Frankie and Slim

Frankie and Slim
Happy New Year

Friday, June 29, 2007

FAMILY EXPANSION

Today Mike and Leslie married. The wedding ceremony should have just ended as I am writing this. They have been in my heart all day. Our family now is expanded by one.

This morning Beulah Dean finally hatched a chick after staying on a nest for 51 days. I entered the hen house and heard the chick peeping before I saw it. Once I saw the little blonde critter, there was no other appropriate name for her but Leslie.

Today our family has two Leslies! Welcome girls. (Of course one might turn out to be a rooster.)

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY HOPE!

Birthday cake for a special five-year-old girl!
Hope at Five!
Hope at One!
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Tuesday, June 26, 2007

HAPPY 14TH

Today is Kit and Chelle's 14th Wedding Anniversary. Fourteen years ago today my youngest child, my precious daughter, walked down the aisle with an exceptional young man. Both of these young people were outstanding as individuals and as a team they can accomplish anything! Happy Anniversary!!!

This Friday my sister's youngest child, her son Mike, will marry Leslie. I wish them the same perfect happiness that Chelle and Kit have found.

ANOTHER DUE DATE APPROACHES

Beulah Dean is due to hatch thirteen eggs on Friday or Saturday. These will mark 21 days of her setting on this second group of eggs after remaining on the first nest for 30 days. (She stayed on the first nest until the eggs started exploding.)

If this is another unsuccessful hatch, I don’t know what we’ll do. I don’t know if she will start another nest or if she will finally give up. We should have candled these eggs after 14 days to see if they are even fertilized but we did not. I could not bring myself to take any eggs off the nest for fear of traumatizing Beulah Dean.

This time I have managed to keep the other hens from getting into the nest and breaking the eggs or laying other eggs to confuse the count.

Tiger Lily is also on a few eggs that remained after the black snake helped himself. Her hatch is not due until July 7th.

I am so hopeful for a good hatch from both of theses hens because these will be the last offspring of roosters Boss Hog, Moe and Mouzon. The eggs should have all been fertilized before the roosters ended their time at NOL-NOC Estates.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

MICHAEL'S HARD WORK

See the first tiny squash starting.

Grandson Michael did our planting when he was here the last week of May. Last night Ron saw the first little yellow squash starting.
It is barely one inch long. Isn't it cute!
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MAGIC CABINET


This nice little cabinet hides my ironing board. I love it. Ron bought it for me at an auction several years ago. He went all the way up to $25.00! For us that's a major purchase.
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LOOKS LIKE REGULAR IRONING BOARD

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Friday, June 22, 2007

HOW-TO HELP NEEDED

All of our phones are listed in the nationwide do-not-call registry. We have not been receiving unsolicited sales calls -- until now. Suddenly we are getting phone calls from "unknown" callers. These calls are recordings with sales pitches and or fake credit calls wanting us to punch numbers. We hang up on all or do not answer. We check the numbers in google and come up with nothing.

Does anyone know where to report these numbers? The tattle-tale in me wants to get someone in trouble.

DAY-OLD-DELIGHTS

If you can manage to hit Wal-Mart before 10:00 a.m. you will be in time for the treasures of the day-old-bread racks. Each Wal-Mart hides their day-old shelf in a different place and always it is away from the bakery. Usually it will be back by the dairy products.

Early arrival yields the best treats. We're not just talking bread here. We're talking cakes and pies, cup cakes as well as bread and croisants. We always buy more than we can eat, so we pick our favorites, if they are on the rack, and we freeze them. Our family can always count on donuts or cream horns and other delights when they visit.

Children grow up with special memories of visiting their grandparents. Most recall the smell of fresh cookies baking or bread right out of the oven. Our grandchildren will grow up and exclaim with loving wonder, "Awe, the sweet sound of Wal-Mart plastic containers cracking open in the morning!"

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

QUOTE FOR THE WEEK

"Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule - and both commonly succeed, and are right." - H. L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)

Thank you brother dear for emailing me this great quote.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

ONE PREDATOR DOWN ? TO GO

Ron just left with the fellows to go pick up his latest tractor acquisition. I waved goodbye and went to collect eggs. Tiger Lily was off her nest. That surprised me for her to leave this soon so I went to check it out.

SNAKE! SNAKE! BIG BLACK SNAKE!

I took my cell phone out of my pocket and called Ron. No answer. Since they had just left, I was sure they were in the valley out of service area. Why was I calling him anyway? He would only assure me that I could handle it. Besides our neighbor in Kansas used to call Ron every time she saw a snake and he would go take care of it. Usually he would bring it home and turn it loose on our place. I know black snakes are harmlesss and they actually help, unless you have chickens and eggs. That is a time to have to kill them.

