Baby Swallows Have Taken Off, Morning Chores...

Remember this picture?

 

Well look at them now...this picture was taken the day before they flew for the first time. I knew it wouldn't be long and I was right...

 

Below is a couple of pictures I took out of the bathroom window of the babies resting after trying out their wings on their first day flying. Their are five babies and then you can see one of the parents sitting there on the roof with them in this one picture here...

 

Sadly, Ian found one of the babies dead in the pool skimmer. The adults have a habit of flying low across the pool and scooping a drink of water. Being inexperienced at this the babies take a big chance of drowning. Poor little baby bird...just learned how to fly too.

I believe there was another family hatching about the same time as we had two sets of parents and about 10 babies flying around before the day was out. I love to sit on the front porch and watch them fly around. They seem to have a lot of fun flying.

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I have been pacing myself with the chores. It hit a hundred degrees here yesterday and the pails everywhere needed filling with fresh cool water. After making sure everyone was prepared for another hot day I unloaded the two bales of hay I bought from Home Depot and cut into one. I hayed the chicken house floor and all replaced all the old hay in the nests with new hay. I moved a shelter I had used for the silkies that was no longer being used at all into the pen and made another layer house with fresh clean nests in it. I have gotten a couple of pullet eggs from the new layers so it won't be long and I will be getting eggs from them regularly.

After haying and watering I decided to take a dip in the pool. Boy did that feel good. I stayed in for a while hanging on the side and watching the chickens and guineas go about their business. It is relaxing to watch everyone do their thing while cooling in the pool. Made me feel calm.

I also managed to do some painting this morning on the Bonnie and Clyde condo. It was rocking on noon and I decided that was enough outside.

Now I have had be a bit of lunch and I reckon I am going to see about some indoor chores. I am just pacing myself outdoors as it is just too hot to worry about things other than the well being of the animals. Going to try to inflate that mower tire this afternoon and put some Fix a Flat in it...do you know it has not rained in five days...ever since the mower was unusable? What do you think about that...some kind of conspiracy or something. ;) Maybe I can do some mowing this weekend, I think I would like that a lot.

I hope everyone is having a good day and staying cool.

I Must Be A Pansy

Oh I must be a pansy. It took me two hours but I horse proofed the pens...oh did I mention this medication I am taking for my bladder infection says not to stay out in the sun too long. It will cause you to burn sooner than normal. Well, its true...cause I look like I have been out there for hours. Oh well..it will fade.

Horse proofing is almost as tricky as pig proofing something. Horses are strong, but ours doesn't seem to test the fence quite the way the pigs would and have. The professional fence that was put up would hold a dinosaur in...but the other inner barriers I put up...well...they have been breached from time to time.

Derby has a terrible habit of scrubbing on the pens. Never mind he could scrub just as hard as he wanted on the dino fence...nooo, he has to push and scrub on the line of chicken pens. These pens are several years old now. They are strong and heavy, made from all two by fours. But the weather has taken its toll on them and the screws can only take so much. This morning was the last straw...the pheasant pen was pushed all out of whack. I got to thinking. I have a bunch of solid cement blocks...so I started loading them up onto the cart and pulling them over to the pens...one by one I lay them down...like this..in front of the pens.

/ \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \

like that, upright on their sides. Just for insurance I put some blocks in the entry way of the spaces between each pen. All the while he is watching me.

After I finished he investigated my work...and I think...I think it worked. He can't get those clod hopping feet around all those blocks, so he can't scrub on the pens...YAY!

I also replaced some plastic fencing that was just keeping him out of the flower bed, barely. I replaced it with the fencing that was left over from where they put the wire on the professionally done fence.

Not only would Derby eat the flowers, he would also eat the house...I don't think I have a horse at all...I think I was sold a cross between a goat and a pig...lol.

Anyway...It is already hot, and my clothes are soaked all the way through...the humidity is enough to kill a person I tell ya... but I did manage to get a few things done that I been wanting to do before it got unbearable. Hey, it is August now...dog days of summer are here.

