The Evolution of Atlas: A Breeding (and Chat) Thread

[Leahs Mom]

Yay for Bailey!

High made it up to 14 degrees. Since the wind was out of the East and Lake Huron is still relatively warm, we had 6in of lake effect snow dumped on us today. Not bad shoveling though, it was really super fluffy, and the trees all looks beautiful.

Don't know where you are but...
I get lake effect off Lake MI. I'm just at the outer edge so sometimes we get it and sometimes not depending on the wind.

We've been relatively "warm" here with temps in the 20's so far. Had a system snow today and it's "snowman snow" - really wet and heavy. Lots of accidents as people are getting used to driving again. Toll Road (80/90) has had lots of accidents and shut-downs with semi-trucks sliding, etc.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Rooting for Bailey.

 

[speckledhen]

Rooting for Bailey.

That girl has been through a lot in her short life after first having her scalp pretty much removed from her skull and having to be separated for that to heal and now this crop issue. i still think she and Betsy got into something out there because no one else was affected, even the ones in a bad molt. Poor Bailey is getting testy now. She bit me yesterday. I cut her some slack after all the pushing and prodding and force feeding we've done to try to save her.

 

[1muttsfan]

I'm up in the UP along the Lake Huron shoreline. We generally run 10-20 degrees colder than downstate. We only get serious lake effect if the wind is easterly or from the southwest.

 

[kitkat5505]

Those cookies sound yummy! I love baked goods but hate cooking/baking, which I guess is good for my weight and blood sugar lol. I got a bag of homemade caramels from a neighbor and had to put it at the top of the closet so I wouldn’t eat it all at once. My husband also got me a bunch of chocolate for my birthday the other day and I hid that in my closet too. Less likely to eat it all fast if it’s more work to get to.

Yay for Bailey finally eating something! Hope she keeps it up.

 

[speckledhen]

I can't eat many baked goods. They don't sit well with me anymore, something about the combined ingredients, I guess. I get terrible reflux when I eat cake or cookies, generally. But, out of sight, out of mind. I will occasionally find a ziplock with a few cookies I hid in the freezer to keep from eating them. Of course, they're good right from the freezer, LOL. I may just do the decorated butter cookies and skip the brownies, but we'll see how I feel when I get into it.

 

[getaclue]

I got a bunch of presents (19) wrapped last night, then my back began to ache from all the bending over. I'll try to finish the rest tonight. Growing up, the wrapped presents were from my parents, grandparents, etc., and the ones that were not wrapped were from Santa. I was going to do that with the grandkids' presents. Oh no, Dh wouldn't hear of it. He has insisted they ALL be wrapped. I have about 20 more to go.

For the past couple weeks, Dh has been doing all kinds of wonderful things for me. First, he cleaned, and organized the garage. Next, he took care of my chickens for me. In the meantime, he's been cautioning me to be a little careful, but letting me know I can spend a little more money for Christmas, if I want, or need to. I thought about it, and no, he's not cheating on me. I checked, and no he's not buying a lot of things for himself, and not telling me. Hmmmm. One night, he began asking about some of the charges on the card to Amazon, for Christmas gifts. No big deal. He washed my truck. A couple days later, he waxed my truck. Ok, what gives? Then it hit me. He's hunting for his Christmas present from me. He's been all over the house, coop, storage, and my truck trying to find his present.

 

[kitkat5505]

I love wrapping presents, but 8 kids, husband, and extended family make my back hurt doing it too. Haven’t even started wrapping yet, just a pile of Amazon boxes in my closet lol.

I keep forgetting to bring my chickens water bucket into the garage at night and the nipples keep freezing and the poor girls get thirsty. I’ve never liked the cold, but especially when it makes more work for me lol.

 

[speckledhen]

I got a bunch of presents (19) wrapped last night, then my back began to ache from all the bending over. I'll try to finish the rest tonight. Growing up, the wrapped presents were from my parents, grandparents, etc., and the ones that were not wrapped were from Santa. I was going to do that with the grandkids' presents. Oh no, Dh wouldn't hear of it. He has insisted they ALL be wrapped. I have about 20 more to go.

For the past couple weeks, Dh has been doing all kinds of wonderful things for me. First, he cleaned, and organized the garage. Next, he took care of my chickens for me. In the meantime, he's been cautioning me to be a little careful, but letting me know I can spend a little more money for Christmas, if I want, or need to. I thought about it, and no, he's not cheating on me. I checked, and no he's not buying a lot of things for himself, and not telling me. Hmmmm. One night, he began asking about some of the charges on the card to Amazon, for Christmas gifts. No big deal. He washed my truck. A couple days later, he waxed my truck. Ok, what gives? Then it hit me. He's hunting for his Christmas present from me. He's been all over the house, coop, storage, and my truck trying to find his present.

What a sneaky hubby! So, where did you hide it?? I won't tell!

We don't do Christmas at all, so no wrapping, no Santa stuff, no tree, no sneaking, no nothing. It's very freeing. We started that when the kids were very young, doing the traditional stuff because that's what we knew, then, after some soul-searching, we just decided we would no longer participate in this or a couple other holidays, so have not done any of that in about 30 or more years. That is one reason we want to get to January 2nd so we hunker down and try to be somewhat invisible, other than going to the family dinner because that is the only time we see most everyone at once, including my niece who is an RN and lives in SC, the daughter of my husband's brother who just passed away. I hope she makes it this year with her schedule. Some years, I just can't take it so I let DH go without me. Some years, I do gift folks things I've made, but that's because I never see them. This year, I'm using a bunch of fancy bags I found in my dad's basement--Banana Republic, The Gap, Victoria's Secret, New Baby, Harrods, etc, etc, all from my hoochie-mama Dad's wife's family, LOL.

I have no family involved in anything, holiday or otherwise. My younger son is still out of the country until next summer or fall. My older son is a restaurant manager so he rarely has time off and when he does, he either goes to concert venues close to Atlanta or to his in-laws who live in the same neighborhood. We are 2 1/2 hrs north so we are apparently too far and cost too much gas to come see more than once every two years. Geez, kids. I say kids, but he's 40. I don't see my sister, never have-the only reason I ever had any contact with her had to do with our adoptive father and since he's gone now, not much reason to have contact with her. Sorry to say I don't much like her, never have, we're too different. Anyway, my husband's family is way more than enough, ack! He even has a low tolerance for family mess. It's pretty much just us 24/7.

Enough of family drama, let's talk chickens! I'm with you, Kara, on the more work in winter issue. Though we have everyone in the barn, in winter, it makes me want far fewer chickens. I'm still waiting on quite a few to kick the bucket, though I will be sad and miss those when they're gone. The upside is less work! I know I need more younger layers, but I am torn between hatching in spring or just not doing anything until someone (or multiple someones) dies!

 

[speckledhen]

Oh, I made this for one of my great nieces. She's about 2 1/2, if I recall.