Opa's place -Where an old rooster visits with friends

[Opa]

It's funny how little it takes to truly excite a two year old. Hope's grandson turned 2 in February and he is finally able to converse where I can understand him. Yesterday I hung a swing from a tree in your yard and installed a teeter totter near it. The excitement on his face was payment for the small effort on my part. Though some of his words sound a little off and his sentences are complete he was telling everyone about things Opa made for him. We barely finished supper last night and he was pulling on my hand asking "Opa, outside, let's swing".

 

[karl E lutz]

Little things that last forever in our memories!and in the hearts of our young.

 

[chickflick]

There is nothing like a child's smile! It lights the whole world and makes everyone around feel wonderful.

 

[chickencrazymamahen]

Good afternoon everyone! HOT< HOT< HOT!!!! I can't believe I am going to say this...but we need some rain. The garden is pretty much bone dry and we have taken to watering a few things; but it is unpractical as the garden is quite a ways from the house and it all must be carried in 5 gal. buckets.
Got good news last night; going to get me 2 grandsons in a week or so for a stay with grandma!!!
Love the swing Opa, wish we had one for the kids...he looks so happy!
Highlander, goodluck with the exercise program, I'm sure you will feel better...maybe you can motivate me to get moving again!
Hillbilly Hen, good pic of the hummers...they are so beautiful!
Sorry but I stand on the I like goat milk side...if its from a good quality animal thats fed properly; then I can't seem to notice any difference in the taste. When my kids were little they refused to drink our goat milk; one night I just poured them all glasses of it and had it on the table when they sat down. They went through the whole meal and didn't notice until I told them; never had a problem after that and even supplied the neighbor kids for a while.
Momma took a tumble yesterday afternoon and scratched and bruised herself. She was out watering her plants and I heard her holler and seen her tumble down the sidewalk. Went over and made sure everything was working ok and got her up and in the house...just scratched and mad (quite the little temper that lady has..lol). Was very relieved that she was ok.
Hope you all have a happy and Blessed Sunday!
Shirley

 

[Opa]

CCMH, glad to read your mother's fall wasn't any worse than it was. One of my greatest fears is that Granny will fall and break her hip. She is not a particularily good patient and if she were to fall and break a hip we wouldn't be able to bring her back home to recuperate. She outweighs me by at least 30 lbs and I am getting too old to try moving that kind of weight. A couple of weeks ago we decided to leave her home while Hope and I made a whirlwind trip to Ashland KY, my daughter in laws home town, to spend one afternoon, evening, and morning with Joe, Elizabeth, and Morgan. I had all the birds fed and watered and David was going to pick up the eggs when he came in to work on Monday morning. Granny is constantly reminded not to go outside when we aren't home.

On that Monday morning I was talking with Granny and asked her to have David write down the egg count so I can keep my yearly totals. To that she replied that we got 19. I was too early for David to be there so when questioned she said that she collected the eggs Sunday evening. To get to the chickens she must go down 14 steps, cross 100' of uneven ground, step up to enter the main coop, squeeze through a narrow door, shut off the power to the electric fence, go back out of the coop, open the poultry fence, gather the eggs from 3 coops with very heavy lids, reattach the poultry fence, back inside the main coop to turn on the power, back to the house, up the stairs, all the while carrying eggs. Had she fallen she would have laid there all night until the next morning when David came into work.

She's my mother. I don't want to make her feel small and even less helpful than she already does. But Lord, it sure is hard not to treat her like a disobedient child. How can you spank your mama.

 

[peepacheep]

CCMH, Sorry to hear your mother had a fall, what a scare! Glad to hear it was not a serious fall.

Opa, What wonderful pictures of the grandson on the swing! Gently sorting out what my parents should do, can do, and will do is a bit of a challenge and a worry at times. I have gotten to know some very independent rural seniors. Something that has given the rest of us some peace of mind is that they carry a phone in their pocket when outdoors. Help is on speed dial. Now if I can talk my folks into doing that....

Hillbilly Hen, Great hummingbird shot! We go through about half as much nectar at the peak, about 2 quarts a day until the 3rd week of July. Most of the adults head south then. The youngsters stay until early fall. We can always tell the fledglings for a couple of weeks, they fly like fluffy ping pong balls. A little clumsy but so cute!

I have had some very strong goaty cheese before and thought I did not like goat cheese until I had some made from this friend's goats. The milk is very similar cows milk but it does start getting goaty if it sits in the frig for a few days. I use apple cider vinegar for the vinegar cheese. I taste a faint hint of apple in the cheese. When I use the whey for sour dough bread sometimes that is where I taste a slight goat flavor. I do not get goat milk often enough to do real test but I have noticed when I give the chickens the whey for a few days there has been a boost in egg numbers for a few days after. One thing that is so impressive about the goats is how the mow down blackberries, (kudzu of the NW). Almost tempting to get a couple of goats just for blackberry management!

