Family, Family and More Family

Family reunions.

At some point in my life, I lost my mind. We all know that...

Last year, we went to a family reunion for my husband's family. Near the end of the reunion, they stated they needed someone to host it this year. I proudly held up my hand and said, "We have a big place, with lots of room - we can do it!"  Uncle Weldon, who hosted last year's reunion, said "Yep! You can do it!"

What was I thinking??

When I was doing the planning for HIS family, someone from MY family suggested that we had not had a family reunion in years - we definitely needed to have one.  I thought since I was setting up and getting ready for one family reunion, what would it hurt to have another one?  After talking with Steve and him agreeing he thought we could handle it, we planned on having a family reunion for my family the weekend following his family's reunion.

What was I thinking??

I planned.

I bought food.

I planned some more.

We made games.

I planted a garden. 

You got that, right? In the midst of all the planning, *I* had to plant a garden!

I made invitations.  

I put the family's last name on the front of the invitations.  Boy was that a mistake!  I made the same invitations for both reunions.  I had to be very careful that I sent his to his family's to his family and mine to my family. It was very difficult, but I don't *think* I messed that up, but God only knows.

I made directions.

With my sister, Shari's help, we got a newsletter out.

I made the same newsletter for his family, changed the names and pictures and sent them out.

Refer to 'Boy was that a mistake!"

I bought more food.

Steve took a two week vacation.

We sent up portable carports, borrowed picnic tables, bought food, mowed 10+ acres, cleaned out the shop, cleaned the lean-to, finished the chicken coop, got trash cans out, set up the camper for people to stay in, picked up people at the airport, got the boat ready for adventures, took it out to 'test' it... and we had a family reunion!

It was nice. People jumped in and helped, we visited, we relaxed, we laughed, we grilled and we reminisced.  Then everyone went home.

We wanted to crash.

But, no!  We had a second family reunion coming up the next weekend!

We cleaned, we washed, we changed bedding, we bought food, we took trash to the dump, we picked up people from the airport, we took the boat out because the kids wanted to hydroslide, we cooked... the people rolled in and we visited, we laughed, we grilled, they reminisced and I was a walking zombie.

What was I thinking?


I barely remember a thing about the second reunion. 

It was wonderful seeing all the family again, meeting some for the first time and getting to know everyone.  For both reunions we spent well over $1600 spent, we were extremely grateful to get about $600 in donations back, we worked our backsides off, we laughed, we talked, we met new family, we looked over documents and pictures, we ate, and when they all left...

We picked all the crap up, returned the tables, took down the temporary carport, took people to the airport, cleaned dishes, cleaned house, did laundry, washed the bedding, remade the beds, got the camper ready to store, cleaned the patio, put up lawn chairs, returned warmers, and picked up the games we made.

And then we rested... 

And rested.

And rested some more.

I am still tired!

Someone at each reunion mentioned we needed someone to host the reunions next year.

My brain found a way to function.

I ducked outta sight!

We may never get together as family again, but we had fun!


And all is right in my world now - Steve made it home from South Korea last night!

Something Very Special Happens Today

Steve comes home from South Korea!

I won't be posting anything but this today - I have things to do.   :-)

I love this man:

See you tomorrow!

Summer Time Fun :-)

I guess we have all been busy with summertime fun, but for us, it has been a bit busier than usual. We were lucky enough to have all three of our guys come out to visit us!  Sadly, their mom couldn't get away from work so we missed seeing her.  

We spent a lot of time outside on our little farm, piddling around in the pastures, playing with snakes, fishing, riding 4 wheelers (man! do we have a great trail on our property!) and they were even swinging on the swing...

 Aedan with his grass snake friend:

Marcus and Aedan talking it over... 

This darn swing, yes, it is THE swing, and it is busy once again... let's see, at least 20 years it has been busy keeping kids entertained!

And Jeff, Steve's brother, came to see us!  The guys tried like heck to catch fish in our pond. I know they are there - Uncle Weldon shows us that every single time he throws a hook in, but those fish see our hooks and run!

We celebrated Aedan's 8th (!) Birthday:

We celebrated Raelee's 10th (!) Birthday:

And Raelee finally got her horse!

That is just part of our summer!  I will tell you the 'busy' part in another post!  We have had a terrific summer.  I never thought I would say this, but I am starting to miss the traveling now. I would love to go on a trip soon, even camping!  It is difficult to have a happy medium; farms aren't exactly travel friendly, and traveling is not exactly farm friendly.  I guess we will figure it out someday.

Until then, I will just enjoy our own little corner of the world. As you can see in the pictures, we have a beautiful corner!

