HAPPY EASTER!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

 SPRING CHICKENS!

Nothing says spring like hatching chicks. 

Boogie has Easter photos at Precious Moments Photography

tomorrow and we bring Tanya bunnies, chicks and ducklings to use as props during her Easter special. 

I ordered some chicks and ducks from McMurray hatchery as a back up (all arriving healthy and doing great!) and put two dozen of my own hens eggs in the incubator. 

Despite the cold temps twenty one days ago when i collected the eggs, it appears nearly all will hatch! 

Here they are just hatching, still in the incubator.

And the first batch hatched and under heat lamps.

They will be available for sale next week.

Here are the McMurray chicks thriving after 4 days in the mail.

Can you tell me why on earth they would ship them on Friday?

 And the ducklings, which only took two days to arrive from California. Ironically one of them died in transit.

I'm going to sell most of these, so let me know if you are interested.

 I do have some early seedlings up and going. They are destined for the cold frame. These are Chard and I'm trying a new technique using toilet paper tubes as containers.  I think they might work best for tomatoes, which I am just beginning to sow now.

 Some broccoli started in standard peat pellets.

Hoping that the warmer temps this weekend will actually allow me to get peas and potatoes planted around the 17th of the month and perhaps I can get these seedling out in the cold frame as well.

I don't think we will see the unseasonably warm temperatures we did last year so maybe my fruit trees will actually produce this season.

Why I LOVE Bullies, Bully breed dogs, that is.

Facebook is an awesome, terrible thing. I have caught up with friends from grade school, promoted my business and helped organize a local playgroup by harnessing its seemingly limitless power. It also brings me tremendous joy and sadness in regards to the plight of the many homeless companion animals in foster care and shelters. I have held AmStaffs close to my heart for 35 years, one of the breeds erroneously labeled as 'Pit Bulls' by the media and the less knowledgeable. Bully types are often mis-identified and blamed when other large headed, big bodied breeds are the culprit. The common perception is that we Bully owners are thugs and criminals that keep aggressive dogs to fight and intimidate. While that may be the case on occasion, the vast number of the millions of Bully owners are average folks that like these breeds for their many wonderful characteristics.

How did I discover Bullies? When I was 15, I volunteered at the Lake Shore Foundation for Animals in Chicago, IL. We had a young Staffordshire Bull Terrier come in that required a foster home and I took the bait. I was completely naive of their reputation and history and immediately fell in love with him. Within a few weeks an excellent permanent home was found, but I had my first taste and have been an aficionado ever since.

Boogie has grown up surrounded by AmStaffs, Clarabel is 'his' puppy and he named her after one of Thomas the Tank Engines coaches. He loves taking her off for adventures around the farm. And reading to her.

I am saddened by the vast number of abused and abandoned Bullies I see day after day on my Facebook feed. So all my friends, this is why I annoy you on a regular bases with my cross posts of dogs available for adoption. I know that networking helps find these dogs fosters and permanent placement. Please bear with me, or better yet, click on share and help find a dog a home!

A (little late) Thanksgiving Post

I'm a bit behind the times, but I wanted to share my Thanksgiving pictures, particularly the turkey. I was able to get a locally raised and butchered, free range bird.

Since the weather was too warm to cook him (yes it was a him) on the wood stove, I used the grill instead.

He got stuffed with fresh Rosemary and Sage, had a nice mayonnaise massage and a dusting of salt and pepper. I put some water in the bottom of the roaster, tented him with foil and cooked for 3 hours in a 300ish closed grill.
These birds have more natural fat so basting was not necessary and he came out moist but with crispy brown skin.

Boogie enjoyed him very much!

'Tis The Season, Already?!?!

OH MY! Hard to believe how quickly this fall flew by. The weather has been fairly decent and we are just getting our first week of consistently below freezing weather. This is the time of year I like the least, primarily due to frozen water buckets! That and the fact that it is dark by 4:30pm. A friend of mine observed that after the 20th the days get longer and spring will be right around the corner, but I am not that optimistic.

I have a critter in my pasture that has been helping itself to duck dinners! It is likely fox based on the dens and the fact that it takes the smaller ducks and doesn't carry them off. Time to dust off the live trap. I'm guessing my first capture will be the barn cat, and hoping it won't be a SKUNK!

I've finally gotten back to knitting in earnest and have a number of hats and scarves for sale at my Hyena Cart shop, EUC. I can also knit a variety of styles in colors to match your coat or jacket.

Boogie had one visit to Santa so far and actually sat next to him and told him what he wanted for Christmas. Last year he was absolutely terrified of the guy. I guess our weeks of practice paid off. He swore he would 'be brave' and ask Santa for a 'Diesel 10 with Pinchy'. For those without young boys, it is a specific 'Thomas the Tank Engine' train. I have it on good word that he just might get one. Now we have to write Santa a letter so he can give it to him next time he sees him 'just so Santa will remember'.

