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

[noobiechickenlady]

Okay, so I see that almost everybody else has done this, I got some spare time right now as I'm waiting on my printer, and I thought I'd tackle the monster list. Here goes:

01. Name? Tabatha, but most call me T
02. Gender? Female
03. Disneyworld or Disneyland? Neither, backyard swingset or state fair
04. What is your favorite color? Red or black
05. What is your favorite kind of gum? Big Red, though I don't chew it often
06. How much do you weigh? 150
07. How tall are you? 5'5"
08. Can you swim? Like a fish
09. Do you like to swim? Yes
10. Living arrangement? Married, two kids & animals
11. What's on your mouse pad? The word laser
12. Favorite board game? Scatagories
13. Favorite magazine? Backwoods Home
14. Favorite Actor? Ummm... Ben Kingsly & Gary Oldman are tied
15. Favorite Actress? Don't really have one
16. Do you have an accent? Yes, and it depends on the people I am around or talk to daily
17. Favorite smells? Freshly sweaty man, fresh cut grass
18. Least favorite smells? Male sweat 12 hours later...
19. Favorite sound? My son laughing in his sleep, to which my daughter replies "Sshhhh" also in her sleep
20. Do you prefer pools or oceans? Never seen the ocean, unless you count the Gulf, so pools
21. Do you watch Buffy The Vampire Slayer? Nah, but the guy who wrote it also wrote Firefly, which I love
22. Pencil or pen? Depends on what I'm doing
23. Who's better - boys or girls? They are equally talented in different areas
24. Would you like to own a motorcycle? Yes!
25. Do you sing in the shower? Badly
26. Who's the best looking Disney character? Bambi or maybe thumper
27. What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning? Wheee!!! Oh coffee!
28. How many rings before you answer the phone? Until it annoys me
29. How do you want to die? Cleanly, no lingering & no mess
30. Have you ever called a 900 number? Nope
31. Gold or silver? White gold or silver
32. Would you ever go bungee-jumping? YES!!! To the dread of DH
33. Do you like dressing up? Sometimes
34. Would you rather be short or tall? Each has its own benefits, but I like my height. I can always wear heels, if I want to be taller
35. Do you enjoy reading? Yes
36. What book are you reading now? Ummm, Backyard Homestead, Canning Basics, Pickling Basics & Robert Jordan's Wheel of time for the upteenth time, yes, all at the same time... Or rather, I alternate depending on my current location.
37. Favorite books? SS books, Collin's Gem Survival Guide, Stephen King, Robert Jordan, CS Lewis (reading books of Narnia a chapter at a time to kiddos at bedtime, they love it) Lets face it, I'm a bibliophile
38. What was the last movie you saw? In Theater - Star Trek with DH on date night , at home - Yes Man.
39. Favorite movies? I have lots, but we've seen them all a million times.
40. Do you sleep with a stuffed animal? Nope, I sleep with a live bear
41. What is your sign? I'm the fishies
42. What are your personality traits? Strong willed (stubborn) Dedicated (stubborn) I'm a softy who has a hard time learning to stand up for herself, I'm a hard-case who can't give people the benefit of the doubt. Flux, its the Pisces way
43. What's your biggest fear? That something tragic will happen to one of my kids
44. Would you ever have cosmetic surgery? Maybe a little lift, but ala Cher, NO!
45. Future child's name? No more babies unless I adopt, then I'll get em old enough to have a name already
46. Favorite foods? Squash, Strawberries, Beer Bratworst with Bulgarian Sweetcraut
47. Chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate
48. Do you like to drive fast? Yes...
49. Storms - cool or scary? Both, but I'm the one on the porch watching for the tornado
50. Do you like to dance? Badly
51. Do you do drugs? No
52. Do you smoke? Yes... It sucks the big one
53. What do you think of people who smoke? It sucks the big one for them
54. Do you drink? Occasionally
55. Favorite drink? Strawberry Daquiries made with Brenjger
56. Do you think men and women could ever be just friends without wanting each other? They can be just friends, my best friend is a guy
57. Do you eat the stems of broccoli? Yes
58. If you could have any job you wanted, what would it be? Farmer, with graphic design side job
59. What's your "type"? About 5'11", dark hair with lots of silver, Bronzed freckled skin, goatee, hazel eyes, slight potbelly, long guitar player fingers and alien toes
60. Do you bite your nails? Yes
61. Any siblings? Not that I know of (I'm adopted)
62. What movies have you cried in? Shindler's list, The notebook
63. Do you believe in God? Yes
64. Did you ever cry over a guy/girl? Yes
65. Have you ever stolen anything? Yes, when young, and got hauled back in to the store, threatened with the police and never, ever did it again.
66. Do you procrastinate? Maybe...
67. Do you believe in fate? Yes
68. Who's your favorite Sesame Street character? Grover
69. Do you organize your CD's? Nope, I lose them instead
70. What is your favorite kind of music? Christian Metal
71. What are your favorite bands/artists? As I Lay Dying
72. What was the last CD you got? As I Lay Dying, An Ocean Between Us
73. MTV or VH1? Neither
74. Who do you admire the most? My mom
75. Internet Boyfriends and Girlfriends? Nope, married
76. Are you single? See 75
77. Favorite TV show? Don't watch it enough to have one, only watch it at other people's houses, if they have it on
78. Blondes, Brunettes, or Redheads? All Natural whatever
79. Glasses or contacts? Glasses
80. What color are your eyes? Brown
81. What is your natural hair color? Brown with red highlights
82. But what color is it now? Brown with red highlights
83. Have you ever been in love? I am now and every day since I met him
84. Any pets? 2 male cats, 6 RIR ladies who think they are housepets
85. Good, decent, or poor grades? Good, #7 in class with honors
86. Is the glass half empty or half full? Depends on how I feel at the moment
87. Do you type with your fingers on the right keys? Mostly
88. What's under your bed? A roll of scavenged camo canvas material, couple pairs of shoes, dust bunnies
89. What is your favorite number? Don't think I have one, 3 maybe?
90. Favorite sport to watch? Boxing & UFC

