Could be. Who knows how chickens think. LOL!
I do! Yet another good idea you have.  I actually have two cages. I'll have to think about that, maybe give it a try.
That sounds easy enough. Sounds cheaper than full-blown fences, too. Cool. I might have to try that, too. |
| Nibbs Posted on Monday, July 07, 2008 - 03:52 pm: |   |
Wayne's hens keep the chicken yard picked clean, and now and then he will run the rototiller through it just to loosen everything up. The rooster, completely out-of-character kind of male of the poultry world, was scared silly to join the girls outside the coop. Once in a while Wayne would put him out so he could replace the sawdust on the floor, and the poor rooster was desperate to get back in! Even on a hot day! His weak cock-a-doodle-do in the morning should have been a hint. The girls didn't pick on him. He looked gorgeous and strutted without a limp ... but it was all show! |
| Valia Posted on Monday, July 07, 2008 - 04:07 pm: | |
Nibbs's rooster reminds me of a funny duck story. I brought a drake to my friend Dorothy who had three ducks (all female) and wanted ducklings. When we let him out of the box in the presence of the three hens, they surged over to investigate, and he moved gracefully but rapidly away from them. They all circled a little pond several times with him in the lead by about 20 feet the whole time. Then, for no apparent reason, the hens stopped and stood there, gabbling amongst themselves. Pretty soon, Paul (the drake) rounded the pond and came up behind them. They started to run, and, of course, he was now chasing them, about 8 feet behind. Dorothy and I and her 3 kids laughed until our sides about split. |
| Stormdancer Posted on Monday, July 07, 2008 - 04:18 pm: | |
I'll see if I can locate the info and scan the page for you if you like...unless you want to see if you can find the book in your local library...your choice.
Mine keep the area so worked up that all we need to do is run a rake across to help re-level the yard...looks like a bombing range in there where they dig so much. |
| Stormdancer Posted on Monday, July 07, 2008 - 04:35 pm: | |
Could be she was late mating...check out this link on the wild turkeys http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Turkey
...might even check out your local wildlife agency for the state...ours had some pretty good info about when you could expect to see the little ones...we see them in various stages...maybe something got her first hatchlings and she is raising a second brood |
ROFL! I can just picture that. Chickens are so funny.
That's hilarious!
I'll see if there's something similar on the Internet. If not, I'm sure I could create my own lame version of one. LOL! Maybe I'll even head out to the barn today and see what sort of leftover fence I have available.
That sounds like what mine did in the garage pen. It was all just fluffy dirt. I just ran a rake over it before I spread the grass/hay seed.
That's what mine looks like around the lean-tos... a bombing range. Good description!
That was interesting info about 80% of their diet being grass. Maybe I should raise turkeys... |
| Stormdancer Posted on Tuesday, July 08, 2008 - 08:39 am: | |
There's a big difference between the two...check out this link.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domesticated_turkey |
Wow, thanks, that was very interesting, too. I can't get over the turkey dung power plants. 700,000 tons per year. That's a lot of pooh. LOL! |
| Stormdancer Posted on Tuesday, July 08, 2008 - 12:39 pm: | |
LOL...aren't you glad you don't have to clean up that MESS!!! |
It's funny that you said that because when I first read about the 700,000 tons of pooh, I remembered some picture I'd seen of men cleaning out a poultry barn. They were dressed in white hazmat suits, wore respirators, and were using a Bobcat to scoop the stuff up and haul it out. I was shocked, although I don't know why since that's the way half our barn got cleaned out after we bought this place. Only difference was it was a couple feet deep of ancient, compacted sheep pooh. Well, that and they didn't wear suits or respirators. LOL!
This whole thing about nasty jobs reminds me of another story. I think my husband and I saw it on TV years ago. It was about who in the country has the worst job. One guy hauled and cleaned out Port-A-Potties. That wouldn't be high on my list of things to do, but what I thought was the worst was some guy who boiled cow skulls to clean them. I don't remember why he did that. I just remember him stirring a giant bubbling pot to get the meat and other disgusting gunk off of AND out of the skull. *yarp* |
July 7, 2008 (Monday)
It is 74 degrees and grey (9:36 AM).
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I picked some 'Wando' Peas today for us to snack on. Some of them were a little too large, but they still weren't too bad. The smaller peas were very tasty, though. Just right. Fat Rabbit was not particular about the sizes of the empty pods. He liked them all. I am looking forward to the fall crop of peas... 'Sugarsnap'... for comparison.
