Sunday..Another Trip Down Memory Lane

This is a picture of me at about three years old. Daddy had scanned this picture and sent it to me awhile back. I did remember where the pictures I was looking for yesterday were...kind of. I know they are in a faded pink album. Now, where that album is, I don't know. I mean, I don't know at all. Usually you have an idea where something is, a general area. Not this time. It should have been with all my other picture albums. Its not there. Its going to be one of those things that just turns up one of these days and I will say "Oh! I wanted this album a while back!"

Today...is pretty much like yesterday. It is dark and overcast. It poured rain last night and afterwards has gotten increasingly colder and the wind is blustery. So here I sit again today. It feels different today. I am being interrupted by Shelby again and again. I think she wants the computer, but right now I need some alone time to take my mind back in time. It isnt often I ask time for myself and I think she became mildly irritated with me when I cut her off this past time and asked her to please close the door behind her. She is, after all, an only child and used to my attentions. Today I feel I need some time for me though. Ian will be off work tomorrow and things won't be quiet and homeschool, laundry, dishes, cooking, animals wanting...all that will be going on. So right now, it is my turn at the moment.

My Daddys brother lived on the Chattahoochee River. There was a small house that was originally there, but the main living area was a double wide they attached onto the house. I was always ready to go to Uncle Rileys. It was always fun there. I was never very good at catching fish, but I tried. There is an old picture of me holding up some fish on a line we caught somewhere amongst my parents picture albums. I remember the front room of the old house always had one of those wire buckets full of crickets in it...for fishing I suppose. I remember fish on the grill cooking. I remember taking a nap in the cool of my aunt and uncles bedroom on their white chenille bedspread. There was no air conditioning in the house, just in the trailer.

One time when we were out there the river had dried up in that particular spot. I mean it was nothing but mud. You could walk out there where the water used to be..or so I thought. My younger sister and I went traipsing out and about. Way out I saw some duck eggs laying on the ground. Erin and I went to investigate...but halfway there something awful began to happen. I did try to skirt around areas that looked too muddy. I remember poor Erin, in her knee high zip up brown boots...sinking sinking down. The harder she tried to pull out, the further down she sunk. I dont recall our exact age. I am going to say she was 5 or 6, so that would put me at 12 or 13. I was in a panic. This was a very scary situation in a childs mind. What was I going to do? If I left Erin there to go get help, was she going to be there when I got back? I was going to get blamed for this no matter what. I was supposed to be careful. I was supposed to be the one in charge. I was afraid of sinking and getting stuck myself. What if we both got stuck? Then how would anyone know we needed help at all? All this and more ran through my panicked young mind. Eventually I mustered up the courage to grab my younger sisters hands and pull. I pulled and pulled. Eventually she was able to pull one muddy boot clad leg out of the muck. The other one...well...somewhere there is a brown knee high zip up childs boot at the bottom of the Chattahoochee. We walked back to the house and I don't remember the details, but I am pretty sure our parents weren't happy about us losing that boot. ;) I do remember Daddy asking us why we went out there in the first place. When I told him about the duck eggs he just shook his head. Thats the way I remember it anyway.

I had a sandpile in the back yard. I think most kids did. I spent many hours making mountains and digging out caverns going through that mountain. I had my little plastic animals I played with out in the sandpile. I made mudpies and I made 'soups' with grass, the berries from monkeygrass and other things I could find in the yard. I was not a squeemish girl about frogs and lizards. There were always anoles running along the fence in the thick honeysuckle vines. If I could catch one I would pet it and love it. I found out that I could lay the lizard on its back and rub its tummy and it would go into a trance. One time I brought the entranced lizard into the house and showed Mama. She was accomodating but hurried my back out the door with the creature. Much much later, when Ian and I had already married we purchased a baby iguana for a pet. She lived for fifteen years. I found out through having this iguana and doing a lot of reading that when you lay a lizard on its back...the reason it appears to go docile..lol, is because the blood is rushing out of its head and makes the creature barely concious. HMMMM...oops. Oh well, I thought I was the lizard whisperer. ;) Frogs were always interesting to me. The little grey toads were abundant in our yard. We had a small creek that ran next to our house that always had tadpoles in it. We even had crawfish in there too. I was always amazed at the different marks each frog would have on its neck. Sometimes the mark would look like a letter, usually a small "i" or an "l" shape. The only drawback to picking up toads was initially they didn't like it, so they would 'wet' on you...lol. It never seemed to deter me.

My childhood was not always fun and games. Sometimes Erin and I had to get out in the yard and work with Mama and Daddy. We had to rake leaves and bag them. We had to pick up sticks and pinecones first though, so they wouldnt put holes in the leaf bags. Daddy had a garden. He has always had a garden as long as I can remember. Still does today. I never had to really work in the garden, but I would go and pick beans and tomatoes and squash with him. Erin and I would help Mama on Saturdays cleaning the house. Dusting was our job. We never had to clean the bathroom, that was strictly left to Mama. Sometimes we had to clean out our closets, or straighten our chest of drawers. Erin and I would help wash, dry and put away the supper dishes, things like that. I think back now and I am glad I learned how to do these things. I think it has helped me in adulthood to keep my house and yard in order, most of the time.

Its rocking on 1 o'clock, and I have to get the school schedule done for next week. Laundry awaits, as do animals. Shelby is playing music upstairs while she cleans her upstairs. She even cleans her bathroom. :) The music is distracting my thinking though, so I think I will close for today. Ian will be off work tomorrow so I doubt I will be online until Tuesday. Until then, everyone have a nice Sunday and Monday. :)

It Has Come To My Attention

It has come to my attention...as I sit here on this dark rainy windy Saturday afternoon...that I have not really revealed a lot about myself on this journal.

I am not even sure anyone is interested in ME personally...but, in light of the weather being what it is...and I am stuck inside looking longingly out the window like a caged animal...I choose to elaborate some today. If this is not your thing, and you just want to hear about chickens...you may skip todays entry, I will understand.

I was born in Columbus, Georgia. I was raised by two wonderful parents. We lived in a modest neighborhood near the Columbus Airport so I grew up hearing airplanes overhead. When you grow up with a particular sound like that you tend to tune it out after a while and you dont even hear it anymore until someone that is not used to it mentions it. We had a big clock on the wall that was like that. It had a loud tick tock sound as the pendulum would swing back and forth. Growing up with that sound, unless I tried really hard I couldnt hear that clock ticking. The type of batteries in that clock were those big huge batteries. I don't know where to get them, but my Daddy worked where they had them. Once we moved up to Jonesboro the clock batteries died and it hasnt run since, but it still hangs on their wall to this day.

I had a normal existance I guess you could say. Nothing out of the ordinary. Mama stayed home with me (which is a rarity these days) and Daddy went off to work during the week. I had an older sister, but at this time in my young life I didnt know her yet. My younger sister was born when I was six years old. We had one dog, Prissy. She arrived on the front door step about the same time as I was born, so I grew up with her. She lived to be thirteen years old. Cancer overtook her body and she had to be put to sleep. It was very sad. She was such a very good dog. Just a Heinz 57 as they say, but she was a good dog. When I was little, I would lay my head on her tummy and fall asleep. She wouldnt move until I woke up. Back then they didnt have all the fine flea medications they have now. She never got fleas though, I guess they didnt like the way she tasted. They only found her when she was sick with cancer.

Growing up I wasnt a fan of Barbie dolls and Baby dolls. I did have one Baby doll. She could wet her diapers...her name was Baby Wetsalot or something like that. I never took to human figure toys much. My favorite past time was playing with my stuffed animals. Not really a big shocker there eh? I was very careful with my stuffed animals. All of them meant a lot to me and I treated them with all the kindness and consideration you might have for a live animal. If they were held by the foot, or fell off the bed, I thought this was wrong and might hurt to them. What an imagination.

When I was growing up we didnt have fancy plastic toy food and boxes like they do now. I made my own. I did have a tea set. The whole shebang. Forks, knives (plastic of course) pots, pans..(these were actually metal!) plates...everything. I had a box that my Wonderwoman costume had come in (from one Halloween). I turned it upside down and drew stove 'eyes' and knobs on the bottom, just like a stove top. Perfect for my pots and pans. I was supplied with plenty of markers, crayons, construction paper, any art type things to be creative. I would make my own food to go on the plates and in the pots and pans. Oh I made everything from strips of bacon and fried eggs to chicken legs and pizza. It was a lot of fun to make exactly what you wanted.

My stuffed animals would sit around my little table and chairs set. Oh my table and chairs was not like you see now...you know the ones, those plastic set ups. Noooo...this was a miniature version, real wood, of a full size dining room table and chairs. I don't know what ever happened to it, but that is one thing I wish I still had for when Shelby was little. We think it got left in the attic when we moved to Jonesboro and someone else found it and now its gone. I would always feel sorry for the stuffed animals that didnt get to sit at the table and sometimes the ones stacked on the bed would get plates of construction paper food in their laps. When it was bedtime I always had to choose just a few stuffed animals to sleep with me at night in my bed. I hated that the rest of them had to sleep elsewhere. Mama always said there just wasnt enough room for me and all my stuffed animals too. I rotated them out though...so everyone got a turn.

Isnt it funny, how things start to come back to you...to flow from your mind as you sit undisturbed on a quiet day and just begin to write. Here I was going to just give some brief synopsis of my childhood, but I find myself thinking in more and more detail.

For instance. I remember having a pet squirrel. Not one kept in a cage, but one in the trees. The way this came to pass is to me, very odd. One day I was standing next to my tire swing, which was attached to a tree of course. A baby squirrel came scampering down that tree with mother following behind, all the while scolding the youngster. The youngster promptly jumped onto my shirt and hung upside down on the front of my shirt with his back feet. He was not afraid at all. My Daddy was right there and he just said not to move. I think he was afraid I might get bitten. I didnt though. After a minute the youngster jumped back onto the tree and his mother escorted him back up into the trees, all the while scolding away. That squirrel had a notch of fur missing from his tail. A couple of months later, I had a squirrel, with a notch of fur missing out of its tail...come right up to me. That was the beginning of a very odd relationship. You couldnt pick the squirrel up, but you could call him out of the trees, whistle for him I think it was...and he would come, jump on your shoulder and I always had peanuts in hand waiting for him. I know it is common in big cities for squirrels to come right up and take food from you, but this was in a small little neighborhood.

Even then, I loved animals. I have always like them more than people. Growing up I never had a slew of friends...a pack to run with you might say. I had one or two close girlfriends. Sherry was my constant starting at the age of 13. We have been best friends ever since. She was there when I had my pet squirrel. I have some old pictures somewhere of this...I must find them to show on here.

I am going to close on this note for today. It was nice to sit and just ramble and remember some good memories from childhood. I have many more rolling around in this head of mine. One is of the visits to my aunt and uncles place on the Chattahoochie River...but that is for another day.

If you made it through and read all of todays entry...thanks for sticking around and hopefully it was at least mildly entertaining for you. If you could see the images in my head of the things I have spoke of today it would be even better. You may get a better idea of what it was like.

After Becky told me the name of her doll I decided to look up my old doll...it was a Baby Alive doll, above is a picture of the one from the 1970s I found when I googled images of the doll.

I Love The Polish Breed

There are breeds of chicken that I just cannot resist. Their beauty draws me in. The polish breed is one of my very favorite breeds. They have a very pleasant disposition in my opinion. I only have two colors of polish right now. My show birds, Coco and Kuckoo, and their two daughters. They are silver laced polish. I want to breed more of these from this pair as their potential to win at shows is great.

Last Spring I got ten white crested black polish chicks from Swints in Jonesboro. They are not show quality, but I never had any interest in showing this color anyway. They were just to add to my flock.

Now I have been given 8 eggs to hatch from Ians friend at work, Tex. I am trying to patiently wait for at least five days to go into the incubator and candle the eggs for veins beginning to show in the egg. I talk to the little eggies through the incubator, play them music...hoping every one will be fertile and hatch a healthy chick out. Tex doesn't know what color the polish are. He said the parents looked gray with white tops...so I am assuming they are white crested blues. This is very exciting for me as I love this color. Here are a few pictures I borrowed from Feathersite to show of what I think these eggs will turn out to be.







Tex said the parents looked to be standard size...the eggs I got seemed a bit small so I hope they don't turn out to be bantam Polish instead of the standard size. Aren't the white crested blue polish so pretty?

I am leaning more and more towards looking for some nice breeders of the buff laced polish too. It would be nice to have a few of these in the future to show...here are a few pictures of this color I borrowed from Feathersite... First is the rooster, then the hen.





I know that all eight of those eggs are Tex's eggs. I know that. He asked me to hatch them. I just want to bring them up for a little while..enjoy them while they are little. I don't think he will mind. They can't be housed outside for a while anyway...it will be too cold for them. If it is a good hatch, I do wish to have some eggs of my own of these from the lady he bought his new incubator from, and maybe...maybe? one of the babies from this hatch? Hmmmm? ;)

I better get outside and enjoy this sunshine we are having today. The weather folks say rain is in store for us tomorrow. I have a few things I want to do out there today, and sitting here isnt getting those things done.

I want to take a minute to say...I do enjoy each and every comment I recieve. I appreciate you taking the time to stop and talk to me for a few minutes. I know some are busy, and you just stop in for a quick cup of coffee and you are off to work, or to take the kids to school, or other important obligations...and don't have time to leave a comment...and even though you don't leave a comment, I see you have been by through my sitemeter and the little round globe and thank you for giving me a glance before getting on with your day.

I know it has been a bit dull around here since winter and the rain has kicked in. Pictures have not been at the forefront of my posts. Things are about to pick up around here in February though. We got shows to get ready for. Lots of bathes, blow drying, looking over legs with a fine tooth comb for STUBS!! ;) For those that don't know...that is what kept me from getting Best Continental with Coco last year!!! Not going to be the case this year...no way...going to have perfect birds going into the show coops this year.

I was going to post some of last years videos of my getting Rod and Kuckoo ready for show, but the new host for AOL videos (since they shut Uncutvideo down)...Motionbox...doesnt seem to want to cooperate and let me post it. The directions are simple enough to follow, but when I try, it tells me it doesnt have the complete code.

