It’s been awhile since I wrote a post about our chickens! That’s primarily because there hasn’t been much to write about. They’ve been busy being chickens… laying eggs, occasionally sunbathing, scratching at the ground looking for bugs and worms, and roosting at night. If you’re new around here you can find an entire list of my past chicken-related posts, which span from when they were just 6 days old to the present, by clicking on the Chick Days tab at the top.

I recently noticed we had a few unwelcome guests in our chicken coop: sparrows. Your initial reaction may be to wonder why it’s a problem to have a couple of wild birds flying in and out of the coop. Seems relatively harmless, right? But unfortunately there are two big issues.

For one, the wild birds expose our flock to illness and disease. This is especially important this year with the avian flu. There haven’t been any cases in our immediate area, but our birds being exposed to wild birds (and their droppings) greatly increases that risk.

Two, those sparrows will plow through our chicken feed. I definitely felt like I was having to refill it more often after noticing the sparrows. So the time came to evict them. But how?

Initially I thought I would just keep the coop door closed for a few days to ward them off. But it was very likely they would come back as soon as I opened the doors. Plus I would have some very cranky chickens on my hands in the meantime. Then I found this article that suggested hanging CD’s with baler twine inside the coop to deter the sparrows. Luckily, I had extra of both laying around.

I’m happy to report it worked like a charm and we successfully evicted the sparrows! They flew away as soon as I went out to hang the CD’s and they haven’t come back since. As for the chickens? They’re not fazed at all by the CD’s and don’t really pay them any attention.

Side story that has nothing to do with the chickens: After I finished hanging CD’s in the coop and chicken run area, I discovered that Hank and Scout, our bloodhounds, were planning an escape from the backyard.

I was able to thwart their attempts, by putting up a spare piece of cattle panel we had left over from Annabelle‘s pen.

I’m not sure why they would want to escape anyway, since they lead such cushy lives at home. But I also don’t need another barbed wire incident.

I’m linking up with Debbie’s Wednesday Word linkup today. Each week Debbie provides a word prompt for us to write about. This week’s word is tradition.

Naturally, I’m going to talk about my holiday traditions. I’ll start with Thanksgiving. We do the big family meal with the turkey and all of the fixings on Thanksgiving, and over the past several years it has become tradition that Barry and I host. Another tradition, one I have kept from my childhood, is to watch Home Alone on Thanksgiving sometime after dinner.

I celebrate Christmas, but unlike a lot of folks I don’t dive right in to Christmas after Thanksgiving. Growing up, we always had to wait until after December 6, my dad’s birthday, to put up decorations (so as not to overshadow his birthday). This is another tradition I’ve carried into my adulthood, even though my dad has told me I don’t have to. 🙂 Once we get past December 6, it’s time to decorate! We have an artificial tree, and lots of other indoor decorations that I put up, in addition to our outdoor lights.

Christmastime is the one time of year that I do a significant amount of baking. I have a signature cookie I make each year, which is gingerbread men. They take a lot of work but I enjoy doing them!

Last year I also made ‘Gingerdead Men’ using a cookie cutter my uncle gave me. They are probably the hardest cookie I’ve ever iced/decorated!

Another thing that takes a lot of work is wrapping Christmas gifts. I do most of my shopping well before December, and I like to take my time wrapping gifts. I’m not very crafty, but I do my best to make them look nice.

Along with wrapping Christmas gifts, I also spend time hand writing all of our Christmas cards. I’m very particular about which card I pick out each year, and then I like to write a brief personal note in each one to make them special.

Although we didn’t do it last year (because we totally missed the date) we have often taken Hank and Scout, our bloodhounds, to see Santa at the humane society. I think it’s hilarious to get their picture taken, and the money goes to a good cause. Hopefully we can get them out to see Santa this year!

One thing we did last year that I hope to do again this year is go see the Christmas trees at the Inn at Virginia Tech. They fill the hall with trees, for an event called Fashions for Evergreens. Each tree is decorated by a different group and has it’s own theme, and you can vote on your favorite.

Finally, one last tradition we have is to watch A Christmas Story on Christmas Eve. I have several Christmas movies that I enjoy watching throughout December, but I always save this one for Christmas Eve. My dad and I love the movie, and Barry and my little sister tolerate it. I think I can almost quote the entire movie, though!

In general, our holiday celebrations center around time with family. This typically includes some traveling for us, but I don’t mind. Family and friends are important, and the holidays are a great chance to spend extra time together!

What are your holiday traditions?
If you celebrate Christmas, do you use an artificial tree or a real one?
What holiday traditions from your childhood have you carried into your adulthood?

I cannot believe it is already the final day of November. Where has this month gone? Last week’s Thanksgiving holiday was enjoyable, and I was still able to stick to my training plan. This past week was week two of base training. I’m linking up today with MissSippiPiddlin’ and HoHo Runs to recap last week’s workouts as part of the Weekly Wrap.

Like last week, I stuck primarily to morning workouts (at least at the beginning of the week) since I am not motivated to workout in the evening, since it’s dark when I get home from work. Not to mention I had plenty of other things to do this past week in the evening to get ready for Thanksgiving!

