Tuesday 16 December 2014

Christmas Concerts, Chemotherapy, Crayons and Cookbooks.

Things are winding up for the year, but it doesn't mean we're any less busy! Infact we're flying around to christmas carols, end of year functions, concerts, and presentations! Phew! We had a busy one when both Kate's ballet concert AND hip hop end of year concert were on on the same weekend!



Which was tonnes of fun and SO SO cute. Ben even came third in the Dad's Dance-off competition! (That was at the hip hop concert. Would've been a very different competition at the ballet concert.)



Thie girls have decorated and helped me wrap presents. Kate made all of her friends presents this year, and we made handmade gifts for the family. Our decorating in the house is fairly minimal, as we'll spend christmas day and boxing day with our families up in NSW. Cookie the dog will come with us for the trip, but Will and the chooks will stay behind to man the fort! They're being fed by a friend while we're gone. Ugh, I HATE not seeing my horse on christmas day. He is very much a part of my family and I hate that I cant give him his bag of carrots and cuddles on the day. Oh well, its only a few days.



At least he finally seems to have acclimatised to Melbourne, and is looking really well! Finally! He had us a bit worried there for a while!

It's been fairly hot and muggy - which the garden loves! - but which sends us inside most afternoons to escape the heat! The girls have taken to drawing and colouring of late. Its cute to see them getting along so well together. And though Tara still doesn't say much, she always lets us know in no uncertain terms what she wants. The girls are so different that way!: Katie was an very sweet, easy going, even tempered baby. Tara is a firey, spirited kid. She wants to do it on her own! She wants THAT one, no not that one, THAT one. She wants her pink hair clip, to wear these shoes, and what you're eating! She makes me laugh - she definitely knows her own mind already!





The chooks have been laying 6 eggs a day, and Lennon seems to have finally recovered his mojo! And his crow!



Mrs Fox seems to have settled down a bit now - I think her babies may have left the den. She's less ravenous for food, and we've not seen her or her young ones for a few weeks. Which makes me really happy as I've been able to let the chooks free range again for a good part of each day.







Tara adores the chooks, and they have absolutely no fear of her. She loves to collect the eggs and feed them bread scraps. Although you have to be sure she doesn't mix the 2 jobs up: Today she collected the eggs in her bucket, then promptly sat down took and egg out and threw it to the chooks. Whoops. I managed to save the other 5 and swap them for actual chook food before she tossed any more!



Its such a privildge to live here and have this life, and I feel lucky everyday with the freedom and space the girls have, and that we can grow this food and these animals. I cant imagine life in an inner-city apartment. It would certinly be very very different.



However we're not that isolated that we're cut-off from city amenities, which is lucky, as Ben recently received the bad news that he has had Testicular Cancer and will need to undergo some chemo therapy in the new year following the surgery he just had. It was certainly a shock, I was so sure he was going to be cleared, it took me a while to get a grip on myself. We have had such a tough and life-changing 12 months: Why was this happening to us?! Now?! When we have 2 young kids, no family around us, and just before christmas!? It wasnt fair! We're good people! ben is young and strong. We've been through so much already!? Why why why?!

I still dont know. All I know is that cancer happens to lots of very good people, and that we are strong, and we will get through this thing too. We have to. we will take it one step at a time, and do what we need to do. And we will ask for help. And we will breathe, and hug the girls, and cry, and be angry, and just keep plodding along. that's all we can do.

Of course I did what I usually do. I went to the library.

Oh the library. Place of safety, and wonder, and information, and the smell of musty, papery, printy booky loveliness. As the only child of a single mum who worked very very long hours when I was groing up, I spent alot of time in my local library. It was my second home. My safe place. I knew all the librarians by name, and they all knew me. I had a favourite spot. I knew the opening hours off by heart. And I still feel an overwhelming sense of 'home' the minute I walk into a library. Im quite claustrophobic by nature, but I love sitting between narrow shelves with books towereing on all sides of me. A Book Igloo.

I've borrowed a few titles in preparation. Food-related, of course. Because that's my other defense mechanism: cooking. Cooking and Reading. Yeah - that's exactly what you want in an alien invasion or a zombie apocalypse. The enemy will be bearing down, and I'll be quoting Jane Austin and whipping up a souffle. Brilliant.

