The Front Porch Swing

[LeslieDJoyce]

It that a type of cherry tree?  It's pretty.

Yes. It's a Mt. Fuji flowering cherry. We grow them here on the farm. This one is pretty old. I'm hoping the weather holds so it reaches full bloom this year.

 

[sarahsunshine]

Hi checkin in.... any one made that Apple Pie moonshine yet.... HI new people...

dont read its depressing.... sigh.

its been a heck of a chronological year...

Last summer I had to put my beloved Rosie dog down she was 17 and failing. All my chickens were killed by coyotes because the well died and I had to let em out to get water.... long story that.... The goats made their own gates on their enclosure and have been thriving on eating what is out in the Chaparal I finally got a lead on some fencing that is goat proof and I can afford it. Things were looking up.

Today I was cleaning up my corner where my computer desk is.... I reached out to pick up a bit of paper from my computer chair and it flipped over Sending me into a water jug on the floor which exploded and water shot out and drenched my sons school books. for thos who dont know me I am close to 400 lbs and if I have to walk far I use a rolling walker. Now I can get up off the floor still thank god.... But it takes a moment to get coordinated and I have to turn over to get on my hands and knees. I was pondering that when the phone rang.

It was my neighbor Tom who caretakes my animals for me. He feeds the horse and goats and I feed his dogs cats and chickens Um er provide food for them. ITs a win win for us because I need to be here with Grandma. He called to tell me Coyotes got in with my goats and killed at least one.... He couldnt find the other two ... I only hope they ran far and high up in the rocks... He only found my dead one because of the Vultures.... and Crows... Then he told me he needed Catfood and chicken food.... He will bury my Goat tomorrow.

Sigh.... I got back up my cleaning spree way over now. All enthusiasm is gone.... I must deserve this.... I have become one of those people that drag negative energy around them. I only have my horse now... Of course I have my family.... I am grieving.... for failing my critters... and for not being able to be there for them.

deb

HUGS... So sorry.....

 

[Ms Jellybean]

Yes. It's a Mt. Fuji flowering cherry. We grow them here on the farm. This one is pretty old. I'm hoping the weather holds so it reaches full bloom this year.

I love cherries and cherry trees. They don't grow where I live.

 

[sarahsunshine]

You know, there are hundreds of words in the dictionary and when someone I care about is hurting I can't think of two of them to put together to ease the pain. I agree - there is not a single one of us on the Porch who thinks you deserve this in any way, shape, or form. I'm probably going to start another "Holy War" on here, but sometimes I don't think everything that happens is God's Plan. I think it's just bad stuff that happens, period. But I do think that what matters to God is how well we take what we have learned from Him (and from those He has guided into our lives) and handle those things. Do we close our eyes and do nothing to make our situation better, or do we ask Him to help us do what we know we have to do? I have a little trouble with the concept of "Gee, Deb's having a pretty easy time of it right now so I think I'll have her fall down, splash water all over, and let a few predators take her animals." What I do believe is that God is thinking, "Well, I see Deb has had some adversity. I'll stand right by her here and help her handle it, if she'll let Me. And while I'm at it I'll help her friends find a way to offer their comfort to her as well."

I went through that when Austin died. I kept hearing people say, "It's all part of God's plan." or "God decided it was time to take Austin home, where he'd no longer be in any pain or suffer." Wait a minute......I can't believe that God looked at his watch, said, "Golly, it's 10:00 - time to get Austin." And God has plenty of things to do - why would he need a 22 year old kid who worked at Burger King? Besides, in his entire life Austin had never even broken a bone! He loved his family, loved his wife, had a promising career as a film maker for nature documentaries, and was a genuinely happy person. He didn't have any suffering or pain, not even at the accident. He was unconscious from the moment the car rolled and never woke up. He suffered no internal injuries - every single organ was healthy enough to donate. He didn't break any bones - his bones were all young and healthy and even they were donated, as were his corneas and skin. He didn't suffer - he just didn't buckle his seat belt and he died. God didn't make that front axle snap on his car, and God didn't unbuckle his seat belt. Austin didn't get the car checked, and Austin didn't buckle up, period. And if I had to believe that God intended Austin's death so that so many other people could live, then what does that make those people who got his organs? I know they prayed for their loved ones' health, and that a donor would be found, but I refuse to believe that any of them accepted those organs without feeling awful for the young man who had to die so they could live. What mattered to God that night and for the months that followed was how well we supported his young wife, his parents, his little brother Evan, and each other, and we did it the way I believe God intended - firm and solid in our faith that God would take care of us for Austin. My favorite people after Austin's death were the ones who came up to us, hugged us and simply said, "I don't know what to say.", because that was the truth.

