White Crested Polish Is A MOM!

Thursday, I a little after lunchtime I walked past the big window in the dining area and because I have the blinds up my eyes tend to wander that way...after all..the sun has been out every day, and I like to get a good look at it every chance I get.

I am nearsighted...so what I saw escaped me at first. I saw a white crested polish hen walking through the goats pen area...and behind her some little things were following her. What are those?? Are they...oh my goodness! They are! SHELBY!!! COME LOOK AT THIS! YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS! HURRY! I yelled across the house.

Nine baby chicks were following behind their mama. It was around 90 that day and too hot for the little chicks in the sun. Some were collapsing and panting. I asked Shelby to grab a carrier and we rounded up mom and the nine chicks. We took them in the house where mom could keep them warm, but not too warm.

Now came the task of looking for the nest. It didnt take long. In the goats house in the corner lay broken egg shells from the hatch and a few more eggs that may or may not be hatching. I took those eggs inside and candled them. Two were stinky no good eggs, so I carefully threw those away in the trash. Three had movement so I put them in the incubator to finish. Two others were already pipped and I helped them on out of the shell and put them with their mom after a day drying off and getting their footing. The other three eggs didnt make it. Seems mom knew what she was doing. The other two I put with her made it, but we had one I found dead last night in the carrier. I don't know what happened to it. Possible that it didnt catch on when mom was giving instructions on eating and drinking.

So, she has ten babies with her. What am I going to do with ten unplanned chicks? Hope that most of them are girls, thats what. Who is the father of these chicks? Possible that they are half cochin. Interesting combination anyway.

Mom has a better hatch ratio than I do, I can tell you that. My hatching has been slow lately. I had a whole row of eggs from Babe, my prized show bird. Buckbuck has not been hitting his mark apparently. :( None of them were fertile! Just have to keep trying and hope he does a better job. Last year we had no problems like this, I hatched plenty of cochins.

Here are my four babies...the older ones are now out on the porch...soon to be out in the yard. These are the youngest right now. I finally was able to hatch out a silver laced polish and it has developed a crooked beak. :( It can eat and drink fine, and is a very strong chick. So strong it has hopped right out of the aquarium they are in, and the box they were in before this. It won't be able to be a show bird though. It will live out its life here in my flock of pretties. It will still have a carefree and happy life. :)





From left to right:

My first Silver Spangled Hamburg chick from the trio Debbie gave me. The black chick, and the tan chick are the two chicks that came from Linda. She is a school teacher and one of her students, a little boy, wanted to see if I could hatch out three eggs for him. One was not fertile, the other two were. I don't have any idea what breed they are. They are cuties though. The last one is the silver laced polish chick I mentioned.

Sometimes I don't think things out too well, I am always jumping ahead of myself. When Linda dropped those three eggs off and I agreed to hatch them, I didnt really think things through. A lot of her students are hispanic. I have had dealings with hispanics and chickens before, you may remember Ricardo and his family. They don't know too much about hatching and raising chicks. I called Linda and talked to Jim, her husband. I explained to him that before I could hand over these two chicks I had to know they were going to be properly cared for. The boy needed to have certain things for the chicks to survive. They need a heat lamp, chick starter, a waterer and a feeder that is proper for the chicks. Not to mention a place to keep them, in a brooder of some sort. The boy is hispanic, and Jim said they don't really have the funds to get a heat lamp and a heat bulb. The chicks will not survive if they don't stay under heat for at least the first six weeks. I told Jim I just couldn't hand them over for them to just die. He said he understood and didn't blame me one bit. He said he would tell Linda. I said okay, and that until she told me otherwise, I would just hold on to them.

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As you can see on my sidebar of chores I did finish the peafowls new pen. They seem a lot happier...for now. The days have been warm and sunny and I have been very busy outside after teaching school and doing the house chores. These are the days I have been waiting on as winter dragged on. So you will forgive me if my posts are less frequent, but know that all of you are on my mind and I am thinking about y'all. :) School is almost over, and it will be time for me to get on outside for the day. Everyone have a wonderful day today. :)

All I Can Say Is...

Facebook is COOL...its like looking in on all your friends...on one page! I love it! I love playing Farmtown too, because it is not one of those time consuming games...you do some work, give some gifts, harvest, plow, grow...and go do something else.

