http://sayit-baldy.blogspot.com/

Sam had not posted any of his beautiful scenes in quite some time and I had no way of knowing what was going on with him, but he has had a stroke and has been in the hospital for about a month. His daughter typed up an entry for him to let us all know what was going on. Please stop in and wish him well. Thanks. I do enjoy his stories and pictures so much and hope he gets back home soon. Click on the above link to go to his journal.

Pictures

Here is a picture of my new friend and the Giant Cochin pullet I brought to her to put in with her White Cochin young rooster.
I love this picture so much

Here is a picture of her putting the pullet in with Freddy, the cochin rooster, and a couple of shots of Freddy.

There is talk of collecting the eggs from these two and hatching some out of the incubator for the both of us to have and enjoy.

Below are pictures of the White Crested Polish, which she named Carl the Third. He has taken right to his harem of hens and they all seem happy together.





It is always hard to say goodbye to any of my chickens, but when they are going to such a loving good home like hers, it makes it easier. I know they will be well cared for here.

I think she named the new black cochin Suzie. After watching Suzie and Freddy for a little while they seemed to settle in nicely together. I am glad. It is always nice to have a happy ending.

Phoenix's First Chicken Diaper Outfit

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Our family had a very nice time at my parents. I have pictures from that, and pictures from my German friends house too, but FIRST this post is about Phoenix.

My first attempt at making the chicken diaper outfit fell short, but with a few adjustments it was perfect. I made the back straps longer. I added and inch to the poo pouch and now a Carefree pantyliner fits perfect inside. I put one in one way, then another in the opposite way and it holds the pouch open perfectly. I had to shorten the breast piece and this is what his first outfit looks like. :) I am SO proud. He has the run of the house now and is loving it. He has sunned himself at the front door, hopped up on our bed and 'helped' Shelby for a little while with her schoolwork, perched on the bannister for a while, then the back of the couch...all with NO POO accidents! YAYYY!!

Without further aduo...I give you....Phoenix..in his Christmas candy cane outfit!!! :)

Have Made A New Friend

Today I want to tell the story that I put off yesterday.

My nice neighbors Jim and Linda had given my phone number to a friend of theirs and said she would be calling me about chickens. I tried to explain that I don't have any hens for sale. I keep all my hens and try to sell off the extra roosters so there isn't so much fussing in the yard. He said just talk to her. I said okay. Well she called on Thursday. I could understand everything she was saying but she did have a thick accent. I couldn't place it over the phone, but once I met her I knew it was German. Turns out she lives just a few minutes down the road on the main highway through here. I went up to visit her and her chickens to see what kind of set up she had and what she would have room for. She is just the nicest personable lady you could ever meet. She is in her seventies, but has more energy than a 25 year old. She keeps a garden, and she still had lettuce growing! Beautiful lettuce. Also brussel sprouts and collards. She covers the lettuce with blankets and sheets and the frost hasnt gotten them. She also has beautiful flower beds with sago palms, banana trees, roses and all kinds of flowers. She had been raking up pinestraw down by the road when I pulled up. She was packing it around the plants in the flower beds to keep them warm. I have to say, by the end of the day I felt like we had known each other all along. She is just that lovable.

Her husband had built her a nice set up, a chicken coop house. She has had predator problems in the past and it got most of her chickens and killed them, so she was rebuilding her flock. She needed, of all things a rooster for her hens. I say it like that because roosters are a dime a dozen.

I asked if she would like to just come on down to my house and pick out what she wanted. Something not too aggressive, but not too mild mannered either. A few of the hens she has are white leghorn hens and they were picking at the last rooster in there. She told her husband where she was going and we hopped in the truck and rode to my house. She was just blown away at all the chickens, all the animals in general. She was just amazed with the emus. I ran in the house and got some bread (I always keep clearance bread off the Walmart rack for such occasions) so she could feed them. She said she wished she had brought her camera with her! Speaking of which, getting to that, I am going there again today and will try to remember my camera so that I can show you all that I am talking of today.

She loved the white crested polish roos. I have too many of those so was happy to oblige. Then she saw the sultans. I pulled a rooster out of that pen, she instantly fell in love with him. The only problem is, Sultans don't have a mean bone in their body. It is easy to keep Sultan roosters together, they don't fight at all. In other words, they would be to laid back for her hens. We picked her out a white crested polish rooster and she instantly took to him, naming him Carl the Third.

Getting back to her house and putting Carl in, he took right to the new digs and his new ladies. He is a lucky man now. He has his own harem with no other roosters.

She also has a small portion of the house partitioned off because she has a cochin, that we are not sure, but believe it is a rooster. The other hens were picking on him something fierce so she had to seperate them. It is young enough that it is still hard to tell for sure if its a boy or a girl. Cochins for whatever reason don't seem to find their crow voice for a long time, and there was no spur growth yet, which there won't be for awhile. She said the white cochin seemed so lonely and wanted it to have a mate. Being as it had been beat up by the other hens I thought maybe it was a hen also. Sunday I brought the Sultan rooster to put in with the white cochin. The white cochin immediately grabbed a hold of the poor sultans crest and then flogged him! We got the sultan back out right away. It was obvious this was not going to work out. After seeing the white cochins behavior I was pretty sure it had to be a boy.

