Back of the Milk Carton

I got some vacation time this week, so I will be AFK for a week or so. I am supposed to be going to the beach with my mom (and maybe sister), but we have no plans in stone yet. My uncle owns a restaraunt on the beach, so we would stay with him. I'll have to talk to Mom later today. I also need to finish building the other chicken coop this week. I just need to get the wire for it. I'll try to work on that this week.

Well, I don't have any pics today. It was a busy weekend. I spent a lot of time outside working in the yard. I finally got my Maple tree planted in the front yard. My vegetable garden needs work, but I'm about to give up on that, too. Nothing has done well this year. My tomatoes are just awful, and my egg plants didn't even come up. Worms got in my squash. My bell peppers were slow growing, and are rotting before they get big enough. Hopefully my canteloupes and watermelons will survive. Got some late cucumbers and okra I'm waiting on, too.
Well, Elvis has gone missing. I went to visit my parents over night last weekend. When I got home Sunday evening he was acting funny. He came in the house and went straight to my bedroom. I went to check on him and he was breathing fast, but seemed okay otherwise. Then, he peed on the bed in the middle of the night. Because he peed on the bed Mike put him out the next morning. Problem is, he never came home. I don't think he's alive anymore. He's been through a lot in his life. When I lived in Texas he was constantly being picked up by the catcher. At one point, the pound was calling me to tell me that Elvis was in jail, again. He's been in fights with other cats and with dogs. And all of this he's fixed and has no front claws (he was suppoded to be an indoor cat). He's seven years old, which I suppose is a ripe old age for a cat that spends as much time as he does outdoors. But he's still my ki-ki. I fear I may have to put a memorial stone next to Pierre.
Well, all. Y'all have a good week. I'll be back in a week or so. If I get a chance I'll blog again this week, but likely not. Enjoy, and stay cool.

Weekend's Here!!

I do love my weekends. The good thing about summer is the longer days. It's nearly 6 p.m. when I get home from work. That means I still have a couple of hours to work outside. Of course, I try to run a couple of miles first. Then it's on to the chickens, garden, yard, whatever is outside. I prefer to be outdoors. I am just an outdoors person. If I don't have anything pertinent to do, I will let the chickens out in the yard, or I will go sit and talk with my nieghbor. But in the winter time I have to drive home from work with my head lights on. That means little gets done outside till the weekend. Even with the longer summer days I wish I had more time to work outside. That's why I like my weekends.

This is my shed. I spend a lot of time here. It's covered in the back and the chicken coop is back there, too. I keep the lawn mower in the back (which will get put to good use this weekend). The feed is in there. And I found a horse shoe that is hanging over the door. When we moved in Pat and Mike painted it to match the house. The roof is green. Just to the right is my big Magnolia tree. I want to put in a patio, but I'm not sure where. Should I put it by the Magnolia? Or should I put in behind the shed, under the pine trees. I want to put a hammock there with a little sitting area for drinks. I even thought of putting an outdoor kitchen there.

Elvis and Prissy go back there a lot. Elvis prefers to stay during the day, and cats around all night. His favorite place to chill is on my bed. During the winter he will come inside at night. He doesn't much care for cold weather. That's something we have in common. He hasn't been feeling well this week. He didn't go outside at all for three days. That's not like him. And I had to bring his food and water into the bedroom. Last night he peed on the bed. Elvis has never done that. He eats, drinks, sleeps, meows, all the things cats do. He's just acting really strange. I don't know what's wrong with him. These are my babies. On the left is Little Chicken. He's about 5 weeks old. He follows me all over the yard. And he runs to me when I call him. In the center are the bantams I got from Henry. They were hatched by their momma. It took a few days, but they have warmed up to me. I added one more to them yesterday, but I don't have a pic yet. And to the right at the five bitties we hatched in the incubator (just like Little Chicken). The five plus Little Chicken are a mix between my Rhode Island Red rooster and my White Leghorn hens. They are so much fun.

Well, I'm outta here for the weekend. Got lots to do. Y'all have a good one. Talk to you nest week!!

An Afternoon Quickie

No, you pervs. It's not what you are thinking! Get your mind out of the gutter! Gonna do a quick post this afternoon cause I wanna share some more pics. This is Perogi.

Mike named Perogi. Don't know if any of you eat Polish food, but perogis are little dumplings, usually filled with potato and/or onion. Mike loves 'em and so named him after them. He can be a little devil, too. His spurs have been sawed off. He tries to spur me through the fence. When I feed him he even attacks the food as I am tossing it to him. But he's never tried to bite me. He's a loud crower, but not as often as Bucky.

