I Meant....

to write a couple more posts in June, I really did but things got busy and then I started feeling lousy and realized this morning that it wasn't severe allergies but a mild head cold. Mild in that it doesn't hurt to swallow but my throat feels like sandpaper, I have lots more post nasal drip than I normally do (hence the sore throat), I'm coughing a bit more than I ought to for the dust I am stirring up while cleaning (not to mention almost coughing up a lung the first day I woke up and felt lousy) plus I feel very tired. Hal also woke up this morning with a similar sore throat so it then became obvious to me that I was really ill.

The cleaning is in preparation for our new vinyl floor which I was finally informed of last Tuesday would be happening tomorrow (the following Tuesday) and would also continue Wednesday and then Friday if necessary. But not Thursday which happens to be Independence Day here in the good old USofA. Darn good thing we weren't planning on traveling anywhere on vacation.

It's been more than 2 months since we ordered the floor. We were told maybe the first week of May so that's when Hal tore up the carpeting. It was glued to the floor. Consequently, it means we have to have luan screwed and glued to cover the residual glue and other defects. Probably doubled the price of the installation. Carpet would have been cheaper but vinyl will be easier to keep clean with two dogs in the long run.

The installer had injured his knee, at least that is what we were told and as I am not immune to injury I completely understand. But I sure hope nothing screws this up. I'd like to have things back to normal, especially as we moved the TV and stereo today and will have to content ourselves with an old CRT TV in the guest room which is stuffed with extra furniture till this is done.

Stay tuned.

Spring Has Sprung!

At long last. The sun came back out yesterday and the daytime temps got back into the 50s. Fifty-five for a high yesterday, almost 55 today. They're predicting into the 60s for Saturday and Sunday. It's by no means permanent, 40s again by next Thursday are forecast but the snow is definitely on its way out now. No sign of any crocuses around here but hopefully it won't be long till they finally pop their heads out of the ground.

I noticed the buds on the maple trees are also swelling today, so in a couple weeks tree pollen should be driving a few people (you paying attention, Hal?) nuts. I am only slightly allergic to trees, it's grass that gets me and that won't get really bad till late June.

Sure am enjoying this weather.

Another Chicken Dilemma

So my chicken raising plans have changed yet again. This time it's because my husband seems to have developed an allergy to the egg whites of duck eggs. At this point we don't know if he's also allergic to chicken egg whites (or even if the yolks are also a problem) but for now we have to assume that is the case. It makes raising egg laying chickens a dubious proposition.

I could still go with buying only those Cornish X's, those are the chickens that have heart attacks before the age of 3 months (they should be processed before then) but what fun is having a bunch of birds for a couple months and then killing them all? What would I need a coop or hen house for? And where would I put all the frozen carcasses? I would have to buy another chest freezer.

So it makes more sense to find another kind of meat chicken, one that I could keep year round and cull a few now and then. It also makes sense to find a bird that doesn't lay hundreds of eggs per hen per year. (I suppose I could just buy cockerels (those are males for the uninitiated) but do I really want to hear 20 roosters crowing every morning? Do my neighbors?

I came across a chicken called the Dark Cornish which apparently those Cornish X's are bred from. It's a good forager, is not a great layer of eggs but the hens can be good setters and mothers. There are other tidbits of information I came upon but that's enough for this post. Also, I stumbled across another intriguing bird called the Buckeye, developed by a woman in Ohio at the start of the 20th century. A sweet bird that almost went extinct. Currently the Dark Cornish is easier to acquire, so at this point that is the way I am leaning. Besides, the Buckeye is cuter and perhaps harder to kill? I read a post somewhere where a kid said the Dark Cornish look like feathered dinosaurs. It's an apt description. But even if they're uglier than the "regular" chickens, I think I'll still let my husband "do the deed." For now anyway. I find lots of things other people deem ugly as cute.