The Front Porch Swing

[TexasLisa]

Well, I am still new to the Texas weather and soil. Husband just disc our garden and I will start thinking about putting vegetables in the ground (broccoli, carrots, cabbage,kale, lettuce, peas, radishes. Onions are already in the ground). I am getting better at growing my veggies. We are still working our 'gumbo' soil.

I, too, want to build another coop or maybe just add on to what we have. We are looking into getting turkeys again this year. They are so much fun to have!

Lisa

 

[Faerie]

This warm weather and being FEBRUARY 1ST has me really thinking about warm weather.

As usual I start thinking about what all I want to do this year (but never get half of it done). What about you guys? Anybody have any big plans?

Build the chicken tractor (of course!), fence the yard with a nice tall privacy fence, and I am expanding my garden this year, adding 4 new beds!

 

[lindz8504]

I have lots of plans! Since we have officially been in our house for a year (WOO HOO!!!) there is still lots of stuff to do around here! Last year we basically worked on getting the yard started... Picking up rocks, roots, limbs ect.... we got about 20 feet around the house sowed in grass, but between the crazy rain storms we have had, and the chickens we are going to have to resow the majority of it, plus start extending into the rest of the yard. I also plan to plant a garden, but I need to get in gear and figure out exactly where I am going to put it, how big ect. I think I am going to do 4'x8' beds instead of traditional rows. I've heard lots of good things about gardening like that, so I want to try it at least! With the chickens, I am going to have to fence around it, but I want them to have access to it when we are finished harvesting ect. I also have to get Hubby to finish up the new chicken coop! We built a building that was originally going to be a shop for him, but he decided that he wouldn't have enough room in it, and decided that I could finish it as a new bigger coop! WOO HOO! I would also like to clear off some more land so maybe we can start planting our orchard this fall! I love having a new home and farm that I can plan and we can have what we want! It is just a LOT of work, when you are starting from scratch!

 

[TexasLisa]

O Lindz I am so excited for you! You should see the folders I have started of all the ideas I want to do. Isn't it fun?!!

Lisa

 

[bruceh]

well another member went out and asked all these people the old question of why did the chicken cross the road ?.here is what he came up with.

Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road?



BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a change! The chicken wanted
change!



JOHN MC CAIN: My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage
in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road...



SARAH PALIN: BECAUSE, PRAISE JESUS, I WAS GONNA SHOOT HIS SORRY LIBERAL *** OFF FOR
BLOCKING MY VIEW OF RUSSIA!



HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road.

This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure right from Day One that every chicken in this
country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road.

But then, this really isn't about me.



GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road.

We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us,
or for us.There is no middle ground here.



DICK CHENEY: Where's my gun?



COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken
crossing the road.



BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken. What is your definition of crossing?



AL GORE: I invented the chicken.



JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it!

It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's intentions.
I am not for it now, and will remain against it.



AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.



DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first
deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side
of the road.

What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by not taking on his current
problems before adding new problems.



OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems,
which is why he wants to cross this road so bad.

So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I

'm going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road
and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.



ANDERSON COOPER, CNN: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we
have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.



NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he's guilty! You can see it in his
eyes and the way he walks.



PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.



MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going.

I had a standing order at the Farmers Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a
certain level.

No little bird gave me any insider information.



DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad?

Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.



ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain, alone.



JERRY FALWELL: Because the chicken was gay! Can't you people see the plain truth?

That's why they call it the other side. Yes, my friends, that chicken is gay.
And if you eat that chicken, you will become gay, too.

I say we boycott all chickens until we sort out this abomination that the liberal
media whitewashes with seemingly harmless phrases like the other side.

That chicken should not be crossing the road. It's as plain and as simple as that.



GRANDPA: In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road.
Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.



BARBARA WALTERS: Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the
chicken tell, for the first time,

the heart warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to
accomplish its lifelong dream of crossing the road.



ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.



JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.



BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken2008, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs,

file your important documents, and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an
integral part of eChicken2008.

This new platform is much more stable and will never crash.



ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?



COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one ?






thank you scott

​

 

[lindz8504]

O Lindz I am so excited for you! You should see the folders I have started of all the ideas I want to do. Isn't it fun?!!

