One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?
I'm fairly certain there's a rooster in my pullet cage. What do you think?
It's not real clear in this picture, but his comb is taller, redder, and he is getting wattles.
That is not a Buff Orpington Pullet, but rather a Buff Orpington Roo.
Did you guess which thing was not like the others?
Did you guess which thing just doesn't belong?
If you guessed this one is not like the others,
Then you're absolutely...right!
I just posted earlier today that I wasn't sure if my lavender guinea was posturing to practice laying an egg or if it was some male mating stance which wouldn't do it any good since there's only one left out there.
Kris, at SimpleLiving4Us, posted a link to listen to guineas to determine their gender. http://www.guineafowl.com/fritsfarm/guineas/sounds/ It was very helpful and we decided THIS one was a female. I know we had some males earlier, (now that I know what they sound like) but they all came to sad endings.
I just went out to freshen up her water, and she did her little egg-laying stance again. I petted her and then decided to stroll around her enclosure and take a peek. I've been watching for hidden eggs for a couple weeks now, ever since she started that odd stance.
I found an egg! She's definitely a guinea hen. This is our very first egg ever! We hope for lots of eggs from our Ameraucana hens.
Chicken Coop Ideas Needed -- alternate living options?
Posted on 2009-Apr-30 at 07:57 AM
All right, it's time for those 14 Ameraucana chicks to get OUT of my basement! They are totally stinking up the place and we have a huge poop+shavings+food mess to clean up down there.
The only reason they are still down there is housing! The old hen house and the old brooder house are on the FAR side of the property and need fixing up. While slapping a little more wood over gaps and cleaning them out is the EASIEST way to house them, it is so far from our house, that I'm not wanting to do that. I can't even see the coops from the house, and I really did dream of watching the chickens from my house, or the porch, or something!
We had hoped to build a chicken tractor, but Steve has been so busy with work we haven't done anything yet. He's getting home late at night and working weekends at the moment, so he hasn't had any time to build anything ... or to mow. We want to move them outside this weekend, so we're looking for what can be accomplished quickly.
Last Spring when we moved the guineas (5 of them, only 1 still living) outside, we moved them into a little fenced area beside the house that had a doghouse in it. It was supposed to be temporary and we were going to let them wander the property freely once they were older. Well, it didn't work out that way thanks to the dog we adopted shortly after that, and the one guinea still lives in there, although he rarely uses the doghouse anymore. He just sits out in the rain and snow. Seriously!
That isn't ideal for the chickens. We want them to have a proper home with nesting boxes and roosts. But if I can't come up with an easy solution, Steve's going to put them in with the guinea this weekend, regardless of having built a coop or not. If we do that, I'd likely put a tarp over one end of the fence and it's chicken wire ceiling, to provide some shelter from the rain. And it would be temporary!
But I really would prefer ideas. What alternate chicken coop or tractor ideas have you come up with? Anything that can be built in a day? Do I just need to quit whining, fix up the old coops, and start walking way over there, where I can't even see the chickens from my house, several times a day? That will be a bummer ... can't imagine not being able to watch them from my house as I'd dreamed of doing.
Chicken help needed ... please leave comments with ideas!
(Speaking of the guinea, it does this weird posture thing when I go out to feed it, and I can't decide if it resembles a female trying to lay an egg, or a male taking on a mating stance. No, I don't know what gender the guinea is. We bought 5 straight run guineas. I suspect male, though.)
It's "Chick Days" at our local Farm & Home store. We were in the previous weekend admiring the chicks and talking about what we'd like to do this year, but we didn't buy. When Steve went in on Saturday, he found these little girls just begging to come home with him. They're Ameracauna pullets, and someday they'll lay lovely green, blue, purple, and brown eggs for us. We're looking forward to that, but until then they're just 14 cuties!
We also intend to get some Buff Orpington gals, but Orscheln was out of them this weekend. We're not sure if we'll mail order them, or buy locally.
Marilyn, we do have guineas. Or had. We had 5 last year and were letting them free-range during the day, and locking them up in a pen at night.
Then we got a dog. So we had to alternate who was out. The guineas could free-range, or the dog could free-range. Not both.
The dog killed one of the guineas last Fall. 1 died of unknown causes in early winter. 2 more died in a very cold freezing spell mid-winter.
"Last One Standing" (as Steve calls him) is the only one left. Now we are trying to decide how many, if any, to get this year. How will we handle them and the dog this year? What will we do differently next winter?
We want them for tick control, but it hasn't quite turned out as we hoped it would.
Gloria, yes my sister discovered it quickly and saw the Dr. When she described her rash to me, I suggested Lyme disease. She didn't think she had that, but saw the Dr. anyway. It was Lyme Disease, and she did take the antibiotics. She found it early, treated it quickly, and has fully recovered.
We check regularly for ticks, because those removed within 24 hours can not transfer Lyme disease to you ... or so I've read. Usually, though, the little guys start itching and we find them without actually checking for them.
In other tick news:
We had a controlled burn become uncontrolled this weekend. The wind came up suddenly and away it went. The fire department had to come out and help us extinguish the fire. Now we are all wondering if the fire might have killed off the ticks in the treeline. One can only hope!
By the way, that is not a tick-removal method that I can really recommend. I think it's one to avoid, actually.
I had to remove my first tick from one of the kids today. Yucky-poo! Well, I guess Spring really isn't too far away. We're still freezing at night, though, so I'm not sure how they can be back already. Oh well ... back to checking kids for ticks every other day or so.
