Easter Beauties

Last week my friend Patty from Lemon Lane Cottage came to visit and bring her grandson to see our chickens and to play. She is such a sweetheart and gave Q this dress as an early birthday gift. I just had to have her wear it for Easter. It was so sweet and perfect for the day. Patty makes these dresses and I think will have an Etsy shop soon. Oh such talent. To sit down and out of some fabric she creates something so darling.

Thanks so much Patty. Q loved it and couldn't wait to wear it.

My mother in law gave me this glorious bouquet of stock on Easter as well. How can such a wonderful flower have such a plain old name. The fragrance is wonderful and I can smell it every time I walk into the dining room.

Do you like the match box card in the photo? See I told you I am not very good at staging photos. I want to thank all of you who commented on that post. You are such a blessing and it gave me such joy to read your comments. 

Blogging the Sunny Simple Way

Some people have asked over the years how I find time to blog while doing all the other things I share on my blog. Kids, animals, family, gardening, are some of the things I spend time doing and somehow manage to get a post up daily. So here is the answer. I blog on the fly. I rarely plan blog posts, I just look at photos I have snapped during daily life and pic a topic. I may work on some posts longer than others but usually it is a straight session of loading pictures and writing the post.

As for photos. I rarely ever edit them. I just don't have time for this step. On occasion I will edit a photo but mostly I just load straight onto the blog. What you see is real life so the pile of laundry in the back ground just stays in the photo. I love the gorgeous photos I see on other blogs and maybe my lack of good quality photos holds my blog back. I have no idea but it doesn't really matter to me. I just want to connect with others and blog the way I live in what I call organized chaos. Sharing tips that have helped me and things that I just plain enjoy. If it ever is not fun any longer, I will end this journey.

Some of my favorite blogs that I make sure to never miss a post are just basic life filled blogs. That is what I am drawn to. Simple ways. I have often wondered where I fit in the blog world as I most certainly am not a craft blogger, not really home decor and not a particularly good cook just a basic one. So I think I am a "life" blogger. One who shares her life. My ways of doing this and figuring out how to do that. If it is something that has helped me or makes my life easier I love to share it.

If you are a new blogger than definitely follow the rule many have shared that imitation may be a form of flattery but it does not work in the blog world for longevity. Blog your life. Blog things that are beautiful to you. Share things that have moved you and bring joy to you. If you love it chances are others will to. Let your life be your blogging guide. I never over think or plan much. I am glad to have this hobby that brings me far more than I have ever imagined, a connection to women that brings me great joy every day I log onto Sunny Simple Life.

Linking to:

Met Monday

Miscellany Monday

Bedazzle Me Monday

Sumos Sweet Stuff

Coastal Charm

Raising Homemakers

Happy Easter

A very Happy Easter to you all. We are having a late brunch of ham, potato salad, baked goodies, pickled eggs and beets, fruit, rolls, chili egg casserole. You get the idea. The three pounds I lost the last couple weeks are coming back rather quickly. We ate a whole bag of malted eggs in this house yesterday. Why did I open that bag? Oh well back at it Monday. Enjoy your day with family and friends or whatever you are doing. Easter blessings!!

Here's the recipe for the Chili Egg Casserole. It is so good.

Red and Yellow

Last year this time I was finding myself very into red and that vintage green.

Here is the post.

This year though I find myself really drawn to yellow and of course red.

My yellow Dutch iris are just gorgeous right now. I hope I have some for an Easter bouquet.

But my heart has and always will have a place for red.

But oh those iris.

Red is a mainstay and will always be in my home but I think for this year I may do some decorating in:

Red and yellow. So cheery. I think it screams farmhouse. Hmm I see a theme for my shelf in the near future when the Easter stuff comes down.

Linking to:
Sat. Night Special
The House in the Roses
Seasonal Sundays
Tabletop Tuesday
Return to Loveliness

Moving In

I gathered up some of my chicken stuff from around the yard to dress up my girls new home.

They have been enjoying some time in the run each sunny day. It is 40 inches wide and almost twenty feet long. We will move in their little hen house this weekend. They still can't sleep out here without some heat so they are sleeping in my garage right now.

Scratching and pecking, pecking and scratching.

My girl with Henrietta. She is a very squirmy chick and prefers not to be held but she managed to be held for this photo.

We all have poop shoes now. Those you wear when you walk in the coop and never come in the house with.

