Jest Another Day in Pear-A-Dice - Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm in Alberta

[drumstick diva]

I try to squeeze in another nap between shoveling snow. eating, thinking about what I should be doing, and napping some more.

 

[Amberjem]

 

[scottcaddy]

It did get just a bit slow, but, some people are dealing with Winter ya-know.
Scott

 

[lularat]

Tara, the stained glass is beautiful! I would love to try my hand at it... looks kinda difficult?

Diva...I like your style...especially the napping... although I don't have to shovel.

 

[chickisoup]

This year mostly healing from a nasty tumble I took in the fall so spent wayyyy too much time on the laptop, reading on the Kindle and discovered too many interesting nature and such programs on the satellite. Getting back to busy now tho. Have a pile of "round2it" jobs pushed back to winter from last summer that I am starting to dive into. I really missed being able to get out to my little workshop and into all my winter crafty projects. No woodcarving this year, almost time to start diggin' out my flats and such to get everything cleaned and prepped for the seed starting and then I have to take my greenhouse back from the ladies and get it cleaned up. I pop the floor bricks out in the winter so the girls have a place to take a dustbath after they stretch out for their sunbath on the hay I spread out for them on the big shelves that run on either side. Boy, they don't like it in the spring when I close up the special chookie door. The seedlings stay in the sunshed where it's warmer in the snow till the sun gets higher in the sky and they get too big then out the girls go!

 

[bamadude]

@chickisoupI was in a wheelchair for 3 years after an industrial accident. Broke every bone in my lower body except 3 metatarsals. Fractered pelvis. Had 17 compound fractures including both femurs, tibbs, and fibs. I understand what u are going through. To me the worst part was coming off the pain meds. Seems you have the right attitude to get through it all. Keep on keeping on

 

[chickisoup]

@chickisoup I was in a wheelchair for 3 years after an industrial accident. Broke every bone in my lower body except 3 metatarsals. Fractered pelvis. Had 17 compound fractures including both femurs, tibbs, and fibs. I understand what u are going through. To me the worst part was coming off the pain meds. Seems you have the right attitude to get through it all. Keep on keeping on

Oh my, Bama!!! Thank you for the kind words but I had a hang nail compared to what you went thru! My very short stint in the chair gave me a real, honest understanding of what those who are truly confined to a chair must endure tho. It really is funny how I've come to realize all the little things I was able to do that I took for granted before that I so much appreciate now.

 

[Northie]

Ate our first home raised chicken last night and, wow what a difference from store bought birds! Almost reminded me of a cross between a chicken and a turkey. The dark meat was so different, so much darker, so much more flavor... The white meat was very yummy too and there was more of it then I realized!

We roasted him on the BBQ on each side for just a few minutes to .... Well we couldn't figure out how to get all the odd little hairs off and some one told us to singe them off... So the BBQ fixed that problem and gave the bird a bit of a Smokey BBQ flavor as a bonus. Then popped the bird in the crock pot on a bed of onions, a bit of water and left him in there for most of the day. We did peal the skin off after it was cooked but that was more out of habit. It might have been good but the crock pot kept it from getting crisp. I saved the drippings and leftover meat for "Mean Rooster Soup" tonight. Think I'm going to use some of the wild rice I have been saving for a special dish

I was surprised at our little girl, she opened up the fridge, saw the resting chicken, and knew exactly what it was. "That's the mean rooster right, we're going to eat him but not the nice chickens, they lay eggs and don't attack us." I was impressed, I would not have handled that very well at her age.

 

[chickisoup]

Ate our first home raised chicken last night and, wow what a difference from store bought birds! Almost reminded me of a cross between a chicken and a turkey. The dark meat was so different, so much darker, so much more flavor... The white meat was very yummy too and there was more of it then I realized!

We roasted him on the BBQ on each side for just a few minutes to .... Well we couldn't figure out how to get all the odd little hairs off and some one told us to singe them off... So the BBQ fixed that problem and gave the bird a bit of a Smokey BBQ flavor as a bonus. Then popped the bird in the crock pot on a bed of onions, a bit of water and left him in there for most of the day. We did peal the skin off after it was cooked but that was more out of habit. It might have been good but the crock pot kept it from getting crisp. I saved the drippings and leftover meat for "Mean Rooster Soup" tonight. Think I'm going to use some of the wild rice I have been saving for a special dish

I was surprised at our little girl, she opened up the fridge, saw the resting chicken, and knew exactly what it was. "That's the mean rooster right, we're going to eat him but not the nice chickens, they lay eggs and don't attack us." I was impressed, I would not have handled that very well at her age.

