Earthly Swallows

New Beginnings

2011-08-20T18:55:00.003-04:00

Wow - I haven't written on my blog in a very long time. I don't want to bore you with details, but I divorced, moved, re-married and have settled into a better life.

I still have chickens! However, none of the same chickens that have been immortalized here in tis blog. I have two black-sex links, and two auracanas.

I am still in New Hampshire, and still love it just as much! NH is definitely for me.

NFL just got out of a lockout, and pre-season has already been underway. New England Patriots have acquired wide receiver, Chad Ochocinco, and defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth. The record in pre-season is 2-0 and they look unbeatable. But, we always have to remember that it is pre-season...

Red Sox this season started off terrible. 10 losses in a row or something. But they have stormed back with a vengeance and were on top of the AL East a week or two ago. Now they are 1/2 game back behind those pesky NY Yankees.

Celtics season made it to post-season, but lost to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Championships. Now, they are in a sort of lockout themselves.

Of course this is all old news. But those of you reading this from the future, will get a bit of a history lesson.

Anyway, on to New Beginnings!

Smile.ly—Be Heard. Be Happy.

2010-05-17T10:50:00.000-04:00

Smile.ly—Be Heard. Be Happy.

2010-04-14T19:38:00.000-04:00

Smile.ly—Be H eard. Be Happy.

I haven't wriutten on this blog for a long time. Check out the link above. You can sign up and then receive new products and offers to try for free. Then, share your experiences and opinions. This is a chance to influence products before the general public gets a chance to buy. Fun for all!

Long Time No See

2008-11-11T20:02:00.002-05:00

I haven't posted in awhile.

Got two new chickens. A Black Sex Link (named Peck) and a Rhode Island Red (named Brown Sugar).

Celtics are starting playing again.

Red Sox lost the ALCS so did not go to World Series this year. Tampa Bay won the ALCS, but lost World Series to the Phillies.

Let's see... Matt Cassel, backup quarterback for the New England Patriots, is the starting QB since Brady had to have ACL repair. We are on top of the AFL East, at 6-3. Go Pats!

Well, that's about it for now. Maybe I'll start posting more and more again. Oh yeah bay-bee!

We are the CHAMPIONS!!!

2008-06-19T13:56:00.003-04:00

I meant to post this as soon after the Boston Celtics took home the championship, but sleep was more important at that time. :) What a game! Celtics blew out the Lakers 131-92. Banner 17 is going up in the rafters! Congratulations Boston Celtics!

Finals Game 6!

2008-06-17T08:07:00.002-04:00

Okay, so the Celtics lost Game 5 (98-103). Boston still leads the series 3-2. Perkins has a hurt shoulder and didn't play . Garnett was playing like crap. Rondo has a hurt ankle and has not played well the past couple of games. But we still overcame another huge deficit (17 points, I think) and came back to tie and ALMOST win. This is on the road too, mind you. I have no doubt that we are the better team. However, we need to not dig ourselves out of holes, but CAUSE the hole for the other team instead. Tonight we are back in Boston playing, and I have a VERY good feeling that tonight is the end. (Of course, the conspiracy theorists say that this will go to Game 7 for ratings.) Since here on the East coast the games start at 9pm and run to midnight or later, I decided to go to bed a little earlier last night. I have not been getting much sleep the whole playoffs. But for sure the Celtics haven't either!

GOooooooo BOSTON!! Gooooooo CELTICS!!!

Game 5 tonight!!

2008-06-15T18:58:00.003-04:00

Boston Celtics made a historic comeback on Thursday to win Game 4 97-91 against the Lakers. They were down a total of 24 points at one point, at down by 17 at the half. Most 'fans' I knew stopped watching at the 1/2 figuring it would be over. Not me! I kept on keeping on and had my fingers crossed. It was well worth it! They fought back and won. The series is now 3-1 in favor of the Celtics. If they can win tonight, they will be NBA Champions, and it will be extra sweet as they will have won in LA. If not, all will not be lost as they will return to Boston for Game 6. Oh please, oh please take this series on 5 games and show the nation how good the Celtics really are!!

GOOooooooooooooooo CELTICS!!!

New Cats!

2008-06-12T16:33:00.003-04:00

It has been almost a year since my cat Mina disappeared. We lost her on August 23rd, 2007. Since this month is "Adopt-A-Cat" month, we decided to get a new cat. We came home with two. They are so sweet! The first is a 2 year old male. He is a black domestic short-haired (DSH). The second is a 9 week old female. She is an orange tiger with splashes of white, and also a DSH. Their names at the shelter were Re-Run and Winter, respectively. They now have new names. Indiana (Indy) and Miss Sissyboodle (Sissy). Mina never was a lap cat, or one to crave affection. Every once in awhile she would jump in your lap when she was in the mood. These two cats are the most laid back, loving, affectionate cats! We love them! Here are some pics:

Sissy

Bella and Sissy Face-Off!

Indy

Sissy

Sissy and Indy
Sweet Sleeping Cats

Eastern Conference Champs!

2008-06-12T16:26:00.004-04:00

I know this is late. I have been too busy with everything but my blog. The Celtics beat Detroit to become the Eastern Conference Champs. Yes! This is the first time the Celtics have moved onto the NBA Finals in 21 years. Yes, 21! They are calling it the "Drive for 17!" And since I have been slacking, tonight is actually Game 4 of their pursuit of a 7th banner in the rafters. They won the first 2 games at home, and then lost the first game on the road. Since it is a 2-3-2 match up, the next two games will be on the road, and then the last two (if needed) will be back at home. GO CELTICS! Win number 3 tonight for us!

Celtics WON ON THE ROAD!!!

2008-05-25T13:30:00.004-04:00

Okay, I know I haven't posted in a while, but some times things get busy. Anyway, the Boston Celtics won Round 2 in against the Cavs in 7. They hadn't won a game on the road... Then on Thursday, the Pistons, in the Eastern Conference Finals, beat the Celtics at home... Panic quickly set in, as the Celtics could not seem to get it done on the road in the playoffs. (Although they were great during the regular season.) Watching last night, at Palace Hills... in Detroit... quickly went from quiet anxiety, to excitement! The CELTICS were 20 points ahead!! They had multiple scoring runs. However, the Pistons showed they were a playoff team, and kept inching closer. Celtics offense started going downhill. And then... and then... THEY WON!!! CELTICS WON Game 3 on the ROAD!!! This is what Celtics fans have been waiting for all postseason long. This renews our faith that Celtics really will go all the way! GO CELTICS!!!!!

By the way, Red Sox seem to still be doing pretty well, also.

Game 4 vs Cavs...

2008-05-14T11:21:00.003-04:00

All right. It was a disappointing loss on Monday night. The Celtics have not won yet on the road during the Playoffs! They kept it close though, unlike game 3, where the Cavs beat the C's 108-84. This one was 88-77. Okay, doesn't look close, but they kept it by a point or two all through the first three quarters. If only the C's shots were making it, they would have won. So, tonight, Game 5, the Celtics are going to come back with a vengeance! And then carry this momentum to win in Game 6 and move on to Round 3! I have faith...

Round 2 NBA Playoffs!

2008-05-10T09:13:00.007-04:00

TD Banknorth Garden in Boston

Hey, since I have been gone, the Celtics almost lost playing against the Atlantic Hawks in Round 1 of the Eastern Conference NBA Playoffs. Ouch! I missed the last 3 games or so, and was surprised to find out they were going to a game 7. I was a little bit worried! However, they pulled through and ran right on over the Hawks, moving on to Round 2, vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers! King James! So, they have played the first two games now, and have won both. Game 1 was a low scoring 76-72 win over the Cavs, and LeBron only made 2 of 18 shots. Yes! Game 2 they shut down the Cavs again! Final score 89-73. So, still a little low scoring, but they kept James down to 6 for 24. He still ended up with 21 points over all. Now tonight... Game 3 in Cleveland! Which will be tougher since we are on their court now, with their fans. But if we keep doing what we have been... we will be on our way to Round 3 pretty soon! GO CELTICS!! You can read more about the Celtics and the Playoffs on theCeltics main page or find out more about the playoffs in general on the NBA Playoff site.

