When you approach the girl’s (chicken’s) million dollar run and condo (as Russ calls it) you find them begging to get out to free range.  The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence I suppose.

Watch out opening the gate, there will be a stampeed, lol.  I love to watch them peck around in the yard, but they always end up in places they should not be.

When you yell at them, this is what you get. . . . .  I believe this is equivalent to “talk to the hand.”

First on their list of things that they must do that I don’t want them too is dig holes in the area of the yard that I just spent an afternoon leveling out.

Second, roost on the lawn furniture.  Here is Goldie ignoring my pleas for her to scram.

I’m apparently not very threatening to them because here comes Sugar and she not only jumps up on the lawn furniture, but she jumped up on the chair that I am sitting in.

I say “get down Sugar” and she says “hmmm” scratch, scratch, scratch,  “let me just think about that”.

“Am I allowed here?”  Well she is off of the chair I suppose and she loves to cuddle with me.

Hey get out of the day lily bed!!!  I just cleaned the bed out!

They have also been cleaning the bed out.  I will be amazed if even one day lily survives.  They have decided this is the place they wish to take their dirt baths.

I do have a strict rule “NO CHICKENS ON THE DECKS.”

I swear they are standing at the door laughing at me. .. . . . .Bad Chickens!

Reminder:

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FREE TUTORIALS

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Want the entire month worth of tutorials free?

******************************************

Place a $50 merchandise order before March 31, 2014 and receive the entire month of tutorials (at least 12) free of charge via e-mail.

You will receive all of these, plus, they will keep coming until March 31, 2014.  You will also receive a free Sale-a-bration product and receive 1 virtual token from me for each $50 in merchandised purchased with your order.  Collect 10 tokens and receive a free stamp set of your choice up to a $30 value.  Now, that’s the way to get some bang for your buck!

This month’s tutorials. . . . .

(and at least 1 more tutorial to come for this month)

****************************************************

The card tutorials I create from March 16, 2014 through March 31, 2014 (at least 6 tutorials) will be e-mailed to my customers who place a minimum  $10 merchandise order anytime between March 16, 2014 through March 31, 2014 free of charge.

Tutorials created so far this period:

At least 1 more tutorial to come for this period.

All you need to do is place your order online using me as your demonstrator and the tutorials will be e-mailed to you within 24 hours and keep coming until March 31, 2014. 🙂 Free tutorials are an exclusive perk for my valued Stampin’ Up! customers and down line.

Note:  Please do not select the option for no contact when placing your order or I will not be able to send you the tutorials.  Also, please make sure that my e-mail address, [email protected] is approved in your e-mail account so your e-mail does not reject my e-mails which contain the tutorials.  🙂

Shop my online store now CLICK HERE *

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If you wish to purchase the tutorial for this project or check out the monthly subscription option. CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS.

***********************************************************

Customer Free Stamp Set Program

Here is a link to my online shopping page that you can shop at 24/7 (from the comfort of your home, even in your pj’s) and the products will be shipped directly to your door step from Stampin’ Up. CLICK HERE TO SHOP.  My free stamp set program will be an on going program.

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Check it out!  For every $50 purchase of any of Stampin’ Up’s products  you get to choose 1 free exclusive product from the Sale-a-bration Brochure FREE.

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May your day be filled with well trained pets, shesh!

Until my next post. . . . . . .  .

Hello There,

Russ and I have our Grand Daughter, Hailie Jade staying here with us this week and yesterday we had a horrible thing happen.  Hailie and I took the chickens out of their chicken run and let them have some yard time to get some sunshine while we worked on edging some gardens with cement block.  I swear they were not out long, maybe an hour.  When we went to put them back in their run we only counted 8 chickens instead of 9.  We search the property, neighbor’s yards etc. and no sign of Pearl.

I had seen a hawk in the area a couple of days before so at that point with tears in our eyes, Hailie and I chalked Pearl up as being a meal for the local hawk.

