PICS THIS WEEKEND

Nothing like leaving before dark and getting home after dark!

When I got home it was raining lightly...pinging on the metal carport. I just leaned back against the truck and listened.

Changed clothes, unloaded 2 cubes of pine shavings into the damp floor of the hen house. The birds are now fed, watered and are laying in the new shavings "purring".

And on my shoulder...the one who should be purring is my cat and he is snoring in my ear.

Just talked to my boy...my veteran and wished him a happy veterans day and thanked him and his buddy for their service to our country.

I am sipping a new batch of new homemade ginger ale.

FINANCIAL BELT TIGHTENING

First: my refinance loan was denied for 3 reasons:
1. I own 3 acres in the country
2. I only have 2 of the 3 required municipal provided utilies
3. I own CHICKENS

Go figure....well time to tighten the belt. I have had enough.

Ok I want to see how little I can get my groceries down to.

Tonight's dinner simmering right now in the pot:
northern beans
home canned bbq pork
a little brown sugar
chopped home grown jalepenos and banana peppers

# of meals 7
cost per meal: $1
plus cornbread .25

Breakfasts:
1/2 cup homemade granola
1 cup skim milk
cost per meal: $1

Lunches:
1 large slice of dried meat (yum)
1 large apple or asian pear
cost per meal $2

Cost for the week: 29.75

Now can I stick to it?

FROZEN UNBAKED BREAD

I made large batch of bread last weekend and baked 1 loaf and froze 4. I let the dough go through the first rise, and then punched it down, formed it in loaves and put it in the freezer on a cookie sheet. When it was solid I wrapped in plastic wrap and put it back in the freezer.

Last night I got one loaf out and put it in a greased pan and let it sit on the counter til morning. First thing this morning I baked it.

The first thing I will do differently next time is I will freeze them in bread pans so they retain the shape. Next I will make them bigger.




But the outside was crunchy and flaky. I liked the texture better than my regular bread!

ALWAYS SOMETHING: COCCIDIOSIS!!

I made a huge mistake today with the meat chickens! I was too busy talking to dad who was helping me move meat chickens....not paying attention.

The meat chicken cage had gotten dirty and they have take up sleeping on top of each other and pooping all over each other and they are dirty and miserable.



So I decided to move them to the huge pen with the egg chickens. I know they will be a little more tough when they are harvested but they would be happier for the next month.

I had moved most of them when I noticed this!!!



By the time I saw this, my big birds had intermingled with my sick birds. I got online and found that likely they had coccidiosis. A parasite.

See how dirty they had gotten. And since they were pooping in their food and water I am not surprised.

Sulfa is the drug to treat this which my feed store had. I added it to their waterers and will treat them for 3 days. Off one day. And then on for 2 days.

No meat or eggs for 16 days. They should be find to harvest Thanksgiving weekend. That will be 21 days.

On the farm it's always something.

FIRST FIRE

REVELATIONS AND COWBOYS

I had an revelation coming home from work today. I thought about my home and farm and this morning was wondering aloud how it got so dirty, cluttered etc. The answer is this plain and simple. I am rebellious. I was a rebellious child, teen, young adult. I am still that way. Inside I can see myself stamping my foot, crossing my arms and stating silently, "It's my house, my rules,and I am not cleaning house today....or cleaning the shed, or picking up trash...etc."

My revelation is this. It is ok to NOT LIKE THE WORK. Nobody can make me like the work. But I am adult. I need to remember that like it or not, I need to do it anyway.

I don't like chores. A lot of times I am doing them in the dark. That is not fun at all although Bull tags along with me and I am never alone.

Now to put this into practice and act grown up. I really love the condition of my home and farm right now. it is very clean;

I will not know the results of my appraisal until Monday or after. I will keep you posted.


OK COWBOYS...couldn't help it. I still love them though:

The Texas State Police are cracking down on speeders heading into Dallas . For the first offense, they give you 2 Dallas Cowboy tickets. If you get stopped a second time, they make you use them.


Q. What do you call 53 millionaires around a TV watching the Super Bowl?
A. The Dallas Cowboys


Q. What do the Dallas Cowboys and Billy Graham have in common?
A. They both can make 70,000 people stand up and yell "Jesus Christ".


Q. How do you keep a Dallas Cowboy out of your yard?
A. Put up a goal post.


Q. What do you call a Dallas Cowboy with a Super Bowl ring?
A. Old



Q. What's the difference between the Dallas Cowboys and a dollar bill?
A. You can still get four quarters out of a dollar bill.



Q. How many Dallas Cowboys does it take to win a Super Bowl?
A. Nobody remembers.



Q. What do the Cowboys and a possums have in common?
A. Both play dead at home and get killed on the road!

THE BEST JERKY IN THE WORLD

NO SALT NO PEPPER NO SEASONINGS NO MARINADE NO NOTHING