Lola!

I found this (the empty white shell) in the coop this morning when I let the girls out, looks like Lola had a dry run egg. It is very soft and almost like flower petals. I'll have to watch her the next few days to see where she tries to hide and lay her next eggs. The other 2 are Petal eggs #2&3, I used the first in a pumpkin bread recipe - yum! I'll be getting them layer feed this afternoon, of course I just bought a 25 pound bag of grower a week ago! Egg production will be picking up shortly

I sent Moms picture with Petals first to My Pet Chicken and they will be adding it to the Customer Photos section. Maybe I should send this one too or Lola will feel left out...

The First Egg !

Well Miss Petal laid her first egg on November 8th, it was a lovely pinkish brown color, and she made quite a production out of the entire thing.

She has been doing a lot of talking in the morning, very loud talking I might add, I'm actually worried about being found out by the neighbors. Hopefully she will get the hang of this soon and calm down a little. I wonder who will be next...

Un-Piling My Compost Pile

Yeah the girls got me something too, they worked on unpiling the compost for days! Mom helped them out and re-piled it a couple of times. Little stinkers.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Well those boys of mine really outdid themselves for my special day, they brought a baby bunny into the house, with intentions of a special meal I'm sure, but I ruined their little Hassenpfeffer menu plan when I closed Dempsey in the bedroom and shooed Barker away so I could rescue this petrified little bunny from behind my filing cabinets. It was quite a trick because those cabinets are FULL of stuff - think immovable objects. Mom helped me get him and then prepared a lovely rubber maid bin for him to sleep in that night. I agonized over where and when to let him back outside and I'm still not sure I did the right thing, Mom and I agreed there wouldn't be any pictures of him on milk cartons to help me decide so I waited till a little before dusk and took him down the street where we have seen other rabbits in the evening. I hope he makes it, he was really small. what a precious little face he has, and of course when I was holding him I caught myself rocking him. To give you an idea of his size, I am holding him in a washcloth cupped in one hand.

They Have Gotten So Big!

Well my little babies are now sleeping outside in their coop every night - I'm not liking it - I miss the little peeping noises they would make, chicken snoring I guess you could call it. Amy at work suggested I get a baby monitor, and I think I'm going to try it. The boys have spent the last 2 nights outside with them, although I doubt it is to lend moral support, more like maybe we can sneak up on them while they're out cold.

This is a picture of them at 3 wks old taking a group dirt bath. What a hoot that is! They all want to be as close to each other as possible while they scratch and lay and fluff in the dirt, and the noises they make, it is a real event.

This is baby Lola taking a little nap on moms lap, covered with the hem of her pajama top so she stays warm and cozy. She is so sweet.

Here is the most recent picture of the girls, they came to work with me, and really liked being perched on my in/out baskets. They were very quiet and I could feel all those little eyes on my back as I typed....

Mom came and picked them up after lunch and took them home so they could have some yard time. It's been very hot out in the afternoons so they are getting a wedge of watermelon everyday, and I brought them inside on Sunday to have a bit of air conditioning because poor petal was laying on her side panting! I need to get them some electrolytes to put in their water-chicken gator-aid!

Barker and the Toilet Brush

Yes it is as gross as it sounds! My silly Barker Boy loves to rub his furry cheeks on the toilet brush in it's holder, I have tried putting it in a empty plant pot to keep it out of his reach, but he finds a way. I have found a toilet cleaner by way of http://clothesline-chronicles.blogspot.com that sounds like it is made of ingredients that will keep him from coming into contact with all the chemicals in regular cleaners as he gets his scratch on. It is found at http://www.ecostoreusa.com their tag line is "no nasty chemicals". Perfect.

The Lovely List

I've just come across a very interesting blog - http://www.thelovelylist.com/ there are a lot of links that look interesting, I am going to be spending some time exploring there

check it out!

While you're at it take a look at http://thedirtytshirt.com and http://www.shoffee.com/ I am lusting after the Kuerig coffee maker, 1 cup at a time is the only way to go and those little K-cups are great!