What A Week

I hardly know where to start. Boy was I sick...I had the whole thing going on. Fever, congestion, sore throat. If Art felt that bad he should have been in bed. Speaking of him, the one that gave me the dreaded summer cold, he stopped by yesterday. Oh yeah, I was still in my nightgown so I threw a blanket around me to answer the door. He was stopping by to leave some empty egg cartons and some vegetables from Jim and Linda, the hay and cattle farmer and his wife. Last time I talked with her I know we expressed to each other how we were both overflowing with cucumbers and squash...nevertheless, the bag was full of cucumbers...but thats alright because I have been making pickles out of ours, and I can always make more.

Shelby got my cold. I don't know how. She secluded herself upstairs from all the germiness...going as far as to make herself a make shift mask of sorts that went over her mouth and nose if she came down to get something to eat or drink. Thank goodness hers doesnt seem to be as bad as mine. My congestion was so bad I got an ear infection...but nipped it in the bud pretty quick.

Then of course I had to get a bladder infection. Nothing is ever simple either. Everyone has heard of the old cranberry juice method. Well, I gave it my best shot. I even went and bought three EXPENSIVE bottles of Just Cranberry. Ohhhh that stuff is just nasty...and if you drink enough of it...it will clean you out alright...just not the way you intended...speaking from personal experience. I was also trying these pills Cranberry pills from Sundown. I don't think those helped my uhhhh...cleaning out so to speak.

With all this effort, I still managed to have the infection...so I finally relented and went to see the doctor on Monday. That was an ordeal too of course. I called and called...never got a real person...but got to be on hold for 25 minutes the first time and then 15 minutes the second try. Fortune was with me...as I decided to just wing it and show up on their doorstep. I was in in five minutes...didnt even get to read my book I brought but just a few minutes and then I was called...in and out quick. Too quick as I left my book...went back yesterday and retrieved it.

When I am sick, the whole world goes to hell in a handbasket around here. Laundry, dishes, animals, cleaning, mowing, whatever I DO, doesnt get done. I really hate that...a lot. In a way, I like knowing I am of great value here, but it really has its drawbacks when you want to be the one taken care of.

Better save...be right back...

So, when Art came by...I  didn't open the glass door...I talked to him through it...told him I was SICK...and didnt want to get him SICK again. That I had gotten SICK from him when he came by with his cold. I don't think he really got it. Oh well.

When I get sick, I get pissy. Especially if I can pin in on someone. The one that got me sick...outside of my family members...and if it was preventable with a little common courtesy. Then I get pissy because I know when I get to the point to where I don't feel like I am going to die I have to start catching up on my chores. I am not as pissy as I was, but still have a little bit left in me...that of which I am leaving on this page hopefully and will be free of it after this morning. ;)

So, I finally got a hold of Sherry...and I was right on the money. That lady Tracy...she is crowding Sherry, in her business day in and day out. Sherry is too nice to people. She lets them run her over after a while. This lady is lonely. Her son is 18 and so now she is all alone. Sherry would go to the pool with her and things like that if she asked. But then, after the pool time, it was time to go home and do some laundry, cook supper, sit down with your husband and watch tv, whatever the norm is. But Tracy was still there...and there and there. Always knocking on the door, calling, coming over...helping her clean her house. I appreciate help from time to time, but I really dont want to have to entertain and talk to company the whole time I am folding clothes and washing dishes even if they are alongside me. You know how it is. Sometimes you just want to stand at the sink and wash your dishes BY YOURSELF. Sherry has been overrun by this lady. She has resorted to not answering the phone or the doors at times when she knows it is her. I feel for her because I have been there.

When we lived at the old house we might as well put in a revolving door at one point. I thought I was having a second child after a while. I was keeping this child a lot...and summer was coming..what to do..well..WE MOVED. LOL Not because of them, it just happened that way. But the mom was always over helping out too, so I been there.

