My Egg Customers Are the Sweetest of Peeps

My egg customers are the sweetest of peeps.  Just look at the sweet gifts I have been given recently when folks came to purchase their fresh eggs from me & my 'girls'.

This beautiful ceramic tile with a colorful Rooster designed with a cowboy & bandana theme and the words "Western Omlete" came from Louise, a sweet lady who always slips me an extra dollar when she pays me for my eggs.   I keep telling her that she gave me too much money, but she refuses to take the money back, saying that the eggs are so delicious that its worth that much and more.  Last time she picked up her eggs she gave me this lovely gift.

Another super sweet lady, named Helen, always returns her empty cartons, but they are never empty...she always puts jelly beans in the carton.  Today she handed me the carton but there was no familiar rattling noise, and I noticed the carton was not completely closed.  Inside I discovered this cute little Chicken...that was hand made my someone from clay, then hand painted.  It is so cute, and because it is a cone shape I am calling it my 'ChickCone' and I'm proudly displaying it with my other fun Chicken knick-knacks.

When you have chickens...you meet the sweetest peeps!

Keeper of 1 husband, 3 dogs,

3 cats, and 16 Chickens!

 

 .

Agressive Javelina's Charging At My Dogs Through the Fence -Video

Here in Arizona you are familiar with the nasty critters to watch out for and avoid such as rattle snakes and scorpions.  Another critter that we try to avoid is the Javelina, but in all my years of living here I didn't really consider them an extreme threat.  I have had them come right up to us to get a treat like a tossed strawberry (or stale cheerios in the case of my grandkids). I watch them each morning and evening as they make their way west then east in their daily travels.

Credit: Photo courtesy of the Arizona Daily Star

When I go out to my chicken run I sometimes find a group of Javelina's hanging out in the yard between the back door and the chicken run, but they will usually scatter as soon as they see and hear me coming.  The only time I hesitate approaching them is when they have new babies in their group.  They get very protective when they have little ones with them.  But even then, I have never had them get really aggressive with me, they just tend to stand their ground and expect me to give them extra time to disperse with their babies.

However this morning I was caught off guard by their aggression.  I looked through the window of the door before letting my dogs out into the fenced back patio and saw the Javelina's wondering around the backyard outside the fenced in area.  I opened the door and let the dogs out.  As is usual, the small dogs run to the fence barking frantically at the Javelina's and typically the Javelina's will scatter.  But today they did not.  They took a few steps away, then turned right around and came back towards the fence.  My puppy (8 mo old Rottweiler/SharPei) ran towards them but didn't bark, she wanted to play with them.  She jumped towards them and lowered her upper body like she does to instigate the dogs or cat to romp and play with her.  The Javelina's jumped towards her with their hock hair standing erect, huffing and snorting, clacking their sharp tusks in chomping motion as a threat to her.  Miss Hollywood was oblivious to any threat.

This was totally unusual behavior from what I have seen by Javelina's in my nearly 2 decades living here in Arizona.  I grabbed my video camera to record this because no one was home and I figured no one would believe they were acting so hostile this morning.  There were no babies in this group.  They all appeared to be full grown adults, perhaps they were all males so that sparked it. 

Watch (and listen to) the video below to see how they not only charged at Miss Hollywood, but also at my Boston Terrier Pickle as well.  One even tried to nip at Pickle through the fence (3/4 of the way through the video).  Note, Pickle only has one eye, so she has issues with depth perception...I don't think she thought the Javelina was that close.  There were about 5 or 6 of them circling around the fenced area.  They did not even seem to notice me, a human, standing right there video taping them.  -Scary! 

 

Keeper of 1 husband, 3 dogs,

3 cats, and 16 Chickens!

 

 .

Surprising Update On My Last Season Volunteer Tomato Plant

I told you recently about my little late season volunteer tomato I discovered just shy of one month ago.

Today I wanted to give you an update on his progress...because he continues to progress in spite of lots of things working against him.  The first thing working against him is the fact that it is now October -I would have already cleared the plants from this summers garden out by this time.  But this little guy is a survivor and really wants to continue to grow.

That was proven just last week when we had our last heavy rain of the summer monsoon season, and I made the mistake of sitting this Alaska Grow Bucket too near my rain water collection barrel.  I don't have an overflow system on this collection barrel, so when the heavy rains filled the barrel to the top, the rest poured over the edge and into the Alaska Grow Bucket with such force that it washed the soil out of the bucket, leaving the tomato plants completely uprooted.  I thought, "Well, that's it for this little guy." But I couldn't just let it die that easily, so I pulled some of the soil out of another bucket that wasn't used, and tried to gently place the soil around the roots of the tomato plant and filled the bucket back up to the top.

