The Front Porch Swing

[OHhappychicks]

While I don't wish to deal with a fox wanting to eat my birds, part of me would love to have a fox fur. I'd probably use it to train my dogs to keep them out since they've never encountered them before (though my dogs are pretty good about dealing with predators anyway).

Have you checked your local shelters/sanctuaries for puppies? There are always loads of young dogs available and they aren't very pricey. Training a young pup to protect the property/flock is something you'd have to do anyway and this way, you save another animal from being euthanized. I checked on PetFinder and it looks like there are loads of great pups that would likely be great flock-protectors if trained correctly. One looked really promising and he's located in Batavia, OH.



That's not a very good photo, haha!

I checked him out!! He is a beaut!! I'm just not sure I want a herding dog. Just need a good guard dog to keep predators out of the yard. If I were looking for that type of dog, I would take him in a heartbeat!! He is so georgous!!

 

[Blooie]

Welcome home!

So thankful for you and what the Lord has done for your sister and family!! GOD IS SO GOOD!! I will continue to pray for her full and speedy recovery!!
If you could remember to pray for my DDIL, Stephanie, who has CF. She is not doing to well. Lots of pain from infection in one of her lungs. She had it collapse a couple of weeks ago. Took a while to get it inflated. Her doctors can't do anything more for her here, because her lung could collapse again. She can't get into Cleveland clinic until the middle of June. Then 3 days of doctors apptments. Then hopefully she will get on the transplant list. They have to have $100,000 in the bank before she can get the transplant. Friends are going to have a benefit for her at the end of the month. Her brother passed away in 06 of CF. They had lungs for him, but when they opened them, the lungs were damaged. He passed a couple of days later. I just say all of this so you will know how to pray. She has such strength! But she knows and trusts the one who holds her!! Praise God!!!

I added your daughter-in-law the first day I read about her, and I haven't stopped yet! It's funny to be on both sides of the transplant fence - our Linda desperately needs a kidney and is very difficult to match. The kidney has to be very small to fit her tiny body, and she has a whole plethora of antibodies plus the RH negative factor to further complicate things. Your Stephanie is also in need of a life saving transplant. I'm so grateful that our grandson was able to help so many people through his death. I'm sure the folks who got transplants from him had mixed emotions, knowing they were alive because someone else wasn't, and I'm sure your family and mine will feel those same emotions - probably yours more than ours because in order for her to get a lung transplant the donor will be deceased. Our youngest sister has so far been the one family member who tested closest to Linda and stands a good chance of being a live donor, but she has quite a bit of weight to lose before they will continue the more detailed testing.

This is one of those times where prayer has two heads - while someone is praying hard for their loved one to live, another is praying hard that a donor organ becomes available and that usually only happens one way, except in the case of kidneys. But I trust the Good Lord to sort it out and then to set our minds and hearts at ease when it happens. Like Linda said, she has a town full of Mormons and a bunch of chicken farmers praying for her, and how can God ignore a combination like that?

 

[Blooie]

WHAT!!!

In what state do you live? It makes me cringe to think of cold and snow after the winter we had!!!

Stay warm!!

Good old Wyoming, where ranch isn't just a salad dressing and the "Welcome To __________" and "Now Leaving _______" messages are usually painted on the same side of the town sign.

 

[LindaB220]

SOMEONE has to work while the rest of us cool our heels on the porch!

Sounds like a great opportunity. Just a small worry - I assume the FEMA trailer was tested for formaldehyde. There were a bunch of them making people sick after Katrina. It is one of the things used to make plywood.

Just so I am clear on this, you are somewhat looking forward to this move, right?

Blooie, that is so funny. I love it. Linda was patient for a long time, then straight to the heart! No pussy footing around. Get it in gear or get it in the rear. Next time you talk to her, tell her she makes your friends on the porch swing laugh.


Get a job working in the Post Office. Guaranteed weight loss program (sample size of 1

)
My wife was saying she was down a decade as she started to lose weight. My older daughter (OCD about many things) wasn't having any of it, decades are time, not weight. So today my wife said "I have a new middle number". That means 40 pounds since she started working at the P.O. last November. (shhh, don't tell her I put this personal info out on the porch).

So, OK, I can't actually guarantee it works for everyone but the not sitting around the house and going for walks at lunch have really gotten her metabolism in gear.

Bruce

Good for her. Being active is the key. However, my day's of activity are over. Too old.

Although working with the chickens and doing things are keeping me younger. Love that.

 

[OHhappychicks]

Amen.

 

[LBejaran]

Awful young to be set in yer ways already.

Might keep you from enjoying a lot of things in life if you get stuck in a rut at such a young age.

