You never know.....

Someone recently told me that they looked me up on Google and found my blog....funny thing is my life has been so crazy that I haven't posted anything on the blog since 2010.
So I decided maybe I need to update a few things and fill in several areas of the farm journey. I really don't know where to start and instead of sounding winded, I will try to condense the last 4 years into something readable and highlight the important and significant parts to bring this up to date.

Since 2010.....I have become a grandma...two beautiful grandchildren that fill my up my time.
I have expanded my chicken operation immensely.....adding coops, chickens and meat birds. All has been very successful. My husband and I have also become empty nesters. It doesn't mean we are any less busy, just differently busy.
My mother passed away just over a year ago, and that has made a big impact in my life in so many ways.
One of the most significant  impacts was the fact that I have an older brother I did not know about. Long story short, mom had gotten pregnant in the 50's and had given the baby up for adoption but had never mentioned it to anyone outside of her immediate family, parents/siblings and my dad who was her steady at the time. He did know either until he returned from his tour in the service. It was what you did in those days..... fast forward to her death bed and her delirium and things were said and noted and the search began for my brother. Some great detective work from my younger brother and he was found, living on the other side of town. Contact was made, and we sat patiently waiting for a response....it finally came in February of this year and we have had the pleasure of meeting him and sharing time and stories with him.You would never know he had not been part of the clan for 57 years, it was like he lived in another state and had come home.
 The funny thing is when he went to look us up on the internet, he couldn't find anything except me and my chicken blog!!
The whole thing is amazing, I cannot stop looking at him...he looks so much like mom. I wish she could have met him, but I think there was a reason it was meant to be this way....we never know what are destiny is and where life takes us. I truly believe divine intervention also led us to him.
We also have to realize that you never know what someones back story is, so don't judge, don't make assumptions...give everyone and everything the benefit of the doubt.
As for chicken and cow stories.... We now have a cow that is 18 years old, and she is still producing calves despite her age.  She is also a great pet and grass cutter.  
I have updated all my coops. We have expanded them and made the larger. We have laid concrete flooring and added electric and lights.The electric comes in handy to keep the waterers from freezing and the light make it nice to do chores in the dark. The concrete flooring makes it marvelous when it comes to cleaning the coops!!
I have added meat bird production into the mix and have filled my freezers with tasty meat birds. I have 100 layers and I am harvesting 5/6 dozen eggs a day despite the cold and lack of daylight. I have turned my neighbor onto raising chickens and she raised Banty's and Fancies this year, and I am sharing coops space and information with her. She is my backup when  I am late doing chores or coming home. She is a great friend and neighbor!  So that is all for now, I will try to be better about updating the blog, not only for you  but for myself, it is a great way for me to journal my life and stories!

Services were held today for Hector Kosman. Hector was the beloved Mascot for Bad Attitude Farm. Hector was a hard working rooster and loved his hens. He fathered many peeps and was a good friend to his owner, Berni. He was laid to rest on the farm in his favorite place. He truly will be missed. RIP Hector.

New Babies at the Farm

Tina had her calf on Monday night.

She is up and running around this morning.

She stays pretty close to her momma!

She was running around the pasture in the warm sunshine!

She still needs a name!

Spring/Summer

Well Spring came and went and Summer has begun.

The temperatures were weird and too warm too fast for Spring.

Dave is ahead in all his planting and ground work.

He started making hay, earlier than most years.

We had a few activities happening here at the farm.

Dad turned 75 so we celebrated at the Winery!

The hens are laying eggs galore!

One hen is laying a HUGE egg every other day.

They weigh 4.5 oz. The largest was 5 oz.

They are double yolkers!

I worked real hard and made a new cover for the porch swing.

I also made some covers for the other patio furniture.

The garden is finally in and all the chicks have

been moved to their new coops. The new batch should start

laying in July!

A robin decided to make a nest on the mirror of the truck.

It laid 4 eggs in the nest but then abandoned the nest.

It was neat to see how resourceful the birds can be

when they want to build a nest!

Summer looks like it will be a hot one.

I have already turned the AC on in the house

and the fans are blowing in the coops to keep the air moving.

Good thing we saved so much on natural gas for heating,

because it is going to cost us a fortune for electric and the AC!