Sun is out, just popping in for a sec..bbq on the grill, smell of fresh mowed grass...see y'all later...going back outside. :)

Its Wednesday Already

The days are flying by this week. Sunday was our last day to go up the road and take care of the neighbors animals. We made sure they all had full feeders and waterers. Even if your gone on vacation for a week, when you get home you don't want to do anything but flop down when you get in the door. I didn't want them to have to do a thing. Monday Laury stopped over and I gave her the mail, and her metal pole back...you know, from their car washing brush. I told her the tale of why I had it.

I have managed to finish the peafowls new pen. Nope, I haven't taken any pictures yet. I am behind on taking pictures aren't I. I still need to take pictures of those two babies that have hatched this past week. Let me catch up on the ones I do have, then I can start on the new ones.

The weather here is supposed to really warm up and feel like Spring finally. We are supposed to have highs in the upper seventies to the lower 80s. I am looking forward to this so much. No more mud, no more cold, please!

I joined Facebook a few weeks ago, and have really been liking it. Its like reading blogs, but shorter, and everyone is on the same page, no page hopping! I really like it a lot. I still like to blog, but when I am short on time, Facebook is a good tool to use to visit folks and then get started on the day.

Alright, here are some pictures of the neighbors horses in the pasture. Shelby liked all this horse visiting so much she says when she grows up she wants a horse farm! I don't blame her, horses are beautiful creatures, and she seems to have a nack for them. :)





















The last two pictures are of Biscuit and Trojan...the two not in the pasture. Shelby fed them and took care of these two, and gave them lots of love of course. :)

Have a nice Wednesday...I still need to post some pictures from my niece's bridal shower...I haven't forgotten. I will try and get that on here today or tomorrow. Always behind, never caught up. I am told that is okay out here in the country though. Out here thats how we live on a farm. Things are never done...and I am slowly beginning to accept that way of thinking, just plugging along at things, doing what I can before the sun goes down. ;)

Stranded

So....about 5:30 Shelby and I go on down to the neighbors to feed the animals. Now Ian is in the new truck, remember? He went to the drag races today...and took my truck. SO...we hopped in the old truck, I mean hey...its right down the road...right? Yeah...its right down the road if your DRIVING.

So...we feed the animals and lock up, get in the old truck, I turn the key....

NOTHING...not even a click. I sat there...thinking ??????? It cranked right up when we left! What's the deal??? Of course, because it is...

RIGHT DOWN THE ROAD...

I didn't bring my cell phone. I mean, we will be right back, right?

Nope.

Then I remember a while back, Ian and I had gone shoe shopping for him some work boots at a place up in Rome and the truck had done this. Whats the first thing you do when it won't start? You pop the hood, stare at it for a few minutes, willing it to work..then you start wiggling wires. The wires to the battery first, of course. He did, the lights in the truck came on, I cranked it right up. So its a bad connection. That cable needs to be replaced I suppose.

I popped the hood and started wiggling wires. I had Shelby in the drivers seat waiting for the lights inside to come on and to crank it when they did.

SUCCESS! The lights came on, she turned the key...then the lights went off. No success. We tried this again and again. Okay then...lets find a stick, we are gonna have to walk home.

Wait, the mud room is open, maybe there is a phone in there...nope. Sigh...

Shelby breaks a twig off of a nearby bush and is holding it up and says, " Here, I got a stick"...uhhh no, that isnt going to fend off a rabid squirrel, much less a loose dog.

I fumble around under the carport and find a car wash brush with a long metal handle...a metal handle...yep, that is more like it. I unscrew the head off and take the stick with us.

As we walk down the very long driveway...all the horses in the pasture are staring at us...like they are saying, "What are they doing???" You could see it on their faces. For half a second I thought maybe we should saddle up a couple of those horses and ride them home, then I thought better of it. You see, I have never ridden a horse, nor has Shelby. She will, Laury has offered to take her riding with her all summer, but right now it probably wasnt a good idea...so I put that right out of my head.

No sooner that we get to the end of the driveway...the neighbors dog across the street comes sauntering over to greet us. I am just not in the mood...so we keep walking and the dog gets the message and heads back home.

So off we go, me with my stick, and my purse, and Shelby heading up the walk. All the while hoping no one came screaming over the hill and make roadkill out of us. You know how people drive down country roads, they drive like their butt is on fire and they got to be somewhere NOW.

