Camp town kiddies sing this song - Do-da, Do-da!

Alex - Feeling at home in the top bunk

Ariel - Happy to be with her friends and Awesome counselors

I realize that I am a week behind with posting this (as the kids are now back home and Bored!) but better late than never! The kids went away for summer camp again this year and their cousin Noah joined them for what has turned into the greatest week of summer vacation. The kids were very excited to be going back to the same camp this year and were looking forward to meeting old friends and make new ones. Alex and Noah were in the same cabin together and Ariel had several of her close friends (Taylor, Samantha and Becky) in the same cabin with her. I wish I could take the summer off from work to spend working at one of these camps. I am always humbled when I meet the young men and women who volunteer as counselors and remember the great experiences I had as a young man going to summer camp!

Rebecca and I were looking forward to some quiet R&R while the kids were gone but unfortunately Uncle Eaton, (that's what I call my job) had other plans for me and it turned out to be a very busy week.

Rebecca and I were both amused at the fact we received 2 letters from Ariel but never heard anything from Alex (despite sending him with paper and a self addressed - postage paid envelope! What can I say - Boys will be boys!

After working an overnight shift we took the leisurely drive to pick the kids up and enjoyed listening to their memories and stories from the week. I am amazed at how soft a child's heart is for God after a week at camp - and hope to be able to nurture that so it is a life long experience not just a feel good moment. I love knowing that my children are not ashamed to show their emotions and I was touched by their stories of laughter throughout the week and moments of tears and sadness as they realized the week was coming to an end and they would be saying -goodbye to several of their new friends.


Ariel & Becky

Alex & Noah all settled in!

Ariel & Samantha wondering why I haven't left!

The girls screaming at the site of Boy Cooties!

That's Electric - without the boogie woogie!

Alex spent the afternoon hanging out with his Grampy the other day and he brought along a book that has science experiments in it that deal with Electricity! Alex has been becoming more and more interested in electricity now that he realizes it is the main resource I deal with at work. Grampy made him read the instructions and the explanation of what caused the materials to do what they did. The experiment that they completed was making an Electric Motor.

Here is a quick video of it in motion.

Thanks Dad!

Faster than construction in Rome!

It's amazing how a few hours here and there can provide one with a "work of art" like this! Chuck and I have worked on the coop on days that my work schedule have allowed and in just a couple of work sessions this is what we have accomplished.

Hopefully it will receive its certificate of occupancy this Monday as the "little girls" have begun laying!

And then there were EGGS!

I can't believe it my 15 week old little girls are laying eggs already! I knew from my research that Red Sex Links were early layers and once they start - get ready for LOTS of eggs. I know from my older flock the normal age of egg laying is between 22-24 weeks and most RSL chickens start between 18-20 weeks. Much to my surprise the other night while everyone was happily free ranging around our property one of the "little" girls decided to check out the "big" girls coop. She was soon joined by Momo (our Golden Comet rooster.) After a little while I went in to encourage her to find somewhere else to play and much to my surprise I found a warm, little brown egg! Today when I went to put them away for the night I was presented with another one. I am so glad the new coop is almost done - hopefully if all goes well they will be able to move into their new home on Monday night. Below are a couple of pictures of them "In the act" and of the yummy - although still small - eggs I have recieved from my little red darlin's.

29 FOREVER - or so I'm Told!

The 8th was Rebecca's 29th birthday (again-he-he) Thankfully we had a break in all the rain and enjoyed a wonderful Salmon lunch with fig relish outside in the warm sunshine.

A vintage style bicycle

One of many Cards for the woman we Love

One hot couple

Festive and beautiful

Every woman's dream - Chocolate Cake

New and Improved Egg Palace

Rebecca's father has been helping me fabricate the parts of the new chicken coop that we are building. It sure is nice to have something built the proper way! We finally had a few days without rain and even a little sunshine. This past weekend we took advantage of a clear morning and placed the floor on its foundation blocks and attached the front and back walls. There is still a lot of work to be done and we will be working on it when my schedule permits. Here are some pictures of what was accomplished today. I look forward to posting more pictures as we progress with the construction.