New Chickens!

2008-05-10T09:00:00.004-04:00

It has been a bit since I last posted. Took a long trip to Texas. Glad to be back, that's all I have to say about that. Before we left, however, we got two new chickens. They are a breed called Silver Laced Wyandotte. As all our chickens, they have names. These two are called Lacy and Joe. (Yes, just like Killer, Joe is a girl...) Joe has more white than Lacy, and is a little bit bigger. Both very beautiful. Here are some pictures. They are both 7 months old. They have already started laying eggs as well! We get 3-4 eggs daily now! I think we can save a dollar or two now, whenever we go shopping... hahaha! :) Hey - fresh eggs are the bomb! Now, honestly, from looking at these pictures below... I couldn't tell you which was which. But they sure are pretty!

Sunny AND Warm???

2008-04-19T07:03:00.004-04:00

Whoa...

I think it was March 28th - less than a month ago - we had more snow. Talk about DEPRESSING!! However, this past week the temperatures have slowly climbed, the sky is bright blue, the sun nice and warm, yellow, and bright. Well, I guess the sun is ALWAYS that way, but down here on Earth, I'm finally noticing again. :)

It feels great to spend time outside and look forward to seeing all the transformations taking place. The grass turning green, bulbs coming up, buds on trees, and flowers blooming.

Time to start planning another garden!
(Oh, and Red Sox continue their winning ways!)

Red Sox doing better...

2008-04-15T17:33:00.004-04:00

April so Far
APRIL 8 vs Det	APRIL 9 vs Det	APRIL 10 vs Det	APRIL 11 vs NYY
Win 5-0 W: D. Matsuzaka L: K. Rogers	Loss 2-7 W: J. Bonderman L: J. Lester	Win 12-6 W: T. Wakefield L: N. Robertson S: J. Papelbon	Loss 1-4 W: C. Wang L: M. Timlin
APRIL 12 vs NYY	APRIL 13 vs NYY	APRIL 14 at Cle
Win 4-3 W: J. Beckett L: M. Mussina S: J. Papelbon	Win 8-5 W: D. Matsuzaka L: P. Hughes	Win 6-4 W: M. Timlin L: J. Borowski S: J. Papelbon

Red Sox vs. Tigers on Opening Day

2008-04-09T12:24:00.002-04:00

WE WON (yesterday)! 5-0. Phew - Red Sox Nation can take a breath now, and get ready for some even better games to come.

Guide to Egg Sizes

2008-04-09T12:19:00.005-04:00

I just ate a big double-yolker egg for breakfast this morning! MMMmMmmMMmMMmmMMm!!! Killer, our Barred Rock, is also our best egg layer. Every once in awhile she lays monster eggs. Dixie, our bantam buff, lays smaller eggs, of course. I went ahead and thought it would be neat if you saw a side by side comparison. The double-yolk egg is larger than most, so Killer's eggs are smaller from what you see here, but not by too much! No matter the size, they sure do taste good!

Red Sox - Opening Day 2008

2008-04-08T11:08:00.002-04:00

After a pretty rough start to the season for the Sox, they are back home today for Opening Day. Game start is at 2:05pm. They are playing the Detroit Tigers. I sure hope they have better luck than they did with the Toronto Bluejays! They got swept, and it sure didn't seem too hard for Toronto to do so.

Regardless.... GOOOOOOO SOX!

Okay, Spring yet?

2008-03-30T09:29:00.002-04:00

After our wonderful March 28th snowfall, the ground, which had been visible almost everywhere, is now mostly covered again. Yesterday was beautifully sunny, BUT FREEZING!! The wind was blowing making it feel colder than it was. We tried to take a walk but the wind made it unbearable.

Today, however, is still just as beautiful and sunny, but it is very calm, and the temperature is rising. I hope the ground starts to peek through again!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooo!!!

2008-03-28T18:10:00.002-04:00

New England Weather is very fickle. Why did I move back here? Well, it definitely wasn't for the length of time that winter lasts, that is for sure! It was snowing when I woke up, and it wasn't just a little film on the ground. It was already at least an inch. I drove to work, swerving and skidding, but made it alive. It kept snowing until there were at least 2 more inches on the ground. Then it turned into spitting rain. So, the feeling of Spring disappeared for today. This weekend is supposed to be sunny and warm, so I pray to God that the snow will melt again leaving us brown grass and muddy ground.

Okay, I hope this is the LAST time I write about snow. I'm ready to write about green grass, buds on trees, sunny days, and flowers.

Til next time!

Last Laugh??

2008-03-26T13:12:00.002-04:00

I think Old Man Winter read my blog and decided to scare me. I woke up this morning, went to feed the chickens, let them out, and let my dog out and lo and behold... it had snowed. Okay okay, I admit it. It wasn't like 6 feet or anything, more like 6mm, but Old Man Winter decided to spit on me anyway and laugh. I had just written how I hoped we were done with snow. I'm not complaining, really, even though it sounds like I am. How can I possibly complain when it is 52 outside and any remaining snow is sloooooowly disappearing??

Oh, another sign Spring is here: Red Sox played in Tokyo yesterday and today. They won yesterday 6-5 (against Oakland A's by the way) but the Red Sox decided they didn't want to produce any offense today, and lost 5-1.

But Baseball=Spring as well!
Later!

HAPPY EASTER!

2008-03-25T12:56:00.004-04:00

All right, so I'm a day late. Happy Easter anyway! We had a great time dying eggs (of the hard-boiled sort) and filling plastic eggs full of candy. Then I hid them out in the small area of our backyard that was snow free. That morning we saw 2 Blue birds flying around, having fun. This better be the last snow we see until next Winter. I'm starting to get that Spring Fever. It has been beautiful the last 5 days and getting warmer. The wind picks up every once in awhile, making it chillier than I'd like, but at least the sun has been out constantly! Time to start planning another garden and get ready for summer!

Signs of Spring...

2008-03-16T10:37:00.002-04:00

Snow is slowly melting and the ground is visible in many areas. My wife pointed out to me that some bulbs in the front yard have sprouted and are coming up. Does this mean we are finally in the last days of winter? I hope so! The chickens are enjoying having their entire fenced in area to play around in instead of holed up under the coop where the snow hadn't piled up. We are thinking about getting 4 new chicks to build up our flock, now that the coldest days of winter are over. I looked into McMurray Hatchery to see what kinds of hens I might be able to get since they have a great selection. However, you need to get a minimum of 25 chicks to have them shipped to you. Maybe someday, but my coop wouldn't be able to handle that many!

Oh - Dixie has officially started laying eggs. They are much smaller compared to Killer's. Awhile ago I thought Dixie might have started to lay eggs, but I know for sure that was Ginger, as these eggs are way smaller. So it's official, Dixie and Cluckers are a bantam hen and rooster. They are full size and still small.

Looking forward to Spring and being outdoors more and working on a new garden and more! What a LONG winter this has been!

Happy March!

2008-03-01T09:41:00.003-05:00

And yes... it IS snowing.

Snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow...

Are you tired of seeing that? Yeah, so am I. Why is something so beautiful so much of a pain?

Poor chickens are cooped up today. There is too much snow to let them out. They always seem pretty happy though. I bet Ginger is thinking, "Glad I don't have to put up with all that snow anymore!"

