Consolidated Kansas

[JosieChick]

Trish!! I can't find the little ameraucana roo anywhere! He was in the big boys pen this morning and I moved him back in with the babies again because the big roos can be bullies. I just went out to close them up for the night and he is nowhere to be found. I have been home most of the day and in and out to the chickens. I walked all over hill and dill with a flashlight and looked under everything that he might be hiding under in the yard but he has just disappeared into thin air. I remembered while I was sitting here that I had gone out one time and the gate was slightly ajar from me changing waters but I didn't think anything of it because the big boys can't fit out and I forgot that he had been squeezing into that pen.

Where did you find the wheat bran? I have looked everywhere around here and was never able to find it. In Australia we could buy a 1kg bag of it in the cereal aisle of the grocery store for about 44c but here the only time I found it was a tiny little bag in the organic section of Dillons and they wanted about $4 for it - and I would have needed multiple packets for the mealies. No way was that happening. So I've brooded them on oatmeal and right now they are on corn cob pellet bedding but they don't seem crazy about that. I'd still love to find them some wheat bran if I just knew where to look for it.

I bought wheat bran at the feed store in a 50 pound bag for $10. I go to Lifetime pet in Olathe for my duck feed and they had it there. I don't remember where you live but they have it in Olathe. I could always pick up a bag and leave it with someone closer to you too.

 

[Trish44]

Oh Danz, I was only kidding about the pool party! Heck do you think I want to be seen in a swimsuit, no, no, no. The only time I'm seen in one is if we go on a cruise like we will be in November & we go snorkeling or something. Believe me when I get out I cover up.

I would love to have even an above ground pool, but the problem here is where to put it. There are few places that are level here. This hill just slants downward from the house. That is why my DH built the floor frame in the garage. He said he had nowhere flat to build it. After the floor is on then he will have a flat place to work on the walls. I'm going to go out tomorrow hopefully & take starter pics. I've been too sick to even make it that far.

HeChicken have you gotten pics of your coop lately? I would love to see it. Those turkeys are really growing, they like to talk to me when I go out to feed them. I can't wait to see what sexes they all are. The two I hatched are about a month behind the others & the little Royal Palm is very friendly. The others aren't so scared of me any more.

I see that I have company, more eBay junkies. I buy a lot of stuff on there, even got my DH looking for things there too now. I've been on there about as long as anybody, over 10 years.

 

[Trish44]

Josie, Oh no, I didn't see your post until now, I've been trying to read on my phone & it just died. I hope maybe he's just hiding somewhere, maybe the big ones picked on him & he found somewhere to hide. I'm hoping that's what happened anyway. Maybe he'll show back up in the morning, I sure hope so, you haven't had much luck lately with chickens, I'm sorry. He's such a pretty boy too.

I just feel like I'm floating in space right now, my right ear is plugged up & kind of ringing & it's making me feel off-balance. I'm surprised I haven't fallen over with it being so infected. I just hurried through my chores tonight because I felt so bad. I was soaking wet by the time I got back in. Oh antibiotics start working!

I hope I'm well enough tomorrow to run & get the paint for my nest boxes. I really want to get them painted & put up. My hens are really upset about the bucket laying on the floor & they have been making a nest in the corner in the shavings so I have to find a way to get back there every day & gather the eggs. I picked up one from there this morning & I had forgotten to bring my egg basket & put the 3 eggs I had in my pocket & you guessed it, one broke in there, ugh, there's nothing like egg running down your leg & soaking through your pants.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Ho boy, I had my little scrapbooking get together tonight -- fun! I'm not actually scrapbooking at the moment I'm making a three canvas (8 X 10's) wall decor thingy that popped into my head that I thought would be fun to have in my craft room once I kick the little chicks and Turkey out of there. My brooder is going to be moved to the uninsulated part of the shop. Anyway, I made lots of progress on the little elements that will go on it. It's partially decoupaged.

JosieChick, I'm planning to do mealworms too! My flock is just too big to keep buying them for but it's a great way to tame them. It's a bit of a gross-out but one of my DS's wants to do it so I'm thrilled. Now, I just need to get going on ordering stuff but I'm kind of on hold this week while I wait to see if we'll be moving those mealworms or not.

Hawkeye, it is just crazy having this stuff hanging over our heads! My DH has his head in the ground over his retirement. They've said they are $453,000,000 under funded and what part of those 6 zeroes does he not get. Oh well, I guess it's fine not to cry over it until it's official. He's put in 36 years at what used to be Beechcraft and he just cannot conceive of the idea that the retirement that was promised to him won't be there. Sigh. I sure hope they give us something rather than a big fat zero. We won't know for sure for months even if he does get to keep his job. By the way, nice save on redirecting the kids! Doesn't it feel good when you salvage a day that is running amok? I always feel like I've won the World Series or something when I get the parenting thing right.


