September Dog Day On The Stairs

Morgan spent the day half way
up the stairs. I think she is
cooler on the metal and
she can see out all the
windows from up there.
After all she is a watch dog.

The chickens are locked up.
No coyote sightings.
Hot quiet day.

I learned a lesson

about what type of container

not to use when feeding chickens.

The chickens never messed

with the  paper plates I used

to give them kitchen scraps,

but they tried to eat

the styrofoam picnic plate.

Goofy chickens.

  

My daily outside footwear is in the photo. I slip a plastic bag on each foot when I wear the muck boots to make them easy to remove. In the house I wear socks. Comfy and they shine up the floor.

My dog days

have been spent listening to old radio shows

and enjoying the classical music

that is played between the shows.

I came by my love of classical music at school.

In the '40's the schools used to play classical music over the speaker

into all the classrooms after lunch.

We would rest our heads on our desks and be quiet and listen.

Some days instead of music we would rest and

listen to our teacher read to the class.

This morning there was a terrible rotting fruit smell in the house that I finally tracked down to a innocent looking cantaloupe. It was just ripe not rotting. My father wouldn't allow cantaloupes in the house because he hated the smell. The chickens don't mind the smell they love cantaloupe. 

Kristine says the reason I have lost all my energy is because the weather is changing. Could be. I think it is a combination of me staying up late reading and the hot weather. I'm looking forward to some cold winter weather and getting back to doing stuff. 

Peek at the Past

It's not cold now.

It's in the 90's.

(September 30, 2009)

[3 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

Chicken Food? Lizards

Kristine came home from work came in and got my camera and went back out to get this photo. She saw this lizard on the porch as she walked by where the chickens usually hang out by the slider.

I guess the lizard felt safe enough to come out and sit in the shade because the chickens and Morgan have been locked up.

I'm sure the chickens would eat this little guy if they could catch him. I rarely see a lizard around here. The last time I saw some was after we got to the middle of a pile of logs we were stacking. The lizards were good and safe from the chickens living under a pile of cut wood.

I have read about chickens catching and eating mice, snakes, and lizards. Something is keeping the small critter and bug population under control around here. I should be seeing mice droppings in the shed around the feed barrels and in the chicken coop and pen. But, no, I don't find any.

Maybe the owls, fox and coyotes are feeding on mice or maybe the chickens are catching and eating mice? I even read somewhere about someone who had some chickens that ate termites. That would be pretty neat. I bet some people would like to find chickens that would eat stink bugs.

Tom let Morgan out this morning, but she stayed on the back porch barking toward the fence line that borders forest. I let her back in the house. I guess the coyotes or something is still around.

Peek at the Past

I'm so glad my kitchen is finished.

That barrel has been there for a year.

Time for me to move it.

click on the 2009 photos and they enlarge

(September 27, 2009)

[3 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

Silverware Pots

Didn't sleep much last night with all the dogs in the vicinity barking and howling and loud bangs... gunshots?

I wonder if the dogs are making an uproar because of the coyotes? I didn't hear any coyote howls.

Morgan is in the house. The chickens are in their coop and pen. I'm in the house. Very quiet. I think I'm home alone again?

I'm getting really fast at mixing up the pellet mash. This morning I used cold tap water from outside and mixed with my hand instead of a spoon.

I think I will save warm water for cold winter days. It's in the 90's today.

When we put the gas cook top in the island it was deeper than the electric cook top and took up all the drawer space. There went my utensil and silverware drawers. Not that I have silverware. I think I might have a silver plate serving spoon somewhere.

My answer to the problem of no drawers was to use some canisters to hold stuff. I find that I really didn't like having to open and shut a drawer every time I wanted a spoon, etc. This arrangement works out much better for me.

The other reason I was up most of the night was that I was reading Elizabeth Peters (Amelia Peabody Mysteries) books. Kristine's fault! She brought home a stack of them. My kind of books.

Peek at the Past

Egg in a basket.

That barrel has been there for a year.

Time for me to move it.

click on the 2009 photos and they enlarge

(September 27, 2009)

[4 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

Pajama Day Home Alone and Coyotes

Home Alone... every so often I treat myself to a Pajama Day. I stay in my pajamas all day, drink tea, and really don't do much except rest and read.

