Off to Oz

We had nasty weather again during the night. Strong winds which blew branches off trees and into the house making terrible noises as they flew by. I was wondering if I would be taking the same trip Dorothy took! In the daylight there was minor damage but not enough to need the insurance company. One of our portable chicken cages was relocated and now looks like this: No animals were injured or killed.

Turk is the sole survivor of the trio

Both of his ladies have been taken by predators. The one little turkey has been orphaned twice. I put him back with the other poults that are being raised by the chickens. He still doesn’t understand chicken language clearly but is learning. Turk stays nearby. We have 7 youngsters who all appear to be healthy. The older ones are getting their turkey voices now and no longer peep, but rather kind of squeak. It reminds me of teenage boys…only not nearly as rowdy. One of the hens in the chicken house has two turkey eggs she has been sitting on and they each have little holes in them and peeps coming from inside so we may have more little ones running around soon. 7/24/09

MMMM good

I just picked the first ears of corn from the garden. After coating them with butter and lemon pepper, I cooked them in the microwave and they created a circus for the taste buds. I think I will have more for lunch tomorrow. There aren’t enough adjectives to describe the taste.

I never knew,

sweet potato plants bloomed. I'm not talking about the ones they sell for landscaping. I'm talking about the ones grown in the garden. I have never had them bloom before, but when I was checking out the progress in the garden this is what a saw:

Turkey Poult Update

The turkeys were again out when the storm hit last night. It started with little warning as large chunks of ice dropped from the sky. The mommas knew they couldn't make it all the way to their nesting area, so opted to put themselves and the babies under the hay wagon which was the closest shelter. One straggler apparently tripped and got upside down in the grass before he could reach the safety of the wagon. We found him after the storm, still barely alive and totally soaked. Since the mommas were busy tending to their other 6 babies, and the incubator wasn't turned on anymore, I took the little one and put it under a Bantam hen who is broody in the chicken house. I wasn't sure she would accept him as she wasn't totally settled on her nest. She did take him and was thrilled. Started talking to him and quickly covered him with her feathers. I checked on him last night when I went to close up the hen house and he was dried off and looking a bit more perky. This morning she still has him covered, but I can hear him peeping so it looks like he made it through the storm Mom Turkey, however, has not been seen since Sunday. We are hoping this is because she is a master at camouflage and not because she became someone's dinner.

That takes nerve!

We had another nasty hail storm this evening with huge hailstones again. Evelyne and Rick had gone out to dinner before it started. During the storm some dude with Colorado license plates drove into our driveway and right into the empty bay in their carport. Stranger driving a Lexus or BMW or similar. Rather rude I thought, especially since they were still parked there while the rain came down in sheets as Evelylne and Rick drove in and headed for THEIR OWN carport. I guess luxury cars are so expensive because they include real estate along your route. They did reluctantly back out of the carport when Rick came home, but I am still shaking my head at the nerve of the driver.

Lousy Weather

We had a hail storm last night with hailstones the size of golf balls. The turkeys were caught in it. We still have 7 babies with the foster chickens and the foster turkey still has one. I'm not sure how they survived it. My car has some minor dents in it, but I'm not even going to file a claim as it will probably not cost much more than my deductible to fix it and undoubtedly there will be more bad weather coming. At least it didn't damage the siding on the house, and there were some in the county who had all their windows knocked out on both their vehicles and their houses. I feel sorry for the farmers who haven't been able to get into their fields to harvest their wheat. Farming is a tough way to make a living.

Turkeys

We have had a lot of turkey eggs which have hatched this year, but the baby birds are very hard to keep alive. The turkeys are very good at laying eggs, however, so we have put turkey eggs under the chicken hens who have gone broody. A few weeks ago 3 eggs we put under a setting hen (chicken) hatched. About a week later 6 more hatched that were under another setting hen. Shortly after that the turkey actually hatched 7 of her own. We checked on them daily and counted to be sure they were all there. At the end of the week, all were present and accounted for. The momma turkey lost a couple of hers. She took them out to the field and didn't bring them in at night, just hid them under the sagebrush and weeds. I was concerned about that, but last time I interfered and made her bring them back to the barn they all died. So we let her do what nature told her she should do. We thought it would be interesting to compare the personalities of the birds that were raised by chickens to those raised by the turkey. Some time yesterday or the night before a predator (probably coyote) came and took away the momma turkey leaving only a couple large piles of feathers. We searched and found 3 babies. We rescued those and took a chance that the momma chickens would adopt them. They didn't pick on them and let them join their flock. They didn't understand "henspeak" so they didn't follow the hens out of the chicken house the next morning. Finally they decided the other baby turkeys must be the same as them and came out to partake of the leaves, bugs and grasshoppers. We were happy as it looked like they would be able to survive. This evening Evelyne found another one out in the field and brought it in. It has some good lungs. All of its squawking brought over the Tom and the other hen turkey. I have been taking all her eggs from her because she made her nest in the bottom of the creek bed, not very far from the path the predators have worn in the same area and I knew she would be dinner if she decided to incubate the eggs there. The hen started calling to the babies and they understood that language. She and the Tom led 3 little ones away with them. We can only assume they are 3 of the 4 we brought in from the field. She wanted to lead them over to the creek bed but we intercepted them. She is staying in the garden now which has fencing on 3 sides so we are hoping it will be a safe place for her and them. Keep your fingers crossed and your thoughts positive!

