November Storms, Turkeys and Chickens

Another mild Fall night...we dropped to about 55 degrees and this morning at 7 am it was already 62 degrees as the sun began to rise. At almost 10:30 am, the temperature is a comfortable 74 degrees. With the low humidity we are experiencing at present, it has a chilly feel to the air.

There has been another storm formed in the Caribbean and at this time is a hurricane heading towards the Cayman Islands and Cuba. Last I saw, it had a North heading. We aren't expecting it to impact our area as we have a high pressure system just offshore and a cold front pushing down into the state that is expected to push the storm away from us. We are expecting very dry, cold air for the next several days...our highs are supposed to be in the low 70's.

I finally got some pictures downloaded from my cell and ready to share.

These are some of our friend's beautiful Narragansett (sp?) Tom Turkey and the Blue Slate Female:

They are a bit dark as it was early evening and I took the pictures with my cellphone. Couldn't help myself as this fellow was trying sooo hard to impress 'his lady'. She, on the other hand, was paying him no mind at all. The female is still fairly young.

These are the newest pictures of our small flock of chickens....The first shots are Barney the Banty Rooster, Ms Red the Brown Leghorn Banty hen, and Ms Piggy the Barred Rock hen...

Ms Red is in a molt and was acting very 'camera shy' as she kept trying to hide...

My camera hound....Ms Piggy...

And these last two are our little 'laying machines'....Henny Penny, the dark red and Chicka Patty, the lighter red...

Have to laugh at these two, as they are constantly eating...any other time, they would be breaking their necks to see what is in my hand. Wasn't able to convince either of them to 'pose' for me. Ms Piggy is the camera hound for sure.

Maybe

Morning temperature at 7:00 am is 59 degrees, the skies are still full of clouds.  It feels like Fall with the chilly, wet air.  Outside my window, the Chinese Tallow tree is changing colors, from green to a pretty red/gold...the only trees in my yard that give any type of Fall color.  It won't be long before this little tree has dropped its leaves and stands bare.  The only other real color in the yard are the yellowing leaves of the wild grapevines, everything else remains green or brown.  The oaks seem to just go brown as a few drop their leaves sporadically.

With the time change this past weekend, the chickens are in bed now just past 5:30 pm...by 6 pm we are enveloped in total darkness.  By the time hubby leaves for work at 7 am, the sky is already light and the sun is beginning to rise...the chickens are ready to be let out of the coops.  Depending on the temperature, I have been leaving them inside until we hit at least 60 degrees, or until the sun is fairly high in the sky...usually have them out by 9 am.  For now, Ms Red is molting and looking very 'picked' as her new feathers fill in.  Barney has filled back in nicely and is a sharp looking rooster with his black body and white accents.  Ms Piggy looks the same as always, just a plump hen with her pretty black/grey barred feathers.  She still isn't laying and has now passed the one year mark.  The new girls, Patty and Penny, continue to lay regular.  I'm really happy with these two as they lay jumbo size eggs, each weighing between 2.5 ounces to 3+ ounces.  They are very nice brown eggs.  I wish Ms Piggy would lay, as hers should be around the same size and color.

The dogs are enjoying the cooler weather, except for us having to close the door in the evening when it gets chilly.  With the shorter days they aren't getting to run and romp as much with 'dad' right now.  By the time he comes in at night, it has been dark already.  They do at least get to run and romp for shorter periods during the day since I'm home during the day now.  Guess that's one advantage to my not working.

Work...a bit of a sore subject with me at the moment.  Hubby came in a week or so ago and said something about his work slowing down again soon and that I should go get a job as he doesn't think he will be able to find another one.  Say what??  This isn't setting well at the moment.  He seems to act as if he wants me to work outside the house, but the second I have a job and have to work weird shifts, then he wants to act like he's being neglected.  It's quite fine with him if I've worked an eight hour shift, but then when I come in, even after he's already been home for a bit, I should be ready to fix HIM food and do whatever needs doing around here.  My job has never meant anything to him except that HE isn't able to do things because I have to work.  I can't win on that one.  The minute I start working again he will decide it is no longer a priority to put money in the bank...afterall, I will be making money, so he should be able to do with his what he wants.  Can I just scream now?  Some days, I really just don't feel the need to be married to anyone.  I used to think we were working together for our future.  Now I feel like what's the use...