A few days later I checked on the tomato plant and it was doing just fine...it was standing tall, with strong stalk and stems, and no limpy leaves even.  And guess what?  It now had four little flowers.  Since it is way so late in the year there's was no hope of any bee's coming along to pollinate it, so I hand-pollinated it myself.  See instructions here on how to do that, it's really easy.

I wasn't optimistic that these flowers would actually become tomatoes, but this little plant wasn't giving up, so how could I?   Two days later I was checking its water level and look what I found?  Look closely there (see the pink arrow) and you will see a tiny little tomato bud right behind that drying flower...it is growing!!!

[Volunteer Tomato plant blooming, pollinated flower growing a tomato. Plant is now 27-30 days old.]

Here is what the whole plant looks like now.  He is just thriving so nicely!

[My volunteer tomato at 27-30 days old.]

Keeper of 1 husband, 3 dogs,

3 cats, and 16 Chickens!

 

 .

Miss Hollywood Graduated Puppy Obedience Training Class! Yay!

Yes! My baby has graduated from Puppy Basic Home Manners Obedience Class!  And she was even voted 'the most improved'...you automatically win that honor when the first class goes something like this:

Dog is over stressed walking through the downtown city area, because she lives in a very rural community and see's maybe 3 cars a week, and never saw a bicyclist before in her life -until one sped past her just as she is entering the first class.

Dog is so distracted by all these new dogs and their people that she has never seen before.

Dog gets so excited about said people that she pee's all over the floor -that mommy has to clean up.

Dog (repeatedly) tears down the barrier that the instructor puts up to hopefully block out said distractions.

Dog mommy gets upset that dog is acting like she was rescued from a cave the day before.

Dog gets so upset because mommy is upset that she develops the screaming diarrhea -that again mommy has to clean up.

Dog has to be removed out the back door to finish 'squirting'.

Dog comes back in 20 minutes later, still stressed, but calmer -or at least with an empty bowel.  Mommy is now so upset she is crying.  Dog and mommy sit out the last 15 minutes of the class because..."whats the use?"

So, after a one-on-one with the instructor before class number 2, dog and mommy are ready to start again.

Hollywood did very well with her lessons after that first horrific class, and went on to graduate from the class by performing a few tasks combined into real life activities...and doing them well.

I was so proud of her!

And I'm so thankful for the Awesome instructor Kathy -for her patients, understanding, and guidance.

Me & Hollywood (left), Kathy (center), my daughter & Bear (right)

Yay Miss Hollywood!  We will take a few months break for the holiday months, while honing our skills, then I think we may just take some additional classes to build on what she has learned so far.

Keeper of 1 husband, 3 dogs, 
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

The # 1 Spice I Use In Just About Everything I Cook...

I don't have just a single spice rack in my kitchen, I have a Spice Cabinet!  I love cooking and I enjoy experimenting (because I can't follow a recipe for the life of me) with different spices to create different dishes.  Because of all of this experimenting I tend to collect lots of different spices.  Some are used often, others are only used on rare occasions.  Here is a peek into one (of 3) sections of my spice cabinet (not including my swiveling 5 tier spice rack on the counter-top).  Many of these are my primary go-to spices.

Of all the spices I use, my #1 spice is 'Mrs Dash Garlic & Herb Seasoning Blend' 

I sprinkle Mrs Dash into just about everything I cook, other than desserts of course. I use to be able to buy it in a bulk shaker from Costco or Sam's Club but I cannot find it in any size but these small shakers that are very pricey for the size.  (If you know of a bulk source, please do share!)   I love it so much that I'm willing to fork over the dough anyway.  I also like some of the other of Mrs Dash's blends, but this is by far my favorite one.

I like to use Mrs Dash because I don't use salt in my cooking.  Well, now that isn't totally true, I do add a teaspoon of course kosher salt to my bread dough, but that would be it.  I have a little 2.5 oz sized salt travel shaker that I've had for at least 2 years.  I keep it in the house for dinner guests who feel the need to add salt to their food.  Even though it makes me crazy when someone covers their food in salt before they have even tasted it!

Perhaps I need one of these, for when those guests come to dinner!

[I actually bought this at Amazon for $9.97 + s&h]

Do you have one spice that you use in just about everything?  What spices do you never use? 

Keeper of 1 husband, 3 dogs,

3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

 

 .

You Know Why Women Were Born With the Ability to Have Multiple Orgasms?

WARNING: This post contains discussion about orgasms, menstrual periods, and menopause ....if you are uncomfortable talking (or reading) about such things, then close your browser window right now, because I need to rant.

You know why women were born with the ability to have multiple orgasms? 

...It's a trade-off for all the other hormone related crap we women have to endure throughout our lives. 

It starts with monthly bleeding that begins at about the age of 12 and continues well beyond our typical child bearing years.  It brings along its constant companions, cramping, crabby moods, and water retention.   Oh, and acne too!

