Truly Evil Rooster - Craigslist Gem

Someone posted the link to this Craigslist ad on the Chronicle of the Horse and I thought it was hilarious! Love the closing line, "...Love does not always triumph over evil." (Please note...spelling is in context of the ad, not my errors.)

Urban Chickens and Hawks

Just because your chickens live in a metropolis doesn't mean they are safe from predators! I knew we had possums and raccoons on our street, but I had no idea hawks would be swooping in, too.

I was reminded of this by my friends who live a few miles away from me, who recently had a hawk go INTO their chicken coop and attack and kill two of their chickens. (Photo at left is of this killer hawk sitting on their roof.)

I had a close call a few months back, when a hawk came down and tried to grab Marge, our White Leghorn. Luckily my husband was in the backyard and able to scare the hawk away, but Marge was still left was some horrible scratches on her neck from the hawk's talons.

I feel terrible for my friends, but I still am letting my chickens out to roam during the day. I think they would be way too unhappy confined in their coop, so I'm willing to take the risk.

The Engine 2 Diet

Happy New Year!

I've been going back and forth about this whole blogging thing. (Obviously I decided to stop for a while since I haven't posted anything since last April!)

On the one hand, I enjoy sharing my interests and passions and writing about them in an entertaining (I hope!) fashion. On the other hand, sometimes it seems weird to put out so much "personal" information on the internet. However, I think I may give it a go again. :)

You might remember last year my husband and I attempted to go vegetarian -  Simply Starving Everyday. I'm glad to report this has been moderately successful. Throughout the year we only cooked vegan/vegetarian at home during the week, but did occasionally get meaty on weekends. Since I'm the one that does all the cooking during the week, I actually appreciated the simplicity of cooking mainly vegan meals. I ditched the "Super Natural Every Day" recipes as they weren't all the great, and instead branched out on my own via finding recipes online.


My biggest revelation has been Quorn. As someone who actually likes the taste of meat, but doesn't want the fat and calories, these products have been a lifesaver. I'm particularly fond of their meatless meatballs. I swear I could serve these to dinner guests and they'd never know they weren't eating real meat! I just tried the "chicken" product they make and it is also delicious.

Another great tool is the Engine 2 Diet Cookbook. (More info on the website.)The recipes are easy, healthy and delicious. So far my two favorites have been Shepherd's Pie and Sloppy Joes, both of which I used Quorn "meat" crumbles in.

My husband has been extremely disciplined about this whole diet. We do still eat sushi once a week, but haven't had any meat since New Year's Eve. I'm a little bit more lax. I actually don't miss the meat, but I can't resist a little cheese, sour cream, chocolate or ice cream once in a while. :)

Evil Chickens

The evil chickens as I find them every night. Why they insist on having me personally escort them into their coop I have no idea. They certainly don't enjoy me grabbing them or prodding them with a stick, and I could do without their piercing shrieks of terror. I'm afraid to think what the neighbors believe goes on in our yard every night!

Seedling Time!

Due to social commitments and some lousy weather the past few weekends, we just got to planting seedlings this weekend.

To the left is my husband posing in his AWESOME post-yoga gardening outfit. I'm just glad nobody saw what I was wearing - my riding breeches, floral blouse and crazy blue sun hat!

It is a little late, but hopefully our mild Southern California weather will trick these guys into blossoming.

Here's what we've got:

San Marzano & Heirloom Tomatoes
Carrots
Green Beans
Pumpkins (2 kinds, can't remember what they are)
Cucumbers
Watermelon
Kale
...and a few other items!

Most of the seeds are from Seeds of Change, which sells 100% organic seeds.

Now that the chickens are securely caged and their wings have been clipped we should be able to keep the garden going year round. We are going to have to move a some of the existing herbs that are now inhabiting the raised beds (rosemary, mint, sage) to make room for the larger items. The pumpkins will go in the in-ground bed next to the garage.

I pulled out this crazy Brussels sprout plant and gave it to the chickens, who devoured it with much enthusiasm!

New Plants & Double Yolks

All of our chickens are finally laying and our yard is coming together. Yay for Spring!
Developments this week - almost all of our plants are finally in the ground in the front yard (photo at left) AND we found that a giant white egg from Marge, our Leghorn, had two yolks! (photo below, right) I read online (you know, the source of all unverified rumor and superstition) that two yolks equals 1000 years of good luck in Chinese culture, or that a wedding is coming up. Either way, good omens!

This weekend we need to start some seedlings and get ready to replant our raised beds and our new in-ground area off the garage, where we are planning to put pumpkins. We missed out on pumpkins last year due to our construction project, so I'm excited to get them going again for this year. We aren't going to make the mistake of letting them grow wild again, as that resulted in them taking over half of our yard. I mistakenly thought that each seedling equaled one pumpkin - boy, was I wrong!

In addition to pumpkins I'd love to get some tomatoes, garlic and potatoes going as we eat these every week.

Mystery Egg

I believe we have a new egg-layer in our midst, but I have no idea who it is or why their eggs are such a dark color! (See photo - mystery egg is at the bottom.) This might also be just a "weird" egg. Hmmmm....let's see what we get tomorrow!