Sweet Surprise

I went out this morning to scan the garden for bugs, and found something so gross that even the chickens wouldn't touch it:

I went back to look for something a little more palatable for them -- they love the little green worms that hide on the Brussels' sprouts leaves -- but had to stop for a moment to mourn the sugar snap pea plants, which are snarled and beaten down because of the heavy rains. I was thinking about whether it would be possible to prop them up again, and whether they would ever produce their yummy peas, when I saw:

They are so sweet and crunchy. Indira will eat them as fast as they can grow.

Chicken Feed vs Chicken Nuggets

This morning, the kids and I drove out to Foothill Feed in Orange to stock up on feed for the chickens. We got 25 lbs of feed, 50 lbs of scratch, and 5 lbs of sunflower seeds -- $20.

On the way home, we stopped at McDonald's for lunch. Happy Meals for the kids and a combo for me -- $20.

Interesting coincidence. I'm not sure what conclusions to draw from this, but I know there is a profound truth in there somewhere.

I'd love to hear any ideas you may have... add your comments and join the discussion.

It may not be snow, but it's still a pain in the @#$

The birds have been cooped up -- literally -- for five days now. Torrential rains have forced me to keep them in their coop. I feel guilty that they are living more of a "factory farm" existence these days, but since the term "bird brain" doesn't come from nothing, I don't trust the girls to keep themselves warm and dry.

I had to put their food and water in the upper (dry!) part of their coop because the bottom part is completely flooded and their food had turned into a goopy mess. But they still like to come down their ladder and wade around in the mud and muck.

They seem to be handling the inconvenience just fine, although this morning they looked at me like "are you ever going to let us out of here?"

The vegetable garden, on the other hand, isn't faring so well. The lettuce is mashed into the mud, and the sugar snap peas are falling all over each other instead of standing majestically against the trellis. But if I try to look on the positive side, maybe the downpour has washed away the aphids and little green worms : )