My sister got Lyme disease from tick nymphs on our property last year. She was crawling with these tiny things we couldn't identify after chasing her dog into our trees. She kept picking them off her arm. Well, after the Lyme rash appeared (one on her back and one on her upper arm), she looked it up and realized those tiny things were actually baby ticks. Oops!
None of us had Lyme, but she got it. Because of that, I'll be even more diligent about checking for ticks this year. I don't want anyone here getting Lyme disease.
I finally found something I do NOT like about living in the country. Our dog dragged home a deer bone several weeks ago. It was meatless and furless, thigh and shin joined by the knee. She delighted in laying outside to chew on it. We never let her bring it in.
Then the weather warmed up and it began to stink. We threw it away in the burn pit several times, and she dragged it back out.
Then last week while we had company here, she showed up with hunks of deer fur from wherever this carcass is. We have tufts of deer fur all over our yard. It's gross.
We've gone out on treks to try to find the carcass, and failed. Steve took the boys out once, Steve has gone out alone, and my girls have searched. It must be off our property, but not too far away. We didn't think she was that much of a wanderer. But somewhere she knows of a deer carcass ... and she keeps dragging bits and pieces of it home.
Last week we had two bonfires in the burn pit, and burned deer pieces each time. This week, she has a new hunk of fur she's tearing apart next to my porch.
Which brings to mind some questions:
Where are all the other scavenger animals? Why aren't they getting rid of the carcass so my dog can't find it?
And where did the deer come from? Some hunter's wounded prey he failed to track? Or did he field dress it and leave behind parts for my dog to bring home?
Was this hunter (if he exists) on our family's property?
What is field dressing, anyway?
Was the deer injured by a car?
How far away is this deer carcass?
Is the fur from the same carcass the bones originally came from?
My guineas ... my 5 guineas ... are being picked off one by one. First, our dog killed one ... when we wrongly assumed they'd learn to live together and ignore each other. Then one just died in its fenced yard almost a month ago, and we have no idea what killed him.
Well, in the last 24 hours, two have died. Frozen, I believe. We have a shelter in their yard, but since it snowed, they haven't wanted to walk back through the snow to get into their shelter. They've chosen to live outdoors for a week now.
So, now we have one lonely guinea left. I don't hold out much hope for him. No more goose/guinea girl here. We'll have to have a better shelter/home for them next winter, if we get any more.
Our guineas think I'm their Goose Girl. I never really thought about that fairy tale. But at some point it did seem odd to me that someone would "herd" geese like sheep or goats. My impression of poultry was that they just scatter around randomly eating, and don't follow anyone. Not that I've ever raised chickens, guineas, or geese before, but that was my impression.
I assumed you kept them fenced to keep them contained. Then I heard about free-range chickens. I assumed that the perimeter of the property must be fenced, or that they just wandered randomly over a larger area, coming and going at will. I certainly didn't think anyone herded them.
Then we brought home our guineas. Apparently, they came to associate me with food while they were in the basement. When we moved them outside into a fenced pen, I was still the one that fed them. Then we started releasing them from their pen to wander the property. That was when I became the Goose Girl.
Their first few days of being loose, we realized that they never left each other's side. They traveled together in a tight cluster at all times. If one wandered too far away, the others would call out to him to return to the group. We also realized that they could easily be "shooed" into their pen by walking behind them, with your arms down toward the ground.
At first I would "shoo" the guineas back into their pen each night. But very soon, they just began to follow me instead. Apparently, they realized that once they were in their pen, they received fresh food.
Yesterday, I realized I had reached the pinnacle of "Goose Girldom" when I saw the guineas on the far side of our property. I called to them, "Here, Guineas! Here Guinea Guys! Here Guinea Guinea Guinea Guys!" and they all flew to me. I turned and walked toward the house, and they ran along behind me as fast as their little legs could go. They've never come when called from so far before.
Just call me the Guinea Girl. I really didn't expect that raising guineas would be like this at all. But it is kind of fun.
One year ago, Steve was starting his new job, and he began living part-time at our farmhouse. He divided his time between the new house, and staying with us at the old house. We sent boxes with him every time he left our old house for work, and the new house.
Then, on November 10, we all moved to the farmhouse. We moved during the coolness of Fall, when the wheat fields were green with winter wheat, and the deer were in rut.
Now, we have been here almost a full year. We've seen the wheat fields sprouting green, buried in snow, growing tall, turning gold, being harvested, tilled, and replanted. We've come full circle, to a field of green sprouts again.
We've seen the deer in rutting season, boldly walking through our yard in the morning. We've seen the does and fawns venturing out to feed in spring, and have watched them grow as they fed on the mulberry bushes in summer. Now rutting season is approaching again, and we've come full circle.
We saw the trees drop their last leaves, sparkle with ice and snow, sprout their first leaves, and turn green. Now the leaves are changing and beginning to drop. We watched different areas of the yard bloom with the color of new flowers through Spring and Summer. We waited to see what would be next, learning what flowers his grandparents had planted as they bloomed. We even planted annuals ourselves, adding our own touch to the property.
We arrived here as birds began to migrate south, we watched the arrival of the winter birds ... the juncoes and chickadees. We watched them winter in the evergreen bushes near our windows. We watched as the winter birds were replaced with nesting birds arriving in spring. We watched them guard their nests and hatch their babies. (Except the barn swallows who tried repeatedly to build nests on the porch that we kept chasing off.) Now the birds are leaving again, and we are waiting for the return of our winter friends. Maybe this year we can hang a bird feeder where we can enjoy watching the birds.
We've raised 5 guineas, raised and sold 2 Persian kittens, gained an outdoor barn cat, raised the surviving 2 (out of 5) barn kittens we found, and added a dog to our family. We've even added our own child to the family since moving here ... joining in the miracle of life that we enjoyed watching amongst the animals. And sadly, we've mourned the loss of Steve's Grandma ... whose home we're making our own.
