So Hornets apparently have hit lists. And I'm on it.

Well, I just finished leaping around the house, running from another stupid HORNET!  ~sigh~  And as I type this, I can STILL hear them hitting the door trying to get in.

Two days ago Gregg was pulling weeds and ended up disturbing a ground nest of yellow jackets and got stung. The day before that, I got nailed by hornets.  We were able to find the ground hole for the yellow jackets and after dark, Gregg filled it with Die Bug Die.  Hopefully that is the end of the Yellow Jackets!

He also sprayed the Lilac (again) where we'd seen several hornets this evening. Probably the ones that got me the other day. :( The buzzards.

Unfortunately, spraying them (again) did nothing other than tick them off.    About 30 minutes ago I opened the deck door (well after dark) and one immediately zoomed in. I think they were waiting for me.  I slammed the door shut just as another one hit the glass.  But ONE got in.  I took off, and told Rebekah to get in her room.  She shrieked, ran down the hallway, and slammed the door.  (That child doesn't need to be told twice!) Meanwhile, I ran and got Gregg. The hornet's flying around, we're running and dodging. Finally we turned off all but one light in the house. It flew there and immediately began trying to sting the light shade! Gregg knocked it down and stomped it. Three times.  Ohhhh how I despise these nasty critters.  

And now I just read Hornets have some sort of attack pheromone.  Apparently when a hornet is killed it releases pheromones. These pheromones can get on your clothes or skin and can be detected by other hornets, causing them to attack. Apparently, they’re not happy you killed their cousin.  Well isn’t that just great?  And what about the dead body of Harry house hornet, currently lying in state in my kitchen trash can? I'm sure he filled half my kitchen with his pheromones. Oy.  (I wonder if hornets can pick locks?)

In any event, tomorrow, after I have burned my clothes and scrubbed my skin off,  I'll take the LONG way around to turn out the critters.  No way I'm passing the Lilac House O' Hornets again until winter. 

Hawaiian Chicken? Okie dokie then!

My son and soon to be daughter-in-law had their wedding shower today. My contribution was to make Hawaiian Chicken - which I've never made in my life. Oh good.  

I looked at several different recipes and zeroed in on this one.  Here is the link to the actual recipe:  
https://www.spendwithpennies.com/hawaiian-chicken/

In order to have enough, I quintupled this recipe - which turned out to be more of a challenge than I anticipated.  For one, cutting up ten pounds of chicken breast into small chunks was no small task.  

Then came the yellow, red, and orange peppers. ~sigh~  I went to the store and actually bought only six of these, thinking it would be enough. I don't know.  I have no idea what I could have been thinking.  So, yeah. Nope!  Diced, they only added up to four cups.  I needed TEN. And the grocery store is 25 minutes away. Argh. So! Light bulb moment - I considered supplementing them with green peppers from my garden. My Voice O' Reason, aka Gregg, pointed out since OTHER people were going to be eating this, me monkeying with the recipe (again) was not such a great idea. So.  Back to the store I went and bought 9 more peppers. 🙄

As for the pineapple, the quintupled recipe called for five fresh pineapples, diced. I know less than nothing about fresh pineapples.  So.  I did what I usually do - and altered the recipe (don't tell Gregg).  I bought ten cans of pineapple chunks in pineapple juice (no sugar), figuring two cans would equal about one pineapple.  I had nothing to base this on.  LOL!  I opened the cans, drained the juice, and that was that.  It actually turned out fine.  Woot!  

Next came the sauce. It included soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar (had to go to two stores to find), ground ginger, barbecue sauce, pineapple juice (saved from the cans), and minced garlic. For the minced garlic I used this garlic paste that came in a tube. I have no idea if minced and paste measure the same, so, once again.  I guessed. (Is Gregg reading this?)  I did have a fleeting thought of "Those poor people..." Meaning the ones that would be eating this, as by now the changes to the recipe were beginning to add up.  Anyway, I was supposed to use five tablespoons of minced garlic. I ended up using four tablespoons of garlic paste.  I don't know.  It seemed to work.  

