Gas Found

I went round the world so to speak and ended up right by the house to get gas...go figure. But let me explain.

I headed out, checking Burtons store first. No numbers on the signs. That means no gas. I saw one or two lingering vehicles...but figured they were just out of luck, but looking anyway.

As I headed south on 101 I had some @ss decide I needed to do at LEAST 70. Um, to save gas, you dont speed, thats for sure. I continued to go the speed limit, which was 55, feeling the burn in the back of my head as he stared holes through me I am sure.

I dropped the trash at the local dump while I was out and headed back south on 101. Pinions was out of gas. Shell...out of gas. Going into Rockmart I passed by two small gas stations. Each had lines at least ten cars long going both ways into the little parking lots to the little island of two or four pumps.

I kept going, heading out 278 west...passing a Cowboys and a Citgo...completely out of gas.

Back up Hwy 27 to Collard Valley Road, I cut through back to where I started...at Burtons.

Well looky there, there is a line forming. I pulled in and got in line, being the next in line. As I sat there and watched more people pulling in one of the ladies that works there came out and put bags over both sides of one of the two pumps they have. Out of gas on the first one she says. I pull to the next one after the man in front of me has finished.

It was all in an orderly fashion. The lady that works there took peoples money or credit card, one at a time, taking it to the other lady at the counter in the store. By the time you got done pumping your gas, you pulled off to the side so the next person could start fueling while you went in and got your reciept. Very efficient.

I filled up the old truck and a five gallon container for 92.00 thereabouts.

The news keeps saying...don't get more than you need. Blah blah blah, that we are part of the reason everyone is running out, everyone is filling up. Well you know what..when the news tells you there may not be any gas consistantly delivered to the Atlanta metro area and beyond until October 13...you get ALL YOU CAN. Because what I got, will only last til Friday for Ian going back and forth to work. If you are lucky enough to find it, get all that you can, cause you WILL need it all.

I am sure by now Burtons is bone dry. I feel fortunate to have gotten the gas. Now I got to go out and wash the poor old girl so she will be presentable for use all this coming week, and possibly the next.

I did think of taking the camera Chrissie, but I just didnt. It was one of those times where you know, you just dont feel like it.

I wonder what is going to happen next week. How far will this go? I wonder if we will be able to get gas for Ian to get back and forth to work next week, much less go to the Fair.

I just don't understand why there arent tankers coming in from other parts of the country. Its not like the southeast lives on an island and we are hard to get to.

What about the stock markets today eh? It doesnt look good folks. No gas, no money. Are we destined for horse and buggy and bartering? We will see....yes, we will see.

Going Out Hunting

Yes, I am going to go hunting. For gas that is.

 

The gas shortage here in Georgia is bad. Really bad. People are following tanker trucks around to their destination to get gas. People are running out and are stranded on the Atlanta roads. The HERO units are out putting gas in peoples tanks to get them going again. If you can find gas, there are long lines out into the road to get it.

We live an hour from Atlanta. Hopefully, that is an advantage. I have to go out now and try and find premium and fill the five gallon gas can for Ians car. I will take the old truck as it drinks regular, which if I find, I will fill up the truck with. He may be having to use the old truck to get back and forth to work since regular is about all you can find now.

So far the schools are still in session, but for how long. News reports say that gas won't be coming in steady until October 13. That is a long time away.

We are supposed to go to the Georgia National Fair like we always love to do in October. Its coming up this coming week. I wonder how many will be able to make it. I am wondering if we will find the gas to go.

 

See You Next Monday

Its that time again. Ian is off tomorrow and the weekend and its time for me to say goodbye til Monday. I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend.   Remember, everyday holds the promise of a better day. Every day we wake up to a new day, we get another chance to start over. Make the most of every day. I usually don't care for the Fall season much, but I am going to do my best to look forward to this following season and embrace it. 

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So what do I have planned for this weekend? Oh a little of this and a little of that. I don't think we will be able to go much of anywhere since all the gas stations are out of gas, just about anyway. Thats okay though, we can enjoy being at home too.

As far as chicken chores go...I plan on building these guys and gals new winter quarters. These pens I got from Freecycle were fine for the Summer months, but its not going to be cozy for wintertime. So, I have three pens to make, and I might make a small run attached to them too, I havent decided yet. One for the Sultan pullets, one for the Sultan cockerals. Then one more for my two gals that I managed to keep alive and well out of the terrible loss of my Elvis and Elvis Jr., and my sweet girl I lost to the fox.

Here are the summertime pens. These will be put away, possibly used later to keep show birds clean on shavings when I am prepping them. I have three pens, but I for some reason only took pictures of the two.