Nothing else new really. Winter keeps you cooped up inside more days than I would ever want.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T09:52:00.001-05:00

Here's a Happy Valentine's Day to all those looking for some loving. :) Hope it's a good day for you!

Rain Rain Go AWAY!!!

2008-02-07T09:24:00.000-05:00

Rain sucks in the winter time, ya know? All it does is coat roads and driveways, and turns to ice. Then, you go out and try to shovel it, and end up breaking your shovel. If there's any snow left over, it turns to solid ice as well. Why else does it suck? Because my chicken coop has become less and less rain proof this winter. I need to go back to the drawing board for the roof. It leaks like a sieve. Well, I guess it leaks like a hose, since the leak is pretty much only in one place, but it causes the poor chickens to have damp hay that needs to be constantly changed.

There will definitely be some re-modeling this spring!

UPSET!!!!

2008-02-04T12:49:00.000-05:00

Patriots lost. NY Giants won. What happened?????? 17-14. We were outplayed... no perfect season for us. But 18-1 has to count for something!

Ciao!

Our first casualty...

2008-01-27T15:23:00.000-05:00

When keeping chickens, you need to prepare for predators. What carnivore wouldn't want to eat a fresh, tasty chicken? Despite my fencing and the layout of my coop, we lost our first chicken yesterday.

I noticed, around 4pm, that none of the chickens appeared to be outside of the coop. I thought this meant I had some more eggs to gather, since we have been getting at least 2 eggs a day.

I went out our back door and walked to the coop, and stepped into the penned area. As soon as I entered, a hawk flew from underneath the coop as fast as it could right past me and up into the trees behind the house and barn. My first thought was that it was one of the hens, but I've never seen one of my hens fly that fast. As soon as I saw Ginger, lying on her back, legs up in the air in the corner under the coop, I knew immediately that it was a hawk that had flown by me. Yet I went to her body with the hope she was still alive. If I had only been 10 minutes earlier in checking the chickens...

Earlier that morning, Ginger had jumped up on the corner of the fence and was just sitting there, ready to fly out. I ran outside and gently prompted her to go back in. I assume she did the same later that afternoon, and while sitting there, the young hawk swooped in and took her by surprise.

RIP poor Ginger...

Cluckers and Dixie were inside the coop, cowering, silently. Killer, was nowhere to be found. My first thoughts at that point were this - the hawk got Killer as well. There was no sign of a struggle, and none of Killer's feathers; only the large scattered pile of Ginger's feathers.

I headed out towards the barn, and out into the woods, as I saw the hawk flying up in the tree-tops, just waiting for the coast to clear so it could go back and finish its meal. As I rounded the corner of the barn, I saw the back-end of Killer underneath our Christmas tree that I had taken out back and propped up in the snow. I called her name, yet there was no movement, not even a gentle cluck. "Oh no," I thought, "Killer was attacked too!" Killer never made a sound as I went to pick her up. Good news! Killer is alive! She had flown under the tree and was being as quiet and as still as she could. My breath let out in a relieved sigh. I didn't even know I was holding it. I brought her back to the coop and shut her inside. I also found two warm eggs... the last pair of eggs from Killer and Ginger laid before the brutal attack.

Today, I went out and bought some bird netting. It is light, black mesh, with square openings about 1/2 inch length and width each. It is made to cover plants in the summer, etc., to prevent fruit or vegetables from being eaten by the birds. It took me an hour and a half, but the coop, and its penned in area is now covered by this bird netting. From only a few feet away, the netting is almost invisible. The coop is now protected from above and the sides from any swooping hawk.

I had tried to plan as best as I could for any predator that might fancy a tasty chicken for a snack. I was told that this hawk was probably a juvenile and too dumb to realize the danger to itself by flying directly into the coop. Stupid as it was, our poor chicken still didn't make it.

Sweet Ginger. We will miss you.

Two Chicks a Laying

2008-01-18T17:21:00.001-05:00

Just an update on the egg situation. I went out and checked for eggs and found 2 in the nest today. One was much smaller and speckled. Since Dixie is our smallest hen, I knew who the mother was right away.

Hurray for Chickens! They are starting to earn their keep 'round here.

Dallas Giants

2008-01-13T17:41:00.000-05:00

I don't think I've mentioned the Dallas Giants in this blog yet. (I guess I could use my search box at the top here and search my blog to be sure. I'll leave that to you guys.) I'm mentioning them as I am a transplant from Texas to New England. Well, I'm not really sure what I am. I lived in Massachusetts for 13 years before moving to Texas, and then came back. But I was born in Iowa. I guess I am a New South-Mid-Westerner. Regardless, I watched the Dallas Cowboys in the 80's-90's while living in Massachusetts. Then, by the time I ended up in Texas, the Troy Aikman, Emmett Smith days were pretty much over, and the Cowboys were back to a barely there team. The 2007 season has proven that Tony Romo and Terrell Owens, and Joseph Addai have helped to make this Cowboys team another contender. New York is playing them right now in the play-offs. I hope Dallas wins, only because I would love to see a New England Patriots vs. Dallas Cowboys Superbowl. Right now it's tied at 7. Oh, and Jessica Simpson, Tony Romo??? Celebrity news? Sheesh... give me a break!

17-0 and Chicken scratch

2008-01-13T17:26:00.001-05:00

I stayed up to finish the game. Patriots won (no doubt here) 31-20. Today, the Chargers beat the Colts (YES!!!!!!)! That means the Chargers play the Patriots next week, on Sunday. 18-0, here we come.

Today was a beautiful sunny day... until 3:30pm or so. The clouds started to roll in. It has barely snowed this January, but tonight and tomorrow the snow is supposed to come full force. Up to 4 inches tonight, and 10-14 inches tomorrow. Whoa....

I cleared off a foot of frozen snow and ice on our trampoline that has melted and re-froze over the weeks to make it very heavy and looked as if the trampoline was about to snap.

And, the eggs keep on coming! I can't wait until Spring. If our measly flock of 3 hens can lay as much as Killer is laying this winter, we are going to have at least 18 eggs a week! We have not gone one day yet since last Sunday without an egg. In fact, we had scrambled eggs, with cheddar cheese and jalopenos for breakfast this morning. MMMMmmmmMmmMmm. I'm still not positive about a taste difference in regards to freshness.

The bad news with the warmer winter weather so far has been the foot plus of snow melting on the roof of the chicken coop. It has made it clear that the roof is leaking, and pretty bad. I cleaned out all the straw to put in fresh, but it was soaked in one spot by the next day. So, some definite re-modeling will be done next year. Besides the roof, I need to make another door in the front that I can open to gather eggs. Why? Because Killer decided to make a nest in the opposite corner from where I built the nesting boxes, and I couldn't reach it from the back door without crawling half-way in the coop.

Pigskins and Chicks

2008-01-12T22:23:00.000-05:00

We know for a fact Killer is our egg layer. In the winter, without extra light added to increase the daylight, we have had an egg a day. Goes against everything I've read. Can't wait until Spring and to have all our hens laying. We have had eight eggs so far just from one hen. The eggs have grown a bit since the first one, too.

I haven't been keeping up with my New England sports posts, but in regards to football, the Patriots swept the regular season, 16-0. Take that Miami! Pats are playing Jacksonville right now as I type. The score just now turned to 28-20, Pats on top. Go PATS!

Celtics are 30-4. They just lost to Washington. Pesky Wizards! Celtics still have the best record in the NBA! Now if only the Bruins could become as consistent....

More Eggs!

2008-01-07T08:05:00.000-05:00

I went to give the chickens fresh water and food this morning, and brought the flashlight to look for eggs, just in case. I never thought we'd get any this winter since I decided to let nature take its course, and not add extra light to the coop. I let the door down, and then opened the back to switch out water. I shined the flashlight in, and saw that Killer, our Barred Rock was already down off her perch and pecking at the food. I didn't see any eggs though.

