Sunday, December 27, 2009
2010
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New Year's resolutions don't work. They're like rules made to be broken and are often forgotten before Jan. 31st. I don't make resolutions, but I love the ending of one year and the beginning of a new. I like to look back at what I've learned, the mistakes I've made and how I may want to do things different, not just in the new year but in general. I'm 47 years old, I'll 48 in 2010, only 2 years away from 50. Wow. In the last 10 years, from 1999 to 2009, I've gotten married, bought a house, lost family members both on my side and his. We've had pets pass away, I've learned how to incubate eggs and what kind of poultry/fowl I really like to have on my homestead. I've learned how to knit, I've bought a loom I've never used, a spinning wheel I've seldom used and my other crafts have fallen to the wayside. I've been trapped in my home by a snowy winter and I've come to terms with my addiction to the online MMORPG "World of Warcraft" no longer making any excuses for loving the game. I've embraced my passion for aviculture both on the homestead and with parrots. I've found my limit for pets in the house, finally. I found I'm better at growing flowers and herbs, vegetables not so much. This year I've come to terms with being an individual, enjoying *who I am* instead of wishing I was someone else. I've learned to hold my head up and not make excuses for who I am. More than anything though, I've learned who/how I don't want to be. The new year brings me the opportunity to work with the revelations I've had this past year. I have always had a poor body image, with good reason, but I've not had much motivation to change that image. It was easier to whine about it. But I have a future to look to and what I want for my future does not include being immobile. I want to do things and I want to do them without pain or being short of breath. I want to be 70 years old with a bright future yet to be realized. I don't want to sit in front of the tv with my knitting and ..... become addled. I've also realized that I tend to go full speed ahead trying to make changes, only to burn out and fizzle to nothing. Small changes, back to basics, baby steps. I've already started working on that. Simple things, that may seem odd to those who are active and always busy. Keeping my house clean is one of those things. Doing the dishes regularly, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, scrubbing sinks. That's right, I'm a crappy housekeeper, but for two months now I've been working on it. My pain level has skyrocketed because of it, so I need to address this issue. NSAIDs are very bad for me (severe abdominal pain and vomiting) and I refuse to take the newfangled drugs to help with my fibromyalgia. Doctors want to prescribe NSAIDs for me all the time, for just about every complaint. They don't want to face my problem with them and it's a constant battle. I know for a fact that certain foods cause my fibro flares and I've eliminated a lot of those problems. Unfortunately, exercise often aggravate FM, but according to some source once you can get past that exercise will help. I'm also going to finally push my doctor to help me with shoulder, "you'll have to live with it", isn't working for me. My knee needs to be addressed as well. About 4 years ago I had a torn miniscus I didn't have fixed, I need to find out if it's causing the increased pain. I'm going to try Serrapeptase as an alternative, wish me luck. My husband want to start "moving" to help with our weight loss. We've done ok this year, admittedly the last few months have been bad through the holidays. We can beat ourselves up about it, or get back on track. We've decided to get back on track. It'll be fine and we'll start losing again, but we've got to get moving!! Should we get a Wii? Maybe. We're thinking about it. We're in the talking stages right now, I'd love to go bicycling. I must have my knee looked at so we can do these kinds of things. :-) For the homestead, we got our rock wall in, YAY! My dad bought us an old 4WD Blazer, YAY! We've lost some weight, YAY! I'm working on keeping my house clean, YAY! I have a nice flock of Dominique chickens and the trio of Cotton Patch geese, YAY! Ok, so for 2010 I want to address my health further (we've done well in 2009, now we need to step it up!), get the fence built and put in a dog door, get the Blazer fixed (needs a battery and new exhaust system), cull the dominiques (too many roosters), incubate some cotton patch eggs and maybe some more dominiques. I'm considering new sinks & faucets for the master bath and kitchen, that's up in the air yet. Thing is, with the kitchen, there's so many changes I want to make I don't know where to start, no way can we afford to do it all at once. However, I get a new stove in February so that's one change. I'm not sure what I'm going to grow in 2010, but the seed catalogs are starting to pour in and while it's freezin' cold outside I can sit with a nice hot cup of fresh roasted coffee and p-l-a-n. I think that's a pretty good list of goals for one year. Baby steps. I almost forgot! My fiber goals. 2010 I want to be the year of the sock! Yea, I plan on knitting socks all year. I figure it will help me get better at my knitting since I'll be trying all different kinds of stitches. I'm also going to work on my spinning and weaving. Yea yea, I know I've said that before, nevermind that...hehe. I do want to get better at spinning and I really want to try weaving, so I a new slate to work with and I'm going to truly give it my best. :-) |
