I just finished a glass or two of wine. (ok two) Sit down and record my calories for the day (I'm right on the dot with the budget) and I'm now listening to a few of my favorite songs.
Decaff coffee is sitting next to me filled with a sugar free syrup, milk, and a tiny squeeze of whipped cream. Perfect end to a not so stressful day. Perfect.
What I need now, though, is to go play with Memphis... but the days are SO hot lately. Too hot for me to go sweat it out in a barn. So really, all I can do is sit from the safety of my computer and thinking about seeing Memphis. Poor horse probably has no clue what is going on. Awesome horse.
I'm also listening to the chicks behind me in the brooder just chirping away. Cute little buggers are starting to sprout out their first little feathers. They grow so fast. They'll be outside in about 3 more weeks. Then off to kill the older hens before winter. Life is funny like that, the older hens don't realize their demise. They just process day to day. No animal wants to die. Not a one. Yet, I continue to eat meat, process my chickens, and the like knowing I wouldn't want the same fate. BUT, if I had to accept it as a fact that one day I would be slaughtered, I would want to go like my chickens. Fast and painless.
Lucille is doing so well. I'm so please with everything she does. I'm so amazed by what she learns. She has me wrapped around her little finger. Yet I still feel compelled to not let her know it. I don't let her think that I will come to her at the drop of the hat, yet when I do come, I am beyond a comfort. I am her mother after all, but I want to set up boundaries early early on. It's a tricky game to mold a tiny person now for the future. I can only hope that I do a good job. A nerdy kid wouldn't be that bad.And her father is such a great person, although he can be slightly crass (ok really crass), he will be a great role model for what a man should be.
Life right now is all about what I make it. I need to work harder, though. I have a tendancy to slide when I am allowed. Need to work harder on my diet, job, and life. Although I am happy in both. (just not the diet)
Monday, June 25, 2012
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Cornbread!
As Joe says every time I make cornbread "ain't nothin wrong with that!"
I use a coffee cup to measure.... I know slightly unorthodox... but the ratios would be the same if you used a regular measuring cup.
Note that using a standard size coffee cup makes enough to fill a 13x9 cake pan.
1 coffee cup of yellow cornmeal
2 coffee cups of all purpose flour
3/4 coffee cup of sugar
2 tabl baking powder
1/2 teas salt
4 eggs
1.5 coffee cup of milk
1/4 cup of butter
Pretty basic here, mix all dry ingredients, melt the butter, and then add all the wet ingredients to the dry. Mix well and cook on 420F for about 30-35 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean.
This cornbread is exactly as I like it. Sweet, moist, and with the grittiness of the corn. I LOVE this. Took me 6 tries to get here, but it was worth it.
Give it a shot!
I use a coffee cup to measure.... I know slightly unorthodox... but the ratios would be the same if you used a regular measuring cup.
Note that using a standard size coffee cup makes enough to fill a 13x9 cake pan.
1 coffee cup of yellow cornmeal
2 coffee cups of all purpose flour
3/4 coffee cup of sugar
2 tabl baking powder
1/2 teas salt
4 eggs
1.5 coffee cup of milk
1/4 cup of butter
Pretty basic here, mix all dry ingredients, melt the butter, and then add all the wet ingredients to the dry. Mix well and cook on 420F for about 30-35 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean.
This cornbread is exactly as I like it. Sweet, moist, and with the grittiness of the corn. I LOVE this. Took me 6 tries to get here, but it was worth it.
Give it a shot!
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Chickens overrun neighborhood!!!
Ok, as many of you know that read this blog every now and again or whenever I make a post, you know that I love chickens. I love my chickens. LOVE MY CHICKENS.
So when I saw this:
http://www.wave3.com/story/18766069/troubleshooter-investigates-fowl-problem-chickens-overruning-neighborhood
I was and am pretty upset by it.
See I live in the city limits of Louisville. I have my chickens free ranging in my backyard. I don't ever want to be without chickens. I really do love these stupid stupid birds. So, that being said, I'm going to make you an informative chicken in the city limits related post! The last thing that I wish to happen is to get rid of my chickens.
Keeping Chickens in the City
You stop at a feed store and see a tub full of cute little baby chickens! Your child asks if you can get a couple or (if you're a sucker like me) you fall in love with that tiny fluffy chirpy body. You buy 8 of these suckers and get home and realize that you have no idea what to do with them in the city!
