The Front Porch Swing

[Beekissed]

@Bee... How is the water situation in your coop? I hope things are drying out. It is so frustrating when we get monsoons and water has nowhere to go and ends up running inside the coops/runs. I plan to move one coop and dig a trench down one side of another for that very reason.

My tarps are old and leaky, making it more wet in there than normal, but I have a clear tarp ordered and it will be here soonest. My coop is located on a slight grade at the base of a hill, so the water usually passes me by and drains right away...which is why you can see lovely dark, lush grass in stripes extending from the coop when the grass is on.

I've currently got too much hay in my bedding from brooding all the chicks and such, something I normally don't even use when brooding chicks but for some strange reason I used some this time. I was going to move it out of the coop but I chose to leave it in place and build on top of it. My coop is so airy that this should be okay and the hay will attract more bugs and worms to the mix, but I wouldn't recommend it for anyone else unless they have an airy hoop coop situation like I do.

TW, I was wondering if you could use those black, plastic landscape borders that you sink into the ground to just divert the water from your coop....could save you a lot of digging ditches if you just dig down far enough to insert those borders and let the water flow off on either side of your coop.

I had to spend a while this morning cleaning out a chick pen full of molding straw and rotting food. not my favorite thing to do

You need to read about deep litter, my dear! It will save you a lot of time in your life and make for a healthier life for your chickens. Another good read is about fermented feed, another time, money and life saver for your flock. All those chores will just melt away into the past and you'll wonder why in the world hadn't you heard of these sooner?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/70/deep-litter-method

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/645057/fermented-feeds-anyone-using-them

Re barking dogs & crowing roos: it's been said that the only person who doesn't hear a dog barking at 2 am is the owner of the dog! LOL

Exactly. That's what irks me about it and why I'm so very adamant on not letting it happen. My neighbors are not right on top of us but they can hear...sound carries well in these hills. If I can hear it, they can hear it, so it's just rude and inconsiderate to allow it to continue if I can do anything at all to stop it. If I cannot stop it, due to having certain livestock or breeding programs, then that's another thing altogether...but just having a backyard flock? I can sure put a good effort into it.

Same with the dog. Everyone always asks me, "How in the world do you get a dog to stop barking?"....the same way you get a kid to stop screaming and making noise. Discipline and training...and meaning it. There are some reasons to be barking and that's desirable. But just standing or sitting there barking a rhythmic, non stop barrage of barking...no excuse for it.

There are some really great men in this world, but was just figuring the ones helping with the mattress were of the TPTB persuasion, because if you helpers were women you would have brainstormed to figure out the best way to to it. My DH will actually stop and ask what I think!

I think we feel that way because we are the kind of women who are problem solvers, but most women are just as clueless as most men.....but my experience has been that you are right.

Women would have waited a bit, tried to come up with an easy, workable solution whereas men just want to get it done, they don't like doing that kind of work and so they force things or do them in nonsensical ways because they don't take the time to ponder. They generally tend to lack the patience of women.

Not to bash men but that just seems to be a trait of many of them and seeing as they do most of the big work in the world, they get the blame for it when their work just doesn't make any sense.

Whenever Mom and I see a poor design in a road system, a building, a fixture, we immediately figure a man did it because they seem to look around for the most difficult and unworkable solutions and then implement them....not sure if it's because they are getting paid by the hour and when things are that messed up it takes longer to get them there, or what, but it just seems that way.

 

[perchie.girl]

I can't bear it! Yes...I can't bear the incessant crowing of a rooster.

It's like listening to a dog that barks all day...drives me insane. I have grown to really love the quiet and so cannot stand constant crowing. The occasional crow is lovely and fine. I don't allow the other kind...don't allow a dog to bark constantly, nor a rooster to crow constantly. They better both have a darn good reason for the constant chatter and, if not, it's got to stop.

So far I've had success with that. I don't know if I could pull it off if I had a neighbor with a mouthy roo because mine would want to keep answering that challenge. Even when I had that pen chalk full of roosters I didn't have all day crowing...first thing in the morning and an occasional crow by the flock master and then no more.