Winter Ice Fog

At 5:00 this morning I let the dogs out. There was a fog in the air. They call it Ice Fog.
By definition it is only seen in extremely cold Arctic air. Well it was only 6 degrees this morning. I think that is Arctic enough. Some how ice crystals hang in the air and they seem to deposit themselves on everything. It reminds me of little feathers sticking up off the branches.

The trees were covered by the time the sun came up, and they just glistened. I couldn't take enough pictures. I also realized, I really need a better camera to take some of these shots.

The crystals were on everything and they stuck out only on one side of the item they were attached to.

Except for on the barbed wire, the ice crystals seemed to go all the way around it.

I think this was the coolest picture I took today.

Every bit of the wind chime was covered.

Hopefully my pictures are worth a thousand words, because you really have to see this to really appreciate it.

Winter's Project

It seems like over the past 29 years we have lived in this house, we always have something going on. A remodel of a room, or garage, a barn being built, a water line installed or some thing that has to be replaced, like a furnace , roof, or hot water tank.
Being farmers, most of our good weather is used making hay. So when we do have down time to do house projects, it is usually in the winter. Many of our projects have been started
January 1st. There isn't a particular reason, but my best guess is the guys have cabin fever.

This year was no different. I was scheduled for hand surgery January 8th, and on January 4th, the reconstruction of the bathroom started. The timing wasn't that great, but we had the help, and I wanted it done.
Having a 1960's ranch, building codes where lax to say the least in those days. We have learned from previous projects, that you never know what you are getting into when you start.
We had some idea what this project may include, because we have semi remodeled it before.
It was a lick and a promise kind of job, paint, some new fixtures....
This time we were doing it from the bottom up, literally.
Some of the floor joists were cut in the original construction of the house, which caused the floor to sink 1 1/2 inches. I can't tell you how long it was that we had house floor jacks holding up the floor.
Several of the joists had to be replaced, which meant jacking up the house and putting in 12 ft boards. But it worked. Next came the demolition, to the studs!
New sub floor had to be laid, new dry wall had to be hung and a new tub surround put in.
Oh, by the way did I mention, we only have one bathroom. We do have a shower downstairs, but only one toilet. It had to be removed and replaced several times, depending on what phase of the construction we were in.

The new tile floor was put in by my BIL G2.

It was awesome. My brother put in the rest of the hall floor. The paper template on the floor is were the vanity will go. It is on special order and should be here in 2 weeks. We had such a problem getting one to fit the small area.

Dave wanted to go with the juniper ceiling. The wood is the same wood that is in the beach house in the OBX. It smells like cedar and the bath feels like a spa!

We chose a full size shower and surround. It only has a 4" ledge, and as we get older, we have to worry about accessibility and falls. All the walls were reinforced for grab bars to be installed at a later date.

Mick and his friend helped with the painting, because I have a splint on my right hand and cannot do anything.....AGGHHH! The paint is a blue glaze over white and it looks like clouds, very soft. I love it.

The lights are in and the only thing left to do right now is the exhaust fan and new door. Of couse the vanity will be set when it arrives. This was a major project for us, so I think I will rest for now.

Welcome Winter

So where did fall go? We really aren't ready for
the cold and snow, but Mother Nature has different ideas.

Mick has cut and split a lot of wood for the wood furnace, and we have to get it all stacked. He is thinking it is going to be a cold winter. I don't like the cold and snow, it hurts my bones.
I had to get the heated waterers out for the chickens yesterday. They don't seem to mind the cold, but I know I had some guineas with frozen feet last year. Hopefully it won't be as cold this year.

We got our first taste of snow the week of Thanksgiving, up until then, we were
in the 60's during the day. Now that we
got the first snow, it cold, and really cold!

Welcome Fall

Fall shows up and here I am another year older. You wonder where all the time goes. Then I sit back and look at the photos I have captured and they tell my story and document my time.

I can see that I haven't had much time to blog, I know I have been outdoors most of the summer.

When I am inside it was to can tomatoes and pickles and various other crops.

My photos are slightly out of order and it is too early in the morning for me to mess around with them. This is Tiffany's new Classroom. She is now teaching at Garfield Elementary. It is the school the boys went to. I had to make her new curtains for her room.

Besides all the canning, I also messed around with chicks, and chickens. I am trying some different breeds for variety. I like the odd and rarer breeds, but they can be fussy to raise.