I felt like a farmer at the feed store buying a bale of hay and shavings for the coop. I really must get out of the city. I am in Heaven in the feed store. Love the smell and the people in there and all the cool things. I need more space and more animals and a REALLY big veggie garden. I just don't care much about the other things in life anymore. I am at a place where I just know what I want to do. This has been a lot of work but it has been such a labor of love. I have really enjoyed every minute of these chicks. My dad was born on a farm. Maybe I get it from him. I just want to spend days in grubby jeans and clothes making things around me pretty and fruitful and lovely. I hate dressing up and loathe when we have to. I want to live where dressing up is a new pair of jeans and a t-shirt without holes. No kidding. I will however continue to color my hair. I have that ugly color of grey that is more yellow. My mom had silver hair. It was stunning and she was beautiful with it. I have my dad's hair. So I have rambled on.

Lola seems to like the chicks but I think it is the Kefir I give them. She wants to lick the plate when they are done. I hope she will be friends with them. She has been gentle so far. Happy chicks!!

Linking to:
Masterpiece Monday
Sat. Night Special

Hawaiian Fried Rice

We love fried rice in this house. Often I will use leftover pork roast for pork fried rice but recently I tried to shake it up a bit and create something a little different. Now this is a funny recipe with no exact measurements but add as you like per your taste.

Hawaiian Fried Rice
Take leftover steamed rice or rice you make early in the day. Fried rice is best if you use cold white rice. Refrigerate the rice before you make this dish.

Ingredients:
Cold white rice
shrimp
pineapple chunks
unsalted cashews
green onions
finely chopped carrots (or bell peppers would be nice)
soy sauce
stir fry sauce
red pepper flakes

Take a large non stick pan or saute pan and add a little oil and get the pan hot. I always saute the carrots a little first to soften. Add the rice and some soy sauce to taste. Get good and hot and add all the other ingredients and let cook on high heat turning only occasionally. If you want a lot of shrimp add loads like we did or just a taste of red pepper flakes. I just use up what I have and throw in amounts to taste. Fried rice is a great dish that can be changed in so many ways.
We served with some grilled teriyaki chicken.

Linking to:
Show and Tell Friday
Fun Stuff Fridays
What's It Wednesday

Into the House

I have been spending so much time outside that I forced myself to stay in and get things straightened in the house. Not easy, but I managed to stay indoors for a few hours. I really simplified Easter with the Easter Shelf in my kitchen and the dining room table getting the only holiday decor. This little guy sits in the wood tray for our table.
Oh, and this guy hiding in the dry sink. All the older pastel Easter stuff went to the Goodwill.

Picked up this wire basket on the clearance shelf at Country General Store. Not sure what to put in it.

I just put these things in but not a fan so do you have any suggestions?

Real plants would not work. The corner is too dark. This seems to be the black and yellow corner.

The door went on the coop last night. The girls can spend some time in there today. I am off to the feed store to get supplies. Must not look at the new chicks. I am waiting out the two suspect ones in hopes at least one will turn out the be a hen.

Linking to:
Savvy So. Style
BNOTP
Live Laugh

Breakdown of a Budget Chicken Coop

Here is where we ended. All that is left is the door and to carry in the hen house. Q thinks it is perfect for her. It is just under five feet so I will have to bend over in there but that is fine. We wanted to keep it below the wall.

Okay so far we spent $207 on supplies at Home Depot. We did not have a staple gun so we bought one and that is included. It was $30. We found out the wood we chose for the door was almost $50. Charged per foot and not what we thought so that will be returned and the door will be completed with the scrap wood. We are short some L brackets so minus those the cost will be reduced almost $50. The little hen house is a recycled cabinet and will be completed with all scrap supplies.

Look my potatoes sprouted. I really think they don't enough sun in this deep pot but I will carry it through and see what I get.

Had to throw in something pretty.

I am also trying an idea I got from Maureen at It's All Connected for growing celery from the bottoms of your store bought bunches. Just slice off the bottom about and inch up and put in a bit of water or like I did right into the ground. You can see it growing right there in the middle. Celery is on the list of the dirty dozen foods for pesticides so I would love to grow some of my own.

Our government is so hooked on alternatives to fossil fuels, well how about some alternatives to pesticides in our food. How about some subsidies to organic farming and more affordable availability to the consumer. Just some thoughts out loud.