 

[modern_pioneer]

26. Who's the best looking Disney character? Bambi or maybe thumper

Now, see thats how I would have answered it....LOL

I was put off answering those questions because of my response.....

I really need to answer those questions to.....

 

[2dream]

I read your answers and got to 41 and 42 and said "ahhhh, that explains it". Us fishes are all alike.

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Modern Pioneer, ya gotta be honest!
2Dream, the only sign that comes close to being as dual natured is Gemini, my daughter is a gemini, and her personality nearly duplicates mine.

Wheee! I've got eggpplants & okra putting on. Eggplant flowers are so pretty. This afternoon I should be able to harvest my first tomatoes. I'm thinking salad. Its amazing what a little fertilizer can do to a barren grass plot.
Spent some time this weekend, weeding, mulching and planting the beans around the corn. We've put this off just a little too long, but they are an early variety, only 54 days, so we should be fine. Although, if we had planted them when we were "supposed" to, they would have been flooded out like half the corn. I really need to mow the walkways before we leave for Hot Springs, or we'll be coming back to a jungle. The squash should be ready to set out when we get back. And I got swiss chard seeds! I can't wait to try it.

I got a free roll of "damaged" hardware cloth. I imagine it really is damaged, but the only thing I could find was a small dent at the starting edge. Who cares, it was free! Free is good

And I might, just might, get a free shed. My mom is replacing her wood shed with a metal one, and was just going to tear the wooded one down. NOOOOOooooo! I'm hoping to put it in the center of my back field. Its a nice size shed, that I helped my dad build when I was maybe 10. So, yes, its 20 years old, but its still in good shape, mom just doesn't like wood. Its maybe Thinking combination workshed, feed storage, rabbit hutch & cow stall. I can just add on to the north side the stalls that I'll need. This way I'll be prepared for when I do get that little dexter I've had my eye on. And next spring, when the rabbits come in for Easter, I'll grab a few to start up a rabbitry. I won't wait until I have the rabbits to build the hutch, like I did with my chickens.

I got a rooster this weekend! I went to the feed store for some DE and saw this lovely group of adolescent barred rocks. One stuck out because the comb was huuuge. So I got to looking at him, and saw that there was a little spur growing in just above his back toes. Rooster! The cashier said "Ya know, I've been looking at that one wondering what was wrong with her. You really think its a rooster?"
Oh yes, definitely. But, my ladies hate him. I've got him in a large dog trap right now, as the ladies' box is trashed and I can't put him in the coop yet, due to risk of disease. Its a good thing too. The head hen saw him, charged in to defend her territory and was thwacked with a flyswatter. She got some feathers before I got the flyswatter though. Hopefully, by the time I can put them together, he'll be big enough and just mean enough to keep from getting henpecked, and they will be used to having them around. We named him Staley. If I determine I will have enough room, I'm going back to get a few of his sisters. I like the looks of the barred rocks and I'm certainly not adverse to some mutt chickens.

