Michigan - Page 4022  

Mom, it is most likely habitual now.

If I were still married to the ex, I would not bring him. He was a very standoffish kind of guy. Super shy, but quite congenial when you got to know him. Lol. My baby daddy... What a messy term... Says that he'd like to go simply because I am bringing the boys. I was thinking of just bringing jace and leaving aiden with him, but I know aiden will have a rip roaring good time. He is that kind of kid. Both really are a sweet and adorable type of heathen. Lol.

The ducks have found a hole in the fence. When its light out, I am going to have to go on a hole hunt. I caught them pretty quick though. It was getting dark, and they weren't up for wandering far.

First work, then I am going to mess around the rest of the day. Don't know what I am going to do... But messing will probably be the order of the day.

Welll...I have taken the eggs off the turner. 

 

Not knowing when they are due to hatch makes it very tricky to know when to stop them. I think they were incubated as they were laid- so each egg is one day later than the other..but two of them look like they are very close. 

 

Guess we wait and see.

 

I am getting excited to go see my remaining brother in Indiana this weekend. It will be nice to get away with the girls for a day.

They love when its just us because the rules are more lax...like, we are allowed to laugh at the dinner table- and I dont expect us to sit there as stones, silently putting food into our mouths. My husband believes laughter does not belong at the table. Which, when it is ME who is having a fit of giggles is quite interesting. I cant even make eye contact with my daughters- because that will definitely cause one of us to laugh outloud- and then we are in 'trouble'. They are not as disciplined as I am to 'swallow your laugh'...

besides the hotel we are staying at has a pool. And they can swim and goof off. And Mom really doesnt care. As long as they are behaved around others, and dont run screaming up and down the hallway or do anything to disturb the other hotel guests, they can have fun. They are old enough to now go down to the pool without me- just with each other. Young enough that they feel privledged to do so..:)

 

I hope you all have a great day. Im off to work now. I will read all 299 posts to catch up once I get home. Chat away, friends!

  After deciding to ignore  my internal alarm's call and go back to bed this feels like a more acceptable time to be getting up. 

 

I guess I need to start collecting eggs to put in the incubator.  I think I will select the darkest Welsummer eggs for the next 10 days and then start the waiting game.  Once I've got those going I must collect eggs to ship to Oklahoma.  Two different individuals have contacted me wanting egg so hopefully  the hens will cooperate and keep laying. 

 

Sure is brisk this morning but at least that wind has quit.  The blossoms are just starting to open on my apple trees so naturally the weather forecasters are calling for frost for the next couple of days.  This propensity for cold and wet springs is exactly why I never get to serious about planting anything in the garden until mid May.  A few sunny days followed by wet and cold doesn't raise the ground temperatures to promote seed germination.  I have a friend who, as soon as we have a few sunny days, gets the the planting bug and puts a good share of his garden in.  He usually has to replant quite a few things because either the seeds failed to germinate and rotted, or the plant came up only to be hit hard by killing frost.  While I wait until the end of May before planting, if you compare our gardens in mid July his is no further along than mine. 

 

When I went to the first Chickenstock it was with not a little trepidation.  Being the shy and withdrawn person that I am I didn't know what to expect.  Was driving all the way to the west side of Lansing going to be a waste of a Saturday?  Much to my surprise I found the day to be very rewarding.  I was able to put faces to the names I had come to know from the thread.  Some folks were exactly as I had envisioned them to be while others were a complete surprise.  The only commonality was that they all liked having and talking about chickens.  They were also just as uncertain as I as to what to expect.  The one thing we all found was that this gathering was something that we wanted to repeat.

 

The event runs from 10am til 3pm and I know that may seem like a lot of time.  But the day goes by so quickly that it is difficult to find the time you'd like to talk to everyone.  Last year my brother who lives in Muskegon wanted my mother to come to his house for awhile and ask her when she would like to come.  She said any time would be fine as long as it was after Chickenstock. 

I love waking up to coffee and BYC. So we are fighting over Raz i see?  Raz you playboy! I finished spinning my angora bunny's luscious coat and started to knit a baby hat from it. So much fun. I also made cheese this weekend (Farmhouse Cheddar). This is my first attempt at it and it smells wonderful. Just waiting for the rind to form so that I can wax and stick it in the Cheese Cave wine fridge.

 

 

I am practicing on a circular needle....I think I'm doing OK.

That cheese looks wonderful!!

Both look wonderful.  How large a wheel is the cheese and did you use a press?   Also how long do you intend to let it age?  waiting on a incubator full of chicks is one thing but waiting a year or two for a cheese to age when it looks so good might be well beyond my ability.

 

Edited by Opa - 4/17/12 at 4:31am

True!!!
But you can eat the cheese, and I'm starving!!

the wheel is 7in by 1.5in ....if I had let my cheese drain longer i may have been able to fit it into the smaller mold. I will age it about 3mo. ...or until I can't stand to wait any longer. LOL

 

Good morning Michigan, snow on the ground here today ( not much though).

Hi hapigrl, glad you joined in! I grew up in East Lansing.

Regardless of the official zone designation, 5's struggle here, probably because even though our temps are warm enough overall for a 5 rating we have bitterly cold spells in the winter and long cold wet springs that do many plants in. I don't plant any perennials rated higher than 4.

Jen how did your hatch go?

Opa - I have always admired people who can get up early.  I wish I could so I could get some quiet time at the beginning of the day.  However I'm one of those people that doesn't wake up much until there is light.  I do have a sunrise alarm clock that helps.  It reminds me of a favorite quote: 

 

One of the misfortunes of advancing age is that you get out of touch with the sunrise.  You take it for granted, and it is over and done with before you settle yourself for the daily routine.  That is one reason I think why when we grow older the days seem shorter.  We miss the high moments of their beginning.   John Buchan

I am super shy in group setting, but the chance to talk "chicken" is overriding it.  My DH could have a conversation with a tree.  He loves to talk, doesn't matter if he knows you or not or you have anything in common.
 

Beautiful, hope it tastes as good as it looks.  How long do you have to wait for Cheddar?

 

 

Dreary morning with some white stuff on the ground.  I think I'm going to sit with some coffee, a blanket and a book for a while.