Tour of our little UH

Google the term "urban homesteading" and you will find a gazillion blogs, books, websites, articles, and photos. The movement encompasses acts from growing tomatoes in a pot on the balcony of a Manhattan apartment to literally living off the grid and only consuming what you produce from your own piece of land. We happen to fall in between this, and are much closer to the tomato-in-a-pot lifestyle, although the pioneer girl in me (I don't know where she has emerged from- I mean, I never even really liked watching Little House on the Prairie) would like to be more off the grid. Urban homesteading has become so popular that even Williams-Sonoma now has an agrarian line, which carries products for raising backyard chickens and making your own cheese.

So, I'm not sure if our small attempt at living off of our land (bolstered tremendously by Earthfare, Ingles, Tractor Supply, Lowe's, and many other very un-hard core urban homestead like commercial entities) makes us crazy or trendy. As I think about how I get up each morning around 5:30 to feed 10 animals, I think I know the answer, though.

Enjoy a photo tour of our little nuthouse, er....homestead, yeah, our trendy, oh-so-practical homestead.


Before:


After!!:




My usual morning routine, post paws and claws feeding...coffee on the deck. In my usual outfit of flannel pajamas and rubber boots. Did I mention how sexy my life is?



Pepper sighting!




Baby tomatoes!! I'm just waiting to wake up one morning and not be able to open the back door because the house is wrapped in tomato branches...these suckers are going nuts!



Zucchini on the plant...





Zucchini waiting to be breakfast in a zucchini homefry concoction I am attempting:




The girls!







Meet Agnes: she is a golden laced Cochin. Notice her amazing feathered legs and feet. She is super soft and when she is fully grown, will be quite fluffy. She is a chatty gal, making sweet honk sounds and does whatever her sister, Gertrude does.




Gertrude is the leader of the pack. She is a buff Brahma and will get quite large, probably around 10 pounds. She and Agnes are only about 4 months old now, and will begin to lay eggs in another month or 2. She is adventurous and affectionate- in the evening she will hop up on my shoulder or lap.





Funky Mabel (named for the John Lee Hooker tune). She is just hilarious to watch roam around doing her thing! She is a buff Silkie, although we call her a muppet.




Po Black Maddie, or Maddie ( another Mississippi blues tribute, for the R.L.Burnside song). She may be slightly cognitively challenged, but that's okay...all ones' chickens can't be geniuses. We actually won't know for a while whether Maddie and Mabel are hens or roosters....we are hoping hens, because we can't keep roosters in the city here. We have to wait until they crow or lay an egg!





Some paws...










Orchard Row: a peach and cherry tree live here, although only the dogs have enjoyed any fruit so far. These trees are only a few years old and have created a nice tunnel on this side of our house.




So, it's sorta urban, it's sorta a homestead....whatever it is, we love our little world!

I see a coop!

Folks, we have the beginnings of a chicken coop...
Day 1:





Day 2:



Hoping to have the ladies all moved in on Saturday...yippee!!

Here is a preview of the types we're probably getting:
Silkies!! They are a small variety of chicken, that make great pets because they are friendly and docile. They also love to sit on eggs ("go broody") and are often used to sit on eggs that still need to hatch, even duck eggs or other chickens' eggs.




Tori Spelling has a pet Silkie, Coco:




I think I found our Halloween costume for next year....




This is a young Brahma hen, they grow to about 9 pounds, while the Silkies above only weigh around 3 pounds. Both have feathered feet.



In other non-chicken news, I could finally upgrade to a new phone and joined the iPhone generation. The Mister joined the smartphone generation ( I think he has had the same flip phone since I've known him), too.



On Thursday our crazy hound dog, Tanner, began limping...no surprise since his favorite past time is tearing around the yard at about 45 mph to bark at any passers by. When he still wouldn't use his foot the next day, I took him to the vet (we pretty much go to the vet once every couple weeks with somebody around here). An x-ray revealed a broken toe. So, he's on a timeout from yard racing for several weeks. Poor guy!

