Why I Exercise at Home

This is why, even if I lived close to a gym, I wouldn't join. I had a similar experience with a treadmill at the Joplin Family Y once...

Blast From the Past

Remember watching Saturday morning cartoons? You know...back when we had three channels, and cartoons were for Saturday morning only - before Cartoon Network, and the myriad of other Disney, Nick, and whatever 24-7 cartoon channels there are now. Anyone who was a kid in those days MUST remember the animated educational shorts covering grammar, history, and government - School House Rock. I used to love those! And wonder of wonders, they are ALL on YouTube!


Check them out for a rocket back into childhood. Marden and I stayed up late one night watching all of them.


Here's my very favorite, "Interjections."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QsEMSVdedc



Or another fav - "A Noun is a Person, Place, or Thing";
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOoGJmZdfMc&feature=related



And I would've never remembered my planets without "Interplanet Janet";
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfPEvKsme-c


And here's Marden's favorite (about pronouns), "Rufus Xavier Saspararilla"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOaty7FpwMI&feature=related


And one of the great American History ones:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofYmhlclqr4&feature=related


There are too many good ones to list! Just go check 'em out for a good dose of nostalgia...some are more annoying than I remember, but most are pretty great. Cheesy and dated, but great.


Mom, after helping you grade papers...I think your kids could use a dose. :)

The Coop in the Sky Has 10 More Residents

Today dawned a beautiful, sunny, warm day...a fine day for Team Meatie to fulfull their destiny. Without saying too much in sympathy with the squeamish, it really wasn't that bad. It was quick, hopefully painless (for the chickies), and went relatively fast for a newbie...approximately 30 minutes per chicken from start, to plucking, to finish.

Au Revior Meaties...I will not miss moving your poopy pen, feeding your ravenous single-minded selves, or constantly keeping you out of the rain, warm in the cold, and tending to your every need. But I rest easy knowing I did all these things well, and that you had good lives.

And I look forward to supper...

Mad Kitty

So the last post was kinda heavy, so I'm following up with this pic of Sam...post-bath. He's not happy, as he never is after a bath. And it takes him DAYS to recover before he starts acting sociable again, and before he gets back to his full poofiness. Heh...it never gets old...

Invasive Non-Native Species

While this term is usually reserved for critters and plants, today I am relating it to people. We just found out that the cattle ranch up for sale over the ridge facing our house has sold - to some real estate developers who have already chopped it up into plots and cleared many many many trees. Every day I now hear the rattle and rumblings of big equipment, and it makes me sad. Unfortunately, we live in an area for sale, and an area which has really become popular with retirees. All of it seems to be for sale...farmers and ranchers can't afford to stay in business anymore, and thanks to ETHANOL, which has driven up the cost of corn so high that feed is absolutely ridiculous, the death knell is sounding for a lot of farms. In this area near the lakes, that translates to being bought, chopped up, and sold at horrendous prices to all these retired imports from Chicago, Wisconsin, Florida, and California. Areas where land prices are jacked up anyway, so what seems absolutely ridiculous for us is pocket change for them. I guess Florida got too crowded and expensive, so now they're going to crowd and carve up Arkansas. If the Ozarks have to be carved up and crowded, it would be easier to swallow if it were at least people from the genaral area with the same ways and attitudes.

These are the folks I'm referring to in the title. Invasive Non-Native Species are usually unwanted and detrimental to the native species. Now, I don't meant to fault anyone for wanting to spend their retirement years in a nice quiet place, but it goes way beyond just settling down somewhere to blend in with the local population. These Invasive Non-Natives, (or INNS, as I now call them) seem to comprimise at least 60%-70% (in my estimate) of the local population, so running into one is a pretty high percentage. I've noticed definate undesirable trends with the INNS. First, they seem to see real locals - people who grew up in Arkansas, and even Missouri (yikes - that's me), or I've further found out - anybody in the general southern regions, as backward, ignorant, redneck slobs who are just DARN LUCKY that people from the northern civilized areas are moving in to save us from ourselves. I overheard one talking the other day...saying something about had northerners not started moving down here, for goodness sake we'd still be driving around on dirt roads living in cabins, "don'tcha know"...and "those ignorant locals don't know how thankful they should be."