Today I am taking one of my young black cochin girls over to see if the white cochin will get along with her. I told her, if it is a rooster, he will be just fine alone. I have many roosters that cannot behave themselves so they live in solitude. If I was hardcore I would have these roosters for supper, but I just can't do it. I had to kill a chicken once, it was a mercy killing. I don't ever want to do it again if possible.

Anyway, we will see how todays pairing goes.

I did make a chicken diaper outfit! It needs some tweaking though. The first model is just a test run anyway. Shelby says it looks like a little pair of overalls...lol. It does, sort of. I will take a picture of the test model, and then when I make the final one I will take a picture of Phoenix wearing it.

Its getting late and I need to get a shower and get out of here. Errands to run, school to do, laundry and cleaning, feeding and watering. I hope everyone has a nice day today. I bet tomorrow there will be much cooking going on for the following day. :)

One More Post

I have a lot of other things to say today about things that happened over the weekend, but I will save them for tomorrow. Right now I want to let everyone know what happened to Ray White's blog.

First off, let me say that to me, Dad (Ray) is an icon to me. He is an inspiration for all to get up and start your day, to get moving, and be glad to see another day. If you are feeling down, he always has words of encouragement to help you through your day. If I am not mistaken, he is in fact the oldest blogger in the United States! When I go to visit blogs, he is always, always, always, the first one I go to.

Blogspot has LOST his journal! After all this time being at AOL, then making the move to over here, and now look at what happened. Google says they are working on finding his journal and restoring it. I surely hope that is the case. In the meantime, please go to this journal that he is using while waiting on Google to restore his journal, and our faith in Google and post a kind word to this wonderful man who does so much more for everyone than he realizes. Click here....
http://tomatogardeningwithdad.blogspot.com/

And The Award Goes To...

Now I am going to be lazy, and not put links to these fine folks, because it is redundant to do so when if you just look on my sidebar there is a link to their journals in my blog list. I tried to pick folks that haven't gotten the award yet. I went and visited them and didn't see it on their sidebar so here goes...

Ally..of Life With Ally

Carrie...of Breakaway

Dad (Ray White) of Dad's Tomato Garden

Fern of Fernans Shorthorn Farm Life

Donna of Just Me

Lisa of Life on a Bison Farm

Jim White of Tennesee Grandaddy

There are many more that should be included in this, but I have read the rules and its supposed to be seven people..so there ya go. :) Now I have to go notify these folks to come and pick up their award.

Thanks y'all!

It is finally Monday and I have some computer time! YAY! Now that I am here I want to thank Hollie over on Life In A Small Town and Skip and Vicki over on the Cluckin A Critter Farm for awarding me the Marie Antoinette Real People Real Blogs Award. :) Now I need to pick some folks to award this to myself. Give me some time to think about it and I will post them later today. XOXOXOXO Thankyou! :)

Chickens Knocking At The Door???

Good Thursday evening. Have you ever heard of a chicken knocking on the door? Well, now your about to.

Since it has turned off cold Blue and Bubba have become friends. Bubba has not been the same since he was attacked so viciously by the two mean silkie/polish cross roosters. He is very gun shy you could say. When I put Bubba back out after a few days of healing Blue took up with him. Blue was even nice to him by trying to offer him some of his pile of food I had given to Blue. You may ask how I know this was happening. There is a noise that roosters make to show the hens they have something good. He was making this noise to Bubba. This is the first time I have ever witnessed one rooster offering food to another. They are both Silver Phoenix, a very sweet and mild mannered breed in my opinion, but a rooster can still be a rooster.

They have been hanging out together in my back screened in porch for about a week now. They both sleep on top of what is normally Clydes house, but since it is so cold now Clyde has indoor quarters.

I have been throwing the bread out onto the floor since they don't seem to have any interest in leaving the porch to eat with the other chickens. I guess I was late with dinner today! I was busy sweeping the kitchen, and I hear this....noise...at the door...peck peck peck peck peck...??????? What are those two up to???

I peeked out the door window and there was Blue a few steps away from the door, looking up into the window at me. Standing right in front of the door is Bubba! I open the door and thats all the invitation they needed...in they stroll. I tell them WELL! COME RIGHT IN THEN BOYS! LET ME GET YOUR BREAD FOR YOU! :) If I didnt know any better I would think those two were conspiring, talking out there to each other...
"YOU knock, I am too chicken" "Noooo, you do it!" "No way man, YOU do it, I dare you!" LOLLL



So I did, and I gave it to them back out on the porch. I have enough house chickens thankyou. Clyde and Phoenix are my house chickens, and thats just enough.

Now I know what your thinking. Your thinking, yeahhhh right. This lady has gone and fell off her rocker. Maybe all he was doing was pecking at something he thought he saw on the door, but it sure did seem like knocking. You see, everytime that door opens lately both of them think they are supposed to come on in and make themselves at home. I know its a lot warmer in the house, and I can't blame them for trying. They sure know how to sweet talk me. ;) They always get their hugs and bread, but I tell them they just can't stay in the house. The porch is fine, but not inside the house.

