New Arrivals

The last batch of babies arrived this morning. These turkeys are the ones that will grow into the large Thanksgiving size. They are so cute and tiny right now, though.




The broiler chicks and heritage turkeys are growing fast. The chicks are almost 1.5 pounds. They are losing their fuzzy cuteness.

Lets face it, they are getting downright ugly. It makes it easier to eat them though.

The turkeys are still pretty cute, in my opinion.


This little turkey is named Princess. Is it a girl or a boy? I can't tell.

Yesterday we moved the turkeys and chickens out to the field pens. They will be much happier out there in the grass.





There are 73 chicks and 10 turkeys. Amazingly, I only lost 5 chicks so far. And really, one of those doesn't count because it was dead when they got here. It smelled pretty bad, too. The other 4 died within the first day or two, and the rest are happy and healthy. I am sure some more will die, but right now they are fine. These chickens are not bred to be very hardy so I have to expect some loss. In the past, I have lost 25% or more, but I am hoping that I have gotten enough experience that I can keep it down to 10-12% this year.

Letters

March 1, 2007

Dear Rhododendron,

I have noticed that you are looking a little sickly after the long winter. Your leaves are brown and your stems look like sticks. Are you alive in there? Is anyone home?

Love, Cristy

---

April 20, 2007

Dear Rhododendron,

There is still no new growth. Some of your leaves are half green and half brown and I have no idea if you are dead or not. Can you give me a sign? I had such high hopes for you when I planted you in my yard last summer. I pictured you growing into a beautiful large bush. I am so disappointed in you.

Love, Cristy

---

May 31, 2007

Rhododendron,

Alright, this is getting ridiculous. If you don't grow some new leaves soon, I am ripping you out of the ground and planting something that will appreciate all my hard work. Something like a hydrangea. Or a lilac bush. This is your last warning.

Cristy

---

June 2, 2007

My Dearest Rhododendron,

Please forgive my last letter. I don't know what came over me. I realize this has been all my fault. I planted you in full sun when I knew you would prefer a shady spot. Forgive me.

Love, Cristy

---

June 21, 2007

Dear Rhododendron,

It seems that you can hear me. I see your new leaves now. I am so happy that you decided to stick around. Don't worry, I will plant the lilac bush somewhere else. I will keep watering you and taking good care of you. You will never be thirsty again.

Love, Cristy

Tuesday Ten: Ten things I did today

Ten Things I Did Today

1. Went for a walk. I woke up before six, but lay in bed until 6:30. Then I got up and went for a walk--about 45 minutes, counting feeding the chickens. Which I do since I am still walking and hauling heavy buckets of water.

2. Supervised chores. Heh heh. School is out and I have LOTS of work for the kids to keep them busy.

3. Went to the library. Today was library day. It was also the summer reading program kick off day. Not a good day to go to the library. But the kids did get to see a juggler perform.

4. Ate lunch at the park. We had about an hour between the library and 11 year old daughter's gymnastics practice, so we went and ate lunch at the park.

5. Watered the yard and garden. It has been very hot and dry this week and I am trying to keep things green.

6. Went to watch my daughter at gymnastics practice. I loooove the summer schedule because we are home by 5:30 every evening. My daughter moved up to level 7 so it is fun to watch her working with the new coaches and doing new things. I just wish it wasn't so expensive. The practice, that is, not watching her. Ah well, she loves it.

7. Made dinner. UGH. I had to run to the store when I got home from the gym to pick up sour cream and chips for our burrito supper. Now that that is done, I have to come up with something for tomorrow night. I think I need to go shopping.

8. Broke up at least a dozen arguments. Sigh. It is hot. I am tired. Why do they have to keep arguing????

9. I decided that if I have to hear my 4 year old say "Moooom" in that whiny little voice ONE MORE TIME I will spontaneously combust. Pouf.

10. Went to the neighbors' house. Our neighbors' granddaughter is visiting so they invited the kids over to play in the wading pool and eat popsicles. Then we took her to see the baby chicks and turkeys. It was a nice way to end a hot day.

Awards

Friday was my oldest son's last day at WLA. Next year he will be a senior and he will attend a different school. The new school will present more of a challenge academically, but I am sure he is ready for it.

The last 15 months at WLA have been very good for him, both for his confidence and socially. I never thought I would say that about a school that is made up of 90% thugs and misfits, but there it is. He is respected and well liked at school. I think that says a lot.

They held awards ceremonies both Thursday and Friday. My son received numerous awards for effort, attitude, conduct, commitment, leadership, and academics. Eight in all, I think. I wasn't able to be present for the Thursday evening awards, but the whole family attended the Friday awards and picnic.


My son is on the school color guard. He is the one on the left.




I don't remember what all the awards were exactly for, but it was some form of commitment, conduct, or effort award. For each award they receive a "ribbon" which is really a bar pin covered in a colored ribbon. Each award has a specific color. If an award is taken more than once, they get a star to put on the ribbon. They wear the ribbons on the dress uniform shirt above the left pocket. After today my son has five rows of 3 ribbons each, as well as some stars.




