sorry for my lack of posts.....

I know its been a while since my last post. I assure you all that we are fine and all is well. NW has been playing winter basketball, and it has taken up much of our time, more then I would have liked. Then there are the daily chores of the estate, never seems to stop. Well before I knew it a few weeks had passed since I had been on here. So, after blog surfing and seeing what everyone has been up to, I decided to sit down and write a bit myself.

I am sure most of you are in the path or have been of this storm, the first sign we got that it was going to be bad came last night when the school district cancelled classes for today. I broke the  news and was met with many hoots and hollers. 

 Overnight it started....

 First came the freezing rain, then sleet and finally a bit of snow. Not a lot but enough to cover the ground and for the boys to have a few snowball fights

.Senior going to work today was questionable, and I made the decision for him, after watching the early morning news and weather..for us the storm involved ice and lots of it, I made the decision for him, his drive to work is more then an hour, and I didn't want him out there on these icy back roads. I am glad he agreed, because as promised, the ice added up and yes there have been many wrecks. 

I went to tend to the chickens, these are some of my new ones, and had no clue what snow was, I don't think they liked it too much as they stayed in the coop all day. I have noticed that our rooster "Black Jack" is not doing his traditional crow, he has started making more of a cackling noise. Not sure if this is because of the much colder weather we have had all week, or if he is just mimicking the hens...I have not had a roo do this before.

I have been hanging out at our public library more often, when I saw the trailer for this movie, I did not realize it was a true story until I saw Ron Howard being interviewed about it, so out of curiosity I  checked it out. and I got to tell ya, its one heck of a survival story. 

I truly believe everyone should read it, to learn the things "not to do" in a survival situation. I an about half way through it, and will sit at night and read parts of it to Senior, and tell him the things they did and shouldn't have done. Pretty amazing, I can't wait to get back in to it tonight. 

So the big parts of the storm have moved north...here we are having some small snow showers, but tomorrow promises to be brighter...might even see the sun..  

Hope you all have a good night, if you are in the path of this blizzard...stay off the roads, and stay safe..

-JUGM

Happy Thanksgiving

Senior had to work today and the boys were out of school, by the afternoon they were not getting along so I made them sit and write 20 things they were thankful for, it was met with groans, grunts and rolling eyes. What they wrote made me smile:

Then I started thinking of all the things I am Thankful for every day of the year. The list really is long, because there are so many things. But top of it would be my husband and children... A love that has endured lots of rough times and how we have stayed together through thick and thin. The three men in my life holds my heart in their hands and we have all been truly blessed

From our home to yours..We hope God blesses you all with a Very Happy Thanksgiving...

things round here # 2

Things have been going good, not only for us but all our friends to the south. The Midlands are finally drying out, but the damage is done and much work is needed to fix what the flooding destroyed.

  A couple of weeks ago Senior bought us this double burner stove. When the new house is done, we will be moving it into a storage building that will sit right out from the side porch, I will move my umpteen canning jars, and all the supplies in that as well. Thus making it the canning supply room.
 Senior had Monday off for the Columbus Day. So we did some potatoes. The best part is being able to have two pressure cookers running at the same time. It is also great in case of emergencies, just another way to be prepared for whatever life throws you.

ND was about to pee his pants to finally cut his pumpkin, The kid is so excited about Halloween that he  couldn't stand it any longer. While it was no where near the size it could have been, it isn't bad. Bigger then a basketball, and weighs around 10-15 pounds. Next year though we will get them in the ground much earlier.

  Libby absolutely despises "Black Jack"the rooster and I believe the feeling is mutual.The two crack me up when they get started going at it. On this day his feathers were getting incredibly ruffled and he was trying to spur her through the wire.

 

 

 

It is turning much cooler here, lows will be in the 30s next week.We have enjoyed beautiful fall weather, and keeping the windows open. It is a welcome break from the drought and hot temps of the summer.  Have a blessed Day...    -JUGM

i am here...

much to the dismay of some, I am still here..sorry to disappoint!

Now with Spring in full gear we have tons to do around the estate. Garden has been plowed and planted. Baby chicks are growing, and I have since acquired a baby "Jersey Giant" Rooster. I googled them..they get up to 15 pounds.  Senior is in the planning stage of building another coop for him and the black austrolops we got a few weeks ago.

With the start of spring, that also means "baseball". We got lucky and both boys were placed on the same team. Practice started this week, and so far all the kids look really good and ready to play.

Well that is kind of the news for now..  Like I said, it is Spring, and we are all busy, busy busy. So don't fret over my lack of post...afterall I can't be like some folks who sit in front the monitor in their tightie whities hitting the "refresh" button 24/7 while chasing prescription drugs with a bottle of Mad Dog 20/20  and dreaming of a blissful three cherries on the local slot machine...wouldn't that be the life!

