Revenue

No, not the tax kind.  We have egg revenue! I know with only 7 chickens I cannot make  a  living off them, but I can let them pay for their feed.  A few weeks ago I had 4 dozen eggs.  I am getting anywhere between 4-6 eggs a day and we just do not eat that many eggs.  In fact when I got the chickens, the eggs were just a perk.  I never thought that the eggs we wouldn't have to buy would save us money in the end.

When I had eggs overtaking the fridge we started asking around to see if anyone was interested in our surplus.  Brent struck up a barter with a co-worker to trade the amount of eggs as needed for some home-harvested honey.  Personally I think you cannot compare fresh honey to commercially harvested honey.  It is so much richer and more flavorful, so for the price of 7 dozen eggs, we received a quart of honey.  Personally I think the bartering system is a great thing.  It worked for our ancestors, perhaps it is a better method for today's society rather than concentrating on money all the time.

We also were able to have three other families agree to pay $2 a dozen for our extra eggs.  At a rate of 2 dozen per week, our chicken eggs will pay for their food bill.  I'll take that.  Not only is it neat to make a little cash from the eggs, but it feels good knowing I can share fresh natural eggs from happy chickens to other families at a reasonable price.

Chick days will be starting up soon and it will be hard to resist all those cute fuzzy butts, but I am maxed out on chickens, space, and eggs so I will just have to visit and snuggle them and enjoy my little flock here at home.

You Might be an Idahoan If....

....you go to a Hunters Education class with your two preteen daughters.  This, my friends, is what I am up to this weekend.

Many people from my life in Tennessee and beyond were hunters.  I knew my husband was a hunter before he was even my husband.  I had cousins that hunted deer, my dad shot a squirrel or rabbit from time to time, I even had a boyfriend once that hunted 'coons.  I actually went on a coon hunt once, and it was very.... different.  Bird hunting is popular in the Midwest and we saw a lot of that when we lived in Nebraska, but at that time my husband hadn't gotten into birds yet.  It wasn't until we got to Idaho that I saw what  real intense hunting was.

Brent had been itching to get back behind the gun for so long and when we moved to Idaho he was able to do it again.  He starts getting antsy every year before elk and deer season and the passion and desire is there.  He has taken the kids bird hunting for a few seasons now and takes them fishing all the time.  Their love for the outdoors is really starting to shine.  My youngest daughter gets to go on her first ice fishing trip on Monday and she is really excited about it.

I feel the kids have a really strong bond with their dad since they are able to do these things with him and I know they are building memories that will last them a lifetime and to me that is priceless.  This year is a new milestone.  My oldest will now be old enough to hunt deer.  She turns 12 in September and when she realized she was old enough to go this year she won't quit talking about it.   So it was decided, me and the two oldest girls were going to take hunters ed, because its what all the cool Idaho kids (and moms apparently) do.

I'll be honest, I have only shot a gun twice in my lifetime.   We went target and trap shooting in Wyoming once and I will admit it was fun!  Due to lack of equipment, it was also the last time I went.  After that and babies 1,2,3,4 and 5 popped out, I didn't do much of anything.  Brent took up bird hunting again and bought and trained a bird dog. He learned to fly fish and went big game hunting again with his dad.  As a new-ish mom I resented him taking off for a while to do these things but now, in retrospect, I am glad he was learning  new skills and and honing those from his own past so he can teach them to our kids.  Its tradition, legacy, and something they will have for the rest of their lives.

So now I think I am finally really converting to Idaho culture.  I love wild game meat; elk, deer, pheasant, chukar.  I think there is nothing that is more tasty.  So tomorrow bright and early, the girls and I will head off to the fish and game office once again to learn how to be hunters.  Even if I never get behind another gun in my life, at least they will know I am behind them 110% in becoming well-rounded individuals.

Mary, Mary quite contrary....

How does your garden grow? Well it's that time of year,  frost is on the ground, snow is in the mountains, and I am dreaming of the fall harvest. I'm determined to grow a garden this year. We decided not to renew our CSA membership  and we are going to build two or three raised beds and grow our own produce instead.

