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Why it takes me two hours to run a half-hour errand

Category: Farm Doings | Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 7:32 pm

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I try not to go into town more than once a week, and here's why--I spend two hours doing things that ought to take a half-hour at the most.
On my to-do list: get turn-buckles for new coop door, get gas for mowers, pick up more chicken feed. First stop the hardware store. One of the clerks asks me how the garden is doing, and we commiserate about the drought and discuss how high our corn is, and another customer chimes in with the amount of recent rain and whether it will do any good. The other clerk and I have an interesting discussion about hens, which we both keep.
As I'm paying for my turn-buckles, a neighbor walks in and asks if I saw the gazebo going down our road. Nope, I missed that one! Our new neighbors that are about two miles away had a gazebo built by the local Amish settlement, and it was delivered last week. Sorry I missed taking a picture of the gazebo passing by. However, my neighbor said the new couple are talking about throwing a big barbecue to introduce themselves and inaugurate the gazebo (deciding what to take to the barbecue will involve several phone calls and discussions with the other ladies on the road and there goes another hour).
Got to the filling station and have my cans filled, ready to put into the truck. Some gentleman who obviously thinks I am a delicate flower of Southern womanhood tells me he'll load them for me. Then we get into a discussion about how the grass is growing because of the rain, and he wants to know where our farm is, and when I tell him he remembers several folks who used to live up and down the road. I get a background on the neighbors, past and present. Useful knowledge!
I know that the feed store is a hotbed of information, rumor, and tall tales, so it's no surprise to me that it takes 45 minutes to get a sack of feed. But heavens, the things you learn! The local garden club's president is the mother of the man who runs the feed store, so you get town gossip and country gossip, all in one convenient location.
When my husband comes in from work and asks me what I did today, I can honestly tell him, "Nothing." But I sure had fun doing it!

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What don't you understand about "Barn"?

Category: Nature | Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:56 pm

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As y'all know, we love birds, bugs, snakes, mammals, and all critters. However, there are a few that try our patience.
Barn swallows! Why on this good green earth do they insist on building their nests over doorways, on ledges over the patio, and on the carport? Can they not understand they are to build nests in barns?
They are NOT tidy birds! Their nests are made of mud and some other unmentionable stuff, which drops on any surface below it (like a new car). Airplane chassis could be held together with barn swallow nest ingredients.
They also have absolutely no plumbing problems (as evident on aforementioned car). A doormat that says "Welcome" isn't all that welcoming with a pile of white deposits on it. "Oh, just step over it, the barn swallows have a nest above the door. Would you like an umbrella?" Sure cuts down on visitors.
We have inside-out circles of duct tape on the patio and carport lights; our front door is festooned with Christmas tree tinsel (I read this repels birds, but I suspect the barn swallows think it's the latest in home decor). My husband goes out at 11 pm in his underwear to squirt the little birdies with cold water (we keep a spray bottle in the refrigerator for that purpose and pray we don't have to explain to any guest rooting around in the fridge).
We have a barn, a welcoming, clean barn with lovely rafters just perfect for a barn swallow's nest. They ignore it. Can't lure them into the barn. My husband is threatening to get a butterfly net, swoop up a swallow, and tie it to a barn rafter until it gets the idea this is it, no other choices. I just hope he isn't in his underwear when he does it.
Barn swallows are pretty little things, though . . . .

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Good news/bad news in the chicken department

Category: Farm Doings | Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 7:27 pm

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I called our poultry supplier and found that no chicks would be available until June! Bad news! It seems that everone and his cousin wants backyard chickens and the supplier is swamped with orders. I'm so tired of being on the "cutting edge" of fads! So, all y'all that ordered your fancy chicks, your bantams, and your strange breeds, back off! I need eight Black Australorps and I don't want to wait for them.
Good news is that Niaomi (we are on first-name basis with chicken suppliers) called and they have my chicks reserved, and I can pick them up on June 1st! Picture two 60-ish people, driving 27 miles in a pick-up truck to get a small cardboard box of chicks. Picture 60-ish lady sitting in passenger seat, clutching cardboard box that peeps, and occasionally opening it to coo at the little yellow fluffballs in the box.
Then when we get home they go to their incubation box (small shallow waterer, special starter feed, shredded paper on the bottom that gets changed daily) in the guest bedroom. Two weeks later they move to the inside coop in the barn with a temporary barrier to contain them in a smaller area. Sixty-ish lady spending most of the day hovering over the coop, protectively!
Pictures of new arrivals will be posted later.

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Coop d' Grace

Category: Farm Doings | Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 12:30 pm

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Our dictionary defines "coup d' grace" as "any final stroke."
This weekend we built the new outside coop for the hens, and believe me, this is the final one. If the hens want another coop they can build it themselves. This is the "coop d' grace" on this farm!
We started early Saturday morning, assembling the frame (which I had already painted in the hens' chosen color). Struggling with 16' of frame in a nice Texas breeze will work up an appetite in no time! After a break for breakfast (eggs of course) we finished attaching the framework to the 4'x4's that I had trenched into the ground. Then we put in the cross members for strength (remembering the time Ruby Begonia put her fluffly little behind against the wire and pushed until it popped free and she spent some free time outside the coop).
By mid-afternoon we were pretty tuckered, and we still hadn't attached any chicken wire. The ladies were inside, watching the progress and supervising from their high perch. They do like to keep an eye on the help! We decided to do the wire the next day.
Sunday morning my husband fired up the compressor and got out the staple gun while I struggled to unwind new chicken wire. If you ever need something rolled up really, really tight, hire the guy that rolls chicken wire. We spent the morning stretching wire across the frames and stapling it really securely (fluffy behind proof) and bleeding. Did I mention that chicken wire is very prickly? Handling it without getting scratched or poked is not possible.
Shortly after noon we finished:

Coop de grace in progress ( photo / image / picture from marlingardener's Garden )
and let the ladies inspect their new outside coop:

Oh, we have a new coop! ( photo / image / picture from marlingardener's Garden )
The ladies seem to like it, and in appreciation laid extra eggs on Monday. Who said chickens have no gratitude?





