Denim Deb Hay, hay, hay. Thank the Lord!

[SSDreamin]

I have taken to replacing anywhere from a teaspoon to a tablespoon of the flour with vital wheat gluten if I come across a recipe that doesn't rise well. Works for me

 

[Denim Deb]

I might just try that if the yeast is OK.

Today wasn't a hard day, per se, but I'm beat! First off, hubby's working weekends again and late hours. So, instead of sleeping late, I got up at 5:00 like normal. I would have loved to have gone back to bed, but since I had my nature club and bird walk this morning, I stayed up. I had some stuff to get ready for club, so I did that this morning. KN fed the horses for me, so I didn't have to run to the farm real early. The bird walk was good. I saw 2 birds I've never seen B4, a golden crowned kinglet, and a ruddy duck! We also had a thrill when a young red tailed hawk came flying into the area, then perched in a tree where we could all get a good look at him.

After the bird walk, we had nature club. December's club is different than all the other months. We do what's called trim a tree for wildlife and this is open to the public. We made all kinds of goodies to put out for the birds. Last month, we couldn't do the craft I had planned because I had trouble finding what I needed. I was able to find it on line and paid extra to get it on time. Then, we had a hurricane come up the coast, and UPS suspended service for 2 days. So, we didn't get it in time. But, the kids enjoyed it. We made ornaments from sand dollars.

When I was done there, I went home. Didn't have time to do much but change the truck for the bike. It had warmed up, so I wanted to take advantage of the weather-and save some gas money. KN never let Cindy out this morning, but that was OK. CL was there w/her dogs so she didn't want out anyway. Fed Stormy and let the chickens out. And, I checked to see if I had any eggs. And, that's when I discovered the foul. I found an egg in a different nest box than where the one has been laying, and this egg was brown! So while I'm happy that I have another chicken laying eggs, I'm a bit disappointed that it's not green. After all, the reason I got this breed is cuz I like those green eggs. Oh well, at least I don't have to buy eggs. I got 5 this week!

PT has a horse that's not broke to ride. This horse is not a good horse for her-a mustang! And she's a bit afraid of it. He's never done anything crazy that I've seen, but she's a bit nervous around many of the horses. Well, today she had a friend over that offered to back him for her. PT didn't have a clue as to how to hold him for her and even after I showed her, she STILL couldn't do it, so I did it. I didn't really want to, but I also didn't want to see this lady get hurt. And, it's a good thing I had a hold of him at one point in time. He spooked when she was getting off. If I hadn't had a hold of him, she might have gotten hurt.

I was finally able to leave. Got home, fed the animals got a load of laundry off the line, and brought in some wood. Then, I went to the store. The store is right next to a church that has a really nice live nativity set up. I wanted to go to that, so I figured this way I could do both w/out spending extra on gas. I was feeling a bit lonely, but ran into a friend. Then I heard someone calling for Aunt Debi and there was my brother and his youngest daughter! So, that was nice.

By the time I got home, it was around 7:30. So, I got a fire going, then made an easy dinner. Now I'm relaxing and am about ready to go to bed!

 

[Denim Deb]

Well, I got 2 eggs today-1 green and 1 brown. Plus, I've identified one of the girls that's laying and she laid a brown egg. I'm thinking this might be her first egg. It's a different brown than the one I got yesterday. I'm not sure that it's a bad thing after all. Having some brown might make it easier to sell since some people are afraid to eat my green eggs!

 

[Denim Deb]

I believe I now have 4 of my pullets laying! The 2 brown eggs that I got are both a different shade of brown. There were no eggs in the nesting boxes when I got there this morning, but when I checked B4 I left, there was an egg in there. Plus, someone laid an egg in Honey's old stall. And both of those eggs were green!

I finally got the frame work up for my hay shelter. I still haven't gotten the zipper in the door. If I can, I'll do that in the morning. I definitely want it done this week.

Today was warm for this time of year-68*! I wanted to go riding, but it was opening day of deer season and there's too many idiots in the wildlife management area. I figured it just wasn't worth it. We'll have more days (I hope) this winter that I can ride.

Right now, I'm really glad I no longer have Honey in my field. If I did, I would have paid $70 for the dentist on Friday, then $35 for the farrier today. So, that's money I got to save!