Then there is morning sickness that we feel the first several months (and the last several months) of pregnancy.

Pregnancy might be considered one of the trade-offs as well, but I was happy to be pregnant, other than the morning sickness part.  It was the pain of giving birth that I felt was the trade-off.

And then after some 40 years of menstrual cycles we get to do it in reverse for another 2-10 years during peri-menopause.  This lovely time of our life is when we 'begin' to have memory loss, mood swings, grow random chin hairs, and our body loses it's ability to maintain proper lubrication...in every part of our body where it is truly needed. (If you are not there yet, I won't scare you with those details.)

Is it just me or does these reproductive organs look kind of scary?

We begin to suffer hot flashes and night sweats, Oh Joy!  How in the world did women of the 'olden days' survive without an adjustable thermostat they could turn up or down every hour (or quarter hour) as needed to keep from freezing to death or burning alive, for no apparent reason?  Oh, wait, they didn't live as long back then...maybe that was a good thing.

Just yesterday I woke up with my hands and fingers feeling like someone filled me up like a water balloon.  My pants that fit me fine the night before were so tight now that I could hardly breathe.  I found comfort in my loose fitting tan capri pants that I decide to wear out to lunch with the hubby.  Then an hour later I regretted not choosing my black ones, because I realize I've started my period while out to lunch.

Then this morning I wake up with a terrible hormonal migraine.  They come on every time my hormones make a drastic fluctuation...which is often these days, but almost always the day-of or day-after my period starts.  So here I sit here in the unlit rooms of our home, with no TV or radio playing, and the dogs are forbidden to bark.  I've even placed a post-it note outside the front door with a warning note threatening anyone who pushes that doorbell button.
  

About this time I'm thinking about this 'trade-off' we women were given.  And I'm thinking that the next time I'm feeling a wee bit selfish for enjoying myself too much while my poor husband only gets to reach 'the prize' once before the game is over...I'm gonna cash in on this 'trade-off' and just keep on 'having too much fun' until this poor old body of mine just crashes from exhaustion.

Keeper of 1 husband, 3 dogs, 
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

Image Credits: The images in this post were courtesy of (in the order shown): FreeDigitalPhotos.net 1)  by luigi diamanti, 2) by dream designs, 3) by stockimages, and 4) by FrameAngel.

Love Comments...Annoyed by Spammers...and HATE Captcha's!

If you have a blog then you know the quandary about whether or not to use the Captcha, or require approving every single comment before it goes live, or requiring every commenter to be signed in to certain networks to leave a comment.  It is not an each decision.  You want to let everyone who reads your blog, to be able to share their thoughts without a hassle.  If your readers have to jump through a bunch of hoops, they may in the end, decide it's just not worth it and keep their thoughts to themselves.  And that is not what blogging is about.  I want to hear your thoughts, even when they are in opposition to my own.

Personally I H-A-T-E when I am trying to leave a comment on someones blog and have to enter the Captcha phrase.  If I'm using my phone, it is so small that I can't hardly see it to begin with, and then my auto-text tries to 'fix' the jumble of letters in a captcha for me.  It never fails that I will get one with the letter 'L' but its in the lower case so I wonder is that and 'l' or and 'I'?  I almost always get it wrong.  And then sometimes that causes my comment to disappear so if I didn't have the forethought of copying it before entering the captcha then its gone.  Grrrr!

So on this blog I don't use the Captcha, but I do require that I approve each and every comment before it goes live.  I do this, which is a total pain in my rear, because it stops the spammers.  Those spammers are awful.  I get at least a few a day!  Their goal is to make a nonsensical statement in hopes that it appears like they have really read the post (so they don't look like spammers), then they include a link to something they are selling or maybe even a link to a page where the unsuspecting clicker will pick up a nasty computer virus.

Image by Vlado at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It is obvious they haven't read the post.  Most of them look like they were really trying to appear like they did read it.  Many others look like they used Google Translate to put their statement into English, but it ends up about as clear as the instruction manuals that come with the stuff my husband buys at Harbor Freight (where nothing in the store came from within the US borders).

Here are a few examples that I received just yesterday -for your entertainment.  Notice the title of my post they are commenting on, and how their comment doesn't even come close to matching the post.  (NOTE: I have altered their links so they are not click-able and would take you nowhere, but wanted to show them.  Also, I have NOT edited their comments at all...this is exactly how they came.).

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Yarnell Hills Fire continues to burn as our hearts...":

I have been exploring for a bit for any high-quality articles or
blog posts in this sort of area . Exploring in Yahoo I at
last stumbled upon this website. Studying this information So i'm happy to exhibit that I've a very good uncanny feeling I found out exactly what I needed.

