You're Doing it Wrong!

......... Yeah, I probably am.

But that's OK, 'cuz....

I don't know what I'm doing!!

Let me repeat.......

Whew. OK, I got that off my chest.

You see, we're new to this. This rural thing. Brand-spanking-new. That's why we called it, "Adventures in Deer Trail". It's our adventure of going from city to rural, with no knowledge, prior experience, or help.

.....OK, so we've gotten LOTS of help from our neighbors. :-) Thank you!!

We're going to do alot of things wrong. We don't know what alot of things are. We don't know how to do alot of things! And to top that off....I'm an un-lucky clover. Everything I touch, turns to....broken. Yup. Broken. And to top that off.....we're doing it on almost no budget. Ugh.

We come from the city. We are so naive about rural life. Even after ten months. Neither one of us have ever lived outside a busy city. We've lived all our lives in the hustle & bustle of city life. Not just any city either; Metropolitan. The South Florida metro area to be exact. Here's a place where there's a 7-11 or a Walgreens on every corner. You are walking distance from the gas station, the library, and the grocery store. There's a McDonald.s, Taco Bell, and Dairy Queen on every main road. You are pretty much spoon-fed every convenience known to man. This is what we're used to. Not dirt roads, wild animals, and crazy weather.

...........That is so not like what it is out here!

But it's always been a dream of hubby & mine to have land, live away from the congestion, have lots of critters, and to be partially self-sustainable. But, OMG! We had no idea how different it was going to be! Neither one of us had families that lived in rural areas. Friends? They all lived in the city too. Many things we've come across is shocking. Not in a bad way, just a surprise.

I've done alot of venting on my personal facebook page. I know I probably bother the rural lifers with my venting. Sorry. I'm not bitching, but sometimes things are such a shock, that I have to voice my surprise.....and I'll admit, sometimes it's with a negative attitude. Like when I found out that the fire dept (not ours, the next town over) charges to come out on a call. I handled my facebook post poorly, but it was so surprising. I mean, I know that if you are transported via ambulance, you get charged in the city, but not for the FD to just come out. But, it's different out here. The FD is on it's own, without much financial support of the county. Or the roads! Wow, have I vented about the roads. But please! Dirt roads?! I have  never, ever, driven on a dirt road in my life. I didn't know the sand could throw your car 10 feet over into the ditch in 3 seconds flat.

But I digress.... We will make alot of mistakes on our adventure. We not only moved to a rural area, but we purchased a 'fixer-upper' house. It needs alot of love and work. We'll do alot of things wrong. We won't know what some things are, or how to build it, use it, or fix it. We know nothing about wells, septic tanks, or raising animals. We know nothing of foxes & foxholes, hawks & coyotes. We will ask alot of questions, ask for a bunch of advise, and probably ask for alot of help. But, we will learn. It will take some time, and I'll vent often.

My posts, both here, and on my facebook page, will have what we're working on, and the mistakes we've made. Stories of how things went wrong, and how things are going. Some posts will be full of forelorning, and others full of accomplishment. We're taking everything in stride, but we are determined to get through it. It's a tough road to travel, alone, and with a measly income to make it happen.

So yes, I'm doing it wrong.

But we will learn, and eventually learn the way, and do it right!

The Dishwasher Disaster

Today's adventures....

So when we moved in here last July, we had to buy a shitload of appliances. We didn't have a washer, dryer or dishwasher. No laundrymat within 45 minutes, and you ain't gonna see ME outside with a washboard, so we needed those! We also had to buy a hot water heater as the one that was here was zzzz-zapping & tripping the breaker. The dishwasher was an indulgence.

Yeah. New appliances.

So today's story is about the dishwasher. In August, we finally got around to installing the dishwasher. Yep. All installed. It's not hard to install a dishwasher.....water line goes in, drain line goes out, same color wires get connected.  Binga, banga, boom. One hour, done.