So on top of this hassle, the anniversary of her moms death is upon her...been one year now. She got pretty down about that and shut herself down for about a week about that.

She is a teacher of sorts. She teaches high school students that are taking summer school. But not because they are failing...because they are trying to get ahead and get more credits to graduate early. There is a system to it all. Each student is allowed to turn in one assignment a day. They cant seem to get that through their little adolescent heads though. Sherry is getting two and three at once and being hounded the next day for those very assignments back and graded. She cant keep up with that kind of ratio. All the work is written essays mostly too...so she has to read and read before grading. She has ended up bringing some of her work home.

She also has two other ladies that are her friends...they are less intrusive...and she is thankful for that...but with all that is going on, she wants seclusion from everyone.

So she has this itchy spot on her shoulder blade. Thinks it is a spider bite...a couple of days later down the side of her back and her leg hurts. She decides to consult a friend that is going to nursing school. The friend knew right away what it was... and why. She had SHINGLES! From too much...you guessed it...STRESS. So she had to go to the doctor for that. But it doesnt end there, she too shared the bladder infection malody. So she had to go back to the doctor for that too.

She just feels pulled in so many directions. I told her she really needs to tell Tracy to get a life, nicely of course. Sherry even went with her to get a new puppy, hoping it would divert her away...and it did, for a couple of days.

I told her she needs to take care of herself, her family and her home...anything outside of that they are lucky to get the time of day from you.

People that dont have a family life, like Tracy, just don't get it. They have nothing to do all day...and Sherry is busy busy busy with her work, her family, just keeping up with daily life.

I told her that is why our friendship has worked for so many years. We both have a life, a family. We don't interfere with our daily lives...but get together every now and then...and that makes it special and fun. As an adult, most people do not have time for "friends" every day if they have a family to tend to. We understand that...but she is finding not everyone does.

She was so glad to get my letter. She said it couldnt have come at a better time and really lifted her spirits. On a good note, she did get a dollar fifty raise, and her oldest son moved out and has a room mate and is on his own now...so that is good.

Saving...be right back

I am so far behind on reading everyones goings on, and I apologize for that. I guess I stuck myself in seclusion while I was sick. Didnt even venture onto the computer much...and now I am limiting myself so that I can catch up on things around the house. I will catch up on everyone though...might just take a few days...a few mornings of coffee time.

So whats going on around here. Well...its hot and its humid. The grass is overgrown and things need doing. I got a lot done evening before last as far as fresh water and fresh food stocked up for the coming days in the mid 90s here.

I did have a stupid chicken. She is gone now. Couldnt be helped I guess you could say.

I use shallow dish pans for feeding the layers. They eat like pigs at a troth, so why not. I have (or had rather) a Silver Phoenix hen that somehow would manage to get that empty pan flipped over with herself underneath. Now all she had to do is STAND UP and she would be free. But she would remain crouched under there until I noticed the pan upside down and freed her. Well, while I was sick I skipped a day of going out there...I felt so bad and just had to skip it all. Well...next afternoon I go out there to feed...and I see a flipped pan. I lift it up...and there she was as usual...with one big difference. She had died. Yep. Too stupid to stand up to get out from under the pan...and died. What do you think about that...pretty dumb.

My hay is about gone from that big round bale. I don't think I will be doing that again. A lot of it is wasted from all the humidity and rain. It has molded and I did manage to salvage some of it for haying the muddy pens and areas around the place..but it was in bad shape. I am going to have to stick to fresh clean square bales from Home Depot I reckon. Matter of fact, I am going to get two bales today.

