Truck of crap, May day baskets, and "chive'lry"

Now is the time of year when the first grass mowing is put off the longest time possible so I may see what edible wild things grace the yard. Chives are very abundant and fill the air at every mowing.YUM. I've decided to make a chive bed with all plants I can salvage . such Chive'lry my dears... I just like the sound of it...big grin on face.... This use to be an herb bed by the apple tree but they never fared well in it. The chives grow in all sun conditions so I have no worries on how well they will do. Did I mention I enjoy chives!

This is also the time to begin pondering what will go into those May Baskets. This was Panda's May day 2006 basket she "gave" our elderly neighbor:

Last May Day, we included herbal teas, made cinnamon crumble muffins, & fresh Violet jelly. Which brings me to what we did today.Yep. Picked wild violets to make some jelly for the baskets. I am low on the tiny canning jars so maybe I should empty out the rose jelly from last year. I had a batch not turn out as tasty which is in the smaller jars. hmmmm.
I think we will go with some Chocolate Apricot Rugelach as the treat along with some fresh picked lawn flowers. Maybe some apple blossoms since they look to open soon. Maybe print out the May day well wishes onto some blue/white chintz design paper i picked up super cheap this weekend too..
What are your plans for May day & your basket giving? I would love to hear of them.

Today was also spent piling compost into The Captain's truck. Not because he was bad, but because my compost is just not enough yet. Go ahead. Laugh. My name is Tammie and I have an addiction. I am addicted to free compost....and many other things.... This was from a photography studio that shoots pictures of children with animals. Animals they have on their property year round. They listed the "crap" on my area craiglist awhile back, so lucky me they still had half of the mound. My truck full did not dent the amount they had. So this is going into the garden beds. Mixing it in with my own compost piles too. I read it should help introduce the right bacteria and speed things up- hopefully.
Mr.Turken may be a goner come Thursday. He has attacked Frog twice this week. as soon as she is not within my arm distance ( of course they are free ranging)- he pounces. I have had it. He waits till I turn my back. I swear he looks for it too. Maybe if I brainstorm a solution soon he can stay. But I am running out of animal housing. Maybe I will make a little covered run area for him and the Mrs. .Cut an opening from the back of the goat cabin for them to get in & out. Of course a space enclosed on the inside would benefit keeping them "enclosed". hmmmm.. can you see the wheels moving?
Sweet May dreams,
Tammie

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I knew this would happen! & short sale real estate lesson

The Captain, just this week received a job promotion. Not even a decent raise but maybe cover his gas. I knew that as soon as -and if- he got that job here, an opening would happen in Tennessee with his company. Sure as Sh** it did. Now, do understand, his company does not like it when you are in a position for less then a year before moving on. He has yet to be in this position one day. They can also tell you No if you apply at another location and that location gives you the job. They can actually stop you from leaving the current position to go to another terminal somewhere else. His location has crapped on him for years and all the newbies (been there 1-2 years or less) make within $10,000 of what he makes at a higher position and 8 years dedication to the company. My husband has NEVER missed a day of work, called off, shown up late, or slacked in his position. They tell him he is the best they have and blah blah blah. Teamsters LOVE him and are pissed he is moving up and they have to deal with incompetent managers. He is old school. He dedicates himself and gives his all to his job. Despite the effect it has had on us, I am proud of his dedication and work ethic.
2 days ago, I put the for sale by owner sign in the yard. Today called to get ads placed and have placed a cool layout on zillow.com showing all the details and some pictures. (I hate calling realtors and hate calling owners myself so this should make people more comfortable). The website page information should answer majority of questions a potential would ask. Also keeps the nosey neighbors from bothering me.
I cant help but ask "why me". Why can this not transition smoothly for once. The house has to sell at fair market value to be eligible for a short sale.
We have the original home loan and then an equity which covered all the expensive repairs needed. Of course the equity was more then what it should have been and now when selling our home, we have to sell it a loss for all parties involved. How does it work? well here ya go:
(all amounts are fictional since I do not care to share my actual amounts:) Say you owe the first home loan $100,000 and later were given an equity loan for $30,000. You now owe $130,000 for the home. When you sell your home, it has to be at fair market value and over the amount you have for the first loan. Say the fair market Value is $123,000. You sell it at that amount but still owe $7,000 to the equity people. They in turn hand it over to collections which will stop all interest from accumulating and if you tell them hey I have $4,000 I can give you. They accept and the debt is wiped clear. Of course the mark from $7g's will leave a small dent but it will show the debt is settled/satisfied. Better then foreclosure and even better for those like us who are in a rush to get out of a house.
Somehow we will get through this. Somehow we will get to Tennessee to start our new life. Somehow The Captain will get that job or somehow I may need help with a few bodies of management.. just kidding. If you have few extra candles and can spare a few moments, please light some for us. I will be tonight and could really use some back up on getting our family out of this mess.
Thank you Friends.
Sweetest dreams,
Tammie

