ANTS................

 little buggars are out in force as are a lot of insects all ready due to a warm winter and very early almost hot spring. 

Today consisted of laundry more laundry and yet more laundry. Getting it all hung out on the line. Today also involved a sugar ant invasion (those little black ones that bite like a mofo despite their tiny size). I was cleaning out my desk and found that they had apparently been coming through the window screen and had made a nest on the top shelf using a folded piece of paper and had even moved in their eggs. I thought wow and they didn't even have any food or anything but apparently ...they did. In the form of a sucker that was still inside the wrapper but they had found their way inside it and had actually devoured almost the whole thing. I removed everything from the top of the desk and was greeted with what looked like a bad B movie scene. They were everywhere. I took the vacuum and sucked a few up and wiped the rest down with a lysol wipe thing. Hopefully they get the hint. Then I spent like half an hour convincing my oldest daughter that no she could not bring Joe the catfish that she and her fiance caught home and keep it even if it did bark and sounded cute. We didn't have a filter or a tank for a barking catfish named Joe. So for now Joe is residing in a stock tank at fiance's house :) Tomorrow our plans are to muck out and open up the chicken coop a bit. Still not totally dried out since the flooding this last week. Our rain chances seem to be going down in the week to come. Plan on building an outdoor guinea pig friend for my daughters "babies" and have to finish the portable chicken coop which is actually a bit on the heavy side. Would like to get a couple of turkeys or some quail or something but really need to keep that to a minimum right now. My other goal is to make it in to hit up the local green house for some tomato plants and pepper plants :) 

Busy Bee

Hello Blog. I haven't forgotten you I've just been busy surviving spring break. With all the joys of siblings being cooped up in the house because it is raining. Yay me. In other news it was much needed rain and it filled the local lake 1/4 of the way though they say we will still continue to use Shawnee water for awhile because they say if we started using just our lake water we'd be out again by May. We set an old sink at the top of the rainbarrel to help funnel the water in better as it rained. Our chicken coop became flooded so we had to make a makeshift pen under the carport and relocate several bedraggled birds til it slowed enough we could do something with their coop. Now that we are having our first sunny day I am trying to catch up on laundry and I've done about 4 loads and have them out on the line. I'm seriously starting to look into bicycles for us. Not sure how hubby feels about this at the moment though I've mentioned wanting to get a seat for the youngest to put on one and he keeps telling me there is one out at his parent's house that we can get but that is the extent of it. The vehicles we have don't run very well as is and we probably need the exercise though on a day like today I know I'd have a hard time of it. Too tired, head hurts, brain fog going on. If the price  of gas continues to rise it is going to be looking better and better to get a bike and I'd rather get one now while we can before they start jacking up prices on them because a lot more people seem to be getting the same idea. Just gotta figure out how to work that with the little one and in bad weather that could prove not to be so handy. 
On the gardening front things are still moving rather slowly for now but I've replanted some of one of my girls' plants. She seems to have quite a green thumb. I am getting anxious for the local greenhouse to open so I can maybe check out some of their plants and get some tomatoes that have all ready been started going. (still doing some stuff from seeds though because I need to learn) 
I'm also trying to expand on my art now. I've got a watercolor pencil set, a regular drawing set, and some pastels coming my way to start working with. I am hoping for some extra (if you want to call it extra) income for us. I think I am also going to be painting another piece of furniture for a friend soon. I do enjoy that as well. Just have to make sure I have all the paints I need. 