And here we are a year later. We failed to plant a garden this year. We haven't painted the house, as we had hoped. But we've made it our home in every other way. We've made repairs and tamed the property somewhat. We've unpacked, settled in, decorated, and enjoyed life here.
We still find surprises from Steve's grandparents tucked away at times ... dishes in the basement, an old soda bottle in the garage, a teacup in the dirt, a jar in the barn. It's been fun to live here; making it our own, and joining in his family's history. When we meet someone new and tell them our name, we're proud to say that yes we are related to them, and yes, we live at the home place.
I can't believe it's been a year already. Thank you, Lord!
I sprinkled food in their open gate, leading out into the green grass yesterday morning. (They've eaten and trampled all the grass in their little enclosure.) It took them a long time to leave the open gate and wander into the grass itself, and they stayed in their little tight flock as they browsed.
Then we decided to take the dog outside. We've had Molly for just over a week, and we knew she liked trying to startle the guineas through the fence. We hoped she wouldn't bother them too much once they were free. We were very naive.
She ran at them, and they scattered. The three white ones flew into a tall tree in front of them. One lavender one flew up on top of the guinea enclosure. The other lavender one ran/flew into the long grass. Molly knew it was in there and was looking for it. It finally ran out of the really high (waist high) grass into some knee high grass and poison ivy under our redbud tree. It nestled down out of sight to hide.
Molly would NOT give up looking for it. We tried distracting her, to no avail. We should have taken her inside at that point, but we didn't. The lavender guinea on top of the guinea enclosure flew up into a different tree. Molly found the one in the grass and it ran out of the grass. Molly got a mouthful of tail feathers and pulled them out. The guinea ran back into the knee-high grass, and Molly trapped it. She had it between her front legs and chest, trapped. We finally managed to get Molly up, and the guinea ran out of the grass. We grabbed Molly's collar and it ran under one of the giant bushes near the house.
We took Molly inside and waited. After awhile the four treed guineas flew down and began to browse and peck together again. It took longer for the fifth guinea to join them.
For the rest of the day, we either walked Molly on her leash (which she really didn't enjoy) or we would shoo the guineas back into their enclosure and close the gate so Molly could be off-leash. Well, that can't continue forever. And Molly needs more exercise than she can really get on a leash ... not to mention she prefers not to do her business on a leash. So, we have to figure something out.
Steve's thoughts are that we walk Molly on a leash as far away from wherever the guineas are for several days. Then we try letting her off-leash again, and hope that she loses interest in them, and that the guineas get to be faster at flying up into trees to escape. Hmm. I guess that's the best we can do.
I'm not exactly sure how you train a dog not to chase the guineas, especially a dog who loves to chase after things like a sheltie. I don't want her killing or tormenting the guineas, but I'm glad she isn't chasing cars. Steve said I'd better figure out how to pluck a guinea, because if she kills it, we're eating it.
Hmm. I do NOT think we'll ever have free-range chickens on our property. The best we can hope for with that is a chicken tractor, I guess. I wonder how much a guinea or chicken can take before it dies of a heart attack? Molly may kill the guineas from shock and fear more than actual physical damage.
But here is one photo of our guineas, enjoying the green grass, but staying close to their safe enclosure.
And here is a photo of Molly trying to startle them from the outside of the fence, while they're safe inside.
Well, no one ever said country life was boring. My children found this very exciting, especially once they realized the guinea was okay. Of course, then we had some kids wanting to try letting Molly out off-leash again and others who were very protective of the guineas. That made for some interesting afternoon conversations, and some interesting insight into their characters and personalities.
We'll figure it out. And hopefully they'll come to a peaceful co-existence. Or maybe not. We're still hoping our Mama Persian cat and Molly will come to a peaceful co-existence. Although, in that instance, the Mama Persian is the instigator and aggressor.
Moving on up, and out ... the history of our guinea homes
Posted on 2008-Jul-16 at 10:43 PM
Since Momofsix asked, I'll share what we did with our guineas since we got them. I have friends who use refrigerator boxes, laid on their side, with the top side removed, and netting over them. But I didn't acquire one of those in time, and we made do with what we had.
First, they came home and were placed in a very small plastic container. There were only five of them, and it worked ... for a few days. You can't see all of the tote, but the waterer is in one corner, and the feeder in another corner. Obviously quite small. When they started hopping and fluttering their wings, we had to move them quickly.
So I went to Walmart and bought the largest plastic tote they had. I don't have a picture of the keets in the larger tote, but it was a 45 gallon tote with wheels on one end. They only lasted in that for a little more than a week, before I realized they were flying up onto the top of their feeder and waterer. It would only be a short hop/fly from there to the top of the tote box and out into the basement.
So, finally, we had the idea to put them into one of the built in cages we have in our basement. Steve's grandparents had used it as a kennel for some of the small dogs they bred. It likely was for puppies or a pregnant mama dog, about to have her babies. One of the cages was double-wide, with a floor at my hip level, and was caged all the way to the ceiling. Perfect! We put cardboard down over the metal mesh floor, and put the pine chips over that.
We did have one keet escape from this, we think through a 2 inch gap between the roof and the doors. But that was the only escape, and it was just a day or two after putting them in.
They were about half-grown, or more, when we finally finished the outdoor enclosure for them. We used an old dog pen, just south of the house. It already had chicken wire around the sides. We had to fix one end of the pen, patch a few areas, and then we added chicken wire mesh/fabric over the top to keep them from flying out, and to keep owls from snatching them up.