After running back and forth to the store, chopping up mounds of peppers, and mixing the hopefully will work sauce,  it was now taking a long time to cook all this chicken! Chicken, by the way, that was supposed to have some sort of golden brown crust to it.  Nnnope!  But I digress.  In any event, I was beginning to panic. Shocker.   3 p.m. was looming, and I had to leave by 4. The chicken had no golden crust and - oh well.

I still had to put all the baby poultry in their pens (oh, did I mention THAT?), finish cooking everything, get dressed, and fix my hair.  I took a break and got the babies in, then got back to cooking.  

At this point, the no golden crust chicken was cooked but the recipe was still un-assembled, as I couldn't figure out what I was going to use to combine it all in.  I was surrounded by big bowls filled with large amounts and thought - how?  I finally decided to use my giant stock pot (the one I burn everything on the bottom of) to combine it all.  I simmered it as long as I could (it didn't burn! Yay!) then pulled out my crock pot and transferred all that would fit into it. I put the rest in a lidded two quart glass container.  Done!

Gregg and Rebekah thankfully packed everything up for me while I got cleaned up, changed, and fixed my hair.  We all made it with time to spare to the shower, and I have to say the Hawaiian Chicken was truly a hit.  Someone else brought a huge thing of coconut rice which was delicious with it.  I'll have to get their recipe!

The shower went well and was oh so very sweet.  We got home long after dark at which point I went hunting for my turkeys - which I found relatively quickly.  Shew!  Likewise my layers had put themselves to bed, though their door was of course still open.  Thankfully the multitude of chicken (and turkey) loving varmints that reside here had not beaten me to it. 

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The Infamous Baby Goat video

I posted a video of baby goats yesterday on YouTube and they held it for review lest it was offensive???

Yeah.  My baby goat videos sure can be worrisome! ;)

Anyway, they actually did approve it this morning.  Here it is in all it's glory.

Turkey Poults and Hornet Dodging

I finally decided to go ahead and sell my 5 remaining turkey poults, so went out this morning to take a video and pictures for sale.  

Instead I ended up wind sprinting once again from the hornets that have chased me all stinking summer. This time they caught up. Let me tell you, I was picking them up and putting them down, but the old fat lady can only go so fast.  🤣 Thankfully Rebekah heard me when I said, "Run!" and took off.  (Proving once again you don't have to be fast, just faster than the last.  LOL!)  

Anyway, it's been hours and my hand and arm are still throbbing. Stinking hornets.  Bleh.  They are in my lilac bush and we have thus far been unable to get rid of them.  I had accidentally brushed up against the leaves and at least ten of them zoomed out after me.  The buzzards. We can not find their actual nest.  

I did finally get some video of the poults. Too bad no video of me (unsuccessfully) dodging hornets! Anyway, the poults are for sale if you are in my area.  $15 each. I have five available.

Here's the video:  

And the 'let's give Rebekah my old phone' adventure continues!

Whelp.  Even though I can't seem to make and follow links to direct people to my own youtube channel, it worked JUST FINE for Rebekah, who with her phone got on and started making improvements!!! Oh. My. Goodness. Seven years of work nearly down the drain. YIKES! Was able to change things back and thankfully she didn't delete anything. At least noting too important. YIKES!

After a couple of hours, I was able to mostly change things back, but her picture continues to show up whenever I respond to a comment.  Oy. Hopefully it will change soon.  If any of you would be so kind to let me know what you are seeing, I would appreciate it.  You can find my channel here:    

https://m.youtube.com/user/Chickens4Lu

You should see a picture of an egg basket on my home page, and a picture of a chicken with a daisy flower hat wherever I have left a response to a comment. Thank you!

Honestly, next time I need to do something on my computer, I'm just going to ask Rebekah for help.

Tomato Feasts, Flying Chicks, and Don't Mess With Mama! Helen and her chicks are now 8 weeks old!

On 21 August 2019, Helen's chicks turned 8 weeks old.  The next video will be a Compilation/Watch me grow video of Helen and her chicks from hatch to present.  It will take me a while, but I'll get it done.  In the mean time, this is Hen and her brood at 8 weeks.  She is still MAMA. LOL! 