If a chicken could just be litter trained...hmmm...lol. I did go back and take a good look and write down the directions on how to make this chicken diaper outfit like Chickenmom on Youtube makes for her house chickens. I got everything I need and I am going to try to make Phoenix one this weekend. I saw some really cute Christmas print material for a couple of cute Christmas outfits for him too. We will see how well I do. I just have to make this work. It will make things so much easier, and give him so much freedom around the house. If it all goes well, I will have to see about making Clyde some outfits too. :)

Last Chance, Busy Days

The past days have been very busy. It may be Fall, but it feels like winter here and I have no time left to prepare. The last days have been my last chance to try and winterize the pens and beds. I don't know how folks stand the cold that live out and up from Georgia. It cuts me to the bone. Regardless I have been out doing everything I can before the sun goes down. The wind has really been whipping the past couple of days on top of it being so cold. It barely hit 40 yesterday and the wind was brutal. Last night it dipped to 21. If I didn't have the animals to worry about I wouldnt care if it was the arctic tundra outside. Gone are the singing crickets and frogs and lush green grass to stretch out on at night. Now its time to hay down and bunch up.

First up I needed to get the rabbit hutches covered. The wind made it difficult but I managed to get the heavy tarps attached and tight around the hutches. This will keep the brutal winds off the bunnies. Still to cover are the three fantail pigeons. They have three sides covered on their pen, but need to have a heavy tarp to cover the front, and I am going to get a heat lamp on them soon too.

The Golden Phoenix pen and the silkie-serama-sultan combo pen are both covered. I hayed the combo pen down a few days ago as some of them still like to sleep on the ground. This is the pen with those three babies that Thelma hatched, the silkie hen. They look more like little chickens now that chicks. They still have some growing to do, but they are looking good and doing well.

Rudy and Rusty are in a split pen, completely covered and hayed down, but had to have that heat lamp put in immediately for last night. Serama do not do cold weather, it can kill them. A good friend of mine Dwain lost some of his precious pets last year to the freezing cold, even with a heat lamp. Turned out they had turned over their water and gotten wet, and that was bad news come night time and the freezing cold. I was so sad for him.

I got the goats house hayed down inside and added a big plastic dog house hayed down out there just in case they wanted to use that instead. They have a really nice HEAVY dog house I bought, but it is impossible to move it is so heavy. I have been trying to think of a way to get it moved over to their pen area. First I thought maybe if I had the neighbor come over with his tractor we could chain it up and have him lift it up and take it over and set it down. I am afraid that might damage the house though. Then I had a genius thought night before last right before I fell asleep. Why not put big castors on the bottom of the house? That way I can move it where I want it, and if I ever want to move it again it will be on wheels so no problems there. Ian didnt think that was a good idea, I don't know why. All he would say is that, and when we brought it home I should have been sure where I wanted it before we set it down somewhere. Circumstances change though and the situation called for modification of living quarters for the goats. The were getting into mischief and tearing things up, eating the chickens food and harrassing the emus. Right now they do have adequate shelter, but I really want them to have their house for the winter.

Then there is Mocha, the kitty in her cattery pen on the back porch. She has a cozy cube bed, but I put a heat lamp in there too. Shelbys cat, as she has so deemed it, has been renamed from TOO (The Other One) to Fergie. She has taken to sleeping on the padded seat of the double rocker on the front porch. I put out a warm afghan blanket on the seat and made a sort of round nest for her. She seems to love it and you can find her in it a lot of the time.

The horse is getting in his winter coat and looks very wooly now. The cold does not seem to bother him a lot. The goats have their winter coat also. I still like for them to have shelter from the wind here. The wind can really cut through a body as we have no wind breaks out here.

I have given the pigs some hay to work with. I don't have to arrange their bed for them. Pigs are smart enough to do things for themselves. I throw in the hay and they take it by the mouthful into their house and make their bed the way they like it. I still need to pull more off of that roll that the neighbor brought over and throw it in. I have also been working on expanding the pigs penned area. I have been driving in metal posts and attaching fencing. This has been slow work because I work on this with the time I have left before dark, which isn't much since the sun slips below the treeline and its dark within ten minutes after that. I am plugging away at it and will get it done eventually.

I still have so much more to do. I still have to completely cover the row of pens and the sultan pen. I need to hay down the pretties night time roost pen.

There will always be something to clean out, something to hay down, something to take down or string up. That is okay though, its what I do to make my animals comfortable as I can for the cold months of the year. We just endure the winter the best we all can and wait in anticipation for warmer days.

Now its time for me to make out the grocery list and get on out of here. I have animal and people food I need to get today.

I noticed I have a few new readers and I wanted to say HEY Y"ALL! I am glad you stopped in and I hope you'll come back often. I am just me, doing what I do, and if y'all like that, then that makes me happy. :)

Everyone STAY WARM! :) Time to get back to work now, have a good Wednesday.

