Craziness of Grad School

I knew my time would be pinched when I returned to school, but I had no idea how insane my schedule would become. I struggle every week just to stay on top of my reading and writing assignments. I barely manage to get the most basic of household chores accomplished (and those are with Steve's help), so just about everything else has fallen by the wayside.

I have tons of photos of the chickens and their coop. They have an exterior run now and Steve is putting the finishing touches on the nest boxes. Onslo, the cockerel, is crowing now, and I expect to see eggs within the next couple of weeks. The chickens turns 4 months old on October 9th.

Hopefully, I will be able to update the site before too long. But I can't guarantee anything. I haven't even seen any of my friends since school started.

Oops

After publishing the last blog, I realized I hadn't taken an exterior shot of the coop! So I ran out and took one:


Of course, since I was out there, I figured I'd visit with the babies. But I had to cut the visit short. They kept crowding the door. Daisy kept trying to climb onto my shoulder and even Luna tried to climb up! So I had to end the visit. I wish I could say my babies loved me, but let's face it, they thought I had more treats for them.

We have a chicken coop!

After another busy weekend and an early day home from work for Steve on Monday, the chicken coop is done!!The chickens were relocated last night and they're quite happy with their new digs. I went out around 11 a.m. It was 98 degrees, but the coop interior was nice and cool. We have a fan set up in there to circulate air, and it really seems to be doing the trick. I was worried about the birds being in the heat after growing up in air conditioning. It's cloudy today, which helps. But I think the coop design is proving to be a winner.

Steve started Saturday by giving some extra support to the two roosting perches. Because they're eight feet long, they wobbled a bit near the center. Whilst he did that, I installed the vents.


Steve decided that construction work afforded him plenty of opportunities to get a work out.


Steve gets to work - sort of - on the framing for the roof panels.


Steve doing some work on the coop in such a manner that was in no way staged to show off his muscles.


Some more work that was also not staged in any way to show off Steve's muscles.


Steve got the first roof panel in place. After he got two panels up there, he determined it made more sense to get the ventilation mesh in place first. So he got started on that.


Here he's hammering down the edges of the wire after he stapled it in place. We used 1/4-inch hardware cloth to minimize the number of critters that could wiggle inside the coop. Bugs are a given. This is Florida. But I figured the only thing skinny enough to wiggle through a 1/4-inch square is a snake so small the chickens should be able to stomp it to death fairly easily.


Steve came home early from work Monday to get the coop finished. Here's the roof in place.


We put the pine shavings on the floor before we put up the final wall, figuring it would be easier to do so. The chickens are going to love all these mounds of shavings. They love digging around and taking dust baths in them.


Because it gets so hot here, we knew we needed good ventilation and a fan to keep the chickens comfortable. We plan to buy a proper squirrel cage fan down the line, but for now, Steve hung up one of our Vornados to circulate the air. We also added a flourescent lamp. Chickens need about 14 hours of light a day when they begin egg laying. We're still a couple of months away from egg production, but we wanted a light in place. The coop is bright and airy during the day, but we thought a light would be nice for them until they're used to the place. Chickens are cowards, after all. And ours are afraid of the dark.

Steve put up the final wall at around 6 p.m. Monday.


The coop hatch will eventually be inside the large outer run, so if birds fly out when it's opened, it won't matter. Until then, though, we decided to keep the access hole small enough that I can keep the birds from flying the coop without much effort.


Here's the hatch with the door closed. Steve wants to add another bolt to it, so the door fits more snugly against the panel.


And here's the door open. We ran out of weatherstripping. That's why there's just one line of it.


We had integrated the four Phoenix babies into the flock a couple of days earlier. They were scared the first 24 hours, but were beginning to get settled. We moved them, plus Pascua and Onslo first.


Here's Onslo, Hermione, and either Luna or Tonks (I can't tell them apart without seeing their bracelets) hanging out around the waterer.


We brought the Orpington girls out next. While they settled in, I went inside and gathered the Rhodies. I guess Rose is going for her close-up as Steve snapped this shot of her and Luna.


The Orpingtons and the Sexlinks gathered around the food dish. That's Daisy in the front.