Go! NOW! explore the wonderful world of caffeine

PT&L Out In The Yard

Took the girls outside for a little time in the yard - they love eating ants and little bugs, if one of them finds something tasty the other 2 will chase her to try and steal it away. Wing feathers are getting more obvious every day, I had to cover the top of the box with netting so they didn't fly out and of course the boys would love for me to look away for just a second or two...

They're Here!

The Post Office called about 9:00 this morning so I rushed down and picked up my new babies!


They were peeping like crazy, I opened them up right there at the window to make sure everyone was okay and of course the two clerks had to oooh and aaah over them, I was so proud you would have thought I layed them. They were packed up even better than I expected, here is the view when I opened the box, i know the dark green is gel that they can eat to stay hydrated during their trip and I'm assuming the white pouch is warm for most of the trip. It wasn't warm anymore when I picked them up but of course it is sweltering outside this time of year so they were fine.

I've got them back at the office with me now in the chick mobile and they are doing great. No body was pasted up and they are eating and drinking and of course pooping like crazy.
I'll be able to get some pictures of their adorable faces later tonight.

Chick Preparations Under Way

Well the 'girls' should be here any day now... I am so excited - it has taken almost 2 months !

As part of my preparations I have gotten the Ware Critter coop painted for the most part, but now I have decided I want to make some structural changes so it can be used as a chicken tractor. Notice I'm painting and assembling inside - it is only 4000 degrees outside right now.

The second picture is of the Chick Mobile, I have this frame from a baby stroller and have used it in the past to carry my spinning wheel. I've got it all tricked out with a light to keep the new chicks warm and everything.

I'm waiting for the Locusts...

Well I had a big toad in my kitchen a few days ago, he had weird reddish spots on him, but was really very cute. When I picked him up he kept making loud sighing noises, like he was thinking just get me to the door already. The boys wanted nothing to do with him so I suspect those spots must mean I taste bad.

The next day I walked into the craft room, put something down and walked back into the living room, I thought to myself "Hmmm that stick wasn't there a minute ago" well that stick was a little snake! He was very skinny but over a foot long, the picture is very fuzzy-he wasn't camera shy but I was trying to get a shot of him in a hurry, didn't want him getting away! I picked him up with a handkerchief and got a good look at him before I put him outside, he wasn't a plain old Black snake but didn't have any red rings or spots like a coral snake so I'm not sure what kind he was.

My kitchen is crawling with sugar ants, and it is still raining EVERY SINGLE DAY! so maybe I should go buy some hay for the Horsemen of the apocolypse. Kidding.

A Better Use For The Ped Egg

a zester!

This is awesome, it costs 10 dollars, is enclosed so the zest is contained and lets be serious, it is the exact same thing as one of those expensive microplaners from Williams and Sonoma. They even sell replacement blades. I have labeled it prominently Kitchen Only so it will never touch feet-

Farmer Cheese

I made a batch of kefir farmer cheese, drained it in a funnel lined with a coffee filter, stirred in italian spices, fresh ground pepper and a little olive oil, served on Triscuit crackers before one of our grilled meals - YUM it has a little bit of tang from the kefir, very tasty. Otis would be so happy.

Got a Grill

well after exhaustive research I decided on a grill - The City Grill by Outdoorchef. It got great reviews everywhere I looked at it and was voted best portable gas grill at about.com. Most importantly it gets REALLY hot. the problem with small gas grills is that if you have 30 minutes to wait for a hamburger to cook no problem, but it shouldn't take that long! small gas grills suffer from no power, usually, not this baby - it gets up to 400 degrees in about 3 minutes. Check out the website http://www.outdoorchefusa.com/ for more info about how it works.

