Consolidated Kansas

[Hawkeye95]

My EE was 16 weeks when she laid her first egg so it could happen any time now. She is still the only one of the whole crew laying and that includes the red stars! That's amazing! My EE's are 18 weeks now and two of the others look like they could start anyday now. The 4th one still looks a little immature so we'll have to wait on her. It's so exciting to get that blue-ish egg!


Hawkeye, we're holding our breath for the next salaried employees layoff this friday. There will be 320 laid off and another 300 after that so we're still waiting and wondering. It's the pits! I don't want to imagine leaving this place.

I really love my brown eggs, but it would be neat to have a blue egg, too. But I'm pretty content with what I have.

Eeek! That is scary about the upcoming layoff! I know how you are feeling, for sure. Although, now that we know, it's actually more stress relieving than not knowing. But still-- we don't know what we're going to do, other than the plant is shutting down. My DH sure thinks that he is going to be able to stick around with his job longer than the company is saying. I think he's in la-la land. His group has no manager here-- his manager is in St Louis and his paycheck comes from St Louis, so it *is* true that he will not follow the Wichita plan only because they should have their own plan set up from the managers in St Louis. It's kind of a mess and I think it's giving my DH false hope that St Louis might keep them here and rent out a building or something. A coworker came up with that idea. Whatever. I'm staying out it now, and I'll be the one to stay realistic. I hope your Dh will be okay. That is a lot of layoffs-- and on top of OURS.... that is going to be a lot of people out of work in Wichita. I don't think this will be the place to find new jobs with so many people searching and only a handful of jobs open.

What a mess this morning turned out to be. I started in on my little coop and I my DH had taken my drills and they were gone. I called him to find out where they are, and then he told me he changed out the bits and the bits I need are in the barn... hu?? So then I was out there trying to get stuff together to start and two of my kids came out screaming and crying like they had been dropped down the stairs. Geez. So I go in and and sort that out, and the next thing I know, they want drinks, they want this or that, or they are back to fighting. Seriously, I need a freakin' break!! It is nearly impossible to get anything done around here. So now that I've been in here, I gave up on getting out there and have been trying to secure some round bales for this year and into winter. I called my hay guy, but he wants $85 for brome rounds. No way, Jose! He said he has Prairie, but I told him I'm not buying it if it's weedy and not nice. He promised to pick me out the best. So we'll see, he wants $50 including hauling. I'm annoyed with how much everything is going up so fast and here we are in recession, and who can keep up with these prices?? I remember when we used to buy round bales for $10 a piece! That was when I was a kid... but still-- up to $85 for Spring cutting is ridiculous.

I've listed a rooster on the swap. Honestly, I'd let him go for free, but figured I'd put him there for $5, he's listed on CraigsList too. I don't know who is going to want a rooster.

And since he's silkie, I don't want to eat him (black skin)... ick.

 

[chicken danz]

So I am thinking more and more I just have female slates. Dang it! I was counting on raising my own Thanksgivng dinner. Maybe if they are all girls I can trade with someone later. I really don't even have a pen or shelter for them. I have someone coming soon to get some newly hatched guineas. I need to get out and take care of the brooder.
Here's the closest recipe I can find to the store bought jar kind
BREAD AND BUTTER JALAPENOS

4 lbs jalapeno peppers
2 lbs. onions
3 cups cider vinegar
5 cups sugar
1 tsp. ginger
1 tablespoon garlic powder (or 1 teaspoon, if preferred)
2 tablespoons mustard seed
1/2 tsp. celery seed
1-2 tsp. turmeric (depends upon how much you like it)
Wash and slice jalapenos. Remove seeds from some rings to remove some of the "heat".
Thinly slice onions. In a large pan, bring vinegar, sugar and spices to a boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Pack peppers and onion in sterilized canning jars. Pour hot syrup over and place hot lids on jars.
Process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes.

 

[JosieChick]

I really love my brown eggs, but it would be neat to have a blue egg, too. But I'm pretty content with what I have.

I love my one little blue egg so much that I have several more EEs coming next week and I have an olive egger that should start laying soon too! Its always fun to get an assortment of colors. My two marans used to lay fairly dark eggs but now that they are older they have lightened up quite a bit.

Well I have joined the ranks of the insane. I picked up my order of 2000 mealworms to start my farm at the PO this morning. I thought the lady there was going to be sick at the thought of a box of worms!

