Learn to ride a bicycle. You will not regret it if you live. - Mark Twain
Tomorrow is the annual PPD triathalon, which includes a 100 mile bike ride that goes right past our house.
Here is what the riders will see:
GAAAAAAH Big Chicken Ahead!!!!!
The organizers do have a sense of humor.
I also got a shot of lake creek as I walked by
What is beyond the tree line?
I have spent the last two days playing bridge in various places, so did not bother to blog. Today I had to go to Wilmington to pick up chicken food and then I swung by Silver Coast Winery to pick up my quarterly bottles. It is a great day to stay in and drink red wine. It is kinda overcast, gloomy, halloweeny weather.
There is a good chance of frost tomorrow PM and as the enviro people screwed up my order, I don't have my plastic panels for the porch yet. So I have to drag all of the plants inside. I don't know where I will put them cause many are in huge pots. I also have a very confused iris, that has decided to bloom now.
It's spring, right?
All of the leaves have started to turn and are dropping. Our front "yard" is starting to look like a giant leaf pile. I don't bother to rake them anymore cause there are too many. They eventually blow away or turn to mulch, so I just let them hang around. Sometimes I go around and just kick them like good old Charlie Brown.
Minion has ceased to brood so I have no broody chickens left but now several are molting, so the egg count is still down. I have one laying behind the carport shed door.
hen at work
Minion is also still limping, although I can find nothing outwardly wrong with her foot. Not sure what to do about this. She still gets around OK, but I don't know what would happen if she should happen to meet a predator. Like JW. He's been really mean to her lately. Probably because I favor her and give her treats.
The baybay rooster is getting to be a real handful. He is trying to take on the adult hens for food rights. I think he and JW are going to be having fights when the time comes. I would like to keep him, though, so I have protection for all my hens. Haven't got a name for him yet.
"What's mine is mine and what's yours is mine" - Unattributed
GAAAAAH. It's happening again. Jim now has two trucks here and he still drives my car. Therefore I couldn't mow the cemetery yesterday and had to do it today. I'm also missing one of my metal tubs, most of my hose connectors, most of my drip irrigation tubing and who knows what else????
I swear I am going to start going around with a sharpie in my pocket and write my name on everything, over and over.
Anyhoo, I got the cemetery done. We then cut down some trees for this winter's fires. Now we have to borrow the preacher's log splitter. I know what you are thinking, but we ASK before we borrow. And I give him eggs.
I spent some time making hummus this morning. I got the sesame seeds all toasted, then proceeded to spill half of the pan on the floor. DANG. But I managed to salvage enough to make some dill hummus and some red pepper hummus. yumm.
I also spent some time putting a board over the nest boxes so the three youngsters won't spend the night there and poop all over the top, and darned if they didn't find enough room between the board and the wall to roost. Sleeping on an incline. They are nothing if not tenacious.
One can tell the morals of a culture by the way they treat their dead." ~ Benjamin Franklin
Good morning all.
I spent all morning yesterday mowing and weed-wacking our graveyard. I only got half of it done cause I had to use the push mower. It has more precision around the headstones.
How many dead people are in here?
OK, that is an exaggeration, but it sure felt like that.
I guess I'll do the rest tomorrow.
I was gonna go to Silver Coast Winery after that, but I was just too tired. Too pooped for wine? Man, that IS tired. So instead, I made the last of the goat cheese for a while. The goats have no more kids, so no more milk. And I made some pesto from the basil in the garden. It is extremely hot as all the plants are old and concentrated, but I hate to pull them up as the bees are still all over them.
Anytime you see a turtle up on top of a fence post, you know he had some help. Alex Haley
I finally finished putting the fence up around the bloob/grape compound. Unfortunately, I had a little snafu. I measured the amount of fencing needed to complete the compound with a tape wheel then I added a foot for insurance. I was 6 inches short. Then Jim tells me that the wheel is not accurate. *&#(*$_(@* So I cobbled the last bit together with tie wraps I got from the flea market.
not pretty but functional, I hope
I also got all but two of the grapes/bloobs mulched in. I need to take care of some fire ants before I do the last two.
old row
new row
After that, I had just enough energy to clean out the chicken coop. It was ugly. But now they are all clean and happy. Except I need to find a way to keep the youngsters from standing on the nest boxes at night and pooping it up. They need to integrate with the other cockers. I'll work on that today.
I got a shot of the burl from the oak that we cut down.
Having sex is like playing bridge. If you don't have a good partner, you'd better have a good hand. Woody Allen
Well, it seems that I am on the upswing. Two weeks ago I came in third. Last week I came in second. This week I came in first, with the highest score I have had in three rounds: 4750. Of course 1300 of that was from a double that I declared, and the opposing team went down 6 tricks. Fun times.
bridge
Before bridge, I planted all of the living bloobs, except two, that I haven't found a spot for yet. I haven't mulched them in yet cause I have to put the fence up.
sad bushes with new homes
I also took a few shots of the cool design in the tree we cut down
Big day yesterday. Jim and I took down an oak tree that was in the blueberrry/grape compound.
no blueberries were harmed in this process
Precision felling. Right between the two fence posts. We will cut this up for fire wood, except for a couple of pieces. One is a huge burl that I want to keep and there are some ends that have a marvelous irregularity running through them. I want to try to cut smaller discs, sand them and preserve them.
I also put my woodworking hat on and made some doors for the chicken coop to keep the baybays and the buppy from spending the night in the boxes and pooping them up.
This is not an outhouse!
