AL - Recording baby steps: Newest Addition

[AL]

Is it just me or would Screaming Meaties be a great band name?
Glad they made it through the weekend!

LOL I thought that as well! It also made me think of my grandma saying someone "got the screamin' memes"

OFG - I thought of you and your rabid goats.

Meats are kind of confused today. It is 83* and they don't know whether to lay in the dirt or eat more - so they are laying in the dirt to eat more. Being the horrible person that I am, I move the feeder from one end of the run to the other and keep the water in the shelter. They have totally wiped out any semblance of oat grass, so I was thinking of just pulling up grass from the garden to give them? Maybe some old pea and squash plants? I really want them to eat more than just feed. The bait shop only takes cash, so I am hoping my egg customers come through for me tonight at work so I can buy crickets. One lady took 6 dozen eggs, another is getting 2 dozen tonight. The lady who got 4 dozen on Friday paid with a check. blah

Tomorrow I am going to try my hand at pumpkin pie filling. This weekend I want to cook down some more pumpkins and also try to make my own bread.

We had considered processing our first set of meats on Saturday, but I just don't think they are going to be big enough. Still haven't found a scale so I guess if I want to know weights I will have to buy one. May be just as well that they won't be ready, it is supposed to be 33 Friday night, but milder next week.

 

[Farmfresh]

I would buy meal worms instead .. crickets might move too fast!

 

[BarredBuff]

Hey AL! How much do you charge per dozen? Im considering raising the prices.

 

[AL]

That's true FF! They have caught a few fast bugs but that was before they hit the "lay down and eat" stage.

I am really not a good person to model prices after, because I just about give mine away. I only charge $1.50. The going price in my area is about $2. I just got in over my head with 15 hens so I was drowning in eggs, pretty much begging people to take some.

 

[AL]

It is crazy warm here again today - about 81 right now. They are still saying rain on Friday and then lows in the 30s for the weekend, highs around 68.

The frankenchickens have hit an absolutely disgusting stage. Their covered shelter is about 6x8'. I covered the very back 3rd or so with litter and left the rest of it dirt / leaves etc. This morning when I turned them out, the dirt was slimy stinking mud.
I scraped the top muck out with a shovel and put litter throughout the whole shelter. I am really ready for these nasty things to be washed and cleaned

I don't do the whole "Black Friday" shopping anymore... went twice with my sister a few years back and we had fun, but it got old fast. Anyway,
my dad has a friend with a lot of property. This guy has tons of oak trees so he just uses his lawnmower to bag the leaves and then they have a mountain of leaves in their back corner of the property. I am going (hopefully this weekend) to get a couple of truckloads and spread out on the garden, clean up the barn and pasture for horse manure, spread the pile of chicken litter / straw etc and then till the whole thing under. I'll do the whole process again around the end of January for planting in mid-March. (except my potatoes, which I am ridiculously excited about trying)



ETA - I forgot to mention - I had some grapes going bad in the fridge so I cut them up for my layers. I didn't figure the meats would eat them because they pretty much only like grass and feed, but I cut the grapes even smaller and tossed them in - it was a frenzy! They would pick up a piece and then run screaming throughout the pen. Looks like I'll cut up some more half rotten grapes for them!

 

[AL]

I live in a relatively small town. We have a decent population (over 300k) but folks are spread out more towards our north end of the county. The more dense (geographically and mentally ) population is to the south near the Gulf of Mexico and in downtown.
16% of our population are below the poverty level.

That short tour to say this - our town has gone crazy.
The headlines in today's newspaper:
- 1 Wounded in drive by shooting
- Police officer back at work; suspect still missing
- Murder suspect arrested
- Resident stabs home invasion suspect with sword ( Like this one!)
- Pensacola Beach man, 80, indicted in fraud scheme
- Teens charged with burglary
- Local man sought in murder

Part of one of the articles:
Wednesday's shooting was the latest in a series of shootings in Escambia County, including:
-- A shooting Monday Nov. 22 that injured a man on Pace Boulevard
-- The Friday Nov. 19 homicide of a 19-year-old man at the Moorings Apartments.
-- The Nov. 6 drive-by shooting on Texar Drive near Palafox Street that killed a man.
-- The Oct. 29 shooting of deputy Jeremy Cassady and two other deputies.
-- The shoting that killed two people on Oct. 13 at Royal Crest Apartments.
-- The Oct. 13 shooting that injured two at Bristol Park.
--------------------------
I think the Gulf oil spill was only part of our problem.


On the GOOD news front: the Deputy who was shot (Cassady) was given a 5% chance of survival - he got to go home; the "police officer back at work" was on admin leave for shooting a guy who pointed a gun at him. The suspect escaped the hospital.
Officers on lunch performed CPR on a lady and she lived.
_________________________

I really really have to get better at my gardening and SS skills.

 

[Farmfresh]

Sounds like the lovely town I live it. It makes me simply weary to read the news. Usually I just don't read it at all.

We had almost 900 violent crimes (that were caught) in 2009 alone and technically we are a big burb. The city proper had 6,269 (!) violent crimes including 115 murders (!!!) AND over 28,000 property crimes.

Here were today's headlines

Man gets 30 years for 2009 fatal crash
Missing man (4 years) honored
Woman's abandoned remains are found
Woman charged in fatal KCK stabbing
Three men charged in PV burglary

Nope. I don't want to read the daily news.

 

[AL]

What a beautiful morning!
It is about 70* and the sky is a bright blue with white fluffy clouds scattered like someone tipped over a jar of cotton balls.
Got up early and fed the nasty meat chickens (gotta put fresh dirt in that run TODAY), my sweet layers. Then I cut up some more seedless grapes for them before feeding the horses and tossing out some hay.
By the time I got to my folks house my mom already had the turkey in the oven. In a little while I'll help her with the sweet potatoes and deviled eggs.

My sister, her DH and my 2 nephews will be here to eat with us. Who knows if my brother will make an appearance, or even where he is.....
After we eat and clean up I have to go to work for a few hours. I am happy that I get off early (830pm instead of 1am) so I can get up early tomorrow and play in the dirt.


Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

 

[FarmerChick]

Happy Thanksgiving AL

 

[Farmfresh]

Got up early and fed the nasty meat chickens (gotta put fresh dirt in that run TODAY), my sweet layers. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving AL!!

Try throwing some ceder mulch in that run. It really helps with the odors.