Chicken pen and Washtub gardening

 Very slowly but surely, the chicken pen is making some progress.  We're gonna have to pick up some speed because these four little turkey poults are gonna be too big for their brooder.  I've also ordered my chicks which are will be ready for pickup on the 16th.  I ordered the same ones I had in the past - black sex links, yellow sex links, ameracaunas, barred plymouth rocks and, a gentleman, Salmon Faverolle rooster.  I love the sex links because they are the ones that love laying in the winter.  I went with the Faverolle rooster because of their sweet demeanor.  I would like to get some Faverolle pullets but Ideal was out.  Once we get the pen ready, I will acquire some various pullets that are already laying.  I've bought farm eggs locally but, for some reason, they just don't taste the same as "home grown".
Hahaha...I just looked at my picture again..no, my chickens are NOT going to be hooked up with satellite tv!...that's coming down.

 We've had different gardens in the past years and they always seem to get out of hand.  Or maybe I'm just too lazy to keep up with them.  I know I'm late planting but I went with putting a few plants in washtubs.  I did a few last year and they worked well.  I went to the antique store to find some more washtubs...yikes! they're pricey!  This year I'll be buying from the local farmers market and putting up.
Another issue we've been tossing around is selling this place and moving closer to our church - we've decided we're staying put and will continue the long drive.  When God called Buddy to start a church 45 minutes from here, we knew it wasn't going to be easy.  Think about it...when God asked men of the Bible to do something, it was never an easy task.  Can you imagine what people thought of Noah when he was out building an ark?  We had this place on the market last summer with no prospects and the economy doesn't look any more inviting now.  We know that God will lead us in the right direction on when and where to go. 
Happy Trails...
Berte

Days of GoodBye

Buddy's uncle passed away last week after a long illness so we traveled to Dallas to the DFW National Cemetery for his funeral.  If you've never been to a Veteran's Cemetery, you owe it to yourself to go.  It was most impressive and absolutely beautiful.  I was pretty amazed at how they continually run services through there.  We had 30 minutes before another funeral was scheduled for the pavilion.  I believe I heard it said while we were there that close to 1000 veterans die a day.  I'm telling you, we were on sacred ground. 

We finally had to "let go" of Bridget and send her on to Rainbow Bridge where she can run through the sweet green grass and breathe easily.  The Cushings had taken it's toll on her.  She was a good one!
Happy Trails...
Berte

Turkey Poults

I've been on the "waiting list" for my little turkey poults.  Well, the day finally came...they were hatched out on Sunday and I picked them up last night.  These are the Heritage variety -Bourbon Reds.

This is what they'll look like when they grow up...depending if they are male or female.  I tried sexing these little guys but they were all just alike...probably, my luck, they'll all end up being toms.  I was easily able to determine the sex of his chicks but not these turkeys.  Time will tell.

This is a first for me having turkeys.  I might be calling on you turkey owners out there for some assistance.  I am so impressed with these guys.

Happy Trails...

Berte

One Rise Bread

I apoligize so much to the blogger who initially posted this recipe to give you credit but I didn't write it down and I can't remember.  I have tried this once before but it didn't turn out so great.  I used one of those silicone loaf pans...I do not like them for baking (to put it lightly..)  I had these that I wanted to do a little comparision test.  My everloving spatterware pan and a Wilton pan.
 So here's the original recipe-

One rise bread (makes 2 loaves)

In a large mixer place:
2 1/2 cups hot tap water
1 T salt
1/3 c. oil
1/3 c. sugar or honey
2 T yeast
1 egg

Mix together a little and then add 6 c. flour.
This can be any combination of wheat and white flour.  For white bread use all white flour and for wheat bread use half and half or more wheat if you want.

Mix flour until it "leaves" the sides of the bowl.  Then continue mixing 10 minutes.
Pour dough onto an oiled countertop.  Divide in two.  Form into two loaves and place in bread pans sprayed with Pam.

Turn oven on to 350 degrees and set bread to rise on top of it for about 30-40 minutes or until it peeks over the top of the pans.
Pop in oven for 25 minutes.
Remove yummy bread from oven and from pans.
Beam with pride while you butter the tops.
Let cool completely before slicing.

But wait.
You can also make these into cinnamon rolls!  Or make one loaf of bread and one pan of cinnamon rolls.  

To make cinnamon rolls:
Roll out half of the dough on an oiled countertop to form large rectangle about 9x12. 
In a bowl, mix 1/2 cup sugar & 1 T cinnamon with 2 T softened butter. 
With a pastry cutter or fork, cut butter into sugar & cinnamon until it forms a crumbly mixture.
Spread out on top of rolled out dough. 
Roll the short side toward you to form a log. 
Cut cinnamon rolls about 2 inches thick and place in cake pans sprayed with Pam. 
Rise for 30-40 minutes. 
Bake for 12-18 minutes.  
Glaze with powdered sugar mixed with milk.

