April Changes....

I'm a little late in posting, but it's been a busy few weeks. Easter came without any baskets this year, and they didn't even notice. They still got plenty from Grammy & Memere, and had a fun egg hunt at their cousin's house. A rabbit even showed up during the hunt! How cool is that?  The girls have been on vacation since Good Friday, and I've tried to fill their week with fun despite our lack of funds.  We did a lot of walking at area trails that I didn't even know existed in my 9 years of living here! Today was library day because it's raining, and they are very excited because they got their very own library cards.  Back to changes....so far so good with my already made changes, and this month we made a few changes: less processed foods, getting hens for eggs, and manure for the garden, and we'll save some water with our new rain barrel.

It took some searching to realize that I could do without some of my purchases. I now buy dry beans instead of cans, especially chickpeas because I make so much hummus. My biggest change in this regard is the frozen chicken nuggets that are always in my freezer. I bought organic chicken, and made my own which I have done before, but as my husband pointed out, I always had the frozen stuff as back-up. I simply explained that I wasn't buying them anymore, and why. I explained how mine were healthier (even though they are still breaded and fried), but they weren't going to eat them everyday.  Eventually, I'll bake them, but for now I think they need to get used to me cooking them in the first place.  Others that are on my (no longer purchase) hit list -Lipton Soup, Fluff, Popsicles. So I'll make my own soup, it's a good thing the warm weather is coming :), peanut butter can be by itself or with preserves, and I'll make my own pops with juice.  I won't have to purchase eggs, hopefully, when we get some hens! A tiny step towards sustainability.  My amazing husband turned our unused doghouse into a chicken coop, and even painted it to match our house. We should be getting our already named hens next week, and I'll be sure to post their pics .  With my husband out of work he's been able to get a lot accomplished, including the seeds started for our garden. I can't wait to finally plant them outside.  And after wanting one for a while now, we finally have a rain barrel to catch the rain to water our garden! Again my crafty husband fashioned the barrel out of something we already had, so we didn't have to purchase much for these changes. :) Have I mentioned how much my husband rocks? Well, he does.
Happy Spring!

                                                                  the Easter bunny?

                                                       
                                                               hunting for eggs

                                                       
                                                                  the hen house

the red neck-ish rain barrel