Out and About This Morning

Ahhhh yes..I got out this morning after posting.

First I did decide to go over to the new Walmart...had them try one picture in particular that was especially messed up...and their system did the same thing. So that didn't work. They have a do it yourself machine. So I tried that picture, but when it says you can crop it, that just means you can move the stupid little square barrier up or down on the picture...so you will still either cut off some of the bottom or some of the top, your choice. So that was a bust.

Hopped back in the truck and headed for Rome. First stop was Barnes and Noble. Have to get Shelbys Curriculum book for schooling. I have always gone to the B and N down south near my Mama and Daddys house, guess I will be going there Saturday night after we visit with Kenny and his family. They had this little bitty corner of lame booklets for home education...I asked an employee "Where are all the homeschool workbooks?" and she replied..."This is what we have." I just looked at the pathetic little short rows and sighed. Okay...so that was a bust too.

Next I was off to Sallys Beauty Supply for hair color. Well you can't very well expect me to go to this shindig on Saturday looking like I came straight from the trailer park with half my head a dark brown and the latter half blonde can you??? LOL! Shelbys hair needs frosting too...so I got what was needed to make us look presentable.

Then it was off to Home Depot. The pigs house looks like the big bad wolf has come a callin and tried to blow in their roof, or at least stomped on it a lot. The middle is sagging and that makes all the rainwater run right off to the entrance of their little house. Ian suggested currogated tin roofing...with braces underneath running across the dwelling. Okay, that makes good sense. So I got me a couple of sheets at eight and a half dollars a piece, very reasonable. I will use the old boards that Ian took off when he redid the stairs on the front of the house for bracing. Also had to get a couple of bales of wheat straw...poor piggies are swimming in mud after all the rain we have had. They may like it in a nice muddy puddle, but not the whole pen! So they get to get out today and roam around while I fix their house and pen up nice and comfy for them. All animals here have to be comfortable or it preys on my mind.

So, I am off to do some muddy outdoor slopping around. Got to get my slop boots on for this job!

 

This is how quickly Phoenix took to us. Thought I would share an old picture of Shelby and him fast asleep. We had only had him a couple of days and I found them both fast asleep up in her playroom on the floor. Ain't they sweet?

Warning! This is a RANT post!

Alright, every now and again...everyone needs to vent...well today is my day. Lets go ahead and get it out of the way so I can have a stress free weekend.

As you know, I had company last weekend. Karen tries to help out around the house while here. I really do appreciate the effort, I think, well, if its making beds and folding up covers from the night before...thats fine by me. But I really really rather her NOT help in the kitchen. Sure, load the dishes in the dishwasher, well, maybe not. I have some spoons that have to be turned down or the handles will go through the basket, and then when the little handles spin around underneath as it attempts to wash, I imagine they get stuck on those. But wait, I have spent all week trying to find my favorite coffee cup!

Now I have never seen her cabinets, but I just find it hard to believe that she just puts stuff anywhere. I thought most people had some sort of plan when putting up dishes into the cabinets...say cups with cups, glasses of the same pattern with each other, bowls with bowls, knives in the knife drawer,  utensils used for scooping food out of pots in another? Evidently not. Maybe I am just a neat freak, but I like to actually be able to FIND things in my kitchen. I even mentioned I had just cleaned out and organized all my drawers and cabinets...but that didn't seem to stick between her ears.

Now I am a short gal, I am five foot four inches. I don't put anything on top shelves of my cabinets that I use on a daily, even weekly basis. On my top shelves I have my CHRISTMAS DISHES...that is it. Do you know that is where I found my coffee cup this morning??? I can't even see the top shelf very well. I have found my big dipping spoons in the knife drawer, I finally found my cheese grater...in with all the mixing bowls in a cabinet by the stove. All my good silverware was mixed in with old silverware...so I resorted all that out. I don't even remember using some bowls that were stacked under the dessert plates??? Was she trying to torture me??? I have no idea...I don't think so...but I wondered after my favorite coffee cup disappeared. I had mason jars (I use them for big sweet tea glasses) in with my nice drinking glasses. My little juice glasses were all mixed in with those here and there. I mean COME ON! Am I the only one that organizes her cabinets so I can just reach in and find things????

Okay, now...enough about that...lets talk aboutlast night at Walmart.

I decided to load up some pictures onto my camera memory chip and take them in and have them developed at the one hour photo while we shopped for groceries. No big deal, done it before. I drop off the chip and go on about my business. Now I have had my digital pictures developed at this very same place before. They came out just like the picture I took, as it should have. I had over a hundred pictures developed this time. When I get my pictures I always open them up right there and take a look at them.

Something was not right. All my pictures looked closer or something. I started thumbing through...getting madder and madder, starting to break a sweat. I had pictures of chickens, and I take good centered pictures. These were not centered! The combs were cut off, the feet were cut off! WHAT WAS THIS? What was going on???? I am chunking down picture after picture of crap crap crap. Thats all it was...crap. I was not happy. I kept trying to call the photo employee over, she was doing everything BUT coming to see what I was so flustered about, and that was making me really sweat, I was mad as hell and I was not going to be denied my rant. I told her to please come here. I told her these pictures were all cut off at the top and the bottom. The whole picture was NOT THERE. She said to load the pictures into the machine standing next to me and look at my pictures...well I dont need to LOOK at my PICTURES! I know what my pictures LOOK like, but I did it anyway...to show HER that the pictures were cut off.

She shows me this picture of mine in a format for printing...and it has lines around the edges, and that is what is cut off in my picture. She explains to me that new programs are being installed in this machine all the time. I told her I didnt care..that I didnt take a piece of a picture, I took a whole picture and I want the whole picture.

I told her that these pictures are not even THAT important. I asked her what she thought someone would have to say about some family pictures taken at a reunion of something and everyones heads were cut off in the picture????? I told her she needed to tell someone...get the thing fixed, that it was not right.