POOL Party!!!!! Come on ladies be brave! If I can be seen in swim attire, so can you. Besides it would just be us and the kids. We totally should do this, I think it would be a hoot! I have swim shorts and swim capris (depending upon how fat and flabby I'm feeling) and a tankini top that covers well. Just wear some shorts and a suit under, rip off your cover up really quickly and jump in! Let's wait for Trish44 to feel up to it, but seriously, it's just us girls! I totally go down that slide and it is fun!!!!!!!!! Trust me when I say that there is no whiter woman on the planet. My legs will blind you, if you don't have sunglasses. I have a farmer tan on my arms, face and chest so that will look ridiculous. I promise you, no one will look worse than me! I say we give a good head's up so as many as possible can make it. Danz, it's so sweet of you to worry for me, but I can do this. I'm more comfortable with you guys than any other group of people I've ever known. Having you all here was a real treat for me. For real, Trish44, we're getting too old to worry about hurting someone's feelings with our looks. We're not going to live forever, we must have fun while we can! Wearing purple is for wimps, going swimming is for the truly wacky and brave!

Unfortunately, I wasn't swimming today, I was sweating in the sun trying to get the thing vaccumed and backwashing over and over, and adding more DE and cleaning the Polaris bag. Anyway, I'm going to be really happy once I can jump in! It is turning the appropriate color finally. We started this whole thing on Saturday but this is the biggest pool I've ever owned and this thing takes longer to really get the water sparkling than the smaller pools.

The kids and I did take quite a bit of time to play with our bunnies today. They are just hilariously cute. Dottie still enjoys chasing the chickens and is no longer as concerned about getting pecked because she knows we'll protect her. She is so mischievous! We were laughing over Dottie's and Shadow's antics and making a lot of ruckus, which peaked Chopper's curiosity. He wanted to come see what all the commotion with the bunnies was about, so every little bit I would see his head poke up out of the pond area straining to see what we were doing, but it was so hot he never made the trip to the pen. I guess he decided there weren't any treats happening!

Okay, I'm off to bed, catch ya'll (I lived in OK and TX for a bit) later.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Oh, double whoops! I didn't proofread or spellcheck AND I forgot to tell medawinks I know exactly how she feels waiting for those eggs! My kids race out there every morning expecting to find dozens! It's going to be fun once all the action starts! Okay, now I'm off...

 

[cherwill]

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.

Thank you!

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.

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.

Don't worry about sounding negative; we all have our days. I'm glad you got in to see the doc and hopefully the meds will kick in quickly.

Pretty!

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.

My husband's obsession is his job. He loves it; sometimes I'm sure he loves it more than he loves me! His shifts are 24 hours, but he only works 9 or 10 days a month. However, he's on call for half of his days off, which means he can't leave town. Even when he's not officially on call, he's on call because if it's a big enough deal they call in everyone in town. Then there are the extra classes and meetings now that he's a Captain, and the 30+ minutes he spends talking to the Captain of the next shift in the morning when he gets off work. Our entire lives often revolve around his job. I would love for him to be home every night for dinner and to sleep here every night, but having entire days off at a time instead of just evenings also has its advantages. He's also very frugal, but I'm frugal enough myself that it doesn't cause too many problems. When I get too frustrated, I try to remind myself that he's a really good man. Because he's such a good handyman, lots of people (family especially) ask for his help regularly and he says yes whenever he can (which sometimes creates problems when we have no time for our own projects). He is emotionally illiterate; has no concept of how to describe a feeling except for "I like" and "I don't like." But in summer when I'm working outside with him, he helps clean the house, and he fills up my gas tank and he does the floors. It took me a while to realize that's how he's most comfortable saying how he feels about me and I still sometimes wish he could do it in ways that I relate to better. Thank you for reminding me to appreciate his good points. As mad as he makes me sometimes, I got lucky!

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.

Yummy. Few things smell or taste as good as fresh bread.

Trish!! I can't find the little ameraucana roo anywhere! He was in the big boys pen this morning and I moved him back in with the babies again because the big roos can be bullies. I just went out to close them up for the night and he is nowhere to be found. I have been home most of the day and in and out to the chickens. I walked all over hill and dill with a flashlight and looked under everything that he might be hiding under in the yard but he has just disappeared into thin air. I remembered while I was sitting here that I had gone out one time and the gate was slightly ajar from me changing waters but I didn't think anything of it because the big boys can't fit out and I forgot that he had been squeezing into that pen.

I bought wheat bran at the feed store in a 50 pound bag for $10. I go to Lifetime pet in Olathe for my duck feed and they had it there. I don't remember where you live but they have it in Olathe. I could always pick up a bag and leave it with someone closer to you too.

I hope your little roo is OK.

 

[JosieChick]

I know! I had him out with the small cochin chicks but he kept squeezing through the fence into the big roo pen. I don't know why he wanted to be in there so badly. I looked everywhere, it is like he vanished. If we had hawks around right now or they were free ranging that is what I would think happened but he was in a covered run. I am so sad, he was so chatty and pretty. I was going to bring him in the garage tonight with a little pullet and let him make a friend so he wouldn't be all alone out there. Poor fella.

Josie, Oh no, I didn't see your post until now, I've been trying to read on my phone & it just died. I hope maybe he's just hiding somewhere, maybe the big ones picked on him & he found somewhere to hide. I'm hoping that's what happened anyway. Maybe he'll show back up in the morning, I sure hope so, you haven't had much luck lately with chickens, I'm sorry. He's such a pretty boy too.

 

[prairie]

That saddle is wonderful! It's been years since I have ridden -- broke a bone in my back and just didn't want to try it again -- that and I am getting to old. Love those wild saddlebags too!

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!

 

[Hawkeye95]

OKay--- I have someone interested in my silkie, but they don't seem like they speak English or something? I'm a little freaked out about it. Here is the email conversation word for word:

Lalo:
Still have the white silkie c

Me:
I do still have him.

Lalo:
I am interesed so



Okay, and I'm thinking-- what is this person asking.. if anything? I don't get it? Are they asking to see the bird or buy the bird?? Or...?? Hu??? I'm totally confused. I've done a lot of dealing on CraigsList, and most people if they are interested, they say outright-- I want to buy it, when can I come over? (or meet, or whatever our agreement is) THIS person isn't asking anything, right? Or are they? Do you think they speak English, or is this like some kind of new Text talk I'm not understanding??? What does the "so" mean? Is that short for some other word, or is this actually saying "so" as in waiting for me to say something back?! The "so" is a few spaces down from the last word, which is throwing me off. GAH! Why can't people be straight forward?!!??!?

 

[HEChicken]

Trish!! I can't find the little ameraucana roo anywhere! He was in the big boys pen this morning and I moved him back in with the babies again because the big roos can be bullies. I just went out to close them up for the night and he is nowhere to be found. I have been home most of the day and in and out to the chickens. I walked all over hill and dill with a flashlight and looked under everything that he might be hiding under in the yard but he has just disappeared into thin air. I remembered while I was sitting here that I had gone out one time and the gate was slightly ajar from me changing waters but I didn't think anything of it because the big boys can't fit out and I forgot that he had been squeezing into that pen.

I bought wheat bran at the feed store in a 50 pound bag for $10. I go to Lifetime pet in Olathe for my duck feed and they had it there. I don't remember where you live but they have it in Olathe. I could always pick up a bag and leave it with someone closer to you too.

Oh no! I hope he has shown up by this morning? What a sweet offer on the wheat bran. I've heard other people say they've bought it at a feed store but I've looked and looked at mine and never seen it. I might ask them next time I'm in - maybe it is something they would be willing to order in if they don't ordinarily stock it.

OKay--- I have someone interested in my silkie, but they don't seem like they speak English or something? I'm a little freaked out about it. Here is the email conversation word for word:

Lalo:
Still have the white silkie c

Me:
I do still have him.

Lalo:
I am interesed so



Okay, and I'm thinking-- what is this person asking.. if anything? I don't get it? Are they asking to see the bird or buy the bird?? Or...?? Hu??? I'm totally confused. I've done a lot of dealing on CraigsList, and most people if they are interested, they say outright-- I want to buy it, when can I come over? (or meet, or whatever our agreement is) THIS person isn't asking anything, right? Or are they? Do you think they speak English, or is this like some kind of new Text talk I'm not understanding??? What does the "so" mean? Is that short for some other word, or is this actually saying "so" as in waiting for me to say something back?! The "so" is a few spaces down from the last word, which is throwing me off. GAH! Why can't people be straight forward?!!??!?

I'm with you - even the "c" in the first communication is unknown to me. Are they saying they want to SEE the silkie or signing off with an initial? I don't get it either. I treat email communications like I would a written letter, and especially when it is someone I don't know, I take pains to make sure I am not misunderstood. When I contact someone from an ad on Craigslist I usually start with "I saw your ad on Craigslist for [item] (since one person might have more than one ad running at a time), and then explain something about my situation. For example, "I already keep chickens but am interested in your Silkie Roo because......" so that they know I am a genuine purchaser and not someone who doesn't even know what it is they are asking about. Side note: this turned out to be useful when I responded to an add for "Hen and Chickens" by asking how many chicks the hen had with her, having never heard of the plant by that name

The seller was easily able to respond that what she was selling was a plant and not poultry". Anyway.....I am willing to give people a break when there is a language barrier but even with a language barrier you'd think they'd still want to make sure you really understand their query. And if there is a language barrier, I'm guessing they may be wanting him to eat. I think you said that's okay with you, but just something to be aware of.