Well, as I was almost to work, my cell rang. My son was calling to let me know he found an egg on the door. I asked if he knew where the egg carton was to put it in. And he said "It doesn't matter, Dad - I'm eating it for breakfast!" Then, when I said, "Hey, don't Mommy and Daddy get a chance at eating one of the eggs," he replied, "I found it! I get to eat it!"

My wife and I better get busy finding our own eggs!

Our first Egg!!

2008-01-06T11:52:00.000-05:00

The chickens have survived this winter so far. The temp got 11 degrees below zero the other day, and the next morning, I was worried that I might not open the door to 4 living chickens. But, lo and behold they were all happy and healthy, AND we got our first eggs yesterday! I found one in the morning, but it was cracked and frozen, so I think it may have been laid earlier that night or early morning. Then my son went out later and opened the door to check, and found another in the same spot as the first! This one was perfect. My son then asked later, "Since I found the first egg, can I eat it?" First egg, meaning, first edible one. This morning for breakfast, I fried it up, put it on an English muffin with some ham... and my son said, "This is the best egg ever!"

Here's a few pictures, and a video, in case you were interested And as always, clicking on it will give you a bigger picture.

Snow Snow Snow!

2007-12-20T12:38:00.000-05:00

It's snowing today. It snowed a little yesterday. It snowed a lot last week and the week before that. It must be Winter. What? it's not officially winter until December 22nd?? Looks like it's gonna be a loooong one.

The snow is piled up everywhere. I have a path shoveled out in my back yard so I can get to my chickens. The poor girls haven't been outside in a couple of days. If it stops snowing today, I'm going to let them out. It's warmer than 20 degrees today, at least. I go out every morning and give them fresh water, and fresh food. I have a duplicate waterer so I don't have to wait until one thaws out before giving them new water. They are pretty happy every morning that someone at least says hello to them - and hey - they are still alive, and that's what counts! This is with no extra heat, so I know that they are hardy enough to live in winter. And temperatures have been dropping to 10 or less some nights.

No doubt about it! We are going to have a White Christmas!

Cock-a-Doodle-DOOO!

2007-11-12T07:38:00.000-05:00

It's official - Cluckers, our runt of the chicken litter, is a rooster. We heard him start to crow yesterday. And, since it has been awhile since I put any pictures of the chickens up here, I thought this would be a good time. Cluckers and Dixie are still the smallest, but that doesn't mean they are any less cute.

I also did a lot of research into heat, and lighting. Even though I am excited for that first egg, I decided I am not going to put extra light in the coop. Also, any type of heat could be dangerous in such a flammable environment, so I am just going to let nature take its course and see what happens.

Cluckers

Dixie

Ginger

Killer

Happy November!

2007-11-01T09:02:00.000-04:00

Halloween has come and gone and November is here. The leaves are almost all off the trees, and the weather gets colder by the day. The Red Sox won the World Series, sweeping the Colorado Rockies. Patriots are 8-0, and hopefully will defeat the undefeated Colts on November 4th. Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and Christmas is already in the retail stores. The end of the year is fast approaching!

World Series 2007!

2007-10-24T19:03:00.001-04:00

GO SOX!!! Tonight is the first game of the World Series, Red Sox vs. the Colorado Rockies. I've already heard enough John Denver jokes to last me a lifetime. Josh Beckett - we are counting on you! I live in New Hampshire, as you already know, and since we don't have any professional sports team, everyone here sort of finds a team to latch onto. Most of us are probably Patriots, Sox, Bruins and Celtics fans. (And then, for those of us who are tired of a lackluster Bruins team that just can't seem to win anything, we are Manchester Monarchs hockey fans...) I dislike the far left Liberalism of the state below, but you gotta admit, it's nice having teams that are on top of the world right now!

American League Champs!

2007-10-22T06:11:00.001-04:00

We did it! Red Sox came from behind, again, to take the ALCS from the Cleveland Indians. Dice-K proved he could provide for the Sox in Game 7, and he played well. We stomped the Indians 11-2. This was one day after Curt Schilling pulled off a 12-2 win just the day before. Josh Beckett was named MVP of this series after his excellent job at the plate. The World Series kicks off here in Fenway against the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday the 24th. Rockies are going to be a tough team to beat. GO SOX!

Then, the Pats stomped Miami 49-28. This is the Patriots first 7-0 start in the team's history. Brady did all of this in the first half too! Well, one of the TD's was in the second half, after Cassel was pulled because he threw an interception allowing Miami to get that last touchdown. Brady thew 6 TD passes, which is the record now for the franchise for most in one game. He is on track to pass Manning's record of 49 TD passes in a single season. The New England Patriots are also the first team in NFL history to win each of its first 7 games by 17 points or more. And what do I have to say about Randy Moss? Just this - WOW! There's no doubt in my mind we will be at the Superbowl!

Last but not least, we drove around taking some fall pictures. I was disappointed, only because I could never get the perfect picture I wanted. Otherwise the scenery was breathtaking.

Peak Colors, Sox and Pats

2007-10-20T09:27:00.000-04:00

This weekend is most likely the peak of fall colors for where I live in New Hampshire. Just driving down the road and seeing all the beautiful reds, yellows, oranges, and all the shades in between is breathtaking. The picture to your right was taken mid-week, and it in no way does justice to the colors that are out right now. (Click it for a better, clearer picture.) Hopefully I can get out and take some more pictures of the brilliant colors.
Temperatures today are not your usual autumn temps. High is supposed to get in the 60's.

Today is another do or die for the Red Sox in the ALCS series vs. the Cleveland Indians. Josh Beckett pitched another great game onThursday night to help keep the Sox in the series, now at 3-2. Only two more wins! Curt Schilling is pitching tonight..n can he pull off another win as spectacular as 2004's 'bloody sock' win?

Then, tomorrow the 6-0 Patriots vs the 0-6 Miami Dolphins. After last weeks spanking of the Dallas Cowboys, I seriously doubt the fish even have a chance. (Or should I say 'the mammals?') It will be a great game, nonetheless!

Hope everyone has a great fall weekend. Blog ya later!

Leaves are FALLing (and changing)

2007-10-01T06:51:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was the last day of September. HAPPY OCTOBER 1st!! This month has flown by. We took a nice, long walk to enjoy the cooler air, and take in the changing colors of the leaves. We still have a few weeks before peak color, so most of the leaves are still green. To your left is one example of what most of the trees still look like. Trees mixed with bright, vibrant colors, some muted colors, and greens.

Fall, of course, is also apple season. Growing along the side of the trail we were walking on was a crab-apple tree. We thought, at first, that it was a cherry tree since the small, tart apples were so bright red.
In fact, it may be a crab-cherry tree, if there is a such a thing. The fruit is growing in bunches in some places, and then single fruit in others. Who knows! The seeds inside look like apple seeds though. They don't have pits like cherries would. Regardless, it sure was a pretty tree to see.

I also cut down all our corn stalks from the garden yesterday. The corn that grew was pretty pitiful. Small, short and stubby. This has taught us to plant less corn, and spread the plants out. We had too many plants growing in too small a spot. It was neat to have our own little cornfield though.

Did I say Summer was gone??

2007-09-24T10:56:00.000-04:00

Okay, I know I said Summer was gone.. but by golly the temperatures this past weekend were great! The nights are cooler, but the days have been up in the mid 80's. Warm, and sunny and gorgeous! The next couple of days are supposed to have highs in the 90's!

Guess we can still go short-sleeved and barefoot outside for a few more days. Wooo!

