The Front Porch Swing

[topdycke]

Today, out of nowhere my dad's sister contacts me on Facebook.

Mind you, I have not seen this lady since I was little bitty. My dad I haven't seen or spoken in 10 years.... I've been trying to find him and other family only to end up nowhere. I have no clue what made her look for me, but I am glad she did. She even called my dad for me, to see if he was ok with her giving me his address.

My grandma that I had found but was denied contact with is apparently 95 years old now and has dementia. My dad's partner is very ill, which is why he denied contact at the time.. just not able to deal with it all. He told my aunt he would like it if I wrote a letter, which is something I will definitely do. I do not want my dad to die without us setting things right. He's 69... he's getting up there in age.

I've struggled with faith for years. I want to believe but I find it hard to... but when stuff like this happens, it's hard NOT to believe. I mean, this lady has not seen me in 20+ years! And out of nowhere she finds me. My mind is just reeling.

Sometimes fate opens those doors for us.

 

[heartsizedfarm]

Oh good...  its so miserable to watch em here where there is no turnout and when dinner comes around the get an airfern amount...

deb

What's an airfern amount?

 

[bruceha2000]

I think I would really get on well with Rebekah. Not so sure about Rebekah's cat.

We had that whole discussion on "predators are predators" right? He's just doing what comes naturally. I will see if I can make sure no mice get upstairs for him to "play" with. I'm not real fond of finding barfed mouse guts either!

He is a fun nut ball! He will be 3 this month. If you throw a toy over his head, he jumps straight up, then lands running, almost like a cartoon.

Here he is looking out the window this afternoon. He's sitting on one of the original beams in the rebuilt part of the house. It is in the downstairs bedroom.


This is a video Rebekah took when he was not even 8 weeks old. He was dumped in the neighborhood at 6 weeks of age (estimated).

Bruce,
Sorry to hear that the previous owners hid stuff from you, it burns me up when people do that.

From the pictures, it looks like you are going to have a beautiful place when you are done with the remodel.
Our previous place was a modular and had a couple of major problems that we didn't find out abut until there were major problems - like the leaking water heater which rotted out the floor of the hallway and 1/2 bath. The guy we bought that place from didn't know about it leaking though, so there was no attempt at fraud. He felt really bad when he heard we had to rebuild the floor and bathroom. He was our neighbor and we were/are great friends.

We had rot in the floor of the mud room. They had converted it from a workshop so I know everything was less than 10 years old. But the expansion tank on the furnace had failed and blew hot water out the over pressure pipe every time it fired up. I have one at the other house that is > 15 years old, still fine. And they did nothing more than put a bucket under it. The stupid thing costs < $35. AND apparently they didn't remember to empty the bucket all that often because after we moved in I found about 15 sq ft of the chip board under the slate was rotted as was the drywall in the furnace closet to a height of ~6". He had painted over that. Mold is a very bad thing for Rebekah. It took me 4 months to fix all the stuff I found after taking possession before she could move in. Then she lived here 9 months before we found all the problems in the rest of the building resulting in the total gut and replacement.

I'm waiting for karma to kick those peoples', um, donkey.

 

[heartsizedfarm]

We had that whole discussion on "predators are predators" right? He's just doing what comes naturally. I will see if I can make sure no mice get upstairs for him to "play" with. I'm not real fond of finding barfed mouse guts either! He is a fun nut ball! He will be 3 this month. If you throw a toy over his head, he jumps straight up, then lands running, almost like a cartoon. Here he is looking out the window this afternoon. He's sitting on one of the original beams in the rebuilt part of the house. It is in the downstairs bedroom. This is a video Rebekah took when he was not even 8 weeks old. He was dumped in the neighborhood at 6 weeks of age (estimated).

We had rot in the floor of the mud room. They had converted it from a workshop so I know everything was less than 10 years old. But the expansion tank on the furnace had failed and blew hot water out the over pressure pipe every time it fired up. I have one at the other house that is > 15 years old, still fine. And they did nothing more than put a bucket under it. The stupid thing costs < $35. AND apparently they didn't remember to empty the bucket all that often because after we moved in I found about 15 sq ft of the chip board under the slate was rotted as was the drywall in the furnace closet to a height of ~6". He had painted over that. Mold is a very bad thing for Rebekah. It took me 4 months to fix all the stuff I found after taking possession before she could move in. Then she lived here 9 months before we found all the problems in the rest of the building resulting in the total gut and replacement. I'm waiting for karma to kick those peoples', um, donkey.

Well I hope their donkey gets kicked as well! Thanks for the Checkers post. I've seen some crazy cats playing in that roundabout. Checkers is not crazy or frenetic in this video. Checkers seems like a nice sensible problem-solving cat. Enjoy!

 

[Windy Bay Farm]

Oh, that sounds simply delicious!!!  I wish I could eat stuff like that but I am cursed with a deathly allergy to shellfish....dang it. 

Don't worry, Bee, we will fix you up with anything you like !

Seafood chowder - oh yum!  The only seafood chowder I have had is some stuff that I made myself with a weight watchers recipe.

You haven't had seafood chowder until you've had it made with everything fresh from the ocean... I could eat barrels of it !

 

[Beekissed]

Ok, prayer warriors, here's my need. My husband is scheduled for surgery tomorrow, but it has to be delayed because he has caught the cold that has run through my entire family. So, my request is this: That the surgery will be rescheduled in a timely manner, that his health and surgery date will be in compliance with each other, and that his surgery will go well with a good outcome (removal of a bony cyst from his back. He's been having nerve impingement pain since last October)

On the chicken front: My big girls are integrated with the littles, except for sharing perch space in their loft coop... so the littles have to sleep on newly installed perches in the outer part of their coop. What a ruckus they made when bedding down last night! One little RCBL keeps squeezing through the (uncharged) electronet fence. I have it ready to hook up the battery today as soon as i get a few sagging places tightened up so the wires aren't on the ground. The poor little girl is in for a big surprise.

