Eating Eggs At My Age

I'd mentioned to my friend, Gail that I add chopped boiled eggs (shell & all) to the ducks & geese diet. Every so often I'll chop one for my lizards (a pair of juvenile green iguanas & a pair of adult bearded dragons) or add one to my dogs' food or eat one myself (boiled, fried or scrambled) every once in a while. Those shells I boil again, then bake in a low heat oven (about 250 F) and grind up to add to the birds' & lizards' diets as extra calcium. For the birds I just crush into small pieces about like coarse salt, the lizards' almost to a dust.

Seems she did some online research and found that for people our age (mid 50's) the best part of an egg for us is the shell! The yolk has too much bad cholesterol, the albumen (white) is okay but the calcium in the shell is really what we need for our bones & teeth.

They should be prepared as above for the lizards... boiled, baked and ground into a powder. Yes, I can buy calcium tabs at any store but why throw away what I already have and buy some that comes in a tablet form?

By the way, Vlad & Bella my canine children will be 8 human years in August this year so extra calcium won't hurt them either. 8 x 7 = 56 so they're the same age as I am!

Dragon Egg Update & Topsoil Review

It seems I never find anything where I look for it or in the shape I want.

I needed plastic shoe boxes to incubate my dragon eggs. I got the boxes at the grocery where I work because the store brand I get 10% off. I thought the "big brand Mega Mart" would have vermiculite but no and the girl at Self Checkout looked like she couldn't outsmart a bag of dirt. Also, Mega Mart didn't have dried meal worms I needed as did the grocery store.
I went to the home improvement store and only found vermiculite in the jumbo size sack for $20.00! I had to have it so the jumbo sack it was to be. Rather than make a 2nd stop on the way home after a horrific night at work I just grabbed a sack of name brand topsoil. Bad idea! The name brand has so much more wood, bark, and rough crap than the "generic" soil from Mega Mart!

I don't endorse any products as I'm not paid by any of them to do so. In this day and age if I bad mouth any product or company I may get sued so here's my advise when buying any top, potting, garden soil etc.
Buy one of the smallest size of each brand and see which suits your needs best. Some have more rough stuff, sand, compost, etc than others.

That said, I transferred the dragon eggs (a total of 27) into the vermiculite/topsoil filled shoe boxes. Some eggs don't look really great so I put them into a separate container. I'll keep them apart from the best eggs but give all an equal opportunity to hatch.

Should any hatch I already have reservations made for 5 babies.

Busy With Dragon Eggs & More

I've never hatched bearded dragons before and suddenly see it could get quite busy here as my little lady could possibly spew out another clutch before this group even hatches.

First I need to get some plastic "shoe boxes" & vermiculite from Wally World and daintily transfer the eggs into those, tossing any yellowed ones.
Second I must increase Mama Dragon's calcium and bug intake as these are what she needs to make eggs or she'll lose bone calcium and possibly get egg bound and die... The calcium will be no problem as I have plenty of duck egg shells. Bugs may be another story but WW should be selling crickets soon. I need to go there tomorrow anyway so I'll see what they've got. That said, my meal worms are more in the beetle phase and not many worms.

I also need to go fetch my sister's unused 55 gallon aquarium to use as a brooder.

That said, I just got a message from my son in law, Chris who wants to come look at my deck & car parking area I need roofed... It never rains unless it pours!

I can do WW tomorrow, maybe get Chris over Tuesday or Wednesday, put the 2nd 55 gallon tank off for a while....

Peanut Patch, Mason Jars & Sun Tea

 Not long ago after completing a 6' x 6' x 1' raised bed garden I pondered what to plant there. Long story short, I decided on peanuts. Rather than buy "seed "peanuts at the feed & seed store I opted for a 1 pound sack on raw in the shell nuts from the grocery. I've had a pretty good success rate using dried beans & peas so I figured "Why not?" Well why not indeed? A little over 60% of the area planted now is sporting wee peanut plants. I shelled another handful of nuts and shoved them into the dirt this morning and gave them a good drink of water.
Even if I don't get any peanuts this year from the nut patch at least the legumes will add nitrogen to the soil there and the plants will add compost when they die down come Winter.