I've borrowed Belle Gibson's The Whole Pantry - she's a woman living with inoperable brain cancer, who is treating herself wholistically and using alternative means. I've borrowed The Cancer Fighting Kitchen - I gotta try this broth! And Pete Evan's Healthy Every Day - which is a bit intimidating, I have to say. Ceviche? Okra? Yuzu? Gremolata? Whut?! Slow down, Pete! Slow down!



But first: Christmas. All that can wait til after christmas.

I've made my Nanny Dorothy's famous christmas pudding - an annual tradition - and it's ready for custard and cream! Here's the recipe, passed down through 4 generations of women in my family, and the pudding making-torch will be passed to Katie when she's older.

Make it. And eat it warm, with custrad, surrounded by your loved ones. And dont forget to tip your face skyward and tell Dorothy how yummy it is. Give her a thumbs up: She'd like that.

Dorothy's Famous Chrissy Pud


500g mixed dried fruit (whatever you like! I like sultanas, blueberries, cherries and currants.)
6 oz plain flour (Yeah it's ounces. it's an old recipe k?! Try finging a converter online. There's an app for that...)
1/2 t mixed spice
1/2 t nutmeg
2 oz breadcrumbs
4 oz butter (do yourself a favour use butter, not marg!)
1 grated carrot (see?! Veggies! Healthy!)
3 oz brown sugar
3 eggs (please choose free range x )
dash vanilla
1 t lemon juice
1 t Parisian Essence (Yes that's a thing. It's in the supermarket. Near the vanilla essences and food colouring and stuff...)
Brandy to flavour. (Or rum essence in a pinch)


Soak fruit in brandy (or essence) overnight in a sealed container, shaking occasionally. In a large bowl, sift flour and spices. Add butter and belend well. Add crumbs, fruit mix, carrot and brown suagr. Mix then add beaten eggs and essences. (If the mix is too thick, you can moisten it with a little milk.)
Place in a well-greased pudding tin, placing alfoil across the top then the lid to ensure a good seal.Place pudding dish into a large boiler pot. Fill pot with boiling water, so water leverl is just under the lid of the pudding dish. (Place a marble or two in the water - if it's beginning to boil dry, the marble will 'ting-ting-ting' on the side of the pot and warn you!) Constantly top up water as needed. place lid on and boil 5 hours.



Well, I hope you have a wonderful chrissy/holiday with your loved ones.
How will you spend it?

Drive safely, be happy, give generously, laugh muchly.
xx

Sunday 30 November 2014

Plums, poultry, preserving and pom poms.

Hill Shadow Inventory:
Rooster - 1
Chickens - 14
Horse - 1
Dog - 1
Fox - ?
Humans - 4
Daily eggs - 3 or 4
Sleeps til christmas - 24

Unfortunatley the closest we've gotten Tara to Santa is waving to this reindeer at the mall.



...well, it's a start.



And our garden produced this amazing beetroot which was ready before all the rest - isn't it beautiful?!



It's getting warmer and warmer! The girls are in dresses, sandals and shorts.



UGH! STOP PRESS!
Chickens - 13

Can you believe that?! Just as I was typing that last bit, Mrs Fox took another one, right from our front door step!!! There's feathers everywhere!

The scene of the crime.
At first I did a quick head count and I was horrified that she took Katie's favourite chook, Shiny. But luckily, Shiny has a favourite hiding spot on her own round back under the fig tree, and a quick check found her to be there as usual, oblivious to what had just happened round front.


Shiny: lives to dig figs another day!
Phew! I have no idea how I would've broken that to Katie this afternoon!

Lennon is recovering beautifully from his ordeal and has actually begun to crow again in the last few days. Unfortunately I think it may take him a while to regain his former glory. His crow sounded a mix between an old fashioned car horn ("A-HOO-GA!") and a set of deflating bagpipes.

Kate and I made sure we made encouraging comments. ("Gee Lennon, that sounds... er... well that's really... um... yeah good try, Mate!")



Christmas activities are ramping up: Concerts, parties, and Katie's kinder graduation (Where did THAT time go?!) are all in the next few weeks.



One of the events I did check in at was the open day of our local Steiner School. Although I dont wholly agree with the Steiner/Waldorf approach to education, there is so much I love about it: The avoidance of commercialism, the focus on nature, the peacefulness, the importance of creativity.

Feeling totally inspired when I got home, Katie and I made a 2-storey fairy house in the yard, and Kate spent ages furnishing it with feathers, leaves and flowers.





