Today I took the long way back from the post office just to see the beautiful countryside. The dogwood is blooming and the air is full of the scent from blooming autumn olive. That stuff is so invasive but it does smell good. The bees love it which may be another reason to tolerate it to some extent, because bees are getting so scarce. Autumn Olive can take over a pasture in no time at all if it isn’t grazed. Sheep and goats love to eat it, horses and cows will eat it when it’s young. The red berries it makes in the fall are attractive and they are higher in lycopene than tomatoes. They can be made into jelly that’s very pretty- but it doesn’t have much taste. I’ve tried making it.
Speaking of sheep, ours are gone. We sold them including Taco, who went to a pet home. It is dry this spring and our pasture wasn’t supporting them well. Hay was up to $7.00 a bale. First cutting of hay is being made this week around here, but with the weather so dry it will probably be grabbed up at a good price. My husband made the point that we could be doing a lot of home improvements or I could be buying a lot of plants for the $100-$150.00 dollars a month we were spending on sheep. They kept getting out and destroying trees and shrubs and we need to fix many of the pasture fences.
I always feel bad when I send animals off but we just weren’t using the sheep like we planned, which was to make some lambburger for the dogs. I can’t justify spending that much on pasture pets. Now the grass is growing longer, but I have already started planting new young trees in the north pasture- I am going to make it my arboretum.
One of our old ducks died. They had started their walk- abouts looking for girls this spring- two old bachelor ducks trolling the neighbor’s ponds. But he died in our pond- from what I don’t know- maybe just age- they were 8 years old at least. The remaining duck is very lonely. However I was given some baby mallards whose mom was hit on the road and when they are a bit bigger they will go out on the pond.
I bough some more baby turkeys, a cross between Bourbon Reds and Blue Slates, heritage breeds, and put them with the ducks. It helped the mallards find the food better. They all sleep in a little pile together. Our other baby chicks are quite large now and have the run of the inside coop. In about two weeks I will let them go outside. The white turkeys we bought with them developed leg problems, probably genetic, and are in various stages of lameness. They still eat well so maybe we will be able to eat them soon.
We sold all the cocker pups but two. The little Jack Russell puppy also went to a new home. I gave a cocker puppy to my sister, hope that works out, sometimes these family things don’t. We could have used the money from her but its nice to be able to see one of your babies from time to time. We have one more litter to go this summer and then I hope its over with puppies for a while. All the males but the cocker have been neutered.
There are probably 15 kittens in and around the barn. They are all getting around a bit now and I am so afraid the dogs will get them. They are so cute when they are tiny but then they turn into pesty cats. At our place many of them become victims of our dogs, coyotes or owls. I guess its population control.
I have finally had some time to work on the gardens. We built three large raised beds for the vegetable garden. One is 12 x 5 feet and is planted to sweet corn. The others are 4 by 8 feet and I have planted tomatoes, lettuce, onions, a pepper and potatoes so far. I plan to add cukes and a pumpkin or two. We also have a raised bed up by the propane tank that I planted a few cabbage plants and some carrots in.
I covered the paths between the beds with old roofing from the barn addition we tore down. Recycle, reuse. If we get some rain, maybe the garden will grow. Our May was very dry about an inch and a half below normal rain fall totals. I am hoping it will rain tomorrow as predicted.
I have started working on the flower beds finally, what a mess. I still haven’t bought all the annuals etc, I want but I intend to finish that this week. I work on the guideline- get what you have planted before you buy more! There’s kind of a lull in flowers here right now, Dames Rocket and alliums are about all that’s in bloom.
The Orioles and the other birds are going to take what money I saved from selling the sheep. They are going through a suet cake every other day and a jar of jelly a week plus sunflower seed. I hear baby birds everywhere. But I sure love to hear Mr. Oriole sing!
Living the dream
Visiting grandmas farm.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
DNA Tests and spring
A note again on the polygamy- stolen children thing. They now believe a 30 something year old woman made the distress call. Yet they continue to pursue separating the children from their families. They are doing DNA testing- at an incredible cost to the taxpayers I may add, on all the children. So who cares who fathered who if there is no abuse? Prove or at least have a good suspicion of abuse then DNA test those children only.
Too bad we can't order DNA testing of all the acquaintences of the 15 year old with a child on welfare who claims she doesn't know who the father is. We might find some abuse there or at least a father who needs to pay child support.
DNA testing and results take time- its not like crime shows on TV. There are many important crimes waiting to be solved because of a DNA testing backlog across the country. I cannot believe we or Texas anyway, is still proceeding with this witch hunt.
