Barly and Gertie's New Home

Carl finished the chickens coop this past weekend and while the chicks aren't quite big enough to go in it (not until they are 6 weeks old on April 23) we introduced them to it anyway. They are already getting bigger and outgrowing their box so we may have to think of a new, temporary, home for them.

Cousins!

Last weekend my dad was in town and Carl's mom also came for a visit. It was the first time anyone from our families had met each other and I think it was a success.

The weather was so beautiful and we spent a lot of time outside - playing with the girls, going to see the land, grilling. I think my dad had a great trip.

Whenever we go over to Chris and Missy's house we almost always bring Buster. Lucie (and now Audrey just as much) love Buster and he's a good sport about playing with them. They won't all look at the camera at the same time so this is the best I could do.

Chirp Chirp

Carl and I have officially added to our animal family. We adopted 5 little chicks today. Two are ours, 2 are for Kelsey and Jim and 1 is for Kristen and Brad. Carl's in the process of building a chicken coop so all the chicks will stay together, even once they've grown. It's like a chicken time share. We'll house and care for the chickens but share the eggs (and chicken sitting responsibility) with our friends.

The coop is almost done. In the meantime, the little chicks will grow for the next 6 weeks in a warmed box in the shed. Tonight I worried that they'll have a hard time sleeping because it's supposed to rain (and the shed has a tin roof) but Carl keeps reminding me that they're chicks and will be ok.

The little yellow chick is mine and named Gerty (Gertrude when she's in trouble), the black one is Carl's and named Barley. The two that look identical are Jim and Kelsey's - Patricia and Petunia and the one that's got the most brown head is Kristen and Brad's - Peggy.

I'm certain they're going to be best friends!

And hopefully lay us a lot of eggs......

That will be several months down the road so, in the meantime, we watch them grow and I worry.

One Week Left

Today marks day 21 of my detox. The longest detox I did prior to this was also for 21 days so I feel like I've hit a milestone. With only one week left I'll admit that I'm ready for this to be over. I don't mind what I'm eating. In fact, I enjoy meat and veggies so it's not a bad diet to be on. But I do wish I had a little more variety and the occassional sugary treat or glass of wine.

This past weekend Carl and I decided to have friends over for dinner since we've felt a little anti-social. It's hard to eat out on this detox so having people over is the easiest thing. Thanks to a borrowed roasting pan and rack we made my first rib roast. We also made zucchini cakes and a big salad as well as some hummus and spiced nuts for an appetizer. While everyone else (except Carl and Kelsey) enjoyed wine and cookies (Carl ate some of those), I enjoyed my fizzy water. I did enjoy waking up the next morning with a clear head and always love having friends over.

This week I'm trying to make some other new things like a bison stew. So while I'll make it one more week for sure, I really hope this worked and the yeast is all gone!

Carl's Namesake

Carl's grandfather, the original Carl Stewart passed away last weekend. He had been sick for awhile and recently moved into an assisted living home. So while his passing was expected it's still sad nonetheless.

Knowing his grandfather was ailing, we drove down to Houston last Friday to spend time with his family, especially his grandmother. I hadn't met his grandparents before and was really glad to get to spend some time with his grandmother and the rest of this family.

Carl's grandfather donated his body to science so there wasn't a formal memorial service; however everyone got together at Carl's brother's house. I met many aunts and uncles and some cousins. It was just like being around my extended family - loud and with lots of kids.

I'm always surprised when my generation's grandparents are still living. Sadly, I lost all of mine before I graduated high school, most before I was even in middle school. I have great memories of my grandparents, though, and am envious of people who still have them in their lives.

I'm sorry that I didn't get to know the original Carl Stewart. Getting to spend even more time with Carl's family and extended family was nice, though. Every time I'm with them I feel more and more like part of the family and even became 'Aunt Melissa' to some of his nieces.

Garden Time!

It's that time of year again - time to plant!

It's hard to believe that it's been a year since Carl built our first garden bed. While we didn't have a super successful Fall or Winter garden, we did get some lettuce out of it (that Carl is proudly flaunting) and have made some salads and sides out of that and some kale.

But we're really excited to get our Spring garden started and did some planting the last two weekends. We're planting some things from seed - cucumber, squash, beets and swiss chard and some things from plant - tomatoes, jalapenos. And we still have some lettuce and cauliflower blooming from the winter vegetables.

Needless to say, Carl and I are very excited to see what we grow and, of course, to eat it!

As a detox update - I'm finishing day 15 and still feeling great! I'll admit that it's challenging to realize I have 13 more days to complete but when I remember how great I'm sleeping and how good my skin looks, it's all worth it. I'm curious to know the results and hopefully to be able to have more flexibility in my diet again.