There is fencing on that right side, but it is a different type than the left side and didn't show up in the picture. But this gives you an idea of the size, plus you can see the "roof" we put on it, and the doghouse that was in it already.
And here's another picture of the guinea keets on their first night in their new home (Sunday). Um, this next picture shows where we ran out of chicken wire and had to temporarily finish the roof with netting I had bought to cover their 45 gallon tote (but couldn't because the heat lamp interfered with it.)
We have 3 white guineas and 2 lavender guineas. I have no clue what boy/girl ratio we have, though. We don't intend to keep them in this enclosure very long. We do want them to be free-range on the property, eating ticks and any other bugs they want. But until they're full-grown, we'll keep them in here. It shouldn't take long ... they grow amazingly fast! At the moment, they still seemed overwhelmed with the space, and spend all their time clustered together, even when browsing around for bugs.
It isn't a pretty enclosure, but it works! And it will work for guinea keets and chicks in future years, too.
I am not a country girl. I was raised in towns and on military bases. I have never been in 4-H and I have never raised poultry. Our pets were limited to fish, one bird, cats, and dogs.
But now we have guinea keets. And even though Steve did live on a farm for part of his childhood, and did raise poultry, and was in 4-H ... they have been my job. I researched what we needed to start keets or chicks. I picked them out, and captured them in the store. I released them into their little tote when we got home. A week later, I moved them into a larger tote. I've fed and watered them daily. And when they outgrew the larger tote, I moved them into the built-in cage on the basement wall that had once been a dog kennel. I even caught the escaped keet two days later (still not sure how he escaped) and put him back.
But now it's time to move them outside. It's a little past time, to be honest, but we were warned that owls would snatch them up if we didn't give them some protection outside for awhile longer. So, we've been waiting to finish a fenced (and covered) area for them to be safely moved to.
And every day when I go down to feed them, I wonder how in the world I'm supposed to catch these guinea keets to move them outside. They're fast! And they fly!! And they're in a cage that starts at my waist, and goes up to the ceiling!! I'm not that tall, and I have a baby belly that comes between me and the cage anyway. And I'm not a farm girl. I've never captured or held a full-grown chicken or guinea (although these are only half grown) before.
Suddenly our cool built-in cage is looking less cool. Maybe that wasn't such a great idea after all. Maybe we really should have moved those poor tiny defenseless keets outside a little earlier.
I can just imagine half-grown guineas flying in my face, escaping into the basement, and never making it outside at all!! How did *I* end up with this job?!?!
And yet, it's my job. I don't want to wimp out on Steve and demand that he do it. I really do want to try. So, sometime this weekend, we'll be moving them outside. I think I need some prayer ... and any tips you might have.
Yesterday we had yet another new homesteading or "country living" experience. DH set our yard on fire. On purpose, of course. A large portion of our land had not been mowed for years. Only the area right around the house was mowed regularly. Last year, a family friend brush-hogged the overgrown areas for us. But, there are too many bush stumps and such mixed in with the grass. It's difficult to mow, and even worse to walk through.
So, Steve set two areas close to the house on fire. They were areas where pampas grass and peonies were planted. We hadn't been mowing it, to protect the peony bushes. But, it was overgrown with other weeds and bushes, too. As the brush burned, and the new peony shoots appeared in the ashes, we watered those specific areas to protect the peony bushes. Hopefully the pampas grass will also return. We need to use Tordon to kill the bushes that have intruded, and we intend to try to fill in the beds with more peonies (transplanted from various places in the yard.)
Then we burned the bigger area that was never mowed until it was brush-hogged last year. Now that we can see those bush stalk/stumps we intend to get rid of them, too. We don't expect to turn it into an immaculate lawn, but we would like to be able to walk through it without tripping constantly, and mow it without ruining the mower.
The children were not comfortable with this process. They've seen us burn brush in the burn pit, and they've seen us burn trash in the burn barrels. But those are contained, and they don't mind it. They were not used to us setting a fire, and letting it spread.
They didn't worry too much about the two small areas. We didn't want that to spread far, so we stood by with water and it dwindled fairly quickly. But we let the larger area spread, and we just stood back and watched it. We put out one front as it approached the lawn and the house, but we let the rest burn longer.
Our children were nervous, and kept wondering if we should call the fire department. I admit that I was nervous at first, also. When my family was here for Easter weekend, they'd seen a fire truck heading to a field fire that had become a problem. I feared we'd have a repeat of that situation, but with stronger consequences since this is our home, not just our field. But, Steve assured me it was under control, and working well, so I chose to trust him and reassure the children. That took some effort, because some of the children moved from asking if we should call the fire department, to threatening to make the call themselves. At which point, I told them that if this fire got out of hand, I would come get them out of the house and call the fire department, but they had better NOT touch the phones.
I helped Steve play fire fighter, as we stood guard over it, and then finally made the choice to put out the edges of the fire, after dark. It had moved as far as we wanted it to, so we put it out. I manned the hose, and he fought to move it to the areas I needed to reach. It kept snagging on those bush stumps and he'd have to go unhook it. Fighting the HOSE was harder than fighting the fire, at that point.
We came in covered in black soot. Our white tennis shoes may never be the same. And we found out that boys should not be allowed in the burned area. They run instead of walking, so when they trip over bush stubble, they fall into the soot, and cover their clothes with it. Then they come inside and track it everywhere. Yikes! I'm going to have to rewash some laundry my four year old stepped on in his sooty boots. I had to tell him NEVER to step on Mom's clean laundry, but especially NOT when all SOOTY.