We are walking and it starts to sprinkle, oh yes, it sure does. Now its going to rain on us? Is that thunder I ask Shelby? No...it was just a plane. At least we weren't going to get struck my lightning to finish off this perfect trek home.

We were walking along...and walking along...and then we were walking along some more. Two people on a motorcycle came whipping by us...the passenger twisting their head around to stare at the two women walking down the road in the middle of nowhere. I grumpily said under my breath, " If your not going to give us a ride...then stop staring at us!" Walking along...walking along...more cars passing us at the speed of light.

Me grumbling..."Stupid pink daisy looking weed flowers...stupid." Nope, I wasnt enjoying myself. You see I had FLIP FLOPS on, and old shorts and an old tank top. You see...I was WORKING outside all day! I was putting up fencing, taking down fencing, putting more fencing back up. I was on a roll...and I coulda finished it too, if I hadn't taken the OLD TRUCK.

But you see, I hate cramming myself into Ians teeny tiny itsy bitsy Mazdaspeed Miata...so I took the old truck, and I didnt take my cell phone, because if I had, I know plenty of neighbors close by that coulda come and picked us up, but NO...I couldnt be bothered to pick up my cell phone, lets just hurry and get back so I can finish the peafowls new pen.

About halfway home a silver jeep towing a boat came up...and pulled over. It was Micheal, one of our neighbors we know. He pulled over, and he asked if we meant to be out walking or what...he knows me, I don't go walking around here, I work at the house, all the time. I said, no, let me tell you what happened, so I did.

We got home, I thanked him several times and we went in the house. At least I remembered the keys to the house. Sheesh. Now my foot was really hurting, my back didnt feel too good either, and I was completely out of the mood to finish that pen. I just want a shower and I am going to bed. I am SO done with this day.

Now Shelby and I are sitting here together eating away at all her Easter candy, mainly chocolate...soothing ourselves. Its working too.

I called Ian to tell him what had happened.

"You have to twist that wire hard, and why would you walk home?"

Me: Well, because I didnt bring my cell phone with me.

(and here it comes) Ian: Well, I know that I always take my cell phone everywhere with me.

Me: Yes, well, I guess I learned not to do that anymore huh? Sarcasm dripping from my lips...

Me: I am not in the mood, I am going to take a shower and I am done outside. Bring home something for supper, I am not cooking either.

SILENCE

Me: Hello??? Did you hear me?

Ian: Yes, I heard you, stop yelling.

Me: I AM NOT YELLING, I am talking normal!

Ian: Why dont you go and get you and Shelby something.

Me: Well don't you think I would, I dont have any cash!

Ian: Oh

Me: So do you have any money left? Pick up some four for five dollars Arbys roast beefs okay?

SILENCE

Me: HELLO???? Did you hear me? Do you have any money left???

Ian: I got a couple of bucks, yes.

Me: Okay then, pick up something, I am going to go now, drive safe, see you when you get home, love you, bye..CLICK

Oh and Ian also said, So, I guess we have to go get the truck when I get home..I said, YEP

and that is how my evening went, how was yours???

Good Saturday Morning

I was up to see that beautiful sunrise this morning. The warmer weather and the sunshine has really kicked me into gear and I am actually getting up earlier and getting some things done around here. I know it is supposed to rain tomorrow, so I am going to be sure to make the most of today for sure. It is still a cool 39 out there this morning, so I thought I would stick around inside for just a little longer before I go out there and get in a full day of genuine farm work. ;)

I did in fact get all the boards and what not taken down from where the pigs made shambles of their old wooden house. Pigs are so strong, they don't realize what they are doing, but they are constantly trying to move things with their snouts, always pushing and scrubbing on things. After I got all the wood stacked up against the garage, SO THEY CAN'T EAT THE WOODEN PLANKING off the wall of the garage, oh yes, they have been EATING the side of the garage off! GRRRRR! Tell me again why I have these pigs??? Yeah...so...anyway. I came to the conclusion that since they are so destructive, the best thing to do would be to construct something easy. I think I just built the best pig shelter ever, and all it took was a 9 x 12 heavy duty tarp, some wire, a metal fence post and a few staples, and it was done within 10 minutes. Pretty much I guess you could call it a tent, lol. I have it slanted downward so any rain will run off to the bottom and not collect and cave in their tent. Its hard to describe what I did, so I will get a picture of it while outside today. I just need to get some wheat straw for bedding and they will be set.