So, huzzah, it's done! I'm really proud of Steve for really putting his nose to the grindstone and getting the job done. And he did a really good job, too. He turned my basic design into a sturdy structure that's as safe from predators as we can make it. There's some fine tuning to do. We have to put gap filler along the roof line and the door needs more hardware and weatherstripping. I need to water seal that last wall and door. But that's minor stuff. The next big step is making the under run. Next is the nesting boxes. But Steve's getting a couple of weekends off. He deserves them.

Besides, we have a lot of yard work to do!!!

If I don't know you, I'm not voting for you

Because we'll be in Jacksonville for our primary later this month, Steve and I requested absentee ballots. We got them in yesterday's mail and I've spent the last hour or so doing research on the candidates I hadn't already learned about. One thing really annoys me: Lack of information. Isn't it the most basic of concepts that if you want a bunch of people to vote for you, you should at the very least make the people aware of you?!

Apparently not around here. The number of candidates who offer no information about their histories, goals, experience, values, etc., is staggering. I was looking at the information the candidates supplied to the elections office. One woman had an impressive amount of donations already accrued, but she didn't provide any information. Unlike many of my fellow Americans, I don't vote based on what the media tells me or where my dart hits the board. I realize they're all politicians, and therefore are most-likely lying through their teeth (or at least spinning their stories like mad), but I find it most annoying when a candidate doesn't even bother.

So if I can't find out anything about you, I'm not voting for you. Which means I'm not voting for two races at all, because not a single candidate has anything out there! Then again, it's for the State Committeeman and State Committewomen. Who cares what the state party does, anyway? It's not like any of them actually represents the best interests of the people.

Another trend I spotted for the circuit judge race was glitz. Two candidates for two different districts had really glossy websites with really lofty words and high-level endorsements . . . that said absolutely nothing of value. And one person touted an endorsement from a crooken sherriff I'm most anxious to get out of office, so he didn't really help his cause much.

I am, at long last, done with my ballot. I hope I've picked well. It would have been nice if the candidates had helped. There is more to an election than paying the fee to get your name on the ballot. And frankly, if you can't be bothered to make an effort to get elected, what are you going to do if you're actually in office?

Stupid politicians.

Coop progress at last!!!

After weeks of rain and very little coop construction, we had a productive weekend. At long last, the coops is taking shape. The coop, itself, is now well passed the half-way point. I'm very optimistic that it will be finished and ready for its tenants by next weekend. Woohoo!!

It took Steve hours to finish the framing on Saturday. We awoke to rain, which really put a damper on things (no pun intended), but Steve rallied during the few rainless hours of the day to get this much done. He decided to add extra support to the floor. His progress was greatly hampered by his drill battery dying.

Steve bought thicker plywood for the floor, figuring we'd have at least 14 chickens weighing an average of eight pounds each jumping around on it. He got it laid in place, but the notching would have to wait. More rain came in and the rest of Saturday was lost to it.

Sunday lived up to its name. It was sunny all afternoon. The morning was overcast, but devoid of rain, so we got a lot done on the coop. The floor was in place by lunch time.

We had vinyl tiles left over from redoing the guest bath floor a couple of years ago, so we used them in the coop. A vinyl floor will make clean-up a bit easier - or so I've been told.

The coop will have two runs. One, what I call the under run, is directly beneath the coop. That will be the first run we construct. This is the access port to it. We're rigging a trapdoor that will give the birds access to the run.

After a break for lunch, we headed to town to buy supplies for the next stage of coop construction - the walls. Here's the Jeep loaded with our conquest.

It took a bit of team work (and my back still isn't very happy with me), but we got the plywood in place. Steve is busy getting the first wall done. He caulked along the plywood where it met the frame, so we'd have a bit of a barrier against bugs and rain. When everything's done, we're going to fill all the gaps with expanding insulating foam to further stave off said bugs and weather.

Steve gets the second wall in place.

Even though it was getting late, Steve was so jazzed by his progress that he opted to get one more wall in place before calling it a day. It was 8:30 before he came inside.

Here's Onslo, looking very much the handsome cockerel. His comb is gorgeous and his wattles are coming in nicely. He's a very proud boy. I made it a point to hold him the other day, because the last thing I want is a human-hating rooster. He loves having his neck scratched. Ever since then, he's one of the first to run to me and jump out of the cage when I open it. It's quite cute.

