Eggs to Chicks in 21 Days

Aaron got an incubator for Christmas this year from my dad and Ann-Marie. He has been itching to test it out, so finally today he found a guy that had fertilized eggs for sale. So here they are on Day 1. Stay tuned!

These are our broccoli seedlings, just getting started. Aaron planted the rest of our onions this afternoon--he planted 4 sets altogether, which is a ton!!! The garlic is going strong, all goes well, we should be drowning in garlic and onions by late spring. We should probably go ahead and invest in some breath mints!!

New shop on Etsy!

I decided to open a shop on Etsy.com the other day, and I just got my first purchase! I am so excited, probably overly so! If you're not familiar with it, Etsy is an online shopping portal for all things handmade. You can literally find everything you could ever imagine there, and there is some really, really cute stuff. Be careful, though, because it's addicting and quite a time sucker. Anyway, check out my little store: www.oneworldfarm.etsy.com
There are only a few things there so far, but I will add more this weekend. Yay, such fun!

Winter in Texas

We had lots of ice a couple of weeks ago, and I thought it made for some interesting pics, especially since it doesn't happen very often. Just getting around to posting the photos, but I figure it's better late than never!

Karen New Year

On Saturday we got a call from Caroline, our friend from Agape Clinic. Caroline is a refugee from Burma, and we have become very close over the past few years as we've continued to work with refugees that settle in Dallas. Caroline called to tell us that Saturday was the Karen New Year celebration. The Karens are an ethnic group in Burma, and many Karen people are being persecuted by the ruling party in Burma. Those that are able to escape often end up in refugee camps in Thailand, and some of them are granted visas to come to the US. So, long story short, we went to the New Year celebration , which was held at Gaston Oaks Baptist Church in North Dallas. It was really amazing. I couldn't believe how many people were there! There must have been over 400 Karen refugees celebrating the new year. It was incredible to see this community of people, many of whom arrived here only in the past few weeks and months, who are filled with hope and joy about the promise that the year will bring. Quite humbling.

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UTA Planetarium

Being the nerds that we are, Aaron and I decided to go on a "date" to the planetarium at UTA on Friday evening. Aaron's been joking about going there since we started working at UTA, and I finally decided to call his bluff. In true form, he donned his "NASA" work shirt that he got at a Goodwill in Houston for the trip to the planetarium. This is his favorite shirt because it says "NASA" on it and is a real work shirt for someone named "Slatten" (it has the name "Slatten" embroidered on the lapel. He likes it so much that he actually bought two of them. Apparently the real Slatten retired and gave his shirts to Goodwill. Anyway, we went to the planetarium and were pleasantly surprised because the show was actually quite entertaining--it was about the Seven Wonders of the World. Then this grad student did the whole, "This is the night sky and the stars you will see when you leave tonight." By the way, isn't it ridiculous when they show the constellations and you have no idea what they're talking about until they put the little cartoon on top to show you? Seriously, there was a constellation that was literally two stars with a line going between them--a stick--and then she put the cartoon on top and it was a dog. Really?

So, as we were leaving, the planetarium grad student girl saw Aaron's shirt and complimented him on it. He was beaming. What a dork. So now he has a crush on her. Beautiful.

Also, as we were walking out they had a little kiosk set up with planetarium shwag for sale. The best was this t-shirt with the Periodic Table of the Elements on it. And the elements glow in the dark. How rich. I am concerned about the folks who buy that shirt without irony. That's just sad.

Life on the Farm

I have to preface this by saying that I absolutely love living in the country. That said, there are a few drawbacks. One of these drawbacks became apparent this morning when I walked out the front door. There were vultures (aka buzzards) surrounding our house, just hanging out and looking creepy. Vultures are just nasty. They are huge and gross and eat dead things. And I really hate dead things. I checked around the house to make sure that we had no dead things on the farm, but all of our animals are happily still alive. So, I think they just like hanging out at our house. I thought about telling Aaron to shoot one of them with his shotgun, but then I realized that our house and trashcan would then become even more of a haven for vultures, so I guess we will just hope that they leave soon. Uggh.

Mabel's Poop

Warning! This contains a picture of poop!!!

Mabel has developed a very strange new talent(?). We have solar powered landscape lights along our driveway that soak up the sunlight all day and then light up at night. Apparently Mabel has decided that she does not like the lights shining on her dog house at night because they disturb her beauty sleep. So she has taken the matter into her own hands and has decided to poop right on top of the solar panels so that the sun can't reach them during the day, rendering them ineffective at night. It is truly amazing that she can aim her poop so that it piles right on top of the panel. While somewhat gross, it is also remarkable, though I've never actually seen her in action, so to speak. Just the incredible result. Enjoy!