Our neighbor just called with a warning about two coyotes that were on another neighbor's property.

Of the two coyotes one was bigger and bolder than the other one and when they managed to chase off the smaller coyote the bigger one went after their dog. We worry about Morgan because she is much smaller than the dog the big coyote went after.

So... Kristine and I hurried outside with lettuce and treats to round up the chickens and get them inside their pen. Kristine finally was able to get Lonely in the coop. She was the last one in.

The chickens are locked up in their coop and pen and Morgan is in the house. I really hate this... not being able to let Morgan out or the chickens. But they both will have to stay confined for a week or more until we can be sure the coyotes have moved on.

Here is a link to some articles about California, Canada and US coyote attacks. Attacks are not that common, but I really don't want us to become part of the statistics.

Some of the coyotes are coydogs or coywolves because they do interbreed. There is a lot of information about coyotes online.

About four years ago I stared a coyote down. Fifteen to twenty seconds is a really long time when you are standing still facing a coyote who is standing still about thirty feet away and staring back at you. I didn't know if it was going to attack. It wasn't afraid. I have a feeling that if there had been two I would have been in trouble. I think I could have made it to the coop and got inside and shut the door, but it would have been a close thing.

Peek at the Past

My kitchen was in pieces last year.

(September 26, 2009)

[4 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

Molting Chickens

Kristine just came in and told me that the power was going to be turned off for twelve hours so work can be done on the lines. This will be a quick post.

Screamer, the big Light Brahma, loves to play in the water. As soon as I turned on the tap she ran over and started scratching around in the mud. She's so funny.

I took the bottom photo through a window, but it does show the pitiful shape most of the chickens are in because of molting. At least they are hopefully going to get their molt over earlier this year. Last year it seemed it took forever for them to get their new feathers.

I have hopes of Lonely moving up in the pecking order because when I gave the chickens some lettuce on the porch this afternoon Lonely was first in line and she made sure she got several pieces of lettuce away from the bossy hens.

Kristine found out about a several county wide collection of old prescription drugs so we went on a hunt for old bottles of medicine. Amazing, but we filled a plastic shopping bag with out of date meds. Glad to see the last of them.

I was thinking today about what I would do if I had enough money to do whatever I wanted and came to the conclusion that I would like to stay here and do what I'm doing. Although, I would like to have a new chicken coop! And Jeeves. Yep... I'd like a Jeeves.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Enjoy!

Peek at the Past

Morgan at the coop.

[3 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

Halloween In September

Since I have been sorting through lots of boxes and finding things that have been buried under other stuff, I found a box of Halloween decorations I haven't seen for a while.

Today I emptied Halloween boxes and scattered Halloween items around the house. This year I'm going to be ready for October!

I thought there was going to be a lot more stuff in the boxes than there was, but it turns out a lot of the space was taken up by packing material. 

There are four of these little scarecrow people put back to back which makes a total of two that I hang in the window. They are my favorite decorations and I leave them up for Halloween and Thanksgiving (two months.)

I gave the chickens organic pellet mash this morning and then opened the coop so the hens could leave the pen when they wanted to head out to the woods.

I checked the pen later and found Lonely all by herself in the pen eating up the mash that was left. Poor lonely. Even the other hens that are low in the pecking order aren't very nice to her.

Kristine and I spent the evening watching Jeeves and Wooster shows.

Peek at the Past

Chicken In Duct Tape

(September 23, 2009)

[2 eggs today]

The hens are molting

~:>

Smiles

Organic Chicken Feed Mash Picnic

I served the chickens their breakfast in several picnic plates placed around the pen in hopes that Lonely and the other hens low in the pecking order would be able to get something to eat.

Having a lot of different eating stations worked out much better for fifteen chickens instead of having them all trying to eat out of one bowl. And I added more water to the pellets until the mixture clumped up and held together.

The Buff Brahma is giving me the eye that means get away from my food. She would scurry away if I got too close with the camera.

Lonely the Dark Brahma (above,) the two Buff Brahmas and Curly the Cochin are on the bottom of the pecking order. They aren't even allowed to sleep on a roost and have to sleep on the ground. I know this because this is where they were when I counted the chickens tonight.

Kristine and I spent the evening watching two more of the Jeeves and Wooster DVD's. I love the shows. Sure do wish there were more of them. I wonder if Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry would ever consider making any more?

