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We got kicked off the tracks at 8. There was some kind of a disagreement between my foreman (who is responsible for the work that gets done) and the EIC (Employee in Charge, who is responsible for the track authority and is our liason to the dispatcher and Corridor). The EIC came storming up to us and said, "That's it! We're done! The crossovers are staying out of service tonight, you guys just make the main lines safe for trains!" I didn't stick around for the shouting match that followed.

I am transferring to a different position as soon as anything better comes up. This work group has gone to hell in a handbasket. My only consolation is that I know there are groups that are far worse...
 
Amish Heart said:
Were they leggy Clem? Sometimes our roosters are too leggy and muscular, so I keep the breast meat and the livers, and the leg and thigh meat gets cooked for the dogs.
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The sizes were all over the place but mostly scrawny.

I kept two nice big meat bird / layer cross roosters for next year's hatches. Big Gerti, their mom is still alive and laying even though she feels like she might be 16 lbs or better. She is a 3 year old cornish x. She is a bit of a pet and won't meet the chopping block.

These roosters didn't have much for breasts. They will go in the soup/stock pots tomorrow and canned after that.

If I have roosters with good sized but tough legs, I just raw pack can them and they turn out just dandy.

This lot isn't worth the hassle of parting them out.
 
I did a lot this week, major maintenance on the chicken pen, even moved bees at 9pm one night. I took today off, dindo nuffin caus ‘m stove up (I did fry a batch of wonton).

It rained most of the day anyway, made my old bones feel achy. Still feelin the effects of that wasp venom this morning too. All the red is gone but for the back of my neck. Those two stings swelled for some odd reason. The others didn’t, its going down though. Holding a poultice to it now. I wet a 4x4 gauze pad with some yarrow, usnea, elder, sweetleaf, yellowroot and sida.

More rain expected tomorrow… might make some fried rice.

food wonton 71a.JPG
 
I waited for the thunder to stop and rain to lighten before going to the store. Grabbed some meat and other stuff for cooking. Unloaded the stuff my brother was supposed to help unload the other day. Napped. Then cooked for Mom. Then napped again. I hate having so little energy. Legs are cramping on me. Need to get some potassium vitamins and remember to take my magnesium.
 
The final weekend of my American visitors- the boys have gone to the shooting range, I'm doing a clean up and cooking, they'll either bivvy in the woods or sleep where they fall tonight. Either way, there'll be a few bottles, stories and fire :D
 
been very busy, I am exhausted and my back hurts today, going to do the absolute minimum today

Went shopping Friday , major 2 hour trip one way to the nearest large Sams and Home Depot. Filled the Yukon to the top. Not kidding either. I got 2 large boxes of paper towels, 2 boxes of TP and more bags of flour. They were actually cheaper than at the Amish store ( used to be other way around).
Also got 4 large bags of dog food , yet another freezer , local Home depot nearer us had none, and a small AC window unit. Our kitchen gets extremely hot and uncomfortable during summer and when I have to do a lot of food processing and cooking I really hate it and have to go elsewhere in the house or outside to cool off. Fan doesn't do it.

Yesterday first after taking care of animals, I pulled weeds out of the garden. My goal this year is to have nothing growing in it when it gets winter time. Usually husband just plows it under but this year I want to try something different and see if that will cause less weeds next year. I will use the flame thrower on anything left by November
Then I did a load of laundry and cooked lunch.
THEN we did road construction. Spikedriver can hire me now for his railroad work....
We were going to rent some equipment for this but never got around to it so we made do with what we had since son's school starts next week and he won't have time to help anymore. We shoveled gravel into the ranger and dumped it on spots in the road that needed it and spread it out.
Our road is very steep and long and keeps washing out from all the rain.
We plowed up a section next to the road and then used the scraper to get the dirt and rocks out. Basically built a little detention area for the water after the barn to go into so it doesn;t wash the road out below. I need to take a photo of this.
We needed an excavator and a loader and have neither....
Used some of the dirt to build a sort of speed bump for the water right after one steep section to at least keep the gravel there so it can be scraped up. 1 speed bump is better than a 1 foot trench in a large section of road where it washed out
Going to put some gravel on top of the dirt and if this works, going to pour a little section of concrete on the side of it. It's hard to explain
 
@sonya123 water berm..build them directly on the slope at angle so water gets off as soon as it can. the farther it runs down hill the faster it gets. i have multiple ones on my driveway where its straight up and steep.
 
