February on the homestead [Archive]

bookwormom

02-01-2008, 06:39 PM

as usual we are busy. Winter is kind of wimpy here and I do not complain, as it gives us a chance to get a lot done outside that we want to get done before spring. most of our land is overgrown with brush, ten year growth mostly. we spent days so far pulling down piles of sawbriars, clipping truckloads of saplings. yesterday we hired someone from church to come with his chainsaw and cut what is too big for the clippers. some will make fine cooking sticks and we are stacking it in four foot length between two trees to be cut for firewood. with the rest we are making several huge brushpiles back where they are out of the way. the animals were all along helping and ea ting sawbriars, even the cows. all in all, we really enjoy the animals. Chucky has turned out to be a really lively calf, we are glad he made it. hay is a problem. we just paid 69 bucks for one of those bigbales. I hope spring comes early. It won't last long. the old lady who sold us the cows said she will contact the farmer whose animals she boarded and fed my hay too to haul me some hay, but I not holding my breath.
I sent off a big order to Burgess, 24 rugosa roses. of the dozen I planted last year ten did well in spite of the drought.there is always so much more, so all we do is dream. my seedorders from seedsavers and pinetree have come in already. I have built three workbenches for the studio and a big shelf.the keyboard is acting weird again, my old computer quit for good and this laptop has some quirks. if you find words that seem amiss, bear with me.
Deberosa,jcan you dig a drainage ditch when this is over so you will not have this kind of flooding again? the five pups from the dog I inherited are getting big and fat. we only had to buy three dozen eggs, the chickens are laying again. so is a goose. our friendly gander bit me on the leg.
since our place is nothing but little hillsides everywhere there is some erosion developing where the chickens have been the most active. husband put down cedar and I am seriously contemplating moving the chickens. part of the woodshed could be converted to chicken housing. most of the time we are tired and dirty by evening. We feel the warmth from a woodstove feels different and better than from other heat. maybe just our imagination. but the beans seem to taste better, too.
It looks like the groundhog won't see it's shadow tomorrow.

rideaway

02-01-2008, 07:51 PM

More rain here in Oregon on the coast, tho there's a lot of snow up farther and inland. Really need to get outside this weekend and clean the horse lean-to tho(why she won't poop outside, I don't know. Down to two bales of hay, so need to find money and time to get some more. I had loaned 9 bales to someone and they said they'd pay back the hay. Made the mistake of telling them I'd paid $10 a bale. Now that hay's hard to get ahold of here, they want to pay me $90 for the bales-that's not enough for an 1 1/2 hr round trip and hay, so I'm not happy >:(

Otherwise, hoping for a relaxing weekend getting stuff done, even if I get wet and windblown!

Deberosa

02-01-2008, 09:02 PM

Bookwormom,

I found that for small saplings like you are talking about it's better to pull them out by the roots - tie to a tractor or truck and yank. ;-) That way you don't have stumps and sprouts from stumps. I did this for trees up to a few inches in diameter. With the tractor I loosen the bottoms first with the loader and then pull them out if they want to be stubborn. Of course a dead stick in the dirt here will sprout!

We are planning a drain field in the pasture. Matter of fact my next post is to see if there is such a thing as a PTO driven trencher which would be ideal for what is going to be a big project. We are thinking trenches to a big round pit that has the sump in it. THe neighbor already created a stream bed across his property so we just need to get the water down to there and it would be gone. BUt now there is so much to catch up on and it's still pouring rain!

bookwormom

02-02-2008, 04:12 PM

the deed is done Debbie . I must have clipped hundreds. I am hoping the goats will devour any new shoots. I hear the Dexters are also good at browsing, they have been eating sawbriar leaves, so I hope they will do their share of the work of clearing. We are contemplating a few pigs to dig up and eat the potatoe size tubers of the sawbriars.

bookwormom

02-02-2008, 04:40 PM

it has been a warm and sunny day here :'( brace yourself for 6 more weeks of winter. Phil the groundhog did not just peek out of his hole today.

LeatherneckPA

02-03-2008, 11:46 AM

Yesterday was a jammie day for the wife, so I got absolutely nothing done before heading to work. we had a nice warm spell yesterday and a low 20's last night. Very nearly broke my neck trying to skate across the back yard to get to the rabbit shed.

Briefly, the rabbits were a symbol of my DD and WSIL love for each other. Allegedly both male. NOT!! And when I forced them toget their own apartment, of course they couldn't take the rabbits with them. And my DW won't let me eat them. I fact, rabbits are just about the only animal she will not have on the farm because of my "Earn Your Keep" rule. I will have no animal that doesn't "earn it's keep", and short of stew I see no way for the rabbits to do that.

Next payday I will start construction of my backyard chicken tractor. I'd give you details, but I hope to sell an article and pictures on it's construction to BHM or some other homesteading magazine.

longshot

02-03-2008, 05:50 PM

leatherneck, those bunnies could earn some of their keep is by producing fertilizer. those pellets are great for adding to the garden and you could move it from the pen to the garden directly, no composting needed.

just a thought

ls

elh

02-03-2008, 06:33 PM

It was a B E A U T I F U L day today mid 70's, very little wind. I got the garden disked, pruned fruit trees, split up the walking onions, water small trees. I love living on our farm. ;D ;D ;D

bee_pipes

02-03-2008, 08:06 PM

This morning we did 4 roosters. Back, a few threads ago, folks were posting pictures of their "cleaning stations" where they slaughter their chickens. Meant to get a shot with two chickens hanging over the buckets, but got busy and forgot.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o120/bee_pipes/chicken_cleaning_station_1.jpg

Our setup is simple. A tree has two brackets with hooks; each holds a chicken and bucket underneath. The chickens are beheaded on a nearby stump, then hung by their feet over a bucket and bled. The blue pot is from the waterbath canner - it is full of hot water for scalding. The chickens are dipped, then rehung and plucked. Plucked carcasses are collected in a large steel bowl. When all chickens have been dressed and collected in the bowl, the bowl is taken inside and the butchering is done in the kitchen sink. I clean the birds, my wife Karen cuts them up into pieces, bags them, then puts the bags in the fridge for 24 hours. After 24 hours they go into the freezer. All feathers and unused parts are collected in a bucket and go to the compost bin. After finishing up inside, I come out and hose down the area, then dump and clean the collection buckets for the compost bin.

