Weekend Warriors

My Boppie

We spent the weekend out on the Lake. The place where we were at had their 4th celebration going on and it was a blast. The fireworks show lasted three hours with the band and other festivities were still going on when I threw in the towel at midnight and headed for the camper.  

Can you believe our ugly little wet dog won Cutest dog in the dog show. I should say, she was all dressed up for it though. Here she is in her bathing suit.  

 The girls found a fishing dock they decided they just had to jump off. They are too tired to clean their rooms but will jump off this thing for hours.


Yup, that's me on the left sitting in the shade with a cold drank and watching the show. That is BEB on the right.

It was about a ten foot jump. The wife wanted to but chickened out on the rail.

Look at that nasty camp food. It was so hard to eat. I might have to keep cooking it over and over until I get it right.
What a shame. 











Why is it that while I was camping I was up at 5:00 AM ready to go have fun without the alarm. This morning when the alarm went off at 5:00 AM, I had to drag my big butt out of bed to go to work.

This week, party at Mom and Dad's on Tuesday.
This weekend, fishing. The next weekend, camping again. For the rest of the summer just repeat what I just wrote.
What a horrible way to spend the summer. I just don't know how I am going to get through it.

Never Enough Time

If the weekends were three days long we would want four, if five then six. No matter what, there is never enough time to complete everything that was planed.

Early Saturday me and the youngest girl "Wee" took some roosters over to my Dad's for a good old fashioned chicken killing.
Some would turn their nose up to this and some would say this is cruel but it is a way of life. I think they call it Homesteading and I don't play it, I live it.   
When I talk about this to other people it is funny, everyone has a story about when they were little at their grandparents house. The story always ends with the chicken running around with it's head cut off. Our system is a little more modern than that.
Just to let you know, everyone who does this has their own way of doing it so I am sure if you process chickens then you do it a different way. Here is our process. I may be a little vague, but it is for a reason.

Take the head off the chicken and bleed him out in the kill cone. After he is done, dip him in 140 degree water and swirl him around for about twenty seconds. If you let him sit in the water to long it will set the feathers and it will be harder to pluck him. The same if you do it to quick.

 

When the chicken is good and soaked, throw him in the plucker. My dad built this out of a 55 gallon barrel. The bottom spins throwing the chicken up and spinning him into the rubber fingers that grab all the feathers off. It only takes a few seconds to pluck a chicken this way. This thing is fantastic!

If done right the bird will come out pretty, clean and naked.
Now onto the processing table where he will be gutted and cleaned.
I didn't want to show any of the pictures of the actual process because I am sure some would have threw a fit over it. I call those people the "bleeding hearts", but if you plan to do this yourself and have any questions you can always email me.

After the chicken is processed we give him one more washing and then into the salted ice water to sit overnight. This is kinda like a weak brine then will limber the chicken up.
The next day after another washing you should be able to fold the chicken into a little ball and put him in a freezer bag and into the freezer.

All and all we processed about 20 or so chickens. The more you have helping the better. You can create kinda of an assembly line and work more efficient.

This has nothing to do with chickens, but prom came and went. This is the middle girl "Boppie" in all her glory.
Saturday morning her new dress she bought still didn't fit so it was a scramble for her to get another one. Even if I wasn't killing chickens I probably would have found something else to do than to be around the house while this was going on. Don't let her cute little smile fool ya.   

After the chickens were done I made the trip to the old farm and got all the tin I could get. I will be putting it up in the bathhouse during the week.

A freak storm blew through with 60+ mph winds Friday night creating some damage to the Mini Farm so Sunday was spent on repairs and maintenance with the oldest "BEB" manning the weedeater. 

In the end it was a good weekend, but I still could have used a couple more days to get it all done.

Beer, Goats, Demolition And Prom

What do they all have in common, that is what my weekend will consist of.

Prom
I would rather you take me out back and just shoot me in the head then to have to deal with prom.
This Saturday is our schools prom and did you know there are hundreds of unwritten rules just on the dress alone. Lets see if I can remember some, it could not have ever been to this schools prom before, it can't look nothing like another girls dress, it can't be too tight, it can't be too loose, it can't be too long and it can't be too short.
My oldest girl (BEB) has three nice prom dresses hanging in the closet she wore, but the middle girl (Boppie) says "oh no" because it was already worn at the prom, once. We bought her a nice one at the thrift store for $13 bucks, but it was too tight. The wife spent a week making her one but it was not puffy enough. I said enough is enough and she could wear jeans for all I cared. So Boppie, with her own money, went out and found her the dress she wanted. It was far from the $600 dollar dress her friend is wearing, but at least it is a dress. All this to only wear it one time, truly amazing and don't get me started on the hair, makeup and tanning.

