He's got...

Clint Eastwood eyes. I call him Eyes. Look at that stare he gives you! Chills you to the bone.

He's a Cornish Rock we got from Tractor supply as a chick. NEVER get this kind of chicken unless you're going to eat them. I didn't know to give them a special feed during their growth otherwise their legs get bad because they can't hold their weight. This guy doesn't have a problem with his legs. 4 out of the 6 chicks I bought did. I have two of these chickens left since I got them in May.

They are amusing, though. Eyes, here, sounds like an ooga-horn. His brother, Arnold, has a bad leg and favors it a bit. I don't expect him to be around much longer because of it. This is a no-kill-zone, so, no. I'm not going to do him in. They're pretty much tame and you can handle them.

Eyes goes about 10 pounds, if you can catch him. He doesn't move too fast, but he's slick. Arnold goes about 8 pounds.

Way far in the back, you can see Boris, my Polish Crested. He's a trip, too. Yeah. All of them have names.

Have a great day!

The Project is Done!

As promised, here's a picture of my hubby's project.

Our neighbor next door had this tractor that needed a little work to get it running. Well, hubby and the neighbor's son got it running for him. Hubby wasn't satisfied. There was no hood or grille to cover the engine. Hubby made one of each. The paint was bad. Hubby took care of that. The front wheel rims and seat needed a coat of paint. Hubby took care of that. The neighbors son found the bulldog (on the seat) laying around and they're going to put it on the hood. Hubby also made a holder for the battery to raise it above the air filter so air can get to the engine. This is the box you can see through the grille.

It looks so much better than it did. Hubby and the neighbor's son did a great job piddling with this. Looks great, doesn't it, Mr. Nels?!

Welcome Armadillos!!!

NOT! We are starting to get armadillos in Moncks Corner, SC. Oh boy! I've seen two dead on the side of the road in the past month. What I think is kind of funny is, they must be a challenge to the buzzards and other scavengers. With that hard shell, the carcass stays put for a lot longer than regular furry roadkill.

Also, I read up on them and they can carry the leprosy virus, just like humans. I'm sure they carry salmonella just like most any other animal. They like to burrow. They eat bugs and small invertibrates. Too bad they don't eat mosquitos!!!

It's going to be a challenge to keep them out of the gardens, I'm sure. Trixie, my hunter dog, has been working on ground moles. She hasn't caught one recently...I wish she would. Our yard is lumpy and mushy from all their burrows. I wonder how she'll fare with armadillos? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

That's all for now. I have to get outside and transplant some cabbage and collards I've started. DH is mowing the back 40 right now. So I'll get out there and feed the chickens, pull up plants, and wait for him to get done mowing.

Have a great and sunny day! We are.

Crocheted Vest

I had a birthday party to go to for my great-great niece. She just turned 2 years old. I didn't know what to get her and it's nearly the last minute. I'm sure she has everything she could want and more. So I got my favorite crochet hook warmed up and did some thinking with the help of the Lion Brand website.

Here is my pic of the Wee Vest in the free patterns section. It took me three days worth of working on it because of work and other things. At two o'clock this morning it was finished. Today was the party.

I think it turned out really cute. The link for this pattern is here.
I especially like it because it is heavy enough to wear for a long time here in SC. There is a hood to keep off the chill. I added a button to the front and a pom pom to the hood. If I had a little more time, I would've liked to put a border around the edges. That would be a nice touch for the next one. It was pretty easy. This is one of about 4 clothing projects I've ever done, not including the hats I'm working on for charity. I should do more clothing.

I hope you enjoyed this one. Take care.

RETIRED!!!

As of September 1, 2011, my sweet hubby has retired! Yay!

I am so glad he did. He deserves to enjoy the rest of his life doing things he wants and likes to do.

So far, the fascia on the house is painted; the picnic pavillion is painted; the porch was stained, but will be painted; he's fabricating stuff in the garage - I'll show pics of that later; he's helped a bunch of the neighbors to fix their stuff; he's prepared our gardens for winter time. My! He's a busy little bee!

Time will only tell what else he'll be getting into. Stay tuned!

Take care...until next time.

More Growing Things

For some reason, I had a hard time getting the next set of pictures to insert into the post. Here are some more pictures of things growing...but not in my garden.

