The First Week of the New Year

I just got home from my first service at the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Blue Ridge. It's about thirty minutes west of us, so I faced mountains for the entire drive. I had met one member on a Facebook group and she greeted DC and me warmly upon our arrival. AW had stayed home with Himself, as the church is too small to have nursery care. Next time, I will bring her and try to get her to go to RE (UU's version of Sunday school). DC made quite the splash and behaved beautifully during the service. Everyone told me how lucky I was to have such a sweet, beautiful baby, and I absolutely agree. 

After New Year's, we had a bit of a quiet week. We spent hours designing the chicken coop and trying to cut costs on the design while still making it secure from predators. We have foxes, raccoons, and hawks around the house, so I'm trying to be as protective as possible of our future flock. We had a bit of a dilemma: I wanted at least a few

chickens of a specific breed: the Scots Dumpy. They are a heritage breed that are period correct for our Scottish Jacobite reenacting group, and I wanted to be able to bring them to some events to draw more attention to our group. They are, however, quite rare. I have only found one US breeder that has them...and they have a minimum order of 25 chicks. There is good reason: the chicks are shipped on the day they hatch, and the number of chicks is to maintain warmth while they are shipped. This breeder also doesn't sex their chickens (it's not easy for some breeds). So, we are planning on ordering 25 chicks: 5 Scots Dumpys and 20 Orpingtons of assorted colors. It sounds like a lot, but we plan on eating all the Orpington roosters. If we still have too many hens, we may eat some of those too. 

I've also been spending my evenings planning our garden beds. I'm excited to have the space to grow some sprawling vines, such as pumpkin and watermelon. I've enjoyed learning to can, and as I got a pressure canner for Christmas, we have a lot of options for food preservation. I don't have any interest in being completely self-sufficient, but I do enjoy cooking the fruits of my own labors. 

As for the kids: DC has been up rocking on all fours and cutting his top two teeth for a total of four teeth, all razor sharp. AW has been obsessed with her Clifford and we are reading more Clifford books than ever. 

I didn't take too many pictures this week, but here thy are.