Demolition & Beer
Saturday I plan to make a trip down to the old farm place and scavenge some building material from my old house I built years back. One item I plan to get is the tin off the living room walls. When I built the house I put tin half way up on the walls, it really looked good. Now I need that tin to do the same in the bathhouse. I don't like the bare walls in there so the tin would give it the perfect rustic look.
While in the area I need to run by some old friends of mine who just happens to have a laundry roller wringer I need to get for my mom, it will be her Mother's Day gift. (Now that's county living right there) What are sons for right?     
 Me and my buddy will have some catching up to do and what better way to do it than by sitting by the fire drinking a cold beer.

Goats
I got a lead from a friend who has a friend and his friend has a bunch of goats for sell (yup, one of those deals). I would not have put this on the weekend scheduled but I spoke to the friend of a friend of a friend last night and he confirmed he indeed had a bunch of goats for sell. I can get them at a price where I can actually make a little off them when I decide to sell. First I want them at least throw some kids so I can see what they will look like, but I am not counting my chickens before they hatch and will have to see if it all falls into place.

It is only Wednesday and my weekend is getting full. Maybe, just maybe I will find enough time to do some fishing.
Oh, have I told y'all BEB will be home for the summer this Friday. We are really excited about it. Check out her blog and see how creative she got with some collage dorm room cooking. She had better make some when she gets home is all I got to say.        

Must Be Doing Something Right

I don't know if it is one single thing I am doing or a combination of several things, but whatever it is it's right.

These two raised beds are full of Squash, Pumpkins, Cantaloupes and Watermelons. 

 Look at the size of this squash plant. It is like a Giant Elephant Ear.

And Carrots, I have never had carrots this big and bushy. I pulled one just to make sure something was growing under the top and the carrot was already eating size. Another couple of weeks and these bad boys will be pickled.

I got maters and I am happy about it. Last year the plants were big but they never produced any fruit. I have so many plants this year I think I will have more tomatoes than I will know what to do with.

If you were wondering, yes the girls did out fish me again. I sure am glad I am not making a living on what I catch. The girls on the other hand, they might could make a few dollars.

Right off the bat this morning before I even had the chance to bait my hook, the youngest "Wee" pulled in this  4 lb Alligator Gar. We don't eat Gar so I threw him back. The little devil, with all his needle teeth did get in a bite on my finger before I could get him back in the water and yes the blood was flowing.

Boppie (The middle girl) did manage to pull in some baby fish we could not keep, but at least the cork went down.

I, again did not pull one single fish out of the water, but I did get to relax, hear the girls laugh and have a little fun, priceless.


I hope y'all have a great week and thank you CFW, I am undeserving.    

Family Preparedness, Must Read

Everyone preps for different reasons.
Your reason may be on a huge complex scale like prepping for the end of the world where you will need years of essential products stored away, or you could be prepping for something as simple as a three day power outage where a small food pantry is all you need to store the required elements to sustain life.
 I for one have always said I am doing all this for "IT", with "it" being whatever "it" may be, large or small.

Last night the wife and I were talking about food consumption and how the money budgeted for food was not buying near as much as it was last year. It seams like we bring home less and less bags every trip but are still spending the same amount of money. She said with a fearful look, "This summer is going to kill us."

This it is folks, my "IT". Summer time, when all the kids will be out of school and at home. We stock up all year for those few super hot months in the summer where there is nothing else to do besides sit in the house and eat.
At the end, only dust will cover the shelves where the 50 cans of Vienna Sausages now sit. Empty wrappers of bread sticks, chips and pork rinds will litter the floor and will need to be cleaned with a street sweeper like the day after Mardi Gras. A lone cereal bag will get caught in the breeze of the fan sending it spinning across the floor like a tumble weed in a West Texas ghost town.
The fist day back to school the wife and I will survey the damage and debate calling in the Red Cross to help out in the recovery efforts. One dog will be missing, the others left in fear days before the event struck.

