Washingtonians

[FlyRobinFly]

Do you have any photos that you could share with me?
My local prosecutor can't believe that poultry can be pets.
It's part of my defense to show that they are.

T Hi has a great one of Daffy in a little University of Washington hoodie, hanging out with one of her daughters!
SadieSue posted a nice series of shots of her DD and friends with a Silkie sleeping happily on a lap.
And CR has some nice ones of Pierre and dog Quincy watching TV on the couch with his DW.
Oh! And 4312 has a great shot of her DD wearing a chicken in a sling too!
Hope that helps...

 

[FlyRobinFly]

So, despite the headache, it was a really good evening. The boys said they had fun, and that's what it's all about.

Glad the evening went well, sounds like a very educational and fun time for the den! And even more glad that you were all right despite the pain.

 

[TerrorBird]

Today, my roo Lyle (a.k.a. the Foofy Guy) was taking a dirt bath under our large Japanese maple. Pengin (Australorp) decided to pick at his wing feathers in a very persistent fashion for about a minute before casually scratching at him as though looking for food. Not scratching the dirt, but actually starting at the uppermost-side of him. She kept repeating the cycle until he gave up and left. I like to think that she was showing him who's boss.

 

[justbugged]

Quote: I am happy that things worked for you tonight. I should have tried to PM you with the offer. It sounds like you had a very busy night with teaching the boys about bike safety. I hope you are able to have a better day tomorrow. If you get in a real bind again, feel free to call me. I will admit that I don't have any experience with Boy Scouts, but I can follow directions, and I did manage to get both of my kids homeschooled through the first two years of college.

 

[justbugged]

JB. My Grandpa use to place the potatoes in sawdust in wood crates in his unheated garage and they were fine.
If you don't have a garage join the club. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

Another way to keep them is get a free non working fridge off Craigslist.
Remove motor etc.
Place it in the ground with door up.
Place wood over the top if you want or place a lock on door handle.
I have read this works well.
Nope, not the most conveinent way to get your food but it is doable.

I have tried various methods of growing potatoes. So far I haven't had much success with anything than just dirt. I really need to read more about it. I also need to look into what kind of pests like the the taters. I have started to have problems with little tiny worms in the stock tank. The potatoes that I grew in the nearly new garden area, have been some of the best potatoes yet.

Your idea for cold storage is very creative. I will see if I do something like this. Thanks!

 

[Imp]

Quote: When I grew potatoes, I read that they needed to be rotated to fresh ground every other year or so due to disease. And the old spot needed to lay fallow for a year or two.

 

[Nikki99]

It is so smoky here it is scarey !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have been hazy for a couple days now too, what am I missing???

Hello~~ I just joined here yesterday and someone in my introduction thread pointed me this way.

I'm a bit floored by the over 8000 pages in this thread, so please excuse me if I don't read the entire thing.

Although I grew up in SE Michigan, I have lived in WA for the better part of 5 years now and I consider this to be my permanent home. I moved out this way when I was just shy of 20 to live with my (then) boyfriend. We've since gotten engaged and worked our way up to buying our first home. :> It's all in the process right now. Hence why I decided to join here, I'd sure like to have my own small flock of chickens.

Hallerlake:
Here's a great shot of Dottie wandering around my backyard (photo by dawng, thank you Dawn) maybe a week before she flew to the neighbors and was killed by predators.
Such a pretty pullet. Sweet, too.
She was the first (and only) bird I've lost to predators.
How I wish I had cut her wings....

Awww, Dottie was gorgeous. I'm so sorry for your loss.

You're lucky I didn't see this until now, or I probably would have taken you up on it! I was hurting really bad. The headache got worse after I posted. I did end up in tears. DH and the kids jumped into action and got the craft project prepared for me and helped me get the bikes and things into the car. I tried everything we could think of to get the headache to ease. I drank three glasses of orange juice, took a vitamin C, ate a banana, ate some salted pretzels, took 2 Tylenol and laid down for an hour and a half. Thankfully, it eased some. I still had a headache at the meeting, but not so bad that I couldn't stand up like it had been.

We did a bike safety night, and talked about our Webelos boy who was hit by the car. This was our first Den meeting after summer and many of the kids had no idea he had been hit. Some of them did, and they were able to express their thoughts about it. We played games and learned the bike hand signals, how to read stop and yield signs, traffic lights, pedestrian lights, etc. They learned about helmets and where they could get them for free if they couldn't afford them. They learned how to pump up tires, got to practice pumping them up, and they learned how to tighten bolts on the bikes. Plus, we were able to send one of our older bikes home with a boy who did not have one. He was pretty excited.

