The Front Porch Swing

[rrrmamma]

Just checking in tonight. What a day. Hubby brought home the 21 foot Kayak last week. I found a trailer for it on Craigslist. We went to Columbus today to get it. Since it was my first trip to the "big city" in many months I had an itinerary planned. We loaded up my granddaughter and some tools etc. and started out around noon. Well, this is the weekend of the National Road Garage Sale. All along Route 40 in at least 3 states there are garage sales. Madi and I had found a vintage dressing table we both liked yesterday. Well we stopped on our way to look at it again and it had a hold sign on it..I told the women working the cash box to call us if the deal fell through. We went to Cabella's in Columbus to buy life jackets for the Kayak. We ended up with a single plastic Kayak in case more than two people were along so we could all paddle together. Plus life jackets. Then Madi saw a pink fishing pole with a lighted reel. We bought two, because her sister will be here next week for her birthday. We finally got to the place where we bought the trailer, Then went to my favorite Mediterranean market where I picked up cheese and olives, then on to the Japanese market for Sushi and sashimi . We stopped and got the dressing table on our way back. We had a sushi supper at 10 pm. I am exhausted, Everyone else went to bed and I am trying to wind down. Such interesting discussions here today. We raise and butcher our own chickens, but I am having thoughts about how hard it will be when it comes time to butcher the offspring of our Highland Cattle. They are so personable that no matter we are raising them for beef the task will be difficult.

Oldmomma, My prayers and thoughts go out to you. You are following your heart. You are a strong woman. I do not think I could cope with what you do everyday.
Blooie, good luck. I am sure your town will re-elect you. I give you my vote. If they don't want you anymore, New Concord, Ohio could sure use you LOL.
Heartsizedfarm, I am so sorry for the loss of your horse. It is good that you got to bury it in the pasture. You gave her a good life.
Good night all.

 

[LBejaran]

Hey everyone! I've finally found time to catch up on the FPS, but I have a feeling I'll be behind for awhile. This past week has been pretty busy. I'm incredibly stressed out and just a bit frustrated. I think I have to vent a bit.

Last week, 11 of the eggs we had under our two new broodies hatched! A couple didn't make it (I'll explain that soon), but the rest are doing pretty good.

Wednesday, we flooded here and, unfortunately, my coop had about 3 inches of water in it. In total, we had about 5 inches of rain in 2 hours. There wasn't much I could do about it considering the coop is built directly on the dirt, but Nivia and I braved the lightning and rushed outside in the rain. We had to chase down the two broody hens and their chicks and managed to catch them and place them up in a dry place. Two of them got a bit sluggish and passed away today. They held out for as long as they could, but I figured it was only a matter of time.

Before the storm hit, I missed one of my other broodies. When I finally got her, her nest was flooded with water and the eggs she had in there had been soaked and were super cold. I thought she had only been sitting on them for about a week, so I just left them there and pulled her out. We wrapped her in a towel and set her in a basket. She hadn't left the nest when it flooded, choosing instead to stand in there and keep the eggs under her still. We left the eggs there and I just assumed there were dead.

It wasn't a good decision. As it turns out, she had been sitting on them for 21 days already. Fully developed chicks had died in the eggs and one had hatched already, but I hadn't known. It drowned but when I looked at it again, I think it might have not been well in the first place. It looked as though the body wasn't fully developed and outside the egg, it couldn't survive. Thinking I could just replace the eggs, I told Nivia to leave the unhatched eggs there so I could replace them the next day. This morning, Mom went out there and one of the eggs actually hatched. I have no idea how the heck that happened, but that one chick is doing well, so I'm not complaining. I'm always in awe of how incredibly resilient these birds are even as chicks, considering that hen was away from her nest for at least 12 hours and before that, the eggs had to have been really cold from being left in the water.

While I'll be the first to admit that any rain was welcome, I quickly realized that I was not at all prepared for it. Dad had left a tray of old oil out in the open and when it flooded, that tray of oil spilled over into the standing water. All three of my goslings, despite having a nice dry island of hay, were in the water and drank it. They died simultaneously. And yet, my one Muscovy duckling was actively swimming in the water and yet he's perfectly fine. Gah! I gave Dad the cold shoulder for a day or so because I'd told him time and time again to get rid of that oil because I'd seen some of the chickens eying it. He always said he'd do it, but it's too late now. I really liked those goslings and though I didn't really have any plans for them, I had hoped they'd be part of our flock in the future.

Okay, onto some good news!

This Thursday, about four days before the 28-day mark, 5 ducklings hatched under my more experienced broody hen and she's been a great mother. It's always nice to watch eager little ducklings follow their mama in a row. Of course, she probably wonders why the heck they fall asleep whenever she tries to teach them how to scratch for food, but it's to be expected, I guess. I'm just glad they haven't found the pool yet. I have a feeling she'd have a little heart attack if they all just hopped on in and took a swim, haha! We've never hatched ducklings before, so it was pretty exciting. I can't wait for them to get a little bigger. They were mystery eggs, so we'll see what we have later. A couple have little top hats, hehe! I excitedly told Nivia that a few of them might even have hatched from our own eggs. Hopefully that is true because Nivia really wanted offspring from her favorite ducks. My Muscovy eggs should be done in about a week and we'll see if they hatch out. I'm pretty excited to see what becomes of them.