This was an award for getting above a 3.3 gpa for the year. Yes, there are only three people getting this award. The school gives out awards for 2.5 gpa and above. About 8 people total received academic awards. Out of 100+ kids in the whole school. Eight. Do you see why he is switching schools? He got a 4.0 gpa for each semester this year. He was the ONLY person in the whole school to get above a B- (he got an A+) in English class. His English teacher told me she refused to dumb down her class so more kids could get good grades. I said THANK YOU. I really feel like he earned his A+.



This award was for the highest gpa in the whole school for the year. My son took this award from the previous 3 time winner. Ha! Now he has a cool purple braid to wear on the uniform that he will never wear again.

He was also one of 4 kids in the school to be chosen as a finalist for the Cadet of the Year award. He got 3rd place, missing out by 2 points. I am so proud of his accomplishments this year.






There he goes, marching out for the last time.

Flowers in my yard

Clematis

---

Crabapple Blossom

---

Old Fashioned Pink Rose

---

Rose-Fourth of July

---

Rose- Iceburg

---

Rock Rose

---

Pretty in Pink

The baby turkeys are looking more turkey-like every day.

New Brooder

Brooder space is in high demand and short supply lately. Baby chicks require a good amount of heat so it is necessary to have a space where a light can be hung. Usually I use some half barrels, but the turkeys didn't like that so I moved them to my one and only large brooder space.

Which meant we had to find another space for the 75 baby chicks that were to arrive soon after the turkeys. We decided to convert an entire horse stall into a chick brooder room.



Good grief. The previous occupants of this stall left it in such a mess. What a bunch of pigs.

Besides having to scoop out most of the "pig dirt" from the floor, we had to cat proof the stall. We have two lovely cats and one stray that won't go away. They would love a tasty chicken dinner. So we put chicken wire up over all of the open spaces.



This job turned out to be easier than I thought, thank goodness. Chicken wire can be tricky but we got through it with only a few scratches.

We relaid the rubber mats on the floor and threw about 4 wheelbarrow loads of sawdust on the floor.

Last, since the space is so large and the chickies are so small, my husband brought out an old satellite dish that someone had given him. We propped it up on some blocks and hung the heat lamp in the middle. This should keep the heat down where the chicks are. Hopefully, anyway.



One problem is that it is rather awkward to actually see under the dish. I have to get down on my knees to look underneath. Also, whenever I want to get in to check food and water, I have to lift the dish up and prop it with a board.

The chicks arrived yesterday morning and they seem to like their space.






Aww, aren't they so cute?

Wednesday Whine

I am going to feel free to whine today. Feel free to skip my whining.

Ten Things About Which I Would Like to Whine

1. I turned in my kids' 4-H fair entry forms late. It was all my fault. I knew the deadline was Monday, and I totally forgot. So I turned them in Tuesday morning.

Me: I hope I can still turn these in.

4H lady: Oh, yes. That's fine.

Me: Good.

4H lady: (In an annoyingly happy voice) I'll just mark them as late entries and they won't be eligible for any special awards or state fair! (She smiles)

Me: (whining a little) Even one day late?

4H lady: (even more annoyingly) Yes! (more smiles)

Now tell me, was this nice? I realize that I was late, but did she have to be so happy about it? I must have made her day by turning in those forms late.


2. Why(ne) does the sun have to set in the west? Or at least why did the people that built our house have to position it so it faces west. It would have worked just as well to face it north. That way only the end of the house would get the full afternoon sun instead of the front. It is so hot in here in the summertime. And while they were at it they could have set the house more than 20 feet away from the driveway that goes past our house, where dump trucks drive past at 6 in the morning. Right by my bedroom window. Which I guess doesn't matter too much, because...


3. Why(ne) do I have to keep waking up at 5:30 AM??? I don't want to get out of bed that early. I go to bed after 11 PM and I want to sleep until 6. Or even 6:30.


4. Five of my baby turkeys have died. I try really hard to be a good turkey mama. Really. I check on them umpteen times a day and make sure their water and food are clean. They keel over anyway.


5. Why(ne) am I the only one that will clean off the refrigerator door handle when I am not the one that makes it dirty? It appears that my children are blind when it comes to dirt and the fact that they have left dirty handprints all over the refrigerator door when opening it to get something. Oh, and NOBODY was the last one in the refrigerator. NOBODY.

6. Do we have to sleep with the window open when it is 40 degrees outside? I am cold.

7. I want my garage finished. And I want it done now.

8. I hate changing poopy diapers. Just thought I would mention that I hate this chore. I realize it is a necessary one, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

9. Why(ne) do I have to cook dinner? I NEED a cook. Slowly, but surely I am training my 14 year old daughter to cook, but she is still on simple stuff. Besides, I would still have to cook dinner most of the time anyway since she is just a kid. I think part of my dislike of cooking has a lot to do with a tight grocery budget and not a lot of time to spend cooking. We eat a lot of quick meals. Not to be confused with meals from a box, by the way.

10. Why(ne) am I having so much trouble getting my daughter's floor music worked out? Honestly, I am not an expert on this. So why is it that my daughter's coach keeps wanting me to do stuff that she should know can't be done? She is the expert, not me. She has been ordering music from this company for 25 years, not me. I wish she would just call the music guy and be done with it instead of making me go back and forth between them. We are supposed to have a session on Saturday to go over the music choices and she wants me to have a short version of the song my daughter wants. I CAN'T GET ONE. SHE SHOULD KNOW THAT.


Ahh, there. Now I feel better.

Window