Monday – 3 mile easy run with ‘Sven’ (aka on the treadmill)

Tuesday – Cross training: 30 Day Shred, level 1. Once I get to the point of being able to do 20 real push ups in a row without any trouble, I know it’s time to move on to level 2. After this workout I knew I was ready to move on to level 2.

Wednesday – 4 mile hill run in the afternoon on the Dora Trail. I worked in the morning, but waited until the afternoon to run since I was only working a half day and wanted to run outside. My dad and sister had gotten to our house Tuesday night, and we all headed over to the trail together. I did my 4 mile run with 4 1/2 hill repeats while Barry did his own run and Dad and Rachael walked.

Thursday – Drumstick Dash 5K on Thanksgiving morning. This was technically a cross training day for me, and I walked the 5K with my dad and sister. We finished right around 52 minutes.

Friday – Rest day. This was already a scheduled rest day, and everyone was feeling lazy after a busy day on Thanksgiving. It was a beautiful day, though, and we did get out a bit in the afternoon. Our outing included a trip up the mountains behind our house and then we did go to a couple stores in town.

Saturday – 3 mile run. I met up with Kim in the morning at a nearby park. It felt good to get out in the crisp morning air and run a few miles. My dad and sister came along, too, and walked while we ran. Barry started his run from the house and met us over at the park. So by the end we had the whole group together!

In the afternoon we cheered on Virginia Tech as we took on UVA, our in-state rival, for the Commonwealth Cup. It wasn’t pretty, but we pulled off a win in the end. I’m happy we could give Beamer one more regular season win, and now we are bowl eligible!

Sunday – 6 mile trail run in the afternoon at the state park. I felt just okay during this run, but got it done all the same. It was 61 degrees outside so I ran in shorts and a t-shirt, which felt very odd for late November.

About 4 miles into my run I saw this young buck. He pondered me for a moment or two before running off through the pines.

Last week I did a 5 mile trail run here, and had to guesstimate the mileage since I forgot my Garmin. This week I ran the same loop to see how close I got to 5, and found that I ran about 5.1 miles. Sweet. I ran an extra loop on a trail to round out to 6 for the day.

Total Miles: 16 miles

How was your Thanksgiving (if you’re in the US)?
Who else raced this past week/weekend?

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving yesterday!

Barry and I hosted Thanksgiving again this year. My dad and sister came down for the holiday, and we had a nice day yesterday. We kicked things off the same way we did last year, by walking the Drumstick Dash 5K in Roanoke. It’s been unseasonably warm this week, and the temperature was 40 degrees or so at the race (in the past it’s been as cold at 15 degrees!).

After the race we headed back home and shortly thereafter it was time to start cooking. I’m glad to report that my plans to cook our turkey, or ‘Big Tom’ as we I nicknamed him, in the roaster worked out perfectly! The only little snafu I hit was that Big Tom ended up being a bit too big, despite being within the weight range listed for the roaster. It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without something going awry. Luckily we were able to fix it by holding the lid down with a couple of paving stones.

We sat down to dinner sometime between 3:30 and 4 in the afternoon and we had quite the menu to choose from! Turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, green beans, carrots, cranberry sauce, and rolls. In the end we probably cooked enough for about eight people, and we’ve got plenty of leftovers!

We ended the evening by watching Home Alone together. This is a tradition that has been in my family since I was a kid and we would go up to my Nana and Pop Pop’s house for Thanksgiving. After dinner, all of the adults would fall asleep and us kids would watch Home Alone. This year, we all stayed awake to enjoy the movie and also enjoyed some dessert.

I made an egg custard pie and a pumpkin pie and my little sister made her delicious apple crumble (baked apples with a cinnamon brown sugar oatmeal crumble on top). I hope y’all had a great holiday!

What time do you typically eat Thanksgiving dinner?
What Thanksgiving traditions does your family have?
Do you call it stuffing or dressing?

It’s the day before Thanksgiving, and it’s also Wednesday which means it’s time for a Wednesday Word link up. This link up is hosted by Debbie. Each week she provides a word prompt to write about. This week’s word is bountiful. How fitting, with tomorrow’s holiday!

Obviously, I’m going to write about Thanksgiving. How can I not? Many of us will be sitting down to a large feast with family and friends tomorrow. It’s a time to come together and share a bountiful meal as we give thanks for the many blessings in our lives.

“As the harvest season draws to a close and our storehouses bulge with the bounty of the land, it is our desire to observe, in the custom and tradition of our forebears, a special day dedicated to giving thanks to God – a day on which to lay aside our daily tasks and cares and pay joyous homage to Him.”

-President John F. Kennedy, 1964 Thanksgiving Day Proclamation

I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday tomorrow. Give thanks, count your blessings one by one, and have gratitude for the good things you have in life.

When you focus on the things you have, instead of what you don’t, it makes for a happier life. I’m thankful for family and friends, health, the ability to run, a roof over my head, a free country where I can sleep in peace at night, and another day here on Earth.

I hope everyone has a very happy Thanksgiving!

What are you thankful for?