Today was what I call a pajama morning which means it was cold enough that I wore my pajamas under my jeans and sweatshirt. I used to have winter underwear, but never bothered to replace it and find that my pajamas serve the same purpose. Beside the pajamas are already warm. I hate that whole morning dressing business... going from being warm and toasty in bed to cold and goose bumpy putting on cold clothes.

We don't use the wood stove until we get a good rain and that is not going to happen for a while. In fact we are supposed to have something of a heat spell coming in a few days. It's just tonight that is in the 40's.

I had a quiet day and didn't work on any projects.

Peek at the Past

I did get the room painted

and the kitchen finished.

(September 22, 2009)

[2 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

Organic Chicken Feed Mash

Look! The hens are in love with the organic pellets after I mixed them up with warm water. They finished all the food. Amazing change of attitude.

I didn't let the hens out of the pen so they would be sure to take a look at the bowl of mash. If I open the coop door the hens are gone. I think there must be good things to eat out in the woods and that's why they turn their noses up at the dry food.

I've looked around under the leaf litter and I don't see anything to eat. The chickens have much better eyesight than I do.

I'll add a bit more water to the pellet mix tomorrow until the mixture clumps. I think I will add some oyster shell too. The hens like the bits that are soft and hold together. They even peck bits off each other's beaks.

I have 15 chickens so I put 15 handfuls of pellets in the bowl and added warm water and presto... chicken delight.

I stood around in the pen and watched the hens chow down on the mash. It was very interesting watching how the pecking order worked.

Poor Lonely (she was banished to the corner,) Curly the Cochin, and the two Buff Brahmas had to wait until the other hens were finished eating. When the hens were full they went for a drink and then sat down in a sunny spot. I finally let all the chickens except for Lonely and the Buff Brahmas out so the three hen could get something to eat.


Tomorrow I'll divide the feed up in more bowls and hope that will cut down on the competition. Probably not.

I'll continue hanging the regular dry pellet feeder in the pen all day so if any of the hens are hungry they can come get a snack.

Here is a sight I don't see too often... the gate is open.

 I love this nippy Fall weather!

Peek at the Past

I hung more old rusty tools on the fence.

(September 20, 2009)

[2 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

Fall Flag

Kristine is back from house sitting and she brought me an early Christmas present.  A Jeeves and Wooster DVD!

We have been watching the shows and I haven't made my bed, washed my hair, or posted on my blog. Missed the 20th altogether.

So, a quick post.

I got the Fall flag up, made some cranberry sauce, did laundry and not much else.

Kristine's good friend gave her a slotted ruler called a Shape Cut. Thank you very much! Kristine also brought me some books!

I think this template is so neat. I can cut strips, squares or triangles with it. I'm so looking forward to starting work on my quilts and using this template.

The chickens are fine. They are still not very excited about the organic chicken feed.

I originally wanted the organic feed because I thought it was more nutritious, but yesterday I found an article that said the regular chicken feed contains arsenic.

I suppose everyone else knows about this but me. I also found some recipes for mixing up your own chicken feed. This sounds like a good thing to do and I might consider it if we lived close to a place that sold the ingredients. I'm going to have to try out making a moist mash out of the organic pellets and see how that goes. Tomorrow?

Peek at the Past

Gee, I got Halloween stuff out early.

(September 21, 2009)

[3 eggs today]

1 broken

~:>

Smiles

Naughty Chickens

The chickens want out of the pen and spent their time today clustered at the end nearest the house clucking away and have even tipped over the top of the waterer.

They were not even happy to see me with the feed can. What is with these chickens? They were in the pen all day because of the rain forecast. I thought that was a good idea because it would make it easier to check and see how much they ate.

I guess they don't really like the organic pellets that much. They did finally break down and eat some, but they don't get all excited like they do if they know I have scratch. I'll keep locking the feed up at night.

John (Going Gently) asked if our feeder has a feed saver grill. No. No grill. I've been looking online to try and find one I can attach to the feeders we have. I think a saver grill would be a great help against the hens knocking all the feed out of the feeders. I'll have to think about the whole grill idea and maybe I can make something that would catch the feed?