Today I am starting on the fencing off of the pasture area from the chicken area, which is closer to the house. This will put the big animals out back and the small ones up closer to the house. The big animals always try to find a way to the chickens food pans, so I like to keep them seperate these days. Put out to pasture will be the two pot belly pigs, the two pygmy goats, the horse (only 4 or so hours a day for him, he has to stay dry lotted the rest of the time or he will eat himself to death, literally), and the emus, which are already grazing regularly.

I also hope to get a new pen made up for the peafowl. They have really grown a lot and need a bigger, taller pen. Hopefully I can get some good pictures of them once they are in a more spacious pen.

Ian is gone already, he left at 6 am to go pick up Tex and Jacob to go to the Drag Racing today in Commerce. I know he will have a good time. I will still miss being with him on his birthday. I got plenty to keep me busy though.

I said I would post some more pictures of the neighbors animals Shelby and I are taking care of..today is fowl pictures day...so here goes. Enjoy!

























Just checking to see if you are paying attention! LOL! Yes, that last one isnt a chicken, its their pig. :)






I also got a shot of THEIR guineas (used to be MY guineas), a couple of them walking off into the pasture. Glad they aren't mine now. They were just too noisy for me. Patrick likes them, but I don't think Laury likes them so much...sorry Laury. She thinks they are pretty noisy too.

The local farmer that owns the land next door started turning the soil yesterday. I always say that makes it official, Spring is really here now. :)

Y'all have a great day today whatever you decide to do with it. XOXO

Good Friday Morning

We had a full day of sun yesterday and we are going to have a full day of sun today! I am going to have three full days of no rain, and then Sunday it will pour down according to the weather folks. I can handle that. I can get a lot done today and tomorrow before the rain comes. Yes I can.

I took more than two pictures at the neighbors house, you know, the animals we are caring for while they are away. These are my two favorite though...and you can see Shelbys new hair in these two. This first one is my very favorite. Her hair turned out a little yellow, but its nothing the purple shampoo can't fix. ( folks that color their hair blonde or red will know about this, it takes out the yellow or the brassiness in your hair from these colors)






I will post some more tomorrow...I don't want to take too long and miss out on this beautiful warm and sunny day. :)

Ian was off on Wednesday and I had him running around with me to get these I found on Craigslist...





I have been wanting some more good size bird cages for my house chickens Phoenix and Clyde. You know I had to make one for Clyde for the winter. Now he will have a nice real home. Shelby is making her chicken into a house chicken too, so I guess I will be making some chicken diaper outfits for him once he is grown. Oscar is turning out to be a really great chicken. He will get the biggest cage since he will end up being the biggest bantam house chicken. I am going to modify these cages so the high space can be used and not just the bottom of the cage. I have some things in mind to do to them.

Sunday nights high winds had many of our shingles missing and gone off the roof. One of the shingles decided to scrape across the back of the bedcover of the truck (yeah,I left it out of the garage that day, that turned out to be a bad decision). Its scratched up good, or bad, depending on how you want to word it. I need Billy Mayes magic pen for car paint! I hope it comes out in Walmart soon.

So, Ian and I spent a big part of the day going from place to place with a small piece of shingle looking for a match. First up was Home Depot. We don't have regular shingles on our roof, we have architectural shingles, so they are harder to find in many colors. Home Depot had two colors, and neither one matched. So...off to the next place, Lowes. Lowes only had a couple of colors, none matched, but they could order our color..BUT it would be three to four weeks getting here. The man was very helpful though, he said to try a local hardware store in Rome that might have it, so we went there...and...no...they didnt have it either. You would think such a common color as Estate Gray, or Slate Gray, would be easy to find. They recommended what the guy at Lowes said, a place called ABC Supply in Calhoun. So off to Calhoun we go. Low and behold, they had any and every color known to man in shingles, even in architectural! We made a perfect match, got two bundles of shingles and some roofing nails. It was too late for Ian to get on the roof Wednesday, so he started fresh on Thursday morning. I like to be close by in case he falls off the roof, so I was in the garage cleaning up some and feeding the animals early. He used to play soccer, so he has very good balance. I wasnt too worried, but anytime he has to go up on the roof, I want to be right there. I can't catch him and save him, but I can call the paramedics if need be. Thank goodness for all those years of soccer. He still couldnt reach all the places that needed to be replaced. Our roof is pretty steep and he will need help with those so he says he will probably see if Tex can come over on Monday and help him. It might have to be postponed though, rain is in the forecast for Monday.

