Nesting Updates

The Goose Girls had been setting as one on a single giant nest. Today I went out and saw they had divided their clutch of eggs into two separate nests. I've no idea why they decided to do this but am letting them roll with it. Also my Rouen duck hens have started depositing their eggs in the house instead of out in the yard. The Runner girls are still dropping theirs randomly around the yard. I'm bringing about 1/2 the Runner eggs in for food and putting the remainder in the Rouen nests to be set on when the girls decide they have a clutch.

Extra Security & Privacy For Setting Geese

I saw this morning both Mama Geese setting on the nest and tending the eggs. The only thing I saw worrisome was Bella, my Dachshund right there on the other side of the fence waiting for her opportunity to create havoc. Luckily I had some extra 2" x 4" wire handy so I extended another section of fencing out approx 2' x 4'.

A couple weeks ago I fetched home a truckload of palmetto that had been cut down at a neighbor's house. Today I took the fronds, cut the stalks down to size and jammed them into the ground all around the outside of the fence by the nest, both the original and new fence. We're expecting rain, possibly heavy today so I wedged more fronds in, over and through all the top of the 4' tall fencing over the nest to hopefully divert some of the water.

Well, the rain is here and I hear thunder in the distance. I'll think some more on how to create a better shelter over the nest area without disturbing the ladies too very much. Right now I'm pondering the use of some 4" x 4" wire that I already have. A post or 3 should suffice to hold it in place to support some sort of light weight roof. The major flies in the ointment are not disturbing the setting hens and working around the mulberry tree and funky angle at that corner of the Quack Pack's yard.
I'll come up with some plan that'll work out fine & dandy!

Wishing All A Blessed Easter

Today is Easter Sunday, the day we remember and celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We should all take a little extra time this day to thank God for all our blessings. It's cloudy here and some thunderstorms are quite possible but still it is a beautiful day on planet Earth.

May God keep, protect and bless us all.

More Plants

I had to go to Home Depot today to buy a new cover plug for my drain clean out hole for my drain water. It was my bad running over the old one with my mower. I had planned on just running in and getting that one item until I remembered I wanted a hand saw as well. One thing led to another when I saw they had plants on sale from $3.68 each to 4 for $10. I did good for an old kid in a candy store though. 2 tomato plants, 2 hot peppers and a 6 pack of cabbage and a pack of sweet corn seed.
We're not expecting rain today so hopefully tomorrow the soil will be dry enough I can get the seed corn, pepper & cabbage plants set out in the garden.

Mama Goose Setting On Eggs

I got home this morning as usual, let Vlad & Bella out as usual and fed the Quack Pack as usual & checked the nest as usual. There was a fresh duck egg or 2 and another goose egg I believe from a quick inspection. I'd planned on marking all the eggs in the nest with a pencil so I could track if any more were being laid there but when I went back out one of my geese was setting most contentedly upon the nest and appearing rather motherly. I know for certain there are quite a few goose eggs in the nest along with several pure Rouen duck and some Rouen/Runner cross. Online research tells me duck eggs hatch after 28-35 days of setting but I'll have to look see how long gooses eggs take.

It'll be tricky candling the eggs with 2 goose hens and a gander guarding the nest but I'll wait a couple of weeks and see what I can see & dispose of any duds. Given another month or so I may go from being "Quack Daddy" to "Quack Grand Daddy"!

Seeds In The Soil

It was a beautiful day and I got some seeds in the soil. In the front garden I planted corn, okra and sunflowers and in tray style pots I started tarragon, oregano, basil, parsley and thyme. Next week I plan on seeding beans among the corn etc & the week after that planting squash. Tomatoes, eggplant, cabbage and root crops will be hitting the dirt soon as well.

While I am admittedly sore from ripping up roots of some butt ugly shrub that was here when I moved in and prepping the soil for plants more to my liking I feel blessed. There is quite a bit of clay in my soil but it seems mostly good earth for my needs and desires. I'm always fetching home sacks of hardwood leaves and such to mix in to keep improving the soil.

The front garden is laid out regarding what crops I want where. Next on the garden agenda is the back yard. I'm planning mostly raised beds back there along with some potted peppers. If I can find some grape vines at a good price I'll put more along the gaps in my arbor. Hopefully Vlad, my boy dog won't pee any more to death.