PS...I apologize for the small print today. I set it for my usual size, the larger size, but it didn't work. Once I saved I went to look and there it was, all in small print. So I am sorry. I hope todays entry doesnt strain the eyes too much and I will try to be more careful next time.

Saturday Ramblings

This is what it looks like right now out my front door. The sun tries to break through but the clouds just dominate. The wind here is gusting something fierce, whistling as it catches the edges of the house and windows.

I feel somewhat better today. Even though it is windy and overcast, I get a glimpse of sun every now and then and the rain has moved out. I don't mind the wind so much. It will help dry up the ground and I won't have so much mud to deal with.

Yesterday after I got off the computer I went through the Market Bulletin ads looking for some bermuda hay I could buy locally. I have been buying the bales from Ladds up in Cartersville. They charge 8 dollars a bale. Now that I have Derby and the goats to feed through the winter I have to find a better price. I called a number from the ads that was close. No one answered. Hm. My second try was meant to be. Turns out this man was not ten minutes from me and I could go back roads to get there. He has over 2000 bales of Tift 44. Perfect! I should be able to keep my animals fed all winter. His price was five dollars out of the barn,
or six dollars in barn. I definitely want in barn. You don't want to risk the hay having mold. It can make animals very sick, even die. I am not that savvy on types of hay. I will admit I didnt know what Tift 44 was. So I looked it up on the internet of course. The answers to everything are on here, arent they? ;) Turns out all
Tift 44 is, is a bermuda hay that will grow in spring and fall, not just summer like regular bermuda hay. It is some really pretty hay, smells soooo good too. I was proud that I was able to find a source locally and for a better price, AND I am buying from a local farmer, and thats important.

After Shelby and I got back with the hay we fed the horse and goats right away. There is nothing like seeing them chewing and grinding hay contently. It gives you a peaceful feeling to know they are happy.

After that I got outside and was productive, and just like I knew I would, I felt better for it. I scrubbed some waterers and filled them. Fed some critters. I just put up a fenceline a couple of days ago. I will have to say it has made my life much easier. When the horse is let out he goes around grubbing, looking for any chicken feed he might be able to get into. I caught him pushing in one of my metal pens, bending the bars. I had just put feed in there for the two silkie/polish cross boys and he was doing his best to try and get to it. I am also tired of stepping in emu poo when I try to get in the gate, they are always right at the gate when its time to eat and they are so big now I can hardly get in between long necks swinging, big long feet and legs in the way, not to mention all the chickens pressing themselves at the gate. So I made a barrier. To protect my pens from the horse, and to keep the emus from being right at the gate pooing it all up. Emu poo is SLICK. Its like stepping in slick mud, and yes, just like slick mud, it makes you slide and fall on your butt. I love my emus, but they have got to give me some space to get in the gate. I also like to feed them seperate. They have their own feeder I hang on the gate. I don't want them to eat the chickens food because I mix scratch grains in with the food. Corn goes right through emus. Their bodies don't process it. Then you are left with a pile of emu poo, with cracked corn in it. Then a chicken walks by that pile, sees the corn pieces in it, and well...you know what happens next. I won't go any further. So we just like to avoid that all together.

I was able to get fresh hay down in a couple of pens and in the emu bed area. I also got hay down on all the slick mud areas at the gate.

Of course as usual, dark came too early and I ran out of daylight to work outside. I retreated indoors and cooked supper. We had baked potatoes and boiled shrimp for supper.

The Wizard of Oz was on tv last night. Ian and I were watching that while eating supper and it made me have a happy feeling. Something I had been struggling with all day as you can see from yesterdays post about the weather getting me down. Then he turned it to crap...at nine he turned it to that Dr. Drew Celebrity Rehab junk. Its where you watch has been celebs whine and moan and groan while trying to kick whatever drugs they are hooked on. Oh this wasnt good, it was depressing, and I told Ian to please put it back on The Wizard of Oz, that this show was ruining my happy feeling. He hesitated, said he had been waiting on that to come on and wanted to watch it. I sat through a few more minutes of it and then said he was going to HAVE to change it back PLEASE. He laughed and said okay. So I watched the rest of The Wizard of Oz...and felt happy. :)

I put Johnny at the top this morning because he needs to have good thoughts sent his way. He is able to stand, but doesn't unless he has to drink and eat. He is still not using that leg. I am worried about him. I took him out of the pen and tried to hold him and talk to him, but all he ever wants to do is try and bite me. I tried to sooth him by rubbing under his wings like chickens like, rubbed his chest and around his neck, but then he snapped at my hand and you don't want him to bite, because he doesnt let go once he gets a chunk of flesh. It hurts. I don't guess he will ever be one of my nice roosters, but he is still my responsibility, so I do what I can for him.

Thankyou Ally :)

I think just about everyone from J-Land knows Ally. If you don't already know her you must get to know her. She is the sweetest, kindest person, and very very thoughtful.