I just about said something...maybe I should have, but I don't know what it would've been. But this attitude amongst the INNS seems very common, so yes...I'm generalizing and stereotyping. This isn't to say there aren't nice imports...I don't count them into the category of INNS. However, the majority have left a really bad taste in my mouth, and when is enough enough? They want to move away from their native north, but then want to make things here just like up there. Recently I was asked by a native local where I was from originally. When I said "Southwest Missouri", he said, "whew! That's kind of a breath of fresh air...I'm so sick of yankees coming in here telling us how to do things I could scream." Not only was I glad I didn't fit the "yankee category", I can see how he's reached that attitude. I also heard recently that a former Chicago-ite got together a petition to ban livestock near his home because he was bothered somehow. Never mind that the livestock was there before he built his retirement dream home. That's like moving to the desert and then complaining that there are too many cactus..

But, it's really a catch-22. Hubby's family owns a large, very pretty farm not far away, minus the lakes. Very few INNS are moving into the area...there's just not much to do. Unfortunately for us...there's not much for us to do either. Local economy is really struggling, not helped at all by all industry having now pulled up stakes. I expect that had the lakes here not been built, this area would be just as depressed. No INNS, but nothing else either.

I guess I'm wanting that perfect utopia. To have our little farm without worrying what's going up across the road...to go fishing without looking up at the bank to see that they are cramming yet ANOTHER house onto the bank (likely built by an INN with money), and also mowing down the bank trees so house residents will have their nice uninterrupted view of the water. To be able to have cows, chickens, pigs, and whatever else we want without worrying that someone is going to petition for a ban against livestock near their home. I'm not sure there is such a place...

And we're totaly hypocrits. Our 20 acres was once part of a cattle farm.

Anyway, it's not just going on here...it's pretty much everywhere, just more accelerated in some areas. I heard a few days ago about a pig farmer near North Little Rock. He'd been farming pigs for years, but lately big sub-divisions went up around his farm...and you guessed what happened. Those snooty suburbanites (and there are a LOT in Little Rock) wanted to move out "to the country", but didn't like the country smells that were there first. So they did what any American now with an entitlement issue does - they sued.

However, they lost. Pig farmer was there first...and he DOUBLED his herd. Heh. You go pig farmer.

No that I'm a big fan of pig farmers...mom and dad have the opposite problem. They had a neighbor put in a pig farm amongst neighbors who'd been there for years. Now there's a lovely fragrance when the wind is from the right direction. That is completely different...that's just being incredibly rude to your neighbors. It all comes down to who was there first and the general attitude.

And that's my social commentary for today.

On to other brighter news. Yes, I am happy to report another dry day here, and the little cold snap seems to be over. Let's hope it's over until Fall. We're still seeing a lot of effects from all the rain, though. Dams have been running at full power plus, with water coming out of the flood gates. Norfork Lake is still the color of chocolate pudding. Every time I head into town and cross the lake, I think of Bill Cosby saying, "Eat the puddin." I haven't made it over to Bull Shoals, but I'm betting that lake is also brown. And really high. Which translates to constant water generation from both dams, which further translates to TERRIBLE TROUT FISHING for me. I guess that's preferrable to a broken dam, but still. Well, things are looking brighter...poor Daryl is worried about his new dock at the State Park, though. However, I'm pretty confident that it'll be ok. Think positive Daryl!

Walkin' in Memphis

Yeah yeah...cheesy title. But that's what I was doing yesterday...actually, it should be titled, "Walkin' in Memphis and Spendin' Some Money." I'm back now after a little break from the Homestead. Sometimes you just need a break, and sometimes the opportunity presents itself. Last week I was getting a little overwhelmed with the garden beds, and then I had a chicken disaster. Yep. I'm down from 14 Eggers to 12.

One night last week I went to check the garage, and just walked out to see how the chicks were. OOOOHH NOOOO....one of the little doors was open. OPEN??? I SWEAR I closed it...but apparently the spring catch didn't "catch", so I started counting chickens. I got up to 12...crap. Upon inspection of the yard about 40 feet away, I found a pair of little chicken feet...a Buff Orpington was no more. I was also missing a Barred Rock, but no signs of it. No feathers...no nothing but feet...which means usually one thing - DOG. And I just happen to own two already confirmed chicken-killers.

Note to brothers - I need NO snide comments concerning Lucy and how any kind of Chicken Karma has come back to haunt me...so zip it...I don't need your lip.

Well, I was pretty darn upset...I lost the one Buff Orp chick at 2 days old, but that wasn't NEARLY as tough as losing two 7-week olds to a predator. I mean...the work, the worry, the hassle of getting them to this age...it's not that I'm especially attached to the chickens...they haven't exactly reached "pet status", but they do count on me not only for food and water, but to keep them safe, and I blew it. Dogs will be dogs, but not checking that the latch wasn't latched securely lays blame squarely on me.