Thats okay though, there will be plenty to see when I start prepping for this years shows. :)

Time to go outside and play for a bit...hope everyone is having a great day. Maybe I will take some pictures after I finish my work outside, if its not already getting dark by then.

Todays header picture is of a black breasted red modern game bantam rooster. This is another breed that I would love to have. I almost got a nice trio of this color last year at the show in Newnan, but someone bought them before I could. Maybe this year I will come home with some of these cute little stick chickens as I call them. ;)

Is The Drought Over NOW???

You may notice that my new background is that of raindrops. This is because I don't know of any other weather anymore, this is what we have, day in and day out. We are actually under a Flood Watch in this area today. Surely this means we have surpassed our drought. It seems the weather folks think we are supposed to live in a swamp, or a rain forest, or maybe we are supposed to become an island in the middle of the ocean before our drought is over. I don't really know, all I know is that we are drowning in mud here, and to me, that signifies the ground is FULL!




It started to rain last night around 8 and do you know it has not stopped at all since then. How do I feed the animals? I am waiting for a small break to come so I can run out and at least feed them what they can eat right away before it becomes mush, but there is no break. Should I build an ark? Well, at least it isnt cold. We do have that going for us. We have had mild temperatures.
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I have been away for quite some time I know. It seems there is always something to do, something going on, someone coming over, or somewhere to go lately. I will back up to New Years Eve.

New Years Eve day I went like always to pick up groceries. By the time I was leaving Walmart it was getting pretty busy. I was glad I got there earlier than later. My older sister Patti had decided to postpone her visit for the coming weekend. It turned out this was for the best and in a couple of weeks when she does arrive things will be much more calm and peaceful. Karen was coming alone. If you remember, I was waiting for Tiffany to make the right decision and commit to her previous engagement with us on New Years Eve. I was not pleased because this was going to upset Shelby. When I told Shelby she was mad at Tiffany. She said that it was not right. Tiffany gets to see her other friends all the time. Shelby doesn't. She said as much. She spent New Years Eve mad, and that turned into tears New Years Day morning. She came down from upstairs and I hugged and cuddled her. She said she had believed that Tiffany would make the right decision, and when she didn't, was really disappointed. At this point she didnt want to see Tiffany for a while. Karen SAID she would tell Tiffany that Shelby was busy on Saturday, because you see, Tiffany wanted to come BACK out on Saturday to visit, I guess to try and make up for New Years Eve. Well guess what. That didnt happen. Karen called Saturday afternoon...but Ian and I were gone to take the trash to the dump and pick up some hay from Mr. Abrams for the horse and goats. When we got back we were hit with the news that they were on their way. Ian and I had both agreed we were all 'Companied out' and were ready for a quiet weekend. This changed things now. Ian said he was glad to see that Shelby was not TOO mad at Tiffany. Karen had told Tiffany just how upset her bad decision had made Shelby and did say she was sorry she hurt her feelings...said it to Shelby.
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New Years eve...was...fun, at first. You know, as you get older, it takes longer to recooperate from a night of wine, champagne, and tequila....especially if you don't drink like that anymore. I did not overindulge as much as Ian and Karen, so I was actually able to lay down without feeling woozy after seeing in the new year...Ian had to stay up, he was woozy. Karen had already promptly thrown her guts up as I held her hair. We are old, and we just can't handle it anymore. It took me two days to feel normal again. So now you know, lol, I am not as wholesome as you might have thought. At least I don't make a habit of it eh? ;)
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Lets see, that takes care of Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday...Saturday was uneventful even though Karen and Tiffany were visiting overnight. We kept things lowkey. I fixed a nice supper of greek salad and pasta with pesto and sauce, with some breadsticks.

Sunday morning I got up and Karen was already up. She does try to help around here when she is visiting. She means well. She has an obsession with dishes. If there are dishes in the dishwasher that are clean, she must put them away. If there are dishes in the sink, she must rinse and load them into the dishwasher. There is just one drawback to this. It takes me a week to find all my pots, pans, bowls, glasses, silverware and put them back in their place so I know where they are! Sometimes they are just a little off, but other times, I have to go on the hunt. She means well, and I am a nice person, so I dont say anything about it. Its not something I can't fix.

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I spent all of Sunday morning making out the school curriculum for the coming week. Karen and Tiffany left soon after I had finished. After they left I spent time outside catching up with the animals.

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Sunday Tip had had a few accidents on the carpet. They were small dribbly spots on the carpet when she got up from where she was sitting. Tip would never intentionally go on the floor. Still later in the day it happened in the bedroom in several spots. I knew what it was, she has had it once before. She had a urinary tract infection. My poor girl. I felt her tortured pain. For a woman every minute that passes with a UTI is maddening. You feel you have to go, but can't go, and if you do, it is painful. The sooner you get to the doctor and get some antibiotics flowing through you the better. Left untreated, kidney damage can occur. So you know me, I was on the phone when the vets office opened Monday morning. I wanted to be on their doorstep when they opened, but there was no since in it. There was only one doctor there on Monday mornings and she went in to do surgery at 10 am til lunchtime. I was able to get an appointment at 1:40 so that would have to do.

