Creating Gifts for Christmas Chicks.

Christmas passed in the blink of an eye. Didn't it? Am I the only one that feels this way? One minute, I'm up to my elbows in cinnamon roll dough (more on that next time), the next I'm frantically wrapping presents and trying to decide who needs a handwritten note on Christmas cards versus who is up-to-date with kids' happenings via Facebook. Crazy days and late nights resulting in a neglected blog...and then, POOF. 

Christmas is over.

Well, then.

I'm actually feeling a little lost.

The frantic pace screeched to an abrupt halt, and now my brain is preoccupied with seed catalogs, stone paths, chicken coops, and garden plans. The dreary rain isn't cooperating with my new projects, however. So instead, I thought I'd share some of our recent chicken escapades. 

There's nothing better than a little chicken play time to shift your perspective.

The girls enjoyed a bit of supervised free ranging in the kitchen garden. Oreo does a fine job keeping an eye on her feathered friends. (She's actually a little afraid of them.)

Sprite nibbles the herb garden.

The girls are excellent soil- and compost-turners. When the beds are full of crops, they're also excellent devourers of our dinner. Right now, though, only a few beds are occupied, so they enjoyed mostly free access to the garden.

 

Sprouting straw that insulates the garlic bed provided green treats for Willow Wisp and Resa...

...but honestly, the compost overflowing from the bins served as the biggest attraction to the girls. Bugs galore! A chicken feast!

While most of our holiday decorating happened in early December, we added some last minute decor and treats for the girls. After all, nothing says Merry Christmas like eight stockings hung by a run, right?

Along with the stockings, the kids enjoyed creating edible garland for their girls. 
 

Huh. Kristen's arms look freakishly long here.

Doesn't Mikey look thrilled at our crafty project? So. Much. Fun.

I even created my first wreath from scratch to hang on the coop.
 

Honestly, I have no idea why I haven't been making our wreaths all of these years. Using the cutoff branches from our Christmas tree trunk, floral wire, and a $3 wreath form from the craft store, it took a whopping 10 minutes to complete the wreath. 

Simply cut the evergreen branches into 5-6 inch segments, bundle, place at an angle, wrap with wire and repeat. 

So ridiculously easy.

The kids hung their completed grape and cranberry garlands on the fence that separates the chickens' run from the pool area. Three long garlands decorated the muddy fence.

Did I mention that it's been raining A LOT during vacation? The chickens' run is a muddy mess.
 

At first, the girls weren't certain what to think about the garland.
 

But then, once they saw their favorite treat--grapes--it was a feeding frenzy. 
 

 
As soon as one chicken plucked a grape from the garland, the rest quickly tried to steal it. A few brave girls plucked their own treats off the strand, but most waited to try to steal the grapes from one another.

Silly chickens.
 

The grapes disappeared in a blink of an eye--much like Christmas. The cranberries lingered a bit longer. Next year, if the girls are extra good and quit sneaking out of the run, we might make the garlands from all grapes--red and green. Festive colors and favorite food!

For now, though, their Christmas treats are just a memory. 

Many people already packed away their decorations, but we're still trying to maintain a bit of Christmas cheer here. The tree is dropping needles, but the decorations will remain up until January 1. We can all use the extra bit of good fortune by leaving the tree up until New Year's Day, right? It's supposed to be lucky, like eating collard greens and black-eye peas.

Plus, the chicken stockings just make me laugh, and we all need a little chuckle during the gray winter days.

Are you still enjoying holiday decorations, or are you all tidied up and ready for New Year's?

Hoping you and yours enjoyed a lovely holiday season!

XOXO ~

Julie 

Tarnished Angel.

It's been a crazy few days, celebrating hubby's very significant birthday on Friday followed by a mad dash Saturday to deck the halls before he left for a week in Switzerland. Today, when I should have been writing, I attempted to restore order to the house. Really, the Christmas decorations seem to breed each year, and I wind up with a pile of odd Santas and candles that have no home. 

Also, can someone please explain to me why every year I must make no fewer than two trips to Target in the midst of decorating to replace lights? 

Honestly, nonworking lights turn me into the Grinch. Normally, Peter claims that title. There's nothing festive about half-lit strands of lights that need to be removed from wreaths or garland and replaced with new lights that must be woven throughout the greenery. 

Grinch, Grinch, Grinch.

After much non-festive muttering and worse, I'm afraid, the outside lights are up and working, the tree is dripping in LED colored lights that make our living room look like a disco, and every branch of the 9.5 foot behemoth Fraiser Fir droops with treasures. 

We don't do decorator trees. Our tree is filled with handmade ornaments: clothespin reindeer and painted puzzle-piece toddler ornaments. Bells from Switzerland. Sparkly glass balls from vacations. Tacky, "back of the tree" ornaments. Ornaments showcasing each child's passion--music, Star Wars, horses, chickens, Madeline, Barney. Sailing ornaments for Peter, a tomato ornament for Garden Delights. Photos of a baby that is now a 21-year-old adult. And, like the ornament that occupied the place of honor on my family's tree as we grew up, a teapot resides just below the star. Our glass teapot ornament is everyone's favorite.