I have tried many, many times to grow things in pots and  in the ground with very little success.  I managed to harvest about 4 chili peppers one year off one plant and the first year we were here, we were able to gather quite a few cherry tomatoes and zucchini from the garden that was already here.  Now the chickens reside in that area so we have to build a new one.

I don't know if it's lack of experience in gardening or lack of effort on my part that caused the past failures, and honestly it was probably a combination of both.  I figured if I can keep a flock of 7 chickens alive, then maybe I can grow something also.  Now I am just trying to decide what to grow.  I've priced out the materials, and we have a vague idea of where the beds will go.  I just hope installation doesn't become a huge project and that we don't have to do too much to alter the irrigation in order to make it work.

There is just something so gratifying about producing your own food.  I watched a documentary tonight about the South Central LA farm issue back in 2006.  It was called Save The Farm and there is another one that I will watch next that won many Oscars called The Garden about the same situation.  It was very upsetting, yet moving.  Both of these are available on Netflix instant streaming.  If these people can build a huge garden in the middle of South Central LA, then surely I can can build one in the middle of Idaho.  It will be a labor of love and I will definitely keep you all posted.

On another note, I tried a few new recipes this week.  First I made these homemade granola bars and boy were they good! These are something I am going to be making again.. tomorrow in fact.  My kids gobbled them up and even my husband took one for a snack.  Although I think it's because he is in love with anything he finds on Lauren's Latest .  I thought the flavor was fantastic, very rich but not overpowering.  I am going to attempt some other versions also, like peanut butter and a maple one.  I also made this cream cheese banana bread but the verdict on that will be out tomorrow since it will be breakfast.  It is in no way healthy and it had more ingredients than just about any other quick bread I have ever made, but if it tastes as good as the batter then it will be delicious.

I am researching and brainstorming on what I want my blog to look like, and I will start getting some more pictures up.  I know all this text must be pretty darn boring.  If there is one thing I am uncomfortable doing, it would have to be dealing with and learning new technologies.  My husband picks up on the stuff so easily and to me its like another language, so bear with me and hopefully we will start looking a little more high-class 'round these parts.  

Weigh-in Wednesday

I know it isn't Wednesday anymore but I was so unbelievably tired today that I just didn't get to it in time.  Why so tired?  Well today I had a complimentary fitness evaluation with a personal trainer at my new gym this morning at the crack of dawn.  I had no idea what to expect so I went into it with an open mind.

This young kid was there to show me the ropes of the place.  I spent a lot of time at the YMCA last year but I realized that I was only cozy with the elliptical and the treadmill.  I hadn't rendevouz'ed  with the resistance machines much at all.  They are so intimidating to me.  I really have no idea how to use most of the machines and the fear of looking like a moron who doesn't know what they are doing isn't so glamrous to me.  I was happy that he was going to take some time and show me how some of them work.

After a few reps on a handful of machines and also some workouts I can do sans machines, it was time to get down and dirty.  I had to face the hard cold facts of the dreaded BMI and mass distribution.  In other words, how much of this body is fit and how much is flab?  I'm not stupid, I know I am extremely out of shape and I have a lot of weight to lose still, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  The trainer confirmed that my personal goal was realistic and that with diet and exercise, I shouldn't have a hard time reaching that goal.  He also informed me that even though my BMI was too high, I have a lot of lean mass under this layer of flab.  This is really good news and I am pretty happy about it.

As for my weigh-in, I have lost 3 of the 7 pounds I had gained back.  Only 4 to go and I will be back where I was before I lost focus.  I feel my motivation is back finally.  I have been able to run very short periods of time on the treadmill with very little foot pain.  Next week I am going to get fitted for some REAL running shoes with the proper support my feet need.  I am so excited to finally get real running shoes because I know I need proper footwear in order to take care of my feet.

I can't wait for spring.  I have already started looking at races that I can do and am leaning towards the Dirty Dash in August!  How fun will it be to run a 5 mile race in goopy mud??  I also intend on running (not walking) a 5K by the end of the year.  I just want to get moving again.  It feels so good even when I am exhausted.  I need to finish what I started a little less than a year ago.