Sounds like depression is creeping back in to cover my world once more with it's thick, dark blanket.  What has happened to the happy, carefree person I used to be?  There once was a time when I could laugh and enjoy life in spite of what was happening around me.  Now I seem to be miserable and depressed the majority of the time.  Is it an age thing, or is it just circumstance?  Maybe someday I'll find the answers...maybe someday I'll be able to see 'the brighter side of life' once more....maybe

Finally feels like Fall

For a change, the weathercasters were right on the money!  Our morning temp was in the upper 40's...by 11 am, it had only managed to reach 52 degrees.  At 1:30 pm, my porch thermometer says its 68 degrees.  Feels really nice in the sun, but the shaded areas are pretty dang chilly...we also have about a 16 mph wind pushing that dry, cool air around.  Finally feels like Fall!!

My girlfriend stopped by for a visit again this morning and we took a walk out to the back pasture where a good many of the wildflowers are blooming.  I really need to walk around with the camera to capture some of the neat things growing and blooming right now.  Just another reason to put off mowing out back for a little longer...that's why I never get to see these particular flowers blooming, they keep getting mowed down.  After our little walk, we came back to sit in the swing by the firepit....no, didn't have the fire going, but it would have definitely made a cheery sight.  The morning sun warmed us nicely from behind and we had a nice view of the bright blue sky through the tall pines.  The wind was 'talking' through the trees completing the feeling of fall....a nice way to spend the morning.

We did turn the heat on for the first time yesterday...I had it set to kick on at 65 degrees so it wouldn't be too chilly in the house when we got up.  Whatever the temperature is outside, my house will be the same if the heat or a/c is off.  Must have almost zero insulation in this tin can.  On days like this in our old house, I would have had the woodstove fired up, mainly for the smell of the wood.  Was the perfect time of year for doing my paper shredding as the shred made really good kindling.  Just had to be careful about putting too much of the shred in at one time as it does burn quickly and at times, tends to float up the chimney.  I made sure to put the shred under a fair amount of wood before I lit the fire.  Works outside in our firepit here, just have to make sure there is lots of wood on top of whatever shredded paper I have in the pit.  Too many pines and palmettos to want sparks flying....those burn even when they are green.

Managed to get a fair amount of weeding done yesterday, but man are the shoulders and hands throwing a fit!  I'm really liking the clean look of the beds at this point....all I need to do now, is finish the job.  Another load is ready to be hauled out back to the firepit and I've found someone who is interested in these crazy Mexican Petunias....I've already warned them of how invasive they can become.  The area they want them for seems to have really weak soil...they can't get anything to grow there.  The soil these things are in out here is pretty crappy in my opinion, mostly shell, sand combination....hardly anything likes it but the Aloes.....and the Petunias.  I've added soil to the areas where I want things to grow. 

As soon as the yard drys out a bit more, I need to take my truck out back and collect the pine cones and downed pine branches.  That pine cone mulch sure worked wonderful in the front beds...no weeds to speak of even in the walkway where I had it spread.  The mulch has totally disintegrated into the soil leaving the beds looking very rich.  When I raked them out the other day, I had mostly pine straw and Bottlebrush leaves....all of which comes from the trees above the beds.  Figure I will use the mulch from the pine branches for the walkway and the pine cone mulch for the beds...love the little red and white chips the pine cones make.

With the cold weather coming so early for us...this is our January type weather...I'm cleaning out the coops and giving everyone some fresh, new hay.  At least that way, they can all cuddle and huddle together in the nest boxes if they choose.  I've still got the flaps over their screen doors to keep the colder air from blowing through.  Even when I opened the coops this morning while it was still pretty chilly, the inside felt much warmer.  With the new hay filling the coops they will have a bit more insulation against the chill.  We rarely see temperatures in the freezing range, but should we have them, the chickens can just stay inside until the day warms.  Our daytime temperatures always rise above freezing....I think in the twenty plus years I've been here, I've only seen temps in the teens once...and that was overnight and only for a very short few days.  We are just far enough south that weather like that usually misses us.

Time to get back to work....

An Arctic chill visits Florida

Cool weather is now upon us...again this morning the house was at 55 degrees...I had dropped all the windows and shut the door before we went to bed last night. Outside is the same temp...at 7 am, it is still pretty dark. Hubby came in from warming up the truck and grabbing his jacket from out back (was in his truck) and said he couldn't see the gate well enough so he didn't let the chickens out...no biggie, they can wait for a bit til the sun is up.