I am the opposite.... I love the sound of roos. They are like the town crier.... "doodle doodle dooooo .... alls well"

I have had as many as five and the Coop is less than thirty feet from the house. I only had one that crowed all night. Um er from about Midnight on. That was during a time when the Border patrol Helicopters were in pursuit a lot.... Big lights would shine on my land..... Waylin would wake up and Doodle dooo.....

LOL The guineas would sleep through it all usually. Though When they were woken up OMG Who ever it was left quickly.


For the new people.... When I lived at my house in the desert I lived alone.... 18 acres near the Mexican border I rarely locked my doors. At that time I had My horse about thirty Barnyard mixed chickens and 5 Male guinea Fowl. I havent officially lived there full time since 2007.

deb

 

[Beekissed]

Well...FedEx just delivered Mom's coffin. It is now on the front porch....ironically so. So I thought I would share this little tidbit with THIS Front Porch.

We ordered it from a company in Colorado that makes these "green" caskets from downed Lodgepole pines that were killed by the beetles out there. All the glue is biodegradable and "green" and so is the light finish on it. It's a plain pine box with rope handles...very pretty. You can get them lined but we didn't choose to do so. You can even get them with shelf inserts so you can use it as a shelving unit until it's time to put it to its final purpose.

Here's what it looks like, but without the decal/emblem on the top and with a solid lid, not split for viewing....

http://www.naturescasket.com/Casket.html

Going to order Dad's this week also and have it stored at the funeral home local to his facility so it can be accessed easily.

They are cheap, beautiful and don't violate any burial laws and my dad always wanted to be buried in a plain pine box, though he wanted to build it himself...but..time gets away from folks and, very often, they get it in their heads they will never die...that always happens "some day", but not today.

Me? I am anxious to leave this place and go into the Long Tomorrow, so my "bags" are packed at all times in preparation for going. We are all leaving here one way or another, so it's best to just prepare for that, settle it, and move on with the living of the time you have left. The most important preparation, of course, is where your eternal soul will reside when it shuffles off this mortal coil...if you don't have that settled, nothing else really matters. Not the living or the dying....so I urge everyone to take part in the Gift that was given so that we do not have to perish for an eternity when we leave this place.

For now, the FedEx guy has a neat tale to tell and we have a beautiful pine box on the front porch. We will move it into the cabin and place a cushion on it so we can use it for furniture until it needs to be used. We can use it for storage, a wood box, a bench or anything else if we so wish...I think it's kind of neat!

 

[bruceha2000]

... and then I found out ALL the things that were wrong with the house that the inspector never noticed (or did not care to notice).

Inspectors can not take things apart so whatever the prior owner(s) have hidden, stays hidden until someone buys the place and "lifts up the rug".

Ugly sale, for sure... we got taken by all parties involved. Very sad. Nothing like finding out you have to replace every wall in your home because they're rotten. Already put a new roof on the place last year, because I had a waterfall running down my walls in several rooms.

Still a cute house though.. especially once we're done rebuilding every room (new drywall, new windows, new ceilings, fix electric from the 50s)

Been there (STILL there) done that. Got screwed by people who had "fixed up" the house over the preceding 10 years. Only mentioned a little rot in a beam in the basement. Probably because that one was visible. "Fixed" mostly included hiding rotted posts and beams behind sheet rock, massive shimming on the roof (instead of fixing the support issues) and putting on a (cheap) metal roof that made the roof LOOK straight. In the end, the north building (*) was a total gut, 3 of the 8 posts replaced, 2 1/2 of the original 4 tie beams, foundation sills, joists. The 35' long 5 sided ridge pole, top plates and all but 4 of the rafters are still original.

(*) both built pre Civil War based on the framing and how the wood was cut (or hand hewn) but the north one moved and connected to the south one closer to the late 1800s)

Yay!!!! We finally caught something in one of the raccoon traps!!!!!!

Unfortunately, it was Violet, our Queen Easter Egger. She made herself at home while she awaited rescue ... ate a little road kill and laid a nice green egg.

Maybe she was trying to help by enticing the coon something REALLY desirable.

What a cool place! If the building are sound I'd not tear down a one....could be you'll find uses for them. I can only dream of having all that space for housing livestock!

What Bee said! If it isn't a rotted falling down wreck, USE IT. Heck, if you have WAY too much space, rent some of it out as "self storage".