I so much without a doubt will make sure to don?t fail to remember this site and provides it a look on a
relentless basis.

Look into my web-site local plumber (bigpipecleening.com)

-----------------

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Happy 30th Birthday to my Baby!":

This excellent website definitely has all the info I wanted about
this subject and didn't know who to ask.

Also visit my web blog ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVqVYYJrPhaaO4

-----------------

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "A Tiny Tarantula in My Bedroom Sparks an Adventure...":

When someone writes an post he/she keeps the thought of a user in his/her mind that
how a user can know it. Therefore that's why this article is amazing.

Thanks!

Feel free to visit my web site; s my web site; test for sociopath

I can't believe that any of these tactics have ever worked for the spammers...but it must or they would stop doing it, right?  So now you see why pre-approving every comment is necessary.  These are all anonymous, but I even get these using fictitious accounts as well.  I want you to be able to share your thoughts without the need to be signed in to this or that.  I don't even mind if you want to remain anonymous, as long as your comment is a true comment related to the subject at hand, and doesn't include a link to something other than your REAL Blog or Website (that isn't selling something).

This is a place to come and share with me and my other readers, not a place to pedal your wares, or try to infect my readers with virus's.  So please understand that the fact that your comment has to be moderated before it goes live is not a reflection on you, it's to protect you and my other readers.

Ok, now lets have YOUR comment...

Image by Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Keeper of 1 husband, 3 dogs,

3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

 

 .

The Walls In Your Home Should Express Who You Are

The walls in our home are like huge white canvas's waiting for us to be inspired and put something on them.  We have been here two and one-half years and I have only painted one wall in the living room (a pretty sage green), and the lower half of one wall in the kitchen, it's painted sort of a textured barn red.  I haven't painted any other walls and I haven't hung any pictures (other then in my kitchen), because I didn't want to throw just something on the wall.  To me that would be as empty as hanging one of those picture frames that comes from the store with a stock image of some family already in it.  I want my walls to express who I am.  I want something kind of funky-creative, because that is who I am in my core.

My daughter gave me the painting below for my last birthday...I call it my Chicken Picasso.  She found it at a thrift store and called me before buying it because she wanted to ask if it would offend me if she bought me a gift from a thrift store.  I'm sure she knew it wouldn't, but she asked anyway (sweet girl).  She said she saw this painting and immediately thought of me, and since my birthday was coming up...

I love it!  Not just like it...I LOVE It!  Interestingly the background color in the painting is identical to the color I painted under the chair-rail.  She hadn't seen my wall paint yet, so this was just meant to be I think.


The other day while my husband was out of town working, I was having lunch by myself at the Wildflower Bread Company.  If you are from Arizona, then you probably are familiar with this place.  They bake fresh Artisan breads everyday so the place always smell so yummy.  They make delicious sandwiches, pasta and soups and serve them with a huge hung of fresh bread, or in a bread bowl...mmm!  (Ok stop thinking about that bread!)  So anyhoo, while I am sitting there eating my lunch, I am admiring the pretty flower prints sprinkled throughout the restaurant on their walls, their menu boards and on the table tents.  I suddenly feel a spark of creativity.

I am getting hungry just looking at their Facebook Page header here.  See the pretty flowers?

Being a child of the 60's these pretty flowers just resonate with me.  They remind me of the fun times growing up in the 'Peace, Love & Hippies' era.  I like that feeling, and I get the idea to put some of them on the wall behind our bed.  We don't have a headboard (and don't want one), so this would be perfect!  On my way home I stopped by Home Depot and picked up a few sample paints in pretty colors that appealed to me, and a few sponge brushes.   That evening I painted the wall...then I started thinking, "gee, I hope Terry likes them."  He is a child of the 60's as well so I figured he probably would.  If not, then we could just paint over them with that boring white canvas looking paint.  What do you think?

This picture was taken before I finished my second coat on the pink flower on the left.

They are really big, (for perspective our bed is a king size and the purple flower is just over 2 feet wide), but quite simple.  And I love them.  It makes me feel calm and brings a smile to my face every time I walk into our room, or when I crawl into bed. 

When Terry came home a few days later, I was away from home at my dog training classes, so he happened upon them when he was putting his luggage away.  I didn't tell him before he got home what I did, I wanted it to be a surprise.  I do things like this when he is away.  I don't know if he fears what I will do when he is away, or if he likes the surprises he gets when he comes home.  This one he loved!

Keeper of 1 husband, 3 dogs,

3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

 

I would love it if you 'Liked' me on Facebook too!

Did this post stir something inside of you? If so, Please leave me a comment, I would love to know what you're thinking!!!