Wading through the aftermath I am sure it will happen. I will find what is left of my candy stash I thought I hid so well. I will grab the empty wrappers in each hand, will drop to my knees, shake my fist to the heavens and cry out "WHY, OH WHY"

There will be nothing else to do except rebuild.

Enjoy the rest of your day. 

          

Whoa There Big Fella

I don't know what happen, but I went from overdrive to first gear in one week.
This weekend I absolutely did nothing to write home about. It seemed like everything was in slow motion when I was trying to do it.

My Boppy

Saturday morning I did get the chance to do a little fishing. Of course I was out fished by my daughters like always but never the less I went. Boppy, my middle girl, caught the biggest and Wee, my youngest, tied with Boppy on how many. I came in last place with catching only one.
It's okay, at least I went. I could have sat out there all day and it didn't matter if I got a bite or not as long as I was with them.
The rest of the day I spent with the girls just being there.



Sunday, today, was a different story. I got up chomping at the bits to get something done.
I tried, but the harder I worked the less was getting done so I just slowed down and went at a nice slow pace.

After getting some odds and ends done I decided to turn my focus on the Rain Water Solar System. I mounted the solar panel on the housing box and plumbed in the "on demand pump". I also went ahead and wired in all the DC electrical stuff to go with it.
Everything runs off a switch. Flip that switch over at the bath house and the pump comes on to 45 psi and shuts off. Every time you turn the water on either in the bathhouse or the gardens the pump kicks back on.

The one thing I should have done was plumbed in two union fittings so when the pump has to be replaced it will not be such an ordeal to do it. I just got antsy and went with what I had.

I plan to add two more solar panels and two more batteries in the future.

This is just a quick set up to see if everything was wired right. The leads from the battery (Not shown here) plug into the outlet, energizing the switch to turn the pump on.
Very simple design I thought of here.


If you have not been reading, all this is for the rain water harvesting system. This will pump the water out of the two 1500 gallon tanks and into the gardens and bath house.
Oh, I almost forgot. The Verde River Citizens Alliance is using my Rain Water Harvesting System design for their Back Yard Garden Expo. I am pretty excited about that.  

I got bored today and decided to also go ahead and start on the Solar Laundry Room.
I got the floor completed and now I am thinking on how exactly I am going to do this.
My question is, do I want to try and run everything off of DC solar power or run everything like the old days where it was all manual labor. I have not figured it out yet.  

The Spotlights On Wee

This week the spotlight is back on my youngest daughter "Wee"
If you are wondering how she got the name Wee, it is because she was the smallest of the three girls and from the beginning we always called her wee, wee. She said she has outgrown that name and doesn't like it so now we shortened it to just Wee. I guess it's more grown up.

Look at that big'o belt buckle would you!

The big County Youth Show was this week and Wee got to show her pig. If you remember, this is the same pig that had a real bad cut and we were not sure it would even survive. Avocado, (that's the pigs name) did heal. It took us going up there every day and washing the wound out and redressing it, but it healed.

For a free pig he did pretty good taking fifth in his class, better than I expected. We sold him for market there at the show and now we have one less mouth to feed. It is hard to let a show animal you spend so much time with go like that but Wee knows that's what it's all about. She said it is easier to just eat them.

I told her we are done. The teacher, the showing of large animals, I am done with it all. If you have been reading for a while then you know how much trouble we have had with this teacher and the cost to raise a large show animal is more than I am willing to dish out. Wee accepted it said she did not want to either.

Yesterday she came home from the show and was all excited and said next year she is showing a steer.
What part of large animal did she not understand.      

My BOPPY

Boppy is the nick name for my middle daughter. It is just something we have called her ever since she was little. She use to bang her head on the floor over and over when she didn't get her way, hence the name Boppy.

Being cooped up in the truck with a bunch of girls this weekend brought on some interesting conversations. One being Boppy asked why I never talk about her on the blog. She said that I talk about Wee and BEB all the time but never about her. I had to think for a minute and I guess she is right. I hardly ever talk about her.
So this is for you Bop.

My middle daughter was suppose to be a boy rounding out the American family dream of having one girl and one boy. Instead, Boppy popped out.  Her name was suppose to be Colt. 
After our third daughter Wee was born eleven months later I knew Boppy was in for it. I was also a middle child and knew what came with all that so I wanted to pay a little closer attention to her so she would not feel so forgotten and left out. That in it's self was a challenge. As it turned out Boppy ended up being just like me, stubborn, hard headed, reserved and needing nobody. Breaking through that thick, tough outer shell posed and still poses a small problem from time to time.