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Summer's Ended
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The rock wall is not quite finished and autumn has made her presence known. We should be laying the first and most crucial row of bricks Saturday. If it rains, oh well, we may do it anyway. I'm so glad we'll be tying that project up so we can move on to building the turkey's shelter and start on the fence. It's about time to mulch the passionflower (which btw, burst forth with several beautiful blooms last week!), some of the other container plants and the two rose bushes. The passionflower will be wrapped up in it's own mini-greenhouse and tucked out of the wind on the porch. If I could find a spot in the house that got both sun and protection from cats and birds, I'd keep it in the house. I have so many knitting projects to keep me busy over the next 5 months: gloves, scarves, socks, sweaters and hats. My yarn stash has grown in the last few months. I've become so enthralled with the fiber arts, I'm considering making a second blog that is devoted to fiber projects, but we'll see. OH yea!! I got a phone call regarding a door prize at one of my favorite local yarn stores (A Good Yarn Shop). I had entered this past Saturday and I'm so glad I did. I won a bag of 100% merino, enough to complete the sweater pattern they included. $165 worth of merchandise!!!! Can you imagine? I was so tickled. It's a pretty color, too. Sort of a minty sage green. Very nice! Even though I often get depressed when the days get shorter and the weather cools, I'm feeling ok about it this year. I do hope we don't get hit with any weird weather this year. Since we bought our house at the end of autumn to the first few weeks of winter we've had bizarre weather. 2006-serious windstorm that took out several trees destroying my koi pond (which eventually led to their deaths), hitting the house and nearly taking out my poultry fencing. 2007-horrendous rains that resulted in severe flooding all across the Puget Sound area and even a bit beyond. Our main road was washed out at one point. 2008-super heavy snowfall the week of Yule. Stranding us at home for about 10 days. What will this year bring? I hope it surprises us all and it's just a typical Pacific Northwest winter. Wouldn't that be something? LOL But I have plenty to keep me busy and in December the seed catalogs will start arriving and I can start planning my gardens. More flowers, roses and maybe I'll finally get that fig tree I want. :-) |
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Desperately Seeking Knit Pattern
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Have you ever seen a knit pattern you just had to have? Unfortunately, it was in an advertisement for a company that sells "wholesale only"? ARGH! So I go to the website and find the pattern. I have to use the option to find a retailer near me. Yay :-( Very few of the listings had websites or email addresses and all of them were long distance phone calls. So I hit Google. Found a few websites and email addresses. Naturally, I perused the websites before emailing them. The pattern Karabella KK590 is a 2009 Winter pattern addition to their line up. So, if I didn't see the pattern I'd email them. What is it about retailers that they assume that your stupid? One retailer responded telling me that they didn't have the pattern and for my information all they did have was listed on their website. Well excuse me, but don't you think I looked? I simply hoped that they hadn't gotten around to updating their website, kind of like Karabella hasn't updated theirs since another retailer responded telling me that Karabella was WRONG (their caps, not mine) and that they hadn't carried their product in YEARS! Look, all I want is this pattern. It's a beautiful cabled cardigan that is simply gorgeous. I've gone to several websites that Karabella themselves recommend and guess what? THEY DON'T HAVE THE FRIGGIN' PATTERN!!! So I've spent another hour searching for email addresses and websites to more businesses that Karabella lists as having their products. Yes, I want the pattern THAT BAD. I hope 1 of the 4 I emailed will have a positive answer for me. It really ticks me off that the ad was in a magazine read by knitters who see the pattern and we can't just order it from the flippin' company direct. Don't advertise to me something I can't order from you!!!! In case you're wondering, yes I've been grouchy lately. I'm not happy that summer is almost over (I suffer from SAD as well so that's something to look forward to, NOT.) and I'm worried about the lay-offs that are coming up this month at my husbands place of employment, I'm so scared his number will come up this time. So yea, I'm snarky. Excuse me, please. Oh...and if you know where I can get the Karabella pattern # KK590 please let me know. UPDATE: Pattern has been found!! oh yea, baby!! Shannon at Culture Purls in Issaquah has gone above and beyond what has been expected. Not only did Shannon CALL Karabella about the pattern, but she also has already ordered it for me but is mailing it to me when it comes in! Now that is what I call customer service!! It would be a day trip for me to go all the way to Issaquah so this is just mind-blowingly wonderful and I can't wait to recieve the pattern. Thank you Shannon and everyone else at Cultured Purls. YOU ROCK!! |
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Jamie Oliver: US Fans are what?
