Make a Plan Monday, are quail a good investment and working on some new recipes.

I think one of the things that had thrown me off course during this Covid pandemic is that I didnt have a pandemic plan. I am a planner. I have meals planned, I have started Christmas shopping and planning the gifts I need to make, I plan my meals each week, I have lists of things I need but want to catch on sale. I think you get the picture.

Mondays have always been my favorite days for planning. I decide what we will eat for the week, I start my list for what we need at the grocery for the next week. I look at any appointments we have and any disruptions we have to our schedules so I can plan for them.

My hubby would go back to work and my son to class on Mondays and I would have a quiet, with the exception of our crazy dogs, house to myself. Then my hubbys hours were cut and the boys classes went to online and my Mondays were ruined. Okay I am being a bit dramatic there. Luckily my husband is back at his normal work hours and the jury is still out on whether my son will finish his last year of college online or in class. So I dont know when I will have those Just Me Mondays again and thats okay. I have learned to plan around them.

Proverbs 21:5 MSG Careful planning puts you ahead in the long run; hurry and scurry puts you farther behind.

Having much more time at home really makes one think about things and one of the things that we think about around here is our little urban farm. Like we live on 1/8 of an acre in a less than 11,000 sq ft house. Our garage is almost bigger than our house. You add those two things to the sq footage of 1/8 acre and you see its not that big at all. We already have designated garden area, a chicken coop and rabbit hutches and an empty pigeon loft. OMG we have an empty pigeon loft! Thanks to some very sly and hungry hawks we lost the few racing pigeon that we had.

We started reading, watching Youtube videos about raising quail. We found someone who had some for sale and was  willing to meet us somewhere to pick up all the while practicing social distancing. We ordered 32 but he said one kept jumping into the box so we bought 33.

Being the planners that we are we started keeping track of how much these birds cost us total. We paid $66 for the birds and then another $140 in feed and other supplies. So around $200 is what we have invested up to this point.

We got our chicks on March 29, 2020

We got out first egg on May 9. The quail were barely 6 weeks old when they started laying eggs. We have since gotten over 800 quail eggs. This is just from 19 hens.

These girls average 16 eggs each day. It takes 5 quail eggs to equal one chicken egg. I will post some of my favorite things to do with quail eggs besides sale them later.

Can you see the green band on his leg? Thats how we tell the makes from the females. When they started crowing we took a few days and would pull out the ones that crowed and put them in a cage. Once the coop got really quiet we knew there were no males in there. If you have too many males with too few females they are too busy fighting over the females that you do not get fertile eggs. Fertile eggs is what one needs to raise chicks to eat. We only needed to keep 4 males so the extra 8 I sold along with 10 dozen eggs.

Since then I have sold lots of eggs and 37 chicks. I have met new people, some who were just wanting to try quail eggs for the first time, some would are trying to start their own quail raising and are hatching the eggs themselves and a few very experienced quail people who have helped us in learning more about these amazing birds. Last weekend we actually started turning a profit with our quail. We have sold $260 worth of quail and eggs so are $60 ahead. That does not include not having to purchase eggs from the store since we have such an abundance in the backyard. All of this in 3 1/2 months.

Even though the pandemic has thrown us for a loop it gave us the time to expand our farm. We have added a few more things towards being more self sustaining, met new people, made a little money and are still learning something new every day. Things like newly hatched baby chicks are very fast and when you open the incubator and just jump out and take off running like maniacs.

Tomorrow I will tell you a little about these guys and gals. They are called Delewares, they are super soft and sweet and we will not see any profits from them until next spring.

In my always have a plan bag I love a good deal. I was able to grab some sliced salami from the Walmart Deli markdown area. I divide it up into single servings and pop in the freezer until we need it. I got 5 serving from this $2.21 package. I also scores some Josephs Lavish Bread which I use alot for low carb wraps and crackers. With some onions, cucumber and tomatoes from the garden I was able to make my hubby a yummy healthy wrap for lunch for around $1.10. The only thing its missing is black olives which he does not like. 

