Spring = Chicks & Gardens

We have 7 baby chicks living in our house now! Born Monday, shipped Tuesday, and hand picked by me at the feed store on Thursday. They seem very happy in their new warm ~ fresh water ~ fresh food ~ elbow room ~ calm and loving new home! And they are already starting to get feathers!

My husband came home, looked over at the table where I have the chicks set up and just shook his head and started laughing at me. You see we live in a town, within city limits. Yes, I checked and No, I am not supposed to have chickens. But I feel this is absurd! In this day and time if a family wants to have fresh organic eggs to feed their family ~ then they should!
So shhh, what they don't know won't hurt them. Meanwhile we are becoming an Urban Mini Farm!

Allie our dog is super curious and maybe a little jealous!

She would LOVE her some mini chicken wings!

My lettuce and spinach popping up in my little garden.

The Love of My Life

Old Houses

Old houses ~ have character.
And character is a good thing.
Old buildings have stories to tell.

The Menard Home ~ Kaskaskia, Illinois


Yesterday, a lazy Saturday, my family and I went a wanderin'.
We wandered across the Muddy Mississippi and found this gorgeous home and heard the story of this French Canadian man. Our boys just love our mini adventures.

The boys and the cool old spring house.


The kitchen gardens.


Above the front door.


Shhh~ listen, can't you hear what this old home has to say?

WELCOME SPRING!

With the sunshine that comes, so does a deep down feeling to clean house. Spring cleaning, that is. Yesterday I had the pleasure of helping my Mother clean her kitchen. She truly had no counterspace left and all of her cupboards were full. Not anymore! There actually are empty cabinets now, and more counter space than she knew she had. We recycled, donated, threw away, cleaned, scrubbed and organized.

Included in these "donations", are inherited things. The excitement of having some of my Grandmother's things passed down to me is a wonderful feeling.

For instance, I always remembered her using her mixing bowls. And being a lover of all things autumnal, these scream " FALL" to me. And I love them!






Also, in my pile of goodies are two mixing bowls. Aren't they just so neat.



And last but not least, the MOST adorable deviled egg platter with chicken salt and pepper shakers from my Mom's Grandmother (my Great Grandma). Can't wait to use this with eggs from my own hens.

After purging someone else's stuff, which is relatively easy, I now look upon my house, my basement in particular with great despair. For if we truly want to move, this basement needs to be purged, organized and cleaned. And the thought of someone else telling me what should go, makes me cringe, for example my loving husband (whom 2% of the basement is his junk and 98% is mine). So for now, I guess I must put on those work boots and get the shovel, time to spring clean my house. Hope you enjoy the sunshine and feel lighter for all the hard work spring cleaning has to offer.

My New Adventure

This summer my family and I had a western adventure. We traveled for two weeks through Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and the Dakotas. My husband the love of my life Jeff, and our two boys Blake and Josh were my travel companions. It was relaxing, fun, exciting, and breathtaking. It was a journey, an adventure. And now I am starting a new journey. At almost 40 years of age, I feel that I am just now getting to know the "real me" and I am enjoying it. This blog is a place for me to dream, express, reflect and share a little bit of me. You are welcome to visit and I hope to be able to inspire you to enjoy just being you and having a berry good life ~ Jill