The weather people are saying we have some Arctic air sliding down over us out of Canada...we are supposed to drop to the mid 40's tonight. Today's high is forecast to be in the upper 70's. I just noticed on my Mountain weather map that our low for tonight is just a shade cooler than the highs there today....brrr. Glad we won't be seeing weather with lows in the 20's like they are.

Finally have kicked the heat on for the house...have it set at 60 degrees right now so it isn't freezing in here in the morning. Hubby has already been whining that he's cold once the sun sets. He has turned the little space heater on in our bathroom already. So funny, since it's normally me who caves and turns the heat on.

With these unusually low temperatures hitting us so early, looks like I'll be going ahead and spreading the hay around the flowerbeds. I had planned to do that anyway, but not quite this soon. At 10 am, it's only 62 degrees outside...looks like I'll be waiting til it warms up a bit more before I head outside today. I noticed Patty and Penny were out at just about 8:30 this morning...but wait, hubby said he didn't let them out...hmmm, their coop is still closed so how did they manage that? I went out to see and noticed that they had somehow knocked the back door of the coop out. The back doors are just strapped in place as we didn't have the hinges when hubby put it together for them. I let the others out of their coop as well and headed back inside where it was warm...I'll throw feed out later.

Guess it's time to find something semi warm to wear and get my day started...

Fall weeding, engine work, molting chicken

Brrr....the house is 55 degrees this morning...Fall is definitely back. The porch thermometer confirms the outside temperature is just as cool...it's 8:30 am. Looks like we will be having a very sunny day today again. I hope it stays nice so we can get the truck worked on. Our forecast high is around 80 degrees.

The body is whining from all the weed pulling I did yesterday...too bad, as there is more I intend to do today. This is what I need to be doing...manual labor so I can get myself whipped back into shape and maybe even manage to drop an ounce or two while I'm at it...lol.

Our day started pretty slow...I fixed hubby bacon and eggs and some nice hot chocolate...he was pretty happy to get breakfast. Most mornings he fixes his self a bowl of oatmeal before he heads to work. I keep chocolate Quik on hand and instant oatmeal so he has something if he wants to eat before he goes to work. Lots of times, he just grabs fruit or a snack cake from the corner store on his way to the shop.

Ms Red is definitely in a molt...she looks pretty 'sorry' at the moment with her tail feathers gone and her neck feathers gone in spots. Barney and Ms Piggy seem to be doing just fine. Looks like they all are getting ready for the cooler weather...everyone seems to be huddling together. I have to laugh since the air is still quite warm during the day....Do they know something I don't?

Hubby is back to working on the truck again. I've helped him remove the hood and get the 'cherry picker' set up....that's the engine puller...looks like he'll have it out soon. I'm working on the front beds again trying to get the Spathiphyllum, Peace Lillies, moved from the front bed to under the Bottlebrush tree. They haven't really done well in the very front bed as it gets entirely too much sun. Since these plants like the shade better, I'm sure the move will really get them growing. I've been meaning to move them since I put them there when we first moved out here. Since I want to move these, that means I need to get the other bed weeded and cleaned out a bit so I can put them in the area. Works for me, the sun is just way too hot at the moment in that front bed...I had to stop and find a towel to dry the sweat that was running into my eyes as I was pulling Mex petunias from that bed. Can't believe how profuse the sweat was on my face! Glad I had my hair pulled up, was wringing wet at the back of my neck....a nice glass of iced tea and a break is what I need at the moment....hubby came in for a break about the same time.

Got the weeds and brush that I put in the firepit burned...the smoke that billowed from the green stuff sure was thick. It hung across the neighbor's pasture like fog. Smelled like fall with the fire burning. I raked the pinestraw out of the big flower bed under the Bottlebrush tree and from the walkway...had a full wheelbarrow of that as well. Sure did spark that fire right up! With as much green as was in there, I can honestly say I was very surprised to see it all burn as fast as it did. Even wet pinestraw burns pretty quick....smokes like crazy, but burns fast.
The 'Peace Lillies' are in their new spot...I added more dirt to the area and they are looking happier already. Hubby has the engine out of his truck, the old freeze plugs have been removed. He'll be picking up the new ones on his way home Monday. Talk about junk...those freeze plugs had all rusted through and each was leaking. Every one of them was replaced just four years ago.