On a lighter note
Our beautiful string of almost summer like weather has ended. It’s nice in away but it has made many things flower that now may be injured by the coming cold. I almost welcome cooler weather as the warm muggy stuff makes the hard spring work not as appealing.
I have a new granddaughter, probably the last grand child. Shaan had Alicia Grace just a month before her 40th birthday. It is her second child, the older one is 15, and she had her tubes tied. Alicia is beautiful, healthy, and normal and the first child for her proud papa. It takes brave parents to begin raising a child when they are 40, if I had done that I would have a teenager at home now and I don’t think I could handle it. Except if it was a teen age boy he sure could be a help right now. Whoops that’s sexist. Any teen could be a help right now. Our grandkids are all too far away to help us.
I was worming cocker spaniel puppies today 5 little black girls and one blond girl and one blond boy. The black ones are so much alike it’s hard to tell them apart. One we call Dora the explorer has managed to climb over every barrier we have made between the puppy room and the living room that her mom could still jump over.
I have tried to distinguish her from the rest so when they all become equally active I will be able to identify the smart one. But so far it’s been hard. A ribbon was promptly removed by her sisters. The inside of her ears is too black for a marker to show. Trimming some hair on her foot doesn’t make enough of a marker. I am thinking about trying to find a white marker.
Hay has gone up to $7.00 a bale at the feed store. The grass is growing but the problem is the sheep eat it as soon as it grows. We had to mow the yard yesterday, it is a shame that the sheep can’t eat it. The east pasture still hasn’t had the fence fixed, we are stuck on getting the new dog kennel done. That has proved to be a nightmare. Putting up the kit kennels is bad enough but tearing up the old stuff is worse.
I love spring but it seems to pass in a whirl wind of activity. I am so busy it’s a wonder I have time to blog. I keep saying that once all the projects are done I’ll have a spring where I can just poke around in the flower beds. I don’t know if that will ever happen but its nice to imagine.
Too bad we can't order DNA testing of all the acquaintences of the 15 year old with a child on welfare who claims she doesn't know who the father is. We might find some abuse there or at least a father who needs to pay child support.
DNA testing and results take time- its not like crime shows on TV. There are many important crimes waiting to be solved because of a DNA testing backlog across the country. I cannot believe we or Texas anyway, is still proceeding with this witch hunt.
On a lighter note
Our beautiful string of almost summer like weather has ended. It’s nice in away but it has made many things flower that now may be injured by the coming cold. I almost welcome cooler weather as the warm muggy stuff makes the hard spring work not as appealing.
I have a new granddaughter, probably the last grand child. Shaan had Alicia Grace just a month before her 40th birthday. It is her second child, the older one is 15, and she had her tubes tied. Alicia is beautiful, healthy, and normal and the first child for her proud papa. It takes brave parents to begin raising a child when they are 40, if I had done that I would have a teenager at home now and I don’t think I could handle it. Except if it was a teen age boy he sure could be a help right now. Whoops that’s sexist. Any teen could be a help right now. Our grandkids are all too far away to help us.
I was worming cocker spaniel puppies today 5 little black girls and one blond girl and one blond boy. The black ones are so much alike it’s hard to tell them apart. One we call Dora the explorer has managed to climb over every barrier we have made between the puppy room and the living room that her mom could still jump over.
I have tried to distinguish her from the rest so when they all become equally active I will be able to identify the smart one. But so far it’s been hard. A ribbon was promptly removed by her sisters. The inside of her ears is too black for a marker to show. Trimming some hair on her foot doesn’t make enough of a marker. I am thinking about trying to find a white marker.
Hay has gone up to $7.00 a bale at the feed store. The grass is growing but the problem is the sheep eat it as soon as it grows. We had to mow the yard yesterday, it is a shame that the sheep can’t eat it. The east pasture still hasn’t had the fence fixed, we are stuck on getting the new dog kennel done. That has proved to be a nightmare. Putting up the kit kennels is bad enough but tearing up the old stuff is worse.
I love spring but it seems to pass in a whirl wind of activity. I am so busy it’s a wonder I have time to blog. I keep saying that once all the projects are done I’ll have a spring where I can just poke around in the flower beds. I don’t know if that will ever happen but its nice to imagine.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Rumors lead to stealing children
I am so annoyed by this raid at the so called polygamy compound and going on line to read many citizens comments on news stories. Most people are assumming that all sorts of things went on there that they have no proof of. All kinds of wild stories with no supporting evidence are floating around. In a few stories they talk of an informant feeding a sheriff information for four years. If this informant couldn't find anything in four years that would call for a raid why should a phone call suddanly bring one on?
So far no one can find the teen girl who supposedly made the call and a similar call to another police department in another state really makes you wonder. The man the "girl" claims raped her hasn't been to Texas since 1977. The calls also come around the time of the anniversity of the Branch Davidian cult raid. Makes you wonder- or should.
