The Front Porch Swing

[Windy Bay Farm]

Wow!!! Big sky where you live! I used to have vistas where I live but now I'm on a ridge surrounded by woods and can't see the skyline very well, so I miss out on horizons now. I love that pic...you should be submitting these to magazines! Just gotta show you all the tiny meaty bird feed trough I made today! It's about a foot and a quarter long...I'm getting 10 meaties tomorrow. And my heating pad brooder heater in my outside (in the open air big coop) brooder....can ya see it??

Certainly is a big sky and The Lord is such a wonderful artist ! You definitely have been busy today ! Show us some pics of your meaties tomorrow when you get them

 

[Beekissed]

If I am not in the mood for company I don't answer the door either. And I never let someone I don't know come in my house either.

When I was still married to the ex and living in WV the tax assor showed up one day. He and his assistant got out of the car and started walking around the property taking measurements. I called the sheriff's department and asked what to do. They told me if I did not know who they were to ask them to leave.

When they started going around the house looking in windows the deputy told me to take my gun and confront them. They sheriff was sending someone out right away.

When the gentleman came up on the porch I stepped out the door with my shot gun leveled at him and told him to get off my property. I scared the crap out of him. He claimed he wanted to talk to my husband. I told him he would be home Saturday. He said he didn't work on Saturdays. I told him that was not my problem. He got in his car and left. To my knowledge he never came back.

No body in their right mind goes sneaking around a woman's house when she is home with four young children that she is defending .........

Amen!!! I would have loved to see you do that!!

When I first moved to my last place I had a lot of unexpected visits from men..strange men..because I had a huge apple orchard and the local men were used to coming to that place and getting deer apples, without even a by your leave, mind you! It got really bad..they were really rude and pushy and just couldn't understand why they couldn't come on the property any time they pleased because they had always done so. When they were polite(one man only) and asked to pay, I gave them away for free. When they told me they were coming to get apples, I told them they were for sale.

One day my sons and I were out in the front yard working on the lawnmower and a guy wheeled into the yard..not the driveway...right onto the actual grass, popped out of his van and loudly said, "Just thought I'd tell you I'm coming to get apples on Saturday!". I was new in this area...didn't know any of these people from Adam.

I looked at my sons and they looked at me...they were clearly waiting for what I would say and they were trying to hide the smiles. Now, I'm a nice person and pretty laid back, friendly as all get out..but I had had just about all of this rudeness I could stand at that point.

I calmly turned to the man and said, "I'm sooooo glad you stopped by to tell me that you are coming to trespass and steal. Now, while you are doing that, I'm going to send the boys over to your house to pick up your van for the day so they can joyride in it a little. I just LOVE this neighborliness y'all keep showing us! Now, they just got their driver's license but they do pretty well.".

The man looked like he'd been poleaxed, gulped a couple of times... and started sputtering around about how he's always got apples there and such. I finally just told him he could have some right now but they were $5 a bucket and he said that was "too steep" and left.

 

[beckyb1971]

Yes we do, we have rirs, fblackcm, fb

Oh that area was so pretty when we took a trip that-a-way!  Do you have a lots of chickens in addition to that beauty on your daughter's shoulder?

luecm, ees, ss, sfh, favs, silkies, barnies, polish, glw, slw. we have around 75 outside n 15 inside n 60 eggs due to hatch

 

[lovingmyhens]

That is a stunning pic!  Just beautiful!  And you get to look at that every evening?  Simply lovely. 

Yes!  God is a master artist...I was just telling Him so this morning when it rained in the night and I awakened to the bluest sky possible...almost hurt to look at it.  The big full white moon is rising right now in a slate blue evening sky and it's beyond words beautiful...there aren't really any words that can describe the beauty and the wonderful time I had today just doing chores on and around the coop, basking in the 70+ weather, and also basking in the love of my Father, who answered my morning prayer today for strength and stamina to get something significant done today after feeling so bad yesterday....and I DID, with the Lord's help. 

Girls, I didn't even start until after lunch and still got so much accomplished today!  I took away the winter wind blocks from the coop(tarp, hay bales, dog house), built my chick brooder on the coop floor, set up my heating pad brooder heater, built a nifty little chick trough from wood, emptied and stored all the heated buckets and bowls from winter and switched back to the regular communal waterer for all animals(placed it inside of an old tire to provide a step up for chickens and cat), removed winter padding from the roosts, straightened up the coop a good bit, leveled the dog house and placed bales on either side for keeping it cool in the summer, videoed the brooder build, took pics of the same, refreshed feed, stored feed, entertained family that came to visit and was here all day, got in wood, etc. 

That was all the Lord because I could barely put one foot in front of the other yesterday for the pain and low energy.  Isn't He so wonderful????  I feel so great for having gotten all that done today!  e

So proud of you! It's a great feeling!

 

[Blooie]

So proud of you! It's a great feeling

I didn't get nearly that much done today - or any day, for that matter. But I'm still tired. Guess doing nothing is hard work 'cause you can't stop to rest. <sigh

 

[Blooie]

Somebody started a thread the other night for people to put up their poems. My contribution:

I went into the feed store
Just to buy a bag of starter,
I knew there'd be new chicks inside
So today it would be harder.

I walked right past the brooder boxes
Looked neither left nor right,
I heard the little chickies peep
And vowed I'd avoid the sight.