I have also been thinking about wetting the organic feed and mashing it up until it is moist and kind of sticks together. Maybe the chickens might just eat it up without kicking it all over the place. I guess I'll have to try it and see what happens.

Since the weather has started getting cooler I find myself looking forward to cold wet days when I'll have to stay in the house and have free time to spend on quilting and knitting.

I've been putting off projects for too long and now I am anxious to get back to them. I brought out some fabric that a good friend of Kristine gave me along with a quilt pattern. I was sooo happy she gave me the fabric. So thoughtful! I think I am going to look for an easier pattern since I am still learning quilting as I go. I also have a quilt to make for Kristine. This next quilt will be my fourth quilt.

There are also a couple of bags in the sewing room full of yarn that are calling out to me to work on them. It's been so long since I've opened them I don't even remember what is in all the bags. Well, one thing is for sure I will have lots of things to do this winter. I even have a few closets to clear out if I get bored.

Peek at the Past

Two more of my favorite things.

(September 19, 2009)

[2 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

Organic Chicken Feed Experiment

Six chickens at the feeders eating organic feed. Six! The other nine checked out the feeders and then lit out for the woods.

I put these feeders out this morning and this is the response to food? I expected the chickens to be hungry and chow down like little pigs.

Last night I locked up the feed so I could keep better track of the feed levels in the feeders. I wanted to find out how much of the organic feed the hens were eating (and perhaps how much the wildlife was eating.) Kristine has seen some cute little mice stuffing their cheeks with chicken feed. We must have very healthy mice around here.

I'm going to continue shutting the feeders up in the feed barrels at night. I'll put them in the pen during the day where the hens have access and can eat as much as they want.

I did manage to put some trim boards on the bottom of the shed, but they don't make the shed look much better. I would love to paint it, but I don't have any exterior paint. I have lots and lots of cans of interior paint.

I painted the shed about eight years ago with the leftover paint my brother left behind and used it all up. Wish there was more. My brother and Dad built this shed in the '70's to hold building supplies when the house was being built. It is holding up pretty well considering the weather and lack of paint.

The chickens sure are messy. They scattered feed all around the feeders. I swept it all up and put it in the pen. I'm not going to put the feeders down here again.

I wonder if they would waste less feed if I moistened some in a bowl and gave it to them? Anybody have any tips on how to get chickens not to be so sloppy and wasteful? They do love the corn and will eat it right up.

It is supposed to rain tomorrow. Maybe Morgan will get a day off and the chickens will have to stay in their pen. Sometimes the predicted rain misses us so it is hard to plan. We'll just have to wait and see.

Peek at the Past

Photos of the kitchen island being built.

(September 18, 2009)

[3 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

Vintage Apron and Hen in the Myrtle

What is that Australorp in the myrtle thinking? 

The Wyandotte on the porch is contemplating what"

The Australorp stayed in the myrtle for a minute or two while the Wyandotte watched. The chickens don't eat the myrtle. Maybe there are bugs under the leaves and the Australorp has claimed the spot? Is being in the myrtle a good thing or exile?  She thinks she is hiding? Is the Wyandotte making her stay there?

Do chickens have some kind of plan or do they just drift through their chicken lives and find themselves in situations. I do wonder at times just what is going on in their little chicken minds.

I got this little apron from my mother-in-law when she was downsizing and getting rid of things. I thought it was a sweet little thing and didn't want it to go off to Goodwill and saved it for myself. I didn't realize it was hand woven until I got it home.

There is a label in the waist band that says,

"Hand Woven by Joanne Price"

I googled for information and couldn't find anything under, "Hand Woven by Joanne Price," The closest I got was a lady in Canada whose husband gave her a loom (I think it was some time in the '40's) but it would be a real stretch to think that was the same lady. It seems more likely that Joanne was a friend of my mil or she made aprons and sold them.

The material is very soft I would guess from age but the colors are still bright and cheerful. I hung the little apron with my three long chicken aprons. It looks cute there and I'm glad it came to live here.

Peek at the Past

I've set the pumpkin up

in the holder already.

(September 17, 2009)

[2 eggs]

~:>
Smiles

Yay! I Found The Knobs

This morning started off with the loud brrrrrrrrrrrrrr of chain saws. Davey Tree was out clearing branches away from the electric lines and making sure everyone was awake. Well, 7:20 was ok since the alarm was set for 7:30 for Kristine and I to get ourselves ready to get our hair cut. Nice being able to see again... my hair was getting way too long, but I didn't take a razor blade to it like I did last time. I really don't like to make the hair cutter lady upset... "What did you do to your hair!" Didn't hear that this visit.