W/Stormy's teeth the way they are, I have an idea that I want to try to make it easier for him to eat hay. But, I have to wait for 2 things. 1, I have to wait for a day when there's going to be a lot of rain so I can keep him in his stall. 2, I need to wait for hubby to stop working a ton of overtime. I'm wanting to try him on chopped hay, but it's expensive to buy it that way. So, I want to make my own. But, we haven't used the chipper/shredder in years and I don't have a clue how to work it. So, when hubby has off, I'll have him get it out so I can see if it still runs. Then, I'll put some hay thru it. Then, when we get some bad weather, I'll put him in the stall and feed him that. That way, I'll know for sure if he eats it or not. If I try it w/out having him locked in, there's no way I'd be able to say for sure if he was eating it.

 

[luvinlife offthegrid]

I make lovely Rye bricks. If you try the suggestions and it works to lighten the loaves up, let me know.

 

[luvinlife offthegrid]

Also- funny about the green eggs. I had someone ask me if that meant that the hen "cooked it too long" before she laid it. I dropped off a dozen eggs ( the first dozen after my Easter eggers started laying) at my Uncle's when no one was home. The next week I dropped off another dozen, and my aunt asked... "Can we eat the green ones? ". I gently joked that I wouldn't have put them in the cartons if they were bad. I have had to give the breed/egg color schpeil I don't know how many times this year.

 

[Denim Deb]

A couple of years ago I was talking w/this older woman. And she told me about this senior's trip she had gone on to a local zoo. She said they got to see some special animals, including a chicken. I'm sitting there trying to figure out what's so special about a chicken when she says this chicken lays green eggs. At which point I told her that I had chickens that lay green eggs. She looks at me and asks, "What do you do w/them?" Me, "Eat them." Her, "What do they taste like?" Me, "Eggs."

I can understand someone being a bit hesitant to try an egg w/a different color shell. I grew up eating white eggs. I don't know how old I was when I found out that there were also brown eggs. But I got up my courage and tried them. They were good, so I started to eat them. Then I found out that there were also green eggs, so I tried them and liked them.

 

[Denim Deb]

Hubby's been working OT again which means I don't always get enough sleep. Yesterday, I had my doctor's appointments and normally try to leave the farm by 1:30. Well, it was 2:00 by the time I left. I was working on the hay shelter. I had to put grommets in the old bill board I was using for a top, get them all in and found it's too long! I KNEW I should have measured it first. Plus, it's a bit short. So, I measured it to see how long it needs to be, then made a cut right there. Today, I'll be laying that flat and cutting that part off, then adding that piece to the one side to make it wider.

I was heading down the road, coming up to Home Depot. I wasn't planning on stopping, but got this feeling that I needed to stop. Drove by and the feeling got stronger. There's another store I can pull into just down the road a bit. And, they've made it so the parking lots connect. So, I pull in. I had this feeling B4, and know of at least 1x when, if I had ignored it, I would have been in a very bad accident. So I went in. I found the chain I need for my chainsaw. But, if I bought a new bar, that was only a few dollars more and I didn't see any of the bars for sale. I have a feeling the problem might be in the bar, so I got both, then went to my allergists.

By the time I got there, it was 3:00. I didn't get out until 4:00. Stopped at Aldi's for just a few things, then went to my chiropractor's. From there, I stopped at Lowes to get some stuff I forgot to look for in HD. Then, I went to a couple of other stores. By the time I got home, it was almost 7:00. I got the animals fed, and brought in some wood. I was able to get dinner made fairly quickly so hubby had dinner by the time he got home. But I was so beat, I was falling asleep on the computer. So, I went to bed. I forgot to set my alarm clock, but woke up when I heard him in the bathroom. After he left, I went back to bed.

Oh, and I got 2 eggs again yesterday, 1 brown and 1 green! So, in the not too distant future, I'll be able to start selling my extras again! I almost have a dozen eggs right now in spite of the fact that I've been doing more baking!

 

[Denim Deb]

I've come to the conclusion that there are either not enough hours in the day, or I have just too much to do.

Hubby's working all kinds of OT again. And, when he starts this, I don't always get enough sleep. Tuesday evening, I just couldn't keep my eyes opened and went to bed early, then went back to bed Wednesday morning. I needed more sleep. If I don't get enough, I either end up sick, or getting vertigo attacks.

When I finally got up, I ate then went to the farm. I had to stop on the way and get some gas. I had my hay guy delivering 4 RBs, and I wanted to be sure there was enough gas in the tractor. I get there and feed everybody. While I'm doing this, I hear RU start the tractor and the tractor immediately shutting down. Great, just great. I knew what that meant. There wasn't enough gas in the tractor, which meant that it was going to be difficult if not impossible to start when I needed it. Checked w/her and I was right. The tractor was out of gas. I put in what I brought for it, then tried to start it. No luck. Called my hay guy to see when he was going to get there. And while waiting for him, tried to start the tractor a few times. I was unable to get it to start.

