Memorial Day

We had a Memorial Day gathering of Mandy, Trevor, Reed, Emmy, Abby, Will, Gramp, Cynthia, Nate, Krista, Max, Elise, and John. Besides grilling and eating, there was strawberrie picking, 4-wheeler riding, home-made ice-cream making, chicken feeding, egg gathering, and of course gun shooting. You might be a redneck if you have posted on your fireplace the targets from the participants of the target shooting. Mandy claimed herself the winner. Salute to all the veterans.

Bee, Egg, Rabbit

Here's the update on the past few weeks.
The bees are here. I picked them up on the 15th. We, (Steve and Bill Gerle) got them set when it began to rain. So Bill still has to show me how and what to check. The bee bizarre news happened the night before. While at the library a few weeks ago, picking up a bee video, the librarian mentioned that they were having a 'bee class' on the 14th. I signed up figuring I could learn some basics and get a list of people to contact for info and equipment. Thursday at 7pm there was me, two other mom types (one with a couple of kids around 12 years old) a library worker and the couple teaching the class. It wasn't Bee 101, but how to use bee stings to cure illnesses, bee honey to treat allergies, etc. and bee venom to treat wrinkles, and so forth. Well I couldn't leave since it would have been very obvious and I didn't want to say, "You're coo-coo-crazy", and "this isn't what I thought it would be". So I took out my note pad and went to taking notes and asking questions. I can embrace wackiness, I just can't sustain it. A few days later when my wrist was killing me I thought maybe I should sting myself. I called for a doctor's appointment the next day.


Steve finished the gate and we haven't had a chicken escape since. I can now whip my flower garden back into shape. I did have to kick Bingo out, but after yelling at her and putting down pepper she hasn't bothered it. By the way, the two light hens are Sally and Jess.
I went to church for a youth meeting, came back home and had the grandkids zipping around. I told them I'd turn on coop-cam (trying to calm them down) and this is what I found. That rabbit had made its way to the chickens. I wonder where it is now.




The kids came up Friday so they were put to work making a sign to sell eggs. They get half (a very generous half) of the money.





After the sign was complete we took it out to post it in the yard. They could already smell the money.

Reed headed straight to the front porch and sat waiting for customers. They came later. While I was up at the church watering the flowers they sold 5 dozen. Today they sold 3 more dozen.

Coop Cam

For Mother's Day I received "Coop Cam". Steve and Matt set up a camera in the coop and connected it to the TV. Matt has an extra monitor so it will be changed to it this week. Not only can we watch the chicken but there is a intercom so we can listen to them or talk to them. From Saturday afternoon until Sunday afternoon we were glued to the action, although it was a little hard to tell some chickens apart. On Sunday Mandy, Trevor, and the grandkids came over for dinner (after suprising me at church). Trevor actually read the camera box and noted that it said "color" video. He then hooked the cable up to the right plugin and the greatness of Coop Cam was realized. He said he'd hook it up to this blog for live steaming "soon".





Would someone please come and clean this house, how many gizmos, wires, etc. do we need?

Matt and Reed adjusted the camera.

The big rooster phones in from the coop. It has an intercom, so I'm not sure why he wasn't using it.

We now have color.

Trevor taunts Apolo.

Friday night fun.

Steve bought a shipment of 4-wheelers to sell (call him for info) and has to finish putting them together. After which, they have to be test-driven to make sure they run right. Reed is all for test driving, until he turned his up on two wheels and fell off. This was before the event.


Abby loves to 4-wheel with grandpa and isn't at all afraid.

Emmy rides with grandpa but would rather check out other things. Here she test drives the rocking chair I bought for $1 at an auction today. A fabulous bid (once again for $1) was this toy box pig which came filled with nothing but quality toys and two more boxes filled with quality toys. Emmy grabbed two stuffed unicorns and carted them home. Reed found 6 dinosaurs to play with in the dirt (not pictured).

Will had to check out the chair too. Hopefully it will rain tonight to clean these things or I'll have to scrub them.

We had 5 chickens out today so Steve decided he was going to capture them so I could re-clip them. During the day and open range with "help", he didn't have a chance. He decided just to feed them. Abby still isn't too sure of Bingo (just because he knocked her down the first day - being friendly). Later Steve found the back gate open...those chickens are geniuses.

No day is complete without ice-cream. Will does enjoy his and Abby was supposed to be keeping her's "neat" with a bowl to catch drips. Thankfully they stayed in the kitchen to eat.

No Pics, Lots of Fun

Just an update; the Wyandotte quit sitting on the eggs so I had to throw them out. It didn't appear that any had been growing. So I ordered 15 more chicks. I'll let you know when they get here (I don't even know when).

Today we planted the garden, no thanks to all the helper chickens. Fresh turned dirt had yielded a bounteous worm and bug feast, not to mention checking out the seeds I was putting in.

The big fun, and we didn't record or photo it, since both Steve and I were involved, was the clipping of the chickens' feathers. After going to Ask.com and YouTube, I got the info, got Steve, and off we went to the coop. It was just after sundown so the chickens were on the roosts. After Steve tried grabbing them with the light on, and causing a great uproar, we turned off the light and he just had to grab. Steve would haul out the chicken, and by the light of the shop-light I would band it and then trim one side of its flight feathers (the first ten feathers). We banded each one, so we knew if we had already captured it. All 25 should now stay behind the fence. Tomorrow is the test.