What am I going on about you might ask? Well I will tell you. Before I came to J-Land I saw the people on message boards as figments of my imagination you might say. Words on a screen. You never got to know them the way you do journaling. I never thought I could grow so attached to folks I had never met before, but here I sit, with my heart overflowing with love. There are in fact real caring loving people out there and Ally is proof of just that. She is a whole other country away, but I feel like I have known her forever.

If you know Ally, then you know she collects broaches. She has shown some of them on her journal before. A very beautiful collection for sure. They are her treasures and this is why what she has done for my daughter Shelby is so special.

If you back up a bit Ally sent Shelby a beautiful collection of cat broaches, from her own collection. Shelby was overwhelmed. She just loved this special collection from a sweet woman that we had never met, yet cared enough and thought about her enough to send these treasures. I haven't got a picture of those right this minute, but I will take one later today and post it tomorrow.

Remember when I was talking about not being able to find the right calendar for the upcoming year? Well Ally came to the rescue. What could be more beautiful to look at that than scenes from a land that has been around a lot longer than the United States. Scenes from around the British Isles. Castles, coastal views, unspoiled land...just breathtaking. She also sent me a planner booklet that matches it.

No one asked her to do these things, she just does them because she is a wonderful caring person. An amazing person indeed.

Now, with Shelbys birthday this past month, Ally sent another package for her. Ian gave her the package and she opened it. I knew it was coming, but didn't say a word because I thought it would be a nice surprise to get what she got from Ally. She came in the living room and showed me the letter and then she showed me what was in the package with the letter. :) More beautiful broaches from Ally. Shelbys eyes were lit up and sparkling along with those broaches. She loves them very much Ally.

Ally, keep being you. You are one of a kind. A very special person that touches many many peoples lives. Thankyou, we love you so much because you are who you are. These gifts to my daughter are precious and we treasure them because they are from you. XOXOXOXOXOX

Here are the broaches Shelby just received in the mail. I took a picture right away...they were even still on the protective bubble wrap. ;) I also took a picture of my calendar and planner booklet. Thankyou so much Ally, really you are the treasure. :) Thankyou for being my friend.

Mood

Because its...

and its...






and



Does the weather affect anyone else this much? I have no real complaints, yet weather like today has me...




I know what will make me feel better. I need to get off my butt and be productive for the rest of the day, get something done around here. :)

Break Time

Good Wednesday to everyone. Some days I don't have a lot to say, like today. Things are quiet around here. Ian is going to be getting off sooner than later today and I want to be ready to go when he gets here to go out on our weekly shopping trip. He has one day off this week, which is tomorrow so we want to make the most of it. Y'all know that means I won't be back until the weekend.

I just wanted to say Hello to everyone and I hope y'all have a good day today.

Ever Seen A Reindeer Horse Shoe?

Sit down and take your time with this entry. I have stories to tell about this horse shoe and I think you will really enjoy these stories. At the end of the story I will tell you how you can buy one of these one of a kind hand forged treasures to hang on your Christmas tree this year.

My farrier stopped in today just a little while ago to give Derby a trim. After he finished we went out to his truck and I said to him "Well I guess I won't see you til after the holidays will I?" He said "Nope probably not." I said to him to be sure and have a Nice Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas. He stopped and started to think about something. He turned and asked me if I would like a reindeer shoe. I asked him "Yeah, sure! What's a reindeer shoe?" He says, "Hold on, I will show you, I am going to make you one right here right now." He asked me to get him a bucket of water while he got his tools and what not set up. I came back and he had some kind of small oven thing cranked up with his propane tank and it was glowing red hot inside.

This is the story on how he came to make reindeer shoes. As he heated the ends and beat them out on the anvil he told me about it.

One day he was given a whole bunch of these little horse shoes. Most miniatures and ponies are not regularly shoed so he really didnt have a use for them. He started fooling around one day and thought he might try to make something useful out of them. He thought maybe he could make a hoof pick out of them but it didn't really turn out the way he intended. Then it hit him. An idea to make reindeer shoes for Christmas time. Of course a reindeer's hoof is nothing like the shoe above, but it is the concept of Santas Reindeer wearing shoes.

After he curled the ends he heated and spread the holes a little where the horse shoe nails go. Then he inserted the nails and heated them and beat them flat. He then took his drill press and drilled a hole to hang the shoe. He buffed it some with the wire brush that he had but says the brush he actually uses it polishes it to a shine. He apologized and said he didnt have all his reindeer shoe making equipment with him.

Now all this is just too cool to me. Gifts like this mean so much to me, something hand made from someone. This was totally his idea and invention, which made it one of a kind for me. As if it wasnt already neat enough, he goes the extra mile and decorates it. I am not going to tell you what he does to it. I told him I wouldn't tell you so it would be a nice surprise when anyone that ordered these got them in the mail. He did tell me how he does it though, and it should look so beautiful and definitely have a country accent to it.