I'm pretty much over it now. I did get extra in case of an incident like this (I really thought it would be a coon, a hawk, or something like that), so for the time being I'm not replacing the lost chickens with new chicks. Mostly because new chicks = three weeks of nearly constant vigilance, and the house smelling like a barn again. But I've increased my vigilance to avoid this happening again in the near future.

So for my mini-break, I went to visit my old parkie friends Kristyn, Randall, and Kendra over at Lake Charles, and on Friday I went on the Big Memphis Plant Hunt with Kristyn, Corinne, and Corinne's really cool friend Melody. We went to a fundraiser for the Memphis Botanical Garden, several nurseries, and topped it off at the Bonsai Nursery. It was awesome. It was amazing. It was a near-religious experience punctuated by Marden's uttering of the words that make every woman's knees go weak - "use the plastic."

Luckily for our bank account I'm not like most women my age, or that plastic would have been rendered "Maxed Beyond Recognition" within short order. But I surscribe rigidly to putting no more on the card than we can pay off when the bill comes. Darn responsibility. If not for "responsibility", in addition to limited cargo space, we'd be in trouble.

Despite "responsibility", I did make quite a haul. Everything from hard-to-find heirloom tomato plants to crepe myrtles (I bought 6, but two for mom), a fire bush (last one in the whole nursery), various herbs, rare hostas, some perennial flowers (including a really nice clematis), and some annual daisies. Anyone who knows me the least little bit knows I'm a SUCKER for daisies. I got two bunches of the ones pictured at right...the white African Daisy.

The Bonsai Nursery was really the kicker. WOW. There are no words for some of these trees...check this one out! None of these were for sale, but those that were in this size range were topping $4,000. Nope...that's the right amount of zeros. $4K smackers. However, if I were a bazillionaire and had the know-how, I'd have a few. As it is, I think I'm going to have to be content with the "practice tree" that Corinne gave me for free which is on it's last legs (er roots), that I can practice bonsai techniques on. Like I have nothing else to do...but I've wanted to get into bonsai for at least ten years when I bought some bonsai books at a garage sale. Ok, let's face it...really since The Karate Kid. If I can just successfully re-pot this ficus and keep it alive for a little while, MAYBE I'll feel brave enough to drop $25...POSSIBLY up to $45...on a nursery bonsai.

So I'm going to sign off tonight with a couple pics, one of Team Meaty enjoying one more week, and one of Team Piggie (Whitey and Petunia) snoozing in the shade. And a bonus picture of Farmer Marden on Buford the blue Ford tractor.

Walmart

Today I made the weekly foray into town for provisions, which usually means a stop at Walmart. I pulled into the parking lot to see that apparently everyone in town plus the residents from every neighboring county had the same idea. At times like this in the past, I've decided to go on a different day or to go elsewhere. However, my pantry was bare, and I didn't have any coupons for the other grocery stores, which usually means spending significantly more money. In addition...Walmart is on my side of town, and for some reason EVERYBODY decided to get out and drive around Mountain Home today. I didn't want to battle the traffic...even if I do have to pay .08 cents more for a can of beans. I wonder if there was a parade I missed? Was the President in town? A dog show? In any case, I just wanted to get my stuff and get home, so I descend into the open maw of double doors, only to realize that they are... remodeling.

What? Why is it necessary to remodel Walmart? I just found where things are, and this was already the most jacked-up Walmart I've ever seen. But I muster my courage and soldier on. While trying to find a certain hook-latch contraption for the chicken coop, I could hear the old people, and they are not happy. I can completely understand. While I find it exceptionally annoying that they're moving everything around, I have grown begrudgingly accustomed to these inconveniences. But, I can only imagine what it's like for a person who grew up in the era of small stores, friendly sales people, and not having to tramp all over tarnation to get a simple light bulb. When going shopping was an enjoyable outing, not a task I usually lump in with "scrubbing the toilet."

