The Front Porch Swing

[bruceha2000]

I was just wondering about if a seal was needed on those buckets.

If you mean a sealed top on buckets with nipples in the bottom, the answer is a resounding NO! In fact, if they are sealed the water CAN'T come out of the nipples, it creates a vacuum. It is the opposite of the waterers that have a "jar" type top and a screw on base with a small hole in one place (and the similar 2 part galvanized waterers). Those work because the vacuum keeps the water in. Water stops draining into the rim when the water covers the top of the hole. As the birds drink or the water evaporates, the hole is exposed and more air gets in letting the water out until the hole is covered again. If you get a hole in the top of one of those, the water will all drain out immediately because the vacuum is broken.

Bruce

 

[Tomtommom]

Aquick note before the computer locks up....

Again welcome New Porchies.....

Tomtom My goodness I didnt know you were expecting..... Congrats Saw a pix on OZ's list. What a cutie pie.... and omygoodness DAds expression is priceless.

WRT refilling chicken waterers.... Nipple waterers are not under pressure nore do they require a seal on the top. How about just bringin the hose to the coop and refilling without lifing and walking about They dont suffer from back wash or contamination so they probably only need occasional cleaning. so hang them where you can get to them and refill with the hose.

Peeps dealing with tornadoes.... Big hugs

Gimme an earthquake any day.

deb "pounding down a Chorizo burrito for lunch and Sipping a Quad esspresso"

I've mentioned it here and there, so on some threads folks probably didn't have a clue and on others they knew every detail

Dad is a good one, very nurturing.. lucky kiddo's (and lucky me).

We're hanging on to our seats here.. Today is the three year anniversary of a BAD tornado outbreak here in Alabama. My husband's hometown got hit hard by an EF5. We were luckily safe, rotations went over us but did not touch down. My husband had just had knee surgery the day before and I had him in the hallway, piled high with every mattress, blanket and pillow we had

We were in NO position to try and get shelter, he couldn't move an inch, took him 10 minutes just to get into the hallway. No kids at the time, thank goodness.

Tomorrow we're expecting storms to hit here, but you can bet we will be going to the community shelter if needed. I've got a 27 month old and a newborn.. there's no way I will be hiding in the bathtub or hallway. We're saving up for an in-ground shelter... in Oklahoma you can get super low interest loans for shelters, in Alabama banks consider that a 'lifestyle loan' (the kind people get to pay for vacations they can't afford!) and carry super high APR.

And so... we save. Hopefully next year we have enough.

Hi tomtommom, you enjoy that rest, you deserve it.

I know what you mean about swollen legs and feet too. I've been having a problem with that lately - NOT pleasant at all! I hope your baby girl gets over that jaundice soon. Enjoy those snuggles.

It is sort of a gloomy day here too. I got rained on while feeding so I just went in and had a seat with some roos and waited it out. More rain to come. You can almost see the grass growing! lol

I had very little swelling during the pregnancy, so it's weird for me.. I couldn't see my ankles the other day

I'm losing several pounds a day right now, so that's probably a lot of water weight coming off. I'm feeling a lot less poofy already *laugh*



This is a Bilibed. She's basically sandwiched between two light sources, kept down in a fleece cover that velcros around her.. diaper only, which is why the blankets go over the top. She can only be removed for feedings

She's been chilly in it, even with three blankets, body temp is 97.3F most the time. I keep her hat on, but heck, that doesn't do much. I'll be glad when she's done with it.

The Lord does grant small favors though. It was storming so bad a while ago, I had to unplug the darn thing (instructions from the home health nurse).. so we had snuggle time after feeding time and it was wonderful. She loves sleeping on me (to the point I can't breastfeed her. She passes out the moment she smells me

My son did the same thing... not even an explosion could wake them in my arms. Gotta pump and bottlefeed, or they would starve

)

Tommie (easier to type than TomTom, which I just typed anyway!) you just let the rest of the world go to h*** and give that little one all the snuggles she wants! Years from now she probably won't remember what's happening, but she will always remember your touch.

Bee, Ken got the 5 gallon bucket set up with those horizontal nipples I'd ordered (knew they'd come in handy eventually) and the chickens took to it right away. Evan and Katie were vastly relieved this morning when they came over to do chicken chores and learned they didn't have to worry about watering. Tam did say that if we end up being gone a little longer she'd be sure to check it and top it off if needed. Thank you too, Bruce!

