Playing catch-up, part 2 (subtitle: "Immersed in chicken-stuff")

Last weekend (18th), the ladies of our neighborhood had our second official brunch. I started the facebook group last fall, and we are up to 94 members! It has been such a great way to get to know others. We had probably 50 people at this most recent brunch. I only took a few photos, and they were of the folks that were there, so allow me to use these pictures of the food instead that one of the other ladies took.

And that's not even half of the food. Imagine 50 ladies all bringing a different dish (or two) - it's impossible to even try it all. So much fun, though.

Recently, an ordinance was passed in my county to allow backyard chickens (hens only). Our brunch Hostess is our first "Legal" chicken owner in our 'hood! Meet Minnie and Mary:



I was very excited when the ordinance passed, as I have been wanting chickens for quite a while. However, I thought it was something I'd have to hold off on until Josh was out of school. I didn't know if I could take it all on myself.... Until Laura mentioned she wanted to share some chickens with someone, but didn't feel her yard was a good place for them. Thus, our co-parenting plan was "hatched". Our plan is to end up with six chickens, but we should have our first two by the end of March!

Our starter coop has arrived (soon to be painted a bright turquoise) and we are immersing ourselves in all things chicken - we have a lot to learn!



I purchased this over the weekend to adorn one of our (eventual) three coops):



I'm very excited! Expect much more chicken babble in the future.

Another thing I am excited about is SPRING. Here's how my little garden plot looked last week (just a little 4x4 in my backyard):



This will be the first year we can harvest our asparagus! I'm really looking forward to that.

I planned to clean it out yesterday, but I got a nasty stomach bug and could barely drag myself off of the couch. I'm also planning to find someone to till up a row behind my garage so I can plant some vine-y things like cucumbers and pumpkins and squashes.

I usually start my garden from plants, not seeds. However, we have a community garden in my 'hood and I am hoping to get at least one plot in it (preferably two), and I will be growing from seed over there. I think the plots are 4x12, so I would have a lot more room than I have at home. As a matter of fact, Laura (my chicken co-mom)took me on a tour of the garden the afternoon of our ladies' brunch, and I was surprised how much was growing in February (though it has been a mild winter).











I've already went and bought some seeds... so far I am most looking forward to planting these babies...



Ok, I think I'm caught up! Hope all is well with everyone in blogland. Any gardening or chicken excitement happening with anyone else?

Ladies' Lunch

A few weeks ago, I selected a small handful of neighborhood ladies that I don't know very well to come over for lunch. A couple of them cancelled at the last minute and there ended up just being four of us. It turned out better than I hoped... The smaller group was really fun and we were able to dig deep and have real conversations instead of surface chit-chat, which probably would have happened otherwise. It was a great afternoon and we had a good time eating, drinking, being merry and moving from  dining table to porch to enjoy the day.

Speaking of dining tables, mine is functioning as a desk for a certain nursing student/husband these days, so this was the last time I got to see it look pretty. Let me bask in it for just a moment.



I put a jar of peach and ginger jam at everyone's seat:



And here are the lovely ladies... you can tell how sweet and fun they are just by looking at them, I think.



I was so grateful to get to know them a little better and I look forward to getting to know even more of my neighborhood gals on a more-than-surface level soon!

On the menu was:
Pineapple/strawberry/limeade punch with strawberry vodka
salad with blue cheese, cranberries and balsamic vinaigrette
vegetable pizza (croissaint crust with cream cheese/ranch spread a topped with cheese and veggies, served cold)
Penne with  roasted butternut squash and goat cheese
roasted veggies
sausage balls (brought by one of the guests, who is the perfect gracious southern lady from her sausage balls to her thank-you notes... She's one of a kind! Love it!)
And two desserts: Chocolate chip pie and Gooey Butter Pumpkin Cakes.

It's safe to say no one left hungry!

What's going on...

I've been a very bad blogger as of late. Not much to report, just a couple of little things, but here goes.

We'll start with the big thing. Big to me, anyway. I got a camera!

It's a Lumix FZ40 and I am in love with it. I have only had two digital cameras in my life. The first was a 2 megapixel point and shoot that I got around 2004. It finally died in 2009. Josh bought me another point and shoot in 2009 and it died within about 6-8 months. So I've been without a camera for a year and a half. I do love all the things I can do with my iphone, but I really needed a REAL camera. Granted, this is still a point and shoot, but it's stellar. There's a lot of manual modes I can use, too, but it is going to take me a while to master them. The lens is fantastic and so is the zoom... It is great in low-light, too, which is good because I am not a big fan of using flash unless I have to!