Hmmm...I think that's it. Quite a stressful week it has been, but I guess everyone has those every once in awhile. It didn't help that I was making party favors and baking for a baby shower, so I was stressed for time. Now that it is summer break and Mom has decided not to work summer school this month, we have time to do some work in the coop and yard. I'm thinking it's time to learn how to build those broody boxes. We have the materials, the tools and now the time, so we can get to work on them and won't have to worry as much about our broodies and their chicks/ducklings. Mom is already determined to buy an incubator and hatch some bantam Silver Sebrights. We went to pick up some Georgia Giant quail hatching eggs from a local ranch and she saw a beautifully feathered bantam sebright. Instantly, she wanted them and asked about chicks. Looks like we'll have a couple more little birdies added to the grow out pen!

I think it's time for a decent night's sleep. I'm exhausted.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Good morning! What a lot of Porch chat to catch up with this morning! Deb, I hope you're not suffering your Cabernet today. Congrats on the book you're writing. A phenomenal word count and nice ideas on how to fuel the creative process.

Loved the cowboy poem, Bee. Thanks. And Sallysunshine for expressing what I was feeling so succinctly too. And way to go Blooie! Town council needs you. Glad you find it so fulfilling.

Do we get starred out if we spell peeta normally? Anyway I had a lady call and ask if she could come over and visit my barn when we were shearing because she had seen a documentary that said shearing was cruel to the sheep and she wanted to find out for her self. Well obviously she saw it didn't hurt them at all, simply deprived them of a hot coat they didn't need anymore. But honestly, what weird misinformation.

I'm glad that you were able to help that woman, I have a lot of respect for someone who isn't afraid to question something that she saw on TV and find out the real truth.

So sorry to hear about your horse. It was nice that the neighbor helped out though.

 

[Oldmomma]

So sorry Heart over the loss of your horse. I cant imagine what it takes to bury large animals. Im sure its done here and no one to tell you what you can and cant do. My daughter got a puppy when we first came her story is on my blog Nova's Story, but I was thankful family let us bury her with dignity. Had wild dogs tear up another dog in the field next to our house, neighbors buried it where it fell. Something I can ask vets cause animals that die of own accord cannot be used for food. No animal foods made here like cat or dog so curious what they do if no place to bury on property.

 

[Triple Willow]

Ooh sounds like I want this reciepe too.  Here is one:
Vichyssoise   or Leek and potato soup

http://mimithorisson.com/2012/06/05/creme-vichyssoise/

I want to do Gaspachio too.  one day

deb

Hey Deb. I love to cook but I sure do hate the mess I make. I've been preaching lately that I am going to buy a dishwasher!! lol I don't even know what leeks taste like. I'm going to be mad if I love them and have been missing out on them all this time!! LOL I'm "guessing" they taste like a mixture of celery, onions and cabbage. hahaha When I bought them yesterday the guy that checked me out looked at them so funny. People around here just don't do leeks much at all. I'd say most people don't even know what they are. ha! We have several immigrants so we do get some "different" new foods in the grocery now so I like that. Thanks for the ideas!

 

[Triple Willow]

Oh I'm doing fine TW thank you for asking. My muscles and joints are hurting from all this rain we've been having and from the way they are talking it's around until the end of this next week. I'm beginning to think I might need to start an ark. ;-) I'm going to slap some epsom salts on my tomato plants so they wont get that rot stuff on the bottom of them. 

Oh me Rose, I know how that is. Sometimes when rain is about to set in I start hurting ahead of time. lol I suppose it is the barometric pressure going up. All I know is sometimes it sure does hurt, so I feel for you! Some days every step hurts. I was taking iibuprofen pretty regularly (and it did work) but I have layed off if it because the liver issues scare me a little bit. And while I was taking it every little scratch would bleed like crazy. That got old. I know, that rain can be a big problem. Last year I said I needed to put my coop/runs up on stilts!!

 

[RoseMarie1]

Oh me Rose, I know how that is. Sometimes when rain is about to set in I start hurting ahead of time. lol I suppose it is the barometric pressure going up. All I know is sometimes it sure does hurt, so I feel for you! Some days every step hurts. I was taking iibuprofen pretty regularly (and it did work) but I have layed off if it because the liver issues scare me a little bit. And while I was taking it every little scratch would bleed like crazy. That got old. I know, that rain can be a big problem. Last year I said I needed to put my coop/runs up on stilts!!

yep lol the thing is, it rains and rains AND rains and IF we could just get it once in a good shower once a week or 1-1/2 weeks it would really do well but I guess He knows best.
Yep I just try to suffer thorough it without taking anything BUT on some days I sure could take something. Mine starts BEFORE the rain as well, sometimes up to 3 days before it. I tell my family, it's fixing to rain. lol we don't have to watch the weather.

 

[Triple Willow]

yep lol the thing is, it rains and rains AND rains and IF we could just get it once in a good shower once a week or 1-1/2 weeks it would really do well but I guess He knows best.  