Can you spot the Buff with a bustle? Kristine says that big Buff has a bustle and pantaloons. She is the
hen that survived the fox attack... our house hen. I think the reason she escaped the fox was because
 he missed the chicken and got a mouth full of feathers.

The chickens had a surprise this morning when I gave them lettuce, then some grapes and finally an apple. Wow!


The lettuce was planned but the grapes were tossed on the porch because they were covered with ants. We haven't had ants for years, but this morning black ants showed up for a few hours and then went away again. Strange.

The hens are so funny chasing the apple, picking it up and running with it and then dropping it and the fun starts starts all over again. I wish I could post a video of the chickens playing apple soccer on the porch. Blogger in draft won't post my videos. I know I could switch back and try the old editor... I'll give it a try this Winter.


Knobb update: I went on a hunt today and looked in every place I could have possibly put the knobs (at least twice) and finally found them where I had put them safely tucked away in a corner behind the computer monitor in an empty chocolate tin. I'm so mean to myself. Why couldn't I have left them in the drawer?

Of course the knobs were in the last place I looked. Why do I say that! I don't expect to keep searching for something after I find it. Well... I was very glad I found them.

Putting three knobs on some drawers shouldn't be such a big deal and a royal pain, but as usual things always seem to take me a while to do.

Here are the steps I went through to put on the knobs.

1st I used a piece of paper to cover the drawer front, folded it to
size and then folded the paper to find the middle. I really don't like to measure that much. Folding paper is much less stressful and much easier and faster. Well... it is for me.

2nd I used

a punch and hammer

to mark the center of the drawer.

3rd I used a drill bit the size of the knob bolt to drill a hole from the front of the drawer.

4th I measured how far I needed to drill with the larger drill bit to allow the head of the bolt to fit inside the hole on the inside so it could reach the knob. And then marked the depth with tape on the drill bit so I wouldn't drill too deep. Been there, done that.

Longer bolts

would have made things easier,

but I didn't have longer bolts.

I'm always trying

to make things work

with what I have.

The three drawers are on the right end of the island. And now they have knobs! Now all I have to do is have the oven checked out by an electrician so I can use it!








The island looks much better with the brown wood painted over and with cupboard doors.


Finished!

Peek at the Past

The chickens still zip out of the coop

in the morning as if

something is chasing them.
I was working on the island
last year.

(September 16, 2009

[2 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

Chickens And Sawdust?

Today I worked on fixing the bottom door latch on the storage shed and adding wood around the inside of the door frame to make it harder for little critters to break and enter.

I'm sure that no matter what I do mice and ? will still be able to run around inside the shed, but I'm going to make it as hard for them to get in as I can. I'm not finished so no photos. I'm still trying to figure out how to close up the bottom area of the door entry where the plywood has rotted away.

I was going to post some photos of another apron I found but then I caught these guys on the porch again and I had to take some pictures.

I wasn't going to take anymore pictures of chickens on the porch for awhile, but these hens were just too funny.

I knew they wanted me to come out and give them a treat, but when I didn't rush right out and open the door and toss them some lettuce they started pecking around in the sawdust.

What?

Even Morgan came over to see what they were doing and if there was anything for her. Sawdust?

Tom brought home lettuce for the goofy chickens so they got their treat when I finished taking pictures.

Earlier, I was going to finish up the kitchen island and put on the last three knobs...

but!?... I can't find the knobs!

My poor brain. This morning I emptied out the drawers and got them all lined up on the island counter, got the drill battery charged, and used a template to mark the centers of the drawers so I don't eyeball the knob position and have them crooked.

Then I went to get the knobs and I can't find them. Oh dear! I know I'm moving so much stuff around and going from one job to the next that I should be writing myself notes! This was the post I made on the last day I remember seeing the knobs. I checked back to see if there was a clue... no clue. Wherever the knobs are I'm sure they are somewhere that at the time I thought made sense. I'll go out and look through my tool drawers again tomorrow. Maybe the toolbox?