My grocery store has Mason jars 50% off. I'm not sure how long the sale will be for but a fetched up a dozen each quart & pint jars this morning. Tomorrow when I make my groceries I'll most likely get more as I really hope to put up some pickles and salsa if not this year then next and half price is hard to beat. They were out of 12 ounce and 1/2 pint jars so I may get a rain check on those. When the jars come in if I decide I don't want them I'm under no contract to buy!

Anyway my maters are coming along quite nicely. I've already tossed a few Roma and cherry tomatoes into my grocery hole. Lord! It's hard to beat a home grown tomato. Guy Clarke sums it up nicely in his song "Home Grown Tomatoes". I've had a couple jalapenos from my bucket gardens as well... Whoo! Them babies don't play nice at all going in nor coming out! My jalapenos think they're habaneros!

Well, if I don't manage to put up any tomatoes, pickles nor salsa this year I can always use the Mason jars for iced tea, lemonade or even cold beer.

My recipe for a gallon of Sun tea:
7 bags of black tea
5 bags of green tea
almost a gallon of water
Let the tea & water sit in full Sun all day then squeeze as much as possible out of the bags and toss them into the compost bin.
While the tea is still good & warm squeeze in a 7 second count of honey... not 6, not 8 but exactly 7 then shake it up.
Add the juice of 1 lemon. A Meyer is best and a little sweeter but any fresh lemon (not the plastic squirt thing nor the bottle). If you can't find a Meyer lemon, a regular lemon plus just a kiss of tangerine juice will come close. (Again, a fresh fruit) I don't know if they sell tangerine juice in bottles but if they do, don't use it!
Shake or stir to mix and chill it all down.
Add ice & a slice and you're good to go. I have gotten all fancy and muddled a couple of fresh mint leaves with my ice just to add variety but that's up to you.
Enjoy and stay cool!

Setting Up Incubator

A while back I was at my Dad's & second Mom's and saw a 55 gallon aquarium that I thought I'd need at some time but put it on the back burner so to speak. Now that my female bearded dragon has laid some 2 dozen eggs I'll need it as a brooder pen. I face booked my sister asking who owned and could I buy it. It's hers and I can have it for free!
I plan on setting up my adult dragons in the new tank while setting up the existing one w/ a heating pad to keep the eggs warm for the next 62 days.
I've already promised Libby, my sister pick of the litter should any eggs hatch. After that, any other family wanting one can have the babes for free. Pet stores sell hatchlings for $50 and up. I'll let mine go for $40, along with a sack of food, farm fresh! Ground duck egg shells for added calcium, home grown meal worms and freshly digged up earthworms, assorted (imperfect) greens, fruits & veggies from the produce department at the grocery where I work... All these make my dragons and iguanas, ducks & geese happy & fat.

Dragon Eggs

I just came back from the feed & seed store after buying 100 pounds each of hen scratch, layer pellets and corn chops for the Quack Pack. I also fetched in 100 pounds of rabbit feed. Some was to be duck & goose feed while the other sack was to become new substrate for my bearded dragons.
Lo & behold! When I went to change the dragons' substrate from sand to rabbit pellets, Mama Dragon was busy lying eggs!
Last count was near 24.

I tried to disturb her as little as possible as I added another sack of sand for her to bury the possibly new additions.

I've checked online and found average incubation is about 62 days. Meanwhile as I know baby dragons can be cannibalistic I'll dig out as many 10 gallon tanks as I can find and have them ready for the babes!

More Death & Life On The Suburban Farm

I came home from working 3rd shift this morning as I do 5 mornings each week. Today only one of my Rouen hens greeted me along with her little Runner sister. She'd been limping for a while but I thought she's recover. Seems whatever caused her to limp went systemic and I buried her today. I did so in the duck yard so Bella, my dachshund wouldn't have a chance to dig her up, roll on her and violate her. Bella can be a rotten little girl that way, rolling in dead things.

So now I'm down to 1 male & 2 female African brown geese, 3 male & 1 female Rouen ducks and 1 Runner hen. Alisa, my daughter is willing to take in 2 of my drakes but I'm still looking for some more duck hens as I do enjoy my fresh eggs and would love to try pickling some.

