Bittersweet day

Today was a bittersweet day for me.   I went to pick up a few remaining things in my old car and get the license plate.   I really felt like I was saying goodbye to a great friend, Tina says that I'm just a sappy old lady and too sentimental.

About 2 weeks ago the insurance company totaled out my Jetta L   A little over a month ago while driving home from work in Baltimore I hit a deer about 125 miles from home at 2am.   This deer was pretty big (10 point) and it hit so hard that the airbag went off.  The car did all the safety things that Volkswagen say it will do.   It shut off the engine, unlocked the doors, turned on the 4 way flashers, turned on the dome lights and cracked open the windows.   It is one of those things you really don’t think about all the safety features until you need them.   I was lucky and didn’t get injured in the accident, the deer wasn’t so lucky though.  

I normally don’t get to attached to things but I had really grown fond of my Jetta,  it got great fuel economy and in the 107,000 miles I put on it in 3 years I only had to replace 2 tires and a battery.   The reliability has just been great!  It is funny too when I first got it I really didn’t care for the color, and solely got it for the fuel economy.  The sales person said that after driving it a while you will really come to love it and in the end I did.

I was talking with my youngest today and we were talking about some of the interesting things that the car has seen and done.    One of her cool memories was last year for the last day of school I picked her up from school and I had brought Pat (my chicken) for meet her.   Pat road to and from that day on the emergency brake handle happy as could be.  Christa thought that it was the coolest thing too.

In my former job my Jetta was a working office.   I had a inverter wired up on the back trunk and had a laser printer in the trunk where I would print up paperwork for the aircraft that I would be handling that day.   I used to drive her out on the ramp next to the airplane on many different air force bases.   With the big trunk I carried everything I needed to be able to do my job and still have room.   I can't count how many hours I sat in it awaiting the plane to depart.  She transported many crew as well to and from the aircraft.

She was there through 2 major surgeries that I had; I still to this day remember each trip back from the hospital and home.   At that time we were living in Summerville and both trips were 12 hour rides and they were the 2 most painful drives home I have done. 

Over the last 5 months I have been traveling back and forth between Rock Hill and Baltimore and she has kept me safe when I have taken naps in rest areas in my travels as well.

So today I said goodbye to my old Jetta as the tears of sadness came out.   I wanted s something to remember her by and all the good time I had with her.   As I was leaving the wrecking yard I pried off the VW emblem off the trunk.  I hung it from the rear view mirror today of  her replacement.  I got a 2011 red Jetta with the exact same package as the last one and it too has the same diesel engine.   I am looking forward to all the new memories that this car and I will get to share.   If she is anything like the last one I am not going to be disappointed at all!

   

The passing of Henrietta

We had a sad day yesterday.   Tina got off work and came home and was tending to the babies, feeding and watering them.   They do the usual when she opens the door the all jump out and graze in the yard.   They just love it and the dogs love to play with them too.   When Tina went to put the back in their pen she noticed that she didn't see one of hers Henrietta.   The searched all over and didn’t find her, she finally looked in their roost and found her in the corner dead.  It just broke Tina's heart!   She was such a nice chicken and very affectionate.   She will be missed!   Here is a few photos of her over her fairly short life.

Fresh Eggs

One of our babies is laying eggs! 

When I was home on the weekend she had just started.   They are so cute and small.   We are not 100% sure which one it is but Brenna’s one is a lot smaller than the others so we think she is the one laying them.

I cooked one of the eggs over the weekend when I was home.   It was the best tasting egg I have had.  I have heard from many people that there is no comparison to store bought eggs and it is so true.     Over the weekend I had to add a nesting box for her to lay them in.    This was one of those things that I had been putting off over the last few months.      When I was building their new addition to their coop I got bit so many times on my feet by ants.   When I had moved their cage I had put it on an anthill and didn't know it until I was building.     I think I ended up with close to 20 bites on each foot.   The chickens sure love eating them though.   

Brynnes ramblings

The other day I was talking to a friend and we were talking about being open to talking with people.   I had to confess that I am really not good with being open and sharing what I think.   What I really noticed though is I am very open to sharing what I am feeling here on my blog page though.   Maybe it’s because I am not face to face.   I have always been one to keep my relationships with people at a arms length distance.  I have always been afraid that if they got to know me they would I guess not like me.  Maybe that’s why I am so guarded in sharing or talking one on one with people.   So I have decided that I am going to make an effort into changing that area in my life.

The other day I was really thinking of how I missed working my last job.   It is so interesting I remember when I first started traveling I really was apprehensive.    I was pretty sure that I was not going to like all the traveling and being away from home.   After a few months I really started to like the traveling.   As I look back on it I met the coolest people and made some of my best friends through the traveling.   I think that’s what I really miss about not working my last job.    There still is that part of me that feels lost because I still have not found a job yet.   It is funny how we define ourselves a lot by the job we work.   It is forcing me to have to redefine myself a little.   Sometimes it is hard to take a good hard honest look at ourselves.  My may not like what we see.

Our babies are getting pretty big.   The sure have not been enjoying the hot rainy weather that we have been having lately.   Tonight they were enjoying the cooler evening weather after I moved their coop to fresh grass. 

After all the rain we have had the last few days I finally was able to mow the yard that so badly needed it.  People probably think Im crazy when they drive by and see me smiling while I mow.   I really enjoy the mower and it just puts me in a happy place when I mow.

Finding the peace once again.

It has been a little bit sense my last posting.   The chickens have gotten big.   They are no longer our little babies although I still call them my babies.    I struggled to find the right design for the outside coop for them.  Because of this I procrastinated until it was time to get them outside.   I went to the hardware store and go a bunch of 2 X 4’s and chicken wire and set out to make them a new home.   I intended on building something small enough to move around easily so they could be on fresh grass every few days. However I ended up with something that we could walk in easy so the family could interact with the babies.   So it is a lot heavier than I anticipated, but it fits for everyone’s needs though.  In another few months the babies should be laying some fresh eggs for us, I can’t wait!

My baby Pat

Today I was chatting with a good friend on Facebook today and she really brought to light something I have lost sight of the last few months.   She had just recently has gone through a similar situation that I had been through.  What she reminded me was the true peace and happiness of the that situation.   It got me thinking, over the last few months I have really let life take all over that happiness and joy that I once had.   It is interesting how easy it is to be caught up in life and its problems.   I am so glad I talked with her so I could put my life back into prospective.

Peeps in the house

We are off to a new adventure.   Yesterday we went to the local farm store and purchased 4 baby chickens.   We each picked one out that we thought was cute and brought them to their new home.

The girls and I had made a coop prior to that.  I under estimated the time it would take to make it by a few hours.   The last few days I had been researching on how to make them and what would work best for us.  With them being as young they still have about 5 weeks before we can put them outside.   Because of this I wanted to make a coop suitable for using inside but yet also work for the outside when they are old enough as well.   We went to the hardware store and gathered our supplies and set off to construct it.   The girls were big help holding the wood as I sawed it to helping hold the boards together as I nailed them.   We had purchased a roll of chicken wire and that was sure time consuming attaching to to the 2 x 4’s, but we did it!   I’m sure it was quite a sight 3 ladies jamming out to the car stereo on the back patio putting it together.   In the future we will need to make a house to attach to it for the nesting boxes.  We will have a few weeks to make that though, it will give us some time to better prepare.

Now we need to name the Girls.