So, despite the headache, it was a really good evening. The boys said they had fun, and that's what it's all about.

Wow, that sounds horrible!! Are they migranes or just bad headaches. I get bad headaches too but not nearly as bad as what you described. That's really awesome that you have such a supportive family, the extra help can be so great!
It makes my heart hurt every time I hear about the little boy that was hit by the car. As a parent, I can't even begin to imagine being in a situation like that. I'm almost afraid to ask, but is the little boy who was hit ok?
It's nice to see or hear about other adults that take safety this seriously. We do as well. Yes, I know, I grew up riding bikes without a helmet and yes, I'm fine, blah blah blah....But, you have got to be out yer mind if ya think I'm gonna risk that w/my precious, irreplaceable blessings. Anytime they are on anything with wheels, they know it ain't gonna happen w/out a helmet! We are a huge dirt bike riding family and we wear all the gear to help keep us safe. My husband has been in 2 serious accidents on his dirt bike and if it wasn't for his protective gear, he would've been much worse off then he was. We also mountain bike and the kids and DH go to the skate park to ride skate boards, scooters and bmx bikes. It's actually pretty refreshing when we go to the skate park and see how many kids wear helmets these days. The ones who don't are the ones out numbered it seems. We have embed how important helmets are into our kids for many years! I remember one day I went w/our 3yr old son, to the grocery store. On the way in, we saw an older, rough and tough looking man riding a Harley into the parking lot and the man wasn't wearing a helmet. After we picked a few things up, we were standing in the check out lane, well the Harley guy just happened to be in line right in front of us and my brave and confident little 3yr old called him a moron for not wearing a helmet while riding his bike. O-M-G!! I thought "Oh boy, this is gonna get ugly" but the man just looked down at him, smiled and chuckled. While I was so proud of him for noticing something like that, I also had a gentle talk with him about name calling. I was to proud about the bigger picture (a 3yr old knowing that not wearing a helmet while riding is not a smart decision) to be to upset about the name calling part.

Nite all. Happy chatting. Headache is trying to sneak back in. I'm gonna go sleep this thing off.

Just a funny before I go... my kids have discovered they can wave their hands over the top of the chickens and they will squat for them. It's kind of funny. It's a good thing the kids are back in school, or the girls may be getting more of a leg workout than they deserve. I'm probably gonna have to put a stop to it... but I've got to figure out how to stop chuckling about it before I can address it.

My oldest asked why the chickens did that. I said "They think you are a rooster". My son asked why they would do that for a rooster. I told my husband it was his turn to comment. My husband said because they show respect to the rooster. My son said "Oh, I get it... they're bowing to him."

Needless to say I couldn't contain the laughter any longer.

Oh no! I hope sleep helps and your headache goes away and stays away!!

I love the Chicken Squatting story! Hahahaha, that's great!!!

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Quote: I believe CMSDVM may also have some of a chook "reading a book" with her. I think jbear may have had some too I will ask her and see if she would allow use.

 

[Chicken Rustler]

It is so smoky here it is scarey !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes very smokey here too What an awesome sunset it caused Wednesday. I would guess it is from all the fires on the east side of WA.

Quote: Yes even after she tried to "attack" my poor innocent (and he really was) dog. I still can NOT DENY that Miss DAFFY is one AWESOME DUCK ! ! !

For any who have never met her. IF you ever get a chance make a point to meet Daffy and spend a little time. She will quack ya up !!

YEAH!!

A meet up at the auction this Saturday would be sooooo fun!!! Plus the cafe there has awesome breakfast!!

I wonder what would may be a good time to be sneaking around the parking lot shopping for cool chicken items left unattended in cars.

Hallerlake:
Here's a great shot of Dottie wandering around my backyard (photo by dawng, thank you Dawn) maybe a week before she flew to the neighbors and was killed by predators.
Such a pretty pullet. Sweet, too.
She was the first (and only) bird I've lost to predators.
How I wish I had cut her wings....

Sorry to hear about Dottie but please don't beat yourself up over it. It's not like you intentionally did anything to cause what happened. Just an over sight. I will say that part of the reason I don't F R my birds is fear of them "forgetting" (not returning) to where "home" is.

 

[VelvettFog]

Nikki,

I think you've missed that a bunch of EW is on fire.

http://www.nwccweb.us/information/firemap.aspx

The other day there were over 95 uncontained fires in Yakima and Kittitas counties alone. Here in Yakima the smoke from the fires south of Mt Adams can clearly be seen and smelled. We have a stage 1 burn ban in effect due to the decreased air quality.