Like It or Not... I *Have* to Post.

I have too many people asking what is going on, why haven't I posted in so long, when am I going to start again?

Quite honestly, I didn't think anyone read or paid attention.  I no longer have '14' children, I no longer live in a far away place on the flip side, I no longer live in the swamp and do things only Cajuns do. I no longer have gators to entertain you.  I no longer do things that I will never do again.  Actually, these days, I am quite boring!  And I am back to being a 'damned Okie' - remembering all the reasons I love this land.


I still have chickens, though I have learned a lot from buying 'straight run' at the hardware store. You get 90% ROOSTERS!  In case you didn't know, they *don't* lay eggs!  I wanted all hens with maybe ONE rooster.  Ha!  Boy was I in for a surprise as they each started crowing! 

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This is Lucky - he was lucky to be alive when Chelsea was learning to 'herd' chickens...

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Little did I know, they also have their each individual crow! I can tell which rooster is crowing by his crow.  Well, I *could* tell each rooster - all but 2 or maybe 3 are history to me now. I gave them away. 6 hens and a dozen roosters was not working well. Let's just say the hens were not nearly as interested in extracurricular activities as the roosters were. So I Craigslisted them. One man came and got them all - well, at least I thought he did. Then two 'hens' started crowing - and I think another may be practicing.

Supposedly, this man was just getting a farm up and running. I can keep on thinking that because I would rather think that than to think they are chicken and dumplings.  They are frolicking happily on a farm far away.


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This is Verne - who is obviously a rooster.  Verne started out as LA Verne, but once he started sprouting his feathers, we knew... he was definitely a roo.  I was going to keep him, but Raelee wanted to keep Frank.  So, I sold this gorgeous guy to a friend for $5.  Wish I never had, but they love him and he is in a good home so it was ok.  

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We had a chicken fence next to the Taj Coop.  Yeah, that worked until they got big enough to fly over it. Once they got big enough, they sat on the fence and taunted me... "nanny, nanny chicki doo! Will hop up here and show you!"  Yeah, they didn't stay in their chicken yard!



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Allie ws by far my favorite chicken.  Allie was always by my feet. Allie was like a baby to me, chatters non-stop telling me everything going on. Allie tattled on the siblings, squawked when I need to pay attention to something, raced to the door to 'tell mom' and Allie was always the first to catch the treat I throw out. Allie was also the most homely of all the chickens. Allie is a dark cornish - and we had three.  They are very tall, stand straight up (like he is in the pic) and HUGE compared to all the other chickens. They are supposed to be good eating. But now Allie frolics on that farm far, far away.  He crowed.  :-(

 I sure miss Allie.  

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We tore down the fence.
 
Tearing down the fence gave the chickens the 'go ahead' to race anywhere on the property they wanted to!

They go from one end of the yard to the other, searching out any bug that wiggles and any worm that ventures out of the dirt. They love June bugs, race for caterpillars and eat grasshoppers.  And they eat my Katydids.  :-(


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This is Frank - the one Raelee wanted to keep. He is an Easter Egger and he was supposed to lay green eggs... Roosters don't lay eggs.  He crowed.

A week after I gave Verne away, Raelee said, "Granny, I realized it was not *that* chicken I wanted to keep - it was the black and white one!"  That child was WITH me when I gave my Verne away!!  UGH!  Oh, well, Frank is gone to the green, green pastures too. I didn't really care for him - he was personality-less .  If I was going to keep one, I wanted VERNE!  I know, I didn't have to cave to my granddaughter - but have you seen those big blue eyes?

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Then came the chicken poo.

All over the patio.

All over the front porch.

All over the grass.

All over the shop.

All over the driveway.

All over the lean-to.

Yeah, we are a poohy place now.

I do wash the patio, at least once a day.  Do you know how much chickens poo?

A lot.


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This is Bert, he started out as Big Bertha until he crowed. He was big in comparison to the other regular chickens - even when he was a baby.  I was really sad when he crowed, 'cause he was purty!

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Suffice it to say, we have a very fertilized piece of property.

And we only have 9 chickens left.

Two are roosters

And maybe one more.

I will only have a half dozen when all is said and done.

Yes, I learned my lesson on 'straight runs' from the local hardware store.

RUN STRAIGHT THE OTHER WAY when you see those adorable little chicks!

Is this chicken math, too?

You Gotta Train A Chicken...

Chickens are not born knowing everything... 

So... 

You gotta train a chicken to go up the stairs...

... to get into their coop...


And you gotta train a chicken to go in through the door...

 Before the automatic door closes at dusk...


And you gotta train a chicken to go up more stairs...