I was browsing the area where I thought these latches might be, when I heard a loud and gravelly, "GOOD GOD-ALMIGHTY HERE I CAME ALL THE WAY OVER HERE FOR A COTTON-PICKIN' FLOOR HEATER AND THEY'VE GONE AND MOVED EVERYTHING AROUND!!!", coming from behind me. I turned to see a very red-faced old man shuffling up the aisle cussing a blue streak and glaring. I got out of there. Perhaps I should have helped him find the floor heaters, but for all I know they are now kept where the Pharmacy was, and he looked like he had it out for anyone under the age of 65. And I did find my latch...where the plumbing supplies used to be. As I made my way over to groceries, I heard many more of these exclamations. It's amazing that Walmart has us so over a barrel that they can tick us off this much, yet we're still shopping there.

After getting my groceries in record time, I head for the cashiers and picked the shortest line. I either have a knack for picking unfriendly cashiers, or they are just mostly unfriendly. Again, I can understand. Walmart cashier is probably not first on most people's list for a job.

I knew I'd just ruined my cashier's day when I plopped down my resuable shopping bags. Now, I purchased these bags at Walmart...they sell them so fast they can't keep them in stock, yet I NEVER see anyone else using them! I think they're great...not only do I avoid the Mt. McKinley stacks of white plastic in my pantry (you can only use so many for wastbasket liners), but the resuable ones hold 5x more AND they sit up in your car! Not only do my canned beans stay put instead of rolling into every corner of my car, but I can now get everything in the house in 1-2 comfortable trips instead of 50 with the plastic cutting into your hand. But who's using them besides me? I can't believe everyone's not using them...I mean besides the environmental benefits, they are just way more practical. The only drawback is carrying them into the store...but since they fold up nicely, they are definately less of a pain than a purse. I guess another drawback are the looks you get; "Look at you with your holier-than-thou reusable shopping bags...obviously a liberal Democrat (which I am most definately not) AND an environmental wacko who's too good to use regular shopping bags..."

Which is funny, because in a lot of places, especially toward the coasts, I hear there is a lot of peer pressure to use reusable bags. Here, you're an oddball.

But back to the cashier - this lady wasn't happy. Apparently, they're not quite as easy to fill as having a ready-to-go plastic bag on the turntable thing. She gave me a look, sighed, took a bag, sighed, and started filling it. Then I proceeded to make her even unhappier. You can get a LOT of stuff in those bags...last trip to Walmart I had an Asian cashier who stuffed those suckers full, and seemed to get the fact that I was using these bags to AVOID the plastic ones. Today's sourpuss cashier was only filling them half full. She then tried putting stuff in a plastic sack, and I said (smiling), "Think you can get more in there?" And she gave me another look, sighed, and proceeded to fill the reusable bag. Toward the end of my purchases, she again filled two plastic sacks. After I paid and had my cart full and she'd started on the next customer, I removed the items from the plastic sacks and found spots in the reusable sacks, and replaced the plastic sacks onto her turntable. I got another glare. I smiled and proceeded to the parking lot...where I got more odd and questioning looks on the way to the car. I'm getting used to it...I just smile and nod.

Moral of the story? I dunno...go to Walmart at midnight.

Into the Wild

Mr. Hooter and I watched a very good movie the other night, called "Into the Wild", which has been on my mind ever since we watched it. It's based on the book "Into the Wild", which is based on the journals of Chris McCandless of how in the early 90's he abruptly left his affluent life after college, as well as family, to hit the road backpacking across the country to eventually reach Alaska to live in harmony with nature.

I remember this story from my high school days, when the discovery of his body in an old bus in a wilderness area of Alaska after an apparent death by starvation propelled his tale into the limelight. I was always fascinated by it...I don't really know why, as it seems clear that Chris was very idealistic and met his end by not being very smart. At the time, as well as now, his story is romanticized and he's become a cult figure and inspiration for many people taking off to backpack across the country, a lot of times making the crusade to the bus where his body was found, which is still there. If he hadn't written a journal, he'd just been forgotten as another crazy hippie. It's really a tragic story, but Chris had guts, and he had quite an interesting life in his last couple of years. I think that's why so many people, including myself, find the story really strikes a chord. I think whether we want to admit it or not, we all have the desire to break away from the mundane, from "society", and from the expected norm.

Or maybe that makes me, as one former co-worker put it..."quirky." Ever since I read the book "My Side of the Mountain" in grade school I've had the overwhelming desire to leave it all and go live in the woods, despite the fact that the more rational side of me knows that, like Chris, I'd find that kind of life isn't all sunshine and flowers. I felt the same way after watching a documentary a couple years ago about ski bums. Wow...I could do that...why not? I could really see myself in Colorado (pre Mr. Hooter of course) being a ski bum in winter, trout bum in summer, working odd jobs here and there to get the funds for both. Even hubby suggests every so often we go be ski/trout bums...but it's totally in jest. We don't have the guts. Besides...the pigs couldn't fit in the car, and Lucy only has three legs so she can't ski.

