I am an amigurumist.
That is, I crochet small animal replicas. My favorites are always the realistic ones. I am actually a rarity in the crochet world. Most that make 'toys' actually prefer to focus on food items as they tend to be simpler, requiring less stitching on the whole. And other crocheters seem to prefer apparel and/or home goods to amigurami. I will admit, there are times when I wish I preferred something else myself... particularly when I'm faced with the stitching neatly of more than a dozen smaller parts! It's usually worth it in the end, of course. And my little niche gives me a unique advantage locally since I have never met another person that does what I do.
The real difference for me is that I hide nothing. In truth, I would encourage others to emulate me! I know the items I make are of a nice quality and I price accordingly. If someone else wishes to 'take a shot' at making the items I make they would still have a long ways to go, even with the same pattern, because I have been doing this for many years and I am a perfectionist. A trait that I've found goes very well with this type of art. Still, I'm happy to share my basic methods and sources for eyes and thread with others. I might even tell them from where I got patterns (if applicable), but I never sell patterns.
I am confident in my ability.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Sunday, October 14, 2012
This Year's Preserve Count
To date I've put up chili sauce and spaghetti sauce, applesauce, and honey. I've stored potatoes and sweet potatoes and frozen peppers. The count so far is thus:
14 qts chili sauce, plus 1/2 pt
17 qts spaghetti sauce, plus 1 pt
6 pts grape jelly
15 qts applesauce (still have a bushel to be preserved)
~5 lbs each Kennebec and Yukon Gold potatoes stored
~3 lbs sweet potatoes stored
2 qt bags diced/sliced peppers frozen
14 qts chili sauce, plus 1/2 pt
17 qts spaghetti sauce, plus 1 pt
6 pts grape jelly
15 qts applesauce (still have a bushel to be preserved)
~5 lbs each Kennebec and Yukon Gold potatoes stored
~3 lbs sweet potatoes stored
2 qt bags diced/sliced peppers frozen
Camping: Part III
I just realized that I never put up a post about our final camping trip of the season, which took place the last week-end of September. First, and most obvious, it was chilly!! We were expecting this, so we took a down comforter with us and plenty of wood for the fire. A1 decided in advance she had no desire to accompany the rest of us on this trip, so she and B stayed home. K was brought out again to join us for the last trip she would have, so the members of this encounter were myself, J< A2, and K. With there being only 4 of us, I decided to take and put up our original, smaller tent instead of the big one. It was a short stay this time, we left Saturday morning and came home the next day.
We got to the camp site and set everything up, we started a fire and prepared a lunch. Then we got everyone ready and marched off hiking. The big girls led us to a trail that went around the lake to a small waterfall on the back side. We saw a mess of bees raiding the last of the wildflowers, we found a discarded snake skin, and we found a large black newt underneath a damp log on the side of the main trail. It was a lot of fun!
Later that afternoon we were all around the fire when a low roaring could be discerned coming towards us through the woods. It took several seconds for us to realize that it was rain moving our way! We had just enough time to grab all the chairs and pull them under the canopy when the drops began to fall. J was in the process of cooking bacon for our supper over the fire, but had to run out and grab the pan from off the fire and switch over to the camp stove to finish it.
Fortunately for us the rain was fairly short-lived. Everything was perfectly normal a mere hour or two later. We had some neighbors this trip, an interesting group with a couple of young boys who were about A2's age. So she and they were often running all around the woods and down to the creek. A2 went through all the socks she'd brought with her on this trip! And we'd brought extra for her!! Our neighbors had a very impressive blaze going with their fire that night, though when we visited them to see how they'd managed, I found they had put in a very large trunk, about 5 feet long and decided I wasn't so envious as to emulate their efforts! I'd likely be the one to set fire to the woods trying something like that!
We all slept in our bags on 1 air mattress with the down comforter covering us all. A2 and K were on the ends with myself and J in the middle. The next morning was COLD and J had managed to steal most of the comforter that night. So getting a fire going that morning was very important. J & K went out and hunted up several nice sized logs and we managed a very nice fire that morning. Though it wasn't long after I had prepared our breakfast that we had to get everything packed into the van to head home.
I'm not crazy about the short camping trips. It always feels like we just didn't have enough time. However, since it looks as though we won't be able to manage anymore trips this year, before the campground closes at the end of this month, I am very glad we were able to make that one last trip. I'm hoping that next year we can start our camping forays earlier and manage at least one trip per month throughout the summer.
We got to the camp site and set everything up, we started a fire and prepared a lunch. Then we got everyone ready and marched off hiking. The big girls led us to a trail that went around the lake to a small waterfall on the back side. We saw a mess of bees raiding the last of the wildflowers, we found a discarded snake skin, and we found a large black newt underneath a damp log on the side of the main trail. It was a lot of fun!
Later that afternoon we were all around the fire when a low roaring could be discerned coming towards us through the woods. It took several seconds for us to realize that it was rain moving our way! We had just enough time to grab all the chairs and pull them under the canopy when the drops began to fall. J was in the process of cooking bacon for our supper over the fire, but had to run out and grab the pan from off the fire and switch over to the camp stove to finish it.
Fortunately for us the rain was fairly short-lived. Everything was perfectly normal a mere hour or two later. We had some neighbors this trip, an interesting group with a couple of young boys who were about A2's age. So she and they were often running all around the woods and down to the creek. A2 went through all the socks she'd brought with her on this trip! And we'd brought extra for her!! Our neighbors had a very impressive blaze going with their fire that night, though when we visited them to see how they'd managed, I found they had put in a very large trunk, about 5 feet long and decided I wasn't so envious as to emulate their efforts! I'd likely be the one to set fire to the woods trying something like that!
We all slept in our bags on 1 air mattress with the down comforter covering us all. A2 and K were on the ends with myself and J in the middle. The next morning was COLD and J had managed to steal most of the comforter that night. So getting a fire going that morning was very important. J & K went out and hunted up several nice sized logs and we managed a very nice fire that morning. Though it wasn't long after I had prepared our breakfast that we had to get everything packed into the van to head home.
I'm not crazy about the short camping trips. It always feels like we just didn't have enough time. However, since it looks as though we won't be able to manage anymore trips this year, before the campground closes at the end of this month, I am very glad we were able to make that one last trip. I'm hoping that next year we can start our camping forays earlier and manage at least one trip per month throughout the summer.
It's Fall at Falls-Acre!
Today was the perfect fall day, a breezy and cool 65+ degree day. The perfect time to start prepping for winter. I actually started this last week-end by cutting and raking the weeds from the secondary garden. Today I took the Littles out with me and we dug up the potatoes and sweet potatoes from the garden. I pulled off any remaining peppers from the plants, and then turned the turkeys and geese out into the gardens. Their job now is to clean up the yard from any remaining vegetable matter and to fatten themselves up for the coming cold months. I also cut down and raked out the tall weeds from the top of the primary garden. I won't touch the bottom of that garden until sometime next month, when I'll winterize both gardens.
Today we also cracked open the bee hive to check on the girls and harvest any excess honey. To my brief disappointment, the honey super on top was completely untouched by the bees, so I removed it. However, the top portion of the second brood box was packed full of capped honey. From this I extracted a single full frame and replaced it with an empty frame. They survived last winter with only half a single brood box, so I think they'll be alright giving up one frame. I managed to scrape off the honey from the wax foundation of the frame into a pan, which I then drained through a wire mesh. The first side of that frame yielded a whole pint of home-grown honey! We'll scrape the other side of the frame tomorrow, then give it back to the bees to clean up.
The funny part of this particular endeavor occurred toward the end of our escapade when I was trying to take the full frame of honey away from the hive. I started by brushing the bees onto the hive, then took the frame across the yard to another area. I finished up my part with the bees and handed over my gear to A1 so she could also look and then close up the hive. When we were finished and went to get the frame of honey, several bees had been drawn to it and were checking it out! I had A1 go get the smoker to encourage the bees to leave, but she had trouble since there were bees on the smoker too!! When I finally got all the bees off, I had to practically run it to the house to keep them away. The smell was apparently too enticing for them.
In addition to our little homestead fun, J also had an engagement involving a major school dance. I was so proud to learn several weeks ago that she had been voted to be part of the homecoming court. Unexpected, but so proud! So she lounged around for awhile, then scooted off to her friends' house to have her hair fixed up, then back home for her dress, then off to the dance! She went with friends, no particular male involved. It lasted until midnight when D went to retrieve our Cinderella. It took mere minutes for her to return herself to her regular pumpkin-like state. When asked about the dance, she replied: "it was kinda boring, the DJ was old and kept playing music from the 70's and 80's!"
Incidentally, 'tis the season... knitting, crocheting, spinning, fiber!!! There will be 15 POUNDS of mohair arriving early this next week. Couldn't beat the price at which it was being offered, so I tried to buy enough to last the remainder of my life. Also put in an order to replace my size 17 needles that B drummed on the floor and broke. Finally I picked up a skein of 1/2 llama, 1/2 wool single-ply yarn to try it out. This first skein will likely be a hat. Depending on how it comes out, I may pick up more of that yarn.
Today we also cracked open the bee hive to check on the girls and harvest any excess honey. To my brief disappointment, the honey super on top was completely untouched by the bees, so I removed it. However, the top portion of the second brood box was packed full of capped honey. From this I extracted a single full frame and replaced it with an empty frame. They survived last winter with only half a single brood box, so I think they'll be alright giving up one frame. I managed to scrape off the honey from the wax foundation of the frame into a pan, which I then drained through a wire mesh. The first side of that frame yielded a whole pint of home-grown honey! We'll scrape the other side of the frame tomorrow, then give it back to the bees to clean up.
The funny part of this particular endeavor occurred toward the end of our escapade when I was trying to take the full frame of honey away from the hive. I started by brushing the bees onto the hive, then took the frame across the yard to another area. I finished up my part with the bees and handed over my gear to A1 so she could also look and then close up the hive. When we were finished and went to get the frame of honey, several bees had been drawn to it and were checking it out! I had A1 go get the smoker to encourage the bees to leave, but she had trouble since there were bees on the smoker too!! When I finally got all the bees off, I had to practically run it to the house to keep them away. The smell was apparently too enticing for them.