Summer is gone

2007-09-16T19:25:00.000-04:00

I haven't wanted to admit it, and even though it isn't yet the official first day of Fall, Summer is gone. Temperature's are fading, not reaching those nice highs of 90s or even 80s. Today was a high of around 66. (It still felt warmer outside than it did inside my house though...) and tonight, there is actually a freeze warning! SEPTEMBER 16th??? Freeze warning????

Our garden is not so good. Corn is drying out and dying. Pumpkin plants are dying as well. The biggest pumpkin we have is turning orange. All the vines seem to be dying. The other three pumpkins that we had, are small, and I don't think they are growing any bigger either.

As soon as September rolled around, the weather has gotten cooler, and the days have been more cloudy, and rainy. I just think it's weird... As soon as September got here, Mother Earth, Nature, whatever seemed to know that meant fall. Cool temperatures, and shorter days for sure!

Anyway, all I wanted to say was Fall is here. I decided it is not worth denying anymore. I just don't want to think about cold weather and snow! It's bad enough oil is so expensive.

It has been a wonderful summer.... Goodbye warm weather and barbecues.

Nature's Pollinator

2007-09-09T06:57:00.000-04:00

Just click on the above picture I took to see it full size. If you look closely you can see that the bee has pollen all over its body and legs. You can even see the special bristles on the bee's legs just made for getting pollen stuck all in them. This picture was taken in my very own garden on one of our beautiful sunflowers. We also have another type of plant that grows outside our window in the summer. Bees of all types swarm around its flowers as well in numbers that easily equal hundreds. Here's a closeup of another type of bee on that:

Extinct? I think not!

2007-09-09T06:22:00.001-04:00

If you look closely at these pictures of Killer and Ginger, how can you say dinosaurs are extinct? Sure the great, lumbering beasts that roamed the earth millions of years are gone, but it is plain as day to me that evolution just took its course and created the bird as we know it today. Look at the beak, and the way it is formed. Did you know that a bird's beak is just an outgrowth of bone? There is a special type of gene that gives each bird its different looking beak. I believe it's a 'bone morphogenetic protein' gene. Morpho, is another word for 'changing shape' and protein is necessary for growth of cells, muscles, tissues, etc. How do you think dinosaurs like the Triceratops, or Stegosaurus got their horns and spikes? My bet is a similar gene modified their bones to grow differently in dinosaurs, just like beaks in chickens.

Look closely around the eyes of these two chickens. See the circle of skin? Feathers are modified scales. Dinosaurs and reptiles had scales. You can see how the skin around a chicken's eye looks like small scales. And have you ever seen a chicken's legs and feet? Looks to me just like a T-Rex's hands, just moved down to be feet.

So, next time someone tells you that dinosaurs are extinct, you can smile to yourself, and think, 'yes, but there are still modern day dinosaurs living today..."

Sunflowers in the Sunshine

2007-09-02T07:33:00.001-04:00

It has been a long haul, but our sunflowers have finally begun to bloom. Remember in one of my earlier posts, Garden Varmints, when we found out a squirrel had eaten our garden? The sunflowers were what the squirrel noshed on the most, and it had eaten the tops off of almost all of them. Someone told us that we might as well pull them up as they wouldn't come back. Thank goodness I remembered my classes in plant biology and if you cut off the top of a plant, it will try and grow a new apex, or terminal bud. (That's just fancy speak for the top of the plant.) If you look closely at this picture, you can see there are two smaller sunflower plants below that have smaller blooms, and they haven't opened yet. Those are just two of the plants that used to be headless, thanks to a hungry squirrel. If I was a little more childish, I would be sticking out my tongue, putting my thumbs to my ears, palms out, fingers extended and wiggling, and blowing a big ol' raspberry. Thank goodness I'm more mature than that. Right now, I'm just saying, "Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah!" Score one for garden - zero for squirrel.

Golden Delicious

2007-09-02T07:20:00.000-04:00

This is a tree in our backyard. It isn't your normal everyday backyard tree, however. This is an apple tree. (If you click on it, you will get a much bigger, clearer picture.)

Last summer/fall the tree had some crabby crab-apples. This summer, besides a great summer for our garden, has turned out to be an excellent summer for growing apples. We noticed that there were many more apples on the tree than last year. Then, my wife picked one up off the ground and took a bite. I said, "that's going to be pretty bitter, you know," and she said, "Nope! Golden Delicious!"

The apples last year never got beyond green skinned sour apples that were small and not tasty at all. This year the skin turned yellow, the apples are bigger, and they definitely are sweet and tasty. (If you can find one that hasn't been attacked by caterpillars and insects, that is.)

I have no idea how old these trees are, but I would love to learn how to trim the tree for next year to get a better crop. I seem to recall hearing that if the tree gets bigger and is left to grow tall, then the apples are smaller and the trees don't bear as much fruit. If anyone knows the proper way to prepare an apple tree for the growing season, feel free to leave a comment!

Summer slowly fading....

2007-08-29T08:04:00.000-04:00

Today was the first day of school for kids here in town. That's always a sure sign that Summer is walking out the door, while Autumn tries to slowly squeeze through at the same time, like an uninvited guest. Of course, the cool breezes that Autumn brings with her, along with the scents of crisp apples, fall leaves and pumpkin pie, make her start to feel like she should have been a house guest all along.

The leaves are starting to sloooooowly change color. I catch a glimpse here and there on my drive to work, or even in my own backyard. Whenever the breeze picks up, I see more and more leaves taking up dance lessons and falling off the trees. The nights are a little bit cooler, although the day temps still get up to the mid to high 80's. I can hardly believe that this coming weekend is Labor Day! Summer in New England is defined by the period between two holiday weekends - Memorial Day to Labor Day. I never thought of it that way growing up, and then after living in Texas, where the summer is pretty much from April to October, you get used to a long summer season. This summer has been a wonderful summer! Time to squeeze in every little bit left before he makes it out that door for good.

Willowmina Maple Kitty

2007-08-27T08:40:00.000-04:00

It's official. My cat is gone. I have had Mina since she was a little kitten. Last week, at 9 years old, she disappeared. I know something must have happened to her, because she isn't friendly to strangers, and her idea of a good time is to snooze all day on one of our patio chairs in the coolness of a screened-in porch. If she wasn't sleeping, she was trying to trick us into feeding her again. Last Thursday, Mina never showed up for breakfast. She is ALWAYS there for breakfast. If not right at first when you open the door, she was always there the next time you opened the door. (And the time after that, and the time after that... ) Today is Monday, so she has been missing now for 4 full days. If something got her, I sure hope she put up one hell of a fight!

If anyone reading this happens to see a cat that looks like this, please let me know!

Warm again!

2007-08-24T15:23:00.000-04:00

Ahhh.... It is summer yet again. After a cool, dreary, cloudy week, it is finally warm, muggy and sunny. Have to hang out in my hammock later and just chill, and enjoy. After that bit of cool weather, I realized I'm NOT ready for winter yet!

Relief!

2007-08-23T08:42:00.000-04:00

Oh, for all of you worried about Dixie and how she was going to be after almost getting mauled by our dog, you'll be happy to know that she is back up and running around like always. She only limped and rested for a day. She can chase and catch those crickets with the best of them.

Weather

2007-08-23T08:38:00.000-04:00

The weather has been unusually chilly for this type of year here in New Hampshire. Starting last week, on Friday, maybe, the temps only got into the mid 60's, low 70's. The lows were low 40's to 50's. Come on! August is still Summer, right? The way the cool temps and cloudy days were, it felt like October and Autumn. I was worried the chickens were going to get too cold. HA! If I'm worried now, just think how worried I'll be when it is officially WINTER...

Today is a little better. Tomorrow is supposed to be hot and muggy again. Phew! I'm not ready to pay for oil again just yet!

