Stories of an odd duck

[Dawn419]

Love my EE's and EE crossed with Silver Spangled Hamburg (we call them Easter Hamburgers because of the funny looks people give us...we're easily entertained ) for the green eggs BUT they're bantams so we'll be changing over to standard sized birds next year and are torn between Barred Rocks and Black Australorps.

 

[odd_duck99]

I like the green eggs of the Easter Eggers, but (IMHO) I don't find them to be very attractive birds.

Leghorns (white eggs) are good layers and very heat tolerant - bred for the Mediterranean climate. They are a bit skittish, and are not heavy enough to be earth-bound, but lay a lot w/o eating very much for the output. I am usually a fan of the heavier birds, as we like DP hens in addition to birds that can't fly the fence and get to the garden, but our light brown Leghorn was a pretty bird I thought. She was one we sold, as it was too chilly here for her to make the production cut. Have you ever looked into Leghorns, Cheerio?

Love my EE's and EE crossed with Silver Spangled Hamburg (we call them Easter Hamburgers because of the funny looks people give us...we're easily entertained ) for the green eggs BUT they're bantams so we'll be changing over to standard sized birds next year and are torn between Barred Rocks and Black Australorps.

Easter Hamburgers - I love it!! We tried Bantams, but they quickly failed the "able to fly" test. Couldn't keep 'em in, couldn't eat 'em, off they went! I am very utilitarian in my chicken choices My goal is to sell enough eggs that they pay for themselves AND give us all the eggs we want. That already happens in the warmer months, but things get sparce in the winter. I am hoping the new gals will help get us there!

We also want to buy some eggs off someone at BYC that has BEAUTIFUL Barred Rocks he's bred for meat, and introduce those genes into our pool. Hopefully, I can hold off the spouse on that one for this year. I think the flock gets stressed with too many birds out there, and we won't know who we are keeping and who goes in the freezer until everyone matures, etc. We have .42 of an acre, and they have about half of it to wander about on. I swear they only use certain parts though... it's like they LIKE being all on top of each other!

 

[CheerioLounge]

I have looked in to Leghorns. They are a bit too light and flighty for my set up here. And I really do prefer the heavier birds. The feed store here doesn't carry any breed that can't tolerate the conditions, so I feel pretty comfortable getting whatever they will have to offer. I've had great luck with the girls I have now and will probably end up with more of the same.

 

[odd_duck99]

I have looked in to Leghorns. They are a bit too light and flighty for my set up here. And I really do prefer the heavier birds. The feed store here doesn't carry any breed that can't tolerate the conditions, so I feel pretty comfortable getting whatever they will have to offer. I've had great luck with the girls I have now and will probably end up with more of the same.

It's awesome when stores do that for us isn't it?! Then again, it probably suits them too! Feed stores and plant nurseries would always have idiots coming in wondering why certain things died.

 

[odd_duck99]

It's been a weird day today. My spouse got pushed to that limit that we all have inside us and decided to quit her job. She is the bread winner here, as I stay home with the baby and work to make the ends meet. Yes, we discussed it when she got home (we are a team after all!), as she hadn't officially gotten notice. The more I thought about it, the more I had to agree. It may not be the "smartest" decision, but it wasn't the worst. It feels like God or something larger than us is pushing us a certain way... we just don't know which way yet. I have learned to respect that feeling, as it is usually right. I have to say that I am relieved that the stress-hell of the last 2 months is over. I am hopeful for our future...

 

[odd_duck99]

It's funny. I keep swinging from excitement to fear.

I want this to be a step forward for us. We don't want to stay in our area and wouldn't mind moving to Western Oregon - possibly around Portland where we have good friends, she wants to get into Veterinarian school sooner rather than later (ideally at OSU), etc.

It gets complicated when you know that we owe about $1,000/mo in student loans between us. Most of that is mine - for a Fine Art degree that I am not using. I realized too late that being a graphic designer really didn't go with who I am, nor was I all that great at it. I don't care about the newest software version, electronic gadgets, being cutting edge, and stressed out because a customer wants an orange document to be "more blue" but not like the color and you don't know what the hell they mean. That world is not for me.

So I want us to DO something to change our lives into something we want. The idea of getting a little apartment and paying down our debts is all very romantic, but we have 3 cats and a 50lb dog. we JUST fixed up a good flock of chickens. Gardening and growing as much of our own food, including chicken meat and eggs, feeds our souls. Can we give that up? Should we? Would it be worth it in order to get out from under this mountain of debt?

