NoobieChickenLady's Journal - SS Score and Mah Kitteh is HOME!! Yay!

Aidenbaby

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Noobie - I'm jealous you know how to clean a deer. I'm going hunting with my friends later this year just so that I can learn. No one in my family hunts.
 

noobiechickenlady

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Don't be jealous! Its messy work and I kinda got thrown into it when I was a kid. Have you ever watched or butchered anything? Its gross, and I have a strong stomach.
Things you need to keep in mind are
1. You have to have a good support for the animal and a way to lift it to that support. I've never liked skinning on the ground. It can be done, but it is so much easier to put your body weight into pulling the hide off. I use a chain hoist, so I can lift a 150lb deer with my 140 lb. body strength.
2. Do it when the kill is fairly fresh. The longer the body has to cool, the harder it is to peel it. I understand it can get easier once it has aged, field dress it (take out the entrails and leave the hide) then leave it somewhere cool to age a bit. I've never tried it though.
3. You DON'T need to knife up the hide to get the skin off the deer (or whatever) you can use body weight & gravity, along with forcing your hands, elbows, fingers, etc between the meat and the hide to loosen it. Mostly, they just peel right off with a little tugging.
4. By the above, you will know you need to wear muck clothes. Not your sunday best :D
5. WATCH YOUR KNIFE BLADE at all times. My hubby almost took off my ear one year! Not literally, but it was darn close. Bless those quick reflexes. The hide can slip suddenly and if there is a blade close, you might just wind up on it. I make sure he stays a good 4-5 feet away when I'm pulling down on the hide. Or at least, the knife stays away. Basically, I make the cut, put down the knife, then tug away. If you want the gory details, PM me and I'll be happy to oblige.
 

noobiechickenlady

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Grrrr... :somad I got home yesterday and my DD (6yo) starts telling me about this lovely device she saw on TV at mawmaw's. "You run it over your carpet and it picks the dirt up out of the bottom of the carpet so you can just vacuum it up" Last week it was the touch-n-brush, week before it was something else. We've never had cable/sat/bunny ears, even before we got married. DH has ADHD and it just sucks him right in, have to tap him on the shoulder to get his attention. Words just fly by, so we just don't have that extra bill, saves money too. So when the kids go to my mom's for a couple of hours in the afternoons after school, they get to watch TV, veg out actually, after all the homework is complete (least I don't have to gripe about that...)
Anyways, we've had the needs/wants conversation before and I guess it never really stuck. DS has Down syndrome and he could care less. If he's got his army men, he's cool. DD on the other hand, seems to just drink in the commercials. She gets the jingles stuck in her head and runs around chanting them like I used to do the skip rope chants. Plus its making her "want" all of this STUFF, stuff we don't want, need or should have in our house. That cupcake maker that she fell in love with? Got it for Christmas from my mom (mawmaw) ITS STILL IN THE PACKAGE! Never been opened.
So we sat down and had another needs/wants conversation. Told her that basically, we don't have a lot of money and we have to use the money we do have for things we actually NEED, like food for the chickens (we don't produce enough kitchen waste to feed them) and bread as I can't bake a loaf of bread to save my soul.
I want to ban them from TV, but my mom always has it on, and what are grandparents for but to spoil their little ones? So we instituted a no electro-week. ALL entertainment was to be non-electronic. No video games, no handheld games, no movies, if it needed power or batteries, it was banned. Even for grownups (practice what you preach and all that :) )
That may well have been the best idea I've had all year. They went outside more, we broke out the board games, taught them how to play Rummy and Uno, me & DH played chess. It was GREAT!
I just can't help but get frustrated at my mom for letting them have free reign with the TV at her house, cause DD seems to soak up more in the couple hours than I can get out the rest of the day! The TV is ALWAYS on there.
So anyways, I needed to vent :rant , this seems like the perfect place to do it, at least I won't get any "But there isn't anything wrong with watching TV" on here. At least I don't think so :lol:
 

hennypenny9

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Good job with the no electric entertainment! And actually sticking to it! When I was little, my parents just had rabbit ears, so not much tv at home. When she worked I either went to my grandma's or this retired couple that my mom was great friends with. At my grandma's I was only allowed one show, Sesame Street. At the retired couple's house all I did was watch tv, mostly game shows. (Price is Right!) I remember crying when I had to go to grandma's and got no tv, and hey, I turned out alright~ I probably was a massive brat for a while, but my mom is even MORE stubborn than I am, so I doubt I ever had a chance.

I have no kids, so my little story is all you get. ;)
 

noobiechickenlady

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Thanks hennypenny. It was tough at first, but after the 3rd day we didn't have to repeat the injunction on no electronics! The only exception to the no batteries was Operation, which we encourage DS to play for his fine motor skills.
I'm sure my kids will turn out right, I have the best behaved kids out of all the people I know. They are smart and semi-logical (for kids anyways, sometimes the turning of their minds loses me in such fun ways :lol: ) they are kind, loving, generous for the most part. They might not want to share with each other, but do want to help those less fortunate than them. We were doing some decluttering and I asked them to sort through their books and take out any that they don't read or that are baby books and they took out over half of the books to take to the Salvation army & Community kitchen. Now I need to get them some new to fill those gaps in the bookshelf.