After paying for my order,
And heading for the door,
I opted just to take a peek,
A quick look - nothing more.

So here I sit in my orange suit,
Waiting my case on the docket-
How the heck do you suppose
Those chicks got in my pocket?

 

[enola]

Somebody started a thread the other night for people to put up their poems.  My contribution:

[COLOR=333333]I went into the feed store[/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333]Just to buy a bag of starter,[/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333]I knew there'd be new chicks inside[/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333]So today it would be harder.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]I walked right past the brooder boxes[/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333]Looked neither left nor right,[/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333]I heard the little chickies peep[/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333]And vowed I'd avoid the sight.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]After paying for my order,[/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333]And heading for the door,[/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333]I opted just to take a peek,[/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333]A quick look - nothing more.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]So here I sit in my orange suit,[/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333]Waiting my case on the docket-[/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333]How the heck do you suppose [/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333]Those chicks got in my pocket?[/COLOR]

OMG!!! Absolutely pricless, made me laugh right out loud

 

[Beekissed]

Somebody started a thread the other night for people to put up their poems. My contribution:

I went into the feed store
Just to buy a bag of starter,
I knew there'd be new chicks inside
So today it would be harder.

I walked right past the brooder boxes
Looked neither left nor right,
I heard the little chickies peep
And vowed I'd avoid the sight.

After paying for my order,
And heading for the door,
I opted just to take a peek,
A quick look - nothing more.

So here I sit in my orange suit,
Waiting my case on the docket-
How the heck do you suppose
Those chicks got in my pocket?

Priceless!!! How do you DO that??? Right off the cuff....you should be gettin' paid, girl, cause you have a gift from God right there. Erma Bombeck left a hole in this world that could be filled by you, you know. We've been needing that kind of writing since she's been gone.

 

[lovingmyhens]

Aww, shucks! If I had some dirt in here I'd scuff my toes in it! Oh, wait! Here's some! Thanks, everyone! I have a theory. Raising kids is like teaching math. You can show them how to do it. You can set examples. You can explain the hard parts. You can encourage them when they get down because they "don't get it". But ultimately what they do with everything you've tried to teach them is up to them. They either use it, or they don't. Tam has a special kind of heart. Not once in all of her years of marriage had she ever asked us for a thing. Their son Austin was 16 when she unexpectedly found they were expecting again. She was so happy! They'd wanted another but had given up, content with Austin, and Austin absolutely doted on Evan..he was even in the delivery room when his little brother was born. He helped with the middle of the night feedings, diaperings, baths, spitting up - all of it. When Evan got older they were inseparable.....park, zoo, you name it, Austin and Evan did it together. They had a special bond, and their favorite activity was anything Star Wars, especially light saber battles. They missed each other so much when Austin went off to college in Iowa. So when our phone suddenly rang late one Saturday night, we heard her crying, and she asked us if we could come out and get her and Evan, we didn't hesitate. By Sunday night we were in Eastern South Dakota and by Wednesday we were all back here. Seems hubby had discovered on-line gambling, taking out loans in her and Austin's names, and then she found an ad he'd posted looking for a "no strings attached mistress." So in one week she lost her husband, her home, her car, her job, and had to leave Austin behind as well. At 40+ years old she was suddenly a single mom with a four year old who just wanted his dad and his brother. At first I didn't think she'd snap out of the depression. But she bucked up, went out and got her CNA license while working full time, living with her mom and dad in a cramped old trailer house. I remember her crying one night saying, "Ma, I almost wish we'd never had Evan - this is so unfair to him." But I told her that I think God knew she was in for a hard time, and He sent Evan to give her a reason to get up every morning. She managed to get a car and find a cute little place to live 2 blocks from us. She loves her job - and she especially loves the "elders" she takes care of. In order to have maximum time with Evan, she works the 6:00pm to 7:00am shift, sleeps after he goes to school, and is up and waiting for him when he gets home. Every summer Evan's dad picks him up and take him back to South Dakota. But almost 2 years ago, while Evan was back with his dad, Austin was killed in a car accident. Evan was only 6. I think before I had said last year, but it was in June of 2012, not last year. He'd only been married for 9 months. He and his wife were on their way home to Iowa after their dad's wedding to his girlfriend. The last picture taken of Austin was of him and Evan playing "Light Sabers" in their other grandparents' back yard. Less than 2 hours later, Austin was gone. So when Tam came over saying that this year when Evan leaves she wanted to do something special instead of just moping, and asked me if I'd go on this cruise with her, well I jumped on it! Besides, the last person you EVER want to go on a cruise with is a retired sailor! I could just imagine it - him waking up out of a sound sleep because there was a slight change in engine pitch....griping because it was taking too long to set up shore power.....complaining that the 1MC system was scratchy...no thanks! LOL

Oh blooie! What a tragic story. I need a hankie. My heart goes out to you and yours. When I hear stories like this it really makes my problems seem very insignificant.

 

[Blooie]

Priceless!!! How do you DO that??? Right off the cuff....you should be gettin' paid, girl, cause you have a gift from God right there. Erma Bombeck left a hole in this world that could be filled by you, you know. We've been needing that kind of writing since she's been gone.

Thank you! I just sit at the computer and stuff starts flowing off my fingers!