Weather or NOT

A nice swarm of mosquitoes caused by our local weather - heat and rain.
But I hope that cooler temps may slow down the build up of our local population.


Current weather


52°F Cloudy
High 58°
Low 40°
Humidity 82%

Five-day forecast

Tomorrow  
Showers
Hi: 65°

Lo: 51°

May 25 Thursday
Showers
Hi: 55°

Lo: 44°

May 26 Friday
Showers
Hi: 57°

Lo: 45°

May 27 Saturday
Showers
Hi: 64°

Lo: 48°

May 28 Sunday
Showers

Hi: 68°

Lo: 48°

May  29 Monday
Showers

The winds and rain have stopped our county's efforts at mosquito abatement, however I did get them to come out and fog my property.  For all of the good it did I might as well have not bothered.  When they showed up there was hardly a mosquito to  be seen. I think they had tapped the phone line. But the next day they were back with a vengeance.

 




 
 
 
 
And they brought their friends the black-flies, midges and other biting bugs.  I just doesn't pay to tick them off !!!  And speaking of OFF....it doesn't work either...

I guess that before I go outside today I had better load up the shotgun, maybe I will have better luck shooting them.  But first I had better check with the DNR and see if I need a special license.

But I probably better just get used to this....



....as our gardens are only half planted and when the rain finally quits and the ground dries enough we will have to venture out and finish them.



Spring is Coming

Spring must be comng.

We are getting a few warm days and it's possible to get out and enjoy the sun ( something we haven't seen much of in the last 6 months),

Aden and Ethan sitting in the shade, their fair skin can only handle just so much direct sun without sunblock.

My son Eric came over to work up or new garden spot.
After the plowing was done, Owen decided that he had better supervise the OLD MAN, and make sure he did it right.

Evidently he wasn't getting through to Dad and had to take over.

I guess if you want the job done right, you just have to do it yourself.

Did I mention we are going to have a BIG garden this year?

This small leg of the L shaped garden will be used for planting a test plot of sorghum, wheat, oats, buckwheat and an assortment of grass, clover and other hay type plants. Since it is the most deer traveled area of the property, I am hoping to keep them here and away from the rest of the garden area by planting a sunflower barrier betweeen the two and surrounding the rest of the garden with sunflowers too.

Well It's Been A LONG Winter

Harley NOSE you are still there!!! 
It has been a long time since my last post and all I can blame it on is getting addicted to Facebook games.
It has been my downfall. 
So I will try to briefly update the situation around here.

We used up all of our firewood last month and had to buy 2 face cords so far.


I contracted the sale of some Easter bunnies at a local pet store and set about breeding 2 of my female rabbits to time the bunnies sale age with the time for delivery,  and had fantastic results.
Each doe had 9 bunnies.

These little ones were born Feb. 10

All survived our harsh winter temps.

and are ready for delivery.

It was hard parting with all of these cute little guys. They were all sold yesterday, 12 to the pet store and 6 to a local farm supply store.

We went from this...

to this in a couple of weeks.  The chickens were very happy to get out of the coop and free range. All except for two......

Here are 2 hens sitting on some eggs and last sunday this is what we found.

only the one hen's eggs hatched 3 chicks and the rest were discarded after 48 hours.
I had to help the yellow one out of it's shell. Mom had almost half of the shell picked off, but the tough white membrane was beyond both her and the chick.  All it had was a very tiny hole through it with just the tip of its beak out.  Even I had a tough time tearing it and freeing the poor little exhausted chick.  I didn't think it was going to survive, but it did, and seems just as healthy as the other two.

We re-set the other hen with eleven fresh eggs, hopefully we will have more chicks.

Here is Dutchy, my 1 year old pet mini-dutch rabbit.  I found his walking vest and took him out for a stroll in the nice warm sun.

\

Two of our rooosters came to investigate...

 

Dutchy wasn't afraid of them but decided to check in with me anyway, at least until they went away.

After his walk I removed the vest so he could clean up before returning him to his pen.

My grandson Owen loves his walker and the freedom he has in it.

And here he shows me one of his toys before he plays one of his favorite games,
"Make Grandpa Pick It Up".

My wife decided to give Owen a ride on her bike, he fits nicely in the basket and really enjoyed himself.

I followed them with my electric cart to make sure he didn't put his hads close to the moving parts or try to climb out.

And here is my other two Grandchildren, Ethan and Aden.