In the afternoon, while Tara had her sleep, Kate and I listened to Tchaikovksy's Swan Lake Suite (My favourite!) and made pom-poms.



Look! We have apples!!!



THREE APPLES!!!

Yeah ok: not real great for a whole tree. But the poor tree is on its side, totally eclipsed and deprived of water and sun by the 2 massive cypress' next to it. So it's a wonder it's managed to survive at all, let alone bear fruit.

I was hoping to have some apricots or figs to make jam from for christmas presents this year, but alas - no dice. Still green and under-ripe. BUT! I just happened to taste a bit of the 'ornamental' plum in the front yard, and knock-me-down - it's edible!!! They're just little plums! And it seems the birds have been fooled too - they haven't noticed them! So I've picked a bunch and spent this morning having my first attempt at jam-making!



Little kitchen helper fairy.





It's a sticky red mess in my kitchen, but i'll let you know how it goes! Here's the recipe I used.

And lastly I made this raw vegan caramel slice this week.

Oh. My. Word.

Do your self a favour - download the Raw Desserts App from Ascension Kitchen and make a batch.

You're welcome.



Have you finished your christmas shopping?
Are you making any handmade gifts this year?
Do you Waldorf? Steiner? Montessori? Homeschool? Unschool? None? All?

Go count your chickens.
xx

Tuesday 18 November 2014

Chickens, christmas, and cans of catfood.

That fox. She has me paranoid. At every cluck of a chook now, I bolt outside like


It's totally nuts. Plus our chickens seem to have totally gone off the lay. 15 chickens only producing 2 eggs a day. Hum.

The chicken forum I follow on facebook suggested upping their protein as they will be trying to recover their feathers after life in the battery farm. And you know what they suggested?

Cat food.


(Yeah, I know.)

But we'll try anything, so bring on a the tinned Whiskas and we'll see what happens I guess!

As things head toward christmas, Im really thinking about what Im going to give for gifts this year. I LOVE giving presents! It's one of my FAVOURITE things. BUT, I hate commercialism and giving "stuff". There is a practical side of me that hates the frivolity and waste. I hate wrapping paper, I hate birthday cards, I hate useless plastic gimmicky crap. So this year I am trying to give what I love receiving: handmade and useful gifts.

I'll go into more detail post-christmas (just incase anyone on my gift-giving list happens upon this blog! *spoilers!*)

But I do love how busy the end of the year gets. I love the end of year festivities: concerts, parties, catch-ups... FUN!

OOH! And DECORATING! A new house to decorate! We dont even have a tree! Where do we start?!





Get thinking! Only 5 weeks to go! 5 WEEKS!

Longer post next time, I promise x

Wednesday 12 November 2014

Whales, wool, water and wily foxes.




What gorgeous weather we've been having!!! I'm sneaking in a quick post and a coffee having put grumpy Tara down for a morning nap, and dropped Katie off at a transition day for 'big school' next year. EEP.

It's meant to be in the 30s today (celcius that is! Late 80s for any US readers! :) Hi there!) so I've whipped off the horse's rugs, filled up all the water troughs and bowls, and given the garden a good soaking last night.



Ben and I mulched it thickly on the weekend to try to combat the heat, and the plants have TAKEN OFF! They LOVE the mulch! We have so many salad greens at the moment - they're growing faster than I can pick them!: Rocket, silver beet, butter lettuce, and mignonette lettuce. But I'm not complaining! ;)





It's as high as a elephant's eye!

Last weekend, Ben was recovering at home from his surgery, so the girls and I headed into the city for World Vegan Day.


Best choccie cake EVER.

What a great day with stalls and music and FOOD! Still can't get my head around Textured Vegetable Protein (blerg.) or some of those other vegan 'meat substitutes' (YUCK. Why bother!?) but we ate the most AMAZING chocolate cake, some delectible blood orange gelato, and Kate drank a whole bottle of rasberry kombucha! (Which I didn't think she'd be into! More fool me!)



I've thought alot about becomming vegan over the years. I was lacto vegetarian in my late teens for about 3.5 years, and I really dont 'enjoy' eating meat, or ever crave it at all. Mostly I find myself eating it out of habit, social obligation, or some misguided way of getting 'enough protein'. Which are all crappy excuses really. (Hey, if Scott Jurek gets enough protein from a vegan diet, I think I'll be right! LOL - have you read his book 'Eat and Run'?! HIGHLY recommended.)