It's also mentioned in the news stories that some women weren't at the compound when their children were stolen. Obviously they are allowed to come and go and are not prisoners. Also medical records were seized, which means outside medical care was probably obtained. Yet there was no complaints from residents before or just cause from medical evidence to justify action previously.
Over 400 children were forcibly removed from their homes in a traumatic manner. There is talk of putting them in foster care- if they can find enough homes. Many of the mothers went with the children but their side of the story isn't being allowed to be heard. Instead we hear all sorts of things that supposedly are going on in this compound- without any proof any of them are.
I saw clean, neatly dressed women and children in spring colors, hair nicely done, looking well fed. Not a single boy with his underwear hanging out or a girl with her belly button showing. Their homes appeared neat and comfortable.
Pregnant teens are not new in this society. Look in any low income living area and you will find many young teen girls who are having sex with men who treat them like dirt, who are often gang raped or beaten into gangs and who expect to raise their children alone, like their mothers and grandmothers before them. You could say this is a "cult" or at least a way of life. Yet we don't raid these places to remove children from their mothers to protect them, even though many calls to law enforcement from the area have probably been made. If we do take children out of a home in these neighborhoods we take only those who are being abused or neglected, not all the neighbors kids too.
It should be easy to examine the children removed from this Texas compound and find signs of abuse. Signs of physical and sexual abuse are identifiable. The parents of those children should be charged. At least the children of the pregnant teens were being cared for by their fathers, not the government in this situation- at least they were.
Polygamy is a crime and possibly we should arrest those men and women who practice it. I say possibly because we allow Muslims from other countries to bring more than one wife into this country, live with them and become US citizens. Is one religions polygamy more legal than anothers? It is "said" that many Muslim girls are still forced to marry at a young age, even in the US and that many Muslims quietly practice polygamy here. Yet I don't see authorities raiding Muslim neighborhoods and rounding up Muslim children on the suspicion of what might be happening.
We can't raid homes and take children because of rumors of what might be happening. And just because one young woman in that compound was being mistreated by one man doesn't mean that all the children and women were being mistreated, that they all were in plural marriages or all were unhappy. Polygamy in itself does not equal abuse of women and children.
Punish those who do abuse children but don't punish children because of their religion. Yanking those children from their world and separating them from their families, and putting them into god knows what kind of foster care is also abuse.
Remember if we allow this to happen to these people it will happen to us next.
So far no one can find the teen girl who supposedly made the call and a similar call to another police department in another state really makes you wonder. The man the "girl" claims raped her hasn't been to Texas since 1977. The calls also come around the time of the anniversity of the Branch Davidian cult raid. Makes you wonder- or should.
It's also mentioned in the news stories that some women weren't at the compound when their children were stolen. Obviously they are allowed to come and go and are not prisoners. Also medical records were seized, which means outside medical care was probably obtained. Yet there was no complaints from residents before or just cause from medical evidence to justify action previously.
Over 400 children were forcibly removed from their homes in a traumatic manner. There is talk of putting them in foster care- if they can find enough homes. Many of the mothers went with the children but their side of the story isn't being allowed to be heard. Instead we hear all sorts of things that supposedly are going on in this compound- without any proof any of them are.
I saw clean, neatly dressed women and children in spring colors, hair nicely done, looking well fed. Not a single boy with his underwear hanging out or a girl with her belly button showing. Their homes appeared neat and comfortable.
Pregnant teens are not new in this society. Look in any low income living area and you will find many young teen girls who are having sex with men who treat them like dirt, who are often gang raped or beaten into gangs and who expect to raise their children alone, like their mothers and grandmothers before them. You could say this is a "cult" or at least a way of life. Yet we don't raid these places to remove children from their mothers to protect them, even though many calls to law enforcement from the area have probably been made. If we do take children out of a home in these neighborhoods we take only those who are being abused or neglected, not all the neighbors kids too.
It should be easy to examine the children removed from this Texas compound and find signs of abuse. Signs of physical and sexual abuse are identifiable. The parents of those children should be charged. At least the children of the pregnant teens were being cared for by their fathers, not the government in this situation- at least they were.
Polygamy is a crime and possibly we should arrest those men and women who practice it. I say possibly because we allow Muslims from other countries to bring more than one wife into this country, live with them and become US citizens. Is one religions polygamy more legal than anothers? It is "said" that many Muslim girls are still forced to marry at a young age, even in the US and that many Muslims quietly practice polygamy here. Yet I don't see authorities raiding Muslim neighborhoods and rounding up Muslim children on the suspicion of what might be happening.
