Broody=Moody

Poor Butterscotch. She has been a little moody lately. She won't leave the nest box and gives us the evil eye when we come around. If we get too close, she will even give us a mean little peck.

But I can understand what she is going through. We women folk call it PMS. In chicken terms this is called being broody. Meaning her hormones are telling her it is time to be a mama, so she needs to sit on her eggs to keep them warm.

Unfortunately, not only does Butterscotch not realize that her eggs are unfertilized, she doesn't have the brain power to understand that we have taken all of them from her. She has stopped laying for the time being. All she is keeping warm in that nest box are a bunch of shavings and her own behind.

You don't necessarily want one of your hens sitting around all day, hogging the nesting box and not doing any work while the other ones pick up the slack. So I did what I had to do. She needed a little nudge and a little change of scenery to get her over her moodiness. Time to kick her out of bed and tell her to get to work. It's no use hanging out in the box all day sitting on nothing.

I went out and got a pair of Scott's work gloves. Like I said, she is a little moody and snippy right now so I gotta tread lightly. Plus I don't want to get pecked. I tried to get her out of her box being as gentle as I could, but the fact of the matter is, I am a chicken (no pun intended). I didn't want to get pecked and she wasn't going to move without a fight.



So I handed over my gloves to Taylor and he got to work. Within a few seconds he had pulled her out of the box. She was mad as a hornet, but we wouldn't let her back in. I'm positive that if she could talk there would be naughty words coming out of her beak.

Here she is, freshly thrown out of bed, trying to look all dignified in her ruffled feathers that look just like bed head. Can you see the evil look in her eye?



Sadly, this hormone thing takes awhile to settle down. We found her trying to get back in the coop to sit on her "non eggs" a short while later. We had to resort to plan B.



Isolation.

Butterscotch will be living in a cage in our garage for several days. No nesting material, no nesting box and no company from her friends. Hopefully that will snap her out of it. I'll let you know in a few days.



Hmmm I wonder if Scott has ever considered something this drastic when I get all moody?

Birthday

Birthday: This is Taylor Speaking, no lie. My party was complete pandemonian. We played dodge ball is the playroom the whole time, except the time we ate pizza and cake and ice cream. It was nuts. We each had our very own carbonated beverages and had a burping contest. Then we sucked helium out of the balloons. We talked with high voices for a little while. Then we thought something. If you have sucked helium and burped, would it be a high pitched burp? No, sadly it doesn't work. We played dodge ball till the end.



It is still Taylor talking, no lie. I had a birthday on the same day as my grandma. My grandparents came over to watch me be ordained a deacon. Then We went home and had dinner. Then we had pie for desert.




I am still here talking, no lie. I was ordained a deacon on. I was ordained by my dad. I got a new suit that I love. I went to collect fast offerings right after church after I got my temple recomend. I went with my next door neighbor. It was really fun.


I had a great birthday!
The end.

P.S. I talked the whole time no lie.

I'm all about roasting

My roasting obsession started last summer when I had oodles of tomatoes on my vines. Roasted tomatoes are divine.

Since the tomatoes are a distant memory I have branched out a bit. Forget boiling and steaming, roasted vegetables are the way to go. It takes a bit more time, but it is easy and definitely worth it!

Here are my two latest favorites. I have never been a big fan of cauliflower. It has always seemed a bit bland when steamed and a bit hard when raw. So I roasted. And you know what? I could easily eat a whole head by myself. Yum.






Slice cauliflower
Put on cookie sheet. Drizzle with a few T. olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Use your hands and mix the cauly to evenly coat it. Spread out in a single layer on sheet. Bake 425 for 25-30 minutes.

I tried broccoli the other day. Um....Just as good.






Place dry broccoli on cookie sheet. Drizzle with a few T. olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Use your hands and mix the broccoli, evenly coating it. Spread out in a single layer. Bake 425 for 25-30 minutes.

Drizzle another T of olive oil onto cooked broccoli. Grate some lemon peel on top. Squeeze the lemon juice. Add 1/4 c. parmesan cheese.

What shall I roast next?