I guess I'm destined to live life pulled in two directions. On one side, the pull to go against the norms of society toward freedom, and on the other the desire to "nest", which is a malady that seems to resonate in my particular gender. The desire to carve out a nitch that's all my own, and that's permanent. Maybe I've got the best of both worlds, living out of the city surrounded by nature and my critters trying to do the homesteading thing. Either way, even though I can't (or won't) go traipsing off into the sunset with a backpack, I can still keep an adventurous spirit and never quit wondering "what if"...

This was probably my favorite part of the movie...Chris makes an illegal trip kayaking down the Colorado River. Apparently, you have to have a permit...which can take YEARS to get...all to kayak down a river. Though I suppose there are reasons, I found that as ridiculous and as oppressive as movie-Chris did...reminds me of the Socialism being currently crammed down our throats. But...that's another topic for another day...

Manna from Heaven

As if in answer to my last post lamenting our dismal raised bed situation, our prayers have been answered! I do doubt God had anything to do with our windfall, but maybe He at least put in a good word with the garden gnomes. In any case, Providence of some kind has definately shown down on us.

So in my last post, I was lamenting the fact that our raised garden beds just weren't gonna cut it. I'd decided that what we HAD to have if were going to do the raised bed thing and do it right was some rough-cut cedar lumber...probably the sturdiest rot resistant stuff we could get that wouldn't cost a fortune. We checked into railroad ties, but the cresote that constantly leaches out of those are supposed to be bad news for your tender veggies. So we decided cedar was the route to go. I looked online at raised beds...most of which do seem to be made of cedar. I found all sorts of places to order raised bed kits...the cheapest of which was about $150 for a 4' x 8'x12" bed. *GACK*

None of that...we'll do it ourselves. After Marden checked the prices at local sawmills, we figured on a minimum of $25 per 4' x 8'x12" bed. Doesn't sound like a fortune, but it can add up quick. I'm not even sure of how many beds we're going to put in, but originally I had figured on at least 8 beds to get in most of what I wanted to plant...even omitting a few things. Now I've never been accused of being a math whiz, but I believe that's $200. Again, not a fortune, but we are in desperate need of a riding lawnmower, and Mr. Hooter has not yet gotten his promised promotion (nor promotion pay). And it also gets to the point where you have to wonder if $$$ spent on a garden is worth it in the end - the point is to save money on produce. But if you spend major bucks on getting your garden together, where is the savings? $200 will buy a lot of tomatos. As will the $100 we spent already on a load of dirt.

So back to my long-winded story...Mr. Hooter is calling around to sawmills trying to find the cheapest cedar possible, when a guy he works with pops in and says, "Hey...you looking for cedar boards? I'll give you some for free!" I'm sure this man, Mr. Murphy, had a halo and wings. While that fact may be debatable, what is not is that he ended up not having just a piddly pile, BUT about FOUR truckloads of all the rough-cut cedar I could possibly find uses for...did I mention for FREE??? We're talking good heavy stuff originally purchased for furniture-making by this guy's dad. He just wanted rid of it. And as I was picking through the brown recluse-riddled stacks (the largest suckers I've ever seen, by the way), getting filthy dirty and choking on years of dust, I was downright giddy. I would never have guessed a truckload of dirty lumber would ever have made me so happy, but talk about getting EXACTLY what you need at EXACTLY the right time - it's uncanny!

Now I need to try this again...lawnmower....lawnmower....lawnmower...

Spoiled Dogs and Garden Woes

Oh will it EVER stop raining??? If it doesn't stop soon, the Hooters will be buying produce rather than growing it. My hopes for a Holy Cow Garden are quickly going down the drain, and now I'm hoping simply for any kind of garden at all. Heck, I may have to plop plants down in five gallon buckets.

And even more distressing, I saw my dream garden in the most recent issue of Mother Earth News. Not just a garden I thought might look nice, but the EXACT garden I'd always imagined I would have someday! Totally fenced in, attractive raised beds, with mulched paths in between, and soaker hoses going to the beds. *sigh*...I can see that garden right in my garden spot, but unfortunately time and funds are not in my favor this year. I did, however, earmark the page, and I've been looking at it frequently. I can't QUIT looking at it. Well, I suppose you can't have everything in year #1 at a new place...