Funnily enough, I'm plenty flexible with most everything else. Trying new foods/music/places is a real treat for me. I wish I had more friends to enjoy life with, but I figured out some time ago (and have been told this for years by Mom) that I get along best with people older than me because my heart is old. I've had a heck of a time finding lifetime friends who don't get bored of me after half an hour. There is a distinct disconnect between myself and the different generations. Old soul, new ideals; I'm just all over the place, haha! Many of my older friends don't really enjoy the same music as me. The youthful people who do enjoy the music I like are a little too new-age.

But then again, that's why I'm here on BYC, hehe! There are plenty of people who want to live off the land but they still have plenty of new ideas that they can incorporate. It's the perfect balance!

 

[Blooie]

Love your set up!!

I don't know that those tarps would last more than a day here with the wind we get. Precipitation even tends to come in sideways, and that's no exaggeration as you can see from this picture I took of a neighbor's house this winter.



Took this off a local radio station's web site.....Clark is a little town not too far from here in Northern Wyoming. famous for it high winds. This occurred March 17 2014:

"Wind speeds yesterday morning reached 110 MPH at the reporting station just outside of Clark, Wyoming at 10:25 yesterday morning, and they were not alone. 109 MPH at the Mt Coffin reporting station in Lincoln County at 7:15 AM and 102 MPH winds at Hoyt Peak in Park County added to the high speed reports

Read More: 110 MPH Winds Batter Wyoming | http://k2radio.com/110-mph-winds-batter-wyoming/?trackback=tsmclip"

So tarps, even well secured ones, really don't do us too much good here.

 

[LBejaran]

I checked him out!! He is a beaut!! I'm just not sure I want a herding dog. Just need a good guard dog to keep predators out of the yard. If I were looking for that type of dog, I would take him in a heartbeat!! He is so georgous!!

I totally get where you're coming from. Mom once insisted that we adopt this mature blue tick coonhound. He ended up being an awful dog to have around our chickens. He swallowed a couple of our broilers whole and then proceeded to throw them back up. It was pretty gross. I learned at that point that we'd have to be much more selective if we wanted to adopt another dog. We were lucky to have accidentally bred the perfect watchdog/guardian for our chickens. She's just about the perfect dog and I'm just happy she's still around.

I know you were looking at a specific mix, but if you take a look at your local shelters, there are tons of different options. PetFinder only has what they've had time to list (generally, they are the most adoptable dogs they have), but there are loads of dogs coming in each day that have the potential to be great guard dogs. Mine is a German Shepherd/Boxer mix. She's got the short hair of a boxer that is still great for repelling water from the Shepherd genes. She is big enough to look like a threat but is really a big softie. All of her siblings (there were 8 other pups) were loved by their owners because of how great their personalities were. I love Sandy so much. I have a hard time thinking about the day that I will have to replace her. I'm looking to get a puppy later this year that will learn from Sandy how to protect the flock.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Oh joy of joys! Expecting an inch of snow tonight into tomorrow. Better close up the coop for the night.

The weather man mentioned 2 inches of snow for us - after an inch of rain during the day with possibility of severe thunderstorms and hail. We need the moisture - not the hail.

Starting tomorrow afternoon.

 

[bruceha2000]

Oh joy of joys! Expecting an inch of snow tonight into tomorrow. Better close up the coop for the night.

It is currently 34F, supposed to be 35 tonight and 44 tomorrow night. It has been warm enough this spring to open the windows exactly ONCE. And I'm whining because it is May and I am STILL feeding the wood stove while getting the lawn tractor ready to mow! I'll shut up about that now.

Supposed to be in the 60s during the day for the next 5 days, 70 on Sunday though what we see that day is subject to change as we will be driving to Pembroke, ON, stop one on the trip to WI. Hope your snow melts quickly so you don't have to shovel

How about Cats in the Cradle. ????

A fave, and so often SO true.

I've had a heck of a time finding lifetime friends who don't get bored of me after half an hour. There is a distinct disconnect between myself and the different generations. Old soul, new ideals; I'm just all over the place, haha! Many of my older friends don't really enjoy the same music as me. The youthful people who do enjoy the music I like are a little too new-age.

But then again, that's why I'm here on BYC, hehe! There are plenty of people who want to live off the land but they still have plenty of new ideas that they can incorporate. It's the perfect balance!

That can change Laura. For lots of people your age ( just < half my age) fun is going to a bar to drink, party party! Only things that are directly influencing them 'today' are of interest. But they (most of them) will move on, some more quickly (like you) than others. You will find the people further along that path. Do they have "Farmers markets" where you live? My guess is you'll find young people there that share your "old heart" soul.

Yep, stick to the porch where the old

, um I mean people with more life experience, hang out

Bruce