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Caution: Whinage ahead I know, too bad, right? But I am a huge fan of the TV chef Jamie Oliver. He's in the UK, I'm in the USA. His UK fans get to watch the TV shows when they come out, buy his books when they hit the stands, subscribe to his magazine and get it in a timely manner, and let's not even talk about his nifty merchandise they can buy. His USA fans get to see the TV shows about a year after it's aired in the UK, his books take more than that to release here, a subscription to his magazine is big bucks since we have to pay extra for shipping and who knows when it would actually get here, I would buy some of his merchandise if it wasn't cost prohibitive after the exchange rate and shipping. *pout* USA fans are relegated to the back burner on the stove of Jamie Fandom. I guess he's got enough fans in the UK that we just don't matter. We're just Yanks, the disgusting, hedonistic Americans. But I'm still a fan. ARGH! It sucks. |
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Moving Day!
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The rock's moving day, that is. I went to the local hardware store and bought a 15ft chain and a hook for each end. I sure do understand why people covet their chains, those things are expensive! I bought one made in the USA but could only find hooks from China, so I advised my husband not to lick them. *grin* Once home I warmed up the Blazer, and backed it in to the spot, I had to get between the house, the electrical transfer case and the meter, not a difficult task as I was gifted with an uncanny ability to get an automobile into or out of spots far more tighter than this one today. A good thing to have if you've ever tried to park in Seattle. We got the chain hooked around the rock and the hitch. Like buttah! Out came the demon stone!  It looks so small now and if it wasn't stuck in that hole we could have just rolled or pushed it out of the way. So that's the end of this chapter of Gaelic Acres. Thank goodness! At least now we have a chain for future projects! |
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Heat Wave & Rain
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The last week of July was a hot one. We topped out at 106F. That's HOT for the pacific northwest. I've not been so miserable in my life. Even in AZ at least we had a pool and in humid VA we had an air conditioner that ran nonstop. Here though, no, we're not built for scorching, stifling heat. Last week things cooled off dramatically with the occasional "misting" that some people wanted to call rain. Uhm, no. Today that changed, with several cracks of thunder we were drenched by a good old fashioned summer storm. Next week, it's back to the mid-80F. Summer is still here! The rock wall is coming along, slow but sure. Digging out the hill by hand is a daunting task but one that must be done. All was going well until....  we found a really big rock!!! Bugger! It's a big one, too. The only option we had was to try to wrap a rope around it and pull it out with the "farm truck" our Blazer. Until....  the rope broke. Ah well, time to get a chain. So we'll be moving it the rest of the way out of the hole this weekend. We should be able to finish removing the hill and start shaping for the bricks this weekend. It's all on schedule, so far. Let's hope it doesn't continue raining until then. I don't relish the idea of working in mud, but we'll do what we have to do. |
Monday, July 27, 2009
Dominique Chicks
Well, my little chicks are officially all grown up. The roosters are crowing (too many of them still! They're on Craigslist now.) and the hens are laying eggs. They're tiny little eggs so far, but since they hatched out of eggs twice the size of what they're laying I'm expecting normal sized eggs in the next few months or maybe next spring. Either way, they're dinky. Here's a picture of an egg with a Narragansett turkey egg and a store bought chicken egg (large). You can see the difference. Little buggers are CUTE though! |
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Diggin' it
