Not Chicken weather

My spoiled chickens are really upset by this weather. They have been in the coop for a week now even though the door is open. I bring thawed water and food to them, but they are used to lots of grass and exercise. The local birds are doing the best they can and loving the frozen apples on the tree. There is about 1/2 of ice crust on the snow that I had to break through to get down to the coop this morning. It's beautiful, but I like green grass.

Be A Good Egg!

Happy Helping Hens 2008 Donation!!!!

What a great first year of the Be A Good Egg project. The donation was just made to Heifer International of $130.00. My girls want to send a big THANK YOU to all their customers for buying their eggs and making this donation possible. The $130 went to buy 6 flocks of chicks and an additional $10 donation. There are lots of gifts to choose from and with $130 I had lots of choices at that level, but I finally went with my original intention of putting the money toward chicks. As I've said before, my girls bring me joy, entertainment, nourishing eggs and are zen like so buying chicks for families in need and not just giving them nourishing eggs to eat and sell, but the entertainment and joy the chickens bring too...well, I had to go with this choice.

Here is the description in the Heifer online catalog for chicks:
Chicks: A Good Choice

A flock of chicks can help families from Cameroon to the Caribbean add nourishing, life-sustaining eggs to their inadequate diets.

The protein in just one egg is a nutritious gift for a hungry child. Protein-packed eggs from even a single chicken can make a life-saving difference.

Heifer helps many hungry families with a starter flock of 10 to 50 chicks. A good hen can lay up to 200 eggs a year - plenty to eat, share or sell.

Because chickens require little space and can thrive on readily available food scraps, families can make money from the birds without spending much. And chickens help control insects and fertilize gardens.

This is the message from Heifer after making the donation: Thank you for making a gift through Heifer International's online gift catalog. Because of your donation, we can continue doing our work across the globe — offering livestock, training and other resources to struggling families can become self-reliant. And because of the commitment each recipient makes to "Pass on the Gift", one purchase from you can create a ripple effect that soon empowers entire communities to lift themselves out of hunger and poverty once and for all.

A BIG Thank You again to our customers. Our girls should be laying again soon, but we have a little snow right now and they are not very happy about it. I encourage other small flock owners that just give eggs away to do the same. Our friends are very willing to pay for our eggs and especially knowing the money is helping others. It's a win win.

Don't know what to get for the person that has everything or wants nothing this holiday season? Heifer International is a great way to give in someones name or consider your favorite charity.

Spread the word. Spread the Love. Be A Good Egg!

Trivia to feed the world

I was tipped off to another great organization to check out. Freerice.com . I just went there and they have a trivia or vocabulary game that you play to earn rice donations. It's fun, educational and you are helping feed the world.

Remember...spread the word, spread the love and BE A GOOD EGG!

Susan B. Anthony

136 years ago this month, Susan B. Anthony was arrested for voting in the 1872 presidential election. Thanks in a large part to her tireless activism, women enjoy the right to vote today. Sadly, Susan died 14 years before the 19th amendment was passed. Let's all honor her memory by voting in this historic election. Pictured left, Susan B. Anthony stands with her sister in activism, Elizabeth Cady Stanton. For more information about the lives of these women, we strongly recommend Ken Burns' amazing documentary film Not For Ourselves Alone.

I received this email from Glad Rags Newsletter and felt is was worth posting. Spread the word, spread the love, Be A Good Egg!!!!

Breast Cancer Awareness

October is almost over, but the awareness of Breast Cancer needs to be available all year, everyday. Let's all take time to learn more or spread the word to our sisters, mothers, aunts, cousins and ourselves. Lot's of information is available online...here is one spot nbcam.org. Be a Good Egg and remind the women in your life to take care of themselves and have regular exams.

Spread the word, spread the love, Be A Good Egg!

Good Eggs for the Holiday Season

Supporting our troops means more then putting a sticker on you bumper, but how can you really help? Here is a good organization that makes it easy, Soldiers Angles. You can get involved in many different ways, writing letters, making blankets, sending packages or making a donation to defer the cost of postage. These are Good Eggs really helping our troops and making it easy for us to do so too. www.soldiersangles.org
Spread the word, spread the love, Be A Good Egg!

Community Supported Agriculture

Today I just want to put a little attention on CSA's or Community Supported Agriculture farms. We are members of the closest to our home. We belong to Dancing Roots in Troutdale, OR. These farms are popping up all over the country and they offer more then just great food. Our experience this year has been one of education, camaraderie and commitment. We go every Monday to pick up our share of the produce. We don't really know what we will get from week to week so it's sort of like Christmas. We also get some vegetables that I may not normally have looked into and it forced me to try some new recipes. If you are not familiar with CSA's there are lots of resources on the Internet and the links above are good starts. Just another way to Be A Good Egg.

Chicken Pic: On this post you will see Ruben, aka Ruben T. "Rooster" Cogburn. When he was a little chick I named him Mrs. Cogburn. Then he crowed one morning when he was about 4 months. He has his days when I think he should be on our table, but he is a good guy for his ladies. He always shares his food with them and keeps them "happy" if you know what I mean.