So whats going on today? A friend of Ians that does a/c work at Ians work is coming by to fix the upstairs a/c today. I have a house to clean, lots of laundry as usual, and I want to clean the porch today. It seems I am very good at making messes lately, so I have some messes that need cleaning up.

Tomorrow is Ians birthday. He is going to be 42 years old. Usually we will spend the day together, but this year he is treating himself to the drag races in Commerce. He is going with Tex and Tex's son. I know he will have a good time, and I want him to have a good time. :) Maybe he will get home in time for us to go out to eat too, we will see.

Well, daylight is burning, and I got plenty to do...OH good news! I have my first baby silver laced polish to hatch at 4 am yesterday morning! AND I got the first ever bantam Silver Spangled Hamburg baby hatched later that day. My future show chickens I hope! I will take some pictures and post them over the weekend.

Where Is My Rocker Cushion?

My header is a very good question this morning. We had unbelievable winds last night and this morning. The weather lady said winds were up to 35 mph in town and 40 to 45 out of the metro area.

My double rocker cushion is nowhere to be found. It is probably in the next county at least. We got a new grill when we went out shopping on Saturday and the box we put all the trash in from parts and such...is empty. The trash is just...gone. Nowhere to be found. I am amazed I don't have any chickens blown away.

I asked a long time local resident this morning while talking to her on the phone if this extreme weather is normal for northwest Georgia. Ian and I got to talking and decided we must have moved to a turbulent area or something. Nope, she said up until a few years ago it wasnt like this. So, I guess when we moved here thats when it started. Great, we are bad weather magnets!

Doesn't matter, we are here to stay, not going anywhere. I have several days of clean up ahead of me. There is stuff blown everywhere around here. There are even shingles from the roof blown off into the flowerbed.

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I hope everyone had a fantastic Easter. Shelby is getting older now and not really into coloring and hiding eggs anymore. Shame, I still like to. ;) We had a nice day anyway. I cooked an Easter dinner. Nothing extravagant. Ham, black eye peas, mac and cheese and some rolls. Patti was not able to come this past weekend, but plans to later on in May, so it was just the three of us. I still make Shelby an Easter basket up with candy, a stuffed bunny and a special surprise. This time it was a Wii video game she has been wanting.

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Shelby and I are taking care of the neighbors animals this week. I know I have been neglectful of this blog and haven't posted any good pictures in several entries. Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be nicer and I will take my camera down there with us and take some good shots of their horses, pig, and chickens. Shelby is the horse person of course. She takes care of them and I take care of the pig and the chickens.

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Friday we spent all day out and about, getting groceries, checking out the deals at Big Lots, and then Lowes. There was some really bad weather to come through while we were out. While we were in Big Lots the bottom dropped out of the sky and it hailed like crazy. There was a report of a funnel cloud over the area too. While we were eating supper in Hiram at Fatbacks there was a report of a tornado passing over my little town. It didnt touch down thank goodness. Shelby was a nervous wreck worrying about the animals and didnt eat much at all. Ian and I were worried too, of what we would find when we got home. Other than some upturned shingles and a couple blown off we were okay. The animals were okay too. We also stopped in at Sallys Beauty Supply for hair color. Shelby has decided to go blonde all the way this time. She wants her hair shorter first, so I will trim before I color. Mine is in desperate need of coloring, but I will do hers first. I can do mine another day.

Saturday most of the day was spent putting the grill together. I will have to take a picture of it. I like to cook on charcoal and Ian likes gas, so we got a half and half grill and we also got a smoker to attach to the end. That turned into a job for Ian to put on. He had to knock out the side of the charcoal side and the side of the smoker (it was cut and spot welded to be knocked out for this purpose). We have a cover that is made for this grill, but the wind made short work of it last night and it is laying around the bottom of the grill today soaked with water puddled in it. Guess we are going to have to attach some weights to the bottom of it to keep it from blowing away.