Deck progress

The temporary steps have been replaced with permanent ones. All we have left to do now is railings and the deck will be finished.

Steroidal Gophers?

We have some really serious gophers here. I don't think the cats will be able to stop these.

Actually, there was a backhoe here digging up our driveway and yard. We had three new water hydrants hooked up to our newly refurbished well.

Does this, plus 3 hydrants look like $5500.00 to you? Me neither. But I'm sure it will be worth it this winter when we don't have to haul water from the stock tank for the chicken house. And it does make it a lot easier to water several places since we no longer have to drag hundreds of feet of hose around.

Kansas Department of Labor vs. Prairie House

There was a small farm in Northwest Kansas. The Kansas Dept of Labor claimed they were not paying proper wages to their help and sent an agent out to for an interview. "I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them," demanded the agent. "Well," replied the farmer, "there's our farm hand who's been with us for 2 years. We pay him $200 a week plus free room and board. The gardener has been here for from the beginning, and she gets room and board. Then there's the crazy one. She works about 18 hours every day and does about 90% of all the work around here. She makes less than $10 per week, works out her own room and board, and we buy some fancy tools and gloves for her every once in a while to keep her happy. One of the owners sleeps with her occasionally as well. "That's the one I want to talk to .. the crazy one," says the agent. "That would be me," replied Laura. Although the above is mostly false, certain statements are very true. Hope you got a laugh from reading it. Aunt Jo

Don't even THINK about it

Collin and Jordan were at Prairie House this week. They helped with a lot of the things that needed to be done here. They are growing into responsible young adults. It is another one of those "How did they get to be THAT old when I'm only 39." questions.

We took them to Yuma where their Dad picked them up after we all had lunch at this really good Chinese restaurant. We stopped at the Ace Hardware store there and ended up leaving with $65 worth of stuff when we only went in for a $12 bag of cat food.

On the way home we talked about how nicely the pastures are growing this year and that there is enough grass there that we could have a cow. We both agreed we definitely didn't need a cow and dismissed the thought.

Here is what we had in our yard today:

Star was very curious about that thing that was obviously not part of his herd. He watched very intently as things unfolded.

The bovine's owners were called and they reclaimed him. Whew! That was a close one.

It really isn't a fashion statement!

She is wearing the collar because she won't stay out of the grain we have in the chicken house for the birds. He is wearing the stick for the same reason she is wearing the collar, but he is less fashion conscious.

Flowers at Prairie House in the Summer

Garden photos

I had a request for pictures of our garden, so here they are: Early in the season. Today There were potatoes in the row which is dug up. We nearly filled two 5 gallon buckets with yellow, red and white potatoes. We also had a bumper crop of Nanking Bush Cherries. I can already taste the jelly!

Officially, I AM a cynic

Several years ago I received a rash of invitations and announcements. Etiquette says for most of these a gift is required/expected. I faithfully gave gifts accordingly. However, as I recall, etiquette also says that when a gift of that nature is received, a thank you note is in order to the giver. I got thank you notes back on less than 10% at that time. So I decided that if my gifts weren't worthwhile enough to warrant a thank you note, they weren't worth giving. And I quit doling out gifts for invitations and announcements. Recently I decided a new generation was coming along and so I again sent/gave gifts for announcements and invitations I received. To date I have not received a single thank you note from any of them. So it is official. I AM a cynic and my attitude, although perhaps not correct, is justified. And that is my rant for this week. Aunt Jo

A hard year for beloved old creatures.

In addition to the loss of Belle, I recently found out that Missy, the 17 year old queen of Mark and John's herd of goats has gone across rainbow bridge. (Yes! that is very old for a goat). They also had their 14 year old cat cross rainbow bridge the same week. Rascal, at 19 years in March, seems to still be doing OK for an old cat. I guess I need to be sure to enjoy her presence every day as life too soon is gone. It is hard to believe Pete and Slippers were 10 years old the end of March. With all the weight they are carrying, I don't think they will make 20 years. Each of them weighs over 18 pounds.

Summer Christmas 2009

I don't have pictures, sorry. But Booker Summer Christmas 2009 is now history. A big crowd attended, but there were some folks obviously missing. The older I get (and I'm in a close race with dirt and we are both gaining on rocks) the less patience I have. It is difficult for me to be around unruly, unattended children. I want to teach them manners and respect which they seem to forget in crowds, if they were ever introduced to it in the first place. I have only missed 3 Summer Christmas parties since they began. Still a record holder in that department, but JD and Jill, and Ann are gaining on me. I am, however, wondering if I will be in attendance at the next one. Perhaps my attitude will improve by next year at this time,