 

Of course I plan on spending plenty of time with my family...and this is also when Phoenix, Clyde and Rusty get more of my attention. :) Here is Rusty now..bidding you a good weekend...see you all on Monday. XOXOX

 

 

Listen, Watch

Yes, what IF everyone CARED? What a world this could be.

 

Chicken Talk Today

Do you remember the slideshow movie I did of all my babies hatched out in May? If not, click HERE to see it.

Those babies are growing up to be beautiful chickens. After I repaired that pen and situated it for shelter and night roosting I disassembled the Polish pen, putting them in the smaller grow pen. I used the four foot green fencing and posts from that pen and fenced off a free range area for my 'pretties'. Some of these will be for showing one day, hopefully. The giant cochins in particular.

Now I let the white crested polish roosters out to be free in the yard during the day. They are a bachelor group. I took their girls away and put them in the 'pretties' pen. I really need to sell a couple of them off. They don't seem to be harrassing anybody right now. As long as they keep it that way, they can all stay. Right now they look a little ratty, but their feathers will grow back and fill out. Here is a slideshow of my pretties NOW, and their new area. Some were in the video above, some weren't.

 

 

The polish/silkie crosses and the golden phoenix/silkie crosses were my own invention. They are mutts, but I made them. :) I like the way they turned out. Even though they arent a 'real' breed, I think they look cool. :)

Oh and remember that black Sultan? Its a SHE and you will see her labelled as Mystery Sultan on the slideshow. Istill don't think I labeled that egg wrong. I am always very careful about that.

If you want to stop a picture to look at it just run the mouse pointer over the picture and a back, stop and forward will appear at the bottom of the pictures.

Oh yeah, and in case your wondering how that one White Crested Polish cockeral got the name Goatman...well, the first day the bachelors were let out, he spent two days in the goats pen area...lol. Thus, goatman. ;)

Nickelback

Usually...I stick to country music. BUT lately, having a teenage daughter and a husband that listens to anything BUT country...I am still exposed to other music. Nickelback is one that I really love. I am also a big Disney movie fan, and these two movies that someone compiled with this Nickelback song...well...it got me all teared up..but in a good way. :) Enjoy this...and if you want to see the original video just go to Youtube and put in Nickelback, Far Away. Someone took this song and put it to these movies. This wasnt the original music. Nicely done. :) Adult or child, you should rent and watch The Lion King and Spirit. Very moving movies.

 

Information on Freecycle

I got so many comments about not knowing about Freecycle. It is nationwide. All you have to do is go to http://www.freecycle.org/

You have to sign up for a Yahoo ID, which is no big deal, it is easy to do. If you want to check and see if your city or county has a Freecycle just put in one or the other with your state and see what comes up. If you don't have one in your county, there may be one in the county next to you, so check that as well if its convenient for you. Or you can hit the Browse Groups tab and look under your state.

I didnt know a thing about it til someone mentioned it to me here in this area.

A lot of what I see are infant and childrens clothes. Sometimes you will see couches, tvs, old Christmas decorations, just about anything you can think of..books. I got a lot of Shelbys homeschool books passed to me through a homeschool mom on Freecycle in Cartersville. Its really a wonderful thing! Check it out near you, let me know if you come across anything good. Oh, and you can set it up where you get emails straight from your group so you dont have to go to the site to look and see what has been posted. You have to be fast sometimes. I answered mine 20 seconds after the post, and just barely claimed it first! Good luck on finding some treasures in your area. Don't forget, you can post something you don't want or need anymore that you think someone else might could use too! :)

Freecycle Find!

I love old furniture. I have two end tables I got at a yard sale for fourteen dollars that had burn marks and scratches all on the tops of them. But it was REAL wood. It was made sturdy. The date it was made is still on a little piece of cardboard stapled to the bottom of one of the tables. 1954 I think it says(Yes I left it there). I sanded down the tops of those two tables, stained it and varnished the tops. Good as new, maybe even better.

I didn't know what to expect today when I answered a Freecycle ad from a neighboring town here in my county. The ad said it was a China cabinet in real good condition. I thought, okay, probably a pressed board one or something. There was no picture of it posted. I got first dibs on the cabinet. I went out there to Cedartown and got it. This is what I picked up!

 

 

This young man looking to be in his late 20s came out of what I believe used to be his grandmothers house. I say this because it was packed with his grandmothers old furniture along with his and his girlfriends current furniture. He says his girlfriend likes the new looking furniture and doesnt want them to keep the old stuff. Fine by me, I will take it! He also has another piece, a hutch that matches. A lady is supposed to come and get it this afternoon, but if it turns out she doesnt find what she is expecting and doesnt want it, I WANT IT. He also has a big bookcase, desk cabinet thing that he is getting rid of too. Yes, I sure will take it. Freecycle is a wonderful thing. I did take him a dozen of my wonderful free range eggs as a token of my appreciation for giving away such a wonderful piece of furniture. He said he could probably sell the furniture, but he just doesnt want to fool with it.

