November

After such a busy October, this month was a nice change of pace. We had our first snow at our house, enough for me and Bennett to build a snowman. I used to dislike the snow and REALLY dislike winter in general but I am learning to appreciate the beauty of it and enjoy the break from so much (self imposed) gardening.

Speaking of gardening, this is some of the Indian corn, a cultivar called "Painted Mountain", which I saved.  I'll give some away to those who might want to grow it next year.  All of these colors came from the same crop. The variety from just one packet of seed is fun.

Paxton seems to enjoy reading and he has four legged friends that love his bed too. Chica here is content with a warm spot to relax. The quilt on Paxton's bed is one my mom made as a gift for Paxton on his 8th birthday. His favorite colors are red, white, and blue.

This slightly creepy photo was taken by Bennett of one of his favorite stuffed animals. This one used to be a must have for him at bed time. Right now he is toting around a snowman that I pulled out as part of our Christmas decorations. We put them up the week of Thanksgiving because the boys were home to help but I usually wait until December.

My Grandma Jackie is still graciously hosting many family members for Thanksgiving dinner. She works so hard to make sure everyone is well fed before she can ever sit down and even then she doesn't stay sitting down to eat her own food. We love her so much!

I never pictured myself owning chickens and DEFINITELY never thought I'd give one a bath. But there's a first for everything. This little Rhode Island Red (or Royal Red Guard as the boys named her) has managed to sit on a broken egg twice in the last few days and became a gross mess. I didn't want her to have to try to work out a frozen clump of dried egg or for it to affect her laying ability.

So I brought her over to the utility sink which I had partially filled with lukewarm water and dipped her in. She didn't flap around or complain once! Then I used my hairdryer on a cool setting to dry her. She didn't mind that either - I think the advantage to a hen's tiny brain is not overthinking. Next on the chicken front is making a cookie tin water heater so their water doesn't freeze in the daytime.