This time, I only had him bring 4 bales and was glad I did. He has a trailer that they fit on just right. Around this, he put a strap for just in case. I have a 30' strap in my truck. So, we put the 2 straps around the hay and attached it to my truck. Then, he pulled forward and all the hay slid off the trailer. I got the straps undone, gave him his back and he was able to leave. The horses couldn't get to the hay, so I just left it there while I did some other stuff.

The neighbor does insulation. The other day, I asked if he had a leftover piece of tyvek, he gave me a small roll he had leftover! It took me some figuring, but I finally figured out how to put it up. I took a strip and was able to staple it to the overhang on my tack shed. This closes off the gap in the front. Then, I took another piece and was able to staple it to the gap in the back. Hubby never finished my outhouse, and I just have a piece of chip board for the roof. It's not in the greatest of condition, so I took some and stapled it on top of that. I now have done everything I can to the outside of my shed for the winter.

Once I was done w/that, I started working on the hay. I went and tried to start the tractor. It started right up! RU had a RB on the spear. CL's horses were out of hay, so I figure that's where she was going w/it. I dumped that bale over the fence and went and worked on my hay. I had to take my tarps all off, which meant figuring out where all I had them tied down. It took me awhile, but I finally got that done. I hadn't wanted to do it until I knew for sure that the tractor would start. W/the tarps out of the way, I was able to rake up a bunch of loose hay and dumped it over the fence for the donkeys since they'll pick thru it. Then, I moved all the RBs I had there. I didn't have them back far enough, plus since the tarp blew off during Sandy, I want to use those bales first.

W/that hay out of the way, I put down some pallets, then stacked the new hay up. PT wanted to buy a bale, so I left one out, put 1 up on end, and put the other 2 where I can move them easily. Then, I put hay out for the day. By then, it was getting late. They're not calling for any rain until Saturday at the earliest, so I just put the tarps in w/the hay, and put the electric back up. Went to take the hay down for PT's guys, and found I couldn't get where I needed to go. CL was there, and had her car parked where I needed to drive. I left the tractor where RU could put the hay where she wants it easily. I didn't have time to mess w/it. It was getting late and I needed to leave.

I had fed Stormy, then let the horses into the parking area while I messed w/the hay and shut the gate. They wanted to get back in where they belonged. Plus, they were eating the RB that I had in my "hay shelter" and making a mess. So, I let them in. I took care of Cindy and my chickens-someone laid an egg near the coop-and was finally able to leave. I stopped at the bank and went home.

I had wanted to go to Wally World, but didn't have time then. It was around 4:00 when I got home! I had not planned on being out there that long. I threw together a stew, finished loading the dishwasher and ran it, fed the goats and bunnies, brought in some wood and started a fire. Then, I washed up some pots and pans and ironed some shirts. I had to go out, so I went to a Wally World near where I was going and got what I needed. From there, I went to the Nature Center and made a wreath! I shocked everyone there. I was working w/spruce and holly and wasn't wearing any gloves. The majority of the others were wearing gloves. But, about an hour after I started, I finished making my wreath. It needs a ribbon (I forgot to bring one and forgot to buy one in Wally World), but it's now hanging on my door. By the time I got home, it was about 8:30. My stew was done, so I ate dinner. Hubby wasn't hungry. He's trying to take dinner w/him and eat at work. Got on the computer for a bit, then went to bed.

I had hoped to work some more on my hay shelter, but didn't have enough time. I had hoped to cut more wood, but didn't have enough time. This morning, I'm going to a Bible study. So my plan for today is to go out and feed, then go to the study, then go back and feed and come home. Then, I'll work on both the cover for my hay shelter, the door and firewood. If it's still light enough out when I'm done all that, I'll work in the garden some. And, since hubby won't be home until late, I'll try and do some housework. Tomorrow, I'll get my hay covered since there's a chance for showers on Saturday. And, I'll cover up the RB w/an old tarp since the shelter's not done. (I'm planning on taking the bike tomorrow.) Then, if I have the cover and the door done, next time I take the truck I can take them out. I figure that even if I don't get them on, at least they'll be there for when I have good weather to do it.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

They can clone sheep, lol. I think that's what you need - a clone of yourself! You do stay busy.