Sunday, February 27, 2011

It Wasn't In The Cards

I can plan all week long but when it comes right down to it if it aint in the cards, it aint going to happen.

This weekend the plans were to spend all day Saturday fencing, A Saturday night Sam's run to stock up on food and Sunday I was going to start on the new Rabbit house.
What actually happen was all day Saturday I spent helping family members out with plumbing problems, Saturday night at the softball fields and all day today is nothing but fishing and NASCAR.
Being that my birthday is tomorrow I decided to spend today doing what I wanted and fishing topped that list. Is that being to selfish?

The wife did get a chance to pick up the new 10 week old buck yesterday. I think she named him Buckley or something like that. 
Instead of Tattooing we have a system for naming that tells us what babies are from who. Take for instance, our first buck in named Abe. Abe breeds with Fannie and she has one doe and one buck. The baby buck would be named something like Art Fredric 11. The baby doe would be named Feiona Allen 11.
MMMM Typing it out makes it sound more complicated than just tattooing. I might want to rethink this name thing, lol.   

Two new members joined the MDR family this week so I want to welcome them with a big howdy. Thank yall for being part of the Modern Day Redneck phenomenon that is sweeping the nation and if yall need anything just let me know. Thanks again. 

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

The Thunder Rolls

Tomorrow's weather is going to be nasty. The good thing is that there is no snow or freezing temperatures in the forecast and that makes me really happy.
We have big plans this weekend and if it only rains for a day then I am sure it will be dry enough this weekend to hit it hard again.

We spent the evening hours prepping for the storms by filling in the windows on the new goat barn to keep out the wind and rain giving the goats a nice place to hide. We also added new bedding to all the animals and picked up the feed bags off the ground so they don't get wet in case of a flood.
Everyone is fat and happy at the moment.

This weekend we are planning to get enough materials to finish all the fencing for the whole place. I decided to go with all cattle panels for the mobility and the ease of instillation.  I am tired of people walking across the back pasture and the coyotes circling the barn.
The goats are not going to know what to do with themselves with all that new green grass.

I am also getting a little antsy about what is happening with the prices of food and fuel. I started the Food storage project here about two months ago and we are nowhere near where I want to be as far as a crises situation goes. I was figuring on at least a year to get enough food to feel comfortable but this is getting bad and right now my paints are down around my ankles so to speak.
So if all goes well, Saturday night I was wanting to go ahead and pull the trigger on a Sam's run and speed up my food storage schedule by a couple of months. I hate to do it, but I also hate not too.        

Monday, February 21, 2011

All The Time In The World

Being that I got my weekly scheduled activities done yesterday, I now have all the time to do what ever comes to mind. Not often I can say that!
So saying that, I had the chance to get the taters in the tires while the moon was still good.  I can check that off the list now.

The wife also replanted some of the onions that got to burnt during the snow. I am sure they would have came back but I do not have the patience to wait and see.   




Another thing we did tonight was went and looked at another pygmy buck. I was conflicted on getting another buck or wether but when the buck separation pen is done there needs to be more than just one goat in there or it will go crazy.
The reason I am separating them is because I want to be able to breed the goats at certain times and not have a free for all going on out there and not knowing when they are due and with who.
Having another buck also allows me to be selective on what doe with what buck and get the colors I am wanting.
I know yall know all this, I'm just justifying buying the other buck to myself.
That's funny right there because it worked.   

Sunday, February 20, 2011

I Just Thought.....

My day was planned out minute by minute and it was a good plan too. It mainly centered around me relaxing and me watching the first race of the season at Daytona. 
I just thought I was in control of my time.

I had to play cowboy first thing this morning by helping my Dad load up and move some cows and then after that I was to finish tearing apart the little building my brother gave me several months ago down at the old farm. The plan was to be home by one o'clock or so to prop my feet up and catch the rest of the race.

 Yesterday we hauled home half the building and today we went back to get the frame work. I did not want to pull the trailer all the way down there so we did it in two trips. At this time everything was right on schedule. 
 The one major thing I did not do was take pictures of everything or label any parts. So we laid all the parts out and knew this was going to be just like putting together a puzzle and who does not love puzzles?

All I wanted to put together before I called it day was the floor. Then after work during the week I would work on assembling the rest, but family and friends started coming over lending a hand to help out. I will never turn down good help when it is available and before long we had the whole thing done.  


I missed the race but it really does not matter.
I want to thank all the family and friends that helped out and pushed me to get this done all in one day.

The only thing it needs now is the front awning attached and I'm also going to close off some of the windows so the rain does not blow in but now I have all week to do it.