Jar reclamation is complete. Netted 7 quarts, 1 1/2 dozen pints and 8 half-pints. Just in time too. Dad informed me he's bringing home not 1 but 2 bushels of tomatoes and a few pounds of green beans.

Did some harvesting in the garden. About a dozen of those long, fat, Italian frying peppers. Not sure what I'm doing with those. I've still got loads of sweet banana peppers to pick. Think I'll make some pepper relish out of those. I already made 6 half pints of pickled pepper rings for burgers and sandwiches.

Also got the new rain barrel set up and the parts ordered for connecting it to the one I've already got in the garden area next to my patio. That brings my rain barrel total up to 5. Two of them, connected, are close to the potted peppers and tomatoes over in my dad's yard. One at the other end of his house closer to the raised beds along the fence between our yards. Now there's one in the fenced area with raised beds and it will connect to the new one on my patio.

Later I'll empty a few of the grow bags of their potatoes, refresh them and plant some new potatoes. Need to add more potting mix to the covered, raised planter box for lettuce.

Also want to do some spinning. I really need to finish up that Corriedale so I can have time before it gets cold to do some yarn finishing. I also need to spend some quality time with the big loom. The treadles swing about too much and I'd like to work up a fence or gate to corral them.
 
Another rainy night & morning, so the yard is muddy... no weeding today. All the recent rains have been great for the trees & garden, even the vacant lot across the street has greened up quite nicely (probably some puncturevines over there, lol). Sunday morning, so I'm definitely taking it easy, watching these fool kittens cause all kinds of trouble... debating whether to go to town or not, depends upon the answer I get from Discount Tire. I could use some more beer, I only have four left in the fridge, but I also have some rum on the bar, lol. Another overcast day outside, probably have more rain in the forecast, good day to relax and make plans for the coming week. Might do laundry, dunno yet... depends upon how motivated I am in half an hour, lol. ;)
 
Mel said:
Magus-Im sorry about your gout. My dad has it.
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No biggie, my secret formula has already reduced the pain and swelling by 50%. SO... I'm watching movies! If you don't trust computers or like your cell phone tracking you or spying on you, this movie will scare the living crap out of you!
 
Well, it actually dried out enough for me to fill the trash bin with weeds, they came up easily after all the recent rains. I want to fill the bin every week until my yard is cleared, the weeds have gotten out of control, lol... not the puncturevines, though I noticed a new crop of those starting to emerge. No worries, there are far less goathead vines in evidence, it's the other weeds which are becoming a nuisance. I have one weed out back (or on the west side of my home) that has grown to 7' or 8', it's a towering colossus, lol. It almost resembles a Christmas tree, it has that conical shape... not sure what it is, but it doesn't seem to be a noxious weed, just something that grows here in the high desert. In the interest of science, I'm letting it grow to see how tall it will get... later, I'll whack it down or burn it, lol. :rolleyes:

I took a look at my weed plants and they seem to be flourishing with all this rain... same for the fruit trees, melon plant, hot pepper plant, etc. Maybe I'll see some more melons soon, the vine (?) has been covered with flowers recently... I need to pull some hot peppers off the Jalapeno bush, they'll be good in a steak & cheese sandwich tonight, lol. After weeding this afternoon, I knew I'd have to take a second shower (I was dripping with sweat in this humidity), so I went ahead and washed & cut my hair, which was getting "long" again, then jumped in the shower. Now I'm enjoying a cold beer, and this haircut is keeping me cool, lol... gotta keep it short on the back and sides, especially in this August weather. It wasn't terribly hot today, but the added humidity from all the clouds & earlier rain made it sticky outside. No worries, the A/C is now cranked and I'm sitting in front of a fan, so I'm feeling comfortable, lol. ;)

