The Hidden Nest!

 The Hidden Nest!

 

Yesterday morning a hen was looking for a way into the middle coop where the feed is kept. How she got out was anyone’s guess unless she had been hiding out when the other hens were put up for the night. Last night a count showed only 13 hens. Then the dogs kept alerting on a little trailer that was turned upside down. Guess who was hiding under the trailer while sitting on a dozen (non-fertile) eggs! Had they been fertile eggs and had she not been found, a dozen little chicks would be snake bait unless she was a good mother. She is a Cuckoo Maran, and their names are very appropriate. You can almost bet she would have had all twelve grow up to be as ornery as she is. Oh! And you can bet the broody hen was not the one laying that dozen eggs! My hens are getting sneakier by the day—or maybe they just are avoiding the rat snake.

 

Sylvia was a restless dog last night for some reason, and she started in with her panting before six this morning. Yours truly got up and let the dogs out, put on some semi-presentable clothes, and then turned on the faucet outside to change the water for the birds—birds in this case apparently means ALL the freaking birds who come for baths and drinks, not just the hens.

 

Just fed my two companions. They had a semblance of French un-toasted breakfast seasoned with chicken broth. Put three beef patties on to cook slowly in the cast iron skillet. Lance taught me to cook frozen meat on really low heat to keep meat from shrinking. It works. And the skillet was already seasoned with bacon grease, so there’s that flavor. Went in to put a bit of salt and pepper on the meat and remembered that a trip to Market Street was needed. Sometime it just amazes me how little things like pepper and coffee filters all need to be replaced at the same time. The white pepper, which is supposed to be good for us, still has some in the little bottle, but the black pepper can is empty now. It seems as if Mrs. Dash has onion flakes in it, and dogs are not supposed to have onions. In fact, a purple onion sits on my table currently because it just has not been a good time to use it despite the fact that potato salad was whipped together the other day. Guess cooking up the slices and freezing them for stir fry would work.

 

According to the thermometer here in the living room, it is cooler outside than inside this room! Opened the storm door and slid up the glass to let the air circulate in hopes that number would drop a bit. The day is only supposed to get up to 101, but that number is always a guesstimate.

 

Last night the booms in the neighborhood did not last very long. Let’s hope the police are doing a good job of preventing much of that nuisance, especially since the grass has turned brown again. At least Zupkus has mown his grass down below on the south side of the neighborhood. He let it get up over knee high again.

 

Walking the fence and checking things in the yard turned up another problem that might not be too hard to repair. Guess the lawn mower hit the end of the chain that holds the carport to the ground. Even found the piece that was cut off! Think another double clip is in the coop on the feeder, so that should at least hold down the side that is closest to the house. Still have to dig a hole and find the one on the west side or manage to install another anchor for it. Lance hit that side with the mower and am guessing that my young man who mows for me got the other side.  Oh well.

 

Here it is a little after 2:30 and the temperature is down to 81 on the front porch. We have clouds, sprinkles, and lightning! Hip, hip, hooray! My front storm door window is up and the AC is off. We could certainly do with more days like this. Sterling said that they had thunder last night, but no rain. It feels SO good to go outside and walk in the breeze. The little shower we got is the type that Lewis called good walking rain.

 

Nearly always enjoy visiting with Sterling. We talked today about how farmers are gamblers of the highest order whether they are raising livestock, making hay, or trying to grow things that folks eat. So many companies have gone under that it isn’t even funny, but the farmers who supplied those companies have the same problems without the high-dollar financing. When Sterling first moved to Arkansas when he was 18, he worked for Allen Foods picking beans in their fields. Allen went broke in 2011 or was broke and bought out. At any rate, any farmer who furnished fields to them would not have any place to sell their veggies if they could afford to grow them. What folks don’t seem to understand is that it is not enough to own the ground where things grow. Fertilizer, the fuel to run the tractors, the trucks to haul the products, and many other elements go into running a business—and growing food is a business. Sterling reminded me that raising cattle, chickens, pigs, or other livestock is a crap shoot. The weather affects every element of growing stock from grass that makes hay to heating and cooling the place the stock is kept—not to mention the water that is necessary for the grass and for the stock—especially for cattle on the fields. Anyway, we can’t make things different now any more than farmers have ever been able to do. He said that one year he had quite a few pigs to raise. He ended up selling a 250-pound pig for the price he paid for the sucklings. That is just sad. Imagine what that would be like if a person raised thousands of those lard buckets.

 

Just went out and found a couple of eggs, and then opened the little coop to find Rusty Lady sitting on the nest. Hope that means she has decided to use that nest for her eggs now. Put an egg in there last night as an inducement to use that nest, so maybe it worked.

 

Sister-in-law posted a picture of all these different colored hens on my page. One was purple and another blue! Amazing colors for chickens! Probably won’t raise any more hens after this year, but we will see. Would not want to buy any more chicks unless the price of feed drops a bit. But then, someone online said that eggs might cost $12 a dozen by next year. Good grief. If eggs cost that much, how would the price of lay mash be affected?!

 

Really don’t know much that amounts to a hill of beans, but this afternoon’s weather makes me feel better. May each of you find reason to be grateful for all the many blessings given to us by God. Rest well and look for reasons to be joyful. You are loved.