Watch what you are sewing!

Hello all, 

Just wanted to share what happened to me the other day. 

Well now, this is no fun.

Was patching my patches on my old pair of shorts for yard work, could never let anyone see me in them. LOL

Then when I was looking at something else, my sewing machine reached out and stuck the darn needle in my finger and I remember thinking, "Ouch" and I jerked my hand back, snapped the needle and I heard it hit the floor. I turned around by now to see what all was going on and saw my DNA all over what I was doing, so now I had to wash the shorts after patching them before I could even put them on and get out in the yard and work.

Now, this is a day to remember stitchers, NEVER look away when sewing as the monster machine is hungry for your fingers.

And mine is plenty sore today, just reminding myself to NEVER AGAIN LOOK AWAY WHILE SEWING!

Ya know in all the many years of sewing I have never done this before. I am gonna blame it on old age and stiff fingers that don't know what they are doing. 🤣

Love and Prayers, 

Margo

Yellow Salamander

Hello everyone, 

Today while I was cleaning out my little pond on the back side of the house. I found a yellow salamander hiding. I grabbed him and placed him in a safe place with water until I got done cleaning the pond, then I placed him back by the pond with all the very wet leaves and moss so it can go back to the pond if it wants. 

I have the little brown ones all over the yard under leaf litter and rocks here and there, just everywhere, but this is the only yellow one I have seen. 

Now two years ago, while removing a plant near the pond I found an orange salamander. Did not take a pic did not even think of it back then. But that thing was beautiful. 

Yellow Salamander

Love and Prayers, 

Margo

Black snake

Hello everyone, 

Found him outside yesterday evening, it was SO hot out that day. 

Do not know if this was poison or not, not going to find out, so many black snakes out there. It looks like one I saw online, and they say he is not. But I do not know for sure. 

This one was at the bird bath, drinking from a rock my dad made out of sandstone. He was just getting a drink of water and he had a fat belly, sure hope he got the pesky chipmunk that has been digging up everything I plant out back. 

Black Snake 

Love and Prayers, 

Margo

Another Turtle

Turtles, Turtles, Turtles

On the 25 of May, I found another turtle in our driveway headed up the hill. We stopped and I placed him up the hill out of danger and so he went on up the rest of the hill. That was a surprise as I just never thought I would see another one around here. He was lucky not to have been hit crossing the road. So I did my good deed for the day and saved a second turtle. 

Here is his picture. 

This is not the same turtle that we found last year in the month May 2021, he is different in his coloring and a little larger. 

Happy Trails little friend.

Love and Prayers, 

Margo

DOVE egg

On my birthday I found a dove egg laying on the ground next to the rock my dad carved out to make a birdbath. Was nothing I could see wrong with it, I put it back but don't think she will come back, probably was her 1st egg. 

If this was the little dove I saw earlier this year, I am thinking it is the baby of the two adults I have seen around here this spring. Earlier I noticed a bunch of feathers next to the chicken fence where I have seen the two doves sunning themselves. So I am thinking that the "mama" dove got eaten by a hawk, daddy, and the baby dove escaped.  So will keep watching to see what happens with them. I heard them calling to each other the other day, and they are sticking together. 

Love and Prayers, 

Margo

More CHICKENS

I have now recovered the chickens that I gave my friend down the road because she decided not to keep chickens now for a while as she is working and her new job leaves her no time. 

So now I have 12 chickens and 2 guineas for all the colored fresh eggs you could ever want. I now have a sign down at the mailbox that states we have eggs and the neighbor down the street took 10 dozen and 6 (1 1/2) dozen cartons of eggs to her church today, she will help me sell them and get people started to know where they can come to get eggs. She also is texting all she knows to let them know where we are located. 

I hope we get a lot of people because, at this rate, we get 12 eggs a day if all are laying. I think the guineas are male, no eggs from them as of yet as far as I know. 

Love and Prayers, 

Margo

Hummers

We have HUMMERS now, they showed up yesterday. I was standing on the upper deck dogging the black wasp which are all over when the sun shines and it gets quite hot on the upper deck with no roof overhead to help cut the sun. While standing on the upper deck, I was bussed by a hummer, who then got in my face as though to say "where is my food". He scared me as I had been waving off the bees just a few seconds ago and out of nowhere here comes the "hummer". 🤣

So now I have put up their food in all their spots that they seem to come back to each year. I had already made their food about one week ago, I just thought it was about time to start seeing them. 

So I was ready kinda.

Love and Prayers, 

Margo

EGGS - EGGS WE have eggs for sale

Morning everyone, 

Eggs, Oh my goodness. I am getting 8 eggs a day now. As soon as I can get to my workshop and to my scroll saw I will be making a large sign that says we have farm fresh eggs for sale now. Come and get them to those who live nearby and need some. We have plenty of them. 

My lovely chickens are not shy about laying even in the wintertime and the size of them are huge, even for new layers. Some of them so far are "double yolks", some of the eggs are so huge I really thought it might be a triple yolk, but was only double. 

My chickens get fresh water and all the food they want plus I also give them a small amount of scratch grain in the afternoon. At noon I also during the winter I also give them greens (collard, spinach, kale) depending on what I find at the store. Mixed all together with some of the following at different times, cantaloupe, watermelon, oranges, tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs + shells, old bread, old crackers, apples, grapes seedless, lettuce, cabbage. Just to name a few. 

Needless to say, my chickens get a well-balanced diet, they stay happy and healthy. No sick chickens on my end of the world. I also keep their "covered pen area" cleaned out and kept fresh and dry, and their shed where they sleep and lay eggs, is kept clean and dry, we use cedar shavings on the floor and I use cat litter on a shelf just under where they roost scooped each morning and it is clean and dry also. The shed has two windows and a vent on the back, so fresh air is always going through the coop. 

Oh my at the fresh eggs, there is nothing like them for taste. The color when cracked open is perfect, such as dark yellow yolks, and the whites are not runny nor cloudy. 

We have now even covered the huge chicken yard with bird netting to keep the overhead predators at bay. We dug down around the covered smaller pen area and around the shed and attached rabbit wire underground to stop the digging of animals like coyotes or foxes. They are safe from raccoons, possums, skunks. So if we left for the day and night we can allow them to be in the covered pen area and they come and go to the shed as they want and we do not have to worry. 

Using the overhead heater we got for them when the outside temps dip really low, I know they loved that, we only have the two gunnies and one or two chickens with large cones which could freeze if not protected, we have had NO problems and the temps dipped as low as single digits during this last winter many nights and this was their first winter.  

And to say the least, our chickens are pets and we love them and I get to pet them each day, they follow me around like a little puppy in the yard. I LOVE it.

Love and Prayers, 

Margo