But as I get older and I'm horrified by the treatment of animals in factory farms, I find it harder and harder to justify eating meat and dairy. That and the fact that I feel better and less bloated when I eat vegan. I think eating conventional, supermarket sources of meat and dairy involves switching off part of your brain, and turning the moral and emotional side of you off to do it. And I'm finding that harder and harder. Especially now as a mother.

It's something I've been exploring more and more. Seeing images of the live meat trade and high density feedlot farming makes me despair at the human race, and the way we justify our actions as some sort of "for the greater good". When in fact if you imagine these same conditions and treatments happening to humans, you'd be absolutely horrified.

I had the same reaction after watching a documentray called 'Blackfish' recently about Tilikum the Orcha at Sea World, Orlando. The whole thing just breaks my heart. And one of the most disturbing images I found was the 'harvesting' of the whales semen for the captive breeding program! Can you imagine anything more soul destroying and disturbing?! Can you imagine if a human male was kept imprisoned and exploited sexually that way?! But humans can justify it as a "captive breeding program" - to breed more CAPTIVE Orchas. To perform. For us. Right. (Don't kid yourself that the calves and their mothers will be released into the wild to boost Orcha species numbers

I just.

Cant.

It's one of the reasons adopting our ex battery hens makes me so happy. Yes occasionally one gets picked off by our resident Mama Fox (DAMMIT!) but mostly we're smarter than her and we let them out when agisters are coming and going in the afternoon tending to their horses, so the Mrs Fox keeps her distance. They get out of their chook house - which is actually quite big - for about 2 or 3 hours a day at the moment, but things should get easier as Mrs Fox's pups grow up and move on, and she's less frantic for food. So mostly our girls and Lennon spend their day in the straw, then their afternoon like this:







I wish we could let them out all day again, but we just have to keep them safe while Foxy is feeding her pups. I actually dont have a problem eating eggs from our chooks. I know exactly how they are treated, and I know they probably wont be hatched into chicks anyway (despite Lennon's best efforts) as battery hens are Isa Browns (or ours are!) and are bred not to go clucky so that they will produce more eggs for the industry. So our girls never go clucky, and would have no clue how to hatch them anyway! Ben and I have talked bout maybe getting another hen or two of a different breed - one with more maternal instincts! - and maybe letting some eggs hatch to chicks. More research to be done there!



Not much exciting happening in the kitchen, except I dad attempt a batch of soap.

Failed miserably.

It hasn't set, and I dont think the lye I used was strong enough, as it's still quite soft, oily and crumbly.


The first hint I got that things might be going wrong: "Pour mixture into moulds." - POUR?! It's like mashed potato!!!

Back to the drawing board...

Do you eat meat?
What issue gets your blood boiling?
Any fox deterence hints?

Wear your hat and sunscreen! It's gonna be a warm one! And check your pets have cool clean water today!
xx


But I did knit these - you like?

Friday 31 October 2014

Foxes, Chickens and Injured Partners

Once again I find myself writing a blog for our farm experience.

I'm not nearly as prolific as Darklyss and I'll leave the good stuff to her...


So we had another visit from the fella or dame as above - the fox was back looking for an easy chicken dinner.

The target this time was our favourite rooster Lennon...


I was watching A Very Muppet Christmas with our eldest daughter - I'm still recovering from the recent surgery, Darklyss was asleep (she has been holding for fort lately) and the little one was asleep... When we heard a commotion from the chickens.

We had only let them out at lunch time as the weather has been crap and fear of the fox returning when we are not around.

I got up as quick as I could and pulling on my boots (I'm wearing pajama pants, a T-shirt and my anti-clot stockings - the height in fashion you know). So out I hobble, walking is still painful and I go slow, I do a head count of the chickens while looking around the yard. There is something missing - I know there is something I should be seeing but I'm not quite aware of what it is.

Then it hits me, we have 12 chickens and I can count all 12. One is looking down towards the back of paddock and then it hits me - where is Lennon?

I head down towards the back scanning and looking for his tell tale feathers. It was then I saw them on the ground. 

I immediately opened the gate to the unused paddock and headed into the thigh high grass following the trail of feathers and path of pushed over grass. This fox was cunning and had made a little corridor through the grass where it could be invisible while watching out for our flock.