In addition to our little homestead fun, J also had an engagement involving a major school dance. I was so proud to learn several weeks ago that she had been voted to be part of the homecoming court. Unexpected, but so proud! So she lounged around for awhile, then scooted off to her friends' house to have her hair fixed up, then back home for her dress, then off to the dance! She went with friends, no particular male involved. It lasted until midnight when D went to retrieve our Cinderella. It took mere minutes for her to return herself to her regular pumpkin-like state. When asked about the dance, she replied: "it was kinda boring, the DJ was old and kept playing music from the 70's and 80's!"
Incidentally, 'tis the season... knitting, crocheting, spinning, fiber!!! There will be 15 POUNDS of mohair arriving early this next week. Couldn't beat the price at which it was being offered, so I tried to buy enough to last the remainder of my life. Also put in an order to replace my size 17 needles that B drummed on the floor and broke. Finally I picked up a skein of 1/2 llama, 1/2 wool single-ply yarn to try it out. This first skein will likely be a hat. Depending on how it comes out, I may pick up more of that yarn.
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Fire and Coals
While camping, we all saw an interesting phenomenon, so I took the time to attempt to photograph it. Keeping in mind it was full dark in the National Forest. Meaning almost no ambient light on that moonless night. Here is what we caught with the flash on the camera:
Then I tried various different settings on my camera to see what it could do. Here's the same shot with a different setting (can't remember the actual settings though)
This, I think, was simply without a flash. I have no idea why it came out purple like that, since what we saw were the brilliant red-hot coals in the night!
Again, a different setting, took away the 'aura' that seemed to show up in the previous photo.
Then I tried another setting, which came out black-n-white. A neat effect.
Yet another setting, this shot finally showed a little of what we were seeing with the red of the coals, only in the dark that was ALL we could see! None of the rest of the fire. It was a fun experiment with night shooting!
Then I tried various different settings on my camera to see what it could do. Here's the same shot with a different setting (can't remember the actual settings though)
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Destiny or Fate
I am not a religious person. I don't believe in a higher being. I do, however, believe somewhat in fate or destiny. Not in so much as a sentient creature controlling my future, but more in that there is a certain order to the universe and if one chooses to pay attention, it can lead him/her down a path of self-contentment. Today I experienced this very phenomenon.
I had several choices available as to my week-end excursion. There were 2 poultry swaps and 2 rabbit shows. Each having a major and a minor. The major swap and minor show were about a 3 hour drive away, the minor swap 20 minutes (but I go every month), and the major show 2 hours away. I chose the major show. This was the first step on the path.
I went to the show with the thought of looking around to see if there would be any Hares present. Being a rare breed it's not often you see them at nearby shows. Especially with certain breeders no longer raising them. I poked around at the show and much to my delight, there was 1 exhibitor with Hares there and he had a nice big buck for sale! He was a little scruffy, but the body type was very nice. The price, however was a little steep. Too steep for me today, perhaps this isn't the path after all. I made a counter-offer (more of a suggestion) on the price, he declined. I figured he would. So with some regret, I put him back in the carrier and accepted the breeder's information so that I could contact him at a later time to purchase stock.
Fast forward a little to the raffle pull. I had put in tickets on 4 rabbits, 3 Mini-rex and a Thrianta. I'm not sure what I was really thinking at the time with regards to the Thrianta. Anyway, I won the nicest of the Mini-rex, a young blue buck with some potential. I figured now I needed a doe for him, so I went looking around the showroom for a decent broken to go with the little guy. I immediately went to a well-known breeder, but the one I wanted to choose was a little high on the price scale for what I was wanting (not that she wasn't worth every penny being asked!). So I kept looking around and finally thought I'd found what I needed. A broken lilac doe with nice color and an awesome looking coat for a great price! I found the breeder and asked to have a look. I flipped her to do a cursory DQ check and when I went to check the front nails, I was stopped dead. One of her feet had matted fur on the inside of the ankle, further checking revealed some mucous from the nostrils, but the one eye on the same side as the paw was also matted around and below. I held her up to my ear and detected a wheezing when she breathed. I was utterly devastated. The breeder standing beside me was equally surprised. While it could just as easily have been caused by dust and stress, I couldn't afford to take the chance. So I handed her back to him, borrowed his sanitizer, and thanked him for letting me look (he did pull her from his sales list, just in case). I didn't see any other available animals of real interest in the room.
Just as I had resigned myself to going ahead with the first ones I'd looked at, the breeder of the Hares came over to me. He apparently decided an empty cage was worth more to him than the difference between the price he'd set and the one I'd offered. I bought the Hare in that very instant (before he could change his mind).
So this is how this particular string of events occurred, and could occur in no other way: 1) we chose to attend that show instead of any of the other events. 2) There was an actual Hare breeder at the show who just happened to have an available animal. 3) Even though I won a MR, I couldn't locate a suitable female at the time. 4) The one MR I found that I liked turned out to have some kind of respiratory issue, eliminating it from my consideration. 5) The Hare breeder decided to sell his available rabbit to me at my lower asking price, making it affordable for me. If any of these things had changed, I wouldn't have the Hare! That rabbit is essential to my continued herd improvement.
See... fate.
I had several choices available as to my week-end excursion. There were 2 poultry swaps and 2 rabbit shows. Each having a major and a minor. The major swap and minor show were about a 3 hour drive away, the minor swap 20 minutes (but I go every month), and the major show 2 hours away. I chose the major show. This was the first step on the path.
I went to the show with the thought of looking around to see if there would be any Hares present. Being a rare breed it's not often you see them at nearby shows. Especially with certain breeders no longer raising them. I poked around at the show and much to my delight, there was 1 exhibitor with Hares there and he had a nice big buck for sale! He was a little scruffy, but the body type was very nice. The price, however was a little steep. Too steep for me today, perhaps this isn't the path after all. I made a counter-offer (more of a suggestion) on the price, he declined. I figured he would. So with some regret, I put him back in the carrier and accepted the breeder's information so that I could contact him at a later time to purchase stock.
Fast forward a little to the raffle pull. I had put in tickets on 4 rabbits, 3 Mini-rex and a Thrianta. I'm not sure what I was really thinking at the time with regards to the Thrianta. Anyway, I won the nicest of the Mini-rex, a young blue buck with some potential. I figured now I needed a doe for him, so I went looking around the showroom for a decent broken to go with the little guy. I immediately went to a well-known breeder, but the one I wanted to choose was a little high on the price scale for what I was wanting (not that she wasn't worth every penny being asked!). So I kept looking around and finally thought I'd found what I needed. A broken lilac doe with nice color and an awesome looking coat for a great price! I found the breeder and asked to have a look. I flipped her to do a cursory DQ check and when I went to check the front nails, I was stopped dead. One of her feet had matted fur on the inside of the ankle, further checking revealed some mucous from the nostrils, but the one eye on the same side as the paw was also matted around and below. I held her up to my ear and detected a wheezing when she breathed. I was utterly devastated. The breeder standing beside me was equally surprised. While it could just as easily have been caused by dust and stress, I couldn't afford to take the chance. So I handed her back to him, borrowed his sanitizer, and thanked him for letting me look (he did pull her from his sales list, just in case). I didn't see any other available animals of real interest in the room.
Just as I had resigned myself to going ahead with the first ones I'd looked at, the breeder of the Hares came over to me. He apparently decided an empty cage was worth more to him than the difference between the price he'd set and the one I'd offered. I bought the Hare in that very instant (before he could change his mind).
So this is how this particular string of events occurred, and could occur in no other way: 1) we chose to attend that show instead of any of the other events. 2) There was an actual Hare breeder at the show who just happened to have an available animal. 3) Even though I won a MR, I couldn't locate a suitable female at the time. 4) The one MR I found that I liked turned out to have some kind of respiratory issue, eliminating it from my consideration. 5) The Hare breeder decided to sell his available rabbit to me at my lower asking price, making it affordable for me. If any of these things had changed, I wouldn't have the Hare! That rabbit is essential to my continued herd improvement.
See... fate.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Rabbit Show
Today A2 & I attended a rabbit show together. These days, costs being what they have become and age creeping up on me, I don't get to as many shows as I usually do. I do, however, make a strong effort to get to the ones that are the closest and biggest. This was just one such show. I'm very glad we went too. I had multiple objectives: find A2 a decent doe for her Dutch buck, move out the hairy abomination that's been parasitically living in the rabbitry for too long, find loving homes for the kittens, and look for Hares. This was A2's first official rabbit show.
We arrived in good spirits, unloaded the car and cheerfully walked the long distance back to the showroom and set everything up. I helped A2 clean up her boy (Boo Blue) and trim his nails. She then spent the better part of the show morning walking around with him cradled upside-down in her arms introducing him to everyone! Turns out he really is the PERFECT buck for her!! After maybe 15 or 20 minutes a group of youngsters came over and mentioned they had some Dutch rabbits available. A young man brought over a nice, semi-young (about a year) black doe who just happened to have been bred by the same person from whom A2 picked up the buck at the previous show of this venue. The price was right, the doe was a good match, and the original breeder agreed to forward the pedigree to A2 next week. So the exchange was conducted and "Angel" was added to the carrier.
Things went fairly smoothly for most of the morning, registering rabbits, tagging young Sugar (the jr cavy I was showing) and getting everything setup. I helped A2 make sure she got her rabbit onto the table... but so did about 3 or 4 other people too! It's always nicer when others help out. I learned a great deal about judging Dutch watching the 3 shows today. I hope A2 learned some as well. A2 walked away with 2 BOSV wins and 1 BOSB! A very good result for her first show. Interestingly a different rabbit won BOB in each show. I find that to be a very bad indicator because it means each judge felt that different aspects of the rabbits was more important. It makes it harder to learn what exactly to look for in the show animals when the judges wish-wash like that.
By the end of the show day, we had won 3 items from the raffle (a Comfrey plant for me and a blue Mini-rex jr buck, a pair of dream catchers for A2), found the doe for A2, each won in our show classes (I won BJOB in both cavy shows), I sold one of my hats, re-homed 2 of the kittens, put the fluffy abomination in the raffle, and found someone in the showroom with Hares! A good day in all... tiring, but fun.