Alright, I know I am SO behind on pictures. I need to take pictures of those two silkie babies I hatched...and I need to take pics of my babies I hatched for myself out of the Polish, Golden Phoenix and Serama. I also need to take some pics of the cotton flowers before they turn over to cotton. Oh, and Paula, I think it was asked about the bole weavels. They spray for those periodically and I hate it, it stinks! But I know they have to do it. You will see a few of the weavels here and there on the pavement after they spray. They also have these little catchers ever so often along the road. Bug catchers I guess...I reckon to see if they are having a weavel problem by seeing how many are in the trap thingie. I will take pics of that too. I promise I am going to catch this journal up...but I have to go now and catch up on some outdoor chores before it gets too hot, then its a shower and off to the feed store, TSC, and Home Depot.

I hope everyone is having a great week...I am going to try and have me a good day...y'all do the same. :)

 

Better...Then Worse.

Well my knees are better and my feet are better...thank goodness. I appreciate the well wishes very much. I guess pains just come and go and you live with them as you get older.

Now I have a terrible head cold. Now you might be asking how I would manage such a thing when I am home pretty much all the time. It is true, I don't get exposed to the public much...but five minutes was enough.

I have a neighbor, well, he lives across town...anyway, he came by to get some eggs. He called ahead and he didn't sound like himself. Well, he got to the house and we went through the living room into the kitchen to get his eggs. I told him he didnt sound right over the phone...and he tells me he has a terrible head cold as he whips out his hankerchief and waves it all about the room and blows his nose and puts it back several times.

I immediately stopped breathing deep...shying away from his personal space.

You see, ever since Shelby has been homeschooled we don't get sick anymore. She used to get sick all the time...bring it home and we would all get sick. I hated it. Now, we stay well pretty much all year around. So when we get sick, it is a real burden. I have too much to keep up with to get sick. Now I am not complaining, its just the way it is.

Now, I want to know something. Why do people do this? Why do they expose themselves unnecessarily to others to share their germs? Are they just not thinking? He could have informed me and said "No, I will just stay out here on the porch while you get the eggs, I don't want to get anyone sick." But he didn't. So now I am sick. I feel like doo doo. My throat is sore, I have a fountain of mucus constantly running down the back of my throat, which in turn makes the sore throat worse.

I don't know about you...but when I am sick, I make a point of staying away from folks. I don't go visiting...I don't go to the store, I don't do anything like that. I don't invite people over.

I can't tell you how many times some of Shelbys friends have come to spend the night and come to find out they were getting over something. One time it was strep throat! Guess what, she got it.What is wrong with people that they want to share the wealth of their sicknesses?

Anyway, I am the benefactor of that generosity. I could have done without it, really could have.

I want to thank y'all for all the nice compliments on my land and the area around me. Guess I should take a pic of the house sometime, lol. I do have some, they are older, not that anything has really changed about the house. Paula, I have been up there, it is just houses and an old feed store...its called Vincent Mountain I believe. Hollie, yep, I am on my feet too much, but I don't sit still for long. I have inherited my mothers side of the family's body...and keeping weight off is a problem, and we have a history of both kinds of arthritis, so I figure I better keep moving or lose it! ;) I did get the front mowed yesterday, but the back still needs to be mowed. I mowed it clumps and all...just had to. Then the tire on the front wheel came off the wheel! Can you believe it! I was freaking out. So Ian is fixing that today. Lisa, I will get some close ups of the cotton for you...the plants are blooming right now and it is very pretty. When they come back through later, I think they spray the plant to kill it, and then it looks all ugly. They do that after the cotton has popped out. Right now it is pretty.

No word from Sherry yet. Still waiting.

Well, I am feeling kind of run down, so I am going to close for now. I will have some pictures later...hope everyone has a good day...I am going to try and have the best day I can.

Having Trouble Keeping Up

I guess it is my father coming out in me...but I like to try to have things caught up. That is becoming increasingly impossible as the rains come almost every day. You can look on the radar and it is clear right now over most of the southeast...but you guessed it...we have a blob of green, yellow and red on the radar headed our way in just a matter of an hour or maybe less.