First off, these little balls of fluff need to live either in your house for 4-5 weeks or in a garage that is free of drafts. Secondly, they will need to stay WARM. This is generally done by means of a heat lamp attached to whatever container you keep them in. (I keep mine in a 50 gallon container) You are these guys only source of heat, KEEP THEM WARM. Next up you will need to put shavings down (I use pelletalized horse pellet shavings) and then cover them with newspaper since these little guys aren't the brightest cookies in the jar.
Other than food and water these little chicks don't need much else. Well, maybe a tank cleanout every few days.
After a few weeks it's time to move them outside and here's where it gets tricky tricky. I don't mean to toot my own horn here, but I've had chickens for 3 years and my neighbors LOVE them and me still to this day. Let me break down how I handle the aspects of my girls:
Chickens themselves:
They are checked for parasites regularly and their wings are kept clipped so they can't fly. NO FLYING BIRDS. They WILL and DO clear fences if they can fly. I prefer to keep my animals contained to my yard. Every now and again chickens can and do get out, but its never been a daily, weekly, or even monthly thing. It's rare.
Chickens will also come home 99% of the time. So if you find some got out somehow and you can't find them, settle down first. Wait till dusk and start hunting your yard. Clip their wings when you find them and figure out and fix how they got out. You also have to clip wings 2-3 times a year to keep them like this.
The Coop:
If you confine your chickens to a run and coop, do your neighbors a favor and KEEP IT CLEAN. Here, I'll say it again, KEEP IT CLEAN. This will mean weekly clean outs of the coop (unless you do a deep litter method - which I won't cover) and daily checks to make sure that its not getting gross. Lyme here (garden lime, don't get hyro Lyme) is your ultimate best friend. It absorbs moisture, cuts down the smell, and keeps the coop all fresh. Just a small sprinkle before you lay shavings down is all you need.
The Run:
Turn your run frequently and lyme it as well. This keeps smell down and keeps the chickens turning it up.
Feed:
Keep feed put away. TONS of critters love chicken feed. I keep mine in big Tupperware containers. Along with the corn and scratch.
Roosters:
Don't keep these. Just don't. They get aggressive, are loud, and really really obnoxious. I've always gotten rid of mine the second I figure out which are which in the brooder.
Other than that, my neighbors love my chickens, take my eggs, and are generally concerned about the well being of my little creatures I keep in the backyard. I've had no complaints and had many people tell me they like to just sit and watch them be stupid in the backyard.
Keeping chickens correctly isn't hard and it pisses me off to have some jack cause a problems for us owners that actually take the time and effort to care for our flock.
So when I saw this:
http://www.wave3.com/story/18766069/troubleshooter-investigates-fowl-problem-chickens-overruning-neighborhood
I was and am pretty upset by it.
See I live in the city limits of Louisville. I have my chickens free ranging in my backyard. I don't ever want to be without chickens. I really do love these stupid stupid birds. So, that being said, I'm going to make you an informative chicken in the city limits related post! The last thing that I wish to happen is to get rid of my chickens.
Keeping Chickens in the City
You stop at a feed store and see a tub full of cute little baby chickens! Your child asks if you can get a couple or (if you're a sucker like me) you fall in love with that tiny fluffy chirpy body. You buy 8 of these suckers and get home and realize that you have no idea what to do with them in the city!
First off, these little balls of fluff need to live either in your house for 4-5 weeks or in a garage that is free of drafts. Secondly, they will need to stay WARM. This is generally done by means of a heat lamp attached to whatever container you keep them in. (I keep mine in a 50 gallon container) You are these guys only source of heat, KEEP THEM WARM. Next up you will need to put shavings down (I use pelletalized horse pellet shavings) and then cover them with newspaper since these little guys aren't the brightest cookies in the jar.
Other than food and water these little chicks don't need much else. Well, maybe a tank cleanout every few days.
After a few weeks it's time to move them outside and here's where it gets tricky tricky. I don't mean to toot my own horn here, but I've had chickens for 3 years and my neighbors LOVE them and me still to this day. Let me break down how I handle the aspects of my girls:
Chickens themselves:
They are checked for parasites regularly and their wings are kept clipped so they can't fly. NO FLYING BIRDS. They WILL and DO clear fences if they can fly. I prefer to keep my animals contained to my yard. Every now and again chickens can and do get out, but its never been a daily, weekly, or even monthly thing. It's rare.
