Nelda

One year I turned our oldest into a cupcake..Cut the bottom out of a round laundry basket, covered part of it with foil, used some cotton stuffing for frosting and felt circles for sprinkles..she really liked it...MOM This year they want to be witches...I bought an old sewing pattern for a dime at the thrift store last year make a St. Lucia Day dress..It's just an easy "sack" dress maybe I will do it again...Will witches wear green? I have alot of green fabric...MOM

Can I come eat at your house tonight? I love ham and fried potatoes!!!

Hi all...It's dark and cloudy on Camano this morning too. But I like it that way..Fall is my favorite season. I wish we still had our wood stove, I really enjoyed chopping wood out in the cold then coming in to a fire and some cocoa or tea. I am going to be a nice wife and help get Dad's things ready to go hunting. Seasons opens tomorrow. While he is gone I think I will pull up the carpet in our living room. It is green and speckled and I can't get it clean anymore. The family who lived here before had put some pink carpet over it which I took out over the summer but I think since our remolding project has started I will go with plywood and a big area for the girls to watch movies and play on. Cat, I have seen "The Day After Tommorrow". It was pretty good. I would not want to be up in the space station however. I don't normally go in for movies like that. I don't really want to think about another ice age or whatever. Maybe I'm just being naive. Well, I hope everyone has a good day..Seeing as its 10am I should get going. Going to Walmart for some things, everyone always needs something I swear.. Question..I am planning my girls elemetary schools Halloween carnival. Every year there is a basket auction for the teachers so they can buy supplies and such for the classrooms. This year they have been asked to run all of the games and work in the kitchen. They've all been very wonderful to me and I would like to give all a thank you gift when its said and done. Any ideas? I thought about finding some nice fleece and making everyone a scarf for the winter...Or baking bread, just something I can put altogether in a basket and leave in the staff room for them. Let me know... Love to all, MOM

Do you really get up at four in the morning? I'm really impressed. I always start out with the best of intentions the night before when I set the alarm clock but so far I'm pretty steady at 6am. Well, its the middle of the week, DH is working late, girls are watching a movie and I still need to track down all of the girls cheerleading uniform pieces for pictures tomorrow. Which also means the budget has to stretch just a little bit farther. Only three weeks left and it's all over for the year or at least until they pick something else to do. Time to go and fight with the oldest about taking a shower. What fun! She doesn't see the need with being clean. Then will try and wash some dishes and go to bed. MOM P.S. Did you know that I dream about a dishwasher?

We had a problem with the hens egg eating. I read that you could put a curtain over the nest boxes, keeping the bottom loose enough to move about a bit. The curtain is supposed to deter the chickens from going into the boxes except to lay eggs. I did try it and it did work on a most of them. The hens that kept at it, the trouble makers - no offense but we ate them. I have no use for hens that eat the eggs. Since the days are getting shorter, you might want to give your hens the winter off from laying. If there are no eggs to eat then no problem for now. Then in the spring when they start up again, see which hens are still a problem and cull them out. You might want to switch to a lower protein content feed, like all purpose poultry, it will help slow down the laying if you want to go that route. Love to stay and chat but I've got laundry to do - DH needs clean jeans as he is always last in line when it comes to the wash - Love, MOM

Howdy, all... We're toying with the idea of a wood cookstove for (obviously) cooking and hot water for radiant heat. I know that they're the cat's pygamas for baking in, but how are they for heating and do the water jackets provide a steady supply of hot water (flow wise, eg. how long does it take on your model to heat it up). This is one of the many things we've talked about here as a part of the remodel... any suggestions? warnings? anecdotal information? Thank you... Dad

Thanks for the welcome... My wife and I will be reading and posting under My4Girls... you'll know who it is by either ~Mom or ~Dad at the bottom of the post. I used to be pretty active in misc.survivalism a long time ago, then it got a bit too conspiratorial. Alas, I've read through a few threads and found this to be a forum that suits our country-living lifestyle... just so's you all have a bit of background on us.... We live in NW Washington State, on a small island. We've got four lovely girls ages 18mos to 9 years, a dozen chickens (Rhodies, Wynadotes, Orpingtons, and a New Hampshire) five runner ducks, a Golden Retriever and a And no, I don't plan on putting anyone in line... I'll just offer help when I can, and ask questions when I'm stumped. Anyhow, Regards Dad

That's right, west... and you need to clean that room right now, young lady! as if I don't say that enough with four daughters... oof. Dad

Pecking order problems... I suppose you've got a heavy-breed such as Rhode islands, or australorps? Well, there's a few things you can try, number one is seperation (however another hen will become low man on the totem pole, and may be brutalised for the sake of her attacker's status) This can work quite well, especially if you want to add to your flock, as you can pick up some pullets to add to a second coup and yard that will invariably become subordinate to the formerly low hen on the pole. You can try clipping the agressor's beaks, I haven't done that, because the aggressors are usually really good layers, and tend to keep the rest of your flock in line. If you're not interested in clipping, try culling! The weather *is* changing, and Chicken & dumplings is quite a tasty dish on those cold fall evenings. I prefer to seperate, and add to the flock. You'll be able to try out different combinations of layer & grains & forage to find the best mix for laying, all the while maintaining a control group (your original flock) that will keep you fryin' eggs until you've prooved a different regimen to be better. Dad "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." Robert Heinlein.

Buttercup... Try this for storing taters... get a couple plastic garbage cans and a couple bales of straw hay. Spread the taters out to dry thuroughly in a cool dark place for a day or so.Spread the straw out in open sun if possible to also dry out. While they are drying, dig holes large enough for the garbage cans to be buried at about a 45° angle, deep enough to cover the can entirely. Set the can into the hole, and begin packing the straw into the can. Alternate layers of straw, then spuds then straw again until it's nearly full. Stuff the top with an extra portion of straw & cover with the can's lid, then more straw and plank over the top of the hole. Weight down the planking so they stay put. From The Country Journal Book of Vegetable Gardening which is about as useful as the Storey collection. Good Luck... Mom