I'm using it on my screened in back porch to keep from having to grill in the dark or get eaten up by mosquitos, and since it doesn't have the flare up problem regular grills have and it cooks very quickly with the lid on most of the time, I feel comfortable doing that. Of course I have it on a cart that I roll close the the outer edge of the porch to keep it away from the house as much as possible. So far so good, we (Mom, Paul and I) have grilled 4 meals over the past week and they all have been great. Last night we made pizza and I was thrilled with how fast and easy it was. Lovin the grill. I know charcoal is the only way to 'really' grill, but I think it's a huge pain in the butt to wait a half an hour to get coals going and then cook for only 7 or 8 minutes. what a waste.

Making Laundry Soap

ran out of Laundry soap so it was time to whip up another batch-I thought I would post the recipe I use.

1 bar of Dr. Bronners soap, grated with the fine side of a box grater

1 cup Borax

1 cup Washing Soda

1/2 cup baking soda (not shown in picture)

The most annoying part of mixing up a batch is grating the bar of soap with the box grater, there must be an easier way! Mix all the ingredients together and store in a sealed container, use about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of mix per load. It will not lather up like detergent you buy in the store, but if you feel the water, you will notice the slippery feel.

I am using Dr. Bronners Lavender soap for this batch and have a rinse/fabric softener with lavender in it also so everything smells nice. I just took a half gallon jug of white vinegar and added about 25 drops of lavender essential oil. Shake well and fill 2 Downey balls about half full and add to wash at the beginning of the load.

The Downey ball was a bit of a mystery but I googled it on the internet and found out how they work, it's pretty cool and putting more than the fill level indicated on the ball doesn't seem to change how they work, so they open up in the spin cycle and let the vinegar mix out.

I did laundry on saturday and hung each load on my newly extended clothesline, it felt very virtuous. Mom helped me hang a load and was horrified that the art of hanging out clothes had been overlooked by me! she has very specific ideas about how each item should be hung to minimize wrinkles and get the sun to shine bright and strong on certain areas. We had a good laugh when she started re-hanging things behind me. I Love my Mo!

The Outdoor Shower Project continues...

well I have gotten a little farther than this picture shows, the plumbing is together, hose has been run from the house and split for hot and cold, now I just need to glue a few of the pvc connections that I missed initially and test to see if everything holds water...

I'm going to be a chicken mom!

I ordered 3 chicks last night from My Pet Chicken! I am a planner ad nauseum so I'm proud of myself for DOING IT! Here is a description of the 3 types I ordered, 1 of each.

Dominiques are considered a "heritage" breed of chicken in that they've been around for hundreds of years and are now critically endangered. Some people can't tell the difference between a Dominique and a Barred Rock, but the trained eye will notice that Dominques have a rose comb versus the Barred Rock's single comb. They are black and white and have a nice 'chicken shape'

Easter Egger They are friendly, great layers of large blue and green eggs, and sometimes even pinkish eggs. Their smaller body size makes them good in the heat which will be a concern in Tampa. "Easter Eggers" are hybrids that carry the blue-egg gene of the true Araucana breed. They have a sweet disposition and don't mind being handled. Because this is a hybrid variety (not a breed), it is impossible to know what color the chicks will be until they feather out. They have fluffy feather cheeks and beards when grown.

Stars are "sex link" chickens, meaning they're bred specifically so that males and females are different colors when they hatch. Females are egg-laying machines that continue to lay well in the heat and cold, when many others slow down. The males are said to be good "fryers". (I won’t be letting them do any cooking!) they are usually a rusty gold color and weigh about 5-6 pounds when grown.

Now I have to get to work on a coop and brooder so I'm ready when they arrive! but strangely I'm craving pickles and ice cream right now....

I am a Winner!

No you haven't stumbled into my self talk esteem building post.... I was a winner in the Aromaleigh Spring Solstice contest! There were no bug eating or survival challenges involved, it was a drawing you can see at the link below, copy and paste it to your browser. While you're at it check out what I won, silly me I didn't realize there are 25 colors in this collection, I thought it was only 6.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck4N1vu2ySA

Thank you so much Kristin at Aromaleigh I am truly a fan for life

Making Cheese with Otis Redding

Yes this is my life.