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Old dogs do not die....

OLD DOGS DO NOT DIE

We have a secret, you and I,
That no one else shall know,
For who, but I can see you lie,
Each night, in fire glow?
And who but I can reach my hand
Before we go to bed,
And feel the living warmth of you
And touch your silken head?
And only I walk woodland paths,
And see, ahead of me,
Your small form racing with the wind,
So young again, and free.
And only I can see you swim
In every brook I pass.
And, when I call, no one but I
Can see the bending grass.

Author Unknown

Dawg had a heart murmur. We knew that from his first Vet visit when He entered our lives 5 years ago. He was found on the roadside by The Captain's best friend who in turn gave him to us. When Dawg was found, he was staying by the body of another male dog who was identical to him. We assume it was his brother.

No one claimed Dawg despite the attempts to find his owners. We were lucky. He was a constant companion. At the sound of keys, he would perk up and stare at his leash. Many hours were spent with him hiking the trails at our side. He was our 4th child but actually entered our lives when Panda was 2 1/2 yrs old. Very much a human caught in a dogs body.

Our lives were so much better with him in it. I will have a very hard time without him. He was special. So special that everyone who met him praised how wonderful he was and lucky we were to have him..

as I write this, Panda does not know he is gone. He has had problems for the last few months and recently was put on heart medicine. That was on the 12th. He perked up a little then started to decline a few days. he was suffering. I knew what had to be done. The vet had me bring him in today and dog drew his last breath in my arms while I whispered your such a good dog. I love you.....

Rest in peace Dawg. Our lives were enriched with your love, companionship and protection. Thank you boy.You will be greatly missed.

Lovingly yours,

Tammie

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Meet Bonnie the third...

She is a 2 year old Muscovy I traded some fencing for. She was at the bottom of the pecking order which meant non stop harassment from the others. I now have her with Clyde in their own pen and housing with a top to prevent any escapes to the pond. She has settled in nicely much to the happiness of Clyde. He is not overly aggressive and seems very happy he has "one of his own". I have to mention that he is a bit clumsy in the mating department. Poor girl. He stomps all over her and she just takes it. I think being raised by/with chickens may have interfered with his knowledge on the subject.We will leave any eggs she will lay to hatch out. Maybe I can sneak a few of the turken & americauna eggs in there. Anyone have input on that? Will she be too heavy or will they hatch out and be killed by her? I know ,maybe coordinate it with the hatching time of her eggs. Put in the chicken eggs 1 1/2 weeks after she is "sitting". Muscovy eggs take 35 days compared to chickens at 21 days.Does it matter if they hatch with the ducklings? Maybe I should let them hatch earlier and just take them away so she will continue to sit and hatch her ducklings. Thats all I need. A bunch of baby chicks following their momma into water.
Had to share how Handsome Mr.Turken has turned out! He turned 1 year last March.
He is a very large bird and up till the other day, never attacked a human. Frog was walking by him at dusk. I think he may have felt intimated due to her relative height. He pounced onto her back which luckily she was not injured. An instinctual swift football kick (to get him away from her) and 5 minutes of chasing him ensued to correct this behavior.After being caught I held him in my arms for awhile, talking to him and going over the big barnyard rule: If you hurt my children, you will be dinner. Some may find it cruel but there is no negotiating with a rooster. You must show him dominance or it will continue to get worse. He has spurs growing- you may be able to see them in the picture- which is why I must learn how to de-spur soon and continue to keep a "nice" roo. He has claws too, which is plenty to fight with. I have held roosters down before but this was not enough to show them dominance. After a few trials with others, I found this to be most effective. Mr.Turken is a very nice rooster but sometimes he will test the "waters".
This week we will -hopefully- have the goat cabin moved to atop our hill and the permanete pen will be in place. No more moving animal areas. I started my lettuce seeds and will start the black cherry tomatoes, watermelon, basil, multiple squash, & eggplants this week too. Indoors for those in 3" peat pots. Already dreaming of picking those strawberries and making more strawberry wine. Still on the fence about Dandelion wine making since I have as of yet to drink what was made this time last year. The Captain has been so kind as to up his beer taste for me. I like the bottles Grolsch premium lager comes in and since he drinks beer-I need bottles- why not drink the beer and keep the spring top bottles for my wines/ciders.
I would pay the same-if not more- for empty bottles as we do for the ones filled with yummy Lager. So we both win on this one.Its finally WARM!!! I'm off to enjoy it.
Sweet dreams,
Tammie