Now, onto a story he told me about a customer of his. Just like me, he made a shoe for her. This is where it gets good. Instead of giving the shoe to her 5 year old daughter she kept it. It had been raining and made the the ground somewhat muddy that Christmas eve. The mom took the shoe out into the front yard and pressed the shoe into the mud here and there like tracks in the mud. She then left the shoe out in the yard around those tracks. Then she wrote a letter to her daughter (being from Santa, not her) asking her to look for Rudolphs shoe, that he had lost it. Well the little girl found it of course, and if that isnt a magical Christmas I don't know what is! She didn't even care what else she got for Christmas, everything else couldnt compare to that reindeer shoe she found. She carried it everywhere for two months after that. She even took it to school for show and tell. The children could have brought any one thing they got for Christmas to tell about, but she took that reindeer shoe. Isnt that the best story ever? Just made me grin from ear to ear and right then I felt the Christmas spirit around me after he told me about that reindeer shoe and little girl. :)

If you would like one, they are fifteen dollars. I don't know what the shipping cost is, but I imagine it couldnt be that much. I will find out how much it costs the next trip to the post office I make.

This is a one of a kind, hand forged, hand decorated ornament. If you would like to purchase one I am taking orders. Email me at Fowfies@aol.com. He has asked me to please tell anyone ordering to send money orders only. After I recieve the money order from you I will immediately call him with your order. He says he will do his best to make sure all orders get there well before Christmas.

He usually sells them by word of mouth. I told him I bet there had to be someone here that thinks this is as neat as I do and that is why I am telling y'all about it. I tend to think that things like this are far more precious than anything store bought.

Johnny In A Fix/Neighbors Visit

Johnny is my black sumatra rooster. He is not a game rooster, so I don't quite understand why he thinks he has to fight everyone to the death. He has fought through the chicken wire on his pen til it bows out. Staples to keep the wire on the pen frame are a joke so it is wired shut. Tiny and him have had this thing since time began. Tiny does not fight with anyone, except Johnny. Maybe it is because Johnny IS in fact in a pen and can't KILL Tiny, like he would do if he got loose. Once Johnny got loose and had been fighting everyone he could in the yard til he was so exhausted I found him laying on his back in the dirt.

This morning I thought he was dead. He was hanging by his spurs (Sumatra can have several spurs in a row on one leg) upside down caught up in the chicken wire. This happens when he throws out his feet at Tiny to fight. I went to get him loose and he did manage to look up at me. Once I got him loose he still didnt want to move. I opened the pen door and went to pick him up and he hobbled over to the other side away from me. I don't think his leg is broken, but it is sore thats for sure. I am going to let him rest for now, if he will. Tiny went right over there taunting him through the wire and believe it or not Johnny was doing his best to try and fight again. I don't know what is with those two. I ran Tiny off. So that was this mornings excitement. After that I had all three of the emus attention. They seemed to be in the mood for some light petting so I did just that. Some days they don't want to be touched, other times they really seem to enjoy the attention. I know when I get to pet them it gives me a calm serene feeling.

Getting back inside I finished making my coffee and cut a cantelope in half for breakfast. I love cantelope but I only buy it when its on sale. Last week it was on sale and this was a good pick, very sweet, not sour at all.

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After I left the guineas with their new owners I decided to veer off one more time and visit the neighbors Jim and Linda. Linda was cleaning her house from where they had had their chimney fixed. The tornado that came through here earlier this year damaged it, along with their garage was totally blown away and half the barn. Jim is supposed to bring me half a roll of hay today that was left over from rolling hay. It will help out a lot in feeding Derby and the goats. They just got a new bunch of cows to add to their existing herd. They raise beef cattle, small scale. We took a drive up to the barn and she was showing me the new pond they are having dug out behind the barn. Something got two of her ducks, but I got a picture of the two she still has. The wood from the demolished garage is being stored in the barn as it is coated with creosote and cant be burned. She said I was welcome to any of it that I may be able to use. I can always use wood planks and plywood. I will go back another weekend and see what I can load up. Here are a few pictures I took while we were up at the barn.

Saying Bye To Some Guineas, Saying Hello to New Chickens

All this time I had been dreading capturing eight of the sixteen young guineas that the guinea mom and dad had done such a great job of raising. Believe it or not they all trusted me as much as a guinea can trust a human. (They are always wary) Doing what I did made it even harder and made me feel guilty. Last week I got a cage from the neighbor so I could round up some guineas for him. I have a hard time letting go of anything around here, but they went to a very nice family with 11 acres and will be very well taken care of. I have to tell you it was VERY easy to 'catch' them. I opened up the cage, put some millet birdseed down in the bottom and everyone just couldnt step in fast enough. I had eight plus mom in a matter of minutes. I had to get the net and scoop mom back out and I had to make sure the one young one I knew for sure was a girl wasnt in there. She wasnt. I closed up the pen and there I had it all ready to go. Ian helped me tote the cage over to the old truck and put them in the back. At first I thought we should sell the old truck, and if someone comes along that wants to buy it then we will sell it. It has turned out to be of a lot of use to us from transporting bales of hay to transporting animals. It keeps the dirt, poo and scratches out of the new truck bed.

I called the neighbors up and let them know I was on the way over. They used to buy eggs from me sometimes but now they have their own chicken flock. He has a very nice bunch there on the farm. I pulled on around through the gate and to the back where he had a pen all set up and ready for them. With guineas you want to pen them for a couple of weeks to make sure they will stick around. They aren't as domesticated as chickens and you have to make sure they know where home is when nightfall comes.



