I Found Spring!

 

Hey guys!

I'm here!

 

I went looking for Spring, and I found it - in Missouri.

: -)

 

My cousin Jim found himself in a pickle, needing some extra hands with his custom cabinet business, and I found myself with a little extra time on my hands - so I drove on down.

 

I meant to announce the coffee winners on Wednesday - but we've been busy.

 

I took a bunch of photos of the cabinets we made, and me working on them, but ding dang T-Mobile - I don't have much of a connection out here, and I can't get them loaded.

 

Without further adieu - here they are!

 

Cathy Ann

I love that I don't need material things to make me truly happy. As long as I have the love of my husband, children and grandchildren, I can face anything!!

 

and

 

Lisa

I love that I am stronger than I ever thought I could be. Learning it a lot here lately.
Enter me in your giveaway! I sure can use a good cup of coffee to get me
going in the morning :)

 

Y'all email me at jayme.goffin@yahoo.com and I'll get the coffee out to you ok?

 

Now - the final giveaway -

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yep - all of it.  I just realized today that it's been FOUR flippin' years that I've been blogging - four years today - Easter Sunday. 

 

SO, to enter to win this 'Coop Keeper Gift Basket' - all ya have to do is leave a comment and let me know why I should or shouldn't get a goat.

: -)

 

I'll be in Missouri about another week.  I was super surprised to see that the feed store here didn't have baby chicks - but - Lowe's and Walmart is full of tomato plants and flowers.  Glenco called and said that it looks like all the beehives have survived the winter!

 

I'm bristling over here!

 

The Purrfect Weekend

It was a perfect weekend.

Sleeping in.

Fabulous coffee.

No words needed.

My heart was home.

Sewing the hours away.

Becoming a red head.

Sigh....and then it snowed.

And turned into Monday.

: -)

They Say It's Spring

They say it's Spring...this feeling light as a feather - 

That's a line from one of my most favorite songs by Blossom Dearie.

Spring greeted me this morning with a cold shoulder though - ground frozen solid.

You know - that's one of the things that I love about gardening.  It really teaches you that things have to happen in THEIR time.  There are things that you just can't 'make happen' no matter how hard you try.

Soooo...today I announce the winners of the last giveaway, and put up the next giveaway!  

This is fun.

First, I'll just tell you a little about the Open House.  

I'm glad it's over.

There it is.  The truth.

A few things I'm proud of myself about.

I didn't clean out the cupboards or try to tuck 

point the house before.

I really didn't stress.

I was dressed.

I was disappointed in myself that I didn't get more made.  I didn't like how I had things arranged, it just didn't feel right to me.  I was in a bit of a bad mood when I went to bed the night before - not cranky or anything - just really quiet - which is unusual for me.  I couldn't pinpoint what was bothering me.

Glenco came in to bed and said 'I know what's bothering you.'

He seemed all smug and smirky.

"You have failed to impress yourself - you set the bar so high - and you haven't impressed yourself this time."

Bingo.

What didn't sell is on Etsy now....just click on the link to the right, it will take you there.

The very best part of the day, well, there were two.

Exhibit A

Jan and Jai.

You know how I teasingly talk about kidnapping people and keeping them in the basement?

Yep.

Jai would be perfect for me.

11 years old - and truly a special boy.

I know it sounds rather creepy for me to say I love pre-teen boys - but I do.

Especially boys like Jai, he reminds me so much of Aaron.  I want to home school him.

I want to keep him here and teach him beekeeping and chicken rearing.

Exhibit B

Mary Beth.

She looks frightened.

She should be.

She was another one I wanted to kidnap.  I tried to talk her into spending the night.

I think I've scared her off for good.

(Mary Beth - I can't find your email address...please email me!)

It is SUCH a delight meeting you guys.

I want to have a summer Open House - not selling crafts, but just a 'come and see the garden and chickens, sit in the Squirrel and let's hang' Open House.

In other news...I'm menopausal.

Lovely!

I can hear you laughing - you guys knew it all along.