Good morning northern neighbor
Whole different flavor, huh? I haven't processed any of ours yet (my idiot roo was actually a very pretty Aussie so had no problem finding him a new coop) but I regularly buy organic, well raised hens from a local guy at our farmer market. No comparison to those chemical laden poor things sold in the grocery store for sure.
Great the way your little girl handled the mean roo in fridge

 

[CanuckBock]

I try to squeeze in another nap between shoveling snow. eating, thinking about what I should be doing, and napping some more.

Naps are good...

"Dogs can sleep more than 18 hours a day!"...so says the Fixins...on the goodness of NAPS!

​

Naps are part of the hibernation process in winter...maybe get us all tuned up for summer silliness, eh?

It did get just a bit slow, but, some people are dealing with Winter ya-know.
Scott

It is amusing how colder temps slow you down. Always have to remind myself in Fall...it I hang the heat lamps then, it takes 5-10 minutes. If I try to hang them in the winter, half an hour each...have to warm up the ele cord or it breaks, smooth out the cord so it hangs right...yeh. Bit slow cause it's winter indeed!

Tara, the stained glass is beautiful! I would love to try my hand at it... looks kinda difficult?

Diva...I like your style...especially the napping... although I don't have to shovel.

Even if all you can draw is a stick man...stainglass is a fab medium. I think what I like the most about it is all the little processes. You design the piece, you go pick out the glass, you cut it, you smooth up the edges with a glass grinder, you foil the edges, you solder the joints, you can patina the solder, then you can enjoy the piece forever (keeping in mind you can break glass if its dropped). LOL

Stainglass--not kinda difficult and the best suggestion if it intrigues you is to take a class...at a college or even what I did, at the local glass shop. Was great for the glass shop because one of the employees was a stainglass artisan...she also cream etched so we got to learn that craft too. By the glass shop holding a class, immediately they sold glass and well, they had more customers to buy their raw products...smart I say! I suggest going to do hands on because if you DO hate it, no worries, it was the cost of the class and maybe a very ugly piece of glass you made in class...and you're a done deal. But if you like it, voila...you just learned a skill and aways you go! I know I loved it and being able to incorporate my work in glass with Rick's work in wood...we have done alot of projects together...in stainglass and glass etching. We did a whole wack of projects that I have photos of...hard copies because well, digital was not so common back when the Dinos roamed the Earth...

Even in his vehicles too...we combined our talents and I cream etched vehicle windows.

​

My BIL drew this design for Rick's six-string Ovation guitar case and turned it into a design I could put on his red Chev's canopy windows.

Love those joint projects we can do together...fun stuff as a couple!

This year mostly healing from a nasty tumble I took in the fall so spent wayyyy too much time on the laptop, reading on the Kindle and discovered too many interesting nature and such programs on the satellite. Getting back to busy now tho. Have a pile of "round2it" jobs pushed back to winter from last summer that I am starting to dive into. I really missed being able to get out to my little workshop and into all my winter crafty projects. No woodcarving this year, almost time to start diggin' out my flats and such to get everything cleaned and prepped for the seed starting and then I have to take my greenhouse back from the ladies and get it cleaned up. I pop the floor bricks out in the winter so the girls have a place to take a dustbath after they stretch out for their sunbath on the hay I spread out for them on the big shelves that run on either side. Boy, they don't like it in the spring when I close up the special chookie door. The seedlings stay in the sunshed where it's warmer in the snow till the sun gets higher in the sky and they get too big then out the girls go!

Ah Chicki...I shoulda known something was not quite right with you not posting here for some time. Ah crapola eh...

Getting laid up sucks totally...we are not super invincible and glad to hear you are getting back into the swing of things. Onwards and upwards!

@chickisoup I was in a wheelchair for 3 years after an industrial accident. Broke every bone in my lower body except 3 metatarsals. Fractered pelvis. Had 17 compound fractures including both femurs, tibbs, and fibs. I understand what u are going through. To me the worst part was coming off the pain meds. Seems you have the right attitude to get through it all. Keep on keeping on

Ah Bama...what a heartfelt post. Thank you!

I have a friend that years back, supplied me with the bestest of Call Ducks from a historical line he has been entrusted with keeping going. Before I knew him, he suffered a construction accident that paralyzed him...but his bane in life is he still feels, he still feels the pain. Even on free pour morphine, while he cannot walk, he feels enormous & constant extreme PAIN! He keeps hoping that some surgery will turn off why he feels pain but so far, no luck and that SUCKS!