I went through and took out all the cut off looking pictures. I didnt want any of them..but I wanted to have some pictures in my purse this weekend. I might get an opportunity to show off my flock. Not that I would push my pictures off on anyone that might be boredwith them. I am not like that, well, I try not to be like that. I realize I get pretty excited sometimes about my hobby.

So now I have a bunch of crappy pictures. That cost me twenty dollars. The ones I refused were the worst. I probably should have just refused them all. Maybe gone to get them developed somewhere else. I wonder if I went to the new Walmart in town if their machine would produce my pictures correctly. You know what. I might just go and see. Then, if they come back RIGHT...I will take those others back. Yeah....maybe that is what I will do. Cause right now I just dont feel satisfied.

Okay, I am all done ranting. Thankyou for listening, or reading rather. Now that I have gotten it all off my chest, I do feel better.

I told Ian last night that I knew I was spoiled and being a brat. I don't deny it. I guess I just have high expectations in people and products. My shortcoming indeed.

A side note about the dishes...this happens everytime she comes...and I am just oh so tired of playing hide and seek with my dishes after she leaves. :(

Morning Glories

 

My Little Serama Family

Okay, so Everetts name comes from George Clooneys character in O' Brother Where Art Thou? If you haven't seen this movie you should. Did you know it was paralleled to The Odyssey? The sirens are in there, the Cyclops, all of that. Pretty neat. Anyway, Mosie says her Dads name was Everett too...and I just like the name...the way it sound when you say it...with a southern accent...Ev-rett. LOL

I was browsing through Browneggblueegg.com..looking to see if any new Poultry shows had been listed for Georgia. I saw listed for October 20th a show in what I found out was HAMILTON, and was not the Chattahoochee Valley Poultry Association hosting, but a similar club. The printing in the Poultry Press was quite a mess from what the man told me that I contacted inquiring about it. They had put Hamlington, and when I looked it up not knowing where Hamlington was...there was no such place, well no wonder, it was Hamilton, GA. I can get there straight shot down Hwy 27 in a couple of hours. The date is very close to Shelbys birthday though...so I am not sure I will go. I still called the contact number to find out details and have them send me a brochure and an entry form, just in case I decide to show. He told me that some guys were trying to revive the club as many older members had passed away and the club kind of fell apart. I thought that was wonderful. We don't have a lot of Poultry shows here in Georgia for some reason. You can look in some other states and they have a whole list of shows all through the year just about. So anyway, the original show that I go to held by the CVPA in Newnan is still on...this one is a whole seperate entity. They will also have a sale barn section...and that always makes me want to go...always like to come home with something special. Like that is what I need, another chicken! ;)

I have put away my incubator for the year. I told everyone that. I had two Serama hens bent on sitting on some of their eggs. Well fine. I have given all but one of my Serama chicks from this years hatch away anyway. So what the hay. Do you know that in the four years I have had birds, I have never let anyone sit and hatch their own. There is something magical about this process. Now, I did let Dorothy, my silkie hen sit on a few Serama eggs to hatch for me, but I took the babies away soon as they hatched and sent her back out with the masses out in the yard, so that doesnt really count.

Well, those two Mamahens did good. They hatched out two babies...which is good because apparently the mortality rate is high with this breed when attempting to hatch. Whether it be from an incubator or a hen sitting. I found one baby dead, didn't make it. I found one egg partially hatched with a baby still alive in it. Something was wrong with its eye...I saw that right away...mother nature knows...but I tried to save it anyway. I took it in the house and got it out of the shell, put it under a heat lamp and hoped for the best. It didnt make it...but I had to try.

So, we are left with two very healthy little ones and I just left them in the pen with the Mamas and the Proud Daddy. It was so neat to see the Mamas coaxing the babies to eat and drink. The babies took right to the water and food with no hesitation. I do have to empty out the waterer a couple of times a day as the parents still scratch up lots of dirt and cake up the water. I can't raise the feeder and waterer off the ground like I do for the adults...the babies won't be able to reach. I sat and watched all the action for a long time. It was so neat to watch them all doing their thing.

Here are some pictures of them all...

See the two babies above?

 

Proud Daddy with a watchful eye.

 

Watchful attentive mamas.

 

Mama showing baby food to eat...scratched out of the feeder.

You cant help but smile when you see it all. :)

The Queen of Clutzville

I don't know what it is about me and balance. I am just a clumsy person to boot. Last winter I pitched myself off the top of the porch steps and damaged my thumb and had all kinds of aches and pains in places I didnt know could have aches and pains, along with lovely gashes in my leg from coming down on the corner of the wooden step.

This morning balance eluded me again. The alarm went off...and I reached over to turn it off...but for some reason decided I needed to raise myself onto my hands and knees on the bed before reaching over to the alarm clock on the table next to the bed to turn it off. In reaching for the clock radio I lost my balance, but grabbing a hold of the alarm clock was no help as it toppled and started to fall off the table...well instinctively I tried to keep it from falling, fumbling even more...

"IAN I AM FALLING OFF THE BED!" I yelled...as he is half asleep himself. I grabbed for the covers, hoping to make purchase and pull myself back out of the falling position...instead grabbing a pillow and flinging it off across the room as I tumbled towards the floor. CRACK. That was the sound of the back of my head hitting the table as I seemingly flew off the bed. Of course being on my hands and knees made the fall even further to the floor. KAWHUMP as my butt and back took the abuse of crashing to the floor.

Ian was like OH MY GOD are you alright??? Rubbing just the right spot (could he find it on my head because it was already a knot?) to ease the pain on my cracked noggin. I sat there, waiting for the pain to subside...trying not to cry. But I cried...cause it scared the heck out of me, not because of the pain. Because pitching yourself out of the bed while half asleep is scary when you get older. It seems to take an eternity to hit the dang floor, and once you are there you just want to stay there for a while.

I am fine now, suprisingly I have no headache..my back is a little stiff...but I will be alright.

