Chickens, Gardens and Old Animals

  I gave up thinking about cattle panels and went to Tractor Supply for 2 rolls of 50ft welded vinyl fencing. I put it up on Friday 1/7 by myself, and then turned the chickens into the garden. They loved the oat grass! I threw some scratch in the rest of the lot and they were tilling away at it.
  They were really easy to get back to the yard - I just called "Here chicken!!" and they came running like plantation ladies holding up their petticoats. They spent all day Saturday and today playing in the dirt for me.

  Ideally, I will still get some cattle panels on payday so that I can confine them to the actual gardening part of the plot, rather than under the cedar trees and in the briars.  They are very good about going back to their house to lay their eggs though (10 yesterday, 11 today!).

   I am trying to plan out my garden, but I still plan to let Mr. Old Neighbor use some of it if he wants, so I need to find out where he wants to plant.  I think I will plant a row of bought tomato plants and , away from them , a row of tomatoes that  I grow (hahaha) from seed. If they both make I'll have enough to learn canning and if only one does then I'll at least not be a total loss. If neither make I will cry.   :)
    I also plan to experiment with the soil for the tomatoes. I have heard a) put a Tbs epsom salt and Tbs lime in each hole as you transplant  and also b) put a handful of crushed oyster shell and stir into the soil with each transplant.


  Buford, my old Lab, is 14 1/2 years old.  He is doing ok for the most part, but his old hips and knees are getting so weak that he just collapses sometimes.  If I keep him on a regular schedule of his pain meds he does ok as far as not having a lot of pain, and he eats great.  I hate seeing him just waste away. He is pretty much deaf now, and it is hard for me to remember to be patient with him. I do love that old dog.

  Skye is 28yrs old and will be 29 on April 14 this year. She has done ok through the winter so far, but I am very concerned about her heaves this summer. Last year she had a lot of trouble even on 2 different meds (pills and liquid).  :(

  In other exciting news, my knee is been especially painful today. Last night it kept waking me up aching. Today it is taking my breath away with every step. I go see the ortho doc on Friday and it can't get here soon enough.

As I expected

Just as I expected, the "blog" fell by the wayside for far too long.  So some short updates, maybe photos another day.


- On December 11  My friend Kim and I processed 7 of the Cornish x chickens. Wow. We were pathetic! Her boyfriend was supposed to come and "do the deed" but he was called in to work. SO Friend and her son did the hatchet work, then I worked with the little daughter to pluck. We plucked one, Kim and her son plucked 1 and we skinned the rest. We were exhausted and couldn't stand the thought of having 14 to do the next week!


- December 12 - met friends to eat and exchange gifts and I was given a WHEELBARROW!!!  Woot!


 - December 18 we processed the remaining 14 chickens.  We had a much better system in place, basically a small tent city due to the forecasted rain that never came. Kim and her son would dispatch 3 at a time, then after a bleedout time we each skinned and parted one up. We made great time and the chickens all averaged at least 4.5-5lbs dressed.


- December 21 I spent in the orthopedic docs office with my knee. Prescribed anti-inflammatory and 4 sessions of physical therapy, then return in January to see if I need an MRI. Boo


- December 23 I was supposed to have a filling replaced at the dentist. I have never ever had trouble at the dentist , it just doesn't bother me. Well, this time I freaked out. I had even taken a xanax before going in, but I still ended up leaving and rescheduling. *sigh* dork
 I go back later this month and hopefully it will be better.


- Christmas Eve my youngest nephew, T12, helped me with 2 truckloads of oak leaves and compost. We unloaded it all over the garden plot and still had enough to start 2 separate small compost piles.
 I also went to the late service at church. I love the Christmas Eve service. I love the feeling during and after - even when I am sitting in the parking lot alone.


- Christmas Day was great! Family came over. It was cold and drizzling rain so we played with the Wii, even my mom got in on the action. I was given a pitchfork, pvc fence pipes and some new crocs! The rest was just details.  :)


- New Year's Eve found me at Kim's house for homemade pizza (YUM) and board games to welcome in the new year.