I'm listening to Otis while I try to make cheese with Kefir-so far so good, just a little tangy like cream cheese. Now I wish I had a bagel. Hey Otis - quit your whining and go get some bagels

Look What I Found At Walmart!

Well I finally took down my Christmas tree. Yes I know it's March 1st, so call the holiday police. I liked having the lights come on every night right before I got home from work and going off not long after I went to bed. I spent 3 days with an empty corner and then came THE BRANCH.

I went up to WM at lunch time and parked right in front of this huge branch someone had broken off one of the trees, I told myself if it was still there when I came out it was coming home with me. (Duh! who else would be looking for a huge branch?) sure enough it was still there so I crammed it into the module and brought it home. I sawed off the bottom to make it level and ran a 3" decking screw through a piece of laminated wood (dumpster dive at the custom closet place) and into the branch to hold it upright, and I now have a tree in the corner of my living room. I would like to put tiny white lights on it and set up the timer, but for now it is perfect the way it is.

Aromaleigh

So have you tried mineral makeup yet? Check this out! Heidi and I have both noticed that we have clearer skin when we wear makeup everyday, and this stuff is great - you know Tampa humidity is insane! well this stuff stands up to it and looks good all day.

Check out http://www.aromaleigh.com/

here are the things I love about it...

1. sample sizes - they don't cost much, and before you buy a full size banana yellow eyeshadow you need to try it out (incidentally banana yellow is very wearable)
2. along these same lines there is a customer area where people send in photos of the eye looks they come up with, it is great for ideas
3. The foundation is mixable and can be tweaked to match your skin, I have lots of red in my skin so using a yellowish color really tones things down, just call me 3YL.
4. This stuff lasts forever!
5. Those little sample baggies are easy to carry around in your bag when you travel-you can fit lots of choices in the smallest space makeup bag ever.
6. okay, I could go on and on but just try it!

Well I can only wish that someone will 'Super Putty' Billy Mays mouth shut

All that talking the guy does and the product sucks. I used some 'Super Putty' on my rainbarrel spigot, it is still leaking. next comes the caulk gun - but I'll have to wait until the barrel is empty or at least past the spigot so it can dry out. What a pain in the butt. Maybe I could use my 'ShamWoW' to soak up the water.

50,000 salad shooters - tthhhttpp tthhhttpp tthhhttpp !

Americans Deemed Unfit for Human Consumption by the USDA

Americans Deemed Unfit for Human Consumption by the USDA
This weekend I was listening to NPR's news gameshow Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. The host of the show Adam Felber, released an interesting factoid.

If cannibalism were legal here in the United States, the US Dept of Agriculture would not be able to approve the average American as fit for consumption because of the toxins in our bodies.

Look Mom It's Raining!

There was only a small chance of rain today according to the news, 30% or something and it has been raining since about 11 a.m. yippee! I hope the rain barrel is filling up.

Chelle's Birthday and Cowboy boots

Hey Miss Chelle - Happy Birthday Baby!

boy have I missed talking to you, we have got to got to got to see each other so please tell me a cold beer and lots of girl talk is in our future.

On a totally unrelated note, Heidi mentioned the other day that she REALLY wants a pair of cowboy boots. This struck a chord with me, I too have wanted cowboy boots since I was a little girl. So wait a minute, shouldn't they be called cowGIRL boots, either way what is the deal with boots? It's Florida! 8,000 degrees and humid as a fat womans p'sassy in pantyhose all the time - talk about impractical - but I don't care I want em too!

So I've started the search, and here are some contenders

Whenever I see a little girl with red or pink cowgirl boots on just strutting her stuff, I have to smile and know that she will either be a fan of boots all her life or this will satisfy the need and she'll never need another pair. I'm going to stay away from the red and pink, but they aren't going to be safe and plain brown or black - they are gonna be flashy!

