Sunday Funny

River remembers reading to the last batch of chicks we had three years ago (or maybe he remembers seeing the picture, I'm not sure), so one of the first things he did after I got them all situated was to sit down in a chair and read them a book.

Weekly Mileage #157 and Chicken Coop Renovations

The mighty River! I may or may not have made him repeat his first jump 4 or 5 times till I got a good shot...

Sunday night I was up till 2am with River, who had a really bad earache. It was just in one ear, and it came on pretty suddenly, so I knew we were just waiting for his eardrum to burst. After some painkillers + hot compress + a blessing he was finally able to fall asleep. In the am, I checked his ear, and sure enough, crusty crud in his ear indicated his eardrum had ruptured. And he can't hear as well either because of that hole.

As painful as it was at the time, I'm glad I had a similar experience a few years ago, so I knew what was going on (recognized the signs) and wasn't super worried, just a bit frustrated because there's not a lot you can do while waiting for it to rupture. At 12:30am Jeremy offered to run to Walmart in search of ear drops, but Walmart is no longer open 24 hours and had been closed for hours by that point. There's so much we take for granted in our society. It was also somehow a bit disconcerting to realize that while we have this pandemic going on, there's still other illnesses happening and we may not be able to treat them as we would in the past. Especially since I'm very reluctant to go anywhere near a hospital right now.

The boys have had multiple ear drum ruptures, but this is the first time River complained about the pain- in the past, they never seemed to notice it. Shortly after mine ruptured, I think Ocean's did also, and I only knew about it because of the crusties around his ear the next morning. I guess they don't feel it as much when they're younger? Also, why does it always seem to happen at night?

The last time he went to preschool, his teacher had a tangram set out that he had a lot of fun with, and when he found this little travel set, he happily sat down and started playing with it. The grumpy face is because I was taking pictures :)

On Monday, the governor canceled school for the rest of the school year. It had been canceled for two weeks, which would have ended on March 27th. I guess being decisive has it's benefits. Everyone knows we're done. We picked up Ocean's change of clothes from the preschool, because that's done. Kinda silly we did his IEP amendment now, since he won't be having speech therapy for the rest of the school year, either.

Monday afternoon the kiddos FaceTimed with friends in the afternoon and Sunshine had a Scout troop meeting via Zoom in the evening.

Tuesday we did music lessons via FaceTime. We didn't do it last week because Sunshine was supposed to go to a career day sponsored by the local community college last Tuesday so we'd canceled music lessons that day. The career day got canceled and we just left the day empty.

Sunshine really likes driving the tractor, and the boys like getting rides.

Wednesday we moved the last bit of wood from the chicken coop area. On Saturday Jeremy cut down two smallish trees in front of the chicken coop because they've been growing out over the garden, taking advantage of the open space and unfiltered sunshine. Since we need that sunshine for the garden, they had to go. One got hauled away on Saturday, but we left one for later.

I feel like I'm coming down with a head cold. I'm not sure if it came from Ocean (who has finally mostly gotten over his cold) or detox symptoms or too many late nights. It could be any or all of them.

good thing there was no sound- Ocean was totally whining the first part of our hike because he wanted to run ahead and I told him he couldn't (the trails were too crowded and I didn't want him running headlong into another group)

Thursday I worked on some zip bags I've been stopping and starting for awhile now.

Friday I hiked with the kiddos, which turned out to be a bit more exciting than anticipated. The trails were more crowded than usual (ie, we saw 6 or 7 groups instead of just 1 or 2), and as we walked down one trail and came up over a rise, Sunshine and I realized we were seeing a full moon. We promptly turned us and the boys around and waited a bit. She was far enough down the trail that I don't know if she saw us. Sunshine and I definitely felt awkward as we caught up to her and a friend picnicking at the ruins of a house. We continued on after a short hi and tried not to dwell on it. We do have questions though. How did she not know she was right on a trail? Admittedly, there are a number of trails that all converge on those ruins, and maybe she thought it was a ditch? I don't know. I've always gone into the trees, not away from them. Anyway. An interesting experience.

After our hike I worked some more on my zip bags. After doing three different ones, I've decided I'm going to try something different- these were too time consuming and fiddly to be good additions to my shop. I need items that I can scale the production of, and those weren't it. I did find some patterns for some simpler bags that I want to give a try.

