The Front Porch Swing

[Triple Willow]

LOL!  No argument that broodies are amazing and I've never had kids so I can't speak from experience but I can't imagine sitting on eggs for 3 weeks compares to being a human petrie dish for 9 months and popping out a bowling ball..... just sayin.

If a woman had to pull out about 1/4 of her own hair, have a big spot on her body HOT to the touch, sit down in one spot in a total trance and eat and drink and poop just enough to stay alive for 21 days - how many women would go through all of that to have a baby? Our population wouldn't even be half of what it is. LOL

 

[Blooie]

That is the hardest thing. I did the same for months and months after my mother died in 2003. Moved some of her furniture from CA to VT 4 months later. My cat was in 'her' dresser (now used by my wife) drawer some time later. She loved cats, I was a second from the phone to 'share' before I caught myself. It was not the first or last time.

Look at that tail. He looks like a beauty.


Don't let all that power go to your head

You'll love the 'no hard drive' startup speed. Glad you can work from home again.

Naw, '56 was a GOOD year

I had that too, but fortunately it was back in Feb, not last week!


There were still patches of snow on the dunes on the shore of Lake Michigan in the U.P. Wednesday even though it was ~45F! NO hint of leaves on the deciduous trees. Found leaves farther south in WI and in eastern Ontario and Vermont.


The situation looks rough but the fact that she WANTS to come to you suggests she is looking for a way to get out and I don't mean just the charges on a permanent record. I think she figured out this guy (and probably other 'friends') are bad, bad, bad. Yeah, it will be hard for her to be out in the country instead of the city but as another porch sitter mentioned, teens text 99% and talk only when they have to. Plus, cell service depends on the company, MAYBE the carrier she uses has a better signal in the hollow (maybe not). We use TracFone 'cause it is cheap and we don't use the phones much. In this area TracFone uses Verizon and there is one corner of the house where you MAYBE get 1 bar of signal, have to drive a couple of miles to the other side of the interstate to use the phones. Some people with ATT can do OK. The tower 3/4 mile down the road? T-Mobile.

And you have internet, lots of TV shows can be found on the internet. And friends, like here on the porch! My older daughter has friends in many countries she knows only through the internet. If she isn't hooked on drugs, my money is she will come out OK as long as the the 'old' 'friends' stay away both physically and on the phone/text/email. Not sure how you help her ignore those contacts which I'm sure will come though not necessarily the ones in person. Don't answer calls from those numbers, don't read texts or emails either. Letting go of them probably won't be easy for her until she has local 'replacement' friends.

That was beautiful Laura.


Mother's Day for me (even though *I* am not a mother) was, well, something else. Since my wife and I were leaving (presumably noon) for Wisconsin to pick up the younger daughter at Beloit, we moved the older daughter and 3 cats on Saturday up to the 'farm' where she is SUPPOSED to be living (if I ever get through the ALWAYS changing list of "must have" projects) so she could take care of the chickens. I was finishing up a temporary sink for the upstairs bathroom when about 11:30 my daughter came to tell me "Mom said she needs you, now" though the now didn't have a huge ring of urgency. But I know my wife wouldn't have sent her if it wasn't NOW! She'd been washing dishes and heard water in the basement. Water going down the drain was coming out the trap for the water heater condensate pump in the main drain. Figured out *I* couldn't do anything, called a plumber who told me to call a septic service. So I did and went back to the sink work waiting for them to call back. Got that call, guy said he would be there in 45 min or so. I finished the sink since it was almost done and daughter didn't want to go downstairs in the middle of the night. As I'm connecting the plumbing, wife pipes up with "or she could have just used the tub to wash her hands". Any of the 3 of us could have thought of THAT out a few days before!

The guy showed up just as we were leaving so I showed him out back where the tank is, and I had NO IDEA other than where the pipe comes out of the basement. He poked around some but wasn't having a lot of luck in the ~15' to 20' MAX it should be by code. If it were closer to the house it would be under the deck. Well, we HAD to go so we left daughter and her checkbook in charge and drove the 5.5 hours to Pembroke, ON. Called before we got to Cornwall, ON because we don't have service in Canada. The guy had been ABOUT to give up and call someone else from the company that 'finds' tanks when he took a flyer and went farther out in the yard and angled off some where the grass (just starting to grow a week earlier) and dirt 'looked different', found the tank cover. We had talked about the leach field being out that way and how the grass on the house side of the little garden space didn't grow as well as it did on the far side so maybe that gave him an inkling. He jetted the line and had her flush the toilets a couple of time to make sure it wasn't some old, unused, tank given the location then pumped it since it was about time anyway. He said they sometimes 'grandfather' and put new tank where old ones were when they need to be replaced rather than force a new dig to meet current code. So daughter got to write her FIRST check (for $600! because it was weekend OT). Had a nice dinner at Santa Fe in Pembroke, then continued the drive on Monday.

