The Front Porch Swing

[Beekissed]

We are both normally neatniks and she is a borderline clean freak, now reformed from full on OCD clean freakness(she's getting better...or worse, if you view it from her eyes)...she has bleach in her veins, I tell ya.

We love sparse, frugal living with a minimum of clutter but each year we still have to de-clutter our lives to be able to maintain our clean lines and surfaces in the home, particularly in our personal areas and the back porch(our utility space for tools, storage, etc.).

Other people come to our house and can't believe the lack of clutter and how minimalized it is, but we've always loved that look...comfortable, but without being spartan.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Too much trouble. Just wait and see if your treatments will work....soothing butt oil of castor and the dusting may just solve the problem then. I can't wait to see what happens!

Try raising the roost to a place higher than she can reach with her hopping pecker......

Oh, you guys are cracking me up!

I'll definitely let you know.

I did think of that. Originally we had the roost higher and I was afraid it was too high because they are fairly large birds and boy when they jumped off of it you could hear the 'thump" pretty clearly. I had a ramp for them when it was higher but they never used it. They would just jump up onto roost and jump back off when they wanted down. I had also read somewhere that with the larger birds to keep them a little lower so they don't get injured. Last night I thought about raising it again but these guys can/will jump up past my waist if they think I've got a good treat for them and am to slow giving it to them, lol. It's still an option I'm considering though.

Deep litter on the floor will protect those feet from that landing. Even if you only raised it another 6", it should be too high for her to be doing that, right?

 

[Lacy Blues]

We are both normally neatniks and she is a borderline clean freak, now reformed from full on OCD clean freakness(she's getting better...or worse, if you view it from her eyes)...she has bleach in her veins, I tell ya.

We love sparse, frugal living with a minimum of clutter but each year we still have to de-clutter our lives to be able to maintain our clean lines and surfaces in the home, particularly in our personal areas and the back porch(our utility space for tools, storage, etc.).

Other people come to our house and can't believe the lack of clutter and how minimalized it is, but we've always loved that look...comfortable, but without being spartan.

I can dream... some day maybe.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

It took me something like 10 years to excavate the main floor of this house down to the surfaces. Then I threw a party to celebrate. My goal is to leave nothing but pet hair behind when I die.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote: My Wellies were pretty big Nice roebst legs... I had two roosts one at about five feet up and one at about 4 The only reason I did that is because my roof is six feet up and I figured it would be easier not to have to duck when they landed going up... But They all came off the roost from the top.Flying about ten feet as they arched down to the ground. There were only two hens who chose to roost on the lower roost.... They had a bottom of the pecking order position in the flock.

With the guineas All their roosts were at five feet.... a T shaped affair hung from Baling twine from the ceiling.... They litterally could run along those roosts... and pace back and forth. My first guinea Coop had the roosts up at six feet with no intermediary.... They shared with some of the Bantams that wanted to be higher in the pecking order.... LOL>

deb

 

[Beekissed]

It took me something like 10 years to excavate the main floor of this house down to the surfaces. Then I threw a party to celebrate. My goal is to leave nothing but pet hair behind when I die.

Amen! That's one reason we are trying to get our file cabinets in order, declutter the storage areas, eliminate all things not functional or needed and leave the house in good working and living order. Neither of us are getting any younger and I'm looking for to leave Earth one way or the other one day soon, so leaving behind some order can really help those who have to sort out the debris of our lives when we are gone. All important papers in one place, all things easily found, all things in good working order and freshly cleaned and painted each year~ if need be~as we go along.

Trying to sort through Mom's/Dad's things in order to sell or rent the property is a big headache to kids who have their own families and lives they can barely manage, so it's nice to keep things easier for those left behind.

 

[Beekissed]

Guess what????? Just got my seeds in the mail!!!!! Hallelujah and praise the Lord!!

 

[chickenboy190]

Hey everyone!

 

[WindStep]

Sweet tea please!

 

[PrairieChicks]

OMG.... you went right by my Grandmas house.... And then my house AND By a place where my Dad and his parents lived and had a restaurant in the 40s.... in Yuma.... Right by that bridge that crosses the Colorado River.... Did you know Stern wheelers used to bring Goods All the way up the colorado to Yuma?

As you were in and around the rocks on Highway 8 you were passing my house.... San Diego county line is where the freeway splits and winds its way through Rock Canyons and drops almost three thousand feet. the dividing line between the high desert and the low desert here. High desert is cooler. Were the Ocotillos in Bloom yet? They look like sticks Covered in needles most of the year but if they get a few days water they sprout leaves and Beautiful Red flowers. Big Ocotillos are probably around ten or twelve feet tall..... So as you drop from the high desert down you enter an area called Ocotillo.


Picture taken from the top of the Desert Look out tower. That is about fifteen miles from my house
In a little community called InKoPa.


The Rocks next to my Water tank.


My yard behind the house The person standing there is just outside of my bedroom. The white wall is painted Glass That used to be a greenhouse.... This was the day I got to take a walk though before I bought it.

Oh snakes are around I see their tracks on the road. All different kinds. King snakes Gopher snakes Garter snakes ANd about two or three types of Rattle snakes. I have only come across one at the house.... above and about six down in San Diego.... over the years. I have lived in the San Diego area 47 years.... Every where else I have lived was also desert or high desert, Roswell, Las Vegas, Colton CA....

For what its worth they dont come out when its too hot or too cold. On cool mornings they will come out and warm up on the road On hot days they retreat to shady shelter... So we learn early on to never put our hands in areas where you cant see.... So when moving wood around or getting firewood we have to be careful. My neighbor killed two females when he was brush clearing for me.... I asked what he did with them and he said he had them marinating in Teriaki.... Each snake was probably a good three or four pounds he said. He stretched the skins on a board.

BTW I dont automatically kill snakes. the ONLY one i have ever killed was in my grandmas entry way. They are part of this ecology and belong here. Same as all predators.

deb

Yes! Those were the types of rocks we drove right past and through. We were amazed at how rounded they are and how many - they went on and on. I couldn't see anything blooming. Although when I looked carefully (as we drove by much too quickly!) I could see individual cactus along the slopes. I wondered how they could survive among the rocks. Really amazing! To think we drove so near to where you live! I love your home. So different to anything I've been around. Does it cool down in the evenings up in the mountains there? I would think the days can get very hot in summer. Do you have a well for water or do you have to haul it in? That was something we were talking about as we drove among all those rocks. Wondering how animals could survive in an area like that - where they would find water.
And now we just got back from seeing the Yuma Territorial Prison - and I was looking over the Colorado river and thinking how small it looked compared to when it comes through the Grand Canyon. And this is the river that could support Stern Wheelers at one time? I'm hoping to be able to drive to some smaller roads tomorrow and get a closer look at how they grow their crops here. So different than at home. We're in Yuma till Monday morning and then are planning to find a "road less travelled" to get back to San Diego. We enjoy taking the trip slower and seeing peoples farms and yards along the way. So neat to see how people make their homes their own.
Bee, I'm excited with you about your seeds arriving in the mail! What kinds did you order? I got over enthusiastic in January and ordered mine then already! I hope to start planting some of my flowers under grow lights next week. I need to get my fingers in the dirt because we can't plant outside till 3rd week of May. And I don't put my flowers out till first week of June because of a risk of late frost. Our brave tulips and crocuses come up in May.
Am so much enjoying God's beauty in flowers and cactus on this trip. And I got to walk on grass today!!! The last time I saw our grass at home was the first week of November. I can hardly wait for spring!!