The Old Folks Home

[Highcotton]

Took some photos for my son that I write to on Sundays. Sent him these. He says GA has beautiful flowers there, and loves the Orange Honey Suckle. I remember when I lived on the coast how many flowers just grew, with out being watered. Here in the dessert, we have to water every thing to keep it alive.
My bleeding bush is doing great.

My tulips are finally coming up..I face north. I love the tulip, my favorite flower. It was
raining the day I took the photo below, so they aren't opened much, but love the colors.
I pulled up a lot of the old, and planted new bulbs.

My Peonie Bush is growing fast, and my rose bushes too. Only my second yr. on
these rose buses..hope they are bigger this yr.
Veggies..so far my Rainbow Chard is coming up again on it's own. I don't think I will be planting much this yr. I want a Yellow Crook Neck Squash, and a Pumpkin plant, not even doing tomatoes. Don't have much room for a garden in the front. I can get them down the street
for a pretty good price anyway.

Those are beautiful flowers. I did not know that bleeding hearts bloomed this early. My first flowers are Dogwood and Redbuds here in Central Georgia. We have some beautiful orange Native Azaleas (Honeysuckle). They have not bloomed yet. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Highcotton]

Thats why I know how to do all of the above jobs and can milk a cow, and trim a horse hoof! good luck with your hunt for good help!!!

Scott

That's my retirement job if I ever get around to permanently retiring. My biggest problem is that paying for it and doing it conflicts and I only have so much time.

 

[Highcotton]

This is my tiller and my furrow maker...had to order the furrow in. Rick told me they made such things so when I stepped up and took the plunge to get my tiller, had them bring me one in. LOVE IT! Beats the living heck outta shovelling and man the shovelling of pathways I have done to make raised beds in my veg gardens...stuff this furrow in where the normal straight bar (sorry, me no know the technical term for the metal bar the keeps the tines at a certain depth??) goes and on yer way to pathways...YEE HAW!

I rotate crops in the veg garden so do up different layouts and place the paths in different locations on the plot. Lots of fun...planning how it will look and what goes where.


Gotta get some greens in the dirt, saw the second wabbit this morn...and she sure looks hungry! LOL Pearl is now working on egg number four and she'll be demanding some homegrown spinach...so yeh...dogs want peas...carrots...Rick will want some baby potatoes...I feel just like that Lil' Red Hen ... No wheat, no durn growing and harvest and grinding of no darn wheat. I am sure in high school I was voted most likely to make her own flour and taw hides...

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

I have a Troy Bilt over 20 years old with a furrower like that. I love it. The furrower is a must for potatoes. It is also great for corn. If you plant the corn in the furrow and then pull dirt up around it as the corn grows it covers the grass and the extra dirt helps prevent the wind from blowing the corn over as it matures.

 

[Highcotton]

Good morning. I just wanted to comment on how my Dear Wife has been sacrificing for the chickens. My chickens favorite food is watermelon. So, she and my granddaughter have putting themselves out by eating watermelon so the chicks could have the rind. I was notified this morning that the chickens needed more watermelon.

 

[ronott1]

Good morning. I just wanted to comment on how my Dear Wife has been sacrificing for the chickens. My chickens favorite food is watermelon. So, she and my granddaughter have putting themselves out by eating watermelon so the chicks could have the rind. I was notified this morning that the chickens needed more watermelon.

I like that way of taking care of the chickens!

 

[CanuckBock]

I have a Troy Bilt over 20 years old with a furrower like that. I love it. The furrower is a must for potatoes. It is also great for corn. If you plant the corn in the furrow and then pull dirt up around it as the corn grows it covers the grass and the extra dirt helps prevent the wind from blowing the corn over as it matures.

Yah...another advocate of the furrower...ha ha ha...

I would agree that it would be most awesome for potatoes, making the hilling part easier (heard tires are another way to plant potatoes...the black rubber attracts more heat and you dump more dirt in the tire as the potatoes grow...never tried it) and the corn (hates it roots disturbed) would sure benefit too from more dirt on the roots.

Good morning. I just wanted to comment on how my Dear Wife has been sacrificing for the chickens. My chickens favorite food is watermelon. So, she and my granddaughter have putting themselves out by eating watermelon so the chicks could have the rind. I was notified this morning that the chickens needed more watermelon.

Yes, the sacrifices the WHOLE dang family has to make, eh? So trying...having chooks!

Bwa ha ha...we eat watermelons all year here...well because the Mandarin Ducks need melon. That excuse flies like a lead balloon...though the ducks DO like the melon.

Mandarin Ducks and melons...empty rind and a replacement!


Here is a melon rind PELT!​

BTW, I am told that chunks of watermelon rind will endear horses to your presence. Now some equines like it way over the top and others, not so much...worth a try I suppose. Sheep and goats like grapes...as do turkeys...don't ask how I know--woman that wanders around with a pork chop tied to her butt so the dogs will listen and love me! Ha ha ha...or bite me...ha ha ha


OK...I gotta get the Old Folks' brainies working on this one mystery...just gotta figure it out.