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It seems the harder I try the more behind I get around here. There is so much I have to get done and the weather is just making a mess of things out there. The yard stays wet and flooded in places, so I can't even mow. I haven't been able to plant the tomato plants. I bought a Topsy Turvy to plant one of the plants in. Thank goodness I didnt get around to that and hang it on the front porch yesterday! It would have been torn to pieces by the wind.

This entry has been a rambling mess...so I am going to stop now. Its just random thoughts over the last days. I hope to get my act together here soon and make some decent entries and post some good pictures. Thanks for putting up with me. :)

I have missed so much lately, just came back from reading over many journals. I apologize for not being around as much as I should. There is always room for improvement, and hopefully I will do better.

What Happened To SPRING???

Yeah, I know, I am supposed to be doing stuff right? Not supposed to be posting, but people...it is COLD outside! It got down in the lower thirties last night, with winds twenty miles and hour and more all day yesterday and last night, and continuing into today. Tonight it will get down into the twenties. What is going on? Shelby says mother nature has PMS...lol.

I have pictures from my nieces shower...but my camera is still in the truck, and its cold, and I don't want to go out there to get my camera. I have to go to the feed store later, so maybe I will remember to bring in my camera when I get back and post some pictures then.

Saturday was a beautiful day...warm and sunny. Erin, Shelby, Mama and I got on the road at 10 am as planned to head to Columbus for Kathryns wedding shower. No sooner than we got on I85 did we come to a parking lot of cars on the highway, stretching for miles according to Erins Iphone when she googled traffic.com and got the traffic report. Severe delays...the DOT was hanging signs on the overpasses...and that wasnt all. There has been construction on this highway for like four years. You know those concrete walls they have decided to put up on either side instead of barrels? Aren't those fun? They had reduced the speed limit to 60, but because of so many wrecks (imagine, nowhere to go but forward, trapped in the concrete walls, and there is a crash) they lowered the speed limit to 50. They had the highway down to one lane too, that was wonderful. (Sarcasm dripping)

So, the trip that should have taken just under two hours, took four and a half hours. Us and 14 million of our closest friends sitting, on I85, creeping. So the next exit I got off and Erin kept us on the right roads to get on down the road to Columbus, BUT, there were at least ten thousand of our closest friends that had the same idea, so it wasnt long before we were sitting again, creeping. I know we had to be in Newnan for a good hour. But I was on a mission. I had already planned to spend this whole day out and on the road and at this shower, and we were gonna make it come hell or high water. We got there at 2:40...and left at 4:40...enough time for me to get Erin and Mama home, and then Shelby and I home before dark. I dont like driving in the dark you know. I am not complaining, Kathryn is worth it. She is a good niece and that is why I wanted to be there. At one point there was talk of turning around, I said no no no no, I have dedicated this day to this shower and if I go home I will have to do work, in the mud outside, and I am not in the mood for that today!

You wouldnt think that all that driving and sitting would wear a body out, but it sure did. I was so stove up. For those that don't know this term, it means sore and stiff, a southern saying. I am starting to loosen up a bit today, but yesterday was tough too. I was aching and hurting all day yesterday as I went about my animal chores. Sunday was so bad for Shelby and I both we didnt do a thing. So no, we haven't even touched the playroom. During the week it is hard to get anything extra like that done with us doing school and regular chores.

Bill, I wanted to tell you, Shelby does do chores. :) You see, the whole upstairs is hers. She is old enough now that she cleans her upstairs herself, bathroom and all, and yes, that includes scrubbing the toilet and tub. She even has her own little vacuum for up there so we don't have to drag the big one up and down the stairs. I know a lot of kids these days don't have the chores like I had when growing up, or like you had Bill, but I believe it helps one to develop independence knowing how to do these things. Some kids don't know how to work a washing machine, or a dishwasher. I want Shelby to know these things. Its just basic survival skills to me. When I was a kid I used to have to help clean up the yard, rake leaves, pick up sticks and pinecones. I had to help clean the house, dusting and such, once a week. It was just part of growing up. That bird I had at the top of the page....it was a chicken! It was a rooster to be more specific. They are called onogadori. There is a link on one of my entries to a page about these magnificent fowl.

Everyone have a fantastic day, and if you have warm weather today, be thankful for it. :)

Taking A Break This Week

Its that time again for me. I need to take a little break from blogging...and the computer in general really. I have a lot of things that I want to get done around here and they aren't getting done lately so I am going to adjust my focus this week on those things.