Here he is being brave and standing on it:




Okay, one more Silkie photo because they are so ridiculous!

I Wish

Here is my list of a few things that I think would make the world a much better place:

1. A special horn or other noise- making device that could be used to "yell" at drivers who do not use their turn signal. I find the regular car horn to be too ambiguous, as the other driver may not understand why exactly you are honking. The special horn would be reserved exclusively for informing someone that they failed to use their blinker.

2. On the flip side, a different horn should also be available for telling people their signal is STILL on...or, perhaps turn signals should have an auto turn off function.

3. Gyms should be free. Do some countries do this, I wonder? I realize not everyone would use them, and I go to my gym partly because I am paying for it- but I really think if gyms were available for no cost and in more rural areas, our obesity crisis would improve. I think too many people are never exposed to physical fitness...and you can watch TV and work out at the gym.

4. There should be mannequins outside courtrooms that showcase appropriate ways to dress for court, job interviews and other 'fancy' occasions. There should be some "what not to wear" mannequins, too. I find that the majority of individuals who don't know what is appropriate to wear in formal or business settings also are frequently in court, so it would be a great way to catch their attention. Of course, the bonus is that they could use their new dressing skills in the courtroom. Thrift shops could set up trunk shows to get folks their new duds, too.

Some examples of some shirts I've seen in court being sported by the type of person mentioned above:

- T- shirt that read: "Don't piss me off, I'm running out of places to hide the bodies". On a side note, this same gent, had a jury trial in which he started off the day with yelling out randomly his displeasure with his attorney, then slept through the afternoon of his trial, and failed to come at all the second day, being found guilty in absentia.

- Seen this week in court: Wanna Lick?

- An airbrushed T- shirt that read: Gangstas Only. This stylish young lass was a witness in a trial I had in which my client and Gangstas Only had a disagreement that involved pulling over on the side of the road and scratching one another's cars with a hammer and a screwdriver, respectively. I also used the term 'baby daddy' in earnest during this particular trial.


If anyone is looking for some ideas for making the world a better place (or just some free entertainment), I recommend stopping by your local courtroom.

See our garden grow

It is finally all done! Our garden is filled with dirt, plants, and dog proof fencing.



Can you see the elusive Coonhound in this shot?




Farmer Jon hard at work.










We even have a teeny, tiny baby cherry tomato already!



Can you see it?!






This is Jack's Happy Tomato dance!




This is the future site of the Coop...breaking ground next week- woo hoo!

Here are some shots of Trip and Jack practicing being good chicken shepherds.









Okay, Jack is probably actually planning how to eat all the veggies from the garden.

Fostering = lives saved...literally

Recently, Jon and I were talking about the number of paws...and soon to be claws...in the family. We both agree that 6 indoor pets is our limit. We also agree that when our dogs pass away, that we want to foster instead of adopting. I realize this may be easier said than done, but I feel VERY strongly that fostering is the most important link of the rescue chain.

Fostering a pet is so vital because it basically is an extension of a shelter...it is one more life that can be spared, as long as we live in a society in which animals are euthanized for space at shelters. It also provides valuable insight into what that pet will be like in a home, since the way a dog or cat behaves in a shelter isn't always their "real self". Also, often a dog or cat will need individual attention to learn to trust people or recover from an injury. I could go on and on, but just trust me - fostering rocks!


We've done our share of fostering...our sweet Tanner was our first foster. He arrived with a broken spirit, zero self confidence, and afraid of anything related to humans. He wouldn't even eat for the first 48 hours he was here. It took many months, but he slowly learned to trust us and how to be a dog. Sadly, his life had just been about survival before he came to us. I remember thinking that I would just be happy if he ever wagged his tail. Just look at him now!



