Lorihadams-- hi guys...been busy!

[lorihadams]

Wednesday

Being lazy today, it's just too dang cold. I was going to go to the store today and get dog food and chicken feed and pick up a birthday present for a friend's son but the temps dropped 20 degrees overnight and we are all content to stay inside. I'm sipping coffee and the kids are playing.

I found one of my hens in the dog house on the front porch. I have the dog house there for the cats, honestly. I felt bad for them in the winter and rain so I was able to get this dog house cheap a couple of years ago and now it seems that Miss Etta has a new nesting box. She is laying in the middle of the old blanket I put in there for the cats. She got up and I found 4 eggs in there. I still have not been able to find out where Butterscotch is laying. I haven't gotten an egg from her in 2 weeks, little hussie. I have locked them in the run and that is where they will stay for the next few days. I am over looking for eggs.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

We're being lazy today, too. We were going to go out and finish that gate, but it started to rain.

We're happy to stay inside until the rain stops.

 

[Dace]

We were 'supposed' to get rain, but I am not so sure now.

The egg hunt must be very frustrating. I hope your girls figure out those nesting boxes!

 

[punkin]

Yeah, raining here (again) too.

Where are the cats sleeping?

 

[lorihadams]

The cats sleep wherever they can. Last year Chad left a rubbermaid of hunting clothes on the front porch and when it snowed I looked out there and one of the cats had evidently broken the lid and gotten in there and her head was sticking out of the box. They really only use it when it snows. I was actually thinking of moving it to the duck pen and using it for a nesting box for the ducks....and inevitably, the chickens. I have locked them in the run for the next couple of days to "retrain" them where to lay....little hussies.

It is drizzling rain, supposed to all day off and on. Today is my little brother's 33rd birthday! Happy Birthday ALEX!!! I sent him a video of the kids on the phone this morning and got Madelyn dancing in circles singing "I am a princess, I am a princess, I am a princess" That will make him happy

I am baking bread, got in a fight with my dh last night and slept in the bed with Tyler. I'm exhausted and the weather is not helping. I didn't get to the store yesterday so I think I'll go run errands when Chad gets home so I can do it without having to drag the kids out in the rain. I am having libido issues and go to my ob in 2 weeks so hopefully we can find out what's going on. I have cut back the dosage on my Cymbalta (although, I think I need to call the doctor and go back to the higher dosage) and I am now off the birth control pill. I want to have my hormone levels tested to make sure nothing is going on there. This has been an ongoing problem for the last 8 years. I'm over it, tired of fighting about it.

On the homeschooling front, we've been working on rhyming words with Tyler, it's his new obsession. We have also been working on writing his uppercase letters and recognizing his lowercase letters, spelling 3 letter words, and general word recognition. Maddie has been doing colors and shapes and we are working on the alphabet too. Our latest obsession is WordWorld on PBS. Tyler loves to "build a word" and I have some flashcards that are puzzles divided into 3 letter words and he had fun building the words this morning. Yesterday afternoon we spent some time looking for online educational games to play. One of Tyler's favorite sites is funbrain.com lots of simple cute games that are easy for him to play. We also love pbskids.org and spent some time there too. We also frequent the discovery channel website and the animal planet site. He loves animals.

I can't remember if I posted this or not but we went to the library sale and got $11 worth of books. One that I got was put out by Reader's Digest in the early 80's.....81, I think, and is called Back to Basics: How to Learn and Enjoy Traditional American Skills. It has everything from planting a garden to building your own home to alternative energy how to's and canning. I got it for a dollar! I also got some old reference books on animals and a book called 700 Science Experiments for Everyone.

 

[keljonma]

I can't remember if I posted this or not but we went to the library sale and got $11 worth of books. One that I got was put out by Reader's Digest in the early 80's.....81, I think, and is called Back to Basics: How to Learn and Enjoy Traditional American Skills. It has everything from planting a garden to building your own home to alternative energy how to's and canning. I got it for a dollar!

This is a wonderful book! Congratulations on getting it. I think that is the issue we have (still in a box here). I really love the whole book, but the sections on land purchases, water resources, and old crafts are terrific!

edited for typos

 

[lorihadams]

Saturday

Chad went bowhunting this morning but came back empty handed. Said he had lots of deer under him before daylight but not enough light for a shot. Then he had a doe directly underneath him but couldn't get a good shot so he let her walk.

We got up and went to the chicken swap or the "chickie wop" as Madelyn likes to call it. I was thoroughly disappointed but the weather forecast was iffy for rain and I think that scared a lot of people off. As we were driving back home I saw signs that the Methodist church was having a "Day in the Country" event so we stopped by. We had a good time there, bouncy houses, wagon rides, petting zoo, yard sale, bake sale, pumpkins for sale, live christian band. It didn't cost anything for admission and tickets for each event were only 25cents. I spent $2 and the kids had a great time. I also got a business card from the lady that does the petting zoo so I can come to their farm and maybe get some chickens or goats in the future.

I posted an ad on craigslist and found 2 light brahma hens that I am going to pick up this week. The lady is asking $12 each but she is coming to meet me from a long way so I agreed to her asking price. These are also laying so that is a plus!

Chad fell in love with the silkie chickens at the petting zoo so it looks like I may be getting some in addition to my crested polish in the spring!

On our way to a birthday party for our friend's son tonight....got to get ready.

