Becca_Anne

Hope you had a most excellent birthday!!

Wishing you an extra special birthday!

So handyman guy did show up today and is going to give us an estimate to fix the window, will be using plexiglass since it is a curve and not in his wheelhouse to cut curved glass. I appreciated his honesty, and we will do that as a temporary repair while we source places that can really do a full restoration probably will have to bring the window somewhere in St Louis (the interior of the window frame swings in) and then he can re-install once that is done. This will work for winter. Having him re-glaze the other similar window up there too so it doesn't have a similar demise. He is going to re-roof and re-flash the porch roof and so far the prices he's quoted us seem very reasonable so I am super hopeful this works out. He can't come to do that actual work until Dec 3rd but that will be fine. I have the curtain rods for one room that have arrived so will work on putting those up this weekend.

Our Thanksgiving traditions- I get the pies baked and side dishes prepped the day before. Night before I put the turkey in the oven on 500 for 1 hr, then turn down low and slow cook overnight (I know that's not recommended but no one ever has gotten sick and it makes the most tender bird). Get up early myself T-day morning and cook until it's done. We have Turkey, green bean casserole, yam casserole (my MIL recipe), mashed potatoes, gravy, dressing (always cooked outside the bird), full berry cranberry sauce and we usually eat about noon-1ish. Watch the Macy's T-day parade while I cook. Set the table with the nice china and tablecloth the night before so it's all ready to go. Then we eat and go round table to say what we are thankful for. Then quick clean up and enjoy a nice quiet afternoon usually read or play board games or watch a movie together. I pull out the Christmas tree and decorations out on Friday and spend the weekend decorating the house

Mt Rider BRRR!! So early for below 0 temps even if it is Colorado...I don't miss that Continental divide winter. DId I ever tell you I spent a year on the Little Switzerland Trail up by Gold Hill, CO? Such a fun year but the snow would drift over our cabin door and I'd have to climb out the kitchen window to get to school. It was fun for a short while but very windy up there in the winter. I've been using rolled up towels at the base of our doors while I wait for DH to get around to installing the door sweeps. Sigh. I don't want to do it myself....but no one else is motivated to get this stuff done. Maybe I'll see if the repair guy can do that too. Cricket I understand I can't do the burning the midnight oil thing anymore either. My body just starts hurting the later I stay up until I can't take it anymore and go to bed. I try to beat the start of that and go to bed before 10 whenever I can. Nocturnal by nature but my body doesn't tolerate it now. Littlesister sounds like you are making great progress on the organizing and decluttering! Miki I hope that step turns out the way you hope. Getting a bit cold for that kind of work. Jeepers so glad your Jeep started. Sometimes it's worth it to just get it checked out might be an easy fix. Or not and then you know and can replace it. A few yrs ago my van just stopped working randomly when it was running and no one could figure out what was wrong with it so I just replaced it. It had given me 20 yrs of good service so it was just time. Love my little Rav4. Really feeling wiped out today not sure why. Getting colder and feel chilled tonight so hoping I am not coming down with something. Will go to bed early just in case. The repair guy is supposed to come tomorrow now to look at the broken window and porch roof issues we have to get repaired. If I can get that stuff done I'll be happy, but of course I have a few other small jobs that need doing too so if he pans out on those I am sure I can keep him in weekend work for awhile! My goal for 2023 is to finish what we started in 2022 for the inside of the house Work is keeping me really busy but hopefully can take a break next week and rest a bit

I don't have a lot of grip strength so sometimes I can't get a jar open and will use a bottle opener to poke a tiny hole in the lid which relieves the pressure inside the jar then I can get it open. If I need to reseal it I just tape over the hole and then refrigerate. Seems to work well for me.

Hope you have a lovely Birthday!

Mt Rider so glad you are improving a bit! Wish I knew how to help you turn back on your spell check. Jeepers so sorry you fell and glad you didn't get seriously hurt. Some days are just like that. Hope your jeep starts ok for you. Car troubles are no fun. Littlesister glad you have family nearby. Miki those are some big turnip tops! I've never tried the greens just the turnips and never cared for them. Glad to see you posting Momo! Today I went to Quilt Guild meeting, then out for lunch with my crafting friend and we went to our favorite thrift shop. Got a bunch of fabric and some sweaters and Christmas decorations for under $30 so I was happy. I found some nice heavyweight fabric I want to use to make into an apron. Just need to cut it out (will use my current apron as a pattern and then sew it. I think I'll do that next weekend when I go to my sewing group. I'm having such fun learning to use my machine.