Dixie and Ginger

2007-08-19T09:08:00.000-04:00

Poor Dixie! The other night, right before time to close them up in the coop, Dixie decided she was brave enough to try and fly out. My son and wife, who had just got back from swimming at the lake, saw her sitting on a fence post. Then she jumped and was FREE! My son, panicked, and wanted to scare her into flying back into the coop, and since my dog was right by him at the door, he yells, "Bella, go get her!" This was the moment my dog has been waiting for ever since we came home with chickens in a box. She bolted out and chased poor Dixie and got a hold of her in her mouth right before she managed to get back in the pen, either by herself, or by my son putting her back. She was okay, but limping. The next day she just sat all day huddling in a corner, and only getting up to limp away if I came close to her. I decided it was time to clip the wings of all of them before another one got out.

So, yesterday, my wife helped me hold them while I clipped their wings. I had taken a sponge out with me earlier because I had cleaned their water container. When my wife came out she freaked a little. I didn't quite understand until she explained she saw the sponge and thought it was for cleaning up the blood after clipping the wings. After we trimmed the wing tips, and she saw how it was painless to the chickens, she relaxed, not realizing what a simple procedure that was going to be. So, all the chickens, (except for Cluckers - I felt he was too small still to trim his wings - hope that's not going to be a mistake,) have their wings trimmed.

Now, Ginger, I just wanted to add, is getting black feathers on her tail and her wings. I tried to get a picture, but this was the best I could do.

Zinnias

2007-08-19T08:29:00.000-04:00

The zinnias in our garden are really starting to come out and bloom. Zinnia blooms seem to last longer than other flower blooms. They are bright vibrant colors and the hummingbirds frequently come and visit them. Speaking of humming birds we found a tiny hummingbird feather the other day by our petunias on the front steps. Teeny tiny bright orange feather.

Dixie

2007-08-16T07:55:00.001-04:00

I love these chickens! I thought it would be fun to have these chickens, but I never realized how much simple pleasure you could get by watching a few birds scratch at the earth, eat grasshoppers and in general just peck and walk around. Yesterday, I went out around 8 o'clock to get ready to close the chicks in for the night. I just stood by the fence and watched them. Dixie, the Brahma or Cochin (I am leaning more towards Cochin as someone stated she might be in one of the comments on another post), flew up and grabbed onto the metal fence, and then flew right onto my arm and just walked onto my hand from there, cooing, and clucking happily. She let me just scratch her head and scratch behind her wings while she stretched her scrawny little chicken neck, as if to strut and tell her friends below, "Look at me! I get the deluxe treatment!" Then when I tried to put her back down she just tried to climb back up my arm. Finally I got her to fly down and join the rest of her buddies. Yes, it's true - chickens do have personalities and are great fun to have around.

Ginger

2007-08-15T14:51:00.000-04:00

Miss Ginger, (or maybe Mr., I don't know yet) is changing color. Her head is starting to become the reddish color the rest of her body is, and she is starting to get black tail feathers. As far as I know, the Buff Orpington has no black feathers. So, we'll just have to see what Ginger looks like in another couple of weeks!

Gosh - who thought chickens could be so exciting??

New Lawn Mower

2007-08-12T17:03:00.000-04:00

I tried to mow my lawn last week. I think it was on Friday. And guess what? The mower, POS that it is, fell apart around me again while mowing. Three weeks ago, I was mowing and the new muffler fell off. Then this last time I mowed, the oil started spurtin' out again and the top came loose from covering the engine. When I tried to restart it, the line wouldn't stay taut enough to even attempt to start the engine since the top was loose. Grrr... NOT again...

I looked at what was fixed to hold the top down and saw what broke. (It was all jury-rigged together anyway by the man I paid to F-I-X my lawnmower.) I found some extra pieces of metal strapping and tried to re-bolt the top down again where it would stay. That was successful. I checked the oil since it had leaked all out again. It was way too low. I re-filled the oil, but as I was doing so, I could see it just pouring out of the engine block. It was at this point I knew the mower was dead and no amount of fixing up was going to fix this thing right.

I had only successfully mowed half the lawn by this time, and I was pretty angry and upset. Nothing I could do though, except go have a good cold beer.

Lo and behold, I was talking to a friend (check out his blog, too, by the way, Cyclic Connotations) mid-week, and he just happened to ask the magic question. "Do you want to buy it?" Buy what, you may ask? He was trying to sell his riding lawn mower! Whoa - talk about good timing! I said sure, and a few days later (today) he shows up to give me an impromptu riding lesson, and off I went!

Once again, my lawn is now fully mowed - and I got to SIT down doing it. WoooooHoo! Jason - Geek Squad may suck, but your Karma is back up where it belongs. :)

Create-A-Trail

2007-08-11T08:51:00.001-04:00

20 Second Garden Tour

2007-08-11T08:50:00.000-04:00

Chickens! (Straight to video at a blog near you...)

2007-08-11T08:48:00.000-04:00

Chickens - Smarter than you think!

2007-08-11T08:42:00.000-04:00

I worked late last night - didn't get done until close to 9pm. Luckily I was at home, but I knew no one had gone to put the feathery friends up in the coop. I asked my son to go out and please do just that. He came back in (after getting his mom and dog to go with him as he was a little hesitant of the dark) with a big grin on his face. "Guess what Dad? The chickens already were up in the coop!" That made me smile as well. Our chickens, only living with us for a week, had already figured out the routine of going to bed, and they were smart enough to know that their bed, and safe place, was inside the coop. Yay!

Videos!!

2007-08-11T08:35:00.000-04:00

Since I bought my new digital camera this year, I haven't taken too many videos. I figured it was best to leave the movies to a device that specifically dealt with taking video. However, my Canon PowerShot SD700 IS has the capability of taking pictures and videos. I've taken a few of my boys and my family in general, just to say I have some family home videos, and they've turned out very well. Now that I have a blog, I thought 'what better place to experiment more with video!'

Chicken Breeds

2007-08-07T11:28:00.000-04:00

My friend's sister checked out my blog since she has chickens, and she wanted to see what was up with mine. She looked at pictures of Dixie and Killer and she wrote to me with her suggestions as to what breeds they are. She thinks that Killer is a Barred Rock chicken, and the Dixie is probably a Brahma chicken of some sort.

Do you agree or disagree?

The Chickens are Here!

2007-08-05T06:34:00.000-04:00

While I was at work on Friday, my wife and sons went to a local Blue Seal feed store and saw they had chickens that were a month and 1/2 to two months old. They didn't buy any at that time because they knew I wanted to look as well. So, yesterday, after making sure I had some sort of feeder and waterer for the chicks, we went back to the Blue Seal store and picked out our chickens. We also picked up some Blue Seal Medicated Chicken Feed. A 25LB bag was only about 7 dollars. That's not too bad. Not sure how fast 4 chicks will eat this up, but hopefully this will last a month.

Each of us picked out our own. (Except my youngest son, he's only 8 1/2 months old.) I don't know for sure what breeds they are, as the young man helping us didn't know either. I figured (and hoped) if I was buying them in NH, then they were probably ready for the cold winters.

My wife picked out one that she calls Ginger. I believe her to be an Orpington.

She then picked a chicken that will be for our youngest. We named this one Dixie. She has beautiful feathery legs. I don't know what type she would be yet.
My other son, who is almost 10 (one more month) decided he liked the runt of the litter and called this one, Cluckers.

Last, but definitely not least, I picked one that I liked. The one I decided on wasn't the one that I ended up getting because the guy couldn't grab him for me. So the one he did get, which had a diamond on his head, I liked just as well. Just to be different, I named this one, Killer.

