2 steps forward, 3 steps back

I never thought this journey would be easy. I didn't think I would snap my fingers and be there. But, I never expected the hurdles we are jumping, sometimes stumbling over. Things are not lining up and situations are pushing our move date further back.

I haven't written in a while because I didn't know how to put to words all the emotions I have been feeling. It's very much an emotional roller coaster for sure.  I have even given up twice. I have had to dig deep inside to have a positive attitude. It's hard to put on a fake smile. One thing I am not is fake. But for all involved, kids mostly, I have tried to find silver linings. 

We have recently found it that we will be welcoming another little Winters beginning of June. And while I am happy for the new life growing inside of me, the situation does push move day back to mid/late summer. It also makes daddy not want to "camp" when we arrive. He wants a home for a newborn. That is something we have been struggling with. We just don't have the bulk of money needed to buy a mobile home or log cabin.

Then, of all times for this to happen, the truck broke. No work for over a month. Savings for a home in Tennessee.........used to live. He has been searching and searching for a job with no luck at all. Even offshore. Nothing. At all. The lack of finances is beginning to take a toll. By this time next month, we will have had to turn off lots of extras. It is not a good thing for a man to feel like he has failed. Men are meant to protect and care for his family. This has taken a toll on the old man.

I did have a good news today. I did win 24 hatching eggs from breeds I have been wanting. That was a good thing. The kids and I have been wanting to hatch more, even though I know this means more chickens to move. But, we love chicks.

How The Winters Celebrate "Halloween" or All Saints Eve

School Group 2013

Group shot 2009

Since 2009 we have not done a traditional Halloween trick or treat. We don't dress up like witches or goblins. Not that we frown upon that. We love Halloween movies and stories. We just decided that we would celebrate it as "All Saints Eve." November 1st is All Saints Day, which is why the New Orleans Saints have their name, it's their birthday. It gives us another way to show our kids to learn about the lives of the Saints and to try our best to live our lives in a saintly way.

Group 2014

Over the years, I have only bought one costume made for saints. I make all of them. It is a fun project every year. I bought a Padre Pio one year for Bubba and since have used pieces of it in several different costumes for the kids. My "Saint Box", more like boxes, are filled with pieces I have made that can be used for different saints. Maybe change out the headpiece, add a rosary, or maybe layer. I will put all of them here. I have a couple kids that have used a costume that an older brother or sister has used previously. Alicia got a Pocahontas costume one year at Disney world and we have used it too.

Daniel Jr. as Jaun Diego

Alicia as St. Faustina

As the years have gone by, I have gotten better at sewing. This has helped a lot. I am not perfect, but the costumes are getting better!

Jaun Diego

St. John Vianney

John as St. John Vianney

We will pick saints, older kids will study about those saints. The younger ones we will tell stories about their saint. It has been both fun and a learning experience. I find a lot of Catholics don't know to many saints. They know the common ones, but the more obscure, they don't. I didn't. So I try to find ones I have never heard of before.

St. Elizabeth

Elizabeth as St. Elizabeth

Mamie's friend Caitlin would come sometimes

Caitlin's saint

Mamie as Our Lady of Guadalupe

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Sometimes, like this one of Mamie, are a bit off. In my head I saw this wonderful blue headdress adorned with a crown of stars. I'm not sure I met that goal. Plus, Mamie looks miserable. Can't win them all!

Every year we go to an event that our Catholic home school organization holds. Each child walks up to the front and gives a few facts about the saint they have chosen. Some are short and sweet, some are long and involved. Age usually has a great deal to do with it.

Alicia as St. Kateri

Daniel Jr. as Padre Pio

Caroline as St. Faustina

John as St. Joseph 

 I have the most fun dressing the little ones. Mostly because they have no choice. HAHAHA I can make them whoever I want. My favorties have been Caroline as St. Faustina, Elizabeth as Mother Theresa, and Thomas as St. Thomas More.

John as St. Micheal the Archangel

Lizzy as St. Bernadette

Caroline as St. Felicity

John as St Gerad

Lizzy as St. Perpetua

Thomas as St. Thomas More

Alicia as St. Dympna

  When I made St. Thomas More, I had to make the hat from scratch and the medallion around his neck is a cut up doily spray pained gold.

