Animals, Cotton Boll, Yet More Mowing And Transcription Progress

Does anybody actually read this thing? I feel like I'm talking to myself. Which is pretty normal. I do it all the time because nobody here listens to me either. But I guess that's the life of a mother. But I shall persist.

So first things first. We did catch all of the piglets. And then some got out again. So I went to the local big hardware store and bought a big tarp that covers their whole pen. Before I put it up, I took out the little wooden shelter and put a couple other boards between the top board and the next one down. They haven't gotten out since.

But now I'm having a problem with one of the sheep jumping into their pen when I feed them and eating their food. *facepalm* Tomorrow I'm going to take the sheep back to the other side of the runoff. I've been bringing them back and forth so they can graze both areas. But I'm going to leave them over their until I can get some wire to line the inside of the piglet pen that is also tall enough to keep the sheep out.

I swear these animals are going to drive me inside.

In other news, check out my cotton bolls forming. This is the same one with and without the flash. There are a couple of more on their but not as many as I was hoping. But I'm still getting blooms so we shall see what I end up with.

I also got on the big mower today and mowed around the garden beds. You can't see the garden beds because they are right in the middle of the tall stuff. But they're their. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to get the weedeater out and clean up some of the areas that I couldn't get with the mower. I say hopefully because nothing ever goes to plan.

This is in front of the garden beds.

This is beside the garden beds.

And this is to the left of the garden beds. To the left is the poultry netting where the muscovies now live and the tractor in the bad is where the ducklings are.

I haven't caught the escaped bunny yet. But he's still around so far. I'm thinking of doing the old trick where I prop a box up with a stick and put some food inside it. Attach a string to the stick and yank it out when he goes in the box. I also thought about getting a havaheart trap and setting that somewhere. But hubby says I need to wait. I don't know why. He hasn't responded to my text yet.

As for the transcription thing. I've made $22 so far. Would have been $24 but I went out and mowed so that took some time away from typing. I might try to make up for it tomorrow. But I think they pay monthly. If I can make $30 for 5 days work, that's $120 a month. Not a lot. But definitely enough to buy some fencing.

Most of it sucks because most of the messages are just dead air voicemails. You'd be shocked how many people don't realize their phone is still on. If I had more consistent things to type, I'd be able to make more money. But one nice thing is during those dead air calls, I am able to play on my tablet. So I get to play and make money at the same time. When I get something to type, I just put the tablet down, type it up and the go back to my tablet. Keeps me from getting really bored real quick.

Anyway, I've got ice cream sitting here while I've been typing this and it's probably starting to melt so I better get off of here and.... well, eat ice cream. See you all later and take care.

What I've Been Doing Or Not Doing

So where have I been the past couple of days? Well, after I did the mowing the other day, I had a headache for the next two days that wouldn't go away. I get these almost every month around a certain time of the month. Like a week or so before another 'certain time of the month'. I can't wait until that crap is all over. I'm 44 years old, definitely not having anymore children and that crap needs to go.

Then Saturday and Sunday I spent playing games with the husband and kids.  Partially because I like to play games with them. Partially because I was avoiding doing any work and starting my headache up again. Except for Sunday morning when I went and helped out at the booth for the local bee association. I kind of felt redundant though because there were plenty of other people there helping too.

Then Monday I had to take the younger son to school to see about getting his school issued laptop. But of course they changed it. AGAIN!!! This is like the third time they've give us different information about when we can pick it up. Partially our fault for forgetting to get it when they were doing it in the first place. But now they just keep changing it. Very frustrating. We thought about buying him a cheap laptop but then we don't know what we would do with it after the school year. Everybody here has a computer and a tablet or phone. So another laptop would just be unnecessary.

Also, Monday, I had a job interview. Which I totally missed! I totally lost track of time and it was almost an hour past when I was supposed to be there. I was so pissed! My husband told me to call them back and give them an excuse. But I didn't want to lie. I didn't really know what to do.