Sadly, off-limits from spending too much time out of her bed.. but, I hope tomorrow will bring good news.

My husband is working on a bucket system too. The gallon waterer used to work just fine, until I got a rambunctious bunch of boys and they empty the thing twice a day

He actually made a bucket, but for whatever reason he thought the nipples went through the sides of the bucket, not the bottom... He normally researches things for hours before he does anything, so that's totally unusual for him.. I will blame it on the fact I was in the hospital and his nerves were shot

We just need a new bucket now, and try again.

Wish all of you well with your current situation. We've been there. No fun. We lost my mother-in-law and my mother last year, one month apart, in May and June. Makes you utterly hate hospitals! It sounds like she's in great spirits though and that really does make a difference.

 

[bruceha2000]

Praying for paitence right now. I love my husband, but sometimes he can be so slow, This fence has to be done tonight and he spends more time standing and staring at it than working. I had to come in for a few minutes, before I said something I shouldn't. We still need to hang two gates, tighten up the wires (3 rows) and add a few more posts, Then we probably need to weed eat under some of the wire so we don't ground out. The cattle will probably be here by 8:30 tomorrow morning, I hope the small paddock will hold them while he is finishing up the electric fence, We still need to go to town and get water as our pump and well won't handle completely filling the stock tank. OK I feel better now. I guess I will go back out and hammer in some fence posts if he will agree that should be done next. Thanks for giving me a place to vent for a moment.

As a male of the human race, I feel the need to come to the aid of your DH!

He might be staring into his head visualizing how things need to be done.

I spend a LOT of time "standing and staring" unless there is a "blueprint" to follow. At the moment I am figuring out how to get a hand rail from a 42" high (min, per code) balcony railing to turn 90 degrees and go down the stairs at a rail height of 38" (max, per code) WITHOUT using a gooseneck fitting because my wife and daughter don't like the goosenecks. It would be easy if it were post to post but they wanted to make sure they could put their hand on the rail at the top or bottom of the stairs and get to the other end without EVER having to take it off. My wife has RA and my daughter can be close to blind for a day or more if she gets whacked with a visual pattern migraine so this is not an unreasonable request. Once I get this figured out, I have to figure out how to make 2 more 90 degree turns in ~10" of linear space and that 10" includes a 15 1/2" drop (single stair step between 2 landings). There will be MUCH standing and staring.


(that isn't a skylight in the ceiling, it is a light fixture)

 

[LindaB220]

Hi everyone! Guess who had her first job failure? This girl!

I'm going back to my hometown tomorrow and I'm not going back to Austin for a job until I have a car, a license, and a heart full of desire to experience life. The family I was with was crazy.

If there is anything I have learned on this forum, it is that women can be nurturing an strong, mothers an warriors, all at once. We aren't just simpering little twits that follow men around waiting for orders or to be talked down to.

This family obviously didn't know that. I heard the term feminazi being thrown around and I was about ready to screech with indignation. I won't be going back. My Mom has agreed to go get my stuff for me. It would be nice to go back to Austin, but I'm not good back to that house. They just need to drop me off at a bar in 6th street and let me sip a drink and they can get me later. That house was toxic. I slept 15 hours last night and I pray that no other woman goes into that house and experiences what I did.

Sorry, dear, but I believe everybody was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. At least I was. Your sweet heart was drawn in to that job with no idea what you were getting into. Who was your predecessor? Why were you the ONLY one to solve their problems. Beware of the easy road. That boss and his family were obviously poison. Be happy you weren't actually hurt. In fact, just BE HAPPY.

 

[jmoeller]

Blooie and Linda and tomtommom. Prayers go out to all of you and your family members.
In church this morning the pastor asked everyone if you had to bring something to church that represented who you were what would it be. People answered ~ hammer~ piano~ books.... I just kept thinking it would have to be a picture of my family. How could no one else have thought of that?? Family is what it is all about. anyway with all my blah blah blah what I mean to say is my heart is with you all as you and your families go through these times of trial. God Bless you and your loved ones.
Blooies question about watering the chickens got me to thinking. I've heard that you should add apple cider vinegar to chickens water. would that help keep the water from getting yucky if you had to set out a large amount of water? Or would the amount of vinegar needed be so much that the chickens wouldn't drink it? I haven't set up our coop yet. the chickens are still in my basement. I'm trying to plan ahead for when we go on vacation.
rrrmama You sound like you are married to the same kind of guy I am. My husband does wonderful job building and fixing things but is so slow. I have had to walk away many times to cool off over the last 30 years. lol

 

[bruceha2000]

in Oklahoma you can get super low interest loans for shelters, in Alabama banks consider that a 'lifestyle loan' (the kind people get to pay for vacations they can't afford!) and carry super high APR.