I grew up with a girl that one weekend, was awaiting for results from basketball try outs...and that weekend had a horrific accident on a boat with Cadets and lost her leg, from above the knee down. It was gruesome and stupid and everything nasty...but she now has a ton of kids, a happy marriage, competes in para-Olympics...does things like attends Cowfest (huh?) and shops at Granville Island...her injury totally changed her course of life but she met the obstacles head on and succeeds--succeeds to the point of being a shining light! Course, as teenagers growing up, we treated her with kid gloves...NOT! We use to hide her leg on her...stomp on her foot in public to shock people (the fake one of course!), but then get all up in your face if some ditz made a derogatory comment about her limp. There was no counselling for incidents like that back then...it was a huge struggle for her family to deal with her accident...really not nice. But yeh, we loved her even moreso, but heck, we never let her know it. She hated Kraft Dinner (nfi) so when I went to pick her up in my vehicle to go out on Saturday nights...I made sure to have a cold bowl sitting on her seat so she had to TOUCH it to move it so she could sit down, hated bananas and I made sure to offer her one at least once a week as a snack at high school! Yeh, good times.

I cannot fathom some of the hurdles humans are given to deal with. Some of the bads that would break one, bring you to the verge, to your wit's end and the human spirit takes it in stride and keeps on meeting the challenges.

You ROCK BAM...Dude you ROCK. People like you are the inspiration for those of us that have never really had anything much to whine about...so keep on me Man...we luv yah!

Oh my, Bama!!! Thank you for the kind words but I had a hang nail compared to what you went thru! My very short stint in the chair gave me a real, honest understanding of what those who are truly confined to a chair must endure tho. It really is funny how I've come to realize all the little things I was able to do that I took for granted before that I so much appreciate now.

Ain't the Dude just some piece of work, eh?

Tis totally true, we have no idea how good things are until we get a kick...a real good one and suddenly, just seeing a new dawn break is all the more reason to live life to the fullest.

Glad you are back on the mend Chicki and you go Woman...GO get 'em Tiger!

Ate our first home raised chicken last night and, wow what a difference from store bought birds! Almost reminded me of a cross between a chicken and a turkey. The dark meat was so different, so much darker, so much more flavor... The white meat was very yummy too and there was more of it then I realized!

We roasted him on the BBQ on each side for just a few minutes to .... Well we couldn't figure out how to get all the odd little hairs off and some one told us to singe them off... So the BBQ fixed that problem and gave the bird a bit of a Smokey BBQ flavor as a bonus. Then popped the bird in the crock pot on a bed of onions, a bit of water and left him in there for most of the day. We did peal the skin off after it was cooked but that was more out of habit. It might have been good but the crock pot kept it from getting crisp. I saved the drippings and leftover meat for "Mean Rooster Soup" tonight. Think I'm going to use some of the wild rice I have been saving for a special dish

I was surprised at our little girl, she opened up the fridge, saw the resting chicken, and knew exactly what it was. "That's the mean rooster right, we're going to eat him but not the nice chickens, they lay eggs and don't attack us." I was impressed, I would not have handled that very well at her age.

Kewl...I remember our first chicken meal. I had NO idea you gotta rest it in the fridge for a few days...jest like chicken at the grocery, it takes time to get to the store to buy and prepare...so naturally, like BEEF we hang in cold storage to tenderize...duh...it takes time to eat.

I went by the "Coming round the Mountain" song where they kill the old red rooster and eat it. Tough as rubber that chicken was...if you could bite thru the flesh, there was real chicken tasted but man alive it was way too chewy.

Very kewl on yer kid getting why Ugly and Mean made a good meal. Congratulations on raising your children right. Not hiding what's going on. How many stories does one hear of young people being made to eat a meal of some animal they knew and the horror of "We ate Bun Buns" or whatnot's. Every piece of meat we eat was potentially an animal or bird someone had to have looked in the eye. I commend you for teaching your kids right...nice!

Good morning northern neighbor
Whole different flavor, huh? I haven't processed any of ours yet (my idiot roo was actually a very pretty Aussie so had no problem finding him a new coop) but I regularly buy organic, well raised hens from a local guy at our farmer market. No comparison to those chemical laden poor things sold in the grocery store for sure.
Great the way your little girl handled the mean roo in fridge

I concur...you Ladies are very well informed chickeners...keep on keeping being wiser than the average consumers!

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada