Consolidated Kansas

[tweetysvoice]

Danz, That is such great news about Marshmellow!! I'm so glad she snapped back and that you stuck with trying to stick her with that darn needle! And wow! Thats a lot of eggs to find hidden. Hope they all turn out to be what you want them to be!

Hawkeye, Sorry, but I haven't had any problems posting either. Are you you using the reply at the bottom of the page or the full page editor?

 

[chicken danz]

Yeah I thought of pics today. I was just too busy working in the basement and trying to find my paint that obviously as eloped with a side board.
I did get a section of shelves built to put some of the junk on. I found some stuff that had gotten wet at my other house, without my knowledge that was moldy. Some old collectable stuff. Probably won't clean up because there is some cardboard involved. I used to buy lots of things at auctions to re-sale but a lot of them never got posted. I need to get rid of tons of that stuff.
I found an old oil heater that had been my daughter in laws,minus the wheels and the cord was cut off. I've been taking it apart so I can put on a new cord and see if it works. I'm thinking it would be perfect for the brooder. I have a heater in there now that doesn't have a fan but the chick dust still gets on the heat elements. I like the idea of having it all closed up.
By the way Hawkeye I am having the same problem with this as you are. I keep trying to send this and it won't go.

 

[chicken danz]

The eggs I'm sure have come from my younger pullets, many of which are mixed so they will be heaven knows what if they hatch. I do get some pure breds out of those eggs though. It's just the luck of the draw. I kept those pullets as layers and they haven't learned where the nest boxes are yet. One of these days I'll have to move them all anyway so I guess it doesn't matter too much.Other than the fact they ar free loading if they don't lay where I want them to.

 

[Trish44]

Wow, you all have been busy on here today while I was busy putting a frame on my rabbit cage this afternoon! It took way longer than it should have to put the darned thing together, isn't that how things always go? I'm going to get another set to sit on top of this one so they stack. At least when I get the other one I'll know how to do it now. I'm going Weds. to pick up another rabbit hutch I found on our buy, sell, trade site in Ark City. When I put the rabbits outside in the spring then I can use the indoor cages for chicks, that's my plan anyway. I'm going to pick up some more rabbits for myself & a friend in Ark City when we go to Missouri this weekend, so I'll be coming back with rabbits in the back seat of the car. Won't my DH be thrilled about that! I can hear the griping now. I will be going to some of the swap meets with this friend of mine when they start back up in April, she goes every month I think. Maybe I can find a Speckled Sussex hen there to replace the one I think the fox ate. Still no Ameraucana eggs here,

Danz, well the problem with burning the trash pile is that it's not my land & I would be afraid I would start some big grass fire & then I would be in deep trouble. The woman that owns that land is a be-atch in the highest order. I think my course of action is going to be to find out who the guy is that took the job for the county that is in charge of cleaning up messy places in the county. There is now an old trailer & a travel trailer that people have just been taking things off of, stripping it of windows, doors, whatever they can get off of them & they're really an eyesore. Nothing left there is inhabitable now & it's all attracting animals of the sort none of us that live around it want there. We have gotten rats in our horse shed making nests because of their mess over there. If we didn't have cats & a lot of them we would have a big problem. I feel that it's really a health hazard for all of us living around it, so I just need to find out who to contact & write a letter. The only way this woman will do anything with the place is if she's fined if she doesn't do it or they tell her they will clean it up & charge her for it, they have done that to some people.

I do give the pups things to chew on all the time, but that trash pile is really appealing to them to go dig in. They were over there most of the day today I think. I was busy & didn't catch them until later this afternoon & then they got put in the dog run a little early when I found out where they were. Jasmine felt bad about getting scolded, I can always tell when she's upset, but Lily is as hard-headed as they come. I had to really get on her yesterday for getting back on the garage roof. I gave her 3 chances, telling her no & stay down every time & finally the last time I went out there I got her down & rolled her on her back & held her there while I scolded her. That is really the only way to get her attention. It's a Cesar Milan approach & Candace told me to do it too. It does seem to get her attention. The idea is that you're showing them you're dominant, you're the alpha & then you use your hand like the mother dog does to hold them down when she is correcting a pup. She has not gotten back on the roof again since I did that. You would have to see our house & how it is built into the hill in the back on the bottom level to understand how the dog can get on the roof. On the original garage on the north end of the house the roof slopes down to the ground almost back there, so you only have to jump up about 2 feet, nothing for those dogs to get on there. But in the front the roof is quite aways from the ground & this is why I don't like her being up there because she gives me heart failure when she goes & sits looking out over the front. She's just a goofy pup, so if she saw something out there who knows if she might think she could jump off there & then break her neck. It's better to break her of the habit now than later I think.