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Wrestling with a rose

Category: Flower gardens | Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 1:13 pm

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As I mentioned on "My Garden" I spent yesterday afternoon wrestling with a rose. I think the rose won.
There is a very large (6' tall, almost as wide) rose bush in back of the manse at the church up the road. Last fall when I went to get cuttings, I noticed a lot of dead wood on the rose, and it was covered with bindweed.
Never one to leave well enough alone, I asked permission to prune and refresh the bush. The congregation knows a sucker when they see one, so I quickly got permission.
I should have sold tickets to the performance! First I put on my heaviest gloves and started pulling bindweed off. That was when I found my gloves weren't really all that heavy. I put a pair of my husband's gloves over mine--that kept the bleeding to a minimum.
Then I got my long-handled loppers and attacked some of the bigger dead branches. They attacked right back.
After I managed to wrestle the branches out of the rose bush and pick the thorns, leaves, and heaven-knows-what out of my hair, I decided to wear a hat. The next challenge was to wrestle my hat out of the rose bush where some thorns were holding on to it for dear life. Who knew roses were fashionistas?
Finally I got down to cutting away the dead tips and de-suckering the bush (and no, that doesn't mean that this sucker was leaving!). I managed pretty well since I had on long sleeves, and I'm likely to heal up in a week or two.
By this time I had a pickup truck loaded with debris, all of it thorny and none of it willing to stay in place. I had a tarp, so I tied that over the bed of the truck to hold everything until I could get home to our burn pile. Have you ever tried to get a tarp OFF a load of thorny stems? It takes a while and it is not fun!
When my husband got home and saw my scratches, band-aids, and generally tuckered appearance, he said, "Oh, you got at that rose bush. Who won?"

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Hens' new view

Category: Farm Doings | Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 12:46 pm

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Yesterday was "finish preparing for spring" day, which involved taking down the tarp that keeps a cold wind from blowing into the hens' coop. The tarp is hung in the barn aisle, just outside the coop and effectively screens the inside coop.
After the tarp was down, all the ladies lined up on their lower perch and looked at the barn aisle. You could almost hear the conversation:
"Look at that, I've never seen that before!"
"Wonder when they built a barn out there?"
"Lucy, look! They have equipment!"
"Do you see anything to eat?"
Chickens are known for having short memories, and after all, they have only lived in the barn for three years. You really couldn't expect them to remember there was a barn attached to their coop!


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planting and watering

Category: Vegetable gardens | Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 3:24 pm

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I just finished watering the seed beds in the vegetable gardens. So far only the spring spinach is poking its head up, but the seeds were only planted four days ago.
Thank heavens for our big water containers that collect rainwater off the barn roof. I don't have to lug water nearly as far as previously, and having it near to hand, I do a better and more generous job of watering!
This afternoon I'll be setting a plank between two sawhorses, cutting and sorting seed potatoes, and putting them out to heal over. I'll set the plank and sawhorses under the big hackberry tree so the potatoes will be shaded, but have great air circulation (winds are 10-15 mph today, which for Texas is a gentle breeze).
The hens will keep an eye on me while I'm working. I have six beady-eyed supervisors!

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Sounds of early morning

Category: Nature | Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 5:29 pm

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We get up early, between 5 and 5:30 a.m. We get to see a lot of stunning sunrises, but one of the best things about being up and about so early is what we hear.
This morning we heard the white-crowned sparrows twittering in the juniper trees. They are small birds, but loud! They spend the night in the junipers for cover and warmth.
The farm across the road from us has cattle, and we heard several of the heifers complaining about the cold. They don't "moo" but rather give out with an "aahh" sound. The bull, on the other hand, blasts!
Killdeer fly over, and it seems a killdeer in flight has to cry. Silence is not their forte! A few ducks came into the pond, and we heard them discussing the fishing possibilities.
Getting up and getting outside brings a symphony of lovely sounds. We enjoy the view, but we also enjoy the sounds!

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Hens are funny!

Category: Farm Doings | Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 9:45 pm

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Bear with me, this is the first time I've written a blog. In fact, until recently I thought blogs were a gardening shoe!
As some of you know from my postings, we have six Australorp hens, complete with names and personalities (but no teeth). Yesterday I was giving Rosie her weekly physical exam by running my hands over her body and talking gently to her. I found a lump on her chest! I tucked her under my arm and started frantically searching for the growth. What I found was a piece of breakfast linguini that had gotten stuck in her feathers and dried out. Hens are very messy eaters. I had to pull two feathers to remove her food residue, which did not make Rosie happy!
As I was working with Rosie, Stumpy decided to go walk-about. She managed to get through the coop door and into the barn aisle. I dumped Rosie, minus a few feathers, and went after Stumpy, who refused to re-enter the coop. Finally I went out of the barn, got some Swiss chard from the garden, and started feeding them treats in the outside coop. Stumpy set up a ruckus because she couldn't get at the goodies! I went back in, opened the coop door, and Stumpy shot inside to join the rest of the flock.
And all this before 7:30 a.m.!

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