Muddy Boots

Chick Flicks

From Flickr, that is. :)

They are now nine days old and today had their first taste of grass.  They must have really liked that grass ~ the whole gang went into a feeding frenzy after I sprinkled the cut-up greens in their box.  One little chickling didn't want to share and was chasing the rest away from the bootie.  I quick flick of my wrist and the greens were scattered throughout the box.  The brute couldn't protect that much territory and so settled into sharing.  They must really like their greens ~ not a single speck remains!

"What's this green stuff?"

"Whuhchoo lookin at?"

After a few pictures, I couldn't get anymore because they all rushed to hide in the corner.  They did NOT like the flash from my camera.  Even all that lush greenery wouldn't lure them out until I got rid of it.

Not much else is happening on the homestead, hence my preoccupation with the chicklets.  Weather-wise we are still in the throes of summer, but most of the garden is long gone, victim to our unrelenting drought.  We did manage to pick five ears of corn for dinner last night, but it was well past its sweetness.  Had a truckload of dirt hauled in (and let me tell ya, it does NOT resemble the rich, black dirt of my Illinois youth!) to make a raised flower bed in the front yard, to build up the bed on the south side of the house where the dirt currently resembles concrete more closely than dirt, and if we still have enough energy we'll make a raised bed in the back yard for an herb garden.

Final Tally

Six Buff Orpingtons and Two mixed breeds.

Not too shabby for our first go round.  Especially considering all the hurdles!

1)  The eggs were SUPPOSED to go under our broody Banty hen.   OF COURSE, she stopped that minutes after the Buff O. eggs arrived on our doorstep.

2)  Turned the a/c off during Week 2 and had trouble regulating the temperature in our newly acquired incubator.

3)  Forgot to turn the eggs TWICE and then had to go out of town for two days.  No problem.  Spent the cash on the automatic egg turner (thereby leaving me with no birthday gift for hubby.)

We started with two dozen Buff Orpington eggs and about a dozen of our mixed breeds.  We lost almost a dozen first thing when dh dropped them on the floor. :p  One chick had to be euthanized.  I didn't count the remaining eggs, but I believe we were a bit above 50% hatching and surviving.  There is one chick I'm not sure will make it, but the rest look healthy.

Chicks!

We have chicks!

Six have hatched - 4 Buff Orpingtons (from a relative) and 2 mutts (from our brood).  There are two that have been in the process of hatching all day and I think we might lose them.  One more is pipping.

I really didn't think we were going to be able to do this.  I had a horrid time keeping the temperature right when we first turned off the a/c.  Fortunately, it got hot and humid so I had to turn it back on which kept the temp in the house more constant.

Can't do pictures yet.  Camera still MIA.

Quiet

For years now I've had this urge to open the electric box and flip the main switch.  I want quiet.  True and complete quiet.

No hum of the refrigerator.

No buzz from the well pump.

No whir of the air condition or ceiling fans.

No television, computers, gameboy, or steroes.

No rumble of the dryer or swish of the washing machine.

Peace.  Quiet.  Ahhhhh.....

Rain!

Too late for this year, but comforting nonetheless.

My favorite color God paints on this earth is the not-quite-brown-but-not-really-yellow gold color that soy beans turn just before they become dry, brittle brown and ready for picking.  I've been known to stop the car on the side of the road on our way into The City just so I can look out over that beautiful color one moment longer. 

Unfortunately, there hasn't been any of that color this year.  I would guess that drought has played a big part in the why.  The beans are turning so fast that I'm missing my color, although I suspect that they are skipping right over my color completely.  I've also noticed that the fields aren't turning color uniformly.  Big splotches of green, yellow, and dried brown cover every field between here and town.

I'm not really disheartened, though.  That color is not man-made and next year, when conditions are better, the beans will once again turn MY color.

Sweet Corn

We'll have sweet corn for dinner this weekend!  Before we freeze any my corn connoisseurdh must test it to ensure proper sweetness.  Our earlier corn didn't pass muster (most likely because of the drought) and the neighbor we usually buy mass quantities from ran out before we could get there (again, didn't have a big crop because of the drought).  Amidst the jokes and teasing of neighbors and relatives dh went ahead and planted a late crop and appearance proves success.  Now we await the taste-test.

Automatic Egg Turner

I need suggestions for a birthday gift for Daddy-O.

Our unexpected trip to Indianapolis this weekend neccesitated purchase of the automatic egg turner on Friday.  Since our chicks will hatch at the end of this week and there appeared to be chickies inside the eggs, we felt it was a good investment.

Which leaves me without an idea for a birthday present.  Maybe he needs a new YOGURT MAKER!  Yea!

Smoking Tobacco Barns

After two years in Kentucky, we saw our first smoking tobacco barns today in Christian and Logan Counties.  My camera is MIA otherwise I would have stopped and taken a picture.

In our area, tobacco is hung in open-air barns to dry.  I first read about the smoking barns in a coffee table book about Kentucky barns.  Then another homesteadblogger posted pictures of a couple in her area.  (Sorry, it's been a long time so I can't remember who that was!)  They sure do look like they're on fire!  Good thing I knew what was going on or I would have called 9-1-1-. :)

Our barn is actually a newer tobacco barn, built just before the buy-out.  It only held tobacco for two seasons before being abandoned, along with the rest of our property.  The cross ventillation makes it a great place to play outside during a summer thunderstorm.  Ours currently holds the fort pictured in the previous post, our boat, extra straw bales, a non-regulation basketball hoop, and anything else my kiddos drag back there for protection.  In the winter the large tiller and the lawn tractor will take their place alongside the boat.  My dh dreams of the day that his very own tractor will hang out in that barn.

This is the only picture I could find of the barn.  I'll have to fix that as soon as I find my camera!

Reason #1,493 to Homeschool

Time to build forts!

Bob the Rooster

I tried to get a picture outside the coop, but my presence must have threatened him because he gathered up his little hens and herded them into and to the back of the coop.  A couple of them came flying from quite a ways away at his crowing.  Here he is attempting to awe me with his power....

Bob is a Speckled Bavarian given to Flower Child by a man who shows his chickens.  Bob was worthless to him because of his deformed comb.  He's doin' his job (if you know what I mean!) for us and sometime next week we hope to have some little Speckled Bavarian/Araucana and Speckled Bavarian/Game crosses.

Time to turn the eggs....

Said in my most Dunkin' Donuts Guy voice.

Yes, I believe that Daddy-O could use a nice automatic egg turner for his birthday.  Doncha think?

County Fair

The whole family went to our county fair together last night.  It was a dud.  The carnival was a complete flop, the food lines were too long, and all of the exhibits were closed except for the public school display.  It also happened to be demolition derby night.  And we went late.

So, we've learned our lesson.  Next year we will go the first weekend, pray they hire a different carnival, and will arrive early enough to visit the exhibits and leave early enough that we don't get caught up in all the late-night antics.  Although, I have to confess that watching those high school kids, late at night, and away from their parent definitely renews my desire to homeschool!

Don't worry.  It wasn't a complete wash.  We got to eat FUNNEL CAKES!

Back to the Blog

Homestead blog, that is.  I like my wordpress blog and I'll continue to maintain it, but I missed the Homestead Blogger community.  I need a place to ask questions and exchange ideas.   Over the last two years I've learned two very important lessons:  1) We have a lot to learn and 2) My dream is not going to happen overnight, it's going to take years of hard work.

 As we close our second year in Kentucky, I do see forward progress.  Our garden, even with the severe drought, prospered and I managed to freeze quite a few tomatoes and a couple of batches of spaghetti sauce.  We harvested strawberries and grapes, making preserves and jelly.  There will never be store-bought jam in our house again!  Princess and I made fermented pickles twice, although no one likes them.  We have zuchini and corn, frozen and ready to eat.  I have a large canner and learned how to hot-water-bath can.  We now have six laying hens and a rooster who have done a pretty good job of keeping us in eggs, with the incubator humming with our next batch.  I have plans for planting a large quantity of garlic this fall.

 Our family consists of me, my husband (Daddy-O), Rooster (ds-15), Princess (dd-13), and Flower Child (dd-9).  We also have seven cats, two dogs, three fish, one white quail, and the above mentioned chickens.  I continue to pine for my very own Jersey cow.  God, in his mercy, has NOT answered that prayer, knowing that I am not emotionally ready and the farm is not physically ready for such an undertaking.   Since our marriage, Daddy-O and I have lived in six states, homeschooling in four, and raising tomatoes at each and every one of our fourteen homes.  I am now a recovering retired U.S. Navy wife and this is the Forever House we've been dreaming about for a very long time.