Mollies & More

Well I am a happy redneck! My mollies arrived yesterday morning ans are all set up in the 55 gallon aquarium in my living room. They aren't as green as I remember them being when I was a young un but I'm still pleased with them overall. I recently got some assorted greens from the grocery to feed my lizards and added some of them to the fish diet. Perhaps the added chlorophyll will bring out their colors.
I've a 35 gallon 5 sided diamond shaped tank also but nothing lives in there as of yet. There's some white powdery scum on top of the water I can't seem to remove but will continue experimenting on that project.
My shipment of mollies was delayed a few days because of weather so the farm sent me 1.2 juveniles for my trouble.  All those I ordered are young adults. I've also a 20 gallon tank w/ almost all  needed for setup that's just sitting vacant in my storage room I'd love to fill.
For now if I can get my 35 clean I want to move my juvies into it and possibly buy a pair of female orange phase mollies to increase my breeding stock and see what the offspring would look like. Later I can set up the 20 gallon and get some black mollies and really experiment with different color combos. Of course I'll keep a tank of pure green sail fins!

I had to go to Wally World for some stuff; socks, sheets, etc. I fetched up 50 pounds of Vlad & Bella Chow, 6 sacks of dirt for my gardens & a few more packs of seeds. I'm like a kid in a candy store when I see seeds!

I'd seen some local big ass oak trees cut down and the wood put curbside for collection. I really wanted to fetch a 6' or so log or 3 home to try to make a bench but by the time I got back with my truck the logs had already been loaded up by somebody else. I just see that as God's way of telling me that I've already got enough projects for now.

PK & His Critters

This past Autumn I saw my brother from a different mother, PK at a Fall Fest exhibiting some of his animals for the kids (and adults).  He had bearded dragons, snakes, hedgehogs, ferrets, rabbits and a parrot there. I just saw some pictures he posted and the old boy also has a cockatoo, chameleon and my favorite critter in the world, a tortoise! he said he's adopted all from people who no longer wanted them so I've got to start badgering him as to how he gets hooked up.

Wish me luck!

Possible Delay Getting Fish

I got an email from old boy in Texas that he was gonna ship my Mollies Monday for Tuesday delivery. As it's forecast we'll get 32 F for our low temp Monday night I emailed him back telling him that if need be to hold off. I'd rather wait a few extra days than to get a shipment of dead fish.

Budding Fruit Trees & Frost Coming

Almost all my fruit trees are budding out new Spring leaves. Today I arrived home from work to find my nectarine tree sporting lovely pink blossoms... And Monday night the weatherman is calling for 32 degrees F for the low!

Well, I need new wiper blades for the CR-V, spark plugs for my old mower & tiller and filter packs for my fish tanks which I was planning on getting at Wally World. While I'm there I may as well pick up some black garbage bags to cover the trees that I can't move in under shelter.

Hidden Nest

I thought the Quack Pack girls had slowed down in their laying as I wasn't finding as many eggs as before. Truth is I wasn't looking in the right place. This morning I discovered a nest with a dozen eggs in it. I'm gonna let the girls hatch out this clutch and see what the babies look like. Some eggs are obviously from Runner hens and some are from Rouen hens. All my male ducks are Rouen so I'm curious to see what the mixed breed ducklings will look like.

I've been considering purchasing a few more hen chicks probably Blue Cayuga from the co-op. I'll be giving that more thought as the time comes for the eggs  here to hatch.

My Baby Brother

Before my parents divorced they had my older brother and myself. My dad remarried and fathered my sister, Libby and brother, Barry. Now Barry and I look as related as a  white tailed deer and a moose. I'm 5' 9" and about 140 pounds, formerly black now gray longish hair and full 12" beard. Barry is over 6' near if not over 300 pounds, blonde buzz cut with a natty little stash & goatee.

A few years back at the trailer hood I got a knock at the door. It was Barry who was working as a repo man. It seems some fool who hadn't kept up payments on his car had given him a face full of pepper spray. Hey! You don't make payments you can't keep your car. Now this jackass had made several mistakes. A#1 He didn't make payment. B#2 The repo man came, he knows where you live. Then he sprayed a large repo man with pepper spray.
I asked Barry what his game plan was. He replied, "I'm going back and getting his damn car. But first I'm whupping his ass!"