So our idea for raised garden beds was to use readily available cedar posts that the old homeowner left us. Unfortunately, the idea was better in our heads than in practice. What we've gotten so far look like really bad attempts at tiny log cabins, which look even worse in reality than the imagination can conjure. I'm not posting a picture because I'm too embarassed. And even worse than looking bad, I'm afraid they will not be functional. So, here we are deep into planting season and back to square one! I would just break down and plant in the ground like a normal person if we hadn't had this load of dirt brought in...or should I say, big load of MUD.

And here I thought I'd left my stress back with the park system!

Oh well...enough garden woes. At any rate, it will not be the end of the world if this season passes us by with only minimal produce. I just figured not having a job per say, I would easily get everything done. Ehhh...not so...

So the other day I was in and out of the house pretty frequently, and I guess Sally snuck her way inside. This is how I found her:

Either Sally is trying to hide the fact that she's on Marden's chair, or she's doing a pretty good impression of the Virgin Mary.

In other critter news, all is well with the others, including the chickens and pigs. I had some inquiries on my last post as to the identity of the pictured pig. That would be "Freckles", who actually belongs to our friends Brian and Sarah. Freckles is the most social of the piggies, and is the most entertaining to watch. Freckles and Lucy have stuck up quite a friendship. Here they are chatting about something interesting I'm sure.

Chickens are doing well and have moved permanently out of the barn...THANK GOODNESS!!! They're much easier to take care of in the coop, and a lot of fun to watch. Tonight they are weathering their first storm...of course it's raining...again...

Oink.

The Coop De Gras

May I proudly present the Coop De Gras, The Hen Hilton, The Clucker Caboose on it's maiden voyage today. Otherwise known as - my chicken coop, which has been a work in progress and a thorn in my side for what has felt like months, but has actually only been about one month. Actually, I owe all completion to my dad, who came down and helped for a few days. Helped, as in did all the really hard stuff and took it off the track of being a worthless piece of junk to something I don't mind having the neighbors see. :)

The Hen Hilton comes with every fathomable feature I could think of, including extra nest boxes, plenty of access ports, and roosts of differing heights. Hey, nothing's too good for my girls. At least, I'm ASSUMING at this point that they are girls...as of yet none show signs of being a rooster. They spent most of the day today in it, but they haven't yet mustered the nerve to go up to the second story. For at least another week they'll be spending their nights back in the garage, but as they get bigger, they'll have access to an electrified yard to get their feetsies on the grass, and to eat up some yummy bugs and grass, therefore producing yummy eggs for us.

Yay SPRING!!!

After what has seemed like a HORRENDOUSLY long winter, in which my creative juices as related to blogging have been pretty much frozen, it's looking like it's finally time for a thaw now that it's OFFICIALLY spring! As previously stated, winter really doesn't usually bother me. But this winter I had the worst case of cabin fever in the history of myself. As a result, it seems almost as though this is my first spring ever, and I find myself noticing every new sprig of grass, every bird coming back, every goose saying adios and heading back north, and so forth. The spring peepers are now joined by a heavy chorus of tree frogs, and soon the crickets will join back in. Speaking of bugs, I'm even welcoming them back. Though give me a month, when I'm loudly cussing my first batch of chiggers, peppered with tick bites.

Unfortunately I ushered in the first official day of spring with the worst cold I've had in several years. Mr. Hooter had one too, though he complained a lot more. Men. I think we're on the mend, and I look to resume work on the Hen Hilton, or as some people may call it - the chicken coop.

My chicks are all doing well, and this coming Monday will be a month old. They are still in the brooders, which have now been changed to very large cardboard boxes, and they've been moved into the barn. It's more acceptable to have your barn smelling like a barn rather than your spare room/house. Here is a pic of one of the Eggers on their last day in the house...this Barred Plymouth Rock was determined to sleep on the food jar, despite the fact that she was just too big.

Here is a current pic of the Eggers in their barn brooder, quite a bit bigger and definately more feathered out. Hopefully in another week or two they'll be able to go out in the regular coop, and maybe they'll at least start getting inspired to lay some eggs. Likely, though, we still have months before we can expect out first eggs...the waiting is tough. I can only imagine how excited and proud I'll be when I find that first pullet egg!

The Meaties have been spending a few nice days out in their movable coop. They seem to enjoy being out, though they don't seem to be very interested in foraging...mostly they just sit around and get fat and look tasty.