She was thoroughly grossed out by them crawling on the screen in the box!! I have them all settled in their box of wheat bran with potatoes and old raspberries for a drink.

I have to get outside today and move some birds around because I have all those chicks coming next week and nowhere to put them!! I may brood them out in the metal run in outside instead of the garage until DH gets the brooder done.

Danz- I am dying for your orps to hatch! Must be soon right? I haven't heard anything about the eggs I bought. Sometimes I hate ebay, BYC members are much more considerate about keeping you informed on shipment etc.

 

[Trish44]

I started typing & then lost everything, ack! I'm so tired of feeling so bad I can't take it any more. I called the Dr. & am going to see her at 2:50 this afternoon, it was first opening. My throat & ear hurt so bad it's driving me nuts. I'm trying to swallow a fried egg & even that hurts to swallow, so I'm having a hard time getting anything past my throat. The toast just won't hardly go down so I gave up on that. Since my Dr. is in Wellington I asked my DH to take a little time off work to drive me because I feel so bad. He did some grumbling because he says he will be charged for a Monday, but I don't care. I rarely ask him to do something like that, so it won't hurt him. He's going to have to take me to get feed while we're over there too so my chicks & turkeys don't have to starve. He won't be happy about that either I'm sure. I coughed my head off last night even after taking nyquil twice, it didn't even faze it. I will be glad to hopefully get some relief from this, I hope she can give me something to help anyway.

My DH went out & at least fed the dogs & cats outside this morning, that helped some. He just left for the gym, so he'll come back just in time to take a shower & leave for the Dr's office. Hawkeye, I know exactly what you mean about having to wait on your DH to get his run in, it comes before anything else & I mean anything. I hate it when he's training for a marathon because you might as well not come up with anything else for him to do besides run, it gets old real fast. I'm just glad he doesn't do as many of them as he used to. The darned things are getting more & more expensive & he thinks nothing of spending money on that, then comes the motel if he's going out of town, food, on top of the darned fee just to run. He has to buy new running shoes every 6 months at least, sometimes more often & those aren't cheap either. Then I have to account for every penny I spend & pay him back for things that aren't his idea of what to spend money on. I'm glad he likes to run, it does seem to help him with some of his issues, but he takes it to the extreme. I'm sure he is in much better shape physically than he was when I met him. He smoked when we met & I asked him to quit because I'm allergic, so he did that & then later started running & lost 40 pounds & he has kept it off. So for those things I'm proud of him, I just wish he wouldn't sometimes use it as a reason to get out of helping around here. That is the aggravating part of it all.

I've got to get well soon, I have so many things waiting on me to get done & I haven't been able to do anything except absolutely necessary things. My coop needs attention, my new nest boxes need paint so we can hang them, & we need to go get the wood for the walls for the new coop. I need to somehow get my design through my DH's head about how I want to do windows & doors. Even though I drew it all out & he has seen that drawing more than once he still doesn't get it. Sometimes I wish I had a man interpreter so I could speak man so he could understand. He acts like I'm some alien that speaks an alien language when I have no trouble getting other people to understand what I'm saying. It's so aggravating to me & then he wonders why I get angry with him when I have to repeat things over & over & over again until I feel like banging my head on a brick wall.

I'm sorry all, I know this is all pretty negative today & I apologize, I don't feel well & it's coming out. Maybe I need to go back to bed.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Well I have joined the ranks of the insane. I picked up my order of 2000 mealworms to start my farm at the PO this morning. I thought the lady there was going to be sick at the thought of a box of worms!

She was thoroughly grossed out by them crawling on the screen in the box!! I have them all settled in their box of wheat bran with potatoes and old raspberries for a drink.

OH how cool!! I would love to start meal worms too! I need to go slowly with all of this-- my poor DH is not keeping up. Sigh.

