We're finally getting out from under the weather, which is very nice! I still have another week of antibiotics and remain pretty tired, but am feeling much better otherwise. Morning sickness still rears its ugly head on a regular basis, but without the all-day nausea, so is far more bearable. I've discovered that vanilla ice cream is fairly pleasant even the second time around, and may go on an all vanilla ice cream diet for the remainder of this pregnancy!
Our library remains unfinished. Since we eventually want to put hardwood flooring down throughout the house, it will be cheaper for us to buy a floor nailer than to rent one. Every in-the-know source has told us to buy it from Harbor Freight, since they have one in the $160 range (now on sale for $130!) and you can't get a comparable one anywhere else for under $300. So, I checked with every Nashville area Harbor Freight. Out of stock. We ordered one online, and it is on back order until the 16th. Hopefully, it will arrive soon after that. We look forward to putting our library back together, being able to homeschool, and being able to get around our hallway and through the boys' bedroom. (I can't get to several of their dresser drawers to put clothes away!)
Our bathroom floors bring me loads of joy! Miss the potty accidents? No problem! Splash in the tub a little much? No problem! Vinyl floors are sheer bliss! Then there are the toilets. They're a little high (can't get a regular height elongated seat, but still they're shorter than many) but the flush is great! I think they must have used the cheapest toilets ever made when they built this home, and after 9 years of them, it is a treat to not have to use the plunger every time the kiddos use the restroom! (They love toiletpaper.) I will probably be amazed with every flush for years to come. Who knew a toilet could bring so much excitement?! If you're in the market for a toilet, you can get a very nice one for under $200, just in case you wanted to know. If you're in the market for a free toilet, we have two sitting in the back yard... let us know before they make their way to the dump! My mom suggested they become planters... I don't think we're that desperate for planters just yet.
We had to get our chickens out of the buck barn and finally accomplished that. Yippee!!! It seems that pregnancy hormones and doe-in-heat hormones bring about much same reaction in a buck. Couple that with the fact that the chick feeder was under the hay feeder to keep the bucks from eating their food, and that I had to bend over to fill it, and you can imagine the maddening situation I had on my hands! Our chickens are now in the stall of the doe barn with all their feeders hung, waterers hung, heat lamp, roosts, nest boxes... It took an afternoon of work yesterday from David and I, and today we have enjoyed our barn chores ever so much more! The chickens can get out and peck around the barn, pen, and yard, but seem to already know where their home, safety, food, and warmth are. Cinderella has been great about not playing with them, but seems to enjoy her new responibility to keep them safe and bring them back home in the evening! She begs for praise and "luvin's" when we go out there, and she gets it! It is well deserved! We've also put rings and clips up in the buck barn, so if they get too frisky when I have to work in there, I can clip them to the wall. It is heavenly to go in there and not get harrassed! It's also important that the bucks learn their place now, while they're still young enough to be managable. In a couple years, they could get somewhere between 200 and 300 pounds, and while that's not nearly as big as a bull (cow), it's still more animal than I'm prepared to man-handle!
We have enjoyed our first week of eggs, and think we have about 4 hens laying now. I took some to church (just 12, interspersed with another 42 of my mom's eggs) and it was fun to have our church family share in our excitement over blue-green eggs! We are considering ordering some pure bred Araucanas and some Marans so that we can have solid blue and chocolate brown eggs as well. I'm enjoying the chickens ever so much more now that I can spend a little time with them with out being blubbered at and jumped upon by the bucks! (They really are sweet boys... don't get me wrong! They just wear me out!) Anyhow, my mom's chickens aren't laying as well right now with the shorter days and colder weather, but by spring we should be rolling in eggs, between hers picking up laying again and when ours all begin to lay. I look forward to being able to share the egg wealth again!
We're thoroughly enjoying all our new Christmas presents (just to mention a couple--waterproof matress pads are ingenious inventions and weather radios are a real treat when you don't watch the news on TV!) and hope y'all are as well! Have a great week! Maybe we'll get some SNOW!
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