Flashback Friday ~ MeMa’s Car Mishaps…

On Wednesday,  I went to visit my mother-in-law, also known in our family as “Mema”.  It had been a few weeks since I’d seen Mema, and we had a great visit.  As we sat in our rocking chairs, we began reminiscing about days gone by.

Somehow the subject of cars came  up, and we began discussing some of the ” car mishaps” that Mema has been involved in over the years.  There have been a few…

The first  car mishap took place somewhere around the late 1950’s.  My hubby, Ed,  was an older child by then, probably eleven, but his two younger brothers were still quite young.  Ed had been painting on this particular day, when he forgot and left the can of paint and brush unattended.  Ed’s little brothers found the paint and proceeded to paint all over their mother’s car with it!  Fortunately, their handiwork was soon discovered,  before it had a chance to dry and ruin the car, but Ed still got into trouble for his error!  (Above is a photo of Ed’s dad and his little brothers, along with the car)

I guess you could say Ed got his payback for the “car painting incident”, some years later, when his mother accidentally set his car door on fire by placing a  lit cigarette butt in a paper cup in the car door!  Ed and his mom were in the drug store browsing, when a person came rushing in to say that somebody’s car outside was on fire!  It happened to be mine and Ed’s!  Fortunately, the damage was minor, but Ed was still left with a hole burned into the upholstery of the door!   Ed’s mom offered to pay for the damage, but we decided not to worry about it.  We sold the car a few months later.

I happened to be involved in ” car mishap #3″.  By this time, Mema was driving a 1975, black Ford Elite.  This car was actually the first new car that Ed and I ever owned.  We bought it new, but later sold it to her.  Ed’s mom and I had been on a shopping trip and were on our way back home, when suddenly a large black cow wandered out onto the highway…  Mema applied the brakes, but wasn’t able to come to a complete stop before hitting the cow.  The car knocked the cow off its feet with a thud.  However, the cow was able to get back up on her feet and walk away, with nothing more than a few bumps and bruises. Luckily, this happened back in the day when cars were still made with sturdy metal bumpers, so it didn’t hurt the car either–not even a scratch!

Car mishap #4 involved a different car, many years later, and the car wasn’t so lucky this time!  It all began when my mother-in-law headed to work one morning, and ended up literally driving into the building where she worked!  She’s still not quite sure what happened, but somehow the car was propelled straight through the front of the building, and into the waiting room of the doctor’s office where she worked!  Fortunately, nobody was injured, but I can’t say the same for the car.  Every piece of that car was either dented or scraped!  It was a total loss.  The building didn’t look so good either!  (Somewhere we have a newspaper clipping showing this, but I’ve looked everywhere and can’t find it)

Mema’s next car was a lovely baby blue Grand Marquis.  I always loved that car!  Unfortunately, this car was involved in two–yes, two– “mishaps”!  The first accident occurred when another driver ran a red light, and plowed into the side of the car, while Ed’s parents and another couple were in it.  Nobody was seriously injured, but the car was!  The car was repaired and eventually my husband ended up owning it.

The second, and final “mishap”  involving the baby blue Grand Marquis occurred late one evening, when Ed sped off in it to see about our daughter, who called and said she thought she heard an intruder outside of her home!  Ed lost control of the car on the curve in our road, and landed upside down in the middle of the soybean field between our home and hers!  I don’t know how Ed escaped with only a broken shoulder, hurt knee,  and lots of bumps and bruises.  The car rolled several times before coming to rest on its top!  Ed’s a very lucky man–the car?  Not so lucky.  Another total loss.

MeMa  bought one final new car after the blue Grand Marquis,  a white Lincoln Town Car.  It was a beauty, and came equipped with all sorts of “bells and whistles”.  It was the nicest car she’d ever owned.  These days her car sits at her house, parked under the car port.  It only gets driven on special occasions.  It’s been nearly ten years since Mema stopped driving, which means the days of Mema’s car mishaps are a thing of the past…hopefully!