It was his grandmothers furniture. So this stuff is probably pretty old. I like it. :)

Now there is some work to be done. If I do receive the other piece (which I will know by tonight) I will probably try to take off the dark varnish and put on some lighter color, like oak. Or, I might go with that whitewash color type painting technique, is that what its called? Do you know what I mean? If it was a whitewashed type white color it would match the kitchen cabinets. I don't know. I havent decided yet. Here are two more pictures of it opened up. You can see on the feet the laminate has started to chip away. That will have to be dealt with also.

 

 

2009 Browntrout Calendar, Some Questions Answered

You know how on the backside of a calendar they show you each months pictures...well here is the one I was talking about. April, the one featured on the right, is one they have used before, and that ratty looking rooster on the bottom left has been used before too. I have better pictures of Pete, my Golden Laced Wyandotte rooster than that second picture. To me, that white rooster in front of the feed bag looks ratty too. I have seen some beautiful specimens at shows..and some of these just arent picture material. Thats my opinion anyway.

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I have neglected answering a few questions, and I apologize. I will do that now. :)

The dogs are Irish Wolfhounds, except for Kylie, she is a deerhound.

The peachicks don't make the loud noise that the adults do, yet. They make little sad sounding peeps that will melt your heart. I do look forward to that adult sound though. Now all I need is a Kuckaburro (sp?) and I will have that full jungle sound going on out back. ;).

Where do I get my energy I was asked. Well, it is in my blood. My daddy, bless his heart, he has so much energy he makes me tired just thinking about how busy he stays. He loves to be busy though. The other thing is I probably get energy from stored FAT??? ROFL! Had to put that in there.

I would love to make my own calendar. You know, The Pioneer Woman made her own. I could make my own too. Is it too late to make one this year? Probably. I wouldn't know where to start. I bet I can find out how to start on the internet though. EVERYTHING is on the internet....right? ;)

Oh by the way, I DO love the picture of the pair of crele bantams in the bottom right. :)

 

Pictures You Won't See In A Goat Calendar

Do you know why goats smell? Well I do. Ever notice its the bucks that smell and not the nannies? THIS is why...

 

Do you know what Eddie just did? I bet some of you know. For those that don't...he peed on his beard, his whole face area is tinkled upon. Then they raise their lip up like that and sniff. Why would they do that you ask. Well, its a rutting ritual. Now why the ladies would LIKE this, I have no idea...I don't think they do, but that is what the boys do to get ready to fight and mate.

NO KISSES FOR THESE LIPS! LOL!

 

It seems the tables have turned on Troy for now. Eddie has become the dominate male between the two of them. He had it coming though...he was always hassling Eddie. Turn about is fair play.

 

Calendars

You know, there are a lot of neat calendars coming out now for the coming year. I always LOVE to pour over the ones at Tractor Supply. They have Tractor calendars, Border Collies. Ones that feature Barns. Goat calendars, pig calendars, and yes, chicken calendars. I have bought several of these over the past few years. I am noticing something. Sometimes, they use the SAME picture somewhere in the new one from the last year! Now, I am not tooting my own horn...WELL YES I AM, but I can take better pictures than some of those featured in these calendars. Not to mention they take pictures of some ratty looking roosters sometimes! They need to hire me to take some NEW pictures, or have a contest for people to send in their pictures to be featured.

I mean, look at this perfect picture of Tiny, and what about that picture of Buzzbomb? Look at that fantastic picture of Rod (white Sultan) in my sidebar! There are some beautiful chickens out there in the world..so why are they showing these ratty roosters on their calendar? That is what I want to know, but probably will never find out.

Okay, rant over...lol. Now I can get on with my day with that off my chest.

Oh and no I didnt buy the chicken calendar, but I might buy the goat calendar. :) Something different this year. I have had several border collie ones and several chicken ones. Maybe a goat calendar is what I need next. Do you keep your old calendars? I do, I even kept one Mama was going to toss. It has some really COOL pictures of chickens.

 

I Love Sundays

There is just something about Sundays. They are quiet and more peaceful than any other day of the week. I love that about Sundays.

I just caught everyone leaving from their Sunday on Dads webcam. You know I had no idea that they had the meeting at Mary and Rays house. For me, this is something I would love to be a part of. Small groups are much more inviting to me. I grew up Baptist in a church with a fairly large congregation. The small gathering is much more appealing to me. I never put it together, Mary, playing the music on their organ, the singing, but now it all makes sense! I just think this is so wonderful. I wish I was closer because I think I would really like to be a part of their meetings. The thought makes my heart kind of flutter. Thats a good thing. ;) I also had a nice little chat IMing with Ray this morning. He is just such a sweet man. Someone I really want to meet one day.