Let me tell you it was a very sad afternoon and evening.  Pearl was one of the younger more expensive Marans hens so that made me even sadder.

Now wait, there is a happy ending to this story.  When I went to lock up the girls for the evening guess who, after being gone 6 hours was just waiting outside of the run, you guessed it, Pearl!!!  Whoohoo!   I don’t know where she was or what she was up to, but she made it back.  She has never been one to fly so I was surprised that she flew over the fence.  I guess it’s time to clip her wings.

The photo above is one happy Hailie Jade holding Pearl the brat chicken.  What a relief!

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Have a terrific uneventful evening!

Until my next post. . . . . . .  .

*******************************************

FREE TUTORIALS

The complete card tutorials I create from March 16, 2014 through March 31, 2014 (at least 6 tutorials) will be e-mailed to my customers who place a minimum  $10 merchandise order anytime between March 16, 2014 through March 31, 2014 free of charge.

Tutorials created so far this period:

(at least 4 more for this period)

******************************************

Want the entire month worth of tutorials free?

******************************************

Place a $50 merchandise order before March 31, 2014 and receive the entire month of tutorials (at least 12) free of charge.

You will receive all of these, plus, they will keep coming until March 31, 2014.  You will also receive a free Sale-a-bration product and receive 1 virtual token from me for each $50 in merchandised purchased with your order.  Collect 10 tokens and receive a free stamp set of your choice up to a $30 value.  Now, that’s the way to get some bang for your buck!

This month’s tutorials. . . . .

(and at least 4 more to come this month)

All you need to do is place your order online using me as your demonstrator and the tutorials will be e-mailed to you within 24 hours and keep coming until March 31, 2014. 🙂 Free tutorials are an exclusive perk for my valued Stampin’ Up! customers and down line.

Note:  Please do not select the option for no contact when placing your order or I will not be able to send you the tutorials.  Also, please make sure that my e-mail address, [email protected] is approved in your e-mail account so your e-mail does not reject my e-mails which contain the tutorials.  🙂

Shop my online store now CLICK HERE *

**********************************************************************

If you wish to purchase the tutorial for this project or check out the monthly subscription option. CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS.

***********************************************************

Customer Free Stamp Set Program

Here is a link to my online shopping page that you can shop at 24/7 (from the comfort of your home, even in your pj’s) and the products will be shipped directly to your door step from Stampin’ Up. CLICK HERE TO SHOP.  My free stamp set program will be an on going program.

******************************

*******************************************************

Check it out!  For every $50 purchase of any of Stampin’ Up’s products  you get to choose 1 free exclusive product from the Sale-a-bration Brochure FREE.

Hello there,

The sun is shining and it is in the 40’s, whoohoo!  The girls are in better spirits since they get to have some yard time, such that it is.  It’s more like patch’s of grass showing through the snow, but hey, we will take what we can get.

It’s a good time to take a coop tour.  Bare in mind, this is not the cleanest coop, the girls have been literally cooped up in here for the past couple of months, with below zero temps and snow, snow, snow.  But hey, when you just drop by without notice you never know what you will see, right?

Ever try to take a picture with 9 chickens under foot, there is always one or two in the photos, so just ignore them.  We have 5 gallon bucket nesting boxes on the right wall and two roosting bars along the back wall for them to sleep on at night.  I put trays under the roosts so I can easily empty them each morning.  The girls produce a lot of fertilizer at night.

There are air vents on the back and front walls up high so the girls don’t get a breeze from them.  Also, there is a window that is shut tight for the Winter above their roosting bars.  But the window makes for a nice breeze in the summer when things heat up.

Front view of the nesting buckets.  I purchased them off of Ebay.  These are fairly new so I have a couple of their old nesting boxes on the floor for those girls still learning to use the new ones.  Bunny is checking them out because she needs to get to work, if you know what I mean.

Sophie will show you how my big girls use the nesting buckets.

Hop up on the bar, insert body in bucket.

Turn around inside while fluffing straw up.