The life part of this post is after I buried my duck I came in to feed my Sail Fin Molly fish. I'd noticed a few days ago one of the girls was heavy with babes. Well, last night or this morning while I was at work she spewed out a fresh cluster of young uns. Nothing I can eat but still I do enjoy sitting on the sofa and watching the fishes. I may at a later date put some in a 35 gallon diamond side tank I have and bring in some Black Lyre Tails and see what the cross breeding would produce.
I'll keep you posted.

A Small World

Some 15 years ago I met my best friend, Gail when we started working together at Wally World. Same hire date, same orientation classes, we were assigned the same work hours and nights off. After a while we started taking our breaks and lunches together and got to know each other.
Turns out she's 5 days older than I am, we went to the same high school but had no classes together and she lived about a half mile from me  and now I live one street down from where she did during those years.
We had lots of fun working together (as much as one can at work) until I changed jobs. In fact people started saying we were married to which replied "No, we got along much too well for that". One young fella asked if we were and when I said no he asked if we were siblings. One old blue haired woman argued another coworker down when he said we weren't married.

But here's where the story gets really bizarre. Kilmichael, Mississippi is a town of only several hundred souls. That's where my Dad's folks lived for years until the Grim Reaper came for them.  It seems her grandfather lived there (and I would assume, her grandmother) and is buried in the town cemetery since 1924, having passed away at age 88 years.

I don't know when my family arrived in the area but it shows me that maybe the world ain't such a big place after all.

Happy Fathers' Day & Random Thoughts About Family

Well, yesterday was Fathers' Day, my first since the passing of my own dear old Dad in April this year. It has long been a bittersweet day for me. A#1 I was never really close to Dad and B#2 I never fathered any offspring of my own.

I took time to remember the best of times with my Dad and reflect on my Grandfathers, Paw Stuart & Pawpaw.

Many say I have my uncle Tom's temperament (and temper) which is just like my late Pawpaw's. He was my Mom's dad. Slow to anger but once the fuse is lit, the cannon will go off. The fire burns hot and bright but only for a few minutes before it burns out. Give us 5 minutes and we're as cool as cucumbers once again.

Even with my foot long + beard some still say I look like my Mom. Some are (finally) saying they can see my Dad in me. My sister posted a picture of Paw Stuart & Maw Clara (Dad's parents) and some of my cousins are saying they see Paw's face in mine.

Many years ago my Grandmaw (my Mom's Mom) was digging thru some old photos and found one of her parents, Grandpa Shorty & Grandmaw Betty. She looked at a second before asking me, "When did you have this picture made? Oh, wait! That's Momma and Daddy!" so I must have no little bit of him in me as well.... By the way, they are/were all fine visions of menfolk! Pa Shorty was called so for obvious reasons. Family story goes Ma Betty was a tall lady and the photo proves she was a beauty but for the picture Pa had to stand on a box so he'd look a little closer to her height.

My Son Outlaw, Chris

My foster daughter, Alisa is closer to me than she is her biological mother. I introduce her as my daughter and she calls me "Dad". Her husband, Chris I refer to as my "son outlaw".
Chris & I are trying to hook up so he can do some projects I can't manage all by myself. Last week I talked to Alisa and she wants my excess Rouen drakes as soon as they can build a pen (complete with a little pond they're digging for them). She's already bought some Muscovy ducklings... maybe she's got all hens and can spare some!

But back to Chris. He had blurred vision at work not too long ago and the doctor found a carbuncle (I forget what Alisa called it) on one of his optic nerves. Had he not gotten medical attention when he did the boy could and probably would have gone 100% blind in both eyes.

Anyway, Alisa said he could roof my 12' x 16' deck for way less than the $2000 estimate I got from the fellas that made my storage building. My home has no covered parking so my ass gets wet to and from the car when it rains. Not bad in Summer but horrible in Winter so I'll get Chris to price me a carport. Also I want a pole barn about the same size as my shed (12' x 14') on the North side of the shed. I've most of the materials for a 9' x 9' greenhouse except the roof so another project he can help me with.

Chris is no bigger than I am, as my late Dad said "No bigger than a popcorn fart in a whirlwind". I'm hoping with my family discount and me throwing a few burgers down his throat I should come away with all my projects done at a pretty (for me) price!