You Who, YouTube

One of my friends mentioned on Facebook that I have nearly 7,000 subscribers on YouTube. Yup. I do. So I thought I’d post this for my other friends so they might know what in the world with the videos - and perhaps you could throw in a like or share now and then. 😉

7,000 subscribers is  n-o-t-h-i-n-g  by YouTube standards. Nothing. A drop in the bucket. My goal is 10,000 subscribers by the end of NEXT year. And that is highly unlikely, but I’m trying. Subscribers are hard won, and it goes up and down. And then I have the folks that literally steal my videos and put their own names on them. I just reported nearly 40 to YouTube and had them removed. People who copy my entire video or parts of them and post them under their own name. Argh.

Anyway, Gregg encourages me to keep trying – after the initial eye roll when I started. 😁 I plug along and do my best. I don’t make much money from them, but the more subscribers, the more pennies. And literally – it is pennies. A good month will bring me $50. Usually it is around $30. So. Two bags of feed. Half of a riding lesson for Rebekah. Gas money. That’s why I’m always begging to like, share, subscribe and RING the bell! Sharing nearly always brings me new subscribers. Liking and commenting puts my videos higher in likelihood of them popping up for people to watch. So. If you guys watch the videos, please, please, please hit LIKE. Leave a comment – even if it’s a smiley face or anything. Everything. EVERYTHING helps. I've a lot of videos out there. Mostly animals. All are family friendly of course. And, no, not all chickens! Go here and, well, LIKE! COMMENT! SHARE! and SUBSCRIBE! (and ring that BELL!  LOL!)  Thank you so much!😊 ❤️

The Guinea Saga Begins

Today was the first turn out day for Rebekah's beloved Guinea Keets.  They are two months old and need to begin free ranging.  The problem being, I was unable to get them under a hen to be raised.  This means they have not been taught, well, ANYTHING.  It is sooo much better to have a Mama hen raise keets.  This goes for all poultry (and a whole lot o' other things).  Being raised by a mother or foster mother makes all the difference as far as life skills - i.e. Staying Alive.  Hey, that might be a catchy tune someday...  

As for Mama Guineas - they make awesome setters but horrendous mothers.  They will set on a nest faithfully through anything.  Then the first keets hatch.  UP she gets and takes off.  If the keets keep up, great. If not, nice knowing you AS EGGS, children!  So, whenever an adult free range guinea slips away and actually succeeds in hatching a clutch of eggs, the first thing we do is go on a keet hunt. Generally they are everywhere, spread out, waiting for crows and a cornucopia of other varmints to pick them off.  Mama Guinea is done. The opposite is true if you have managed to pen the Mama while she is on the nest.  Then the keets hatch and, since Mama is confined, she will care for them wonderfully.  So that's the lesson in guinea motherhood for today.  

Anyway, these keets were raised in a brooder box and then an outdoor pen by themselves. They have learned nothing except what instinct God gave them, and apparently the shaker was low that day.  So. They only have me and a hope they will learn enough, quick enough to reach adulthood.  Also, Guineas never become truly tame.  They are always at best very flighty. So think SPASTIC.

So today I let them out and they did fairly well, immediately going after bugs, etc. and exploring the yard a bit.  Unfortunately, Helen and Martha with their broods, and (Chick)Ken the spare rooster, did not take kindly to them, chasing them away whenever they dared get too close. Eventually they figured out to stay to themselves.  How wonderful it would have been if Helen had allowed them to integrate into her brood!  But it was far too late for that, and, frankly, Helen has enough children! HA!  I actually did try to get Martha to take them as freshly hatched chicks, but she rejected them pretty quickly.  So.  I'm the Mama.

I checked them often and they were doing well and keeping close until the last check.  They had disappeared.  Smoke. Gone.  Walked my yard and the neighbors yard and all the brambles in-between.  I was just beginning to formulate what I was going to say to Rebekah when I came across them.  Thank you, Lord!  The entire group of them were halfway up one of the evergreen trees.

With Rebekah's help and a fish net handle, we were eventually able to prod them all down, then herded them back into their grow out pen.  I'd say their first day out, all in all, was a success.  Though I could have done with out the brambles.

On of our successful Mama Guineas raising her new clutch of keets. It doesn't happen often.  Btw, they are FIERCELY protective of their babies, once they decide not to abandon them.  The reason this picture is blurred is because I was having trouble avoiding a face full of angry guinea!

