This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. Via soulemama.

What's happening around here?

Sorry guys, summertime has us busier than bees some days.  We have been testing out some fun things, enjoying family and friends company, celebrating so there has been little time left during the day to blog.

We have.........Good news, Our chickens started laying just the other day.  We enjoyed a tasty omelette this past weekend.  We look forward each afternoon going out and getting the eggs.

We have.........Bad news (only for those chickens!).Our Freedom Rangers will go for processing in about 2-3 weeks.  I won't lie, I hate those evil demon spawn and will laugh all the way to the farm!  Muhahahahahaha!

Freedom Rangers

We tested............Coconut oil, tooth powder, dishwasher detergent and homemade yogurt to be exact.  I am not crazy about the dishwasher soap via here.  My dishes just are not getting clean so I still have a bunch of testing to do. I hope to have a post about the coconut oil, tooth powder and yogurt soon.  PS...I am a total fan of all three of these things but I am totally hooked on the tooth powder!  The Hubs on the other hand is kind of on the fence.

Image via

We planned..........Figuring out where our duck house and bees will go has been a little trying.  Only having three quarters of an acre with one third of that being wooded makes fitting gardens, swing sets, trampolines, chicken coops, duck houses, duck ponds, and dog houses a little trickier.  Nonetheless we will find the room so everyone is happy.

2 Buff's peeking out of the chicken coop

We researched..........We have been researching ducks, the Hubs has wanted ducks (and goats) for a while now.  Since we had bad luck with the chickens last year, I wanted to concentrate on the chickens.  Now we are semi sure we know what we are doing so we are getting ducks, no goats right now.  It looks like we will be getting some Runners, Rouens, and Pekings, next month.  They are all docile ducks so the kids can help and I don't have to worry about one of them getting pecked.

Image via

We gardened.........Getting our butterfly and bee garden established.  This garden is three years in the making and I have to say it is coming along well!!  Thanks to our friend Frank. He sells the greatest perennials, never uses pesticides on his perennials and I have never had any problem with any plant he has ever sold me.  I make one or two trips there a year and just love seeing everything he has to offer!  We were out until about 10 pm Sunday evening trying to get the last of the mulch down.  We ran out of landscapers fabric and called it an evening!  Hopefully I will be able to finish this today!

A butterfly on an echinacea flower

We celebrated......... Little Bug turned 5 this past weekend.  She is such a love!  What a sweet and beautiful little girl!

So this is what we have been doing for the past week, with a little rain mixed in!  How is summer treating you?

Freedom Rangers

We decided that this year we would get meat chickens.  And after talking to a local chicken farmer, we decided to go with Freedom Rangers, which were suppose to be somewhere in the middle of Cornish X and a heritage breed.  We got them on June 1st and figured they would only be with us a short period of time, what could go wrong......

I have never hated an animal in my life as much as I hate these chickens.  They stink to the high heavens, they poop EVERYWHERE, they eat ALL THE TIME, they are the ugliest birds ever, I do not think they actually groom themselves and at one point I thought they all had tumors growing out of their breasts. Turns out they grow that way. We have gone through three bags of feed in the past six weeks.  They forage but they prefer the feed over foraging.  I only supplement feed with the egg layers, but these guys think they are going to starve to death and will follow you around until you feed them.  They are vile and disgusting and I actually cannot wait to send them to the farm.  I will never get Freedom Rangers again.   I think next time around we will go with an actual heritage breed.  They may take a little longer to grow but that is okay.  Having raised other dual-purpose breeds I know what to expect.

Freedom Rangers

Our egg layers, of which our three Buff Orpingtons are dual-purpose, do not smell, they forage, and they look like normal chickens.  I love our girls, they are polite and let us pick them up and pet them, they love their little mealy worm treats and kitchen scraps.  I gave them some grass clippings from the lawn mower and they went crazy!!

Our egg layers

So I will continue our quest for a meat bird that is slow growing, docile and doesn't eat like a pig!  I will let you know what breed we try next!!

Christmas in July- Really?

Yes, I am crazy for making a Christmas post in July.  But why not?  I LOVE Christmas!  It is absolutely the best time of the year.  I always feel like all is good with the world from about Thanksgiving to New Years.  But I digress!

I spent last December DIY'ing most of our Christmas presents to our family and I felt so rushed.  But I was browsing through the internet and Pinterest the other day and started finding all kinds of Christmas stuff to make and give!

I am inspired to start planning in July.

I made a Ornament wreath this past year for my sister, maybe I should make her some garland to match?

via Pretty Quirky

Or some glitter ornaments for our tree.

via Cook~Love~Craft

Or I could make more paint ornaments, like last year.

Handmade by me

And maybe I will let the girls get crafty with me again this summer and we can make these!

Little Bird's hand print snow family!

I have a new found love to make things and I am kind of good at it!  Toot! Toot!  And now that my family room is complete I have another Christmas tree to set up and decorate!  Yay!

When do you start feeling inspired for Christmas?  What do you do to keep yourself from becoming overwhelmed?

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. Via soulemama.

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. Via soulemama.