Do your work and then come on out and announce to the world that you just laid an egg.

When these  buckets arrived, I took one look at them and thought for sure the girls would not use them.  They seemed very small since I have all large breeds.  They are all 7-8 lbs each.  Sorry girls, I know that is not right telling your weight.

But, they love them.  I guess there is security in being snug.

Russ (the good chicken daddy), built the girls a little ladder to get up on the roost bars.  Don’t tell him that they just jump up on the bars and don’t use the ladder, lol.

On the left wall is the small door that the girls use to go in and out to the chicken run.  This door is locked tight at night to keep the wild life from snacking on them at night.  We have weasels, possums, raccoon, coyotes etc. in the area that would love to have them for a meal.

Next to the door is a picture window for the princesses so they can have some natural light in the coop, plus look out into the run through.  We don’t have any electricity in the coop as yet, it’s on the to do list.  The window is plexiglass, so no one will get cut in case of breakage.  Russ (the good chicken daddy) put that in also.

I keep a bowl full of chicken grit for digestion and oyster shells for calcium so the girls will lay nice eggs with hard shells.  This is kept in the coop.  Their food and water are fed to them out in the run.  If kept in the coop, I’m afraid it might attract rodents, eeekkk. . . .

This is Pearl (White Marans), one of the chicks from last August, all grown up.

Over here! I see grass again!

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On another note, my gardens are knee deep in snow.

But, that hasn’t stopped me from starting my gardens for 2014.

I’ve already started my Onions by planting the seeds in a seed tray.  More on that in the future.

The End. . . .

This post was spurred on by just one reader asking how the girls are.  See what happens when you talk to me, lol.

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May your day be filled with warmth and sunshine!

Until my next post. . . . . . .  .

*******************************************

FREE TUTORIALS

The  card tutorials I create from February 16, 2014 through February 28, 2014 (at least 6 tutorials) will be e-mailed to my customers who place a $10 merchandise order anytime between February 16, 2014 through February 28, 2014 free of charge.

Tutorials created so far this period:

(At least 4 more to come this period)

******************************************

Want the entire month worth of tutorials free?

******************************************

Place a $50 merchandise order before February 28, 2014 and receive the entire month of tutorials (at least 13) free of charge.

You will receive all of these, plus, they will keep coming until February 28, 2014.  You will also receive a free Sale-a-bration product and receive 1 virtual token from me.  Collect 10 tokens and receive a free stamp set of your choice up to a $30 value.  Now, that’s the way to get some bang for your buck!

This month’s tutorials. . . . .

(at least 4 more to come)

All you need to do is place your order online using me as your demonstrator and the tutorials will be e-mailed to you within 24 hours and keep coming until February 28, 2014. 🙂 Free tutorials are an exclusive perk for my valued Stampin’ Up! customers and down line.

Note:  Please do not select the option for no contact when placing your order or I will not be able to send you the tutorials.  Also, please make sure that my e-mail address, [email protected] is approved in your e-mail account so your e-mail does not reject my e-mails which contain the tutorials.  🙂

Shop my online store now CLICK HERE *

**********************************************************************

If you wish to purchase the tutorial for this project or check out the monthly subscription option. CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS.

***********************************************************

Customer Free Stamp Set Program

Here is a link to my online shopping page that you can shop at 24/7 (from the comfort of your home, even in your pj’s) and the products will be shipped directly to your door step from Stampin’ Up. CLICK HERE TO SHOP.  My free stamp set program will be an on going program.

******************************

*******************************************************

Check it out!  For every $50 purchase of any of Stampin’ Up’s products  you get to choose 1 free exclusive product from the Sale-a-bration Brochure FREE.

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Also, do to popular demand the Free Marker pack with a Paper Pumpkin membership has been extended to March 31, 2014.  Don’t miss this creative deal.

Get Me Now!