Yep I just try to suffer thorough it without taking anything BUT on some days I sure could take something. Mine starts BEFORE the rain as well, sometimes up to 3 days before it. I tell my family, it's fixing to rain. lol we don't have to watch the weather. 

Yep -monssoons! LOL We ought to have a job advising the weather folks. ha!

 

[heartsizedfarm]

Hey everyone!  I've finally found time to catch up on the FPS, but I have a feeling I'll be behind for awhile.  This past week has been pretty busy.  I'm incredibly stressed out and just a bit frustrated.  I think I have to vent a bit.

Last week, 11 of the eggs we had under our two new broodies hatched!  A couple didn't make it (I'll explain that soon), but the rest are doing pretty good. 

Wednesday, we flooded here and, unfortunately, my coop had about 3 inches of water in it.  In total, we had about 5 inches of rain in 2 hours.  There wasn't much I could do about it considering the coop is built directly on the dirt, but Nivia and I braved the lightning and rushed outside in the rain.  We had to chase down the two broody hens and their chicks and managed to catch them and place them up in a dry place.  Two of them got a bit sluggish and passed away today.  They held out for as long as they could, but I figured it was only a matter of time. 

Before the storm hit, I missed one of my other broodies.  When I finally got her, her nest was flooded with water and the eggs she had in there had been soaked and were super cold.  I thought she had only been sitting on them for about a week, so I just left them there and pulled her out.  We wrapped her in a towel and set her in a basket.  She hadn't left the nest when it flooded, choosing instead to stand in there and keep the eggs under her still.  We left the eggs there and I just assumed there were dead.

It wasn't a good decision.  As it turns out, she had been sitting on them for 21 days already.  Fully developed chicks had died in the eggs and one had hatched already, but I hadn't known.  It drowned but when I looked at it again, I think it might have not been well in the first place.  It looked as though the body wasn't fully developed and outside the egg, it couldn't survive.  Thinking I could just replace the eggs, I told Nivia to leave the unhatched eggs there so I could replace them the next day.  This morning, Mom went out there and one of the eggs actually hatched.  I have no idea how the heck that happened, but that one chick is doing well, so I'm not complaining.  I'm always in awe of how incredibly resilient these birds are even as chicks, considering that hen was away from her nest for at least 12 hours and before that, the eggs had to have been really cold from being left in the water. 

While I'll be the first to admit that any rain was welcome, I quickly realized that I was not at all prepared for it.  Dad had left a tray of old oil out in the open and when it flooded, that tray of oil spilled over into the standing water.  All three of my goslings, despite having a nice dry island of hay, were in the water and drank it.  They died simultaneously.  And yet, my one Muscovy duckling was actively swimming in the water and yet he's perfectly fine.  Gah!  I gave Dad the cold shoulder for a day or so because I'd told him time and time again to get rid of that oil because I'd seen some of the chickens eying it.  He always said he'd do it, but it's too late now.  I really liked those goslings and though I didn't really have any plans for them, I had hoped they'd be part of our flock in the future. 

Okay, onto some good news!

This Thursday, about four days before the 28-day mark, 5 ducklings hatched under my more experienced broody hen and she's been a great mother.  It's always nice to watch eager little ducklings follow their mama in a row.  Of course, she probably wonders why the heck they fall asleep whenever she tries to teach them how to scratch for food, but it's to be expected, I guess.  I'm just glad they haven't found the pool yet.  I have a feeling she'd have a little heart attack if they all just hopped on in and took a swim, haha!  We've never hatched ducklings before, so it was pretty exciting.  I can't wait for them to get a little bigger.  They were mystery eggs, so we'll see what we have later.  A couple have little top hats, hehe!  I excitedly told Nivia that a few of them might even have hatched from our own eggs.  Hopefully that is true because Nivia really wanted offspring from her favorite ducks.  My Muscovy eggs should be done in about a week and we'll see if they hatch out.  I'm pretty excited to see what becomes of them.

Hmmm...I think that's it.  Quite a stressful week it has been, but I guess everyone has those every once in awhile.  It didn't help that I was making party favors and baking for a baby shower, so I was stressed for time.  Now that it is summer break and Mom has decided not to work summer school this month, we have time to do some work in the coop and yard.  I'm thinking it's time to learn how to build those broody boxes.  We have the materials, the tools and now the time, so we can get to work on them and won't have to worry as much about our broodies and their chicks/ducklings.  Mom is already determined to buy an incubator and hatch some bantam Silver Sebrights.  We went to pick up some Georgia Giant quail hatching eggs from a local ranch and she saw a beautifully feathered bantam sebright.  Instantly, she wanted them and asked about chicks.  Looks like we'll have a couple more little birdies added to the grow out pen!

I think it's time for a decent night's sleep.  I'm exhausted.

Nice to catch up with your news. I had been missing you!

 

[heartsizedfarm]

It may depend on why the animal died.  And if the animal had had medical attention.  and yep they do take them to a rendering plant.  for Dog food.  The deal is here they have to come from about 125 miles away... schedualing can mean the carcas lays as much as three to four days before they can get there.


deb

Yeah couldn't do that with the coyote problem we have here.