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I didn't get on the computer at all yesterday, can you believe it? Ian is working all this weekend so I have been keeping busy outside. The weather has become very nice with the drier fall-like air. My younger sister and her boyfriend came by for a few hours yesterday. They caught me out mowing the front. They were out riding on the motorcycle. It was such a nice day for just about anything. We had a nice visit and I gave them both a bag of hot dog buns to go out and feed the emus and chickens with. Erin says I should start up a petting zoo..lol. I think not. What little experience I have had with people and my animals, it just isnt worth the stress. Don't get me wrong. Some people have been wonderful with my animals, but some don't need to be around animals as they don't understand how to treat one. After they left I mowed til it was almost dark and started locking up chickens for the night. I always have a few stubborn ones that I have to remind to go in the pens.

Today I am going to get on the mower and ride along and finish all the mowing. I reckon that will take about three and a half more hours. Its not really work though. I really do enjoy it and do some of my best thinking during this time.

If I have time I really would like to plant a few things today. I have been keeping those flowers watered, but they really need to get into the ground. I will have them in today or tomorrow. The weather is so nice now I stay outside a lot more these past days.

The three new babies are still doing great. Mom is doing a great job. I have 8 of Coco and Kuckoos eggs in the incubator now. Four of the first batch of five are developing nicely. I had one I threw out a few days after it had been in there...there was this SMELL and it was not good. I candled it and saw a big dark blob in there...oh yeah...it was ROTTEN! PEW! LOL!

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I thought I would share a few pictures here today. Here is some friendly horse nose...asking can he please go out to eat now please...so I let him out.

 

 

 

 

The peachicks are just as fine as can be. I have been thinking of what to name them. I have decided on birthstone names. The india blues will have the names Emerald, Aquamarine, and Sapphire. The white one I havent settled on yet. Either, Pearl, Opal, or Moonstone. Which one do you like? I am leaning towards Opal or Moonstone because I won't be able to tell if it is a girl or a boy for a long time. Here are a few pictures I just took of them. The pen they are in is the pen I got from Sherry when I went to visit her. It came in VERY handy. It is perfect for my little peachicks. I changed the litter right after I took this picture, so forgive the messiness of their pen. The picture of the one peachick I believe to be a male. He will be named Emerald. I am working on taming them down by holding them and petting them a lot. Emerald was in the porch with me this time around.

 

Last but not least, I want to leave you with a picture of the guineas. I don't know if you can really call them keets anymore! I really enjoy watching this troop scout around the property. They do come running when they see me getting the feed out though. Everybody loves a easy meal. They love the birdseed I put in the feeders and some scratch grains I mix in with the chickens food. We still have sixteen of the babies.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday. :)

 

SHOW? NOW??? HUH??

Yesterday in the mail I recieved a flyer with an entry sheet for the first annual Fall show for a new club put together, the Fowl Fanciers Club. This was sent to me by Brian Blair. He was the one that I bought my frizzle cochin girls from that I showed a couple of years ago.

Fall is a horrible time to show. HORRIBLE. Fall is when everyone is molting. For instance, Kuckoo has lost all but about three tail feathers right now, Coco is in the process of regrowing back feathers, so she is bald there from mating. If you look in Johnnys pen (the black sumatra) it looks like he exploded in there and has about one twig hanging off his rear. Almost no one is in condition to show, they are shedding their old to get in the new feathers.

I have no birds to show right now, except well, maybe Buzzbomb. That would be him above. I just took this picture yesterday. Clean up his feet and put a little mineral oil on those legs, feet, wattles and comb and I got a winner. Except for one thing. You have to have a special judge for Serama. I called to find out if the show was having said judge and I am waiting for an answer. He just looks stunning. He is the best Serama I have. He is very typy, stands so upright like  a serama should. His legs arent too long, his wings point down really well without dragging the ground. He isnt tame AT ALL though. Have to work on that if I am going to show him. I can tame him down by then if I have to. If I don't show, I may still go. I enjoy going to the shows. Its the day after Shelbys birthday though. Karen and Tiffany will be spending the night the night before after we go out for a day of fun for the girls birthdays. We will see how things go.

Emu Pool?

Yesterday I drug the plastic baby pool John and Christi gave us for the emus to use since their dogs never seemed interested in using it to cool off.

Emus LOVE water when they are hot. I hose them down while they lay on the ground and flop around. I have a large plastic livestock waterer, feeder, whatever you want to call it. Only one emu at a time can fit in this, so the pool ought to be a lot of fun for three at once.