I've been carrying around this ziplock baggie with my supplements in my purse, but ziplock baggies don't last

so I made this bag to carry them in

it's not perfect, but I learned a lot from making it and the other two (I haven't photographed them yet). before I sewed it all together, I engraved the 'I Can and I Will' on the front. I thought it was rather appropriate for the bag that carries my supplements that help me stay as healthy as possible so I can be a functioning person.

Initially, I didn't think our schedule would be that impacted by all the social distancing measures. But it has been. Wednesdays were the only day of the week that I had a chance of staying home. Every other day there was always at least one or two activities to get us out of the house.

Mondays Ocean went to preschool and speech therapy, I went trail running and hiking, maybe did the grocery shopping, Sunshine had Scouts. Tuesdays we went to music lessons, maybe ran an errand on the way home. Wednesday and Thursday we might have a doctor appointment or hiking, or something.Wednesday nights Jeremy and Sunshine went to D&D.  Thursday evening was YW. Friday was speech therapy and play group. Saturdays were busy with Scout activities, errands, and other things. Sunday was church and whatever meeting I had that week. Throw in chiropractor, orthodontist, and other doctor appointments, and any other outings we might plan, and we were busy people.

River found this hole at the base of a tree

Now we do Scouts and music lessons virtually. Jeremy and Sunshine do D&D online. We meet with our YW classes online. We've even done a virtual playdate. Thankfully, we can still go out for hiking and trail running, but only if it's not raining (which it has been more frequently than I'd like).

I'm used to working from home with kiddos running around- I've been doing it for the last 3-4 years. Jeremy even works from home a couple evenings each pay period, doing time sheets. But that's different from trying to take conference calls during the day with kids running around, yelling in the background. At least everyone is else is in the same boat.

The employees with his company are supposed to be reading and doing training stuff when they're not working in the office, but Jeremy has yet to touch any of it. All his time is taken up with the admin side of things. As team lead, one of his daily tasks (including Saturday and Sunday) is to check in with each member on his team, make sure they're where they're supposed to be (not more than 2 hours away to get paid for working) and still healthy. And then there's the constant schedule changes, timecard questions, and all the other questions people come up with.

So it's all a bit more stressful than I anticipated, and the hike we did on Friday was the first time the kiddos had left the house in two weeks. We shoo them out to play and ride bikes in the yard, but it's not the same as actually leaving the house and going somewhere.

I will say this, despite all the stress, I've managed not to stress eat chocolate or candy. I started eating low-carb just in time, just before all this started, and I'm still eating low-carb (not quite keto). Despite the stress, I've managed to stay away from carbs and sugars. Yay me!

Saturday we tore out a third of the chicken coop floor. I'd planned on rebuilding it that day, but once we got the rotten flooring off, we saw how wet the floor beams were. We discovered some drainage issues after I built the coop, and water used to pool in front of the door. Oops. I've learned my lesson there, but the damage was done. We've corrected the drainage issue, and now that the weather has warmed up a bit, it was time to fix the floor before one of us broke right through. I'd put random scraps of plywood over the worst of it, but it wasn't going to hold forever.

we found two massive wolf spiders under the floorboards

Anyway, I decided to let it dry out over the weekend, and hopefully it will improve enough for me to get the floor in soon. After we tore the floor out, we unloaded some cinder blocks from the trailer and put them where the big brush pile used to be, next to the chicken run. I'd planned on putting a green house there years ago, but when we started piling up brush and stuff there, that got put on hold. Now it's time to revisit that idea.

I've been thinking about all the news available regarding the pandemic versus what things must have been like with previous pandemics like the Spanish flu and the black plague. For all our advances, there's still so many unknowns, and seeing all the doom and gloom reports so readily available is not good for mental health, regardless of how accurate those reports are or aren't. I'm not sure that the information age is helping us out there.

There is a sense of unreality, like we're in some movie or book. In my case, it's not helped by the fact that I had just finished reading a zombie apocalypse series (not my usual fare, but interesting) just before all this happened.