We arrived in good spirits, unloaded the car and cheerfully walked the long distance back to the showroom and set everything up. I helped A2 clean up her boy (Boo Blue) and trim his nails. She then spent the better part of the show morning walking around with him cradled upside-down in her arms introducing him to everyone! Turns out he really is the PERFECT buck for her!! After maybe 15 or 20 minutes a group of youngsters came over and mentioned they had some Dutch rabbits available. A young man brought over a nice, semi-young (about a year) black doe who just happened to have been bred by the same person from whom A2 picked up the buck at the previous show of this venue. The price was right, the doe was a good match, and the original breeder agreed to forward the pedigree to A2 next week. So the exchange was conducted and "Angel" was added to the carrier.
Things went fairly smoothly for most of the morning, registering rabbits, tagging young Sugar (the jr cavy I was showing) and getting everything setup. I helped A2 make sure she got her rabbit onto the table... but so did about 3 or 4 other people too! It's always nicer when others help out. I learned a great deal about judging Dutch watching the 3 shows today. I hope A2 learned some as well. A2 walked away with 2 BOSV wins and 1 BOSB! A very good result for her first show. Interestingly a different rabbit won BOB in each show. I find that to be a very bad indicator because it means each judge felt that different aspects of the rabbits was more important. It makes it harder to learn what exactly to look for in the show animals when the judges wish-wash like that.
By the end of the show day, we had won 3 items from the raffle (a Comfrey plant for me and a blue Mini-rex jr buck, a pair of dream catchers for A2), found the doe for A2, each won in our show classes (I won BJOB in both cavy shows), I sold one of my hats, re-homed 2 of the kittens, put the fluffy abomination in the raffle, and found someone in the showroom with Hares! A good day in all... tiring, but fun.
Friday, August 31, 2012
Kindergarten
Yup! It's that time! A2 will officially start kindergarten on Tuesday. We went to meet her teacher yesterday afternoon and took most of her things in to her class so they'll be ready for her. She met and talked with her bus driver as well. I admit, it has been so long since I've had a kindergartner that I had forgotten what a regular PITA it is being a parent of one! Oh not her, she's fine and excited, but the amount of things they put on the parent is staggering! What, exactly, am I sending her to school for if every day she's going to come home and require more schooling from me?! Since when did kindergarten become an 8-10 hour-a-day intensive educational course? I do understand, kids today have a lot to learn in a short amount of time. Honestly, there's so much for them to learn that there really ought to be another required level of schooling: pre-K, which unfortunately, in this area, is only offered to "special needs" children. The rest of the normal kids are on their own to learn their letters, colors, numbers, shapes, and alphabet BEFORE they start kindergarten.
The teacher explained that the kids would be learning to read, rhyme (word groups), and write sentences. She explained that a mere 2 WEEKS would be spent learning colors. I don't even want to think about how they approach math. Should I be expecting her to come home one day with addition and subtraction worksheets?!?!?! Which I will then have to teach her how to complete? When I was in kindergarten (yes I can remember that far back. LOL) we spent quite a bit of time learning our letters. A2 has always had trouble with writing. Recognition: yes, writing: no. We were also informed the kids will have homework every day as well. Previously this didn't happen until around 2nd grade. I suppose the 'honeymoon' is over for kids at age 5! They start them right off these days!
To top it all off, they were supposed to test her before she started. I only just found that out yesterday as well. Another parent mentioned it in the room and I said something along the lines of, "oh, not all the kids are tested," which the teacher refuted, claiming that all the kids are tested. When I told her my daughter wasn't and that I never received a call for them to do so, she tried to argue with me. A short trip to the school office confirmed that I was in the right. I was never called. No one seemed to know why exactly. So now A2 will have to undergo a short test after the start of school. Just to check and make sure she's "ready" to start kindergarten. (insert another extreme eye roll here)
I'm really very glad I spent a good part of our time together last year studying pre-school subjects so she will hopefully be able to keep up with the advanced pace of the class. The teacher came across as nice, but seriously no-nonsense, which I'm hoping will be good for A2. She could use a good firm consistent hand. Being around other kids her age will help matters as well I think. Perhaps she'll finally realize the world doesn't actually revolve around her. With her gone in the mornings I'll also have the time to start Bubba on his pre-schooling. He really needs language development. It's been difficult for him, not being able to get a word in around A2!
The teacher explained that the kids would be learning to read, rhyme (word groups), and write sentences. She explained that a mere 2 WEEKS would be spent learning colors. I don't even want to think about how they approach math. Should I be expecting her to come home one day with addition and subtraction worksheets?!?!?! Which I will then have to teach her how to complete? When I was in kindergarten (yes I can remember that far back. LOL) we spent quite a bit of time learning our letters. A2 has always had trouble with writing. Recognition: yes, writing: no. We were also informed the kids will have homework every day as well. Previously this didn't happen until around 2nd grade. I suppose the 'honeymoon' is over for kids at age 5! They start them right off these days!
To top it all off, they were supposed to test her before she started. I only just found that out yesterday as well. Another parent mentioned it in the room and I said something along the lines of, "oh, not all the kids are tested," which the teacher refuted, claiming that all the kids are tested. When I told her my daughter wasn't and that I never received a call for them to do so, she tried to argue with me. A short trip to the school office confirmed that I was in the right. I was never called. No one seemed to know why exactly. So now A2 will have to undergo a short test after the start of school. Just to check and make sure she's "ready" to start kindergarten. (insert another extreme eye roll here)
I'm really very glad I spent a good part of our time together last year studying pre-school subjects so she will hopefully be able to keep up with the advanced pace of the class. The teacher came across as nice, but seriously no-nonsense, which I'm hoping will be good for A2. She could use a good firm consistent hand. Being around other kids her age will help matters as well I think. Perhaps she'll finally realize the world doesn't actually revolve around her. With her gone in the mornings I'll also have the time to start Bubba on his pre-schooling. He really needs language development. It's been difficult for him, not being able to get a word in around A2!
Chickens!!
Well, it's official. I am completely legal and licensed to own chickens. (insert extreme eye-rolling visage here) According to the new ordinance, I am not allowed to keep males, profit from my birds, keep more than half a dozen, allow them to free-range, or butcher them on my property. I must maintain them in a coop no larger than 10' x 12' and must have an enclosed space within the coop that is no less than 1.5 sq ft per bird. I am VERY glad that I took the time to build such an enclosure this year for the turkeys (mind you, the ordinance specifically refers to chickens... no mention of other fowl at all in it!). I will admit that I do NOT like the restrictions, especially the space limitations and the no-male aspect. I believe they are overly harsh, especially in light of my having owned chickens for nearly 2 decades in this exact locale. My neighbors are perfectly accustomed to my birds. However, I have taken the opportunity to collect some awesome birds. Marans and Welsummer and Araucanas.
Camping: Part II
Last week-end we took our second camping trip of the year. This time it was supposed to be family only, and it was, though we did have an 'extra' to come along. A girl of 17, K is my mother's spouse's daughter, and had never been camping. She also happens to be a very good friend of both my elder girls. Of course I had no issue with having her along. She's family, after all, and it would be fun! My mother came out, bringing K along with her and visited with D. A2 opted to stay home with my mother, rather than camp. She insisted regardless of how often I asked and never swayed in her choice. So we met them on the route to the campground and traded kids, then trucked on along to the camp.
We set everything up, you would have thought K was experienced the way she pitched right in with whatever needed to be done. Our usual first-night dinner fare of roasted weiners over the fire was prepared and we bedded down for the night. About halfway through the night, the rains began. On the tent roof the sound was amplified and woke me, which was a good thing since I had just enough time to move our things to where they wouldn't get wet. Unfortunately it rained and/or sprinkled throughout Saturday, it saturated the tent walls and dripped through in some places, but for the most part our things were dry. There was some skepticism by the kids though as I went to start a fire on Saturday night, but doubt not! I have long since mastered the fine art of building a fire in the rain and we did enjoy marshmallows on that stormy night.
J took the opportunity to fine-tune a summer project for her advanced English class. A video she needed to create based on a specific scene from To Kill a Mockingbird, which she had read over the summer. She wrote out a script and K and A1 had to memorize lines, since they were the primary characters in the scene (Gem & Scout). I operated the camera and was very briefly in one moment. J directed and played a character that attacks the 'kids' and falls on a knife when the kids' father, Atticus (me), pulls him off. It was very dark by the time we commenced videoing and I wound up using an electric spotlight/lantern I happened to have as well as operating the camera. It turned out very well! The venue couldn't have been more perfect, pitch black everywhere but where I had the light, the summer insects singing their nightly chorus. There were a few tiny pinpoints of light from the other (distant) campers, which added to the story line. J edited the final video and it turned out fantastic! The actors perhaps could have used a little more prep time, but considering everything it really came out well.
On Sunday our group split. I took A1 & Bubba to the lake to swim and J & K went hiking. Then we met my mother again and switched K for A2 and they headed home. We, on the other hand, stayed for another night's camping. Thankfully, the sun came out on Sunday and dried most everything out, so packing up Monday morning was quite easy. A short nap Monday afternoon and I was ready for work that night.
This was our longest single camping trip to date, and it was a great time! I'm hoping for one more trip this season before we pack everything away for the winter.
We set everything up, you would have thought K was experienced the way she pitched right in with whatever needed to be done. Our usual first-night dinner fare of roasted weiners over the fire was prepared and we bedded down for the night. About halfway through the night, the rains began. On the tent roof the sound was amplified and woke me, which was a good thing since I had just enough time to move our things to where they wouldn't get wet. Unfortunately it rained and/or sprinkled throughout Saturday, it saturated the tent walls and dripped through in some places, but for the most part our things were dry. There was some skepticism by the kids though as I went to start a fire on Saturday night, but doubt not! I have long since mastered the fine art of building a fire in the rain and we did enjoy marshmallows on that stormy night.
J took the opportunity to fine-tune a summer project for her advanced English class. A video she needed to create based on a specific scene from To Kill a Mockingbird, which she had read over the summer. She wrote out a script and K and A1 had to memorize lines, since they were the primary characters in the scene (Gem & Scout). I operated the camera and was very briefly in one moment. J directed and played a character that attacks the 'kids' and falls on a knife when the kids' father, Atticus (me), pulls him off. It was very dark by the time we commenced videoing and I wound up using an electric spotlight/lantern I happened to have as well as operating the camera. It turned out very well! The venue couldn't have been more perfect, pitch black everywhere but where I had the light, the summer insects singing their nightly chorus. There were a few tiny pinpoints of light from the other (distant) campers, which added to the story line. J edited the final video and it turned out fantastic! The actors perhaps could have used a little more prep time, but considering everything it really came out well.