Here are two photos I have taken with it.





I did edit those in picnik for my own personal jollies, but you get the idea. Here is another one, but it's not good quality, because I snapped a pic with my iphone of the back camera display and then edited it through instagram (on my phone). It's just such a cute picture, though.



In other news, I tried to copy an idea I saw on pinterest, and I don't know if I am exactly thrilled with the results.



Could be worse, though, I guess.

Ooh, I created a facebook group to get to know my neighborhood ladies better. I added about 10 or 11 people to it and by the end of the first day we had over 50. One of my neighborhood friends graciously offered to host our first "official" gathering at her house. We had a potluck brunch and a total of about 22-25 ladies! I even got to meet a fellow neighbor-blogger, Jane! Just adore her and I am so grateful to have such great folks in my neighborhood. This is just a fraction of the food we had.



Getting to try one of everything was impossible, of course because there was so much! I look forward to our future gatherings.

Speaking of food, this has been our weekend breakfast for the last couple of weeks.



Butter a muffin pan, melt butter and syrup together and brush on both sides of flattened bread and put into muffin cup. Add some (mostly) cooked bacon (it will continue to cook when it bakes), crack an egg in it, top with cheese if you want, and bake it for about 20-25 minutes. Yum!

Time to catch up on blog reading - hope everyone is well!

I love my 'hood

Even though I live on the not-so-good side of the neighborhood (for now), there are still many blessings over here! I've been getting more involved with neighborhood things and getting to know more people (several on my side of the hood who are as passionate as I am about making this place the best possible place to live). I even volunteered at our local "Night Out Against Crime" (which is a Nationwide event - did you attend yours?) to work in our Neighborhood Watch booth. It was a blast!

Here's Pablo, doing his own version of Neighborhood Watch:



He's available should they ever need a mascot. His motto is "Tough on Crime... and Squirrels!"

Yesterday was election day, and this was my first time voting in anything other than a presidential election.



I have gotten to know my council person (who was a resident of my neighborhood for 25+ years and is still a great participant in making the Village such a great place to live), and my vote helped him get re-elected (though he really didn't need it, he won by a landslide!), I also cast my vote ro re-elect our mayor (not that he really had much competition, but it feels good to know the person *I* voted for is serving the great city of Nashville), and I educated myself on the issue with the fairgrounds and was able to make an informed vote on that as well. That whole "knowledge is power" thing is not just a rumor, folks! ;)

In other news, I don't think I mentioned it much on here, but our next door neighbors (renters) were just awful people. Awful to each other, their kids, their dog. I can't tell you how many nights I worried myself sick over that dog because he was not getting proper care. Josh and I really did what we could, but our options were pretty limited. Our neighbors across the street are also dog lovers and really did a lot for him, too. More than us, but the neighbors liked them more! Haha. Joy of joys, the bad neighbors moved to a different state this week and gave their dog to our neighbors across the street. Not only did my life instantly feel more peaceful the moment they left, but I no longer have to worry about the dog getting proper care. Since the dog never had his shots, got neutered or anything else, Josh and I decided to pitch in on getting him up to par, since we are so grateful for our neighbors for giving him a home. He will be getting fixed on Monday, and he's already gotten his shots this week. It may be a long road to get him settled, so send good thoughts. He's very confused as to the change in his living situation and he's never really had any training or a proper home. He has gotten out of his fence several times. Yesterday I came home to find him in his old back yard. It's sad, but I hope we can all work together to get him acclimated to his new and better life. I think our great neighbors deserve some homemade cookies or something this weekend, don't you?

Even the backyard sunsets are more beautiful with the restored peacefulness on our block!



Though we may not technically be on the 'good side', our blessings are no less bountiful.

Have a great weekend!

A beautiful walk through our neighborhood with the iphone.

As I've said before, springtime in Nashville is absolutely gorgeous. I am beyond in love with my neighborhood, and Bip and I have been enjoying leisurely 1.5 mile walks around it in the evenings. Leaves on the trees, flowers in bloom, historic homes galore. By the way, have I mentioned I am also in love with his iphone? The 'shake-it' photo app makes everything look even more lovely, and we utilized it on our walk last night so we could capture some of the prettiness that is all over the village. It even made this poor amputated Barbie arm look somwhat artfully placed.

Things not of the plastic limb variety:

Dream House. I think it has 7 or 8 bedrooms.

And, just as further proof that the 'shake it' app makes everything beautiful, look how tasty it made Josh's lunch look the other day! (Chips he dipped in hummus not pictured)

He makes the best sandwiches!