My Heart's on Fire for Elvira

[whitelop]

Today we started converting my old barn into a chicken coop. My husband isn't happy with himself because building things like this isn't is forte. He doesn't have the right vision for it, because hes not invested in it. So he, being a manly man's man, is disappointed with himself because he isn't great at this. This ONE singular thing he isn't great at, but he's great at so many other things. This just happens to be where I strap on my man pants and do the job myself because I have the vision...if only I didn't have the allergies or the fear of rattle snakes. Not that I think there ARE rattle snakes, but every time I see a hole in the dirt of the barn, I instantly envision being be struck by a rattle snake, a little unreasonable...maybe; but bare in mind, it is MY mind. lmao.
Anyway, my dad is coming to help give my husband some vision for the project, but I think I'll have to put some boots on a tool belt and get out there and do it.

My rooster is such a show off! Hahaha. My MIL dropped my son off today and she wanted to see the barn, so her and my husband walked out to see it. They stood in front of the coop and talked for like 30 minutes and my rooster just strutted around in there and rolled in the dirt to dirt bathe. He ate some stuff, hopped on and off his roosting bar and was just hamming it up having someone out there to watch him. haha.
It was actually probably him being protective and if they had gone closer or inside, he would have gone into full on attack mode. lmao. Which I would have loved to see, my MIL being attacked by the 15 lb rooster. hahahaha. Oh god, I would have peed my pants.

Hopefully tomorrow will be the day to do Ellie's cage. I got a staple gun today(which is awesome) and the hardware cloth last week. So I'll keep my fingers crossed that my husband will help me with the door and I'll be able to do the rest! YAY! Ellie will get a cage back. haha. Not that she needs it.

My mom came over today to see my son. She goes into the kitchen and she's like "uhhh..wheres the rabbit?" I was like, 'shes in the kitchen.' my mom- "where's her cage?" me- 'its outside, I was sick of looking at it so I threw it out' her- "so where is RIGHT now? I don't see her" I then told her that she stays under the cabinet if she gets scared and she just looked at me like I was a crazy person because the rabbit just lives in my kitchen! I told her to f-off because the rabbit is better with the litter box than the freaking cats who are MEANT TO USE A LITTER BOX.

Okay, I'm so done now. Its time to drink some wine and eat some pizza and calm my nerves. haha.

 

[JBun]

Wow, are rattle snakes that bad where you live? I would worry so much that I would want to wear my boots all the time.

Haha, leave it to a woman to strap on the belt and get the job done I always get tired of waiting for guys to get around to getting the job done, so I usually just end up doing things myself.

So does your mom just not know what to make of a rabbit being a house pet? I think a lot of people don't realize what great pets they can be. It took a while for my mom to get used to my rabbits being pets, and now she loves them.

Oh, I was thinking about your cage plan for Ellie. I was thinking about the cabinet door and if you leave it open for her during the day, then will it get in the way being left open, cause I was thinking you could either make the door removable somehow, or I thought that maybe you could put a little mini door in the main cabinet door, you know, like a little doggie door. But then maybe it's not going to be a problem, so never mind, haha, sorry

Ellie sounds like such a little smarty pants, haha. I can't believe she just whipped through that whole puzzle thing.

 

[whitelop]

Jenny, i don't think we have rattle snakes at all! Lmao. I just have this totally irrational fear of rattle snakes-that we don't have. Lmao. It sounds silly but i could probably handle any other snakes, but something about rattle snakes really bothers me.

Yeah i could never go to the desert without a weapon.

 

[JBun]

It's not totally irrational. When I was a little kid, my dad got bit by one in the garden. He thought it was a garden snake and went to reach for it. I didn't see it. All I ever saw was the tanned snake skin.

 

[whitelop]

OMG WE DO HAVE RATTLE SNAKES! I made my husband Google it and we have 3 kinds! I'm going to live in boots now.

I thought about doing a small doggy door in the big door of the cabinet, and while i still may do that, the door opens all the way so its flush with the rest of the cabinet. So the door shouldn't be in the way. Since i haven't started on the door yet, i could still put a bunny door in and have the big door open for cleaning. Hmmm...now my brain is working to hard.

And yes, i think Ellie is really smart! Oh and she lets my husband just scoop her right up and walk around with her. She's a good bun!