When your cat wakes up the dogs because he wants them to go outside with him at 3:30 in the morning and you can not go back to sleep you get up and start experimenting with bread recipes and make your hubby a bacon egg and cheese sandwich. We both agreed this bread needs a little tweaking and I hope to have the perfect recipe for tomorrows sausage egg and cheese sandwich.

Happy One Year Healthy Anniversary and 100 Pounds Gone To Me

 On July 15, 2019 I decided to get healthy. I wanted to turn 50 in 2020 and wanted to look and feel fabulous. I really didnt know how much weight I could lose in a year but thought anything was better than nothing. I even shocked myself losing 100 pounds in a year. I may gave lost a lot of weight but I have gained so much more. 

I would not have been able to do as well as I have had I not had an amazing hubby who supports everything I do, remember he didnt want bees but did it for me and he gets stung all the time and still doesnt mind having them. I have supportive children who may roll their eyes but dont even mind when mom goes to the Mexican place to eat and pulls out her own low carb tortillas or chips to eat instead of the ones they bring you. I have my momma who is on her own get healthy journey and she nailed it too. She also will fix recipes in the microwave that I send her and let me know how they turn out since I dont have a microwave. I have an amazing sister who loves me no matter how hangry I may be on the phone. Then there are the too many friends to count. I even had a neighbor check on me because they were making sure I wasnt losing weight because I was sick and another told me to keep doing what I am doing and that I looked great. Talk about making a girl feel loved. 

This picture is hard to look at. I do not have a lot of pictures of me because I never wanted to be reminded of how I looked. Luckily in the past few years I had gotten comfortable in my skin and size 24/26 and knew my worth and that I was so much more than what that scale said. 

This picture makes me look like a ghost. Every 10 pounds I lost I rewarded myself with a new outfit. I hadnt decided what I was going to get for 100 pounds but this morning when I was trying t figure out how to get a full body shot of myself and had to go outside and use my reflection in the back door I decided a mirror is what I needed. Whenever I need to see how an outfit looks I have to go out my backdoor. 

The biggest difference in the before and after pics is the things that the healthier me can do. I can hike miles and not pray for death. I can jog if I want. I dont have to look that the weight limit on folding chairs and I can wrap a regular sized bath towel around me. That last one really excited me when it happened. 

I have felt guilty over the past year because I have really learned to focus on myself more. Maybe had I learned to do that earlier as an adult I would have been healthier sooner and longer. I still have a few more pounds to lose to reach my goal weight and  will get there even though the weight loss has slowed down. I have started putting my focus on maintaining my health and thats a new avenue for me as well. 

Just as I learned that my worth is not determined by what the scales say it works for how low the scale goes as well. I am a wife, a mother of adult children, a daughter, sister, friend, dog mom, chicken mom, guinea pig mom, urban farming, bee keeping, garden growing, soap making child of God.This morning as I woke up early to read my bible and pray I started singing that old hymn Have Thine Own Way. 

	Have Thine own way, Lord,   Have Thine own way; Thou art the Potter,   I am the clay. Mould me and make me   After Thy will, While I am waiting,   Yielded and still.

As I got to the last part of the first verse thats when it all made sense. I havent been selfish focusing on my health the past year. I have been waiting yielded and still while I am being molded. Maybe thats what this pandemic is meant to do as well. Make us think about whats important. Make us make time for things we werent in the past. To be better people and learn to love our neighbors. 

Bascially I am telling you to expect more blog posts. We have so many new things going on and are so excited how things are going. Tomorrow you will learn about raising quail and maybe I will find a mirror.

No Shoes or Masks Required

Most of us love coming home on most days.  I guess some of us  during this pandemic may be a little tired of being home so much but before this most of us enjoyed coming home. One of my favorite things about being at home is I dont have to wear shoes. My get home routine usually consists of hanging up keys at back door, hanging up purse, turning on the tea kettle and removing those shoes. When I opened my the Gateway Bible App this morning this was their verse of the day and my "at home" routine came to mind.

John 15:9-10 The Message

“I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done—kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love.

There is a peace of coming home after a day filled with errands, doctor appointments, taxi driving kids, working and the list goes on.  You walk through the door, let out a sigh of relief and enjoy but being yourself. Thats how Jesus wants us to feel about Him.

