Disgusted and disappointed

You all know from reading this blog that I am an old hand at homesteading and living the rural farm life. I've got multitudes of animals and crops here. Monday I received my replacement order of chicks in the mail. Of course, par for my luck, instead of it being nice and warm like last week, it has to be 34 degrees and snowing! 6 dead chicks at the post office. Overnight to Tuesday, 11 more died. Thru the day yesterday, I lost 2 more. I about hate to go look at them this morning, the rest should be dead if my luck holds. This is the exact same tank, same light and setting I used last spring to raise 50 chicks at once I bought from Rural King. All lived and thrived. Brooding chicks isn't very hard, keep them warm and provide feed and water! Why are all my banty chicks dying? To add insult to injury, the door of the coop in the old barn where I was keeping the mature bantys blew down in the storm we had Saturday and they are all out. Yesterday I found the roo and 3 of the 5 hens but could not catch them. At dark, I could not find a single one. So, I may not even have any mature bantys now. I am down to 6 mature mixed laying hens now and hubby still hasn't brought home a single pallet from the coal mine for me to build the chicken house. We simply do not have the money to buy new lumber.

But on a brighter note, today is the first day since last Saturday that I woke up without back spasms! Still really stiff but not a single spasm yet and I've been up an hour!

The goats found freedom yesterday, they were running around in the barn lot. Still not sure how they got out unless they simply climbed out. They ran right up to me and followed me right back in the barn. They aren't quite gentled down yet, I didn't play with them all last week with my back misbehaving but they know who feeds them! The sheep is still alive, I moved him in the barn before the storm and realized we've not been feeding him quite enough. Under all that wool is a skinny sheep! So, his feed has been increased and we're aiming for 2 weeks to butcher. I need the time anyway to get my back going in the right direction....

At least the cheese wheels are drying a rind like they are supposed to. Something is going right!

Monterey Jack day

Well, I been at it again. Since this wacked out weather has me down in the back and stuck in the house, I figured I might as well do something constructive. Not being able to bend down or sit down limited what I was going to do so I made a few batches of Monterey Jack cheese. So fa it looks right, LOL. Ya never know tho.

Marking an Anniversary

It was on this day in 1882, the low down dirty dog Bob Ford, bushwacked and killed Jesse James. Jesse, age 34 at the time of his death was the most famous member of the James-Younger gang. Already a grand celebrity when he was alive, he became a legendary figure of the wild west after his death.

On April 3, 1882, after eating breakfast, the Fords and James prepared for departure for another robbery, going in and out of the house to ready the horses. It was an unusually hot day. James removed his coat, then declared that he should remove his firearms as well, lest he look suspicious. James noticed a dusty picture on the wall and stood on a chair to clean it. Robert Ford took advantage of the opportunity and shot James in the back of the head. James' two previous bullet wounds and partially missing middle finger served to positively identify the body.



I'd like to say "thanks" to Mrs Hoppes for her kind words and Jennifer, I'm right there with you.
I don't often have too much to sale at the end of the day but the occasional extra bunny but I'm working on it. Good job on saving the apples! I wish Craigslist and Freecycle were "good" in this area but they aren't anything but filled with scammers and beggars.


Stay safe and get growing!

Are you kidding me?

I was just reading this story from yahoo news... it says 1 in 10 Americans getting food stamps. The title of the article is Food Stamp list swells to record 32.2 million... How depressing is that? I have a chip on my shoulder when it comes to welfare, I could rant for hours. Here in rural southern Illinois, I see the program abused and I see lazy ignorant people reaping the benefits of others' hard work. I also see the government not doing anything about the abuse, they turn a blind eye to it here. I'll quit this subject now or I'll go off on a 2 hour rant.

Here's something else I read today I'd like to share with you today. It's also from yahoo news, it's about how Wall Street could be indicating a bottom to the recession. It's called New Signs Emerge That Recession may be Near Bottom. I read the article and it seemed to me that the author contradicted himself all thru it. If the wealthy spend some money but the jobless rate keeps going up, how is that a bottom to the recession???? If those of us that qualify as "working poor" (anybody making less than $40,000.00 a year) can't buy food without foodstamps, how is this a sign of things getting better? I just don't get this at all. 10% of the workforce in this country is collecting unemployment. There's no count of the people that have exhausted their benefits and are still out of work.

My family is working poor. We work hard for what we've got and I do my very best to make sure we eat well without the aid of the government. With the help of my son, I provide our food with blood sweat and tears. I am disabled as well. We do not collect any type of government aid. If I can do this, anybody can do this.

We've got a storm headed our way, due to run over the top of us any time now. My back is so stiff and sore, I can hardly breathe. I look forward to it passing us by so I can get back to business as usual. I'm milking cows for my neighbor for the next couple of days, they're out on a calf buying trip. I love the calves, if it's not pouring rain, I'll get a pic or 2 for you all to see.


Stay safe and get growing something!