I hope that isn't offensive, but that's exactly how I think about it - me, personally. I'm not trying to convince anyone that I'm right, because I don't know if I am. But I believe that a loving God gives us a heart, a soul, and a mind, then puts us down here on Earth to do the best we can while we're here. All He wants from us in return is to do the very best we can, every time we can, walking with our hand in His the entire journey. Okay, I'll shut up now.

Blooie - I am with you 100%. My story is similar to yours, but it was my 14 month old son. I refuse to believe that any God would say "ops! Time to get Reed! I'm going to make him go explore the back yard, make his older brother ignore him, and trip and fall into that 3" of freezing cold water." What hurts me even more is that the drugs they used to try to resuscitate him made it impossible to donate his perfectly functioning organs to any other children who would need them desperately. At least if our child was to die, why couldn't he help prevent someone else's live?

But back to the feeling of "deserving what has come to us", I feel that if there is a god (and I'm going to be in trouble for saying that here

) He would not be saying - let me punish this person to learn their lesson. Instead He would be saying 'This person has been having a very difficult time and needs some companionship and guidance to help them learn how to get through it, forgive any wrongs in themselves or others, and move forward to be the glowing spirit that we are.

But that is about as far as I get spiritually! I definitely do not believe in a god who wishes ill on anyone!

 

[rrrmamma]

If you don't hear from me tomorrow it is because Central Ohio has blown to the Atlantic Ocean..

We just came in from un-tarping the temporary dog run and bringing the new dogs onto the back porch. The wind was lifting the whole enclosure off the ground. Winds are predicted to 30Mph tonight. I hate wind. It gives me headaches. These are outdoor dogs and not housetrained. I put puppy pads down hoping at least the pup will get it and not mess all over. It is supposed to be nice tomorrow with only 6mph winds. I can live with that. We bought all the fencing for the cattle pasture today so tomorrow is fence building day. I have never done electric fence so it should be a learning experience for Doug and me. We should get the Highland Heifers by Tuesday. I am so excited. A real farm at last. This weekend is going to be very busy.

 

[BCMaraniac]

LOL funny how life is. I always dreamed of living in Wyoming. Welcome back to Wisconsin.
All this talk about baking is making me hungry. I'm thinking Peanut Butter cookies.

 

[Beekissed]

Good morning! It is really windy here today. Storms are brewing.... Super high humidity is meeting a dry line/cold front soon and we will be in for some excitement. Hopefully rain too! I can do without all the excitement though.

Sasha woke me up last night around 2am. She was very adamant about getting outside. I opened the backdoor but didn't see anything in the yard so I let her out. She flew out the door, making a quick stop to pick up her blue ball (her obsession) and was down the steps and to the fence in a flash. At this point I knew something was out there and figured it was a cat. Then I saw what she was chasing around the yard. It was an armadillo! It was a young one, maybe a year old. When I saw it I knew it was an armadillo but my mind kept thinking, what if that is a giant rat? It was kind of dark out there.... Sasha kept chasing it around the yard until it must have finally remembered where it got in and it made its way over to the front gate and left. It was pretty funny. Sasha had fun.

Sasha with her blue ball.

I'll get the pictures of the front panel for my dishwasher in a bit. It is still dark. Seems to be getting darker too. I think the rain is close by....

That is one beautiful dog!!! This thread has got a veritable Eukanuba dog show of nice looking dogs on it, doesn't it?

It's raining here in TN too, not hard just a little drizzle. I don't think we are expecting any storms. My hubby tilled the garden, working in some rich composted manure/pine shaving mix. Getting my broccoli/cauliflower/cabbage planted ASAP. My chickies are out getting wet, but foraging.

My Great Pyr Ben brought a possum home a few days ago.....not entirely dead, though.....had to finish it off with my .22.

Like Ben....so beautiful!

First (or is this second since I already posted once this morning?) I want to share a new recipe that I found today. I found a new place to find recipes! Yes, I am excited!!!! I need to figure out how to subscribe to his blog. I did a quick search and didn't see it on the recipe page. I liked him on FB, but I am rarely on there these days.... I need to go shopping to pick up a few items before I can make this recipe. Time to go shopping! Oh wait, I am supposed to be working.... :/

Here are the photos of my poor dishwasher.