That's what I see when I see old buildings like this.....just all that history, the wanting and planning of people long ago and the quality of the wood used is something we just can't get any longer. Not without offering up our first born and getting it from a specialty place.

The building isn't that old, 1920's to 1930's most likely (without seeing more pictures). But I hear you. That is why we didn't just rip down the north building when we found it had serious structural problems. *I* could not let the sweat of people 160 or more years ago just get chucked. There was no Lowes or Menards. These guys went out into the woods, cut down the trees with axes, dragged them to the site with oxen or horses and made 35' long 8x10 beams with felling and broad axes. Every mortise was made with huge chisels, every tenon with an adz. Every hole with hand turned drills, every peg with a spoke shave. Nope, couldn't do it. I saved as many of the old boards (some almost 2 feet wide) as I could but it was hard because no matter how many times I told the GC to save all the old stuff, they did demo with reciprocating saws and filled the dumpster. I'd get home from work and drag out what I could. Even if I had no plans to use it, those old boards sell for $3 -$6 per board foot. (which is where offering up your first born comes in

). I'm using these boards to make a cabinet to support the range hood. The lower shorter one is 22" wide.


Vertical sawn board on the left, 99% likely pre-Civil War. Circular sawn board on the right, 100% after Civil War. They couldn't cut boards this size with circular saws before the advent of steam powered saw mills. Water powered didn't turn the blades fast enough.

.... Said he was going to change his profile pic to this......

Oh, no! The uncles have found out the baby is a chick magnet as long as it's not HIS baby.

Men! Too funny!

Actually, I think in this case it is WOMEN! Too funny. The "chicks" like that the uncle likes kids, but don't want "pre-fab" family.

Oh yes, barking dogs. Something about a dog that won't shut up infuriates me. I want to put it out of my misery! My roosters are far enough from the house that it doesn't bother me at all. I may get tired of that one day, probably. ha What is really neat is all the sounds the Buckeyes make. Sometimes they sound almost like a dog growling.

Sadly, it is usually the owner that needs training. The guy across the road has a spaniel, my older daughter JUST found out he has a dog and she originally moved in this place 2 years ago, then back out last year. Back in within 2 weeks because someone has to take care of the chickens while my wife and I drive to Wisconsin to pick up the younger one from college. On the other hand, the people that live SW have a dog that barks A LOT. EASILY 300 yards but you would think it was just out back. And most of the time it is because someone is home and they are ignoring the dog. Kids come home from school and play basket ball. Dog barks because it is tied up.

I have my eye on a turkey plucker, but it costs $1,725.00 so I don't suppose I'll ever be getting that.

But you still have like a million pounds of turkey in the freezer!

I've slept with my windows open the past two nights. It makes the nightly crowing chorus a lot more obvious. It's dark guys ... shhhhhhhh!

Yeah, we (previously) city folk think roosters crow at dawn. Neighbors to the NE have 2 and I was very surprised to find out they tell you it is light outside when the sun comes up (OK, maybe an hour BEFORE), and to tell you it is still light outside ALL DAY LONG! The woman who owns them said they will crow if they see a porch light go on at 3 AM.

You need to read about deep litter, my dear! It will save you a lot of time in your life and make for a healthier life for your chickens.

I did that and am quite happy with DL. Rake through it every morning, toss in some new shavings now and again. Drag it all out once a year. Lots better than "kitty scooping" poop and finding somewhere to put it every morning. With 3 house cats, I do enough of that already.

Bruce

 

[perchie.girl]

Well...FedEx just delivered Mom's coffin. It is now on the front porch....ironically so. So I thought I would share this little tidbit with THIS Front Porch.

We ordered it from a company in Colorado that makes these "green" caskets from downed Lodgepole pines that were killed by the beetles out there. All the glue is biodegradable and "green" and so is the light finish on it. It's a plain pine box with rope handles...very pretty. You can get them lined but we didn't choose to do so. You can even get them with shelf inserts so you can use it as a shelving unit until it's time to put it to its final purpose.

Here's what it looks like, but without the decal/emblem on the top and with a solid lid, not split for viewing....

http://www.naturescasket.com/Casket.html

Going to order Dad's this week also and have it stored at the funeral home local to his facility so it can be accessed easily.