Linking to:
Time Warp Wife
Homestead Barn Hop
Savvy So. Style
Raising Homemakers
Rednesday
Success U
Show and Tell Friday

Spring Blooms

Are you like me? This time of year you just look out the window and smile. So much green and oh the vivid colors just make you smile.

Everything brand new. The first blooms of the year taking all the nutrients stored up exploding in the first flowers and leaves of the season.

I look right onto this little planter from my kitchen sink window. My tree is now full of leaves of the brightest green.

This fall buy some dutch iris bulbs and you will be rewarded with more and more blooms every year. I divide every summer now and they thank you with an even better clump of flowers.

I admit this time of year I seem to do the minimum inside. I just want to spend all my days outside in the garden. I have family coming for Easter so I guess I need to stay in and get cleaning but it is so hard to do.
We usually have an Easter brunch on the patio if the weather is nice.

Linking to:
A Stroll Thru Life
Coastal Charm
Cozy Home Scenes
Tootsie Time

Coop Taking Shape and Conflicted

Here is the frame going up this morning and now here is the chicken wire going on. My husband must love me as he has been at it for hours and hours. Only day off and this is what he is stuck doing. Thanks babe!
Obviously this is the run and we will move the hen house in later. It is an old piece of furniture we modified.

The chicks have been evicted from the bathroom. This is their new set up It has chicken wire over the top and they are right out my patio door so we can see them. They are so happy in there compared to the box in the bath tub. At night it will be moved to the garage with a heat lamp and for times we cannot keep a watch over them.

Here is my dilemma. I have been obsessing over these two supposed barred rocks and posted pics on a great site and the consensus is they are roosters. BOTH! Noooooo! I knew I might end up with one but they are identical so I am worried. Some say they look like black sex link roos. Funny name I know but it is real. So do I run out and get two more chicks and hope I end up with at least three hens? I am a crazy woman I know. I believe my husband is rolling his eyes right now. This whole journey should be interesting. Our big dog acts like she wants to get the chicks and probably eat them but she has been exposed to them only twice. Our little dog is around them all the time and just hangs out by them. So this should be interesting. Oh well one of life's adventures. I have been reading on introducing our dog to the chickens but I don't think I will have them out when she is loose in the back. She has a side yard she stays in during the day and is kennel trained and can go in there when I want to let the chickens out in the back. We will have to be vigilant. I am up for it. This has been a great project so far and though a lot of work, I am loving it and
Q is gaining a great deal from the experience. Will let you know what our supplies cost next time. Two hours in Home Depot. Good times!!!

Frugal Challenge - Trying New Things

Okay does that look good or what?
Last night we had home made roast beef sandwiches for dinner. I have been wanting to cook and slice our own lunch meat for EVER. Not only for the cost saving but because I want to avoid all the additives and sodium. This week I picked up a roast just over $3 a pound on sale. It was 3 1/3 lbs. We went ahead and had it for dinner and froze the left overs for lunch meat as we have turkey to eat up.

I found a great way to cook it and I am just going to give the link so as to give full credit. It worked wonderfully and was tender and juicy. Here is the recipe at The Hungry Mouse.

I think about $3 a pound for good home made roast beef is a bargain. I shall find some more roasts marked down and turkey breasts. My in-laws gave us their slicer to use. I made hubs do it as that blade scared me. It was sharp. I think I can handle it next time.

As I was finishing up the chicken coop area, I decided to disassemble an old art easel of the kids to toss and noticed the legs could be cut and used for the chicken ladder and there were good hinges we could recycle for the coop door. I took the power drill and broke that sucker down. Good to be rid of it and to salvage what we could.

My goal is to spend as little as possible on the coop but still do a nice job. I see where people spend hundreds and thousands of dollars and that is not my plan. Of course I love the chicks, but the chickens are part of my "grow us much of my own food" plan. Don't want to go broke doing it. So far I have spent the initial $26 when I bought the chicks and the supplies and then I spent $9 more on feed and shavings. We will see what the total at Home Depot is today. I will let you know.

I am up at 3:30am with my little sicky. I bad spring cold is going through the house and she could not
sleep. Not going to make for a rested mommy come coop building time. I see lots of strong coffee and maybe a Starbucks treat in my future today. Skinny Caramel Macchiato is my favorite right now. Iced of course.