Grandma spent a lot of time trying to get this picture...

about 2 dozen others look more like this......

Yesterday we also ordered 100 Vantress Cross meat chickens.

After the success with the 25 we raised last year she was determined to raise more.

The day old chicks will arrive April 27th. and reside in the "Pallet Palace".

We will have to move the rabbits outside and make the place safe for the chicks by covering the inside walls with chicken wire.

My son Eric came over last weekend and cut down some trees for firewood next year. So we have to get busy and remove a couple off the old garden spot.  And start cutting up firewood....again!!!

Wifey also plans on having a large garden this year in a new spot that we have been covering with manure all winter.  She has just begun to start seeds indoors. 

I plan on trying to plant a hay and straw patch behind the orchard. 

Wifey is still talking about getting a couple of goats this summer, so we don't plan on mowing the orchard this year.

"We", are also hoping to have a roof on the barn before fall, build a goat shed in the orchard, finish the "Pallet Palace", put a roof on the front porch, and an addition to the back porch.  Where "the Wife" plans to come up with the time and money is beyond me, but we will see...........

Catch-Up to Ketchup

These are my Easter bunnies now. Mom of course is squished into the corner, and Houdini is the name of the all black bunny in the back to the far left. He has been getting out of the cage nightly for the past week, and we can't figure out how, hence the name Houdini, after the well known escape artist. Every morning we have to hunt him down, catch him, and return him to the cage.

And now for a little more catch up. A big THANK YOU to all of you well wishers and those that sent prayers to myself and family during my Dad's illness and death.
I have been remiss for not mentioning this earlier, please forgive my slowness.
After all of the turmoil of the funeral, I have been keeping very busy. Trying to help my stepmother and catching up on yard work, trying to plant a garden and cleaning up downed trees for next winters firewood, making the chicks a pen in the coop and caring for all of the animals here on our 5 acre Funny Farm. During this process I have managed to break the cartilage in 3 of my short ribs (and no I didn't fall) and slice my finger good by accidentally running it along the very sharp blade of my machete. (Stupid rookie thing to do, I have been using it for almost 40 years and this is the second time I have cut myself with it. The first time I was sharpening it with a file and got a little carried away and slit my thumb open).

So me and Wifey have been slaving away until almost dark every night, staying tired and exhausted with little R&R. Time to go FISHING !!!

Anyway, here are some photos from life on the farm.




Our now 16 day old chicks, notice the size difference of the Vantress Cross meat birds!!!
(they are the white ones)



My daughter Angie calls them "Meat Blobs", a very descriptive term I must say. But they are doing what they are supposed too....eat and grow. So far we have lost 1 to natural causes and 2 to hiding under the gallon waterer. They must have run underneath it as I was replacing it in their pen and I didn't notice it. A very unhappy Wifey discovered them the next morning. Ooopsy!!




This photo with the Isa Brown in front of them and the smaller Americanas behind gives you a better sense if the size difference. The Meat Blobs are laying down, the rest are standing up.

Here is my first batch of live bunnies, all 8 have survived and are weaned and living outside now.

I caught the left one in a dead run to get away from the scary camera. But when I bring a bunch of grass for them, they mob me to get to it. They are eating very little pelletized food now that they get all of the fresh grass and weeds twice daily.

The white rabbit of this group has a black nose, ears and tail.

and the red eyes...

Can you see me bending into their pen snapping a photo in the reflection?

This guy is my favorite and always comes to greet me, not shy at all.....

Even the shutter noise doesn't deter his curiosity.

And here is Wifey's favorite.

The other grey one in back.

And this is my friendly Americana who always comes to see me whenever I am outside.

And the Grey Leghorn my wife thinks is a rooster because it is the only one who's comb stands erect.

It's rather HOT here today even with a strong wind, and the flock is taking refuge under their favorite pine tree. I see you eyeballing me Mr. Rooster!

Bear and Harley are taking turns watching the bunnies in their pen outside.

Harley wants a double shift I guess.

One of the last tulips to keep its petals in all of the wind we have been having lately.

Some fresh Chives for baked potatoes.

And FRESH picked asparagus....

peeled and steamed the way Wifey likes them.

And OUR favorite fungus...Morel Mushrooms cooked in butter....YUM !!!

Who cares what the meat was with all of these delicacies!!!

Oh, and I lied about the Ketchup...who needs it anyway.