If everything goes right this week, next weekend will be nothing but fencing.

We had some new people become members of MDR this week and I want to give them a howdy and a big welcome to the Redneck family. If you need anything just let me know. Thanks for joining and being apart of Modern Day Redneck. 

Yall have a good week now, ya hear.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Just An Old Hippie

I was trying desperately to get on the computer last night to do a blog post but.....
One of the problems with having only one computer in the house is that the schools give the kids homework that can only be done with the internet and sometimes it takes them hours to do the research needed to complete the assignment. I often ask them what would happen if we did not have the internet. They always just shrug their shoulders and give me that "I don't know" look. I cannot understand it, I have not seen them bring home an actual text book in a long time. Are they even learning anything besides how to surf the net and use up all the printer ink?

Last night was probably a good thing I was not able to get on. I was just wanting to rant and rave about disrespectful, uncaring and un-neighborly people anyway. Here is the short version;
I spend a lot of time, energy and expense to keep my animals on my place and my place alone. The rest just let their dogs, goats and cats run the countryside not caring where they go, what they tear up or what they kill. If you take matters into your own hands and shoot one of their loving pets they care so much about, they call the sheriff on you as if you were the one that did something wrong.
I tell you what it is, it's them dag gum city folks is what it is. They move from a little yard in town out to the country and think they can do whatever to whoever they want to.
Listen to this, a guy down the street bought a goat. He did not have a piece of fence on his property but he bought a goat. The wife stopped by there a couple of times to inform them the goat was sitting in the road and is going to get run over. They just shrugged it off and said it will move. Well sure as the world, it got run over, by them! No kidden, they run over their own goat. They thought that being in the country animals needed to be free and roam too and throw. The poor goat was sleeping under the truck when they went and backed up.

Last night our good friends D&R had their little dog killed right off their back steps by some wondering dogs from down the road. When the owners of the dogs were confronted, all they could say was it was a mistake because their dogs could not have done that.

That's more ranting than I wanted to do tonight but to sum it all up, as I get older I find myself and my kind becoming more and more obsolete.

Kinda like that song from the early 80's by the Bellamy Brothers, "Old Hippie"
If you don't know it here are the Lyrics:

He turned thirty-five last Sunday
In his hair he found some gray
But he still ain't changed his lifestyle
He likes it better the old way
So he grows a little garden in the back yard by the fence
He's consuming what he's growing nowadays in self defense
He get's out there in the twilight zone
Sometimes when it just don't make no sense

He gets off on country music
Cause disco left him cold
He's got young friends into new wave
But he's just too friggin' old
And he dreams at night of Woodstock and the day John Lennon died
How the music made him happy and the silence made him cry
Yeah he thinks of John sometimes
And he has to wonder why

Chorus:
He's an old hippie and he don't know what to do
Should he hang on to the old
Should he grab on to the new
He's an old hippie...his new life is just a bust
He ain't trying to change nobody
He's just trying real hard to adjust

He was sure back in the sixties that everyone was hip
Then they sent him off to Vietnam on his senior trip
And they forced him to become a man while he was still a boy
And in each wave of tragedy he waited for the joy
Now this world may change around him
But he just can't change no more

Chorus

Well, he stays away a lot now from the parties and the clubs
And he's thinking while he's joggin' 'round
Sure is glad he quit the hard drugs
Cause him and his kind get more endangered everyday
And pretty soon the species will just up and fade away
Like the smoke from that torpedo...just up and fade away
           

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Missed One

I thought I had weathered the winter storms without any losses but I guess I missed one, about 2000 to be exact. I had one smaller tub of worms I was building up and never thought to put a heating pad under and they froze. I read somewhere worms can freeze for a short time but I guess two weeks was just a little to long.
The big tub has several thousand in it and was deep enough and the heat from the decomposing food kept it from freezing. They were not moving fast but at least they were moving.

 It finally dried up enough to get the bee hive set up. I plan to put some sugar water in it and douse the inside with coke and try to lure the bees in. I have read that it is close to impossible to attract a hive that way, but close is close enough for me to try. If not then I have to buy the bees and take the risk of seeing my $100.00 fly off into the sunset.   
     

Monday, February 14, 2011

Let The Games Begin

It was the start of the Girls Softball season tonight and we came out swinging. We won on a run rule in the third inning 15-0. The depressing thing is that I forgot to take the camera. Maybe I will remember it next week.
I know this blog is supost to be about country life and redneckism but I am proud of all three of my girls and I am not ashamed to let everyone know. If I had boys then it would be Friday night Football instead.    
I look at it this way, small town 2A sports is just about as country life as you can get.

