Most recently hubby has made the decision to get his Contractor's License and start up his own Construction business. It's not quite off the ground just yet but he's taking care of all the necessary steps to get it going. He and our oldest son (just turned 18 ugh feeling OLD here) will be taking a Hempcrete course next month making them the only ones certified in our state (that we know of) to actually build these amazing Eco-friendly homes!
Because things with the business are underway and have changed our plans a bit, I've decided to get back into one of my all time loves - chicken raising! It was always the best stress reliever I ever had. I've always loved animals and even though we don't live on as rural a property as we would like, it's still very doable! I've been busy these past few weeks locating breeders of those that I'm after and so far I'm finding what I want. I'm so excited :) My all time favourite breed on the planet is the Blue Laced Red Wyandotte (see picture below). This breed is currently still under development in the US as not many have been able to breed to the correct colours of red and blue but rather a gold and blue. The breed is certainly even further behind here in Australia but a handful of dedicated breeders have been determined to make it happen and I'm thrilled to join them.
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| A Beautiful BLRW Hen credit:Pinterest |
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| A handsome BLRW Rooster credit: Pinterest |
I'll also be raising Gold Laced and Silver Laced Wyandottes along with French Wheaton Marans, Araucanas (can we say Olive Eggers lol) and Blue Black Splash Orpingtons. Hubby and I are drawing up plans for the breeders coop…might as well exploit him while I can. This will be my first time raising poultry in Australia but I figure if I can get eggs year round in Alaska…then anything's possible.
Homeschooling is going rather well. We were recently approved for another year and I'm looking forward to what the kids have in store for us. A few weeks ago for "science" Ben figured out he could cause anything to smoke holding a magnifying glass over it. I was a bit concerned for a while after he made his sister's boot smoke…with her foot still in it! We have some fun museum trips planned and hoping to get up with a local archery club to enrol my minions in. Should be interesting.
Hubby and I have been learning a bit here and there about Druidry, implementing the practices when and where we can. We talked with our kids about it and they were all excited to learn more. We've especially focused a bit on Celtic myths and legends the past few months, as it seemed rather fitting. Due to bad weather and feeling rather sluggish we missed out on the big Yule bonfire a local pagan group had organised. Hopefully we won't miss the next one. I've really enjoyed the people we've gotten to meet and finding out they're really just like us, searching for more answers and following their own hearts and instincts.
The weather here has been insane lately! We've had nothing but rain and some pretty impressive thunderstorms over the past few weeks. I like it but I miss being out in the garden and telling the kids to go play outside. But at least everyone with a rainwater tank is all topped up. We've noticed everyone around us has been sick lately too but other than a few days of feeling runned down (probably from fighting it off whatever it was we were exposed to) we've been relatively unscathed. I chalk it up to our use of Essential Oils. I was only introduced to them back in September but we love them, they work so well and we've been able to chuck all the old over the counter toxic crap out. I'm really pushing them with our youngest son Liam to help with detoxing the heavy metals out of his system, I use them on everyone but he's the only one with any real issues. I've noticed more alertness and awareness from him and his speech has even improved more. His encopresis has lessened as well, so he's even feeling better about himself which is such a joy to see. I only use dÅTERRA Essential Oils as they are the main ones labeled safe for internal consumption (shameless plug time…to learn more check out my website Essentially Organic or pop on over to my Facebook page)
We've also started a family wide low carb Paleo lifestyle change (I just hate the word diet). I gotta admit it does feel good but it's a struggle to cook so differently than I usually do. I know it will take some adjusting but we'll get there.
That's all I have for the moment.
