Thursday, May 20, 2010

Smelly Pits No More

Waaaaaay back when I posted that I was going to make my own deodorant and then give you and update.

I have been using my homemade deodorant for just over a year now. Occasionally when I run out and am too lazy to whip some up on the kitchen I'll reach for a commercial stick. I ALWAYS regret it... because I feel like I stink.

I would highly recommend the 2 parts baking soda to 3 parts cornstarch recipe as I always feel fresh, and even at the end of the day I never smell (but I do if I use the commercial deodorant). The only drawback is that if I wear dark clothing I often get powder under the arms - actually because I'm so clutzy I usually end up with powder everywhere. I have quickly learned to wash my hands before getting dressed. I put my mixture in a spice jar, shake out some on my hands and apply to underarms. SIMPLE and CHEAP and HEALTHY!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Work and Home

Lately I have been feeling very stressed/overwhelmed between work and home life. It is very difficult to find balance between the two. I am self employed and am basically on call to clients days and evenings, besides doing everything else involved with my business. I often have things planned to do at home and then get called away, and so my home activities never seem to get done.

The past few days I feel that I have come to "the straw that broke the camels back". I feel that home has been neglected so much as of late that I can no longer catch up on all the housework, organizing, baking, etc. because I'm barely home to do any of these things. (Son has been complaining vehemently that he never has baking in his school lunches anymore)

To make things worse now it's time to get in the garden as well. Luckily Husband is wonderful and managed to plant the majority of the garden plus starting all the seedlings and taking care of them.

I have decided that I will try to work at home most days instead of going into the office. I am completely equipped to work at home, so I should take advantage of it. Not only will it save me an hours drive everyday, but will also save me some gas money (if it works out, I can also give up my monthly parking pass which will save some money too). This should afford me more control over basic housekeeping and cooking/baking tasks during the day.

On the home front:

The sick hen is still being kept separate from the others. She eats and drinks and appears fairly perky, but has not laid in over 2 weeks and when placed with the other chickens she keeps to herself. I think we will have to cull her out of the flock. The other one to be culled is Lucky. He is the most miserable rooster and is constantly terrorizing the hens. Lucky is in complete contrast to Cockzilla who is gentle with the hens, calls them when he finds food and warns them when he sees something that causes him alarm.

This is the ill hen sunning herself while in the duck's quarters.


Husband planted the Early Girl tomatoes that he started in the garage a couple of weeks ago. I told him it was too early to go in the greenhouse, but he insisted it was warm enough. Of course we had a very cold night and all the plants were killed off. On the weekend I ran off to Art Knapps Plantland to purchase a flat of Early Girls. Here they are in the greenhouse once again - but this time it is warm enough.

We have a lot of fox in our area so we don't let the hens or ducks out of their pens to free range unless we are out working in the yard.

Here are the ducks exploring the swale that diverts water off our property.

The hens dust bathing. Yes that is a naked butt... they are still in the molting phase, but I can some are finally getting their feathers back.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Feeling Guilty

Yes, I am feeling extremely guilty for not posting anything for such a long time. I love blogging, but things have been so crazy lately I just don't have the time or energy to write anything. I haven't even been following my blogroll 'friends'.

This morning is it sunny and 2c. My daffodils and some of the tulips are blooming. The first hummingbird of the season came by for a visit and drink of the daffys.

Husband has the garage full of plants he started - tomatos, eggplant, peppers, cabbage, lot of flowers, cucumbers, broccoli and I don't know what else. It's a jungle out there!

I haven't contributed to the garden preparations at all this year. I'm hoping it will warm up soon as in this area we normally plant on the May long weekend (3rd week in May).

I had to separate one of my hens the other day. The chickens are molting and look half naked. This particular hen must have been picked on and her back end was bleeding quite badly which, of course, only leads to more picking. I put her in with the ducks which she is not happy with, but at least she has stopped bleeding and has begun to heal. Tonight or tomorrow with husband's help I want to try to wash her up and get all the icky stuff away. I don't want to put her back with the other chickens until the sore is healed.

I'll try to take some photos over the weekend and get them posted.