Our ornaments evoke memories, each one with a story to tell. I received the brass angel (above) when I was in second grade from my (now former) sister-in-law. Somehow, this little engraved angel meant the world to me--possibly because, being much younger than my siblings, I felt invisible. My sister-in-law talked to me like an adult, showing genuine interest in my crazy passions. I rarely saw her without a book in her hands, and she encouraged my book obsession. That same Christmas, she gave me The Secret Garden. Honestly, how could I not adore her? 

Life happens, people change. I saw her a few times after the divorce, but she remarried and we lost touch. It's one of my great regrets. I would love to know her now, as my adult self.

But every year, when I unwrap the little angel, I think of her. It's the one ornament that I insist only I can hang on the tree.

It's tarnished now, a little rusty along the back, aged like its owner.

But in the dark, reflecting the disco lights, it shines with possibilities.

It will never be banished to the back of the tree.

XO ~

Julie




 

Happy December to You!

Happy December to you! Chicken Mama is busy, dressing her girls in their holiday finery, and I'm tackling the leftover mess of yesterday's marathon decorating session. Still, in the craziness that is December, I'm planning to play along with the December Photo Project. 

 

We'll see how it goes...want to play along, too? Just visit this link to sign up. From what I gather, there are no rules--just take a few moments each day to regroup and play with your camera. We all need a little creative diversion this month, don't you think?

Happy Sunday! 

XO ~

Julie

Holiday Dress-Up.

For most people, December is a time to dress up, visit Santa, and take the kids to The Nutcracker.

The Nutcracker is always on our holiday agenda.

But this year, instead of dressing up to watch Sugar Plum Fairies, we decked out some chickens.

Which is not as easy as you might think.

Who knew that this cute little wine accessory is exactly chicken-sized? 

And who knew how much fun we'd have, dressing up chickens on a Sunday afternoon?

Do you dress your pets for the holidays? Kiki is lobbying for attire for the entire menagerie, but Peter is protecting the pups from her stylist dreams.

We'll see who prevails...

Ho Ho Ho!

XO ~

Julie

Christmas Cheer.

It's December 3.

Most people are decking the halls. 

My husband, however, is building a new-and-improved, half-storage-shed, half-chicken-coop palace.

The kids are with friends, and I'm sitting in the dark office, wondering if I can hire some elf to come wire up and plug in all the lights and decorations that I have (single handly) hung outside.

Because my husband is building a chicken coop.

Fa la la.

I think it's time for a glass of Christmas cheer.

Just curious--who handles the decking of the halls in your home? You? Your spouse? Is it a team effort? And--if you don't deck the halls, I wonder--who's in charge of your festivities, such as buying holiday gifts, birthday organizing, etc? Inquiring minds (mine) want to know...

XO ~

Julie

Bliss. (With a side of sugar.)

You know how it is. It's December. Gifts to buy, last minute sparkly white shirts to locate for fifth grade orchestra concerts. Add in the merry making, enforced holiday cheer, Martha Stewart wannabe crafts (which always are a fail in our house), then sprinkle in a few birthdays, chicken coop projects, greenhouse growing...and December is madness.

This morning, in my favorite work avoidance activity, I scanned the lovely Saipua and Floret Flower Farms blogs when I found this: December Photo Project.

I'm already a day late. BUT—maybe I was actually a day early, since I took this shot on 11/30, during our outing to the National Gingerbread Competition display in Asheville at the Grove Park Inn. It was Peter's birthday, and he took the afternoon off. (Shocking, I know!)

What can I say? I am amazed at the talent.

And fantasy.

I want to be a little fondant woman, claiming this beautiful building as my own.

It's my dream business—a flower shop.

With fresh baguettes next door.

And, when the mid-morning sugar craving hit—I could just lick the walls.

Bliss.

Who knew I would find my perfect world in gingerbread?

Happy December!

XO ~

Julie

Food coma.

Wow. I have to admit--Thanksgiving dinner was delicious. Two days of prep work combined with weeks of obsessing about our local turkey resulted in a pretty darn scrumptious meal, if I do say so myself. Most importantly--no one ended up in the ER, although I did suffer one minor burn and almost impaled my foot with a carving knife...glad I still have some reflexes left in my aging body!

Here’s our star attraction...

...and our local apple pie...


...and our non-local, non-healthy Pilgrim hat cookies, just for fun.


I forgot to take a picture of the whole spread, but I think my sister did...so hopefully I’ll post that later.

We spent Black Friday pursuing non-commercial activities...I slept in (thank you, Peter), took a long walk, and then battled leaves for the rest of the day, tossing the kids into the piles, which they loved.

I just can’t start the holiday season fighting mobs, and honestly--I always feel sorry for the people who have to leave their families right after Thanksgiving dinner to work the midnight sales. Plus--I'm missing that “shopping-is-fun” gene. Thank God for the Internet.

Today, we’re planning to work on the foundation of the greenhouse...and I’m hoping to convince my darling hubby that it’s time to put up the outside Christmas decorations. We’ll see how persuasive I can be...

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are enjoying the long weekend with your family and friends!