This is the panel that fell off. It is a cabinet door.

front of dishwasher. There are 4 holes foe the screws...
Back of panel. The big holes are for hinges of it was used as cabinet door. I'm not sure why there are double sets of holes for the 4 screws. I guess the not so handy DIY'er that installed it goofed on the first try.

The screws. They aren't stripped. The 'wood' is. They are a little rusty though due to leaking going on through them to the outside of the dishwasher... I'm really at a loss as to how to fully and properly fix this. I know I can glue the screws back in, or glue a dowel into the hole to make fresh wood for a new hole, but that doesn't solve the leaking which caused this to happen in the first place. Unless the loose screws caused to to leak....

No rain here. the storms missed us. Boy are they getting hit hard up by the Red River and in Sherman. Need to check in with a friend of mine up there....

That one's easy....there is an adhesive called Liquid Nails. Apply liberally to that panel and then tape your panel on the door until that glue dries. The panel will never come off again. Ever. In a million years.

Good Morning everyone,
This looks like such a fun porch to sit on. May I join?
I am from Wisconsin, about 1/2 hr from Green Bay. Just the idea of being able to sit on a front porch after this past winter makes me happy.
I am new to the whole backyard chicken community. Attempting to hatch my first batch of chicks now.
I am mom of 4 kids. 27,25.19, and 17. The 25 year old is my only daughter (becky) and she is married to a wonderful guy (weston). My oldest is Jake, followed by Luke(19) and Jeremiah(17).
I will be married for 30 years in Sept. Which is really odd seeing as I swear I'm not a day over 30 myself.

I am an RN. working in pediatric home care.
I have loads of seeds starting in my dinning room, and incubator of eggs warming in my living room and really bad spring fever. Looking forward to listening to all of your stories.
.

Welcome to the Porch!

So nice to have another nurse on the Porch. I'm hatching for the first time too, so we can be hatching buddies.

Well, I'm finally able to get on line this evening. We had our first thunderstorms of the year this afternoon and my satellite internet service has been down. Lindz, get better soon we miss you .Welcome to the porch Jellybean and JMoeller. I think you will enjoy the fellowship here. Blooie, want to see pics of you in your farmer gear. Your stories make me laugh out loud and my husband just looks at me like I am nuts .Happy Birthday to Searsmom. Bee, Doug got the phone call from Eli today. I think the conversation went well. We are excited to meet with him and talk more. BCM, Ben is sure handsome. Can he come to the porch and visit with my Katy. I tried to post pictures last night, but BYC couldn't upload from my program. If anyone has any hints I would like to post pics of my newest additions. Katy and her Pup. Still can't find the right name for the little roly-poly ball of white fluff.
Whew, I think I am caught up. If I missed anybody I am sorry. More thunderstorms predicted for tomorrow, so my time on here may be limited. I hate satellite, but that is all we have in this "holler".

Eli is such a boy...didn't tell me much but I could tell he was pleased as well. Said he could even do farm chores up there....he LOVES doing farm chores. His only regret is that he won't have more days to devote to learning with Doug, as this is what he really wants to do. You'll like Eli...he's steady and he's good to have around. Great sense of humor and great work ethic. God has brought this opportunity into his life and also you godly people and I am so grateful for it!

I am old............ but do NOT admit to a day over 30

(well maybe 40-50ish)

NOPE! sticking with 30

But more than willing to share my hay bale with all of you new members. Welcome guys!

And Bee. ......... so glad you caught the hatching bug! I just KNEW it would happen. Maybe after you get your white rocks hatched I will be able to entice you with some eggs that will hatch into blue egg laying pullets.......

I'll have to do some major subtracting in my chicken math before I hatch out anymore after I get those WRs....IF I can even get them now. The opportunity might have already flown. But my little coop is stressed to the max with meat chicks, then these coming along...and then later if I get the WRs. I'm expanding this spring but even that won't hold all this overstocking....I'll have to sell some of these that I'm currently hatching out and, of course, the meaties will be in the jar by the end of June.

If you don't hear from me tomorrow it is because Central Ohio has blown to the Atlantic Ocean..