Spring fever...literally

 I love spring I really do but along with all the beautiful blooms comes allergies...which I suffer from a bit more with my lupus. There are those menopausal type weather days...30 degrees to 80 to 50 ...hot and cold. Colds are abundant as well as flus and viruses. In any case I am starting to want to learn more about extracts and their uses and maybe even how to make them. My mom had just recently come down with a virus. A nasty one that has been going around. Now my youngest appears to have it as well and last night I started getting the horrible sore throat. I have a friend who mentioned olive leaf oil just a few minutes ago and since this chimed right in with my new interest in extracts I looked it up. I am not sure if I can find it here locally though I hope to. I did find this interesting article though on how to make your own: how to make olive leaf extract in a slowcooker Hmmm wonder if olive trees will grow in Oklahoma? Of course I had to look this up also right now. Apparently the young trees are susceptible to cold but someone wrote about growing them in a place where it got down to -9 In their experiment adult olive trees could withstand certain temps with Mission and Ascolona trees surviving that temp. Why Olive leaf oil? Because apparently it is not only an antibiotic it is also an antiviral. That thing where when you go to the dr. and they say "Oh I'm sorry it is a virus and there is nothing you can take or do other than sit it out" Yeah that. I am seriously tempted to try it. On another note I bought some clove oil for my husband for a dental infection and it did relieve the pain and infection seems to have gone away.  I have also been trying to use my plant book and learn what different plants we have around here and their uses. We are also starting an herb garden and soon to finish a portable chicken run so they can get more grass and bugs while it is nice out. I shall return to blog more later but for now have some things to get done.

Sign of the times

 This picture I took after the May 10 tornado that knocked one of our 50 foot tall cotton wood trees into a leaning position and it to this day rests against its sister tree which is starting to lose it's grip on the earth. The sign says "A house is built with boards and beams, A home is build with love and dreams" It pretty much says it all. The little plant is an easter egg plant that was one of the only of dozens of different plants we'd planted that year. A sign of hope for us. It went on to produce a few fruit before the drought and heat took it. 

I live and grew up in central Oklahoma. It is known for it's severe weather and tornadoes but up until the May 10 tornado I'd never really experienced one. It seems now looking back to have been a sign of things to come. We were lucky. Our house was still standing. We had no land line phone or electric and we lost our food. It was hot and there was fear that the big cottonwood would fall. There was outside damage our porch lost a support beam and our tin on our carport roof was peeled back like a sardine can. Our van was damage (back glass busted in) but we were all okay and our house itself was okay. I have noticed a lot of times things like this come as a warning. I have learned to pay attention. It was a huge wake up call. Though while tornadoes and severe weather are common for us the extreme weather has been on an increase. I've noticed tornado alley seems to have shifted towards Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky (where I have family) Etc... They have been bombarded these last couple of days and looks like more may be on the way if I read the news on it right. They were still recovering from last year in some places. News on tornadoes that struck several states  They said there was a threat for later today also and alerts have been put out. I am wondering if Oklahoma is going to see a severe spring or if we are just going to jump right to a hot summer after a non existent winter. Our winter except for a few short cold days and a bit of snow one night...was pretty much like early spring for us. Now our temperatures are heading up into the 70's and close to 80...more indicative of late spring early summer. Things are blooming early also which is beautiful but if you are mindful of the changing weather patterns is something to be leery of. Something my Mom taught me is nothing is ever 100 percent. Still though I've learned even as a very young kid to pay attention to nature and what she is telling you. People don't really do that anymore though it seems they are starting to. Here is another sign of change: Texas drought changing migration patterns in birds I am watching all of that both in the news and at home. I've noticed there are certain birds that are not really common to this area showing up and some that are I am not seeing. Jays are one thing I haven't been seeing for awhile. Gulls are showing up at our local lake which I have seen some around before but never seen them really stick around like that. Pelicans also which normally hang around Oklahoma but not here. I also saw some interesting footage of a pod of about 2000 dolphins appearing to flee the coastline of California. May mean nothing at all but I am watching for news on that as for that large a number seems unusual. Some people are wondering if it is a fore warning of a large earthquake. I usually take several news sources and compare them (and I try to make sure it is the more reliable ones) For us here in Oklahoma there has been a change in the behavior of wildlife as they search for sources of water and food. They are encroaching on the urban areas. Especially skunks and mice. It is eerie when a group of owl show up hooting back and forth we've had that happen a couple of times now. Keep an eye on your local wildlife, plant life, and weather patterns. It can tell you a lot.  

