Resting today

 glass lizard we found while redoing chicken run

It was good sized and I was told they thought they saw another out there 

Interesting clouds from front blowing in

Well over the weekend we got the coop redone and run moved over and redone. I am so very sun burnt and tired especially from having to convince the kids to help at the very least watch their little sister so I could work and they kept passing her off on each other. Poor kid. The run was moved over to the other side and actually looks a lot nice and has a better design (Ran chicken wire along the bottom so they couldn't dig all the grass up ) and has a trap door where we don't have to go in to open it. Just pull a cord. Then the inside we shrank it up  enough to put in a storage area on one side (to make sure we fit within regulations on distance as far as how close it was to the neighboring yard) I decided to make a half wall with chicken wire at top so we could look in from the open storage area which keeps it vented as well as sheltered. Fixed their feed trough (a refurbished rain gutter) to the wall and threw in some fresh shavings. Will take pics later today. They seem pretty happy though confused with all the changes. Found a small dog igloo for my oldest girl's A frame guinea pig hut for shelter for them (we are keeping that when she moves and using it for something else and getting her a new cage) It was 3 bucks at a yard sale. Also found a desk for my son for $5.00 that is really nice old style for his homeschooling (he asked for a desk) We have to go sign the papers this week. We were going to last week but too much going on. We moved the rain barrel over (fun to do while it is full....lost some water but not too much) my garden is doing good still. Have spent all week calling the city about their ordinance on fencing and can NOT get anyone to tell me anything. Fixing to go off what I think it is and put it up anyway or see if there is someplace else I can find out about ordinances. Getting annoyed with that part of it. Going to mow soon and do some more clean up etc. It is all ready getting pretty hot. The last two days that I've been working outside it has been in the 90s. Not ready for that and they've been saying it looks like this summer has the potential to look like last years. Today has been cooler....of course since I am not working outside LOL We do have errands to run though. We also found a glass lizard which was pretty good sized. We caught a couple of small mice that were hiding under the boards and where the chickens ate all the grass off the ground in the old run we turned the soil up and gathered earth worms to possibly try to make a worm bucket out of and are making that area a flower garden. 

Up too early

  Yet again my youngest is up before the buttcrack of dawn.

Shipping container on craigslist < I so want one of these. People have been buying them for bunkers, storm shelters, root cellars and sometimes they bury them and sometimes they don't. They are sturdy and usually fairly inexpensive and can be modified to be just about anything. I'd want to bury it. Still planning on likely moving here in about 3 years to the country (at least this is my dream/goal) so don't need one where I am now but hey. 
I will write a normal longer blog later but today looks to be busy and I am going to see if hubby will let me nap for about an hour so I can keep up. Got to go get the cat from the vet here in awhile and take the other one in for his shots and then later have lots of errands and general getting stuff done to do. On a side note yesterday while cleaning outside saw like 4 or 5 cops at a neighbors house and some lady getting arrested. Apparently there was a gun involved. O.o 

Well no more roo for now

Well my SIL came and got the rooster (am very grateful for that because that is a huge help with all this <3 he is so awesome) Unfortunately my youngest was VERY upset. Much more so than I expected even when I went to show her the other chickens are still there and all. She was very broken hearted and cried and cried. Kinda mad a momma for a moment but she seems okay for now but hubby decided he would take the cat in himself to the vet so she didn't have to see that. Even though he will be coming home the next day and all. Hopefully that will all go well. Now our next project is to move the coop around so we did actually get two things done. Been trying to contact the ordinance guy to find out about fencing and what the rules are with that before we try to put it up (still have to pick it up too) but so long as we continue to push along and get things done. 
Hubby picked up a couple pair of headphones today. A wireless pair which were for him but apparently he has to fight with them in his computer but hopefully he can use them and a pink pair for me (to go with my hair) which the kids are having a fit over. 
The kids are having a hard time understanding what all is going on and aren't cutting us any break. 