Here it sits...I filled it up...without any interest shown by the emus. Once it did catch their eye, they were curious, but very leery of it. I don't know why. So I dragged over their usual big pan and set it right next to the pool and filled it up, hoping this would encourage them to check things out more closely. Nope, that big yellow thing might get me they seemed to say. Last night I caught all three walking round and round the pool, cautiously dipping their beaks in it for a sip of water. I hope today at the warmest part of the day they will get in and I can catch them in it and take some pictures.

In the meantime...here sits the emu pool, empty for now.

 

Some pictures of the fraidy bunch...lol.

 

I never could get all three in the pictures at once, but I promise, I do have three. ;)

Fall Season Baby Surprise

Yesterday was a fine day to be outside. I sat around and watched chickens, took pictures(to be shown later), puttered about here and there. Just soaking up a Fall feeling day.

I kind of know these things are going to happen. Time just seems to slip by so fast and before you know it things have come to pass. Most of the time if someone gets to setting on eggs I will take them. This time..well, I just kind of never got around to it, and thats okay too. :)

I was doing a pass on the pens, making sure everyone had clean water and plenty of food. As I peek into Speckles harem pen...this is what I saw...

 

Here is a slideshow of Thelma and her three beautiful babies. This just makes me smile. Silkie moms are such wonderful dedicated mothers. If you remember, Thelma is one of the silkies I showed last February. None of the babies had bumps on their heads, so these are not Sultan/Serama (Speckles) mix. They are either silkie seramas, or possibly one of the eggs could have been Twiggys, the mixed little girl that is Shelbys chicken. I believe she is some sort of silkie/bantam cochin mix. Enjoy mom and babies. :) You will see proud daddy in a few of the pics, and an aunt Sultan in there too. MissTwiggy girl never let me take her picture though ;)

 

A short video of mom and babies

Slideshow of Pictures From Visit! :)

Saturday's Visit

Here it is Wednesday and I am finally able to make an entry about our visit to Ians dads and Christis house!

Monday the computer was not being very cooperative. Tuesday Photobucket was doing maintenance off and on all day. Rather than keep pushing it and trying to make things work I just walked away those two days. Today, everything seems to be working great, knock on wood.

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Ian, Shelby and I left out early Saturday morning and got us a big breakfast at Ryans in Hiram before hitting the road to Sharpsburg.

Thankfully, we had filled up the night before at Walmart in Rome. Get this. Now I have to get premium in the truck. We had a stroke of luck. Once we got out from buying groceries and getting a gas card to get three cents off the price it was discovered they were out of everything BUT premium. So, because thats all they had, they had to give it at the price of Regular! So, I got premium gas for regular price, which ended up being $3.76 a gallon. That is bargain today. Got to make that tank last a while, its like liquid gold isnt it?

Anyway, back to our visit. We pulled up with plenty of time for a full day ahead of visiting. After we got in and got relaxed I decided to pitch myself over a board they have in the doorway between the breakfast room and the kitchen. Yes yes, I am the worlds best at being a clutz. I knew it was there. I had been told it was there before. Darby can't get his feet up very well, he has trouble. This keeps him out of the rest of the house easily as its not hard for anyone else to step over, but it is for him. I went sprawling out on the kitchen floor. I did my shins up real good. Had to get both of them you know. It is a step up, and then also step over the board. I just stepped up for the step, not even paying attention to the board, so my foot caught on the board and over I went.

When you get older, and you fall, you dont get right back up. You just kind of lay there for a bit, contemplating how you got down there on the floor and observing how much pain your in at that moment. After a few minutes you finally get up, but you don't just spring back anymore.

Christi got two bags of ice and I sat there with my legs up on a stool with those bags on my bruised and battered shins. I really need to look where I am going better.

When asked in a joking manner why I did that...I just said,

"Well, I just wanted to go ahead and get that out of the way so I could get on with the rest of the day!" ;)

The dinner they cooked was wonderful. Fresh corn on the cob, fresh baked rolls (Christi bakes bread from scratch), potatoes all rotten, lol, thats augratin, but we like to say all rotton. They were cheesy too. Yum! Then there was the brisquet, which they were so worried it would not be as good as it caught fire, but it was fine. It didnt taste burned at all and it was so nice and crisp on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside. Christi made this blueberry cake that was so moist and delicious for dessert.

Before we ate we went out to visit the dogs and see all the fencing that John had put up in the woods. The dogs have lots of room to run and spread out. It is a really nice set up.