I was not hopeful that I would find anything more than the feathers, in fact I didn't want to find a carcass. 

Then I saw it, the fox bent down over the body of Lennon - I yelled, in my loudest deepest voice "Get away from him you bitch!" (actually no I didn't modify Aliens classic line but it was something similar). The fox looked up and took off, I yelled some more as it scurried back into the bush.

I walked slowly up the Lennon as he lay still in the grass. I was sure he was dead, then he moved. Not much, just a leg and I saw his mouth open.

Quickly I scooped him up, forgetting the pain that is associated with bending over, and I headed back to the house. 

I wrapped him in a towel and left him in a laundry basket while I got the rest of the chickens back into the coop and protection. 

Darklyss awoke soon after and I filled her in on the situation. We went to check Lennon and were both surprised and elated to see him awake and aware. A few minutes later he was standing and looking a lot better.

We checked him out for injuries and found a few puncture marks but nothing that was bleeding, and a lot of feathers missing, including a lot from his left wing - that must have been painful. 

He's not out of danger yet but we have at least got a chance for him to survive his encounter with a fox.

Next time I'm grabbing my tomahawk on the way down... then I'll do more than use my voice at the furry tailed thief (probably I'll miss but it's the thought that counts!). 

Monday 27 October 2014

Lumps, loaves, loss and lacto bacilli.



They said it would have its ups and downs. Boy, 'they' weren't kidding! It has been a week of epic proportions, but finally, I am seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.

You'll probably remember from my last post, that on Monday, my poor little dog Henry was hit by a car and killed. Following that devastating day, it was confirmed that my hubby Ben did indeed have a mass on his testicle, and that he would need further tests to see if the cancer cells had spread. 

Cancer.

That threw us all into a state of 'survival mode'. CT scans followed blood tests, and surgery was booked for the coming Thursday, pending results. Chemotherapy was mentioned. 

So what did we decide to do?

We threw a party.


Well, a bonfire really. And a BBQ dinner for all the people we've met in Melbourne so far. What a great way to remind yourself in times like these that you're really not alone. We laughed. We toasted giant marshmallows. The kids played hide and seek in the dark with torches, and burnt sticks, and skinned their knees. We ate Ben's homemade flat bread cooked on the BBQ with way too much garlic in the dip. The girls were tired, sweaty, and dirty. Hair all wild and sticky with marshmallow. It was a great night.

One of the Hill Shadow Farm 'ferals' hard at work on the apple blossoms.

The garden has been loving this rain! And we planted more veg and noticed more fruit.

Oh look! A guava!
Oh look - are they plums? Do you reckon they're edible?

We are now contemplating how the heck we're going to keep the birds off the fig, the apple, the plum, the apricot, and the guava. Looks like we might be spending a fortune on netting... eep.

And to add insult to injury, the loss of our beautiful canine 'chicken guardian' has given Mrs Fox a total free run at our free range chookies. She took 3 this week. So we're down to 13 including Lennon the Rooster, and reduced to dropping everything and bolting outside at the slightest cluck. Our other dog Cookie is completely hopeless. She just lives to sunbake and dust bathe. She cares not for the safety of poultry.

So when all was chaos, I turned to the one bit of affirmative action that the Cancerian in me defaults to.

I cooked.

I could not control the outcome of the blood tests. I could not control cars or hungry mother foxes with pups, or birds, or irrational angry agisters, or sleepless toddlers, or the internal workings of my car when it went 'BOOM!' and decided to no longer operate on gas THIS WEEK OF ALL WEEKS.

But I could stuff my husband so full of nutrients and vitamins that bloody cancer wouldn't know what had hit it. Everytime Ben turned around, I was handing him lemon water to drink. Or fish oil tablets. Or an intensly green, odd-smelling juice. Or a purply-red one. Or a fermented drink. Or tea.

"HEAL DAMN YOU!!! HEAL!!!"

Some of this - ahem, well, probably all of it - was completely pointless and based on unfounded nutritional theory. But it made me feel better. I was doing SOMETHING. I was fighting, dammit!

Funny how people react in a crisis.

So one of the things I made was a batch of Lacto-fermented radish pickles that I made from a bag of radishes I bought on the 'reduced' table of my local produce market. LOVE MY PRODUCE MARKET. (But LOVE their 'reduced' table even more!)

