Chickens and Puppies

I am excited to show off the growing family,

so here are some photos of the craziness thus far....

The hens arrived safe and sound and seem to be settling in great!
We have 4 Faverolles (hatched in March) and 2 Silkies (hatched in January).

The Silkies seem to be a bit more timid then the Faverolles, yet easier to catch- we figure it must be because they cant see a damn thing!

This is one of the smaller Faverolles. We are starting to get to know them better and tell them all apart, but they still don't have names. Please post if you have any name suggestions!

Doug!
Doug moved in May, so hes not the newest addition to the family. He is 7 months old and the mellowest puppy I have ever know- he cant be bothered to even lift his head if someone arrives at the house, let alone bark or jump up.

Aspen
(aka: Little dancer, Pleasure fox, Gypsy or really anything you want to call her since she hasn't figured out the whole name thing yet )
Aspen is 6 months old and is a really sweet little dog. Her and Doug get along fantastic and when they are not sleeping are rolling around on the floor together. We are all a bit concerned for her right now though as there seems to be something wrong with her hips/back legs that makes it hard for her to get around. Hopefully its something that we can fix easily!

Okay, so these are not chickens or puppies, but these baby seeds are just as exciting! Hopefully we will be able to plant them in the garden soon. All the little ones in the front are tomatoes, zuccinni and kale seedlings in the middle, mint and strawberries in the back box.

Buddha Belly 38 weeks

Rawr!

Soon to be urban chicken farmers

It feels like we have so many things to do and just not enough time to get it all done! The weather is not helping either....

Paul and I spent some long days outside in the yard trying to get a good chunk of the outside tasks done before the rains came, and I would have to say - we did pretty damn good. Its a huge improvement from what it looked like out there before; Unfortunately, the yard had been badly neglected and had become a dumping ground over the past few years of having so many people come and go so often and leave their unwanted items behind. There were couches, chairs, lamps, tables, an old broken air compressor, 8 four foot logs, a half dozen wooden pallets and many other things stashed under the deck and around the yard. The garden had grown over almost completely, there are a few dead patches in the grass from where leaves had been piled but never picked up, the bushes have probably never been trimmed and the one tree has sent up so many saplings it is turning into a bush! The house itself is also badly in need of a paint job and the deck is sagging... Needless to say, we only managed to tackle a few of those things.. however, we started by doing a trip to the dump and got rid of most of the junk. What an improvement just doing that made!

The main garden outside of the house.
The garden has been a bit of an ongoing project but we finished digging up, put a boarder around it and even did a fair amount of planting!
In the process of reclaiming the garden from the quack grass, sod and dandelions, we extended the main garden plot to the length of the house and also made it a bit deeper. I also dug up a smaller plot against the fence to plant peas in and give us a bit more room to work with. As far as planting goes, there are several things that still need to go in- we still have some seeds sprouting in the house and we still have yet to order our other seeds from Salt Spring Island... however, I am happy with what I was able to get in and am only slightly worried that it may be a bit of time crunch to finish it off before the baby comes. At least we have lots of eager roommates that we can put to work if it does work out that way!

Our chickens are getting picked up on Friday and so Paul spent his days off working hard to get the chicken run framed in and also managed to get the majority of the coop itself done.
Paul has been putting in a lot of hours at work lately and was suppose to co-guide a a several hiking trip this week (it thankfully got cancelled) so we were really feeling pressured for time and it was really looking like we wouldn't be ready for them... but at least now that Paul has an unexpected day off we should be able to get enough done that we will actually be able to put them outside. We will still have to chip away at getting the coop insulated and figuring out windows, but at least that's something we can work on when the chickens are here!

When its all finished, the chickens will have around 50 square feet of covered in grassy area and about 60 square feet of more protected/dry area under the deck for their run. Their coop will be 6' x 4' with a nesting box coming out of one of the one 4 foot walls. This will give them more room then it is recommended that they have, but since they will be in the coop for most of the winter we thought it better to give them more space then just enough!

The nesting box being framed in.
The whole structure needs to be insulated really well so that it will (hopefully) be warm enough for them in the winter. Having the nesting box coming off the side is a bit of a concern since it may make it harder to heat with the heat lamps, however many of the designs that we have found on the internet sport nesting boxs much like this one. So, fingers crossed. A big perk to having this set up is that we will be able to hinge the roof and access the nests without having to go into or open the main roof (which will also be hinged) and collect the eggs without too much heat lost in the winter.

The run area.
I managed to get all the boards and most of the coop painted just before the rains came, but the chicken wire has yet to go up... Hopefully we will get some break in the weather otherwise we are going to have to get it done in the rain.

Paul!