I hate it when I can't find stuff!

Peek at the Past
(September 15, 2009)

They're not going to put sides on the bridge until next year.

Hope there are no more jumpers.

(The island is done now except for the knobs! Look on the left sidebar under How to or DIY stuff and click on Island Diy for photos of the kitchen. I need to make a special post that shows the kitchen DIY from start to finish. If I can find the knobs!)

[3 eggs today]

P.S.
Life on a Southern Farm
is having a nest box giveaway.
Beautiful
Nest Boxes
handmade by FarmMan
on their Southern Farm.

Stop by and check out her blog. I would love to win a nest box, but I would have to remodel the whole inside of our chicken coop to fit the box inside. Well, I don't really have to worry very much because I never win anything, so I'm safe, but there will be a lucky winner. Maybe you?

~:>

Smiles

Wyandotte Dirt Nest And Job Almost Done

When I went out this afternoon to take a photo of the shed and the empty area (except for the roofing stuff,) there was a Wyandotte all snuggled down in a little nest in the dirt she had made for herself.

Of course, she hopped out when I walked by before I could get a photo.

The other Wyandotte that was sick yesterday died today and I had the unpleasant duty of digging a very deep hole for her.

Being responsible and caring for sick, dying and dead chickens is the part of having them that I could really do without.

I try very hard not to make pets of the hens, not to give them names and to treat them all the same. But it is still hard to deal with the death of a hen I raised from a chick.

The other chickens are all healthy and are going about their chicken business. The broody hen has stopped her broodyness and there are some chickens that are starting their molt.

I never did get to putting on any trim boards on the shed. Kristine made me promise to take the day off and rest after I finished moving the plywood. So I did.

Surprise... when I walked back from taking the photo of the shed the Wyandotte was back in her warm dirt nest in the last rays from the sun.

I think I am going to make some hot cocoa, get a good book and curl up in my nest and rest. And try and go to sleep. I was up all night last night. When I get too tired that's what happens. I either crash or I'm awake and can't sleep. I would like to sleep tonight.

And from now on I won't work so much and get too tired.

Yeah, right...

Peek at the Past

Rain and Clearing Paths

I haven't even started clearing branches

and paths this year.

I'm waiting for some rain.

(September 14, 2009)

[3 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

Storage Shed Clean UP and Roof?

Remember this?

All this stuff is what I started clearing away this morning.

(The chickens are there because that is where I throw the scratch. Morgan is there because the chickens are there.)

Today I got smart and rummaged around in the garage and found a dolly to help me move the heavy things and the car repair stuff.

Lots of things went to the Goodwill pile and other stuff to the dump pile. Not much made it back inside the shed. There were things that had been buried in the shed for ten years. Didn't even know they were there... like a lawn mower and large tubs of laundry detergent. Who knew?

I was having such a good time getting rid of things that I just kept working and I didn't even stop for a rest or something to eat or drink. (I know... very bad.)

I was having a great time! Strange how much fun it can be putting things I actually want back in the shed so they are easy to find and use.

The chicken feed and things are on the right side, the kindling things are on the left, the straw is behind the wagon and the tools are on the wall.

I kept moving things away until all that was left was the roofing stuff and the plywood sides that fit the flat bed trailer. I'll move the plywood tomorrow.

Then I need to put up some trim boards around the bottom of the walls where the plywood has been damaged by rain and snow.

The roofing things can stay there until they get put on the shed roof.

Roof?

Me?

Yes! I really do think it will be me up on the roof nailing down the sheets of roofing. I don't want to mess with the black tar stuff, so nails will have to do. I am going to have to get some help getting the rolls up on the roof.

Putting a covering on the shed roof should be an adventure.

I'm really rather excited.

But, a little scared too.

I don't even know the correct names for the stuff. Rolls of roofing material? I've got a ladder, a hammer, a box cutter, and lots and lots of roofing nails, so I should be good to go.

I think I'll get up on the shed roof tomorrow

and give it a good look over

and see what I can do.

Is there anybody reading this post

who has put on a roof?

Roofing suggestions welcome!

Sorry about the fishy chicken post yesterday, but I was so tired I couldn't think. I'm tired tonight but I have the opposite problem... I just keep thinking of stuff.

