~ Retired and Starting My Future In The Foothills ~

[gryeyes]

<*yawn, stretch*>
Well, I used Christmas Day to sleep. A LOT. That recliner is COM-FY. The wiener dogs were so happy to have me home they didn't care; they were under the sofa blanket with me the entire time. Smudge, being a cat, was there on and off, laying across my left shoulder and arm. With his head on my shoulder. Extremely easy to stay put under those circumstances.

However, Smudge extracted his due when I decided I wanted to watch the local news.

47" HD TV screen, and it's the biggest screen he's ever blocked. Bet he feels all Important and Magnificent now. Even more so than usual.

I did manage to finish hanging ornaments on the tree while it was still Christmas Eve. By "finished," I mean "when I ran out of paperclips." Hummph. Low-bid paperclips, almost 2/3rd of them snapped when I bent them to use as ornament hooks. I have more ornaments than there are paperclips left. Ah, well.

And without the flash, so you can see how purdy it is to ME.

 

[Noncentzter]

Merry Christmas Linda! So happy for you in Your new digs!

 

[gryeyes]

It is 3:50 a.m. and the roosters are crowing.

I'm up, after having slept all day, I haven't gone to sleep or bed. I'm noodling around BYC (as much as possible around Smudge).

So, what got the roosters going? Hitchco][ck
ae

Whoops. Smudge is helping. <*batting him away again*>

Hitchcock, on the porch railing, was the first to crow. Carl in the coop (top rung of the ladder roost by the large, open hardware cloth covered front window) responded. Then George. Carl again. Hitchcock a second time. George and now Charlie crowing. Carl again. Then Riley, I think.

I looked out the window and see the five chickens on the porch railing (in the light shining from this room through the window) stirring, Hitchcock and Albert both standing upright. Albert hasn't crowed.

Wonder what spooked 'em? They're done now. And Smudge has sprawled out across the desk, at last. Neither one of the wiener dogs on the day bed stirred.

I wonder if I should candle some of these eggs in the incubators? Nah.... I don't like disappointments, so I'll just be disappointed at the end when the ones that don't hatch.... don't hatch.

 

[1muttsfan]

Quote:
My good friend Vera always used to say "Don't get into a stinking contest with a skunk"

Love your porch ornaments, living and otherwise

 

[OvertheHenHouse]

Quote:
Wonder if it was Lizbeth...

 

[gryeyes]

Mahonri, I was gonna try to share something that's not nice about my "country home," just to denigrate it enough to make you less jealous.

But I couldn't think of anything, really. There's the problem neighbor, but everybody has one of those. My propane heater/fake fireplace thing doesn't work, so I'm running up the electric bill with space heaters and baseboard heaters, but that's temporary. There's the lack of snow, but you don't care for cold weather... oh! Okay, it's been bitterly cold this past couple of weeks, down to 25 degrees at night. There!

...I'd far rather deal with the cold than the heat.... There are always more clothes to "layer" and blankets to add, so that's okay. Ya just can't do all that much when it's too hot; once yer nekkid, that's about all you can do.

I have not seen Lizbeth nor any sign of her. <*sigh*>

HHandbasket has my OvaScope right now, or I might be tempted to candle some of these 77 eggs. Mine won't be ready to hatch until the 5th, so I can drag that thread out a while, I guess. "Eggs I bought for the NYD Hatch and should have set by Dec 11th but did not." I also broke down and bought silkie eggs - Yes, yes, I did. I don't know what came over me. I'm setting those tonight in both of my Mini Advance EX 'bators.

Some more of the miscellaneous stuff brought up from the rental a couple of weekends ago is now stored in the shed. There's more to rearrange, set out in the yard, or store in the shed, though. I'm trying to make this place look less trashy (imagining that's what others would think, looking at it) but.... look, I live in the country. The house is only 884 square feet! It takes time for an aging woman with fibromyalgia (and not a small amount of laziness) to physically move things from one place to another.

 

[dsqard]

Linda I wish I lived closer to you, I would give you a hand. My aunt calls me the whirlwind because when I get going, I don't stop till it's done.

Love the lit up chicken chorus!

 

[gryeyes]

I still don't have the whole story yet, but according to my real estate agent, the complainant HAS NOT called Channel 3. He has only THREATENED to do so. So, until I find out more, like who he spoke with or how he transmitted this threat and who he threatened, I guess we need to dial back the thickness of the insanity layer with which I've painted him. After all, that is slightly less crazy than actually having followed through on the threat.

When John was here during the day on Christmas Eve to close out the year's accounts, he did express some disbelief in discovering I've got 77 eggs cooking in three incubators. The infrequent sound of the humidity pumps drew his attention, so I had to show him the source: three Brinsea Octagon20 Advance EX incubators. (And Simba. He's had bunnies before, so he admired Simba and talked about rabbit behavior for a while. I have since given Simba a heavier crockery bowl for his rabbit pellets, which keeps him from dumping all his food. I had chalked it up to bunny pique. Apparently it's a very common rabbit behavior.)

Anyway, I changed the batteries in my flashlight this evening and decided to peek into some of those 77 eggs. Didn't move 'em, just put the business end of the flashlight against a few eggs, one after another, to see if I could see anything. Not really candling. Just curious if this method of peeking through the shells (as mentioned by somebody else in another thread) would work for me, too.

MOVEMENT! There's movement in one of the eggs! Wahoo!

There may be development - in fact, there is - in several other eggs, but one of the blobs wiggled for me! I didn't have to peek into any more eggs.

Another bit of Olmstead Homestead progress: Dooley used the electronic pet door! For both exiting and entering the house! He wasn't even following Smudge through it! It was his own idea.

Yesterday, I was startled at seeing a rooster - currently identified as "Not Riley" - peer through the pet door clear panel. By the time I got my camera, he had moved away. Evidently there is some curiosity amongst the flock about that odd portal on the side of the house, with the ramp leading up to it.

 

[coloradochick]

UH-OH

New roomies

 

[gryeyes]

Quote:
Only if they tackle the cat or one of the dogs and wrestle their collars away from them!