What's the lesson here kids? If you don't make payments you will not keep the stuff. If you piss off the repo man you may not keep your teeth!

Taco Jones & Fruit Trees

Monday night at work I got a craving for tacos so I bought (almost) everything I needed to make a batch. Alas once I was ready to start cooking I realized I forgot the shells. Almost directly across the road from the grocery is another little store. At one time it was a nice little mini department store but now is about a half step below a dollar store. Every once in a while I'll drop by and find some good stuff and I'd heard they had some fruit trees so as long as I was passing by I swung in to have a peek.
God was smiling on me again as I found well established Anna apple and Anjou pear trees with trunks well over an inch diameter on clearance for $10.00 each. Long story short I got one apple and one pear. They're now planted in the duck yard and the branches I trimmed off are in water to see can I get them started. I'd heard our local horticulturist on the radio tell you're supposed to trim new trees rather aggressively when you set them out. I think he said this forces them to work on roots instead of leaves. Anyway I have the trimmings in water to hopefully get them to root and make more fruit trees.
Should more survive than I need I can always take them to my dad's land aka deer camp. I don't hunt deer myself. It's not some Bambi lover thing. Hey! I love venison. It's that deer season is is in the Winter and I can't take the cold. More good deer feed equals more deer so maybe one of my brothers will remember me when they take down a buck fattened on the apples & pears from the trees I took there!

New Mower

After much rain my lawn needed a mowing quite severely. However my mower wasn't ready to cooperate. It would start but only run for a few seconds before crapping out. Rather than spend much time pulling the line and cussing I decided the best option was set it aside a buy a new mower. While at Home Depot I couldn't resist the siren's song of the seed department so fetched home a few packets of seed. Most of the seed are herbs but I also got a few greens and cabbage.

Spring Forward

Well, Daylight Savings Time started today. I was at work so I didn't have to worry about resetting my clocks until I got home.
I'll lose an hour of sleep this afternoon/evening but maybe it'll still be twilight when I wake to let the kids out to pee and poop. It will most certainly still be pitch black darkness on my trip home in the morning but God does bless me in so many ways.
I'll be off this week Tuesday and Wednesday nights and those 2 days are forecast no rain!

Mollies

Way back when I was a young un almost every pet store carried Green Sailfin Mollies. The only "exotic" Molly was a black molly. Now we see orange, white, marble, lyretail... everything except the good old green sailfin.
Well, I found a place in Texas that sells good old school greens. After considering for quite some time I finally decided to get me some green sails. Some are "domestic" meaning that they've been cross bred to achieve a certain look and some are 2 different strains of wild mollies. I ordered 15 total, 3 boys and a dozen girls, young adults all.
 I've a 55 gallon regular rectangle tank w/ 1 goldfish, a red tail shark and a plecostemus already living in it and a 35 gallon diamond tall tank ready to house my new babes.
I'm chomping at the bit to receive them, set em up, see the girls become great w/ child and deliver.

Cutting & Seeding Success & Failure

I've no clue as to what's happening to my green thumb with avocado seeds. I used to be able to get them to grow into trees in no time flat. Now it seems I can't get one started for anything. Iv'e tried in potting soil, in water like I always did, without and with fertilizer... Hell, I may as well be trying to get a rock to sprout.

On the brighter side, the plum tree cuttings I got are not only putting out leaves but flowers. A decent percentage of the apple tree cuttings I took are leafing out so I trimmed a few off of my pear, nectarine and olive tree to try to start.
I spat a few Meyer lemon seeds into a cup of dirt and the seedlings thereof are about 2.5" tall now. Last year's cucumber crop was rather disappointing but I saved the last fruit of the season for seed and have a few seedlings popping up in their starter dish.
The kiwi and pomegranate plants were looking as though they were totally decimated by the cold but I'm seeing a few new green leaves there.

Well, like the old saying goes; Win some, lose some. It seems like for some odd reason the old things I used to be so good at are are not happening so well anymore but the new things I'm trying are doing well enough to make up for their (our?) failure.