Getting old aint for sissies is it...dang, what a way to start the morning. So, I went back to bed...I deserved it, I wanted to start over anyway. So here I am late in the day...don't much matter, I feel better for it. I slept until 10:30 and I am not sorry for it. Not going to feel guilty about it or anything like that. Having my coffee and enjoying my day so far...now. :)

Over The Weekend

Good Tuesday morning! We are getting a break in the temperatures this week finally. It will ONLY be in the lower 90s. Okay, I will take it, its better than over a hundred degree temps. You can tell the chickens are feeling the break in temperatures as they are venturing further out for longer periods in the day.

Friday my friend Karen and her daughter Tiffany, also Shelbys friend, came for a visit. We had plans to go to Collinsville Trade Day in Alabama Saturday morning early, so we hit the sack early that night. Next morning we got out of the house and loaded up by about 6 a.m. I was ready this time. I had bungee cords, a cart and a crate for some lucky animal that would come home with us. I had on tennis shoes this time for the rough terrain at the flea market. I was ready. Except for the picky kid and the whiny kid we did alright. Picky kid, Tiffany, wanted Chick File for breakfast. Well, there is no Chick File between here and Collinsville. There was a Hardees....Nooo...dont like Hardees. There was a Burger King...noooo don't like Burger King. McDonalds...nope. So, my child is starving to death, ready to eat the leather off of the seats while picky eater keeps passing things up. Well guess what. We got all the way to Highway 11. I informed everyone we would be stopping at the American Cafe attached to the gas station. They served breakfast and we were gonna eat NOW. It was alright. It did its job, filled our stomaches and kept them from caving in and devouring themselves in desperation.

After some eggs, grits, and a biscuit we were off to the flea market. Going in I knew just where to park this time. I went all the way to the back so we could start with looking at all the farm animals. Unloading the cart, the crate, strapping the crate onto the cart and strapping down Karens purse and my purse with more bungee cords we were ready. Except my daughter slams the truck door into the truck next to us...as she LEAPS from the truck in terror...with this horrifying look on her face...oh yes, this was going to be FUN. A yellow jacket had gotten in the truck first thing. That meant the place was going to have yellow jackets everywhere. I thought they didnt show up til Fall? My daughter is allergic to bee stings, so she had every right to flee, but not at the cost of whamming my truck door into someone elses. Lucky for that truck it was old and had a fender guard on the wheel well.

So we started out going up and down aisles of animals. Goats, ducks, chickens, pigeons, dogs, puppies, turkeys, peafowl, guinea keets, guinea adults, quail, you name it, they had it. As we walked through, Karen noticed a lot of hispanic folks...and those folks seemed very interested in the chickens around there. Karen was horrified as she saw the hispanic men grabbing the big chickens up by their wings and pinning the wings behind the body, holding them up high, I guess to inspect them for their volume of meat on their bones. She asked why they were doing that and I told her. I told her that is just how it is. She wasnt too happy about the hunting dogs for sale in pens and cages...she said they seemed so sad. I told her a lot of the dogs sold here have purpose, they are sold to work. They are not treated as pets. There was one lady that had a great pyranese dog, and an older looked to be mix of great pyranese, smaller framed dog. She was giving the dog away because she was old and not handled, so she said. As we were leaving we happened to see a hispanic man leading the dog, well, dragging the dog away down the walkway. It was then I saw why she was getting rid of the dog. This poor dog had severe hip displasia. Bad enough that she really should have been put down rather than given away to just anyone. Karen was heartbroken for the dog. But you cant save the world. That is just life.

So back to our wanderings about the market. We drooled and gawked at the wonderful woodwork of rockers, tables and swings...moved on to some jewelry. Shelby ended up with some sterling silver earrings. One a spider web and the other was the spider, with a black onyx stone in the middle. Tiffany bought a ring. They also got some matching sunglasses along the way. We stopped for lemonade, really good lemonade I might add.

Now we had been walking around for a while. Remember Shelby has a foot ailment, so she was beginning to wear out. She was hot, she was tired, her hip hurt...whine whine whine. I asked Karen what time her phone read...she said it was 9:02. Hmmm...it sure did seem kind of hot for 9:02. I said we would head back soon, and we took a picnic table and rested for a bit with our lemonades. It dawned on me then. The time changed when we went over the state line. It was not 9...it was 10! Okay, we had been there long enough...no wonder it was already so crowded. I don't do crowds. Hate crowds. So we headed back to the truck. When we got to the parking area Karen noticed some hopping potato sacks by a truck. She had seen the hispanics stuffing chickens in sacks everywhere and knew what was in those hopping sacks. She made the suggestion that I should steal those poor chickens and rescue them from their fate. I shook my head. No, no...I am not going to steal those chickens. Those chickens are someones food, and that is just the way it is.

I used to think I could save the world, but over a period of years I have learned I cannot. My heart is a lot harder than hers nowadays. I do not take in strays and I do not rescue chickens that are destined for the stew pot. Its just the way things are in the country. People eat out of their back yard, and thats fine with me, as long as they dont eat out of MY back yard...unless I offer vegetables to them from the garden that is.

We got back home and had a nice nap that afternoon. Ian got home from work and the girls convinced him to go out with us to Stevie Bs pizza buffet. It is like CiCis pizza, except a LOT better. They have special pizzas...like BLT pizza, and loaded baked potato, mac and cheese pizza, tomato alfredo, cheeseburger with pickle pizza, good stuff. So you would think...but our picky eater did not like any of those new kinds of pizza, she didnt even like the pepperoni pizza because the pepperonis had pepper on them...so she found some that didnt have pepper on them. Want to guess what I was going to fix for supper? Home made pizza....pepperoni, ham, mushrooms if you like them, onions if you like them. GRRRRRRR...oh well.

I really had planned on having Sunday to ourselves, just Shelby, Ian and me. But it was not to be. The day was almost over by the time they left. I really did enjoy their visit...but I have so little time with Ian...Sunday is our day to be a family and spend time with each other. Which we will do next Sunday for sure...with no company.