I find the mortalitiy is higher than your standard chickens, but they are so pretty.
We had a small issue with the gender of some of the flock. I gave some hens to an urban farmer friend, and we found out later that it was a rooster, and no roosters in the city allowed! So they brough it back to me and we traded for another hen. Then they called and had another rooster from a friend, so now I am the proud owner of a Black Cochin Rooster, and he is GRAND!

The fall flowers are gorgeous and the weeds have taken over most of my beds. There just wasn't enough time to kepp everything in A1 condition

Along the way, I went back to work this summer, only to break my little toe again, so I was off for another 8 weeks. Now I am back at work and back to my old department. Hopefully it will be easier on my bones.

Now we wait for winter!

Ruralosexual

This Article appeared in our local paper. The author is John Gladden, and his columns are hilarious. Thanks John for your humor.....we love it.

You might be a ‘ruralosexual’ if you can relate to this column
By: John Gladden July 21st, 2009 · Medina Gazzette

In recent years, the term “metrosexual” has burrowed its way into the public dictionary, describing a person who is urban, stylish and has a penchant for luxury. The word has been applied to the likes of actor Brad Pitt, soccer star David Beckham, and others among the similarly hip and famous.
Somehow, it doesn’t seem to describe me or most of the people I know. Most of us don’t live in big cities, couldn’t care less about what’s in fashion, and don’t spend a dollar we don’t have to. We’re more like “ruralosexuals.”
How do you know you’re a ruralosexual? Well, the first sign may be that you are vaguely uncomfortable with any word that has “sexual” in it.
Nevertheless, you can bet you’re a ruralosexual if:

Your idea of entertainment is pulling up a chair and watching the chickens strut around the yard.

The smells of good hay and freshly turned earth are better than perfume.

You run a tab at the parts store.

In summer, you mow your grass once a month, whether it needs it or not.

Most of what’s in your freezer is food you produced yourself.

You know where to find wild berries all summer long.

Throwing something away goes against every moral fiber of your being.

You have stay-at-home clothes and going-into-town clothes.

A good day is when you don’t have to go into town at all.

Your idea of getting a snack is taking a paring knife and salt shaker out to the garden.

You slow down and look at every truck, tractor or piece of equipment for sale at the side of the road.

You’re always racing the sun.

Your thumbs and the sides of your index fingers are stained with dirt for the duration of the

summer from pulling weeds in the garden.

It’s just “fair,” not “the fair.” As in: I’m getting ready for fair.

Your spouse can tell how nasty a chore you plan on doing any given day by the age and condition of the ball cap you put on when you walk out the door.

You’ve taken care of puppies and kittens abandoned on your road.

You’ve reached your hands into places that would scare Indiana Jones.

You’ve fixed things that would stump even MacGyver.

You’ve put on moves that would rival Michael Jackson as you’ve danced out of the way of moving livestock, angry bees, loaded skunks and ankle-twisting groundhog holes.

The wannabes in the cowboy hats just make you smile.

You spend more time outside than in.

You don’t know your own cell phone number, but you have the vet’s number memorized.

You’ve “used the facilities,” shall we say, from a moving tractor because you didn’t want to stop work.

You’ve stopped work to let a family of rabbits scurry to safety.

The patches on your clothes have patches on them.

You know how to blow your nose without using a tissue.

Every time you hear someone driving a tractor up the road, you know who it is by the sound of the engine.

Broken-down vehicles and rusty machines just seem like a natural part of the landscape.

You’ve nearly put your vehicle into a ditch because you were so intently studying a garden, building, crops or animals you were passing by.

Your primary unit of organization is “pile,” as in: a pile of scrap, a pile of manure, a pile of wood, a pile of trouble.

You enjoy getting soaked in a well-needed rain as much as plants do.

What was supposed to be a “temporary fix” on a building or piece of equipment has lasted 10 years.

You live by the rule that if it’s free, you take it.

In the winter, you’d rather watch the fire in the stove, or the fireflies outside on a summer night, than to watch TV.

You worry when the wind blows, when it’s too dry or too wet, when it’s too cold or too hot.

You’ve been so filthy, you’ve had to undress on the porch before being allowed to enter the house.

You wish there was an open season on trespassing four-wheelers.

You have an everyday pocketknife and a special-occasions pocketknife.

A date with your significant other usually involves a stop at the tractor store.