I have had a fascination with mushrooms ever since I bought my first 35mm SLR camera. You know, the oldie that you have to adjust your aperture and manually focus. They are really fun to take picture of. No two mushrooms are the same. 

Small Mushrooms



Fairy Ring




Boletus

 The Fairy Ring is a bunch of mushrooms which grow from previous mushrooms growing in the area. What happens is, one mushroom will drop its spores from the cap and seed the surrounding area around the mushroom. Then it happens again with the mushrooms that grow from those spores. Again and again it happens and makes a circle of mushrooms. I was tickled to see it happen here. That pile of brown straw is actually decomposing chicken manure. It's not hard to figure out where the spores came from!

The small mushrooms I almost stepped on. I don't know what kind they are. I just liked them because they are in a little bunch.

The Boletus is a type of woodland mushroom. It grows like crazy in my yard, here in South Carolina. I don't mind all the fungus because they're interesting. They have an orange and brown cap. The underside looks like sponge, as you see above. This particular Boletus is not an edible mushroom. See the little black spot on the top of the cap? This is what happens when it is bruised. I pinched off a bit to see if it changes color. Because it changes color, it is not an edible Boletus. It is really fun to pull these apart because you can watch them turn color right in front of your eyes.

REMEMBER!!! Do NOT eat any mushrooms you find in the wild. They can be poisonous.

Take care.

What's Growing in My Garden?

Here are some things growing in my flower garden.

The red flowers are spider lilys of some sort. A friend of mine gave some of these bulbs to me a couple of years ago and said they are fall blooming flowers. Well, I never saw them for the past two years and almost gave up on them. I was very pleasantly surprised to see them this fall. They are so pretty.

The purplish flowers are my Joe Pye Weed. It is just that...a weed! If you plant them in a five gallon bucket and then plant the bucket in the soil, you won't be invaded. I end up pulling and burning most of the runners. It is very invasive, but I like them.  The butterflies and hummingbirds like them. They smell kind of like fake grape soda or something like that. They have a very light and sweet smell. 

For some reason, I can't access any more photos for this post. So, I'll say 'see ya!' for now.

I hope some pretty things are growing in YOUR garden this fall.

Ethernet Woes

I had a little bit of a fight with the ethernet card in August. That's why I haven't posted in a while.

It seems like the ethernet card can go 'on the fritz' for no apparent reason. When it does...look out! You're in for a ride if you've never installed one before.

You pull out the CPU. Mine's a dinosaur floor model...still kicking! You touch something metal to discharge energy that may have built up in your hands and body on the way to the workplace. Then you take it apart VERY CAREFULLY.  Then you remove the ethernet card VERY CAREFULLY. Make sure you already bought the new one so you can put it back in all at the same time. After you put the ethernet card in the correct slot, you put the CPU back together. Plug it all back in. Then, install software for the new ethernet card. Turn on the computer and voila! It works for a couple of days. Then it stops working. You call the number on the box for tech service on the card. You spend an hour or so doing everything they tell you. It still doesn't work. Then you call the digital cable service to see if the problem is in the line. They change the internet box and it works again. Yay!!! For a couple of days. Then you get disgusted and order an ethernet card online. Take the whole shebang apart again. Take the one you just paid out the wazoo for back to the retailer. Put it all back together so you can at least use the computer. Get a refund, if you're lucky. (I was lucky.) Get the new ethernet card(s) in the mail. (One extra for just in case...). Take the whole shebang apart again. Replace the card. Struggle with the VERY VAGUE instructions for installing this software. (I had to read between the lines of the program info on the installation CD for this one.) Computer works for a couple of days. Get disgusted. Call the cable company again. They send two guys out this time. You tell them what's wrong and it only worked for a few days after they came the first time. One old guy laughs at you and insinuates you don't know what you're talking about. They check everything again and put in another digital box. All works!!! Yay!!! Long time now!!!

Whew! I can post again!!!

Moral of the story...if you work on computers all day at work and come home to take care of your own stuff, NEVER touch the RESET button on the back of the digital internet box. This resets the whole box to FACTORY settings. You don't want that. Your internet company installs something in that digital box so you can use their particular service. SILLY ME!!!

Live and learn.