Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Nikki99]

We've had a very busy weekend! I've been MIA from BYC for awhile now, glad I have some down time to drop in for a bit.
We had the holiday bazaar for 4H this weekend and the holiday parade last night that our 4H group walked in. That was really fun, the kids had a blast and their dogs did great! Chloe, our Am. Pit Bull Terrier was dressed up as Mrs. Claus and Milo (chi/jack rus.) was a reindeer, lots of kids got a kick out of their outfits.

One of our Bantam Amer. started laying a few days ago!! Our first Bantam eggs ever! They are so cute, and I love the color! I can't wait until the other starts laying....makes me want more EE's.
Thanks so much CR for the Bantam girls! Their cute little colorful eggs are a big hit around here!

I still haven't figured out what critter attacked our chicks several weeks ago, rat or weasel? We put a new skirt around the coop, this time instead of using regular chicken wire, I picked up some 1/4" welded wire, it's much stronger and the holes are tiny. Well, we are thinking whatever critter it is must have been sleeping in it's hole that it had dug in the coop when we were doing the skirt because now it seems to be trapped inside the coop. The skirt is doing such a good job, it can't get out now! I think it's nocternal b/c during the day, the coop door is open so it could get out if it weren't sleeping. At night it makes new holes all over inside the coop along the edges (I'm assuming trying to get out). I set a rat trap inside the coop but haven't been successful yet. Anyone have any ideas on what we can try to get this thing out of the picture?



Here's a pic of our scrumptious eggs!!

 

[Nikki99]

Yup we had fun; I'm just about over it though, and they're going home tonight around 9:45. We're staying up to watch Star Wars I & II

I don't blame you, that's a lot of work!

 

[FirewifeJess]

Quote:
Yesterday was the honeymoon; all was well, they all listened and behaved well; today is the real life nitty gritty and they're overcooking my grits!!!

I'm glad thy're comfortable enough with me to test me like that though.

 

[Nikki99]

Quote:
Yesterday was the honeymoon; all was well, they all listened and behaved well; today is the real life nitty gritty and they're overcooking my grits!!!

I'm glad thy're comfortable enough with me to test me like that though.

Haha, ya, it's always nice to know when kids are comfortable with you, but sometimes, the things that come along with that are exhausting!! Lol

 

[CarolynF]

Guess I killed the thread this time!

Well today when we were out doing a bit of shopping, I picked up some more sevin powder and an 18 gal. tub with lid. I've been feeling really sorry for the birds not having any dry dirt for a bath. Although when I filled a large tray with dry dirt from their favorite spot they just gave it a very wide berth! I left it in there for 3 days and nobody ever set foot in it (except #3 girl when I tossed in some BOSS)! So I got the tub home and cut a nice sized opening in the end, then added fluffy dry dirt, dry sand and DE. It's quite a bit deeper than what I'd put in the tray because I got the idea that might have been an issue. I set it in their pen but when I went out to lock them up I couldn't tell if anyone has checked it yet. So I threw in a sprinkling of scratch that I can keep an eye on. If it disappears it will mean they either ate it or buried it. (We've never had rodents eat their feed.) Dusted the BSL backside with sevin again, too.

I SURE WISH the RAIN would STOP! It's starting to depress me!!!

So... an the Christmas front... our youngest GD told me she wanted an Easy Bake Oven

. Mommy said "bad idea" and I couldn't agree more because they are such a huge disappointment when they try to bake something. But I know she loves to bake as most little girls seem to. So as I was laying in bed one morning I thought... Why Not a Toaster Oven! We use our a lot and even bake things like shortcake! Yippee... Mommy said "good idea". So now I have the challenge of making a grownup's toaster oven appear to be a kids toy so it will be exciting and appealing to a 6yo!!!

Unfortunately I missed the black friday sale at Penneys, they had them for $8. But I found a good deal on one I liked, and it's much less than the toy version. Much to my dismay, it's been a bear to find tiny cake pans for less than $8 each. Tiny sizes seem to mean BIG prices. But I finally found something acceptable as well as small bowls, spatulas, etc. I even found a "petite" corningware casserole dish with the white and blue cornflower design just like mine. What a hoot. Now I'm going to mix up some cake, cookie, and frosting mixes for her to use. They're pretty easy to find on the internet. Of course my own daughter is skeptical, remembering the excitement of getting the Real Thing when she was little. She strongly suggested that I test out these recipes before packaging them up for GD. So tonight DH may be getting some tiny desserts to sample!!!

I'm still thinking I need to create some "packaging" that will look appealing to a 6 year old. Unfortunately graphic design is not my forte! Wish me Luck!!!

Se what happens when nobody is around... I talk a LOT!

I loved my Easy Bake Oven. I was never disappointed with it. It was a lot of fun. And I'm with your daughter, it's very disappointing to not get exactly what you asked for. You give family a list, you put exactly what you want on it, word for word, size, color, model number and for some reason they always have to put their own idea in there, thinking it's a great idea and then they don't understand and feel bad when you are disappointed. Anymore I just smile and say thank you and stick it in the closet. Another waste of money. Would have been happy to just get a card. But hey, ya never know, she might like it. It's a great idea. Nice personal touch. I'm sure she will understand the love that went into it. Post pics when you are done!

Yep... REALITY CHECK! I know exactly what you're talking about and have felt EXACTLY the same frustration many times. So why the heck am I doing this!

