I Am In Love

I have wanted chickens FOREVER!!!!!

Probably about 12 years.

My wonderful hubby finally gave in & agreed to build me a hen haven.

Or should I say Fort Knox.

We have bobcats, mountain lions, raccoons, coyote, hawks, etc, etc.......

His safety plan is pretty intense.

Thank goodness because I would be devastated if I lost one of my girls.

I am already totally and completely in love.

Who wouldn't be in love??

This is Hazel, she is an Ameraucana.

She is the absolute sweetest thing in the whole wide world.

I adore her.

Yes......I let them in the house.

Guilty as charged.
They are just tooo cute.

The black Barred Rock is Ruby, the brown Leghorn is Henrietta, & the white Brahma is Justine Beeper. (Justine used to be Anne but she liked to sing so much that we renamed her. Plus she had the bang comb over for awhile. teehee)

Right at home in the baby brooder.

Aka, plastic box from Target.

I know this pic is blurry but I just love it.

The girls had an obstacle course set up and were running the chicks through it.

"They needed proper exercise."

Ruby, the escape artist!

Time to relocate!

The girls on a outdoor field trip!

They are already getting their big girl feathers.

The chicken Shepperd.
She takes her job very seriously.

She even has the stick.

At home in their new brooder.

A reclaimed rabbit hutch that we borrowed from our friends Luke & Leesa.

I love these girls!

StRaWbErRy JaM

Yummm!

I love berries!

It's currently strawberry season & I am elated.

Strawberry Jam is our 3rd favorite.

Elderberry being #1 & Meyer Lemon Marmalade #2.

Every season I end up making about 6 cases of Strawberry Jam.

We have some regular customers that buy jam from us.

It makes the most delicious PB&J sandwiches & it's a great last minute gift.

You will need to start with 2 quarts washed, stemmed, quartered berries.

It doesn't matter if they are a little overripe, as long as they are not molded.

Our local fruit n veg stand offers a discount for day old berries.

Place them in a heavy pot & mash the berries with a potato masher.

Then add one package powdered fruit pectin & 1 tsp butter.

On high heat stir constantly until mixture comes to a full boil.

Add 7 cups of sugar all at once.
Return to boiling and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat.

I keep my jars waiting in a boiling water bath until I am ready to use them.
I work very quick and remove the jars with tongs.
I don't worry about the lids until after I have filled my jars with the jam.


Skim any foam off the top using a metal spoon.

Then using a ladle fill your jars, leaving a 1/4" headspace.


I wipe the rims of my jars using damp paper towels.

I then remove my lids & rings from the hot water.

Adjust lids and screw on rings nice and tight.



Process in a boiling water canner for 5 minutes (don't start the timer until the water is at a full boil).


Note: If you live at a high elevation, like me, you will need to add an additional 1 minute for each 1,000 feet of elevation.

I do 10 minutes, which is probably more than I need, but I feel it's better to be safe than sorry.


Also, my "canner" is just a giant enamel stock pot purchased from Wal Mart & my canning rack that fits inside is from Sur La Table.


I couldn't wait to try some.

I immediately made a peanut butter & jam mini bagel.

It was sooooo good!



For some really cute labels & decorating ideas try:


Postcards & Pretties


Martha Stewart


The Sweetest Occasion





I am sharing at:

Debbiedoos

&

Eggs, Family, Fun

Dying some eggs.

I just love how brown eggs look when dyed!
A little bingo.

All the "kids" ready for the hunt.

My niece Cambria found the golden egg!

Isn't she cute??

The Cousins!

Our little family.

Bay and Cambria.

Bunny birthday cake for my sister Sarah.

Everyone blowing out the candles!

It's All About A Half Marathon

I owe you a post about my half marathon.

I don't know what's been taking me sooo long.

So let's start from the very beginning..........

I have this friend, Shauna, she's one of my farmgirls.