I gathered up all of the tomato cages for storage and put another 50 foot section of the back fence up. I still have two more sections to put up, now that the tree is down. I planted 3 salvaged blueberries to fill out the row where I had lost some. The other salvaged ones will go in a row in front of the grapes, today before bridge.
the dead
the living
the cages
I had a nice rain last night to water in the bloobs I planted. And more scheduled for today.
Lastly, a short film and a pic of the cockers
The Rooster Crows in the Morning:
Saddle Girl chooses a nest box
bak bak
PS I do dress in women's clothing and I used to hang around in bars.
PPS Check this picture out. I took it just before the one above but I used the flash.
"May the God of your choice bless you, and onward through the fog" - Kinky Friedman
Very heavy fog this morning. Not a warm fog, but a cold clammy fog.
yeah, like this
but really like this:
water above the pond?
Yesterday, I planted the crepe myrtle tree in the yard, finally. But I forgot to to check the good book, which said transplanting today and tomorrow. Oops.
please fence me in
Before I even got the fence around it, JW was eying the mulch. I had to chase him away three times and got a good pop in the knee for my efforts. It's still sore this morning. I swear he is getting stronger and more accurate.
So, after that one transplant, I quit, although I was going to do some bloobs as well. I'll do them today. The rest of the day was taken up with making tofu, storing empty mason jars, enjoying a visit from my uncle Jack (you never know when he will pop in), grub hoeing some johnson grass, and pulling up a million, bazillion little basil plants in the garden. All my basil is still going strong and covered in beeeeeeeees. But it has bolted and each seed that hits the ground grows a plant. Fortunately, the frost will kill them. Unfortunately, many seeds will winter underground and pop up next spring. I think I need a separate space for basil. I have no clue where.
I also re-restarted my eating log to try to get some of this weight off. I have been very bad for a couple of months, and am coming down to the wire.
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana" Groucho Marx
This is now my new favorite quote of all time.
The point is, I can never get this blog done at the same time each day. So you get what you get.
We will start out with a chick flic
I also have another rogue nest in the carport, behind the potting bench by the door.
rogue nest number 4
I spent yesterday cleaning up the back garden. I weed-ate and took down the orange fencing and the tomato cages.
sad grapes, dead weeds
And my weeping bald cypress is putting on her fall colors
fixin' to shed
I checked my garden yesterday and the lettuce looks good and it looks like all the other stuff that got bug eaten is coming back, but I don't think they will make it before the first frost. It was 40 when I got up this AM.
So, I spent a little time making my new craft. I'm calling them Lil Buppies.
flocked
Unfortunately, my friendly neighborhood organic farmer can't sell them at his table because the market manager makes him list what he is going to sell for the year. So, he is taking them without the sign and using them for decoration around his tables, and if someone happens to ask if they are for sale....
I've used up my stock of feathers so am going to have to raid Jim's buses for more. He's got more chickens than I do.
We've got our cool weather back, finally. It was 55 this morning when I let my cockers out.
It really is festival weather. I looked to see whether there was a Renaissance fair here. There is, but it is past Charlotte, too far for us to do in a day. So I guess we may try one of the Ag fairs more locally. Darn. Sometimes you gotta just visit the past instead of the present. But not now for us. Sigh.
Well, I got my three buppy roosters loaded up and transferred to Jim's rooster bus. It was sad but it was time for them to go. My lead hen has a back that looks like hamburger. I ordered her a saddle to protect her back and let her grow some feathers.
stylish in camo
My last female buppy is going to be lost with no one to hang out with. I feel really bad, but there is not much I can do. She won't integrate.
I spent most of yesterday in Wilmington getting Mom's car serviced. New oil, new wipers, new brakes, etc. It now has 175000 miles on it and still runs like a champ.
I was wanting to get some apples this year in the Piedmont area of the state, but futzed around and missed the season. I thought it happened in October, but apparently it happens in September. So, yet another chance of trying to make apple wine is gone.
They do have some county fairs and the state fair this month. We may try some of the local fairs. Also, Fort Fisher is hosting a ghost walk next weekend. I am really psyched for this one. For some reason, I am really drawn to Fort Fisher. Maybe I was a soldier in a past life.
Today is goat cheese and birdie crafts and cleaning out the buppy rooster house.
Well, I got all of the pinecones that i foraged to stand up in preparation for making of the birdies. I didn't have any yellow spray paint so tried gold, but I didn't like the effect. The gold doesn't stand out enough, so I will get some yellow paint today after bridge.
bird futures
Muskett is still having problems with his leg. Sometimes he can't make it up the stairs outside. I'm really worried that he won't come out of it this time, as he is old and already had arthritis in it. And winter is coming on. Cold weather doesn't help. I will ask the vet if there is anything we can do when I take him for his heartworm test.
More upbeat news. I did a review for my new weed trimmer and thereby entered a monthly contest for a prize of four new heads for the unit. And wonder of wonders, I won!! Here is the E-mail:
Good afternoon!First off, thank you for taking the time to submit a product review of your128LD trimmer. Now the news... you were chosen as September's winner of thereplacement trimmer head 4-pack:http://www.husqvarna.com/us/homeowner/accessories/product-accessories/heads-and-blades/t25-tap-advance/(you'll receive four of these). When you get a chance, please reply with your name and shipping address sowe can mail it out to you.Thanks again!Mike LewisHusqvarna Marketing
I am also entered in a yearly contest for a complete lawn care equipment makeover. That would be sweet.
The weather is like Halloween. Dreary but bracing. I got some pictures of my confederate rose in bloom. It seems to skip years. Last year it did nothing. This year it's beautiful.
