Random tidbits

This is basically pictures and me trying to keep up with posting. Enjoy!

I made sourdough bread twice--once last week and once this week--using this recipe (with a few alterations because the dough was too dry). The first batch wasn't very airy, but still tasty! And it looked so old fashioned, I couldn't help myself....

Ahh, I love baking. I could spend half the day in the kitchen.

In chicken-news, we're almost ready for the big move. Hopefully tomorrow we can relocate the girls to their palace. It's about time, you can really smell, um, tell that they're here.

Now I can say I helped build the coop. :)

My sister, niece, and hardworking Daddy.

O God, you are my God; earnestly I
       seek you;
   my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you.
  as in a dry and weary land where 
      there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the
      sanctuary,
   beholding your power and glory.
Because you steadfast love is better than
      life,
   my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
   in your name I will lift up my hands.

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and
       rich food,
and my mouth will praise you with 
       joyful lips,
when I remember you upon my bed,
    and meditate on you in the watches
       of the night;
for you have been my help,
    and in the shadows of you wings I
       will sing for joy.
My soul clings to you;
     your right hand upholds me.

-Psalm 63:1-8

Update #3.

Here is the chicks' soon-to-be coop. Quite the little palace. (still not named, but I'm leaning toward Featherfield. Sorry Matthew!)

Below is a view from the chicken door.

On to the next step!

Actually, I had an interruption while writing this post. I heard a flapping and got up to check on the chicks. One of them was sitting, quite innocently, on one of the brooder's walls. I put her back in and quickly told Dad what was amiss. When I came downstairs, I was just in time to see another near escapee (I think it was the same chick, who, when I can tell her apart, is called Anne). Even now, whenever I hear some excited chirping or flapping, I rush over to take a look. So far they've all been false alarms. :)

Update #2.

We took the chicks outside on Mother's Day. Not exactly sure what they thought of it. 

  
They just keep growing and growing! Dad says they're like T-rexes. :)

I'll post a coop update soon. It's almost ready to paint!

Blessed be Your name.

source

Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord          
Blessed be the name of the Lord 
Blessed be Your glorious name

source

                          
Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name                         
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord                                                       
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name 

-"Blessed Be Your Name" by Matt Redman

I was just singing this to myself yesterday. I sang the fourth verse and thought, Wow, I really need to work on this! God has just brought me through a tough and stressful time, and now I feel ready, like I've got everything together. I really did think something similar to this: Okay, I'm set. I can praise God's name now! I can really believe Psalm 56:9b!  

God is always, always for me, even "on the road marked with suffering".

"What's taters, precious, eh, what's taters?"

Samwise Gamgee can serve 'em up fried with fish, but we like potatoes baked...twice! (with lots of butter and cheese.)

These may seem like extra work, but they really aren't that much, and the end result is creamy, fluffy, and delicious. 

Twice-Baked Potatoes

Four potatoes
4 T. salted butter, softened
4 T. sour cream or plain yogurt
1/2 c. cheddar cheese
1/4-1/2 c. milk

Preheat oven to 425. Wash potatoes, wrap in foil, and place in 9x13 pan. Bake for an hour and 15 minutes. Remove foil and let cool. When cooled, cut in half lengthwise and scoop insides into a bowl (we use a cookie dough scooper). Line up potato skins in the pan. Add the other ingredients to the bowl and mix everything with a pastry blender (you could also use a food processor). Scoop the mixture back into potato skins. Sprinkle with chives, sweet paprika, and a grind of salt. Bake at 350 for half an hour or until golden on top. Enjoy!

We had this for Mother's Day lunch, along with grilled lamb, a salad bar, and berry crumb bars. Ah, food. 

Update #1

Los pollitos dicen,
"pillo, pillo, pillo!"
Cuando tienen hambre,
cuando tienen hambre!
Pollitos! Unidos! Jamás serán vencidos!

This is a protest song from South America. Plug it into Google Translate and you'll get what the chicks have been doing. We got them a fifty pound bag of feed and they're really blazing through it!

Besides eating a ton, they've been growing tails and longer wings, hanging out on their little perch, and "flying", which mainly consists of flapping their wings while running around. They can flap up onto the feeder and fountain, and I saw one fly from the perch to the opposite side of the brooder.

  
As you can see, they've graduated from cardboard boxes to the actual brooder. (click photos to enlarge)

Here are some pictures of the coop's progress. Lookin' cute!