So yesterday afternoon I started doing online transcription. It's TERRIBLE HORRIBLE pay. But it's something. It's mostly transcribing voice mails. But a lot of them are butt dialed calls or something that sounds like music while you're on hold. So I spend most of my time clicking through those just to be able to get to the ones with somebody talking. Then half of those are either a terrible signal that cuts in and out or it's clear and in another language. The only ones I get paid for are the ones I can actually type. But it's still not too bad for just sitting in front of my computer. In fact, I'm doing it right now. I just change to the other tab if I need to type anything or skip to the next message.

But it's a little extra money for projects at least. I should be able to make about $50 a week so that's not too bad. Bad thing is that it takes up ALL my free time.

I've had some babies escape recently. A bunny got out of the rabbit pen. My own fault because I knew they were still probably small enough to fit through the wire. And the door on their cage was crooked and I kept putting it off fixing it. I still see him hopping around in the yard. But I know sooner or later he's just not going to come back.

Some of the piglets also got out of their pen. Not really sure how. There weren't any places that were big enough for them to slip under the boards. So the only thing I can figure is that they slipped in between the boards somehow. I might need to get some wire fence just to put against the boards until they get too big to get through it.

I did catch one of them and I plan on trying to catch the rest of them tonight when everybody is asleep. Usually the best time to catch most animals. That's why a lot of predators like to hunt at night. The prey is much more docile and less flighty.

Oh, we did get the mower tire taken care of Saturday. We took it off and we were going to take it to the auto place and see if they could patch it. But they were just about to close when we got there. So instead we decided to take a chance and air it up and see what happened. And it held. My husband also did some mowing Sunday and it still held. We don't know why it would have gone flat. But apparently it's fine now. *shrug* I just don't know. Life is not making any sense this week.

Ok, I'm going to go concentrate on this transcription thing a bit more. More coherent calls seem to come in about this time of day so it's my chance to make some project money. Take care all and have a good day.

Mowing And Grass Clippings

So I did some more mowing today. But not in the front area by our driveway. Instead I did some mowing around the garden. It has gotten grown up again after I mowed it about a month ago. I mean, I do expect some growth but this is ridiculous.

While I mowed, I had the bagger on the push mower and gave the grass clippings to the animals. They all love when I do this. Even the bigger animals who are already on pasture all day.

The Bunnies

The Bitties

The Chickens And Ducks

And Also The Pigs And The Sheep

And this is how much I got done. I still have the whole left side of the garden that I will hopefully be able to get to tomorrow.

The ducklings didn't get any grass clippings today but I'm including a picture of them because they're cute and I wanted to show how big they're getting.

And last but not least, I think I have a cotton ball forming. Or a cotton boll as it's called. For anyone interested, this is a long strand variety of cotton. Not usually grown by commercial growers. Not sure why. But if I get a bunch of these to form, I'd be willing to give some to anyone interested.

And I do believe that's all I've got for today. Take care all and have a good night.

Lightening Storm, Goodbye Pinky, Broody Hens And More Mowing

Sorry for the rather odd post the other day. We had a really nasty lightening storm the other night and it knocked out our internet for a little while. (It also killed the fan I had in the chicken coop and I thought it had gotten my smaller fence charger too. But the charger is ok so that's a relief.) So I was trying to do the post on my phone. But the screen was too small and the keyboard kept covering up the page so I couldn't see what I was typing.

So I tried the voice recognition feature. But with that I had to think of what I wanted to say and then say it without stuttering or tripping over words. Almost impossible for me because my mind is usually going in a million different directions and it works faster than my mouth does so I end up tripping over words and/or mashing them together to make words that don't make much sense. Unless you've known me a while and you're able to translate my insanity.

In the mean time, a couple of things have happened. For one, a tire on our new mower is already flat. I think I mentioned that in the last post. But when they installed our house (it's a manufactured house) they were kind of sloppy about some things. So sometimes we still find odd things in our yard. Also I've probably dropped a screw or two while doing some of my own projects.