I thought I was the only one that loses things, I lost some sevin powder that I knew that I had bought, a package of 3 cans of it. I had looked & looked because I was wanting to treat the coop again & the birds in the run because I was told that the rooster I got could have mites possibly. So to be safe I thought I would just treat everybody with the sevin powder & all the roosts, pine shavings, etc. Well I couldn't find that stuff for anything & then yesterday I looked again & all of the sudden I found it. I know I had looked there before & didn't see it. There has to be gremlins around here that take things & move them. Maybe that's what happened to your paint & your sideboard, gremlins got them.

I had intended to take some photos today, but that didn't happen since it took me so long to put that cage together. Oh well, maybe another day. At least I got the frame put on & now there is a tray underneath to catch the droppings. It's a lot better than the way it was set up. I had to use big trays under there & bricks to hold the cage up off the trays, it really was messy. Now I have the frame that holds the droppings tray & it slides out so I can empty it. You would be surprised how much two little rabbits can poop in just a week's time, geez. Well at least my flowers should be happy when they come back in the spring, they got sprinkled with some good fertilizer today. Rabbit droppings are supposed to be one of the best fertilizers there are. I will be glad when they can go outside though.

IVY, good luck with the tests tomorrow, I hope all goes well & they find out exactly what the problem is & get your DH some treatment so he can feel better. Let us know how it goes, we'll all be thinking of you & praying that things go all right.

I certainly can identify with collecting stuff & needing to get rid of things, I have been doing it for the last 2 years & am still weeding out things. I sent my son a text yesterday telling him that his time was up on keeping his junk in my garage. I have had his stuff in there for the last 4 years & I told him I need it gone in the next two months. I need that room to put all my brooders in that part of the garage & I told him that. He's PO'd at me now, but that's too bad. I have told him repeatedly that my garage is not his storage unit & that I wanted his junk out of there. There is not a thing worth much of anything in there other than his two tool boxes. I told him he could leave those here for now, but the rest needs to go. He has a huge TV sitting out there that takes way too much room & it's going to eventually get ruined out there because we have vents in the roof that when it rains & blows or snows & blows it comes in them. Some of his stuff got snowed on before & then he got mad at me for letting it get wet. I told him that I was not about to go out in the middle of a snow storm to cover up his junk. Geez, sometimes I could just knock him over the head. Don't get me wrong, I love my son to pieces, but he sure does push my buttons sometimes & he knows just exactly which ones to push.

 

[Trish44]

Gosh, I didn't mean to write a novel! Hawkeye, BTW, I can't imagine why you're having so much trouble posting, I have not seen what you're describing so far.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Tweety, I've been using both to see which is better-- the full page and the reply at the bottom. Doesn't make any difference. I have been wondering if I'm posting at peak times-- when there are a LOT of people on the server. I noticed that other people have been complaining of the same thing I'm saying, too-- around the SAME times I'm seeing it happen. It's not on my end or my problem. Don't know what the deal is, so that is my best guess.

Danz, yeah, I'm addicted to HGTV, too. Perhaps I'll leave my oak cabinets alone, they are in great shape.. it's just the color I'm worried about. They have no hinges that show-- they are all the hidden kind, and my door knobs are already the brushed nickle which people prefer. Sigh. Possibly the new counter top, sink, etc will make the honey oak look nice with it. Wonder where your paint got off to? You sure are having bumper crops of eggs pouring in! WOW! Did you ever find someone to take you little duck? They sure are happy and sweet little things. My dad used to fill a kiddie pool in the summer for them to play in. We'd have to clean it out every couple of days, though.

Ivy, is it possible that when you were at an auction that you saw the sideboard and bid on it and then didn't get it? So odd that you can't find it. Do you remember dragging it home? Wonder where it would have gone? I can't imagine losing anything like that. I bet you have it and it's just got stuff on top of it and it is fooling you by looking like something else out there. Or maybe standing up on end? I hope the testing goes well today! Good luck and and I hope those machines all do their jobs (and the people running them!). Seems crazy you've had to wait this long.