It is getting late and I have to hit the hay so before I go I wanted to say "hey" and give a big MDR welcome to James, Jenise, tomstedham and Sista. Thank yall for joining the Modern Day Redneck family. If yall need anything or just want to criticize please feel free to leave a comment, I will respond.   
Thanks again for being a part of the MDR family.

Have a happy Valentines.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Weekend Chores

The cold and snow has all moved away for now. The mud and water puddles are starting to dry up enough to move around. Today was the first day we could actually get out and get things done besides just feed and watering the animals.
It has been two and a half weeks since we were able to clean any pens and mam did they need it. We spent most of the day doing just that, chores that the weather has kept us from doing. Plus this was the first chance we had to evaluate everything and every animal to how they fared.

The onions plants do not look good at all. If this weeks sunshine does not bring any green back in them then this weekend we will replant.    
Our Speckled Sussex rooster was the only one who suffered any frost bite. I don't understand it either, he was in the same pen with all the others and he was the only one. I guess that is what happens when you are a head above the crowd.

And that's it. I think that everything fared pretty well. Now we need to start the prep work for the summer heat.



Yesterday I spent some time down at the Sac making cute little signs for the chicken pens. Normally I have better things to do than to make cute little things for chickens but being that yesterday was still to muddy to get anything accomplished, I decided to tap into my artistic side.  

Being that I have to work tomorrow I made the wife a nice little Valentines Day dinner tonight. It consisted of Honey glazed grilled pork chops, mashed potatoes with brown gravy and baked beans. She in turn is making me a chess pie. That's what I call a win/win.
Love is in the air


Even the puppy got a bath today.













Have a great and blessed week and if you are around here in North Texas, then enjoy the beautiful weather this week. 

Friday, February 11, 2011

My Bad

Ok I get it. For now on I will not post about food unless I include the recipe with it. I never would have thought someone would want a meatloaf recipe.  lol
                                                                                                                                 
After a couple of comments and several emails I decided to post the recipe tonight.
Yesterdays post was more about the idea of feeding all these chickens and having no eggs to eat but I should have known better.
Sorry I did not get any pics of the food but if you use your imagination and think of a cooked meatloaf with BBQ sauce on top then you get the gist. Next time I will take pictures, promise. The girls just ate the last little bit so next time I will. Ahh there is nothing like leftover Friday.  



The story is, the wife does not like meatloaf and me and the kids love it so I look for different ways to make it on the hopes one day she will say "That is a party in my mouth" and then I can make it at least once a week instead of every couple of months.

I found this off of Tastymeatloafrecipes.com 
(I put what I changed in red because I had to double the recipe to feed all 5 of us)

Barbecue Meatloaf Ingredients

• 1/2 pound each ground beef, pork, and turkey (I used 2 lbs of beef and 1 lb of turkey)
• 1 cup milk (2 cups)
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil (1/2 tsp)
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (2 1/2 tbs) (plus 2 tbs of liquid smoke)
• 1/4 cup chopped onion (1 cup)
• 1/4 cup chopped mushrooms (did not use)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (1 1/2 tsp)
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper (1 1/2 tsp)
• 1 clove garlic, minced (3 cloves)
• 3 slices white bread torn into very small pieces ( 6 slices)
• 1 large egg, beaten ( 1 goose egg) (that's funny right there)
• 1/2 cup barbecue sauce (1 cup or so)
 (For the pork side I fried a bunch of bacon and layered it in the center of the meat when I put it in the pan)
(it makes for a really good look when you slice it, kinda like bacon stuffed meatloaf)

Barbecue Meatloaf Recipe Directions


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients except barbeque sauce in a large bowl. Transfer mixture to a 5 x 9 inch ungreased meatloaf pan. Pour barbecue sauce over the tope of the meatloaf.

Bake meatloaf for 1 1/4 hours or until center is no longer pink. If using a meat thermometer, the internal temperature of the meatloaf should be 180 degrees.

Let meatloaf sit for 5 minutes before removing from pan to serve. You can serve with additional barbecue sauce if desired.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

How Ironic

Bing this was my last day at home for a while and the wife was subbing at the high school all day, I decided to try out a new BBQ meatloaf recipe. It called for two eggs and when I went to the frig, we were out of eggs.
How ironic is it that we have all these chickens and no eggs to eat.
I slipped on my boots and headed out to the chicken pens on the hopes I would come across some fresh eggs. I did find a couple of banny eggs, it's better than nothing but not enough.
Then there it was, the first big goose egg of the season and I used it in my meat loaf.      