Craziness

This has been an insane week or two. One morning when I was asleep (Hubby and I take turns. I take first shift sleeping then him because we always stay up too late and then our little one gets up too early) anyway we had a couple of police come to our door asking him if he'd seen someone wearing all brown clothes with a backpack. He told them no because he hadn't and they began to question him wanting to know who all was in the home and wanting all his information etc. When they left he woke me and told me what had happened so I turned on the scanner to see what was going on and heard the same two cops carrying on a conversation via radio about us. They were talking about how suspicious it was that we had an alarm on our front door ($20.00 alarm you can get at walmart...works great but not all that big of a deal) anyways because our house does not appear like one that should have an alarm. Okay because apparently if you have an old house and all you aren't supposed to have things that matter to you or don't care if you are broken in to I guess??? That among many other reasons to have one. I mean our neighbors house was broken in to as well... Anyway then I proceed to listen to them going on about doing everything they can to find a warrant on us (there isn't one we don't do anything) they spent forever on this topic and were very frustrated that they couldn't find anything on us. Then I had also called in and asked if there was anything we should watch out for regarding this person wearing brown even though at this point I figured that was a load of crap. They didn't give any information on any of it and basically blew me off. Not long after all of this I get a phone call that someone had blocked the number (private call) and just sat and listened for a long time when I answered. You could hear people talking in the background. I hung up on them after a few. Well then a couple nights later we were trying to watch a movie and it was of course late (night owls) and we start getting lights shining in the window bright enough to be unignorable so we get up and look and realize it is a cop car spot lighting. They spent a good hour doing this before we decided to call in and ask what was going on (they wound up waking our youngest) They had been going around and around the block doing this and there were 2 or 3 cop cars involved. I was told that they thought there was some guy walking that needed help...(story did not fit for me) and that they had heard a dog barking down the road from me and were going to check it out but everything was over with..... They spent about another hour spot lighting til we gave up and went to bed...again their story sounded like a load of crap. Then we had city workers coming up and driving by the house really slow when my son and I were out doing yard work. Then a day or so later after I'd been saying for that length of time that they were going to do something we left the house for about an hour or a little longer and come home to find a notice on the front glass (waited til we were gone I felt like) that was saying we couldn't have chickens (I knew that was wrong and I will get into that in a minute) and that we had lean to shelters on our property. I was LIVID so I called and got an answering machine and it sounded like someone had picked up halfway through the message and disrupted it but didn't say anything. I went and told hubby we needed to go in before they left city hall for the day and we went down there and it was locked and we went outside just as they were pulling out from by the police dept (behind the building) so we caught up to them and asked about it and they wouldn't tell us anything til the next morning when they came by. Though I did manage to get in that it was my understanding that we can have chickens they just have to be such and so many feet away from other residences. When they did they told us I was right but we do have to move our coop and we offered to get rid of our rooster so that we knew he wouldn't bother anyone..that part has upset our neighbors. They all like hearing him surprisingly and the one especially wants us to see about getting a smaller rooster that might be quieter. (Like a bantam). They informed us that the lean tos they were talking about were our sheds that have been there since anyone can remember (Long before we even bought the place) So those are okay. We do have to clean up some (I.E. organize our wood pile) and clean up our carport was in a mess because we've been moving stuff around (and actually was not viewable from the road unless a vehicle was moved) and we have to put a fence up around our pool or take it down so hubby is picking up some fencing to put around it. I'd actually been waiting on this. I'm not sure what else they will try and pull but thankfully the guy is willing to work with us as long as we do everything we are supposed to which of course we will. We were told it was one person behind us who called (Who lives farther away than the neighbor that told us she loves hearing the rooster and doesn't really even hear him that often and that these people are never home....that is because they drive around and around our frikking block over and over and through the alleyway. They seem to have it out for us and we don't even know them that I am aware of. Been doing this for awhile) anyway then they said it was also two city council members leading me to wonder if this is related to the Thompson (city manager) deal. I had apparently gotten his attention with my newspaper blogs at one point in time and he was actually using city workers to try to find out who I was. (I was told this by some of the employees themselves it was a crazy ordeal but I am used to those by now) Mainly because 1. Why would TWO of them call in when only one of them is over my area? and 2. neither of them live close to my house and 3. Even if a neighbor had called them to complain that goes back to the 1st point....only one of them would have been needed to deal with it and 4. Why would they complain that I HAVE chickens when they themselves changed the ordinance only a couple of years ago? Makes no damned sense. 


"It is only paranoia if they aren't really out to get you" In any case so now we are doing what all we need to do and I am resisting the urge to spray paint a big mural with "fuck you" on the side of my house. Wouldn't accomplish anything. ;) We are also dealing with plenty of others things such as my FIL's health and my Mom's appts and then money issues, repairs, and my oldest daughter is graduating and not sure if she is moving out yet or getting a job or going to school or what and is going to be getting married. Plenty of normal life stuff to worry about. Ignoring my own health issues atm because we just don't have the time or vehicle to take care of them. I am getting my cat fixed tomorrow so have to keep him in tonight and have to try to get him to keep a collar on soon. I'm sure he will love me for that. 