 

The Strangest Doctor Visit Ever, Or an Alien Abduction, I'm Not Sure Which

I went to the dermatologist today to have him/her look at the brown spots on my hands and arms.  They started developing about six years ago and recently have been doing some weird changing, so I wanted to get it checked out.  I haven't been to a dermatologist before, therefore I have nothing to compare it to, so perhaps my visit was quite normal.  But to me, it was the strangest experience I've ever had in a doctors office.  Let me tell you about it...

My doctor turned out to be a female doctor, I wasn't sure because they were squeezing me in to see who ever was available.  It begins quite normally with a short Q & A with the assistant, then she has me change into a gown that is open in the back, and she tells me the doc will be with me momentarily.  The doctor walks in the room a few moments later with a headband style magnifier on her head, which makes her look like she has giant eyeballs. 

She looked like this mannequin, but her eyes were even more magnified.  (And of course she had hair.)

Image from Amazon. You can click here if you want to buy a pair, LOL.  You know, I could use a set of these things to check my chickens for mites...or maybe I can just bring them in for her to examine.

So she walks right up to me, well inside my personal bubble, and introduces herself to me, speaking so fast I almost couldn't understand her.  She asks me what brought me in today...that part I understood.  She is so close to me and those giant eyeballs are darting around looking at every centimeter of my face.  It was a little disconcerting.  I moved my head backwards in a subconscious reaction that just happens without thinking, because your brain sends the signal that someone or something is invading your personal space.  

I begin to explain that I have these brown spots that I guess are normal for folks my age, and I tell her that mine seem to be changing so it concerned me. I point out a few in different stages on my arms and the back of my hands. All the while she is examining me very closely with those magnified eyeballs.  Not just examining my arms and the back of my hands, she is looking at every part of my face, and my neck.  She is like 8 inches from my body! 

She tells me those spots are quite normal, not to worry about them. Then she starts going through my hair.  I feel like a kid in kindergarten getting checked for lice.  She opens the back of the gown and starts examining my back. She touches here or there as she closely makes her way over my entire back. The whole time she is talking about how "husbands never notice things like strange moles on our back so we should learn to use a mirror to get to know what our backs look like..." She goes on talking as she works her way around my body, examining my neck and chest.  She even reaches inside the front of my bra and examines between my breast, and underneath too!   I felt so invaded, kind of like what I imagine it would be like if I were abducted by aliens to be studied.

Image by holohololand at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Finally she is done inspecting me from this 8" distance with those freaky looking magnifying glasses she is wearing.  She says there is a mole on my back that she would like a biopsy of...today!  I consented to the biopsy and she leaves the room while her assistant numbs up the area.  The doc comes back in the room as abruptly as the first time and goes behind me and cuts off the mole in like 3 seconds and places it in a bottle to be sent in for biopsy. She quickly tells me she wants me to do monthly exams and see her in a year for the brown spots and she will contact me in 10-14 days with the results of the biopsy and we will go from there with that one.  She is still wearing the headband magnifier, looking at me with those large cartoon eyes, yet talking seriously to me about her concern.  Then she quickly exits the room.  It was so surreal.

The assistant stops the bleeding, applies an ointment and a bandage and leaves the room for me to dress in my clothes again.  She meets me at the door a moment later and escorts me to the from desk while going over my post-biopsy instructions. 

So I went in for the brown spots on my hands and arms and leave with a biopsy pending for something on my back that I wasn't even aware of before.  So I guess I will wait for those results...and hopefully if there is an issue with the biopsy results requiring me to return her, she will take off those darn magnifiers so I can see her real eyes.

That was the most bizarre medical experience I think I've ever had.  I wish you could have seen her giant eyes probing every inch of me.  I kind of wanted to laugh out loud because it was so strange, but it just didn't seem appropriate at the time.  I've been snickering to myself about it all afternoon.

Keeper of 1 husband, 2 grandkids, 3 dogs,
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

 

I would love it if you 'Liked' me on Facebook too!

Did this post stir something inside of you? If so, Please leave me a comment, I would love to know what you're thinking!!!

 

Happy 30th Birthday to my Baby!

Oh my...my baby is 30!!!

Happy Birthday Whitney!

My baby just turned 30.  I remember last year when she turned 29, she had such a hard time because she said she thought her life would be more on-track by then.  Happily I can say that this year, her life is on-track.  She is in a loving relationship, she is finally getting to be the stay at home mom she wanted to be.  She has also discovered that she has an artistic side that she never had time, or the confidence to realize it.  Look at the adorable chicken sculpture she made me.

She knows I love kooky things...and Chickens!

This sculpture of a pregnant woman was her first sculpture, isn't it beautiful?

