guys getting all wall up,


Our friend Bruce,


More work.

warm weather...finally!

Well the last two days have been gorgeous here in Ann Arbor. I must say that I don't do well with the cold, even mild cold. I was able to enjoy both warm, beautiful days for different reasons. Saturday I spent with the Marshall side of the family and was able to be a part of my sister-in-law's, Katie, baby shower. Now if you haven't heard this yet, she is pregnant with twins. It was a very fun baby shower and what a great day for celebrating the coming of the two little girls.

Today, I was able to get out in the yard this afternoon. Now, I kept telling myself I was "planning" on getting out there at some point. But after I did some shopping and came home to find the neighbors on both sides working in their yards, I felt guilty and knew I really had to get out there. I don't want to be known as the neighbor who doesn't take care of their yard. So as the smell of burning leaves filled the air, I worked trying to clear some of the remains of last fall. It always feels great to be outside!! So I took a few pictures of what is growing the front yard these days...and alas, there are some actual flowers...yes! And to be honest, I am not exactly sure what is going to pop up this spring, as several people did some planting this fall. So it will be quite the surprise to see what starts blooming.

Here are also a few shots of the girls. They are getting big and more than ready to be outside...hopefully soon! All of our neighbors are excited there are going to be chickens around. I met a neighbor a few houses down today and as he found out there were going to be chickens he exclaimed, "chickens in Frains lake again...alright!!". Apparently he used to raise 125 chickens back in the day and so I told him I was coming to him if we had any questions.