After he got them settled in their pen we talked awhile and I took some pictures of his chickens of course. His americauna rooster is just a sweetie. He is just so pretty. All of his chickens are pretty tame. He has red sex link hens, americauna hens, and a black austrolorp hen. He also has another americauna rooster but he is not with the flock and keeps to himself. Then there is the white rooster...I don't remember for sure what breed he is. Here are some pictures I took when I was over there.










Look at that pretty rooster face baby! Isnt he just handsome? So so sweet too.

So I headed back out down the driveway, taking a few pictures of some of their horses out in pasture...






We made a trade...guineas for three buff orpington hens that he didnt care for. He says they seem kind of dumb. Not unheard of, I have a few red star hens that look like there is nothing there, just empty space...when you look into their eyes. Buff orpingtons were my first chicks ever though and I hold a strong love for that breed so I gladly took the girls. Here above is a picture of them still at his house. I have them in a pen for now so they can see the flock and the flock can inspect them without any fights breaking out. My silver laced wyandotte hens tend to always be looking for a chance to assert their dominance and one kept doing just that yesterday evening. She would go over to the pen and flare up, a hen in the pen flared up and they would be sizing each other up. I would make the wyandotte go on, but she would be back in minutes.
There may be some fussing when I put them in with the others but after a few days things will settle down. Well this is getting kind of long so I am going to wrap it up for today. After I left the neighbors house I stopped over and visited another good neighbor...but I will talk about that tomorrow, with pictures of course. :) Everyone have a nice Monday!

Chicken Mom

Some of y'all have seen Chickenmom's videos on Youtube, some of the newer folks might have missed it, and she has a couple of new videos added of Phillip and Suzie. Phillip and Suzie are her two bantam house chickens. She makes outfits for them. They aren't just outfits though, they are actually functional. They are her own design of chicken diapers. She even has a video that I requested her to make to show us how to make them. I really want to make one for Phoenix so he can walk around the house more. This lady loves her chickens. Take a look at her videos...they are just great! She is my hero. :)

Early Sunday Morning

Good Sunday morning. :) I thought I might just drop a few lines this morning since it has been almost a week since I have been able to post.

I am alright. After our outing on Halloween I became sick with something. I still don't know what it was. Strange sickness. I had a pretty steady fever starting Monday afternoon and lasting until Wednesday evening. My skin felt sensitive and prickly all the time and I was so cold feeling. I was glad it was warm on those days. I wrapped myself in a warm blanket and sat out in the sun on the front porch warming myself. Can you imagine, it was 75 outside and I was cold. I know it was the fever but still. After several sweat fests the fever thankfully finally broke Wednesday evening. The strange part was that I never had any other symptoms. No stuffy nose or sore throat, nothing. After the fever broke I had some fluid in my ears for a couple of days. I only knew it was there if I bent over though. I had a sore neck and a slight headache for a couple of days, but that is gone now.

I don't know what it was. Never had a fever that doesnt turn into something else with it. Anyway, it is gone and I am glad. Shelby nor Ian caught whatever it was.

Speaking of Shelby, she was an angel while I was sick. She practically waited on my every need. I was really thirsty a lot and she got me drink and she took care of the animals for me while I was unable. The fever made me hurt all over if I tried to walk around or move too much, so she did a lot for me to save me from having to do those things and feel worse. She even fixed Ian some soup and sandwich right before he got home from work so he would have something for supper when he got in. I couldn't tell her enough times how grateful I was for all her help. She never complained once either.

Ian has been home since Friday so the computer has been taken up by him most of the time. When he is home I don't really try to get on much anyway. I haven't had time either way. I have spent the past two days catching up on laundry, dishes, and general cleaning up around here from being down and out when I was sick. Shelby also didnt have school on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday so we have been making up those three days Friday, Saturday and today.

I am going to be catching eight of the sixteen offspring from the adult guineas today. They will be getting a good home just down the road from here. A neighbor that takes very good care of his animals. He has a few chickens, about 7 horses, a pony, and a pot belly pig. The guineas should be a nice addition.

On a sad note, the barred rock hen did not make it. She was just too sick to fast. On a better note, the cochin pullet is still recovering. She is eating and drinking with gusto but hasn't been able to find her feet completely yet. Bubba is back out in the yard, but still very nervous about any other rooster getting too close in his personal space. Can't say as I blame him after the beating he took from the psycho twins. Those two boys are still locked up and will probably remain that way.

I called one of my neighbors down the road the other day and asked if they would like to have some of these tubers from the daylillies we have been digging up and breaking apart. They needed to be broken up badly. They were choking themselves out. I still have nine clumps to dig up, and have more than enough to share with them and I will also be taking some to Mama and Daddy when we go for Thanksgiving to visit.