Chickens will also come home 99% of the time. So if you find some got out somehow and you can't find them, settle down first. Wait till dusk and start hunting your yard. Clip their wings when you find them and figure out and fix how they got out. You also have to clip wings 2-3 times a year to keep them like this.
The Coop:
If you confine your chickens to a run and coop, do your neighbors a favor and KEEP IT CLEAN. Here, I'll say it again, KEEP IT CLEAN. This will mean weekly clean outs of the coop (unless you do a deep litter method - which I won't cover) and daily checks to make sure that its not getting gross. Lyme here (garden lime, don't get hyro Lyme) is your ultimate best friend. It absorbs moisture, cuts down the smell, and keeps the coop all fresh. Just a small sprinkle before you lay shavings down is all you need.
The Run:
Turn your run frequently and lyme it as well. This keeps smell down and keeps the chickens turning it up.
Feed:
Keep feed put away. TONS of critters love chicken feed. I keep mine in big Tupperware containers. Along with the corn and scratch.
Roosters:
Don't keep these. Just don't. They get aggressive, are loud, and really really obnoxious. I've always gotten rid of mine the second I figure out which are which in the brooder.
Other than that, my neighbors love my chickens, take my eggs, and are generally concerned about the well being of my little creatures I keep in the backyard. I've had no complaints and had many people tell me they like to just sit and watch them be stupid in the backyard.
Keeping chickens correctly isn't hard and it pisses me off to have some jack cause a problems for us owners that actually take the time and effort to care for our flock.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Tomorrow I ride! And other random junk..
I haven't ridden in 3 weeks. That may be a sin in some countries, I'm not 100% sure. Part of it is Lucille, it has been interesting to try to figure out what to do with her while I visit him and it has honestly taken me 6 weeks after I've gone back to work to finally get settled into a routine. Is that sad or what?
But! I need to get on him and get this thing moving if I ever plan on having a great future with him at all. So my goals tomm are two things with him:
1) work on neck reining and legs some more
2) Let him open up a little under saddle
For #1, I've just been starting my rides out all the same. I flat walk 2-3 circles around the arena to get him back into the moving phase and get me more relaxed. (ok its all me) I have set up poles in a pole bending pattern and we go through them over and over again. I say left, apply the right rein to his neck and push with my right leg. I say right, apply the left rein to his neck and push with my left leg. He was just starting to make the connection without me having to correct with direct reining, but I have a feeling that I've let it go too long. Oh well. My inner legs could use a workout.
For #2, I know he just wants to gait under saddle and I've been holding him back making him stay in a flat walk only. I'm gonna let him go and see what happens. Slightly crazy, but I think it would be nice to see what he does if I let him go a little. Not like drop the reins and cowgirl it up, but see which gait he chooses if I allow him the freedom to choose. I have a feeling it will be a rack, but we'll see.
In other news, I'm dieting like a madwoman. Not fun.
But! I need to get on him and get this thing moving if I ever plan on having a great future with him at all. So my goals tomm are two things with him:
1) work on neck reining and legs some more
2) Let him open up a little under saddle
For #1, I've just been starting my rides out all the same. I flat walk 2-3 circles around the arena to get him back into the moving phase and get me more relaxed. (ok its all me) I have set up poles in a pole bending pattern and we go through them over and over again. I say left, apply the right rein to his neck and push with my right leg. I say right, apply the left rein to his neck and push with my left leg. He was just starting to make the connection without me having to correct with direct reining, but I have a feeling that I've let it go too long. Oh well. My inner legs could use a workout.
For #2, I know he just wants to gait under saddle and I've been holding him back making him stay in a flat walk only. I'm gonna let him go and see what happens. Slightly crazy, but I think it would be nice to see what he does if I let him go a little. Not like drop the reins and cowgirl it up, but see which gait he chooses if I allow him the freedom to choose. I have a feeling it will be a rack, but we'll see.
In other news, I'm dieting like a madwoman. Not fun.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Nothing new here
Lately nothing new has really been going on. Got some cleaning done, doing tons of laundry, *thinking* about cleaning my tack, and that's about it. Been focusing more on weight loss lately than anything else and now's the time I need to get back up on my horse. The bad part is I'm timid on him again. I noticed it last time I rode. Sigh. All that is is uneasyness of not knowing what he will do and my ability to react to it. It'll get better the more I ride him. I've at least got it up to 20 minutes of riding rather than the 10 I was doing. I'd like to ride tomm but it looks like its going to rain :(
Short post I know.