And here's Pascua. She probably won't get a comb (she's taking after her Ameraucana heritage), so she looks more like a raptor than a chicken. She's the smallest of the bunch. Even the Phoenix babies are getting bigger than she is. But she's not low-chicken on the totem pole. She's a feisty little thing and isn't above jumping over Onslo's head to get where she wants to go.

So that's our coop progress. We're installing a galvanized roof next weekend. Steve's cutting an access door on the front of the coop for me to get food, water, bedding, and birds into the coop. And we're getting the trap door beneath in place. We're also installing plenty of vents and a fan, so there's air flow. My babies are used to air conditioning, after all. If the weather holds and we get that all done, then the birds will move out to their new home Sunday. They won't have use of the run, yet, but they'll still have so much more room than they have now, I think they'll be loving the new digs.

Life drones on . . .

I've not written lately, because there's just not a lot to write about. We're busy, don't get me wrong. But who wants to read about my daily expeditions into long-packed boxes, possession culling, and closet organization?

We continue to get rain close to daily, so we still don't have the chicken coop finished. It has to be finished by August 25, because I start grad school then and I can't have chickens unattended in the house for three days a week! We currently have the ten big babies in the double kennel we used to use for Copen, and the Phoenix babies in the three-bin brooder. The Phoenix babies are so called, because they're named after members of Harry Potter's Order of the Phoenix/Dumbledore's Army.

Anyway, having the big birds in a cage-type house rather than an enclosed brooder changes things a lot. Chickens are dirty! I have layers of dust in the dining room like you wouldn't believe and the downy feathers get everywhere! I vacuum twice a day and it's no where near enough. At least the shavings aren't everywhere. Steve put wood along the cage perimeter, so when the babies do their scratching and kicking, the shavings stay in the cage . . . for the most part.

Onslo is quickly becoming the cock on the walk. He'll break up tussles between the girls, but is quite quick to assert his authority over the others. He's got a warning cluck now, but he hasn't yet tried to crow. I crow at him, hoping it will spur him on, but he's not been inspired just yet. He'll be seven weeks old Monday, so I imagine it won't be long at all before he makes his voice heard.

I used my pasta machine for the first time earlier this week. I made fresh whole-wheat spaghetti. It turned out quite well, much to my surprise. I wish I had an automatic machine, so I could make tube pastas. But my hand-crank Atlas is versatile enough for my newbie pasta skills. We're talking about giving ravioli a go this weekend. Steve bought me some semolina flour from the organic store (the only place that carries it), so I want to give it a try.

Steve's weight loss plateaued for a bit, but he's now starting to lose again. We had to buy him some new clothes last weekend. He's down to a size 32 trouser now and medium shirts. To think when he started he was getting ready to move up to a 46 trouser and his shirts were XXL.

I register for classes on Monday. That will be exciting. That will make grad school seem real, I think. Then in a month, I actually start school. I'm looking forward to it, but at the same time, I'm feeling a bit stressed, because I know I won't have time for much else and I have so many unfinished projects here at the house.

That's about it for the time being. Like I said, we're busy, but we're not exactly doing anything exciting.

The Running Man

Steve participated in his first race on July 4th, the Celebration 5K. Nearly 1100 runners (1078 to be exact) arrived bright and early for the race. A couple of our friends joined us there. Steve did very well. He finished 251st overall, and finished 29th out of the 63 men in his age group. He beat his personal best, averaging just under 8 minutes a mile. His final official time: 24 minutes, 45 seconds. Impressive. Especially when you consider Steve's been running for just two months.

Here are some photos from the day:

Steve's all rested and refreshed as we arrive. Don't let the calm exterior fool you. He was a live wire all morning.

You can't really run without something to keep the sweat out of your eyes and some good uptempo running music. Here's Steve kitted out in his do-rag and headphones. He couldn't find his ear buds.

Your runners for today's event: Steve, Melanie, and Melanie's devilish husband.

The chaos right after the starting cannon. It took several seconds for the swarm of runners to actually pass the starting line.

And they're off! I used an arrow to help you spot Steve. Photo by Randy Lefko.

A few paces further into the race. The arrows point out your runners. Photo by Randy Lefko.

Photo again by Randy Lefko.

Melanie urged Steve to finish strong, so he sprinted to the finish line. Here he's fixing to pass one of the many kids running the race. Photo by Randy.