Being green

Welcome to the June 2012 Simplicity Parenting Carnival: Green Living
This post was written as part of the monthly Simplicity Parenting Carnival hosted by The Lone Home Ranger and S.A.H.M. i AM. This month we are discussing how we find ways to be more natural parents and stewards of the environment. Be sure to read to the end to see a list of the rest of the excellent carnival contributors.
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I have to admit I got really excited when I read that green living was the topic for this month's Simplicity Parenting Blog Carnival!  Becoming green can be one of the easiest, healthiest and cheapest changes you can make in your life! 

I used to think that my house had to smell a certain way in order for it to be "clean" and it wasn't disinfected unless bleach was used on every surface. I also used to think that being green was unattainable and so hard I couldn't possibly do it.  I was certainly wrong!

Those "smells" in my home that I loved so much, were actually toxic VOC's (Volatile Organic Compounds) which have both short and long term effects and they cause things like irritations of the eyes and nasal passages. It made me to think about my kids growing up with all kinds of health problems that could have been avoided had I just not used the bald guy or bubbles that scrubbed. 

Where do I begin with bleach?  The companies who sell these products will make you think nothing else could kill those nasty germs!  But did you know bleach isn't the safest method for getting rid of germs?  Bleach can also cause respiratory problems such as asthma and allergies, cause skin burns, be absorbed into your skin, and cause damage to your vital organs and central nervous system.  There are many essential oils that do the same job as bleach but without the harmful side effects!

Being green really couldn't be easier. 

Okay, so how did we do it?  Baby steps. We changed our habits one thing at a time.  

First we started with a garden and determined that we were going organic.  That meant no pesticides anywhere in our yard.  I thought this was going to be hard because we have carpenter ants.  But...

We got chickens; they are like a natural pesticide.  They were the one, two punch we needed to get rid of the bugs without having to use harmful chemicals.  I watch them pick bugs out of mid air!  They are adorable too!  

Happily eating bugs!

Then we changed the household cleaners from the harsh chemically stuff over to Mrs. Meyers.  Then I found out I could make the same Mrs. Meyer's cleaners myself.  Cheaper.  I like cheaper, it saves the money we work so hard for!  

Here is a list of the household cleaners we have changed so far:

Laundry Soap- Recipe below

Fabric Softener- Recipe below

All-purpose cleaner

Powdered tub cleaner

Wood Floor cleaner

Flea powder (for carpets only)

We also decided that we were going paperless for our everyday life.  I took exception to things like parties because I am just not that into doing the dishes!  Pretty much we just stopped buying paper plates, napkins and paper towels.  Microfiber towels are our best friends now!  I do keep a few rolls paper towels in the house for when the dogs or cats mess in the house or to clean up something REALLY yucky, but that is all we use them for.

How can you start your baby steps?  Here are three tips to get you started:

1. Decide what you want to change.  Maybe you just want to start out by making your own all-purpose cleaner. 

2. Research and test.  Find some recipes for homemade cleaning products.  I like TipNut.com a lot and use it as a starting point for a lot of different things!  

3. Start small.  You do not want to make a huge batch of that all-purpose cleaner only to find out you hate it or it does not work as well as you thought.

I hope I have inspired you to start becoming greener!


HOMEMADE LAUNDRY SOAP- Recipe from TipNut.com 

Hot water
1 cup Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax
1 Soap bar- I use scented castile soap or Fels Naptha, 

Grate the bar and add to a large saucepan with hot water. Stir over medium-low heat until it dissolves and is melted. Do not let the water boil!  Fill a 10 gallon pail half full of hot water. Add the melted mixture, Borax and Washing soda; stir well until all powder is dissolved. Top the pail up with more hot water. Use 1 cup per load, stirring soap before each use.

HOMEMADE FABRIC SOFTENER- I almost feel like this is cheating but it is just too good not to share!!

Vinegar

I use a fabric softener ball to measure the amount but I would say it is about a quarter cup of vinegar for a large load of laundry.

How easy is this?  

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Thanks for reading the Simplicity Parenting Blog Carnival! We hope you’ll take time to read these other great contributors’ posts:

• Almost Crunchy - Molly at Molly Makes Do writes about her life as "Almost Crunchy" and the baby steps she's taken to get from "Not at All" to "Almost."
• A (Mostly) Plastic Free Life - Kellie at Our Mindful Life reflects on the recent intrusion of plastic into her usual plastic free home.
• Slowly Greening Our Home - Dana at Urban Hippie Momma has slowly reduced the amount of paper waste in her home with a few simple practices.
• Being Green - Anne at Raising Sweet Grace shares her tips on being a green parent.
• Back to Basics - Justine at The Lone Home Ranger channels her greatgrandmother’s cleaning tips to make her household healthier, more frugal, and more earth-friendly.
• It's Not (Always) Easy Being Green - Emily at S.A.H.M. i AM discusses the little things her family does to be more eco-friendly but admits it's not always as easy as it sounds.

Thanks to all the fabulous writers and readers for being a part of our simplicity parenting community! Stop by The Lone Home Ranger and S.A.H.M. i AM to see how to join us for a future carnival.