As Steve said last night, "Now that's something you never did when we lived in town!" No, it isn't. But, it's one more country living experience under my belt.
We left that clothesline behind, when we moved to the farmhouse. We talked about digging it up and bringing it with us, but just haven't done it yet. We still own that house and could move it later, if we choose to.
After we moved here, we tried to string a new clothesline on the existing clothesline poles. One pole was loose, though, and the clothesline we bought was too stretchy. It sagged to the ground, when it had clothes on it. We only strung one line, since the rope was so bad. I posted about "Our Rustic Laundry System" in November, about two weeks after we'd moved in.
I wasn't able to use our saggy clothesline for very long, before winter really set in. Then we spent most of December using our two indoor wooden drying racks. I was able to keep up with drying clothes this way, as long as I washed a load or two of clothes daily, washing exactly what would fill the two racks. We set a fan in front of the heater vent to blow on the racks.
Then in January, my parents came to visit, and my Dad put his electrical knowledge to use, and installed some wiring that would let me run my electric dryer in the basement. We continued to use the indoor drying racks, at times. I tried to air dry half my laundry, and use the electric dryer for the other half.
In March, my Dad and Uncle came to visit over Easter. They came to help do some work on the house, as I blogged about in "Making the Family Homestead our Home". One of the many things they did was to fix my saggy baggy clothesline. After they left, we just had too many cool rainy days to use the clothesline. I could have used it some days, but worried that the items I line dried would have to come in that evening and finish up in the electric dryer, since rain was expected overnight.
But this weekend, we had warm, sunny weather and I finally was able to test my new clothesline. It worked wonderfully, although I think we are going to tighten the lines (THREE LINES) a little bit more. It was a bit challenging hanging out clothes in 30 -37 mph winds. I realized we really need to put a new windbreak along that property line. The previous one (an orchard) was cut down several years before we bought the farmhouse. I had to hang heavy items like jeans indoors, because they just blew off the lines.
Now that's a clothesline I don't have to be ashamed of! We've finally arrived!!
First, I need to apologize for neglecting this blog. I do most of my blogging at my ElCloud Homeschool blog. Although I haven't been blogging very regularly there, either. I've considered double posting everything at both blogs, and for awhile, I do. But then I start to feel redundant and quit double posting. I'm not sure what the solution is, since I don't want to give up either blog.
Now on to the point of this post ... this Easter weekend, and into this week, we had my parents, sisters, nephew, and Uncle here visiting. My Uncle and Dad came to help us work on the house. Their original intent had been to redo some of our wiring. But after examining it, they felt it was actually safe ... a little wonky in its arrangement, but safe. We do need to replace our fuse boxes with breaker boxes at some point, but we didn't do that this weekend.
So, then they started looking for other projects to tackle. They reworked some of our plumbing, and replaced our toilet with one that actually flushes well. They added wiring for two ceiling lights in the living room, so we can flip a switch and have light instead of turning on 6 lamps to have less light. They added insulation over the kitchen and master bedroom, so that area will be easier to keep warm. They redid my wobbly saggy clothesline. They got the chain saw working again, and the 4 wheeler. They hauled fallen limbs (from the ice storm) to the burn pit, with the 4 wheeler. They changed a door knob, and generally made us ladies feel rather lazy sitting around inside, although we were caring for the children, cooking meals, doing dishes, etc.
Steve was only able to work with them on Saturday and Sunday, then he had to return to work. But Dad and Uncle Howard stayed busy. They are such hard-working men, with lots of experience in many different areas. We were incredibly blessed by their loving and generous acts of service this week, and are very thankful.
We've been buying little electric heaters as they go on clearance. That, along with the added insulation in part of the house, should help us prevent using so much propane next winter. We will also do something about our windows before next winter ... caulk them better, or cover them with plastic. Something to prevent the cold drafts. The thermal drapes have helped, but it could be better.
We are slowly making this our home. It is Steve's family homestead, and he is the 5th generation to live on it ... our children are the 6th generation. But we are making it our HOME, not just our family history. We haven't painted yet, and there are many things left to do. But it feels like home already, and we are slowly making changes so it will work better for us.
The signs of Spring are starting to appear. This weekend, I used the clothesline for the first time in months. And on Saturday, we opened our windows to enjoy the 65+ temps. It was beautiful! (Of course, we had rain and snow on Sunday.) Monday, I looked out my kitchen window and saw a fat robin in the yard. Today I looked out my kitchen window and saw 4 robins looking for worms! Yes, at the same time ... it wasn't one bird coming and going.
Spring is coming. I've been reading and studying to learn all I need to know about having our own laying hens. I've been pricing the cost of chicks, and their accessories, and making plans. And hoping we can keep our chicks safe from coyotes (yes we hear them howling at night sometimes), hawks, foxes, coons, stray dogs ... and, and, and. The list seems endless.
I started reading my gardening books, plus a few more from the library. Then it hit me. Rabbits. Deer. Raccoons. Gardening will be different this year, and I need to figure out how to protect our garden without too much cost and trouble. I don't know if we have raccoons here, but we probably do. I know we have deer and rabbits in abundance. Just last week Steve came home to find 10 deer in the wheat field right next to our proposed garden plot. And we've seen the bunnies, and their tracks, all over the place. Do we even stand a chance at harvesting anything? I hope so.
I think I need to "toughen up" a bit and adjust myself to the uncertainties of country living. But, at the moment, I'm just enjoying all the signs of Spring. This week's temperature may be falling again, but the signs of Spring are still around.
Sheri, at The Shades of Pink, has hosted this week's Carnival of Homesteading. Visit her blog to read about the definition of homestead, and her thoughts on the original homesteaders, as well as visit the blogs of those who contributed.