On Sunday our group split. I took A1 & Bubba to the lake to swim and J & K went hiking. Then we met my mother again and switched K for A2 and they headed home. We, on the other hand, stayed for another night's camping. Thankfully, the sun came out on Sunday and dried most everything out, so packing up Monday morning was quite easy. A short nap Monday afternoon and I was ready for work that night.
This was our longest single camping trip to date, and it was a great time! I'm hoping for one more trip this season before we pack everything away for the winter.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Camping
Each year I try to take the kids camping in the summer. Usually we manage one trip per year. I know that's not much, and I'm trying to increase it this year. Seems as though our summer week-ends fill up so quickly! Generally the whole summer is fully booked by mid-June. I took the kids for the first camping trip this past week-end. I allowed each of the older girls to invite one friend (J's first choice couldn't go, but her second did, A1's friend's mother said she couldn't go because she was afraid the girl would be eaten by bears... insert eye rolling facial expression here)). So we packed everyone and everything in the van, retrieved the extra girl and headed to our all-time favorite campground. We left on Friday and returned on Sunday.
The best part of camping is that there are no electronics permitted. And because we camp in a National forest, there is no cell service. Once we are there, the only real rule I have is that there is no leaving. So for the few days we are camping, the kids are just kids! No phones, no iPods, no computers. We take board games and cards, we visit with fellow campers, we build fires and talk around them, toasting marshmallows and telling stories. We use a tent, we play flashlight wars, I make all our meals from scratch on a camp stove (an adventure in itself!), everyone takes turns with chores, we hike the mountain trails, we swim in the nearby lake, and we flat-out just have good old-fashioned fun.
I've been doing this every year for almost 10 years, and I love it! The first year we went, the girls were quite small, 5 or 6 maybe. I got us a sleeping bag (the girls already had little ones) and a 6-man tent. We took food like Poptarts and hot dogs and marshmallows. I took a couple flashlights and everyone a change of clothes. I think that was about it. Since then we've upgraded our tent to a 15-man tent with 3 rooms, 2 air mattresses and good sleeping bags for all. a medium rug for the middle of the tent and a mat for the tent door helps cut down on dirt coming inside the tent. A canopy to put over the picnic table and a cloth tablecover, canvas chairs for around the fire. A propane campstove and a tote-box of cooking equiment, a good clothesline plus pins for drying wet towels and suits. A large cooler plus 2 smaller ones. Various buckets and wash basins. Also flame lanterns and flashlights and a first-aid kit and a myriad of other little things that make camping out easier.
There is one thing that I will not leave home without, that is pre-cut wood and lighter-logs, usually the 3-hour kind. Our first camping trip we went without any fire and ate cold food. I couldn't get a fire started with newspaper and sticks. Then I got some of those 50-cent firestarter things and STILL couldn't get the wood to ignite! When I finally switched to the 3-hour logs it literally eliminated the stress of fire-making. Simply put the log in the firepit, light it, then add larger wood across the top of it. These days we purposely save smaller wood for just that purpose. Though this last time I did see several trees had been carried to a communal place for people to cut and use, so I'll take my ax and saw with me instead of loading up with our own wood. We'll still take some of ours, but since we'll be there longer next time, I figure it would be a good idea to use some that's already there too.
The best part of camping is that there are no electronics permitted. And because we camp in a National forest, there is no cell service. Once we are there, the only real rule I have is that there is no leaving. So for the few days we are camping, the kids are just kids! No phones, no iPods, no computers. We take board games and cards, we visit with fellow campers, we build fires and talk around them, toasting marshmallows and telling stories. We use a tent, we play flashlight wars, I make all our meals from scratch on a camp stove (an adventure in itself!), everyone takes turns with chores, we hike the mountain trails, we swim in the nearby lake, and we flat-out just have good old-fashioned fun.
I've been doing this every year for almost 10 years, and I love it! The first year we went, the girls were quite small, 5 or 6 maybe. I got us a sleeping bag (the girls already had little ones) and a 6-man tent. We took food like Poptarts and hot dogs and marshmallows. I took a couple flashlights and everyone a change of clothes. I think that was about it. Since then we've upgraded our tent to a 15-man tent with 3 rooms, 2 air mattresses and good sleeping bags for all. a medium rug for the middle of the tent and a mat for the tent door helps cut down on dirt coming inside the tent. A canopy to put over the picnic table and a cloth tablecover, canvas chairs for around the fire. A propane campstove and a tote-box of cooking equiment, a good clothesline plus pins for drying wet towels and suits. A large cooler plus 2 smaller ones. Various buckets and wash basins. Also flame lanterns and flashlights and a first-aid kit and a myriad of other little things that make camping out easier.
There is one thing that I will not leave home without, that is pre-cut wood and lighter-logs, usually the 3-hour kind. Our first camping trip we went without any fire and ate cold food. I couldn't get a fire started with newspaper and sticks. Then I got some of those 50-cent firestarter things and STILL couldn't get the wood to ignite! When I finally switched to the 3-hour logs it literally eliminated the stress of fire-making. Simply put the log in the firepit, light it, then add larger wood across the top of it. These days we purposely save smaller wood for just that purpose. Though this last time I did see several trees had been carried to a communal place for people to cut and use, so I'll take my ax and saw with me instead of loading up with our own wood. We'll still take some of ours, but since we'll be there longer next time, I figure it would be a good idea to use some that's already there too.
Monday, July 23, 2012
The Beehive
Last year, in late spring, I built and installed a beehive in front of the barn. I watched and worried over them through the fall and winter, they seemed to be barely hanging on. Lucky it was a warm winter, I did very little in the way of disturbance. When they began to stir in larger numbers in the spring, I added the 2nd deep hive body, then finished the honey super and put it beside, thinking I wouldn't need it anytime soon.
Then 2 days ago I cracked open the hive and added a queen excluder and put on the honey super. For those that don't know, the queen bee and drones are larger than the workers. The excluder keeps the queen from laying eggs in the honey super, that honey is excess and is meant for human collection. The bees are thriving, there is no reason not to give them that super, and I may actually need one or two more. I plan to add another hive, perhaps next year, but that's a different story.
Before I opened the hive, I had to prepare myself. I put on jeans and a sweatshirt over my T, tucked them both in to keep out any of the nosy worker bees. Then I retriever my hat & veil, gloves, hive tool, and smoker/fuel/lighter. I lit the smoker so it could be establishing while I geared up. When I picked up my hat/veil, I noticed a spider web inside... that's not a good sign. So I got the bee brush, separated the hat and veil, and brushed them down. The last thing I needed was to entrap a spider inside the veil, where I couldn't get to it! After brushing it down I put it on and tied it down, as usual. Then I picked up a glove and started to put it on, as soon as I had my hand in the glove part a very large, black spider ran up my arm to the veil and tried to get inside! The spider had to be the side of a nickel, including legs. I managed to brush it off, I think, and then I ripped off the glove and veil and searched both more carefully, squishing the fingers on the gloves carefully before putting each of them on my hands.
I'm not arachnophobic, but I was definitely startled! When I was finished, I put my gear in the shed instead of the barn. I'd rather not have anymore visitors and currently spiders have no need to be in the shed.
Then 2 days ago I cracked open the hive and added a queen excluder and put on the honey super. For those that don't know, the queen bee and drones are larger than the workers. The excluder keeps the queen from laying eggs in the honey super, that honey is excess and is meant for human collection. The bees are thriving, there is no reason not to give them that super, and I may actually need one or two more. I plan to add another hive, perhaps next year, but that's a different story.
Before I opened the hive, I had to prepare myself. I put on jeans and a sweatshirt over my T, tucked them both in to keep out any of the nosy worker bees. Then I retriever my hat & veil, gloves, hive tool, and smoker/fuel/lighter. I lit the smoker so it could be establishing while I geared up. When I picked up my hat/veil, I noticed a spider web inside... that's not a good sign. So I got the bee brush, separated the hat and veil, and brushed them down. The last thing I needed was to entrap a spider inside the veil, where I couldn't get to it! After brushing it down I put it on and tied it down, as usual. Then I picked up a glove and started to put it on, as soon as I had my hand in the glove part a very large, black spider ran up my arm to the veil and tried to get inside! The spider had to be the side of a nickel, including legs. I managed to brush it off, I think, and then I ripped off the glove and veil and searched both more carefully, squishing the fingers on the gloves carefully before putting each of them on my hands.
I'm not arachnophobic, but I was definitely startled! When I was finished, I put my gear in the shed instead of the barn. I'd rather not have anymore visitors and currently spiders have no need to be in the shed.
The girls on a cool day
Saturday, July 7, 2012
The Wind Storm
It happened on June 29, a Friday. It was short, but very damaging. The Grandaddy Wind Storm. Nothing like it had been seen in this valley in any living person's memory. The power company said it was twice as damaging as any storm they had ever seen!
I went to work, like any other day. The heat had been unbearable all day, around 106* or more with the heat index and even triple digits without it. The storm clouds drew in around 9pm, just in time for my midday break. I went out to my car to eat and relax as per usual, until I saw the heavy clouds and flashing lightning. I knew a storm was coming, the wind began to pick up a little at that point. I grabbed my cell and tried to call J to bring in my young chicks from the storm, but couldn't get through. I tried D & A1, who answered only to inform me they weren't at home, but had gone out to find a birthday gift for D's father. I said okay, hung up and tried J again. Then sent her a text. At this point, not 5 more minutes, the wind was really howling out of control. No rain yet though, but strange light flashes all over the sky. Like extreme heat lightning. At this point I stepped out of my car to assess the wind strength, then called A again and talked to D. Asked them to please get their hind ends home and out of the storm.
The wind began to howl intensely and a slight roaring could be heard easily. I looked back at the building to discover all the lights were out. Looking around I realized they were gone all around the area. The outside lights had gone out shortly after I went out, but I really hadn't paid it much mind. At this point I noticed one of the leads in her car near the door. The roaring was increasing in volume, so I asked her if her key (to let us in the building) would work without power. She left her car and joined me inside the building. The wind storm continued to rage outside while the small group of us, about 3 dozen or so, sat just inside with cell phones and iPhones trying to get any news. Without power, we all knew there would likely be no more work done that night, but the company also couldn't send anyone out into the storm either. So we were stuck until a decision was reached. The wind continued howl and roar it's way through the valley. After about an hour, it wound itself down. Not a single drop of rain fell that night, but it didn't need to. They released us shortly after that, we each left for home around 10:15pm.
