Denim Deb Hay, hay, hay. Thank the Lord!

[Denim Deb]

I'm really wondering. What was done at the farm today, I could have done myself and probably in less time than it took them.

 

[Denim Deb]

This morning I told him that I was upset because he and DD went out to dinner and didn't tell me they were going. His response? I thought we discussed it. I told him, no you talked about grilling something. His response? We can go out today. I told him no, we're supposed to finish my hay shelter. Not only that, I don't really want to go out. I'm getting more and more to where I don't want to dine out that often. I want to save our money and pay off bills. But then again, he keeps talking about me taking his money to pay for stuff since I don't have a job. I have told him B4 (of course this is always when he's drunk, so I doubt that he remembers it afterwards) that if he wants me to, I'll move out and get a job so I can support both myself and the horses. His response is always I don't want you to leave. But it keeps coming up. So, I'm thinking I just might have to leave. I'm tired of living like this. This morning I was out at a little after 6:00. I weeded some more of the orchard area and threw it to the goats (to keep them quiet), then finished the trellis. Depending on what the weather is like tomorrow, I'm hoping to finally get the goat pen all cleaned out and seeds in the garden. I'm thinking if I really work hard at it, I can have the garden, the goats and the front flower garden all "done" by Saturday. (Of course, a garden is never really done, but you know what I mean) Then I can finally get started on getting the yard cleaned up.

I also threw a load of clothes in the washer, washed some dishes, cleaned out the chick pen and practiced the piano a bit. All told, I spent about 2 hours working B4 I got a shower and breakfast

 

[Denim Deb]

Well, we didn't get done the hay shelter, but it wasn't hubby's fault. We decided that my battery operated tools would be good enough for what work we needed to do. After all, they're Craftsmen, and I have 2 batteries. We figured we'd use one battery at a time, and have the other on charge since they seem to charge pretty quickly. And I had had the one on charge yesterday while I was working on my chicken platform. So, I give hubby that battery, and put the other one on charge. I think there must be a problem w/that battery. It died almost immediately. So, we had to use the other battery. And I put that one back on the charger. Got done as much as we could, then that one died. Tried using the first battery again, but it was no go. So, we had to stop.

Even if we had gotten it done, I would not have been having a riding lesson tomorrow. The weather is just too iffy. We could get T storms at any time, and since she doesn't own an indoor, it's best to wait. And it's just as well. I have a ton of stuff to get done at the farm tomorrow. My first order of business is going to be to set up an area for my hen and her chicks! When I checked on her today, I saw 3 chicks! I have a feeling that all 4 of my eggs hatched out. The 3 I could see looked identical. But I had one egg in there that was from a mixed breed chicken, so I don't expect her babies to look the same. And, I could see that egg-she's the only one that lays brown eggs. It had hatched! I'll know for sure tomorrow. They're safe in their area for the night.

I also didn't shut the chicks up in the broody area today. When I rounded up all the chickens, they were all mixed up w/the adults. And, there was no fighting. It would have been very difficult for me to separate them, so I left them all together. I need to have them out of the broody area in 2 weeks or so so I can bring out the chicks I have at home. If I don't have any extra roosters, I might have to sell some birds.

 

[BarredBuff]

Maybe you'll get the shelter done soon. Broody hens are so fun! I love having them around...

 

[Denim Deb]

It HAS to get done. I can't get more hay until the trailer is unloaded and the hay stored. And, hay is much cheaper at this time of year than in the dead of winter. I've figured out about how much hay will fit in there. And the amount I think I'll need will fit. But what I might do is, after I've used about 30 bales of it, buy an extra 30 bales for just in case. I'd rather have too much than not enough.

 

[Denim Deb]

I'm not really on here, I'm doing housework. And, I've had a very busy day. First off, I get to the farm, and while I'm feeding everyone I go to check on the chickens. I see my older chicks coming out of the hen house, so I decide, OK, you guys don't need to be in the broody area. W/that decided, I go and check on my hen. And, I see 4 chicks!!!!!! 3 of them are Ameraucana, the other is a mixed breed, but more than half Ameraucana. I can't tell which is which. So I get to work. I have a child's sized hoe that's perfect for cleaning out chicken houses. I get the little house all cleaned out and put in fresh shavings. Then I move the platform I built and get the feed and water out of there. I get that set up, then managed to catch all the chicks and put them in the house. Of course, the mother is all upset, but she did walk into the broody pen on her on. Mother and babies were doing good when I came home.

Since I was already in there cleaning up after the chickens, I decided to go ahead and clean the main coop and put down fresh shavings. I also switched them all to chick feed. Then I started to figure out how many chickens I have. And, I came up w/22! I don't really need that many chickens, but I don't want to get rid of any chicks until I see what I have. So then I start trying to figure out what I'm going to do and finally got it all figured out. I want some home, but couldn't figure out which ones to bring home-especially since some are getting older. I don't butcher my older girls, but take them to the auction. And, I don't really want to do that until next year. So, I'm going to work on getting a small house built at home. Once that's done, I'll be bringing home the 4 that I'll want to get rid of next fall. They should be fine in the house I'm going to built.

I bought 2 barred rock chicks this year because I wanted to cross them w/my rooster. I like that cross, but didn't know that I wanted to keep the hens once I got the cross I wanted. So once the older hens go to auction, I'll be bringing home the barred rock. If we are able to move next year, and if whoever buys the house wants them, I'd let them keep them.