The Wednesday Hodgepodge…March 28

Hello there!  Once again, it’s time for the mid-weekly meme known as “The Hodgepodge”.  Thanks to our hostess, Joyce, for another great set of questions!  She always does a great job.  Here are my answers to this week’s questions:

1. What’s the last job you did that required elbow grease?

About 3 weeks ago, when I removed the old wax from the kitchen floor, and put a new coat of wax on it.  I was exhausted when I finished!

2. March Madness, aka the men’s Division I basketball championship, is nearing an end. What sort of ‘madness’ has your house seen this month?

The current “madness” in our house is in the form of six  baby chicks, who have been living in a very large box (actually 3 boxes joined together), in my husband’s pool room–for the past two weeks!  There’s a lot of noise and mess going on in that box, but they’re so darn cute!  See them stretched out taking their siesta…  A couple of them are really snoozing!

3. What’s your favorite shop for browsing?

Call me crazy, but I enjoy browsing in the gift shop section of The Cracker Barrel.  They always have a neat assortment of “stuff”, and I can always find something I like!

4. Is there ever a time when giving up makes sense?

I believe there is.  It depends on the situation, and what is involved, but sometimes you just have to “throw in the towel”.

5. What’s a song you love that contains the name of a city, state or country in its title?

There’s an old melancholy song called “Rainy Night In Georgia” which was popular back in 1969 when Ed and I first started dating.  I loved the song back then, and I still love it today!  Hearing it takes me right back through time.  I spent many lonely nights listening to this song while Ed was away (in the army)…

6. When did you first begin using a computer?

I’m not really sure when I began using a computer on a regular basis, but I believe it was sometime in the late 90’s.  We had a computer in our home, for several years prior to this, but I never really cared about learning how to use it.  Besides, I would have had to fight our children to get a turn!  Eventually, I was forced to begin using a computer, as a part of my job.  By then children had grown up and moved away, and I had the computer at home all to myself.  And so began my adventures on the computer…

7. Did you buy girl scout cookies this year? What’s your favorite?

No, I didn’t buy any girl scout cookies this year.  My favorites are the chocolate mint ones.

Random:

Eighteen years ago, today, I became ill with what would later be diagnosed as “Rheumatoid Arthritis”.  It has changed my life, but over time I’ve learned to deal with it.  This form of arthritis is very different than regular arthritis.  In addition to joint pain and destruction, it can make you feel ill in many other ways, too.  There are stomach issues, headaches, fevers, and a type of fatigue I can’t begin to describe.   If you still have your health, you have a priceless gift.  Don’t ever take your good health for granted!

Spending Quality Time Together…

The inspiration for today’s post comes from a recent conversation with two men in my life–my hubby, Ed, and our youngest son, Brad.  In conversation, Brad happened to mention that his pastor said, “husbands and wives need to spend more (quality) time talking with each other.”  Ed piped up and said, “Plant a garden, you’ll spend lots of time together!”

Which brings me to the subject of gardening with Ed!  We’ve spent the better part of the past two weeks together in our garden.  We’ve also had more arguments in the past two weeks, than we have had in the past two years!  Ed’s gardening style and my gardening style are not the same!

First of all, our garden rows are running north and south.  This has bothered me from Day One.  Our garden rows are 125 feet long!  Give me a break!  It takes forever to reach the end of a row, no matter what you’re doing!  Because of the length of the rows, we didn’t have enough of any one kind of seed to reach the end of a row.  As a result, we have part of a row of one kind of seed, followed by something different.  Only one row in the entire garden is planted all the way to the end with the same seed!

If I had designed the garden, I would have run the rows from east to west.  Then the rows would have been about 50 feet long, and each row would then be planted all the way to the end with the same kind of seed!  This would also permit me to run the water hose parallel to the rows, instead of having to cross over them like we’re doing now!  We have to be mindful not to damage plants!

The next argument involved using a planter.  Ed was all “gung-ho” about using an old planter which used to belong to my daddy.  Normally, I don’t have anything against using a planter, but this year I bought heirloom seeds, which are quite expensive!  (I want to be able to save seeds from this year’s plants, for future use.)  I counted each and every seed in the envelopes, and didn’t want to waste a one!  Sometimes there is waste when using a planter because it drops more than one seed at a time, occasionally.