So here I am at the 3rd day of 2011. I have so many things running through my mind that I hope to accomplish!
  I have started planning my garden and am working on ordering heirloom seeds. I'll buy some started plants as well, to increase my chances of success!  I want to buy cattle panels and put up in the garden so my chickens can go in and do some tiller / fertilizer / pesticide work for me. 
 And I want to learn to make bread, pasta and pies, as well as learning to can veggies instead of just sugary fruit preserves. (providing I actually HAVE veggies to can).  I go to "the fat doctor" (nutritionist) on February 4.






I still have Buddy the foster horse and he is still full of trouble (found him in the feed stall 2x in less than 24hrs!).
Buford is doing well, considering he is 14 1/2 yrs old and has some kidney failure.
 My layer hens are fun and still laying about 10 eggs per day.




I'll try to do better. No promises.

More About Me

  A little more about "me".  

 I am 38 years old, single with no kids. I have my niece and nephews - and my dogs. Now don't get me wrong , my dogs are not "little people in fur coats", they are dogs. They are also companions, roommates, guardians, comedians, counselors and friends.
  As previous posts make obvious, I am morbidly obese and considering a drastic life change via weight loss surgery. In a way I am anxiously excited but in another I am terrified.  Food is a comfort to me.  Which brings me to another "fascinating tidbit" about me - I deal with major depression and PTSD as constant thorns in my side.

   I have a less than inspiring past and it haunts me still. I have been in counseling with the most amazing therapist ever for about 5 years. I was in counseling for 3 years prior to that with someone who was very demanding, controlling and triggered my codependence in a huge way. I tell T (Therapist) quite often that not only does he have to make amends for the male gender, he also is cleaning up messes made by other counselors.

   All of that to say today I accomplished nothing.  I had the exhaustion that only comes with my old familiar friend - depression. Lifting my arms to put on a T-shirt was more than I could take. I know and recognize this villain, so I fought through the fog and made myself accomplish at least the basics today - dressing, feeding chickens, tending meaties, gathering eggs.  I only gave the horses hay because I wasn't willing to make a second trip to the barn to turn Buddy out of his paddock.

  I ate lunch (hotdogs *sigh* ) and went back to bed. I will do my job and live for 1a.m.  and pray for a better day tomorrow.

I love pumpkins!

This weekend I spent a lot of time in the kitchen.  On Friday I cooked down 3 sugar pumpkins and scraped them clean. I ended up freezing 3qts of pumpkin puree and left one out for Saturday. 

 Saturday morning I cooked another 3 pumpkins and scraped them out.  I made a quick trip to buy foil loaf pans, and then I started making pumpkin bread. It was awesome, and believe it or not the bread tastes great!!

yes there is a slice already missing :)

After finishing the bread and feeding the pumpkin scraps to my chickens, I roasted pumpkin seeds. The sugar pumpkins evidently do not have great seeds for this but I did it anyway. One batch we roasted in butter and sea salt, the other in butter, garlic powder and Worchestershire sauce. Eh... I'll have to try my hand at planting pumpkins so I can get some bigger better seeds.

My meatie chickens are growing out pretty well.  I figure the weekend after Thanksgiving we might do our first batch of 7. I need to buy a scale so I know what we get for our money.

 We are now under a tornado warning, so signing off before we blow away.

I love November

This is the best time of year! I love November!  Right now our low temperatures are in the 50s, highs in the 70s. No rain on the 10 day forecast.  Woot!


  I am excited to go ahead and pick my frosty squash and pull up dead pea vines so I can till the garden. I have 2 separate compost piles "cooking" thanks to the meatie chickens, my layers and the horses.  Next target for compost is Mr M's leaf pile!


  The meats are loving being in the sunshine. I read today where someone had a meatie bird die as it ran towards them - I sure hope that doesn't happen to me.


   Friends at work want a total of 8 dozen eggs for Thanksgiving;' as long as all the hens keep laying consistently it shouldn't be a problem.


   Still thinking seriously about weight loss surgery. Yesterday I talked to a couple of people who have had the surgery and asked them some questions. I think the thing I dread most is finding out that my favorite foods make me sick. This varies from person to person, but I know my stinking rotten luck.   I still have a little time to think about it and get my questions in order before I see Dr. R.