I am so happy that she has found contentment in her life, and is now discovering who she really is, not just doing what she needed to do as a single mom to get by, working back to back double shifts on weekends, while the kids stayed with their dad or us, so that she didn't have to be away from her kids all week or put them in daycare.  I am happy that she met a man who loves and adores her and the kids, bringing his own two children into the family has made my daughter even happier.  He is the one who encouraged her to try sculpting.  He asked her what she would like to do if she had the time and money to do what ever she wanted that would bring her peace.  She said she always wanted to sculpt.  He bought her some basic tools and a box of clay, and told her to enjoy.  I have since bought her two more boxes of clay and she is slowly building her tool supply.

I am so happy for her (and them).

So, Happy 30th Birthday my baby. I love you!

The 3 Musketeers as my dad called them. Whitney (center), sister Jessie (left), cousin Eva (right)

Keeper of 1 husband, 2 grandkids, 3 dogs,
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

 

I would love it if you 'Liked' me on Facebook too!

Did this post stir something inside of you? If so, Please leave me a comment, I would love to know what you're thinking!!!

 

Reading Books: My Kindle Ebook Addiction ~ What's on My Shelfari?

I love reading.  When I was a little girl, reading books took me away from my unhappy childhood, even if just for a few hours.  I love the feel of a book in my hands, the smell of a new book, and the anticipation of reading a book I just picked up at the bookstore.  When Amazon came out with the Kindle I was reluctant to try it because I thought not holding a book and not physically turning the pages wouldn't provide the same book reading experience.  For my birthday one year my husband gave me the first edition Kindle Reader.  I found it to be a royal pain in the bohiness with the pages accidentally turning every time my finger touched the ill-placed buttons.  I also thought it lacked some of the book appeal without color pictures on the cover to embed in my mind as I began reading the story.  I used it off and on, but it didn't take precedence over real books.

A few years later when the Kindle Fire came out I got one of those for my birthday and things changed.  It had a touch screen so I could actually swipe to turn the pages just like a book.  And the full color image of the cover made it much more like a real book.  But the major factor that swung the pendulum in the ebooks favor was the ability to take my whole library with me in a small thin package the size of a TV Guide (remember those?).  I didn't have to carry a heavy book bag with me filled with the books I might want to read while I was away from home or fret over losing my place when my bookmark fell out.  I now carried my Kindle Fire in my purse and pulled it out whenever I had a few moments to kill.  Waiting at the Dr office, standing in line, waiting to pick someone up, or on vacation away from my physical library.  It was awesome!  I started exclusively buying Kindle books, unless the book I wanted wasn't yet available on Kindle.  I found that my physical bookshelf was dwindling while my Kindle bookshelf was growing rapidly, with over 100 books on the Kindle by this point.

Last year I bought an iPad which had a much larger screen for reading.  With my aging eyes having things bigger is a must.  I downloaded the Kindle App on my iPad and uploaded all of my Kindle books onto it as well.  Then I discovered Pixel of Ink, who sends me an email every day with a list of temporarily free or nearly free ebooks.  You have to shop quickly because most of these books are newly released and the publishers just want to get quick exposure and reviews so the price goes back to normal in like 24 hours.  So now my Kindle Library contains over 800 books!  I have about three to five books that I am reading at any given moment.  Some True Crime thrillers, some self-help, some backyard farming books, and a few just for fun books.  I am never without a good book to read, anywhere, anytime!  I even get kids books to have on hand when I'm with the grandkids.  They love reading colorful kids books in Kindle version at bedtime, or anytime really.

I sometimes lend my purchased books to my daughters or friends.  Amazon lets you do that you know.  I just log in to my Amazon account and find the book I want in my Kindle library, then select 'Lend this book' from the drop-down menu.  I enter the recipients email address and a message and boom, they get an email with a link to download the ebook to their Kindle Library.  If they don't download it within like 48 hours (not sure exactly) then it gets automatically returned to me.  The only catch is that I cannot read the book while it is out on loan.

And just when I thought the Kindle eBook thing was at its best...I discover Shelfari by Amazon.  Its been around since late 2006...why am I just learning about this now?!  I'm sharing it today because maybe you have been in the dark like me.  Have you heard of this?

Its a virtual bookshelf displaying all of the books I have read before, or am reading now, or plan to read in the future. Here is mine...

Shelfari: Book reviews on your book blog

I have added a Shelfari widget there in the upper right side of my blog. [You can just look up there if the image above isn't visible.]  You can click on the little scroll forward and backward icons at the bottom to see more books on my virtual shelf.  As I add new books to my Shelfari it will update the widget here too (remember I have over 800 books so its gonna take a while).  If you hover your mouse over one of the books it will pop up a little box that tells you the book title and author, along with my personal review (or just a few thoughts) of the book, and at the bottom of that pop-up box is a link to add it to Your Shelfari.  So if you also have Shelfari on your blog and I see a book I would like to read I can add it to my shelf with just the click of the mouse.  If I want to read all the details about a book on your Shelfari and even buy the book on Amazon I can just click on the book image and be taken to the Shelfari site page for that book.  Is that cool and convenient or what?!