Ed and I reached a compromise, when I told him he could plant the “regular” seeds with his planter.  He tried to plant some peas with the planter, but quickly realized how many seeds he was using, and resorted to planting them by hand–even though the pea seeds were  not expensive heirloom seeds.  Ed finally got to use the planter for the corn!

We also had another argument over how deep to punch the holes, then another over how far apart to plant the seeds!  We finally agreed on a proper amount, and Ed devised a clever planting tool.  It consists of an old mop handle, with a four-inch nail duct taped about an inch from the end of it!  It worked like a charm!

Gardening with Ed has been an interesting experience, so far.  We’re spending lots of “quality time” together in the fresh air and sunshine!  Even though we’ve had a few disagreements along the way, we’ve also agreed on a few things, such as (a) we’re not as young and agile as we used to be, (b) the sun is hot,  and  (c) gardening is a never-ending job!

Gardening is a never-ending job, but it’s also a little bit “addictive”.  There’s just something about watching a tiny seed sprouting and growing into a plant!  There’s also something about walking into the garden the next day, only to discover that something ate your plant overnight!  Stay tuned for more tales of  mine and Ed’s “quality time”…

Meet Me On Monday…And The Weekend Wrap Up

Whew!  Is it Monday again already?  It is?!  Then I guess that means it’s time to join Heather for “Meet Me On Monday” again!  Here are today’s questions:

1. What movie or movies do you have to watch when they are on TV? (submitted by@rndmcrftyGAgrl)

I can watch “Pretty Woman” or “Steel Magnolias” over and over.  I never grow tired of either one!
2. When you have out of town visitors, what fun places do you take them to in your town?  (Or where do you play tourist in your own town?)

Sadly, there are no “fun” places to go in our tiny town!  We have two red lights, about fifteen gas stations, and three dollar stores.  That is the extent of our “fun”–unless you care to visit our “Welcome Center”!   (I’m still not sure why we have a Welcome Center!)

Savannah, Georgia is located about 60 miles east of us, and it’s where one must go to find entertainment or “fun”.  There’s plenty to do in Savannah!
3. What was the first album, CD, Download you ever bought?

I don’t remember the first album I ever bought, but the first album I ever owned was one by The Kinks.  My mama bought it for my 12th birthday, to go along with my new stereo!  I’d never heard of The Kinks, but I played that album over and over, and became sort of fond of The Kinks!
4. Do you speak more than one language and which ones?  If not, what language would you like to know?

I took two years of Spanish in high school, but I only remember a few words.  I’m quite happy speaking English only.
5. What is your dream job?

I’m currently working at my “dream job”, as a home maker.  All I ever wanted to become was a wife, home maker, and a mother.  I’ve successfully done all of these, including raising all of my children into adulthood.  To have received a large weekly paycheck for being a wife, mother, and home maker would be my “dream job”!

Weekend Wrap Up:

Where has the weekend gone?  It seems like a few hours ago that it was Friday!

Our weekend was much like last weekend.  Ed spent a great deal of time working on the “chicken palace”, but still didn’t get finished.  Maybe next weekend…It’s still a little early to put the baby chicks outside anyway.  I’ve come to enjoy their chirping and chattering, and they’ve come to enjoy my hand–which brings them a small piece of bread (for a treat) each day!  Pine shavings are keeping the smell and mess down to a minimum, thank goodness.

Part of the reason Ed wasn’t able to finish the chicken coop was because of our garden.  We had to take out time to plant more seeds !  We planted three kinds of butter beans, seventy-six tomato plants, and one row of peas.  All of this took FOREVER!  Our garden rows are one hundred and twenty-five feet long, and we planted every seed by hand!!!  In fact, Ed dug 56 holes with post-hole diggers, for some of the tomato plants.  (We’re putting potting soil in some of the holes, as an experiment.)  Needless to say, today, we have sore muscles in all parts of our bodies(especially our backs!)–and we still have more planting left to do!

At some point, Monday will find me back out in the garden, planting more seeds.  Only two more rows to go–more peas and some corn.  At least the corn seed is planted farther apart, and will go faster!  Oh, no!  I forgot about peanuts and watermelons!  We can’t have a southern garden without some peanuts and watermelons!   I’m getting tired just thinking about it!