So, I really have no idea what breeds these chickens really are. I think Cluckers may actually be the Rhode Island, or NH Red. I guess I'll have to wait until they get a little bit bigger to tell for sure. Unless any of you out there reading this know what breeds they might be. Feel free to leave comments!

In terms of eating these chickens, I don't know if I can now, since every one has a name.... My Aunt kept pigs once that were piglets when I went to go see her. I thought they were so cute I took pictures of them. Then, months later, eating breakfast at home, my mom says, "Did you know that bacon you're eating comes from your Aunt's pigs?" I was mid-chew, and didn't quite know what to think. But, I love bacon so it didn't stop me for long, and I kept on eating.

Here are some more pictures of the chickens:

Check it out!

2007-08-03T07:54:00.000-04:00

Silvia, who has a blog titled Casa In Costruzione, has a post that is about chicken coops and has very nicely decided to link to my blog. Can you believe my coop is starting to get some attention?? WOW! Thanks Silvia!

Garden EXPLOSION

2007-08-02T10:17:00.000-04:00

By explosion, of course, I do NOT mean that some otherworldly comet came and caused a huge crater, sending plant debris everywhere, but rather an explosion of growth!

Being gone for 10 days in Maine, my wife and I didn't see the garden every day, and didn't know what to expect. When we came back we saw just how fast a garden can grow! Pumpkin vines were choking flowers and tomatoes. Squash plants were hugs, and so were the squash fruit itself. We had to clean up and cut back a lot of the pumpkin vines and squash plants. We then tore up the radishes (since they had been planted WAAAY too close together anyway and so had lousy radish growth) and the mustard greens. We did this to try and give more room for vines to grow. Anyway, I do have a few garden pictures that you can easily compare to the others that were posted to see just how much this little garden of ours took off!

La cage de poulet - elle est finie!

2007-08-02T08:05:00.000-04:00

The chicken coop - it is finished!

I know, I know... it's been awhile since I have posted any progress or pictures. Well, I went on a so very nice vacation in Maine and just came back this week. That's another topic. But with all that relaxation, I just had to finish the coop. Monday night after work was wet, sticky and humid, so I waited until Tuesday to patch up my leaky chicken coop roof. There was one spot that was pooling the water and then slowly seeping under the rolled roofing and leaking into the coop. So, I added another piece of roofing and then used roofing tar on all the seams. Now that my roof was all patched up, I finally could put up the small fence so the chickens will have room to roam a little. (And I mean little.) Wednesday, after work, I went straight to work and got my fence up. I made sure top put it down into the ground so no tunneling critters will be able to get under and up and eat the birds. Which, by the way, I soon hope to get. Why have a coop and no chickens?? Anyway, here are more pictures of the coop now that it is complete.

Looking inside at the underside of the roof:

Another view of the roof from the inside, showing the rope that raises and lowers the door:

View of roof with sealant:

Different view of the roof with sealant:

Nesting Boxes and Perch looking from door:

Closer view of nesting boxes and perch:

Here's the fence:

And a picture looking at the entire finished product:

Rolled Roofing

2007-07-17T11:36:00.000-04:00

I had never heard that term before, but I was talking to a pal and he suggested I use that to help seal my chicken coop roof. So, this past weekend, my wife was out and about and went to Lowe's. Since she was going, I asked her to check and see if they had this wonderful rolled roofing stuff. She came home with my rolled roofing and forgot to get the stuff she went for. Now that's a sign of a keeper! (My wife, not the rolled roofing...)

After I mowed my lawn (and having the muffler fall off, that had just got replaced..) I finished putting the roof on the coop. Rolled roofing is basically one gigantic shingle rolled up into a roll. You unroll and let the material expand and relax a bit, then cut it to the size you need. I cut 4 pieces of about 4 1/2 feet long, and nailed it down on the roof. As I was laying the roof down, the skies darkened, and decided to rain before I was finished. Luckily it stopped after 5 minutes and let me finish before it really started pouring down.

Now, when I return from my vacation next week, I will finish the fence, and buy some chickens! And, I PROMISE I'll try and get some more pictures up here. Just in case any of you are still interested in seeing the progress from the last pictures I posted.

See-Eye-Ay-Oh for now.

Gorgeous Growing Garden

2007-07-10T10:11:00.000-04:00

The past few days have been cloudy and rainy. Not all day rain, but enough to make you wonder where the sun is this summer. I don't like it, but our garden does!

The pumpkin plants are growing fast and flowering. The squash plants are huge, but even with all the flowers, no fruit as of yet. I guess squash plants have both male and female flowers, so I'm hoping the flowers are mostly male and this is why the squash hasn't started to grow yet. I haven't looked close enough at the flowers to try and see if I can remember plant biology. (Pistils, stamens, etc. - Hey - guess I remember something!) Tomato plants are great. Lots of fruit growing. Plenty of green grape tomatoes and a few large 'big boy' tomatoes. Can't wait until they are ripe and ready. If our jalopenos, onion and cilantro are ready at the same time, PICO de GALLO is going to be great! Cilantro is actually flowering and huge, so we may have coriander from the seeds instead.

The sunflowers are growing taller, and so are the zinnias. Marigolds are bright and bushy. Wildflower mix of red white and blue are bigger as well - just no flowers on any but the marigolds.

It's pretty amazing to see everything literally grow right before your eyes. So, when the cloudy days and rain make me grumpy - I just have to remember all the good food that it is helping bring to my table!

Cool Spiderweb

2007-07-08T07:12:00.001-04:00

This was taken a few days ago. The picture doesn't really do it justice. This is a spiderweb by a telephone pole. It was huge! The morning dew showed it just right - as long as the trees were in the background. As soon as I tried to get closer, and the sky was behind the web, you could no longer see the silky strands. You can click on the picture to see a larger version.

4th of July

2007-07-05T09:38:00.000-04:00

Nothing much to report for yesterday's 4th. I hope every American had a wonderful and Patriotic day. It started off sunny here, but then slowly became grayer and darker. By fireworks time it was pouring. So, no fancy flashes of lights and sparks last night. I did more work on my chicken coop though while it was still nice outside! I'll post more pics later.

Garden Pictures

2007-07-03T19:15:00.000-04:00

Since I was talking about our garden earlier, I thought I'd share a few pictures. I have plenty, but garden pictures aren't all that interesting to a lot of people. If you want to see more, just leave a comment!

See my lovely fence?? That was the quickie I put up to stop the varmint! Oh, and guess what the varmint was? A SQUIRREL!! We were upstairs looking out the window and we saw a squirrel in the garden noshing on the sunflower plants again. This was after I put the fence up. Oops! we knocked on the window and managed to get the squirrel to run away. As it turned to flee (ok, more like slowly saunter away), I saw why my wife thought it might have been something bigger. It had a HUGE bushy tail.

More pictures of the garden:

Here's my cheesy scarecrow and our corn rows, (No - it's not my hair style,) sunflowers and pumpkin mounds:

Hey - we got some squash growing too! Here's a big 'ol squash plant. My wife told me the flowers were a delicacy if you fry them up just right. (She's from the South - anything becomes a delicacy if it's fried just right!)

Don't have any picture of the banana peppers, but they sure are tasty!

Chicken Coop Part 2

2007-07-03T11:12:00.000-04:00

I worked more on my chicken coop yesterday. I ran out of scrap pieces of plywood that I could use for the walls. But here are a few pictures for you to see what a piece of scrap coop looks like. HA!

In the beginning...

It all starts to come together:

The grand chicken entrance:

Grand entrance part 2:

The beginnings of a nesting box:

How do you get the eggs?

Ah ha! It opens!

All I need to do is make sure the roof is patched up good for leaks, finish the walls, and the nesting box. After that I just need CHICKENS!

