Polar Vortex * Saskatchewan Screamer * Alberta Clipper 2014... really?

Can I whine for a minute?
I am loathing this winter weather. When I was younger, I used to hear people older than me complaining about the cold and it didn’t bother me so much, but this year it is just annoying me. We also have a few more outdoor critters to worry about in this weather, so maybe that’s part of it. And the last few years, I have definitely been spending more time outdoors and the kids seem to need to run off their energy outside and so the winter is definitely more noticeably annoying because of that too…so I guess a lot of factors have conspired to make this a yucky winter season this year. I know I’m not alone and I know I have a lot to be thankful for, but I also know it helps to whine a bit too sometimes… lol At least the weather people are having fun with it... or terrorizing us with hyped up names for the weather systems like Polar Vortex. My favorite has been Saskatchewan Screamer... it kind of sounds like a roller coaster, which actually is what our weather has been so good job Disney Doppler Radar man!

Be watching in the next few days for pictures of hatching eggs! It has been an amazing process to observe and be a part of. We have ended up with 5 eggs that seem to be growing. We have seen movement in all 5 eggs. Today is day 18 for some of the eggs, which means that we crank up the humidity in the incubator and lock it down (we don’t literally lock it – it just means no more opening the incubator). Saturday is day 21, which is a typical hatch day! I’ve had to remind myself and the kids that when the chickies start hatching they will look grotesque for the first couple of days while they are drying out.

This has been an educational process for all of us for sure! After these 5 egg babies are done, we plan to try a larger batch. There has been good demand for our eggs, plus when the dogs drag out the occasional chicken, we need replacements (sorry to be gross but it has happened once or twice. The last time they got ahold of one, we were actually able to nurse the chicken back to health although we are still waiting for feathers to grow back. So far we haven't had any other critters invade our chickens, knock on wood!).

Last summer we were the egg supplier for a small CSA (Community Sustained Agriculture). Basically, if you are unfamiliar with a CSA, people from more urban areas pay a flat fee at the beginning of the growing season and gardeners and farmers put together a basket of fresh produce once a week for the clients. Our eggs were purchased from the CSA as an extra item and we supplied an average of 8 dozen eggs per week for June through October. Never thought I would do something like that! We have loved having fresh eggs at our house too and there is always a neighbor or co-worker asking to buy eggs.

When we came back from our week long camping trip last October, the mother in law had been tending the chickens and keeping our house for us and had gathered and stored about 15 or so dozen eggs. So that Saturday, we all loaded up in the car and “egged” the neighbors lol… we went to each of our neighbors house and gave them a dozen or two. That was fun… and again so educational for the kids!

Anyway, Farmer Johnson out…. Lol… keep warm!