Weekly Mileage
Wednesday- .62 miles walked outside
Wednesday- 10.00 miles biked
Thursday- 2.00 miles walked on the treadmill
Friday- 2.05 miles hiked
total- 14.67 miles

2020 totals

12 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
0 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

54.47 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
8.00 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
90.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
152.47 miles total

Weekly Mileage #153 and the Race I Didn't Run

Monday I went for a trail run and hike in the morning, then I finished off a journal order that I dropped off at the post office after speech therapy. My toe is feeling a lot better, but there's still room for improvement. It doesn't hurt when I run, but the joint is sore afterwards. I still don't have complete mobility on it either: I can't bend it all the way just yet.

Monday evening as Sunshine and I went to Scouts, we passed Jeremy's brother in the driveway on our way out. He's moving out east and stopped by our house for a bit more than a day on his way to his new location. They had lots of fun hanging out and playing video games.

working on the first aid merit badge

We lost a chicken Tuesday. We got back from Sunshine's orthodontist appointment and I was looking out the window at the chicken pen, and it looked like several of them wanted out of the big run and into the smaller run, but couldn't find a way in. I sent River out to check on them and he came in crying. He thought I'd be mad at him because one of the chickens was dead. I wasn't mad, but we did have a discussion about why it's important to be careful when taking care of the chickens.

From what I can tell, it looked like an aerial predator got her, but the rest of them couldn't get into the smaller run and coop because the gate had closed (he's supposed to latch it open). Once he opened the gate, the survivors all ran and hid in the coop. I'm guessing we won't be getting many eggs for awhile.... I had hoped that the bushes in the large run would provide enough cover for them, but since I found the dead chicken under the largest bush, that's clearly not the case. So now I'm going to have to string chicken wire or something across the top of the larger run. Though I'm wondering if a little lean-to inside the big pen might provide enough protection?

Wednesday the poor girls hid inside the coop all day. I did 20 super easy spin miles on my bike.

On Thursday I noticed that the girls ventured outside when the boys were jumping on the trampoline, which is right next to the coop. Once the boys moved on to another activity, the girls went back inside. Smart chickens! I also walked 1.5 miles on the treadmill.

We finally signed our final paperwork on the refinance. It only took 4 months to get to this point. Despite how long it took to get to that point, the signing itself was a much easier process than when we bought the house. Back then I had to sign everything, including Jeremy's side of things, which involved the phrase "under power of attorney" or something similar every time I signed something for him. That was tedious. This time was still tedious, but at least I only had to sign my side of things.

Friday the girls finally started venturing outside on their own. I also finally caught up on posts on this site.

For the past month I've waffled about doing the 5k on Saturday (this one that I've done before), but my energy levels have been a lot lower than I'd like and between that and my foot, I have not been able to get my mileage base where I'd like it. I thought about doing the race anyway, which I've done many times, but I want to be better trained and in better shape so I don't spend the next day and a half recovering, so I'm holding off.

Since I didn't do the race, I decided to go for a short trail run, and I took River with me. This was his first time trail running and he enjoyed it. Afterwards we bought some new clothes (he keeps growing out of everything), stopped by PetsMart to look at the animals, and then he got some ice cream. I do Scout stuff with Sunshine, take Ocean to speech and preschool (and sometimes hiking or errands), and River and I run races. Since we don't run races very often, I decided he and I needed a little more regular one-on-one time.

Weekly Mileage
Monday- 1.50 mile trail run
Monday- 2.30 mile hike
Wednesday- 20.0 mile bike ride
Thursday- 1.50 treadmill walk
Saturday- 1.20 trail run
total- 26.50 miles

2020 totals

9 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
0 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

37.20 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
6.00 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
60.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
103.20 miles total

Weekly Mileage #64

this stream crossing was a lot higher and faster than last time we were here

Last week was my best exercise week of the year. I exercised 6 days in a row! I don't remember the last time I managed that, but it sure felt good. Ok, there was some sore muscles, but it still felt good. Let's see if I can repeat it this week and next, and the following weeks as well....

they went right for the rocks

There was nothing special about my workouts Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, but the next three were more interesting.

big splashes from the boys

love his optimism!

I managed two hikes this week, which needs to happen a lot more often if we're going to get to 52 by the end of the year. Mr M's brother was visiting, so Mr M took a couple days off work, and they were able to come with the kiddos and I on our first hike. This is a hike we've done before (here, here, and here), but this was definitely the best weather.

