Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Chronicle Updates Suspended
Updates to Prairie House Chronicles are temporarily suspended, hopefully to resume again in the fall season.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Saving money on excavation costs
I need to offer the services of Thor to our plumber, Kelly. Kelly could save a lot of money on machinery and gasoline if he just took my dog with him to his job sites.
Thor has excavated an area under the fence out front about 8 feet long, 4 feet across and well over 2 feet deep. I keep putting barriers there to stop him and he keeps increasing the size of the hole to escape his front kennel area. If you drive by while he is busy at work, you can see dirt flying faster and further than the machinery tossed it when they were burying the pipeline across the road.
Thor has excavated an area under the fence out front about 8 feet long, 4 feet across and well over 2 feet deep. I keep putting barriers there to stop him and he keeps increasing the size of the hole to escape his front kennel area. If you drive by while he is busy at work, you can see dirt flying faster and further than the machinery tossed it when they were burying the pipeline across the road.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Listen to the Mockingbird
Decades ago there was a popular song with the lyrics "listen to the mockingbird singing all day long". Until recently I didn't truly appreciate those words.
There is a mockingbird (or maybe 2 or 3) residing at Prairie House. He starts his imitations early in the morning. Sometimes he is kind and waits until 7AM, but usually he starts in around 4AM. Initially it was amusing. Now it is annoying. He tweets, chirps, trills and squawks ALL DAY LONG. I don't know if they are migrating birds or if he (they?) will take up permanent residency.
To make matters worse, he is now imitating emergency vehicles! Maybe I can trap him and get him booked for a show in Vegas. He would put those ventriloquists to shame.
There is a mockingbird (or maybe 2 or 3) residing at Prairie House. He starts his imitations early in the morning. Sometimes he is kind and waits until 7AM, but usually he starts in around 4AM. Initially it was amusing. Now it is annoying. He tweets, chirps, trills and squawks ALL DAY LONG. I don't know if they are migrating birds or if he (they?) will take up permanent residency.
To make matters worse, he is now imitating emergency vehicles! Maybe I can trap him and get him booked for a show in Vegas. He would put those ventriloquists to shame.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
No Mean Roosters
You may recall that a while back someone gave me three roosters to add to my rescued creatures menagerie. One of those roosters was rather mean. All three looked alike so it was hard to tell which one was the culprit or if they all had that tendency. I did notice that the tail feathers were various lengths on each of them. At last there was a way to tell them apart. I determined that the mean one was the one at the bottom of the pecking order as he had the fewest and shortest feathers.
Although we had several confrontations both verbal and physical, he was a slow learner. After attacking me one day while I was trying to rescue another creature who was stuck in the fence, Mr. Mean Rooster got put into a cage. He had a harem gathered by this point and at first his hens would all gather 'round his cage at night.
One day a man stopped and asked if I had any roosters for sale. I said "No, but I have a mean one you can have for free." He said he didn't have anything with him to put the bird in and he would be back. I wrote him off and didn't expect to see him again so Mr. Mean Rooster stayed in his cage. A couple of days later the man came back wanting to buy a rooster. (slow learner like the rooster?) I told him I still had the free one but still nothing for sale. Again he said he didn't have anything to put the bird in. (again, slow learner?) I made up a box, caught the rooster, stuffed it into the box and sent Mr. Mean Rooster and Mr. Slow Learner on their way.
At least three of this years chicks which were hatched by hens are roosters. There won't be a shortage and so far, no one seems to be missing Mr. Mean Rooster.
Although we had several confrontations both verbal and physical, he was a slow learner. After attacking me one day while I was trying to rescue another creature who was stuck in the fence, Mr. Mean Rooster got put into a cage. He had a harem gathered by this point and at first his hens would all gather 'round his cage at night.
One day a man stopped and asked if I had any roosters for sale. I said "No, but I have a mean one you can have for free." He said he didn't have anything with him to put the bird in and he would be back. I wrote him off and didn't expect to see him again so Mr. Mean Rooster stayed in his cage. A couple of days later the man came back wanting to buy a rooster. (slow learner like the rooster?) I told him I still had the free one but still nothing for sale. Again he said he didn't have anything to put the bird in. (again, slow learner?) I made up a box, caught the rooster, stuffed it into the box and sent Mr. Mean Rooster and Mr. Slow Learner on their way.
At least three of this years chicks which were hatched by hens are roosters. There won't be a shortage and so far, no one seems to be missing Mr. Mean Rooster.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Wanda turkey is serious
Miss Wanda has decided she wants to be a mother again. The sad part is, there is only one turkey egg left for her to hatch and it is doubtful it is fertile. She is totally and absolutely serious about that, and she isn't nice about it either. The chances of stealing an egg out from under here are very slim without bloodshed...and it wouldn't be her blood!
