Eggs

Our hens are still giving us three beautiful, perfect eggs a day.

Electric Boat

Is this an electric-powered sailboat? No, the Potter just makes a convenient holder for the solar panel. I want to find out how well it keeps a 12 volt car battery charged. Eventually I'd like to use it to power a portable chicken coop.

Greenhouse Barrels

I put these six barrels in the greenhouse and filled them with water. The hope is that they'll moderate the temperature by heating up in the daytime and releasing the stored energy at night. I'll have to take lots of temperature readings under various conditions to see if they are doing any good. My greenhouse is starting to look like a high school Science Fair project!

Jefferson

A government big enough to give you everything you want is strong enough to take everything you have. -- Thomas Jefferson

Buttermilk

How do you know when a carton of buttermilk has gone past it's expiration date -- does it start to taste good?

Gun Control

If a conservative doesn't want a gun, he doesn't buy one. When a liberal doesn't like guns, he feels that no one should have one.

Thatcher

The trouble with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money. -- Margaret Thatcher

Nature

Everything natural -- every flower, tree, and animal -- has important lessons to teach us if we would only stop, look, and listen. - Eckhart Tolle

Greenhouse

Here are components for an Environmental Control System for my greenhouse. The Arduino microcontroller board will turn on the exhaust fan when the temperature gets too high, and will turn on the 1500-watt heater to keep the interior above freezing in the winter.

Migration

The Monarch butterfly migration is on and one passes by the gazebo about every minute. A few stop to refuel in the flower garden.

Horoscope

After reading my horoscope in Sunday's paper I am now a believer:

PISCES (Feb. 19- March 20): Clean up and get organized. Those projects that you think you don't have time for are actually exactly what is holding you back from accomplishing something important to you. So get down to work and be done with them!

Projects:

- Finish chicken coop

- Set up greenhouse

- Repair gazebo

- Winterize Dragon Lady

- Brush hog pastures

- Clean up ice storm damage

Cheerleader

Since Jordan is the lightest she gets to top the pyramid.

Nest Eggs

You never know where the hens are going to lay. Their use of Maureen's flower garden makes every day an Easter Egg Hunt.

Soup Kit

The idea is to go out into the garden, pick anything edible, put it into a big pot, and cook enough soup to make it through the winter.

Greenhouse Controller

The microcontroller in front is reading the moisture level in this pot of basil once a second. When I add another circuit it will turn on a pump to water the pot when the dirt dries out to a predetermined level. This Arduino processor is great fun to play with and it's applications are limitless. This is the first step in my design to control my greenhouse by computer.

Apple Blossom

One of my apple trees puts out a few blossoms every fall.

Season's End

Looks like I'll get one more harvest of tomatoes before the vines call it a season.

Dumb as a Box of Rocks

A noted psychiatrist was a guest speaker at an academic function where Nancy Pelosi happened to appear. Ms Pelosi took the opportunity to schmooze the good doctor a bit and asked him a question with which he was most at ease. "Would you mind telling me, Doctor," she asked, "how do you detect a mental deficiency in someone who appears completely normal?"

"Nothing is easier," he replied. "You ask a simple question which anyone should answer with no trouble. If the person hesitates, that puts you on the track."

"What sort of question?" asked Pelosi.

Well, you might ask, "Captain Cook made three trips around the world and died during one of them. Which one?"

Pelosi thought a moment, and then said with a nervous laugh, "You wouldn't happen to have another example, would you? I must confess I don't know much about history."

And she wants to control our health care system?!

My Hero 5

Bill Clinton made a private trip to North Korea to secure the release of journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee. He did an exemplary job with no grandstanding and no kowtowing to the little dictator.

Dragon Lady

This is where I would be if it were cooler than 98 degrees today.

Birthday Party

Jordan's 8th Birthday party included a treasure hunt, s'mores around the patio fire, 4-wheel rides, an overnight bunking party, and, of course, cake.

Bounty Soup

The summer's bounty gathered from friends, the Farmers' Market, and our garden.

My Hero 4

Alan Jackson may have single-handedly changed the lives of countless children, thanks to a generous gift. Performing as part of "Concerts for a Cause" in LaSalle, Illinois, Jackson heard that the show failed to recoup its expenses, causing Easter Seals to be unable to reach its fundraising goals for 2009. Alan immediately wrote a check for $20,000, saving two programs that had been affected by the economy: the autism resource center and the Likotek in-home program that modifies toys to allow children with disabilities to play with them like other children.

Farmers' Market

They were selling much more than vegetables at the Fayetteville Farmers' Market this week.

Resurrection

This morning I threw out a couple of scoops of corn for the chickens as usual. The new mother hen came running over for her share, leaving her two chicks unprotected. Quick as a flash, "Killer" Pharoah snatched one and ran behind the barn. I chased the cat, forcing him to drop the squawking chick. It was on the other side of the fence, and by the time I crossed over it was nowhere to be seen. I searched for about 15 minutes, to no avail, no peeping, no yellow fuzz, nothing but curious cats. So, I went into the house to finish my morning chores. About an hour later I came out to check on the hen and (remaining) chick only to discover, lo and behold, both chicks hovering around their mother. Closest thing to a miracle I've ever seen.

New Chicks

A month ago one of my dozen hens decided to "go broody" and sit a clutch of eggs. After about a week I tried to move her and the nest to a more secure location in a shed. In a group effort we made a new nest, caught her, and moved the eggs to the new location. She would have none of it, flew through the roof of the shack, and made a new nest in the old location with no eggs. The other hens helped her with a new clutch and I let her sit them for three weeks. Finally she hatched out a couple of new chicks, so now I call her "Barbara Bush," matriarch of the new family.

Mutton Bustin'

The local Independence Day rodeo featured "mutton bustin'" where kids less than 45 pounds try to ride a sheep for the required 8 seconds. I don't know who has more fun -- the crowd, the kids, or the sheep.

Pasture

pasture gone to seed

food for birds and rats and bugs

better than a lawn

Snickelfritz

Jordan only needs a slice of Provalone to entertain herself!

The Champion

The Elkins Library sponsored a fishing derby for kids yesterday. Local sponsors stocked the pond with 250 catfish and provided generous prizes for drawings. Fifty kids fished while an equal number of parents baited hooks and untangled lines. Braden caught the biggest fish and won the grand prize!

Bye-Bye

End of an era. When Mother and Dad bought a new(er) RV, they gave us kids the old one, a 1976 Coachmen Leprechaun. Maureen and I took it to both coasts and had a great time in it, but it was so old the systems started failing one by one. Finally the engine gave out. We parked it under the trees and it really started falling apart. We gave it to the scrap dealer, who hauled it off with his powerful old pickup. Now we have room for a new one!

Bees

It's so hot today the bees are hanging out on their front porch.

Pond

pond in summertime

under a soft green bedspread

frogs and turtles nap

Heron

I was able to get this picture of a heron flying under the War Eagle Bridge.

Outing

Maureen's co-worker, Sonia, and her husband, Wade, invited us to their 106 Ozark acres for fishing and hiking. It must be nice to have your own waterfall!

Fisherman

Small fish, medium fish, large fish, Braden kept getting better with practice.

Starry Night

I awoke in the middle of the night wondering what the weather would be like today. I looked out the bedroom window for stars to see whether the sky was clear. I could not tell if it was overcast or not because of the lightning bugs.

cloudy summer night

fireflies disguised as stars

twinkling confusion

Equality

Smoke deflects the traffic.

You only drink what you carry.

Keep the beer dry.

Smoke break.

Containment or protection?

Can't get that bike wet!