This last year has been the toughest. The new up and coming basket ball star that was promised a varsity position early on had her hopes and dreams bashed against the hardwood floor.
Boppy lived for sports, loving every aspect of competing including the hard training that comes with it.
Right before the season started she suffered some chest and heart problems early in the year that put her out and in the hospital for a while. She made up her mind and decided that her illness was not going to keep her from playing. Boppy fought back, recovered and was put back on the team from what I called the touch from God. You just don't come back from something like that.

Later in the season while playing the game of her life in another town she was hit hard and her head bounced off the hardwood floor causing a severe concussion. She did not want to tell us because of fear of being pulled off the team again and continued playing with the injury. Two games later during a home game, she was still dizzy and not being able to get her feet under her and was hit again.
When you watch your little girl stumble back to the bench like a punch drunk boxer not knowing where she is or who you are makes nothing else in the world seem that important. Without hesitation the coaches pulled her from the team and the doctors pulled her from school.

Three weeks later Boppy started training again and told us and the doctors she was fine. Her headaches were worse but she did not want anyone to know and she was tired of being benched. The doctor cleared her to go back to school and the coaches let her sit on the bench. Another week of hard training and with several correspondences with the coaches they decided to let her play.
Still a little shaky on her feet and trying her hardest to avoid the hits the end did happen, another earth shattering blow to the head. Damage was done and if she continued she my have lasting problems. The doctors and the coaches said she was done. We all agreed and told her playing was not worth it. After a few days and some very emotional times together she finally decided she had enough as well.
That was a month ago and she is back training again. I don't know what she has up her sleeve this time but I am watching.

   
One of the main reasons I do not talk about Boppy that much is because she works six nights a week and goes to school. When she is home it is to sleep, eat, shower and eat some more. She has always been the independent type and as soon as she got the chance to make her own money she took it. She and I bought her an old ford pickup last year and fixed it up together to a now pretty good running truck. Boppy got her drivers license last month and again, was on her own.

I spend most of my time at home working out back. When she is off work she does come out and see if I need a hand and even if I don't, I say I do just to spend some time with her.
Boppy is a key part in this little family of mine and plays an important role even if she doesn't think so.
I would catch a bullet with my teeth to protect her. 

Good job Boppy, I am proud of you for the Beautiful, smart young lady you have grown up to be.

For all you Big Bang Theory fans, she love to be sang "Soft Kitty" when she is feeling down.
                

Poor, Poor Boy

Everyone knows that BEB is my oldest daughter. I think I have mentioned it a time or two. She is nineteen fixin to turn twenty going on thirty.

BEB came up this weekend to celebrate my birthday and to show her younger sister (Wee) support at the show.  I think I mentioned this yesterday but after the show we went to my Mom and Dad's for a big family and friends birthday bash.

Here's where it gets funny. BEB has this boy that is sweet on her. Now this is not the first time this has happen and I have already ran a couple off in my day.
Being that she was in town, this boy wanted to meet me.
BEB came up to me at the party and asked if he could come over, with a smile I said yes.

I might have mentioned this before too but at 6'4", 275 pounds I am close to being the runt of the family. I have nephews and other family I call huge and if I call someone huge, you know they are huge.

I was having a good time, maybe too good of a time, when I felt the nudge from a family member.
He leaned in and said, "Hey, here he comes"

He walked up the drive and right into the barn. At this point I started to almost feel sorry for the boy because everyone started to gather in a circle around us. He could not have ran away even if he wanted to. I heard cat calls and whistles, someone even said how pretty his mouth was and many agreed.
A hush fell over the crowd when he walked up to me, stuck out his hand and introduced himself.

I said, "Boy, you must not be smart, you just walked right into a hornet's nest"

It all ended well, no blood shed. I did later find out he was really nervous when he pulled up. He told BEB, as he walked up, we just kept getting bigger and bigger.

I do it for her. It's her little test for a boy. If he can deal with the first meet and still hang around and not run for the hills then she will consider dating him. She calls it her "weeding out" process.
I always ask her to let me know how hard to be. If she does not like the guy I run him off, if she likes him we just have a talk, if I like him he can come back.

Oh the joys of fatherhood.     
  

Drive On Wee

 Despite the injury to her pig the youngest girl, (wee) that's what we call her, went ahead and showed.

