Moving out of the Chick Brooder

The girls spent the night in the hen house last night!

I helped them inside at dusk,

listened to their distressed chirps for about five minutes,

and then heard them settle down.

I checked on them later in the evening before I turned in

and they were all sleeping soundly. :-)

This morning at dawn they were up and ready to go.

They marched out of their hen house

and made quick work of learning to eat from the big girl feeder.

And folks say chickens aren't very smart... ;-)

I think my girls are an exception!

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,

for tomorrow will worry about itself.

Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Matthew 6:34

Oh, ask not thou, how shall I bear

The burden of tomorrow?

Sufficient for today, its care,

Its evil and its sorrow;

God imparteth by the way

Strength sufficient for the day.

~J. E. Saxby

"He that hath so many causes of joy, and so great, is very much in love with sorrow and peevishness, who loses all these pleasures, and chooses to sit down upon his little handful of thorns. Enjoy the blessings of this day, if God sends them; and the evils of it bear patiently and sweetly; for this day only is ours; we are dead to yesterday, and we are not yet born to the morrow. But if we look abroad, and bring into one day's thoughts the evil of many, certain and uncertain, what will be and what will never be, our load will be as intolerable as it is unreasonable." ~Jeremy Taylor

taken from Daily Strength for Daily Needs by Mary W. Tileston, 1891

Farmhouse Peach Pie

Farmhouse Peach Pie

8 servings

1 recipe single pie crust

4 large peaches

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 egg

2 tablespoons milk

1 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

Prepare pie crust and place in pie pan. Peel, core and slice peaches. Combine peaches, sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Whisk egg and milk; pour over peaches and stir to combine. Pour peaches into crust. Bake pie at 375° for 35 minutes. Meanwhile combine flour and sugars. Cut in butter until crumbly. Top pie with crumb mixture and bake an additional 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool before slicing. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream if desired and enjoy!

A friend of mine, who is one of the best bakers I know, made a peach pie this summer with a crumb topping. It was delicious and I really liked the idea of the crumb topping with the peaches. And Mr. H. loved it! I haven't gotten the recipe from her yet, but had some wonderfully ripe peaches I needed to use this week, so I decided to try to recreate what she had made. I was very pleased with how it turned out! I hope you like it, too!

Linked to Down Home Cookin' Recipe Linkup, Sweet Indulgences Sunday, Gooseberry Patch Recipe Roundup Summertime, Gooseberry Patch Recipe Roundup Cookouts, Mom's Crazy Cooking, and Little House Living's Old Fashioned Recipe Exchange 

Daily Bible Reading 2010

Today's reading -

Isaiah 43-44

Psalms 56

Proverbs 31

Luke 23

Menu Plan Monday

Supper Menus

August 30th - September 4th

Monday

fried cube steak, mashed potatoes, big daddy biscuits, farm house peach pie

Tuesday

kung pao chicken

Wednesday

mexican frito salad

Thursday

super easy super cheesy lasagna, caesar salad, garlic breadsticks

Friday

tba

Saturday

out for supper

The chicks are 5 weeks old!

Tammy at 5 weeks.

Loretta at 5 weeks.

Emmy Lou at 5 weeks.

Dolly at 5 weeks.

Patsy at 5 weeks.

The chickens learned to use their big girl waterer today.

And explored inside the hen house.

I think they're feeling at home!

Daily Bible Reading 2010

Today's reading -

Isaiah 41-42

Psalms 55

Proverbs 30

Luke 22

Daily Bible Reading 2010

Today's reading -

Isaiah 39-40

Psalms 54

Proverbs 29

Luke 21

Rustic Berry Tart

Rustic Berry Tart

12 servings

2 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup corn meal

2/3 cup butter

1/2 cup buttermilk

4 cups blueberries

2 cup blackberries

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup flour

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 egg

2 tablespoons sugar

Combine flour, sugar, and cornmeal. Cut in butter until crumbly. Add buttermilk and toss until soft dough forms. Shape into ball and chill for at least 30 minutes. Combine berries, sugar, flour, and lemon juice. Roll out dough into a circle and place on parchment paper on a baking sheet. Spoon berry mixture into center of dough. Fold up dough around berries, leaving center open. Beat egg and spread on to crust. Sprinkle crust with sugar. Bake at 375° for 55-60 minutes or until curst is nicely browned and fruit is bubbly. Slide parchment paper to a cooling rack. Serve warm and enjoy!

This was a big hit with Mr. H.!

Berries

in early evening sunlight

Daily Bible Reading 2010

Today's reading -

Isaiah 37-38

Psalms 53

Proverbs 28

Luke 20

Chickens in the Coop!

Tammy

Emmy Lou

Dolly

Loretta

Patsy

They love it!

The Kittens

Daily Bible Reading 2010

Today's reading -

Isaiah 34-36

Psalms 52

Proverbs 27

Luke 19

Gift from Giggles

I dropped by to visit my sweet friend Giggles

on Wednesday

and she had the cutest little gift for me.

I knew it would look just perfect on the library bookshelf.

It even lights up!

Thank you Giggles -

you know I love it! :-)

Chicken Coop Day 13

Mr. H. spent some time this evening

covering the yard of the coop

to give the chickens

more protection from predators.

He also added some smaller wire

around the bottom of the fence.

We're planning to let the chickens

spend the day in the coop yard tomorrow! :-)

Daily Bible Reading 2010

Today's reading -

Isaiah 31-33

Psalms 51

Proverbs 26

Luke 18

Daily Bible Reading 2010

Today's reading -

Isaiah 29-30

Psalms 50

Proverbs 25

Luke 17

Texas Ranch House

It's been a little warm 'round these parts...

Our outside thermometer is under the porch...in the shade! :-)

Daily Bible Reading 2010

Today's reading -

Isaiah 27-28

Psalms 49

Proverbs 24

Luke 16

Menu Plan Monday

Supper Menus

August 23rd-28th

Monday

baked potatoes with toppings

Tuesday

hamburgers, homemade french fries, chocolate pudding

Wednesday

italian beef sandwiches, potato chips, spiral pasta salad

Thursday

Jessica Simpson's chicken and dumplings, baby carrots, buttered corn, make ahead potatoes, lettuce and tomato salad, old fashioned whoopie pies

Friday

out for supper

Saturday

spaghetti and meatballs, green salad, garlic bread, rustic berry tart

The chicks are 4 weeks old!

They are spending more and more time outside,

a bit longer each day.

They are getting used to this little yard which I will

put in their actual coop yard starting next week

as we begin introducing them to the hen house.

At four weeks, you can really see Jenna Rae's comb starting to form.

They love being outside!

Towards the end of the week they should be spending all day outdoors.

They have a little fit when they go back in the brooder. ;-)

But calm down after a bit.

We have now turned the heat lamp off.

They have plenty of feathers to stay comfortable at 75 degrees

which is about what our house temperature is.

With the red heat lamp off,

I am now turning a light on in the laundry room

when the sun comes up and turning it off at sundown.

We don't hear a peep out of them while the light is off!

"Build a little fence of trust

Around today;

Fill the space with loving work,

And therein stay;

Look not through the sheltering bars

Upon tomorrow,

God will help thee bear what comes,

Of joy or sorrow."

~Mary Frances Butts