Tiger Lily would want me to save her future chicks. Thus the snake battle was on. I went for a shovel and back to the barn. The snake had scooted closer to the nest and I could not see it's head. I spotted a fat midsection and struck with all my might. I heard a crunch/squish. I lifted the shovel expecting to see two halves of a snake. Instead it was gone! GONE! I whirled around making sure it wasn't doubling back for me and I hightailed it out of the barn. Tiger Lily has several eggs left, so maybe the snake will crawl off and die and my hen can return to her nest.

I don't look forward to my next trip to the barn. For now, I think I'll have some wine and a movie to calm my nerves. (Any excuse is a good excuse.)

ELVIS SAGA

Tiger Lily hatched two eggs on May 6th. Remember the pictures of the chicks peeking out from under their mama? They both seemed to be doing fine until it was time for Tiger Lily to resume her life as an independent hen. She could not shake her chicks. Soon the tiny yellow one disappeared. We assume the unknown predator got it. That left Elvis.

Grandson Mike named Elvis because this chick peeps and shakes frantically all the time. Elvis is on a constant search for mama Tiger Lily. When mama returned to her roosting spot, I could see Elvis either nestled under her or sitting on top of her. I kid you not, Elvis would perch on mama's back for the night.

Ron found Elvis once in the driveway during one of our downpours. Ron picked the soggy Elvis up and placed the chick in the hen house. Elvis soon dried off and was out and about the next day trying to keep up with mama again.

Three days ago Tiger Lily became broody and is sitting on a nest. This severed the tie for Elvis. We could hear him chirping and peeping and yelling all day. That is until yesterday. All was quiet. Elvis was missing from the chicken count last night. I believed the loud guy was done in. However, Elvis has returned today out of no where and is not yelling for his mother. Elvis has grown up and more importantly, Elvis lives!

Sunday, June 17, 2007

MORE ROOSTER TALES

DARRELL
OTHER BROTHER DARRELL
The new roosters won't come out of the hen house. Pictures will be better when I can take them outside. Other Brother Darrell is a bit soggy and will look better when he drys out. He did get out in the rain for a bit this morning and encountered Slim, so I guess he told Darrell there was a huge monster outside and they had better stay inside.
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Saturday, June 16, 2007

DARRELL AND DARRELL

Yesterday we brought temptation to the hens in the form of two studly young roosters. I have named these handsome young men Darrell and Darrell. (Anyone remember, "I'm Larry and this is my brother Darrell and my other brother Darrell." ?)

The boys are in a cage until tonight when we will turn them out in the hen house. Meanwhile the girls keep gathering around the cage and looking the guys over. I believe they approve.

It was nice to awaken this morning to the sound of roosters crowing. We welcome Darrell and Darrell to the family. I will post pictures tomorrow when the guys are out of the cage.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

WHAT IS ROYAL?

Put ten people in a room with differing opinions of Queen Elizabeth of England and have them watch the movie The Queen. At the end of the movie each will believe that it depicted their opinion. I'm going to have to give this movie five stars on my Netflix. The Queen remains a mystery.

This was my British lady week. I also watched Notes On A Scandal. Dame Judith Dench is my all time favorite actress but she portrayed this part so well, I may be frightened of her for some time.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

IF ONLY WE HAD DNA

Right now there stands a strong chance that Boss Hog was wrongly convicted of murder.

We have new evidence that a predator is managing to get into the hen house at night and injure and/or kill our chickens.

I opened the pen this morning to let the chickens out and one of the Victor Polish chicks tumbled out of the house. She was somewhat mutilated but she is in the hen hospital and hopefully will survive.

We got rid of Boss Hog and we have been keeping our dog Slim on the chain when the chickens are out. Still, a chick was found dead in the yard from multiple injuries. Roosters Moe and Mouzon died from injuries blamed on Boss Hog.

What if Boss Hog's meanness toward us was actually pent up anger and stress out of his protective nature? What if he knew something was attacking his family and he was aggressive with us, trying to tell us there was some ever present danger?

Oh my, it's too late to call the Innocence Project.

FLOOD WATERS

Water level marker in State Park. We usually drive right up next to it.
State park pavilion under water as well as other picnic tables and picnic spots.

This is where we launch our boat. We usually park near the middle dock.
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AND THE THUNDER ROLLS

It is nice to live at the top of a hill. We are still having lots and lots of rain. Most of the area below us in flooded. As of yesterday we could still get to town, but today will be questionable. It is not raining at this moment, but the rolling thunder is making a promise of more to come. The nearby State park is under water.

