Journey to the Sea...

We are spending labor day weekend at Seabrook on the coast of Washington, a most beautiful beach and planned community close to our lovely rain forests.  We had sun and clouds and maybe rain tomorrow!  We ride bikes, BBQ, have wine and cheese hour everyday, and we play games together in the evenings like Monopoly (Nick always wins), Settlers of Catan, Clue, Pictionary (I'm really bad at drawing cows) and Risk.

We always play boche ball on the beach and I lost very badly this year.  We may have a badminton tournament tomorrow.

We all really miss our dog Tina, the best Jack Russell Terrier in the world, who passed away after Christmas.  She loved Seabrook and the beach so much.  Last time we were here she found squeaky "eggplant" toy that drove us all nuts.  She was the fastest ball chaser ever!

We collected driftwood for my driftwood project...

We found some pretty good driftwood specimens in the dunes...

When I leave for a short trip or vacation, I have friends who come over and let the chickens out and put them in at night.  Its great peace of mind knowing that they are responsible and the chickens will be well cared for.   They also collect the eggs and make sure everyone looks healthy and happy.  Water is really important to replenish since its still warm this labor day weekend.  I hope everyone is enjoying the last lovely weekend of summer!

- Rita

Did you know? Chickens Love Watermelon!

If chickens had a favorite season, it would be summer. Lush foliage, lots of bugs, and scrumptious summer fruit are just a few reasons!

I give our chickens an extensive variety of foods to keep them healthy and to make sure their eggs are as nutrient rich as can be. One of the summer foods they love most is watermelon - they peck it right down to the rind!

You have a little something on your beak there, Nuggy... 

- Rita

It's Apple Pie Season!

Apples are ripe a bit early this year - they are dropping from the trees - time to make pie!

Apples have always been a September thing in the Northwest, waiting for those first apples to ripen right when school begins. I remember as a kid coming home from school, picking apples and biting into their juicy goodness.  Mine are organic so we always take care to look for the occasional worm. This year its been unusually hot here in Seattle, so apples are dropping from the trees!  Time to make yummy apple treats...first up: Apple Pie!






The best part of making apple pie is that all the ingredients are right at my fingertips!  I just walk out the backdoor and two apple trees offer their fruit up to me in the first rays of sunlight...I always use my Grandma Larsen's pastry recipe for the crust, and I use Grandma Opal's pie filling from Allrecipes.com - its the best!

Rolling the dough, peeling and cutting the apples is relaxing for me, I love to create and this is one of those creations that you get to devour after it's done!  Allie's boyfriend Hans helped her pick apples for me this morning.  He is back from Norway and doesn't love sweet American desserts - but he loves my apple pie! - I think because it's almost savory in it's pastry goodness.  Tonight my in-laws are visiting from Phoenix so we had a lovely dinner followed by my apple pie and ice cream...it was great to see them and spend time just catching up.

Edith and Pru lounge underneath our green apple tree.

The chickens have lots of fallen apples to peck at and eat this year, but usually they circle my feet waiting for me to drop one so they can have a treat.  Who knew that chickens would LOVE apples so much?  But this year, there are so many that they tire from eating them and go looking for other garden treats.  Just like humans, I guess they can experience too much of a good thing.  So then they just lounge among them, taking the occasional peck, secure in knowing yummy treats are close at hand.

- Rita

Welcome to my Yard

Pepper hanging out in the Oasis

Its a postage stamp size, but in an urban environment it allows the chickens enough room to roam and vegetation to enjoy...an urban oasis!  Apples fall on the lawn for them to peck, blueberry bushes provide hours of entertainment as they hop straight up in the air to pluck them, bugs and dragonflies circle the flowers and the grass is organic and delicious. 

The Coop du Jour

I thought the yard was missing some life, so chickens were just the ticket!  I would have hours of fun watching them run around, clean up all my bugs and lay me beautiful eggs every morning.  This is all true but like anything in life there is the dark side.  There is poop to scoop, diseases to deal with and molting happens!  Still its worth the bit of work it takes and I enjoy the challenge...I am the Urban Chicken Whisperer after all...

- Rita