The back and legs are protesting...all the bending and stooping while I was pulling weeds has the muscles screaming in protest. My wrists and hands have given up, they have stopped protesting with pain, now they are just numb and my grip strength is nil. Great, guess it's time to put down the rake and call it a day....just as well, I'm losing daylight anyway as the sun is already setting.

Where is that smell coming from?

The eastern sky was beginning to show a faint yellow glow just at 7 am. As the moon was still sitting directly above us, the sky was already light. This morning's temperatures weren't quite as nippy as yesterday's...it's 60 degrees at 7 am. Even the house was warmer...65 degrees this morning, compared to 55 degrees inside yesterday. I did drop several windows yesterday evening because the wind was just flat cold. But it feels wonderful not to be sweating my eyes out!!

As I was sitting here online checking email, reading the paper, my nostrils suddenly filled with the odor of men's cologne. Hubby doesn't wear cologne (he had already left for the day) and I haven't worn perfume or cologne in months. I sniffed the freshly washed robe I was wearing to make sure it wasn't the laundry soap fragrance. Nope....so I wandered to the open front door...couldn't smell it there either. After a few minutes, the smell was gone. Hmmm, it almost reminds me of cologne I've smelled before...one I associate with the cops I've known. All I can say is if the cop that lives next door is using that much....he really needs to lighten up. No way should I be smelling it that strong sitting inside my house, from across his pasture with my windows closed. Their house sits on the far side of their property. So, who knows where the cologne smell actually came from....I'm just glad it's gone as it was beginning to make my eyes water.

The cooler weather seems to have an adverse affect on Ms Red's laying....she doesn't appear to be molting, but she has stopped laying for the time. Could just be 'her time' but she hasn't laid since this time last week. Ms Piggy is still not laying at all. They all get the same feed....Layer Granules and the three grain scratch, as well as greens and whatever they manage to scratch from the ground. I carry them treats like left overs and occasionally cottage cheese,milk or sour cream gets mixed in with their feed. Penny and Patty are still laying very well.

Penny managed to escape yesterday...I'm not sure if the wind allowed her to get over the gate, under the shade net or if she just figured it out on her own. We did have winds blowing at about 16 mph according to the weather last night. Regardless, I went out and put her back in the pen and fastened the netting down to prevent her or Patty from escaping that way again. I'd really hate to lose them to the dogs or one of the hawks at this point. I just happened to be watching them from the window when she made her escape. I was glad she didn't decide to go far from the pen area and also glad she's not like Piggy and Red...both of whom run like they have never been touched by human hands. Patty actually jumped out of the nest box when Penny made her escape and came running to the gate squawking in protest about being left inside alone. Was pretty funny....lol.

Guess its time to go find my socks and get these toes warmed up. Somewhere, I know I have a pair of slippers, but I'm sure the socks will be easier to locate. Been sitting here wrapped up in my afghan as I drink my morning coffee. Time to find the clothes and begin my day...

Middle of the month....already?

Wow, it's almost the end of another week and here it is already the middle of October! Didn't this month just begin? Where does the time go?
At 9am the temperature was still 73 degrees...feels wonderful... at 11 am the temp has risen to 83 degrees with humidity at 50%.

I slept in a bit this morning, was 8:30 am when I finally dragged out of bed. The changing weather tends to really mess with my sinuses...always has...and with the cooler, dryer days just beginning here the sinus issues are flaring as well. Just creates some nasty headaches and of course the stuffiness. If the weather will co-operate and stay cool, I'll be able to adjust within about a week. No matter where I've lived, seasonal changes always trigger a sinus attack. That's what truly makes living in Florida challenging at times...the weather being so hot and humid for most of the year and then the little subtle flips where the humidity drops briefly. Totally messes with my head...literally.

Last night when I went to close the coops for the chickens I decided to see if I could get Ms Piggy to play nice with the new girls. I took her from her coop and put her down in the garden yard. Penny and Patty were already inside their coop. After a few minutes of checking out where she was, Piggy headed inside. OMG!! The first thing she did was to grab Patty and throw her almost out of the coop. Poor Patty jumped out of the coop, running for her life...Piggy was hot on her tail, and attacked again. Enough is enough! I went in to the area, Patty came running to me to save her. Poor baby...she was just trying to go to bed. Got her inside the coop and shut the door to keep Ms Bi-ach out. Spent the next fifteen minutes or so trying to catch Piggy...she just acts like she's never been touched and was very evasive. Finally got a hand on her as she was ducking under the coop. Back to your own space girlfriend...these gals don't need your bullying. As it was almost dark by then, Piggy acted a little dazed when I put her in her coop...goofy girl.