When I sit down to do my bible reading I have a very similar routine as I do when I come home. I take a deep breath and let it out. That letting out part is super important. My shoes are off and I can be myself. Maybe thats what bothers people about sitting down to read their bible and praying regularly. They feel they have to be or act a certain way and and its more of a chore.

This is how comfie I get when I talk to God. Lets say that I am thinking of an idea to write about for my next post. A little idea comes to mind. Next all day long I get these little ideas. Sometimes I get text messages or phone calls from friends who have no idea what I have been thinking about all day but they will mention the ideas I have been thinking about all day. This is sort of like when you are looking up things on the internet and the ads on your Facebook are for those things except your friends are not like spies. Anyway when this happens I will actually say "shut your face God you are amazing". Thats pretty dang comfie and since I have yet to be struck down by lightening and have yet to be chastised by a burning bush I am going to think that its okay with Him.

My get home routine that mentioned above helps me sort of deescalate. I am putting whatever the day out about behind me and ready to get comfortable in my home. Hanging up my purse and keys makes it much easier the next time I need to go out and not be frantically looking for them. We have three dogs so my coming in isnt as calming as it seems. When then hear me backing into the driveway they start howling. I am not even kidding I always look to see if my neighbors are anywhere outside to hear it so that I can apologize. I open the backdoor to lots of jumping and kisses.  I shut them outside go through my routine and then let them back in after I have poured my cup of tea. I was feeling a little convicted that I was painting this beautiful scene thats not exactly accurate. I honestly love their excitement to see us or anyone who comes into our home. I am not comparing God to my dogs but I am guessing Hes very excited to see us to when we sit down to talk to him.

As I get older I am all about my routines. I would encourage you if you do not have one for when you get home to think about it. Its so much easier when you have to go back out the next day if you know where keys, purses, backpacks, shoes.... are when are headed out the door and not running late looking for these things.

Same goes for your quiet time. Before I sit down to read my bible, write or pray I let my dogs out, fix a cup of tea, let the dogs back in because if I leave them out they will start barking at nothing and I will have to get up, they come in and lay down and behave. If my bed was made I would take a picture to show you how sweet they look right now. I take a deep breath and get started. I speak honestly and openly because why bother if your are not? Thats what it means to be at home in his love. You can be you, you can say you dont understand why things are going on, you can say shut your face and not catch on fire, you can be the perfectly imperfect you and know you are still loved.

This is also why its so important for us to show this "at home kind of love" to others we encounter throughout our day. They may not know Jesus or only know him through someones strict guidelines impossible rules to follow. Remember to love others the way He loves you.

His Love Never Quits and Neither Should Ours

His Love Never Quits And Neither Should Ours

This morning I was counting my blessings. I had a great weekend with my family, got lots of little things done around the urban farm, had a movie night with my hubby and we had great food.

I am a list maker and I was going over a list I made a couple of weeks ago and was surprised by how most of the things on it I got to mark off. It wasnt a crazy difficult list just a few things that I felt I needed or needed to do. You can easily see how easy it was to be thankful. Psalm 136 came to mind so I pulled it up to read it all the way through.

Psalm 136 The Message (MSG)

1-3 Thank God! He deserves your thanks.

    His love never quits.

Thank the God of all gods,

    His love never quits.

Thank the Lord of all lords.

    His love never quits.

4-22 Thank the miracle-working God,

    His love never quits.

The God whose skill formed the cosmos,

    His love never quits.

The God who laid out earth on ocean foundations,

    His love never quits.

The God who filled the skies with light,

    His love never quits.

The sun to watch over the day,

    His love never quits.

Moon and stars as guardians of the night,

    His love never quits.

The God who struck down the Egyptian firstborn,

    His love never quits.

And rescued Israel from Egypt’s oppression,

    His love never quits.

Took Israel in hand with his powerful hand,

    His love never quits.

Split the Red Sea right in half,

    His love never quits.

Led Israel right through the middle,

    His love never quits.

Dumped Pharaoh and his army in the sea,

    His love never quits.

The God who marched his people through the desert,

    His love never quits.

Smashed huge kingdoms right and left,

    His love never quits.

Struck down the famous kings,

    His love never quits.

Struck Sihon the Amorite king,

    His love never quits.