I’m the total package:

• • I’m $19.95 (and shipping is covered). I’ll arrive monthly.
• • I’ve got all the stamps, ink, paper, and accessories to create pinable projects. Projects like cards, journals, décor, and more!
• • I’m all cut, measured, and ready—with instructions included.
• • I’m a new and exciting surprise every month.

This is important: Please make sure to pick me, Michelle Zindorf – zipcode is 45381 as your Demonstrator.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN NOW!

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Shankies! It’s cold out there!

Here in my neck of the woods (Ohio) it is an icy  7 degrees.  This makes taking care of the girls a little more difficult.

We have 8 inches of snow that shows no sign of leaving any time soon, so I have to keep an area in the chicken run shoveled off so the girls can come out of the coop to get some fresh air and eat and drink.  Most of the their time is spent in the coop.

Their water container freezes really quickly in these temperatures so it is now sitting on a special made electric warmer to keep it just above freezing.  Also, I give them hot oatmeal and raisins in the morning to warm their little bodies up and cracked corn just before bed to help keep them warm at night.  Yes, they are spoiled for sure.

Some of the girls have large combs (the red thing on top of their heads, lol) which can get frost bite.  To keep this from happening I put vasoline on their combs to protect them.

I now have a light in their coop that I trudge out to every single morning at 5 am to turn on so they are not in total darkness for too long in the short days we have in the winter.

This is Pearl showing you how chickens in Ohio stand in the Winter.  Nope, she is not one legged.  She is standing on one leg keeping the other tucked in her feathers to keep it warm.   Now that’s talent and it’s Pearl’s very first Winter.  Ya gotta catch on fast here.  By the way, the chicks are 16 weeks old and are just about the same size as the older girls.  I’ve got to quit calling them chicks, they are now Pullets.  A Pullet is a chicken that is almost laying age, but hasn’t laid yet.

All and all the girls try really hard to stay out of the snow, but I love their little prints when they do venture out.

I hope you are staying snug and warm in your neck of the woods.  I think I might have to bake cookies today while I drink hot chocolate.  Life is rough some times.

Until my next post. . . . . .

Huge Hugs!

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FREE TUTORIALS

All of the tutorials I create from December 1, 2013 through December 15, 2013 (at least 8 tutorials) will be e-mailed to my customers who place an order anytime between December 1, 2013 through December 15, 2013 free of charge.

Shown below are the tutorials I have created so far this period. 🙂

Note: All orders over $10 qualify for the free tutorials.

(At least 2 more tutorials to come this period)

All you need to do is place your order online using me as your demonstrator and the tutorials will be e-mailed to you within 24 hours and keep coming until December 15, 2013. 🙂 Free tutorials are an exclusive perk for my valued Stampin’ Up! customers and down line. This is not the only customer perk I offer to my amazing customers, check out the free stamp set program below.

Note:  Please do not select the option for no contact when placing your order or I will not be able to send you the tutorials.  Also, please make sure that my e-mail address, [email protected] is approved in your e-mail account so your e-mail does not reject my e-mails which contain the tutorials.  🙂

Shop my online store now CLICK HERE *

 

***********************************************************

Customer Free Stamp Set Program

Don’t miss out on my Customer free stamp set program. Check it out! For your order of $50 in product using me as your demonstrator you will receive one virtual token. Order $100 in product receive two virtual tokens, etc. After you have collected 10 virtual tokens you will receive a free current stamp set of your choice up to a $30 value.

Here is a link to my online shopping page that you can shop at 24/7 (from the comfort of your home, even in your pj’s) and the products will be shipped directly to your door step from Stampin’ Up. CLICK HERE TO SHOP. My free stamp set program will be an on going program.

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Have a long Stampin’ Up! wish list? Check out how you can save 20%, CLICK HERE!

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Free tutorials are also a perk for my Stampin’ Up! Team – Join now

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Stampin’ Up’s Clearance Rack Blitz continues  today.  Items are only available while they last so don’t delay picking up your must have products at a huge discount.

Also, we have some super fun Valentine products.