I need to keep this brief since I have so much work to do today. My family is arriving tomorrow morning, early, for a 5 day visit, and I lost yesterday for preparation due to a septic issue -- which is what I'm going to tell you about.
We were very worried about the state of the septic tank when we moved in here. It is old, and we had no idea when it was last pumped. Earlier this Fall, we had talked to the plumber, who referred us to a septic guy, who referred us to a septic pumping guy. He suggested we look inside and see what level it was at. We did and thought (to our untrained eye) it looked good.
But we knew adding 8 people to the house permanently could change things quickly, so we intended to keep an eye on it. We've been saying for a couple weeks that we needed to go look at it, but the winter weather made it unappealing, so we didn't.
Then we noticed our shower was draining slowly, and wondered if it could be related to the septic situation, so for a couple days, Steve has joked that I should go check on it. Since my family was coming, I decided yesterday to go check on it. Yikes!! The water level was FULL, and just about 2 feet below ground level!!
I frantically called Steve, and then began calling septic pumping services in our surrounding area for price quotes and to find out who could come that same day. I forbid the kids to flush or use the sink in the bathroom, too. I finally went with the guy we originally were referred to and had previously spoken to. He came and took care of it, but in preparation for his arrival, I had to go out and move some big fallen and frozen to the ground branches by myself.
Steve said that just when we think we've got stuff under control, another bill pops up unexpectedly. It's not comfortable and not easy, but God always seems to provide what we truly need. Perhaps He wants us to continue to depend on Him, and not take His blessings for granted.
That was not how I intended to spend my day yesterday, but I'm glad it's taken care of. Thankfully, it didn't back up into the house ... that would have been so much worse. But the shower was still draining slowly when I showered last night, so we decided it must be hair clogging the pipes somewhere. So we bought something to dissolve hair when we shopped for groceries last night. We poured it down the drain before bed, and that seems to have resolved the problem.
(Speaking of becoming a country wife ... how many times am I going to have to help Steve get a vehicle unstuck on our own property before winter is over?)
At least the plumbing is ready for company, but I need to work on the rest of the house now.
We were hit by an ice storm earlier this week, and then it was topped off with 6-8 inches of snow last night. The trees were still bent down with ice when the snow hit.
Today I was out on our property, walking around, admiring the beauty. It was simply beautiful with the sun glinting off the icy branches. Some areas reminded me of Narnia before Aslan's return.
Here are a few pictures of the Narnia-esque beauty.
I know many folks have a more rustic system than this, but coming from our old home, with washer and dryer right in the kitchen, and a small umbrella tree clothesline right out the back door, this seems rustic to us.
Our washing machine in our basement drains into a sink, which drains into the sump pump, which exits the basement into the yard via a gray-water pipe. This picture was taken before we leveled the washing machine, so it's tilting to the side. Lovely laundry environment, isn't it?
These are the indoor drying racks I use daily. I can fit one large load on these racks. Sometimes I can get 1.5 loads drying at the same time. We have a fan sitting in front of a heating vent blowing on them. I flip clothes over to help the underside dry.
And here is my saggy-baggy clothesline. I can only fit one load on the line. I try to avoid using the middle section, because even socks and underwear touch the grass when it's fully loaded. Today it's near 50* and blustery, so I'm using the line. Tonight the indoor racks should be dry and I can bring in the outdoor laundry to finish on the indoor racks.
We need to reset the right clothes-line T-post in concrete so it will stand upright and hold still. Then we will string all 3 lines, with heavier grade clothesline. But in the meantime, this is what we have. Sad, isn't it? Funny, too.
So, if I use the outdoor clothesline, I can do two loads of laundry in a day. Without it, I can do 1 - 1.5 loads. It took awhile to catch up once we moved in and hooked up the washing machine, but I'm doing fine now. I even started using cloth diapers again. Since we don't have an electric dryer hooked up yet, I am using only pocket diapers with microfiber inserts which line dry quickly.
There are a few places with 220 electric wiring, but the outlet plug is not the right type for our dryer. We need to fix that before we can use our electric dryer.
And that's our rustic, but effective, laundry system. I'm thankful to have it. It's better than washing in the kitchen sink ... or the laundry mat!
EDITED TO ADD: We had used plastic clothesline at our old house on an umbrella style clothesline. Here Steve bought a clothesline rope, but suspected it would not be strong enough. It obviously isn't. He looked and looked for something stronger. He finally bought at Lowe's a plastic coated wire that we're hoping will work. We haven't tried it yet. His grandparents just had wire strung, but it had been cut the day of the auction for trucks to be able to drive around, so we could not re-use it. We may just have to set a third T post in the middle, eventually.
Steve told me I needed to save this for our family scrapbook, so I thought I'd share it here, as well. We had trouble with the toilet here at the farmhouse the last two years. It was overflowing fairly often, and we took wet towels home from more than one trip. Our worst time was during one of my family's visits. When they were coming here to spend Christmas with us at the farmhouse, I was trying to figure out how to warn them about the toilet and lay down some rules w/o embarrassing us all.
This is what I came up with:
This is our friend, Loo.
Loo is a little tempermental.
He gets upset easily, and then his "anger" overflows.
Here are some tips to keep Loo happy:
Do be sure the water stops running after you flush.
Don't flush personal items.
Do flush in stages if you have to use a lot of toilet paper, instead of waiting until the end to flush it all at once.
Do alert April if you see any signs that his anger is rising. Hopefully she can calm Loo down before it all overflows.
Thank you for working with us to keep our Temperamental Loo happy. After all, he is our friend. Without him, we'd have to get to know our other friend, "Mother Nature", a whole lot better.