Yesterday we cut down a tree that had broken in high winds earlier last week and was laying on a fence. The fact that the tree was in the creek made it a nusiance to get in there and cut it down, and the shattered wood made it a spring loaded trap.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o120/bee_pipes/busted_tree.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o120/bee_pipes/broken_tree_down_3.jpg

Once we got the tree down and cut into sections, we skidded it out of the creek with the ATV. Our land is too hilly to make a tractor practical, so we got a bull ATV and use that for larger chores.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o120/bee_pipes/broken_tree_skidding_log_5.jpg

Karen put on a lasagna for dinner (she landed me with one of her lasagnas) and we are both tired after the inactivity during the recent cold weather.

The underbrush is still dead, and I'm thinking of running the brush mower over some of the spindly saplings to cleare some of the woods out around the house. The chickens head for the woods on the hill behind the house first thing in the morning. The sun hits there first, then works it's way across the hollow. On frosty mornings the chickens will follow that line. Visibility is good, and the poultry isn't turned loose until the sun hits the ground, but in a few months there will be plenty of cover for predators.

Rain predicted for tomorrow, but mild temps too. Hopefully we can get a few tasks done that are crying for attention before the rain hits.

Tuesday is voting day. We voted early last week, so get to skip the lines at the polls. Tennessee is using electronic voting machines that don't print a paper receipt. It's a real act of faith (foolishness) trusting those machines.

Regards,
Pat

humbug

02-04-2008, 08:32 PM

Snow snow go away....I spent the day digging out my car from the snow...twice...I am sick of all of this white stuff.
I figured out that my bread machine has a dough cycle on it...its a blonde thing.. ;D
I made homemade cinamon rolls and pizza dough. We had garlic chicken pizza for dinner..yum..I put onion flakes and garlic powder in the crust..it was awesome.
I ordered a grain mill..I am excited about it. I have been wanting one for a long time.
I am on five days off right now. I have been climbing the walls with being stuck inside. :'( Clear weather is supposed to be on the way.

nancy1340

02-04-2008, 08:53 PM

Bee, thanks for the pictures.

Southern_Gent

02-05-2008, 04:59 AM

The weather has been relatively mild here in Florida, with temperatures only dipping as low as the 40s at night. The last couple of days have ushered in temperatures in the low 80s. Nice days for working outside, allowing me to install a couple of extra spigots around the yard. This is the first step prior to me putting in some grape vines and blueberry bushes a little later this spring.

Deberosa

02-05-2008, 06:00 AM

A flock of robins went through here yesterday, but there is no end in sight to the cold and rain. Another inch of water is expected today.

Got a porta potty because the septic is simply not going down much in the near future. Got pans for washing and a big plastic bin to catch water in the shower to be wet vacced out. (Kurt insists on showers ::)). I guess I could be thankful this isn't all snow but somehow I am not!

bee_pipes

02-05-2008, 06:12 AM

... Got a porta potty because the septic is simply not going down much in the near future. Got pans for washing and a big plastic bin to catch water in the shower to be wet vacced out...

I don't know what your local zoning is like, or how restrictive your area is, but have you considered a composting toilet and a grey water reclamation system?

Basic book, table of contents:
http://weblife.org/humanure/default.html

section on greywater:
http://weblife.org/humanure/chapter9.html

He paints an idylic piture. Our experience has been that bugs lay eggs in the sawdust pile and they hatch inside. No big deal, just little flying gnits, but annoying just the same. A sawdust toilet, as he describes, would be better near, but unattached to the house.

The greywater is the most intriguing, but would either require massive earthmoving and landscaping for us, or relocating the house. Karen wants a cabin on the hill someday - maybe then.

Just a thought... you may have already considered this.

My condolences with your septic problem.

Regards,
Pat

bookwormom

02-05-2008, 11:28 AM

looks like you took your pictures on our place bee pipe
we are still moving brush. maybe tomorrow we will haul the last few loads. I should not have any flabby upper arms.

you know what I think would be nice? If everyone showed the State they live in under their avatar.

I wish I had some mutton tallow, just cleaned our boots and there is nothing better than mutton tallow for getting them waterproof

my inherited dog just moved her pups under the porch, wonder what she does not like about the doghouse. except they started to keep fallling out and could not get back and made an awful racket. last night I got up four times putting them back in.le tornado

the weatherman says heavy storms for this afternoon, possible tornados, 'that's what you get for warm weather in February. sitting here in shirtsleeves, windows and doors open, winter will be back

Catalpa

02-05-2008, 12:44 PM

This evening's chore will be trying to de-water my basement. >:( It's just been nuts - thunderstorms in February! We're supposed to have a few feet of snow and bright sunny days, but no, we get six inches of snow, terrible winds, and then thunderstorms with torrential downpours. Ugh.

I love winter and snow, and this rain, slush, mud mess is just making me crazy - and flooding my basement!

At least my septic still works....Deberosa, are you planning on trenching right into the ground for your septic? If you have a high water table flooding the system now, won't below grade trenches flood too?

Deberosa

02-05-2008, 01:38 PM

Yes we are looking at composting toilets and gray water systems - even if the entire septic was a gray water system.

It is totally dumping rain right now - huge buckets of it!

I AM SICK OF WINTER!!!

THe drain system we are thinking of putting in would empty into a pit with a sump - once we get the water to the back it drains away. And it doesn't have to be 100%, this is the first time I've had even a remote problem with the septic - just the right combination of storms I guess.

WileyCoyote

02-05-2008, 01:49 PM

Deberosa - try this:
http://www.inspect-ny.com/septic/altmound.htm

Lists many alternate systems, picture of the Dakota Mound system, for areas that have high water tables or poor drainage soils.
We live on property that does not 'perk' and one of the things that they advised was planting bulb plants like daylilies and caladiums (elephant ears) along the drain field. 50 feet of these, closely planted, with sewage water running thru will result in potable water at the end, and removes the smell... of course you get KILLER size flowers and elephant ears!

Deberosa

02-05-2008, 04:23 PM

Yes, that's an option, there are lots of options but many are expensive and get the government involved...

I am really hoping that draining the pasture simply works, this is the first time it's happened. If I would have pumped the water out of the field earlier in the season instead of letting it soak in I probably would have been fine now but there just hasn't been a long enough break between storms this year!