36 weeks.
Fresh out of the shower and all oiled up.
It feels like Baby has been running out of room and is feeling a bit cramped. I am definitely getting pressure and kicks to the ribs now, which is odd feeling but thankfully not painful. I am happy to say that the midwives are no longer concerned about Babies' growth - after I upped the fats and sugars in my diet my measurements jumped from 29.5cm to 33cm in two weeks and then another 2 cm of growth with 3 pounds of weight gain the week after. I am exploding!
Baby is still head down, but has not dropped yet. I am getting a lot more Braxton Hicks ("practice") contractions now though, especially when I am working out. I joke that it is very likely that I could have a fitness induced labor which seems to concern Paul, however working out still feels really good and drinking lots of water seems to calm the contractions!
We bought a kiddy pool for the birth, but still have gather things like a piece to hook up the garden hose to the kitchen sink in order to actually fill the pool up (anyone know of something that might work for this and where to buy it?). Time seems to be going fast and I am now that I am full term, I feel like could pop at any time (not that I want to though, I actually love being pregnant!). We will have to put in a good effort this weekend to try to get the last of the things that we need in preparation for the big day...

Its been a while...

I know, I know - we haven't written in age, but I swear we are going to jump back on the blog wagon and keep everyone up to date as we enter the last few weeks of pregnancy!

To get you all filled in on what the heck we have been up to the last month or so wont take very long - we have mostly been plugging away at our jobs, and playing when ever we can.

Paul is gearing up at work to jump into the outdoor programs for the summer and has been trying to figure out the details and feasibility (what the-powers-that be will let them get away with and what the kids will be willing/able to do) of different trip plan ideas. Right now, he is even planning a trip for the other youth workers that would simulate the same feeling of challenge that the kids experience when in the outdoors - from some of the ideas we have been bouncing off each other it sounds like it will prove to be a interesting trip to lead and has the potential to really push the abilities and comfort levels of the staff. The idea is that if the staff are faced with the same degree of challenge as Paul will be providing for the youth that it will develop a level of compassion and understanding for how difficult these sort of experiences can be. I think its a great idea. I am a little envious that I wont be able to go on the trip though; whatever they end up doing- I am sure it will be fun!

Other then the trip planning Paul is still doing the 2 till midnight shift and is continually learning the in's and out's of youth work by just getting in there and doing it. Lately he has been out on the Bow River for hours at a time fishing with a few of the youth who are really into it. Its so good that they have the resources and are able to encourage those positive interests that the kids may have! Hopefully Paul will also be able to plant the seed of passion for the outdoors in the trips that they do.

As far as work goes for me, I am still doing the climbing wall thing - teaching and monitoring, and plan to keep at it until at least the end of May. With the warmer weather starting to be more consistent it is awfully tempting to use the baby as an excuse to say screw it to work and just play outdoors for the next few months. However, its nice to have a shift now and again! I am super lucky that when I do work its usually for only a few hours at a time and despite being very involved isn't terribly taxing. Its perfect - work a few hours here, a few there and it pays good enough that its all worth while.

When we're not working we still seem to keep busy doing this or that. We have grand plans of putting in a garden this summer and growing as much of our own produce as we can. The house that we are renting has a great south facing yard with a lot of space for us to potentially use. We are also playing with the idea of getting 3 or so chickens and building them a coop in the yard. Paul and I have both been eating eggs lately and it would be good to know where they came from and that the chickens are being treated humanely. The only problem - as of right now it is not technically legal to keep chickens in the city... however, the UN states that everyone should have free access of growing/raising/acquiring a reliable food source, so any charges that have been pressed against people keeping chickens in Calgary have all been dropped. I think the biggest consideration will really be bribing the neighbors sufficiently with eggs to ensure the bylaw officers are not called in the first place. We'll see how it goes!

I am now in my 34th week of pregnancy, still feeling great, saying active and getting bigger and bigger by the day. I am not having any issues with any of the common complaints of pregnancy, but am definitely starting to feel my hips and pelvis loosen and open up. It's a strange sensation and does mean that I have been taking it easier and am really starting to "feel pregnant". Saying that, Paul and I are going to yoga classes usually about twice a week, I am still swimming, climbing, biking, walking lots and will be starting up in some fitness classes next week! I get lots of rest between activities and am very conscious of how my body is feeling when ever I am doing something physical.

Baby still is feeling strong and wiggley. The midwives tell me Baby has been in a good head down postion for the last month or so, but want me to go in and have a ultrasound to make sure baby is growing well as my uterus mesurements have been a bit on the small side. I am still gaining weight at a steady rate and have started to expand outwards at a suprising pace, so I am really not concerned. All women carry differently and the Midwives say there really isnt anything other then add more protein and water to my diet anyways. I have been doing a lot of protein counts and I am usually getting around 65-75g a day, which isnt far off the 70-80g that are recommened. What I think may actually be more of a consideration for me is my fat and sugar in take; The one thing that I have personally found it hardests to really get enough of in a vegan or veggy diet is not the protein, but the fats! And, since I have been on a sugar restricted diet (I am not even suppose to have most fruits!) for the past few months, the baby may not getting the steady flow of lipid-building foods (fats and sugars). My weight gain suggests that baby is still growing though (it certainly doesnt seems to be going anywhere else thus far). I am gaining about 1 pound a week and am now up to 165lbs and am just now starting to not fit the last of the shirts that I had pre-pregnancy! I do not HAVE to go in for the ultrasound, and I am still trying to decided if I should or not - if there is really not much that we can do anyways (other then increase protien/fats/sugars (?), which I have done already) and its just to see whats up.... then is there really a point? I dont know...

32 weeks!

More recent Baby bump photos to come - I swear we have been taking them!

More updates to come soon (I promise!)

Shy