See ya on the flip side!

A little carmen?

The weather front came whipping through our area yesterday like a pack of dinosaurs in a china shop. And it was cold. Very Cold.  I was worried about the chickens, so I wrapped tarps around the rooster condo and put up the feed bags over the windows to keep the cold off them as much as possible. The ladies are now pumping out around two dozen eggs per week, and I don't want to lose one of them.

Senior is working a new job, and with the kids gone to school all day, this week has been quiet around the estate. I also got my prize from my girl Sandy-- I LOVE IT! 

Today, the mailbox found birthday cards for me from the Florida family. This is the month of births in my family. We have five of them withen a two week period. Yes it is like Christmas all over again.
My sister fortunately intercepted the card from my mother and included it with hers in a larger envelope, When I opened it and looked at what my mother was sending, I felt a bit of sadness for it showed a person who is deep in the throngs of mental issues: The envelope had my address scratched out several times and rewritten again and again, stickers, and stamps decorated the front and back side. . Inside was stuffed with all sorts of items that she collected around the house. But, it showed her love and caring for me, and I will cherish it always.

With today being "Valentines Eve" and tomorrow the day I dread all year-  I am in the mood for a little "Habanera" from Carmen. Oh, and enchiladas, all messy and scooped up with nacho chips. And perhaps an adult beverage or two.

Have a Happy Valentines Day Everyone!.. and remember:  you don't need one day to say " I LOVE YOU" you should do it every day.

today...

The girls popped out enough eggs so that we could slop up some omelets. I added in some fresh ham and cheddar cheese.  

All plates were cleaned and bellies filled. 

 

Was a busy day around the ole estate. Senior did some work on a creek that is on the property. I had to go pick up chicken feed and run some other errands.

We moved "Blue" the silkie into the big coop and got her out of her smaller box. Attitudes began to flair over the new girl in the coop, but by tonight everyone had settled down.

Weather has turned nice these past few days, It has warmed up and the Sun, which had become a stranger to us has made an appearance and was shinning bright.
This made for a brilliant sunset tonight.

this and that....

okay so I have been under the weather for the past few days. Sorry for the lack of post. Depsite me feeling "blah" things have not stopped around the estate....

One thing we aquired over Christmas was a Silkie Hen..We named her "blue" because of the markings on the side of her head...she is such a pretty girl, now I am in search of a black silkie roosters, they would make some gorgeous chicks:

Senior made these cool PVC feeders for the roosters , they work out well and reduce the amount of wasted food. next up is one for water.

Somebody decided she was going to strike a pose on a stump for me:

Everybody loves digging through fresh hale bales:



Who said dogs and cats can't get along here is Ruger and Jack the Cat snuggling together:





a question about chickens

This is Matilda..poor thing is constantly picked on by the entire flock. When I say entire flock I mean the big girls and all the Bantys too.  We have separated her and tried to reintroduce her back to them, but again they jump on her, pull out feathers and tear her flesh up. Its like chicken cannibalism... Ick!

Senior and I are constructing a new coop for the bantys and roosters. But any ideas with Matilda? I feel so darn bad for her, but I need ideas on getting her back into the coop  everything we have tried fails. As much as I like her and even though she is a real sweety she can't live in a box on our porch forever.  
Any help and is greatly appreciated...

turnips and chicks...

Yep!  the seeds that spilt out of the bag two weeks ago have sprouted..It will be fun sorting through this mess.

We put the rest of the baby chicks in the coop. Took a day or two but everyone is getting along well . This little beauty is " Stella":

This is one out of the five roosters:

He is a little banty as a baby his head was all white and reminded us of a bald eagle so, we named him "Patriot" he is a mamas boy, when I go in the coop he always comes right up to me and follows us all around. 

busy weekend

 If you have been over to SENIOR'S blog, then you know he got a new toy: a new tractor. Yup! I guess you could say that we are official country people now. It was really a much needed addition to the estate, because there has been a lot of cleaning up to do around here.



Like the picture above, The boys awoke Saturday morning, and headed out the door to "Help" us. So, they grabbed some rakes, and I directed them to lets rake up leaves around all the trees...so we did... It took us the better part of the day to get all of it done.