We can't raid homes and take children because of rumors of what might be happening. And just because one young woman in that compound was being mistreated by one man doesn't mean that all the children and women were being mistreated, that they all were in plural marriages or all were unhappy. Polygamy in itself does not equal abuse of women and children.
Punish those who do abuse children but don't punish children because of their religion. Yanking those children from their world and separating them from their families, and putting them into god knows what kind of foster care is also abuse.
Remember if we allow this to happen to these people it will happen to us next.
Well let’s start with the weather. Doesn’t everything start with weather? Here in Michigan we had 70 degrees yesterday after which came severe weather. We had 2 inches of rain in about 36 hours. Everything is soaked but the good news is that the pond is filling up and the grass is getting green. The crocus and iris reticulata are blooming. However it is supposed to snow tonight. Welcome to spring in Michigan. It won’t stick, but the cold isn’t welcome.
The sheep are starting to get a little grass. Thank God because hay at 6 dollars a bale is hard on the budget. If the weather holds we should be done buying it in a week or two. Taco the bottle lamb has finally became part of the sheep herd. He has a girlfriend, one of his cousins. I have even quit giving him a bottle and he is eating hay, like a sheep should. I still sneak him some animal cookies everyday.
We had a new baby lamb born about 2 weeks ago. It is another Hereford marked one but I still don’t know whether it’s a boy or girl. Susan surprised us with two Jack Russell puppies, we knew she got bred but she never looked pg. One died, but the other little female is doing fine. The cocker pups are eating well and trying to get out of their pen constantly. One little female is the most successful, then she waddles over to me and wags her little stub tail wanting to be picked up.
We had Gus the stud Jack Russell neutered but it didn’t stop him from tearing open his kennel again and then into Crickets kennel a week later. The vet says we may still have puppies from this, sperm still lives in the reproductive tract a while. We have left him with Cricket, we have new kennels to put together for the outside dogs, but the weather and time haven’t allowed us to get them done yet.
We had a young couple stop by the farm looking for scrap metal. He was out of work and they were cleaning up yards etc for metal to sell. I showed them the back of the barn were we had a tangled mess of old wire pens and told them they could have that. Then we looked at the shed tacked onto the back side of the barn that was collapsing. We didn’t feed the sheep from the barn this winter because I didn’t think that mess would hold up all winter and would fall on them or make getting feed to them hard.
Anyway they agreed to tear it all down and stack the good lumber if I gave them my old car. In one day while I was at work they ripped it all down, sorted and stacked everything and hauled a bunch of it away or burned it. This was a big shed, 20 by 12, that we had built with pallets, (yes pallets), about 12 years ago. Had we put a better roof on it, it might have lasted longer. I had to burn some more of the old pallets the next day and then they came and removed the rest. There is still some rusty fence here and a pile of old roofing but the change is immense.
The barn possum was a casualty though. He was hiding in some wood when it got thrown in the fire. The back side of the barn cats were all a little spooked but I fixed them some new beds just inside the back door of the main barn and they are settling in.
Next we tackled the fence between the dog yard and the sheep pasture. The dogs have been terrible this spring getting out under the old chain link. The wood posts we had were rotted and the bottom gave too much, they could dig a little then push the bottom and lift it up to go under. Steve freaks out when they get out when I am gone, they won’t let him catch them and he can’t move fast enough. I had tons of cinder blocks and boards along the bottom but nothing worked for long, they just found another spot.
So last Sunday we replaced it all with 5 foot high welded wire on metal posts. It was the first big day long project we had done in a good while and we were both exhausted. I put a board all along the bottom that I nailed to the fence, laying on my belly in the pasture. The next day I had to fix a spot where Ginger got through but it’s been fine since. We still have to replace the walk gate and re-work the drive gate but we are almost done with that. Then it’s on to replacing the fence along the back of the barn, and rebuilding the dog kennels. And the east pasture needs the fence along the woods repaired and up by the orchard.
I want to take some of the old lumber and make raised garden beds for vegetables, all the flower beds need cleaning out and I have baby chicks arriving Tuesday to get ready for. We need to make a new trellis for the grapes and move them as they are in too much shade now. And then of course there is the porch/laundry room roof that needs to be torn off and replaced, my son says he will be up around the first week of May to do that. When that’s done I want to put up a 6 foot wide deck on the east side to make it easier for Steve to get in the back door. I think we can do that. What I need is several strong grandchildren to use as labor but they are too far away!
It amazes me what changes this house and farm have been through in the 13 years we have been here. And what changes we have been through ourselves. When we moved here Steve was capable of doing things like putting up sheds from pallets, and getting in and out of the house on his own. I seemed to have a lot more energy and physical strength too. I just keep thinking that when certain things are done everything else will be easier, but the work just never seems to end. I love spring but it is such a busy time!