You’ve got dirt under your fingernails, except for the one that’s busted off.

You pull off your T-shirt and your skin looks like you are still wearing a white T-shirt.

You’ve stopped along the road to salvage a stick of firewood that fell off someone’s truck.

You envy people with 40-hour workweeks and regular paychecks, but you wouldn’t trade places with them for anything.

Where Has Summer Gone?

As I find time to sit for a minute, I will check my e-mail and run through my favorite blogs. But as I read the blogs, I can see that everyone is sooo busy with all the goings on of summer that we don't have time to update our blogs. I know there are a few that have time to at least update once a week and then there are others that have time to update more often, but I am one that hasn't done an update in about a month or so.

It has been too nice to be indoors and if I am indoors, I am too tired do do anything except sleep, because I have worked my butt off outside.

The weather here has been absolutely gorgeous for the past month. A little on the colder side for July, but still beautiful. This past week we have gotten into a rain mode. One day rain, then two dry days, then scattered showers, then sun again. The humidity is up and my air conditioner hasn't been off in a week. Farming has been great. Crops are on tract and hay has been all put up. we are waiting on second cutting and for the sweetcorn to come in. The boys have been very busy doing the farm chores. We also got some pigs this year. they are a big hit at the farm!

The chicks have grown and they needed a new chicken run, so spent some time and built one for them. After about a week I had to revise the design and add a door so I could reach the feeders more easily. You see, Grace is not my middle name, and I tripped and broke my baby toe again. I needed easy access to the chicken feeders without doing acrobatics with my toe. The broken toe also meant I was off work again. I can't get a shoe on to save my soul, not that I haven't tried. So flip flops have been my pal for the last 4 weeks.

The goats came to visit after I came down with a severe case of poison ivy. They can eat up the poison ivy around the yard and it doesn't bother them. Everyone here in the house has had some poison ivy. We think the dogs are walking through it and them getting it on their fur and we pet them and it gets all over us. The goats are doing a good job of eating it up!

I have the funniest Rooster. His name is Don King. He is a Polish chicken. It is a breed of chicken that I have never seen before. He has this top hat of feathers that remind me of Don King's hairdo! He really is a beautiful rooster. He has a girlfriend named Alvira.
We have also had some other births here at the farm. Sweetie and Tina have come to stay this summer and they both delivered beautiful heifer calves. They have been doing a great job nursing and taking care of their babies and eating up the pastures.

We are all trying to deal with the recent economic downturn. Cutting back where we can and staying close to home. Small side trips are all we have done, and there isn't any plans to do any travel far from home. My DIL has made some changes, from Kindergarten to Second grade, which will be exciting for her, and she is also moving buildings within her district. I will be helping her get some things ready for her classroom.

The garden is bountiful and my DIL and I have been canning up a storm. We have done pickles and jelly so for. Beets, beans ans zucchini are next. It has made for a very busy summer. What did you do this summer! I hope you all had fun!

Just Another Summer Day

The sun has been out here and the weather has been pretty fine. Dave is making hay and is as happy as could be. The corn is up and the wheat is starting to head out. We have had a pretty good growing season so far. The weathermen must be on crack, because they can't get a forecast straight, we can predict the weather better than they can with all those fancy sophisticated weather measuring tools!
There is so much yard work and chicken chores to do that I haven't had a moment to sit down and check out the blogs.
The Guinea Keets are hatching...11 so far.... they will probably go to auction. I have too many now! The neighbors are complaining that they are noisy, but I have to listen to their flippin' ATV's and motorcycles...or the weed wacker at 8:00am....don't they realize, some people work nights..... Anyways, as soon as something exciting happens here I will update the blog.
Enjoy the summer sunshine!

The Hatch Continues

I ordered 50 chicks from the hatchery. They arrived on May 5th. During that week, my DIL Tiffany had a school project called Flat Stanley. Each child drew a self portrait and mailed them to someone for an adventure. I received Flat Lillian. Flat Lillian lived with me for about a week. She helped with the chick chores, went to work with me and enjoyed the apple blossoms on the trees. By the time she was ready to go back to school, she was very tired. She was a very good guest , she didn't eat much, and didn't take up too much space, but I know she had a good time. After her adventure with me at the farm, we put together a poster of her activities and it was presented at the school's Open House.

Flat Lillian with the new chicks.