He's almost to the finish line now. What an expression! I thought running was supposed to be fun?! You can see Melanie and her hubby in the background (he finished first and went back to cheer Mel on). At least she seems to be smiling. Yet another photo by Randy.

Steve crossed the finish line and checks his time on his meter. The display time is longer than his official time, because it began when the start cannon fired, but it took over 15 seconds before Steve actually reached the starting line. He wore a chip on his shoe which activated when he crossed the start and finish lines and that gave him his official 24:45.

Vistakon runs! Steve and Melanie both work at Vistakon, as does Justin, who works in R&D. Justin finished third - nine minutes ahead of Steve. That guy can run!

A rant

Warning: I don't usually rant here, but I read a news article today that really ticked me off. If you don't like what I'm saying, sorry.

Just a few days ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Washington D.C.'s gun ban is unconstitutional. By banning guns in the city and not allowing residents to own firearms, the law is in violation of our Second Amentment right to "keep and bear arms."

Besides being a fan of the constitution, as a former neighbor to D.C., I'm glad the ban was lifted. The crime rate in that city is ridiculous, with gun crimes always increasing. Since shooting someone is illegal and people still do it, I've always found it beyond stupid to outlaw guns as a way to deter gun crimes. If you're willing to kill someone, you're not going to stop just because it's illegal to own a gun!

I did a paper a couple of years ago about the ineffectiveness of gun bans. Britain has had a ban in place for many years now. It goes so far as to stop police from having guns. Only those in special situations can have them. And yet the rate of crimes involving guns continues to climb. It's pretty clear the only people abiding by the gun laws are law-abiding citizens. You know, the types who don't typically go and rob stores with or without at gun point.

Okay, so what got me ranting? An article today on Yahoo News about Chicago. That city has a similar gun ban and as soon as the Supreme Court's decision was announced, that ban was challenged in a lawsuit. Here are a few paragraphs from that article:

But all the talk about greater freedoms for gun owners doesn't begin to explain what the ruling means in Chicago, which has seen a recent spate of gun violence.

Nine people were killed in 36 shootings during one weekend this spring. The next week, five people were found shot to death inside a South Side home.

Chicago Public Schools officials say 27 students have been killed by gunfire since September.

Pamela Bosley lost her 18-year-old son two years ago, when a bullet struck him as he helped a fellow student unload instruments outside a South Side Church.

"If you didn't have the guns, we'd still have our children," she said.

-----------------------------------------

Chicago's gun ban law has been in place 26 years. 26 YEARS! I'm sorry Pamela Bosley lost her son two years ago, but her comment is so stupid it makes me want to slap her. Guns were banned and she still lost her son. Gun laws do not get rid of guns. Gun laws make it difficult or impossible for the law-abiding citizen to defend his life and his family. Prostitution is illegal, but we still have hookers. Drugs are illegal, but we still have users and dealers all over the streets. What kind of idiot do you have to be to think that making guns illegal is going to do squat? I guess the kind of idiot who writes for the media and uses clear examples of how the gun ban isn't working as an argument FOR gun bans.

You want to stop the violent crime that often involves guns? Dig deeper than band-aid legislation. The American culture, once that shining example of freedom and the American dream of if you work hard, you'll succeed, is now nothing more than a I'm-not-responsible-for-my-actions, give-me-what-I-want-now, to-hell-with-God-and-anyone-else-who-isn't-me mentality. We are reeping what we sowed. Stupid gun laws that harm only those who obey the laws are not going to fix that. They just make the good people sitting ducks.

Impulse buy

I went to Gainesville today. I met up with Christa there. On the drive over, I noticed the marquee on Ace Hardware announcing: "Chicks are here." Interesting. So after hanging with Christa, I called Steve and told him about the sign and wondered if I should check it out. He said I should, so I did.

The store had two types of chicks there: Three Anconas, which are a very pretty bird originally from Italy, and a slew of Black Sex Links. I shied away from the Anconas for two reasons. One, they're very active birds and I didn't know how well they'd take to being confined 24/7 (even with a very spacious coop/run combo). Two, I didn't know if they were pullets or cockerels. Black Sex Links (also called Black Stars, I believe) are a hybrid mix stemming from a Plymouth Rock hen and a Rhode Island Red rooster. They're good layers. More importantly, because they're a Sex Link, you can tell if they're boys or girls based on their down color.