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Just to share...

What my current drool is over. Check this link out
http://www.gypsyville.com/
Now thats my kind of junk! Gypsy junk that is!
LOVE LOVE LOVE it all. Prices are not in my wardrobe range but a girl can dream...
I always keep my eye open for this "style" when I am out and about at the second hands/flea markets.
sigh....
Dreamy dreams,
Tammie

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Spring cleaning & O.k,!! I get it already....

Disclaimer** no animals were hurt while taking these photos. Mentally scarred, but physically sound.**

Today was filled with cleaning out that Goat cabin. I experimented with the "layering system" this last winter and I will never do it again. A good 2 feet deep hay/straw tightly compacted that was soaked in big spots. Must have froze during th winter because the smell did not start till I got a foot deep today. gag....cough.... hold breath for a scoop... run quickly out... and breath in fresh air.....
It felt wonderful to get it all done. I had so much of it and I knew it had to be spread out to dry before I attempt to compost since the ammonia smell was so bad. Funny thing. I have sat down in there (on a board placed on the hay) with them and could not smell it until I got past the 1 foot deep layer. That second 1 foot layer must have held it in real well.So here it is all spread out to dry in the sun. (today hit 50F and the sun made it enjoyable!)
Yes. that would be the pile of pine trees ( in the back) we have yet to do anything with. Great ideas and dreams but our time is not so creative lately.
The weather seemed to have an effect on everyone around. On the right you have Lady Chia browsing away while I make her home all clean. She must be on a line since it is a weekday-I prefer no more visits from zoning, thank you. To the left we have one very desperate muscovy drake Clyde... That would be Mrs. Turken he is being rather amorous with. Below is a close up- when I walked out I did not know whether to stare in fascination of the odd couple or to laugh my butt off. I keep the camera with me so snapped a few shots to share the Spring Love. Don't worry. I did chase him away from her. He waddled his way back to her so i picked him up and held him down to the ground whispering how the chicks/ducklings would be the freaks of the neighborhood. Could you imaginge- if it were even possible-which I think it is not. A bare neck chick with the puffy red Muscovy "mask". How frankenstein would that be?!
He appeared to have calmed his mood and waddled to the pen to watch me muck out their home. Otherwise today was uneventful. Maybe this week I can squeeze some extra money from the tree and head down to the auction house to buy Clyde yet another wife. He best hold on to this one or he will just have to be happy with a goat as his companion. You don't think he would try to mate something that big do ya?.... (LOL)
Sunny dreams,
Tammie

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Back in Ohio...