Struck Og the Bashanite king,

    His love never quits.

Then distributed their land as booty,

    His love never quits.

Handed the land over to Israel.

    His love never quits.

23-26 God remembered us when we were down,

    His love never quits.

Rescued us from the trampling boot,

    His love never quits.

Takes care of everyone in time of need.

    His love never quits.

Thank God, who did it all!

    His love never quits!

Sometimes I am so busy with life I forget how blessed and dare I say privileged I am. I forget how not everyone has a family they love and are loved by or surrounded by amazing friends who support you but also hold you accountable. So many people on your side who want to see you succeed and then of course theres the God whose love never quits.

Most of us know the story of how the Isrealites got out of Egypt and if you dont know the story just shoot me a message and we will find a study to do together. Its a pretty wild ride. They did some pretty stupid and self centered things yet His love never quit. They also had Moses whose love never quit as well. He fought and sometimes even pleaded for them and they did not deserve it.

I guess Moses knew so passionately how loved He was by God and he wanted everyone he cared about to know that love as well. One of the estimates I saw on the amount of Isrealites who Moses lead out of Egypt was 2.4 million so I think its safe to assume he loved them as a whole but didnt know each one individually.

My ending thoughts on this are if you are a believer and you know His love never quits neither should yours. Both Moses and God would get very angry with the Isrealites and let me tell you if I had been there I would have probably walked off and those people would still be wondering in that wilderness today. They were terrible just like I am prone to be on occasion sometimes for days and even weeks on end. When I get brave enough to read my social media feeds and catch up on local and world wide news all I see are what we are against. Not much on love and definitely not much love that never quits.

Gods not asking me to lead the over 350,000 people in my city out into a wilderness to the promise land and everyone should be most grateful because this girl is directionaly challenged and we would get lost. He is asking me to love them. All of them. The ones I do not agree with, the ones who I do not like, the ones who I feel dont deserve love. Because sometimes I am one of them too. Thanfuly His love never quits for them or for me.

Thank God He deserves my thanks,

His love never quits.

The God who let me wake up this morning,

His love never quits.

Who put put this psalm in my heart,

His love never quits.

Who blesses me beyond my imagination and needs,

His love never quits.

Who has placed it in my heart to love everyone,

His love never quits and neither should mine.

Today I choose __________.

As I said in a previous post the week or so I was very sick with whatever I had I was a bit dramatic. I was so tired and had gotten into the habit of taking little naps which now I know was from the ever and I had eaten popsicles which I guess made me happy from childhood memories. I even told a few friends and my sister that when I started feeling better I was not going to give up my naps or my popsicles. All week I have had my energy back and happy to report no naps or popsicles. Every day I feel so energized and am very thankful for feeling so well. I actually said maybe its good to get sick every once in awhile to appreciate every day tasks once again.

I was looking up a bible verse this morning and came across this little gem. That was sarcasm by the way.

 1 Peter 4;1-2 MSG  Since Jesus went through everything you're going through and more, learn to think like him. Think of your sufferings as weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you'll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want.

Well they didnt beat around the bush with getting to the point in that did they? I never made the connection that when  something goes not as planned and it throws me off and I start thinking "its always something" that thats me being upset things arent going my way. Heres a good example. A few weeks ago when my hubby and son were trying to get the kids car fixed they were having a time getting the tire off, It was very frustrating for them. Nothing was getting that tire off. This seems to be an issue with some cars and people online and even a few youtube videos said you are going to have to take a sledgehammer to it. Which is what they ended up doing. They had to break something off to get to the part they needed to fix and then had to replace two parts. All the while I was their best cheerleader. I was like you are doing great, dont worry you will get it, its okay I dont mind us all carpooling. I meant every word. They fixed the car it saved us money and all is well with the world.

Then I had planned  some hospitality with others, I had planned on doing some house cleaning and decluttering so hospitality would run smoother. These plans were for the good and then I got sick and couldnt get anything accomplished. I whined and acted like a baby, refused to admit I was sick until I was really sick and my plans were put on the back burner. I on several occasions thought this isnt fair, why is this happening? I am trying to do good things and this is what happens? I was like a toddler who didnt get what they wanted.