Oh I totally left out what I got didnt I??? ;) Well...there was a man that had a chicken that caught my eye. It was a black, white crested polish rooster, well cockeral. He was still very young. He wanted ten, I said how bout 7, he said how bout 8. I said no and walked away. Next I was eyeballing a young turkey. Couldnt really decide...so I moved on down the line and there he was. I always know it when I see it. Kind of like you would see the perfect dress or perfect shoes, well I see the perfect chicken for me.

I may have mentioned before that I like the Silver Spangled Hamburgs. They have a very unusual comb and are very striking in black and white. Well I walked right up on a young cockeral of this breed and knew right then I had found who was coming home with me. The man took him out of the cage for me to hold. He was not unruly at all, not biting or kicking, very tolerant of me. I asked how much and he said he needed ten dollars for him. I said SOLD. Now you may be asking why I would pay ten for this bird but not for the other. Well, he just LOOKED worth it. The other one did not look worth ten. I will be trying to find him a couple of girls over the winter so I can breed them next Spring. I also think I want to show him this February, he is just that handsome. I had him named before I even got him in the crate strapped to the cart.

Everett is his name...now...I am not going to tell you where this name came from right now...I want you to guess. It is one of my favorite movies though...and just to give you one more hint...that Golden Laced Wyandotte cockeral I got for free with the layers back in the Spring, well his name is Pete...do you know where those names come from?

Here is Everett...

 

Muh hair...where is my Dapper Dan? I don't use FOP...I am a Dapper Dan man!

(Another hint as to where his name came from)

 

 

 

Hot Chicks

Good morning! No, not THOSE kind of hot chicks..;)

Here is a picture of some of the flock taking refuge from the sun and heat under the pool deck. There is a buff hen laying there by the pool wall, a couple of black austrolorps, Bubba, one of my Silver Phoenix Roosters, and in the back walking away that is a Buttercup hen and a guinea. There is a barred rock hen there behind the austrolorps.

 

Everyone is hot, everyone panting, holding their wings away from their body. I can't imagine having a head full of feathers and a bearded face of feathers in this heat..poor Rod. This is Rod toughing it out. (Yep, after Rod Stewart, I mean look at that spiky hairdo! )

 

The rest of the Sultan bunch toughing it out...

 

Panting away...a picture of my new breeder prospect for next Spring. In the background you can see a young Golden Phoenix pullet. The black and white youngster is a Serama that was out of the parents of a Black roo and either a black hen, or one of the brown hens. With Serama they do not breed true to color all the time. This was a keeper, I want to breed him with some new bloodlines I hope to get soon from a lady in Cartersville.

 

I managed to get some work done outside yesterday..got the patio cleaned up, the hutch for the new rabbit coming cleaned up. I got the back half mowed. I don't think it will be needing that again for a while. It is really dry now. I guess it really took it out of me more than I knew because last night I didnt wake up once. Woke up two minutes before the alarm was to go off. That is rare for me. I usually wake up several times in the night.

So, being fully rested I am ready for another productive day.

I think today I will work on finishing Bonnie and Clydes new facilities. Yesterday I took the house part off the stand part. I changed my mind about it being up on such tall legs. I want it to be shorter, but I can still finish the house part, painting and putting in the wire, all that, and have them in it by tonight...I hope.

I reckon that is about it for this days entry. Just chickens and talk of work. That is me though. ;)

Hope everyone has a great day.

Flea Market, Fair, Hummers

Good Tuesday morning! Its going to be another hot day here, and supposed to stay that way for days..over a hundred every day is the forecast. I have to venture out to the feed store this morning so I can feed the masses this afternoon. Chickens can mob you if you don't feed them, they get cranky and will complain and complain if there isn't food available. Never mind that they are surrounded by bugs and plentiful grass...wish they would eat more of that!

I am going to invite a friend and her daughter to come up on Friday afternoon to spend the night with us. We will be getting up early and going to the Collinsville Trade Day Flea Market. Finally I get to go back there, I have wanted to for a while, just haven't been motivated to go.

The Georgia National Fair is coming. It is only 44 days away. We LOVE to go to this fair. We go every year. I used to be a part of it..did an agility side show in the stockdog demonstration, with Tip. You know, the jumps, tunnels, all that. I did it for a couple of years and then the man that headed up the stockdog demonstration and I had some bad words and some bad feelings...won't go into it, but it was pretty volatile. So, I don't do that anymore. One year Shelby entered Tyler, her Flemish Giant rabbit. He won a First Place blue ribbon in Youth and Second Place in the Open. I like to be involved in the fair, but my family does not. They just want to go and see everything and have fun. I do to, but I love to be a part of it. Guess those days are gone. Oh well. If you would like to see what goes on there just type in GNFA.com and it will take you to the fairgrounds site, then click on the side bar that says Georgia National Fair. It takes all day for us to see everything. Even then we still miss some of the horse shows, or something is missed. Last year we went specifically to see the miniature horses show. That was neat to see. It was right after we had gotten Derby. In my old journal that I had to delete I had lots of pictures of last years fair. Do you know, they have any type of livestock you can think of, cows, horses, llamas, alpacas, rabbits, cavies, pigs, sheep, goats, all of that...and no poultry foul of any kind??? The only thing they do have is Tyson has a tent set up and inside you can see how an egg forms, they have an incubator running, eggs hatching, newborn chicks, and then chicks in an area running around where a person is inside that area and hands spectators a chick to hold. There is also a video going of how chickens are processed (YUCK). They have a few cookbooks for sale...a chart that shows where all the chicken processing plants are in Georgia, and thats about it! OH they have a plastic dummy pair of chickens that animatronically move, cheesy.

We have had a lot of hummingbirds lately. They drained two feeders, which equals four cups of sugar water...in two days! They have kept me on my toes. I took a few pictures of them...and of course couldnt get all of them in one shot, but I did pretty good. I got four at one time in a shot. Here are the pictures I took. I love hummingbirds, they are amazing little birds.

 

That is strange...these pictures uploaded onto Flickr are not as clear as what they are on my computer folder. Some clarity seems to have been lost in the transfer. That is unusual, I wonder what happened.