Only problem is the house wiring is all frakked up, and the breaker trips. We didn't wire it wrong. I double checked. We went in the basement & found the electrical line up in the drop ceiling had been spliced here, and there, and who knows where. My guess, since the dishwasher didn't even get the chance to get turned on, is that the wires are flipped. Black/white. Ugh. Yeah. I'm not gonna try & wire it backwards just in case. We'll wait 'til we can higher a real electrician. I mean, we also have a sub-panel that has to be re-wired correctly so that we have working outlets in the exercise room & outside. *sigh*

So anyway, this means that the dishwasher has been sitting there, installed, but never powered on. Just sitting there. The water wasn't even turned on.

For the last few days, we've been complaining about a rancid smell in the kitchen. I've been checking everywhere....under the sink, under the stove, garbage area, etc. Couldn't find it. Today, I pin-pointed it to one area....the dishwasher. So I opened it up, just to see. OMG! There was a big scum coated puddle in the bottom of the dishwasher. And it REEKED! That was our smell.

How the hell? It's never been turned on. The water is shut off. ............

Then I saw it. The drain hose. The drain hose from the dishwasher runs to a little side spout thingie (I know, so technical) on the garbage disposal.  It seems - and to which it had never occurred to me - that for the last eight months, whenever the disposal would get filled with nasty water (from un-churned & chopping the food), it would go into the drain hose, and into the dishwasher to sit. Eight months! Nasty, food contaminated water, sitting in the base of the dishwasher getting rancid. Never draining.

So, I/we removed the hose, the water line, the electrical wires, and pulled it out. We took the dishwasher outside & let it drain. Let me tell you, that is a simple explanation as to what happened.  It wasn't that simple. The damn thing barely fit in there....getting it out was hell!

But it is done. The whole area has been sprayed with bleach, 'cuz the nasty water leaked a bit in the kitchen.

The worst of it.....knowing we were up close & breathing this nasty stuff. We were working on it for about an hour, up close & personal. Hubby kept joking that we could get airborne botulism from the foody-water. Yeah, found out he wasn't exactly kidding. There's a number of things in this whole scenario that could have made us real sick. Still may.

No one has puked yet, but we're still waiting to see if anyone gets sick. I'm wondering if the moldy water is what has had my throat feeling like it's being squeezed for the last month....not the chickies. Hmmmmmm

Foxy Lady

It was a pretty gloomy morning. Overcast, cold, foggy. Another blechy day.

..........At about noon the sun came out. Yay!

When the sun comes out, it hits the back of the house. I like to open the back door & sand on the deck overlooking the yard. Even though it was only 30 degrees out, it felt soooooooo good.

So, I was looking over towards the hill, and I see something orange. I squint. A fox! 

A red fox to be exact. Huge. It was the size of a dog, slightly smaller than say, a German Shepard. I actually looked the animal up on the internet, making sure I wasn't taking pictures of someone's loose dog!

He looks cold. :-(

I ran inside & grabbed my camera. He was looking in my direction, and I snapped a few photos. Yeah, my picture taking skills need some work.

...and sad.

After a few moments, he curled in & made himself comfy.

Oh, more pictures!

Silly me decided to go around the side of the house to see if I could get slightly closer. I mean, it's hard taking photos from hundreds of feet away when you don't know how to use the f-stop, thingamajig, and dohicky on the camera!  Well, let me just say, that walking in snow is VERY loud out here. I scared him & he ran away towards the creek bed. :-(

Well, I'm not gonna go hunting for it's den! 

It was a beautiful animal, and I cannot wait to get more pictures of it! I am OK with it being here, and it's family, as long as it stays on the other side of our small dry creek bed along the side of the house. I have cats & chickens & a bunny....don't want the fox around them thinking, "Lunch!"

See ya later, Foxy lady (errrrr....or guy *shrug*.)

The Start of Chick Season

Chick season has started! I'm so excited!

Feb, March & April are when chicks are hatching & you can order, or pick out chicks at the feed stores. True, you can buy chicks year 'round, but not only is spring is perfect time weather-wise, there are so many available!

Right now we have three chickens. We had five, but the two eldest were victim of what we think was probably a raccoon. We have decided on a dozen. So, we get to pick out nine more this season!

I have looked through the list of chicks that Elizabeth Country Corner has ordered and are coming in within the next three months. After a bunch of research, I know which ones I like & want.