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We've been hard at work for the last few weeks digging out the hill where the rockwall will go, also known as a retaining wall. It's HARD WORK. We're about 1/4 of the way so far, since we have to do this all by hand and it's been hotter than heck, so we work a bit in the morning on the weekends. I hope to have this all done by the end of August then it'll be on to the next project, the fence. It's all starting to formulate in my mind now, the wall, the fence, the koi pond and the "Paradise Garden". It will be very nice in a year or three. The hardest part is having patience and not getting overwhelmed by everything I want to accomplish to achieve my vision. One-thing-at-a-time. The fence has to be up before the koi pond, otherwise I'll just worry someone will wander through, whether it's a child or a drunk neighbor, and fall into a 6 foot deep pond. Who needs that on their conscience? I have discovered though that once we get to back of the hill where the bricks will butt up against it will have to be done relatively quickly, otherwise it's going to collapse and we're going to have a problem. I'll post a few pics later on our progress. :-) |
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Inspiration and Creation.
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"Conditions for creativity are to be puzzled; to concentrate; to accept conflict and tension; to be born everyday; to feel a sense of self."---Erich Fromm I'm working on a rolling needle holder for my knitting needles. I chose the one from the blog Alexandra Knits it has multiple pocks for different sized needles, double points and circulars. It's versatile and the design is simple. However, it's been YEARS since I've done any serious sewing. I recently purchased a new Brother sewing machine. It's divine! I've fiddled with it, played with all the stitches it can do, learned how to use the automatic threading feature and loaded a few bobbins. It's so smooth and easy to use compared to my 60 year old Kenmore. Don't get me wrong, I love my in cabinet Kenmore, but it's a chugger. I may take it in for an overhaul yet. I also dragged out my Baby-Lock serger, cleaned it up and oiled it. I had to look through the user manual for a refresher. Wow, I also found the original receipt from 1987, when my parents bought it for my 25th birthday. Pulling out my supplies that have been nestled in the antique tiger oak buffet, that has kept everything safe and secure all these year and through 3 moves, my mind drifted to those days and nights slouched over my machines piecing together projects. I was never good at sewing, mostly due to my impatient desire for the finished project. That has always been my downfall. Impatience. The willingness to allow mistakes to remain if it meant being that much closer to finished. The years have mellowed me, I guess. Yesterday I actually, not only ripped out a seam I had just completed, but re-cut 2 pieces when I noticed how crooked they had turned out. Working with silky acetate material can be a challenge when cutting. I had chosen this project to improve my rotary cutting wheel skills which wasn't the wisest choice of material. Another thing I was able to do that I was not able to accomplish 20 years ago, when my back got sore and I felt myself getting frustrated, I quietly and resolutely put everything away, cleaned up my working area and walked away to do something else. Never before would I have done that, I would have just charged through the project, crooked lines be darned. It was a new feeling, a good feeling. I wasn't angry, like I would have been so many years ago, I wasn't frustrated, sweating and hurting. I simply thought to myself, "well, I think I've worked on this long enough, I want this to turn out nice, so I think I'll go do something else for a while." I enjoyed my dinner and when I thought about going back to the project, I waved the thought away with, "Nah, I need a break, I'll pick it back up tomorrow." Which I will likely do after this post. There's a glow inside me now. It's not just knowing that my youth wasn't such a waste as I've thought over the last 10 years. It's learning that being older comes with wisdom that I didn't have then. It's feeling the warmth of creativity and inspiration, this time without the harried frustration. I've learned something else over the last week. I'm happiest and most content when I'm being creative. I spend a lot of my time working, taking care of our homestead and, of all things, playing "World of Warcraft". I enjoy all those things. But when knitting, spinning, sewing, beading and other crafty creative things, that's when I bask in a glowing sense of self. |
Thursday, July 2, 2009
They Had to Go