No Rain, Plenty Of Pain... Gardens

I heard the little lady on the TV weather say we haven't had any significant rain since May 1 of this year. Sunday & Monday nights on the way to work I ran into rain or evidence thereof  about 3 or 4 miles east of home but nary a drop fell here. Monday & Tuesday we had an 80% chance but again, none fell in my gardens.

I'm down in my back again but no pain, no gain. I'll let it slow me down but not stop me. First, my lower back refuses to bend until quite some time of slow stretching. Once bent if I ever sit down I end up walking more like an ape than a human for a while. I'm alternating heat/cold therapy and trying to keep stretched out as much as possible.

The best news is I have the last of my (6) 6' x 6' x 1' raised beds framed in, cardboard weed barriers down and all my bags of oak leaves poured. I'll be needing at least another 15 to 20 sacks of soil before I get them seeded.
The raised beds all total add up to some 216 square feet of raised bed gardens. What was originally a flower bed with some useless shrubbery in the front yard adds about another 8' x 10' = 80 square feet and I've a half barrel, washtub & 8 or 10 pots so I reckon my grand total is some 300 square feet of garden which should be plenty and some for me & mine and share some with the neighbors.

Quack Pack Update

For the past month or so I've had ads placed in online farm, poultry, sale groups trying to place 2 of my 3 Rouen drakes in a good home and locate another 3 hens or so. No luck in finding any hens so far less than a full day's windshield time.
The other day I got a text from someone looking for ducklings. We texted back & forth a few times before I asked could I call and got a positive response. After a second I thought I recognized the voice. Another minute I asked and it was none other than my "daughter". I've no biological offspring to call my own but I helped raise this child (now 32 years old with 5 young uns of her own) for some 10 years. I was more of a Dad to her than her bio father ever was and Alisa still calls me "Dad".
Like any Dad I do think my daughter is a special and beautiful young lady whom I'm very proud of and love very much.
She'll be a good Mom to the lads as she's as much an animal lover as I am. Now all we have to do is find me 3 hens and another dozen or so for her and her randy new boys!

Gardens Update

Yesterday I finished building and filling another (more or less) 6' x 6' x 1' raised bed garden. By the looks of things by the time I get it seeded and the seeds covered I'll be down to a mere one bag of dirt which I'll most likely use for potted plants.

I had planned on building a couple of rather larger gardens about 8 or 10' x 12' but with Summer swiftly coming on I think I'll just frame up a couple 6' x 6' pretty much in the center of where the big ones were to be. First, I don't want to move that many bags of dirt in the Mississippi Summer heat and second, I can always enlarge a raised bed easily enough should I later decide to.

Meanwhile I should be picking the first home grown maters of the season within days. Chili peppers are putting forth baby fruits as are the peas & beans. I just used a few from a sack of dried black eye peas and pinto beans as seed but actually bought a packet of green pea seed for a dime. Corn is about a foot tall and in two separate beds gourds and squash are doing fair. In pots cucumbers and squash are climbing up and flowering. In the front garden sunflowers are already budding baby heads.

I've been reading a bit about starting berries from seed and have fetched from the grocery's produce department rubbish strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and blueberries to try to germinate the seeds thereof. If any grow I get free plants. If none grow I get a bit of free compost.
For me there is always more satisfaction the farther back I go to grow anything. A tomato that I grew from a plant I started from a seed from a tomato I grew will be a source of "pioneer pride" for me a few years down the road.

21 Gun Salute

If you read  my post from earlier today you know I couldn't attend his balloon release so I did the next best thing. I remembered I possess a bunch of fireworks and gave him a 21 gun salute with bottle rockets.
I know I'm within city limits and ain't supposed to be setting off fireworks but I look at it this way... I'm a veteran and have earned the right to be a little off into left field. My Dad was a veteran so I was prepared to tell Officer Friendly "Take me to see the chief of police and you tell him you arrested a veteran for honoring another veteran, his father on his birthday!"

The Greatest

The Greatest is dead and I ain't feeling too damn good myself.

Mohammed Ali passed away today so it's a sad day for many who never even watched a boxing match. Some wrestler years ago had the catch phrase "hated by thousands, loved by millions". That was never more true than for the late great Ali. More than just a boxer he was the ultimate entertainer. Loud, brash, controversial never applied more to any man, woman, child or beast than to him. I'll show my age and tell you I remember watching the then Cassius Clay on a black & white TV as he danced around the ring dazzling spectators and opponents.