Rest of the week was: Mon 9 hour drive to Sault Ste Marie, ON; Tue 9 hour drive to Beloit; Wed back to Sault Ste Marie, Thur back to Pembroke, Fri home to VT - where I find out older daughter doesn't want to be at the farm because I don't have the washer and dryer set up yet (whole other story) and it will be too loud when I work on the house, etc, etc even though this is where she WANTS to live (women!). Wife and younger daughter were going to the other house anyway so my wife could do the laundry and younger daughter wants to be. She wants nothing to do with the 'farm' house, it isn't "home". She will have no choice once I get the other one fixed up and rented but at this rate, she'll be back in Wisconsin by then. So they all leave and I go try to finish fixing the rear tire on the garden tractor mower so I can mow the grass that should have been mowed days earlier (ending in yet another failure which you don't need to read about). Helped the neighbor across the street for awhile then put the girls (chickens) up for the night and went in to eat, about 7. Call from older daughter - no hot water and the tank is leaking.

Like I need MORE problems! To be fair, I knew it was going and turned the cold water to it off on Sat since with no one in the house for a week, it could be a REAL mess. But I was hoping it would hold off until we weren't living there so I could replace it (need to do some plumbing work on the 'new' tank - pulled from the 'farm' house) without impacting anyone. Day late and a dollar short, again. So wife went to her parent's to do a little laundry and take a shower since she had to work today. Leaving soon to go replace the water tank.


1941 sink that was in the house when we bought it on Q&D 'vanity' made from left over pieces of hard maple floor and first floor ceiling boards which are also the subfloor for the second floor.


Temporary support for temporary part of the hand rail.



Finished upstairs 'balcony' handrail with 'extended gooseneck' fitting allowing both min railing height on the second floor (42"), max railing height on the stairs (38") and continuous railing usable without taking one's had off. A standard gooseneck is vertical at the post, minimally usable going up and not useable at all going down. IF there were space upstairs AND there was something to anchor the post to, the 'proper' way would have been to move the post and railing back about a foot so the rising railing would meet the quarter turn on the post with only a small amount of the over easing fitting. But, not the case.







Bruce

So, other than that, nothing much happening in your life either, huh Bruce?

Yep, Florabelle's name has been changed to Floyd and he was handed his one way ticket to freezer camp. So that means that out of 22 birds I have 3 roos - Charlie, Speckles, and Floyd. Know what's funny about that? When I ordered my chicks from mypetchicken I ordered all pullets. I GOT all pullets from them, no mistake about that. I bought a total of 8 more chicks from Poor Boys feed store a couple of weeks later to replace the 6 who didn't survive shipping plus a couple of extras..."oh, yeah, they're all pullets". Out of the 8 chicks I got 3 roos so far and I'm still on the fence about one of the Marans I got there....he's looking really boyish to me. I thought I stood a better chance at having an off ratio from mail order than I did from a small town guy who gets his chicks locally. Live and learn!

 

[Blooie]

If a woman had to pull out about 1/4 of her own hair, have a big spot on her body HOT to the touch, sit down in one spot in a total trance and eat and drink and poop just enough to stay alive for 21 days - how many women would go through all of that to have a baby? Our population wouldn't even be half of what it is. LOL

Um, yep, having 3 kids and 6 grandkids plus a great grandson, that's not too far from human motherhood either, except it's for 21 years, not days.

Shortly after Austin was born Tam called me and we were talking about how tired she was.....she said, "I've figured it out, Ma. Motherhood is warm pop and cold food."

 

[BarredsRock]

Wow great story about your dad. He sounds like a very interesting man. I raised Arabians for years but now have, an also 20 year old, app who I raised from birth. He is one of the most awesome horses I have ever owned. Percherons are beautiful horses. Mind That Bird is a race horse from New Mexico. They just made a movie about him. He is from Roswell and that is where he is now. After seeing the movie I wanted to go see him.

beckie

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

So, other than that, nothing much happening in your life either, huh Bruce?

Yep, Florabelle's name has been changed to Floyd and he was handed his one way ticket to freezer camp. So that means that out of 22 birds I have 3 roos - Charlie, Speckles, and Floyd. Know what's funny about that? When I ordered my chicks from mypetchicken I ordered all pullets. I GOT all pullets from them, no mistake about that. I bought a total of 8 more chicks from Poor Boys feed store a couple of weeks later to replace the 6 who didn't survive shipping plus a couple of extras..."oh, yeah, they're all pullets". Out of the 8 chicks I got 3 roos so far and I'm still on the fence about one of the Marans I got there....he's looking really boyish to me. I thought I stood a better chance at having an off ratio from mail order than I did from a small town guy who gets his chicks locally. Live and learn!

Marans ... I had the worst luck getting any females from the feed store.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I love this pic! The red of the hen against the colors of the chicks is a dramatic scene....love the peeking of chicks through feathers, that always gets me.

I know, right? She is pretty much swarming with chicks all the time. That's probably whey she puts them through the fence three times every day, so she can have a moment of peace.

We do have our fair share of wonderful, sharing and joyful people here and for that I am so eternally grateful...forums are not an easy thing to navigate due to argumentative, forceful people intent on spoiling one's day just because they feel like it, so this haven is a precious thing.