The Shelfari website had a book club and forums to connect with other readers and even some authors.  I am having such fun with this.  I see my Kindle Library growing even more now...there are so many great books out there that I didn't know about before Shelfari!  If you already have a Shelfari account let me know your user name so I can go follow you there.  Or just follow mine (by clicking on my Shelfari) and I will follow you back.  Just leave me a message (here or there) so I know you came over after reading this blog post.

Happy Reading!!

Keeper of 1 husband, 2 grandkids, 3 dogs,
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

 

I would love it if you 'Liked' me on Facebook too!

Did this post stir something inside of you? If so, Please leave me a comment, I would love to know what you're thinking!!!

Things From My 20's Are Now Called 'Vintage'

I love new technology.  People close to me know how I get so excited about new gadgets and smarter smartphones.  I get such an itch for the newest smartphone when each new model comes out.  My husband and I have Verizon with the 'New Every Two' program, and each year I would use my 'New Every Year', then the next year I would use his.  He was fine with keeping the same phone but I wanted to try the newest one and two years just seemed to be too long to wait.

I wasn't always this way.  There was a time back in the 80's that I had a fear of push button phones!  I use to have repeating nightmares that I was in an emergency situation and needed to call 911, but the buttons either wouldn't work or they would fall off the phone when I pushed them to call 911, which meant I couldn't get emergency help for my children or husband, or even myself.  I would wake up sweating and my heart beating out of my chest with fear.

I remember about that time I moved to a new house and went to the phone company (the days when there was an actual building to walk into) and ordered new phone service.  They provided you the telephones in those days, so when they handed me the new push button phone my heart started to pound and a bead of sweat immediately broke out on my forehead.  I refused that phone and asked for a rotary dial phone.  The lady looked at me like I was insane.  She said "we don't give those out anymore".  I pointed to an old burgundy colored rotary dial phone on a display nearby and asked if I could have that one instead.  She said it was just for display to show how far we have come with new technology.  I was having a mild panic attack and she could see it, so she got approval to take the phone off the display and let me use it instead.

I kept this phone until it finally died many years later.  But before it died I had to learn to use push buttons because everyone else had them.  They were even in most of the phonebooths (remember those? And remember when they only cost a dime to use?) so if I was not at home, I had to use a push button.  This lack of access to rotary phones, except at home, forced me to try the new phones when I didn't need to call 911, so it was in safe situations.  I was finally able to use the push button phone without having a panic attack.  And eventually I retired my old rotary to the toy box and got a new push button phone, with re-dail!  Such a cool new feature at that time.

Once that hurdle was jumped I moved on to cordless phones with zeal, and then to the first car phone, where it was actually attached by a cord inside the car.  This love of new technology continued to grow and grow until now my constant companions are my Android smartphone which I also use as a hotspot for my iPad wherever I go.

I have tried to slow down on the new every year thing with my phones, but only because I am distracted by the new apps that I can download to my phone and iPad.  They give me the 'new' fun, without the cost or need to learn a new device so often. 

Still to this day I can connect with the experience of using a rotary dial phone. I loved the feel of my finger in the hole, spinning around the dial, hitting the stop, then hearing that familiar sound as it unwound itself.  I will always have fond memories of dialing a rotary dial phone.  How about you? 

Keeper of 1 husband, 2 grandkids, 3 dogs,
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

 

I would love it if you 'Liked' me on Facebook too!

Did this post stir something inside of you? If so, Please leave me a comment, I would love to know what you're thinking!!!

Dogs Take Over Dating Site ~ Creative Marketing at its Best

I just read an article on TechCrunch, written by Sarah Buhr, that I just have to share with you.  The article is about a dating app called Tinder.com that has 'gone to the dogs' so to speak.  Recently, Social Tees, an animal rescue organization hooked up with an ad agency, the Barn at BBH, and started posting abandoned dogs on the dating site as if they were humans looking for love.  Suddenly many of the 10 million users started receiving match notices that hooked them up with these abandoned dogs available at local rescues.  What a great idea!  After adding dating profiles for just 10 dogs, 1 of them has already been adopted after only the first few days.

The profiles written for each of the dogs were so fun, here are a couple examples.

"Your doghouse or mine?"

"11 month old. Pit mix. Fetch fanatic. Adores snuggling up and falling asleep on the couch. Ready to go home with the luckiest animal lover in town"

They even utilized the type of hook up options they were open to, such as 'looking for a short-term commitment' for an option to foster a dog for two weeks, or 'long-term love' you can adopt a dog permanently and for those just wanting a 'one-time hook up', you can volunteer to walk the dog.