We sat around and talked and just had a really good time. Christi has a lot of experience with giving animals shots and stuff and she is a nurse, so she and John are going to come over in about a month and she is going to show me how to give Derby his 5 way shot for the Fall season. We also left with a plastic baby pool for the emus. They had bought it for the dogs, but they just never seemed interested in using it to cool off in.

We left and got home just before dark. I fed te animals in the dark and kept the lights on around the outside since the chickens were all waking back up and coming out to eat. After I thought everyone had about finished I turned out the lights for the night. We hit the hay ourselves not too long afterward. It had been a full and fun day.

Here are some pictures from our visit. Tabasco is a beautiful scarlet maccaw, but he is not too keen on being held or petted. I did manage to hand feed him a few goldfish crackers. He is such a beautiful bird.

If I misplaced names of the dogs on the pictures I apologize right now. I tried to get it right though. If I didnt, Christi, just let me know and I can change the headers of the pictures. These dogs are so sweet and gentle. My favorite is Rebbie. He was just magnificent looking, and so sweet too.

Enjoy the pictures. :)

Unbelievable. While I was typing this out I was waiting on the pictures I had loaded onto photobucket to load into a slideshow so I could put it as a slideshow on here...but it is still loading...and you know why? I minimized that page, and went to photobucket on a new page, and it says they are doing maintenance AGAIN! GRRRRR! Well, I am sorry. As soon as they are done fiddling around I will post the slideshow. I will do it on a seperate entry so it will show up as a new entry.

In the meantime, we are going to start school. I will hopefully get those pictures up soon.

 

Time For The Weekend

It's finally here, the weekend. Ian has today, tomorrow and Sunday off so we are going to have a great weekend. We are going to visit his dad and Christi this weekend. Return the visit you might say. :) I have been told they are fixing brisquet on the grill....mmmmmmm! We are going to get to see all of Christi's fantastic dogs too. Its going to be a lot of fun.

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I hope everyone in Texas has battoned down the hatches and is going to stay safe. Paula is over that way. Paula you and John stay safe. Let us know you are okay after the storm has passed. Texas is usually pretty dry this time of year from what I gather, but they have had more than their share of rain and storms this year.

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After working hard on the pen and moving birds my momentum slowed. Just getting darker earlier and that cuts my time down. Yesterday was spent cleaning out waterers, getting everyone fed and watered. I made a chicken ramp for the moved chickens. They are not catching on to perching in that pen, so I am hoping the ramp will encourage them. At first I tried just placing the board in there from the ground to the perches, slanted, but the few that tried couldnt get a good foothold and were sliding backwards on it. I took some molding and cut it up into little pieces and found some carpet tacks I hadnt even opened from when I put the new carpet down in the screen porch and used those to fasten the little footholds all the way up. It seemed to work. I sprinkled some food on the ramp and two of the cochins caught on. I still don't know if they are really going to use the perches. Guess I better be putting some hay down on the ground in there to keep them all clean.

Yesterday I really wanted to work on getting a shelter pen built for the polish bunch, but it just didnt happen. Shelby woke up early and didnt feel well, so she went to lay down and take a nap. I caught up the laundry and dishes and picked up around the house a bit while she slept. This put us behind doing school so we didnt finish that til almost 5. We got it done though. Then there was only enough time to go out to feed and water the ones that needed it, then it was time to cook supper and Ian to be home. Just not enough hours in the day sometimes. I will get to it though, I always do.

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Today once Shelby and I have done school its a trip to get groceries and of course to Tractor Supply for the animals feed.

So, Sunday I will probably be outside puttering about. I did most of next weeks school planner this past week since we were going to be visiting this weekend. Since Ian is home I probably won't be posting anything til Monday.

Everyone have a very nice weekend and see yall on Monday. XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Work Work, All Week Long (Alan Jackson)

I did what I set out to do yesterday. It was not easy, and there was more work involved that I thought there would be, but it is done. That is the way it is with most things though, they always take longer than you think they will. Yesterday was no exception.

Now I fed my animals earlier in the day, I know I did. I remember, but they didnt seem to remember this. Everyone came to the gate, crowding in as tight as possible making it hard to squeeze in through the gate without stepping on chicken toes. After about fifteen minutes, most lost interest.

I went to tugging and pulling on the old pen I intended to repair and move to the other side of the pool deck. As I pulled and tugged, alternating one side, then the other, the bottom came loose from the dirt it had been enveloped in from sitting there for the past year or so. I kept up the alternating, pulling one side then the other all the way through the yard to the other side. Yep, it would have been easier if I had a hand so that it could just be lifted and carried, but I don't have a hand. Ian is at work and Shelby, I guess she could have helped, but I really don't like to burden either members of my family with my own self induced work. It didnt really matter too much anyway, the bottom on one side was rotted and fell apart into pieces but still clinging to the wire because of the staples hanging on. Three of the four corners at the bottom came loose from each other. The wood was soft from being in the ground so the screws didnt hold, they tore right out. Great...this was going to be more work.