Why am I always the last to know?

I haven't been sleeping well.

I have the heat turned down and I'm in a t shirt.

My face is breaking out.

I've finally come to the realization that I really don't care what anyone thinks about me.

In fact - there was a dead fly in the bathroom window for the Open House.

The windows are covered with plastic - so there was no getting it out.

I thought - "it's a dead fly in the window of a 150 year old farmhouse - get over it!"

It's ridiculously freeing to feel this way!

Pardon my French - but menopause is my bitch.

I'm looking at it like labor pains - a whole new life is being birthed.

Well, I could go on - but without further adieu - the winners of the Skin Serum are......

My favorite flowers are hydrangeas and roses, but my favorite flower to grow in my garden is zinnias. So easy to grow and so colorful. Love them. I hope I win! I've been wanting to try your serum for ever so long. I think it would be good for my aging skin. Love your blog! Pick me! Mona 

and

Hi Jayme,
My favorite flower is the iris - in all their beautiful colors.
Thanks for a chance at the giveaway!
Joanie 

(Joanie, I emailed you but it came back - please email me at jayme.goffin@yahoo.com)

Congrats to you both!  I do believe you will la-ove the serum, and the lip balm is the bomb.  I've completely reformulated it.

Ok - this week, I'm giving two lucky winners half pound bags of my now infamous Coop Keeper coffee.

All ya gotta do is leave me a comment and tell me one thing you love about yourself.

:-)

Peace out.

Winners and Another Giveaway!

Is it Wednesday?

Ha!

Last night, about midnight, as I was rolling off over to get off of my sore shoulder, I realized 

that I forgot to blog.

Apologies.

And the winners are......

Anke!  You win:

Celeste Kenny you win:

Please email me at jayme.goffin@yahoo.com to claim your books!

Now - another giveaway - again, all you have to do is leave a comment - let's see - answer this question - what is your favorite flower?

I will pick TWO winners - and you each will receive a Spring Chicken Skin Serum and a lip balm.

I seriously could not live without my skin serum.  I'm sure you will love it too!

Yes, that is me in that bathing suit.  I grew up two blocks from Lake Michigan, I was there everyday in the summer!
Please note that I no longer add the chicken charm - it's adorable, but it caused me to have to sell the serum for more, and I got them from Thailand.  Just didn't sit right with me.

Again - it's with heartfelt thanks to all of you for being so gracious, encouraging and faithful readers here.
I appreciate you all so much!
Next week is yet another giveaway!
It will be something that I've made....I think you'll love it!

Tuesday Miscellany

I'm in quite a random mood today.  

The sun is shining, and I can't quite remember when the last time it did.  It's almost painful on the eyes.

I'm sitting here now - which is actually the last thing I should be doing.

I have no idea how I'm going to pull the Open House off.

My Christmas wreath is still hanging on the door.

Here's a peek at my friend's creations.

Unbearably adorable.

I'd love to show you some of mine, but they are all half done. 

: -)

Thank you all for warning me about the Rhode Island Red roosters temperament! 

I shan't order such an ornery bird.

I'm going to go with a Buff Orpington.

Oh!  Don't forget to comment on that blog post from last week, the book giveaway, tomorrow the winner will be announced, and there will be a new giveaway tomorrow!

Today, I just wanted to check in, and show you a few of my favorite pins from 

the time suck we call Pinterest.

My favorite quote pin this week.

My favorite vintage camper pin.  : -)

Perfection

I have no words.  This is bizarre, and pitiful.

This is just fabulous.

My favorite recipe...it's DELICIOUS!
Here's a link to the recipe:

Have a fabulous Tuesday!

Don't forget to enter the book giveaway!

Dreams Do Come True

I'm glad you all enjoyed my nonsensical dream!

I could start a blog just sharing my dreams, because every.single.night that's what they are like.

Epic.

Not always so tumultuous, but ridiculous nonetheless.

Been pretty busy since we last spoke.

: -)

Working away on things for the Open House. 