Mr M demonstrated proper rock skipping technique, but the boys ignored his lessons

A black bear crossed the road in front of us a few miles before we got to the trailhead, but it disappeared into the underbrush next to the road by the time we got to the spot. It's been a few years since we saw a bear, so that was exciting.

trying to catch a crayfish we saw walking on the bottom

When we got to the swimming hole, we saw minnows and small fish in the water, but they didn't hang around once the kiddos started trying to skip rocks. Or just throwing the rocks, in the case of the boys. We found a couple crayfish under rocks, which was interesting. The water was a bit too cold for swimming, but we had fun splashing around.

it was a one-clawed crayfish (we put it back in the water)

Sunshine was brave enough to hold it, but the boys wouldn't touch it- this was the second crayfish we caught- it had two claws

Friday the boys and I went on another hike while Mr M, his brother, and Sunshine did some sightseeing. We've been to this trail before, and I thought we'd head up into the hills on a dirt trail, but River wanted to go on the "bridges"- the boardwalk bridges that make up about a third of the trail that  winds up the mountain to Monticello. He wanted to keep going, but I thought it was best to turn around while the going was still good, which was smart, since Ocean had some meltdowns on the way down and had to be carried part of the way back- he was done.

not a part of the boardwalk trail, but still pretty

he's getting so grown up

We stopped to climb on the giant tree trunk for a few minutes. Ocean was proud of himself for being able to climb up just as high as River did.

Saturday C and I were able to go running again. We went at 6:30 am, and the temps were gloriously, unexpectedly cool. Perfect for running. It was still humid enough that we got pretty sweaty, but at least we weren't dying from the heat.

so peaceful- no traffic other than a couple bicyclists

I spent a couple hours later in the day building a door for the chicken run, which meant lots of walking back and forth between the chicken run and the garden shed, where the saw was. I thought about putting my Garmin on, but decided not to, so I don't know how far I walked, but I'm sure it was at least a mile or two, though I'm not counting them towards my total.

When I built the chicken run last year, I left an opening for a door, but I'd run out of wood for the actual door. I stretched fencing across the opening and promptly put finishing the door on the back burner. My neighbor has her remaining chickens in our coop (her free ranged flock has been decimated by foxes this year) and we decided it was past time to make that one weak spot stronger. It was nice to work with my hands and sweat, but it was hot enough that I was definitely ready to quit by the time I finished the door. I didn't actually finish it yet- I need to buy hinges, a latch, and handles and install them, and then I'll be done. In the meantime, the door is screwed into the door frame and securely in place.

you can see the wire fencing in the doorway in this pic from when I finished the chicken coop trim

Weekly Mileage
Monday- 10.00 miles on the bike
Tuesday- 1.75 miles on the treadmill
Wednesday- 10.00 miles on the bike
Thursday- 2.31 miles hiked
Friday- 2.83 miles hiked
Saturday- 4.11 miles walked and run outside
    total- 31.00 miles

7 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
1.10 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

90.78 foot miles towards #365milechallenge
160.00 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
251.88 miles total

Weekly Mileage #59

we got our tree work done this week, but I'll talk more about it in a few days

Friday I talked about changing my schedule so I could make exercise more of a priority (along with other things). I was only partially successful last week since Ocean shared his cold germs with me and I didn't feel great the first half of the week. Not awful (I've definitely been a lot sicker this year), but just crummy enough to not feel up to exercising. So I opted to rest and allow my body to heal with as little stress as possible.

I was feeling better by the end of the week, though, and managed to get on the treadmill Friday and Saturday. In fact, I even ran one of those miles on Friday. It's a bit of a slog getting truly active again, but I do feel like I'm making good progress.

Saturday I also hauled some logs around, which was a good upper body workout. I loaded the log chunks from the pile at the side of our parking area into the trailer and used the lawn tractor to haul them down to the chicken run, where I lined up the logs along the outside edge of the chicken run to make it a bit more critter proof.

the trailer was our tax return splurge this year

Our neighbor lost most of her chickens a couple weeks ago and most of her ducks last week to critters. Probably a fox the first time, but maybe a coywolf (a coyote/wolf hybrid) the second time. The ducks were within an electric poultry net fence, but whatever got them bit through the electric fence to get to them. And yes, the fence was turned on. In any case, the remaining chickens plus some pullets she hatched are in our chicken coop (since it was sitting empty because I never got around to ordering layers this winter) and we want to make sure they stay safe.