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Normally when I raise something here it stays for good. But today I said good-bye to my 3 ducks. It wasn't an easy decision, but one that's been begging to be made for about a year now. I had to let my ego take a backseat and admit my failure and strong dislike for these 3 ducks. Last year, my male duck (pekin cross) started brutalizing my call ducks. He even killed a few, he's like many ducks, in the way that he insists on mating with ANY water fowl. Nevermind that he out weighed the calls 3 times over or that he was trying to mate with the males as well, that didn't matter to him. I separated the 3 standard ducks by tossing them in with the chickens. They did just fine there, too. Unfortunately, I lost the last of the call ducks during the winter to a very wiley possum. That finally stopped, I envisioned the giant rat crossing the highway a mile away or trying to take on one of the many dogs that wander the area, either way, the killing stopped. Nobody has bothered my dominiques, the big ducks or any of my other birds for many months now. Then the Cottonpatch came. Within two weeks that stupid duck started brutalizing one of my geese. That was the last straw. Still I hung on, thinking that Alfred would finally punk him out and he'd stop bothering Matilda. I didn't care anymore that I had hatched these ducks from eggs in the incubator and raised them to adulthood, but I wasn't willing to part with them yet. Then Monday I left the pen spittin' mad. I had fallen so hard for my geese, that seeing Matilda's head with a bald patch and a few sores and the dominant male duck chasing her around without mercy put me into a tailspin. That was IT!!! I was done. I had worked around these 3 ducks long enough. They had to go, they'd done nothing but make me angry for a year now. My patchies, dominiques, and turkeys are my priorities. NOT 3 mutt ducks. Tuesday morning before work I put the 3 onto Freecycle. Today, they went to their new home, one with no call ducks, no geese and another female duck. The dominant male will be VERY happy and I'm sure the other male and the female will enjoy having another friend. When I got home from dropping them off, I swear I saw Matilda smile and laugh. She knows she rules. Gracie and Alfred are happy too I'm sure since that darn duck chased them around as well. Through my escapades with ducks over the last several years, I have learned...I prefer Muscovies. They're the only duck I'll ever have again. No matter how blasted cute they are as ducklings, if they're not a Muscovy, I'm not bringing them home or incubating their eggs. If I feel so justified, why do I feel like such a failure? |
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Life is good.
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Oh yes it is. Even when things are grim, there's always hope, right? So yes, life is good. Recently I added to my little farm three geese that I've been striving to add for about 3 years. Cottonpatch geese. Cottonpatch are discernable from other geese in a few ways, one is that they're dimorphic and the other is their pink feet and bills. I'm so excited to have these lovelies here. I so hope that next season I'll have some eggs to put into the incubator! I desperately want to help these guys come back from the brink of forgotten American farm history. I'm pleased to introduce: Alfred the Gander-he's a handsome fellow and amiable as well.  Next we have Matilda. She's gorgeous girl, however there's a problem. She's an angel wing. According to most of the information I can find online is that angel wing is NOT genetic, but dietary induced. Most of the information says that angel wing was once thought to be genetic and there is still some slight speculation that it is. So I'm in a quandry as well as curious. Is it genetic? Is it dietary? If it is dietary, is there a genetic link that predisposes the goose to developing angel wing when the diet is too high in protein? Here beak isn't as pink as it should be either. Either way, she was thrown in with the two breeders to keep Alfred Here is my angel Matilda:  The star of the show is Gracie. Oh my gosh, I'm so in love with this girl. She's still young (just a few months old) and still chirps like a baby, but she's to be Alfred's mate (Matilda will be separated from them around breeding season) and I hope to get some beautiful goslings from them. *swoon* Meet, Gracie  My beautiful cottonpatch geese. I never thought I would ever have geese, but there's no denying my love for this breed. Here's a few pics of them together  In case it wasn't obvious, Matilda is a big time ham!!! Of for a dip in the pool!  In other news, I've developed quite the fancy for Begonias!  