We haven't taken the tire off yet to see what caused the flat. But we plan on taking it to the local auto place and having them patch it like you would a car tire. We figure that would be cheaper than buying a whole new tire.

But yesterday we lost our favorite piglet. His name was Pinky and he was a runt and we were going to keep him as a pet. We have no idea what went wrong and I'm keeping an eye on the other piglets to make sure it wasn't something contagious. But earlier that day he seemed perfectly fine. By the time I gave everybody their dinner, he had passed away. I know since he was acting normally, that there was no way I could have known. But there's still that guilt of 'What did I do wrong?'

In some sillier news, I've got two broody ducks and one and a half broody chickens. I say one and a half because the second hen will sit for a couple of days, whole broody attitude and everything. And then just piss off for a couple of days like nothing happened. Then go back to sitting again.

I don't think the chicken eggs are going to hatch though because they haven't had a rooster in a couple of months. And I would put one of my roosters in there but I don't want the drake to beat him up like he did my last rooster. But the duck eggs should hatch. Or at least some of them. I need to take a picture of the ducklings from the previous hatch. Some of them are getting pretty big.

Today I did just a little bit of mowing. This is one of those areas we didn't get with the big mower because we weren't entirely sure what was under there. Also, the runoff ends and goes under the end of our driveway so we didn't want to drive the mower too close to it and get it stuck. The weeds actually went all the way to the edge of our driveway but I had already started before I remembered to take a picture.

And then it started sprinkling so I had to drag the mower back up our 400ft long driveway and put it back under the solar panels. It rained for about half an hour and now it's sunny again. *facepalm* But I can't do much mowing because now everything's wet. If I feel up to it, I might actually get the weedeater out and try to get some of that taller stuff down too. If not, I'll get it tomorrow. Eventually I'll actually find the runoff.

Ok, it's about dinner time so I need to get something made. Take care all and have a good rest of your day.

Piglets in their new pen

Finally able to move the piglets out to the new pen  today . They did not like to be moved but I think they like their new pen.

There hasn't been any mowing going on because of all the rain and because we have a flat tire.

I think that's going to be at for now because I'm doing this on my phone and it's a pain in the butt. Take care of all and have a good night.

Piglet Pen Progress, Bantam Eggs And The Mowing Never Ends

Well, not completely nothing. Been slowly working on the piglet pen. I say slowly because I was trying to work with the supplies I had. 

Particularly screws. The screws I have work for if I have the boards laying flat against each other. But there are some that I have to butt the ends of some of the boards against the flat side of another board. These aren't screws aren't long enough to reach far enough into the end side of those boards.

So I tried some long skinny screws but they have a square head bit and that's a pain in the butt to try to screw in because it keeps slipping and won't turn the screw enough to get it into the wood. I've used the longer screws for the plastic holders for the electric wire. But I had to predrill those holes to get them to work. I can't do that with this project because of where the boards sit.

So I need to get some better screws with a better bit. I tried some deck screws with a star bit that I had left over from another project and those worked very nicely. We need to go into town tomorrow any so I'll get them then.

In other news, our bitties are starting to lay. For anybody that doesn't know, our bitties are what I call our bantam chickens. We have silkies, polish and old english game bantams. I got the silkies to hatch quail eggs some day since silkies are supposed to be excellent broodies. The polish I got just because I love the funny rock star hairdos. 

The old english I got because last year something got my daughter's favorite duck and I got this adorable little rooster and hen to make her feel better. That was also when we got the muscovy ducks. But the little hen got sick after a week or two and we tried to keep her warm and fed but she didn't make it. So when I ordered the rest of our chicks, I added a couple more old english to the mix. 

I used to swear that I would never get bantams because they're too small to actually be useful for much. But now.. The silkies are for a purpose, the polish are just funny looking, and the OEG bantams are just adorable. I know. I'm such a sucker.