Veteran Tags

Well I saw it was time to get new license plates for my car and pickup. I spent 5 years active duty U.S. Air Force, 4 U.S. Navy Reserves and 3 U.S. Army National Guard so I decided to get Veteran tags. They cost an extra $31.00 each. I agree with my friend, Gail who said "as a veteran they should cost $31.00 less!"

Finding My Hair

I'll readily admit I have thinning hair on the top of my noggin. Perhaps if I let my beard grow another year or so I can use it to do a "comb over". Actually I see the thinning hair and graying beard as signs of longevity. Almost as badges of honor as I've worked hard to get my look. At any rate I just found a lot of the hair many men consider lost.

I noticed it took longer for the tub to drain than it did for me to take a shower. Well yesterday I pulled the strainer out of the tub and Good Lord! There was enough hair in there to weave a Navajo blanket. I didn't inspect the wads as I was tossing  them into the toilet as it looked like something a mutant gigantic cat would cough up. My hair is relatively longish and my beard is now over a foot long and there's plenty of assorted body fur spread around so I really shouldn't have been taken aback by it taking a year or so to clog a drain.

Four Nights Off Work

Well, hey! I checked my work schedule and I have managed to get the next 4 nights in a row off! The weather is rather "iffy" regarding rain and temp but chances are pretty decent for blue bird sun shiny days and not too cool nights. No matter the weather I have plenty to keep me busy. If it's sunny & warm I can do outdoor projects, if wet & cold I can work indoors. Right now the sun is shining, the temp is climbing calling me to light the fire in my smoker and throw some meat on the low heat.

The paperwork from the company I signed on with to form my LLC arrived the other day. I'll read all that later today and see what else needs be done to get a company bank account and such as that. I'm really looking forward to getting some more plants in the ground, my greenhouse & more raised bed gardens built and other projects to raise more food here instead of buying it. Additionally I'm looking at getting to the point where I can actually sell a bit and bring in a few dollars.

At any rate it's all gonna be a lot of work but work I enjoy doing so the money possibly coming in ain't important.

Gotta Change To See Change

You ever get the feeling something is meant as a sign for you? Well, Sunday morning I got that feeling.
I have been thinking for a while I want to do something different in and with my life other than working  8 hours x 5 nights = 40 hours a week at a job I really don't enjoy.

I came home, fed the critters and sat down to watch a little TV. A preacher lady was saying pretty much "Only an idiot does the same thing over and over and expects a different result". I pondered that a moment when her show was over then switched to a different channel. There was another guy not 10 minutes later saying the same thing only in slightly different words. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not.

Lunch @ Mom's & "New Plates"

Mom called today & invited me down for lunch which I immediately accepted. We had chicken carbonara, green beans and rolls, all good stuff. My brother was there and after lunch while Mom & I walked around her back yard looking at plants & playing w/ her dog, Gracie he laid on the couch & watched TV.

I pray my brother who is older than me gets his crap together. He sold his trailer and moved out of that hood about the same time as I bought my house and moved. The only difference is I bought close to Mom a house ready to live in. He bought an uninhabitable dump closer to our Dad's house. Now at age 58 soon to be 59 he more less divides his time living w/ our parents. I'm sorry kids, but I know my brother all too well to offer to let him stay here w/ me.

Anyway, Mom is planning to have all the window box seats pulled out of her sun room to make a bit more space back there. I've already told her I want all the wood from that removal project. Meanwhile today we pretty much cleared all the unwanted by her stuff out of one of the boxes. As my kitchen & dining room have tile floors I only drop  glass & stoneware once. I've always loved the old time metal plates & cups with the blue w/ white fleck porcelain or ceramic coating. Eight plates and four cups came home with me today.

Beautiful Oak Wood

I love it when things go better than planned. Yesterday morning I went to fetch a load of oak scrap wood to chuck into the swamp as filler. As I was loading the owner of the home arrived and invited me into the back yard to peruse some better wood. I was completely blown away by the beauty of some of these logs! Most are 18 - 24" in length and some are up to about 30" in diameter. There are some wedges and smaller logs I also can use for craft projects. I was like a kid in a candy store when I noticed the weight of the wood was compressing the rear tires in my truck.

I'll have to make room in my storage building to keep the wood out of the weather but that will be time well spent. And should more good wood make its way to the curb or should I see Tony again I'll load up another truck bed full. If nothing else I can always use the lower grade stuff in the swamp.