I have thoughts and such that I can't even really blog about as well. :/ No time to think really and my head hurts all the time. Such is life. Things keep me awake at night because they stir around in the back of my mind at at night when it is finally quiet and I am laying there they slip to the front and hit me all at once. Then the dreams I have are so vivid and I am left the next day feeling tired. 

solar hot water heater project

solar hot water heater I am putting this in my blog as a project I would truly love to try this summer if we can and also so I can find it again. Today I started clearing the space for a compost box so we'll see how that goes. Too late to do much else today but got it started anyway ;)

Insomnia

My toddler has it.... Was up all night until about 6am this morning when hubby got up with her (he hadn't gotten any sleep either) and I went and crashed was feeling sick as hell and had been all day and I am not sure when she finally climbed up in his lap and passed out and he put her in the chair but I took her and put her in bed and went and curled up with her. Dunno why he didn't take advantage of the time to go lay down in bed or if he was afraid of waking her to go crash on the couch but he stayed up for the most part and then I guess finally caught a short nap on the couch and then went to bed about 2:30 or so this afternoon...so hopefully he gets some zzzz's. 
Anyway I came across something today that I found disturbing. I am not so sure it explains all the mass die offs by any means but apparently all those starlings and such that supposedly they couldn't figure out why they died or said it was fireworks???? I was pointed in the direction of the USDA where they have a list of their intentional and unintentional die offs....USDA < Click to see it. 
Also now they are apparently wanting to install little black boxes in all cars to keep track of everyone in detail. Like Onstar on steroids. little black box  It was also on our local news. I'm seriously thinking bikes sound more and more like a good option. No black boxes, get more exercise, no high gas cost, no repair costs really (okay maybe a few but definitely not like a car), fresh air (not so great during bad weather) but while it does have it's downside....the upside is looking pretty good. 

April showers

Well we made it through the weekend of doooooooommmmmmm unscathed. There was a large tornado outbreak set to happen and the worst we got where we live was some straight line winds and hail and the sirens went off once when a tornado went around from Norman to Shawnee. (I don't think it even did any damage in Shawnee but it did in Norman) We did see this as an opportunity to learn and have realized we need to rethink our emergency bags. I also need to hopefully get my kids to understand that things like makeup kit and radio are not essentials. On another note looks like we get to keep our little garden a while longer...yayyyyyy! Hopefully long enough to get some veggies from it all. Last time we had a decent garden we weren't so lucky and got hit by a tornado and lost it all but an easter egg plant. Looks like we get another swing at a tornado around the first week of May. I am torn...I love stormy weather and sometimes wish I'd taken up storm chasing ...yet I don't want to see anyone hurt of course. Anyway. 


Our latest project that I hope to start on soon is a compost bin. Double sided so that you let the one side settle for a year while you use the other. Not a hard project really just have to find the time. Today I spent mowing and doing yard work. We have found that if you have alarms on your doors the cops will assume you must have something to hide even if you don't especially if your house is not this glamorous nice looking one since of course you must not have nice things either or things that are of value at least to you. Note to anyone else who uses alarms on their doors....or locks. We keep them on damned near everything. Even our chicken coop because we caught someone getting into it and messing with our chickens. They had even torn their roost down once so yeah. Locks everywhere. Anways just a note there. We have been drooling over like an underground storage thing but too costly and no way to do that. People are now buying up shipping containers to do that with. Would make a nice tornado shelter/root cellar. I will say though that this funky weather is playing nice with my roses. They are blooming now more than ever before and are absolutely beautiful. 

 I am doing a bit of a fun earthquake prediction experiment also. My first test kinda failed. We were having a decent sized quake every other night (3.0-4.0) and I thought we might have one last night but we broke the pattern and had absolutely nothing. My 2nd test is my chickens have been laying only 1 egg on the days that we have those size of a quake. Well last night despite my following the pattern ...they laid 4 so now following their pattern if that is correct then tonight we should have one. We had a really small 1.something earlier so now I am just going to wait and check on that tomorrow. The funny thing is this all started with an odd wrinkled egg. 

Only had the one like that...wrinkled eggs can be caused for a number of reasons though in this case stress seems to have been the cause... and then they started this pattern of only giving us one egg on the nights with the decent sized quakes. They had been laying like clockwork and producing about 5-6 eggs a day before that except for of course when we had the other bigger quakes....so anyway. Like I said just a fun experiment nothing serious but I will be interested if we do in fact have another larger one tonight. The one we had a couple of nights ago was a 4.0.  Will try to remember to post what I find on that :) For now I am off to go draw some I think and listen to some music. Trying to unwind.