I think I'm going to make 1 week a month no electronic. We might even increase the difficulty as we go along, like turning off the breakers to certain appliances (not fridge or ice chest). We already don't use the heat or air unless we have to, relying instead on the breezes that drift up the creek to our house. Good practice I would think.
 

hennypenny9

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I love that parents here actually pay attention to their kids. At my work I hear the most amazing things. "I won't tell you again!!"-said for the 57th time. My parents told me from a young age that obedience was because they loved me, and didn't want anything bad to happen to me. What if I ignored them when they told me not to cross the street? I'm sure it wasn't easy, but what was the other option? Let me run wild? And trust me, I would have!

Anyway, kids today seem to get everything they want from electric whatevers. I spent very little time inside, and am daily irritated by kids with their PSPs because they can't stand walking through the store without brain mushing devices.
 

noobiechickenlady

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Quail_Antwerp said:
WARNING: if you are opposed to parents spanking their children as proper punishment, stop reading now, and exit my journal. If you continue to read, consider yourself warned, and don't give me crap about my form of discipline!
I read that and went YEAH! Loving, but real Discipline! We were at church not long ago and the kids ignored a specific direction. So I started the count. I do a very quick count from 5 down. Before the "ve" was out of my mouth, my kids were jumping. The preacher asked, what happens when you get to 1. I said "They get to assume the position" and patted my back pocket, where I had the small paddle. I don't have to very often, because I do it consistently and reaffirm the same message your parents gave you. I love you, I want to keep you from harm, and you, as a child, lose your head sometimes or don't yet know that something can harm you.

We had to get out of dodge the other day, bad weather was coming and we live in a mobile home. The grass in the back field was twirling and the leading edge of the cloud bank was beginning to rotate. We don't have our storm shelter yet, so we take off for Mom's place, less than 100 yards away. Told the kids, get your shoes on, NOW! I got two "Bu..."s and started the count while I was slipping mine on, they were finished before I was. When we got to Mom's, DH & I sat them down and explained what was going on and reaffirmed that we don't always have time to explain the why, but if you just do what you are told without complaint, things will go a lot smoother. They are getting better about minding before I start counting too. The rule too, is if I have to count more than twice a day, you get no count the third time, you assume the position. The count is really for me, rather than them, so that I will have a half second to calm the instant "You VILL Mind Me!" reaction and don't beat the tar out of them when they deliberately push the boundaries. They have to know the borders are still in the same places, so they have to check perodically. I understand it, but when one is quite obviously ignoring me, well, sometimes it makes me see red. So I count, it gets my blood pressure back down so I can focus on the real issue, making sure they know the boundaries are still there and still firm. I didn't have to count at all for the next three days. It was nice. Whats funny? Everyone says I'm too hard on my kids (I'm not, its called FIRM), but they also say "Wow, your kids are so well behaved" HA! Hand-in-hand, my dears, they go hand-in-hand.

I will admit, we have several video games systems. Mainly because DH is a gamer from long ago, since he was 5 or so. But the time that is spent on them is limited, after homework & chores, not for the hour before bedtime. That hour is reserved for peaceful, quiet time, reading, playing card games and the like. Some of the systems were gifts, some we bought used at pawn shops. Never spent more than $20 bucks for one system, never more than $5 for a game, usually less than that. I refuse to buy one new when the very next year they'll be available for half the cost. I don't like buying anything new, if I can help it. Underwear, yeah. T-shirt, not unless they are on sale and we do indeed need one. I'm cheap, which comes in handy in a frugal lifestyle :cool:

I cooked yellow dock for the first time last night. DH and I both did a prelim test the day before, I know it has oxalic acid in it. I boiled in lightly salted water, and discarded that, tasted and wasn't too bitter, so I sauted it with some wild leek, a little olive oil and added chopped walnuts. DH and I ate what we wanted, but gave the kids a very small serving and told them to let us know if their tummies got upset. Very tasty with broiled chicken and black beans on the side.
 

lorihadams

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We have a wii, my MIL bought it for my DH and we never play it! I try to cut the tv off during the day but rainy days are hard. I am totally guilty of putting on a movie and letting my kids veg for a while so I can just not hear them fuss with each other and actually get something done without being interrupted. I want to go camping this weekend in the yard so we can't watch the tv. It's hard, when my DD goes to stay with her grandparents they let her watch movies all day. (she's 2) She even eats in the recliner in front of the tv sometimes. Kills me. Then when she comes back I have to break her of it.

I think I need to start taking a paddle with me everywhere!
 

keljonma

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Plus its making her "want" all of this STUFF, stuff we don't want, need or should have in our house. That cupcake maker that she fell in love with? Got it for Christmas from my mom (mawmaw) ITS STILL IN THE PACKAGE! Never been opened.
Sounds like ya got a Toys For Tots donation started .... :lol:


typo
 

noobiechickenlady

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Yep, in my closet with a few things I've found on clearance, after it sat upopened for 3 weeks. We'd baked cupcakes at lest twice since then and it was never mentioned. Not that I thought to bring it up, I always used a knife or spoon to ice cupecakes :D

There have been studies about the bad stuff that TV does to kids brain chemistry. DH really believes part of his ADHD comes from watching TV so much as a child. I see the signs of it more in DD when she goes to mawmaw's, muuuuch less when she's taken a week off. She's more focused, less jittery, more coherent and logical.

Just unplug the stinking thing! lol, there was a movement on one of the Family radio networks around here called "Toss your TV" and they had people really tossing their TVs, as in the trash. I don't think I'd go that far, prob use it as a planter first :lol

I love taking the kids camping, its truly calm and peaceful. Yeah, they might be running around and yelling almost as much, except when fishing, but the sound seems, softer somehow, when you are outdoors.
 
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