She already knew what the outcome would be before stepping into the ring, but she pushed on.

"I have came this far daddy, I'm not backing out now even if I have to carry him in there."

She showed with her head held high and was proud to receive her forth place ribbon.

Her three rabbits took First, Second, Third, Grand Champion and Reserve Grand.


Good job Wee, Drive on.

...........................

I've had nothing to say.
I skipped the last two days on writing a blog post because of just that reason. I am still getting on twice a day and reading everyone's posts but I haven't had nothing to add.
Just Living you might say.

We had a goat miscarry twin little girls this week and that was upsetting.  

Every night this week when I got home I've been working with the youngest girl on getting her rabbits and equipment ready for the show this weekend.
She planned on showing seven of her prize winning rabbits but of course four of them came down with the sniffles and will not be able to go. All this for three rabbits, yea.

The good thing is that she will still be showing her pig. The teacher of course has sheared all the expected winners and left the ones that she does not think will win to do ourselves. That my friends is the public school system at it's finest.

This show is a warm up for the big one next month. She will still win belt buckles and a little prize money from this show but next month is the youth fair and rodeo and that is where cream gets separated from the milk.

It has pretty much dried out here and the temps have been in the low eighties the last couple of days. The bathhouse water is scalding hot and I love it. The youngest is using it as much as I do now.      

That's all I got.

Oh, one more thing, I wanted to give myself something special for my 40th b-day and tried to book a weekend trip to Vegas being I have never been there. Yea, that worked out real good, not!

Thank The Stars I Am Four Hours Away

I am sure by now everyone knows BEB is my oldest daughter and she is 4 1/2 hours away at college.
I called her last night to see how everything was going and just like a daddy always knows when something is wrong, I knew something was not right.

She didn't have that chipperness in her voice and avoided my questions a little. Now this was getting serious because she was hiding something from me and I knew she felt terrible about it.
Her whole life I have told her no matter what, you can always talk to me. My love is unconditional and there is nothing she could ever do to ever stop that. So knowing she was hurting by not telling me , was actually hurting me even worse.
After some coxing and reassurance she finally started and boy did she start. She talked so fast I had to slow her down and repeat over half of what she just said.

It all boils down to this, she was assaulted Monday night by a young man at her work. He asked her out and she said no, she was seeing someone. He grabbed her by the arm and squeezed, pulling at her and yelling at her that she was lying to him. She told him to let her go because he was hurting her and he refused still yelling the same thing. She said it one more time and as soon as he said no again she kicked him in his manhood. While he was going down she gave him a nice elbow to the face. (Good Girl) "Dropped him like a sack of potatoes with a little kiss on the way down" she said.

About that time help arrived and instead of asking her if she was okay, they helped the guy up telling him he just his butt kicked by a girl. She told him to never come back in there again and quickly he agreed.
She told me, "Daddy, I had my knife in my back pocket but I knew I didn't need it with this guy." (Good Girl)

She went to the police and did what she had to do to keep this from happening to someone else. She also now has an escort walk with her whenever she has to walk by herself. The school provides this great service for all the young women who do not feel safe.

Here is the reason why she did not want to tell me all that. I have told her, her sisters and their boyfriends that I will spend the rest of my life in prison to protect them even for only one second.
She knows how me and her Momma are when it comes to this and yes, I did want to drive the four hours and start knocking on every door and go through all forty thousand students until I found him.
The good thing is I don't need too. The authorities have it handled and are taking care of the problem.

I applaud her for staying cool, standing up and taking action, I applaud her for going to the police and reporting it. I also applaud her for realizing this might not be a isolated incident and taking precautions to avoid another encounter. Well done Girl.       

 
   

This Way And That

All I can say is, "Wow what a weekend." I was all over the place.

I crammed in so many things in such a short amount of time this weekend even I am amazed. I won't go into everything because you will just get bored, but I will hit the highlights.

Yesterday the "Junkin" did not go as planned. Fist off I did not have any money to do anything too serious even if I wanted to. I did find a old wire vegetable holder for a dollar I hung up in the bathhouse for the soaps and shampoos.

I also finished decorating around the sink area. The one thing I was looking for yesterday was antique signs that promoted bathroom products. I did not find even one. I never do find what I am looking for when I am looking for it. I am not worried, I will run across some one of these days.