The Management
I posted it on our bathroom wall, and it brought laughter instead of embarrassment. The message was relayed, and problems were avoided.
We had a plumber out last month, before we moved in. He said the septic wasn't the problem, and neither was the toilet. Someone, at some point trying to save water, had turned down how much water flowed into the toilet. Without enough water in the tank, the toilet had troubles flushing properly. It also seems to plug easily, as it has a small outlet.
We've only had one overflow since the plumber came. Our 3 yo potty training boy made a big ball of toilet paper and threw that into the toilet before he flushed. We had to talk about how much toilet paper was appropriate to use, and that we do not ball it all up.
I will put this notice into our family scrapbook. Or maybe I'll put a copy of it in the scrapbook, and frame a copy to hang in the bathroom. It's still good advice, even if we replace old Loo. Or maybe I'll re-write it to include tips about not wasting water, as well.
But I thought I'd share one of our "early homesteading memories" as we began this adventure.
The day after our move, Steve and my Dad returned to our old home with the pickup pulling a UHaul trailer. They returned with a load of things after dark. While they were gone, I worked on carrying some things to the basement and unpacking my kitchen. Steve's brother had to leave that morning.
Monday morning, Dad and Steve and I unloaded his trailer and pickup so he could leave. After he left, Steve and I brought the washing machine into the basement, along with a few furniture items that had been left outside. After a trip to the store, we lit up the brush pile and burned the empty boxes, along with some tree branches. We put together the trundle/day bed that night so two more children could have beds. They'd been sleeping on the floor, recliners, and couch so far. We were very tired when we fell into bed that night, with three children in twin beds, one in our room, and two in recliners.
Tuesday or Wednesday night (can't recall which) we put together one of the bunk beds so the remaining two children could have beds. The last bunk bed will be put together after we paint that bedroom.
Tuesday, Steve returned to work, and I continued to unpack and try to bring some order out of the chaos. I carried a couple boxes out to the burn pit, only to realize that it was still hot and I accidentally re-lit the fire. It was very windy, and the wind was stirring the fire up. While it was burning, I decided to bring out the trash and add to the fire. But then I became nervous about the fire, and finally watered it down so I could return to unpacking without worry.
Tuesday night Steve figured out he could hook up my washing machine with just the hot water hose attached to one of the pipes. We thought we needed an adapter for the cold water hook-up, which appeared larger. I began laundering on warm water. But, water would pour out the cold water hose, so I had to put the cold water hose under the lid while it was filling, then run downstairs to remove the cold water hose so it would start to agitate, then return downstairs to put the cold water hose under the lid for the rinse fill, then remove it so it could finish agitating and spin out. It was awkward, but it worked. I dried clothes on my two indoor drying racks, in front of a fan, overnight on Tuesday.
Wednesday I continued on with the laundry in that manner. Steve came home that night, with some clothesline and an adapter for the washing machine -- which we ended up not needing. I started a load as we went to bed. I woke up Thursday morning with the sound of the sump pump running. So I ran downstairs to check on the washing machine. The drain hose had fallen off the sink it drains into (which drains into the sump pump and out a gray water hose into the yard.) So, as it tried to fill to rinse, it just had run out the drain hose, all night long!! Yikes!
Thursday morning I strung a line of clothesline on our poles. I only strung one of the three because one of the poles needs re-set in concrete first. I came inside and noticed the line was sagging. So I went out and tightened it up again. I hung my first load of laundry on it, and my last for that day. By the center of the line, the underwear and socks were touching the ground. I was bending DOWN to pin clothes on the line. I tried to tighten it with clothes on the line, but could not retie it alone while pulling it tighter. I stuck a stick under the center of the line and hoped no visitors stopped by to laugh at my line. That night, when I took the clothes down, I tightened the clothes line again. It still sags, though. Steve bought me better line, and we will re-set the clothesline pole this weekend if it's not too cold, so I can get 3 well-strung lines.
So, I have continued to wash two loads per day, hanging one load inside on the drying racks, and one outside. Sometimes I can get a third one washed and hung inside, but not usually. I can't catch up this way, but at least I don't fall too far behind.
Back to Wednesday, at 8 am, when I came upstairs from the basement and some laundry work, I saw a buck walking across the back yard toward the kennel. The kids saw it from the kitchen, because I could hear R calling the others to come look. He was just meandering along, and stopped right behind the kennel and ate in front of us for ten minutes or so before wandering off. We were shocked to see him so long after sunrise.
Wednesday night, Steve and I were outside looking at something with the lantern, and we startled something in the bush. My first thought was bat, but it was a very confused cardinal, who then spent 5 minutes trying to fly into our living room through the closed window. Poor thing.
Thursday, I startled a large group of black-capped chickadees when I went out to do laundry. And I saw the woodpecker A had told me about the day before. He likes to get our attention, and isn't shy at all. He's a show-off. I need to identify him, since he is different than the woodpeckers that came to our feeder at our old home.
Saturday night, we returned home very late, and the coyotes were howling. The girls didn't really like that, especially not while they were still outside. It's very dark out there at night, and "scary" noises don't help. Steve told me he heard the coyotes howling a couple times when he was living here during the weekdays, before we moved, but this was the first time the kids or I heard it.
We haven't burned any more boxes since that first Monday. There are a week's worth of empty boxes piled outside the back door. The children keep rearranging them into forts and castles. I'll be glad when we can get rid of them. We also have a pile of discarded items (from his Grandma's belongings) to haul to the dump soon. It's a good thing we are in the country because town neighbors wouldn't like these two piles at all.