Some Days Aren't As Good As Others

Along with all the joys of animal ownership equally comes hearbreak and sadness. That is the price we pay. Sometimes it doesn't seem fair, but given all the joy that our animals give us..the sadness is worth it. Now I may have a hundred chickens out there and in the house and on the porch and everywhere...but I love each and every one of them. Over half of them have names and I remember all of them. You just have to give me a minute to run through my memory and I will tell you who is who.

The heat has finally taken its toll on some of my birds. It was inevitable I know. It happens every year. Last year it was Willie. This year it is Roseanne that has been taken. I have a trio of Sumatra. Johnny (yes, Cash, who else, the man in black), Roseanne, and June. We lost Roseanne to the heat day before yesterday. I am really pretty disheartened about it as all the babies that I hatched this past Spring I sold to people that wanted them. So, I am left with a pair of Sumatra. I really hope that I can hold on to them and not lose either of them as I do want to make more little baby Sumatras next Spring.

I also have lost Flo. Now I don't have any picture of Flo. She was out of my first hatch of Japanese Silver Phoenix. Bless her pea pickin heart she became crippled about three months into her life. Being a breeder I should have a hard heart and be able to cull the unfortunate ones with such defects. My daughter pleaded with me not to do her in. She related to that bird more than you know. You see, Shelby had a plantar wart come up on the heel of her foot. Plantar warts are very painful. We went to a foot doctor, a quack was more like it. He told me not to bother buying the over the counter freezing agents that they did not work. Like a fool I took his word for it. Shelby was only eleven years old and that man took a freezing spray and froze a part of her skin under her ankle, then proceeded to jab a needle into a nerve that was supposed to be deadened by the injection. Oh but he missed. He originally wanted to cut the wart out. Oh, no, we were in a state of hysteria by the time all this had come about, and I made the decision that Shelby had had enough, and we were leaving. He prescribed two medications to put on it that was supposed to make it go away. We went on for months with the treatments, all the while she was in pain and her way of walking was compromised. She began walking on the side of her foot to avoid the pain the wart caused with the pressure of walking on it. For so long it deformed and reshaped her heel bone. OH YES. Now we have a whole new set of problems. The X rays at the NEW foot doctor showed deformity. All this caused from a doctor that did not do what he needed to do. Now here is the clencher. I was beside myself for letting this all happen. So, I went and bought the Freeze Away for Plantar Warts. Guess what. One application and the damn thing fell off and that was the end of it. I hate doctors, I won't lie. I don't trust them. It is an experience like this that makes me leary of going to a doctor unless it is absolutely necessary. So now my daughter has to wear special inlays to hopefully correct this malformation, which will take a long time. If it does not work the doctor said surgery would be a last resort.

Now, I got way off track...but you see, because Flo was crippled, and Shelby was also, in a way, she felt sorry for the bird and wanted to keep her. Well alright then. We did. But a crippled bird can only last so long. Believe it or not she lived for about a year and a half. I had to keep her feathers near her rear trimmed short to keep down the mess, and she was on freshly changed shavings constantly. She could sit up to eat, and to drink. Never layed an egg. Her wattles and comb never fully developed, but she was a sweet bird, always one to talk to you when you walked by her. Always willing to be petted or held. Her legs and feet were just no good for her. So she is gone now, and I have to say I am a bit relieved. Keeping a handicapped chicken is a job sometimes.

I have also lost three of my golden phoenix chicks. I believe they are just not able to keep up with this heat. It has just been too hot. I have a fourth that is feeling poorly and have isolated it with medicated water and medicated food, but I don't think it will make it. So I am down to three goldens that I hatched for myself this summer. I don't know if it is an actual ailment...because it is not affecting the Polish or the Serama cockeral I have in that pen. I don't know what it is, I just know I am tired of finding dead bodies. I am tired of the heat. I want FALL. There I said it. Its out, yes, I know I will regret it, as Winter follows Fall...and Winter brings brutal temperatures with brutal wind chills here where we have no cover. But for now I wish for Fall.

Here is a couple of nice pictures of my Sumatra out enjoying the green grass and sunshine on a less broiling torturous day.

 

What a DEAL

What a deal! When we went on our weekly outting for groceries to Walmart I found a King size now, A KING with two KING pillow shams, bedspread, quilted bedspread...for TWENTY ONE dollars! YES people! I couldn't pass it up. I almost put it back at one point...you know, it is hard to buy something you don't absolutely need. I sure am glad I didn't. It is so pretty on the bed. I put it on this morning...here is a picture of it. And another of a close up of the pattern. I love green, I had to get it.

 

 

Now I kind of did need a new bedspread. The one we had on there before was very pretty. I got it a few years back at Target and it was pretty expensive. It was a real heavy quilted bedspread. The new one is not a "real" quilt like the other one was, but I still like this new one fine.

The reason I needed a new one was I had been sewing the squares back together for sometime on the old one. Not only that, but Tip has a nervous problem, you all know that. I have to stack things on the bed like laundry baskets and things while we are gone for any length of time or she will get on the bed and wad the covers all up. That entails digging of course. Now this bedspread can't take a whole lot of dog clawing. Last week I came home from the store to a wadded up bed AND nine HOLES in the quilt. Boy was I mad.

When Tip was a pup we crate trained her, and she got used to going into that crate at night. Dogs are den animals by nature so they like a cubby hole to get into. After she was grown we did away with the crate. Later she began getting under the bed a lot, and even moreso when we moved. Remember I blocked off access to under the bed a couple of months back to try and resocialize her. She was just getting under there too much...staying under there. Anyway...you may notice in the picture there is a crate, cage, next to the bed now. Her comfy memory foam bed is in there and she is relearning to be crated while we are gone. No more torn up bedspreads, AND when it storms I can close the door to her pen and she is safe from tearing up things in the room during the storm, like trying to get behind the computer desk and tearing out all the wires...sigh..

ANYWAY...lol...I did trail off a bit there didnt I...but I do love the new bedspread, it looks "country" and I love country. :)

Want to know something funny about our bed?