I'd never done this before, but I love me a good pickle - German background coming out there. Thanks Oma and Opa! x -and I hear that good gut health and an alkaline enviromment in the body can hinder cancer cell growth (you see how crazy it got?!). So yeah: pickle. Bring it on!

I got this super easy recipe from an article by Asphyxia in Grass Roots Magazine no. 211.
Basically you chop up your veg (cabbage, radish, cucmber, beans, carrot, whatevs!) into bite-sized pieces (but if you're like me, you'll whip out your spiraliser and happily spiral away for hours. Love that thing!). You use a big clean, dry jar, and you pack your veg in tightly adding 1 tablespoon of salt per 600g of veg. Then you top it up until the veg is covered with clean cold water. It helps to add a little culture to encourage things along, but you dont have to. I tipped in about a teaspoonful of Yakult (Lacto bacilli! Yeah!) but you can use some whey off the top of your yoghurt, or a bit of the juice from a previous batch of pickle.

That's it! Let the little critters work their magic! Asphyxia says to weigh the veg down with something to ensure theyre submerged to stop mould, but mine were so full, I just gave them a shake or 2 each day. After 5 days I had a quick sample - and it tasted great! Just like saurkraut! So I popped them in the fridge, and we've been eating them with salads and with dinner. So easy. And such a pretty colour! Looks great in the jar!


The other thing I whipped up - *wink* - was a sour dough. Oh but I haven't got time for kneading and rising and knocking back and blah blah blah.... *Aint Nobody Got Time Fo Dat!*

So I've come up with a little cheat. You wanna know how I do it?

"shh, c'mere" *Looks furtively around and leans in*

I use my slow cooker.

Yeah i know its not really 'baking' or whatevs. Do you care? I dont care! Do you? Nuh, neither do I.

Right. So here's how you do it. Keep it under your hat. You'll be the most popular person at parties. And  no one will know our dirty secret, ok?

Right, so you've got your starter. (You dont?! Oh ok - go back here and start one.)
So if you've done your 'sponge' last night, good on you. If you didn't - doesnt matter too much. I did my first slow cooker loaf just using a scoop of starter and it was fine. but it does work better if you've made a sponge.

So. To your sponge add 3 cups flour (I used rye and wholemeal spelt, but you use whatever you like) 1/2 tsp salt, and about 1/2 c warm water. Knead this into a dough. Now I dont know how long you do this for. I've heard its all "when-you-get-a-window-in-the-dough" or "10 minutes no more or less" or "When you can stretch it and tie it into a half winsdor knot" - I have no idea. I just knead mine for a bit, until it's kinda firm but elastic, and not gluing itself to my fingers annoyingly.

Now comes the hard bit.

Whack it in your slow cooker.

You might want to spray the inside with a bit of oil so it doesn't stick, but you basically are going to let the LOW setting on your slow cooker do the rising bit for you. Genius. Takes about 1 hour, but I just look at it every now and then, and when I think "oh yeah. It's definitley much bigger" - that's the point to turn it up to HIGH. It may expand and conform to the inside of your cooker bowl. Lady, if you're looking for a perfect, french artisian sourdough loaf: This ain't your recipe. But if you dont mind a loaf that is a little football-shaped, then proceed.

If, after a few hours - like I said, not an exact science - the top of the loaf is dry and you can knock on it - it's done! And you can tip that sucker out (WITH OVEN MITTS!) and eat it right now if you like! But if you want a golden brown crust to impress your friends, you might want to just pop it in a 200 deg c oven for 15 min or so. And then your house smells like baking bread. And everyone marvels at your domestic prowess.

"WOW - BREAD FROM SCRATCH?! Where DO you get the time?!"
"Oh this old thing?! It was nothing...!" *wink wink*

 

Yeah it's a bit of an odd shape. But sliced up with butter and honey and the kids will eat it so fast they wont even notice!

So today I am plodding along. We got the news that Ben's cancer cells haven't spread (PRAISE BE!) and I'm planning what books I'll read and what knitting I'll take while I'm waiting at the hospital on Thursday. 13 chickens and counting. And we're having pizza for dinner. (Hey: Nobody's perfect!)

What do you do in a crisis?
Are you having the week from hell too?
Know where I can get some cheap orchard netting?

Be kind, stay calm, and get your brothers/husbands/boyfriends/dads to check for lumps. Seriously.
xx