In The Works

While Morgan was waiting for me to give her some doggie treats, the chickens were eating some lettuce I'd tossed on the porch. The chickens get excited over their treats and run and flap around. If I leave Morgan on the porch with the chickens she gets excited and and runs around and then the chickens run around even more and the lettuce gets trampled and I have to tell Morgan to stop. Not a big deal, but this way is easier on my nerves.

Those are a couple of the kitchen cabinet doors that are waiting for screws the right size and for me to finish painting the cabinets. I put on more joint compound today. It is going to be in the 70's the next couple of days and Kristine is doing better, so maybe I can paint? Maybe? Kristine says "whatever" "paint if you want to"... argh! So, so, I don't know... I guess I'll paint?

The chickens have churned up this area where I dumped some of the leaves that I raked off the driveway. I think I might use up some old wood and build a big planter type box thing here and use it as a leaf dump. The chickens could play in it and eventually I could plant something there or just keep it as a place to put the rakings. That looks like a Wyandotte and an Orpington.

Since the weather has brightened up I moved the feeders outside. The chickens have cleaned out the inside of the pumpkin and there is only a thin shell left. I suspect they will finish the whole thing off in a few days. I added pumpkin to the grocery list.

The pen was empty when I started messing around in there, but some of the hens came back in the pen while I was hanging up the feeders and taking photos. I thought they were hungry, but when I left to take some photos of the pen from the outside, chickens came flapping and running out the door and across towards the woods. Whoa! The pen was empty! Kristine says she thinks the chickens are curious and that they do the same thing when she is out there. Gee, and I thought the chickens wanted to be with me because they liked me.

The Light Brahma that has done a major feather dump seems to be growing her feathers back in almost as quickly as they fell out. I noticed today that she has new feathers sprouting.

This is great! Some of our hens have taken six months or more to grow back their feathers and have had to wear duct tape over the bald spots. This hen seems to be well on her way to regaining her feathered splendor.

Today I made biscuits again on the wood stove and burned them. They still tasted great. We just pulled off the bottoms. I set the timer for ten minutes and should have checked them at five minutes. Note to self: check biscuits more often. And I think I got the pan too hot before I put in the biscuits. Cooking on a wood stove must have been a real art. I bet women knew exactly how many pieces of wood and what size to use to cook different foods. I'll keep trying my experiments. I would like to figure out how to make cookies on top of the wood stove. That would be so neat. Biscuits and cookies! Two of my favorite foods.

Congratulations, Tanya! You did a great job.

DIY is fun!

I always figure that if I can imagine how to do it

then I can do it myself.

[1 egg today]

Smiles

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P.S. I couldn't publish this post earlier or even get to see my blog. I searched around and found this site and clicked on "Something is Broken."

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/blogger?hl=en&utm_source=HC&utm_medium=leftnav&utm_campaign=blogger

Once I found out there was a problem with blogger I relaxed and waited awhile until they fixed the problem. I bookmarked this page and will check here next time there is a problem. I really didn't like thinking that I did something wrong, or that my computer or browser was at fault.

Iron Biscuits

Curly, the Cochin, then a Light Brahma,

a Buff Brahma, an Orpington and a Light Brahma on the old horse feeder,

(oops, Kristine just told me that it really is a planter box,

but the horse did nibble on it)

the black Australorp and another Buff Brahma

When I go out to the coop in the late afternoon, the hens that are already in the coop for the night hear me coming and some of them hurry outside and come towards me hoping for treats. Today when they noticed I wasn't carrying anything, they stopped and then I stopped and took a photo. The Australorp was getting ready to turn and head back to the coop. I put the blue lid out so the rain could wash it off. Lazy me.

Kitchen update: This is how far the cabinets have come because I can't do any painting until Kristine is doing better with her cough or until I can leave the windows open for a couple of days. I did get the drawer fronts attached to cover the openings where the drawers used to be. I painted the cabinet doors and the drawer fronts before I brought them in the house. I'll go ahead and cut and attach the kick boards and trim.

This was a learning experience. I thought I would try out making biscuits on the wood stove. First, I heated the empty iron fry pan and lid up on the wood stove before I put the biscuits in and then I let them cook for about ten minutes. Kristine carried the pan back to the stove so we could flip the biscuits over. I put the paper plate over the biscuits and then Tom turned the whole thing over and the biscuits came out on the plate. Then I slipped the biscuits back in the pan with the cooked side up so the other side of the biscuits could cook. The biscuits would have slid off easier if I had floured the paper plate first. Note to self.

The leftover stew is heating up on top with the big pot of water that helps keep the air from getting too dry. I think the trick to getting the biscuits to cook on top of the wood stove is to get the pan and lid really hot before I put in the biscuits. It will also work out better next time I make them if I don't goof up and put an extra cup of flour in the bowl. I used butter instead of shortening and I did not grease the pan. The wok holder thing the pan is sitting in keeps the bottom of the pan from touching the stove. I'm going to keep making biscuits or corn bread on the wood stove until I figure it out. Next I'd like to try baked apples on the wood stove.

[3 eggs today]

Smiles

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