I buried fencing, but didn't attach it to the boards right away, and when I got around to doing so, everything had shifted enough that the fencing and the boards didn't meet in all locations. The large logs prevent a critter from squeezing into that space, and adds more distance between the fence line and any digging a critter might do.

I hauled most of the 100' tree- all but two chunks that were too big for me to lift into the trailer and the smaller pieces that didn't weigh enough to be helpful- down to the chicken run. Even with multiple trips (I didn't want to overload the tractor or the trailer), it only took about an hour or so and was a very doable solo project. That trailer has paid for itself already :)

This was also much easier since Mr M had dropped the snow plow from the lawn tractor, but hadn't yet reattached the mower deck. Driving through, over, and around underbrush and saplings was so much easier without any obstructing attachments.

Weekly Mileage
Friday-  3.00 miles on the treadmill
Saturday- 3.15 miles on the treadmill
    total- 6.15 miles

4 hikes towards #52hikechallenge

63.06 foot miles towards #365milechallenge

85.00 bike miles towards #365milechallenge

October Trail 5k

Last week my workouts were better, except the timing was a bit off on when I did them.

Our hikes have been shorter than I'd like lately, but we finally managed a longer hike on Thursday, and I followed that with a bike workout Friday (the first in about 5 years), and a trail race on Saturday.

love finding old stonework on our hikes- this is the corner of an old house that used to be here

Yeah, I should have spaced them out better, but I just didn't have time.

Part of our hike was on a trail we haven't been on before, so it was nice to do a bit of exploring. There were some hills, so I got a decent workout.

Friday I finally got on my bike, but it was at a harder gear than I should have been doing with a race the next day. I didn't think about that until the end of my workout though. Oops. I was just enjoying being back on my bike. Well, my bum didn't enjoy it, but the rest of me did.

Saturday I ran my race with tight calf muscles from the bike riding. This was a race I haven't run before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. The first two miles were pretty flat, but the third mile had a couple hills that were steep. If I hadn't had such tight calf muscles, this would have been a great race. It's not easy with the hills at the end, but I liked the course. I could see myself doing this one again.

I ran 3.23 miles in 41:08. Like most trail runs, it was a bit slower, but unlike trail runs I've done in the past, I didn't trip and fall! There were lots of roots and rocks, but I managed to keep my balance. Maybe our regular hikes are improving my balance and spatial awareness?

I ran the first mile and a half, but had to stop and walk for a bit after that because of my tight calves, and from there it was run, walk, run for the rest of the race.

1st mile- 11:12
2nd mile- 12:47
3rd mile- 14:17
last .23 mile- 12:27 pace

After the race I went home and tried to convince myself it was fall (it was 80+ degrees, so while it's looking more and more like fall, it doesn't feel like it) by doing some yard work. I dislike working outside in the heat and humidity, so I've been putting off the outdoor projects on my list. While it was hot, the humidity wasn't the worst it's ever been, so it was a lot more bearable than when I built the chicken coop last year.

I finally finished the trim on the windows and door of the chicken coop, and it looks much better. I need to fix some drainage issues still, but part of that will involve a load of gravel, so there's only so much I can do for now. My next outdoor projects are to build a gate for the expanded run (you can see it on the left side of the coop) and then tear out the garden boxes and rebuild them in a different configuration that makes better use of the space.

I did a lot of walking back and forth as I measured, cut, and attached the trim, but I didn't have my Garmin on, so I don't know how far I walked. On the plus side, while my foot hurt that day, it didn't hurt too badly on Sunday. I'm hoping that means the bike riding was helpful with what's going on in my feet and calves (i.e., good physical therapy).

While I was working on the chicken coop, Mr M was taking down a dead tree in our woods. It was a little too close to our house for our comfort, and it was small enough that Mr M felt confident that he could take it down without too many problems. We have some other dead trees that we're still debating whether he will take them down or if we'll hire somebody to do it. We love the privacy of the trees all around our house, but there are definitely hazards to having them so close to the house.

We didn't plant a garden this year since we had our big road trip in the middle of the summer, and it's a big over-grown mess right now. We'll be changing that soon. 

bonus: can you spot two little boys in the picture?