Short post I know.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Let the season of gardening begin!
Danger of frost has finally left my little (well not that little) city of Louisville and since my veggie plants came in on Weds of last week, I needed to go ahead and work the ground some. Joe had already tilled about a month ago and the ground is still super soft and workable. He does a much better job tilling than I do, simply because he has more patience than I do.
So anywho, I set out 9 pepper plants, 18 tomato plants, a row of zucchini, another row of that, and a row of pumpkins. I have carrot seeds too but I'm currently trying to figure out where to put them. I plan on canning all the tomatoes into salsas, sauce, and crushed tomatoes.
We also finally got a decent fence built around the garden to keep the dogs and chickens out. I spent the money this year and got metal stakes insead of the crappy plastic ones I had last year that never held the fence up. I'm proud of the work put into it :) Ok, slight correction, that Joe put into it. He put up the fence for me while I cleaned out the chicken coop and tended to Lucy.
I still need to weed my front yard, remulch the rosebeds, get a new border to put around the rose bed, trim the roses, pull out the ugly bushes in front of our windows, and then trim down the plant that is taking over the corner of the house. That will most likely be next weekends project.
Other than that, not much else in my household. Have a few recipe posts to make and tonight I need to clean out the chick brooder and build something for them to go outside in.
Never ends.
So anywho, I set out 9 pepper plants, 18 tomato plants, a row of zucchini, another row of that, and a row of pumpkins. I have carrot seeds too but I'm currently trying to figure out where to put them. I plan on canning all the tomatoes into salsas, sauce, and crushed tomatoes.
We also finally got a decent fence built around the garden to keep the dogs and chickens out. I spent the money this year and got metal stakes insead of the crappy plastic ones I had last year that never held the fence up. I'm proud of the work put into it :) Ok, slight correction, that Joe put into it. He put up the fence for me while I cleaned out the chicken coop and tended to Lucy.
I still need to weed my front yard, remulch the rosebeds, get a new border to put around the rose bed, trim the roses, pull out the ugly bushes in front of our windows, and then trim down the plant that is taking over the corner of the house. That will most likely be next weekends project.
Other than that, not much else in my household. Have a few recipe posts to make and tonight I need to clean out the chick brooder and build something for them to go outside in.
Never ends.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Overcoming the evils of spray bottles!
This is more of a training type related post but it's a post all the same.
So, did you know that spray bottles are monsters?! Seriously, the very bottle itself at any point in time can just go off! There is a cold wet feeling that comes right when that bottle shows up and it always seems to start on the legs! Who knows what the real intentions are of these bottles but if I am a horse, NO WAY THAT THING IS GOING TO KILL ME!!!!!!
I think that is what goes through Memphis' mind when he sees the bottle. I can usually see him tensing up right when I start walking towards him with it. But, at the end of the day I am going to win. (My 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Adams, would fail me based on the fact that I started that sentence with "but")
So every time we work through this issue it's much the same. This is so similar to working him through bath time that its the same principal. I have found that the safest place for me when working through an issue with my horse is right at his shoulder about 2-3 feet away from him. I do not stand in front of him, nor do I allow a large area of space between us. My reasoning for this is I do not want to be trampled if he decides to bolt forward and I don't want to give him the freedom of unpressured motion. (that leads to more of a free will to act even dumber I have found)
Now, I do not want forward movement out of him. His natural instinct is to bolt the hell away from the monster at hand and that is forward movement. (sometimes he bolts backwards but that's more in response to my pressure on him in the wrong spot) I want to restrict his ability to bolt forward for this exercise in getting over evil horse eating bottles.
I keep myself in a large area to give us both room to move around with no fears of hitting anything since I don't want to add any more monsters to the list while trying to train him to give to this bottle. I also need to allow myself enough patience to work him through this, so I usually give myself a second to decompose before I start. This is for my sanity and helps put myself in the mindset of getting a job done as opposed to trying to spray him with flyspray.
Ok, so I have a big dumb horse, I have fly spray in one hand, one short lead rope attached to his halter, and we are standing in the middle of a large open barn area. Let the fun begin!!!!