Grocery stores today

Spent the day dealing with the 'coupon job' you know those machines and ads up in the grocery store that either lead you to stuff or burp out coupons? Well Heidi and I are two of the little gnomes that install the little annoyances for some extra money. It's not a bad gig, we work like dogs for 2 or 3 days a month and the rest is pretty easy. Well today was a dog day. We did breakout this morning after tearing ourselves out of the black hole (my back deck) Heidi went home to do her data entry job and I headed out to Publix for Ad Change. Got 2 done, have 1 more that I will finish Monday or Tuesday night after the office job. Tomorrow will be one of the big days we work together, we'll do 2 Sweetbay stores and a Winn Dixie. My dogs are barkin just thinking about it.

Don't get me wrong I am NOT complaining, I'm very grateful to have a way to make some extra money. At the RRE office they told everyone friday they'll have to take a 20% paycut because the company is doing so badly. M will have to give them money on payday to cover her insurance. Really. Pretty scarey.

Upside down Maters Planted

I planted 2 upside down buckets on Sunday, each has a tomato plant out the bottom and herbs on the top. I used a 2 liter soda bottle in each bucket as a olla, I know tomato plants need lots of water, especially when the Florida sun really gets cranked up so hopefully this will help. I have a yellow squash and a zucchini to plant in the top of the next 2 buckets, I'm hoping they will use the cat fence as a trellis.

The trickiest part was getting the leaves of the tomato plant through the opening without breaking them all off, I finally used a length of netting from a bath pouf pulled over the plant and held taut to keep everything together while I pulled it through the hole in the bucket.

Drought, Desalination Plant Woes Force More Groundwater Pumping
By Neil Johnson The Tampa Tribune
Published: March 17, 2009

With rivers gurgling to a trickle and the desalination plant limping because of mechanical problems, water suppliers are turning up the pumps to tap groundwater at a rate not seen since 2002.
Last week the region's water supplier shut down the plant that treats river water. That happened as its massive reservoir in southern Hillsborough went dry, unable to provide another drop to the thirsty Tampa Bay region.
On Monday, Tampa Bay Water sent 213 million gallons of water to residents in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties. Of that, about 198 million gallons came from the aquifer. The balance came from the utility's desalination plant.
Demands on groundwater will only grow as the state enters its driest, hottest months when water use peaks and a three-year drought continues.
By May, wells could be asked to provide around 210 million gallons a day with the bulk coming from 11 wellfields in northern Hillsborough and southern Pasco. Wellfields scattered over central and southern Hillsborough will also add groundwater to the supply.
That is if the desalination plant in Apollo Beach can get back to its capacity of 25 million gallons a day, said Alison Adams, senior manager with Tampa Bay Water, the utility that provides water for Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, St. Petersburg, Tampa and New Port Richey.


Looks like it's time to step up the water conservation! Here are some ideas I want to work on, and they all make mom roll her eyes and say I'm nuts...

• The outdoor shower - use the water twice plan, want to set up a length of black tubing with water in it to heat in the sun, and send the used water out into the yard via a soaker hose or drip system.
• put the 5 gallon bucket back into the shower, again using the water twice. I did this in the bathroom and kitchen for a while, but emptying the bucket is a long, heavy (sloshing) walk outside so I need to refine this a little.
• Install the water interuptor in the shower, turning the water on and off can be a little shocking to the system, my system that is, because you have to cycle through the cold to get to off and back on, would be better to just stop the flow out the shower head while soaping, shaving etc.
• less lawn! Interested in planting perrenial peanut instead of a turf yard - needs no irrigation once established and no fertilizer etc. can be walked on and needs little mowing to maintain. Unfortunately the hard freeze we had a few months ago has cut back on supplies, so it might be hard to find right now.
• If it's yellow let it mellow if it's brown flush it down.

I might be just one person in the grand scheme of things but it will make me feel better doing something - and I love the challenge!