And speaking of tasty, we now have pigs! There are actually five pigs in the pen, but we're only keeping three temporarily for a friend. Our two are "Whitey" and "Petunia", and bless their hearts, they are about the ugliest pigs you've ever seen. They came from a pretty horrible, muddy, rocky environment, and had been allowed to go half wild. They got to our pen and, pardon the pun, were in hog heaven with the grass, dry ground, and sunshine.

I've been asked by quite a few people I know how on earth I can be such an animal lover, yet be raising chickens and pigs for meat. So, I guess I need to explain myself with a little rant. First, I think we're WAY to dependent on The Industry to get our food for us. This globalization isn't a good thing...I don't really like the fact that my apples come from Argentina, all covered in wax and preservatives and pesticides. The mega food industry really bothers me...such as chickens and pigs. Take the chicken industry - these poor chickens are debeaked at a very young age, stuffed in a tiny cage, and live their short lives being stuffed full of antibiotics and who knows what else, never once seeing the sun shine or getting to even set their feet on grass. Then, when it comes to butchering time, they are stuck on a conveyer belt-ish machine, where they may or may not be killed instantly, and are further machine processed like any other mass-produced product. And with pigs...most commercially raised pigs are forced to live in little pens, on concrete leading to all sorts of painful leg and foot problems, shot up with who knows what medications, then face the same conveyer-belt style processing as the chickens.

The reality that most people don't want to face is this - if I want to eat chicken or pork, or whatever, an animal has to die. At least I know exactly what my animals are eating, they have lots of room to just "be chickens" and "be pigs", and when the time comes to go to the big coop or hog waller in the sky, they will have had a good life, and the end will be swift. And at least I will know that my family is not contributing to what I consider very unethical industry practices.

It just all comes down to us being way to dependent on others to take care of us. Now, before anyone gets the idea that Mr. Hooter and I are forming our own militia, we're not quite THAT extreme. But it does bother me that in just a couple generations, we've forgotten knowledge that for thousands of years people have just KNOWN how to do. I recently heard a story about a young woman who actually cried when she was informed that the electric company would be turning off the neighborhood's electricity for a couple hours for routine maintenance. It made me realize just how dependant we are on what really is a fragile system. Maybe I'm nuts, but I just don't feel like following the herd anymore.

And maybe after I clean my first chicken, I'll decide to go back to following the herd. :)

That's my rant and rave for today, which has been enhanced by a Nyquil induced stupor...I hope everyone is out enjoying this weather!

Also, stay tuned for an UPDATE TO MULLETHUNT '08!!! This winter has produced some VERY FINE specimins, and I'm hoping the warmer weather will coax more out of their winter hibernation. HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!

My Peeps

Nothing much going on at the Hooter Homestead lately (besides waiting VERY impatiently for spring), which should explain my absence of blogs these past couple of months. I hope you all can be patient! In the meantime, I'm finding that keeping baby chicks in the spare room is a pain, but also pretty entertaining. Their wing feathers are really coming out, and yesterday they started sprouting tailfeathers, which are now about 1/4" long. The "meaties" have voracious appetites...seen here doing what they do best. Pretty much all they do is eat and sleep grow. Already they are twice as big as the "eggers"!

Here's a pic of Team Egger after a hard day of...eating, drinking, pooping, and peeping. I like the Buff Orpington and Rhode Island Red who collapsed in the food dish. The two Auracanas caused a switch in food dispersal shortly after I took this pic, as they have the strong urge to scratch. The two had been standing in the food doing a "scratch boogie", flinging feed to all points of the brooder and beyond making an unholy mess...so I've now switched them to the mason jar-type feeders. Few more days and accomodations will be moved to the barn.

Work on the Chicken Hilton continues...hope I can get it done by the time these guys/girls are ready!

New Additions!

The Hooter Homestead has some new additions - chicks! I got them today at the farm store...after making elaborate plans to travel to a Springfield hatchery to get chicks (after reading bad things about farm store chicks), I found myself in the local farm store getting some supplies. In general conversation with the manager, I discovered that they get their chicks from the same hatchery, and sell them at the same price.

So, I left with 5 Buff Orpington, 5 Barred Plymouth Rock, 2 Rhode Island Reds, and 2 Ameraucana (Easter Egg Layers), and finally 10 Cornish Cross (meat birds...which is quite an experiment I'm sure I'll be talking about).