The chicks were only about a day old. They had plenty of pullets. So . . . I bought two of them. After some pondering, I've given them Harry Potter names.

Here's Hermione.


And here's Ginny. She has a slight reddish hue to her head and wing.


I jokingly told Steve that I should have bought four, because we have four Buff Orpington pullets and four Rhode Island Red pullets. I expected him to chuckle and say no. Imagine my surprise when he was fine with the idea. So I may be making a run to Melrose tomorrow to get two more chicks. And Steve already came up with Harry Potter names for them if I do: Tonks and Luna.

I guess we're both chicken crazy! LOL

Around the Garden

It's been very interesting here at Caer Myrddin. That's the name of our property. Steve dubbed it that when we first bought the land, but we never made a sign or anything. Now that we're branching out with livestock and veg, I figured it made sense to use the name. Anyway, nature has been providing a lot of new things out here so far this year.

Twice on the way home from work, Steve's encountered deer on Bondarenko Road. We've frequently seen deer at the end of Trawick, near the paved road, but never back here. So that's exciting.

Our quaking aspen is blooming for the first time. The flowers are green, so they don't look like much. But boy do the insects love them! The tree literally buzzes, because it is swarmed by yellow jackets, paper wasps, other small types of wasps, bumblebees, and honey bees! I'm particularly excited about the honey bees, because some kind of disease has decimated the wild population and I've not seen any for some time. I've tried to take photos of the bees, but the yellow jackets don't like me getting so close and dive bomb me.

Our pond has a healthy frog population. And my water lily is blooming like never before. I've had nearly a dozen blooms since late April. In previous years, I was luck to get six. Clearly, the pond is in good condition - even though it looks a wreck. It has algae. But maybe that's why it's doing so well. Who knows?

Last Sunday, I was coming home from grocery shopping and I saw a large brown bird fly across Bondarenko. It didn't move like a buzzard, and it was far too large to be a local hawk. It landed on a tree branch, so I pulled along side to get a good look at it. Lo and behold - it was an eagle! It was an immature bald eagle. They don't get their white heads until they're about seven years old. It was absoluately gorgeous. It watched me the entire time I was watching it. I'm hoping it hangs around, but it may have just been passing through. Of course, I'm not sure I'd want my wild bunnies to become lunch.


One of my bay trees has gone into profuse bloom. I've never seen so many flowers on a single tree like this. And this is just the top couple of feet. The whole tree is like this. All I can figure is the heat (it was 106 F yesterday with 5% humidity) is making the trees do weird things.



Here's our veggie patch. The tomatoes are close to four feet tall now and in full flower. The potatoes are starting to die back. They never flowered, but they have produced baby potatoes. I dug one up, boiled it, and gave it a taste. Initially, it tasted delicious! But then it left a metalic after taste that was difficult to get rid of. I don't know if that's because it wasn't mature, or if it's because I grew these potatoes from sprouted store potaotes - something recommended against. Come December, I'm going to plant a proper row of potatoes (December is the preferred Florida planting month) to see what I get. It's been fun seeing what happens with this batch.


This is the blossom from one of the onion plants. It's not quite open yet. It's been taking its sweet time. The bloom started nearly two weeks ago. The stalk is close to two feet tall. When the flower opens, it should look like a big fuzz ball.



This is the first, and right now only, tomato growing on the plants. If all the flowers manage to produce a fruit, we're going to be swimming in cherry tomatoes!


Three of the five corn stalks are starting to bloom!



The problem is, the corn is only about a foot tall! The area clearly doesn't get enough sun, so the stalks are very, very short. I honestly don't know if they'll be able to produce a fully-formed ear. Guess I'll find out. Meanwhile, I have three more plants I've started indoors. I'm going to grow them in bags near the other veggies in the median. It gets sun all day there. I also have pumpkins, cucumbers, and canteloupe started inside.



Finally, the most exciting news. Monarch butterflies are back! I have not seen a Monarch, which is hands down my favorite butterfly, since I was about 12 years old. I saw a couple of them on Trawick last week. This one swooped into the front garden yesterday. I was so excited, I ran out with the camera and took a slew of photos. Unfortunately, because I had to use extreme zoom, the photos did not come out as nicely as I hoped. I just hope this is a sign of more to come. I would love to see Monarchs all over the place again. They're simply beautiful.