The sheep are starting to get a little grass. Thank God because hay at 6 dollars a bale is hard on the budget. If the weather holds we should be done buying it in a week or two. Taco the bottle lamb has finally became part of the sheep herd. He has a girlfriend, one of his cousins. I have even quit giving him a bottle and he is eating hay, like a sheep should. I still sneak him some animal cookies everyday.
We had a new baby lamb born about 2 weeks ago. It is another Hereford marked one but I still don’t know whether it’s a boy or girl. Susan surprised us with two Jack Russell puppies, we knew she got bred but she never looked pg. One died, but the other little female is doing fine. The cocker pups are eating well and trying to get out of their pen constantly. One little female is the most successful, then she waddles over to me and wags her little stub tail wanting to be picked up.
We had Gus the stud Jack Russell neutered but it didn’t stop him from tearing open his kennel again and then into Crickets kennel a week later. The vet says we may still have puppies from this, sperm still lives in the reproductive tract a while. We have left him with Cricket, we have new kennels to put together for the outside dogs, but the weather and time haven’t allowed us to get them done yet.
We had a young couple stop by the farm looking for scrap metal. He was out of work and they were cleaning up yards etc for metal to sell. I showed them the back of the barn were we had a tangled mess of old wire pens and told them they could have that. Then we looked at the shed tacked onto the back side of the barn that was collapsing. We didn’t feed the sheep from the barn this winter because I didn’t think that mess would hold up all winter and would fall on them or make getting feed to them hard.
Anyway they agreed to tear it all down and stack the good lumber if I gave them my old car. In one day while I was at work they ripped it all down, sorted and stacked everything and hauled a bunch of it away or burned it. This was a big shed, 20 by 12, that we had built with pallets, (yes pallets), about 12 years ago. Had we put a better roof on it, it might have lasted longer. I had to burn some more of the old pallets the next day and then they came and removed the rest. There is still some rusty fence here and a pile of old roofing but the change is immense.
The barn possum was a casualty though. He was hiding in some wood when it got thrown in the fire. The back side of the barn cats were all a little spooked but I fixed them some new beds just inside the back door of the main barn and they are settling in.
Next we tackled the fence between the dog yard and the sheep pasture. The dogs have been terrible this spring getting out under the old chain link. The wood posts we had were rotted and the bottom gave too much, they could dig a little then push the bottom and lift it up to go under. Steve freaks out when they get out when I am gone, they won’t let him catch them and he can’t move fast enough. I had tons of cinder blocks and boards along the bottom but nothing worked for long, they just found another spot.
So last Sunday we replaced it all with 5 foot high welded wire on metal posts. It was the first big day long project we had done in a good while and we were both exhausted. I put a board all along the bottom that I nailed to the fence, laying on my belly in the pasture. The next day I had to fix a spot where Ginger got through but it’s been fine since. We still have to replace the walk gate and re-work the drive gate but we are almost done with that. Then it’s on to replacing the fence along the back of the barn, and rebuilding the dog kennels. And the east pasture needs the fence along the woods repaired and up by the orchard.
I want to take some of the old lumber and make raised garden beds for vegetables, all the flower beds need cleaning out and I have baby chicks arriving Tuesday to get ready for. We need to make a new trellis for the grapes and move them as they are in too much shade now. And then of course there is the porch/laundry room roof that needs to be torn off and replaced, my son says he will be up around the first week of May to do that. When that’s done I want to put up a 6 foot wide deck on the east side to make it easier for Steve to get in the back door. I think we can do that. What I need is several strong grandchildren to use as labor but they are too far away!
It amazes me what changes this house and farm have been through in the 13 years we have been here. And what changes we have been through ourselves. When we moved here Steve was capable of doing things like putting up sheds from pallets, and getting in and out of the house on his own. I seemed to have a lot more energy and physical strength too. I just keep thinking that when certain things are done everything else will be easier, but the work just never seems to end. I love spring but it is such a busy time!
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
It’s a cold and blustery day in Michigan. Easter and spring arrive close together this year, both are symbolic of new beginnings. Unfortunately with Easter so early this year it’s not going to be very great weather. I am a little apprehensive about warmer weather this year; hopefully we won’t get a lot of storms.
Taco the lamb is being trained to a new life in the barn. I have been taking him out in the morning and leaving him there for the day. I put him where the hay was in the barn and he has a deep cozy bed plus I leave a door to the back of the barn open so he can go out in the east pasture if he wants. He still doesn’t want anything to do with the other sheep and when I put him with them he runs to a far corner and stays there. When the weather does warm up I will be putting him with them though.