**correction** I did not list the reason for the complaint. The supposed indoor heated pool was not even tolerable to swim in. Within minutes the kids were shivering and I refused to get in. I let the Captain brave the chilly water with our 2 older much determined children.
That is why I called in a complaint listed at the bottom of this post***

The vacation did not go as planned. It happened but not as I had hoped. The Captain had a friend who retired to the area20 minutes from that cabin we WERE going to stay in. Plans changed and we stayed with said friend. They have 20 acres on the mountain and 3 ponds which they bought for a steal! We enjoyed lots of hiking all over their land. Of course after seeing she feeds the wild life made it a bit scary-more about that in a minute... The children loved catching all the tadpoles and minnows- which were like a sea of black in that pond! Look close at the right bottom of the picture and you will see a small portion of what we saw. We were going to bring some back since they were the green frog variety-lots of green frogs in the pond- & add to our ditch stream. I thought we best not due to our different climates. Cold winter is nothing there compared to here.
I found out the wife feeds the coyotes. She lays out all the food scraps from the day on a big flat rock about5o ft from her back door (I called it her altar/laying out her "offering") and the coyote's come down between 8:30pm-9:30 pm to gobble it up. I do worry for the neighbors with livestock. If I was the neighbor, I'd be ticked off. Sometimes the opossums would get it before them which makes me think the coyote's may wonder closer to her home. Scary stuff I tell ya! One night they had a bonfire and guess who was sitting out all her lonesome while the others were getting drinks- when the coyote decided to come down and eat?! Good thing they do not like fire and I had just gone to the ladies room...
We also went to the Nashville zoo our last full day in Tennessee. Saw some very cool monkeys that were very vocal about their territory. The zoo also had a bird interaction center:

You pay a dollar and you get some sugary water to feed the birds. Of course they flew onto my head and ever since,,, I get this occasional skin itching...
Another stop was to The Rock Island State park. So many trails to walk and waterfalls to see.

This was the biggest and most famous in the park:
Lil man discovered many flowers along the paths "for you mommy": We stayed in between Knoxville and Nashville with his friend and LOVED the area. Now we are so hooked and can't wait to move. First things first. Get this house sold and him a job with the right pay all before this coming winter. I will be lighting lots of candles soon....
We stayed our last 2 nights in different hotels with indoor pools. I called customer service** for the first one we stayed in to complain**. (cost 2x what the 2nd night's hotel cost which is one reason why it bothered me). There was a big business convention which clogged the front desk so I was tired of waiting and decided to call when we got home. They were very nice/generous and reimbursed our money for the stay. The whole reason we went there was to provide the kids with a heated pool our last night Tennessee. Nice hotel, no other problems.
So we are back and resuming all the projects that need to be done before Monday. That would be when the Realtor lady is coming for a visit and we sign her on as our seller. Fingers crossed selling this place at a favorable price in a short time period will happen...
Sunnier dreams,
Tammie

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Vacation time!

So excited but it will not be long enough. We will be going to eastern Tennessee for a spring break. Leaving Friday & coming back Tuesday. Just not long enough for a real vacation but The Captain will stop at a few job places to check them out.
I called around to different state parks and found a "duplex" cabin for $52 a night. It has a small kitchenette and all the necessaries including the linens. Not very big- a double bed and a pullout sofa. We will bring our queen size air mattress and let the kids have the bed. Lots of stuff to see and do too! We will go to the Nashville Zoo one day and will attend an egg hunt at a beautiful state park that is infamous for waterfalls. They also have horseback riding stables- That I hope to surprise Panda with. A trail ride-just her & I while daddy takes the other 2 for a run at the playground. Not set in stone but the weather seems to be cool (mid 50's F to low 60's F at the end ) & mild with chances of rain during our time there. Much better then the low 30's F planned here in Ohio.
The spot we are staying is a nice middle point for 2 of the bigger cities. This will make it convienant for The Captain to check out the job spots but have more of a location choice. This will also give us a chance to check out the area for future living-hopefully before the next winter but who knows...
I will takes lots of pics to share and when I get back I will share the location of this state park lodging & how it fared.
I almost forgot! Tractor boy (the neighbor kid) will be taking care of the animals while we are away. I just hope the nights do not get too cold for them and he does not forget to close their door. I better get off here and make sure the hay is cleared from the door way so its easier for him to close after their evening meal.
Sunny dreams,
Tammie

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