What did you do in the garden today?

[WthrLady]

Were you able to get any point of lay pullets at the poultry auction?

I have not touched the gravel since the first day. So that is on my to do list for Tuesday.
I did dig up 3 decent sized carrots on Thursday and cooked them up and put them in my lunch for Friday! I have more growing in the raised bed, but they need to get bigger first. Also saw that some of the onion sets are growing but they are only about golf ball sized at the moment, I have pulled everything else out of the garden.

A friend dropped off a deer for me Saturday while I was at work, so I had to skin it and get it quartered up and in the refrigerator before I could go to bed. I ended up in bed around 9:45 instead of 8 (wake up is at 2:57 AM). Fortunately the deer was a lot smaller than the one they gave me last year so it didn't take as long.
I gave the hide to a coworker and her Native American boyfriend. He hasn't tried his hand at tanning a deer hide yet and I knew I wouldn't have time to do it myself.
Does anyone have any tips I can pass along to him? He wants it to turn out soft.
I tried tanning the hide last year but it ended up getting ruined when I listened to the suggestion my husband insisted was what everyone on the internet was doing!
I ended up burying it in the garden so it could breakdown and hopefully fertilize the soil some.
The puppies managed to get a hold of my muck boots on Friday when I was at work.
They are no longer water proof. They chewed a huge hole in the toe area of one boot and chewed down both side of each boot. Well, at least I had already put new muck boots on my Christmas wish list.
Good night all, I'm headed off to bed.

Does he want it soft with or without the fur?

 

[WthrLady]

Yes, hides are crunchy and must be well worked to make them soft. OH the hours and hours on a tanning horse.

 

[oldhen2345]

These mattress pads are great! Our first home was 100 years old. Now it is about 20 years older. Who knew old homes didn’t have insulation in the walls? Just air space, so it got pretty cold in deep winter (and the furnace was 40 years old), so I would sleep with gloves and a hat during winter.

I feel the pain. My house was built in 1940 and the furnace was installed in 1972. It has shiplap under the plaster walls on the inside. I changed all the windows out- they are huge- for storm windows and the doors also. It did help the electric bill a little. Still, in the spring and fall, opening everything up is real nice. Summers are hotter than Hades and winters, well, I have started looking like my granny. Gown, housecoat, sweater, cap, heavy socks and gloves with the fingertips cut out, . Good grief- a sex symbol for sure.

 

[wyoDreamer]

I loved our heated mattress pad, I would turn it on about half and hour before going to bed and then turn it off when I crawled into the warm sheets. I think we only had it on overnight for a couple of nights out of the entire winter. I have a heated blanket now, and do the same thing. Just use it to warm the bed before crawling in. Oh, I did use it one night when I was feeling sick and it helped me sleep better. By morning, I was sweating and the sheets were wet, lol. But, I think I sweated out the cold germs because I was no longer sick.

 

[NewBoots]

The air fryer is pretty nice!
Bacon is a great flavor enhancer.

Thanks for the info on the air fryer. Would you recommend the one you have? Which brand and model? And that's a good idea with the bacon. I normally freeze it then cut a pound into three pieces and use it up a little at a time.

The new generator I ordered from Lowes is a no show. Why did I fall for them again? The only way to cancel is to spend an hour on hold to speak to several different people.

Do they have any idea where it is? My issues with them were all delivery problems too.

I loved our heated mattress pad, I would turn it on about half and hour before going to bed and then turn it off when I crawled into the warm sheets.

I'd do the same thing, it was so luxurious to put my cold feet in that warm bed at night.

There's a pot of navy bean soup on the stove and it smells wonderful. Hoping it's done by lunch time. If not, we'll have it for dinner with some of the cheese bagels I got at the store the other day.

Cold here last night, got down to 30 but didn't freeze the rabbit's or chicken's water so that's good. We're hoping the cold will kill off some of the fleas, aphids, and loopers. We'll see if I get busy today, I can easily find tons to do outside, but it's easy enough to find as much (or as little) to do inside. Have a great day everyone!

 

[WthrLady]

I like my air fryer too. I wish my basket wasn't so square, but rather a little less deep and longer and wider. Otherwise it's easy to use and easy to clean.

 

[Acre4Me]

Thanks for the info on the air fryer. Would you recommend the one you have?

Yes, I’d recommend. It is a Pampered Chef air fryer. I had an online party so got it for less than any other model at Walmart actually - not with the “money” they give you based on sales, it was a specific cost for hosts the month I held the party. But, it is taller instead of wide, which I liked, and I went to the consultants home to see it in action first, and determined then that I would like it. She prepared French fries and had some online videos in her kitchen with some other recipes (S’Mores dip was one that I recall). Anyway, if a friend hosts a party, I’ll probably buy the skewers for it. We are going to butcher some of the males we have at 16-18 weeks, so I’ll be able to try out the rotisserie function on them as they should be under 4lbs.

We're hoping the cold will kill off some of the fleas, aphids, and loopers

a cabbage looper moth was flying around yesterday and all over my Brussel sprouts. The cabbages snd mustard have the caterpillars on them. I’m going to have to buy insect cloth and supports for next year. I’ve sprayed and picked them off , and squashed countless eggs this season, but they’ve been terrible.

My house was built in 1940 and the furnace was installed in 1972

the furnace that was in the old house we replaced and the technician told me the heat exchangers were cracked, therefore leaking carbon monoxide!!! Being a tall and drafty old house and the fact that we slept 2 floors above the furnace, we did not suffer from carbon monoxide poisoning, thankfully. There was an attic (accessed by a full staircase) with 8 ft tall windows and some wall board put up longbefore, so that was our insulation. That attic never got below 40F, even when outside temps were below zero. So, it created a bit of an insulating cushion so our heating bills were high, but not as bad as some people in other older homes. While I loved the character of that house - I’m not at all compelled to get an old, wood sided home again.

there is a “castle” for sale in the area, pretty cheap as far as castles go. So my kid was like “OMG -we should buy it!!!” Um, No!! “But, it would be soooo awesome!””” Hmmm... character, yes, maintenance, no!

 

[WthrLady]

LOL is old Mac and Cheese for sale again? @Acre4Me

 

[Acre4Me]

LOL is old Mac and Cheese for sale again? @Acre4Me

probably a different castle - we are north of Dayton! Which castle is Mac and Cheese?

 

[WthrLady]

part of piatt estate mac-o-chee castle. Logan county