I got Shelby up, we got ready to go, packed up her school books and headed out to Mama and Daddys. They live in the area where the vet is. You might ask why I didnt ever change vets when we moved. We have been with this one for so so long, and I trust them and its worth the two hour drive. I figured since we had to be down there anyway we would make a day of it and visit with Mama. Shelby did her schooling while I was gone with Tip to the vet. Mama could help her if she needed help.

So we got to the vet....



Just like anywhere on a Monday they were pretty busy. I wasnt able to get a urine sample, but the doctor did agree after dabbing her 'area' and said the urine looked a little pinkish. I also asked about some lumps that Tip has. One she has had for some time, several years, and it is growing, but very very slowly. The doctor said that was definitely a fatty lump and not to worry. Another had surfaced several months ago, but not grown. It was on her shoulder area. That was also said to be a fatty lump. When dogs get older, these are common. There was one more in question, it was on her stomach. It is only peasize. The doctor said to just keep an eye on it, and if it starts to grow they would take it out. Tip has her regular yearly appointment in May, so we will address it then if it has grown. My only concern, and I told the doctor this, is that her daddy got cancer and eventually it took over his body and he had to be put to sleep.

So here is Tip relieved and ready to get out of there and go back to Mama and Daddys...




She has had two doses of antibiotic now and is already feeling relief. She has a ten day regimen of pills to go through to kill all the bacteria though.

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In other animal news...the Golden Phoenix hen is recovering nicely, she is feeling very well and healing nicely.

I have a surprise coming today! Ians friend from work, Tex, bought a new incubator, but it was so big he couldnt get it home in the car, so he has to get it home in the truck later, BUT, the lady he bought it from also gave him eight hatching eggs. Guess who he wants to hatch them? ME! He says they are polish...but doesnt know exactly what kind. He said the parents had a white top, but the rest of the body was kind of gray, with white tips on the wings. This may be a white crested blue, or what is called a cuckoo polish. The cuckoo polish has a white top, but is barred on its body. I hope they all hatch, and I am hoping Tex will let me keep one of them if it is a successful hatch. I know he will if I ask. I want to raise up the babies for a little bit myself, then he can have them when they are bigger. I know he won't mind that either. I will be sure to update on the progress of these eggs on here.

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Here I sit, its Tuesday...and its time for school, time for laundry, time to try and get some animals fed here and there in between the downpours. This has been a long entry I know, and I hope it hasnt been too boring to read. I did cover a lot of days to catch up to today though.

I want to try and catch up with all of you this week. I should have the time now that hopefully things are settling down around here into our old routine. Thats about it for now, and should be about all...as this is a long entry for me! I hope whereever you are you are drier than we are and have plentiful sunshine. :)

New Years Eve

Thinking today would be a good day to install these on the property. Hey, if the winds are going to be sustained at 30 mph today with gusts to 45...I want to try and harness some of that power! ;) They say chickens can't really fly...well they can today if they aren't careful.




I want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year and I hope all your wishes and dreams come true this coming year.
So many of mine have come true I only wish for it to all continue on the same path of happiness.

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It may very well be a very quiet coming New Years day. I have talked to Karen and Tiffany had forgotten that we had made plans months ago for them to be here. I was brought up that if you made plans with someone, and then other plans came up with someone else, you always kept your commitment to the first one. It seems that is not the case. Karen is letting Tiffany make the choice on her own. She had made plans to go spend the night off with another friend she hasnt seen in a while. We will see if Tiffany makes the right choice. Karen said she was coming either way tonight, then told me she had told Tiffany she would bring her this Saturday to visit. I am sorry, but this time it won't be possible. I told her Patti was coming for a visit for the weekend and so that wasn't going to work. It is just my opinion, but I think teaching a child to make the right decision is important. I would never leave it up to Shelby to make a choice, where in my opinion there is no choice. We will just have to wait and see.
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Speaking of Patti...we are in a holding pattern right now til this evening. We all know everyone is on a tight budget. The crunch of the once high gas prices still has its grip on everyone trying to catch up from paying too much before. This time of year is so tight for everyone. She will see if it will be possible to comfortably make the visit without having to stretch a dollar to its breaking point. I do want to see her badly, but I also understand. We are tight right now, just as many are, having to watch every dollar and be careful how we spend our money. Tax refund time can't come soon enough around here.
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I don't know if we will be having much company or not, but either way...Ian, Shelby and I will see in the New Year together and thats a sure thing. :)
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Now its time for me to get ready and go out to get some groceries, both for the animals and the humans. Again, everyone have a safe, happy, wonderful New Year! :)

Is It Tuesday Already?