I can't keep up! The rain every day makes the grass grow so fast, and well ,we all know you can't cut it wet, it just lays down and clumps up. So what choice do I have but to wait til an opportune moment to mow...but then my moment was yesterday apparently...and I wasted it by building on Bonnie and Clydes indoor condo. It is put together and I intended on painting it today...but I think it is going to get rained on unless I can maneuver it into the garage in time. I also need to pick up all my tools and wires and whatnot from working on it yesterday. I was so exhausted I didnt even pick up.

I have been having a lot of pain lately. Night before last both my knees swoll up, the right one was the worst. I was in excruciating pain. After I took a shower I put an icepack on it and the next morning it was manageable. My feet have been killing me also. I have suspected heel spurs for a while now. I am one of those people that don't go to the doctor unless I just HAVE to. I manage the pain and get through it til it goes away, until next time. I seem to have good months and bad months.

I don't like to complain about my ailments, so lets move on to other things. It just makes me feel bad, and I want to feel good.

Do you ever get too many things going at once, and look around in despair? LOL That is me. I have the rug up from the screen porch, but going to look for replacement outdoor carpet seems to be eluding me. I went to Lowes but the only color I halfway liked they were out of. This was on Friday and getting someone to help me was like pulling teeth. I was very disappointed...felt like I was in Home Depot...stuff all in the aisles waiting to be put away. No help in sight. Their saw was broken. What a shame. So, I am going to go to Home Depot and get treated just as badly and see if they have something more to my liking for the porch floor. While I was at Lowes I did manage to get almost all of what I needed for making the chicken condo. Lucky for me my husband works somewhere where he has access to all kinds of goodies like plexiglass and four by fours...so that was an expense I didnt have to shoulder.

Now I am going to tell you, I am not very good at building things. My Daddy, now he can build some great stuff, bookcases, desks, tables, all wonderful stuff. I suck at it. I really do. I keep trying though. LOL Ian just shakes his head and wonders what I am thinking. He gets home from work yesterday and looks at my work...and finds himself helping me...trying to help me to finish it before I make a complete disaster out of it. I tell him just to wait, its ugly now, but when I get it painted and decorated with those curtains and some decorative flowers painted on the legs and such, it will look good. He has a very doubtful look in his eye as I say all this, but I really did have this vision of what it would look like when its finished. I am better at drawing and painting than woodworking so maybe it will offset my shoddy woodworking...lol.

Here are a few pics I took the other day...now you have seen the mowing I do out back...and now its time for the front again...already the back is catching up to the front...I love this first picture..it is a better picture of the mountain and the cotton...

 

Thats cotton across the street too...over a hundred acres...

Shame shame...I need to edge this driveway...more than I can keep up with lately I tell you...but I am blessed to have all this to fall behind on...so I won't complain too much..

 

 

On another note...Sherry isprobably recieving her letter from me today, if not already this past Saturday...so we will see now.

Also, I have finished my hatching for the year...cleaned the incubator and put it away. I will take pictures of the last of my babies..including the two silkie babies, soon as I get a minute to do so...maybe I can get that done while its raining...lol.

Well, its time to get up from here and try to get some things done today...try to be productive and put a smile on my face while doing so..Dad would want that. He is big on Smiles. :) Hope everyone has a great day today whatever you decide to do!

Just Some Pictures of Tim

I recently let Tim and the six hens in with him out of their pen to be free now that I am done breeding for the year. They enjoyed their newfound freedom to its fullest. Only one hen hangs out with Tim now. The others have spread out amongst the flock and do their thing. In the evening they all still roost together though. Tim is one of my favorite roosters...he was my first show bird. He did well at show recieving first place in his breed. That would be impressive except he was the only one in his breed there, BUT with that being said...your bird can be judged and not recieve a placing at all...so I think that was a good mark. It is entertaining to see him go after the June bugs...he does a ballet of sorts when the bug starts to fly in circles he goes right along with the bug...and his long flowing tail is billowing as he spins around and around..it is kinda neat to see. He always catches the bugs for his girls...gives them right over.