And so... we save. Hopefully next year we have enough.

Geez, that is just stupid for people that live in tornado alley. It would make sense up here, tornados basically don't exist.

Quote: You smell that GOOD or that BAD!!

Congrats on the new baby, jaundice will pass (as you know) and before long she will be crawling then walking then talking then you will want to say "WILL YOU SHUT UP!!!" when she is 4 and no matter what you say she will respond "Why?". Of course you haven't seen that, your son isn't 4 yet. Then they will become teens and you will say "WILL YOU PLEASE TALK TO ME!"

Bruce

 

[Triple Willow]

Thanks! One other thing Linda and I were talking about. I said something about this year's family picture being taken in the hospital, since we didn't do one last year after she got sick. She said, "Were you Dad-il-pated? We did too take a few, but I got tired and had to rest awhile." So I looked back and by golly, I did find a couple from when we took Jamie, his wife and our new great-grandson back to see everyone. And, as usual, we couldn't get a good one with everyone smiling nicely into the camera. Here it is: As close as we ever seem to get. Me, Lori, Ronnie, Bev, with Linda in front. We managed to get two smilers, a laugher, a leaner and Linda with her eyes closed, and considered that a success. I'm not sure why I forgot this session - maybe too much going on with showing off my new great grandson and Linda's illness all at once. . By the way, "Dad-il-pated" is family-ese for having had a few cold ones. I'm sorely tempted to drag out the ones we've taken in past years.......be interesting to see if there's not at least ONE good one.

Gotta love family pics. Such a good way to preserve memories.

 

[LBejaran]

Maybe it seems like a job failure but it sounds like a life success. You go, girl!

Yeah, I feel better now. I had a panic attack yesterday at the house, though. Not my best exit strategy, but it got me out of there. Never again. I thought I could put aside my own beliefs and do my work, but I will never do that at the cost of my morals.

@Ibejaran... maybe that guy will learn a little something and even more important, maybe his children will. You are so right, a woman can be kind and nurturing and ALSO be a fierce warrior. Don't worry, God always has a plan.

Yes! See, I knew I liked the front porch for a reason!

Another thing he told me: one of the big reasons for bringing me along was because he thought I could get some sort of religious epiphany. He said, "I wouldn't just bring anyone into my home and I can get good graphic designers with a phone call. We brought you here because we thought we could help you get closer to God!"

Oh, so the great references and my awesome design skills weren't the reason you brought me along? Okay, fine. However, I'm pretty sure you couldn't get a designer to work for you for free and still be willing to out up with your excessive nagging about each design. I don't design for my health. I do it as a job and if I make certain choices, it is because it is good design principle. I do it for aesthetics an for the audience, not the client. I certainly don't think another designer would be willing to design for their boss the way I was forced to.

And I am perfectly happy with my relationship with God, thank you very much. Not everyone worships the same. He needed the book and for daily miracles to happen. I just needed to go outside, pick up an egg and hold a duck to know.

That sounds ugly Laura. What work did you do? Some sort of Mary Poppins nanny job?

Bruce

Not even. I was a graphic designer. If he wanted some moronic female sycophant to follow him around and accept his word as law, he should of looked at his church where apparently all the women are exactly like his wife. Ugh! It was horrible. I put up with it for a week but they had a party on Thursday and all I could see were pregnant women and husbands who handed their kids to their wives when they got too rowdy.

Only two women weren't pregnant. One was from Nicaragua. She had a good head on her shoulders and said that she couldn't have anymore kids until they were financially stable. The other was white and said she was content with the five kids she had and she didn't want anymore.

I think if it were up to my ex-boss, though, his wife would have about ten more kids to add to the nine they already have. I just wanted to back the heck up and yell at them to adopt if they wanted more.

It's not necessarily a failure, call it a learning opportunity preparing you for a better one. As someone said here, God has a plan for u.

Yup, I know better now. Sometimes, when something sounds too good to be true, it is. I'm gonna start looking for a job in a week or so.