Lizzy as St. Thelka

Mamie as St Elizabeth of Hungary

Thomas as Pope Innocent I

Caroline as St. Josephine

My box contains a lot of fabric that can be draped and pinned to do several things. I can use a red piece in hair one year and as a cloak the next.

John as Bishop Fulton Sheen

Some EGGcellent Recipes

A pot ready before a Christmas Feast

The main reason for me raising chickens is for the EGGS!!! We love eggs and I love to sell my eggs to people. I really love making store bought person turn into a yard egg person!! There really is nothing like a fresh egg. What we feed them, how they are loved and kept, even the ability to eat grass and bugs makes all the difference in the world.  Let me tell you, the fresher the egg, the harder to peel. Here are a couple ways we love to use our eggs.

Our favorite Seasoning Beazell's

Fowlplayas Deviled Eggs

12 farm fresh eggs (HINT: don't boil, steam)

2 heaping Tbsp mayo

1 tsp mustard

A dash of Himalayan salt (ours is blessed BONUS)

A dash of pepper

Peel and half the eggs. Pop out the yolks in a bowl and put white halves on a plate. Mash the yolks up in bowl. Mix the rest of the ingredients together with the yolks. If it isn't the consistency you like, add mayo. At this point you can make it personal. We also like to add things like jalapeno, avocado, sweet pickle, or cracked pepper. Once your mix is done, spoon into the whites. We sprinkle Beazzels on the top of ours. 

Buy Beazells here!

http://www.beazells.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2&Itemid=109

Mamie's Fancy French Toast

1 loaf of French bread

6 farm fresh eggs

2/3 cup milk

1 tbsp cinnamon

Wisk eggs, milk, and cinnamon in a bowl. Layer the bottom of a glass pan with thick slices of bread. Pour mixture over bread. Let it soak all the way in for a few minutes. You can also sprinkle some cinnamon on top. Bake in 350˚ oven until golden brown.

Old Pic of my Mamie

When served, you can top with fresh fruit, syrup, or whipped cream.

We haven't had this in a while, I will update with a photo when we do.

Fowlplayas.....growing

Ronda Shwondala

Once people knew I kept chickens, I would get called for loose ones or abandoned ones. I rescued 2 and gave them new homes. One was an Easter egger that had been roaming a neighborhood laying eggs and pooping on cars. They thought her green eggs were bad and were throwing them away. She has the prettiest eggs. The other was a young cockrel we named Orey. He was beautiful. Yes, was. He was killed protecting the girls from a dog attack. I do have some of his children, and one is a pretty roo like him.

A fertile egg

After I got the hang of chicken raising. I wanted more. But, instead of buying them, I wanted to hatch them. Daniel's friend, Sean, loaned me an incubator. I still needed an important member, the rooster. I decided that the rescue Rooster, Orey, would be great. He was a full blood Buff Orpington and the girls loved him, and he loved them, a lot, I mean, alllllll the time he loved them. He was a stud. He knew his job, and performed it often. This gave us fertile eggs!!! YAY! I collected 24 over a couple days. I marked them and put them in the turner in the borrowed incubator. At the 7 day mark, I put a flashlight up to them and saw a few had veins showing. On day 18, I put them on lockdown, this is when you take them out of the turner and put them on the incubator floor. It was 3 days until they hatch. 2 days until hatch. Hatch day. 2 days past hatch day. A week past hatch day. I knew from all my research that this was not good. So the kids and I loaded up the eggs and went out to the garbage. We cracked them to see. Most had lots of development, but dead. All 24 were dead. What did I do wrong!!! UGH! A month wasted.

Another friend, Connie,  offered to take some eggs for her to try in her bator. I figured it could hurt. I gave her 18 eggs that I had in the fridge. This was not recommended. I figured none would hatch. We went along with our lives. I had marked in my calendar when she should be calling me to tell me I was a grandmother. Sure enough, day 20 we got a text of 2 little chicks. I was beyond happy. I figured 2 of 18 isn't bad for refrigerated eggs. This was a Friday. On Monday, she delivered 18 chicks to me. Every last one hatched. WOW! I was more than a little amazed that all of them hatched after spending a week in the fridge.