Happy Monday, everyone!

Trying To Keep Up And Other Random Thoughts…

One thing I quickly realized, when I had to report for jury duty on Tuesday morning, is I sure don’t miss being in the “rat race”!  It’s a thirty minute drive, from our house to the courthouse.  I had to get up at “dark-thirty” in order to get myself dressed, eat breakfast, make the drive, and be in court by 8 o’clock!  I didn’t take into account the fact that it might turn out to be a foggy morning (it was), and the fact that scores of students would be on the highway driving to high school, which is located between my house and the courthouse.  I barely made it to court on time–and I detest being late!

I love not having to get dressed up each morning, and race out the door to be at a place at a certain time.  I love being able to slide into a comfy old shirt and slacks or shorts.  I love not having to wear makeup every day.  I love not having to be accountable to anyone other than myself, but what I don’t love is–how quickly time passes each day!

I get up early, go to bed late, and I STILL can’t get everything accomplished that I need to do!  I can’t decide if I”m moving that much slower, or time is passing that much faster!

I used to sit at work and dream of the days when I’d have all the time in the world to do all the things I never had time to do because I had a job.  It hasn’t happened that way at all since leaving the “rat race”!  While I do get a few more things done, there are just as many things remaining undone.  I simply can’t keep up.  I wonder if anyone else is experiencing this, or is it just me…

I fall into bed each night feeling like I haven’t accomplished enough.  Then I go over the list of things I did during the day, and it’s usually pretty long, but it just never seems to be enough!

Now that we’ve started to plant a garden and have acquired six baby chicks, I have more chores added to the list of things to do!  Help!  I think I need an extra pair of arms and legs 🙂

On the positive side, I am enjoying learning about and doing something different, such as gardening!  At the moment, God is blessing me with lots of “good days” (health-wise) so I am able to enjoy working outside.  I pray the good days continue, and I will certainly enjoy them for as long as they do.  There’s just “something” about watching seeds sprout and grow that makes me feel good!  In the past, I haven’t had much luck growing anything…

In addition to gardening, thanks to my tender loving care, our six baby chicks seem to be thriving.  Wow, it’s a lot of work taking care of babies–even if they are chickens!  All have wings now, and they are beginning to get a “hint” of a tail.  I’ve learned a lot of things about chicks that I didn’t know, even though we’ve had chickens in the past.

Our chicks are still living in their “chick condo” in our pool room, but hopefully Ed will finish their “chicken palace” outside this weekend.  It hasn’t been as messy keeping the chicks inside, as I thought it would be, thanks to wood shavings in the bottom and high sides on the “condo”.   I will miss hearing their chirping each day, and the “pitter-patter” of their little feet when they hear me say “Hey Girls!”  Fortunately, I’ll be able to look right outside the window and watch them happily going about their business of being “little red hens”…

That’s about it for my random thoughts on how busy these days are, how quickly time is passing, and how I just can’t keep up!  How about you, are you keeping up, or falling behind?

Springing Into The Hodgepodge…

1. The first day of spring is here…do you enjoy working in the yard? Weeding, raking, mowing, planting-your favorite springtime garden chore? How about your least favorite?

Yes, I do enjoy working in the yard!  I enjoy planting “stuff”.  I’ve planted flowers in the yard for years, but this year we’ve embarked on the new adventure of growing vegetables, too.  I’m really enjoying watching the seeds sprout into plants, and then watching the plants grow bigger each day!  My least favorite gardening chore is weeding–which I began yesterday afternoon 😦

2. What puts a spring in your step?

Going on a vacation!

3. Describe a time when you had to spring into action?

The last time that comes to mind was back in 2006.  It was the day of my daughter and son-in-law’s 5th wedding anniversary.  At the time, my daughter was about 6 months pregnant. She called me that morning to say that “something is going on.”  She told me that she’d just experienced a “gush of fluid”.  I sprang into action, and quickly drove her sixty miles to Savannah where we met her husband (who was working out-of-town) at the hospital!  My daughter spent 4 days in the hospital, then was released “on complete bed rest” for the remainder of her pregnancy.  She and her hubby (and their 2 dogs) came to stay with Ed and me until the end of her pregnancy.