We do have a great group of posters in this thread.

Finished upstairs 'balcony' handrail with 'extended gooseneck' fitting allowing both min railing height on the second floor (42"), max railing height on the stairs (38") and continuous railing usable without taking one's had off. A standard gooseneck is vertical at the post, minimally usable going up and not useable at all going down. IF there were space upstairs AND there was something to anchor the post to, the 'proper' way would have been to move the post and railing back about a foot so the rising railing would meet the quarter turn on the post with only a small amount of the over easing fitting. But, not the case.







Bruce

That looks super!

 

[lazy gardener]

Chicken math question here: I have 27 6 week old chicks and 5 hens. After harvesting the meat birds, and all of the roosters except for one, I'll be left with 13 young pullets and one cockrel to add to the existing flock of 5. My current coop is a cattle panel affair, 2 levels with the top level being 4 x 8, 2 nest boxes and almost 8' of perch. The bottom level is 8' x 12'. I'll be building a new coop this fall. I also have a 3 x 6 and a 6 x 7 tractor. All the birds will be finally enclosed in their electronet enclosure as soon as the weather cooperates, so I can get the garden planted without the help of the chickens. The little bit of interaction between the older and younger chickens has been amicable so far. I'd like to allow the chicks to move into the lower level of the coop to make management easier, and also to get the pullets integrated into the laying flock early.

I hate to keep the chicks closely confined, but realize that the smaller pullets will be prime pickings for hawks. Recommendations sought regarding keeping the youngsters in the tractor with a bird netting over a segregated part of the electronet run, vs allowing them to integrate with the hens, and risk hawk predation. I know there's no correct answer, but feedback and experience appreciated. I'm also posting this question in the management section.

 

[LindaB220]

We do have a great group of posters in this thread.


That looks super!

x2 on both topics. Bruce love the railing.

 

[Blooie]

Chicken math question here: I have 27 6 week old chicks and 5 hens. After harvesting the meat birds, and all of the roosters except for one, I'll be left with 13 young pullets and one cockrel to add to the existing flock of 5. My current coop is a cattle panel affair, 2 levels with the top level being 4 x 8, 2 nest boxes and almost 8' of perch. The bottom level is 8' x 12'. I'll be building a new coop this fall. I also have a 3 x 6 and a 6 x 7 tractor. All the birds will be finally enclosed in their electronet enclosure as soon as the weather cooperates, so I can get the garden planted without the help of the chickens. The little bit of interaction between the older and younger chickens has been amicable so far. I'd like to allow the chicks to move into the lower level of the coop to make management easier, and also to get the pullets integrated into the laying flock early.

I hate to keep the chicks closely confined, but realize that the smaller pullets will be prime pickings for hawks. Recommendations sought regarding keeping the youngsters in the tractor with a bird netting over a segregated part of the electronet run, vs allowing them to integrate with the hens, and risk hawk predation. I know there's no correct answer, but feedback and experience appreciated. I'm also posting this question in the management section.

I can't answer your question, but I sure would like to see pics of your setup!!!

 

[Tomtommom]

Yesterday I went to the store and got some BOSS and layer feed. While at the feed store I found Top Pick Pink eye Purple Hull Peas. Taadaa! I've been looking for it online forever and there it was in a huge bag. Knowing my limitations, I bought 1/2 lb and hope to put out 2 or 3 rows soon. Easy peasy growing them. I know this because of youtube

Never had a garden before. Would it be worth my time to plant BOSS?

BOSS sprouts real fast (trust me, I have spilled it on the ground before. 2 days later: sprouts.) It's sort of fun, wouldn't expect too much out of it, but you never know.

Ahem....AHEM.... I have an announcement to make, now that I don't have to worry about black sedans pulling up in my driveway or being shot at dawn....

After a 7 month deployment as the nuclear reactor operator on board the USS San Juan, my grandson is back in the arms of his wife and baby boy! I am so proud...and emotional. I remember all of the goodbyes, the deployments, and the joys of homecoming so well, but when it hits home in my family again I feel all of those things so strongly it physically hurts. I am so proud of him and of all the young men and women who work long hours with too little pay and, too often I'm afraid, too little respect and gratitude from their own government. I told Jamie tonight, "May they have quiet times, may they have rowdy times, and may all of them be family times....until the next deployment."

I think I'm gonna go out and hug my husband. I feel the need to tell him how much his sacrifices for 26 years meant, just one more time.

Hooray! Seems things are going well over there. I could not imagine my husband to be gone for that amount of time. My kids would go crazy.. He's gone 50+ hours a week as it is and they're none too pleased about that.

Blooie, they have a whole clothing line for shickens....bras for saggy crops, diapers, aprons, legwarmers and even bonnets for cold weather wear. And these sites are making some serious dough, so there must be plenty of folks out there with nothing better to spend their money on. It boggles the mind.

Froo froo pet chickens, Bee. Like purse tea cup chihuahuas... but 'edgier'.

..I've ducttaped a chicken before. (white chickens SO do not photograph well...)



Before:



After (well, several months later)