If I am forced to put in a new septic, gravity feed is no longer an option. In that case I may simply put the septic on the other side of the property and a new modular or even a cheap stick built to go with it! ;-) That side is very sandy/gravelly. This house needs a new roof, new deck, new hot water heater, new windows, new siding... hmmm.

annabella1

02-05-2008, 06:29 PM

Sounds like you just need a "new" house ;). Got home from work at 3:00 am this morning. Lots of thick fog in the area, I'm starting to get used to driving blind. Gets the adrenaline going and makes it hard to go to sleep. Hard to find anything to do at 3:00 am but sleep. Read for a while then finally slept. When I got up I cleaned out the vermiculture bin, put in fresh shredded newspapers, wet down of course. I'll be using the castings to make a rich potting soil for some planting in pots I want to do. Thinking about your drainage problem makes me wish I had finished the experiments with the vermiculture toilet. It is an improvement (in my opinion) over a composting toilet because the worm castings are a natural deodorizer so you don't have to worry about the smell. The volume of material is quickly reduced. The PH of Human urine is in the perfect range for worms. You don't have to cover up with sawdust, the initial worm bedding plus toilet paper you use is enough. And no water needed (as long as the worms stay moist).
Moms feeling better since its been over a week since her last chemo. So she wants to do everything this week that she couldn't do last week. Today I took her to the Post Office, and the Grocery store then the Pharmacy. She has a Mission Meeting at the Church at 3:00 but I have to be at work by then so she made arrangements for a ride home and I dropped her off at the Church at 2:00 and went to work. I am really ready for it to be March tired of this Winter stuff.

gardenfay

02-05-2008, 08:27 PM

that vermiculture toilet sounds like a good idea.

Deberosa

02-05-2008, 08:29 PM

I do seriously at some point have to consider the cost of a new house vs keeping up this one. A new septic may just tilt the scales. It's a small modular built on a stem wall in 1970 - it's been around a while.

conundrum

02-06-2008, 04:44 AM

Deberosa-ever considered one of those incinerating toilets? Might be a way around major expense for a while. if your county is anything like mine, they are enamored of those idiotic mound septics-the county types are all convinced water runs uphill I guess.

Deberosa

02-06-2008, 05:48 AM

Yes, I looked at the incinerating toilets. Great idea but you have to sit down to pee and that's not going over well with Kurt. ;D Also then you are dependent on propane to go to the bathroom. If we go that route I want it to be self sufficient. The Envirolet toilets seem to fit the bill the best.

It would be good to get this kind of setup anyhow so maybe that's the way we will go even if the drain field is ok. Then that would become a gray water system.

Oh, the other thing about composting toilets is finding space for them! My house is very small!

Deberosa

02-06-2008, 05:07 PM

My faith in my judgement of people was reinforced today. Remember the "loaner" rooster for the chicken lotto that I sent off last week? Well they brought him back today. He performed splendidly. ;-) They had car trouble - I noticed last time their truck leaked a whole puddle of oil in a few minutes! They came in a "new" old vehicle.

So first place winner got $36 and second place got $25 and the rooster is back with his buddies. ;-)

Otherwise - another inch of rain and two more inches expected tomorrow!!!! Still pumping thousands of gallons of water to the back of the property.

Danielle

02-07-2008, 10:45 AM

Annabella, are you a fan of Anna Edey's "Solviva"? I got the book for Christmas and got my first introduction to vermiculture toilets. I was completely astonished that something like that could work so successfuly. I hope you resume your experiment soon and post your results.

Deberosa, perhaps you should just build an ark or at least a houseboat ;) My heart goes out to you each time I read a new installment of your saga.

annabella1

02-07-2008, 05:49 PM

Never heard of "Solviva" guess I'll have to google it and see what it has to say.

LeatherneckPA

02-08-2008, 07:31 AM

WHAT A DAY yesterday was!

First I got my new GPS via UPS. (Motorcycle referee, has nothing to do with homesteading, but first one, so way cool.)

Second, I received my copy of Bill Murphy's book Greener Pastures On Your side Of The Fence. Now I've only read the intro and half of the first chapter, but WOW!! I never realized there was so much going on in a plain old pasture. And I majored in Biogeography in college. I knew about the diversity of plains, forests and even tiaga, but never actually studied pasture in such intensity. Even cooler than my GPS.

Next we went to Tractor Supply and DW suggested we buy Barnyard In Your BackYard, an expenditure I would never make without approval. But whoopee, we got it. Plus we got Backyard Poultry, Acres USA, Dairy Goat Journal, and Rural Heritage magazines. Then there were the blue jeans. Anybody else here have trouble because the stores don't carry their sizes? seems like all the chains figure that all fat people are short, like Wilford Brimley. (Which is who I look like, except he's 5'8" and I'm 6'2".) Finding 50x32 is darn near impossible. But every store carries 50x30. Well, TSC had three pairs of jeans in my size. what a score!! (Kind of silly getting excited about jeans, isn't it?)

So I have lots of great reading material to get me through next week's annual training at the prison. (After 23 years, I guarantee I can teach most of those classes better than the instructors. But HEY, it's my last time!!)

bee_pipes

02-08-2008, 08:37 AM

You're going to like Barnyard in your Backyard. It's an easy read and covers a number of animal types. Not an in depth survey, to be sure, but a good primer that can tell you if you want to pursue something in depth.

As for jeans, have you looked at the local thrift stores? Not sure about sizes, but the prices can't be beat.

Regards,
Pat

BrendaSue

02-08-2008, 11:18 AM

You guys are cutting trees down, and I just want some to grow, have a couple of decent ones, some peach trees, a pear, some flowering and that is all besides some baby arbor trees trying to survive...

I am sure our winter is not over yet, but is gorgeous today.

Backwoods_Bob

02-08-2008, 04:45 PM

Oh, I do so love winter.
I took yesterday off of work yet again, and spent much of the day shoveling snow.

I snowshoed out into the yard, found a likley spot and started digging. Three feet down I hit the roof of the garage.
This is the second time in three weeks I've had to shovel that durn roof off. I built it with a roof that is just to durn flat and weak.

The snow in my side yard is level with the roof of the garage and eves of the house. I've dug two good notches into the snow to keep the windows on that side of the cottage mostly clear of snow.

On the other side of the cottage the porch is a tunnel.

It's not a big deal though, we can still get a 4x4 to within 1/2 mile of our home. I simply snowshoe up and down to our car.

My horses and goats are getting a little tierd of all this white stuff -
My Quarterhorse doesn't care for busting her way through six feet of snow pack with me on her back.
She'll do it, but ain't happy about it.

Blew the tranny in the truck last month, can't plow any more even if there was someplace to push the snow.

I'll have to take some pictures for ya all!