Any extra roosters will be dinner. As of right now, there is one that I'm almost positive is a rooster w/the ones that I have at home. I want him. I have at least 2 others that may be roosters. If so, they're dinner. I may or may not try and hatch out more chicks this year. I haven't decided yet. I still have 2 weeks to go on the duck eggs. But, if I do hatch any out, they'll probably go to the auction so I can see if I can make any money. But, w/the moving around of birds, that would give me 16 chickens maximum at the farm. Then, next year, I can hopefully start trying to figure out my breeding program.

Besides taking care of the chickens, I got my field all cleaned up. I'm really loving this. I only have to clean 2x a week instead of everyday. My only problem is having something available to pull the spreader. If I use RU's mower, I have to keep turning it off and on to get thru gates. Plus, it doesn't always have gas in it and I have no desire to run out of gas. And, if the tractor is being used for something else, then I can't use the tractor. Hubby fixed the mower I was given, but he doesn't know if I can run it or not. So, we might keep that one at home, and find me a decent used mower.

W/the field all cleaned up, I finally got lime down in the one section. I'm putting lime down every time I have a section closed off until I get the pH right. I'm not sure what the pH is right now, but I know it's still too low. I have a meter for testing it, but w/the ground as dry and as hard as it is, I'm not really able to test it. I'm hoping for a good soaking so I can test it.

And, I used some of the old 2x4s that were kicking around to make the framework for my hay feeder for the goats! I think the problem I had w/the battery yesterday must have been a fluke. I had the battery I knew was good charging while I did everything else. Then, when I was ready to get started, that battery was charged up. I put the other battery on the charger, and got to work. I was almost all done when the battery died. So, I went and got the other battery, and it worked fine. So, the framework is all done! Now I just need to either bring it home, or take the wire mesh I have out to the farm so I can finish it. I'm hoping to get the goat pen all done on Wednesday. Then I can cross something off of my todo list!

 

[BarredBuff]

You sound like you are having a productive day. I didn't know you had goats. Are they dairy?

 

[Denim Deb]

Yep, but they're just pets. My DD got them years ago for 4-H. Then, she lost interest, and I never had the time to do anything w/them. And I don't think breeding them at this age for the first time would be the greatest idea.

Did some work in the living room, then went out and worked in the garden. I had hoped to get done quicker than I did, but I also wanted to get a certain amount done. I FINALLY have some beans planted, and my 2nd planting of corn! And, I worked more in the orchard area. Tomorrow, I won't be working in the garden cuz I'm supposed to go out w/my motorcycle group. But, if the weather's bad, I don't know what we're going to do. (It's no fun to ride a motorcycle in T storms!)

Once I got done, I came in and am now dealing w/a drunk hubby. He couldn't find the controller, so he couldn't adjust the sound for the TV. He insisted I moved it when I was cleaning. I didn't touch it. I finally found it where he put it. Then I went and got a quick shower. And I got done just in time! We're getting some thunder now.

Tomorrow, I don't think I'll be able to work in the garden, but I have a ton of other stuff to do. My goals for tomorrow are:

1. Fold and put away laundry
2. Iron shirts
3. Clean bathroom
4. Do dishes
5. Go to TSC
6. Normal farm chores
7. Bible Study
8. Allergist and chiropractor
9. Run a couple of errands
10. Ice cream run w/motorcycle group?

 

[Denim Deb]

I'm loving having Bible Study on Tuesday instead of Thursday. I got back to the farm at just after 12:00. Got Stormy fed, got feed bagged, got hay out, took care of the chickens and left.

Because I left earlier than I had been, I had time to stop at K-Mart first. Found a new shirt, and a pair of flip flops.

After the allergist's, I stopped at Dollar Tree, got gas, then bought a new motorcycle helmet. And even making these 3 stops I was early at the chiropractor's! I was going to stop at Lowe's on the way home, but took one look at the sky and decided I wasn't going to even think about it. I take a major road to get home. I hadn't gone too far when the skies just opened up. Traffic really slowed down. There were people pulled over. There were people w/their 4 ways on. And there were people that kept hitting their brakes! I do not like driving in that. But at the same time, I wanted to get home, so I kept going.

By the time I got home, it had pretty much stopped raining. So, I came in the house, checked the radar, then went out, fed the goats and got stuff in. It started to thunder again. I hadn't cleaned the bathroom, so I decided I was going to get that done, then get a shower. By the time I was done my shower, it was raining again, but not like it had been earlier.

I didn't get the laundry done, but other than that, I finished my list. I didn't go out w/the group because they were still going to the ice cream place. And, it doesn't have an inside seating area, just a large covered area. I don't like being in something like that during a storm. If they had gone to a restaurant instead, I would have joined them. Instead, I stayed home and am thinking of having an early night.

 

[Denim Deb]

We got a good rain! We really needed it. It's cooled things off, and I'm sure the ground at the farm is no longer rock solid. (I just hope all my chicks are OK) It should help the grass (and weeds) in my field grow, and I'm sure the horses will be in a good mood when I get there. Even Stormy will run around jumping and bucking when I get there to feed on days like this.

Right now, I'm waiting for it to dry up a bit B4 heading to the farm. I'm going to take advantage of this to clean along the fence line some. The mower doesn't really cut right up to the fence, and of course, it doesn't do corners. And w/as hot and dry as it's been, it's been very difficult to do any of that. So, my list for today is as follows:

1. Put out trash and recyclables (just ran out and did that)
2. Fold and put way laundry
3. Iron shirts
4. Normal farm chores
5. Work on weeding along fence line
6. Clean kitchen
7. Do dishes
8. Clean out goat pen
9. Finish hay feeder for goats, then feed them
10. Work in garden. I should be able to get all my vine crops planted today!

Now, as long as no one moves the end of the tunnel again, I think I'm FINALLY starting to see the light at the end of it!