Here is Elvis. It's not the best pic of him, but I'll get more up later. He's laying with Pierre.

Pierre was a miniture Poodle that belonged to my great aunt. She passed away three years ago, and I inherited him. Of course he was 15 years old when I got him. He went totally blind in that time. His bladder became pretty weak. And he became totally dependant. He was nearly 18 years old when he died last month. I cried. I will miss him. He has a nice little grave under the Magnolia tree in the back yard with a fence and a head stone.

And these are my Opaline Gouramis. I never named them. They just kinda make my living room wall look pretty. I'm open to suggestions. I"m not sure of their sexes, but I suppose it wouldn't matter. They're fish. They'll never know the difference, right?

And to end the day, a few of my white leghorns. They were rescued from the frying pan, poor little ladies. These are my first hens that Henry brought me at 9 o'clock at night. They took nearly three months to start laying, and I was considering sending 'em back to the frying pan.

Well, I am certainly glad it's not 104 degrees here today. Though, it is about 93, that's hot enough for me. It's making my tomato plants wilt, and I don't like that. I put up poles for my string beans yesterday. I was finishing right about dark and the skeeters were eating me up. Why did God ever make those nasty buggers, anyway?!

I guess I better get my nose back to the old grind stone. Have a good one!!

A New Day

Hey! It's a new day! I'm gonna try to add some pics today. They will be my first. I have so much work to do at my real job. I may have to bring some home for the weekend. I am off for vacation next week, and I am supposed to be going to the beach with my mom, but I may have to put that on hold. I may even just work and take vacation later. But I really need a vacation.

I took this storm cloud pic outside the hospital. I was visiting a relative. This how work seems to be lately. I can never catch up. But I shouldn't complain. That's job security. There are a lot of people out there who wish they just had a job! I have a decent one. And I recently got a truck!! I have a pic, but it's not a good one. It's a used truck, but it's in terrific shape. It's a 1993 Chevy Silverado. I'll add a pic later.

Well, it's time to show y'all some of the gang. Let's start with Max. He's my baby. He's so loyal. He does this bark/howl everyday when I get home from work. I take him a Minnie out, and when we come in he jumps right in my lap and lays down.

He's so "motherly", too. When Prissy had kittens he went in several times a day just to lick the kittens. I think he thought they were his kittens. He tries to do the same with the bitties. Speaking of Prissy.

She's so rotten, too. She likes to sleep on the end tables in the living room or the night stands in the bedroom. Here she's on the back of the couch with her head hanging down. She's so skinny and small. She eats well and is healthy, though. Her kittens went to the pound :( I hated doing that, but they would have been too much.

This is them. This was taken just a few hours after they were born. I was so looking forward to sleeping in Saturday morning. But NOOO WAAAAAYY!!! Prissy climbed in a suit case under the bed and had her kittens at 4:30 in the morning, Saturday, April 18. And they meowed loud enough to wake me up. That was it. There was no going back to sleep.

Well, I have to get out of here. Let me throw a few pics o' the chicks up here. This is Bucky.

He's the mean one. He doesn't just try to spur you. He will even try to bite you. Mike has gotten him out and held him. Well, he can't spur you that way. So he turns his head every which way he can to try to bite you!! And he's loud. He likes to be heard. He crows all the time. When the weather was cooler I was sleeping with the window open. Bucky would start crowing at 1, 2, 3 o'clock in the morning. I swear, I think he was doing it on purpose. He's not that far from the house. So I would have to close the window just to get back to sleep.

I better try to get some work done. I will try to get back with you guys this afternoon. Have a good one!!

A Bit on the Gang

Well, I'm not where I can start posting pics yet, but I suppose I can at least give you some wordage about the gang. Mike and I live on a small plot. It's a little over a half acre, I believe. We have a nice neighbor on one side, Henry. He's divorced with kids that stay with him part time. He's a good guy. He's always offering to lend us things like a hoe for the garden, scratch when we run out before I can get to TSC or things like that. On the other side used to be Ron and Susanne, but they, too, are divorcing. They put their house on the market and moved away. Now the home is empty and up for sale. Don't know much about the folks across the street. Mr. Wade lives across the field behind the house. He owns the field. This Spring he plowed a few rows for Henry and us to plant. I have squash, canteloupes, watermelons, okra, tomatoes, beans, radishes, eggplants, corn and cucumbers growing. Sometimes I let the hens out and have to watch them. They try to get in the garden to scratch.