Deberosa

02-08-2008, 04:53 PM

Well Bob there is lots more headed your way! Guess what it RAINED today! All day long a steady hard rain this time. There is no way the pump keeps up so it's one huge lake out there now. Not stopping either.

If this is all snow hitting you no wonder you are buried!

Deberosa

02-08-2008, 10:51 PM

Have you ever thought of getting fill and raising the ground in that location? Then put a trench so the water will go where you want it to. Some places will bring free fill dirt just to get rid of it.

Yes, There are quite a few things I can do. The land naturally slopes toward where I am now pumping the water but it's sort of terraced, with places that catch the water. If I could grade it from one end to the other it would help alot. I think what happened is the water pooled on the terraces and soaked in quite quickly for the first two months of pouring rain, but now it's soaked up as much as it can and the rain keeps coming down. The one time the rain stopped for 4 days the septic went right down so I think this is all that needs to happen. Nothing is going to happen real soon though at this point - rain for the forseable future here!

I sure am glad I have the tractor - it will be busy this year!

LeatherneckPA

02-09-2008, 05:26 AM

HEY! We're getting white stuff falling on the ground. It's been a strange winter here in North-Central PA. I have seen golfers out playing as recently as Tuesday.

BWB and Deb, for those of us who aren't as enlightened, roughly where do you live? I'd like to make sure I DO NOT move there. I'm guessing Deb is somewhere in Pacific Northwest. I don't much mind rain, except like you are getting. Not going there.

And BWB, I have absolutely NO IDEA where you could be, Alaska maybe or New Brunswick? I don't mind a LITTLE snow. You know, maybe 4-6 feet spread out all winter long. But having to dig down three feet to get to the roof of my garage would be a dead give away that I settled in the WRONG place for me.

bee_pipes

02-09-2008, 08:09 AM

Yesterday was wonderful, weather-wise. Managed to get the oil changed on the sawmill, checked the battery, and made a mental list of other tasks needed to begin sawing logs. The mice seem to favor spots between the cowling and cooling fins on the cylinders for building nests. The business part of the mill has been covered with a tarp since the last time it was used, so the engine makes a protected spot for raising a litter and shelling hickory nuts. Today is another fine day, so back to the mill for work. Hope to have the engine running and a list of any other parts needed for smooth operation. The throttle and choke cable seem to be nearing the end of their useful lives and will probably need replacing before the season is over. We have a pile of logs waiting to be sawn, with more ready to drag back as soon as room is available.

Yesterday was also bread baking day. We were nearing the end of that last loaf. The recipe we use makes four loaves of bread. Three turned out adequate for sandwiches, the remaining one being too short. We haven’t had to buy sandwich bread since we started this experiment a half year ago.

Deberosa

02-09-2008, 08:43 AM

Pat, what's your recipe? I am making Portuguese sweet bread today - it makes 6 loaves. Haven't made it in 30 years but it uses lots of eggs. ;-) We are going to the monthly "goat people" pot luck tomorrow. They are really more homesteaders than goat people like me, I don't even have a goat but I'm still welcome. So I am going to take sweet bread and home made apple butter. Everyone makes a home grown dish for the pot luck. It's on a wonderful homestead overlooking a sizeable private lake. They have a flock of Katadin sheep so maybe there will be lambs to visit!

By the way we are on the olympic peninsula in washington. And guess what? It's RAINING!!! Stopped for a couple of hours but back to pouring now. I think Bob is on the east side of the mountains in Washington if I remember right.

Might go to the city for supplies today - haven't been since before Christmas. ;-) Been quite the hermit this winter.

Daisy is liking her food more and more. I think she cut T-Bone off this week - because T-Bone is standing out in the rain and not near her mom any more. Daisy now eats first, then T-bone so I think she cut the apron strings...

bee_pipes

02-09-2008, 08:51 AM

I have seen a recipe for portagea sweetbread - been working on this one just to get it down. This is more sandwich bread:
http://www.backwoodshome.com/forum/yabb/forum.pl?board=foo-recipes;action=display;num=1196437766

It uses 3/4 cup sugar (we use honey)

Regards,
Pat

02-09-2008, 08:51 AM

You guys said two of my most favotite words... tractor and sawmill... lol

DM

bee_pipes

02-09-2008, 12:58 PM

02-09-2008, 01:56 PM

Hey! DM!

I have a LM2000 with the honda 20 hp engine - a twin cylinder. That's a 12 volt battery, isn't it?

Battery is dead - need to replace it. It's a Farm & Fleet GT360 - they don't carry any such part anymore.

Just got done working on the mill - can't get the motor to turn over. Checked the plugs - clean and gapped. Going to try replacing the fuel line and fuel filter. The filter is the suspect, but the line looks old and carmelized. I figure it may go brittle this season or next.

Regards,
Pat

Hey Pat,

Yes it's 12V, and any 12V batt that will fit in the space for the batt will work fine... I'd measure the batt box, and go buy a car batt that will fit... Just "slow" charge the batt before you use it the first time, as those Honda's have a quite small charging circut...

Todays gas goes bad quite easily, so it's a good idea to let the motor run out of gas the last time you use it, if it's going to sit long...

I think you have a good idea to replace any gas lines that look bad... Just go to a parts house and buy bas line that's the same size, put a filter in it, and you will be good to go..

I always change the oil at the end of the season, so the motor sits with new oil in it, not old oil that's full of acids...

Hope you get it going!!

DM

bee_pipes

02-10-2008, 02:00 PM

As we were leaving to get the oil and filter for the sawmill on Thursday, I backed into the butt of a log with the Honda. I felt stupid for the careless moment, but figured the trailer hitch should have taken the blow because it stuck out so far. Well, the Honda was making all kinds of racket as we drove down the driveway. I didn’t know what the sound came from, but it sounded expensive. I have been trying to take care of this car, like an adult, so we drove back to the house without leaving the driveway and parked it. We took the truck out to town for the sawmill parts, and I later put in a call with my mechanic to see if he made house calls. He came by this morning and found the problem was just a plastic piece of trim that had broken and was rubbing against the tire. I felt really stupid then, but felt okay about taking precautions with a possible damaged rear-end. He refused to let me pay him for his time, so we gave him a quart of honey, which he took. This is the first time I have ever had a mechanic I could trust without reservation. I never realized how reassuring that is. I’m sure there are other good mechanics out there, but I never knew when I was being worked or told the truth.