 

 

My Oldest Friend

I love this lady...she is my oldest friend. We have been friends since we were thirteen years old. There have been good times and bad times between us, but our friendship has prevailed.

 

We don't always see eye to eye on some issues...but that is not important. We agree to disagree and move on. For the most part we are pretty much just easy going and love each others company when we get the chance...which is not often.

I am worried about her. I hope I am wrong...but I think that something is not right in her life.

A while back she had mentioned to me that she was almost 40 and basicly things were not the way she wanted them to be by now. I know we all take a step back from time to time and analyze our lives...and sometimes we don't like what we see...especially if we compare our lives to others.

Reading about Marys ex, that is her friend also..makes me think of my friends restlessness.

I wrote her a letter...a letter of encouragement. I wanted her to know that I was not mad at her, could never be mad at her. I think she may think I am because she forgot about calling me that Wednesday that she had marked down on the calendar and then forgetting she was supposed to come up that weekend.

I think that her life is too busy. She is stressed. I did tell her that you have to choose to be happy when you get up in the morning. Sometimes it is hard, I know. But you have to try to be happy. I told her she has 2 beautiful children, a roof over her head and a man that loves her very much. Her children are not perfect, her house is not perfect and her man is not perfect. I don't think any of us achieve total perfection. But we have to try and make the best of the world we have made for ourselves...and if change is needed, then don't stray from your goal.

I am afraid that she is straying from her family. There is a lady that has recently reappeared in her life. I have never met her...but she seems bossy and pushy...from what I have observed and heard. I will tell you more...but I better save this much...brb

I called her one Saturday night about ohhh I dont know its been over a month now...about 10:30 at night. I thought, hey, its saturday night, nothing pressing should be going on at this time, good time to talk a while on the phone. Tracy is her name. She has one of those smokers gravely voices too...ugh. I hear her in the background and she keeps asking Sherry questions, where does this go, where do you want this. I asked Sherry what was going on and she told me Tracy was there helping her clean her house. That is all fine and good, but then I hear her boss Sherry and tell her she needs to get off the phone and help her clean. I told Sherry to tell her that I was calling long distance to talk to my dearest oldest friend and cleaning could WAIT. She did. That shut her up, for a minute at least.

Now, on more than one occasion I have called Sherrys house to have Tracy pick up the phone. Once when NOBODY was home and once when people were home. What is going on? Is she taking over the house?

I talked to Kelly, that is her long time boyfriend of 14 years, also the father of their youngest, Kelsey.

It seems he is not too fond of Tracy. It seems Sherry is never home anymore. It seems that she is lodged up Tracys rear most of the time. So she has time to stay away from home and hang out with Tracy, but not to take a minute to call me. Yeah, I know, I sound sarcastic...and I am being sarcastic. But I am not mad, just concerned. I am concerned because Sherry has made mention of how fancy and nice and fashionable Tracys home is, and she wished hers was that way I know. But she cannot afford all the fancy window dressings and things like that. Its not practical. Yet Sherry tells me Tracy has suggested she should take down the blankets covering Kelseys windows and put up some nice blinds. That is great, is Tracy gonna buy the blinds for her?

I don't know what to make of it all just yet. I do know that Kelly said in a low sighing voice that maybe Sherry will come back down to earth sooner or later, he hoped.

I don't keep many friends. I have been burned so many times over the years...I just rather not even go there. We are the result of trials and tribulations, fights and making up, the good the bad and the ugly all worked up into one pot. The main ingredient in our relationship has and always will be LOVE. I love her...and I want her to be happy, but I don't think that Tracy is the way to happiness.

Okay, just wanted to talk all that out...see...I don't have chickens on the brain ALL the time...he he...

Anyway, the letter is sent out...we will see what happens when she gets it, if she will call me like I asked, just take the time to call, just for a minute. So we can get together face to face and talk. I can come down there, its no problem. All she has to do is ask and I will be there. I have and always will be here.

Lets hope I am way off base...but my intuition tells me I am not.