4. We’re having carrots for dinner…would you prefer yours raw or cooked?

I don’t really care much for carrots, but if I do eat carrots, I prefer them raw.

5. Do you take the shampoos and other sundries from your hotel room when its time to check out?

Yes, I usually take the shampoo, left-over soap, and notepads/pens.  I figure we paid for them, so they’re ours.

6. What’s the most enjoyable team or club you’ve belonged to and what was it that made it so?

I was never interested in sports or clubs while in high school, but I remember joining The Spanish Club during my freshman year.  It’s the only club I can remember being a member of.  It was okay, but I guess clubs just weren’t “my thing”.

7. Is cloning a sign of progress?

I suppose it is, but if cloning is a sign of progress, it’s a direction I’d just as soon not go in.  The whole idea kind of “creeps” me out.

Random:

I had my first experience reporting for Jury Duty yesterday!  It was an “interesting” experience, being in a courtroom for the first time in my life.  There was a lot of sitting and waiting, just as some of you had said.  Fortunately, a cousin of mine was there, too, and we spent some time visiting, and catching up.  The judge was very cordial, and I actually liked him.  Watching the lawyers question and choose the panel of jurors was pretty interesting.  The highlight of the morning was watching one particular man trying to “wrangle his way out of being picked”.  It was quite obvious what he was doing, but in the end, he was successful!

There were well over 100 prospective jurors in court when the day began, with only four cases that needed to be tried.  In the end, only ONE case ended up going to trial (the others plead guilty).  Wouldn’t you know, I got picked as a juror?!  I get to go back to court in twelve days to sit on the jury.  A former high school classmate (and neighbor) of mine also got picked, so that makes me feel a tad bit better.  And the countdown to jury duty begins (again)…

Now, why don’t you spring on over to Joyce’s and join in The Hodgepodge?!

Tuesday Tidbits…

Today is the first day of spring!  It’s also the day I’ve been summoned for jury duty for the first time.  I am just as thrilled about going to court, as I was when I had to have a wisdom tooth pulled…Need I say more?  I can think of so many other things I’d rather be doing!

Speaking of spring…I’d like to share a couple of photos from around our yard.  The first photo is one of our new apple trees that we recently planted.  It actually had blossoms on it this first year!  I wonder if it will have any apples on it this fall…

My last photo is of an azalea bush in our yard.  It has two different colored blossoms on one bush.  I’ve had this happen before, on a different bush, but it still amazes me each time I see it happen..Some blossoms are white, while others are a pale pink.

Happy first day of spring, everyone!  I hope you have a great day.  Mine should prove to be…interesting!  I’ll let you know how it goes.

Meet Me On Monday And The St. Paddy’s Day Weekend Wrap Up…

Happy Monday, everyone!  I’m starting the week off by joining Heather at Acting Balanced for her meme  “Meet Me On Monday”.  Here are Heather’s questions for this week:

1. How do you like your eggs?

I prefer my eggs scrambled, but I also enjoy eating them fried or in an omlet.  Yep, I’m a southern girl!  Love those eggs 🙂

2. Who is the last person you spoke to on the phone?

The last person I spoke with on the phone was my daughter, one day last week.  I believe it was Thursday.

3. Do you have a place you keep ‘junk’ in your home?

I have a small room (built especially for storing my “junk”), but, I also keep some of my “stuff” in Ed’s pool room…(like our six new baby chicks!)

4. What is on your ‘spring cleaning’ list?

Inside, I need to sort through some of the excessive “junk” in the storage room, straighten up my kitchen cabinets, and clean out some dresser drawers.  Outside, I’ve already begun raking and cleaning the yards, but I need to finish.  After that, I plan to paint the outside porches (again!).

5. What blog post have you written recently that you’d like more people to know about? (don’t forget to link it up)

A few weeks ago I wrote a post called “Somebody’s Watching You”.  It’s about our lack of privacy these days.  You can read it HERE.

Weekend Wrap Up:

It was a beautiful St. Paddy’s Day Weekend!  Ed and I didn’t attend a parade or any kind of  St. Patrick’s Day celebration, but we were surrounded by “green”.  Green trees, green grass, and even some green beans in the garden!  Our beans have sprouted, and I’m thrilled!