The latest Chick-Chalet is almost done. Need to do a bit more trenching but hopefully tomorrow the hardware cloth can get stapled and buried. I will miss the chick noises in the house but not the mess!

 

[Ec_Prokta]

My mother loves goat cheese. She likes putting it in a big salad with some tangy dressing!

Good morning all! Today, we're cleaning the house some more, and... not really doing much besides that.

to all!

 

[vanalpaca]

Goats kept near a billy will take on the rank billy goat smell to their milk. My brother raised goats for years and kept them separate from a billy except to breed them. The milk was delicious and tasted exactly like cow's milk. The meat tasted just like pot roast. So for me, it depends on how the goats are kept as to whether I like their milk or not!

I totally agree that a billy can spoil the taste!

Got a few things into the garden before they dried up and died. So a couple chili pepper plants, Early Girl and Celebrity Tomatoes, burpless cucumbers, 3 more sweet potato plants. But stuff in those little six packs are shriveling up to dust overnight in this heat and my schedule does not include twice daily watering of them, so we will see what I can keep alive in this 90 plus degree drought. The peas have put on their pods and I am hoping they will start filling out and I can eat 24 feet row of peas off the vine before my friendly neighbor gets to them!

Lettuce and beets sprouted, but may have to replant if the heat wave continues. Got sand, its a problem.

Did get a 4x8 bed turned over that had rotted alpaca/straw on it so that will help a tiny bit, but I know it isn't enough to count much.

Don't tell my daughter, but I have 2 resident toads along the walk from the cars to the door of the house!! She hates toads hopping out at here in the dark. I love em!

BIG PROUD PARENTS here. Said daughter graduated HS Sunday Suma Cum Laude and in the top 5% of her class. Whew! She goes to college the day before she turns 18. She did good!

Well, dad is 85 and just went into surgery 15 minutes ago 2500 miles away from me for appendicitus. He's a tough bird, sure hope he makes it.

Got shearing in the morning for 26 alpacas at my rented farm, then thursday we are shearing again and will have 17 to do, 3 are mine there.

Just got done with 7 hours of radiation/chemo for hubby today. He is doing good today, will go downhill over the next week, then start feeling better.

Grad Party for the kid is this Sunday, and CHICKENSTOCK is only a week or two after!!

Opa, you need to get some kinda mobile phone on grandma so she can call for help. I know of two cases where seniors have fallen home alone and laid there for hours to days before being rescued! Just pretend you are in her shoes. How are we gonna keep YOU down when you are her age??

Bonnie in OHIO

 

[Opa]

Bonnie, your husband will be in my thoughts and prayers as he goes through his treatments.

Granny was out by the chicken coops this afternoon and she discovered a painted turtle laying eggs in the yard. She says she has never seen a painted turtle anywhere but on logs in the water. Kind of hard to believe that given how much of her life was spent in the country that she had never seen that before. I usually find several types of turtles, including snappers, nesting in my yard each year.

One of the first things I did when Granny moved in with us was to get her a cell phone that she keeps with her at all times. Figured it was the prudent things in case she needs to tell us "I've fallen and I can't get up".

 

[chickencrazymamahen]

Quote:
I know EXACTLY how you feel Opa!! Sometimes I wish I could put her in time out, but whatcha gonna do?? She has promised time and time again to stay in the house if we would go away...of course she never would. Always seemed like she waited for us to leave so she could get out, prowl and get into what we asked her to stay away from. We came home early one time and found her weeding around an old stump where I had seen a copper head a day or two before and asked her to stay away....her response "that old snake ain't gonna mess with me" *sigh* Thats why she is going to grannie day care now! For the last 2 years almost always ,one of us has always been here because we worry about what she'll get into, so its a relief to know she will be ok when we are gone. All we can do for our parents is our best to make them happy and comfortable; but it sure ain't easy!!!

Yesterday we spent the day hiving a swarm of bee's; we are so tickled to get them as the last couple years they just took off. It was a rather large swarm, probably would have filled a 5 gallon bucket. They are in a double super hive body but I do believe we will have to add another super to make them happy, they are hanging out some during the day. They were high up in a skinny tree and it was an adventure to tie off the tree and work it down with several cuts partially thru the trunk so it wouldn't snap and fall all at once.

Hope everyone has had a good day! Blessings,
CCMH