Trish, I want to see pictures of this hutch project! Very neat that you changed out the bottom to have a slide out pan. That sounds like a much smarter idea than what they had. I don't know how to keep your dogs on your own property. I'm sure if that trash pile were not there, that there would be no draw for them to go over there. That's really too bad. I'd call your county extension office today and ask them who to talk to about that. Tell them it's a hazard and that it's drawing in rats that are now infesting your own property and bringing in other undesirable animals. Your son really can't get too mad-- I mean, he's no longer living there and it's your property to do with what you want to do. I would feel the same. Here's my point of view on "storing" things. It really means you don't need them. Now, it's one thing to have a project, and another to have a pile of stuff-- like a tv. I can't imagine storing a tv outside, because of the outdoor temperatures. They are not meant to take that kind of swing, not to mention the condensation. I'll be very surprised if that things works. Which is a shame, because he could have given it away to someone in need or sold it on CL. But I'm not a fan of keeping things I'm not using, anyway. It would be easy to for me to haul it off. And if you could be using that space for your animals, then I'd be chomping at the bit to get it out of there asap. Usually I throw away and ask questions later... LOL!! Nah, I've never regretted getting rid of ANYthing I've donated (or trashed). And really, if your son REALLY needs it ... then he can be using it right now-- or get rid of it and then find another one years from now (and not store anything) until he is ready for it. Unless it's some kind of priceless antique that can't be duplicated. I do have some antiques in here-- just not a lot. I'm just not a collector. I'll own up to having a few things in here that are unreasonable to keep (they have no purpose or serve no function) that just hold sentimental value for me.

I think I'm going to run by Walmart and pick up a gallon of paint and repaint my downstairs bathroom. It's a beautiful red down there that matches a large painting that is hung in there, and the towels. But I want it to be more neutral and less shocking. I think a light creamy yellow will still match that painting. (it has a lot of reds in it-- but there is some creams). I guess I could take a picture of it on my phone and bring it with me to see if I find something that will work just as well. I love to paint-- my hall bathroom upstairs has gone through maybe 4 or 5 color changes. I better see if I can find a shower curtain to match, too.

 

[chicken danz]

Hawkeye I think as we get older we tend to cling to things more. When I was your age I threw everything away. When I think back now on the value of some of that stuff I want to cry. What an idiot I was. I guess it's a matter of knowing what to discard and what to keep. But who knows what will be super collectable years later? But my biggest problem has been keeping things that my kids have made or things from my parents. I have letters my mother wrote me from North Carolina for probably 15 years or more. I have her emails saved she has written since this summer when her health pillared downward. I know I can't replace her with things when she passes but I can't bear to discard things from her. I live in fear every day I will loose her.
My kids used me as a dumping ground especially when they were in college and right after getting out. I got rid of tons of their things when I had an auction a few years ago. But I still have some of the more valuable things in a storage building we rent. I would so love to get that cleaned out some day. I have some antiques in there as well that can't be benefiting from temperature changes but there certainly is not room here for them. It is stuff I really would like to keep though. If I ever get my basement cleared out and refinished and build on my little addition and garage I would have a place to use them. Big IF on my budget.
I still have the duck. He is in a bin on top of my chick bin I have here in the house. Poor thing is so lonely.
It sounds to me Loralee that you have a perfectly marketable kitchen with the addition of granite. I have brushed nickel in my kitchen. I've noticed a trend for people going more to aged bronze but it is just a trend. I think it will be quick lived and people will tire of it. I think brushed nickel looks clean and classy and will be something that lasts. I wish I had your enthusiasm for painting. I have several rooms I need to paint. The problem here is there is some sheet rock finishing I need to do first. I hate mudding or working with sheetrock. My house is in such a state of being unfinished. Maybe some day!
I need to move some chicks from the hatcher in a bit. I've also got to plan for hatching a turkey or two in the next couple of days. My brooder has tons of birds in it but it's too cold to take young birds out right now. I tried moving some young male pheasant out and putting them with a lone male I have. I had 3 females in with him but since I took them out instead of making it safe for other males he has become very agressive. He is the first one I've ever had that acts like he could get a bit mean. I had planned to save him for a breeder but am having second thoughts unless his attitude changes. He is gorgeous but He may need a new home this spring.