After dinner on Saturday I started feeling nauseous, and I ended up hugging the porcelain throne into the wee small hours. I haven't been that sick in years, and I've got the sore abdominal muscles to show for it. (I won't share the gory details. You're welcome.) River was sick Friday, so I wasn't particularly surprised to get sick myself (the boys are firmly convinced that what's mine is theirs, especially my water bottles), and now we're waiting to see if anyone else gets sick.

I felt awful most of Sunday and had the first truly do-nothing day in forever. Seriously. Even when I've been sick in the past I've managed to feed the kiddos and get them dressed, but that did not happen this time. I was just too sick. I feel a lot better today, but that's mostly in comparison to how I felt yesterday, because in reality, I don't actually feel that great. Better, but not 100% yet.

it was a beautiful morning- perfect weather for a run

Weekly Mileage
Thursday- 2.82 miles hiked with kids
Friday- 3.87 miles on my bike
Saturday- 3.23 miles in race
       total miles: 9.92 miles

hike #39 towards #52hikechallenge
452.10 miles towards #365milechallenge

What We've Learned From Raising 2 Batches of Meat Chickens

the chickens enjoyed the larger run we built

Saturday we processed our second batch of chickens.

In thinking over what we've done this year and last, we've learned a lot.

1. Starting them in the spring (this year) was much easier than in the middle of the summer (last year). Last summer's heat and humidity was hard on the chickens. This spring has been much cooler and the chickens didn't suffer from the heat.

2. Last year we lost 5 out of 30 chickens. This year we only lost 2 out of 30 chickens. We ordered from Hoover's Hatchery both times and I would totally order from them again. Though ordering in June was cheaper than ordering in March. I'm sure that has to do with more demand in the spring than in the summer, but something to be aware of.

3. Cornish Cross chickens really are food obsessed. Last year I struggled with knowing how much to feed them and I feel like I might have underfed them a little. This year I found a "how much to feed them" formula from our feed company and I felt much more comfortable about how much we fed them. We might even have over-fed them here and there, though you wouldn't know it since they always acted like they were starving.

4. Cornish Cross may be food obsessed, and you do have to be careful about over-feeding and helping them act like chickens (they can be pretty sedentary if given the chance), but getting them to full weight in 8 weeks is worth the trade-off in my opinion. We can raise a year's worth of chicken in 2 months.

5. I put the chicks in the outdoor brooder at about 2.5 weeks old, with a heat lamp, and they did fine. I was worried about how they'd do with the cooler temps, but I couldn't handle the mess and smell in the house anymore, so out they went. I've heard many cautionary tales about fires started by heat lamps, and we don't actually have electricity in the chicken coop or the garden shed next door, so I had to run our heavy duty extension cord from the house to the chicken coop. Double whammy of things I didn't really want to do, but everyone survived and the chicken coop didn't burn down.

6. Even though I'm not happy about the chickens not being as free-ranging as I'd like, they were able to scratch around in the dirt and underbrush for bugs and leaves. And we fed them a good quality, non-gmo, organic feed rather than the cheapest feed we could find. It's tempting to cheap out, but I do believe that what goes in does affect what comes out.

7. We bought a second kill cone and it sped up the process, though I think we could even add a third cone next time. 

Speaking of next time, what will be different next time?

1. We won't be doing meat chickens again until we live on a property with actual pastures. We want to do rotational grazing and we just don't have the grassy space for that here. We have a decent size yard, but it's mostly moss, not grass, and wouldn't survive 30 chickens, even if we moved them frequently. I thought we could work around that by fencing in a large outdoor run in the woods, but even with the significantly larger run that we built this year I don't think it would last 6 weeks of 30 chickens going to town. They were in the large run three weeks and they stripped it down quite a bit. When we have a pasture to rotate our chickens through, we'll do a chicken tractor and electric poultry netting rather than a stationary coop.

2. I still don't think electric poultry netting would work well on our current property. That was another idea we'd considered, but there's too much deadfall from all our trees and the fencing would have been shorting out at inconvenient times. And there's a Great Dane next door that likes chickens and I don't think electric poultry netting would keep him out if he decided he really wanted them. Best not to provide too much temptation.

3. This summer we'll get a few laying hens and a guard goose if I can find a breed that will start laying before winter. Otherwise we'll get them early next spring. I think our current setup will work fine for a smaller flock, and I'll put an internal divider in the large run so we can rotate their dining area. What wouldn't work for 30 meat chickens who only think of food should work just fine for 5 or 6 layers who aren't food obsessed.