There are 3 other hens also setting and the eggs have been equally distributed between them and Miss Wanda. Doesn't seem fair that the three newbies will only have to sit on the eggs for 10 days when the original momma-to-be has already been sitting on them for 10 days. It will be interesting to see how many, if any, actually hatch.
In addition there is another one with momma tendencies which appeared yesterday. Unfortunately, there aren't any eggs available to put under her as I need all the rest of them to meet the sales on the coop delivery this month. She is currently sitting on two golf balls. It would truly be a miracle if either of those hatched. Perhaps some eggs can be obtained from other sources for her to have.
Prairie House has had 7 chicks hatched and surviving so far this season.
There are 3 other hens also setting and the eggs have been equally distributed between them and Miss Wanda. Doesn't seem fair that the three newbies will only have to sit on the eggs for 10 days when the original momma-to-be has already been sitting on them for 10 days. It will be interesting to see how many, if any, actually hatch.
In addition there is another one with momma tendencies which appeared yesterday. Unfortunately, there aren't any eggs available to put under her as I need all the rest of them to meet the sales on the coop delivery this month. She is currently sitting on two golf balls. It would truly be a miracle if either of those hatched. Perhaps some eggs can be obtained from other sources for her to have.
Prairie House has had 7 chicks hatched and surviving so far this season.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
garden update
The garden has been disappointing this year. With the rain coming right before the hot weather the weeds got a good foothold and it is challenging to keep up with them let alone get ahead in the eradication process.
The tomatoes were late going into the ground and are still pouting about that. Now the tomato hornworms have decided to visit. Last year we had very few of them. They apparently are making up for lost time this year.
There is one jalapeno pepper on the plants so far and a couple of cayenne. The habanero plants are alive but struggling. Peppers apparently are one of the grasshoppers favorites.
The few turnips that sprouted are doing okay, as are the kohlrabi but the amount of seeds planted does not nearly correspond with the few plants which grew. The beets in the planter bucket are doing well. It is almost time to replant each of these for a fall crop. Hopefully that will be more successful.
We did get a good crop of bush cherries but the birds got most of the cherries on the trees and the majority of the mulberries. Like raccoons in corn, they know exactly when things are ripe. We still have some choke cherries which hopefully can be harvested as we put a net over the tree as far as we could reach.
The turkeys are eating most of the currents as they ripen. There haven't been enough of them to bother picking for jelly anyway. The raspberries have done better than in the past, but still not enough to do much with other than snack while weeding.
The goats feasted on the plums and grapes when they went on one of their frequent walk-abouts. No time to goat proof the rest of the fence and not enough pasture in the front to keep them adequately fed so they still get to go to the back pasture. The garden is fenced on four sides and they haven't figured out how to breech that yet.
At least we have gotten rain. There are parts of the country burning up from the drought and other parts flooding. Based on those facts, complaining about the weather here seems selfish. And as all gardeners and farmers say, next year will be better.
The tomatoes were late going into the ground and are still pouting about that. Now the tomato hornworms have decided to visit. Last year we had very few of them. They apparently are making up for lost time this year.
There is one jalapeno pepper on the plants so far and a couple of cayenne. The habanero plants are alive but struggling. Peppers apparently are one of the grasshoppers favorites.
The few turnips that sprouted are doing okay, as are the kohlrabi but the amount of seeds planted does not nearly correspond with the few plants which grew. The beets in the planter bucket are doing well. It is almost time to replant each of these for a fall crop. Hopefully that will be more successful.
We did get a good crop of bush cherries but the birds got most of the cherries on the trees and the majority of the mulberries. Like raccoons in corn, they know exactly when things are ripe. We still have some choke cherries which hopefully can be harvested as we put a net over the tree as far as we could reach.
The turkeys are eating most of the currents as they ripen. There haven't been enough of them to bother picking for jelly anyway. The raspberries have done better than in the past, but still not enough to do much with other than snack while weeding.
The goats feasted on the plums and grapes when they went on one of their frequent walk-abouts. No time to goat proof the rest of the fence and not enough pasture in the front to keep them adequately fed so they still get to go to the back pasture. The garden is fenced on four sides and they haven't figured out how to breech that yet.
At least we have gotten rain. There are parts of the country burning up from the drought and other parts flooding. Based on those facts, complaining about the weather here seems selfish. And as all gardeners and farmers say, next year will be better.
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