First, I want to go home and take a look at my chickens. I think I want to get going in that incubator I wanted to build and put in a couple dozen Muscovy eggs. Oh, and some Australorp/Rhode Island Red eggs. Did you know that the offspring of those two breeds are fantastic egg layers? Cause my best layer is a mix and she lays huge eggs (she'd make a good meaty, too, if she wasn't such a great layer).

Yeah, I can feel it all coming together. No more tears from this girl. I'm ready to face the world again!

 

[TexasLisa]

Love love love ginger tea. Great for the circulation. In the giving spirit I'll bring a basket full of goodies for the critters. Some meat treats for the dogs playing on the front lawn, carrots for Katee the Percheron, and a lettuce leaf for the turtle under the bucket.

Quote:

Hi everyone! Guess who had her first job failure? This girl!

I'm going back to my hometown tomorrow and I'm not going back to Austin for a job until I have a car, a license, and a heart full of desire to experience life. The family I was with was crazy.

If there is anything I have learned on this forum, it is that women can be nurturing an strong, mothers an warriors, all at once. We aren't just simpering little twits that follow men around waiting for orders or to be talked down to.

This family obviously didn't know that. I heard the term feminazi being thrown around and I was about ready to screech with indignation. I won't be going back. My Mom has agreed to go get my stuff for me. It would be nice to go back to Austin, but I'm not good back to that house. They just need to drop me off at a bar in 6th street and let me sip a drink and they can get me later. That house was toxic. I slept 15 hours last night and I pray that no other woman goes into that house and experiences what I did.

You did NOT fail. Failure would have been if you had stayed. Laura you have a good head on your shoulders and a good heart. You will find a good job. You learned a little about people.

I am glad you have your family around you.

Storms are starting to roll in here. Just rain and rumbling, nothing extreme expected until tomorrow.

Grey and gloomy..

Atleast my garden will appreciate it, so just thinking of a bountiful harvest to keep the spirit up.

My babygirl is bedbound right now (jaundice), and she's just wanting to snuggle her momma. I know she's done with it, I'm done with it.. hoping she will be done with her treatment by tomorrow.

DH had to work today (he had 8 vacation days, so we decided to spread them out, taking 4 per week, so having to work 1 day)...

It's just a blah kind of day, isn't it?

On the bright side, atleast I am sitting on my behind for a change, I have been going, going, going from the moment I came out of the hospital. My legs have been swollen, so sitting would probably be a good activity

You are still in my prayers! Rest Tomtommom and snuggle with the little one. Please stay safe with the storms.

Thanks! One other thing Linda and I were talking about. I said something about this year's family picture being taken in the hospital, since we didn't do one last year after she got sick. She said, "Were you Dad-il-pated? We did too take a few, but I got tired and had to rest awhile." So I looked back and by golly, I did find a couple from when we took Jamie, his wife and our new great-grandson back to see everyone. And, as usual, we couldn't get a good one with everyone smiling nicely into the camera. Here it is:


<sigh> As close as we ever seem to get. Me, Lori, Ronnie, Bev, with Linda in front. We managed to get two smilers, a laugher, a leaner and Linda with her eyes closed, and considered that a success. I'm not sure why I forgot this session - maybe too much going on with showing off my new great grandson and Linda's illness all at once. . By the way, "Dad-il-pated" is family-ese for having had a few cold ones. I'm sorely tempted to drag out the ones we've taken in past years.......be interesting to see if there's not at least ONE good one.

Blooie, that is good news regarding your sister. Have a safe trip to the hospital. You and your family are in my prayers.

Lisa

 

[Triple Willow]

@tomtommom... Don't let your hubby toss those buckets with the holes in the side just yet! They will work! I was thinking about the problem of the nipples on the bottom and these folks figured that problem out...
http://www.avianaquamiser.com/3homemadechickenwaterer/

You guys that use nipples, does this price seem really high? ^^^^^ They have several articles about heated water for cold weather. I will definitely be reading those!

@tomtommom... I know what you mean about tornados. We have them skip and hop around us pretty often. May God's hand of protection be on you and yours. I saw a thing on tv about a town that was wiped out by a tornado a few years ago. They set up a storm shelter using a "storage container" like goes on semis/cargo ships. It was set up and dirt mound up on both sides sloped all the way to the top. The door was out and possibly the other end of it. You can buy short ones all the way up to about 52 feet long. I guess they are all about 8 feet wide and made of steel. People are making underground bunkers and even nice houses out of them. I believe you can purchase most any size for less than $4,000. Not cheap but several people could go in on a big one. LOTS of people would fit in there!