But I guess now I need to build them some kind of nest box. This is actually the second egg they've laid. The first was so covered in mud from all the rain that I didn't bother taking a picture.

Speaking of rain, there hasn't been anymore mowing the past couple of days. But the area around the garden needs to be mowed again already. Have to do that with the push mower though because it's too tight to get the big mower around there.

Anyway, it's almost bedtime. Take care all and have a good night.

Piglet Pen Started And Sheltering The Push Mower

I've kind of been dragging today so I didn't get any weedeating done. It's just been too hot and my energy seems to get drained away. My daughter did get some more mowing done but it's been threatening to rain all afternoon so she had to bring it back and park it.

But I did get the piglet pen started. First I took two 1x4s and cut them in half to make four 4 ft long boards. Then I screwed two 8 ft long boards into the 4 ft long boards like in the picture below.

Then I set those upright and screwed in two more boards on each side like in the picture below. Making a large box. I also pounded in some u-posts to screw the vertical boards to. These are 7 ft long u-posts but normally I use 6 ft. That way 2 ft goes into the ground and 4 ft is the right size for my vertical boards. But the store didn't have the 6 ft posts so I had to get the 7 ft.

This would be enough to keep in the piglets because they can't jump over that. Pigs aren't big on jumping. But it is still low enough that the adults could probably get over it so I need a round or two more of boards to finish it off. Then I need to build a roof.

I also plan on building more 'stalls' next to this in the following months. Eventually I'll have a sort of open barn structure.

Normally we put the push mower and weedeater under the front porch. But with the big mower being parked next to our front porch, it's hard to get the other two in there. So instead I have been parking them under the solar panels. Not the most perfect place. But it still works.

And that's been it for today. Doesn't look like a whole lot but it's definitely a step in the right direction.

New Cotton Flower And Piglet Pen

I caught a newly bloomed cotton flower this morning. I love that beautiful yellow color. I'm going to try and remember to keep an eye on it and see how quickly it changes to that rose pink color from the flower yesterday. 

I don't know why I'm so excited about these plants. But there's just something about growing my own cotton that makes me really feel like a farmer. Even beyond the animals some how. Maybe it's connected to my southern roots.

Also love the flowers. They're so pretty. Before and after being fertilized. I'm going to save every seed and plant them next year. I'll have a whole crop going. Not just a couple of plants.

What I'm going to do with the cotton itself? Don't know yet. I was going to try to make thread/yarn out of it. That was the original plan. But not sure. I'd have to get a drop spindle since a big spinning wheel is too expensive.

In other news, we didn't get a whole lot done yesterday. We got out there kind of late and only got a couple of hours of mowing in before it started raining. Not sure if we're going to get anything done today either because there was a heavy fog this morning that lasted until almost 8:30. So the grass is still wet and get grass is harder to cut. And harder on the mower. Yes, it may seem like I'm really babying this mower. But that sucker is expensive. I want it to last a LONG time.

I can still do some weedeating and get some more of those small trees cut down. I also plan on building a small pen for the piglets. I definitely have to get them out of the rabbit pen. For one, they're making a mess as pigs will do. Also, my rabbits aren't breeding while they're in their cages. Yes, I could put the females in the male's cage and let them do it that way. But I've never had much luck that way. It's worked better for me to just let them do their thing naturally. And anyway, would you like to live your life in a cage? I want to give them space to run around.

Ok, I need to get going. Take care all and have a good day.

Getting It Done And Blooming Cotton

Got a lot of the other side of the property mowed yesterday. Today will be a bit of cleanup. Weedeating what I couldn't do with the mower. And I don't mean weedeat with just a string line. I've got a brush blade on the weedeater that I use for this purpose.

I also took a short video of me driving through some of what I'd mowed. Trying to give an idea of how much was done. Not sure if I got that across though.