I want another Aracana/Americana. We love Coconut & her green eggs are awesome. So one of those are on my list.

At the top of my list are these:

Cochins
Medium light brown eggs

Brahmas
Large light brown eggs

Silkie Bantams
Small light brown eggs

Frizzle Bantams
Medium light brown eggs

Polishes
Medium white eggs

Mille Fleur D'uccles

Also: Porcelain Bantams, Self Blue D'uccles, & Red Pyle Old English Bantams

Second down on my list are these:

Orpingtons
Large light brown eggs

Wyandottes
Large brown eggs

Mottled Javas
Large brown eggs

German Spitzhauben
Medium white eggs

Langshans
Large brown eggs

And Dixie Rainbows, which is such a new bread that I had trouble finding a picture.

And, being me, if I get there and none of my first or second picks are left, I have a 3rd & fourth wish list. ;-)

I can't wait to go chick shopping!

Over-productive Chicken

We have three chickens. Coconut......She's my favorite.

She's great. I know, you shouldn't have favorites right? Well, she's ours. She's a sweetie. She's an Americauna/Americana.....and Easter egg chicken. She'll fly up on hubbys shoulder when he goes out in the run. When my son goes out to feed them, she jumps on his feet. She's a charmer.

The girls

Unfortunately when she grew up, her beak developed poorly. Her beak is crossed and cannot close. She has a real hard time eating, but over the months has become accustomed to it, and works around her deformity. But because she is 'deformed', the other girls pick on her.

Her best friend is our Flemish Giant, Jasper. She hangs out with him, and he protects her. It really is adorable.

The girls with Jasper

We worried about her immensely because it seemed she wasn't eating much of her chicken scratch. She seemed to like the rabbit pellets more. Although we gave the chickens alot of table scraps, she had a hard time eating them. She couldn't grab onto it, though she tried real hard. We found a couple things she really liked and could easily eat....bananas & oatmeal. She seemed to be thriving fine.

March 9, 2011

When the girls turned 3-4 months old they started laying eggs. All but Coconut. We have Marsala, a rhode island red, and Peppercorn, a barred rock. They are both brown egg layers. We figured she was a late bloomer. After a couple months, we were worried she just wasn't going to lay eggs. Maybe she was malnourished after all. Maybe her deformity went beyond her beak. Oh well, she was still our favorite.

April 3, 2011

In December I went out to the coop and there was a soft-shelled egg. It was odd. Never seen one like that. It was the color of split-pea soup and really squishy. Blech. I was hoping one of the chickies weren't sick or something. A couple days later I found a semi-hard shelled egg. This one had more of a light green shade.

Baby Coconut & Peppercorn

A few days later, Coconut laid her first egg! Huge egg too.  Most chickens start laying at about 22 weeks, and their eggs start off small and gradually grow to x-lg or jumbo size. She didn't lay her first egg until she was eight months old, and never a small one. From none to huge.

A couple weeks ago my son came in with two green eggs. I thought we had missed one the day before. However, it kept happening. I didn't understand. I open the coop and collect eggs in the morning, then my son closes the coop and collects the eggs laid that day. Each of us would get a green egg many times. Not all days, but sometimes.

Keeping cool in the sun

Now, usually, a chicken will lay one egg every 24-26 hours. With the short winter days, even less. Sometimes they'll stop altogether until spring. However, due to the cold, I've kept a heat lamp on in the coop when the sun goes down & before it comes up, extending the girl's daylight hours.

I think she thinks she's a parrot

Not really sure about the timing, but we had gotten 3 green eggs in a 36 hr time period. Two more the next day. This girl is cranking them out! But in all actuality I'm kinda worried. I don't want her to over-tax herself &  get sick or hurt. I'll be getting a red lamp soon to replace the white so we can keep the heat, but the girl's daylight hours will be reduced. I hope that will curb her egg production.

Green eggs & ham, anyone?

All her eggs are huge, and very hard-shelled. They are hard to crack, and very yummy, so I know she's still healthy.


My Coconut.....an over-achiever, like me. ;-)