Whenever I move things around, there are chickens waiting to see what I unearthed. That is fine, but a had a half dozen meandering about as I struggled to get the pen to where I wanted it. That was aggravating. Once I got the pen in place where I wanted more onlookers showed up. They were just sure I had food. I had a bucket, yes I did. But it had my new stapler (COOL Design! It is actually made backwards, will show that another time) A new roll of wire, a box of staples and wire cutters in it.

How many times does an emu or a chicken have to look in that same bucket to actually REMEMBER that there is NO FOOD in the bucket? I couldn't tell you, because they just kept looking for hours. Even when I was finished, picked up the bucket and went out of the gate, I had gawkers and followers, wondering if maybe somehow food was in that very bucket. Bird brains! LOL

It had already rained earlier in the day. George paid us a visit. This time he pushed open the screen door and came straight to the back door and scratched at the door! Guess he really needed some company. Shelby dried him off and I tried to call, but no one was home to come pick him up. Later I found out the reason he wasnt in his pen for the day was because Lisa (his owner) had let him out to do his business, and he went off somewhere and wouldnt come back. I always keep him on a retractable leash in transition from the house to the pen, always. I don't care to be chasing down a dog through the cornfield next door to their house. Shelby and I loaded George into the truck. He sat happily in between us in the front. We got him back down to his house. There was another storm coming, I had checked the radar. So I just put him in the house. I have a key to their house because they told me just to keep it since I am the one that takes care of George while they are away so much. This day it came in handy.

So back to the pen. I replaced the rotted beam at the bottom and reattached the corners. I couldnt use screws so I had to wire it all back together. Then I set to work on wiring the chicken wire to the bottom beams. I used to just staple them down, but I found out the hard way that foxes have very strong teeth and will pull that wire til the staples pop out and they can get that wire away enough to get into the pen for a free dinner. Now I wire it all to the beams AND staple it all down. After I got that all done (OH yeah, did I mention this was IN THE RAIN???) I put new staples in areas that had popped loose all over and wired the chicken wire to the frame pieces all the way up. No fox will get in this pen. Once I was satisfied with the security of the pen I made a gated pathway from the grow pen that has the cochins, golden phoenix and serama in it. I filled a feeder and showed it to them. Most followed and were in the pen without incident. I had a few stubborn chickens, but I herded them on out. Two serama got loose since they can fly so easily, but I wasnt worried, they werent going anywhere. The emus herded them up for me and got them cornered. I intervened before anyone got stomped. It is a little cramped in the pen, so I made a little temporary fenced area outside the pen, covered so no big emu heads can browse in. My goal is to fence off this side of the yard so these chickens can free range without being killed by the emus. You see, they grew up with my layers, but their brain for some reason cannot process that it is okay for the new chickens to run about. They chase them down like an intruder. So to keep them safe they will have their own free ranging area. The same will go for the White Crested Polish, they will have a shelter pen at night in their section so that I can lock them up, like I will lock up the cochins, golden phoenix, and serama at night, in the repaired pen.

So, what are my plans for today? Probably to work in the rain some again. LOL. I am going to put together a pen for the Polish. Tomorrow, hopefully I can herd them into the three foot grow pen and take their 4 foot grow pen down, using those posts and fencing to fence the area for the cochins, etc.

I know it sounds chaotic right now, but I really do have a plan in place. ;) I even have a diagram down on paper so I dont forget what I am doing.

Sometime or other I need to think about planting my plants I still have in pots. Maybe next week, til then I will just keep them watered.

Its time for school, laundry, dishes and house cleaning. I hope everyone has a great day today. Send me some of that cool air Carrie! She tells me she has had a high of 59 and a low of 38! I will take the 59, but I am not ready for the 38.

Boo is on lookout..for what, I have no idea..lol. Probably food.

The Title of this entry popped in my head, this part of Alan Jacksons song, Good Time. I love that song. :) I got the new CD the day it came out, and I love every song on it.

PS Those arent our broken cars in the background of that last pic, thats the neighbors...we have our own broken cars thankyou, and they look much better than that...lol.

It Looks Like We Are Going To Live

Remember the giant particle collider that was going to be turned on? They delayed it until today. It was turned on, and we are still here! So life goes on, everyone get back to work and quit partying like its 1999...ha, thats a Prince reference for those that don't know. ;) The world isn't going to end today, and I am glad, I still had a lot to do. ;)

Here is an article on it all...