On Alicia's 11th birthday, she got 6 bantam chicks. She and Caroline are the two that help the most. Caroline is too young for her own chickens, but Alicia is just right. Four of them survived. She got 2 chochin Roos, 1 silver seabright, and another we have yet to identify. A couple months ago, she gave one of her Roos to my friend and bought 3 chochin girls!! All 6 of these little bantam chickens have a special pen. They have laid a few eggs, not very many at all. But they are cute as the dickens! Alicia put 10 eggs in the incubator and she should have lil chicks this weekend!! (9/26/15) We can't wait. She has about 4 or 5 sold already!!!

Some of Alicia's Bantams

Lil Chicken Man Thomas

I gave 15 of the friend hatched chicks to 2 family members. I don't have loads of room here where I live now. I get pics of these and they are turning out to be so beautiful. I have since hatched several times. I found out my hatching issue was the humidity. I have 9 in the yard that are around 15 weeks old and 2 that are a months old. I want to build a brooder type shed in Tennessee. A spot where the babies can be kept warm and safe. For now, they are hatched in my kitchen and brood in my foyer!

An Incubator full of future chickens

We all love to see the development of the eggs. I use it as a teaching tool. I hope to one day be able to go to local schools and set up an incubator for classrooms. It takes 21 days to hatch a chicken egg. I think this would be great in a school setting. Teaching the kids about where their eggs come from, the right way to hold a chicken, and how an egg becomes a chicken would be a great thing to add to any schools activities.

A little feather "signature" to let me know who is working!

Head on over to the blog hop at "The Chicken Chick"  http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2015/09/clever-chicks-blog-hop-157-featuring.html

Meet the Family

Big Daddy

Daniel Winters,40, was born here is south Louisiana to David and Sheila. They were married young and really showed Daniel what staying together and not giving up was all about. David passed away in December 2013 the day after Christmas. Daniel is a carpenter by trade, but works as a truck driver at the moment. Some of his family is from north Mississippi, which is why we chose to move north. He loves motocross and Elvis. He wants to raise cattle for meat. Daniel's most prized possession is his kids. He spends most of his time trying to keep them happy and healthy. Wide open spaces with as little people interaction as possible is his dream.

ME!

Shane Winters is a forty something mother of 9. She loves her kids and her animals. She's the in house "crazy chicken lady." Shane has always loved animals, but was recently bit by the chicken bug. She wants to grow Fowlplayas Poultry Farm and add many other poultry to it. In Tennessee, her dream is that her chickens, ducks, and other livestock will live happy and produce well. She also wants to garden enough to feed the family. A true homestead is what she hopes to gain. She would live "off grid" if the others would let her.

Braden, 22, loves on her own. She is the dog person of the crew. Even though she won't live on the farm,  she texts and calls often and sends any info she thinks we may find useful. (no photo)

Mamie Lelia

Mamie, 16, is the resident babysitter and singer. She loves babies! She is not a fan of the sun, or sweat. Often she is found in the house watching little ones and cooking. She will be in charge of the herb garden, edible flowers, and roses. She will also make soap and lip balm. Mamie wants to learn how to can and dehydrate.

Isabelle, 16, won't be moving with us. She will stay in Louisiana with her mother. She will hopefully visit often and we will miss her. (No updated photo)

Daniel "Bubba"  Wayne

Daniel (Bubba), 15, is the gamer. He has been the most hesitant about the move. He is very much hooked to the grid. He does like the idea of all the space. He will help with the large animals and keeping pastures cut and hay baled.

Alicia Michelle

Alicia, 11, is probably the most excited other than mom and dad. She will help with the poultry. Alicia wants a horse bad. She has been reading book after book on horses. She is the owner of our flock of bantam chickens. She is an outside girl and a very hard worker. She is also going to be our bee girl.

Elizabeth Annette

Elizabeth, 8, is usually scared of animals at first. Once she gets to know them she seems to handle them well. She has a soft heart and will do great on the homestead. Liz will be Mamie and Alicia's helper until she learns something she can do alone.

Johnathan Joseph

Caroline Marygrace

Johnathan, 6, is the resident daredevil. He isn't scared of much. He loves to run, jump, and dig. If you give him a few army men and some cars he can spend hours digging out roads and pretending. He will be Bubba and Daddy's helper. He will also be mom's garden helper.



Caroline, 4, is a lover of chickens like her mom. She will be at mom's side in the garden and help with the harvesting and other chores in there. Caroline wants a pig.

Thomas, 2, may be young, but he loves his "yenyens" (chickens). He has never been scared of them. He holds them every day and loves gathering eggs.

Thomas David