Here are the chickies in their brooder. I'm sure they'll grow out of it quick, but hopefully it'll work for the rest of the week! Notice the chick that looks as if she's on her face - she's not dead, but literally fell down asleep. They go, go, go...then stop...then fall asleep for about 20 seconds...then go, go, go!

Tornado Damage

Well, the Hooter Homestead weathered the bad storms and tornados a couple days ago pretty well, though for a while it was pretty dicey! Marden and I, plus Sally, spent a while sitting on the floor of the bathroom wondering if the house were going to come down around our ears, and deciding that a storm shelter just might be a good idea.

This is what's left of our favorite Mexican restaurant, Letty's in Gassville. I wish I'd eaten their awesome breakfast just ONE more time, but we're hoping against hope that they rebuild. A good lesson? If you're thinking about going out to eat to your favorite restaurant, do it! Never know when it might be oblitherated...

Snow Day

Well, we didn't get much more measureable snow last night, which left us with a solid 5". Today turned out to be a pretty drippy day, as our ONE SNOW started to melt with a vengence.

I did, however, take advantage of the situation. Lucy kept taking off with their arms, but I was finally able to distract her long enough to snap a picture.

Yay Snow!!!

Finally!!! After what seems like months and months of dreary brown, cold, and more brown, we've FINALLY gotten some of the white stuff. I confess, I'd given up on this winter, but waking up this morning to a totally white yard, and snow coming down so hard it looked very blizzardy, renewed my faith in the weather. While Mr. Hooter and I were giddy with the prospect of snow, we quickly realized the decision to put off getting groceries was probably not a wise one. However, we threw the Exploder into 4-wheel drive, braved the elements and other idiots on the road, and retrieved the needed supplies.

Here's the porch rail...eh...maybe 3", but it was still coming down hard.

The dogs had a great time playing!!!

Mullethunt '08 - It Begins.

Yes friends, Mullethunt '08 has officially begun. The champion mullet-hunting team of Hannah and Trent made this capture, with as I understand Trent as "spotter" and Hannah as "shooter."

This is a classic "squiggle mullet", permed to perfection and on display in a nice cozy diner. Look close - does it appear there are TWO mullets in this photograph? Who knew Colorado was the Mecca for mullets???

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Happy 2008! I know, I know...the blog has suffered as of late, and as a consequence has become quite lame. However, it's a new year, the blog has a new look, and this year for The Hooters will no doubt be wilder than ever.

I hope everyone had a great holiday season! Ours was awesome and lasted a solid two weeks, with one week spent in Missouri with my fam, and the other week spent on the other side of the Ozarks with Marden's fam. After the major ice storm a few weeks ago, Mom and Dad's yard looked like it had been bombed - literally. Marden, Trent, Tye, and Dad all manned chainsaws. I helped some, but when the bonfires started (with the aid of copious amounts of diesel fuel), I wisely retreated to the safety of the indoors. It was bad enough just watching my husband wielding a chainsaw.

Marden tried an experiment with facial hair this holiday season while on leave. I think he looks quite cute in the goatee. Unfortunately the Army doesn't see it that way, and the goat had to go. However, not before some further facial hair fun. I can't say I really care for the biker/cowboy look.

The pets are all great - Lucy continues to peg-leg around and is really enjoying the new abundance of yard at our place. Sally had a bout with a cold, so enjoyed the holidays indoors haming it up...she learned that the "poor trembling puppy" routine gets extra attention and food, especially when paired with a pathetic whine. Before her cold, though, Sally made Marden proud by bagging her first rabbit. Well, she didn't actually get the rabbit...but she sniffed it out and stayed behind it, running it right to Marden. Having never witnessed a beagle running a rabbit before, I was quite impressed...it was actually pretty cool. Also cool was the delicious rabbit stew that we had for supper!

And what else does the new year bring? MULLETHUNT 2008!!! So far we're only a week into the hunt, but I'm expecting an incredibly productive year from our seasoned hunters. Who's going to get the first capture of the new year???

And that wraps up the current Hooter Update. Marden is finally back at work after three weeks of leave, and I'm still working on the house. A tiny bit of trim, some touch-up paint, and some organizing, and we'll be a little closer to done. Though I really don't think a house is ever "done"...it just leads the way for other projects. But, when I can finally step back and declare "done", I'll be diving right in to working on my artwork, building fly rods, teaching the fly fishing class, building a mobile chicken coop, planning a garden, getting some beehives set up...wow. I think I need a nap just typing that.

Yay for 2008~!!!