We have 7 new baby cocker pups, 5 black, 2 blonde, 6 are female which is strange. Everyone that calls will want males. I had the tails docked last week and I hate that. But if you don’t do it people try to get it done later and some won’t buy a cocker with a tail.
The puppies have to be in our bedroom as we are out of spare rooms until Taco is gone. There is one that is very noisy and fussy all night, but she seems plump and sleek, just a fussy one. I wanted to squash her last night though. All of the rest of the puppies were sleeping but she was fussing and I got up twice to move her closer to mom, which seems to be what she wants.
I am so ready to garden and get things done outside. Last Friday the temperature was in the 50’s and it was sunny and I spent a bit of time outside cleaning out the old car. Sunshine does improve my mood I wish I could get more of it. Things are slow poking through the ground this year. Not much is happening in the garden. I want to get some chickens again; the price of eggs is terrible. I can order chicks and I still may, but it takes 5 months before they start laying at least. I’m going to look for some hens at the market.
Here’s some advice from gardening granny. Get outside whenever you can and enjoy the good weather. Sunshine sets your biological clock to good times. And plant a vegetable garden this year, the price of food is only going to go up. If you do plant a garden and have excess food donate it to a local soup kitchen or food pantry, they will love it. Hard times are coming.
Taco the lamb is being trained to a new life in the barn. I have been taking him out in the morning and leaving him there for the day. I put him where the hay was in the barn and he has a deep cozy bed plus I leave a door to the back of the barn open so he can go out in the east pasture if he wants. He still doesn’t want anything to do with the other sheep and when I put him with them he runs to a far corner and stays there. When the weather does warm up I will be putting him with them though.
We have 7 new baby cocker pups, 5 black, 2 blonde, 6 are female which is strange. Everyone that calls will want males. I had the tails docked last week and I hate that. But if you don’t do it people try to get it done later and some won’t buy a cocker with a tail.
The puppies have to be in our bedroom as we are out of spare rooms until Taco is gone. There is one that is very noisy and fussy all night, but she seems plump and sleek, just a fussy one. I wanted to squash her last night though. All of the rest of the puppies were sleeping but she was fussing and I got up twice to move her closer to mom, which seems to be what she wants.
I am so ready to garden and get things done outside. Last Friday the temperature was in the 50’s and it was sunny and I spent a bit of time outside cleaning out the old car. Sunshine does improve my mood I wish I could get more of it. Things are slow poking through the ground this year. Not much is happening in the garden. I want to get some chickens again; the price of eggs is terrible. I can order chicks and I still may, but it takes 5 months before they start laying at least. I’m going to look for some hens at the market.
Here’s some advice from gardening granny. Get outside whenever you can and enjoy the good weather. Sunshine sets your biological clock to good times. And plant a vegetable garden this year, the price of food is only going to go up. If you do plant a garden and have excess food donate it to a local soup kitchen or food pantry, they will love it. Hard times are coming.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
new car
So here’s the news. I have a new car, well new to me. It’s only six years old which beats driving cars over 20 years old. It’s a Blazer, sort of a cross between a truck and a car, easy for Steve to crawl up in. It’s only a 2 door and has less cargo space than the van or maybe even the trunk on that old chevy but it runs! Strange how I seem to end up with chevies, even though I am not looking for one, just a good deal.
New cars have all those bells and whistles that I am not used to. The second day I had it I locked myself out by messing up something in the security system- it wouldn’t let me start the engine. Now I am afraid to use the remote unlock button thingy. It has a remote start but I am really afraid to use that. The radio gets louder as you go faster, can you believe that!
We were going to drive down to my moms since we hadn’t been there since Thanksgiving and she was going to bake a cake for Steve’s birthday, but I ended up having to stay home and work on finishing my book. I messed up on the deadline, It was the last Monday in Feb, I thought it was March 15 for some reason. Well it is all turned in now, hopefully nothing to do until writer review.
The lamb is still here but he will be gone soon, someway, somehow. He pulled a frying pan of grease off the stove the other night, luckily it had cooled. The dogs quickly cleaned up the floor but it could have been a disaster. I took him out to the barn with me yesterday but he panicked when I locked him in a stall and kept trying to jump out so I took him back inside.
Gingers puppies have all been sold, even though it took a while because the weather was so bad. Honey the cocker is due any day, probably Sunday when we have said we will be going to my moms.
Michigan weather sucks. Yesterday it was 50 degrees and raining. The snow started to melt and then today it is below freezing again although we did get some sun. So everything is a sheet of ice. I got my car stuck when I moved it to let Steve get his out. And we are supposed to be getting more snow tonight, ugh.