My cotton is also officially blooming. The flowers start out yellow and then turn pink when they are fertilized. Or that's what I've read. I didn't catch any just after they bloomed but the first one I've got here is half way through changing. The other is full pink. I should have actual cotton soon!

Ok, I think that's it for now. Take care all and have a good day.

New Zero Turn Zee 2 Dixie Chopper Mower

So yesterday our new zero turn riding mower arrived! As you can see from the following picture, we've already been busy using it. I also got it stuck in a wet area but we got it out.

I also went and mowed part of the other side of our property but I forgot to take a picture when I was over there. Maybe if I mow more today, I'll get a picture.

I say maybe because I'm not sure if I want to mow today or if I want to use the weedeater to cut down the boggy area that I got the wheel of the mower stuck in. Also need to use the wedeater to cut closer to the runoff. I didn't want to get too close with the big mower because I didn't want to GET STUCK. So much for that.

But I'm torn. I want to clear an area completely and make it look nice. But I also want to get the rough cut done too so I can see what I'm working with. I don't know. We'll see.

Learning how to drive the mower was a little tricky. I've driven regular riding mowers before and you've got your steering wheel and your pedals. But with a zero turn mower, those handles literally handle everything.

Where the handles are sitting at in the picture, that's neutral. Push those forward and you go forward. If you want to stop, you pull them back to neutral. If you want to go back, you pull the handles towards you. But the handles also handle your direction. If you want to turn left, you pull the left handle back a bit. Opposite if you want to turn right.

My trouble was that I was so used to having pedals to use, I had a hard time adjusting to the stopping and slowing down. If the mower started going to fast or something, I had a tendency to brace myself with the handles and lean into them which just made the mower go faster. So I had to teach myself to sit back into the seat and not lean forward so much.

After that, the rest wasn't too hard. With turning, you just have to remember to pull back in the direction you want to go. After a while, I didn't even have to think about it anymore. I was zooming around the yard like a pro. Well, pro-ish.

So I'm going to be busy for a least the next week. Since everything is so tall, we have to go slow so the mower doesn't get bogged down. It can cut it fine. It just gets bogged down if there is too much under there at one time. So it's going to take some time to get everything cut down. But we're finally getting it done!

Oh yeah, I also took some video of my husband using the mower for the first time. Here ya go.

Zee 2 Dixing Chopper Zero Turn Mower

Cotton Development, New Mower Coming And Solar Lift System

I think this is the beginning of a flower that becomes a cotton ball. This is one of my long strand cotton plants. Hopefully they'll be able to develop before it gets too cold. They sure do seem to be taking their time.

So we bought a zero turn mower yesterday. More than we originally wanted to pay, but also a really good mower. But we're not going to have it delivered until Thursday because my inlaws are going to be in town so we'll be spending most of our time with them.

I did get two of the girl piglets sold the other day. So far the only thing I've bought with the money is these 4 u-posts so I can lift my solar panels off the ground. The grass and weeds were getting really high around them the other day and almost blocking all of the light. So now I'll be able to mow under them and keep the grass and weeds down better.

I also plan on getting some wood to make a pen for the piglets. The rabbits really want their pen back and the piglets are making quite the mess in there.

But that's pretty much it. Haven't been doing much because we've been getting lots of rain. Again. I swear the rain will be gone for days but I won't have the money for supplies or I just won't be motivated to get any projects done. Then the second I get some motivation and/or supplies, the rain comes. It waits for me to put my boots on to head out the door and then..... BAM! Downpour.

I'm actually motivated now to get things done but we should be leaving soon to meet up with my inlaws so I can't do anything until they're gone. Don't want to be right in the middle of rewiring the fence or something and then have to go over to see them.

Can't wait to get this new mower. I am so tired of our property looking like an overgrown mess. Time to make hay! Or at least make a lot of dead grass and weeds.

See you all later and have a good day. Take care.