Rain days, snow days, happy days for the retired people living at the top of a hill. It makes me happy to know that I don't have to slop around outside getting the vehicle ready while trying to keep my clothes clean and my panty hose dry so I can fight the elements and get to work. (Just for the record, I do not even own one pair of panty hose today.)

I will have to slop around later to get the chickens, cats and dog taken care of -- but, it won't matter. We live at NOL-NOC Estates (No One's Looking - No One Cares). It was my life blood as a single, working mom, but there is nothing about the corporate world that I miss today!

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!

I lived over half my life in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I consider Tulsa my hometown. Jessi sent this link to an interesting upcoming Tulsa event. I think she may be getting more information on it in California than we are getting in Oklahoma. I wish I had a guess in on the population to stand a chance of winning the car. Be sure and read all about Tulsarama!

Monday, June 11, 2007

MAGIC GOPHER

Give this fun game a try. It is called

Magic Gopher

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A MILE MAKES

I truly feel like a homesteader when it comes to doing laundry on the estate. We are on well water and while the well doesn't go dry, it does shut off the pump if the water gets below a certain level. Ron has to manually restart the pump and it takes at least two hours before we get water again. I can be sure to shut off the pump if I do two loads of laundry......unless I stock up on rain water.

We have a tub on the back porch. I catch rain water and use that water for laundry. The tub also catches June bugs and leaves and other debris so I have to strain it before I pour it into the washing machine.

If we lived three miles outside town, we would be on rural water and we could have high speed computer access. We live four miles outside town, so well water and dial up.

We are one mile from the 21st century.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

SHARE THE INSANITY


With my big sister. I am still the younger, but now I'm the BIG sister. My spouse says there had to be two of us to share the insanity. I think my name should have been addendum -- an added thing. Her name could have been guardian. Can you tell which one of us was in charge? A picture is worth a thousand words and this one tells which of us would grow up to be a chicken farmer -- the one with no socks and messy hair. My sister put this inside my birthday card. There can't be a better picture anywhere that says "sisterly love". We are very very different AND exactly alike.
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Saturday, June 09, 2007

REALLY GOOD

I enjoyed several Netflix movies this week. The one tonight won the prize. INSIDE MAN with Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster, directed by Spike Lee. I didn't even remember having added it to my queue.

THE WRITING ON THE WALL

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"AT WAR" explained. This sign posted in a Marine barraks says it all.

HUMAN SADNESS

When true life drama swirls around us and human frailty is on our doorstep, it is much easier to wrap up in chicken dilemmas than face family hardships.

THANK GOD FOR SURGE PROTECTORS

Lighting struck our phone on Thursday night It fried the phone lines and the cordless phone, but did not hurt the computer because of the surge protector. Hooray!

HOW SAD CAN IT GET?

The King is dead. King Moe died this morning. Who could have guessed from the great photos of Moe that he was near death!!! He barely made it onto the roost last night. He did not get up with the others this morning. I could not find any injuries on him other than the neck wound Boss Hog has inflicted earlier in the week. The Silkie Rooster Mouzon passed away earlier from his Boss Hog injuries, thus we now have nary one rooster and Boss Hog, the murderer, is living in a lap of luxury in a Kansas barn.

I do have Beulah Dean back on a nest with new eggs. Even when we removed the old nest, she continued to try sitting on every egg she could find. I will monitor her very closely. I can't imagine after sitting for 30 days, how she will set for another 21. We shall see. Also, I'm not sure these eggs will be fertilized if it was all up to Moe. If all goes according to plan, these eggs should hatch on June 29th.

Who knew that my life as a chicken farmer would only become more and more traumatic at every turn.

Thursday, June 07, 2007

POOR BEULAH DEAN

Tomorrow is the deadline for leaving Beulah Dean on the nest. Another egg exploded today. I have cleaned out the residue and I'm telling you, there is no stinkier smell in the world!

Ron suggested I call the feed store to see if they had any chicks that we could sneak into the nest for BD. No such luck. They are all out of chicks. We weren't even sure an idea like that would work.

That poor little Silkie hen has worked so diligently and stayed on her nest for such a long time, it is going to be awful to send her away with no babies.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

WHAT CHANGE?

Last week we made our rounds to Wal-Mart, then the Farmer's Market for produce, then to a local off-the-roar farm store for homemade ice cream, jelly, bread, etc. The people who run the store are very nice people and it's a pleasure just to walk in and smell the bread and pies baking and the lunches being prepared. The owner's son is about 4 years old and from what we can determine, his name is Minnow.

Last week Minnow invited Ron to return this week to buy some special lemonade. He said his dad was going to fix old fashion lemonade for Minnow to sell. Ron vowed to return and he always keeps his promises.