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I ordered some seeds for next year. I'm going to back up a moment and start this story from the beginning... On the 1st of July, I made a list of the things I wanted to plant next year. That's a real break from tradition since I usually do that during the winter. I tried to put some real thought into what I wanted to do next year. I based my decisions on what has worked before, what would be simplest to do, what I've been dreaming of for a while, and what I want this place to look like in the future. I thought there must be something wrong with me because by the 2nd of July, I had decided that the list I had come up with looked fine. Had I cured my seed addiction? ... Well, fast forwarding to today, I seem to be just fine. While I did manage to buy a few items that were on my list of things to plant next year, I slipped in several things that were not. Haha!
Things I Planned For and Bought
- blue Delphiniums, plus some mixed color Delphs: I satisfied this in one whack by purchasing Delphinium hybridum 'Pacific Giants Mixed'.
- Foxgloves: Digitalis purpurea 'Excelsior Hybrid Mixed'
- Papaver rhoeas: 'Angels Choir'
Things I Bought from my Wish List
- Aconitum carmichaelii
- Helleborus Winter Flowering Hybrid Mixed
- Lupin regalis 'Band Of Nobles Mixed'
- Lupin hybridus 'Tutti Frutti'
- Matthiola incana 'Ten Week Stocks Mixed' (I already bought these once this year, but I'm not sure any of them are coming up and I'm not sure if I used the whole packet... I cannot find it.)
- Papaver bracteatum
- annual phlox: Phlox drummondii 'Phlox of Sheep'
- Lady's Mantle: Alchemilla mollis 'Thriller'
- Althaea filicifolia 'Antwerp Mixed' (I think I originally just wanted the maroon ones, but this will do. Maybe I can separate them out later.)
Seeds I Bought with Little or No Excuse
- Runner Bean 'Polestar' (I have no excuse for buying these since I already have Scarlet Runner Beans and 'Black Valentine' Bush Beans, but I'll try anything once and these are supposedly a very popular bean.)
- Scabiosa atropurpurea 'Oxford Blue' (To be honest, I had no intention of buying any Scabiosas ever again because the 'Black Knight' Scabiosas I grew last year weren't all that thrilling. However, I think the 'Oxford Blue' will be nice cottage-style flowers and may make nice substitutes for the Blue Lace Flowers that I grew last year.)
- Scabiosa caucasica 'House's Novelty Mix' (These look very old fashioned to me and the mix supposedly contains a deeper purple one that I spotted in a single-color packet, so aside from that and the fact that they don't look like the pincushion Scabiosas, it was just a spur of the moment decision.)
- Sweet Pea 'Miss Willmott' (Again, no excuse for buying these except that they're an heirloom and their color is right up my alley.)
- Sweet Pea 'Chatsworth' (No excuse whatsoever. Well, except that they have won awards and maybe I can actually get them to look decent. I am always on the lookout for sweet peas that live up to my expectations. Still looking, so maybe these will fit the bill...)
- Malva 'Pirouette' (They look cottagey and they bloom over a very long season. Other than that, no valid reason to buy them.)
Except for the 'Ten Weeks Stock', everything was on sale, so that's my only other excuse for buying the things that weren't on my "planned for" list. The remaining seeds I bought were for the pumpkin patch, so I had a valid excuse for buying those. But aside from that, I have leftover seeds for everything else on the original list of things I decided to plant next year. Now for the hard part. No more seeds until next year when I purchase for 2010. Good thing I left open the shopping door by planning to buy Cottage Roses, Climbing Roses, and Peonies for next year. I should probably lock up the seed catalogs when they start arriving this winter. Maybe cancel my Internet subscription, too.
I think this brings next year's list of things to plant to 56, not including the pumpkin crop. That's a far cry from whatever this year's nightmare came out to be. The beauty of the 56 is that so many of those things came up successfully from being direct sown. ........ Hey! 28 of them came up from a direct sowing. WOOHOO! Next year could be the best year ever as far as time and energy spent growing things indoors before the thaws come, which means I should be primed for adding a cutting garden in front of the chicken coop come springtime. Yeeeee-ay!
~~~~~~~~
My husband came home early. His project at work ran out of money, so he is taking part of a vacation day. It's so irritating when that happens. This is not the first time. Anyway, we mowed the yard. He is still mowing his section down by the creek. I haven't finished up top, but it is too hot to do any more right now. Maybe I will finish tomorrow morning. It will be interesting to see if he has to take tomorrow off.
I seem to have some orange Papaver atlanticum coming up around the tree stump and off to the side of the bed where I had thought I had planted them. They aren't as glorious as the poppies in town that I adore, but I like them very much.
Ferns by Front Porch
False Sunflower
Kniphofia and 'Happy Returns' Daylilies
'Little Beeswings' Dahlia
July 8, 2008 (Tuesday)
It is 75 degrees, sunny, and humid (8:00 AM).