I love the idea, but think it would be better if they created an actual 'dog dating site' specifically for abandoned dogs looking for homes and lonely humans looking for dog companions.  Then you could use true ages, breeds, etc, instead of the arbitrary ages and personal info created for these 10 rescue dogs.  On Tinder.com they listed the dogs ages as human ages, so for example a 9 week old puppy was listed as 26 years old in hopes of matching her with a 26 year old range human.

I know that if a real dog dating site were available near me I would have used it when I was looking for the newest addition to our fur-babies, Miss Hollywood.  And imagine if you could use the app to volunteer for those 'one-time hook ups' in your own neighborhood, what a help you could be for an elderly person who isn't able to walk their dogs as far as they use to.  I found my husband through online dating (and we just celebrated our 11th anniversary) so I would definitely use an online dog dating site! What do you think about this idea?

Keeper of 1 husband, 2 grandkids, 3 dogs,
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

 

I would love it if you 'Liked' me on Facebook too!

Did this post stir something inside of you? If so, Please leave me a comment, I would love to know what you're thinking!!!

What are Your Thoughts on 'No Crow Rooster Collars?

I don't have a rooster at this time, partly because my boy Barry was getting too aggressive with me.  He might have been less aggressive with me if I had hatched him out myself.  Perhaps then we would have bonded.  But I got him and seven other babies when they were just 3 weeks old.  I don't think they were handled much before us.

However, the noise was the biggest factor for us.  We live in a rural area so roosters are allowed, and I do love the sound of a rooster crowing, just not at my bedroom window at 4:00 am!  We thought he was a she until he started developing a much bigger comb then his sister.  Then one morning I heard the craziest noise coming from the coop.  It sort of sounded like a mix between a prepubescent human boy trying to crow like a rooster, and a chicken with his nuts caught in a trap.  Okay, I know they don't have nuts hanging, but the sound wasn't pleasant either way.   It was kind of funny to hear -once I knew what he was trying to do.  It took him quite some time to perfect his crow.  He was successfully mating with my older hen and fertilizing her eggs long before he got that crowing thing down.

Then it became a problem.  He would crow just before the sun came up, then right after it came up, then when he was trying to woo the girls in hopes of mating, then after each mating session, then...you get the idea.  We would be awakened by his crowing at 4:00am and hear him crow at least another 20 times before 6:30 am, which is when we gave up all hope of sleeping through it and just got out of bed.

Unfortunately Barry had to go.


Today while I was reading the current issue of Backyard Poultry Magazine I discovered a product that might have helped us.  It's called the 'No Crow Rooster Collar'.  Have you heard about this product?  I am not sure how long they have been around but I think it is a neat idea.  The theory behind this product is that you prevent the rooster from crowing by reducing the amount of air he can build up in his throat to make the crowing sound.  This collar doesn't obstruct his normal breathing airway, or inhibit him from eating or drinking normally, it only prevents the throat from expanding to hold a pocket of air needed to make the crow sound.

I found this video on YouTube showing how it works.  The rooster's crow sounds kind of like a tracheotomy cough, but it's much quieter than a normal crow sound I guess.  Also, as you will see in the video, it does NOT inhibit him from performing his masculine duties!  The guy who made this video, made his own collar using an extra wide Velcro strip.  The official 'No Crow Rooster Collar' is prettier and they have already worked out the fitment issues, (and actual users tell me there is a big difference) but if you didn't want to spend the $14 for a official one from the NCRC company, you could try to make your own I guess. 

[Author's note: I don't mean to sound insensitive to people who have a tracheotomy, it is just that I have worked in the nursing field, so when I heard the crow in these videos, that is the sound that it reminded me of.  Also, I have been informed by one of my readers who uses the official No Crow Collar that the sound is actually a muted crow sound.]  

Here's another video of a different rooster wearing the official 'No Crow Rooster Collar'. 

Do you have roosters? Is their crowing a problem at your house? Have you tried this collar or some other device or method to stop crowing, or at least quiet the crowing noise?  I would love to hear you thoughts. Maybe once we get the new coop built away from our bedroom I might get another rooster.  I haven't decided about that yet, but knowing that such a product is available if the noise became a problem, kind of makes the thought of another rooster to fertilize my eggs a little tempting.



*This was an unpaid, unsolicited post merely 'mentioning' a product that I have not tried, I am just curious what my readers thoughts are about this or similar products .  There are no affiliate links in this post.  Please see my Full Disclosure here.

Keeper of 1 husband, 2 grandkids, 3 dogs,
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

 

I would love it if you 'Liked' me on Facebook too!

Did this post stir something inside of you? If so, Please leave me a comment, I would love to know what you're thinking!!!

This post shared in the Clever Chicks Blog Hop.