Immediately after leaving the lot I realized the power outage was much farther reaching that at first presumed. The traffic lights and most of the power from the building to my home street were dark. There were cars all over the road though, I hadn't been expecting that. I turned up the road leading to our neighborhood, but was stalled when I came upon a bright yellow backhoe in the middle of the road. A gigantic tree (a Maple, at least 2 feet in diameter) had been uprooted and fell right across the road. The power lines were all over the place, entangled in the trunk and branches. I left my car and walked around to see how bad the other side of the road was. Another tree, or broken branches had come down on the other side, blocking the secondary turn on my usual route. Lines were broken and dangling a mere 2 feet off the ground.
I returned to my car then and turned around to go a different route, only to find that way blocked by a police car, more branches, more downed lines. Backed up and went another way, got almost to my block when another downed tree blocked the road. Again, more lines down. Back in the car and snaked my way around and up the alley. That way was clear and I finally made it to the house... where I had to park in the grass, because a huge branch had broken off the neighbor's (across the street) Maple and come down over the street and in our front yard. In the process of coming down, it ripped down (and nearly out) our neighbor's (next door) power lines. I went inside and checked on the kids. Everyone was okay, helped them light the hurricane lamps. J had been watching the 2 youngest and when the storm hit, she grabbed them, a light, and a blanket and herded them into the basement. She did manage to get the chicks in before the storm hit as well. The backhoe and a pair of guys with chainsaws showed up around 2am to clear the brush from the road.
The next day the city managed to get our power back up by midmorning... they tied the neighbor's line up to our tree to get it off the ground. That was it until Monday. The rest of the downed lines were repaired throughout the week. The brush and downed trees are still being cleaned up. There is damage everywhere you look. The weather folk claim there were no actual tornadoes, but not everyone believes it. That branch that came down on our lawn broke, then went up and over 3 power lines before it fell. The 'branch' was nearly a foot in diameter. It would have taken a powerful updraft to have accomplished that feat.
Still, I'm grateful no one on our street was hurt, no serious damage that insurance won't cover, and the power was returned quickly. In the back yard, only a few branches came down from the Black Walnut, and the roof on the pigeons blew off. The winds we had were hurricane force, extremely rare in this region.
I went to work, like any other day. The heat had been unbearable all day, around 106* or more with the heat index and even triple digits without it. The storm clouds drew in around 9pm, just in time for my midday break. I went out to my car to eat and relax as per usual, until I saw the heavy clouds and flashing lightning. I knew a storm was coming, the wind began to pick up a little at that point. I grabbed my cell and tried to call J to bring in my young chicks from the storm, but couldn't get through. I tried D & A1, who answered only to inform me they weren't at home, but had gone out to find a birthday gift for D's father. I said okay, hung up and tried J again. Then sent her a text. At this point, not 5 more minutes, the wind was really howling out of control. No rain yet though, but strange light flashes all over the sky. Like extreme heat lightning. At this point I stepped out of my car to assess the wind strength, then called A again and talked to D. Asked them to please get their hind ends home and out of the storm.
The wind began to howl intensely and a slight roaring could be heard easily. I looked back at the building to discover all the lights were out. Looking around I realized they were gone all around the area. The outside lights had gone out shortly after I went out, but I really hadn't paid it much mind. At this point I noticed one of the leads in her car near the door. The roaring was increasing in volume, so I asked her if her key (to let us in the building) would work without power. She left her car and joined me inside the building. The wind storm continued to rage outside while the small group of us, about 3 dozen or so, sat just inside with cell phones and iPhones trying to get any news. Without power, we all knew there would likely be no more work done that night, but the company also couldn't send anyone out into the storm either. So we were stuck until a decision was reached. The wind continued howl and roar it's way through the valley. After about an hour, it wound itself down. Not a single drop of rain fell that night, but it didn't need to. They released us shortly after that, we each left for home around 10:15pm.
Immediately after leaving the lot I realized the power outage was much farther reaching that at first presumed. The traffic lights and most of the power from the building to my home street were dark. There were cars all over the road though, I hadn't been expecting that. I turned up the road leading to our neighborhood, but was stalled when I came upon a bright yellow backhoe in the middle of the road. A gigantic tree (a Maple, at least 2 feet in diameter) had been uprooted and fell right across the road. The power lines were all over the place, entangled in the trunk and branches. I left my car and walked around to see how bad the other side of the road was. Another tree, or broken branches had come down on the other side, blocking the secondary turn on my usual route. Lines were broken and dangling a mere 2 feet off the ground.
I returned to my car then and turned around to go a different route, only to find that way blocked by a police car, more branches, more downed lines. Backed up and went another way, got almost to my block when another downed tree blocked the road. Again, more lines down. Back in the car and snaked my way around and up the alley. That way was clear and I finally made it to the house... where I had to park in the grass, because a huge branch had broken off the neighbor's (across the street) Maple and come down over the street and in our front yard. In the process of coming down, it ripped down (and nearly out) our neighbor's (next door) power lines. I went inside and checked on the kids. Everyone was okay, helped them light the hurricane lamps. J had been watching the 2 youngest and when the storm hit, she grabbed them, a light, and a blanket and herded them into the basement. She did manage to get the chicks in before the storm hit as well. The backhoe and a pair of guys with chainsaws showed up around 2am to clear the brush from the road.
The next day the city managed to get our power back up by midmorning... they tied the neighbor's line up to our tree to get it off the ground. That was it until Monday. The rest of the downed lines were repaired throughout the week. The brush and downed trees are still being cleaned up. There is damage everywhere you look. The weather folk claim there were no actual tornadoes, but not everyone believes it. That branch that came down on our lawn broke, then went up and over 3 power lines before it fell. The 'branch' was nearly a foot in diameter. It would have taken a powerful updraft to have accomplished that feat.
Still, I'm grateful no one on our street was hurt, no serious damage that insurance won't cover, and the power was returned quickly. In the back yard, only a few branches came down from the Black Walnut, and the roof on the pigeons blew off. The winds we had were hurricane force, extremely rare in this region.
Friday, July 6, 2012
My Wheel
She came to me like this:
and then I saw that she was actually more like this (with a few more pieces):
And after several months of work and effort on my part, I turned her into this:
Hello Victoria Rose!!
Then I spun this on her:
And then this:
Love my wheel!!!
and then I saw that she was actually more like this (with a few more pieces):
And after several months of work and effort on my part, I turned her into this:
Hello Victoria Rose!!
Then I spun this on her:
And then this:
Love my wheel!!!
Neighbors
The real meaning of "neighbor" is someone who goes out of their way to look out for and look after the families and property of the people that live in the house next to them. It's gathering to gossip in the street. They watch your house when you are away, water your flowers, sometimes mow your lawn. Help you cut down fallen trees after a storm and gratefully offer part of the wood in exchange, warn you about unsavory individuals walking down the road, and share produce from the garden. A "neighbor" is someone who keeps an eye on you at all times, not because they are nosy, but because they genuinely care about you. A 'neighbor' will run an extension cord from their house to yours and lend you their industrial fan when you've gone without power for 3 days and just can't take the 100+ heat anymore, A 'neighbor' laughs with you and sometimes at you, celebrates your family's triumphs, and mourns with you over losses. They take care of you when you're young and just starting out and you take care of them when they are older and having trouble getting around.
I love my neighbors.
I love my neighbors.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Happy Summer!
The first day of summer was yesterday. I almost missed it! The gardens are coming along, beans and potatoes are up. In fact, most of the seeds I planted early have germinated. I hadn't really paid close enough attention to the most recent planted seeds.
The one baby pigeon I'd had born didn't make it, but a second from a different set of parents is doing very well. Had a new litter of baby rabbits born from a much desired pairing of mother to son. Out of 6 offspring, 4 are red (not desirable) and 2 are agouti. Lost one to idiocy, he fell out of the nest and tried to crawl through the cage bars. There he got stuck and was lost. So 5 babies remaining, 2 potential candidates with the correct color base.
I moved the Splash Marans into a private run, and picked up a Wheaton Maran hen to go with them. Not exactly a compatible color, but I'm very much concerned about the splash Marans hen's leg conformation. She's very badly cow-hocked and since I don't know whether that will be genetic, I wanted a backup hen. Splash aren't exactly common around here just now, so the second-best option was to go with the wheaton color. I'll still need to come up with a coop idea for the Aracauna's and the Welsummers, when they are all a little bigger.
Anyway, it's late, I'm tired... Have you ever noticed how when your hands are busy and your mind free to wander, you can come up with some of the oddest ideas, but they are often lost before getting the chance to jot them down. I had some real interesting thoughts earlier, but can't seem to recall a single idea now. Ah well.
The one baby pigeon I'd had born didn't make it, but a second from a different set of parents is doing very well. Had a new litter of baby rabbits born from a much desired pairing of mother to son. Out of 6 offspring, 4 are red (not desirable) and 2 are agouti. Lost one to idiocy, he fell out of the nest and tried to crawl through the cage bars. There he got stuck and was lost. So 5 babies remaining, 2 potential candidates with the correct color base.
I moved the Splash Marans into a private run, and picked up a Wheaton Maran hen to go with them. Not exactly a compatible color, but I'm very much concerned about the splash Marans hen's leg conformation. She's very badly cow-hocked and since I don't know whether that will be genetic, I wanted a backup hen. Splash aren't exactly common around here just now, so the second-best option was to go with the wheaton color. I'll still need to come up with a coop idea for the Aracauna's and the Welsummers, when they are all a little bigger.
Anyway, it's late, I'm tired... Have you ever noticed how when your hands are busy and your mind free to wander, you can come up with some of the oddest ideas, but they are often lost before getting the chance to jot them down. I had some real interesting thoughts earlier, but can't seem to recall a single idea now. Ah well.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Sorting Fleece & Box Fun!