The weather was unseasonably hot this weekend!  The temperature was in the 80’s both days.  I wore a tank top on Sunday afternoon, and I was still hot!

On Friday evening, Ed and I went to Lowe’s, and bought the supplies to build our “chicken palace”.  Boy have building supplies gone  up!  I couldn’t believe the price of lumbar these days!  How can people afford to build houses???

I call our chicken coop, a “chicken palace”, because it’s costing so much!  Also, because it’s not going to be any ordinary chicken coop! This coop is going to be 16 feet wide and 7 feet deep.  We want our “girls” to live in style, and have plenty of room to move!  We expect plenty of fresh eggs in return!

Ed worked on the “palace” over the weekend, made good progress, but didn’t finish.  He’ll probably finish it next weekend.  Here’s what he got accomplished so far:

You may notice that our “girls” will be living right next to the woods…Ed and I are going to have to work extra hard to make sure the “chicken palace” is varmint proof!  We’ve learned from experience, once you get chickens, varmints will come from far and wide to try and make a meal out of your poultry!

For now, our “girls” are living in Ed’s pool room, and have moved on up to their “chicken condo”.  Our baby chicks have all sprouted their wing feathers, and are now trying to learn how to fly.  As a result, we had to make them a home with higher sides, and more room to run!  We joined three cardboard boxes together, and made a “chicken condo” for the “girls”.  They  seem to like their new home.

I’m enjoying watching the antics of my temporary house guests (chicks are quite entertaining), but I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that I’m looking forward to having them move into their “palace”  outside.

Thirty-Five Years Ago Today…

Today was March 17th, the day some people celebrate as St. Patrick’s Day.  March 17th has a more special meaning to Ed and me.  It’s the day we moved back home to Ed’s family farm–35 years ago today.

Ed and I spent nearly the first five years of our marriage, living in a mobile home park in Savannah, Georgia.  We had neighbors on each side of us.  Some lived so close we could hear the conversations going on inside their homes, and I’m sure they could  hear ours, as well.  Finally, we decided that we’d had enough of big city life.  Ed’s daddy offered us a piece of land on the farm–our choice.  How could we say no?

We chose a secluded spot on the back of the property, and on March 17, 1977, we moved our home from the city to the country.  It was the best choice we ever made.  Because of that choice, our children grew up breathing fresh country air, spending lots of time with both sets of grandparents, and living in a town where everybody knew your name.

We’ve been able to have many pets of all kinds, and we’ve experienced encounters with all kinds of wildlife.  We’ve routinely been visited by deer, rabbits, squirrels, foxes, opposums, raccoons, owls, and even a skunk or two!  Granted, some of these encounters we could have lived happily without, but such is country living!

Ed and I no longer live in the original spot that we picked out so many years ago.  Four years ago, we built a new home next-door to it.  Our daughter and her family live in our original home place.  These days, from next-door, Ed and I watch our grandchildren playing in the shade of the trees that we planted in our old yard, so many years ago.  Our children played under those same trees, only the trees were much smaller back then!

Today, our 35th anniversary of living here,  found Ed and I happily working in our new garden, marveling over all of the seeds that are now beginning to sprout up out of the soil.  Seeds that are sprouting and growing in the same ground that Ed’s daddy farmed over sixty years ago.  It feels so good to be growing something!  Ed’s daddy’s been gone for nearly ten years, but I can’t help but think that he’d be proud!

Holy Cow! We’ve Got Baby Chicks In Our House…

If there’s one thing that can be said about living with me, it’s that there is never a dull moment!  I seem to flow through life going from one phase to another.  It’s a good thing my husband, Ed, is an easy-going man!  Let’s see, there was “the houseplant phase”, “the sewing phase”, “the crocheting phase”, “the cake decorating phase”, “the doll-making phase”, “the animal rescuing phase”,  “the doll collecting phase”, “the blogging phase”, and now “the chicken phase”!