I start with his legs and spray the bottle, he immediatly trys to go forward on me. I counter his manuever and turn his head towards me. I don't say anything and I don't make a fuss, but this will make him try to turn his entire body away from me to straighten out his neck. I do not allow it. I walk with his body staying at his shoulder and I continue to spray his legs. Now we are doing a sort of dance in the barn. I do not allow him enough room to rear back, I do not allow him the ability to straighten his neck out and bolt, and I do not allow him the option to think about going crazy.
I'm steady and I'm firm.
I give him 5 minutes on each side. I don't want his neck to get sore from being bent one way the entire time; so after 5 mintues he gets a short break to catch his breath, let me get the room to stop spinning, and then I switch sides. Then we go again and again and again.
Took him 30 minutes before he just stopped and let me spray him. I took all pressure off of him. Allowed him to look forward, gave him slack on the lead rope, and took a deep breath while stepping off his shoulder and releasing the pressure I was putting on him.
He then got sprayed again like I would if I was going to do it before any ride. He gets no praises from me, his release from pressure was his reward. I make no fuss about it after I've sprayed him. I just tie him to the wall again, put the fly spray away, and then continue on with whatever I was going to do for the day with him.
I will repeat the above method each time he balks at being sprayed until he will allow me to spray him tied to the wall. This could take a bit, but I'm going to get it done.
Stupid horse eating monsters!!!
So, did you know that spray bottles are monsters?! Seriously, the very bottle itself at any point in time can just go off! There is a cold wet feeling that comes right when that bottle shows up and it always seems to start on the legs! Who knows what the real intentions are of these bottles but if I am a horse, NO WAY THAT THING IS GOING TO KILL ME!!!!!!
I think that is what goes through Memphis' mind when he sees the bottle. I can usually see him tensing up right when I start walking towards him with it. But, at the end of the day I am going to win. (My 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Adams, would fail me based on the fact that I started that sentence with "but")
So every time we work through this issue it's much the same. This is so similar to working him through bath time that its the same principal. I have found that the safest place for me when working through an issue with my horse is right at his shoulder about 2-3 feet away from him. I do not stand in front of him, nor do I allow a large area of space between us. My reasoning for this is I do not want to be trampled if he decides to bolt forward and I don't want to give him the freedom of unpressured motion. (that leads to more of a free will to act even dumber I have found)
Now, I do not want forward movement out of him. His natural instinct is to bolt the hell away from the monster at hand and that is forward movement. (sometimes he bolts backwards but that's more in response to my pressure on him in the wrong spot) I want to restrict his ability to bolt forward for this exercise in getting over evil horse eating bottles.
I keep myself in a large area to give us both room to move around with no fears of hitting anything since I don't want to add any more monsters to the list while trying to train him to give to this bottle. I also need to allow myself enough patience to work him through this, so I usually give myself a second to decompose before I start. This is for my sanity and helps put myself in the mindset of getting a job done as opposed to trying to spray him with flyspray.
Ok, so I have a big dumb horse, I have fly spray in one hand, one short lead rope attached to his halter, and we are standing in the middle of a large open barn area. Let the fun begin!!!!
I start with his legs and spray the bottle, he immediatly trys to go forward on me. I counter his manuever and turn his head towards me. I don't say anything and I don't make a fuss, but this will make him try to turn his entire body away from me to straighten out his neck. I do not allow it. I walk with his body staying at his shoulder and I continue to spray his legs. Now we are doing a sort of dance in the barn. I do not allow him enough room to rear back, I do not allow him the ability to straighten his neck out and bolt, and I do not allow him the option to think about going crazy.
I'm steady and I'm firm.
I give him 5 minutes on each side. I don't want his neck to get sore from being bent one way the entire time; so after 5 mintues he gets a short break to catch his breath, let me get the room to stop spinning, and then I switch sides. Then we go again and again and again.
Took him 30 minutes before he just stopped and let me spray him. I took all pressure off of him. Allowed him to look forward, gave him slack on the lead rope, and took a deep breath while stepping off his shoulder and releasing the pressure I was putting on him.
He then got sprayed again like I would if I was going to do it before any ride. He gets no praises from me, his release from pressure was his reward. I make no fuss about it after I've sprayed him. I just tie him to the wall again, put the fly spray away, and then continue on with whatever I was going to do for the day with him.
I will repeat the above method each time he balks at being sprayed until he will allow me to spray him tied to the wall. This could take a bit, but I'm going to get it done.
Stupid horse eating monsters!!!
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