With the rotten luck I've had growing vegetables I'm real close to simply growing what I seem to have the best luck with, herbs and flowers. I really don't know for sure yet, we're ordering the stones for our rock wall next week and once that's in we'll be able to start saving for the fence. I have an issue with wanting everything NOW and I'm just starting to realize AND ACCEPT that it takes time to develop the kind of landscaping I want. Baby steps. Eeesh. Whatever. But it's all I can do, unless I win the lotto and have somebody else do all the work. ;-) I bought two gorgeous rose bushes and one of these days I'll get around to setting them in the ground. My husband annihilated my Black Beauty Elderberry with the lawn mower, so it's growth is starting over and I don't know what the heck happened but my Laurel Bay bush died. I really wasn't expecting that at all. It weathered the winter no problem, it was getting plenty of water and in just a matter of days it was brown and dead as if it never recieved a drop of water!! I was devastated about it and my elderberry. I don't usually cry over a plant, but I cried when I found the little stick in the ground that was once my Black Beauty and when my cats ate my Lakota Blue Pumpkin seedlings. Silly me. Anyway, no vegetable garden until the fence is up. Period. It's not worth it to have the dogs in the neighborhood ruining my beds and I think it will be easier to put the beds in a good place once I have the perimeter secure. I'm still looking for a passionfruit and fig plant this year though. If you have interest in wonderful handmade items from jewelry to fiber to you name it. Check out Etsy!! I know I'm addicted, haven't spent any money yet, but I'm close! Yes. Life is good. |
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
One of the Greats
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Yesterday morning a great man of my life passed away. He was one of my favorite uncles. His voice is still clear and strong in my head as is the whistle that pierced the air when it was time for all of us to come in for the night after a day of adventure and play on 40 acres. His big grin. His chuckle. The mischievous twinkle in his eye. Standing on the slab concrete porch of the farm house with his cup of coffee in one hand and smoke in the other. The gold wrapped Almond Roca he'd give us instead of the pigs. "don't tell your aunt" I will sorely miss him. He was surely, one of the greats. G'bye Uncle Jim. |
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
HR 875: Always do your research.
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Yup, I got sucked into the rumor mill about HR875. But I did something many didn't. In less than 12 hours after I was sucked in, I did my own research. Then quietly sat back, breathed a sigh of relief and chastised myself for allowing rumors to get the best of me. I know better, research has always been my friend. HR 875 Update |
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Seedlings are doing well.
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I lost all my tomatoes, but I've started over already. It was disappointing, but that's the way it goes. I'm just planting the Stupice this time and if they do okay I'll plant some more grape maters. I've finished my "seed case". A bookcase that I've had for about 15 years has been retired with the addition of a bigger and better bookcase. My fear of never having enough book space prevents me from giving away or otherwise discarding a bookcase though. We have close to 20 large bookcases full of books as it is but still, both of us tend to amass more. Soooo...I turned the old bookcase into a seedling case. LOL
Here's too a picture of my special babies, the Blue Lakota Pumpkins. I'm determined to grow these out so that I can save some seeds for my friends who I think will enjoy growing this heritage pumpkin.
There doesn't seem to be a lot of information on the web regarding the Blue Lakota, just that it's from the Midwest and is an heirloom variety. You can google it, but all the sites I found said pretty much the same thing. I thought I had misplaced my Peter Peppers, but Lo! I found them and if the small flat of them doesn't continue to do well, I'll start over. I will leave it to you, the reader, to Google Peter Peppers, I'm not sure how much trouble from the Homestead Blogger folks I would get in if I were to post a direct link. If you're old enough to Google, you're old enough to find them yourself. ;-)
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Tuesday, February 24, 2009
This is disgusting!