Yesterday we worked on the mill – cleaned and gapped the plugs, gave the engine the once over, but it wouldn’t start. The battery doesn’t seem to have enough amperage to crank the engine either. We were able to get the starter running with a jump from the truck, but the engine just would not fire up. The gas is old and I noticed gas dribbling from the fuel line, next to the fuel filter. The line looked old, so we pulled the whole affair to get it replaced when the parts store opens Monday. We’ll replace the old gas, line and filter, and then see where we are.

Yesterday was also a day for feeding the bees. It was recommended to me, by the Lake Barkley Beekeepers Assn, to give them pollen patties. Since we don’t trap pollen, we used a common pollen substitute: non-fat soy flour, brewer’s yeast, and enough sugar syrup to hold it all together. The mixture is dumped between sheets of wax paper and flattened out into patties. The wax paper on the bottom of the pattie is slit with a razor to give the bees access to the goop, then laid on top of the frames. The blue hive is doing well – seems to have a good population. The green hive seemed smaller and weaker. Both had significant amounts of moisture from condensation and traces of mold. I removed every piece of hive body that wasn’t occupied and closed the hive. Need to look up arrangements for venting hives during the winter. Used to do that in Indiana, but have forgotten since.

Dinner last night was excellent. Karen found a deal on Boston Butts and made North Carolina style barbeque. I lived on the coast for two years and really became fond of their barbeque. It’s cooked with a vinegar peppers, not the tomato based barbeque you usually find in delis and restaurants. That means good leftovers for a day or two. The butt roasts were so big we managed to break it into four pieces and froze three of them. Nothing like a well stocked freezer.

regards,
Pat

LeatherneckPA

02-10-2008, 03:15 PM

HEY!!! Who the heck ordered winter? 16 very windy degrees outside right now. Too cold to do anything but care for the rabbits.

Catalpa

02-12-2008, 10:18 AM

Umm, maybe that would be me? ::) I'm just having too much fun with the skiing to want to give up the snow yet. I broke my leg in 2006, and after a couple of surgeries and what not, this is my first year back on the slopes! I'm loving it!!

Of course the -4 temps and -35 windchills we've had this week are a bit much, and not good for riding a chairlift (or keeping the house warm!) so I wouldn't mind a bit of moderation.

I've sepnt some more time in the basement with the cans of spray foam insulation, trying to get every little gap and crack; and I'm definitely going to have to replace all of the basement windows this summer, they're just shot. My house is over 80 years old, so I guess that's understandable.

Deberosa, it sure sounds like things are tipping toward the new house and septic. You can do a lot of things with composting toilets and such, but there'll still be wash water to get rid of, and just draining the pasture might not be enough. I don't know if you have a high water table, or what kind of soils and neighborhood you're in; but if your sewage is not treated before it gets pumped away, that could be yucky.

Wow, Pat, those roasts sounded good! I have half a beefalo in my freezer; my daughter and I live off of it all year! Do you use a bread maker? I've been having fun with mine, but I don't know if an automatic machine like that would work with honey instead of sugar in the mix.

Cat

Deberosa

02-12-2008, 07:48 PM

The sun came out for a few hours today!!! And there were frogs out last night - so it's getting warmer here. They won't be out tonight though...

The pump caught up with the water in the field and the septic system is slowly draining out. At least there is light at the end of the tunnel. ;-)

Jake the wonder dog found another farm job today. Went to feed the animals and one empty garbage can had a rat in it!!! It fell in some how. Jake was going nuts so I carried the can out to an open spot and laid it on it's side. After a bit of commotion the rat was quickly dispatched and now Jake is on a mission.

LeatherneckPA

02-13-2008, 06:53 AM

Deb, aren't ratters wonderful!!? My Airedale, Boru, gave my wife quite a fright this past summer. He was being a bigger pest than usual when she went to feed the rabbits.

Read quickly with great excitement!!
As soon as she opened the door to the shed BANG, he went in that shed like somebody fired a rocket off in his butt. Under the cages, around the walls, over the feed can, back under the cages, and about that time the rat shot between Cindy's legs (LOL, I'd have PAID to see that reaction!!) and out into the yard. Well, once he was out in the clear it was over pretty quickly. According to Cindy, the only hard part was getting Boru to give up his "new toy".

9" of white crap. Can't do anything but look at internet pictures, read Barnyard in Your Backyard and dream of my incoming chicks.

bee_pipes

02-14-2008, 07:20 AM

Man, what a day yesterday was. First off, we started getting snow about 7 AM or so. Nothing major – a blessing of Tennessee – but the ground was extremely cold and water had frozen on it overnight. The snow did accumulate – I doubt even a half inch. It doesn’t take much to change the appearance of everything. The woods, already bare of leaves, were now quite visible with a white backdrop. You could see the ground all the way up to the hilltops between trees and dead brush. The chickens seemed to take advantage of the visibility, providing them with a greater sense of security, and ventured further into the woods than usual. I let the turkeys out to do a little grazing and stretch their legs and wings. Both seem to have made a full recovery.

Next, the pups escaped their pen and caught the turkeys again. I had just started letting them out again and was keeping an eye on the dog pen from time to time to be sure the turkeys didn’t fly into it. During a check, I saw the big dogs barking at something behind the chicken house, the guineas all honking, and not a chicken in sight. Not a sign of the small pups. I went out just in time to see them catch a screaming tom in the woods. I pulled them off – tom has a bare, bloody tail again. Of the turkey hen, not a sign. I looked through the area, afraid of finding her carcass, but not a sign. The chickens and duck were all congregated at the top of the hill, in the woods, watching the proceedings. All the birds were much shaken by watching what must have occurred out there. The tom seemed to be going into shock when I returned him to his cage. I didn’t expect him to survive the night, but he seems to have come around and is hungry and thirsty this morning. The hen was a sweet old girl – not aggressive in the least, and seemed to be getting ready to lay. I was livid, after getting things squared away, and really had to work at holding my hand to discipline the pups, rather than take it out on them. I collected some larger turkey feathers from the ground, wound them into a group, and used them to reemphasize “no!” with the pups.

We headed out to Hohenwald around 11 AM to pick up a few supplies and get our meat pack from a farmer out there. I made the mistake of leaving my feathers on the coffee table when we left (the dogs were left indoors) and when we returned the feathers had been shredded. The pups are only 6 or 7 months old, so I am not ready to give up on them, but they have got to learn the lessons the big dogs have learned – poultry is not for them. During the summer it is not unusual to see the larger dogs napping in the grass, surrounded by chickens scratching and pecking. The youngsters are just too playful and look at the chase and mauling of the birds as a game. The chickens are really sweating it now – before, all they had to do was out run the turkeys – now they will have to outrun the dogs themselves. While putting the dogs out this morning, I doubly secured the gate – the suspected weak spot they escaped through. Just as I was finishing the second line, I hear a commotion by the turkey hootch. The young female – Zuzu – had already escaped and was terrorizing the surviving tom. I found her escape route – a hole torn in a chicken wire fence. I have noticed a number of other holes and today’s work looks like fence repair.

