Trip To Amish-land

 Here is the main problem about taking trips to Amish country --

you can't take pictures of it.  We ordered this picnic table from an Amish man

about a month ago and went to pick it up today.  

 Sturdy, cedar, 

split seating, sits eight -- just what we wanted and at a good price.

Plus the bonus of visiting with an Amish family with at least 10 kids.

Ready to host families in the old barn site.

The oldest son makes really nice baskets, so we purchased

one of those as well.  CUTE KIDS, I wanted to take pictures so badly!

 Then on to the Amish general store and bakery.

The loaves of bread are only $3 each!!

I should have bought more.

Could It Get Any Worse?

 Could it get any worse?  A person should never actually let those words come out of their mouth, because the answer to that question is always -- yes.  But this week has been a progressive series of things getting worse.  Monday our contractor knocked over our planter by the driveway.  Boohoo.


Also on Monday (and Tuesday) -- a sick chicken. She was in a kennel in our house and had to have electrolytes given to her every couple hours.  Whatever evil was inside her smelled even worse when it came out of her.  (By Wednesday she was doing better.)

Tuesday morning at 2:30 a.m. my husband got up to use the bathroom.

He stepped in an inch of water.  The bathroom that attaches to our upstairs bedroom was pouring out water from the supply line to the toilet.  Maybe a couple hundred gallons.

(We sleep with a fan on, so we didn't hear anything.) Totally saturated the old growth pine floor upstairs, and made it's way downstairs into our dining room which is right below the bedroom.  Every absorbable towel, blanket, bedspread, was used to soak up the water.  And of course the rugs were all soaked.  So Tuesday morning our contractor cut holes in the dining room ceiling and walls to get air in there.  I should have taken a photo of the stack of laundry I did Tuesday.  

Also, the insurance guy came Tuesday to say water mitigation company would be covered by insurance.  And he agreed that the pine floor would have to be refinished because of warpage (again, just had them done when we moved in two years ago.)  By the way, major pain.  You can't use that area for like two weeks.

 Mitigation company came yesterday.

They set up dehumidifiers and fans in dining room,

downstairs hallway, and upstairs.  SO LOUD.

They will be with us until Monday.  Did I say LOUD?

Sorry, can't hear myself think.

 My son is staying with us this summer.  Today (which is Thursday) he found out that the people

he visited last weekend have tested positive for covid.  So he is in quarantine for two weeks, at our house.  I put up this curtain to separate his area from the rest of the house.  He gets the guest room, downstairs bathroom, sun room and deck. (Basically the only places where there isn't loud machinery.)

 We will be sliding food to him from under the curtain.

Could it get worse?  Well, it is going to feel like 100 degrees today,

so the deck is probably not going to be usable for him.  It hasn't rained in weeks,

so I do need to get out and water in this heat.  I need a vacation from bad news.

Waa.  Waa.  Waa. Call the wambulance.

Someone Is Snitching The Chooks Cornbread

A few weeks ago I posted my recipe for chicken cornbread.
No white flour, no sugar, no salt, no dairy, and olive oil instead of butter or vegetable oil.
Then I cut it into little pieces and freeze it.
The chooks get a little frozen piece of it every day as a treat.
I had a helper feeding them yesterday.

 Here he is thinking about how undeserving they are.

 Making his move...

and then finishing the frozen "delight" at his leisure.

And if there were any doubt about who snitched the chooks cornbread...

Water Fun

 

Well Well Well

 We are on a well.  (Is that how you say it?)

Anyway, we have our own well.

Very tasty water.  Free.

Plenty of it.

Until there isn't....

Not what you need during quarantine.

 So Ozark Electric AND a conservation guy were out

this morning.  Can Ozark Electric run a line that barely

crosses over Conservation land?  YES.  But about 100

things need to happen before we get water. 

(And doubtless each step is super expensive.)

But the first step was clearing trees between our

well and conservation land.  My son brought his

chain saw, and with my husband's help they knocked that step out.

The Chickens Finally Come Home To Roost

After waiting four days on one Craigslist contact to come through with hens, we switched gears.  I answered an ad offering three bantam sebright hens and a rooster.  Between making the call and picking them up was about an hour.  You can't beat that. I knew I liked the bantam sized chickens (smaller poops), but nobody mentioned to me how well they could FLY.  During the first 24 hours in their coop, two of them flew up to the coop ceiling and escaped through a small opening under the roof.  We rounded them up, but what if it had happened in the middle of the night?

We realized we need a very secure outdoor area because of their penchant for flying.  So, my son and husband worked hard on their outdoor "saferoom". We'll see how well that keeps in the escape artists during the days to come.  We live on five acres surrounded by a woods -- there are plenty of predators so they had better behave themselves.

I never ever imagined getting a rooster.  But he was so darn handsome, and came with the package.  He doesn't have a loud crow.  And for now, we are really enjoying his noise making.

(Our first egg!)

Sebrights are supposed to be a friendly breed.  We are total novices at having chickens.  

Let's hope Cogburn, Lola, Ethel and Myrtle are patient with us.  

(Oh, surprised that we named them? They are pets....that just happen to lay eggs.)

My Husband's Corona Virus Isolation Project #5 -- Chicken Living Quarters

It started out as a long range project.

As long as the great "isolation" lasts,

my husband and son would dabble around building the future 

chicken yard.  Eventually, it would be perfect --

and then we would get the poultry.

The same day I took these pics, 

I went to the grocery store.  NO EGGS.

I told the lady at the counter,

no problem.  I live in the country,

everyone has "Eggs For Sale".  Nope.

She said that the two people she knew with

"layers" have a waiting list for the eggs.

Then I made the mistake of looking for laying hens

on Craigslist.  Everybody wants them right now.

For the same reason I do.

Gorgeous, right?

Suddenly, I need them now now NOW!

So, my poor husband is going into overdrive.

Pouring concrete on the coop floor.

Hanging a gate.

Perfect chicken living quarters will have to wait --

I want to pick up my chickens this weekend.

Grandson Enjoying The Pond

My son was helping his dad with a fence today.

So that gave me some time with my 21 month old grandson,

primarily grubbing around in the 6 inches of rainwater

that has filled the unfinished pond.

 First of all you fish around for the right rock,

(or demand that Nana get one out for you.)

It's not as easy as he makes it look.

After the rock comes out, you examine it....

and sometimes you taste it.

 Yes, Nana bought the super-cool bug shirt

at a thrift store for him.  We had many discussions

about it today.  Admit it, you are jealous - you want one.

Then we throw the rock back into the pond, preferably with
a big splash.  It gives us a great amount of satisfaction.

 Nana, how about we do this a jillion more times?

How can you deny that cutie face?

Butterfly Palace In Branson

Last Friday we took both of our sons

and their families to the Butterfly Palace in Branson.

We actually have MORE butterflies at our house,

but not this exotic looking.

 Plus they have cute photo props...

 and hats!

It is one of the few things that one year olds

and adults both might find interesting.

Besides ice cream.

Pics For The Grandson's Book

We just made a photo board book for my Grandson's birthday.

Entitled: "Some Of My Favorite Things".

The pic above is for the cover.

We made one for Christmas that had all of his family members,

along with their names.

And no, he isn't even talking yet.

 I forget if we got to insert 10 or 12 photos.

We tried to keep it pretty basic, like "COW".

DOG (neighbor Izzy).

 We did it through Pinhole Press.

It wasn't cheap, but it was nice to have pics of personal items and animals.

This way he will always remember Grandpa Chuck's TRACTOR

and our senior citizen CATS.