Still need to drag out the tree and decorations, hope you are all into the spirit of the season, I need to get myself into gear.

The Harvest

It's much too early for this frosty weather. Three weeks too early by our average first frost date. With the cool spring I still have far too many tomatoes on my vines and I am not ready to start carting firewood.

The apple trees planted last year produced a small harvest of very yummy fruit. We also discovered this interesting looking creature munching the leaves.

Boogie really enjoys apples (and is asking for one now as he sees these photos LOL).

Looks like there will be plenty of squash and beets. The eggplant and okra and beans were also good producers. The tomatoes were mediocre and I didn't plant nearly enough of them. By next spring I want a better tiller so I don't have to depend on anyone else to get the soil ready.

We did have a beautiful harvest moon.

And a worn out helper.

Still need to get the plastic on the hoop house so the potted tomatoes will have some extra time to ripen. Some of the plants were touched by the frost, but none seem to have been killed off. Here's hoping the warm weather returns and hangs around for a bit.

Say It Ain't So......

WOW, I knew I had been lax in posting, but didn't realize I missed the whole month of August. It's not that nothing has been happening, there is just way too much going on.

Today I had a BIG scare at Walgreen's. If you don't know, I do a lot of couponing and when I stopped today at a friends to pick grapes (she also happens to work at Wags) she told me they were notified TODAY to stop accepting printed Internet coupons. O.M.G. does that throw a spanner in my works.
I don't have a CVS or Rite Aid nearby, nor do I have access to any of the big grocery chains that double coupons, so I channel my efforts to deals at Walgreen's. Using printed Internet coupons is an integral park of my system. So quick like a bunny I checked out the corporate coupon policy on line and it still plainly stated they accept valid home printed Internet coupons. So twenty minutes later, with Internet coupons and printed policy in hand I was at Wags for my regular Thursday shop. Immediately one of my regular cashiers broke the news to me so I showed her the policy and she called the manager. At that point I was told i could use my coupons today, but I would need to check on the Internet next time as the policy would be changing. Next I was told it would be at the managers discretion and FINALLY, what sounds like the most sane option. They will take the printed coupons if they can be scanned or recognized when the numbers are entered. They must also have a picture or list the item(s) they are good for. The cashier cannot over ride. Sounds good to me, I can live with that. It really stinks that folks will actually fake coupons and ruin it for the rest of us.
So I was able to breathe a sigh of relief for now, but I can only believe that between 'extreme couponing' and counterfeiters rules will just get tighter and tighter. :-(

The heat and humidity today is putting a damper on my canning mojo, maybe I can catch up this weekend. I also have a ton of posts I'd like to catch up on in the next few days too.

Have a fun and safe Labor Day weekend.

Dog Days......

We are preparing for a long stretch of weather with highs in the 90's and lows only in the upper 70's with high humidity and stagnant air. Times like this makes me want an air conditioner!

So so so many things going on this time of year. Picking the last of the broccoli and the first of the cucumbers, tomatoes and potatoes with beans added to the list before long.

I have had dismal results with Muscovy eggs in the incubator this year (ironically I'm having trouble keeping the humidity high enough) but the hens are doing a good job setting.

The Guinea keets are also starting to hatch and the 4 Light Brahmas are producing a steady stream of eggs for the incubator. I did purchase a few from a hatchery to diversify a bit and hope to have my flock up to pre neighbors dog decimation levels soon.

Independence Day Fireworks

INDEPENDENCE DAY!

One Fish, Two Fish!

Grandpa has made it back up North for the summer and a few weeks ago we managed to get over for our first visit of the season. I have spent the winter listening to Boogie ask to go fishing with Grandpa on an almost daily basis, and finally he can! Boogie is old enough this year to have a grasp of what fishing really entails.

While it was too windy to take the boat out on the lake, there were plenty of pan fish within easy casting distance from the shore.

Grandpa cast out a bobber with a piece of artificial worm on the hook ( this things are really weird, they are not the plastic kind and look incredibly lifelike, ick!) and the impatient Boogie-monster wanted to reel in every cast.

Well his technique worked and his first ever fish was a really nice bluegill.

He had a bit of a problem with releasing the fish, but I explained that the fish needed to go back in the water to live and he finally agreed. He went on to catch two more small fish before the ADHD kicked in and he ran off to explore. We are planning to head over again this week and Boogie is hoping we can go out on the boat this time.

More Robin News

The last few days it looked like there was no room left in the nest for all four fledgelings. It got to be a pretty tight squeeze and then * POOF* they were all gone.