To get to their perch for the night...


And you gotta train a chicken to get on the perch...

  

And not laugh when they don't seem to 'get it'...

And you gotta train 17 chickens to do all the above - not just one...

And you gotta get them to stay on the perch even when they challenge you...

 Alli

And you gotta love it when they finally seem to 'get it'!

Lulu

And you gotta train all 17 chickens while one jealous girl looks on...

It has been a busy week for us... 

'Cause you gotta train a chicken and we are training 17 of 'em!

Who woulda thunk you gotta train a chicken?

If you are wondering where we are

Just meet us by the coop - we are training chickens!

See the Boards and Meet My Chicks! Part 2

 The 'poop boards' worked exactly as they were supposed to! Woke this morning to an icky clean:

But in three minutes flat, this is what it looked like!
 

Now, since I have lots of people wanting to see the 'gals' now that they have grown up I am going to introduce you to the chicken clan!

The first pic below is Allie - and Allie is a Dark Cornish. Allie is still young, so (s)he is still kinda homely - this face just shows you how homely Allie is. Allie we suspect is a male. I didn't want any roosters, but if Allie is a rooster - I will seriously have to consider keeping him. Why? 

Well, Allie has to be in the middle of everything.  Every. Single. Thing. I. Do.  

He even stands on my foot sometimes looking up at me waiting for my next step.

If I add something new, Allie tries it out. If I toss a worm in the pen, Allie gets it because he is paying attention to every move 'mommy' makes. If a chicken squabble is going on, Allie is looking at me, squawking for me to come break it up. If anything is happening - I am sure to know about it because Allie will make it known I need to come look.

And if all is quiet and Allie doesn't see me? He squawks until I come tell him "mommy is right here!"

So yeah, I will have to consider not having him for chicken soup... because he is always IN MY FACE, AT MY FEET and KEEPING ME IN LINE!

He cannot be chicken soup - 'cause someone has to keep me in line, right?


This is Verne - a Wellsummer roo. Verne used to be LAVerne until the day he started crowing.  Since he is rooster number 2 - he will not be staying with me. But he is a sweet rooster... 
 

 chicken soup... 


This is Big Bert - a Buff Orphington. He used to be Big Bertha - but looking more and more like he, too, is a rooster:
 

More chicken soup...


And this is Belle - who I think is also a rooster.  He is chest butting with the best of them and was trying to mate with another chicken yesterday - and he was dominate.  *sigh* He is also very hard-headed and was the last to go 'home' last night. After dark we finally got him into the coop. I have no idea yet what breed he is - but he was bought as an Easter Egger"
 

I had high hopes for Belle - I love the coloring he is showing.  But, alas, more chicken soup... chicken soup is good for the soul right?


 These two pics are of Laverne - she is a very sleek Wellsummer pullet (female) chicken:

This is Ellie. She is a Golden Sex Link pullet:
 

Aunt Bea is a Black Sex Link and I hope a pullet. She has the prettiest chest feathers of all:

This is Ella - a Golden Sex Link pullet:
 

This is Gracie (the gray and white with dots) - whom I am afraid may also turn out to be a male, however, I am still debating this theory. No crows yet, but a bit dominate...

Behind Gracie is Stacy who is still outgrowing her(?) baby down - so we still don't know what she will look like. I suspect she is a Black Copper Morans but the other breed she might be is a Auracana. Since I don't know my breeds, All I can do is guess and trust the people I bought them from!  Lol...

And now you have met 12 (remember you met two yesterday) of our chickens.

They are our daily entertainers... who woulda thought they would be so fun??

Life Building a Chicken Coop

As you saw on the last post, we have been building a chicken coop castle. It has take so blasted long and so much work that I have not had time to post. Sooo... what have I been doing??

I have painted:

And painted:

And painted:

And painted:

And painted:

And I am sure I have painted at least half the state on this coop!

I *hate* painting!


Then we assembled:

Can you see I still have painting to do? Yep! Under the eaves...  *sigh*


Steve assembled, assembled, assembled - assembled some more - and added steps:

We added "poop boards" for the chickens to roost above. The idea is they are supposed to roost and poop on the boards that are filled with Sweet PDZ. To clean out, you just sift it like it was cat litter and it is clean!

The chickens seem like it... 

And we will see if it is easy to clean like they say it is... Tomorrow.



Today we are installing their chicken door and fencing their outside area...

It is a good thing, these chicks are not teeny chicks any more:

 Charlotte and Lulu

So, now you know why I have not posted! We are still building the chicken castle!

And wait until you see what I am going to name it... 

But you gotta wait!