Let the games begin... Can Jam 2012

Strawberry season is once again here! We are fortunate to have a local farm that grows strawberries and has the option to pick-your-own. I've been spending quite a bit of time at Payne's not only picking for my own canning expeditions but for our Can Jam; where I and a friend shared our knowledge and experience with a group of ladies.
The idea of me "teaching" a class in canning was sort of funny. I have only been canning a year, but so many women asked if we could show them how~ we finally agreed. I tried to weasel and said, "I am sharing, not teaching." Coward that I am, I still took the plunge and in the end 20 women and one lone rooster said they had a good time and took home a jar of strawberry jam which they made in class. In fact many of them bought their supplies and have begun to venture into the amazing world of canning.
So far I've got 14 pints on my own shelves and figure maybe 21 more will do it. Then it's on to Blackberry~ I've already started to scope out some tasty patches.


DEAD CHICKENS! no just getting a tan~

Sometimes my mouth screams and other times it's just my brain, usually when I see something I can't fully process by my early warning system tells me it's BAD. Such was the first time I saw one of my beloved chicks laid out, feathers splayed, bared under belly showing, eyes 1/2 closed- it all said DEAD CHICKEN to me. Before my brain could transfer the scream to my mouth, though- there was movement. Someone stepped on someone- cause in the chicken world someone always steps on someone ruining a meal, a bug catching or in this case a sun bath.

Did not know that chickens sunbathed, or at least that was the concensus from Backyard Chickens my new favorite go-to chicken emergency sight.

I have learned alot about chickens over the last 5 weeks. How to know that your quirky chicken Alice is really a Don Knotts style rooster, that chickens love to eat eggs and a host of other tid bits that while you're in the newbie throwes of chicken ownership seem like the most important facts you can know- scripture for chicken lovers. Anyway- life is much more interesting with 6 feathered friends in the backyard- they got their new run before the coop was ready so they could move out of their cramped little 3x6 apartment. As you can see it's sunny and they are happy, bugs are a plenty and there's a great sun deck for the chicks to go wild on Spring Break.