In Nightmare On Elm Street, the third one I think it was, whichever one it was where the actors and actresses were themselves and not thier movie characters, and Freddy was coming to get them anyway...the girl that plays Nancy and her son are laying in bed and they are talking...and I noticed...the bed they were laying in was JUST EXACTLY LIKE OURS! I mean the iron oak leaves and all. I can't remember the details, but in the movie I swear I remember Freddy pulling one of them through the bed!

When I was a teenager that was THE scary movie. My best friend and I went to see the first one and the second movie at the movie theater. I didnt sleep a wink after seeing the second one. My Dad came in about three am and I had all lights a blazin' and he asked what I was doing...the typical teenage response...

Nothin...

LOL

Well DUH

In case anyone is wondering what happened to some of my pictures...Well...I kinda did a dummy thing. I went and deleted them off the Flickr page, not thinking that they would disappear on here, and well, they did. So I will have to go back and restore those, or reload them, or whatever to get them back! ARRGGHHH! LOL

Time has run out for me today though...got to finish going through the coupons and making the grocery list out and finish supper. I got a whole chicken in the rotisserie and it smells sooooo good. Then we got to head out for the store.

Friday Saturday and Sunday

Has it been a week already? How time is fun when your having flies...LOL..oh or is that how time flies when your having fun...he he. Well, so it has been a week. So, I will try and catch up on things around here. In segments of course, adding a little at a time so when I get cut off I won't go into a flying rage and throw the computer out the window...;)

On Friday Shelby and I went to visit Mama for the day. She has a doctors appointment early so we came early and took her in for that. Then we decided to go into her Walmart. I had forgotten Tips can of food for the day down there...so we stopped in to get that, and you know you have to look around while you are in there, right? I have been getting those fake crocs in all colors I can find because they are OH so comfortable. Yeah, they are a bit ugly in a way, but they grow on you, kind of like a fungus...lol. I went to see if I could find some more colors and found me a pair of the sky blue ones with the darker blue squiggly lines on them. Shelby liked those so much when I brought a pair home they were gone from my hands and on her feet before I could say a word.

Then we went out for lunch at Mamas favorite spot. We had a greek salad and Seafood Bisque soup. They only serve that soup on Fridays, and it is OH so good. I wanted to treat, seeing as we don't get to do that sort of thing as often as we used to when I lived closer. Shelby wasnt really hungry while we were there so the nice waitress that we had told her she knew just what she wanted...a nice big shake...and of course Shelbys eyes lit right up...asking what flavors they had. She got vanilla.

After enjoying our lunch it had gotten quite unbearably hot out and we went back to Mama and Daddys house to be in the cool. We had a nice afternoon visiting and Daddy even came home from work early so we got to see him for a while too.

We loaded up to go about 5 or so...as I still had to get by Dwains house to pick up a young barred rock rooster for a fellow chicken fancier that stops over at the house from time to time. Dwain did not really want a big breed chicken and this guy just happened to mention to me that he wanted this kind of roo, and I said I certainly could get him one. I just wanted the roo to have a good home, and in turn doing Dwain and Paul a favor.

Saving...brb

We got on the road and I noticed the temperature display in the truck for the temperature outside. It read 106 degrees. I sure could believe it. It was 102 in the shade at Mama and Daddys.

Getting to Dwains house I wanted to take some pictures of his birds. He has pigeons and pheasants, bantams and well, my favorite is this boy right here. I sent him all the pictures I took so he could use them on his journal...but wanted to show my favorite here. I have this breed also, but just love his roo. He is a Golden Phoenix.

 

 

He is looking to give his dutch rabbit away to Shelby...and of course Shelby wants it. He wants to seperate his other four rabbits into pairs for breeding and needs the pen space. She has taken good care of Derby, so I said yes. We have to make the space for him and do some rearranging of cages in the next few days, but I don't mind.

I picked up the Barred Rock rooster..oh he was handsome...I can't deny that I wanted him for myself after seeing him. I didnt mention that to anyone, but I needed to get him to his new home right away before I ended up keeping him and feeding my addiction of chicken keeping. ;)

It was almost dark when I got towards home. I had called Paul and there was no answer, but he had given me directions to his house and he only lives about 5 minutes from me, so I was going to go ahead and make a go of it and try to drop this roo off to him that night.

I found his house and tooted the horn. Out here you got to do that to give people warning you are out there...not just for the folks, but to see if any loose dogs come running to greet you or maybe to tear you from limb to limb...lol.

His wife came out and asked me to pull around back that Paul was back there. She met me around back and Shelby told me not to start up talking (I cant just stop and run can I? That would be rude) that she wanted to get home, she was tired, we had been out all day and she had a show coming on she wanted to see.

Wellll...I kinda talked a little. Well I had to see all their animals! Gosh they had pigs and goats, rabbits and chickens, all kinds of everything. I didn't take pictures as it was almost dark and I was trying to not stay too long. Pauls wife (Vickie? I think was her name?) was so nice, I asked Paul why he had been hiding her that her and I were both talkers and would love to visit each other.

Saving...brb

We get home and not long after that Dwain calls. He has gone up to Kennesaw and picked up a BUNCH of silkies and knew I had wanted more...he is going to get me into trouble I tell ya...lol. So it was dark, and he had never been over this way. I told him to call Ian and get directions from where he was. Ian is much better at directions that I am, and I really didnt have a clue how to get to my house from Kennesaw.

So he called Ian, got directions. BUT...we didnt know that Hwy 113 had massive contruction and signs everywhere saying Road Closed and it is dark out there too. Big Oops. Ian and I ended up hopping in his car and going to find Dwain. I think he was ready to call it quits...lol. We convinced him that it wasnt far now to our house to come on and sit down and stay a little while.

Poor Dwain, I couldnt imagine what was going through his mind as we went up and down and around curves down the long dark narrow two lane roads back to home. But we made it, and got settled and I got my pick of silkies. I am partial to the white silkies. He has buffs too, but I wanted the whites. He also had this little guy in there...I believe he is half cochin and half silkie. I named him Twiggy...everytime I look at him...that is all I can think of...I mean look at that twig on his head! LOL!

