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

[Denim Deb]

I got to bed really late last night, I had stayed at Rena's much later than I had realized, and hadn't eaten yet, so I had to do that once I got home, as well as get the incubator plugged in.

Well, I got it plugged in, and stayed up until after 11:00 to be sure the temp was adjusted right! It stayed right all night long, so I just went and put eggs in it! So hopefully, in 21 days, I'll have some cute little balls of fluff for egg layers, to eat or to sell. Though, if Pretty Boy doesn't show up, I'll let Rena have a different rooster. I'd even let her pick him out.

 

[keljonma]

Sounds like you had a wonderful mom's day! Your family must love your homemade bread, as they knew what you needed.

 

[savingdogs]

Good luck on the hatch!

What kind of eggs?

 

[Denim Deb]

Chicken, EE to be exact. Love my green eggs.

 

[savingdogs]

I put a bunch of EE/BO eggs in my incubator too. Those chickens are just the best layers I have.

We were originally going to raise the Buff Orpingtons but I'm thinking of switching to mainly EEs. My Rhode Island Reds are also continuing to be good layers and even my orloffs generally give me an egg a day. My only breed doing poorly now is Buff Orpington, go figger, I have a Buff Orpington Roo.

But I've seen BO/EE chickens on BYC and they look pretty cool, I can raise those. If I get a real pretty one I may replace Charlie so I get more EEs in my line.

 

[Denim Deb]

I love my EE's because of the variations in the colors. No 2 birds of mine look the same. Its easy to keep track of them. I am thinking of getting a couple of Barred Rock hens. That way, I can raise some sex linked chicks, and know from the getgo which are which.

But my big news for today, I finally got my Christmas tree down! I've been wanting to get it down for several months. But, I refused to take it down until I had a place, other than in my attic that I could put it. Reason being, this tree is 7.5 feet tall, and it's really full. It comes apart in 3 sections. I cannot put it in a box, and carry it someplace, I have to do piece by piece. And I decided, plain and simple, that I was NOT going to put it up in the attic space again. It's very difficult to get it up there since we have the stairs that pull down. I've almost fallen a few times getting it up there. The tree is now living under my basement table. The ornaments are still upstairs, but if at all possible, this will be the last year that they're up there. They're also hard to get upstairs. I don't want anything that difficult to get up there.

The problem is, we have about 2x (or 3x) the amount of junk that will fit in this house. I am trying my hardest to get rid of it, but don't really get much help from the family. I've told my son that he and I need to set aside a day where we will go thru his old room and decide what he wants to keep and what we can get rid of. That will give me that room clear of junk. I get it clear, and I can then use that space to sort the rest of the junk. I want it gone. I'm tired of the mess, I'm tired of people complaining about the mess, but doing nothing to help get rid of it.

Oh, and at times, they bring in more junk while I'm trying to get rid of the old junk, and just more or less throw it on top of what's all ready here! That just makes it worse.

 

[R-Lawrence]

Sounds like you're making some changes too. I've been spending the last 3 mondays going through boxes, organizing, throwing away, and getting ready for a garage sale (or 3).

Finally found 2 missing parts to my own Christmas tree, and the stocking from my childhood.

I love my EEs too. I have a broody hen sitting on some eggs as of yesterday so we'll basically hatch about the same time.

And thanks for the bread machine reminder ... I'm gonna go put a loaf in right now ... cinnamon and walnut!

 

[pinkfox]

i love our EES, they have so much character, even if dotty has a napoleon complex, shes the smallest and the biggest bully sometimes lol.

our buff orp is our lightest layer, shes also the one that tends to display "mommy" behaviours.

 

[savingdogs]

I wouldn't mind a broody hen at all, and my Buff Orpingtons went broody in the middle of NOVEMBER which was terrible timing, and haven't been broody since. I was soooooooooo ready for a broody all of this year but finally we just broke down and got an incubator.

I love that I can tell my EEs apart, too. My other breeds are all almost exactly alike and I can't tell which is which.