I also got some much needed reading done. The sweet potatoes need to be planted at the end of April or first of May. All I have to do is break off a 6" shoot and trim all the leaves but the very last ones and plant the whole shoot up to the leaves. I also found out I could have just buried the whole potato in the ground but it would have taken a lot longer to grow.
We will see how this first year goes before I can say I know what I'm doing on them. 

The other project I have been putting together and pricing out is a root cellar with a living top. This project is going to have to be put on the back burner due to the build price of $3000.00
I can't justify that this year or even next so I think I am going to redesign it to be above ground storage room made either out of hay bales or sandbags.  I  have to keep it cool enough to store food in.
I am in no big hurry on it so I will have time to get it all figured out.    

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Another Blast

The wife and I spent the late afternoon today getting ready for another winter blast. It should be here first thing in the morning so my work told me not to come in till Friday. We learned from a couple of things we did wrong last week and corrected them as best as we could, so lets see what happens. This should be the last big one.



These are my sweet potato shoots I started growing a month or so back. This will be my first time in planting them and really don't know how. I don't know if I am to cut a chunk from where the shoot attaches or just break it off and plant it.
Being it is my first time to mess with them I did not know how many to set in water because I did not want to have to many plants plus I did not know how many little shoots three starter potatoes would make. Heck I don't even know when is the right time to plant them. I guess they are about the same as a regular potato.
The good thing is, I will have plenty of time tomorrow to read all about them. 

Monday, February 7, 2011

But, It's Not Done!

All the snow and ice is gone now leaving nothing but water puddles and mud. I think it is easier to walk on ice than it is to woller around in this stuff out here.
I tried to pull my little cart around and within just a few turns of the wheels they locked up with all that stick, black mud.
Ok I'm done with the complaining now, the wife I guess got tired of waiting on me to finish the outside runs on the new breeder pens down at the big barn and decided we were moving chickens this afternoon. I tried to convince her it was not my fault the weather turned bad but she just kept walking. As I tried to keep up while dragging a locked up pull cart through the mud, I again explained that it would be easier to just wait until it was all done so I did not have to work around the chickens.
After the first trip with the waters and feeders I had had it. I put my foot down and told her we are not moving all those chickens in this mud and we are going to wait till I have the time to finish the outside runs before we do and that was that.
Anyway, the chickens love their new home down there in the barn. It is dry, out of the wind and now they can live and be happy.   
Old homestead off the side of the road.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

A While Back

 Remember a while back, I guess it was last month or so when we got those fancy geese? At that time the lady said to come back when she can figure out what accessories she wanted to get rid of and she would make us a package deal for it all. She finally called back and told us to come on out.    
We ended up with several cages ranging from huge to small, two new bug lights, a bunch of feeders and waters and six fans with one of them being a really nice metal one on a stand. We also hauled home several lights and rabbit stuff.  




 It would not be complete without a bunch of chickens in the truck so we ended up with a couple of Frizzle chickens, the rooster is named Bulldog 


and a bunch of miniature barred rocks. She then handed us a box that had four little Serama chicks in it.











This is the first time we had the Mini Barred Rocks so we will see how they do.  

All this stuff for 100 lbs of feed. She just needed the feed to keep her horses fed. Not a bad haul I don't think. She wants us to come back at the end of the month with a trailer to pick up some metal sheds that would make great small chicken, turkey or pig houses.
 















One other thing, if you were wondering we found the chickens that were lost and they are alive. They decided to burrow under the Tween pens to keep warm and stayed there all week long, amazing hu.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Baby Lucy

Baby Lucy is gone. If you remember, Lucy was the last one of triplets that were born in November. She had to be pulled and I left her for dead only to see her gasp for breath a minuet or so later. The momma goat abandoned all three and we took all of them in the house to raise from the bottle. Out of the three she was the only one that made it past a couple of days. We knew she would not live more than a week or so but Lucy struggled on and surprised us.
In her short lifetime she has been abandoned, squished in the Lazy boy, set herself on fire from the heat lamps, cooked herself in front of the fire place and just recently almost froze to death, but she still managed to live through it all. She is like a cat with nine lives one of my girls said.
Being that she was inbreed and a little slow, we knew we would never be able to breed her or sell her. You could say she is a special needs goat if there is such a thing. Today we found that special someone that needs her more than we did. As a gift, we gave Lucy to a special little girl that will love her and care for her better than anyone could.  I know she will be spoiled rotten.
Even though Lucy is a goat and you are not supost to get attached to farm animals, Lucy was special. Now I'm not being soft here, I can eat any one of the chickens, rabbits or goats if it came down to it, but this little goat will be missed, how can it not be.
I wish the little girl and her family all the luck in raising her and I hope Lucy brings them as much joy as she brought us.