 

[Trish44]

Well I have fought it, but I finally succumbed to the crud my DH has had for over a week. It's the strangest virus, you start out with a sore throat & then it's like your throat has a kind of clogged feeling sort of like you want to keep clearing your throat, then you start with the cough, but you're not really super congested in the chest. It's not a head cold sort of thing for the most part, there is some sneezing along the way, but no runny nose & it has affected my ears some too. DH has had a hard time getting rid of it, he's still coughing, but not as bad as he was. You get kind of hoarse too, really strange sounding. I didn't sleep well last night because I was coughing some. I was supposed to be going with DH today to get his hair cut & see if our car is done, but I don't feel like going now. I will have to get out at some point to go get my car, but I don't feel like rushing around to get ready this morning. I hope this junk doesn't last long because I hate to think of having to go out of town feeling this way.

Hawkeye, I agree with Danz, your kitchen sounds fine if you change the countertops to update them. I wouldn't mess with painting the cabinets, if the new owners want to then they can choose their color. If we ever sell this house our kitchen needs some major updating. The countertops need to be redone for sure, this house was built in 1986 & the formica countertops are really outdated & ugly. My oak cabinets really need some help & I'm getting ready to paint them because I don't want to totally strip them & re-stain & that's the only thing that could be done other than painting them. We're replacing hinges a few at a time because DH doesn't want to do them all at once. The old hinges don't close automatically any more like they're supposed to so the doors stand open. We're getting ready to replace the floor tile in there too. We have a big project up in the upstairs bathroom that needs to be done also when we get to it. Now that DH is out of school maybe we can do some of these things. Yeah it's really aggravating to me that those people dumped all that crap on the hill out there & left it & now all the rest of us have to deal with it. I don't know why some people are so trashy like that. All of us on the other side pay for trash service monthly & it's hard for us to look at that mess & not be angry. I plan to write that letter to see if they will be made to clean up the place as soon as I feel a little better. My friend on the other side of the property says she'll back me up about it if they come to ask her anything on the subject too.

I ordered another cage to stack on top of the one I got together yesterday so I will have a place to separate the little doe from the buck when they get of age. I don't want them to breed too young, it's bad for the doe & the babies probably wouldn't make it. I will make a divider for the other bigger cage when the time comes too to separate the little females from the buck in that cage. I need to get some pics taken of them while they're little, they're so cute! The ones I want to pick up this weekend are pure black New Zealands, not something we see around this area, so I want to bring some back for myself & my friend so we can raise some. Neither of us has ever seen that color before in that breed. I raised rabbits years ago & Jessica has been raising them for quite a long time too. We have another mutual friend who is a chicken breeder & raises rabbits also. She is the head of the local swap meets & where I got my Speckled Sussex trio that have now turned into a pair after losing one to the darned fox.

I just went out & found my pups over at the trash dump again, sigh. I don't know how I'm going to keep them here now that they found that, it's disgusting.

 

[chicken danz]

If you had a couple bite collars you could walk the dogs to the trash dump and then pull back on the leash. I know that would be a pain but nothing works better than doing that a few times. Or if you had electronic collars you could zap them. Of course both of those measures means you need to be out there with them. I'd personally go get the biggest bones I could from a butcher or even if you know someone who's butchered deer recently that would work. Those babies need something to occupy them. In the meantime make some phone calls and see what you can do.
All of you have newer homes than I do. Mine was built in like 1960 or so. It is so outdated. I have made many changes but have tons more to make. I have hardwood that I need to install in the kitchen and dining room, and I need to sand the rest of the existing hardwood and stain it to match the new. I have new in my front room because there was the original carpet in there. There was also carpet in the kitchen and dining room. Yuk! It was glued on top of linoleum. I have to tear out the first layer of flooring in order to put the hardwood down so it will be all the same height.
I've done a lot. I totally redid the cabinets and changed the configuration. I used the wood from the old ones and built new ones to match. I used granite tile on the countertops. Cheaper method of doing it. I put down ceramic tile in the hallway, two bathrooms, and the utility room.
I added a bathroom and moved the laundry to what was previously an unheated but enclosed porch. I tore out the pink sink and tub (I'm serious) that was in my bathroom and changed the counter top and sink. I want to do it different again later but it's fine for now. I have lots of other plans but it all has to be done a little at a time. I don't get much help from DH on these projects.This place was nasty. Full of mouse and rat poop and pack rats. It took weeks to eradicate them from the property before I came in and started working on it. I owned it about 9 months before it was able to be lived in. I would leave for work at 5:00 AM, work all day, get off work, then go work on this house and get home about 10PM to start over. I did that over all those months. I rewired the house bit by bit and changed out light fixtures etc. It is a never ending project but someday I hope it will be a nice house.
I bought for location and the property and I didn't care for the house but it was very solid built and appraised more than I gave. Someday it would be nice to feel proud of it.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Danz, have you seen the show Property Brothers? What you are doing is exactly what they say you SHOULD do. Buy a solid house, in a good neighborhood/location and then renovate it. So, that is something I'm keeping in mind too, when/if we move. If we find the perfect property/location and good sized house, but it is a mess, then I'd be willing to renovate. My FIL used to be a huge landlord just a couple years back. He retired and sold off over 120 homes! Before that, I had helped do kitchens and tile, etc.. So I am pretty good with a wet saw and tiling. If I don't know how to do things, I just research it on the internet and go for it! LOL Sounds like we are a lot a like. I think that's awesome that you have been working on your house little bit at a time. Very impressive that you changed the floor plan around in your kitchen. Our kitchen is fine-- nothing is broke, nothing is really dirty or falling down, etc. It's basically fine. It's just outdated and not appealing. I was 23 when we moved in... I picked out BLUE formica for the countertops! LOL It was fun then, and it still looks fine. But I'm pretty sure it's going to be a sore point for anyone looking at this property.