I had 5 or 6 golf balls in a stainless steel puppy pan (I use the pans under duckling waterers to contain any bill drips to keep the wetness outta the bedding!) that were soaking. I use new refurbished golf balls bought in a gross from Crappy Tire as floor eggs in the chook coops (not too many or you go for a nice rolly crash a polly stepping on them). Anyway...I had these soaking to get cleaned. I go to retrieve them yesterday evening, thinking they would be nice and white again and ALL ARE GONE!

Now I first think...am I having a momentary brain blip...senior's moment? But nope, they were there yesterday evening when I was cleaning some pens....soaking the roll around in the bedding coating.

I am thinking...<<dangerous--could hurt meself>>...because they were sorta submerged in water by maybe half an inch... a squirrel would not pack them away. Thinking too heavy and awkward for a packrat, we do not have racoons, not a crow...culprit is probably that raven pair that seem to think they have rights about here. Fixins HATES and I mean HATES the "bad birdies" and she'll chase barking after them down the pastures. Not a good thing for an old dog to be doing, tearing after nastiness, but sure is cute to see her waltz back with a smile on her face and tail wagging proud..."I still got it going on!"

​

And for any smart alecks...this is not Caddy Shack...we got NO gophers here because we got far too much gravel under the dirt and clay in our patch of paradise.

Now here we do not leave any eggs out...no garbage or trash to attract marauding varmits...so thinking these two Ravens have been trained some place else to beak about looking for eggs...I mean it is wild bird egg season...so I get the Ravens knowing eggs are delicious but GOLF BALLS! Really...they packed off (made trips) with golf balls??

I know it fools the chicken brains not to peck at floor eggs (think it is an egg and get hurty beaky hitting it) ...but really... five or six golf balls in a stainless steel pan full of water and ALL are carried off?

Now the good news is I did find one...was out in front of the shade flower bed in front of the Dog Kennel, so about 75 feet away from where I placed them originally. I am now on the hunt to find the rest of my missing golf balls...4 or 5 to go! It burns me that I bothered to start to clean them up only to lose some...I mean steal them when they are dirty...not spring cleaned UP! Grrrr....

If you hear I am in the hospital for a while...I am betting I found the stash way up in some tree in the forest. Shook the tree and well BONK! BONK! BONK! BONK! BONK! and a "Tweety tweet" my head hurts (better than my eye!).

So I guess I could set a trap with golf ball bait and see what swings on by to get more (think they would be tired from packing so many off with no food reward?) OR I see a pair of Ravens flying about with BENT BEAKS all bandaged up!

Do a trap like this one but with golf balls for FREE! ​

If anyone else knows what stole these because they pulled the same sorta goof up as I did, please advise...the suspense is killing me...packs golf balls outta water...cripers...just when you think you've seen it all!

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

Edit...forgot to mention the gophers and my trap...

 

[CanuckBock]

NPIP joke

 

[ozexpat]

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[Wisher1000]

Tara - I would suspect several alternatives (although I wouldn't put it past a raven.) Do you have any dogs that are mouthy or are fond of playing with balls or chewing on hard objects? That would be my first guess. Do you have any raccoons in your area? Squirrels? Down here, snakes often eat the wooden eggs or golf balls in the nests. I caught a rat snake and retrieved a swallowed golf ball from half way down it's body. It is my understanding that the snakes can't expel the golf balls and will die, but I squeezed on the lower side of the ball, inching it upward, until it came out it's mouth. I'm not sure if it injured the snake, but I took it up the road to a cornfield and put it out. If it lived, I bet it never ate another egg........

 

[CanuckBock]

Tara - I would suspect several alternatives (although I wouldn't put it past a raven.) Do you have any dogs that are mouthy or are fond of playing with balls or chewing on hard objects? That would be my first guess. Do you have any raccoons in your area? Squirrels? Down here, snakes often eat the wooden eggs or golf balls in the nests. I caught a rat snake and retrieved a swallowed golf ball from half way down it's body. It is my understanding that the snakes can't expel the golf balls and will die, but I squeezed on the lower side of the ball, inching it upward, until it came out it's mouth. I'm not sure if it injured the snake, but I took it up the road to a cornfield and put it out. If it lived, I bet it never ate another egg........

No coons (they would be PERFECT suspects...washing water them in the provided water...) Had no loose dogs (love to pin it on a dog...uh then again...vet visit...maybe not!) at that time. Way too cold for snakes to want to even slither let alone eat something---I did finally hear frogs the other evening--so not hibernating no more's! I ruled out the squirrels because I don't think they could carry a golf ball (big, heavy??) and the IN the water (under half an inch) part really had me say no (Rick said squirrel instantly!). Blame it on the squirrely....

I lean towards those Ravens but I will have to actually catch them in the act to know.

I personally just think..."Really...stealing golf balls...really? Now I have to watch those too...?? Is nothing sacred and off limits" ... bwa ha ha ha ...

Tara