 

[lorihadams]

Monday

Had our first frost warning last night. I panicked and I went out and picked tons of tomatoes so now my windowsill above the sink is packed with green tomatoes! I'm scared I'm gonna bump into one and they will all come crashing down on me.

I still have peppers coming in so I will definitely have to keep an eye on the weather and cover them if we do get a frost. The weather is supposed to get warmer though this week, back to normal temps for the year. My broilers are soon going to be going into the tractor. I will be so glad to get them off the porch! They are definitely eating more, I have switched to flock raiser now that TSC is carrying it. Started feeding the birds some scratch grains too now that it has gotten so cold.

We had a hunting dog hanging around the house yesterday so I had to scramble to lock up all the birds. It was an older black lab though, and they don't usually bother the birds. At least mine don't. It was a dog I had not seen before. We get this a lot every year when deer season starts. All the local hunt clubs start bringing the dogs out and doing practice runs during bowseason and inevitably we see some dogs that get lost in the process. It's a part of living in the area we're in. Last year we had 3 that I locked up on my back porch so I could call different owners and such. There are several groups that actually have phone numbers on the collars so that makes it easier. Some don't though and that is a real pain in the arse!

Chad was supposed to have a meeting with his business partners yesterday and 2 of them called him last minute and cancelled, typical. He is trying to force them to get out of the company. They both have personal problems (read drinking problems) and are not very trustworthy, besides not having a work ethic. I was very leery of them being involved at all this year but my husband wanted to give them a second chance and now it is biting him in the butt.

I got the kids all dressed up and sent them out to play and my poor daughter came in after about 5 minutes of being out in 20 mph winds and said "I don't want to play an-eeee-mo-wa" Poor thing....

The wind is supposed to die down today so it will be better, gotta go rake leaves this afternoon and refill the chicken run. Supposed to be in the 70s tomorrow so that will be laundry day. I think I will go to TSC today and stock up on flock raiser for the broilers, today is the last day that they will be offering it at $2 off per bag. We are out of milk too, geesh I can't wait to get a goat!

Have a great day everyone!

 

[lorihadams]

Tuesday

waiting patiently for my granny and papa to arrive....got the broilers into the tractor yesterday and they spent a very cold night (in the upper 30s) out there. They seem to be doing well and enjoying their larger space and the grass. I am glad to have them off of my front porch. Unfortunately the baby pool they were in is too heavy with poo and shavings for me to move so the porch still smells like poo and the flies are attacking it.


The weather is beautiful today so I have 4 loads of laundry on the line and I also just finished baking a loaf of bread. Made a meatloaf this morning and it is in the fridge ready to be baked for dinner in a little while.

The kids are refusing to go outside and play..... My children are weird. The slightest bit of cold and they want to stay in the house and get under my feet. We went for a walk yesterday afternoon and went to look at the neighbor's cows down the road. They whined about being cold the whole time. Grrrrrrrrrrr, it's gonna be a long winter if this keeps up.

 

[lorihadams]

Thursday

Went to clean the quail cage and two of the five in the cage flew out

I can't find the netting that we have for catching escapees, Chad used it last and can't remember where he put it so for now they are loose in the woods behind the house. I'm over it. I'm thinking that I may just get rid of them altogether.

I moved the broiler tractor yesterday and evidently didn't get it level and one got out and got eaten last night. I found another one outside the tractor trying to get back in. We still have 30 so I moved the tractor to a more level spot, no gaps this time and made sure everything is secure. Every dog in the neighborhood was barking last night and all was good when we went out to check on everyone so it must have happened after we went to bed. Whatever got it only left a foot and a wing and a few pieces of innards here and there. I'm thinking it may have been a dog.

I got the yard raked yesterday and put all the leaves (after the kids got done jumping in them) into the chicken run. My hen Etta is laying an egg every day on a blanket on the front porch. It really is cute. Crazy bird. She was pecking on the front door this morning.

Chad got all the telephone poles cut for the goat fence last evening so that is done. He is thinking of renting an auger this weekend to get them set. $90 for the day, I don't know.

He has had a really bad week at work. He seems to be the brunt of a lot of abuse lately. He's really stressed out and our company is trying to get some stuff done and his partners were supposed to give him money from the last golf tournament we did and he is short money. Typical. They are supposed to go clear some land they are leasing Saturday morning and of course the 2 troublemakers don't want to go because it is deer season and they won't give up a morning hunting. I would love to call them and let them have it but it won't help anything, it will just stress Chad out more.

Granny and Papa had a good visit and left yesterday afternoon. Granny sent papa outside to measure something for a surprise, I don't know what they have up their sleeves. She asked me if it would be okay if she got each of the kids a tv for their rooms for xmas and I said absolutely not. We live in an 1100 sq ft house and already have 2 tvs, what the &%*# do we need with 4??? Are you kidding me?

I told her to go to my mom's garage and get my brother's old legos and my old barbies and call it a day. Xmas done, and it didn't cost me a thing!

Chad is hoping to clear the back acre of our property and fence it in in the hopes that it will raise the value of the house. I like having the woods back there, it is a buffer from the neighbors. It would be fine for goats as it is but we would have to completely clear cut it to make it pasture and even then I don't know if the lay of the land would be suitable, it's kind of hilly and has a drainage ravine running through the back of it. I would rather leave it as is and let the goats clear out some of the undergrowth instead. We'll see.