We will have to rethink the wisdom of keeping turkeys. The breeder in Lobelville sells poults for $5 apiece. We bought 4 last year, of which we only butchered one. Two were kept for breeding, one was taken by a predator. We have been feeding and housing these two for 10 months and were only just now getting near eggs. Unless you can raise turkeys as a commercial venture, it doesn’t seem to make fiscal sense to try and maintain them with an inexpensive source nearby. We have a decision to make, but right now I’m thinking Tom may be kept as a pet (he’s too old to eat now) and we will just raise poults for the freezer. We’ll see how things work out.

While driving to Hohenwald, yesterday, we had a chance to see some of the tornado damage. On highway 412 we drove through an area where the tornado had crossed the road. There is some clear cutting going on along that road, and we didn’t notice it at first – the lumber companies have done a fine job of destroying the area already. But I started to notice that the trees weren’t cut – many of them were snapped off 6-10 feet up the trunk. Many were uprooted. Karen saw one damaged house, but most of the visual damage was to standing timber. We were only seeing where the twister crossed the road – according to news reports there was extensive damage to property before and after that road crossing. Yesterday was also the day the weekly paper came out – it was full of pictures and stories of the storm.
http://www.buffaloriverreview.com/index.php?option=com_copperminevis&Itemid=64&place =thumbnails&album=19

My brother-in-law gave me a subscription to Hobby Farm for Christmas last year. This month’s issue had an interesting article on a tool called a “soil blocker.” It resembles a cookie-cutter type affair for making cubes of soil for seeding. We have been using cell packs for flats, jiffy-7 pellets, peat pots and all manner of containers for starting seeds. It works, but it’s a nuisance. The soil cubes sound like they would be worth trying. It would simplify the process, reduce depending on outside resources for materials, and would be simpler than making our own paper pots for seed starters.
http://www.pottingblocks.com/info.html
http://groworganic.com/item_GP044_Soil_Blockers__2_Blocker_4_Block.html

Today is Valentine’s Day. Karen had a cake made by the time I got out of bed. My favorite – a yellow layer cake with chocolate icing. I had a piece for breakfast. I love being a grown up – you can eat cake for breakfast if you want to.

Regards,
Pat

humbug

02-14-2008, 08:03 AM

Pat I started using the soil block maker a couple of years ago. I love it. I only have the small one and would love to buy the 4" one. I put the soil blocks in one of the nursery flats that doesn't have holes in the bottom and carefully water the blocks by watering along the inside of the tray and letting it seep to the middle. The blocks will not fall apart as long as you use a good soil block mix. If decide to get one let me know and I will pm you a mix recipe.
Peat pots don't break down in our desert soil so I quit using them years ago. I used styrofoam cups for awhile, but gave them up when I read about the soil block maker. It is available from Johnnys

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/catalog/product.aspx?scommand=search&search=soil%2bblock%2 bmaker&item=9527

bee_pipes

02-14-2008, 10:33 AM

Deberosa

02-14-2008, 12:36 PM

What kind of pups do you have Pat?

By 6 months old our pup knew better than to mess with the birds. One thing we made clear was "MINE". They knew the birds where ours. THe other command is "LEAVE IT" and it works well to get him to back off when herding something. I also would hold chickens so he could smell them - Repeating MINE and disciplining if he did anything besides smell them. The hardest part is when the bird takes off and the chase is on so we kept him on a leash for the longest time, only letting him off in controlled situations at first. Now at 18 months old he goes on all chores with me without a problem.

I've got the soil blockers too - plan to use them this year. I got the small one inch blocks and the 2 inch blocker with things to make a one inch depression in them so I can transplant from smaller to larger.

bee_pipes

02-14-2008, 01:16 PM

The vet guessed they were mountain curs. They are smart, and I can walk through a group of birds with them, but have not yet gotten to the point of trusting them with birds alone.

Here's a picture:
http://www.backwoodshome.com/forum/yabb/forum.pl?board=fau-pets;action=display;num=1192069615

Regards,
Pat

Deberosa

02-14-2008, 04:14 PM

Oh yeah, I forgot that post! *Cute puppies, hopefully they get with the program.

Another thing I noticed about Jake, it also depends on the kind of bird. He is OK with everyone except the peacocks. But we encourage that. ;D

The peacocks would pick on him when he was a puppy but part of his job is to keep them out of the garden and off the deck. He never gets close to them as they fly to the roof when they see him but he does alert when we point and say "peacock!". ;-)

So maybe your pups have it out for the turkeys but the rest of the birds are ok?

rideaway

02-14-2008, 07:10 PM

Is it Friday yet??? We have a three day weekend coming up...yippee I think...

Last weekend, decided I'd better take the old mare out for a ride, as it's been a few months and my daughter's 4-H horse club is starting up and she is not an experienced rider. The mare #1 didn't want to leave the goat, #2 didn't want to go up the hill and #3 wanted to run back. So, I got her into a side road that was all grass since I didn't want to fall on gravel, and we fought...she almost dumped me in the himalaya berry bushes, and that would have hurt... I stayed on a while longer and then got off of my on volition. We had a discussion for a while. This weekend, I am changing her bit from a tom thumb to a curb, putting on her breast collar and tie down and we'll "talk" some more. She is 20 plus years old and knows better, tho it was my fault for not doing more with her this wet and stormy winter, plus graining her. We'll see what happens, as I am not a great rider myself, when it comes to bucking and misbehaving.

Today was very stressful, as the sheetrock crew finally showed up to work on the manufactured home cracks, and since they didn't get here until 1 pm, I figured we might have to get a motel room. They cleaned up good enough that we were able to cook dinner and can sleep here, tho the paint fumes are a bit strong. They are supposed to finish tomorrow.