I am struggling to find homes for everything. I know this is an issue any time you move ... trying to figure out where to store things that had homes before, and don't now. We are going to have to store some of our toys in the basement to swap out later. Steve and I already had to store our off-season clothes for the first time. I've had to box up some of my kitchen stuff, and I've given some things to my sister. My pantry shelves are chaotic, and I need to organize them better. At this point, no one knows where to find food items, except me.
Every day, I find more boxes to carry to the basement. But every day, we are closer to being unpacked and every day we are a bit more organized. We'll find homes for everything and work out our kinks. It's just going to take some time.
We're thankful to be together again. I didn't post it on my blog, for security reasons, but Steve was spending most weeknights out here during the weeks between his starting the new job, and us moving. He was home on weekends, and usually he had to come home for one weeknight each week. But there were many nights he was here at the farmhouse alone. So, we are thankful to be working together to organize our home.
All the bedrooms are packed, although I still need to pack my dresser top. The living room is mostly packed ... only a few DVDs, a few toys, and the very messy computer desk remain.
I still need to pack the kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, computer desk, and finish the living room. Oh ... and the shed, but that is really my husband's domain.
I have plenty of boxes, I think, but I just ran out of packing tape. I do have duct tape, but I will need to buy more packing tape tonight.
It seems unreal that we will be moving in four days. But the work we're doing and the stacks of boxes should make it seem real.
The other day, I was packing in one of the children's bedrooms ... the one they are all sharing until we move so my sister can be in the other bedroom ... and they were listening to Christmas music on the radio. "I'll Be Home For Christmas" began to play, and I sang along, since it was a solo I sang in jazz choir in high school. I began to get teary and emotional, as I realized I would be home at our farmhouse, on our own little 7 acres, for Christmas.
For the past 2.5 years, I've hoped to be there by Christmas. Two Christmases have come and gone. But this Christmas, we really will be moved out there.
Last night, we came home from a 3-day weekend trip to the farmhouse. We stayed busy cleaning out the house. There was still clothes in the closets, and other items, left over from his Grandma that didn't get cleaned out at the auction time. I emptied those things out into a large box. Steve carried items we'd been storing in the house to the kennel or basement, to get it out of our way.
We had hauled a trailer full of boxes and a bookshelf out with us. Some of those boxes were children's toys and I was able to unpack most of those toys into shelves in their closets. We're going to need more stacking totes and some underbed boxes for the kids room, but we'll get there.
While we were there, we were able to give away some extra furniture via freecycle. Some of those items were leftover from Steve's Grandma, that didn't sell at the auction. One was a bed we got from freecycle and brought out so we'd have beds when we visited the farmhouse. We won't need it in a month, when we move in, though. We still have some other items to give away, but we'll have to list them later.
We scrubbed scrubbed scrubbed 50 years of grease and food splatters off my kitchen cabinets and their handles. Steve removed the handles, soaked them in vinegar water, and scrubbed them for me. Good job, Steve! We bought cabinet liner for one of the lower cupboards that had a shelf all stained up. The rest were fine.
We also scrubbed both rooms that are paneled with Murphy's Wood Oil soap and lavender essential oil. Smelled great! Steve said we'll probably do that again since the water turned so yucky our first times. He also intends to clean the wood floors, although we've done it before. I'm wondering if that should happen before or after we paint, though.
I took down all the curtains and drapes. SOOO dusty!! We'll wash the lace panels from the girls room and hope to re-use them. We're throwing away the master bedroom, dining room drapes, and the kitchen curtain. We may re-use the living room drapes, if we determine that dry-cleaning them is much cheaper than replacing them. However, they're rather fragile. I felt the lining rip once when I was handling them.
Before we left, we measured all the rooms/walls so we know how much paint we need to buy for each room. And we chose our paint colors. Steve went with me to Walmart and we chose from colors I had already pre-selected online, at www.casualcolors.com. I knew what I basically wanted in each room, but I hadn't settled on exact colors yet. I had it narrowed down to 2-3 possibilities for each room.
The plumber came and said the toilet problem was just that they'd turned down how much water goes into the tank. It needs the full amount to flush well. So we fixed that. And he said we can pour a product called Root Dissolve into the toilet to take care of any minor root problems in the plumbing to the septic tank.
We went to Sunday School for the first time at our new church. We've attended services there before, but never Sunday School. Everyone enjoyed their classes, and I loved that each children's class studied the same thing, at their own level. Our church doesn't do that, and I think it's great that we can discuss their Sunday School lesson, as a family afterwards. They're all learning the same thing in our homeschool curriculum, and now they will in Sunday School, as well.
While we were there, we joined Farm Bureau ... which will get us a discount on our cell phones and calling plan later this week. We went to the library and the 3 girls received their library cards. I had received mine last year some time. The librarian who helped us said her daughter has homeschooled for 17 years, so she's definitely going to be homeschool friendly to us.
We enjoyed familiarizing ourselves with things like the church and library that will be important to our family. It was a good, productive 3 days. 3 yo M even learned why he shouldn't try to shave with his Daddy's razor while he was there. See, a productive trip for everyone.
We are a Christian homeschooling family with 7 children (ages 13, 12, 10, 8, 5, 3, and 9 months). We love having "room to breathe" in rural Central Kansas, and are working to make the "family homeplace" our own home.
• Steve 36 yo hubby
• April 35 yo SAHM
• A - 13 yo girl
• R - 12 yo girl
• C - 10 yo girl
• J - 8 yo boy
• M - 5 yo boy
• L - 3 yo girl
• G - 8 month boy
It's not real clear in this picture, but his comb is taller, redder, and he is getting wattles. 