Good Tuesday morning! The sun has graced us with its presence not only this morning, but all day yesterday. It was heavenly to be out in its warmth. Today should be even better as the weather guessers are predicting a high in the sixties.

Here we are and New Years Eve is right around the corner. I am ready for the new year to start. The days are already noticably longer, maybe only by minutes, but I caught myself coming in at 6:10 and I used to not be able to see my hand in front of my face it was so dark by that time. So we are on our way, I am leaning hard towards Spring. ;)

Fern, I am glad you got the card, sorry it was late! This year was the first year I got my Christmas cards out late. Time just slips away and before you know it, your cards are late! Paula, did you get a warm light set up for your kitty? Glad I gave you an idea for her. :) John, I am sorry to hear you have had so much loss in your life already. Bless your heart...sending out a big hug to you.

Now on to what has been going on around here. After Christmas day we had a few days of recuperation time. A friend of Ians stopped in for the day yesterday. They went riding around in Jays Cooper. Ian and Jay both have small cars that are sporty and fun to drive, so they like to take a cruise sometimes. They ended up coming back with Jay a new Iphone. Ian said he helped Jay spend money. ;)

I spent the day outside of course, since the weather was nice. Everyone was glad to see me as usual. I took a bucket, some Dawn dish liquid and some dish scrub brushes and got everyones waterers cleaned and filled. Got everyone filled up with fresh food. I turned on the heat lamps before going in at dark for the first time in a week. The weather has been so mild we haven't needed it. Last night it did get down to the freezing mark though.

We don't have any major plans for New Years Eve. Shelbys friend Tiffany and Karen, her mother, are coming to spend the night Wednesday night. They will leave on Thursday and then Patti, my older sister, and her youngest daughter with her boyfriend will come. I hope it doesnt rain on Friday. They forecast is calling for it. She hates driving in the rain as much as I do. They will stay Friday through Sunday for a nice long visit this time.

Then thats going to be it for a while. I have enjoyed and I am enjoying all the company we have gotten. We didnt have any for a long time because the gas prices were so high that no one could afford to go anywhere.

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I had an incident in the pretties pen area. I don't know what gets into chickens heads sometimes. They lose their mind temporarily or something. A perfect example of this is when I had four beautiful white bantam frizzle cochin pullets. They grew up together. One day, three of them decided to gang up on one and kill the other. They pecked at her backside and ate her from her backside down to the bone. I know this is distasteful, but it happened. It us not unheard of, but no one really knows what triggers it. I have talked with others and they have had it happen.

This time, it was one of my Golden Phoenix pullets I found, huddled in the corner of the roosting pen. Her head tucked tight in the corner she was clearly in distress and frightened and in pain beyond imagination. I pulled her out of the pen. My poor girl. No one was around her so I don't even know who the culprit, or culprits were. I suspect two of the Golden Phoenix cockerals, but have no proof. She was very traumatized. I carried her into the house and cleaned up her head where they had pulled on her comb until it was torn half off her head. Then I cleaned her backside. They had pulled out all her back feathers in an area as big as my fist and then didnt stop there but had begun to peck open wounds into her back. You could see under the two small holes where the muscle was. I cleaned her up with a damp washcloth and took Neosporin and thickly coated her back with it, filling in the holes with the antibiotic. I coated her comb and the top of her head too. She was put into a holding pen and placed on the porch to rest that night. The next morning I put in fresh water and food for her. She was thirsty, but not ready to eat yet. By that afternoon she had a little appetite and ate some. By yesterday she was eating and drinking and didnt seem to be in too much pain (the antibiotic ointment has a pain reliever in it). Until her back is completely healed I can't put her back out there though. Any visible wounds would be obsessed over by the other chickens and pecked at. Last night I brought her in the house and she is warm and doing good this morning.

I have a lot of animals. When one gets hurt or sick, they always recieve individual attention. I do everything I can for whoever needs care. Here on our little farm, everyone matters. Here area few pictures of my pretty girl I took this morning, recovering nicely.






In the second picture you can see the torn half of the comb is black. I imagine she is going to lose this half of her comb. The third picture does not show the full back area, I spared you of that. Her feathers surrounding the area help to cover the bare wounded area. She is not cowering and upset anymore, she seems to be in good spirits. Now its just going to be a long healing process.

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Now, I am going to go and get me a cup of coffee and do some visiting. :) I haven't had a lot of time to sit down and relax lately, but I think between today and tomorrow I will see if I can't catch up and come by to see everyone on their journals. :)

Just Makes Ya Wanna Dance!