The new chicks were doing great and then the eggs we ordered, and my friend Jim put in his incubator, started to hatch. It was very exciting! We now have 10 Blue Jersey Giant chicks, 27 Ameraucana chicks, 25 brown egg laying chicks and 8 Silkie chicks. They Ameraucana Chicks will lay green or blue tinted eggs.

Well it didn't stop there..... the other eggs we put in Jim's incubator started to hatch and before we knew it, there were about 100 chicks. We decided that we would take our chances and try to sex the chicks ourselves. When you order chicks from a hatchery, they come sexed, which means they are either pullets (females) or cockerels (males) and straight run ( mixed sexes).

When you hatch them yourself you have no way of telling them apart unless you do a vent check. Chicks have internal sex organs, so you have to put on your glasses and in a good light, and look at their behinds! Jim and I took a stab at it and checked one of the chicks that we knew was a male( came from the hatchery marked as a male) and started to compare chicks. We think we did a pretty good job. All the cockerels will be sold at the auction, females will be kept as egg layers at our farms.

I am waiting for my eggs to hatch that I have in my incubator. They are due to hatch this week.

My Guinea hens also started to lay eggs. I collected them and put them in the incubator. They take 28 days to incubate before they hatch. They have about 2 more weeks. The keets will then go to Jim's house.

Jim and his wife Gail, also raise Flat Coated Retrievers. He brought some of the puppies over for a photo shoot. They are really so cute! My problem is I can't tell them apart!

Can you?

Working up a Storm!

The weather has finally started to cooperate and I have been able

to get some projects done outside.

I started cleaning chicken coops, in preparation for the new chicks.

The plan for the new barn addition has been put on hold for now, and Dave and I have discussed some other options for housing the new chicks.

I told him, I have about 3 weeks before I have to have things ready to go.

Our plans have been brewing in our heads.

He has been looking for some recyclable materials at the farm.

We try not to invest too much into the chicken housing because we have so much that we can recycle, we just have to check our inventories.

I also have been tying up a few ends here at home,

unfinished projects and things that were put aside last fall.

One of those things that came up was a Black & Decker work bench

I had gotten for a Christmas gift in December 2007!

Even though it came with instructions,

I had the most difficult time putting it together.

For those that know me, that is really unusual and this thing had me totally baffled.

I came across it again in the garage while I was doing some other woodworking.

I found the legs but couldn't recall where the rest of the pieces were.

I did some searching and couldn't find them....

until I went to look for something else and there they were.

So I struggled and got the thing together!

Now it looks like it could be a very handy item in the workshop!

I have been also working on some other projects.

I received new cordless tools for Christmas and I have been working up a storm!

I need transport boxes for the chickens, to take them to the auction.

I looked online and they were so expensive.

I found a picture and thought....well I can make one of those.

I actually made three.

The first one was a prototype. I had no plans, measurements or drawings.

I just went by the photograph I had. Each one got better as I made them.

I had plenty of hardware, hinges and such, laying around so I used what I had here at home.

Then when I was scrounging around in the barn, I came across an old stool that I was going to repair and never had the time. I glued it, painted it and put some decals on it, gave it a seal coat and it looked great. Onto the next project.....

During all this work, I found time to go to the Mt Hope Auction.

This place is trouble for me.....sometimes I take eggs to sell, but I always seem to come home with something. This time it was a Banty hen and her chicks. They were so cute! She is a good mother and her chicks like to ride on her back.

I also found some Silkie chicks. I have been looking for some all spring. Now I have 3 and I am thrilled. I am going to the auction this week....I might find some more chicks!

They look so cut on the new stool!

Supporting the March of Dimes

My friend Debbie is walking to support the March of Dimes.
If you can, click on the link to donate $$$$. If you can't donate,
please think of her as she completes her walk on April 18th.
Thanks.

Polish Chicks

I sold 8 roosters and bought 26 chicks. I seem to like the stranger things in life. These are Polish chicks. Some of the chicks I bought were 4 weeks old, 2 weeks old, 1 week old and 2 days old.

4 weeks and 2 weeks old

Buff Polish Chicks 1 week old

Buff Polish Chicks 1 week and Black Polish chicks 2 days old

Polish Chicks

Polish Chicks have a tuft of feathers or a "hat'" they are the craziest chicks I have ever seen.

I still am waiting to get Silkies and Frizzles......