Water water?

Well today we got our 30 day notice about the water stating that the city of Tecumseh would be buying water from the city of Shawnee. They use a chemical called Chloramine which can cause serious problems with people on dialysis or with fish. I all ready have problems with the water anyway. When I take showers I become ill the next day or so. The dr told me it is likely a reaction of my lupus and to basically treat it as an allergic reaction because that is pretty much what it is. Not to the water itself but to the chemicals used in treating it. This last shower I had was pretty bad my skin was very red for the rest of the night and part of the next day and felt and looked as though I were severely sunburned. (Still hurts some) and I also have some respiratory problems from it like allergies. In any case I am going to have to use a lot of caution when using the new water source. Likely the reason my reaction was so bad this last time was as the lake empties more and more (it is pretty much completely gone at this point) they have to get through all that sediment and such ....well I'm sure you get the idea there. You are basically getting the treated version of what is left on the bottom of a pond. Because that is basically all that is left there is a small pond and not even that. 
Now I've also noticed all our pine and cedar trees have dropped all needles which is a sign of severe drought. I'd been noticing it and it hadn't really registered til I started watching the other trees around start to bloom with an early spring. On a good note this apparently save me some of my serious allergies I normally suffer as I am allergic to pine and cedar. On a bad note this means the drought is very significant which I really all ready knew. Plus pine needles make for some great tinder and there are a lot of pine trees around so as wildfire danger increases...which it is... this could be a problem. 
I have about resigned to calling myself a prepper. I hate to in a way but honestly I guess I fit the title somewhat even if it is loosely. I never feel prepared for anything. I am trying though and I usually say I'd rather be prepared and have nothing happen than not be and have everything happen and be left feeling lost. I am not an extreme one by any means at all. I am storing water mainly because I've been hearing some alarming news and also because of the drought, the severe weather that has changed across the country...though I've noticed tornado alley seems to have relocated more towards  Missouri and all off in the other direction. We've now been through just about every weather condition it seems that is possible, drought, tornadoes, blizzards, and I see the reason to be prepared even if for just that. I don't believe in the "end of the world" I believe in a rapidly changing world which really is just how it always has been. In any case I am storing water because that is a big thing. If you have it set aside then you have it and it stores pretty much forever it seems as long as it is stored in a clean container etc. Also in times of drought like now we use the outside containers that may have water in them (til they start evaporating like last year) for the chickens and plants that we are trying to keep alive. 
That is something else with the early spring we thought we'd risk it and try to start some seedlings early and so far they are starting to sprout. We are hoping they take hold and will grow. We are experimenting with different ideas to help them stay alive in drought conditions. We want a greenhouse but since we don't have that yet (looking at some plans to make one) we are trying some other ideas out. Using the water from the run off of an a/c during the summer...if it will keep going I am looking at the likely hood of another extreme summer like last year well into the 100's (stayed about 110 or so in the shade and in the sun the thermometer was going way higher of course) in that kind of heat there can be power outages as everyone is running a/cs and such. Anyway we are wanting to try directing the run off into a planter we have and I am going to put my herb plants in there. I all ready have a basil sprouting. I want tomato trees if I can keep them alive. We want to use canvas as partial shade. We are also looking for drought resistant plants.  
On another note about the water one thing I've seen is where they are wanting to replace an aging infrastructure that is constantly losing water through leaks. AWWA report on infrastructure. There 
is also some fear that the dustbowl will return by some...concerns about dustbowl return and there is this Drought monitor They have our location under long term moderate but it seems our little local area is more like severe. It has not changed really from when they had it noted as exceptional. Minute amounts of rain that make no difference is really the only reason they changed it I think. The lake continued to fall. I am sure there are other factors in there that they considered but still...
It is quite noticable to anyone that we are going through some changes as I'm sure the earth has gone through in the past (Antartica used to be a tropical area) The changes right now seem rather rapid but who knows... 
Will post more later. I've been in a blogging mood lately.