I spent this evening finally sorting through the fleeces I'd managed to accumulate in the past few months. There are 4 Llama blankets, plus 2 large bags of the 'coarse' wool for stuffing. Those were simple, just had to identify the blankets and mark the bags as such. A couple bags I think have blanket wool mixed in with coarse wool. Eventually, I'll have to rectify that, but not tonight. I also pulled out the Suffolk wool I was given 2 months ago for sorting. It was a freebie, and as has been said; "never look a free fleece in the lock!" No skirting had been on those, so I flipped out an old sheet and dumped each bag at a time over it on the front lawn. Each fleece took at least 20 minutes to sort through, unfolding as gently as possible the various chunks of wool, discarding the tagged wool (poop tags), the felted bum wool, the uber dirty wool. Then selecting the cleanest and longest sections to roll up cut-side in and stuff into pillowcases. What was left then was the not-quite-as-dirty wool, which was stuffed back into the original bag for use as stuffing and for felting projects. Altogether I ended up with 3 pillowcases of wool, maybe 3 lbs in each. Threw away another 4 or 5 lbs and stuffed probably 6 or 7 lbs of grease wool in the bag for stuffing use.
While I was performing this daunting, but necessary task, my pair of Littles: Aydi & Bubba were out on the lawn nearby. They had discovered the leftover box from the plastic cabinet David had built for me in my new shed. Suddenly it had become a 'fort' complete with doors and, according to Aydi, a kitchen. Bubba initially came tearing out the front door in a semi-long fleece shirt and no drawers or diaper. Two forced trips back to the house and he finally brought out a diaper and britches. The poor neighbors!! Then the pair of them proceeded to beat their new 'house' with some long twigs, pulled open the 'back doors' and jumped on it until it collapsed. By then twilight had settled in and it became more fun to chase down the fireflies.
Aydi would capture one and declare it to be a girl or boy, though how she determined their gender is beyond me! Then give them names. She even tucked 2 of them into a paper cup, covered with a small paper plate (they had brought their 'snacks' out with them) and proclaimed the insects to be her pets and that she desired to have them sleep with her in her room. Fortunately it took very little convincing to encourage her to release the bugs back onto the lawn.
Gotta love early summer!
While I was performing this daunting, but necessary task, my pair of Littles: Aydi & Bubba were out on the lawn nearby. They had discovered the leftover box from the plastic cabinet David had built for me in my new shed. Suddenly it had become a 'fort' complete with doors and, according to Aydi, a kitchen. Bubba initially came tearing out the front door in a semi-long fleece shirt and no drawers or diaper. Two forced trips back to the house and he finally brought out a diaper and britches. The poor neighbors!! Then the pair of them proceeded to beat their new 'house' with some long twigs, pulled open the 'back doors' and jumped on it until it collapsed. By then twilight had settled in and it became more fun to chase down the fireflies.
Aydi would capture one and declare it to be a girl or boy, though how she determined their gender is beyond me! Then give them names. She even tucked 2 of them into a paper cup, covered with a small paper plate (they had brought their 'snacks' out with them) and proclaimed the insects to be her pets and that she desired to have them sleep with her in her room. Fortunately it took very little convincing to encourage her to release the bugs back onto the lawn.
Gotta love early summer!
Saturday, June 9, 2012
"I have a Robust Post-Apocalyptic Skill Set"
It used to be I never watched television. Thanks to Netflix, I've actually been turned on to a few shows, at least the older seasons of them. Most of these are apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic shows, which I find interesting not in themselves, but because I spend half the time criticizing them! For instance, there was one show where supposedly nuclear holocaust destroyed the world as we know it. You, as the audience, follow the events as they would supposedly occur from a small town in the middle of Nowhere, Colorado. It was supposed to be close enough to see Denver go up in flames, but far enough away (and apparently in just the right position) to avoid any and all fallout.
What bothered me the most out of everything that occurred on the show was the one thing that most folk are likely to overlook. The fact that this "small" town just so nonchalantly and freely burned their only source of post-twilight light... candles. It's not as though they would have been able to run over to Denver to fetch a new shipment, and everyone was burning them as though they would last forever, they'd burn 5 or more at a time, sometimes all night! The candles they showed them burning were commercially made, so no one was there replenishing their supplies. And even if they did have a candle-maker, what kind of candles were they making and where did they get the raw materials?!
In the 'old days' before electricity, they burned candles, but they had a better understanding of how to hold off the dark than we do today. These days people panic if the lightbulb pops and they're in the dark for 2 minutes! They really go nuts if it's off for several hours. Imagine if it never came back on again. So really, how many of us still have oil-burning lamps in the house?! How many of us have the knowledge and ability to create light where there is only dark? This isn't a TV show, and no grips are going to run over and light 15 candles so they can see faces well enough for filming.
What bothered me the most out of everything that occurred on the show was the one thing that most folk are likely to overlook. The fact that this "small" town just so nonchalantly and freely burned their only source of post-twilight light... candles. It's not as though they would have been able to run over to Denver to fetch a new shipment, and everyone was burning them as though they would last forever, they'd burn 5 or more at a time, sometimes all night! The candles they showed them burning were commercially made, so no one was there replenishing their supplies. And even if they did have a candle-maker, what kind of candles were they making and where did they get the raw materials?!
In the 'old days' before electricity, they burned candles, but they had a better understanding of how to hold off the dark than we do today. These days people panic if the lightbulb pops and they're in the dark for 2 minutes! They really go nuts if it's off for several hours. Imagine if it never came back on again. So really, how many of us still have oil-burning lamps in the house?! How many of us have the knowledge and ability to create light where there is only dark? This isn't a TV show, and no grips are going to run over and light 15 candles so they can see faces well enough for filming.
Monday, June 4, 2012
More done, but not all of it
Today I finished Aydi's flower garden. It's a small bed, only about 6 feet long by maybe 2-3 feet deep. Her flowers are lovely in it, a little mulch around them for moisture retention. It was tough to do because apparently someone thought it was a good idea to bury large chunks of concrete at that exact spot. I dug up what I could and removed them. We also added a couple small bags of potting soil to enrich the soil a bit. There was an awful lot of clay right there. I laid down a 4x4 wooden post border around it for protection and boundary. After that I started on the garden again. I managed to re-turn the secondary garden, put up the tomato trellises (I did only manage to get 5 out of the roll of wire), plant the Roma tomatoes, plant the sweet potatoes, the Kennebec potatoes, and the yellow squash and cucumbers. That still leaves about a third of the primary garden empty, and 2/3 of the secondary one.
I still need to plant the watermelon, zucchini, and cantaloupe. The peppers and beans and whatever other seeds I can find around here. I still have a 6-pack of Better Boy tomatoes to find a place to put. I'll have to use the cages on those. I did get the cavy cages cleaned, but not the rabbitry. I didn't get to repair the rabbit cages or setup the Marans coop either. Still, of the page of listed items to accomplish this week-end, I'm very proud to say that 2/3 of them now have a check mark next to them. Now if you'll excuse me, there's some laundry to which I need to attend.
I still need to plant the watermelon, zucchini, and cantaloupe. The peppers and beans and whatever other seeds I can find around here. I still have a 6-pack of Better Boy tomatoes to find a place to put. I'll have to use the cages on those. I did get the cavy cages cleaned, but not the rabbitry. I didn't get to repair the rabbit cages or setup the Marans coop either. Still, of the page of listed items to accomplish this week-end, I'm very proud to say that 2/3 of them now have a check mark next to them. Now if you'll excuse me, there's some laundry to which I need to attend.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Today's Accomplishments
I did well. The turkey pen is now built, the turkeys happily ensconced within it's wire and wooden walls. The pen is roughly 10ft by 10ft by 4 ft high, completely enclosed. I admit to a slight epiphany when it came to figuring out a door for the pen. I cannibalized another part of one of the dog crates and nailed the gate/door of that to the pen. It actually worked out quite perfectly!
Sadly the pen was built too late. Tommie (the turkey tom) had been bullying Godfrey (the gander) and apparently trapped him in the barn and slammed him into the door to the chicken coop. Godfrey didn't make it. I really enjoyed Godfrey, he was a sweet guy. And while I did know that Tommie had been occasionally going after Godfrey, I had no idea it had escalated so far! I would have never suspected that the "predator" I was trying to protect them all from was living within the confines of the bird pen. Tommie is not a bad boy, so don't misunderstand. He was being a male, ruled by his hormones and probably trying to keep Godfrey in his place. Tommie is the flock protector, and he is a very powerful one. With him and his girls penned up, the geese should be a little more comfortable. Though now I'll have to try to locate another gander (or 2, Grace is still without a mate too)
I also re-turned the primary garden and cut 2 trellis wire sections for the tomatoes. I rolled out another length of wire to straighten overnight and will cut 2 or 3 more tomorrow. I had been hoping for more, but looks like I will have 5 trellises this year with which to work, the remaining tomato plants will have to use regular stakes. Next year I will get another wire roll for more trellis sections. Tomorrow I'll plant the primary garden and hopefully the secondary garden. I also want to clear a spot behind the house for Aydi's flower bed. Her little brother, Bubba, laid hands on 2 of her 'special' flowers, one was a truly beautiful plant, and he ruined them. She was utterly devastated by it. I'll try to replace those for her tomorrow, just before we put them in the ground.
David tried to put up my shed... only to discover the building he got for me was actually 12x15, rather than 10x12 as he'd originally thought. That meant one of 2 things, either cut the building down to fit the foundation, or extend the foundation another 2 feet. He extended the foundation. Jessi helped a little at first, then she took it in her head to clean off the front porch, even though the she is not built yet, which was where I'd planned to put a lot of the things that had been on the porch! However, I have to admit, the porch looked pretty nice all cleaned off.
Sadly the pen was built too late. Tommie (the turkey tom) had been bullying Godfrey (the gander) and apparently trapped him in the barn and slammed him into the door to the chicken coop. Godfrey didn't make it. I really enjoyed Godfrey, he was a sweet guy. And while I did know that Tommie had been occasionally going after Godfrey, I had no idea it had escalated so far! I would have never suspected that the "predator" I was trying to protect them all from was living within the confines of the bird pen. Tommie is not a bad boy, so don't misunderstand. He was being a male, ruled by his hormones and probably trying to keep Godfrey in his place. Tommie is the flock protector, and he is a very powerful one. With him and his girls penned up, the geese should be a little more comfortable. Though now I'll have to try to locate another gander (or 2, Grace is still without a mate too)
I also re-turned the primary garden and cut 2 trellis wire sections for the tomatoes. I rolled out another length of wire to straighten overnight and will cut 2 or 3 more tomorrow. I had been hoping for more, but looks like I will have 5 trellises this year with which to work, the remaining tomato plants will have to use regular stakes. Next year I will get another wire roll for more trellis sections. Tomorrow I'll plant the primary garden and hopefully the secondary garden. I also want to clear a spot behind the house for Aydi's flower bed. Her little brother, Bubba, laid hands on 2 of her 'special' flowers, one was a truly beautiful plant, and he ruined them. She was utterly devastated by it. I'll try to replace those for her tomorrow, just before we put them in the ground.