 

Here is a picture below of my new white silkie chicks...

 

I want to thank you Dwain for thinking of me and letting me have first pick...I love these fuzzies so much! Ian told Dwain he appreciates coming out here like that for me to have first pick. He told him there just arent that many folks that would go out of their way these days like that for us, and he said thankyou for that.

I had to show Dwain all the critters of course...so I pulled out the big flashlight and we went around outside. I had also told him to take the rest of the Serama chicks in trade for those silkies. I can always make more anyway. ;) So we got those out while we were out there. Remember it had been too hot for our old rabbit Tyler so I had made him a place in a big box inside the house. Dwain was just amazed at our "horse" as he called him. LOL Tyler weighs about twenty pounds easily. Here is a picture I took of Dwain holding Tyler.

 

After sitting down for a bit Dwain had to get on home. He had an early morning funeral he had to attend. I did ask him to call me when he got home to let me know he got home alright seeing as it was so late. He did.

Now, onto Saturday. It is so rare lately that Ian gets a Saturday off. But this Saturday he had a choice, so he chose to stay home. It was so wonderful having him home all weekend. It was a really really great day. Shelby was glad he was home an extra day too. They played some games together on the Wii. She and him really get into the gaming..they do a lot of that together.

Saving...brb

One thing about being a poultry fancier..you are always making new friends. There are so many folks out there that love anything with feathers...from pheasants, to pigeons to chickens, ducks....all of it. Kay is one that I wish wasnt so far away. She has been so good to me, and wanted to send me more eggs, but I have shut down the incubator for the year, so I passed on more eggs until next Spring when I get the fever again. Here is a picture of the two that hatched from the eggs she sent me. They are much younger than the ones up above, so they are still in their half fuzz half feathers and fuzz..crazy out of control fuzz look...lol. They are so sweet and I love them so very much though..I hope to show them come February.

 

 

Well I almost made it through without being cut off...having to do Sunday over again. GRRRRR.

Sunday we had expected and unexpected company. Shelby had been wanting the twins to come for a visit but I have not been up for spend the night weekends. It has just been too hot and would have been to taxing for me with all I have going on around here, projects and all. So we agreed for the day visit would be alright. I told Brian to bring them as early as he wanted to. But, they didnt get here til almost 2. That only gave them four hours to play as they had to get back to their mothers and get ready for bed and school the next day. The kids made the most of it though..they played upstairs for a while and then went out to the pool for a couple of hours before they had to go.

Saving...brb

Jay and John stopped by to visit for the day with Ian. Jay brought some wonderful vegetables from his garden for us. He brought red peppers and HUGE tomatoes, along with cucumbers...goodness knows I dont have enough of those....right? ;) The guys played the Wii Sports games all day...had a good time. I went about doing my own thing as the girls played and the boys played.

I fixed manicotti, two dishes of it, and garlic bread for the bunch. The kids didnt like manicotti and I knew they wouldnt seeing as I dont think ricotta cheese is one of any kids favorites. I made them pizzas and that seemed to be just fine with them.

At the end of the day as I flopped into bed and all company was gone and it was dark outside I felt pretty satisfied about the weekend. I got my husband all day on Saturday uninterrupted as did Shelby got her Daddy for a whole day uninterrupted.

Offspring

Last February I came home from the Poultry Show with these two...Shelby named them Coco (the hen) and Kuckoo (the roo). I managed to incubate about 7 of her eggs...but only two made it. They are the cutest little things with their big hairdos coming in.

 

 

Here is the older one...what a cutie. I can't tell if the chicks are boys or girls yet on this breed. Harder to tell.

 

Here is a picture of the younger Polish chick in the midst of the others I hatched for myself. Can you spot it? LOL How can you not. ;)

 

It is supposed to be 102 degrees today. I am so worried about all the animals outside. I think I am going to bring the rabbit inside. I put a box fan on him yesterday...but he is getting old and I am afraid this heat is going to kill him. So far the chickens are making it through...and I keep Derby hosed down...although for some reason he seems to be tolerating it better than anyone.

Everyone please take care and stay cool and drink plenty of fluids.

Anyone ever see the movie Pitch Black? That is one of my favorite movies. Yesterday the sun outside reminded me of that planet they got stuck on with three suns...so bright and unreal.

Last year we lost Willie (named after Willie Nelson of course) to the day after day relentless 100 degree and above heat. He just couldn't take it. I was misting him with water throughout the day to try and keep him cooler...but that afternoon I found him gone. He was a sweet boy and I still miss him.  Here is a picture of Willie from last year.

 

A Correction

That song is on Brad Paisleys second album...called Part II.  Its number twelve I believe.

One Of My Favorite Songs

Too country what's that Is it like too Republican or too Democrat Is it too far to the left Too far to the right Too straight down the middle Is it too black or too white   Are the biscuits too fluffy is the chicken too fried Is the gravy to thick are the peas too black-eyed Is the iced tea too sweet does it have too much tang Are there too many lemons in Mama's lemon meringue   Too country what's that Is it too many pearls of wisdom under grandpas old hat Is it just too old fashioned is it just too antique Is the question too strong or the answer too weak   Are the roses too red is the sunshine too bright Are there too many stars in the heavens at night Are there too many fish that still jump in the stream Is the blue sky too blue is the clean air too clean   Is the grace too amazing is the steeple too tall Are there too many "yes sirs", "yes ma'ams" and "How're Y'alls" Is the message too real to close to the bone Do the fiddle and steel remind you of home Is honest and true just not in demand   Too country Too country Too country I don't understand            
 
 
 
 
 
 There are a lot of songs on Country Artists albums that never seem to get played on the radio. You discover them only because you bought the whole album. This song is on Brad Paisleys first album. It has Buck Owens, George Jones, and Bill Anderson singing with him. If you haven't heard this song you should...it is a great song. I just love the sentiment behind it.
Time to get to work now...see y'all tomorrow mornin'

Pictures to Go With My Last Entry

    

Where did their heads go??? LOL Caught them both preening, in the same position..too funny.