Lastly, someone got new boots yesterday. UPS came and delivered. This guy rarely buys for himself so I was so glad to see him enjoy some very good boots. He is excited as they are similar to military design for hot weather. Supposed to keep his feet cooler this summer. The other boots of course are Q's muck boots. She wears them in the yard. I raised all of my kids in rain boots for yard play in cooler months. Keeps feet dry and socks clean.

Linking to:
I heart naptime
Sat. Night Special
Sunday Blog Love
Seasonal Sundays

Stuck

The rope on this old birdhouse broke so we set it up in the tree and as time passed and the tree grew, the house became wedged in between and is stuck for good now.

My little welcome gal over grown and stuck in those vines.

This ceramic chicken is stuck in a pot with vines growing up his rear. Poor guy.

And I am stuck. I cannot comment today. I woke up at 5:00 am with hubs, made him some breakfast, grabbed my coffee and headed to the couch for some good blog hopping and commenting. Well, blo**er must be having problems because I cannot comment. So I am reading you today but just cannot let you know that I am there. Hoping to get the coop almost done this weekend. Tried to talk hubs into calling in so we could work on it but he shut me down. What a guy. Work over a chicken coop.

Linking to:
SNS 127

Me

Here is my green onion experiment. Growing nicely.

I was on Vintage Garden Gal's blog and she did a review of Sunset's new garden guide and asked for us to share what their garden books have meant to us. I thought this was written just for me. Mine is my gardening bible and I have had it and poured through it for almost twenty years.

I thought I would share my comment as it it so perfectly explains me. Sometimes I think I have been born in the wrong era and most certainly the wrong part of the country. My dream has always been to be a country girl.

But I grow where I am planted and that is a lesson a long time coming. You have to make the best of where God has placed you on this earth.

Here was my comment:

What a treat for you. As for my old, about 20 years old, Sunset garden guide, it is so dog-eared and underlined. I have studied that book many a year. I may not know a Marc whatever purse and rarely visit a Nordstrom, but take me to the nursery and I know the names of most flowers and can get lost in the aisles of blooming color and veggies. My guide has been by my side as I have tended a garden as a newly wed and now 23 years later, I still refer to it to see if I can plant a tree here or shrub there. I always save all the plant markers that come in my pots if I buy a new to me plant and then pull my guide to read as much as I can on the plant. I guess with all the new plants introduced, I could use a new guide. I would never part with my old one as my notes in it journal my garden's journey and my tastes over the years. 

My garden is my refuge. If my house is crazy I just step outside and pull of few weeds. The soil and plants get me. When both my parents were dying from cancer and I knew I was going to lose both of them very close together, I maintained my garden and had my most beautiful yard ever that year. It was as if the only place I could totally forget was at the nursery and tending my blooms. My yard was stunning. When my dad passed we had his memorial on the patio he put in and I had zinnias blooming all over perfectly timed for that day. As if God had it all in His master plan. They have never bloomed as pretty since.

My old neighbor sends me pictures of my old wisteria every year blooming in our old back yard. She can see it perfectly on our former patio cover. It is stunning. We moved before it really took off. We have been enjoying warm sunny days this week out back with the chickens and I just sit and for some reason I can breathe deeply out there. It is for sure my stress reducer for life. What is yours? Do you have a garden addiction like me?

Linking to:
Thrifty Thursday
A Glimpse Inside
Home Sweet Home
Show and Tell Friday

Chicks Provide Hours of Entertainment

Everyday that the sun is out we take the chicks out to the back for some leg stretching and grass scratching. The are entertaining but we have to watch carefully. One flew out the other day and we have a scrub-jay with nest in our tree and it swoops down and lands on the plastic fence we have them in.

The best time was had today. Q was pulling up my spinach starts and holding them for the chicks who I think thought they were worms. They were going crazy and the hysterical laughter from my babe was the best. Her sisters came out so what all the laughing was about. Now this is a kid that is busy and doesn't sit long but she played with them for 90 minutes. They wore each other out.

Hmm. Interested in a whole our doggie keeps digging up.

Okay now lets all jump in. They are at the stage where one goes they all go hoping that they don't miss out on anything good.

Getting real feathers.

This is one of the barred rocks getting lots of feathers and variations in color.

I have one I fear seems masculine. I sure hope it's not the case. I am very attached to all four. Hate to have to get rid of one. See my post on my set up here and here.

Linking to:
EBTKS
Fun Stuff Fridays
Weekend Whatever
Natasha In Oz