This photo wouldn't be possible without foster homes...Marvin also was rescued by a foster home with his mama and sisters. Maybe that is why these 2 are such buds- they both had rough starts in rural Appalachia. Marvin was actually licking Tanner's ear moments before this photo, but coonhound ears are pretty irresistible, so who can really blame him.

Often, foster homes must be found very quickly, as shelters only have a couple days sometimes before they are forced to euthanize for space. This is Matilda:



She was slated to be euthanized at our local county shelter because she had some skin issues that they determined meant she was unadoptable. But, the rescue group I work with here (Brother Wolf Animal Rescue), would take her in and treat her skin issues- if a foster home could be found, because their shelter was full. Well, I reached out to lots of folks and my mom stepped up and said she would take in Matilda temporarily! All of this occurred in one day- I drove to the county shelter myself and sprung this lucky girl! She was safe! She is thriving now, her skin allergies have been addressed and she is an awesome, happy gal...house trained, sweet, great with all animals and people. The photo above was taken the day she got out of the shelter and was visiting the vet. She only stayed with my mom a couple of weeks until a spot opened up at the rescue's shelter, so often just a temporary foster home can make all the difference; it sure did for Matilda.

Many people hesitate to foster because of the fear that it will be difficult to say goodbye. That is true, but it also allows the foster to continue to foster, and therefore continue to save lives. All foster families seem to eventually adopt that one special...or 2...animal, but there always seems to be another amazing home out there who can love your foster as much as you do. Here are some of our foster puppies from last year:



This is Sylva. She and her 2 sisters found themselves in a shelter in Virginia. We fostered all 3 of them for Coonhound Rescue. Puppies are really fun to foster! Sylva now lives in South Carolina.



Here is Sylva's sister, Wilma. She is now a Texas girl!



This is Vada, she came from a shelter in eastern North Carolina. She was one of my favorite foster pups! She became very ill on her first day here and scared me to death, but luckily pulled through, and I think that created more of a connection between us. We logged several hours snuggling on the couch as she recovered. She was quickly adopted to a family in the DC area.

Puppies are actually easier in many ways to foster...even in groups.

Buddy is a dog that currently lives at Brother Wolf's shelter.



He is a timid guy who needs time to learn to trust people and learn that being in a house is a safe, fun place to be. He came over to hang out with me while I was hanging around the house...he felt safe inside his crate, where he could go to when he began to feel nervous.

Like I said earlier, I could go on and on about the joys and necessities of fostering, but here are a couple other perspectives, a cool blog all about fostering dogs and a short article explaining more about fostering.

If you've ever considered volunteering with an animal rescue group or local shelter, I highly recommend looking into fostering! It's a wild and wonderful experience. Just ask Tanner...and Marvin...and Matilda...and all the thousands of cats and dogs crashing for a bit in a kind soul's home, just waiting for their forever home to come along.

Outdoor Bonanza

I am too exhausted to provide much more detail than a photo collection of today...it began, for me, with a brick (a bike ride followed by a run) workout for my triathlon training. Thankfully, it wasn't too bad and I think may be able to pull off this triathlon in July! Next up: I need to register for it!




Then, my mom and I went to the awesome annual Herb Festival to pick up some plants- I am soooo excited to get my garden up and growing! Here are some of my finds: some heirloom varieties of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini and a peppermint plant. My tomatoes are all gold or purple and one of the pepper plants is also a purple variety!






I also found this basket of cut and grow lettuce... since space is limited in the garden, this can just live on the deck and hopefully provide us with yummy salads all summer!



My poor husband is having some back pain, or A LOT of back pain, so he was unable to do his big bike race today- and trust me, he doesn't call in "sick" to anything. Despite his own injury, he went and bought mulch and we spread that in our front beds. Holy cow...do I have a newfound respect for people that make their living doing that sort of work! We are both hobbling around the house tonight! And this is only probably a third of what we want to mulch...eek!






Naturally, the only way to reward ourselves was with beer and pizza :).




Marvin, what do you think?