Yes time to think about the holidays! Glad you will have some family home for Christmas Littlesister! I am flying out with my youngest to visit my Dad and also my oldest daughter in OR. Will be coming back Christmas Eve so that will be interesting timing. I will want to get everything wrapped and ready to go before I leave on the 17th. One of my kids is flying to France for the holidays to meet their partners family so that will be interesting too. Things change over time and I am committed to being as relaxed as I can be about it this year. Miki and Jeepers my Beagle used to be terrified of getting her nails done. I ended up getting a muzzle so I could keep from being nipped at when I did her nails. My current pup thankfully is used to it and I haven't yet nipped the quick so hopefully I can keep that up so she is never scared. Worth paying someone if it's that big of a stressor for you both!

Littlesister so glad your GS is doing better! And glad you are getting more settled in.

Only got work done, but did get my big Costco order delivered. All stocked back up on paper towels, shampoo, liquid soap, QTips TP and Dishwasher tabs. Also a few other assorted items. I think overall I'm re-stocked on most paper products and non-perishable items I use daily for at least 3-6 mo amounts again. I can relax a bit there but the food is still my big concern. It's such a big project but I can only break it down one area at a time. I also invested in some fun rain boots/muck boots so I can get out in the yard when its wet.

Mt Rider hope you feel better soon! Not much on my agenda today just work and more leaf raking planned!

Voted by mail Miki Hope the step works out well! Jeepers that's a good way to help kids graduate the nest. I haven't done that with mine but did help them get set up as much as I could for the two that have moved out. Still have 2 adult kids at home and one 11 yr old Littlesister glad you could be there for your GS. It's hard I'm sure but once he's fully on his own it will all be worth it. He's lucky to have you Super tired. Raked a lot of leaves after work and the city came a day early to vacuum them all up so it's a good thing I got out there tonight. Had help from my kids but even all 3 of us only got half the front yard done. So we have a lot more to go. Will keep going out any time I can until it's all done. I also was a busy homesteader today and ordered chicks they will arrive the first week of April so giving myself time to set up a coop and prepare. I'm excited to try something new It was my 4th child's 21st birthday today so we celebrated with Chinese food for dinner and lemon cake So a good day all around.

Mother great ideas The Golden Buff is another name for Red Star. I was thinking of painting to match the house as well, not sure about the porch LOL. And Christmas lights why yes please

Mother my plan with the tunnels is to run them in the garden so I can let them "free range" outside their larger run while I am supervising in the garden. That way they can eat bugs and be free a bit without me running afoul of the city I wouldn't depend on it to protect them at all and they will go back into a hardware cloth enclosed secure run when I am not outside with them. I ordered my chicks. 2 Buff Orpington, 2 Easter Eggers and 2 Golden Buff. I chose to get them innoculated for Mareks since that was an option. They will arrive April 4th so I have plenty of time to get my coop picked out or build. Annarchy I love your set up.

So sorry about your back Snowmom! I am meeting up with my friend this weekend to work on our ornaments <3

Hope your birthday was extra special!!

Littlesister found money is always a win Glad you got your shopping done Jeepers too cute with your grandson and his superhero socks Kids know what we have forgotten it's the little joys in life that make it worth living Homey that is interesting about the pre-ordering of the turkeys. Makes sense if they know what is ordered they can estimate how many needed to be raised- supply and demand and hope for the bird flu outbreak not to ruin everything Emeraldcat hope you can stay balanced and not fall into a deep depression I understand winter can really worsen that with the cold and dark. I have a sunlamp which helps me out in the darker months with full spectrum light. I need to figure out where I put that since our move I can't recall what room it ended up in Euphrasyne- Glow in the dark yarn how fun I am making a fall afghan but had to pull out half of what I did this morning because somewhere along the line I ended up decreasing as I went...sigh I love to crochet just not very good at it. I started it a year ago just can't seem to make much progress but it is relaxing when I am making time for it. Midnightmom that's some good prices you scored I have been looking at more meatless meals to stretch the budget. We had a window in the attic break last night in the big windstorm. It was 124 yrs old so we think the glazing needed replaced and it rattled so much it just broke. So DH put a board up and I'm looking for places that can help repair it. Just seems like we get one thing fixed and two more pop up to take care of. Also our power bill budget billing went up by $70 a month. I'm kind of stressing about that but we'll just have to figure out how to pay for everything. Thankfully my travel re-imbursement for work should come in my next paycheck so I can use a bit of that to fix the window. Other than the broken window tomorrow I'm going to finish all the plastic over the other old windows to help seal up for winter. Need to caulk the crack in my front door and work on the yard. I'd use the mower to mulch if we didn't have so many trees but think instead I need to get garden fencing up and do a deep leaf mulch over that area so I can work on killing off the grass in that area to prep if for next spring. So much to do and just 2 days a week to really do it since I work so late. I feel really behind right now. But can only put one step in front of the other and try to get one thing a day done.