I'm anxious to meet you all!

I'm concerned that the driveway, yard and probably the kitchen will be a complete

 mud hole with this weather we are having.

It was in the 50's yesterday and rained most of the day - the 8" of snow and the rain are now in my basement.  Never a dull moment.

I got bit by a dog.

Yep.

My first time ever - sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.

I learned this time.

Took over an hour to stop bleeding.

It was my fault.  I think I needed a couple of stitches, but I came home and superglued it shut.  

I'll probably have a scar, but they add character.

I can now sing 'when the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad' - and sing it like I mean it.

I need to learn that every animal does not desire my affection.

I'm worse than a one year old - anything interesting goes in my mouth.

The BoyChild is visiting this weekend.
I'm not sure what my hair will look like by the end of the day.
Yesterday I got an updo.
Unfortunately, he cannot be at the Open House this Saturday, it's a mandatory school day.

I placed a giant order for supplies on Saturday.  I'll be filling my Etsy shop soon with natural hand lotions and body butter, and my home roasted 'Coop Keeper Coffee'!

Amid all the other things that were going on the last few days, I took the time to plan out my vegetable garden and pick out the chickens I want for this Spring.

I've decided to order baby chicks through the mail - I've never done this before, and I feel a bit apprehensive.  My reason for doing it?  I really want the breeds I want, all at once.  I also want to order ONE rooster.  The feed store seems to get breeds in all throughout the Spring, and I just didn't want to be introducing new birds all the time, plus, they only sell females.

I'm going to order them from McMurray Hatchery.

I've decided on all heavy breeds, brown egg laying birds.

Some of the lighter breeds sounded wonderful - but I hesitate to get them, since I don't electrify my coop, and my birds must overwinter on their own, with no heat lamps.

Am I cruel?

I don't think so.  

I think heat lamps are a great way to start the Great Crown Point Fire of 2013.

And it would be my luck.

Chickens were successfully raised before electricity was even invented.

I chose these breeds:

New Hampshire Red - This will be a new one for me - looks like  Rhode Island Red to me - but that's like  comparing New York to New Jersey - I shan't do it.  The catalog promises her to be a prolific layer.

The Black Australorp - a gorgeous, plump 'so black she's almost green' bird.

The Partridge Rock - this will be the stuck up cheerleader of the coop, I'm most certain.  You can tell by the
 look on her face - she thinks her plumage is the best.

He'll be the cock of the walk here - The Rhode Island Red Rooster.

The fabulous Buff Orpington - if I could only keep one breed - this would be it.
Lustrous feathers, plump body, good Mother, great egg layer. So gentle.

I absolutely cannot wait to hear the scratching and peeps of the baby chicks! 
The order will be shipped around the 8th of April.  I'll do a little video of their arrival!

Now...on to the garden.

My chickens are right behind this garden area...the vegetable garden will go right behind the chickens.

I'm bristling with excitement over it.  I think I'm really over winter - and needing some dirt under my fingernails.  I need to see some green.  I think I have a 'vision' for extending the garden - hopefully it's not a premonition.  Here are some photos of the area, as of yesterday.  I'm starting from scratch here.  I'll take you along the journey with me, from start to finish.  I'm not promising you that I'm going to do it the right way - but I will have a garden here, and it my mind it's going to be fabulous!

The vegetable garden is going to go right behind my chickens.  This will work for several reasons...the chicken poop collected can easily be put in the garden, the weeds can easily be thrown to the chickens, and I'm dreaming of sitting on my swing, placed in the northeast corner of my vegetable garden, so I can sit there, and drink it all in.  My garden, my birds, my bees. 

 My dream come true.

I sketched it all out yesterday.  I don't want it to be unrealistic, and I only want to grow what I know I'll eat.  I hesitated to grow cauliflower or broccoli - only because I've not grown it before, which is really no excuse, but I want a stress free garden this year!  I don't want to over do it, and have a weed patch.  A little well kept garden is much better than a large unkempt one.


Happy 
Monday!