This morning one of the neighbors came down to see if I had a dozen eggs...woohoo!! Got my first dozen sold from Penny and Patty...$3 / doz for their jumbo eggs....each egg weighs between 2.5 oz and 3 oz. (I weighed them singlely) That's pretty close to what the store is selling jumbo brown eggs for in our area...but mine are fresh and my girls aren't full of chemicals or jammed in with others to the point where they can barely move. These are some happy chickies and their eggs taste yummy.

Hubby asked last night about putting together a portable run for them...hmmm, sounds good to me, what do you have in mind? Seems the school they are demolishing has some twenty foot wide chainlink gates...he was thinking about fastening them together and presto! Instant portable pen! Of course we would have to close the top with wire to keep the hawk from dropping in and the girls from flying out...but it would be an excellent way to allow the chickens to be 'out' in other areas of the yard. I'm almost excited about the prospect of the portable run. The joys of working in demolition jobs...cool stuff to re-use!

Our buddy with the chickens is trying to get things worked out with his girlfriend....at least that's what he was saying last night...not sure what the outcome there will be. Still not sure of the breed of chickens he was mentioning. Might go there this evening since he was having a talk with the girlfriend last night. Our tractor is still at his place and he still owes us for the mowing that has been completed and he's wanting his back pasture mowed also. Fine...just finish paying us for the front pasture and then we'll get the back done. One of the reasons I hate doing work for friends...bust our butts to get the job done and then end up waiting forever to get paid. Hubby was not thrilled at the delay in payment either.

Got the new electric bill this morning...WOOOHOOO!!! So nice to see this thing below $100...this has to be one of the lowest ones we've had here...just over $78!! Of course the heat has dropped and I haven't had to run the A/C either. At this rate, I think I may wait until we start dropping into the 40's before I kick the heat on....could be January before that happens....LOL. I'm soooo over the heat that the cool air feels marvelous!!

On to the laundry and getting myself motivated to do a little something around the house today...hubby said last night he was needing work clothes washed...and I've got a good many of my own clothes that need to find their way into the washer as well...might as well 'git er done'....lol

Dropping....leaves, temperatures, humidity and relationships

Another Beautiful Fall morning!!  The temperature before the sun rose was right at 70 degrees, the air is cool and fresh.  At 1:30 pm, the temperature has risen to about 83 degrees with a nice cool breeze.  Our skies are a clear blue with plenty of sunshine.  The humidity has left for now and even the soggy yard isn't making the steam like it normally would.  YAY!!  Fall is finally arriving!!

We are forecast for a cold front to move into the state later today...should drop our temperatures a bit lower...the remainder of the week is forecast for overnight lows in the mid to upper 60's with daytime highs in the low 80's...okay, so its still warm here, But HEY...this IS Florida afterall.  The drop in the humidity is the biggest difference in our Fall weather.

The Chinese Tallow Tree is beginning to show gold and by the end of November will have only a few red/gold leaves before the last one finally drops.  My Crape Myrtles are dropping leaves on the southwest side of the yard and even those are showing reds and golds as they settle in for their winter rest.

In other places around the yard, the Virginia Creeper is also turning and the wild grapevine is beginning to change as well.  Most of the Oaks in our yard will keep their leaves until January...right now, they are full of acorns, which the squirrels seem to enjoy bouncing off the vehicles.  My truck bed has accumulated a number of half eaten acorns the past few days, compliments of the squirrels.

Our buddy with the chickens is offering me four new ones he just picked up over the weekend...supposed to be one of the 'blue' breeds...hubby couldn't recall the name other than the 'blue'.  I'll be going over later this afternoon to check them out before I decide.  Would be cool to have one that lays the 'blue' eggs... is that Andalusian?  I've been on the chicken sites to see what some of the blue breeds look like and to learn more about them...too much information to recall exactly what I've read about which breeds...DUH...I'm so confused!!!  LOL.  Seems there has been a change in his relationship with his girlfriend, who is the reason the chickens were purchased to begin with.  The buddy doesn't have the time to take care of the animals with his work schedule, the girlfriend was the one who wanted the 'farm', but now she's not going to be around...the relationship has ended....as of yesterday.  So sucks to be young and not know what you have while it is still within your grasp...she's still sowing her 'wild oats' and he's in the settle down frame of mind.  Ahhh, to be their ages once more and know the things I've learned through my own life...how different things might have been....eh, probably not.  Some of us are just destined to keep repeating the same ways and mistakes forever...just too blamed hardheaded to realize what we're doing for the most part....LOL.