The kittens are exploring the Great Room as I key this post, those knucklehaids don't know how lucky they are to be here at the ol' hacienda, lol. The Chinese curtains from Walmart are taking a beating, but those custom 6"-wide window sills I made are paying off, BIG-TIME, lol. The kittens love climbing onto those sills, I'll have to get a photo sometime. I also need to catch 'em playing 'Rollerball' in the garden tub, I never knew how LOUD three kittens could be while playing in a fiberglass tub, lol. It's like someone is beating a drum in there... the BLASTED VARMINTS!!! Meh, they can't really hurt the tub, which works fine, I just don't use it in warmer months. However, once the nights get chilly again, I'll be soaking in that tub for over an hour, lol. Probably throw in some Epsom salts, dunno how they'll affect my septic system, but I only take about one bath per week, kind of a special treat on top of the daily shower routine. :)

WELL, GUESS I'LL WATCH A MOVIE... WHEN I RUN OUT OF BEER, I'LL MIX UP A RUM DRINK, LOL. :cool:
 
Landshark is still depressed.
I know it's supposed to be a bad thing when your pet isn't acting "normally" but I have to say I'm actually enjoying the quiet.
The cow vet wants more money to remove her sutures which I think is extremely rude.
Surely the price of the desexing would also include that?
He hit me up $79 for 8 Amoxicillin tablets according to the desexing itemised bill.
I almost fell over backwards!
So, NO...Landshark is not going back to the cow vet to get her sutures taken out.
I'll do it my darn self.
The incision has knitted together extremely well and the redness is now her body's reaction to the sutures themselves.
I'm glad I got her desexed but I really could have done without all the drama that went with it.
 
They cut you a break on the amoxicillin, they're 10$ a pop here.
If you're going to do it yourself, sterilize the area first so you don't drag germs into the wound and rub it with anbesol. or ice. be sure to give it a treat after every couple of stitches.
 
Tank-Girl said:
Landshark is still depressed.
I know it's supposed to be a bad thing when your pet isn't acting "normally" but I have to say I'm actually enjoying the quiet.
The cow vet wants more money to remove her sutures which I think is extremely rude.
Surely the price of the desexing would also include that?
He hit me up $79 for 8 Amoxicillin tablets according to the desexing itemised bill.
I almost fell over backwards!
So, NO...Landshark is not going back to the cow vet to get her sutures taken out.
I'll do it my darn self.
The incision has knitted together extremely well and the redness is now her body's reaction to the sutures themselves.
I'm glad I got her desexed but I really could have done without all the drama that went with it.
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Like I posted when I got Bear neutered,it was rough but I knew you were going to have it worse. I say that with love and sympathy!! Sorry Landshark is depressed, but glad she is not not being a wild child ripping stitches out or something!! Hope she's feeling better soon!!
 
Today is the day son#2 really does come home!
We'll still be going to the hospital every day (45 min away) for 4-hour long appointments, but at least he'll get to sleep in his own bed and be surrounded by the people who love him. And eat mama's food. :) His homecoming request is spaghetti for dinner.

Still working on the bathroom renovation. That'll take a while...

DH tilled up a spot in the garden. We hadn't planted a garden this year because we'd needed to move - but that was before son#2's illness requiring that he be within 45 minutes of a hospital. So now that we're committed to keeping this house at least for the next several months, we're going ahead with a fall garden. It's kinda late for that, but for some carrots, peas, and short-season taters I figure it's worth a shot. We'll try season extenders if we need to.
 
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