I literally JUST made my first seemingly real, actual friend in 6 years. Now we are considering moving?

Could we sell the house for at least what we owe on it? We've only been here 3 years. Would renting after owning kill my spirit?! Could we afford to buy anything? Could we save up enough to buy something again - my goodness how long would that take!?

Would I have to (or should I) go back to work full time and put the baby in day care? What on earth do I want to do with myself? What would make me happy? All I can think of is tending a little farm, but that isn't on the table, and I am not interested in anything I have experience in!!

These thoughts racing are not helping my insomnia. Sorry for venting, but this knowledge isn't public yet and I am not yet sure what to do with all of these thoughts.

 

[SSDreamin]

Wow

The only advice I can think to offer right now is breathe!

 

[Denim Deb]

And to take things 1 day at a time. Don't try to solve all your problems in one night, it just ain't going to happen. Sometimes you need to be in a situation you don't like until you're able to afford what you do. And, even then, there could be a way to realize at least part of your dream.

For instance, I do not want to live where I do, I have just over 1/2 an acre. But, I have a friend w/a farm. And at her farm, I have my horses and chickens. It's not ideal, but it keeps me from going crazy. We're paying down debt and hope that in another year or 2, we'll be in a position to find what we want.

 

[odd_duck99]

SUNSHINE! WARMTH! SIMULTANEOUSLY!

The spouse and I finally have a day off together! It's been months! We are using it to catch up around here, but the weather complied with the plan and we got to play outside, so we don't mind.

She started mowing the lawn yesterday, but hit a rock just right and broke the mower blade! We were going to try and buy a new one/ fix it ourselves, but we can't get the darn bolt unscrewed! She still hasn't swept the grass remnants off the front sidewalk... guess I will have to do that before the rain comes back in tomorrow. It used to bother me that she doesn't seem to truely finish outside things at least half the time, but now I just roll my eyes and am thankful that I just have to do the sweeping or put the weeds in the yard waste rather than do the whole job. Could be worse! lol! Lord knows I have my weird traits.

I finally got more dirt wheelbarrowed in from the back of the property and into the raised beds. Now we can FINALLY plant things outside! It's not great, but it's not too bad. It grows things. Mostly weeds at first... lol! They are easily plucked since the ground has just been turned. We just don't have the money for a truck of compost or something! Tillled the dirt all up too while I was at it. We get so much rain that it compacts everything. I turn it by hand with a shovel, as we don't have a tiller. Speaking of my own little faults that the spouse has to love... I turned the corner where she had planted the snap peas. Oops! I told her not to plant until I had added dirt, knowing that would happen! Oh well. They hadn't come up yet anyway. We have been about 10 degrees cooler than normal, which means we are rarely hitting 60 degrees yet. Ya'll stole all our warmth!

Still no peppers sprouting inside. I have them sitting inthe sun now, and am trying Joel's heating pad trick when it's cloudy and cool. Anyone know how high I should set the pad? Would HIGH cook em?

 

[odd_duck99]

Made some progress at replacing the mailbox today! Right now the post is still naked. We have some kind of funky crank shaft or other mechanism for our mailbox post, which is kind of cool, but it has made replacing the box slightly more complicated than just unscrewing then rescrewing. Looks like repurposing comes with the house here! I had to bust out the hack saw and saw the screws off, as they had rusted to the bolts and nothing was turning - even with a bit of help from WD-40! I think the previous owner didn't use "outside" screws. The new box has holes on the bottom for screws, but the bracket the previous owner welded to the ... thing... calls for attaching it from the side. I am attaching the box to some scrap 2x4, then attaching it to the bracket. Just wondering - does anyone else have the problem where many "little" house projects seem like they will take 20 minutes, then you spend the rest of the day on them?!

We also made some progress on the laminate floor - only 2 more rows to go!

The peppers are FINALLY sprouting! I had them up in the sun on the window sill for 3 days now. Looks like they finally got warm enough! We have 3 that look really good, and another that looks like the seed is still too attached, but we shall see what happens as it pops up more. All are just barely out of the dirt!

I am just itching to get out and plant the garden! The baby is being weird though, and I don't trust his temperment to stay plesant long enough for me to get everything ready AND do it! He is teething and also at the stage where he really WANTS to crawl, but hasn't quite figured it out. I swear he is going to start going forward at any moment!