We just came in from un-tarping the temporary dog run and bringing the new dogs onto the back porch. The wind was lifting the whole enclosure off the ground. Winds are predicted to 30Mph tonight. I hate wind. It gives me headaches. These are outdoor dogs and not housetrained. I put puppy pads down hoping at least the pup will get it and not mess all over. It is supposed to be nice tomorrow with only 6mph winds. I can live with that. We bought all the fencing for the cattle pasture today so tomorrow is fence building day. I have never done electric fence so it should be a learning experience for Doug and me. We should get the Highland Heifers by Tuesday. I am so excited. A real farm at last. This weekend is going to be very busy.

Too bad Eli can't get up there any sooner than he can....that boy can build FENCE, now! He once sunk telephone poles into the ground for me 4 ft. deep to form part of my fence!

He needs the exercise and fresh air, so I do hope he can get up there in time to help you all do some farming.

 

[Blooie]

Blooie - I am with you 100%. My story is similar to yours, but it was my 14 month old son. I refuse to believe that any God would say "ops! Time to get Reed! I'm going to make him go explore the back yard, make his older brother ignore him, and trip and fall into that 3" of freezing cold water." What hurts me even more is that the drugs they used to try to resuscitate him made it impossible to donate his perfectly functioning organs to any other children who would need them desperately. At least if our child was to die, why couldn't he help prevent someone else's live?

But back to the feeling of "deserving what has come to us", I feel that if there is a god (and I'm going to be in trouble for saying that here

) He would not be saying - let me punish this person to learn their lesson. Instead He would be saying 'This person has been having a very difficult time and needs some companionship and guidance to help them learn how to get through it, forgive any wrongs in themselves or others, and move forward to be the glowing spirit that we are.

But that is about as far as I get spiritually! I definitely do not believe in a god who wishes ill on anyone!

I am so sorry about the loss of your little son. Ken and I lost our twin boys 3 days apart, and there is no pain on earth like the one that never completely goes away. But NO, you are not going to be in trouble for saying ANYTHING here......it has seldom been my honor to get to know more outspoken, honest, and respectful people than those who are sitting on buckets, hay bales, rocking chairs and porch rails right here. We might not always agree with everything that someone else says, but it's kinda like a marriage.....just because I don't always agree with everything Ken says doesn't mean I'm going to chop him down at the knees and throw him out the door!

Faith is such a personal thing. That's one of the miracles about it, I think!

If you don't hear from me tomorrow it is because Central Ohio has blown to the Atlantic Ocean..

We just came in from un-tarping the temporary dog run and bringing the new dogs onto the back porch. The wind was lifting the whole enclosure off the ground. Winds are predicted to 30Mph tonight. I hate wind. It gives me headaches. These are outdoor dogs and not housetrained. I put puppy pads down hoping at least the pup will get it and not mess all over. It is supposed to be nice tomorrow with only 6mph winds. I can live with that. We bought all the fencing for the cattle pasture today so tomorrow is fence building day. I have never done electric fence so it should be a learning experience for Doug and me. We should get the Highland Heifers by Tuesday. I am so excited. A real farm at last. This weekend is going to be very busy.

Oh dear! Then this would probably be a bad time to say that here we look forward to 30 mph winds....it means things are calming down considerably, isn't that right, WyoDreamer? Lifting the dog kennels though, that's saying something! You wouldn't have a big dog crate or something to put Mama Dog in, would you? Duh, Diane! Never mind - if you did you'd have already done it! Don't mind me, I'm a little chicken-brained today! <sigh> And what did you think of the name, "Dandelion" for your pup? You could call him "Dandy' if Doug would be uncomfortable standing in the barnyard yelling, "Dandelion, come here!" I just thought since he's all white and fluffy, well, it kinda fit!

We want pictures of your farm in progress! I love Scottish Highland cattle! But you and Doug be careful with that fence! Teehee

 

[TexasLisa]

BEE you are home!!!!

We missed you! How was your trip? Did the eggs survive?

Lisa

 

[Blooie]

BEE you are home!!!!

We missed you! How was your trip? Did the eggs survive?

Lisa

Yeah, what she said!! And LOOK:


A new winder.....


And a vent on the West side going in...that's Ken peeking in.


And installed....


And a new vent going in on the North side....


And installed.......


AND a much lower pop door! TADA!!! We set up a temporary pen with Molly's old x-pen in front of the people door, then after the pop door was installed and working we moved it to see what would happen. Took them all of 10 seconds to start running in and out! All we have left is the nest boxes and a run! (That piece of wood in front of it is just a scrap)