Later his legendary feud with Smokin' Joe Frazier transcended generation & gender as their daughters battled and brought women's boxing to its highest popularity ever.

Many sports figures become heroes while only a rare few become legends especially in their own time. After a while most are forgotten as soon as they step out of the spotlight. Mohammed Ali was the spotlight.

You'll always be "The Greatest". Rest In Peace, Champ.

Dad's Birthday

My Dad passed away April 17, 2016. Today he would have turned 77 years old. The family is planning to gather at his grave and have a balloon release and go out to eat later. The only problem re: my attending is the timing... 5 PM on a Saturday.
My regular job is from 10 PM to 7 AM usually Thursday through Monday nights so 5 PM Saturday to me is as 3 AM Wednesday for real people with day jobs. I usually roll into bed around 2 PM and out of bed between 8:00 & 8:30. Using 5 PM as the starting time I began counting backwards... probably need to be there by 4:30 so leave the house by 4. Add time to let the dogs out, wash my face etc means out of bed no later than 3:30.
After the balloon thing probably ass around for another 30 before going to eat = 5:30 plus an hour or more to eat and sit around telling tales means headed back home no earlier than 6:30 and back home at around 7. After letting the dogs out again and unwinding means I'd get to bed around 7:30 leaving me a half hour before the alarm sounds.
Just no way in Hell I could handle the ass clowns at work on thirty minutes' sleep. I'm sure Dad would understand.

Rest well, Dad.
Love always, Your #2 son

Money For (Almost) Nothing

Ms. Virginia came over this afternoon and paid me cash money for the little job I performed for her yesterday. She offered to pay 4 times and I declined but 3.
I am admittedly feeling a bit sore in my lower back from chucking sacks of moist dirt but I've been "stove up" much worse many times.

As I sit and write this my canine kids are laid out asleep on the floor as if they did a hard day's work. Something they've never done!

I'll be off work again tonight so I can enjoy dark sleep and be all bright tailed and bushy eyed for Thursday night.

My Day Spa

After a rough week at my regular job I was feeling rather beat down. I had however promised my neighbor that I'd come over and dump quite a few sacks of topsoil into her flower beds. She said she'd pay me (way more than the job was worth) but I politely declined as getting my hands and bare feet in good dirt is like therapy for me. Stressed out city slickers would most likely do well spending more hours just having a few tomato plants on the balconies of their condos and less time on their shrink's couch!

Anyway the job lasted about 2 hours and I caught a wee gecko that scared Ms. Virginia so I brought him across the road to my yard. I tossed my now dirt encrusted britches into the washing machine and got ready to jump into the shower when I had a grand idea. A day spa treatment for old Merlin!
 I usually keep plain Epsom salt on hand for a good foot soak every once and a while but got an extra specially low price on some lavender scent a few weeks ago. I usually buy whatever flavor shampoo & conditioner is on sale and 1/2 price candles are always coming home with me.
I brushed all the dirt & debris from my foot long beard and gave it a good comb through with coconut oil. I usually oil my beard every week or two but this was a special and first time self pampering coming on instead of merely getting into the shower to wash my butt... After dumping a goodly amount of lavender Epsom into a tub of warm water I lit a few scented candles, turned off all the lights and got in. A 10 minute or so soak later I lathered up head to toe with coconut flavored shampoo and settled in for another soak. About a half hour total time later I was ready to emerge feeling refreshed. I fetched a towel fresh from the clothesline. A lot of folks say line dried is too rough feeling after being spoiled by tumble dried with fabric softener but I prefer the less processed feel and never use softener even when I use the machine.

While I didn't go whole hog with the green goo facial, getting my nails done and my hooves trimmed I can now see how you women folk could enjoy all the extras. For an old redneck straight man like me just the semi darkness, warm salt water soak and more or less lack of what I call "boy dog smell" was good enough. While I don't see facials nor such in my future another trip to my own "day spa" is for sure coming on.

Even if we live to be 100 that's too short a time to always hurry, worry and work. Take some time to enjoy life and be good to yourself.