One of those things is Shelbys playroom. She is fourteen now and she has not played with toys in quite a while. This room needs to be redone to suit a teenager, so we are going to focus on that for awhile.

I have a lot of this and that chores that I need to do outside, nothing major, just things that have fell by the wayside. I have to stop and really concentrate on getting things done sometimes.

I will be back next Monday. :) See ya'll then!

Well....

Your not going to believe this...but Kenny drove all the way down there, and all the way back. Its now 9 am here and they are at the Plantation House down in South Georgia. I told Ian I don't know where Kenny gets his energy from, but to get some of it and bottle it and bring it home. So I guess Ian will be home in about four hours. I told him if he wasnt sure he could drive without falling asleep at the wheel to sleep at Kennys or go over to Mama and Daddys (its not far from where Kenny lives) and sleep a while. I told him I couldnt do it, I love my sleep too much. I would be delirious! I am glad they made it safely this far. Once he is home I know he will sleep and sleep, I know I would.

Paula, I promise I was not on anything when I made that entry last night, lol, yes it was different, but you know I only reveal my past from time to time when I feel like it. Maybe I was a bit tired and thats what sparked the different entry. A bit delirious since I was up later than usual worrying myself about them driving through Alligator Alley. That is the stretch of I 75 that runs across the bottom of Florida, through the swamps and the Preserves. There is NOTHING out there...but gators. They made it through though. They were supposed to go straight back up I95, but NOOOO we got to take the scenic route, in the middle of the night. Men, what are you gonna do?

Now I got to get up from here and get this house cleaned up and get off to Walmart to buy a shower gift for my neice for Saturday. Its going to be a beautiful day today and tomorrow, so I want to be ready for it. I just got off the phone with Patti, my older sister, and her, my other niece Ashley and Ashleys boyfriend are coming to stay for Easter weekend! If the weather is good. She doesnt like to drive in bad weather either. So I am keeping my fingers crossed, hoping Easter weekend will be a beautiful and sunny one.

Time for me to go get this day rolling...lots to do! Y'all have a great day and a great weekend. :)

Thursday night....

Here I sit. It rained off and on all day again today. No sun in sight. South Georgia and North Florida are getting pounded as I type. I told Ian they should stay in Fort Lauderdale tonight where the weather is not so bad. When I talked to him today it was a very warm 92 and muggy down there. I told him to please bring some sunshine back from the sunshine state. Since I am just passing the time right now I thought I would just put down some rambling thoughts.

The picture above is of the British Rock Band Iron Maiden. I was browsing about looking at their tour places and dates and it turns out that this was indeed a big deal. Matter of fact, tonight's show is the last of a massive jaunt around the world in their own jet flown by their lead singer Bruce Dickenson.

Iron Maiden has always been Ians favorite heavy metal band. Since I met him he has loved heavy metal music. Its not for everyone, but when we were dating I learned to like some of it. I ended up liking AC/DC, Anthrax, Metallica, to name a few. Ian and Kenny took Kennys sixteen year old daughter to this Iron Maiden show. Shelby and I went out tonight to the local wings and pizza place and started talking, then it struck me, while Ian was on this kick he should take Shelby to see Metallica! Tickets go on sale Saturday, but the show is not until October. Shelby has a wide variety of music taste. She listens to pop, rock, and heavy metal, and the occasional country song, usually by Taylor Swift or Carrie Underwood. She plays video games, with her dad, and they play Rockband together, thats the game with the drums and guitar. Shelby plays drums, Ian plays guitar. On one of the recent games they bought for it is Metallica's Sandman. Its funny, how nowadays music Ian and I listened to in the 80s has bled over and peeked todays teens interest. A lot of the rock bands are making a come back with the teens. Like AC/ DC and Metallica, and evidently Iron Maiden still has a HUGE following all over the world. Yes yes, I know, if you go to Ironmaiden.com you will see all sorts of horrors. Like all their album covers have Eddie on them. Eddie is their 'character' they have had on their albums for many many years. His look changes from cover to cover, but it is still Ed. Yes, the plane they flew around the world says Iron Maiden Flight 666 on it. They do not worship the devil. It is just like anything, a gimmick, kids think its cool, whatever. Its all part of the heavy metal scene, always has been. Its all taken with a grain of salt folks. There will always be people who carry things too far, and then there are the people that just take it for what it is and don't obsess over it.