Also I wanted to say howdy to three new members of the Modern Day Redneck family.
Here's a big howdy and welcome to Vickie, mmpaints and scifichick. Just to let yall know, If yall need anything, have a question or just want to criticize please drop me a comment or an email, I will reply. Thank you for joining the MDR family.    

The Great Melt Down

Tomorrow is the start of the great meltdown. It will be in the 40's and maybe, just maybe we will be able to find those chickens.
I guess these people really needed to get their hair done today.






Awww, the girls finally getting along and having a tea party.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Making The Most Of It

This is the third day in a row that the kids, the wife and me have been spending every second with each other. We are now fighting over the sounds we make while breathing, no joke. Tomorrow does not look any better either. They canceled my work and school for the fourth day. I do not go back to work till Monday.

We did get a chance to get out a little today but it was only for Doctor visits. I had to go for my yearly check up and the youngest had to go for a physical.  I tell yall this, these people are so nice. They even let me take my camera in just so I could have a picture to show on this post. It was really hard to snap this shot one handed while the nice lady was jabbing me with a needle but it worked.


I never did mention I put my onions out last weekend. Yup sure did, now they are sitting in ice. I know a little snow does not hurt them but four days of single digits with a ice blanket might get them. The good thing is that they are cheep and it is not to late to replant if need be.  



  I had some time on my hands today and finally got around in setting up my first Modern Day Redneck gift shop.

 These are just some of the things you can find at
http://www.cafepress.com/moderndayredneck

You can choose the any design between Men's, Woman's, Kids, Accessories and Gifts.
The plan was to make my own shirts dyed in the Mini Farm's black mud but cost keeps me from doing that for the time being.
So here is the deal, if you get something then take a picture of you using it and I will post here on the blog. Now here's the sells pitch, if you want to support the cause and be stylish doing it, then here you go.  
 




Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Wood Scavengers


Me and my buddy Dave played wood scavengers this morning and actually found some. I honestly did not think we were really going out to find wood and just figured this little outing was just an excuse to get out of the house but guess what, right out in the middle of nowhere and being the only tree in site, there it was. We hooked it up the truck, drug it out of the ditch and loaded it up.
While I was at the house warming up, Dave played Ax Man and went to work. It's not much, but it is another day of warmth.   


Let me tell yall something, this is amazing. There is this lady that found us on Craig's List and now has become a serious Modern Day Redneck blog reader and she has been in contact with the wife now for a couple of days through texting. She read that we were having some animal problems with the cold weather and called her friends and started a prayer chain for all the animals at the Mini Farm. Tell me that ain't something right there.
Thanks to V & B and the prayer chain members. Just to let you know, it worked. 

If you were still wondering, the baby goat Lucy is doing great now. It was touch and go last night for a while but once she got some warm milk and electrolytes down her and slept for a while, she is now bouncing around just like before and ready for warmer weather.
The missing chickens on the other hand are still missing. I don't have a clue as to where they could have gone. I will just have to wait and see and hope for the best.     

I have not had the chance to give out a welcome to the new members of the Modern Day Redneck family. This last week we had five new people join the family. That is fantastic! So here's your welcome and a big howdy.
Thanks for becoming a part of this adventure the wife and I have decided to take and I hope you find it funny, sad, helpful and sometimes beneficial. If yall need anything or just want to harass me, drop me a comment or send a email. Thank you again.    

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

No Work And All Play

I was sent home from work yesterday a little early so I could finish preparations for the picture above.
This one is a bad one. I was told not to come back to work till Friday. The problem with that is there is nothing to do except look out the window.
Right now with the wind chill it feels like it's below zero. I have a couple of people that live down the street that have busted pipes and no water. Being a good neighbor and having the only 4x4 on the block I have made trips into town to get them repair parts.

As far as the animals go, even though we did some massive prep work for this storm we are not fairing well. One of the baby goats is in the house next to the fire. We found her legs up in the shelter so we are trying to bring her back. All the rest of them are doing fine for now.
Some of the chickens are missing and we have searched and searched but cannot find them. We locked them up last night and kept them on lock down during the day and just worried some did not make it in. It was dark when we shut the door so they might have been missed. Maybe they were just hunkered down real good and we missed them.

 I am going on a search and find mission in the morning with my buddy Dave to find more wood. As it is right now we have enough wood to last till a little after noon tomorrow. I guess I should have worried more about that than building chicken coops this weekend.
Try and stay warm.