My DH went out & at least fed the dogs & cats outside this morning, that helped some. He just left for the gym, so he'll come back just in time to take a shower & leave for the Dr's office. Hawkeye, I know exactly what you mean about having to wait on your DH to get his run in, it comes before anything else & I mean anything. I hate it when he's training for a marathon because you might as well not come up with anything else for him to do besides run, it gets old real fast. I'm just glad he doesn't do as many of them as he used to. The darned things are getting more & more expensive & he thinks nothing of spending money on that, then comes the motel if he's going out of town, food, on top of the darned fee just to run. He has to buy new running shoes every 6 months at least, sometimes more often & those aren't cheap either. Then I have to account for every penny I spend & pay him back for things that aren't his idea of what to spend money on. I'm glad he likes to run, it does seem to help him with some of his issues, but he takes it to the extreme. I'm sure he is in much better shape physically than he was when I met him. He smoked when we met & I asked him to quit because I'm allergic, so he did that & then later started running & lost 40 pounds & he has kept it off. So for those things I'm proud of him, I just wish he wouldn't sometimes use it as a reason to get out of helping around here. That is the aggravating part of it all.

Yikes, I'm still thinking strep for you! It's really not that hard to catch either. I got strep twice last year. I hadn't gotten strep since I was a little kid!! I never imagined I would get it again, but the Dr says it's easier to get the older you get and your immunity is low. Glad you're seeing the Dr and will be on some antibiotics, enough is enough of that stuff! Oh YES... you described the obsession very well. Most of my DH's runs are out of town, too. He is always in training for the next marathon, too. That is great that your DH quit smoking for you! Running strengthens the heart and lungs, so I imagine he is in pretty good shape now. Their is a shoe sale going on at First Gear soon-- Those shoes are darned near $200! I swear, I bought myself a new saddle a year ago, and my DH practically threw a fit about it. BUT-- the saddle I had (still have) was the same one I used when I was a kid. I didn't need a bigger one, I just wanted a nicer one, mine was looking it's age. So yeah, that street goes one way, doesn't it? I have to remind him of all the things he's spent when he gets thrifty on me.

I'm getting this house whipped into shape. I'm just pretty annoyed with my DH that none of my tools were where they should have been and bits were changed out and not put back. THEN the kids....oooh, the kids. I already need a drink. LOL!! I need to throw out a ton of toys. I'll have to do that when someone can watch them and get them out of the house for me. I will no longer be able to rely on my parents for short trips to grandma's for a couple of hours-- they are going to Seattle. This is going to be pretty confining.

 

[Trish44]

Yep, Hawkeye, I can identify totally with you on the running stuff. They just get focused on one thing only & that's all they can think about. I did get him awhile back though when I took a trip to somewhere without him, I don't even remember now, but I had to remind him that I hardly EVER go anywhere, so he had no room to chastise me. He paused a minute & then said, yeah you're right. Good for you on the saddle, you just have to stand up to them sometimes & say look buddy. Yeah when I count up how much he spends on shoes, running shorts & shirts, & marathons, it adds up to quite a bit. But I never say anything, I'm just waiting until I want something again & I'll remind him of it.

I'm sorry your folks have to move so far away, that is going to be hard on you I know. You just do need a break from your kids sometimes & honestly they need a break from you too. My granddaughter called us yesterday afternoon & I think she was fishing to come over, but I felt so bad I honestly didn't want her here. I would feel really bad if she got what I have, she is sick enough on her own without me giving her something. She told us she had been riding her new bike & has been using the lock grandpa got her to keep it from getting stolen like the other one. I sure hope she remembers what we talked about because another bike for $100 isn't coming any time soon, not from us anyway.

Well I had better go start getting around. I hope the Dr. can give me something to help get rid of this junk & make me feel better. I'm sick of being sick already & I have things to do.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Yeah, I'm still pretty stoked about my new saddle. It's a light weight barrel, like my other one was. In fact, you can see (a little bit) my old saddle in my avatar. It's still a very nice saddle too. But I'm wanting to get back into doing more trail rides and all of my tack is just getting old. So I bought myself the new saddle and then I got this really cute zebra saddle bags. They are much bigger and insulated than my old ones. I had the regular leather bags before and my lunch would always be hot by the time we stopped. Horses really heat up on a ride. I've already used it a few times and my lunch stayed cool. It's not often I splurge for "me". Usually I'm buying stuff for the house or the kids. Pretty much always. Anyway, my new saddle has rough out on the fenders and I'm not used to that. But so far, I've found I like it-- makes you "stick". Just worried about all the water crossings I do and how it's going to discolor them. Figure worst case, I'll buy some new fenders (smooth) in the same design/color and just replace them when the time comes.

Anyway, glad you are seeing the Dr! It's too bad you couldn't have your granddaughter over, but you made the right call since you are so sick. No point in spreading it. Hopefully you'll be feeling better soon!

