Dixie Chicks

[Alaskan]

The tradition of not doing laundry between Christmas Eve and New Years Day:

Wow! Thanks for the explanation! Very cool!

About outhouses and winter, using a outhouse in -20C isn't a problem as long as you have a polystyrene seat - don't make the mistake on sitting down on a plastic one, that will make you leap up and hit your head in the ceiling. The outhouse provides protection from wind, so it's pretty nice. At least it's a lot better than just going in the forest. And if it's an actively used outhouse, it will provide some heat by itself.

@Amberjem vehve is right... you just need the right kind of seat, that is VERY important. I love outhouses...especially well maintained ones.

Thanks all, he left grandma behind after 63 (?) years of marriage... I feel very sorry for her!

It was -34C this morning. Thinking it's ~-28C right now. My hands are so dry they are just about to start cracking, we have 60% humidity.

I find that when they start to crack, you need to coat your hands with something pretty solid. Like a full layer of chapstick, all over your hands would work in a pinch. But usually the stuff that helps the most stays as a thick sticky layer, so you need to then wear gloves that you can wash later. I really dislike it when the cracks get so bad that they all the way down to the meat of the hand. Being sticky for 3 days while everything heals back up, is a much better choice then letting it get too bad.

Somebody asked if I got my greenhouse shoveled out I did looks I got to go do it again

You need a greenhouse that you don't have to shovel.....

Either make the roof stronger, or more sloped, or make a greenhouse where the plastic is removed, or rolled up and stored out of the way in the snow season.

There is no way you want to be out there at 3am, shoveling the roof for the up-teenth time, with toddlers, dogs, chicks and a roaring fire in the fireplace all by themselves in the house.

There has to be a no-shovel way that you can make happen.

So much to catch up on....not enough time at lunch.

Real quick for the neighbor...roo or pullet?

I too, vote pullet

yeah at home I'd rather scrape the chicken poo off the roost with my finger nails then clean the house... but then there are things more important then scraping chicken poop...

oh, and yeah! What, people are supposed to have clean fingernails?

Man, mine are bad in the winter, but in the summer there is a layer of grime that just soaks through the layers of skin and does not come off, even after a very long and hot shower.

 

[Double Kindness]

Agh, I finally found my recipe book, in a drawer.

vanilla custard recipe:
8 egg yolks
600 ml heavy cream
100 ml whole milk
100g sugar
1 vanilla bean split in half lengthwise and seeds scraped out

preheat oven to 100c whisk yolks & sugar until very light yellow and fluffy, add cream, milk, vanilla bean, pinch sea salt and strain through a fine mesh seive or multiple layers of cheesecloth into 8 6oz ramekins bake 1 hour 15 min middle should bve wobbly let cool, covering tightly with plastic wrap then chill in fridge for 6 hours.

easy peasy no?

 

[Ravynscroft]

Very sad, lol. Told my OH that I'd rather clean coops than one catbox any day! Got a very sideways look from that one. Said I was weird, which I fully disclosed that to him when we first started dating, lol.
Dang, pics! Didn't even take my phone outside with me! With my luck I'd drop it in chicken poo so I always leave it inside. I think he needs to get it insured first. How about chick pics?

 

[Amberjem]

Wow! Thanks for the explanation! Very cool!




@Amberjem vehve is right... you just need the right kind of seat, that is VERY important. I love outhouses...especially well maintained ones.



I find that when they start to crack, you need to coat your hands with something pretty solid. Like a full layer of chapstick, all over your hands would work in a pinch. But usually the stuff that helps the most stays as a thick sticky layer, so you need to then wear gloves that you can wash later. I really dislike it when the cracks get so bad that they all the way down to the meat of the hand. Being sticky for 3 days while everything heals back up, is a much better choice then letting it get too bad.

You need a greenhouse that you don't have to shovel.....


oh, and yeah! What, people are supposed to have clean fingernails?

Man, mine are bad in the winter, but in the summer there is a layer of grime that just soaks through the layers of skin and does not come off, even after a very long and hot shower.