My younger sister was here the other day and showed me this video on her Iphone. Its pretty cool, pretty entertaining, pretty funny. :)




More on Katy Perry...

http://www.katyperry.com/

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day Entry

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas. On Christmas eve we allow Shelby to open one present. She opened one to find the David Cook CD. Even though she never watched him win American Idol, she loves his music and after listening to it she announced that every song on the CD was awesome!

I spent the whole day busy as a body can be. I started out early and made the run to Tractor Supply for the animals feed. Then I ventured over to Walmart to get some groceries...and a surprise gift for Shelby. That is what she is laying on in that picture above. I wanted her to get something totally unexpected. It stayed in the truck until she went to bed then Ian dragged it in and I got it covered up til I could get it wrapped. I was so tired by the end of the night I wrapped it Christmas morning early.

After I got back from shopping I started in on the chores outside. I wanted all the animals to have full waterers and feeders so on Christmas day I would be free of chores out there and could be with my family. That ended right after dark, then it was on to cleaning up and cooking. I peeled potatoes, boiled eggs...oh yeah, my girls are still not producing enough...so it was off to Carlton Farms again for some of their eggs to make deviled eggs and eggs for the potato salad. I shucked corn, cut the corn off the cob, cooked it in pans with some butter and bacon to make creamed corn. I made twenty ears. I was cooking corn at 3 a.m. when Ian walked in and said I needed to get some rest. I said to him what I needed to do was get the food finished. I didnt want to be having to cook the Christmas dinner in the morning. The ham was already ready, the turkey breast was a done deal. I went to bed about 3:30 a.m. and got up two minutes before the alarm went off at 7:18 a.m., letting the animals out and began cleaning up my atrocious mess in the kitchen. There were still a few things to do outside. When I have guests coming I make a point to spray off the patio, walkway and the driveway before you get here so you don't soil your shoes from any stray chicken poop that may have been inadvertantly deposited by a chicken passing through that particular area. ;). With that done I cleaned up the screen porch some and then my parents arrived. They arrived a little early so they could have us all to themselves for just a bit before anyone else showed up. We talked, shared morning coffee and Shelby opened gifts from her Mawmaw and Gaddy. A little later Ians dad, his wife Cristi, and Cristi's brother Nelson arrived. I was told I would like Nelson and I did. He was a pretty cool guy. Shelby had more gifts from her Grandaddy and Cristi to open. It was a pretty nice day, not too cold. Everyone would take some time to walk out and see the animals. Ian gave Nelson the tour since I was busy finishing up some last minute things in the kitchen.

Time flew and all too soon Ians dad, Cristi and Nelson had to be going. Erin, my younger sister had come along at the same time Mama and Daddy had, but she had to leave even before they left. She had a friend from work that was out of town and Erin said she would feed and water her cats for her while she was gone. She was also house sitting for someone else. Mama and Daddy were spending the night though...so after everyone else left we sat around and chewed the fat (thats southern for sitting around talking). After I closed up the animals for the night and the kitchen was all cleaned up we sat down to watch Jeff Dunhams new DVD that is out, his Christmas Special. We had a lot of fun watching that. Later, Daddy got some acid reflux happening that wanted to rare its ugly head. He couldnt lay down so we were all up talking and watching Shelby play some of her new games. One of her games comes with some run of the mill games, like Mrs. Pacman. One caught my eye. It was ZUMA! I had never heard of this game until I went to visit Sherry and she had it on her computer. That game is so addictive and frustrating! Fun but nerve racking! You love it, and you hate it too...lol. I don't really get into games that much, but this one is fun I have to say. I got Shelby to try it out. She had never played it. She was instantly addicted. Daddy was jumping in his seat telling Shelby what color was coming next to SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT! LOL...Mama was next to Daddy saying she couldnt look anymore, she couldnt watch it anymore, it was making her a nervous wreck...lol. We ended up staying up til 1:30 in the morning. Finally we all hit the hay for the night.

The next morning I got up to let the animals out, but was soon snoozing again afterwards. I didnt wake back up again until Mama and Daddy came out of the bedroom around 11 a.m. dressed and ready for the day. I made coffee and cooked us all breakfast. Real fresh eggs I had saved from MY girls, bacon, sausage, and cinnamon and brown sugar toast with honey.

It wasnt too long after that Mama and Daddy headed out for home. Guess what I did after they left? Yep, I went and took another nap. I had a lot of catching up to do on my sleep. Today I think I am all caught up.

Now we are moving on towards New Years Eve. It will be a quiet one around here. Karen and Tiffany are supposed to come out to spend the night. We don't have a big party or anything anymore. Its too much doing that right after Christmas.

Then my older sister is coming out with her youngest daughter and her boyfriend. They were here a couple of weeks ago, but the visit was cut short by her oldest daughter and her fiance'. They were in a rush to get back home to study for exams. Patti wanted and I wanted us to have some real quality time together so this time her oldest may not be coming, and her fiance' will definitely not be coming. Not going to go into depth on that one, but lets just say he rubbed me the wrong way, when I always go out of my way to make people feel welcome and comfortable in my home.