 

While working we found an old machete, or knife that grew in to this trunk:

 



 And a really cool knot that formed at the base of this tree, now affectionately known as the "wishing well tree" :

We also purchased a deer feeder-  across from it is a trail camera--all we seem to get is raccoons... again if you have gone over to Seniors, you will see we caught one in our trap. :

 



I think this is some of the Golden Rod that Ole Pioneer Preppy has talked about so much..looks really pretty:

 

The boys, while catching crickets, came across this little Box Turtle...they scared the crap out of him, and he refused to come of his shell until we all left. And let me tell you the person who said turtles move slow is full of it. He got the heck out of dodge!  ha ha

Our Good neighbor Mr. Farmer stopped by to help with some of the clean up, he mentioned that  five of the baby chicks, that have been in the brooder were ready for the big coop. So, we made the move. They freaked, and the older girls were picking on them, but now they have all settled. He did sex some of them for me, and it looks like we have three or four roosters in the mix. One, is pictured here, he is  the white one behind the little brown one, you can see his crown starting to stick up, the boys named him "Billy Bob"  :

 

 Now it is Monday, the boys hated going back to school and  massive amounts of rain are headed this way. The neighbor behind us has opened up his back pasture for his horses, they like this dreary weather: 

 

 

-JUGM







poultry project..another update

The girls they are a growin!  Since the last post about the ladies, we have aquired two Americana's and two Golden Link Pullets. There was some friction at first, but now every one seems to be getting along. The boys are taking very good care of them, and get in to the coop everyday to check the feed, and water, and clean. Senior teases them that they are in the coop so much, he will move their bed out there.  ha ha.  The kids also like playing with the girls, and like to place them on their shoulders and arms to sit.

The babies are growing as well, This past weekend Senior and Mr. Farmer built a new brooder box for us. Complete with a roost, and trap door for me to sweep out the poo. I tried to get a good picture of them, but the little critters jump around so much it is difficult.  The attitudes are starting to flair, so we are not quite sure how many roosters we may have. But I am suspicious of at least two or three.

 

 

 

Jugm's and Seniors Cluck Factory....

First began with the idea to transform the former porch of the mobile home we demolished into our coop. But Good Lord the money, work and time that would involve was phenomenal.
I did some research on chicken coops and found that folks were transforming old metal sheds to house their backyard poultry. We had this one on the estate, and it was serving no real purpose but to house every insect known to man. I ran the idea past Senior, we did some measurements..and the idea took hold.

We first added some windows for ventilation: 

Purchased a stack of 2x4s, some other boards, and a large roll of chicken wire and made our run. We did take the old screen door off the former porch and used that on the entrance:

 

Next up was the chickens..  Our good neighbor Mr. Farmers grandson is the foremost person to go to for chickens. He had several eggs incubating and ready to hatch. Senior helped him with a recent car problem and he in turn promised us some baby chicks. 

Got to love bartering...that is how we roll around here.

Well today he called to say the eggs were hatching and when do we want them: 

Now I will not lie..I am a total novice at being a mother to baby chicks...  Fortunately, I have Mr. Farmer, his wife and grandson to tutor me. I also have the Internet and books to refer too.

I also realize that the baby's will not be ready for the coop for a few months, so next weekend Mr. Farmer is taking us to a livestock auction, and is helping us with the purchase of some older chickens. I am also eventually in the search of a Turkey..little ND has had his heart set on one ever since last year when we went to a farm for a field trip and he saw one living in the chicken coop. He wants to name it "Bob"  lol 

I have also have my hopes on adding a Polish Hen to our coop..I saw one at Mr. Farmers and ever since I have thought them totally cool.

 

Besides, I think they bear a striking resemblence to Phyllis Diller:

 

I am extremely excited about this new venture in our life. I have always wanted our own coop and I can't wait for the learning process to begin..

-JUGM

Wednesday...

Today a nice cool Autumn breeze is blowing. The temperature is dropping. Suppose to be down in to the upper 40s here. And not just for one day, it is suppose to last through the weekend.
So, I opened the windows, poured a cup of coffee and proceeded to re-do the template on my blog.
 The new background picture is from this past weekends trip.
I started off with all blue backgrounds, but was not feeling that at all. So, now its all brown. Hope it meets with approval.

Our past weekend was spent at the Carolina Estate, not initially by choice. The boys had baseball and Senior had plans, until our neighbor/caretaker called..you can read more about it over at Seniors Man Cave.

The boys were happy about the impromptu trip, any chance to go up there and they are on board.
While I was hanging out laundry, ND cried about roosters in the yard. We do not currently have a coop so I did not believe him, until Libby almost choked herself trying to get to the poor things.
Not roosters, but some nice hens wandered over from the neighbors place....

 

Saturday evening the temps were dropping and left us with an amazing sunset behind the trees.....

 





The sun was reflecting off the leaves, and I thought this made for a cool picture.

 

 

  Sunday afternoon we took a walk down in to the woods on the way back we spotted this little lady climbing up the back wall of one of the older buildings...So far she is the biggest Spider I have seen up there.

 

 

 

When Senior went up alone a few weeks ago, he remembered to take

and plant the Dogwood my brother sent for his dads funeral

this trip we finished it off by adding in more mulch and the kids

did a rock border.