 

[chicken danz]

I sold a dozen guineas and one duck today. I got asked if a 4H group could come over to look and learn. I said yes but DH wasn't happy. He said what if someone got hurt?, and we aren't fixed up to have kids running around all over the place. I explained I thought 4-H kids would mean a group of kids that would stay together and have a sponsor with them. I suppose he is probably right. I should require some kind of waiver to be be signed or something.
It is so hot out there. I have a load of feed that needs shoveled and I need to feed the rest of my birds but I really would rather stay in right now. I feel a nap would be wonderful today.
Trish I hope you get to feeling better. When I am sick I tend to just recluse because I become a witch on wheels.
Gals, I understand your frustration with hubbies and their running. But it is so nice that that is their "man thing" rather than sitting in a bar spending money on beer and heaven knows what else. Men do have a tendency to spend money on themselves for sure and scoff at what women spend. I guess it is a matter of what is important in their minds. I just remind myself to count my blessings cause it could be a lot worse. My DH smokes too but at least he respects me enough not to smoke in my house and stuff. I would love for him to quit but he would be dying of lung cancer before he would consider it.

 

[chicken danz]

Oh Josiechick, The Orpingtons are supposed to go in the hatcher tomorrow. I can't wait to candle and see what I have potentially. I keep thinking I could do it one day ahead but I'll wait and hope for the best. I really hope I have a decent hatch. I was supposed to get some more lemon cuckoo orp eggs shipped today too. I would rather the chicks be the same age but I don't think the lemon eggs survived the shipping first time around so I purchased some more. You have me really hoping to get a splash chick now.

 

[Hawkeye95]

I sold a dozen guineas and one duck today. I got asked if a 4H group could come over to look and learn. I said yes but DH wasn't happy. He said what if someone got hurt?, and we aren't fixed up to have kids running around all over the place. I explained I thought 4-H kids would mean a group of kids that would stay together and have a sponsor with them. I suppose he is probably right. I should require some kind of waiver to be be signed or something.
It is so hot out there. I have a load of feed that needs shoveled and I need to feed the rest of my birds but I really would rather stay in right now. I feel a nap would be wonderful today.
Trish I hope you get to feeling better. When I am sick I tend to just recluse because I become a witch on wheels.
Gals, I understand your frustration with hubbies and their running. But it is so nice that that is their "man thing" rather than sitting in a bar spending money on beer and heaven knows what else. Men do have a tendency to spend money on themselves for sure and scoff at what women spend. I guess it is a matter of what is important in their minds. I just remind myself to count my blessings cause it could be a lot worse. My DH smokes too but at least he respects me enough not to smoke in my house and stuff. I would love for him to quit but he would be dying of lung cancer before he would consider it.

That's great you sold so many! I think the 4-H group should be fine, but if you came up with a waiver off the internet or something, might not be a bad idea to have them all sign it before they got there for your own protection. I bet they have forms you can print off. And you have to remember, 4-H kids cant be any younger than 7yrs old. Unless they have "tag a longs" that are 5-6yrs old. They should have their club leader and club parents with them, so I imagine they should we well supervised. I would talk to the leader and tell her that you can't have them running around for their own protection. Before our clubs leaves on any meet up--- we have a mini meeting ahead of time and our leader discusses the do's and don'ts.

I have to wonder if my DH were sitting in a bar... if he'd be spending less money, though.

OKay, kidding! I'm sure what he's doing now is less, but the thought did cross my mind! He's always getting in new shorts, or new socks with built in support or something really crazy. He just bought a new Garmin (gps) and an MP3 player because his old ones died. I think they give up from all the sweat. It's exhausting keeping up with him.

OH! forgot to mention, I got the kids redirected! My oldest and I have spent an hour working on a yeast bread for 4-H county fair. It's rising right now. Then we'll make it again on Thursday night and have it ready for Friday morning so he can do a "mock judging" at the Sedgwick County Extension Office. Everyone brings their foods, they cut it up and taste it and then they go over what they should and should not do, rules, and how to make it better. So by then, he'll have made the bread twice so he'll know what he's talking about when he has to explain it. We're doing the cinnamon bread-- a basic yeast bread with a cinnamon layer inside and rolled up. I'm looking forward to eating it today! LOL I think his mock judging event will be a lot of fun, too! He'll gain some know-how before he gets to the Fair.