After all the running around we ended up over a guy's house that thinks along the same lines as I do. I got to tour his facilities taking many notes and pictures. I do not want to say too much about it because I am going to do a piece solely about what he is doing but I will say this is some really cool stuff. 
We spent the remainder of Saturday night visiting friends that we have not seen in a while and enjoying good company. It was fun.

Today did not look like is was going to turn out with drizzling rain, high winds and cold temps. As a matter of fact I almost turned around and went back in the house saying just to heck with it, but was met at the door by the youngest. She said before I got busy she needed me for an hour in the rabbit area, so that is just what I did. She has some rabbits fixin to have babies and we had to move some around and hang more cages. I took the opportunity to reorganize the area and do some cleaning. I could not pass it up.

The sun finally broke out and then it was the wife's turn. I got the youngest started on the bathhouse signs and helped the wife plant all the onions.
"It is good to finally see some green out there", she said smiling at me.
We planted enough onions to do several cases of salsa this year. I also got her herb beds ready for planting in March.
After I was done with the herb beds I told her, "See what a little smile will do"

I stuck my foot in my mouth because she reminded me a promise is a promise while still smiling so I got busy on her screen door. It is not pretty but it's up.
The sliding door still shuts and now during the day she can open it and leave the screen door closed keeping the flies out.
This is the door I got from a Lowe's sidewalk sale a few months back. It was listed for I think $80.00 but I am not sure (I can't remember) and I got it for $7.00
While I worked on the door, I got the youngest started on the art work for the North side of the bath house. I ain't gunna show it till she is done, but it is really looking good so far.
I picked up the lumber for her from a friend of mine last night who was just storing it and not using it. He said he did not need it but did not want it going to waste. I told him I had the perfect project for it.

There are many more little details I could add but you would just get bored so I will save you from having to make that face and the signing sound as you hit the little X in the upper corner just to shut me up.  
         

Solar Bathhouse Continued

 This weekend I got most of what was planned accomplished.
The focus was all on the Solar Bathhouse and getting it so close to being done I could almost stick a fork in it.


The first and most important thing to do was pressurize the system and check for leaks. Being that I am a better plumber than I thought, no leaks were found and we were good to go. 

 The bathhouse was already close to being done but the weather and work has kept me from doing the finishing touches to it I was wanting.








I finally got the sink all finished and it works like a dream. Yes that is a salad bowl I am using for a sink.

The two lanterns were hung and the toilet paper holder was built.
The composting toilet to done and ready to be used.

After this picture I also hung the mirror and put up the curtains. 

I could not find any re-bar to make a shower curtain with so the youngest suggested we use the last stick of PVC and some left over fittings. It worked great and now she is going around bragging that she is smarter than me.
It took three shower curtains but that baby is now wrapped and ready for use.

After the picture I installed towel and cloths hangers using old horse shoes and placed towels on the shelves. It looks better than the bathroom that is in the house now.

I took advantage of the oldest being here one more day before she went back to college and put the stain sprayer in her hand. I think she enjoyed it and I know I sure enjoyed working side beside all three of my girls.
The wall that BEB is staining right there is the wall where the middle girl is going to do her art work for me (I think it has something to do with a Rattle snake).

I put a new pane of glass in the window and scraped off all the over spray so now it is a real pretty window looking out over the gardens.

The youngest painted the solar water heater box black for me to help adsorb some more heat.
The high for the day was 65 and I measured the temp on the water at 115 degrees.  

The signs for all who helped sponsor the bathhouse  will be going to the right of the door. Those will start being made next weekend.

Tonight I lit the lanterns and tested the water for my first shower. It was cloudy all day in the upper 50's and the water temp was only 90 degrees. I was a little disappointed but I will get plenty of use out of it this summer.

Weekend Adventures

First off I want to say thank you to all who supported and left comments on DFW's guest post. It was fun and I have invited her to do it again anytime. 

This last month the oldest has been home from college and it has gone by really quick. We were so busy with work and living we did not get the chance to hang out have fun together as much as I wanted. Plus the weather was really bad for most of the month making it where we couldn't do anything even if we wanted to.  
Several times we did get to sit down at the supper table together as a family and once or twice she did get the chance to come outside and help me on the projects. She even completed one of my projects herself while I worked beside her on another. That's good memories right there.
I think it will be just as hard to say goodby this Sunday as it was the first time I did it a few months ago, but she will be back for the summer and I already have some fun things planned (I've got a few camping sites and fishing holes I have been wanting to try out).
Anyway I am sure your tired of hearing about it so I will get off the pity bus and pull my big girl panties up and get on with the post.