Things usually have a way of working out. When I look back over my almost 50 years of life I see lots of little and sometimes big bumps in the road that I had no idea how they would get fixed but they did. I think most of us would agree thats how it works out in their lives as well. How we CHOOSE to react to them in on us. We may have no control over the situation that arises but we have so much control over how we react.

This is where the hospitality wiggles its way into this post. I could name at least 10 people right now who are having some little to some pretty big bumpy roads. One of the easiest things you can do is reach out and ask if there is anything they need? How can you help. May I suggest that you do not give advice unless you are asked. I have friends that I can say anything to and they know its out of love and they may not agree even if its exactly what they need to hear but they will think about what I say and either say thanks for the great advice or you have no clue and mind your business. Either way we are all good and they can do the same to me. There people are special and not everyone you know wants or needs your advice.  No one wants to hear that they put themselves in this situation because they already know that. Mind your business, if you arent going to help them please dont hurt them.

I feel like I need to insert a cute story or something to make you laugh because thats sort of a mean way to end my post. So I will end it with a great idea a hospitality day if you like spa themed dates. You can think my sister for finding this one. She and I have the most fun sending each other the strangest things we find on Pinterest.

https://hungryhappenings.com/spa-party-appetizer-clever-way-to-serve/

Hospitality is refreshing.

Have you ever had to unlearn something? There is 5 years difference between my oldest and my middle child. I was very observant with that first child in school because I knew I would have more children and I wanted to be on top of the things they needed to know. I wanted my kids to be smart and do well. Well in that 5 years they changed everything. I had to unlearn and relearn along with the second kid. Luckily two years later when the last kid came along they hadnt changed anything and I am so glad because with three kids I was too tired to learn anything new. 

Hospitality is suppose to be refreshing. Unfortunately sometimes we get entertaining and hospitality mixed up. Hospitality is about your guests where entertaining is about your skills as being a great hostess. I think when we throw the thought of entertaining out the window and embrace what true hospitality is we will find it refreshing, just like a good friendship. 

Here are two examples. My sister sent me this pic of ham roses. Is this not the cutest idea ever? But it looks like alot of work and if you are going to make ham roses what else fancy do you have to go with them. I am going to be honest I will be trying to make this bouquet. I find this very fun but its gonna take time and I will post my first Pinterest Fail of the project when I attempt this.

This pictures is of my smashed potato appetizers. You boil fingerling potatoes and smash them. You then top them with bacon crumbles, cheddar cheese and pop them in the oven until the cheese melts and then add a little sour cream. Its like two bite baked potatoes and so very easy. We actually had these with dinner last night with a rotisserie chicken from the deli and steamed broccoli. 

As you ease into the idea of hospitality keep it simple. Keep it comfortable. Think more about what you want to talk about and get to know about your guests than whats on the menu. It can be as easy as chips and dip with bottled water. Hospitality has you sitting with your guest not up and down getting things or watching the oven. 

When your guest leaves you should feel refreshed. Having piles of dishes and having to spend time cleaning up after everyone leaves is not going to make you feel refreshed. Take this into consideration as you plan your get together.

Hospitality is real.

I had this great quote that I had written down and then I am pretty sure I saw my scribbled paper a day later and threw it in the trash. I do this with my grocery list all the time. The quote was basically saying that true hospitality is sharing your real self with others. Your REAL life.  Not your perfect Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram life.

I have noticed that my closest relationships are with those I am my most real and vulnerable with. I am not saying that you share your most private thoughts with just anyone you meet but glimpses of the real you should shine through with anyone you speak to. I dont think that most of us lie on our social media pages we just edit the crap out of them. I am going to fix the boy some pancakes for breakfast this morning, I can easily snap a picture and post the pancakes and it look like something from a magazine. I am now the best mom on the planet. If you didnt fix your kid homemade pancakes with real maple syrup you are failing as a parent and human being. I could zoom out on my picture and show you my tiles that are popping off the counter and they have discontinued them and we have no idea what to replace them with right now so I throw a towel over that area when people come over but mostly I just say pretend you dont see that. You would also see the dirty dishes in the sink and a dog or two laying around on the kitchen floor because they are afraid that if they are not in the same room with me I may just disappear. We could open the fridge and see the science experiments I have growing in there. Those are not intentional by the way. I think you get my point in keeping it real.