Playing Catchup

Saturday after I posted here, I discovered one of the meatie chickens dead.  I have lost 4 to various causes, bringing me to 21.


   Yesterday I needed a serious sanity check. I went into "poor pitiful me" mode and just couldn't seem to shake it.  My squash plants are dead from the frost, but they still have several tiny yellow squash. I don't know if the squash will make it or not, I'll probably pick them Friday.
    When I was tending to the remaining franken-chickens I began to feel like they really aren't living much of a better life than industry birds. Because of the cold weather they have been confined to a child's wading pool in the dark, with only red lamps for heat and light.


    So today I closed off part of the meatie run and put all 21 in it. I dragged the nasty stinking pool over to the compost pile to work on the spring garden.  My dad helped me and we put tin and hardware cloth up so that I can close the meats under the shelter at night, but let them loose on the grass and dirt during the warm sunshiny part of the day.


   I tried making butter from fresh milk I bought at Apple Market last week, but I barely got a tablespoon full. Expensive toast.


   Pumpkins tomorrow!! Or so I hope!  I really want to cook my pumpkins down and make pumpkin bread, muffins and pie filling. If it works out I'll be thrilled!




On a personal note - since I have no followers or even anyone who knows about this blog:


   I am so sick of being overweight. Not just a little chunky, but morbidly disgustingly obese.  The roller coaster of weight loss  and gain has been my life highway. Now that I am pushing 40  (August  2012) I am really seeing everything I am missing out on.
For example:
- My boys.  I hate being such an embarassment to them at their baseball games etc. I understand that all adults are an embarassment to pre-teen and teenage boys, but being my size brings a special kind of humiliation to them. They, of course, are too kind to say so.


- horses.  Having Buddy at the house makes me ache with longing - I want to ride. I want to explore Coldwater on horseback, with Rio running out ahead.  I want to feel the wind on my face and the sun baking my arms. I want to attend fundraisers for the horse council without having people looking me up and down in disgust and disbelief.


- garden. I love love love working outside. Even with my garden being a total failure, I loved the feeling of hard work, sore muscles and sweat in my eyes. The feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction when the first tiny sprouts break out of their earthen prison.


- friends. Not only for the friends I have - being able to go places and do thing without being constantly aware of how much room I take up; but also making new friends.  I can't imagine what it would feel like to have the confidence to go to a new class at church, or greet new people on my team at work. 


- me.  The feeling of being comfortable in my own skin is unthinkable. For me to even try imagine liking the way I look , or finding my looks worth attention (ie nicer clothes, make-up, etc) is a cloudy picture that I can't even begin to comprehend.




All of this to say - when I have my doc appointment the first part of December, I am going to talk to Dr. R about the weight loss surgery. 

Frost Date - 11/6

We had our first frost last night. I think I have lost 3 of my squash plants.


   Yesterday I spent the day busily preparing for the cooler weather. I had a list of priority tasks needing my attention. Somehow, the priority list ended up being done in reverse which left my squash uncovered in the icy air.
  My dad helped me build a doghouse for Rio, my 2 1/2 year old yellow Lab. He is the definition of loyalty and companionship. Every night when I come home from work Rio is there waiting for me.  Storms, wind, cold - he is there waiting.  Hopefully he will figure out the doghouse and at least get out of the rain and wind.

Rio at "Barktoberfest"

I also cleaned out the chickenhouse and put a deep layer of wheat straw for the floor. My dad helped me again and we hung up a piece of plywood on the north wall to stop drafts.

  There are 4 people who make my life worth living - my niece and 3 nephews. Bridgett, my 20yr old niece, is working and putting herself through school. She wants to study to be an RN. Her brother, Billy, is my oldest nephew at 18yrs.  He has some learning disabilities - he also currently has an "A" in Calculus. They live in Texas.

   My sister's boys live here. Jared is 15 and a sophomore on the baseball and golf teams at his high school. Trevor is 12 and loves baseball. He plays baseball and can also give you any and every bit of trivia for MLB.

They are all my heart and soul.

All of that to say, my attempts at homemade butter and homemade pumpkin pie filling will be placed on hold because Jared has a baseball game this afternoon.

Somebody cover up the squash for me? And lock the door on your way out.