Now, Ian and I don't go off without each other very much. Occasionally, maybe twice a year I will go to Phenix City and visit Sherry. When I do, I spend the night and he takes care of the animals for me til the next day when I get back. I am missed terribly and when I get home my daughter is all open arms and hugs and kisses and missed me a lot. Ian doesnt know what to do while I am gone. The last time I was gone for over 12 hours he didnt eat, didnt feed himself, so I guess he would starve if I stayed gone too long. ;) Shelby says maybe the next time I am gone and she is fixing lunch for herself she will fix him something too so he won't starve...how sweet of her. Anyway, Ian misses me too and is always glad to see me back home. Tonight I am missing him, even if it is only for one night. The three of us are usually all together most of the time. We all have our own individual lives, but as a family we are very close knit and when one of us is gone for very long, the other two miss the one missing very much. I hope he gets home earlier than later tomorrow, but I don't want him driving in the bad weather tonight. I want him to get some rest, then come back. Its not safe to drive on the roads tonight, especially if your tired.

I remember going to many concerts in my teenage years. Lets see, I went to AC/DC, Anthrax, KISS, Genesis, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Aerosmith, Ozzy Ozbourne, Prince, oh yes, I was a VERY big fanatic for PRINCE...all through my teens and into my early twenties. I still like to listen to him sometimes...or watch Purple Rain...ah the 80s. I used to keep all my ticket stubs, who knows where they all are now. There are many more to recall, but there is some heavy cobwebs back there from those times. ;)

With all this music swapping between Ian and Shelby, from Puddle of Mud to Metallica, we did something the other night that was kinda fun. Kind of a new twist on family night I guess you could say. Instead of the old game board stand by, or a movie, we all three sat around with Shelby driving the computer and looked up videos on Youtube. Ian and I started out with 80s songs, We each took a turn, going round and round. Shelbys were newer songs of course, but Ian and I were able to reach WAY back past the 80s. First was some fun songs, like Frankie Goes To Hollywood....Relax. Then some STYX...from the Mr. Roboto album, yes, I do still possess vinyl...that being one of them. Some Jimmy Buffet, Margaritaville, I thought of some Midnight Star, No Parking On The Dance Floor. Oh and lets not forget the fun videos of Sledgehammer and Big Time. Ian thought of some really obscure songs, some I didnt know...from the seventies. I thought of a few from then. You remember that song, the guy meets his old lover in the grocery store...yeah that one, Old Anxien...or however you say it. I thought of the Double Dutch Bus, but we got tired after about three hours of this...and decided to go to bed. After all it was about 2 a.m. in the morning...lol.

Anybody watching American Idol? Who is your favorite? Mine is Adam Lambert. Has been from way back. Yeah, he is kinda funky, but he is definitely different and I like that. Next I like oh whats his name....Chris Allen? Is that it? I never seem to like the girls as much as the guys...wonder why that is, then I got to thinking about it, and there hasnt been a girl to win since Carrie Underwood has there? None of them has just knocked my socks off.




Adam Lambert




Okay, so what else is there to talk about...hmmm. I don't know, maybe I will just go and check out some blogs and see whats going on at y'alls house. :) Oh...yeah, by the way, that video up in my sidebar...well, let me tell you how this came to be.

Shelby was doing a writing assignment. She loves dolphins and one day hopes to work with dolphins in some way. Her writing assignment was about dolphins and how to save them from fishing nets, and slaughtering in Asia. About the oceans being polluted, all things concerning dolphins and their well being. While googling we ran across this...The Cove...a soon to be released documentary. I have seen the horrors they talk of...there is a video on Youtube, it is narrated by Joaquin Phoenix. I know it exists, and now some brave souls are doing their best to document this and get the word out. Some say oh, its no different than the Koreans eating cats and dogs, or us eating cows, but I don't see cats, dogs, and cows on endangered lists. I read up extensively on how many are killed, its phenomenal, and the way they do it, oh yes, it is a slaughter. I thought I could do my small part by posting it on the sidebar to get the word out, that, once again, humans are a primal and brutal creature, and we must monitor our species behavior and correct it if we can.