Utter Butter works nice for chapped skin...

ugh I hate when my hands get that dirt stain that doesnt wanna come out.. I found a lil vinagar and lemon juice helped



as to an outhouse in Alaska... I am not buying it unless it has heat LOL there is just no way I can see walking in feet n feet of snow to get to an outhouse and go and use it would be comfy without some sort of heat source other then composting waste from the outhouse lol....
and trust me I dont have a problem with outhouses.. @Sharps Big 50 has a weird collection of photo's of me coming out of outhouses.. it's an odd hobby of his.......but an outhouse in the icy cold no way I want some heat lol... one of the best inventions man did was indoor plumping lol otherwise usually I'd be down for living few centurys back...

 

[Amberjem]

Agh, I finally found my recipe book, in a drawer.

vanilla custard recipe:
8 egg yolks
600 ml heavy cream
100 ml whole milk
100g sugar
1 vanilla bean split in half lengthwise and seeds scraped out

preheat oven to 100c whisk yolks & sugar until very light yellow and fluffy, add cream, milk, vanilla bean, pinch sea salt and strain through a fine mesh seive or multiple layers of cheesecloth into 8 6oz ramekins bake 1 hour 15 min middle should bve wobbly let cool, covering tightly with plastic wrap then chill in fridge for 6 hours.

easy peasy no?

awesome thanks How are you?

 

[BriardChickens]

Hi @Alaskan

 

[Ravynscroft]

Just for you @Amberjem I ran back out in the cold for quick pic, lol. Not totally finished yet, still needs nest boxes and bracing underneath on the legs, but ground is too frozen today. No mud today, it all froze last night, lol.

 

[hennible]

honestly is there really such a thing as a clean coop? ok yes there is.. a brand new unused one........

And vehves....

Wow!  Thanks for the explanation!  Very cool!




@Amberjem
vehve is right... you just need the right kind of seat, that is VERY important.   I love outhouses...especially well maintained ones. 



I find that when they start to crack, you need to coat your hands with something pretty solid.  Like a full layer of chapstick, all over your hands would work in a pinch.  But usually the stuff that helps the most stays as a thick sticky layer, so you need to then wear gloves that you can wash later.  I really dislike it when the cracks get so bad that they all the way down to the meat of the hand.  Being sticky for 3 days while everything heals back up, is a much better choice then letting it get too bad.

You need a greenhouse that you don't have to shovel.....

Either make the roof stronger, or more sloped, or make a greenhouse where the plastic is removed, or rolled up and stored out of the way in the snow season.

There is no way you want to be out there at 3am, shoveling the roof for the up-teenth time, with toddlers, dogs, chicks and a roaring fire in the fireplace all by themselves in the house.

There has to be a no-shovel way that you can make happen.


I too, vote pullet
oh, and yeah!  What, people are supposed to have clean fingernails? 

Man, mine are bad in the winter, but in the summer there is a layer of grime that just soaks through the layers of skin and does not come off, even after a very long and hot shower.

I think I'd have to go with A-frame greenhouses but I don't like how you lose the space with such steep angled walls... Taking the plastic off is a great idea DH want to do it that way... But if I keep the plastic on there's no snow in the greenhouse I don't have to wait for the snow to melt before I can start messing around in there... I need to go see what they do at the big tree nurseries and at the little garden nursery... none of them take their plastic off and can't possibly have the financial ability to pay somebody to shovel all that crud... Pony walls would help a lot... If I had about a 3 foot high (typical 2 x 4 frame wall) that I put my hoop house on I wouldn't have to worry about the snow load thats coming off the roof collapsing the frame... That also gets more height to grow within... Something a little more powerful than our snowblower for removing the snow would help to like a good truck or tractor... Or I can just build up some insanely massive biceps... Lol
Whoops sorry that's kind of long... don't talk to me about greenhouses I'll jabber on and on...

 

[JW12]

We have looked into getting a greenhouse but I have no idea what I would do with one. We plant our garden by the farmers almanac and it produces enough to get us through winter and spring and part of summer until it's time to do it all again.

 

[BriardChickens]

kinda like this hennible: our roof rarely ever has snow on it or slides right off.

You gain more head room by creating a 3 foot wall at the bottom.



as the snow slides off it creates another insulator around the bottom wall. This was taken after our first snow fall