Then, the lady who was bringing me some hay tomorrow called and they won't be able to bring it till next Tuesday. I'm down to 2-3 flakes, w/ no feed store in town, so I made a couple calls to borrow some. On top of it, the lady who we are buying our 4-H market lambs from called and said they could be picked up on Sunday?? Now, I didn't think they were weaned yet. So, I called her and asked what she was feeding them and she said "goats milk...they are only 3 days old!" No way am I paying $90 for a 3 day old bummer lamb!!! After being in shock and saying I'd pick them up this weekend, I got my head straight and called her back. I said we must have misunderstood, since I told her last year when we got our weaned lamb that I didn't want to do bummers again-the milk replacer is toooo expensive. She said "oh, ok, will call you when the weaned ones are ready, for the same price". That's still high to me, but livestock costs are going way up here due to feed costs.

So, the shock is wearing off now that I solved the problem, but I'm tired...one more day to work, then tomorrow we are driving 30 miles to have good chinese food and go see "the spiderwick chronicles" with our 12 year old and her friend for our valentine's day...can't really afford it, but sometimes you've just got to treat yourself!

bee_pipes

02-15-2008, 08:51 PM

It was another beautiful day – temperatures nearing 60 degrees. Mostly sunny, with brief periods of overcast.

Today I learned about starter relays. We have had a problem with the lawn mower that I thought was due to the battery. The battery was old, and I have no doubt it was contributing to the problem, but it wasn’t the only culprit. One would think a relay failure would be a complete failure, and not provide intermittent service. Good battery, good starter, all other electrical connections checked for the starter, but no crank on the starter motor. Voltage went as far as the starter relay, and shorting both sides of the relay with a screwdriver finally got the starter to kick on. The relay is similar to one you would find in a car, but it’s been a long time since I had to fiddle with ignition points – the only other time I remember shorting a starter relay to crank an engine. A replacement relay is only $12 and easily found on the internet. We should have the mower back up and running soon.

This afternoon we put the chickens up at 3 PM. After feeding the dogs and eating dinner ourselves, I looked outside to check on the birds and saw the turkey hen. I had given up hope on her surviving the dog attack. She must have spent the night out in the woods and managed to avoid raccoons and other predators. She looks about as rough as the tom. Both resemble water birds, like herons or egrets. The noticeable absence of tails makes their legs seem unnaturally long, like they are made more for wading, rather than flight. I can only imagine what it does to their sense of balance. The tom was hungry today – a good sign, and I think hunger was what brought the hen back. I managed to catch her and return her to the hootch with the tom. Both seem to be spending more time in the enclosed portion of the hootch since the dog attack. Looks like our breeding program may be on again. If we don’t have fertile eggs by the end of May, we’ll pick up more poults from the breeder.

Regards,
Pat

Deberosa

02-15-2008, 10:26 PM

Glad your turkey came home!

We are supposed to get three whole days (Monday is a holiday) of 50's weather and no rain!!!!

So it's going to be a trash hauling, fence building, tree pruning, planting burning, turkey butchering and general outdoor chores kind of weekend! I'll need next week to recover! This has been stacking up for weeks!

The septic is almost normal now - certainly by the end of this weekend it will be moderately usable again - yeah! Going to keep the porta potty and do the laudromat thing for a while though.

I ordered seed starting mix over the internet - it arrived today. 7 huge boxes! It was on sale, no shipping and no tax which made it cheaper than anything I could buy around here so I stocked up. The FedEx guy couldn't think of why someone would have dirt FedEx'd to their house - says don't you have enough already around here? ;-) In a couple of weeks the tomatoes will get started and the fun begins! Also got my Gurney's discount order of 12 Thornless blackberries (to split with the neighbor), and two really cool maple trees for the fence row along the road. ALso need to pot up the comfrey roots that arrived this week and move bunches of plants!!!

Oh yeah - and the local Ace hardware has twenty percent off everything Saturday - and they sell feed and straw and hay so I will be making trips tomorrow to stock up at those prices.

Gee, somehow I don't think it will all get done...

machinemaker

02-19-2008, 06:56 AM

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj310/machinemakerkss/viewfromdeck.jpg
Its a beautiful day here in the Colorado Rockies. Just finished one more coat of ceramic for the molds that we will cast in a couple of weeks. Unfortunitly I left a couple 100 Lb. propane tanks freeze to the ground under the eves of the foundry and I'll have to chip them out of the ice before getting them filled. I really need to spend the morning cleaning up the shop after breakfast, sort of dislike having to clean, but I'm tired of stuff in the way.
kent

bee_pipes

02-19-2008, 12:45 PM

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o120/bee_pipes/finished.jpg

This morning a guy showed up with a backhoe, they were done digging by 10 AM, the truck came with the shelter at 1 PM and they finished at 2 PM. Karen's happy and we have a root cellar. It's 5x11x6 1/2. Got some work to do bulding a retaining wall on both sides of the door, grow some grass, etc. Can't believe it went that fast.

Regards,
Pat

bee_pipes

02-19-2008, 07:35 PM

The shelter is level, side to side, with a slight incline towards the door, front to back. This is just the big work with the backhoe and placement. Next comes cinderblock retaining walls on either side of the door so dirt can be dilled on either side up to the front. I have an old piece of 3/4" steel for a roof over the door so that dirt can be filled in against the front above the door. Then a timber roof goes over the exposed entrance way. A lot of the loose dirt you see in the picture will be moved up to create a slope over the roof so that water runs around the shelter on either side. The slope on the right side of the picture is a natural drain for the hill behind it and continues on to lower ground, eventually winding up in the creek.

Regards,
Pat

bee_pipes

02-21-2008, 06:34 PM

Kind of slow here, the weather is getting close to turning, but not quite ready yet. We got a light dusting of snow a week or two ago. Fortunately it rarely snows here, and when it does, it is usually gone by sundown.

Was looking through some pictures from earlier this month:

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o120/bee_pipes/duck_and_chicken_talk_conspiracy.jpg
duck and rooster caught talking conspiracy over in the creek

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o120/bee_pipes/snowy_driveway.jpg
snowy driveway

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o120/bee_pipes/dogs_morning_drink.jpg
dogs out for morning drink from creek

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o120/bee_pipes/chickens_in_snow.jpg
chickens investigating snow, going on their morning rounds

Regards,
Pat

Deberosa

02-21-2008, 07:59 PM

Nice pictures! I never saw a rooster that would wade in water like that!

The septic is still going down here, but we still are not using it until it's all the way down. Another day without rain has helped alot.

I am almost certain Daisy is pregnant. I kept note on the calendar and exactly 21 days T-Bone went into heat again, but haven't seen Daisy (the mom) do that since I got her. Plus she is getting very FAT! They are both enjoying the sun!