We were having a phone conversation one night waaaay back in January and she says to me "I want to actually stick to my fitness goals this year, let's run a race." Now I don't know if she actually meant it or not but a few days later I signed up to run the River City Half Marathon. Most of my friends know that if you verbalize a goal, Amy (Me), will find a way to push so that you achieve that goal. I like to push myself as well.

(I think they are afraid to tell me things now! teehee)

So feeling the heat, Shauna signed up as well. Followed by Julie, another farmgirl, and then Sunny, also a farmgirl. My 17 year old son Jacob also joined the pack.

I am not a runner. So this was a real stretch for me.

We trained our hearts out for over 2 months!!

We became runners & walkers.

Sunny and I at packet pick up.

This was a very nerve racking moment for me.

It meant no turning back.

It made it all too real.

Just leaving the starting line!

Jacob in the bright yellow shirt.

Sunny in all black.

Shauna in the bright blue long sleeve.

Me with the beige hat & big ole grin in front of Jacob.

Julie in all black directly in front of me.

Team J&A at mile 8.2!

Still going strong and feeling pretty good.

We ran the WHOLE way.

Julie's knee was bothering her most of the race but she toughed it out and stuck with me.

Jacob (ahhh, youth) was about a mile ahead of us.

Team Shauna & Sunny were power walking the race so they were just a bit behind.

Sweet Success!

The finish line.

I am putting my hands in the air & balling my eyes out.

Our time was 2 hours 50 mins!!!! It was my all time personal best.

(The time clock was set for the marathoners, they started an hour before us.)

Honestly, one of the happiest days of my life.

Nothing feels as good as setting a MAJOR life changing goal......and fulfilling it.

It really truly makes you feel like you can conquer the world.

I couldn't have done it without my dear friends.

They encourage me, inspire me & motivate me to be the best me that I can be.

Thank you girls & Jake for the incredible experience.

I am sooo grateful that I got to share something so amazing with such amazing people.

Look out world.....here comes the Farmgirls!

Breakfast

Quite a few blogs had breakfast on the brain today!

Mine included!

It was such a beautiful morning.

These beautiful farm fresh eggs are from my friend Melissa's chickens.

We trade eggs for jams.

I make some yummy jams!

My breakfast!

I am on a pretty strict detox diet so I had my homemade granola (tweaked), with fresh organic raspberries & almond milk.

I took my original granola recipe but substituted coconut oil for the butter, blue agave for the brown sugar, & pecans for the macadamia nuts.

I didn't add dried fruit.

Here is Aver's breakfast.

She called it her Robot!

Super cute!

For another cute breakfast idea check out Lisa's Blog today!

The Color of the Day

Is........WHITE!!!

A tree in our front yard.

We are being pounded with a massive winter storm.

It's been like a white out at our house for almost 24 hours now.

It's like where's Waldo except it's where's the driveway??

Can you find it??

My poor buried garden & that's one of my elderberry bushes.

My clothesline looks like a little tree sticking up out of the snow.

I am almost done shoveling off our deck.

The snow bank it created is sooo high, the kids and I are going to jump off the deck into it.

When you are snowed in and tired of shoveling snow, Jake will show you how to make food creatures. This is his apple swan.

My son is very talented! :)

Hope everyone is enjoying their Thursday!

WIWW

What I wore Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday..........

Yep.

It's this Sunday.

I am sooo excited.

So if you are interested in seeing a 30 something mother of 4 go from 0 to half marathon in 9 weeks stay tuned.

If I make it back alive I will surely blog about it!

&

I will get back to my regular WIWW when my entire life doesn't revolve around running.

Running pant & long sleeve Patagonia shirt - REI

(Yes, I am wearing skin tight pants. I haven't worn pants like this since I was 17. It was a little embarrassing at first but they do make a big difference.)

Asics running shoes - Sierra Running Co.

Super cool T - Made for me by the fabulous Julie Chrisman.

(Just in case you can't see, it says "Run Farmgirl Run!)

I love it!

Do I look like this when I run??

HA!!!

A girl can dream can't she??

I am linking up to the Pleated Poppy!