We went to an "adult game day" yesterday. Now, before you get going with wild imaginings of what kind of "adult games" I might have been playing in mixed company, let me put your minds at ease. First, we drove to the address we were given, which took a bit of time, b/c hubby had the wrong town, but right street and number. So, after we got there, we found lots of cars, but nobody home. Found a sign, prompting us to follow that sign to the next sign... and so on... until we ran out of signs, and were left at the end of a dirt road with a "cattle path" leading off into the woods. So, hubby drove down the cattle path, through the woods, over hill and dale, around rocks and trees, through mud pits, until the woods opened up into a beautiful rolling field. The "adult games" were in full swing: Barbecue grill emanating incredible smells, 2 long tables laden with all sorts of delectables, kids joining in the fun, and lots of participants in the "adult games" There was a rifle range, skeet shooting, and archery. Our church congregration was well represented by this group! Come to find out, our pastor is a pretty good shot! Quite a few women and teen girls participating as well!

Prayers offered up for your lovin' hubby and those games sound like my kind of day!! What fun! Wish I knew folks who did those types of things...my boys and I LOVE that kind of fellowship.

I give you... The efficiency apartment!

Funny thing is, all the wood is junk wood that would have gone to the burn pile, including the fancy balusters. The last owners left the barn full of "junk" and the pet crate door was sitting up against a fence. The balusters are leftovers from the deck that was probably built in 1990 or so. It is not sturdy and will be replaced soon, so no need for these extras. They did have a price tag still on them that read $3.99. I used 6 of them. My husband was cracking up about how "fancy" I was making it. I laughed and said you ain't seen nothin' yet and pulled the zip ties out of the bag to attach the plastic fence!! It'll do. Just has to last a month!

I simply LOVE this efficiency apartment!!!

Looks just like something I'd rig up! Great minds think alike.... and greater minds use scraps for animal pens.

And such elegant scraps you have, my dear!

 

[Blooie]

On our way out of the Park with one extra family member than when we went in. I'll explain when I get home to my computer.

 

[rrrmamma]

Today, out of nowhere my dad's sister contacts me on Facebook.

Mind you, I have not seen this lady since I was little bitty. My dad I haven't seen or spoken in 10 years.... I've been trying to find him and other family only to end up nowhere. I have no clue what made her look for me, but I am glad she did. She even called my dad for me, to see if he was ok with her giving me his address.

My grandma that I had found but was denied contact with is apparently 95 years old now and has dementia. My dad's partner is very ill, which is why he denied contact at the time.. just not able to deal with it all. He told my aunt he would like it if I wrote a letter, which is something I will definitely do. I do not want my dad to die without us setting things right. He's 69... he's getting up there in age.

I've struggled with faith for years. I want to believe]] but I find it hard to... but when stuff like this happens, it's hard NOT to believe. I mean, this lady has not seen me in 20+ years! And out of nowhere she finds me. My mind is just reeling

That is wonderful. I know the feeling. My daughter and I reunited after we found each other on Facebook. I now have the opportunity to have my granddaughter spend the summer with us. I was truly blessed the day she showed up on my DIL's friend list and I contacted her. She is bringing my youngest granddaughter to visit us and to celebrate the granddaughters birthday this Thursday. They live about 12 hours away.

 

[Windy Bay Farm]

I've been meaning to post some pics of the chicks I acquired within the last couple of weeks, but just haven't had the time to do so. A couple weekends ago I acquired a bunch of chicks - all between the ages of 1.5 to 2.5 weeks of age. I ended up getting 6 BA's (that are from show quality birds), 6 SLW's, 3 Buff Orps, 3 Blue/Black Splash Orps, 5 Blue Laced Red Wyandottes and 2 Bantam Cochin Frizzles. I'm planning to start a breeding program with the SLW's, BA's and BCM's within the next year or two - we shall see how it all works out

I've also been doing some coop renos in the form of an addition to my existing coop; I'm adding a 5'x5' extension. - all materials are recycled with the exception of 2 sheets of "smart board" used on the walls. I hope to have it competed by this weekend so I can move the chicks in by next week. Still need to add windows, a door, nest boxes and roosts !

One more thing... Picked up a breeding trio, plus one, of Bantam Cochin Frizzles (and smooth hens) - they are all just over a year old. The two BCM chicks I have are off-spring from these guys. One question though if any of you can help; one of the hens has a bald head which I'm assuming is a result of the rooster mating with her so much and the other has a really bald butt at the moment. Any idea what I can do to promote feather growth for these two ? They do not have mites or anything if the such so I know the missing rear-end feathers are not a result of that.

 

[Beekissed]

Don't worry, Bee, we will fix you up with anything you like !

You haven't had seafood chowder until you've had it made with everything fresh from the ocean... I could eat barrels of it !

How nice that you can harvest that fresh, natural food from the ocean...what a blessing!! I've often wondered what it would be like to have a food larder like the ocean that close by...with the food free for the taking if you know how to get it or have the equipment handy to make it happen.

I'm not much of a fish eater....the only fish I really love is tuna and maybe cod if it's battered and deep fried. But I LOVE shrimp and crab....and can't have it. Isn't that sadly ironic? I've always wanted to try shrimp gumbo or butter dipped lobster or any number of great seafood dishes.