I had two experiences with hospitality last week. One was going over to a friends house for dinner which was so much fun and one was having a friend stop by which was also so much fun. Going over to  my friends Pennys house was easy. I didnt have to bring anything. She had appetizers of cheese, meats, crackers and nuts. For dinner we had risotto with chicken and asparagus in a cream sauce and for dessert a chocolate mouse with a berry compote and whipped cream. There was also wine and iced tea involved. Mr Ladybug had been invited but wasnt feeling great. I had the kids grab pizza for all of them and made sure to send him pics of what he was missing.

Then my friend Kelly stopped by to drop of some water kefir grains to me. There will be more posts on the kefir later. Kelly is in a season of life that I am thankfully done with. Her son had a music lesson so she dropped him off, ran to the store and then a quick stop at my house before going back to pick him up. I enjoyed being the taxi cab for many years but I do enjoy my kids taking themselves places and I can give them a list and money and never have to leave the house if I dont want to. So Kelly comes in and she needs to visit that powder room or should I say gas station bathroom. I did warn her that someone had just taken a shower and that it would be a sauna in there and probably messy. So she explains what to do with the kefir grains then we shared our kombucha with each other and chatted about a few things and she left.

I then went into the bathroom because it was on my to do list to clean anyway. I was horrified that I let her in there. The soap dispenser was about empty and it needs to be replaced because the  pump is not pumping like it should, there was no hand towel for her to dry her hands and there were qtips and tissues all over the sink because I can not find the PERFECT trash can for that room so the sink is where people leave things. I forgot to  mention that one of the dogs peed on one of the rugs. I immediately sent her a message apologizing and told her I was sorry we lived like wild animals. She was great and we laughed and I felt less terrible about it. I even took a pic 15 minutes after she left to prove that I do know what a powder room should look like.

Lets be honest sometimes thats what life is, MESSY. If I waited for my house or even my life to be perfect before I started sharing it with people it would never happen. We miss out on some great times when our thoughts are I will share my life with others when I get a bigger house. My house is less than 1100 square feet and 4 adults live here and we only have one bathroom. Another excuse I will practice hospitality when I have more time. Kelly had a busy errand day and she squeezed in time where she found it. I have met the nicest people and had the best conversation with others while waiting on my kids at soccer fields, dental appointments, band functions and many other places. It was nice before cell phones when we didnt have our heads down in our little world and noticed others around us.

Sometimes with think we have to have nicer things before we can have people over. I dont like new things, Well some things I like new but I love old things and I like to repurpose things so here is a picture of my couch which as you can see is an old day bed. Look at the hearts cut out in it. Luckily I can hide those.

I paid $30 for this couch about 8 years ago. It even came with the mattress which by the way I knew the person selling it and felt comfortable buying the mattress from. It even has a trundle underneath that when pulled out connects with the top and makes a king size bed that can sleep 3-4 girls. It was actually used a few weeks ago when our daughter had friends in for the weekend. I bought the grey comforter marked down at Walmart for $15. I just have pillows and other blankets on it and let me tell you we love this thing. Its so comfie and if you set on it at least one dog will want to snuggle with you sometimes all of them and the cat. If something gets spilled on it or a dog with muddy feet gets past us and heads straight for the couch we just pull everything off and wash it.

Another of our excuses for not having people over is it takes work. We dont have to have a three course meal like my friend Penny had. I think the last time she came over to my house we had pizza cooked in the smoker and made smores. Here is a quick and simple appetizer to have. You can serve it with wine or iced tea or even just plain water. Its not about your house or your culinary skills its about building relationships.

I found the pic online but cheese is always our easy go to quick appetizer. On the plate you see blackberries with brie, granny smith apples with sharp cheddar, anjou pears with gouda, grapes with fontina and peaches with goat cheese. Seriously how easy would that be to do? You dont even have to use the toothpicks if you dont want to, Just have the fruit and cheese cubed and on the same plate. Throw in some crackers and nuts and you have a party.

Whats your quickest and easiest entertainment menu? Its also okay if you say Pizza Hut.