Just another guinea picture from a while ago.

One of my favorites. :)

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She should have spelled faster... Black Widow Spider adventures.

So. I was just video taping a black widow spider (I don't know! It looked really COOL) and in my NERVOUSNESS dropped my PHONE on TOP OF IT! Gack! Gack! Gack! So there I stand. Staring at my phone, which is now on top of the spider. Man. I really LIKED that phone...

I think she was spelling out, "Don't drop the PHONE on me!"

Helen and her Chicks at 7 Weeks

Local folks have been asking, and the answer?  Not yet.  We will be offering the girls beginning 23 November as point of lay pullets.  Though this video shown below is at 7 weeks,   

Helen's crew will actually be nine weeks as of this Wednesday. I'm a bit behind in my posting!  I'll be taking their nine week video soon. 

They are still most definitely a family unit.  Yes, a flock, but more than that, as Helen continues to mother them, call them to choice spots, and warn them of danger.  I am waiting for her to let me know it's time for her to go back to the big coop. So far she is still wanting to keep them separate and with her.

The latest on Helen and a quick update on what's to come

The latest Helen video.  Her chicks are now SIX WEEKS OLD!  I am beginning to let customers know they will be ready for sale in November.  But until then, we'll continue following their adventures and watching them grow.

My next video will be a compilation of the critters around here.  Just need to make the time to do it.

Pretty soon we'll be getting our hay in for the winter and looking to get winter pens ready.   I'll also start writing my Christmas letter.  Yup.  I start it in September.  What?  🤣

My Christmas letter has been around for many, many years, beginning when my children were very small.  We would receive Christmas letters from friends talking about their Swiss Alps vacation and how 5 year old Buffy and 6 year old Nigel were already on the fast track to Harvard.  I looked around at our crazy life and decided I needed to send out a 'real' Christmas letter.   And so I did.  I've been writing them ever since.  They caught on and - well.  Here we are.  Perhaps one day I'll compile them into a book.

Another thing right around the corner is my son's wedding and a long, long, loooong overdue vacation!!!  Weeeee!!!!  That reminds me!  I need to hire a house/farm/critter sitter!  That's always a fun and interesting undertaking.  Five pages of notes and multiple walk throughs.  Our farm sitters definitely EARN their pay. :)  

So THIS happened today...

We picked up this bunny a few hours ago. 

Under all that matting is a Double Maned Lionhead. It is a female, approximately three to four months old.

The mats were so bad there was no hope of brushing them out, so we had to resort to scissors. It was like cutting through thick felt. The mats were so close to her skin in at least one place her skin had torn.  It took a while, but we were able to eventually carefully, carefully clip the rest of the mats away from her skin.  Thankfully she seems otherwise healthy.

Only half way done - but at least we found/freed her tail! I'm sure she already felt so much better!

The only parts of her body without thick mats were her legs, face, and belly.  

Some of the mats.  They really were like wadded up felt.  There was no "hair" just thick solid wadded mats.  

  

Rebekah brushing what is left. Likely this is the first time this bunny has ever been brushed. I think she likes it!

Starting to look like a real bunny again.  We thought about shaving the rest of her body, but I believe we will just leave it how it is and let the bald and clipped patches grow back.  I'm sure by next year it will all be evened out.  She is still beautiful.

And here she is with the other half of herself!

We still don't have a name for her.  This happened pretty quickly. Rebekah is in charge of naming her.  We are happy to take suggestions! 

Who Dares Attempt Enter the Fortress of Solitude?

Password Password. WHO remembers my PASSWORD?

My computer is fixed! Again! Perhaps I can go more than 12 minutes without doing something ELSE to it. Plus I'm fairly certain the computer repair folks want me to lose their number.

"What's your password?"

I don't know.

"We have to have your password."

I don't know it! Try this. And this. And this one and this one and this one.

"None of these work."

~sigh~

FIVE DAYS LATER I remembered the password. They fixed it in like ten minutes. I'm not EVEN going to speak about PIN numbers or how long it's going to take Gregg to collect his rolling eyeballs...