MMMmmMmmMm! Fresh eggs!!

Chicken Coop Part 1

2007-07-02T10:02:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a beautiful day here in New Hampshire. The sun was out and the sky was a beautiful deep sky blue. The voluminous white clouds floated on by obscuring the bright light of the sun every once in awhile. Temperature's were in the 70's. It was a great day to start on my chicken coop!

I started by building a base for the chicken coop floor. Then I put the 4 'legs' on so the floor would be two feet above the ground. I took another base structure to put near the top for my roof. I did all this with a bunch of scrap wood I had gathered from various people looking to get rid of scrap lumber. After I got my main support structure up I started in on the walls and roof. I'll post pictures of my progress so you can see it getting put together. Today I hope to finish! I need to put some nesting boxes, a perch, and finish the walls and roof.

Next thing you know we'll be eating fresh eggs for breakfast and watching chickens run around. Our dog will go crazy! Maybe this will keep her from going across the stream to chase the neighbors chickens and goats!

HTML

2007-07-01T06:37:00.000-04:00

Hyper-text Markup Language. What a weird name for a language. I prefer English better. In fact, I believe English should be the official language of the United States.

HTTP. Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol. With these two names, and knowing that they refer to accessing files that will show you things like this entry here before you, makes me wonder why the Internet isn't called Hyper-Text Fun Land, or HTFL.

And why does everything network related have so many initials? TCP/IP, FTP, IRC, DHCP, LAN, WAN, IT, MAP, DSL, etc. Couldn't things have been so much easier if they just made up 3 letter words to name all of these things? Like yav and igs, or jir, maybe kow? Than when someone asks what it means, you can say "Hey man, yav means yav. That's what it is." Just like you were some technology hippie guru.

I guess that's what's neat about language. Different for everyone.

Mowed Moths

2007-06-30T15:16:00.000-04:00

Queue the drum roll everybody! I got my lawnmower back again.... AND IT WORKS! My lawn is now trimmed short and neat.

So, does anyone know what this type of a moth is:

Also, I thought I would show you an early sunflower. I love when they pop put of their seeds and then push the seed up through the fertile earth.

Earthly Swallows

2007-06-29T13:30:00.000-04:00

Okay - hopefully this is my last title change. Shallow Thoughts is being used too much around the Web now-a-days.

So tried to think of something random, yet catchy.

(As most of these posts strive to be.)

Shallow Thoughts

2007-06-28T14:51:00.001-04:00

I'm not a very decisive person, can you tell?

Shallow Thoughts is now about everything that is really nothing. That's why it is Shallow, AND Random at the same time. But as pointed out to me, Shallow Thoughts sounds better.

New Title: Shallow Thoughts!

Okay - title change... AGAIN.

2007-06-28T09:13:00.001-04:00

Yes, it is the very same day that I changed the title of my Blog. Even though I see Movie Clichés, or think of them on a regular basis, I never searched the Web for them. It came to mind that perhaps there are already websites that discuss this topic. Guess what? There are. And they are way more in depth then my pitiful attempt at starting one like it.

Must come up with NEW topic!!

Any ideas? For now, the new title is: Random Thoughts

(Kind of Like Deep Thoughts, except not as deep. But Shallow Thoughts sounded too... well, shallow.)

Keys under the Visor

2007-06-28T08:24:00.000-04:00

This is my first posting for a Movie Cliché! You know when the antagonist, proponent, good guy or bad guy, however you want to word it, needs a new ride? He reaches down to turn the key. *GASP!* No key left in the ignition? What now?? Ah ha! After searching around the glove compartment, the armrest compartment, he pulls down the visor on the windshield. Voila! A set of keys falls into his lap, and they just happen to be the keys to the car.

What do you know? The engine cranks, and away our hero, or anti-hero, goes.

Name Change

2007-06-28T08:09:00.000-04:00

For those of you who read my Blog before today, knew this as Blog O' Jonk. Yeah - stupid title. Who would dream of reading a blog with a bad title? When there's no good cover to look at, you have to decide based on the title or if the author is already well-known and published, then the title might not matter. I am not a well-published author, and no one can see a colorful cover when choosing to click on a link to this blog, so I need a GREAT title. One that is amusing perhaps, but relevant? I don't know. I still don't quite know what the main topic of this blog will be, but I was thinking on Movie Clichés. You know, those things that always only happen in movies, no matter how stupid it might be in a realistic sense. Or not even stupid, but just always happens in the movies.

Anyway, note the new title while eating an english muffin and drinking some coffee. Or perhaps snacking on some fish and chips. Are you in a café? Are you in your basement in your underwear? Doesn't matter to me!

[Movie Clichés and News of No Importance] <---- That WAS the title when this post was first submitted. HA! Lasted an hour or so...

Comments

2007-06-27T10:04:00.001-04:00

I'm disappointed. I have no comments on my blog. *Sniff* Guess I'm just not important enough! I better start thinking of something important to blog about that millions of users will want to read about.

No Idea

2007-06-25T11:58:00.000-04:00

No Idea. Yes, I have no idea what to add today, but I wanted to add something. Can't just have a blog sitting around not doing anything!

By the way - you'd think mowing the lawn would be something simple to do, correct? Well, it's not. Especially when you don't have a lawn mower that works correctly. My lawn is bumpy, hilly, and large. No, I don't know HOW large, I just know it's greater than an acre, and less than 5 acres.

So, tough on the lawnmower, and tough on the mowee. Mowee? Strange word that has no meaning in the real world.

I never thought I would have such a hard time mowing my lawn this summer season. It took over 3 weeks to get my mower worked on when it didn't work to begin with, and now it STILL doesn't work. Vibrates like a giant, mutated hummingbird. So, I need to get it fixed again. Or rather fixed right the first time which hasn't been done yet.

Okay, so I guess I did have an idea on what to write. Just took some time getting to the page.

Ciao.

Garden Varmints

2007-06-21T09:55:00.000-04:00

Yes, we had our first experience with some varmint in our garden. I was at work when my wife frantically instant messaged me. I could tell she was practically hyper-ventilating just by reading her words. She told me her garden had been destroyed. We had no sunflowers, pumpkins or squash. She couldn't tell what it was that had eaten the plants, just that it was furry, had a tail and ran on 4 legs. Well, I tried to calm her down and told her I would put up that fence we both now knew we needed to erect earlier.

I came home and saw the damage my wife was talking about. I don't think I would have reacted quite the same way. All our sunflowers were still standing, just had most of the top leaves missing. Same with the pumpkins and one of our squash plants. I would think that since they are still root bound that we should be fine. I dunno - I'm not a gardener, so I guess I may be telling my wife she was right later on.

I took some fallen 2 - 4 inch in diameter trees and sawed them to be about 5 1/2 feet long. Dug post holes around the garden perimeter and put up a green plastic coated wire fence that is 4 feet high. I didn't dig it down into the ground like I should have for woodchucks, so I guess we'll have to cross that bridge later.

Two days have almost passed since the varmint ate our veggies. Fence seems to be working so far! All I need to do now is finish my scarecrow to keep the birds away.

What should I blog about?

2007-06-20T15:17:00.000-04:00

Why have a blog if you don't have anything to say? Who really cares, and who really reads these things? I hear Curt Schilling from the Boston Red Sox has a blog. I've never read it, but I guess people do. Now, if Ozzy Osbourne had a blog, and I knew 100% that he wrote on it - THAT might be a blog I would read. Probably get a laugh or two out of it at least.

Audio Books

2007-06-20T15:13:00.000-04:00

Are Audio Books for those who want to do whatever else at the same time and then say they read that book? When, in reality, someone else read it, you just heard what they read? And how much do you get out of it, if you are listening to an Audio Book while doing something else? Hmmm...