David tried to put up my shed... only to discover the building he got for me was actually 12x15, rather than 10x12 as he'd originally thought. That meant one of 2 things, either cut the building down to fit the foundation, or extend the foundation another 2 feet. He extended the foundation. Jessi helped a little at first, then she took it in her head to clean off the front porch, even though the she is not built yet, which was where I'd planned to put a lot of the things that had been on the porch! However, I have to admit, the porch looked pretty nice all cleaned off.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Can't Sleep
Insomnia. It is NOT fun. I remember reading (or hearing, it's been so long I can't remember) that a good way to fight insomnia is actually to keep a journal by the bed, and before laying down to write down everything that's on your mind. Supposedly one of the reasons for insomnia is that the mind refuses to shut down thinking about whatever. So writing it down helps the mind to relax, because it no longer needs to agonize over remembering those things. So here I am, I don't have a journal by the bed, this will have to do. You get to read about all the things running through my mind tonight. It's mostly ideas I want to do tomorrow and Sunday... IF I can get some sleep!!!
First, the turkey pen, I keep trying to design it in my mind, figuring out how to fit everything together. Trying to make it big enough for the birds to live in comfortably using supplies I already have on hand. My wire is 3' high, and I think the lumber is 4', so the top wire will have to come down on each side an extra foot. That shouldn't be a problem since I think the length of the wood is either 10' or 12', so I'll need to run 3 sections of wire over the top, but it will still leave either 1' or 2' of extra wire on the side. The pen itself will actually only have 3 sides and a top, as the 3rd side will be the barn wall. I plan to attach the pen to the barn with hooks so when the turkeys are finished with the pen this fall, the chickens will inherit it as their outside pen.
I was also thinking about the 2 large dog crates I have sitting out there and how if I were to connect them together, it would make a perfect chicken coop for the Marans, of which I have only the pair. I'm not sure where all the connecting rods are, so I might need to wire them together. I used one of the sides and the back of one crate for the big-bird pen gate, so I'll need to figure something else out for that. I do have the door to the crate now, and will use the steel hanging water bucket for their water, but the nest aspect is harder to figure out. I could use the standard rubber bowl, but if it rains, that's no good. I need to be able to get to the nest regularly to collect, so I need to have it near the front of the run for that. I have a wooden box, but that might be too small for them.
I really want to get the gardens planted this week-end. I'm running out of time in more ways than one. I want to plant English cucumbers at the back of the big garden, so they can run up the heavy trellis back there. Then tomatoes through the bottom of that garden I think. Peppers above those, then squash and cucumbers above that. Onions and garlic around the periphery of that garden to help deter the groundhog a bit. It's worth a try anyway! It's the one thing he didn't touch last year. In the secondary garden will be sweet potatoes at the very bottom for that heavy trellis, then beans just above those, watermelon and cantaloupe above that, and potatoes at the top. I also have beets, green onions, eggplant, and carrots to plant, but I'll fit those in somewhere.
I took Aydi with me today to buy some flower plants for her to have her own little garden. I picked up a cheap bag of mulch and several pretty flowers for her to tend, including a pair of gardenia bushes. I have no idea where we'll put said garden yet though. Between the buildings and the "orchard" and the gardens and animals, I'm running out of space! I also have several trees to plant. I know the blueberry will go next to the fence with the other one from last year. I think I'll put the elderberry there as well. I do think I've finally figured out what to do with the Concord grape. The useless giant metal poles in the middle of the yard will become the grape trellis. I thought about just stringing wire there, but I could seriously see the kids running hell-bent through there, forgetting about the wire and getting hurt. Instead I'm going to put a section of welded-wire fencing for the grape to grow upon. I think it will be safer for everyone in both the short and long run. That really only leaves the Pawpaw tree. Those supposedly can get quite large, so I really need to think about it. Maybe behind the garage, next to the swingset. I do think I want to mulch around some of these trees though. Last year the weeds were terrible and are the biggest reason 2 of my little blueberry bushes didn't make it.
I also will need to setup my new watering system. I got some nice metal raised sprinklers, a brass 4-way divider and a nice commercial grade hose, so hopefully I can get things the way I want for the most efficient watering of the gardens.
Sometime this week-end I need to mow the front yard, wash laundry, clean cavy tubs and cat box, sort through the bags of wool I was given, go get some llama fiber from a lady, fix some rabbit cages and move 2 others to the trash area, and help David whenever I can to get my building up. But as you can plainly see, my plate is full of things that cannot wait anymore.
First, the turkey pen, I keep trying to design it in my mind, figuring out how to fit everything together. Trying to make it big enough for the birds to live in comfortably using supplies I already have on hand. My wire is 3' high, and I think the lumber is 4', so the top wire will have to come down on each side an extra foot. That shouldn't be a problem since I think the length of the wood is either 10' or 12', so I'll need to run 3 sections of wire over the top, but it will still leave either 1' or 2' of extra wire on the side. The pen itself will actually only have 3 sides and a top, as the 3rd side will be the barn wall. I plan to attach the pen to the barn with hooks so when the turkeys are finished with the pen this fall, the chickens will inherit it as their outside pen.
I was also thinking about the 2 large dog crates I have sitting out there and how if I were to connect them together, it would make a perfect chicken coop for the Marans, of which I have only the pair. I'm not sure where all the connecting rods are, so I might need to wire them together. I used one of the sides and the back of one crate for the big-bird pen gate, so I'll need to figure something else out for that. I do have the door to the crate now, and will use the steel hanging water bucket for their water, but the nest aspect is harder to figure out. I could use the standard rubber bowl, but if it rains, that's no good. I need to be able to get to the nest regularly to collect, so I need to have it near the front of the run for that. I have a wooden box, but that might be too small for them.
I really want to get the gardens planted this week-end. I'm running out of time in more ways than one. I want to plant English cucumbers at the back of the big garden, so they can run up the heavy trellis back there. Then tomatoes through the bottom of that garden I think. Peppers above those, then squash and cucumbers above that. Onions and garlic around the periphery of that garden to help deter the groundhog a bit. It's worth a try anyway! It's the one thing he didn't touch last year. In the secondary garden will be sweet potatoes at the very bottom for that heavy trellis, then beans just above those, watermelon and cantaloupe above that, and potatoes at the top. I also have beets, green onions, eggplant, and carrots to plant, but I'll fit those in somewhere.
I took Aydi with me today to buy some flower plants for her to have her own little garden. I picked up a cheap bag of mulch and several pretty flowers for her to tend, including a pair of gardenia bushes. I have no idea where we'll put said garden yet though. Between the buildings and the "orchard" and the gardens and animals, I'm running out of space! I also have several trees to plant. I know the blueberry will go next to the fence with the other one from last year. I think I'll put the elderberry there as well. I do think I've finally figured out what to do with the Concord grape. The useless giant metal poles in the middle of the yard will become the grape trellis. I thought about just stringing wire there, but I could seriously see the kids running hell-bent through there, forgetting about the wire and getting hurt. Instead I'm going to put a section of welded-wire fencing for the grape to grow upon. I think it will be safer for everyone in both the short and long run. That really only leaves the Pawpaw tree. Those supposedly can get quite large, so I really need to think about it. Maybe behind the garage, next to the swingset. I do think I want to mulch around some of these trees though. Last year the weeds were terrible and are the biggest reason 2 of my little blueberry bushes didn't make it.
I also will need to setup my new watering system. I got some nice metal raised sprinklers, a brass 4-way divider and a nice commercial grade hose, so hopefully I can get things the way I want for the most efficient watering of the gardens.
Sometime this week-end I need to mow the front yard, wash laundry, clean cavy tubs and cat box, sort through the bags of wool I was given, go get some llama fiber from a lady, fix some rabbit cages and move 2 others to the trash area, and help David whenever I can to get my building up. But as you can plainly see, my plate is full of things that cannot wait anymore.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Week-End Work
What an incredible pair of week-ends it has been! I've had two 3-day week-ends in a row, very rare! Also a great opportunity to get some things accomplished. Last Saturday was a major poultry swap that I attended. I learned long ago that the real key to making money at those things was diversification. So I took with me Silkie chicks (hatched by me) and RIR chicks (free from SS with the purchase of a bag of feed), the unwanted "Seb" gander, my toys & soaps, and also dug-up/potted Mulberry, Maple, and Lemon Balm plants. I came away from the swap having sold all the poultry I took, several toys, and at least half the Mulberry trees. I also picked up a started pair of Welsummer chicks to go with my older hen, and 2 pair of pigeons, a pair of Frillbacks and a pair of Show Rollers. There were a ton more pigeons and a huge variety of other birds and livestock there, it was a great swap.
That was Saturday, on Sunday I turned the primary garden and prepped it into rows. I was going to build the new big-bird fence to keep them contained, but realized I had a bigger problem that involved predators. Something had grabbed one of the turkey hens and spooked her off the nest. She was limping around. Also the big gander, Godfrey was drooping his wings and looking generally pathetic as if he'd also been attacked by something. Top it off by the increased alertness of the tom turkey (the flock guardian) and I knew I had to do something to protect them better if I was going to pen them away from the house. See I had forgotten the reason I put them right up to the house last year was because of predator problems. A dog broke through the fencing last year and grabbed Grace (Seb goose) by the neck.
So this past week-end (yes, Mother's day too), I cleared the inside of the fences of vegetation, or as much as I could, shored up the base of the side fence with 1x8 boards and laid brand-new 2-in poultry wire across the inside of the fence and around the garden. I also cleared the vegetation of the back fence (the one that was taken out by a tree 2 years ago) and removed the 2 broken fence posts from the fence wire. It's good solid wire back there, 6ft welded and very heavy. Almost no rust on any of the wire, but I never actually finished that back fence in 1 corner. I always meant to stretch it before securing it, but that would just have to be sacrificed for now. On Saturday, David & I went and bought the materials for the foundation frame for my shed and he & Jessi spent that day building and leveling it. Yes, he actually put it where I asked... for the most part.