I am sitting here drinking my coffee and now that I have written a bit in my journal I need to go and visit everyone that I can before I have to get started on the day. I will make my rounds over the following days to see what y'all have been up to. See you when I get there. :)

Halloween

Halloween was so much fun! We went and met with Dirk, Nelishia, and Katie at a huge church that went all out for trick or treaters to have a safe Halloween. There were so many vehicles decorated up and lined up giving out candy in the parking lot. We were late leaving and it turned out that Nelishia and her family were late leaving and we ended up getting there at exactly the same time. We parked up on the hill and took a few pictures up there before going down to the trunk or treat. There was lots of hugs too! She is just such a wonderful person, so full of life and love, just like I imagined she would be. :) Katie is just a living doll. She is such a sweet little girl. She was shy at first but warmed up to Shelby fast. It was funny because she held Shelbys hand the whole time and just talked away to Shelby. Shelby was so good with her. Dirk is so nice too. He is the genuine article. That is one thing I loved about it all. We were all ourselves. I think we all felt pretty comfortable with each other and I felt like I already knew them and this wasnt the first time we were meeting. Ian can be kind of quiet, but I was glad to see Dirk and him were really talking it up.

After the kids got their candy Katie got on some of the inflatable slides and whatnot. She loves those. She tried the rock climbing, thought she wanted to do it but that first jolt on the line to put her up on there worried her I think and she said she changed her mind. Before they could get her belts off she wanted to try another section of the wall, but again, it was just too much for her. She is four after all. To even think about getting on that rock climbing wall is brave to me!

I wanted us to be able to do some more trick or treating at the mill village near our house, but it was just too dark and too late by the time we got there. Shelby didnt seem to mind and said she was about ready to go home anyway. Well, they had come all this way and we were so close to the house I asked them to come on over if they didnt mind a little mess. You know how it is when your in a hurry, getting ready to go somewhere and you leave everything lying til you get back...like a towel you had wrapped around your wet head, make up, brush, things just kind of in disarray. It seems I always have some sort of mess outside around the patio that needs cleaning up, and I did this time too. I just told myself they would have to like me and my mess. ;) They didnt go running back out to leave, so I guess it wasnt too bad.

We got in and Tip had to do her usual...barking at new people. She is so silly. Once she settled down she really took to Dirk bringing him toys to play with. She was even trying to nose his glass of drink! That is overkill though, and I told her to stop that. You see, when I have a glass of drink with ice in it I will almost always give Tip some ice from the glass. I won't tell you HOW I give it to her, but THEY got to see how I give it to her...lol. Its too redneck. Okay, I will tell you, but you have to promise not to lose any respect for me. I shoot the piece of ice out of my mouth up and out and Tip catches it. Okay, now that you have a visual of THAT...we can move on. ;)

We visited and sat and talked and just really all hit it off so nicely. Katie was mezmerized with all the toys in Shelbys playroom and dived right in. If you read Nelishia she says it was a mess, but believe me it has been a lot worse than what Katie did. We all picked up the toys before they left. She said a lot of times when Katie has a friend over the mom won't make their child help do some cleaning up from playing before they leave. Nelishia said they didnt want to be like those folks.

I took Phoenix out of his cage (he and Clyde are inside now) and brought him over for Nelishia to hold and pet for a while. Phoenix loves any and all attention. He loves it so much that when I put him back up and got out Clyde, he knew it and was pacing and making noise the whole time...yes, thats right, he was JEALOUS. I think Nelishia really enjoyed holding my sweet little boys. Nope, they didnt poop on her either. Both of them are pretty good about letting you know they have to poop and will try to get down off of you.

I hope I can get over to their house now soon and have a nice visit. I know this is a busy time of year with the holidays coming up, but I plan to squeeze in a visit somewhere sometime soon. :) I really enjoyed the company and you know what is weird? A lot of the time Nelishia and I would catch each others thoughts, we would be thinking the same thing right before the other would say it...lol. Talk about being on the same wavelength! That usually only happens when you have known someone forever.

Alright, enough talk. Here are some pictures.













Another funny thing I just though of...when I called her to say we were running late she said that was okay that while Dirk was driving she was putting on her make up...what was so funny is I said REALLY? I am doing the same thing!! My hair was a mess. I forgot that my hairdryer had pooped out on me and didnt get to blow dry it straight. Oh well. There I am, in all my glory. Ian says I shouldnt worry so much, but I am fat, and thats a fact. I havent been comfortable with pictures being taken of myself for a long time. I never give up though, I keep on trying to lose the weight. Even if I am 80 years old I will always battle it til the end. I won't give up. In the meantime Ian is right, just be happy to have memories of this good time we had together. So that is what I am doing. :)

Here are some pictures of Shelby in her costume. She is a pirate of the female persuasion. She looks so grown up! When did that happen??? ;)









I just realized that all the pictures are not on Photobucket that were supposed to load! I had some of Katie on the rock climbing wall...so I will have to go back and load those and then I will post them on the next entry.

HMMMMM...how did Dirk escape my camera shots? Beth, you pointed something out that I will have to remedy when we all get together again. :) Up until his camera pooped out on him he was taking pictures too so in all fairness I was trying to stay out of his way while he was taking pictures too.