We have two dogs, Max and Minnie. Max is a Toy Poodle. He's smart and loyal. He's a good dog and very "motherly". Minnie is a Rat Terrier mix. She's over weight. She loves to eat and eats almost anything. I try to keep her on a diet, but she sneaks in bites of cat food and everything. We have two cats, Elvis and Priscilla. Elvis is about 6 years old and all black. He spends a lot of time outside. He's fixed and has no front claws because he was supposed to be an indoor cat. But he wouldn't let that happen. Prissy is a gray tabby. She had kittens in April, but there was no way we could keep them in our little place. I tried to find homes for them, but no one would take them. They went to the pound. I hope they were adopted out, but I'm not going to ask. Prissy stays inside a lot and is still young. She's not even a year old. She was way too young to have babies, anyway. We have a Quaker parrot. Her name is Becky. We got her as payment for a debt. She used to be so mean to me. She tried to bite me every time I walked by. She's changed lately, though. I can't pick her up, but she lets me change her food and water and pet her head. We also have a couple of fish tanks. One has a bunch of Fire Belly Mickey Mouse Platys in it. The other has two African Cichlids, two Opaline Gouramis, and an African Brown Knife.

Then there's the chickens. We have four roosters. Perogi is the first rooster we got. He's a Rhode Island Red. He is so mean. He will spur you in a New York minute. He even tries to spur or bite me through the fence when I feed him. He's by himself at the moment. Bojangles is our Dominique rooster. He's very young. He's in a round with a buff hen, but he's not messing with her. Bucky is our Bantam rooster. He's pretty fiesty, too. Mr. Wade brought us a bantam hen for him. Hopefully she will start sitting soon. She had nine eggs this morning. Henry's bantam started sitting at 13 eggs. Then we have Col. Sanders. I don't know what he is. I don't even know if it's a he or a she. I thought she layed an egg once, but someone suggested it was left from the white hen that had been in the round. Mr. Wade swears it's a rooster, but he don't crow. We have four Buff hens that don't have names (yet). We have 10 black Sex Link hens (also nameless) that are still a bit young for laying. And we have 13 White Leghorns that were rescued from Perdue that lay very large brown eggs. One leghorn has a gimp foot. She doesn't lay. Her name is Dana, after a high school friend also with a gimp foot (lol). We have two bantam chicks that we got from Henry, and should be getting one or two more from him. I think one is a rooster, but I would prefer if the others were hens. I have a small Red/Leghorn mix chick that we hatched in the incubator. His name is Little Chicken. He follows us everywhere and comes when we call. Yesterday her rode around on my shoulder. His sister died in an escape attempt their first night outside. And we have five bitties that just hatched this weekend.

That is our gang. Yeah, I've put a lot up here. But it's a necessary introduction. Hopefully I can start posting pics soon. Hope you like what you have read, and will stick around for a while!!

Chicken Fever

My first blog will be just a little history. Mike and I moved into our first owned home together in November 2008, just before Thanksgiving. There was a dog pen in the back yard we didn't know what to do with. We joked about putting chickens in it. Then, Henry, our neighbor, got some Buff hens and a Buff rooster. So we started talking a little more seriously about it. Of course, neither of of knew a thing about "chickening". We started looking. Then Mike surprised me. One night about 9 p.m. I heard a truck pull up in our back yard. It was Henry. He had found some White Leghorns that were raised for Perdue. They were escapees, so we got a good deal on them. We had 14 hens and a Rhode Island Red rooster that he got the farmer to throw in for us. I started getting frustrated because we initially got them just for the eggs. It took 10 weeks before they started laying. Then Henry got some bitties and raised them. Just recently, we bought all of Henry's chickens from him. He bought his for his kids, but they had little interest in them. He hatched our first 2 in an incubator 5 weeks ago. One died after trying to escape at 2 weeks old. So we have on left, a small speckled rooster. We had 5 more hatch on
Sunday, and there seemed to be one more trying to hatch this morning. Our fingers are crossed. We now have 13 White Leghorn hens, 4 Buff hens, 10 Black Sex Link hens, a Rhode Island Red rooster, a Dominique rooster, a funny looking something (not sure if it's a rooster or hen. Looks like a rooster, but doesn't crow), a mixed bantam rooster and hen, and all our little bitties. It's pretty fun. But this is what I'll be blogging about. Our little chicken farm.