Spent some time on the phone this morning visiting with my sister and also on a separate call, visiting with another friend.  See, I can visit and save fuel...hahaha....just tie that phone line to the side of my head please.
Reminds me of when my son was little.  Things were tight financially, my sister lived about an hour away and we only had one car.  She and I have spent the entire day...almost eight hours...on the phone...long distance charges applied at that time.  OMG!!!  The phone bills were sooo outrageous at times.  My ex once told me I could have driven down and spent the entire day for what that ONE phone call cost...  My response...yeah, maybe I could have, IF the car would run on empty and IF the car would make it that far.  He stopped griping about the bill.  I was at home all day doing other stuff while I was on the phone with Sis....no portable phone at that time, but I did have 150 feet of phone cord!!!  Could drag that phone all over our apartment and even outside if I wanted!!  Ah, those were the days....

Drizzly Day

At 7 am the sky was overcast and the temperature right at 75 degrees...the humidity is back. We left the fans run overnight as the temperature was still 79 degrees at 11:30 pm when we went to bed. UUUGGGHH, will the heat never leave? We hit about 89 degrees yesterday afternoon.

The sun broke through the clouds briefly, maybe for about two and half hours...the sky never really cleared though and now we are having drizzly rain off and on. Just enough to make things soggy and enough to keep me inside. I did manage to get the trash bin back from the road and the mail picked up before the drizzle began to fall harder....lucky me.

Penny and Patty are the only smart chickens today...they headed for the nest box when the rain began to fall harder...Piggy, Red and Barney however, seem to enjoy being wet and remain out in the rain instead of being dry inside their coop....silly birds.
Got everyone fed and the water containers cleaned out and refilled while the sun was still out. Seems everyone was waiting for the feed this morning, they lined up at the fence while I was getting it ready. Last night they got a bit of a treat....I had four small pieces of the Snickerdoodles left and they attacked that like they hadn't seen food for months! Really amazed me at how they each grabbed a piece and pretty much guarded it until it was gone. Must have been the sugar that got their attention. Every now and then I give them stale bread and its the same when they see the bread....guard it til it's gone. Too funny to watch them snatching the pieces and running around the pen trying to eat it before one of the others snatches it away.

Finally busted the trash dog in the act last night. We had just went to bed when I heard the slap of plastic hit the tile....I immediately jumped out of bed with the intent of killing a dog (no, not literally). Mojo and Spike met me as I came out of our room....I turned the kitchen light on and proceeded to the back hall where I keep the trashcan. BUSTED!!!...Bear was so intent on the trash that he paid no attention until I was right on him. I yelled at him and swatted him as he bolted past me and then chased him out to the front porch, still scolding him about being in my trash. !$@&# DOG!!! I cleaned up what he had dragged out, fortunately there wasn't much in the can, and headed back to bed. Figured he'd probably try that stunt as we had chicken for supper and of course the bones went to the trash. He seems to have stayed on the porch for the remainder of the night and no further raids on the trash. Hubby emptied it this morning before taking the bin to the end of the driveway for pickup.

When this has happened while we have been out, all three dogs have been punished...even though I've had suspicions that it was Bear all along. He's always been a trash hound...I just don't want him teaching Mojo this habit. Spike has always been inside and he's never been one to get in the trash...maybe pull something off the top, but never knock it over and just shred everything. That's a Bear stunt for sure. Every thing he gets a hold of he shreds....cans, soda bottles, balls, you name it, he destroys it. I would have loved to been a flea on his ear when he was a pup...just to see how he was treated. Since he was one of the boys' dogs, I have a fair idea of why he is this way. I know it's a behavior issue and not because he's hungry....my boys get fed pretty darn good and they get snacks and table scraps almost every day, unless they are being punished. When they sit and beg...no table scraps....when they leave the property...no 'cookies', and they end up going to the pen for the night...usually spend the entire next day there as well, until hubby comes home and lets them loose. Spike ends up in the carrier as he has been known to jump the fence. Funny how the smallest and oldest has better springs in his butt than the larger younger ones. I do worry about him injuring his silly self when he goes over the fence, which is why he goes in the carrier.