Yes it's a chicken palace Might be a bit above my carpentry skills but it's something to aspire to. I'm going to also price out/look at prebuilts to get started with the plan to upgrade later if my DH thinks it's too complicated. There weren't as many details offered as I'd like on the first plan. The second one I think I could build for under $400 but might be just as cost effective to buy something pre-built and that would be faster too. I admit to feeling a bit impatient to get this project going with the pace my family is working on things. This weekend we are finishing up the weatherizing I hope and then I want to put up the garden fencing/posts and scope out what options I have locally that won't break the bank for a coop/run set up. Just found this option which would be great to run the chickens through the garden without them eating everything except the bugs https://www.amazon.com/Chicken-Tunnels-Outside-Suitable-Chickens/dp/B0B8XFY64T/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=WlYUx&content-id=amzn1.sym.e4bd6ac6-9035-4a04-92a6-fc4ad60e09ad&pf_rd_p=e4bd6ac6-9035-4a04-92a6-fc4ad60e09ad&pf_rd_r=PA5CGXS2PYR91ZJ2F4BZ&pd_rd_wg=LxFid&pd_rd_r=a4dcc7ff-a6e7-4a37-ac44-69245be9752c&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mr_hp_atf_m

I like this plan too looks much easier to build. #41 https://www.chickensandmore.com/chicken-coop-plans/ got a copy of the free plan now to decide on the run design to attach to the end (I'd add a small 8" x 10" chicken door to the other side (solid wall) with a ramp and autoclosing door. Also the plans don't show the roost placement but I think I could figure out how to add those pretty easily. A few 2 x 4's across the width should be easy enough to mount near the back of the coop. Maybe add a hard cloth covered window in the door if I'm feeling fancy and a vent hole for ventilation.

Thank you all! Yes I am planning to work on getting the coop/run set up before getting the chicks, I might get some hens here if I can find any but my thought was new chicks that all come at the same time might be best to start with to avoid introducing disease to the new chicks when I get them and trying to not inherit someone else's issues. I promise to share what I do along the way! Right now mostly researching looking to hopefully start my flock in the spring. I don't feel confident adding babies in the winter here, but thinking March/April would be best. I should have my garden fence and coop set up by then. I was mostly wondering if you have a style of coop you liked there are so many out there it was overwhelming looking at them. I might start with a cheaper chicken tractor while I work on building a bigger permanent coop. I really liked this design https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-chick-inn.73603/ I'd add a longer "free range" run on the end that could be closed off when I want them in the main coop area. I'm planning on putting the coop on one side of my garden, closest to the house so the fence adds another layer of security around the coop from predators.

Ok you all I have caught the chicken bug (not the pox ) and am looking to start a small flock. A friend of mine recommended Golden Comets (another name for Red Star) as a good layer and good disposition. I used to help my grandma with her chickens so I have a tiny bit of working knowledge but want to get off to a good start. I'm looking primarily right now to start for eggs, and then maybe add some meat chickens. On my lot I can have up to 15 chickens due to the lot size but no roosters). What is a good starter chicken breed or two (I'd like a mixed flock so that I can tell them apart LOL). I was thinking I'd start off with about 6 chickens since that is the minimum order and would let me set up a medium sized coop and run. Also advice on best coop design would be great I want to try to keep my costs low but also ensure a nice sized run. I have no intention of free ranging since we have no fence and lots of cats in the neighborhood.

Littlesister glad you're getting your vehicle maintenance done. That reminds me I need to make a 50k mile apt for mine before winter comes. Jeepers amazing how much the prices have gone up. Miki praying your DH gets the medical attention he needs to stay out of the hospital. Great job Annarchy! I am going to roast my 3 pumpkins and freeze them. DH picked up another turkey today so I have 2 one for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas. Since we only have 5 people I'll bag up the extra for future meals. Didn't get out today to rake I'm going to have to set an alarm to remind myself so we get out there daily for the duration.

Jeepers glad you got relief from the gas that can be brutally painful. Littlesister sounds like you are really getting organized! Miki hope your DH's Dr apt went well. Today I raked leaves after work, have lots more to do it's almost an acre Thankfully I do have help. The city comes around weekly to vacuum up the leaves if you pile them by the curb so I plan to take advantage of it. Cooked up a big bunch of hamburger and froze most of it. Really feeling the push to stock up on food and get my freezer full of meat. I have my Thanksgiving turkey and DH bought several packages of chicken and hamburger so it's a start.

Hope your Birthday is extra special!