 

Some Quality Time With Bonnie and Clyde

These two have more personality than my whole yard full of chickens. Bonnie is a very people friendly hen. Soon as the lid is lifted off their temporary home (using a brooder bin) she is out of there and coming to see somebody. She will hop right up onto your lap and she wants the petting to begin. Now with all my chicken handling I discovered that chickens love to have under their wings rubbed and lightly scratched. Their wingpit so to speak. I work all around the area and they love it. Any chicken loves it once they settle down to enjoy it. I do it to Phoenix before he is put to bed. Its very relaxing for them and for me.

Now Clyde, be just follows Bonnie wherever she goes. For those that think the rooster is the boss...he he..you got it backwards. The hen is the boss...and don't you forget it. She dictates his very actions and moves most of the time. A rooster lives to impress and win the favor of his lady.

( I don't know what happened, I am retyping all this and will be back afterwards with pictures, sorry.)

These two have become very spoiled. In the afternoon at suppertime Bonnie knows what the dinner trays coming out means. She will make this awful noise...its a scratchy whiny noise, over and over. Its the way hens complain when they are not happy about something. She is ready to be let out...well that gets Clyde stirred up and he starts crowing over and over. So I let them out. You have to watch Bonnie because she will be in your plate in a heartbeat seeing what she can pull off of it. She isnt like Phoenix. Phoenix will stand on the floor and beg like a little dog. Clyde doesnt seem as assertive and will wait on the floor for his goodies. I will put out a small piece of wheat bread and clip a collard leaf onto the side of their brooder house. I have also sliced a thick cucumber piece and they like to pick the middle clean and leave an empty cucumber ring. Now the funniest thing is Clyde has discovered ice water. I have these little short juice glasses I use for Phoenix and them to drink out of while they eat their goodies. Clyde has gotten to where he will stand next to the little glass with water and a couple of cubes of ice in it and drink and drink. He gets this look about him..closes his eyes and will hold his mouth open. I think he is getting a brain freeze...like when you eat ice cream...lol! I guess he likes it because he will stand there and drink and drink for thirty minutes if you let him.

Initially when I put their treats down Bonnie is very demanding and wants Clyde to pull off little chunks of bread for her, and he does so willingly with little insistant noises saying look here look here, I got you a goodie. Who needs tv when you got all this funny action going on? ;)

We also keep a basket on the couch. It has various controllers in it, for the Wii game system to the DVD to the tv contollers. Bonnie insists that you must take all that out so she can get in there and root around. Clyde will get in with her, but she pushes and pushes to get under him all the while both of them making clicking noises that they make when they are going to nest.

Don't let anyone tell you that chickens dont have a language. They make a wide variety of sounds and they all mean different things. I have yet to figure out the guineas language, but I can speak chicken fluently. ;)

Alright, now, I am going to make a seperate picture entry of their antics that goes with this entry...so look above here in a few minutes! See ya in a few!

 

     

and Did Some Canning

This year Ian has come through quite nicely on the garden...we have SO many cucumbers...you can see on the table...I already did bread and butter pickles and kosher spears. Now these two loads and the vegetable drawer slam full in the fridge get knocked out.

 

 

Slicing slicing slicing and then more slicing...

 

The first batch I went by the directions, well almost. Good grief it says to boil the cucumbers for ten minutes in the brine! I only had it going for about 5 and they looked like they were about to fall to pieces...and they were. When I tried to pick them up out of the pot to put them in the jars they were mush. So..the next two bunches I soaked in the hot brine for about ten minutes and those were firmer. I have to say, I used the recipe on the cannister for dill pickles. I tasted some I left in the brine and didn't can...and OH they were TOO salty to me. I don't know if I will make dills again. The kosher turned out perfect. I don't like bread and butter but Ian said they turned out great.

 

 

 

This is my first time canning. I enjoyed it. I went through two cases just making the dills. I need another case as I have tomatoes waiting in the fridge. I am going to make spaghetti sauce and salsa next. I hope the tomatoes will keep until I can get some more jars on Thursday!

 

Bugs and Blooms

I finally went out and took some pictures...Lisa had wanted to see cotton plants up close and I got a few nice shots to look at.

Here we go...here is a beautiful new bloom...

 

 

As the bloom gets older it turns pinker...eventually closing up and falling off...which leaves the bulb...and it will eventually open and you will see the cotton. When this happens I will take pictures...there are many seeds inbedded in the cotton. Here is a picture of the pinkening flower...

 

 

As I wandered on down beside the rows I crossed the front and went out to the mailbox. This view is across the street. I have been told there is over a hundred acres in just this one field that they plant each year. You may see the little green thing on a post there...

 

I am not exactly sure what these things are. They are spaced every so often down the sides. Maybe a weavel trap? To moniter the weavel population? I am not really sure what they are. Maybe someone else can tell me. Here is a closer picture of it.

 

As I was walking back up the driveway I noticed a small bole weavel. You can almost always find one on the driveway...but moreso after they have come through and sprayed for them.

 

 A couple more pictures of the cotton plants next to us...

 

 

 

An interesting side note about the property across the street. A few years before we moved here Tip Top Poultry bought the property. They were going to build a chicken processing plant there. Now I don't know how many of you have passed a chicken processing plant before...but you will know it when you do. It STINKS. The town raised three kinds of hell and Tip Top backed off. They DO still own that property though...which is scary. The property next to us is owned by a long time farmer, Mr, Lovell. He owns a lot of the land around these parts and farms it. I was told originally he had bought the acreage for his children so they could build houses for themselves on the land. They had other plans from what I heard tell. Moved and became citified. So he farms the cotton there. Fine by me...its just beautiful to look out and see. I like the hum of the tractors in the Spring tilling up the land...I know those little plants will be sprouting before long and it will be just beautiful like it is now before long.

Hope you enjoyed the cotton entry...and I hope everyone is having a relaxing Sunday afternoon. We are. :)