Rain Barrels

Finally got my rain barrel hooked up to the downspout, I had to put plumbers putty around the spigot to stop a leak and needed to get some concrete blocks to raise it up off the ground as high as possible. I placed it in my side yard, up against the backyard fence. The spigot will be accessed through a hole in the fence because the water will be used in the backyard which has no sprinkler system. The higher I can get the barrel off the ground the more pressure there will be. I would like to have a drip system run off of the barrel but don't think I'll get enough 'head' from stacked cement blocks.

Mom is going to visit Aunt Dottie in NC later this month, she is putting in a long raised bed for growing vegetables so we're going to put together a rain barrel or two for her - mom is on it as we speak.

Still have some points to work out for Dottie's set up:

Will need to address disconnecting and storing for winter so the barrels don't freeze and crack (not a problem we have here in FL)

Need a way to strain out acorns and leaves. A colander was a good idea, you can cut an opening to fit and just lift it out to empty when the leaves and debris fill it up.

If she is able to set up a barrel at Jeans house she will have more push for irrigation- a soaker hose with the pressure ring removed might be the perfect way to keep the garden watered without having to fill and carry a watering can.

I just read somewhere that you can solve the mosquito issue with dunks or a small amount of vegetable oil on the waters surface to keep the mosquitos from either laying eggs or the larvae from hatching (not sure which).

IKEA

Heidi and I went to IKEA in Orlando 2 weeks ago, somehow it came up at work today, so John and I are extolling the virtues of IKEA land to Melissa, she hasn't ever been to one, so isn't really getting it but boy John and I were definitely on the same wavelength, the routine is you go upstairs and follow the maze through the showroom area, if you see anything small that you want in the bins or end caps you better grab it because finding it again isn't an option, try to keep calm even though you want to 'go to guns' when the family of 6 is in front of you spread out across the aisle and completely oblivious to everyone trying to get around them, not to mention the baby strollers! Hold it together and take your time, there are treasures to be found. When you reach the Marketplace -

• stop at the top of the stairs if you value your sanity,
• turn around and go get something to eat,
• sit quietly for 15 minutes or so,
• then venture downstairs. Don't say I didn't warn you.
  
  The visit was marred by the fact that I got NO SWEDISH MEATBALLS. They closed the restaurant early to prepare for a Valentines day dinner ($40 per couple) now at first blush this sounds like a cheesy thing to do with a date on V-day, but wait... it is perfection if you are both hooked on I-land or even just Fight Club fans, but I digress, back to NO SWEDISH MEATBALLS. Blood sugar was low and we all know shopping mistakes can be costly when this happens, so Heidi and I coordinated on the cell phone and met downstairs at the hot dog counter. Imagine my delight when after waiting in an unusually long line I saw a small size order of SWEDISH MEATBALLS on the menu! I reached the counter, saw the man next to me get his little cup of balls and gravy (yummy!) and was pulled up short when the grumpy counter girl told me they were out of meatballs, there wouldn't be more for 20 minutes. DAMN *&@#?!^ with the line stretching out behind me it was a hot dog or nothing.
  
  My intention was to find a base for my bed, the Hollywood frame just isn't cutting it, I want to have the legs of the bed show, and these metal things with wheels look like crap. Unfortunately the 2 that would have done what I want only came in twin size. Nope the days of bunk beds and full size mattresses are over my friend-I am a grown up.

Barker a.k.a. Fur Farm #2

This is my Boy Barker - so named because he talks very loudly for such a small boy

He will tell you a tale of woe that goes on and on and on...

Patterson Road

I use Patterson Road twice a day during the week (to and from work), it is a great driving road, country-lots of curves-hey look at the cows-but there are a lot of accidents,
there don't seem to be a lot of injuries except of course to the cars, fences and occasional power pole. Just thought I would start keeping track of the crack ups

So it begins...

I tried a facebook account, hated it - felt very exposed

I'm not very good with email, I feel like I'm repeating myself, bet sending the same email to more than one person makes it feel like a form letter

I collect information, links, printed stuff, and annoy my family by printing things for them

Always wanted to keep a journal, never stuck with it

Lets see if a blog will help