4. I was going to get fodder started to supplement their feed, but never quite had time. Part of this was also the lack of a greenhouse to get it started in and my reluctance to start plants in the house with little boys who insist on climbing on everything. I hope to start growing fodder for the layers this summer or early fall, but it will probably be in conjunction with the greenhouse that we still have plans to build.

5. Last year's average weight per chicken was about 2.75 pounds. This year the average weight was a smidge over 3.5 pounds. That weight is still lower than I'd hoped for (between 4 and 5 pounds), but a definite improvement over last year's average. This year's chickens were doing great and I think they could have kept growing for another week or two, except this past Saturday was the only day we had time to do the processing. Our schedule will be pretty busy from here on out and won't be calming down until the second week of August.

6. I don't think 12 hours was long enough to restrict food before processing. All but one or two of the chickens had very full crops still, even though they hadn't eaten since the evening before. So feeding them less, and earlier in the evening would be advisable.

7. I'd be interested in doing a couple of ducks sometime in the future. Our neighbor came and helped us process our chickens and we did two of her ducks at the same time. She's got more ducks and geese than she has space for, so she had to cull a couple. The fat on the ducks was much more than is present in chickens. I like cooking with duck fat, and rendering some duck fat would be an interesting experience.

Weekly Mileage

we've had a lot of rain lately, but the sun managed to come out at the tail end of our hike

such gorgeous colors!

Last week was supposed to be my highest mileage week in my half marathon training cycle. It might have ended up that way, but I'm not sure. I had three days where I didn't do any running or walking on the treadmill, but I did lots of walking in other places.

Monday I did my usual laundry/treadmill routine.

Tuesday we walked all around IKEA, getting organizational & kitchen items for our RV. I brought my Garmin, intending to track how far we walked, but I completely forgot to pull it out of my bag and start it. And I don't know that it would have worked in the store, anyway. Regardless, I walked a lot.

Wednesday the kids and I spent an hour or so walking around the RV lot, killing time while they did a little bit of work that they didn't have time to do when we bought the RV. We walked around and climbed in and out of RVs and travel trailers and it was much less stressful than trying to keep the kids quiet and still in the small sales office. We failed miserably at that while filling out the paperwork and I wasn't anxious for a repeat. I again forgot my Garmin.

Thursday we went for a hike, but it was a short one because we got a late start and had to be back before the the four hour window of time when the electrician was supposed to show up, and of course he didn't show up until almost the end of that window. But if we hadn't made it home in time he'd have been there on time, so we hurried.

Ocean loves exploring outside, and he loves being able to walk for part of our hikes, but he does get distracted by wildflowers

Friday I ran 10 miles on the treadmill, with a couple warm up and cool down miles for a total of 12 miles. I discovered that while our treadmill will keep running after 10 consecutive miles, the computer won't track it. I had to turn off the treadmill and re-start it in order to finish my workout. This is good info to know as I still have a couple long workouts to do before my half marathon.

Saturday I intended to go for a run outside, but by the time we finished processing our chickens and cleaning up the mess, I was just too tired. I did lots of walking and lots of standing, and my feet were killing me. So I didn't go for a run. My feet were still sore on Sunday, so it's a good thing I didn't do any more.

As I mentioned Wednesday, I've changed my running plans and this week showed me the wisdom in that. Once I run my half marathon in June I will be giving my poor feet a chance to rest and heal.

Weekly Mileage
Monday- 5.58 miles walked on the treadmill
Tuesday- walked around IKEA for a couple hours
Wednesday- walked around the RV lot for an hour or so
Thursday- hiked 1.12 miles
Friday- ran 10 miles and walked 2 more for a total of 12 miles on the treadmill
Saturday- walked around while processing chickens
    Total miles: 18.70 miles (I'm only counting the miles I actually tracked)

hike #17 towards my #52hikechallenge
270.2 miles towards my #365milechallenge

Sunday Funny

Two months ago we picked up our chicks from the post office. The next day I caught River sitting next to them reading books (that top one is a Star Wars book, the bottom a first words in Japanese book) to the chicks. I love that he thinks they'd be interested in Star Wars or Japanese :)