I guess global warming affects the bottoming out temperature, the lowest temperature you get because it sure hasn’t made winter any shorter. And we have had nearly the record for snowfall since records were kept all ready this year. Even if it’s mild enough to be outside you can’t walk because of deep snow or ice. Maybe the glaciers are reforming here instead of at the poles.
The other problem is that a lot of us animal owners were praying for an early spring because hay is hard to find and very expensive. We are down to 2 bales of what we bought in the fall and we bought two bales for 6.25 each today which will feed for another week here. I don’t think anyone will deliver just a small load to us when they can sell all they have in big loads so we are stuck paying high prices at the feed store.
I have cabin fever real bad. I need to get outside, away from computers and people and dogs. Hurry spring!
New cars have all those bells and whistles that I am not used to. The second day I had it I locked myself out by messing up something in the security system- it wouldn’t let me start the engine. Now I am afraid to use the remote unlock button thingy. It has a remote start but I am really afraid to use that. The radio gets louder as you go faster, can you believe that!
We were going to drive down to my moms since we hadn’t been there since Thanksgiving and she was going to bake a cake for Steve’s birthday, but I ended up having to stay home and work on finishing my book. I messed up on the deadline, It was the last Monday in Feb, I thought it was March 15 for some reason. Well it is all turned in now, hopefully nothing to do until writer review.
The lamb is still here but he will be gone soon, someway, somehow. He pulled a frying pan of grease off the stove the other night, luckily it had cooled. The dogs quickly cleaned up the floor but it could have been a disaster. I took him out to the barn with me yesterday but he panicked when I locked him in a stall and kept trying to jump out so I took him back inside.
Gingers puppies have all been sold, even though it took a while because the weather was so bad. Honey the cocker is due any day, probably Sunday when we have said we will be going to my moms.
Michigan weather sucks. Yesterday it was 50 degrees and raining. The snow started to melt and then today it is below freezing again although we did get some sun. So everything is a sheet of ice. I got my car stuck when I moved it to let Steve get his out. And we are supposed to be getting more snow tonight, ugh.
I guess global warming affects the bottoming out temperature, the lowest temperature you get because it sure hasn’t made winter any shorter. And we have had nearly the record for snowfall since records were kept all ready this year. Even if it’s mild enough to be outside you can’t walk because of deep snow or ice. Maybe the glaciers are reforming here instead of at the poles.
The other problem is that a lot of us animal owners were praying for an early spring because hay is hard to find and very expensive. We are down to 2 bales of what we bought in the fall and we bought two bales for 6.25 each today which will feed for another week here. I don’t think anyone will deliver just a small load to us when they can sell all they have in big loads so we are stuck paying high prices at the feed store.
I have cabin fever real bad. I need to get outside, away from computers and people and dogs. Hurry spring!
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
It has been interesting weather around here, first snowstorms and then thunderstorms. It’s so wet, mushy and cloudy I’d almost rather have it cold and sunny. In the middle of the night I heard the water pump running and running, the hose to the barn had unfrozen and the valve was open and the backyard is now a lake. Not great. I hate February, I’m glad it’s a short month.
I was doing some research on line about the satellite that is going to fall later this month and I came upon some interesting stuff. It’s amazing how when you go on line first you find one thing that has a link to another thing and then another thing etc. Anyway from that search I did learn that the satellite was launched a few years ago, didn’t work and has a tank of rocket fuel on board that could cause a problem when it re-enters the atmosphere.
However there is not a whole lot of concern because they think it will break up and the chances are nothing will fall on inhabited earth spaces because so much of the earth is uninhabited. That was the little bit of info that intrigued me and when you think about it it’s pretty amazing. There are what,- 5 billion people, in this world. 70 % of the world is covered in oceans and of the remaining land space only about half has any dense population so yes only 15% of the world is closely inhabited, leaving 85% of the world for the satellite pieces to fall on. That doesn’t help much when it’s your house it hits.
I think I read once that even without using the inhospitable places there would be 2 acres of land for every soul on earth. So why do we crowd together so badly? Once again it has something to do with politics and money. Many people will never even own the tiny shack they live in. There is enough food in the world to feed every man, woman and child a full 2,000 calories a day but millions are starving- because of greed and politics.
Man is mans worse enemy.
On the lighter side of things a new species of humming bird described as cobalt blue and ruby colored was found in South America. It’s interesting that new species of birds and animals continue to be found, maybe because only 15% of the world is inhabited! This hummingbird has a pretty good population in numbers but a limited home range.
And get this. Scientists have found that the chirping noise hummingbirds make when they dive comes not from their throats but from their tail feathers. The feathers have a notch that makes the noise. They dive when fighting and courting and do those little buggers ever fight.