ScientistsActivateParticleCollider

Flowers To Plant, Changes To Make, School

Shelby and I had a great first day of the 8th grade yesterday. The first day is always the toughest for kids, even in homeschool. Getting back into a schedule is not always easy after a carefree summer. I do understand that, as I had a carefree fun summer myself. Now it is time to get down to it and do the work though. I am really pleased with all the materials I have for this school year. Quite a complete curriculum if I do say so myself. Here is a run down just to give an idea of what we did and will do. All of the workbooks are geared specifically for the 8th grade of course.

Vocabulary Workbook (Wordly Wise)

Grammar Workbook

Spectrum Math Workbook

Spectrum Science Workbook

other materials include National Geographics Map Essentials, Elements of Literature (her first story right off the bat, a favorite of mine, Rikki tikki tavi)There are questions and work to do at the end of each story. We are also using those Handy Answer Books I bought off Amazon. We started in the History and Science one yesterday. Every six weeks we will alternate the Science, Biology, and Physics books. These should last maybe the rest of her school years. We will also have sewing, crafts, cooking, home ec type things. Things everyone should know how to do. I still have the biggest book of every animal species known to man I think, that we will continue to use throughout school years. So many children know so little about nature and its surroundings anymore. I want Shelby to be very knowledgeable about animals and their habitats. We both enjoy this book a lot.

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I do some of my best thinking when out on the mower riding around, looking off into the distance and smelling my fresh cut grass.

I have been trying to think of a way to make myself and my animals happier. Mostly we are talking of the pigs and the goats. Mostly the pigs. You see, pigs are very strong. They are also always on a constant quest for an easy meal if let loose into the yard. This inevitably ends badly. Pig noses are VERY strong. The can smell that chicken feed inside the pens...and they can bust open a pen like they were made of matchsticks. Pushing on the chicken wire til the wood breaks of the staples and wire can't take it anymore. This of course makes me very angry and scares the chickens in that particular pen pretty badly. There is just no need for this. I feed them well, too well. So you may ask why I think they arent as happy as they could be.

When we got these pot belly pigs I had to make a quick set up for them. They had plenty of room for their size at the time. Now, they really need to roam, to be put on pasture. For many reasons. One, they need the exercise badly. Two, being put on pasture would really cut down on the feed bill. Three, I think they would be happier. So how to do this, mowing, thinking, mowing thinking.

The obvious answer is to fence off the chicken pens. You have to remember the determination and hard-headedness of a pig is a force to be reckoned with. I could give them the back three acres to roam, but put a fence up to keep them out of a small forbidden zone, and they will try to go there everytime.

Yesterday we went to Lowes and got a 330 foot roll of hog wire. It is the same kind of wire that was used to back the wooden fencing put up around our back half of the property. It is very strong. The problem is, pigs get their nose under things and pull up. So you better have some good posts in the ground, and have that fencing tied down good to the posts. I am really hoping they will just go on out back and eat grass...but you know what they say, wish in one hand and !!!! in the other, and see which one fills up the quickest. We will see. I intend on giving them a run for their money.

Ultimately what I am looking to have happen is to have the two goats, the three emus, the horse, and the two pigs on pasture next Spring, which will really cut down on the feed bill. You see, when I feed the chickens, everyone wants to eat their food. I guess it is really tasty stuff. Its always a battle to get in the gate and set the food down in the chicken pen without being run over and trodden upon with those extra mouths trying to get some of the good stuff. To solve this dilemma, I told Ian its going to be all layer pellets, all the time, for everyone. Less waste with pellets too.

The ultimate goal here is to cut down on the feed bill. The back half used to be leased to a local farmer that grew bermuda hay, so that is what grows back there. Perfect for everyone to be eating.

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I have a very silly chicken. Her name is Belle. She is from the chickens a friend of mines sister gave me that she could no longer keep. She has never conformed to living with the flock. Even when I had them all locked up together for two months, this did not sway her. She has gone back to being a front yard chicken. Her and Bubba are a solid pair and hang out alone, together all day, with the occasional visit from Gabby, who never really fit in to the flock herself. She is different, and has a lot of personality. Belle hides her eggs from me. I have found them under the front porch in some ivy before. I am sure there are places I have not found as of yet. This time, she has decided to deposit her eggs on the cement floor of the garage...next to the paint cans. Now why she decided this, I couldnt tell you. But here she is, and here is where she has put her eggs.

 

 

 

 

I was going to post a few pictures of some plants I need to get into the ground, mums and lantana, but photobucket is just really fighting me today, so I will try again later.

I have so many projects swirling around in my head right now I am feeling a bit overwhelmed. I need to get out there and DO something instead of thinking of so much to do at one time!

Have a good Tuesday...I will try and do the same. :)