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My own state has it's head up it's.... Oh, I'm so mad! The word obtuse comes to mind. I'm not on the WIC (Women, Infants and Children) program. But I've known many that are or have been. It's a great program especially for single mothers and I am appalled that: "Washington State WIC Says Organic Milk has "No Nutritional Benefit"" Say what? Read it for yourself. What a bunch of MORONS! |
Friday, February 20, 2009
Dominique Chicks!!!
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An online friend of mine offered to send me some dominique eggs to put in the incubator. Up to that point I had resigned myself to no more incubating eggs and I was just going to order some Murray McMurray. However, I couldn't resist when the offer was made. Jim was kind enough to send me 18 eggs! I popped them in the 'bator 3 weeks ago and you guessed it, they're hatching! What a difference from last year. I didn't use my auto-turner as it was vibrating and being noisy and that can affect development drastically. I also used THREE thermometers and pushed daily to maintain 99.9F. Here's the pay off to being such a "mother hen" about this clutch of eggs.
Okay, more than one egg hatched..hehe. This pic is of 9 chick-lets the one closest to the front I had just watched hatch and she's tuckered out, so don't worry. She's all dry and peeping around now as I type this. I removed the eggshells so there's enough room for everyone . Also, keep in mind that hatching eggs is messy, so the incubator is ooky in this pic. Oh yea, and there's 2 more eggs hatching right now.
14 out of the 18 eggs developed which is VERY good for shipped eggs (they came from CA). I have no idea how many of them will hatch when all is said and done, but having 9 chicks with 2 on the way the odds are good I'll have at least 9 (haha, you thought I'd say 11 didn't you? But you never know. Never count your chickens UNTIL they hatch. Anything can happen even during the hatching process.) I'll post pics again when they're all settled into the brooder. |
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Gearing up!
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So much to do, so little time! But I'm ready. I think. So what is everyone else doing to prepare for spring?
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Thursday, December 18, 2008
SNOW!
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This certainly isn't news to most of those that actually read my drivel, but hey. It's been snowing for the last few days. Extremely unusual for our area. I curse myself for thinking around Dec. 6th which is about a year since our last extreme weather beating with massive rain, flooding, and mudslides; then wham! Here comes the coldest December since 1990. Ugh. Trust me it's freakin' cold. We're the rainy state, remember? The worst part? I haven't been able to get to work, neither has my husband and we're out of poultry/fowl food. Who knew? I sure didn't. So I've been cooking up rice and veggies for them. We're on such a steep and long hill that even if we do get down, it's pretty clear we won't be coming back up. Several autos are being abandoned on our road and even my husband had to park his car at the grocery store and hoof it about 3 miles home, with the last mile being up the godforsaken hill. Here's a few snapshots, not good ones, the battery was dying so I couldn't get better. Maybe tomorrow.   |
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Muwhahaha! Go King Corn!
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I tell ya, I've been ranting about those disgusting "Sweet Surprise" commercials regarding high fructose corn syrup. They really drive me nutters. For one thing the line, "it's fine in moderation" really grates on my nerves. Excuse me, but exactly how does one consume HFCS in moderation when it's in EVERYTHING including MEATS? Huh? Come on, tell me oh ye wise Corn Refiners Association. Seriously, HOW? It taints every aspect of our food supply in one way or another. The *only* way to avoid it is to avoid prepared foods, frozen foods, fast food, canned; avoid crackers, breads, cookies, cakes, deli meats, bacon, sausage, need I go on? It's in EVERYTHING! |
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Dear HomesteadBlogger,
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Please be so kind to make it so I can post to my blog using the Mozilla Firefox browser. Please? I know this is a free service and don't get me wrong, I love HB'er, preferring the homey feel and appearance, but I love my Firefox more and if I can't post links or pictures using it, well then I don't know what to do....oh come on, I can't possibly be the only user on the whole site that uses Firefox and finds IE to be an inferior browser. Can I? Please...pretty please? *hugs HB & bats eyes* |