 

[noobiechickenlady]

We got back from Hot Springs around 2am Monday morning
I get turned around every time I try to leave Hot Springs, so we were way late leaving. I think it wants to keep me. So I slept late Monday morning, went to work and DH checked on everything while I was gone.
The ladies did well in their new coop and my mom kept Staley at her house. I cobbled together a "long term" feeder & waterer the day we left. I realized the night before that what I had would not work, there needed to be a larger capacity for both food & water, or my mom would out in the heat every couple of hours for at least the water. The feeder is still half full, and the bottom is dry! I took a water jug (like for the water dispensers) a bucket and a plastic dryer hose vent guide. I cut chicken head sized slots around the bucket, put the feed in the water jug, put the hooker upper protector http://www.lindemannchimney.com/ProductImages/Dryer HookerUpper.jpg on the spout of the water jug, put the bucket over all that and flipped it so the feed would spill out into the bucket, but not overflow. I'm going to redo the waterer, as its not really automated and tends to overflow when I refill it. I cut the holes with a circle saw and gashed two of them lower than I wanted...
The garden is simply exploding, weeds notwithstanding. The two sickly looking tomatoes we had put in a couple of days before leaving had almost tripled in size over the 5 days we were gone. The corn is tassled well and starting to put on ears, there are small tomatoes on 6 that were already in the ground and tons of blossoms on the 2 "new" ones. The Roma is starting to really put on, there are 4 small tomatoes plus about a dozen blooms on it, and its still in a bucket and no more than 12" tall. The eggplants & okra are actually putting on fruit, the beans are blossoming. I'm so very glad that the deer did not have a buffet while we were gone! There were some tooth marks and a couple of broken stalks, but apparently they didn't like the taste of the garlic & eggs in my fire spray. I did notice a large clump of ants on one of the eggplants & one okra blossom was being eaten. I sprayed everything with neem oil spray, then went back over it with the garlic fire spray.

The ladies recognize the new coop as their home now. Only took 5 days of being locked in and they are heading inside it at twilight, instead of tapping on my back door.

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Things to do before BBQ & after nap

1. Weed the dang garden! Mulch doesn't help when the weeds come in over the edges of your unmulched paths... Done!
2. Clean up the yard of windblown debris & my leftover bits from construction Done!
3. DE the coop & add more shavings
4. Paint 2 plastic salvaged planters
5. Plant the rosemary & sage in said planters
6. Clear weeds around front door & place planters there - Cleared the weeds, never touched the planters...
7. Redo automated chicken waterer - Botched. Need new bucket...
8. Clean out the fridge & consolidate jars - Done! Wow there's room in there
9. Make some bruschetta & pesto with the basil & tomatoes that need to be harvested - Done! YUM-my
10. Declutter (at least start!) the utility room - Started!

I'll not be back on until Monday, as I don't have internet at home and the library isn't open on saturdays at all, not just this one. You all stay out of trouble! You know who you are

 

[Blackbird]

I hope you get that wood shed! When we first moved here there wasd one. My used the tractor and drug it back into the woods. Fenced half for chickens, half for storage, and is our current chicken house. Wintered over goats, rabbits, and a variety of birds in the shed. Good luck!

 

[big brown horse]

Have a great 4th!!

I can't promise not to stay out of trouble.

 

[noobiechickenlady]

We got in our latest light bill Friday. Last year in the month of June, we used 82.5 average kWh per day. WOW, this June, we used an average of *drum roll please* 26.5!!!

The ONLY thing that has changed, other than maybe one light fixture using CFLs, is our central unit. The fan was acting up, squealing and not blowing very well. You get the picture. Well, we simply did not have the money to get a new unit, or even to get someone to come out. Got a long distance friend who said that taking the motor out and oiling it or replacing was a piece of cake, but that a pro would charge round $300 bucks to come do it. So, being the handywoman that I am, I broke out my socket set and got to ratcheting. There were no oil holes in the old motor, plus it was at least 18 years old, so we decided to replace it. Well, by the time we got the money to order it, we had been without AC for at least 3 weeks. I let DH make the decision (since he's at home way more than me) on whether to replace it and use it, replace it and keep it off or just not replace it. He voted to replace it, but to only use it on days when the heat is dangerously high. Between the pool & memaw's house (which is AC'ed) we should be fine, he said. So, its now been almost 2 months since we lost the AC and our bill has gone down DRAMATICALLY!!! From an average (we're on level billing with Entergy) of $220 last year to an average of $80 something. DH said "You know, I think we can stay hot for a few months"

 

[2dream]

I can't believe you have been without AC during this awful heat spell. I would have died. But I do like the sound of your power bill.

DH and I were just talking about this very issue over the weekend.
We are spoiled rotten. So many people do not even have the option of AC and for years it was not available and people survived it. But right now I am saying - ummmm as long as I can pay - I will be cool. For years we had window units and the power bills were outragous. We had central air install 4 years ago and I could not believe how much it dropped. Our last bill was 165.00. 4 years ago it would have been close to 380.00 and that would have been not running the window units all the time.