So they will be here the weekend after New Years Day...and I am really looking forward to this. :)

After that, we will settle in for the rest of winter and go into a waiting pattern for Spring. This is when the weather is at its worst here in Georgia and the animals don't get any quality visits from me. They get fed, they get watered, and thats about it. It gets inhospitable outside. I will of course be working on the birds that are going to be shown in February. They will need a good dose of Frontline Spray...then bathing comes later. Blow drying and then keeping them clean until the show. Pampering will be in order for my lovelies. :)

Again I want to say, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and lets all look forward to the New Year and what it has in store for us. Everyone have a nice weekend, I plan to. :)

Look...

Glitter Graphics

Look what Shelby taught me...lol! She has a Blingee account...so I used it.

Two Posts In One Day

I reckon I need to get a few more words in here before the Christmas spirit takes over this house and I am so busy I don't know whether I am coming or going. ;) We are expecting my parents, my younger sister, Ians dad and Cristi, and Karen and Tiffany for Christmas dinner. After today Ian will be off work for three days, so you know what that means. I won't be around on the computer. Its fine though, I have plenty to do before Christmas day. I have a last minute gift I want to get for Shelby. I need to do some grocery shopping. There are a few things that need cleaning around here. The animals always need something. I guess it looks like I will be back around here on Saturday, so I won't be gone too long.

Take a look at this...



Dad. (Ray)..you know what this is. :)

Last year I recieved this in the mail from Mary and Dad. I still have it, and got many beautiful blooms from it in January. I am anxiously waiting to see the new growth sprout from the bulbs again. Thankyou Mary and Dad. I will enjoy this for years to come.



Speaking of plants..when we went to get our tree at Lowes we found these beautiful bushes of Rosemary on sale for 75 percent off! I got four of them. Gifts for our guests on Christmas day.






While out taking pictures of everything this morning I got a few pictures of Troy being goofy. He smelled something...goats and horses do this. Sometimes you can catch Derby doing it also. It is usually to detect a female from what I know...but I am the only female around this morning, maybe I smell goaty? I think I will have a shower this morning. ;) Sometimes they do this after they urinate on their face (yes, I know, lovely, its supposed to attract the ladies)but he hadnt done that before this face he made. Eddie is still in the bed so I didnt get his picture. He poked his head out and said hello, then went right back in.

I have a silly story to tell, that is one reason I took a picture of Troy this morning. It was around noon yesterday I heard a truck pull up. Then I heard a knocking on the front door. I opened the front door, but left the outer glass door locked. There stood three hispanic men with big grins on their faces and seemed excited about something. I asked if I could help them. One spoke up and pointed over toward the goats area (I am assuming that is what made them stop, there is something about goats and hispanics...I know they like to eat them, I do know that much.)and asked if my animals were for sale. I smiled back and felt like saying "Do you see a sign out here anywhere that says Animals For Sale????" but, instead I smiled and said "No, I am sorry, none of my animals are for sale. You see, they are my pets". They all looked at me quizzically like I had lost my mind. The one that first spoke up said..."What?" I proceeded to tell him again..."They are NOT FOR SALE, they are my PETS!!!" Still not fully understanding why I kept food for pets I guess...they said okay, thankyou, and wandered back to their truck and left.

I get this a lot. I get a lot of hispanics wanting my chickens to eat. This is the second time I have been asked about the goats. I get asked about the pigs too. Sigh....maybe I am crazy, but I love my farm animals as pets. Its just me, its how I am. One persons food is anothers cuddly sweet baby.




Surely they won't see Derby as food? I hope not. Derby has his winter coat now. Here he is this morning sauntering over to see if I might have something for him. He was a bit naughty and tugged my jacket before leaving to my taking pictures. Mouthing is a big no no. Mouthing can lead to biting. We broke him of this awful habit, but he seems to have forgotten that this morning and it surprised me. He knows its a no no though, he jerked away and walked off right after doing it.

I get nervous when hispanic men come by and ask all too enthusiasticly about my animals. I break out the padlocks anytime I am going to be away for more than a few hours, and especially if we are gone overnight. It has been known to happen to other people, their animals disappearing in the night, and not by the usual predators either. I would lose my mind if this happened to me, I would be on the rampage.

Well, I reckon I am going to sign off and see what I can get done around here. I want to wish each and every one a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS! I know times are lean for a lot of us, but if we have someone we love close by, whether it be a furry friend, a feathered friend, a human friend, or a family member, it makes the season brighter. We don't need a bunch of stuff to mark it Christmas...we just need each other. SO from my family to your family...have a wonderful Christmas, and I will see everyone afterwards. HO! HO! HO! ;)