If the weather holds and the wind dies down I plan to stain the Bathhouse Saturday afternoon.
I am also wanting to plumb in the sink and pressurize the system so I can check for any mishaps I might have done.
I still need to paint the water heater box, hang the lanterns, install the solar lighting, make a round curtain rod, make the name plates, fix the window and a few more other things I hope to get to this weekend. I also have a little added something the middle girl is going to paint for me on one of the outside walls, I think y'all will really like it.  
I still have a lot to do on it before I can call it complete but maybe, just maybe I can take my first shower in it Sunday night depending on if it is sunny or not.    

     

It Is Hard To Soar With Eagles When You Are Surrounded By Turkeys

As a young kid I remember that saying from when my dad had it posted on the wall of his shop. I never really knew what it meant back then and one day when I was a little older it just hit me.

To get you up to speed on this topic a couple of months ago my youngest daughter wanted a show pig for one of her FFA projects. I told her she had enough animals and things to show but if she wanted another project to bake a pie or something. Being I know who her father is and how she inherited a stubborn streak wider than the Red River from her momma, it did not surprise me she found a way to get a pig.
It seams a local breeder had a couple of show pigs he was donating to the FFA for the kids to show. She put her name in the hat and got one. Now our feed bill has that high dollar show feed added to it.

Now that you are up to speed I will continue. The pig that she got was uncut. The FFA teacher said she had a vet that will cut all the pigs and will have it done before Christmas. The Christmas break came and went and the pig still had his manhood. Several un-returned phone calls later we finally got a hold of the teacher and she said it would cost us to get him cut. Of course I was mad by now because if she would have told us that a month ago then I would have done it myself. Now the pig is 150 pounds.

Last night the teacher called and asked if we wanted the pig cut. The wife reminded her that we wanted him cut over a month ago and about all the unanswered phone calls to her. The kind teacher said she did not know and thought we were going to keep him a boar. (This is the part where it is hard to soar with Eagles)

I could understand if the local FFA had 500 students but there are only 20. You know I don't mind cutting pigs but being this one was not mine and if something was to go wrong then I would be blamed for it. After all, when I was in FFA it was a field trip for all the students to go out to the farms and cut everyone's pigs. It was part of it.

I met her up at the pig barn last night and got it done. I have never cut one this big and hope it will be okay. At over 150 pounds he did not want this to happen and it took some doing.
I told the teacher I did not know what she was thinking by letting him get this big and asked where she came up with the thought I wanted him uncut when we have been asking to get him cut for two months.
She did not answer me and was very scattered brained and off topic.
 
This teacher has no business teaching FFA. For the past four years we have had problems with her only chasing the money students and not helping any others. It is no use to complain to anyone because all the people I need to complain to are the money students parents.
Only two more years to go.

Holiday Weekend

I was off for three days this Christmas weekend and I will be off another three next weekend as well.

Even though I did not work and the weather kept me from doing much outside, I still did my part over at mom's and was put to work right where I am most comfortable at, the kitchen.
That picture there is rare. Only a couple times a year I wear a collared shirt. I figured it was worth a picture to one of the girls to catch me in it.

Just like it should be at Christmas everybody and their dog showed up, no literally some brought their dogs, and we all had a good time. Some more than others when a new family member brought over his home made brew.

For the ones that do not know, this right here is why I am the meanest guy around.
These girls are my world.  

As far as work goes. I had the chance to get the pig pen done between rains and now they are happy little pigs plus the dogs get their yard back.

I also made two more batches of powdered eggs and ten pounds of beef jerky.

Oh, there's the laundry buzzer again, gotta run.
(Boy I hate rainy days)      

Oh The Humanity

When I was younger and we had a pig farm it was not uncommon to cut around twenty pigs a weekend.
At twenty to thirty pounds all I did was grab a little unknowing male piglet, hold him upside down and my Dad would cut, pull and snip. Apply a little blood stop and the next little pig was up. Easy as eating gizzards.

 
Somewhere in the last 25 years it has gotten a lot harder. I don't know if it is age or just being out of practice. It could possibly be that this one was seventy pounds and really did not want to loose his junk.

I posted this picture on facebook and had one response asking why it took four people to do the deed when it only takes them two and one being a girl. 
I tip my hat to her because this little pig kicked my butt.