Help us keep our girls...

We just received a notice from the county (Butte county) informing us that we are in violation of county code for having chickens. Our neighbors are okay with them and so is our landlord. If we were in city limits we would be able to get a permit for them but since we are outside we thought we thought were in the clear. I guess we are considered residential, so we are not allowed to have poultry. We have 30 days to get rid of the girls.

Please if you have any helpful information or ideas on how to combat this, we would greatly appreciate your help. Comment on the post or email me at violastitchstudio@live.com.

Ugh...one more thing to deal with. What harm can backyard chickens really be!?

Neighbors...

What happen to the neighborhood? I was walking to the grocery store everyday awhile ago because the starter went out in our car (now fixed, thanks to the best neighbors anyone could ever ask for...I'm not joking...the BEST). It seems that most people don't think I should be walking...I have almost been run over a few times. Oh and then there are the wonderful "neighbors" who hear your son (two and in the stroller) yelling, "HI...HI...HI!" waving crazily and you saying, "Good morning" and they decide the best they can do is turn their head and start walking faster. What happen to "it takes a village(community) to raise a child"? What happened to common decency? I don't expect you to be my best friend...but you can say Hi! Sorry for the rant...and keep reading.

We are actually very lucky in our neighborhood (those people are not my close neighbors). This is the third house we have lived in on this street because we fell in love with it! We know at least 11 of our neighbors and I would say 4 of them well. I really don't know what we will do if we have to leave this neighborhood, I don't even want to think or talk about it. We also keep meeting more and more wonderful neighbors, this is the best neighborhood!

In our current house we kept our previous neighbor by moving to the house on the other side of him. I would say he is the night-watch-man of the neighborhood. Most people think he is a grump because of this but he is really just a sweet guy. He watches out for everyone, not to snoop but because he cares about the neighborhood and everyone in it. He loves our son dearly.

Our awesome neighbors to the other side of us simply amazing me with how giving they are. I honestly cannot even explain how shocked and amazed I am by them. They are constantly sharing; food, advice, things, and the best of all; their time. I feel that the little guy is getting a taste of "it takes a village to raise a child" because of them and a few other people in our lives. One the latest gift completely astonished me...the woman of the house (I don't want to post their names) had a close friend of hers paint a picture of the little guy and the Doctor...she used a picture I took and the artist captured it in 9 different mediums, perfectly. I was left completely speechless when she left after bringing it over to us...they simply amaze me ever day with their kindness and generosity.

I don't know how put in words how thankful I am for them...

Rescue mission complete!

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So the Doctor was home for lunch and went to check out the garden, which he almost always does without fail...he came back inside to tell me that he found an iguana in one of the trees. Of course I didn't believe him but he pulled me outside anyway. He thought it was a possum...the one that was probably terrorizing the chickens...but much to my surprise about 15-20 feet up there he was a GIANT iguana...an IGUANA!

Its Northern California...not a natural habitat for an iguana...so we knew he had to be someones. I'll let you all know now that I am extremely scared of all lizards...I don't know why and I don't mean to offend, but I am. We decided to call a friend who has a snake and other animals to ask her if she knew what to do or anyone who might want to keep him until we find his owner. I also posted on facebook asking about it and checked craigslist, as much as I hate technology sometimes...its nice when these random things happen.

Then we got a call saying our old neighbors, had lost there pet iguana right before they moved almost a month ago. Eventually our friends who lost an iguana showed up with his cage along another friend who now has him as a pet. By the time they got here I had lost track of where he was because he climbed down the tree...but we found him! Perched atop the chain length fence munching on leaves. He did not want to be found or captured but its for the best, he would have never made it come winter.

Now he is safe and sound and I don't have to worry about going into the garden. It would have been just my luck...heading out to put the girls (chickens) in one night and tripping over him...the scream would have shocked the entire neighborhood.

I hate these little buggers!

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Can you see the difference? I weeded one plot and the other plot is full of these crazy little flowers. Our neighbor told us that he watered them last year thinking they were beans and then realized how big of a mistake that was. They are actually a type of flower that is like a ground cover. They completely take over. We have been pulling hundreds and hundreds every weekend and by the next weekend they are all back! So frustrating but we have to try to keep them at bay and hope that soon we will get them all! Any suggestions on other ways to get rid of them without killing the plants we want would be greatly appreciated!

Here are some of our tomato and bell pepper seedlings. We already have 29 tomatoes and 6 bell peppers planted in the ground but these little guys are still a bit small for the ground. We are planning on planting the corn and soybeans next weekend. Along with more tomatoes and bell peppers. Happy monday to you all!

feeling blessed

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We feel so lucky to live where we live. Its a beautiful house with a beautiful yard in the most amazing neighborhood. Spring has sprung here in Chico and our yard is filled with it! Flowers everywhere and more coming up daily. Bees buzzing and hummingbirds humming. Cheesy, I know.

We have nature all around us not only in our yard but our neighborhood has the creek coming along side of it and if you drive over the bridge you are in the thick of the orchards. I get to drive over water and through the orchards 4 times a day and I enjoy it every time. The little guy loves it too, especially when I drive through a big puddle and it splashes all over the car. Our home is an older home and it has weird little things here and there that tell its age, along with the huge trees. I love looking out the window as I'm washing dishes to watch the trees swaying. We also have amazing neighbors, very helpful and generous.

We spent pretty much all weekend in the garden digging, planting, and watering, over and over and over again. We got Missouri Bills pole beans (for soups), Blue Lake green pole beans, Brandywine and Skorospelka tomato started in seed starters inside, a second crop of onions, West African millet, 3 types of sunflowers, charentais cantalope, carrots, kabouli black garbanzo beans, holstein bush beans (also for soups), and garden green beans the bush type seeds planted in the ground. We also tranplanted our starts of dill, lavendar, sweet marjaram, valerian, thai basil, chives, parlsey, french thyme, zuccini, crock neck yellow squash, rhubarb, artichoke, and swiss chard. We were both tired and a little sun-touched Monday. Part of me is dreading this coming weekend because I know we will be back out there digging, planting and watering and probably most weekends from now on, but I also know that its worth it!