There is so much you can learn when news skimming on line. I wish I had more time to scan the good stuff like science findings and research reports.
On the home front I am learning that I want to get rid of my sheep. They have been jumping the fence around the pond- 4 feet high- and eating the bark off trees. Before I realized it I think they may have killed a beautiful spruce we planted when we first moved in here that was about 20 feet high by girdling it. We shall see in the spring. I think I fixed the spot they were jumping over and I also surrounded the trees with wire but those devils will probably find a way to leap over and get back to the trees. They could have girdled poplars- we want to get rid of them, but no – they go for the nice stuff.
They are not hungry- all of them are still heavy and they get grain and hay twice a day. I think they are just bored. Well they are about to be turned into lambburger for the dogs to eat. Including the house monster.
I want to replace the sheep with some cute mini horses or maybe donkeys. Just for pets. Even the big horses were less trouble than these Barbados sheep. I’m hoping I can rescue some and give them a good life.
Gingers puppies are ready to go to new homes this week. They are so cute but so noisy and messy. I think Bessie may be pregnant but I hope the rest are not. We tried to breed Honey the cocker, but our stud, Bubba didn’t seem real interested for some reason. We are going to get our stud Jack Russell neutered soon, as we cannot keep him in his kennel when anyone is in heat. He has went through chain link and heavy corn crib wire by bending them until they break. He has climbed 10 foot fences and ripped open solid wood doors. That is why we have puppies on Gus’s schedule not ours. I am just tired of it. Our Jack females are getting older so we just won’t breed.
I was doing some research on line about the satellite that is going to fall later this month and I came upon some interesting stuff. It’s amazing how when you go on line first you find one thing that has a link to another thing and then another thing etc. Anyway from that search I did learn that the satellite was launched a few years ago, didn’t work and has a tank of rocket fuel on board that could cause a problem when it re-enters the atmosphere.
However there is not a whole lot of concern because they think it will break up and the chances are nothing will fall on inhabited earth spaces because so much of the earth is uninhabited. That was the little bit of info that intrigued me and when you think about it it’s pretty amazing. There are what,- 5 billion people, in this world. 70 % of the world is covered in oceans and of the remaining land space only about half has any dense population so yes only 15% of the world is closely inhabited, leaving 85% of the world for the satellite pieces to fall on. That doesn’t help much when it’s your house it hits.
I think I read once that even without using the inhospitable places there would be 2 acres of land for every soul on earth. So why do we crowd together so badly? Once again it has something to do with politics and money. Many people will never even own the tiny shack they live in. There is enough food in the world to feed every man, woman and child a full 2,000 calories a day but millions are starving- because of greed and politics.
Man is mans worse enemy.
On the lighter side of things a new species of humming bird described as cobalt blue and ruby colored was found in South America. It’s interesting that new species of birds and animals continue to be found, maybe because only 15% of the world is inhabited! This hummingbird has a pretty good population in numbers but a limited home range.
And get this. Scientists have found that the chirping noise hummingbirds make when they dive comes not from their throats but from their tail feathers. The feathers have a notch that makes the noise. They dive when fighting and courting and do those little buggers ever fight.
There is so much you can learn when news skimming on line. I wish I had more time to scan the good stuff like science findings and research reports.
On the home front I am learning that I want to get rid of my sheep. They have been jumping the fence around the pond- 4 feet high- and eating the bark off trees. Before I realized it I think they may have killed a beautiful spruce we planted when we first moved in here that was about 20 feet high by girdling it. We shall see in the spring. I think I fixed the spot they were jumping over and I also surrounded the trees with wire but those devils will probably find a way to leap over and get back to the trees. They could have girdled poplars- we want to get rid of them, but no – they go for the nice stuff.
They are not hungry- all of them are still heavy and they get grain and hay twice a day. I think they are just bored. Well they are about to be turned into lambburger for the dogs to eat. Including the house monster.
I want to replace the sheep with some cute mini horses or maybe donkeys. Just for pets. Even the big horses were less trouble than these Barbados sheep. I’m hoping I can rescue some and give them a good life.
Gingers puppies are ready to go to new homes this week. They are so cute but so noisy and messy. I think Bessie may be pregnant but I hope the rest are not. We tried to breed Honey the cocker, but our stud, Bubba didn’t seem real interested for some reason. We are going to get our stud Jack Russell neutered soon, as we cannot keep him in his kennel when anyone is in heat. He has went through chain link and heavy corn crib wire by bending them until they break. He has climbed 10 foot fences and ripped open solid wood doors. That is why we have puppies on Gus’s schedule not ours. I am just tired of it. Our Jack females are getting older so we just won’t breed.
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