I can patch drywall too-- a while ago, the kids were really wild in the basement and flipped the La Z Boy chair over backwards. (no one was hurt) and put a little hole in the wall! I had it patched up and sanded over before DH got home. It was painted and looked like nothing happened the next day after it dried. With kids, you kind of have to learn a few things. We've been switching out our light fixtures for the last few years, too. We put up this beautiful chandelier in the kitchen a couple years ago and I hate to leave it here. But I suppose I will because it really makes that room look so neat when it's on. We had the builder "brass" look on all the door knobs in this house, too. We've already switched out all the knobs and hinges to brushed nickle. What a difference that makes. It's just little things. We were doing it for US to enjoy, since it's what we wanted. But I'm glad it's all done, less to do in a hurry. We just put in the hardwood floors last summer. It's a shame I didn't get to enjoy them any longer than that. Upside is that they still look brand new. We bought a nail gun for the job and then sold it on eBay for only $100 less than we bought it for! As for throwing away stuff-- I throw away any toys that are broken, and just a lot of paper stuff-- homework, art, etc.. Clothes that have holes, shoes that are worn, that kind of thing. Donated items are nick knack things I get tired of, and clothing that is in good shape and kitchen items. I just gave away all of my water and juice glasses last week because I found some of the old fashioned pressed glass at the flea market in Pittsburg when we went down there a couple weeks ago. Anything of any value, I eBay it if I don't want it. I had a lot of Amberina depression glass marked Heritage with all the original stickers. I knew I had no place to store it or really use it. It was super nice stuff, no chips. I sold off a canister set for over $350 on eBay! The rest I've sold off as I dig it up. I have kept a few pieces of the depression glass that is really hard to find in Amberina. Sooo... I do have a pretty good idea of what is valuable and what is not.

Trish, we have a shock collar for my ShihTzu, because she is bull headed. I rarely have to zap her. But she was running away, and not stopping. When we got the collar, it helped her learn her boundaries -- because I could not run fast enough to stop her, and she would not stop running even when I was chasing after her yelling at her! I finally had enough and got the collar. Now I can stand on the porch and watch her. If she takes off... she gets zapped. Or if she gets too close to the boundary line, she gets zapped. Now she's pretty good. It did take a while, she was really bull headed. Now I just can use the "noise" instead. (it comes with the training noise and the zapper) Might be an idea to put it on the instigator of the dogs and when they start to get too far off... zap? Then call them back to you and treat them. It's a lot of work. Did you call your extension office? I hope you get pictures of your hutch projects. And the new bunnies. I saw the first two you got, and they are adorable.

I'm about ready to take a nap! I ran around doing some errands. I bought some new fabric for the kitchen window and it will look better with the direction we're going. I also bought this pretty tim with glass and silver beads to hang off the bottom of the curtain. Hoping it will look elegant. We'll see. Right now, I have a cute cotton Americana print up that looks like a red, white and blue patchwork with cream country crochet trim on it. I donated all of my americana decorations a few weeks back, so the curtain has to go!