Today, after Physical Therapy, Ron went by the store. It seems Minnow was having his nap. Ron bought some other things but before he left, Minnow was back outside. He is a tiny, blond haired boy with big eyes and always wears long blue pants with suspender straps and a light blue shirt. Usually his dog is with him, but the pup was on the chain for chasing cars.

Ron said, "Where is the lemonade you were going to sell?"

Minnow replied, "Mother decided we would sell it yesterday."

"Well, Ron exclaimed, You mean I drove all this way and there is not lemonade for me?" Ron could see the boy still had his stand set up and there was ice and lemonade.

"Okay" Minnow said, "I will sell you some lemonade."

"How much does it cost?" Ron inquired.

"Twenty-five cents."

Ron gave Minnow a dollar. Minnow disappeared into his house and quickly came back. He gave Ron some lemonade.

"Where is my change?" Ron asked

"What change?" Minnow asked.

"What did you do with the dollar I gave you?"

"I put it in my box." Minnow said matter-of-factly.

Ron looked at Minnow. Minnow looked at Ron and that was the end of that.

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

KING MOE ON GUARD



Today Prince Moe, son of Boss Hog, has officially been promoted to King Moe. With the Kansas departure of Boss, King Moe is now in charge of the flock. He is a pretty boy too and a big old rooster like his dad. He will do a good job and so far is very nice and polite. (If you remember, Moe is a sibling of sister Curly who still lives here and brother Larry who moved to bird sanctuary last year. Their mother was Chicken Annie, eaten by the "rotten" Rottweiler.)
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joANNa




Jessi at the Santa Barbara Winery and the Angeles National Forest. Obviously California has her in it's grip. I fear we will never get her back to Oklahoma. Well, Joe has her in his grip too so maybe if he came back she would. Nope, she's a California girl now. Pssst, hey Jessi, I've got kittens.
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READY TO TRAVEL


Boss Hog is ready for a trip. Today he goes to Kansas. We have found the perfect home for him so he has received a last minute pardon. Hooray!
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Monday, June 04, 2007

T.G.W.I.F.

Thank God WHEN It's Friday...... Beulah Dean is on the nest still. (She is named for Rhonda's mother Beulah and our stock broker Dean) Eggs are exploding under her. Some have embryos inside, others were unfertilized and simply rotten. It appears that other chickens have been adding eggs to her nest, therefore we do not know if any might still hatch. I have removed the very, very, very stinky exploded eggs from the nest and added new straw. We have put a cage over Beulah Dean. I am letting her off the nest two times a day. We will continue this until Friday, to see if any of the eggs under her hatch. If not, we will end her set on Friday.

Can those of you who know me, picture me handling rotten, exploded eggs? I know me and can't picture it. Life sure takes on a change when you go from banker to chicken farmer.

What about Boss Hog? Well, he is still in the cage. We're going to have to make a decision about his future and I'm sure it will be the chopping block. He had beaten up the rooster Moe and left battle scars. The Silkie rooster, Mouzon, is near death and holding on by a thread. Boss Hog tried to flog Ron every time they got close and chased Mike and would have chased Hope if we had not kept her in when Boss was out.

He has always been a protective rooster, which is his job, but now he's just plain mean. We can't give him away for fear he would hurt someone else and we can't keep him in a cage the rest of his life.

Now I learn that Aracauna roosters are the best to have. We gave away Oreo last year and should have kept him and given Boss to the bird sanctuary.

Oh woe is me!

HIDDEN FLOWER



I was talking to my sister on the phone when I looked out the front window and saw something pink under the cherry tree. I had pink roses and didn't even know.
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Sunday, June 03, 2007

YESTERDAY

My birthday was yesterday.

Mike and Hope's parents came to pick them up yesterday.

We all went to lunch together and celebrated yesterday.

Things got quiet around here yesterday.

I watched the final episode of 24 Season Five while enjoying a half a bottle of wine and chocoloate covered cherries yesterday.

Ron and I went for a drive, etc., yesterday.

Boss Hog went to prison yesterday. (Might go to heaven today)

SPRINKLE'S BACK

What a nice surprise. Sprinkleshouse is back to blog world. If you've read her blog, you're happy to know she is back. If you never read her blog, you better get over there and catch up before she really gets going cause you're going to want to stay posted.

Friday, June 01, 2007

ANYONE

I believe you can now post on my blog. Since you all let your blogs expire and can no longer post, I have changed the settings to allow anyone to post a comment. Give it a try:-)

My family members all created blogs but quit writing on them quite a while ago. They only used their blog names to post comments. Then when they did not change to Google blogs, they said they could not post comments anymore.

HOPE'S RAINBOW

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MORE CREATIONS


Mike has created these wonderful sculptures. Click to enlarge and get the face details.
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