Saddles for riding or Aprons for cooking?

In the words of Hanna Montana - "Say What, Say What?"

My working girls (by working I mean "egg producing" of course!) are starting to look pretty shabby, partially due to molting but mostly due to playing "leap frog" with Sokka - our rooster. Their lower back feathers take the brunt of the damage and on two of the girls they are all but gone. I found on my favorite web site - Back Yard Chickens, that you can purchase Saddles to help protect the chickens during heavy breeding seasons. Some people call them aprons, hen dresses but the correct term from what I can tell is "saddles". I have found them in all shapes, sizes, colors, and of course - Price.

I decided to do a little searching and found a rough pattern on the web and after showing it to Rebecca we (and by we I mean Rebecca - of course!) decided to try to make our own and save some money as well as obtain the satisfaction of using something that is homemade.

So I guess they aren't for the chickens to use while they are cooking and even though four of our chickens are Jersey Giants they are still way to small for any of us to ride around the yard!

Rebecca has done a great job and we have found a few things we are going to change on the remaining saddles. Here are a few pictures of the first ones we made both on and off of the chickens. Hopefully this will relieve any discomfort making them into happy little chickens - and we all know happy chickens lay more eggs! Our first two lucky recipients are Penny and Guinevere.

Spoiled food

No, I'm not talking about food that is unfit to eat - I'm talking about spoiled chickens - (also know by their names - Chip and Dale.) They are our Dark Cornish Bantams, Chip is the girl and Dale is the boy.

I am waiting for my pre-fab chicken coop to arrive so I can get our spoiled bantams out of the house. Here is a picture of the coop I am getting - It is sold online for almost $500 but thanks to a fellow BYC member I am not paying anywhere even close to that!

Chip and Dale have spent so much time around us they have become "pets" and spend their nights in a brooder under the kitchen table and during the day they have the run of our deck. They are very heavy footed and sound like mini T-Rex dinosaurs running to and fro. We have had a lot of rain here in the North East the past month so on several occasions the birds get a good towel drying and lots of snuggling before they get tucked in for the night.

I am also ready for them to get moved off the deck as they have discovered my patio garden and like the rest of us really enjoy the taste of jalapenos much to my dismay! Here they are hanging out with the family during one of our brief sunny moments recently.



Here are some pictures of our other chickens - I can't wait until they start earning their keep and laying some eggs - our mature chickens have been going through their molt which has really slowed down our egg production. So far everyone has been getting along while free ranging around the property and hopefully there are enough girls that the 2 roosters will get along.



Here are our favorite chickens - Our Silkie rooster "Sokka" and our Polish hens "Shiloh" on right and "Edwina" on left.


Alex and I also took the time to bury the ashes of our cat "Britney" who died during the late winter months. As everyone knows I am not a cat person but this was the first animal I ever bought for Rebecca and she was a great pet over the years. Alex really loved her and after we buried her ashes he took the time to make a simple memorial for her and my son's kindness really touched my heart.

The Miracle of Life

We were excited to find a birds nest under the deck this spring and it was full of babies. We are unsure what kind of birds they were but the nest was similar to the style of a barn swallow. We have been having a lot of crazy rain storms here and were sad to find the nest and all its babies scattered on the ground one morning. I did my best to reassemble the nest and tuck everyone into a safe spot but the parents never returned.

Several days later I noticed a new nest being built on the main beam under the deck and it turned out to be a robins nest. With all of our outdoor activity I was unsure if they would stick around - surprisingly they finished the nest and laid 3 pretty blue eggs. I checked in on them last week and all 3 eggs had hatched. Today I decided to take a couple pictures of the babies and was amazed at how quickly they had grown. Mom and Dad robin kept a close eye on me during my visit but have become use to us and don't seem to scared when we are enjoying the back yard with them. Watching the chickens we have raised grow up has been fun but there is something about watching a wild animal raise its offspring and survive the elements that readily reminds us how awesome God is! Here are some pictures of the family under the deck. The last picture is the daddy bird sitting on the kids swing set and the momma bird is the blur of wing beats as she flies off the plant post towards the right side of the picture. Just click on the picture to get a better view.