One of the Wyandottes is not doing very well again and just sat around in the sun. She did eat and drink a little when I put some food and water next to her. Hope she is better tomorrow.

Kristine went out and got us hamburgers and fries for dinner!

Thank you, Kristine!

Peek at the Past

Wood Shed Video

We are ahead this year.

And we have more wood!

(September 13, 2009)

[4 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

Chicken Fish?

I finished the floor in the shed!

Hooray!

And then Kristine came home with

Pizza!

I have a twinge in my back.

I'm hot and tired.

The Pizza smells great.

So, I quit work for the day.

I didn't take any photos.

What to Post?

Then I remembered this...

Chicken of the Sea?

Last night Kristine said I had to see something

and she showed me a YouTube video of, a fish?

Fish?

ChickenFish?

FishChicken?

ChickenFishChick?

It's yellow!

Ick

Well, I thought it looked kinda scary?

Warning... this video comes with a warning. You may want to think twice before you have this chicken fish thing stuck in your memory. It even comes with its own worm. And four feet things.

Oh...
yes, it is a frog fish.
I asked Kristine to please not show me anymore fishy things.

Peek at the Past

Video, Feed & Rain

(September 12, 2009)

[3 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

New Floor In the Shed

Well, it is a new floor of sorts. Really, the new floor is made up of old deck planking that I have cut to fit as though it was all some great big puzzle.

I'm not nailing the planks down... just cutting them to fit tightly and making sure they lay fairly level.

Level? Well, there is a plywood floor under the planks that is falling apart in a few places and not level in others.

Tomorrow, I only have four or five more cuts to make and then I can start putting the things I want to keep back in the shed. I had to put the feed barrels back in the shed before I locked it up for the night.

I don't expect the plywood and whatever it is resting on to last much longer, but it is still too well hooked together for me to pull out. So, I'll just wait until it falls apart and then I can pick up the planks, pull out the plywood and ?, and then put in something to put the planks back on. Well, that's the plan. Who knows, maybe the floor will last as long as the shed?

The only thing I didn't take out of the shed was that large box of nails. I'm afraid if I move the box the old cardboard will fall apart and there will be nails all over.

Morgan is checking out the area of the shed where the smell is coming from. Something died under there or there is some horribly smelly critter living under the floor?

I'm going to have to nail some boards up on the outside of the back of the shed where some small critters have made some holes, or maybe the holes were made by falling branches?

I let the Buff Brahma hen out of the pen because she isn't broody anymore. So neat! I'm so glad I found out the trick of breaking the broody hens from sitting. Locking the hen out in the pen where she can't get to the nest boxes but has lots of food and water seems to give her time to reset her hormones.

Peek at the Past

Some of my favorite things!

(September 11, 2009)

[3 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

Run Away Clutter

I wish the clutter would all run away!


In the top photo, down in the myrtle (that I watered last year) near the gate is a tire.

I chased that tire down the drive and finally gave up about where I took the photo.

I was rolling some old tires to the "going away" pile and only managed to lose control of this one.





Too bad there was no candid camera around because I'm sure a video of me trying to catch the tire would have made for a laugh.

I have been spending my time emptying and repairing the right side of the shed.

I only have heavy paint cans and roofing material to take out tomorrow and then I have a few more holes to patch in the back wall.

The bad smell is almost gone and I didn't find any dead critters, so whatever it was is under the floor. I am not planning on pulling up the floor. Please!

Then I will have to make some decisions on how to fix the floor and what I will use to finish the walls. Plywood? Scrap wood? Or leave them alone?


Yep. That is the stuff in the bottom photo that I'm taking out of the shed. Really, really heavy metal car repair stuff. No wonder the floor in the shed is coming apart.

And the deal is that the only things that go back in the shed are garden tools, things I am actually using or will use, and chicken feed and chicken stuff.

Most of the stuff in that pile is not going back in the shed. It will go to the dump or Goodwill. Or somewhere... just not here.

P.S.

Kristine said she found a quilt store today!

She said she will take me shopping!

Someday

Soon?

!

Peek at the Past

I haven't watered that myrtle this year.

It really hasn't been a hot Summer.

I'm still using the rack!

(September 10, 2009)

[4 eggs today]

The broody Wyandotte

has almost stopped her broody clucking.

Maybe I can let her out tomorrow?