Lisa

It is a Lot of fun! We have 6 acres right now, but there are 4 lots beside us (2 on each side) that we are hoping to buy eventually. If we are able to get those we will have 15 acres! That is enough for a couple of cows, goats, and of course chickens! We also want a small fruit orchard and a really good sized garden. Plus Hubby has to have a wood working shop.

 

[Beekissed]

You don't have to tell me what you were thinking, I am sure I am having many of the same thoughts. The last time it happened, he was driving to a seminar in a snowstorm on rural highways in WI in areas without cell service. I couldn't get in contact with him until the next morning at 8 am.

The biggest problem with mine is that he is connected at the hip to his phone. He has two - one for work and one for personal, and he is always on them. If it rings, he answers, no matter what. We were always being interrupted - a movie at home, supper, dining in a restaurant, and on vacation. It was maddening. Now when he doesn't answer for over 4 hours I panic. Dumb, I know!

As for the rocking chairs, I have always loved them. I have the one my mom used to rock us kids to sleep. She died of cancer when I was 10. It contains good memories for me. I love to sit in the rocker by the wood stove, reading my sci-fi books.

Thanks for the support last night, guys! I wish I had the power of faith you guys do.

I love rocking chairs too!

My granny had two huge, black shiny rockers on her porch that sat low to the ground and she'd sit out there and snap beans, tell stories and gossip.

We can't lay claim to that faith as something we have done, but it has been given unto us and increased when we prayed for more....that's all there is to do. Take what measure of faith that you have been given and pray for more! It will be added unto you and then you can trust in it when you start to feel anxious and a blessed calm will come over you instead.

This warm weather and being FEBRUARY 1ST has me really thinking about warm weather.

As usual I start thinking about what all I want to do this year (but never get half of it done). What about you guys? Anybody have any big plans?

Coop redo! YAY! I love tweaking the coop!

Going bigger, lighter and better! Always better!

Smaller, more intense garden...will be starting with heirloom seeds this time, with my own soil mix starter and doing it the old fashioned way, like my granny did, and doing some square foot gardening, which I've done before and loved.

Building a DIY incubator out of a foam cooler and getting hatching eggs from an excellent source for WR bloodlines!

Going to get a small batch of CX in March(20) if I can and grow them out for as long as I wish, then can them in a jar.

Thinking about building a rabbit tractor/hutch and getting back into meat rabbits....and then will can them too!

Going to do some reseeding of the lawn, also adding more lime.

 

[bruceh]

Any particular reason that you chose to restart with Barnevelders? I am thinking about getting another breed... We are generally in the same temp zone.

reason i started with barnies. i had a quad of them in my laying pen. i really enjoyed their personalities.. they seemed to forage well and very social . so i did a lot of reading on them. good ones are not very well represented. i spoke to some breeders . i asked a lot of questions. they are very nice looking birds. however their egg laying ability is so so. the bird has been neglected over the years. me being me. i enjoy a challenge. i was and still am a rhode island red man. i love the reds. however since i lost my birds. i needed a break from them. so i wanted a breed that was different and fun. the barnevelder is just that. i have 3 colors of the barnvelder. blue laced, double gold laced black, and the splash. my hope is to eventually bring n the silver. i have 17 barnies at present . i will make my culls from there and breed the rest for a good foundation. if you decide to get barnvelders. i will help you get the best ones out there. there are many people breeding these chickens. only a few who do it right. as with many breeds of birds, there are only a hand full that really care. the feather merchants out there are doing a dis-service to the breeds.
duffer, you can always pm me or im sure bee will not mind on opinion on breeds. there are many many many to choose from.

 

[lindz8504]

5 of my 6 Golden comet girls!


Still waiting on her first egg! She spent a big part of the day sitting in the nest boxes!


Fresh laid egg in nest #1, and a practicing pullet in nest #2

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

When I take my goofball dog out for his bedtime walk he brings his frisbee. We just go up and down the driveway so I don't bother with a flashlight. We play catch in the dark. I can't see where the frisbee or the dog go, but I can tell if he catches it by the sound it makes when he does. Then I'm supposed to clap and say "Good boy!" Should I tell him I'm faking it?