Lorihadams-- hi guys...been busy!

[lorihadams]

Monday

We had a great time camping! Tyler is sick and is coughing like crazy. I gave him a breathing treatment this morning. The weather was wonderful, we grilled hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire. We had a separate tent set up for the kids but, as usual, they wanted to sleep with us. We were afraid we would get hot but it was really nice. The kids were running around the yard and playing and crawling in and out of their sleeping bags. One of the air mattresses leaked and Chad ended up on the ground but other than that everything was fine. We all went to bed about 9:15 and got up a little after 6. Forgot to close up the chickens so we woke up to all the ladies clucking around the tents and Buddy started crowing early as usual. I will post some pictures on here later, I have some on photobucket so I'll see if I can get them on here.

Not doing much today, made bread this morning and helped Tyler plant a tray of grass for his dinosaurs to play on. My seedlings are doing great and most everything is getting the first set of true leaves. I am going to plant the garden Thursday or Friday. Chad may take the kids to granny's house for the weekend and I will stay here to make sure the seeds get off to a good start and everything stays moist enough. It will give me some time to practice quilting and I have a few tote bags I want to make too.

 

[lorihadams]

Well, today we mowed grass again. It is supposed to storm all week and weekend so we wanted to get it done today. Pushing this yard is work! I need the exercise though. I have started taking ACV and giving it to the chickens as well. Had to clean a few chicken butts yesterday but the girls are much more comfortable. Kinda grossed out my hubby though.

Planted liriope at the entrances to the neighborhood and took down the flower boxes that we put on the signs, people keep stealing the flowers so we have opted not to put any in. It is fine cause the liriope is pretty easy to deal with and will stay green all year round. I'm surprised that someone hasn't taken the solar lights we put out yet, knock on wood.

Caught Maggie rolling in a dead deer carcass that something dragged out of the woods....whew, did she stink! She got a bath this evening before coming back into the house.

I cracked open some of the eggs that I found in the hidden nest and they both had bullseyes. I am now debating whether or not to get an incubator. If I hatch them they will be Japanese Bantam (roo) EE crosses. Wonder what they would look like? Still trying to decide what to do. The good news is that Chad came home with lumber!!! He is able to get crates from work that would otherwise be discarded. They are about 2 ft by 3 ft and solid on the bottoms. I am thinking CHICKEN COOPS!!! If we put 2 of the bottoms together and put it on stilts then we would really have a nice coop. He said that he would start bringing home as much as he could get! Watch out Quail, I'm making my chicken village!!!

 

[lorihadams]

Wednesday

Got 3 loads of laundry on the line and hopefully it will finish drying before the rain hits us. I have to go to the library and get a book that I had on hold, Worms Eat My Garbage. Then have to go to the store and get milk. My children and hubby are sick and he is going to the doctor this evening. He never goes to the doctor unless he feels horrible so it must be bad.

Gonna soak my bean seeds tonight so I can plant them tomorrow. I have downloaded my pictures to photobucket of the camping adventure and I will try to post them in a few minutes.

 

[lorihadams]

Here's some of the camping pics, hope this works!

Rise and SHine!

 

[keljonma]

Great pics, Lori! Looks like every one had fun... including the hens!

 

[modern_pioneer]

I think the chickens are watching Chad with the pork in hand, wondering " hope were not next "

Great!!!!!

 

[lorihadams]

Funny!

Can I just say how much I HATE ticks!!! I'm sitting here on the couch reading posts and whammo! I felt one chomp into my neck....it felt like a bee sting, big sucker too. I am sooooooooo getting some guineas.

 

[punkin]

Sounds like ya'll had a great time. Nothin' better for kids than the great outdoors.

I'm with you on the ticks. Tuesday, I noticed that chiggers are out. Better watch where you sit.

 

[justusnak]

Great pics, and great memories! We used to love camping with the kids when they were younger. Now....my idea of camping, is sleeping with the windows open! Sleeping on the ground is just not as easy as it used to be.

 

[lorihadams]

Thursday

Forgot to soak the bean seeds last night so I am soaking them today and will probably plant them tomorrow morning. I will be planting the rest of the garden today with the exception of the peppers I started, no true leaves yet so I don't want to move them into the garden yet. Chad is going to stop today and get some plastic sheeting so that we can have some protection from the upcoming predicted thunderstorms for the new seeds. We have a ton of hardware cloth and some leftover fencing from the dog run so the plastic is all we should need to get the tunnels done. I also stopped yesterday and got some broccoli and carrot seeds and some yellow pepper plants. I also checked on an incubator because some of my eggs are fertile! I cracked open some and they have bullseyes on them! AND my new hens are laying!!!!! The eggs are smaller than normal but they have just started laying so they will get bigger with time, I'm sure.

Thanks to Kel, I am finding DEAD worms this morning in the chicken poo. I made them some scrambled eggs with garlic and they fought over it this morning. I am continuing the ACV and plan on getting some pumpkin seeds and BOSS this weekend.

I am also happy to report that I feel really good after a week on the ACV. I take 2 tablespoons with 8 oz of water every morning and I have to say that I haven't felt as achy as usual.

I also plan to rework the worm bin. It has been a year and the worms need to be divided and I need to start a new bin and get the compost out! That is also something that I will probably do this weekend. I'll post the instructions on how we did the worm bin later. It is really easy and if you haven't ever done one then you should definitely try it.

I also want to go to a great store from my college days, Motley's Emporium, and look for tea cups for my bird garden. It is a great old store that is like a flea market with old tools, furniture, dishes, toys, hardware, books, cooking utensils, pots and pans, bottles, everything! They even have an old working woodstove in the middle of the store for heat! It is great and you can find some really neat stuff for cheap.

I went to Longwood College in Farmville, Va and it is a great little town. Everything closes at 5pm and you can walk almost everywhere. Downtown has cobblestone streets and I have to say, it has gotten built up quite a bit in the 12 years since I graduated. It has since become a "university" and the student population has doubled. The dorm I lived in all 4 years had radiators for heat and no air conditioning. A lot of the old buildings have been torn down since my days but there is still a lot of charm about the town. A huge furniture store is there, Greenfronts, and lots of little antique shops, mom and pop stores, a small bakery, a little 10 seat diner, and an amish furniture store. I only live 30 minutes from there now and there is even going to be a chicken swap there next month! I miss it but at least I am close enough to visit whenever I want.