~:>

Smiles

Strung Up (Guest Post)

Mom's fine, I'm just filling in tonight. :)

Lonely looks a bit down today.  Perhaps the correct word would be "subdued". You can probably chalk this up to still missing her friend, but I suspect it has something to do with the cold weather front that has been sitting on us for several days. 

However, there is another possibility.

You see. ... There was a hanging. 

You can spot spectators leaving the event grounds towards the back of the picture.

Mr Bear hung for two days and two nights. His crime?

He was rather grimey.

He also wouldn't dry, thus the ear pins were applied without regrets. He held up well in to the torture of the washing machine, after being stripped of his ribbon bow-tie. Never screamed or cried, although there were several instances of him pressing his face pleadingly to the glass front of the washer.

Neither Mom nor I held any sympathy as he went round and round.

"Is this really a good idea?" I asked, wondering if his stitching was up for this.

Mom nodded,"The tag said this would be fine."

Later that day we strung him up before a maddened crowd (because the bear wasn't edible) of chickens, and possibly traumatized Lonely.

P.S.
Thank you, Kristine!
He's sweet!
And dry!

We Stacked Both The Wood Piles

This is a photo of Morgan saying hello to Hen Roo. Well, it is more than a hello, it is really more like, "Are you holding that chicken because you want to give it to me?"

I think that not too far under the surface Morgan would really like to do a little chicken hunting and would love for us to give her permission. Yep!

Tom and I stacked all the wood in the wood shed. No photo. Too tired. Tomorrow I'll take some pictures. Tom filled the wheel barrow and while he unloaded and stacked I filled the wagon and then unloaded and stacked while he filled the wheel barrow. I think I have that right.

We were almost finished and picking up the last loads when all of a sudden something moved on the log I picked up. So, naturally I screamed. Silly, I know, but I was startled. All it was was an alligator lizard, but the scream brought Kristine out of the house to find out what was the matter.

She was not feeling well and was trying to rest. Ha... I fixed that because I screamed a few more times because there must have been a lizard family living under the logs and they were showing up under my boots. Fast little guys. I was worried they might run up my leg. But they didn't. They ran off under the log splitter and in the woods. The chickens missed their chance at a lizard snack.

Then...
I didn't see this, but while I was bagging up kindling, Morgan found a kitten (eyes still closed,) (the woods around here are full of cats and kittens) and before Tom could get to it she gave it a few shakes. Tom and Kristine took the kitten to the vets and they had to have it put down because it had too much damage.

Not a pleasant end to the day.
Morgan's guard duty doesn't extend to kittens.

I'm sure I could teach her to leave them alone

if I trained her, but there are very seldom any cats

on the property that she can reach.

And I don't have any cats or kittens to work with.

No thanks. No cats.

We have had cats and they don't last very long

(unless they stay near the house,

Morgan didn't bother our cats)

because of the predators.

No house cats because of allergies.

  Peek at the Past

Broody Buff Brahma last year too.

The pigs are still doing guard duty.

[3 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

Day To Stack Wood

Today was my day to move wood and stuff around. First step was to put on my boots. 

In the photo you can see the tops of the plastic bags sticking out at the top of the boot.

I always put on two pairs of socks then put my foot in a large plastic bag and then put on the boot.

The plastic bags make it very easy to take the boots off. I'm too old to wrestle with getting boots off and the plastic bags solve the problem. They do make for sweaty feet, but if you put lotion on your feet you get your feet moisturized.

There are two piles of wood that have been drying in the sun all summer and are ready to be put in the wood shed before they get rained on... not good.

I made a start on this cut wood and stacked some next to the house ready for use when we run out of wood in the wheel barrow or when it is very cold and it's night time.

I also moved and stacked a lot of cut lumber and some metal fence poles. 

Tomorrow I'll stack wood in the wood shed. At least I hope I will if I'm not too tired out from today's fun.

I slacked off and didn't lock

the broody Buff Brahma hen out in the pen tonight.

I did push her out of the nest

so she would go get something

to eat and drink.

Tomorrow, I'll lock her out tomorrow.

Sigh, goofy hen.

P.S.
Kristine has more fishy adventures to report.

Peek at the Past

Henny Penny and Duct Tape

Click on the these
Peek at the Past photos

and they enlarge.

[3 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles