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

[Denim Deb]

Don't know if hubby will remember the talk we had last night or not-he was drunk. But, we're supposed to work on my lean to for my riding mower this weekend as well as put the windows in my tack shed. Plus, I want a small coop in my broody area so I can move my broody into there. As much as I want the lean to done, and the windows, getting the broody coop done is first.

He also wanted the key for my bike cuz he was talking about getting our riding mower out. And, he can't get to it when my bike is put away. Since he wasn't going to be riding it, just basically unlocking the handlebars and pushing it, I let him have it. Well, he comes in and announces that he lost the key. I had a feeling it was one of 2 places-either in his pocket or in the ignition. I was right. It was in his pocket.

My ankle is still bothering me. Last night, I put ice on it again, then strapped it B4 going to sleep. I think I need a new ace. I'm going to try leaving it strap-except when I get a shower-and seeing if that helps any. This ace is pretty old, and doesn't really seem to be giving me much support anymore. I might have a new one here. If not, I'll have to run to the store and get one.

 

[Denim Deb]

Past 2 days, I've hardly gotten anything done. My ankle has really been hurting me, so I've been trying to stay off of it as much as I can. Of course, when I'm off of it, I don't get anything done and then what I need to do, piles up even more. I'm thinking a lot of it is the weather-we have a system moving in.

And, my broody was still sitting on the eggs today! But, she's not being left in peace by the other hens. In fact, I had to take 3 eggs out from under her. So, getting her moved over the weekend is a must! And, if I don't get any chicks from the eggs in the bator, I'm going to see if I can't find a few chicks to put under her. I want to see what kind of a mother she is. There's chicks pretty much every day on CL, so that shouldn't be a problem.

I've been checking on my garden. And, I have corn, cucumbers, zucchini, watermelon, pumpkin and I'm not sure what all else coming up! I uncovered a couple of the potatoes in my bin to see how they're doing. They've put out some roots, and I can't move them w/out breaking the roots. So, I'm thinking it won't be too much longer B4 I start seeing them coming up!

As much as I'm enjoying having a garden, I'm looking forward to next year's garden. Since hubby decided he wanted a garden after I already had mine going, I have way more of some things than I really need. I counted over 80 tomato plants, and I forget how many hot peppers. Originally, I had planned on having a small orchard as well as the asparagus, rhubarb and the vegetable garden in the space I have. Since I haven't gotten the orchard in, hubby has his garden where that was supposed to go. But, since I'm moving the asparagus and rhubarb this fall and planting the orchard, I'll still have this much room for next year. And, I'm going to split it completely in half. I'll grow what I want, he can grow what he wants. I already have mine all planned out on paper. I'm curious to see if I can grow enough in that space for just myself. More and more, hubby and I aren't eating the same thing for dinner, so this shouldn't be a problem.

Yesterday, I made a double batch of browned rice w/turkey and stir fry veggies. Hubby didn't eat any of it. So, I'll be freezing individual servings. I already have a few things frozen, and it's helping me a ton when I'm too beat to cook. I've missed meals in the past when I've been too beat. I haven't missed a meal lately. Tomorrow is supposed to be cooler, so I'll be making a turkey casserole and some turkey noodle soup. That will give me lunch for tomorrow as well as dinner, and several more meals to go in the freezer.

 

[Denim Deb]

Today was one of those days when I didn't know for sure what to take out to the farm. The weather was up in the air. But, I checked the radar and the hourly forecast, and figured if I left early, I'd be able to get done early enough to beat the rain, so I took the bike.

Got everyone fed, cleaned up my field, turned the chickens loose, then worked w/the horses. I was actually able to work w/all 3 of them, and groom them! Misty is the easiest one to work with. I've spent the most time working w/her, so she listens the best. Licorice has the most attitude, so she's going to be the worst. Stormy is testing me, but not as bad as Licky.

RU has a small "dog" house which is the right size for me to put my broody in. I got that all set up, and decided to try and move her and the eggs. So, I put the eggs in, then put her in. Well, she didn't stay. She popped right back out. I decided to get Stormy fed, then get hay out and see if she calmed down any. She didn't. So, I rounded up all my chickens, then let her loose and put the eggs back. She went right back and sat on them. I'm going to have to go out some evening and try again. I hope I can get her to settle in there soon.

I got done everything I wanted to do at the farm and left. It still hadn't started to rain, and I thought I was going to make it. The church that I attend is about halfway between the farm and home. I didn't even get to the church B4 it started to rain. And, it was a cold rain! I went a bit over the speed limit cuz I wanted to get home! I did have a bit of trouble stopping at one point, but was able to w/out dropping the bike.

Got home, got my turkey noodle soup made, ate some for lunch, then took a nap. Got up, did some dishes, then made some sour cream cookies and beef stroganoff. It's been awhile since I made it, and was missing that page from my cookbook! So, I basically winged it. And, since I don't like it over noodles, I cooked up some rice.

Now, I'm sitting here watching Monk. In about an hour or so, I'll be heading to bed.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Congrats on the broody. I did successfully move a broody a few weeks ago. She was sitting in a dog crate, so I went out after dark and moved her and the crate together into a safer location. I kept the crate covered with a dark sheet for a couple days so she didn't even know she'd been moved! Sometimes dumb chickens are a blessing, lol. She successfully hatched 4 little Faverolles that are the cutest things ever. And, (okay maybe she's not that dumb) every evening she takes them back to the same dog crate so I just close the door on 'em and they're safe all night long.

Glad you found the time to work with the horses!

 

[Denim Deb]

I need to get her in there soon. I'm hoping that she'll be on the nest long enough to raise chicks if I get any out of what I have in my incubator. They'll be ready to hatch out next Sunday.

 

[Denim Deb]

KN called the other day. Even though she doesn't have a horse any longer, RU doesn't care if she rides hers, and she wanted to go for a ride. I know how she felt, so after church, we went for a ride. It would have been a nice ride except for one thing-the green heads were horrible! The horse KN was on wanted to bolt, and Misty almost bucked once trying to get the green heads on her belly, so we turned around and went back. And, we did a lot of trotting on the way back. The horses needed no encouragement to do that. In fact, I think if we had asked for an all out gallop, they would have been more than willing!

Got back to the farm, got everything unloaded, and I started to work on my field. I didn't touch it yesterday and did it early on Friday. So, it was really bad. I got the cart filled, put the battery in the mower, and it started right up! Went and dumped the cart, started to come back-and the mower shut off on me. I didn't even bother messing w/it to try and get it going. I walked up to the parking area, got my truck, made sure I had a strap in it and towed the dumb thing up. I'm pretty sure that one thing that's wrong w/it is that something is causing the battery to short out. I tried to start it once I got up it up-and could hear it arcing. So, I yanked the battery out again and put it in my tack stall. I still had more of the field to clean, so I got that all done, then got hay out, got the chickens away, fed Cindy and left.

Now I'm home, relaxing for a bit. I'm not going to stay up much longer. I'm beat!

 

[Denim Deb]

I was going to take the bike out to the farm today, but B4 I was ready to leave, hubby wanted me to move it so he could get the riding mower out. So, I started it up, put it in gear-and went nowhere. And, it was making a funny noise. So, I turned it off. Hubby gets on it-and tries the same thing. That's when I noticed the belt-it broke. So, that means no riding until I get a new belt on.

I had been going to go out, feed, come home and work on some stuff around here w/hubby, then go out to the farm and work on my lean to. Well, w/the bike broken, that didn't happen. Instead, I just went out and did some work out there. I basically just stayed long enough to be able to give Stormy his 2nd feeding, then left.

Got home, put some clothes out on the line, got potato salad made, then worked in my garden. What a difference having it cleaned out makes! I got the whole thing weeded-and it hardly took any time at all! Most of the last onions that I planted didn't come up, so I had gotten some more sets the other day. I got them in. I have potatoes coming up in my bin, plus I had a potato start to grow in my composter. I didn't really want it in there, so I've tried transplanting it into a big container. I don't know if they will hurt it or not, but figure it's worth a shot.

I'm ready to get rid of my incubator. The stupid thing WON'T stay at a constant temperature. Last night, it was way too hot. So, I turned down the temp, made sure it was where it needed to be, then went to bed. Today, it was too low. I checked the eggs last night, and did see movement in one, so hopefully, they didn't all get cooked. I have less than a week to go, so we'll see.

I still haven't gotten that hen moved. I was going to move her today since I figured we'd be out there late. Well, since that didn't happen, I think I'm going to go back tomorrow evening. I have my appointments, so I'll swing by on my way home and stay late. I'll let hubby knows so he doesn't get worried. I'll probably leave here later than normal so I can do some stuff here. I have some stuff that didn't come up, so I'm going to try and replant those seeds in the morning. We could get some rain tomorrow, so this is a good time to plant.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Oh that just sucks! Hope you can get the bike fixed quickly. And, hope your incubator did't cook the little chicksters!

 

[Denim Deb]

Today was a wet day. And, there wasn't really anything I needed to do out at the farm. So, since I had my appointments today, I decided I'd do some housework first, then get out to the farm late, feed, go to my appointments and come back. That worked out well.

I candled my eggs this morning. I saw movement in 3 of them! I'm hoping that I get more than that. And, since I was out at the farm so late (I left at 8:40!), I decided I was going to try to get that broody hen where I wanted. So, I put her eggs in the little house, then put her in. I had a tarp to cover the door. I pulled that down, hoping w/the dark, she'd stay put. That didn't work. So, I put her back in, put the tarp back in place-and stuck a brick on it. it was even darker now, so I was hoping this would work. Worked on cleaning the field, then went and took the brick off, and started moving the tarp. She popped right back out. I was able to get her back in, then put the brick back on. I've left her in there overnight. I'm planning on getting out to the farm early tomorrow since it's going to be a warmer day. If this doesn't work, I'm going to have to kick the chickens out of the pen when my eggs hatch, then once I know for sure that she accepts the chicks, move her into the broody area, and let everyone else out. :/ I'm beat. I'll be heading for bed soon.

 

[Denim Deb]

That is one persistent hen! I left the house early this morning since I didn't want to leave her in the house w/a tarp over it. I get there, take the tarp off and she seems perfectly comfortable. So, I figure it worked. Leave her in there, and go get everyone else fed and taken care of. Then I look over to her-she's off the eggs, getting something to eat and drink. I figure she'll go back on. Well, no such luck. She got done eating and drinking and started trying to get out. So, I let her out and she made a bee line for the coop. I put the eggs back in and she's back on them. So, I'm just going to have to wait and see if I can get her to accept the chicks in the house when they're hatched.

Since I got to the farm early, I was able to leave early. And, I'm glad! It's hot out there.