 

[Denim Deb]

I'm beat! LF offered to help me work on the fence today. I thought it would be easy, take down the cattle panels that were up, get the tractor, get one of the rolls of fence, and put it up. Sounds simple, right? Wrong!

First off, B4 we ever get started, RU comes over and tells me that I need to put up a brace for my post next to the gate. So, I had to take one of my fence posts, and cut it at an angle, then put it up. The only saw I had was my chain saw. It's not pretty, but it's up.

We get the wires holding the fence together cut and off, and staple it to the first fence post. The plan was to just let it unroll off the spear, and move the tractor down. That didn't happen. Not only is there the center spear, but on either side, there's a smaller spear. And, the fence was hung up on them, so it wouldn't unwind. I try putting the roll down, then picking it back up in the hopes that we can have it just on the center spear. But, in that position, it wouldn't stay on the spear

We stand the roll up and try to just pull it off that way. It was just too heavy for that to work, so we tip it back over, and just start to roll it. And, the fence does unroll. We're doing good-until we come to the corner. We need to go around the huge post. I get the tractor out, we unroll some more fencing, and pick up the roll w/the spear. We were hoping it would have enough slack to get it around the pole. Didn't work. So, I figure, maybe if we unroll it all the way, we can just pick up the fence over the post. That didn't work, either.

Right about then, I was stumped. I honestly couldn't figure out how we were going to go around the post w/out cutting the fence. Then, LW suggests that we use the spear to pick up the fence itself and see if we could get the fence to go over that way. Well, it took a few tries until I found the right spot. But, each time I tried, I was getting closer and closer until I found the right spot! So, now the fence was around the post and we're ready to tighten the fence. I had bought something in TSC for this, but didn't have a clue how to use it. Neither did LF, and by this time, RU is no where around.

The instructions seem easy enough, remove 2 U-shaped pieces of metal, loosen up 4 other bolts, remove a metal piece, slide the fencing in, then put it all back together. First I tried doing it in the middle of the roll-right after the big post. But, I couldn't get it back together. So, I figure it can probably only be done at the end of the roll. So, I go to the end and try to get it one. It sure wasn't easy! I tried following the instructions, but couldn't get it back together. So, I did things just a bit different, and was able to get it almost how it should have been. But, it was enough to get it to work.

Now I needed a way to tie this contraption and the fence onto the tractor. The only thing I could find was a lead rope. It was somewhat messed up, but not completely, but it was all I had, so it was sacrificed. It wasn't quite long enough, so I did the best I could attaching it, then started up the tractor, and eased forward. It took a few hitches, but I finally got it where it needed to be, then I started to hammer. And hammer, and hammer. I was also putting up the things for the electric as I went.

I get down towards the corner post, and realize that the one post is really out of line. I had put this post in when the old fence was still up, and the line was really crooked. I thought I had gotten them in straight, but guess I didn't. So, I had to stop, pull that post out, then dig a new hole and put it back in. Then I got that done, as well as the corner.

Now I'm on the lane side! But, the fence is not upright. And try as I might, I couldn't get it upright w/it attached to the tractor. So, I had to unhook it. So I hammer, and hammer and hammer some more. I finally get tired of hammering. Its getting late. I can't get the last bit of fencing tight enough w/out having it attached. I'm hungry plus I'm getting cold. So, I tie that last little bit up, and run the electric that far. I go to attach it, and realize that the end of my ground wire is messed up, and I was just too beat to mess w/it.

I throw a bale of hay in for the horses. I put Misty and Stormy back in. I walk down to the other field, and get first Licky, then Honey and put then in the field. I had put on shorts earlier in the day cuz it was so warm. Now I change back into my jeans, put on my ski pants, vest, Carhartt jacket, gloves and helmet, start up my motorcycle and go home. By the time I got home, it was dark. I feed the animals and go in to see if my hubby made any dinner. He did, broccoli rabe, mushrooms and hot dogs. I grab some leftover pork, sugar snap peas and an ear of corn instead.