*I had to let mine rise longer than the recommended time. 

I think both pans did equally well.  I'm just pretty partial to my spatterware.

I also used sugar instead of honey.  I also used 5 cups of white flour and 1 cup of whole wheat.  This recipe is okay in a pinch but I still like the ol' fashioned double-rise bread.
Happy Trails..
Berte

Rain Barrel

I went to Lowe's early because we had rain forecasted to hit in the afternoon. I decided to go with a commercial brand trash can because I don't think I'm too gifted to be able to work from two small openings on top of a barrel. Until I find a barrel that the lid comes off, I'll stick with this. It's pretty heavy duty plastic...and a little more money than I wanted to pay...$30.

Then the clouds start rolling in so not sure I'm gonna get this done in time. We were originally forecasted a 30%, then increased to 40%. By last night it was updated to 50%. Now I hear it's 80%. Yikes...I better hurry....

Of course, I have no power tools here at the house that I can use...so much for drilling a nice hole in the top. This ol' girl uses what she's got...a box cutter. My right arm and shoulder may never be the same but, hey, it worked. Under this green grate on the pvc reducer, I added window screen to keep the mosquitos out. You'll see on the last picture the hose sitting on top. I'm not sure if I want to leave the drain or have the hose more properly fit into the white pvc.

I then cut the hole for the spigot. I used a marker to outline the inside diameter of the fitting and, again, cut the hole with a box cutter. I used a washer on the inside and outside and used silicone to seal.

I also bought a couple cinder blocks for this to sit on. Now to take down the gutter so I can put on the flexible hose.

See how the hose sits on top of the drain. I need another flat block or two to raise the barrel and might leave off the green grate.

So...mission accomplished. Do ya notice the black clouds are gone and the sun is out? Yep, rain went right around us...not a drop. Now that's another story...

Happy Trails...

Berte

Chicken pen in the Making

In the past, the chickens were in the very back corner of our property that backs up to a farmer's crops. These are commercial crops so it's acres and acres of flat land either full of corn or cotton. The drought last year brought an influx of coyotes so we moved what was left of the chickens up inside the yard where the house sits. Well, duh, it just brought the coyotes up close to the house and, along with the dogs, my chickens were finished off. Now, we are moving the chickens to another corner of the yard and building a sturdier, coyote and dog proof pen. I wrapped poultry netting around the existing fence on the two outside perimeters of the pen. I had to hurry and get it done in one sitting so I could cut the netting off the roll and get it inside the yard before Button, the longhorn, had a chance to "play" with a roll of poultry netting. Oh, Lordy, that would have been a wreck! This weekend we work on building the rest of it. As much as I hate doing it, we're going to run an electric strand around the perimeter of the base to keep dogs and coyotes out. Hopefully, the only predator we will have to remedy is a chicken hawk.

This weekend is Poultry Trade Day over in Giddings and want to go check out what everyone has but we might be working on the pen instead. I've got my name on the list for Red Bourbon turkey chicks to be hatched this Sunday. Gotta get those when I can!

Well...gotta get back to my to-do list...rain barrels are on the list this morning..stay tuned to see if I can master this task.

Happy Trails...

Berte

Around the Farm

Are there days when you can find nothing to post about and then others when you have too much for one post? Or maybe things are just so busy around here that if I took the time to post each day, I could for sure have something to post about. It seems I have a lot of irons in the fire right now with much on my "to do" list. Especially since we had 4 days without water last week...ugh. How much we rely on that good ol' stuff called water.

Here's Buddy hauling water for the horses last week (with a little help from one of the granddaughters). Fortunately, we had some rubber water troughs that he could pick up and haul. Yesterday when I was out working on the chicken pen (that's another story), I heard a commotion and looked up and saw that silly Longhorn "playing" with that trough like a toy. We keep a big blue plastic barrel out in the pasture that she usually plays with but she decided a very large trough was more fun. I wish I had my camera...

I did have it with me to snap some pics of the horses... this is Jess and Cinch. Poor Cinch...Jess won't leave him alone. Every picture I have of them is just alike because she is along his side every step of his way.

And here's sweet Bridget. She has classic Cushing's Disease. Cushing's is usually seen in the smaller breed horses and ponies but not limited to them. It's when the pituitary gland is not functioning properly and puts out abnormally high levels of cortisol in the blood. Among some of the signs is excessive thirst and urination and a thick wavy coat. They typically have weight loss and develop respiratory problems. She's there! It's pretty sad because we've seen this beautiful animal go downhill despite a variety of medical and dental treatment. Pretty soon we're gonna have to "let go"...

Well, back to a better subject...chickens! I'm in the process of moving the location and building a new pen. I'll get pictures up soon. I can hardly stand being without my fine feathered friends.

Happy Trails...

Berte