Well, I think her mom and I have scoped out the situation pretty well. I hope! I'm pretty sure she just wants to cook and to have her own kid size oven with kid size things to cook that don't require a lot of measuring and an electric mixer. Generally speaking she's not the type of kid that's as specific as you and I might have been (make, model, color, size, and serial no.). She's pretty flexible while aiming for her goal. And I've been sent an angel in the form of LaughingFeather who is an artist and has already sent me a wonderful graphic and some great ideas.

Last night I tested a white cake, chocolate cake, and frosting. Everything was taste tested by DH and given his official stamp of approval for eating. So hopefully it's going to turn out well.

What a lovely and thoughtful gift for your GD. That should create some really nice memories for her!

Sadie Sue... I hope it works out that way, she's a sweety and I want her to be happy.

Last year one both of my DD's asked for Easy Bake Ovens for Christmas, My Grandmother came up with the idea to buy them a baking gift bag for the both of them. Cup cake tins measuring cups, spatulas and many other things as well as boxes of cookie and cake mixes. All the stuff she bought had some sort of kids theme or matching colors, and I went to the craft store and bout them blank colored aprons so that they could decorate their own aprons too. They loved it and still do.

Thanks for the encouragement! I'm hoping it goes well. I've given her an apron and other supplies on previous occasions, so now she can use them some more.

Thanks everyone for your words of wisdom and encouragement!!!

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Funny how going to church uses up every minute of extra time on the weekend. It's not that we're irreligious: it's more than my husband was a preacher's kid and feels as if he's put in his hours, and it's not my discipline, so I sit in the pews and wrestle with my conscience a lot.

I did buy a cage for the BdA's, smaller than the one on Amazon and also much less expensive. They have a bit more room, and I'm probably going to be putting them out in the dog kennel that was Malvina's house until I built the broody pen during our frequent non-horrible weather days, yeah, right and keeping them in the small cage at night.

One thing I'm glad for this time of year is that you can feed mammals at night; Baaachus gets his dinner far past sundown, and is fine with it, especially since he gets oatmeal and an apple then. He is not the single most spoiled sheep on the planet, right? Somewhere, somehow, there's a sheep that sleeps in a carpeted, airconditioned room and gets fed pears all the time. (Baaachus is still sure I am just keeping the pears from him. My explanations that all the pears are long gone is not acceptable to him whatsoever). I'm going to have to start buying apples, anyway, since even the Grime's Goldens and Esopus Spitzenburgs are nearly gone. The cows will be louder in protest, but I do not have the budget to buy apples for cows.

 

[TerrorBird]

My girls love to "help" in the yard so much. As I rake leaves, they follow me and re-distribute them. They will get in the way of my rake so that I have to stop and wait for them to move. I had too many "helpers" when I was trying to plant the last of my mom's irises the other day. They would pretend that they were not watching me. They would casually advance and start trying to scratch around the bulbs I'd just planted and moved on from. I need to start carrying a spray bottle around with me so that I can take care of my pest problem when I'm made to do garden activities.

 

[Hinotori]

My girls love to "help" in the yard so much. As I rake leaves, they follow me and re-distribute them. They will get in the way of my rake so that I have to stop and wait for them to move. I had too many "helpers" when I was trying to plant the last of my mom's irises the other day. They would pretend that they were not watching me. They would casually advance and start trying to scratch around the bulbs I'd just planted and moved on from. I need to start carrying a spray bottle around with me so that I can take care of my pest problem when I'm made to do garden activities.

If mine see me get a shovel, they will follow me around waiting for me to dig something.

I used them to my advantage last time I used the tiller and called them all over after I was done so they could smooth out the dirt for me. They are not afraid of the tiller and will just move out of it's way a few feet until i turn around and start going the other way. Then they get right back on the soil and only move when I'm about 10 feet from them.

 

[Hinotori]

Funny how going to church uses up every minute of extra time on the weekend. It's not that we're irreligious: it's more than my husband was a preacher's kid and feels as if he's put in his hours, and it's not my discipline, so I sit in the pews and wrestle with my conscience a lot.

I did buy a cage for the BdA's, smaller than the one on Amazon and also much less expensive. They have a bit more room, and I'm probably going to be putting them out in the dog kennel that was Malvina's house until I built the broody pen during our frequent non-horrible weather days, yeah, right and keeping them in the small cage at night.

One thing I'm glad for this time of year is that you can feed mammals at night; Baaachus gets his dinner far past sundown, and is fine with it, especially since he gets oatmeal and an apple then. He is not the single most spoiled sheep on the planet, right? Somewhere, somehow, there's a sheep that sleeps in a carpeted, airconditioned room and gets fed pears all the time. (Baaachus is still sure I am just keeping the pears from him. My explanations that all the pears are long gone is not acceptable to him whatsoever). I'm going to have to start buying apples, anyway, since even the Grime's Goldens and Esopus Spitzenburgs are nearly gone. The cows will be louder in protest, but I do not have the budget to buy apples for cows.

I want to get fencing in and get a couple goats and sheep. I've been jonesing for some Jacob sheep for 13+ years. I just love their spots and horns.

I played with the pygmy goats as a kid all the time. The goats were pets.

I wasn't allowed to do much with grandpa's sheep. I helped feed lambs, but none of the adults were tame. I love wool. Even the coarse stuff feels great to me. Always wanted to learn to spin, but fleeces were sold so I only ever was able to play with dog hair from my aunt's samoyeds.

 

[FirewifeJess]

Woohoo! I now have **3** sleeping children in their beds. MY children. I was so glad to watch them, and so glad to see them go

Tomorrow morning EARLY, both my younger ones have doctor appointments. Ugh. Gotta be out the door by 8.