Since I'm stuck inside I guess I'll tackle the back room again...hey!...the trash bin is empty!!...so I must fill it once more...LOL. Not really what I want to do, but its one of those things I've put off for way too long. Might even start another load of laundry....it's almost caught up....and these are my clothes. Hubby's is all caught up for the moment. I'd wash mine with his, but the smell of diesel grease doesn't do a thing for me. His work clothes always seem to have diesel on them somewhere. Only time his clothes get washed with mine is if its his good clothes. Good thing he normally wears his work clothes! Hahaha. I still need to pull the vacuum apart to see what got stuck...maybe I'll go hunt for the screwdriver and do that before I tackle the back room....sigh...here I go again....putting it off, which is why it never gets done.....Bad me!!!

Keeping up with the changes...

Last night's low was around 73 degrees...the air is damp and cool from the rain we got overnight. This morning, the sun is shining against bright blue sky...still looks like summer in these parts, except for the shift of the sun...it has now moved almost due east for rising and by the afternoon is sitting more southwest and much lower in the sky...I keep track of this by how it comes through the south window and on the front porch which faces south.

The high today is supposed to be in the upper 80's with a heat index of about 91 degrees. We've shut the A/C off for the season and I'm only running the fans at this point. At night, it has been cool enough to turn the fans off.

Had an interesting bird show up yesterday...bright blue head, Cardinal Red belly and green back/wings....I've seen this bird in my birdbook....can't find my book at the moment so I shoot through on a search for what I think it is...a Painted Bunting....sure enough, there's the bird. Wow, and I didn't have the camera close to take its picture... Sweet little bird to look at, this one is obviously a male...guess its rare to actually see one....at least that's what I read.

I did manage to get a good look at the Fall changes while we were out riding around town...the Creeper is already orange/red in several areas, several unknown trees have begun to drop leaves...I think most of those are Sycamores...and the Maples and Sweet Gums are beginning to show yellows and reds. The 'weeds' are going to seed and things in general around here just look 'done' for the season. Explaining the changes in Florida is hard...no real hard signs, just the subtle changes that seem to take years to notice. It's taken me living in the area for over twenty years now to be able to recognize our 'seasonal changes'.

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I got curious about the grading of eggs (don't ask why...I just felt the need to know)...looked it up last night and then decided to weigh the eggs I've collected just to see...

Penny's eggs are averaging 3 oz, Patty's are 2 1/2 oz and Red's are at 1 3/4 oz.....pretty fair over all.

The chart below is from the Wikipedia site on eggs:
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Chicken egg sizes
Chicken eggs are graded by size, for the purpose of sales. The United States Department of Agriculture sizing is based by weight per dozen. The most common US size of chicken egg is 'Large' and is the egg size commonly referred to for recipes. The following egg masses have been calculated on the basis of the USDA sizing:

Modern Sizes (USA)

Size _______________ Mass per egg________ Cooking Yield (Volume)[1]

Jumbo _______________ Greater than 2.5 oz. or 71g

Very Large or Extra Large (XL) _Greater than 2.25 oz. or 64g _56 mL (4 tbsp)

Large (L)____________ Greater than 2 oz. or 57g ____ 46 mL (3.25 tbsp)

Medium (M)_________ Greater than 1.75 oz. or 50g ___ 43 mL (3 tbsp)

Small (S)___________________ Greater than 1.5 oz. or 43g

Peewee ____________________Greater than 1.25 oz. or 35g

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The chart above proved to be a challenge to get set in this post....I'm keeping it mainly for my personal reference so I know what size eggs my girls are laying.

Loads of things to do today, grocery shopping among the more important things...didn't I just go to the store??

On a different note...I have got to figure out WHY I'm continuing to gain weight! Just went to find a different pair of jeans as I cut the yard in my favorite pair...hahahaha...found my old 'skinny' jeans...pfftt...can't even get my LEG into those... I've given most of that size to the oldest boy, since I wear guys jeans...they were 28's...his size. :-(

Then I finally found the 'larger' ones...OMG!!! Don't tell me I can't even fasten these!!!! These are the 32's that sis passed to me...NOOOOOO!!!! Finally got those waist biters fastened...uuuggghh...most uncomfortable. Was a huge relief to finally get them off last night....no, they never did 'stretch' back out at all. Guess I'm gonna have to break down and get my butt back out doing manual labor so I can get back into shape.