They are cheap, beautiful and don't violate any burial laws and my dad always wanted to be buried in a plain pine box, though he wanted to build it himself...but..time gets away from folks and, very often, they get it in their heads they will never die...that always happens "some day", but not today.

Me? I am anxious to leave this place and go into the Long Tomorrow, so my "bags" are packed at all times in preparation for going. We are all leaving here one way or another, so it's best to just prepare for that, settle it, and move on with the living of the time you have left. The most important preparation, of course, is where your eternal soul will reside when it shuffles off this mortal coil...if you don't have that settled, nothing else really matters. Not the living or the dying....so I urge everyone to take part in the Gift that was given so that we do not have to perish for an eternity when we leave this place.

For now, the FedEx guy has a neat tale to tell and we have a beautiful pine box on the front porch. We will move it into the cabin and place a cushion on it so we can use it for furniture until it needs to be used. We can use it for storage, a wood box, a bench or anything else if we so wish...I think it's kind of neat!

That is stunning.... and an excellent price.

When I go I want my ashes sprinkled on my property. Both mom and Grandma have prepaid arrangements at Hermosa Cemetary to be with Dad and Grandpa. Its the same Cemetary one of Wyatt Earps brothers is buried. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colton,_California

Colton was where we lived when I was born. I have no connections there.... I want to be on my land. Cant be done legally so ashes.

I need to get it written down...

deb

 

[bruceha2000]

For now, the FedEx guy has a neat tale to tell and we have a beautiful pine box on the front porch. We will move it into the cabin and place a cushion on it so we can use it for furniture until it needs to be used. We can use it for storage, a wood box, a bench or anything else if we so wish...I think it's kind of neat!

OK, Neat and kinda creepy! I love the functionality of "buy now and use it for storage" until you need it for its intended purpose. But geez, the constant reminder that it will be "home" one day. I know we all go some time but I'm not sure I want to think about it every day. Friend of mine was buried in a plain pine box 7 years ago. PERFECT for his personality, he'd be turning over in his grave trying to get out if his wife had gotten a fancy lacquered silk lined coffin (she doesn't lean that way either). I wouldn't be surprised if he would have done just as you have had he thought about it. But as he was in his early 50's and very healthy - vegetarian, marathoner (except for that heart problem no one knew about), I doubt he was thinking that far in the future.

Bruce

 

[heartsizedfarm]

I wish it were legal to just be buried in a sheet, like they used to. I'd like to be useful to the garden.

 

[heartsizedfarm]

Or you could put my ashes in the chicken dust bath!

 

[heartsizedfarm]

Sorry, black humour because I'm off to the vets with a sick hen. Makes one a bit grim and grumpy.

 

[Beekissed]

OK, Neat and kinda creepy! I love the functionality of "buy now and use it for storage" until you need it for its intended purpose. But geez, the constant reminder that it will be "home" one day. I know we all go some time but I'm not sure I want to think about it every day. Friend of mine was buried in a plain pine box 7 years ago. PERFECT for his personality, he'd be turning over in his grave trying to get out if his wife had gotten a fancy lacquered silk lined coffin (she doesn't lean that way either). I wouldn't be surprised if he would have done just as you have had he thought about it. But as he was in his early 50's and very healthy - vegetarian, marathoner (except for that heart problem no one knew about), I doubt he was thinking that far in the future.

Bruce

You know...that is often the reaction to that. Creepy. Now, if it has already been used and had a dead body in it previously, I would find that a little nasty or creepy, but it hasn't. That pine box will never be home for anyone...it will contain our shell but we will never live or stay in that pine box.

One thing I do know..death is not "that far in the future" and anyone thinking that just never reads the news, watches TV, or even enters out into society at all, nor have been around any other human being. Death is no respecter of age, health, circumstance or time. Your next breath could be your last no matter how many marathons you can run, which your friend found out. Our physical death is not the end and that casket is just a temporary box...sort of storage for our outer shell or tent, our soul doesn't stay there...until our final placement is decided.

I have plenty of storage totes around the place, so that big one on the front porch is just the only one I have that is made of wood.

I like to be reminded of it every day....I can't WAIT to go and I dream of the going.