This weekend we are taking a mini vacation. We are going all the way to the local casino/resort ( 10 miles away) and staying in a room with running water and an indoor toilet! I am going to play in the poker tournament - maybe another greenhouse. ;-) We leave Saturday afternoon and get back Sunday morning. Woohooo!

humbug

02-22-2008, 06:32 PM

I spent the day inside due to the weather. I baked cinnamon rolls and bread.

The UPS man arrived with my Walton Feed order. So I spent the rest of the day unpacking it and vaccum packing the wheat. I will rotate it through the freezer for at least twenty four hours before I store it in my plastic containers.

I am finally done.... I only have a couple of bags of beans to do tomorrow. I am enjoying a glass of wine with dinner now.

TNDadx4

02-23-2008, 12:30 PM

Yesterday, my friend and I went and picked up two pickup truck loads of FREE firewood. The city had come through and cut down some trees and the wood was on Freecycle. ;D

elh

02-23-2008, 04:03 PM

Planted potatoes today if the weather holds tomorrow i will put in onions and english peas.
seems spring will finaly get here.

Deberosa

02-24-2008, 08:22 PM

The weather is finally turning here! It's been a great weekend. Friday evening I got my rhubarb divided and moved to a nicer more open spot in the garden. Gathered a bucket of cow pies and put them in the bottom of each new rhubarb hole, since it really likes to be fertilized. Also moved other plants around in the garden after finishing up work. Saturday was beautiful. Kurt worked on the fence while I loaded the truck for a trip to the dump. We took advantage of the dry weather to wrestle T-bone down and get a halter on her. She took it pretty well I think! Then we packed up for our casino getaway. ;-)

I finished 10th in poker - out of the money, then we had room service dinner in our really cool suite - it's bigger than our house! First thing on the agenda though was trying out that huge jetted tub, plus flushing the toilet!!! We ran alot of water down those drains in one day!

After breakfast we went back home, took the stuff to the dump. I wanted to bring back two hand trucks and a burner from one of the dozen bbq's that were there - but Kurt just isn't a dump scavenger. ;-) Then to the feed store - they changed management - yeah! Maybe there is hope. We were pricing cattle panels for the perimeter fence but will wait a couple of weeks for "customer days" and get a deal. Stopped at Dairy Queen for a treat - Jake got his own dish of ice cream that he scarfed down and got brain freeze. ;-) He kept tilting his head back.

THen more fencing, I siphoned out the remainder of water standing in the field but the drain field is now just below the outtake pipe - enough to quit taking showers in a bucket - yeah!!! I am hoping siphoning out the last foot of water will have even more effect by morning. The cows had to play with the pipe system I had rigged up. Daisy looks more pregnant every day.

Finished the day disassembling the wind damaged hoop house in preparation for building it in a new location. It's almost all cleaned up now.

That pretty much filled a weekend! Back to work tomorrow - dang...

humbug

02-25-2008, 06:43 AM

We are still getting snow here. Deberosa I am envious of the fact that you can get out. I spent most of the weekend baking. Trying out my new grain mill and doing inventory on food stocks. I have some plants started in my house and am working on weekly starting lettuce, spinach, bunching onions etc. It looks like the work week is supposed to be sunny and next weekend is going to snow again. I sure hope they are wrong!!

wy0mn

02-25-2008, 07:13 AM

Snow here too. I've managed to keep the sidewalk mostly clear, thats 3-4' of snow. Karen wants a garden too, where to dig? lol
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/wy0mn/080225001.jpg
I can't order the cabin kit for the remote property until I have a reasonable certainty of being able to access it for delivery.

02-25-2008, 08:02 AM

It's starting to warm up here a bit, but we did break our all time snow record for the month of feb., that was set in 1900...

http://www.fototime.com/D4B7931F9CABD7D/orig.jpg

With nearly 36" of snow this month, my tractor and snow blower have had a pretty good workout, but with the thawing inbetween snows, we don't have 36" of snow on the ground. But the snow does make for some pretty picts...

http://www.fototime.com/AE29A1FC1D1D486/orig.jpg

I was in Louisville Ky. for a few days last week, and i didn't like the freezing rain there, so i'm not complaining about the snow here... lol

DM

BIGGKIDD

02-25-2008, 06:19 PM

Beautiful pictures. I got to see a little snow this year maybe an inch.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p213/biggkidds/powerstoveupgrades032.jpg

First I have seen in a few years.

Kidd 8)

bee_pipes

02-26-2008, 05:41 AM

Yesterday was a gorgeous day – cool enough to be comfortable, sunny and calm enough to enjoy the weather. The bees were going nuts - I don't know what was blooming, but they were working it, wherever it was. Brightly colored yellow pollen filled their baskets as they returned to the hives. We took Kaydence out for a walk in the back field – she enjoys watching the pups chase each other through the high grass. Karen had the camera and got some excellent shots. You can tell when she has the camera and when I have the camera – her pictures come out a lot better:
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o120/bee_pipes/kaydence_and_chicken_yard.jpg
Traveling through the chicken yard takes some careful negotiation. For someone with tiny little feet, she manages to step in more manure than the rest of us combined.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o120/bee_pipes/turkey_portrait.jpg
The turkey always puts on a show for her. The poor devil doesn't have any tail feathers yet - they haven't grown back out since the last time the dogs got ahold of him. He doesn't seem to realize it, and does much fanning and strutting, thrumming and thumping to show us the hen is his. Kaydence tries to gobble back at him when we pass by.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o120/bee_pipes/kaydence_and_dogs.jpg
We took th epups out with us for a walk in the back field. The high grass seems to be their favorite place to play - they chase each other through the high grass, occasionally catching each other, with much fighting and snarling going on.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o120/bee_pipes/kaydence_and_karen.jpg
We stopped at the sawmill and anjoyed the sun, sitting on the logs waiting to be sawn. The pups just can't stand not being in the middle of everything.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o120/bee_pipes/kaydence_portrait.jpg
A nice sunny day with moderate temperatures. She looks so innocent, but inside the house it's like being in the room with an octopus - anything she can see, she will eventually get her hands on. We shut down the wood stove for her visit as a safety precaution. We didn't even have her 24 hours and were exhausted. I really have to give credit to her mother and grandmother - it's like a little pink tornado that travels through the house, yet their house is always together - someone is doing much picking up behind the scenes.

I'm really looking forward this summer - she's old enough to be able to go outside with us and help out on projects. Maybe she's too small to handle a shovel yet, but old enough to enjoy the activity, play in the dirt, help gather eggs and put out food, wade in the creek, etc.

Regards,
Pat