My Dutchman's Pipe Vines are vining right along. I need to give them something to climb; one of them is heading for the Rose of Sharon. Some of the morning glories are starting to vine, too, in the middle of nowhere. I think I'll give them some sticks to climb on, too.
My husband is home today. He might work on the siding beside the chimney. It would be so nice to finally be done with that.
~~~~~~~~
I finished mowing the upper lawn (at least as far as what I usually mow up here), then mowed part of the daffodil lawn. It was way too hot and steamy to do very much of that. I was only barely able to drag the mower back to the upper lawn while I took a break. I was sweating so profusely. The dewpoint is 69 and the temp is 87 degrees. Ugh! I hope one of the storms hits here today. It's just too miserable for outdoor work right now, and I would like to finish the daffodil lawn. I did finally mow by the mailbox for the first time this year. I've been mowing daffodil foliage as I go, but it seems to have aged enough, and it is July already, so we'll see how they do next year. I'd also like to mow the upper lawn behind the house and beside the garage. My husband usually does those areas with his PI mower, but I'm tired of waiting.
My husband is pulling weeds under the maple trees by picnic rock. I'd help, but it's PI land. I am hoping that this time he will spread some hay seed over there. We've wanted to convert that area to grass ever since we moved here, but my husband doesn't keep on top of the project, so it just ends up being weeded again and again. Once we get some grass growing in there, I'll be able to mow it and keep the weeds down. Then it'll just be left to me to point out any PI that pops up again.
Some sort of black wasp came inside the house. I had to call my husband away from his weeding to kill it. He blasted it with Windex, but it still took its sweet time expiring. I saw two more come to the porch. My husband saw some there yesterday. They may be living in the upper rod of my bamboo wind chime.
~~~~~~~~
I mowed by the garage and behind the house. Yay, it's all done. My husband did some weed whacking and mowed around the maple trees, so it looks pretty good around here. If he's home tomorrow, he says he'll work on the siding then. I laughed, but you never know. If it's cool in the morning, maybe I'll finish the daffodil lawn.
I need to spy on the pumpkins and melons this evening to see if they need water.
|
| Flowerfreak Posted on Wednesday, July 09, 2008 - 02:33 pm: | |
Good luck! LOL |
| Stormdancer Posted on Thursday, July 10, 2008 - 08:23 am: | |
Carburetor spray does wonders on those stinging critters, as does WD40 and most other lubricants....I like the stream the straw throws when using these...can nail the little beasties mid air....also, they won't return to a nest that has been sprayed with the lubricants...I have to keep the ends of my chimes sprayed for the same reason. |
No kidding. It didn't happen. LOL!!
Excellent! I have both, so I can do some two-fisted blasting. I think maybe this morning I will spray the mud splat-looking thing they have built on top of one of the porch columns. Thanks for the tips! |
| Flowerfreak Posted on Thursday, July 10, 2008 - 12:41 pm: | |
Shotguns work great for flying insects (so do 22's, but that takes a little more effort-- but I think it is more fun)!
great idea...especially for city folk like me who can't use a shotgun at home (legally).
Shucks, sorry :( |
ROFL!! In that case, I should buy one to use on my walks down to the mailbox. There is always a deer fly (or maybe it's a horse fly... I can never get a good look at it) that buzzes round and round my head every time I go down there. It makes me feel like I'm in a Peter Gabriel video. |
| Flowerfreak Posted on Friday, July 11, 2008 - 08:42 am: | |
My friend has problems with wood boars every year so we sit out by the barn for hours, practicing up on our shooting techniques ;-)
I have also used badmitton & tennis raquets. Those are really fun. My mom uses them at home for wood boars that are by the back door/porch & my nieces & nephews take swats at wood boars that invade their wooded swing set. My niece is developing a great back hand, lol |
| Growit Posted on Friday, July 11, 2008 - 09:38 am: | |
DJ can you get these there?
http://www.zapbat.co.uk/
Lisa mentioning tennis racquets reminded me. I have one in the VW. Before I go to sleep I lie in bed and zap mosquitoes because they love the flavour of my blood. |
| Flowerfreak Posted on Friday, July 11, 2008 - 10:20 am: | |
Those are pretty neat. I'm not sure if we can get them here. I'll leave that investigation up to the expert. |
Moira, a mosquito-killing Racquet Zapper is exactly the sort of thing you ought to be mentioning even when it has nothing to do with anything anyone else has ever said. It's too funny to not mention! LOL! Thanks to you, I now know about them and where to get them:
http://www.acehardware.com/sm-the-racquet-zapper-the-racquet-zapper-price-1 2-99-electronic--pi-1378736.html |