Chickens aren’t new to us.  Ed and I acquired some chickens once before–about thirty-two or thirty-three years ago–and we got 50 of them at once!  Let me tell you, 50 baby chicks is A LOT OF CHICKENS!  It’s quite an interesting story, and you can read it  HERE.  If  you read part one, you will probably feel compelled to read PART TWO, when things really get exciting!   Both will make you shake your head, and probably even laugh!

You’d think, after all of those past adventures with chickens, I would run the other way whenever I hear the word CHICKEN!  However, time has a way of erasing bad memories, and I’ve really always liked chickens–which leads me into today’s story…

It all began when Ed went to Tractor Supply, and happened to mention that they had some baby chicks!  The wheels in my head began to turn…  Suddenly, I got this notion that I wanted to get some chickens again!  The idea of farm-fresh eggs sounded appealing.  Besides, we could build a “varmint proof” coop to house and protect our feathered friends!  I learned how to do it from watching YouTube!  So off I went, in search of some baby chicks–without waiting for Ed to build a coop!

I called Tractor Supply over the weekend, and the lady said they were out of chicks, but would be getting a shipment in on Monday morning.  On Monday morning, I jumped in my car, and drove 38 miles to Tractor Supply–without calling first!  When I arrived, guess what?  No chickens!  I came home empty-handed, and disappointed.

Tuesday morning, about 11:30, I called the store again, and was told the chickens had arrived!  I took a moment to eat a quick sandwich, then jumped in my car again.  I walked into Tractor Supply at 1:30.  I walked back to the area where the chicks are kept, but the sales person wasn’t around, so I took a moment to look at chicken feeders and such.  About that time, several people began coming into the store, and heading straight for the baby chicks!  I ended up being third in line!

I began to panic a bit, either the store hadn’t gotten in a very large shipment, or they had already sold a lot of their chicks!  I suspect it was a little of both.  Several tubs were already empty.  I wasn’t sure what kind of chickens I wanted, and there wasn’t a lot of time to decide!  It was a little bit like the “After Thanksgiving Sale” at Wal-mart, if you know what I mean!

While waiting for the sales person, I struck up a conversation with the farmer ahead of me.  He was there to buy 25 chicks.  He convinced me to buy pullets (baby hens) and skip the rooster altogether.  You only need a rooster if you plan to raise baby chicks, which I don’t (especially after our last experience!)   One tub had only pullets, while two other tubs had pullets and roosters mixed–with no way to tell what they were.  Of course, most people wanted pullets!

The nice farmer ahead of me, ended up only buying 20 chicks.  I’m sure he did so, to make sure there were enough left for me, after I’d explained to him that I’d already made two trips over there attempting to buy chickens.

My next surprise came when I got to the check out.  I had to present a photo ID to purchase the chickens!  What the heck?  They took my name, address, and phone number, too!  I felt like I was going through an adoption process.

I safely made it home with my “precious cargo”, and got them set up in a box, under a light.  I spent the rest of the afternoon, making sure they were happily settled in, and the temperature was at the right level (95 degrees!)  For now, our six new residents are being housed in a large plastic storage container–in Ed’s pool room!  I quickly plugged in a Wallflower from Bath and Bodyworks!  Baby chicks are precious, but they don’t smell so sweet!

All of our little “house guests” are going to grow up to be “little red hens”.  I’m in the process of giving them all names appropriate for “redheads”.  So far we have: Lucy, Penny, Betty (after Ed’s feisty red-headed aunt), and Ginger.  I need two more “redhead” names.  Suggestions anyone?

I think I’ve learned a few things since our last chicken ordeal.  For one thing, I came home with six chicks instead of fifty! Hopefully they will all turn out to be hens, as planned!  The farmer told me that occasionally a rooster turns up in a batch, but not often.  Last night I saw two of the baby chicks bowing up at each other–just like roosters do.  It made me wonder…

The farmer ahead of me in line told me that he buys 25 pullets each spring.  He furnishes his entire family with eggs for a year, then butchers the hens the following  year.  I don’t plan to do the same!  My hens will either die from old age, or an unknown predator.  We have no plans to eat these little red hens…

Have a great day!  As for me, I’m about to go and clean out the “temporary chicken coop”!  Let the good times begin!  I’m sure I’ll have a few more chicken stories to tell in the future…