Sunday morning saw me up bright and early. Before breakfast I managed to wash a load of laundry and mow the front yard. Then I puttered around for a bit before traveling to buy the rest of the fencing supplies I needed. Sunday Jessi helped my install 3 7ft heavy T-posts along the back fence, replacing the broken wooden ones. yes I used a post driver. LOL and LOVED it!! I don't know how I ever installed posts before getting this driver. It's heavy, but cuts the time to install them significantly. Then we pulled the wire across the last 2 posts and nailed it down solidly, if not exactly tightly. I also nailed it to the old gate, which can no longer be used anyway due to excessive vegetation growth.
After that I cleared the rear yard of branches I had cut off the pecan trees and other debris. Then I raked the secondary garden and had just barely managed to get the soil turned and ready for planting when the rains began and dark crept over everything. In case you're wondering, I did not get anything planted, I still have to complete the other half of the fencing to restrict the big birds from eating all of the young garden plants! Still, I feel very accomplished. There's a smaller swap this Saturday and b-day party for Bubba Sunday, but in between I really want to get things finished up out there so I can start on creating a nice place for people in the back.
That was Saturday, on Sunday I turned the primary garden and prepped it into rows. I was going to build the new big-bird fence to keep them contained, but realized I had a bigger problem that involved predators. Something had grabbed one of the turkey hens and spooked her off the nest. She was limping around. Also the big gander, Godfrey was drooping his wings and looking generally pathetic as if he'd also been attacked by something. Top it off by the increased alertness of the tom turkey (the flock guardian) and I knew I had to do something to protect them better if I was going to pen them away from the house. See I had forgotten the reason I put them right up to the house last year was because of predator problems. A dog broke through the fencing last year and grabbed Grace (Seb goose) by the neck.
So this past week-end (yes, Mother's day too), I cleared the inside of the fences of vegetation, or as much as I could, shored up the base of the side fence with 1x8 boards and laid brand-new 2-in poultry wire across the inside of the fence and around the garden. I also cleared the vegetation of the back fence (the one that was taken out by a tree 2 years ago) and removed the 2 broken fence posts from the fence wire. It's good solid wire back there, 6ft welded and very heavy. Almost no rust on any of the wire, but I never actually finished that back fence in 1 corner. I always meant to stretch it before securing it, but that would just have to be sacrificed for now. On Saturday, David & I went and bought the materials for the foundation frame for my shed and he & Jessi spent that day building and leveling it. Yes, he actually put it where I asked... for the most part.
Sunday morning saw me up bright and early. Before breakfast I managed to wash a load of laundry and mow the front yard. Then I puttered around for a bit before traveling to buy the rest of the fencing supplies I needed. Sunday Jessi helped my install 3 7ft heavy T-posts along the back fence, replacing the broken wooden ones. yes I used a post driver. LOL and LOVED it!! I don't know how I ever installed posts before getting this driver. It's heavy, but cuts the time to install them significantly. Then we pulled the wire across the last 2 posts and nailed it down solidly, if not exactly tightly. I also nailed it to the old gate, which can no longer be used anyway due to excessive vegetation growth.
After that I cleared the rear yard of branches I had cut off the pecan trees and other debris. Then I raked the secondary garden and had just barely managed to get the soil turned and ready for planting when the rains began and dark crept over everything. In case you're wondering, I did not get anything planted, I still have to complete the other half of the fencing to restrict the big birds from eating all of the young garden plants! Still, I feel very accomplished. There's a smaller swap this Saturday and b-day party for Bubba Sunday, but in between I really want to get things finished up out there so I can start on creating a nice place for people in the back.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
This Year's Garden
I have officially bumped our garden number to 4. That means that probably at least half of this property is being worked every year. The primary, the biggest of the plots I turn has been worked now for 3 consecutive years. It's coming along nicely, the soil turns easily, very little weed vegetation to deal with annually (mostly invasive running weeds), and the rows are always even. Roots and stones have essentially been eliminated. This is the garden in which tomatoes and cucumbers tend to excel. I plant a lot of those each year.
The secondary garden is slightly smaller than the first, almost directly adjacent, but separated by a set of fruit trees. The soil is very rich, it being only in it's 2nd year of being worked. But there is still a substantial amount of weed vegetation. This year a large number of trees took root in that garden, including Mulberries, which I'm in the process of transplanting to pots for resale. They are apparently quite in demand locally.
The tertiary garden is very small, much older even than the primary, but extremely small. It's a raised bed that I've been fighting with for years. Originally it was merely a large pile of broken concrete and bricks; the shattered remains of a foundation to either a shed or hen coop (or both, since there once was both here that were torn down by previous tenants). I became weary of this eyesore one year and determined to improve the view I used the larger bits of stone to build a retainer wall and proceeded to fill in the plot with dirt and manure. However, it seems that no matter how much I add, the stones always keep rising back to the surface to foil me. The birds knock over the wall stones and I'm constantly re-building. On a good year though there are both strawberries and onions in that garden.
The newest garden is referred to as the side garden, it being located to one side of the house, slightly to the front. This one is a little unusual as I took the time and effort to turn the soil and remove the grasses only to plant... grasses. Timothy and Orchard grass to be specific. Another ongoing effort to reduce the feed costs by raising some fresh fodder. I will probably need to locate a scythe however, probably not going to be easy since when I mentioned it at the seed store, I was offered only blank looks in return. "A what?!" said the clerk, "surely you've heard of the Grim Reaper?!" I replied in consternation, "he carries a scythe... a device that was once used to harvest grasses back before the invention of the tractor... an item I neither have nor need really." I suppose a sling blade would work as well, again, if I can locate one. It's interesting how few people even know what equipment was around before the invention of the motor tried to make them obsolete.
I suppose though there actually is more than 4 gardens here, but those are the main ones. If one were so inclined, one could also count the front herb gardens (a matched pair across the front of the house), the asparagus bed, the rhubarb patch, and the myriad herb pots as a sort of container garden. Were I to attempt to account for everything, I'd also include this lot as a sort of orchard, there being fruit trees of multiple types here, including blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, and grapes. The only thing missing are kiwi's! I'm trying to remedy that, but you'd be surprised how hard it is to find a good self-pollinating kiwi these days.
The secondary garden is slightly smaller than the first, almost directly adjacent, but separated by a set of fruit trees. The soil is very rich, it being only in it's 2nd year of being worked. But there is still a substantial amount of weed vegetation. This year a large number of trees took root in that garden, including Mulberries, which I'm in the process of transplanting to pots for resale. They are apparently quite in demand locally.
The tertiary garden is very small, much older even than the primary, but extremely small. It's a raised bed that I've been fighting with for years. Originally it was merely a large pile of broken concrete and bricks; the shattered remains of a foundation to either a shed or hen coop (or both, since there once was both here that were torn down by previous tenants). I became weary of this eyesore one year and determined to improve the view I used the larger bits of stone to build a retainer wall and proceeded to fill in the plot with dirt and manure. However, it seems that no matter how much I add, the stones always keep rising back to the surface to foil me. The birds knock over the wall stones and I'm constantly re-building. On a good year though there are both strawberries and onions in that garden.
The newest garden is referred to as the side garden, it being located to one side of the house, slightly to the front. This one is a little unusual as I took the time and effort to turn the soil and remove the grasses only to plant... grasses. Timothy and Orchard grass to be specific. Another ongoing effort to reduce the feed costs by raising some fresh fodder. I will probably need to locate a scythe however, probably not going to be easy since when I mentioned it at the seed store, I was offered only blank looks in return. "A what?!" said the clerk, "surely you've heard of the Grim Reaper?!" I replied in consternation, "he carries a scythe... a device that was once used to harvest grasses back before the invention of the tractor... an item I neither have nor need really." I suppose a sling blade would work as well, again, if I can locate one. It's interesting how few people even know what equipment was around before the invention of the motor tried to make them obsolete.
I suppose though there actually is more than 4 gardens here, but those are the main ones. If one were so inclined, one could also count the front herb gardens (a matched pair across the front of the house), the asparagus bed, the rhubarb patch, and the myriad herb pots as a sort of container garden. Were I to attempt to account for everything, I'd also include this lot as a sort of orchard, there being fruit trees of multiple types here, including blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, and grapes. The only thing missing are kiwi's! I'm trying to remedy that, but you'd be surprised how hard it is to find a good self-pollinating kiwi these days.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
The day that doesn't exist
I love leap day! Since it only occurs once every 4 years it feels like the culmination of a series of events. It's technically a day we skipped in pieces, and now must put back together as a whole. I've always felt for people born on this day, do they really exist more than once in 4 years? How did this day evolve anyway? Some elders were sitting around a fire one day, comparing their notes on the movements of the heavens and one of them, while poring over his charts and notes, says something like, "hey guys, I think we have a slight problem. There aren't an even number of days in an annual cycle. What should we do?" And then I bet it took them forever to think it over and ponder. I wonder if someone just had an epiphany and said, "I know! Let's just add an extra day every handful of years to account for the fractions!" Then someone else said something like, "but when would we add this 'spare' day to the calendar? It's pretty full already, ya know." And then someone else said, "well February has the fewest number right now, why don't we just add it onto that one?" And there were then shouts and rejoicing all around.
Do you ever wonder though, if there were no leap day, would our calendars eventually be off? Then spring might occur in November!
Do you ever wonder though, if there were no leap day, would our calendars eventually be off? Then spring might occur in November!
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Family/Farm Goings-On
Wow has it ever been busy around here! If anyone thinks a WAHM or SAHM doesn't work their butt off, they ought to try it! The first inklings of spring are appearing. Early this year, but I'm good for it! I have seeds started in the house and plans to turn the big gardens in the back, plus a patch in the front to raise grasses. The kids are growing like weeds. I can't believe my youngest girl is 5 and ready to start school. She's far outgrown her current sleeping arrangement, so I've been trying to locate an alternative. I finally did find part of it yesterday on the side of a road, about 5 or 6 houses down. A perfectly nice mattress and box spring set. I only picked up the mattress though. Now if only I could find a frame for it...
All the kids are busy as ever with their extra-curricular activities. Both elder girls are trying out Track this year. Even if they decide they don't want to stick with it, I believe it will benefit them in ways they cannot yet imagine.
All the kids are busy as ever with their extra-curricular activities. Both elder girls are trying out Track this year. Even if they decide they don't want to stick with it, I believe it will benefit them in ways they cannot yet imagine.
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