 

[Chrisdoc]

Rattlesnakes...that sounds scary although I once killed a snake in my house, don´t know if it escaped from someones house or was a wild one but it was stalking me one Sunday and when I saw it half way under the door when I went to the bathroom at night, I had to get rid of it...amazing what you can do when you live on your own.

The cat flap idea sounds great. I saw a fantastic cat litter box last week in the department store and thought it would be great for the boys, it was like a little house. However, it had a cat flap at the front to get in and out and I wasn´t sure if they´d use it, maybe the cat flap would spook them so I didn´t buy it cos if they don´t like it, I can´t take it back but it was so cool.

That was funny, your roo prancing about for your MIL, bet he looked like a runway model. I can imagine it wouldn´t be a pretty sight him attacking anyone, he is a big boy.

I get it with the house rabbits, people just don´t see how you have them running loose and how well behaved they can be and how smart and affectionate they are. My mom has got used to them now and my one of my friends loves coming to my house to see them, Snowy is his favourite and he always cuddles him.

I think it´s great you putting on your tool belt and getting in there to do all these odd jobs. I have to do a certain amount so I can fix quite a few things. I swapped my friends light switch the other week, I was amazed when it actually worked but not sure I could some of the things you do apart from which I don´t have all the tools.

Hope you enjoyed the wine and the pizza.....just had breakfast and I´m still hungry lol.

 

[whitelop]

Next time my husband picks Ellie up, I'll take a picture to share. Its pretty funny when he does hold her, because he's so tall and not necessarily big, but just a man and she is a tiny rabbit. haha.

Okay, I got the door on the cabinet done, but my hand started to cramp up and I'm just exhausted today for some reason. So I'll finish the other side tomorrow and put the linoleum down and then next will be to work on the shelves. I'm still not sure what to use, so I'll have to think on it. But we're like half way there! Not really, but like 25%. hahah.

I want to share with you guys that I QUIT! I'm tired. I'm tired of my cats, who have no respect and I don't know what to do with them other than to exile them to the out of doors. I'm sick of the stuff with the chicken coop because its proving to be a lot more difficult than I thought and NO ONE understands that I have to have a certifiable living space for them! They aren't just regular yard chickens anymore, they're show birds! AHHHH!

I'm sick of my husband today, he succeeded in totally pissing me off this morning, so he's been on my bunnypellet list all day! This morning my son got up at like 7, which a little early even by his standards. I was so tired I didn't want to get up, so I asked my husband if he would get up and change him. God forbid that I ask that man to get up 1 time a week with him! So he did, but he told me I had to start the fire and get the house warm. I told him okay, in just a few minutes, I needed to rest a few more minutes. He brings my son upstairs to bed and this kid was not looking to go back to sleep. He's jumping on the bed, my husband is watching meet the press or some crazy political ****. I'm laying there, NOT SLEEPING like I wanted to be doing. That lasted for like 5 minutes. THEN my husband, whose name is Alex so I'll just call him that from now on, much easier! THEN Alex was like, hey go start the fire. I told him in a few minutes, he was like okay. 4 seconds later he asked me again, then again 3 seconds later when I didn't answer him. So I got up and started the freaking fire! I also made coffee, made my bagel, boiled water for oatmeal, fed Ellie, the cats, changed two litter boxes, let my chickens out of the house and fed them. I was eating my bagel when he came downstairs with my son, dropped him off on the couch and left. He went back upstairs and I didn't realize, for like 10 minutes until I was done with coffee and bagel. Then I called out and asked what he was doing, he was like what does it matter? So I took my son back up there to him! HE WAS TRYING TO SLEEP IN WHEN I SPECIFICALLY ASKED TO SLEEP IN THIS MORNING! I mean, don't I deserve an extra 20 child free-husband free minutes to sleep? This was all at 8 am on a Sunday morning. He didn't get up until 11:30! Can you guys freaking believe that?! I told my mom I was going to smother him and she said to poison his coffee it would be less obvious. lmao! She's a crazy lady--probably why she isn't re-married. hahaha.
So thats how this morning went and I was not a happy camper.

My son has been on antibiotics since being bitten by the dog and his tummy is VERY upset. He has a diaper rash, thankfully I have prescription diaper rash stuff. But he hasn't been very happy. I'm not entirely sure where to buy human probiotics so I've been giving him yogurt halfway between his two doses of antibiotics. He is on the strong ones and they are not agreeing with him. Its really horrible. He barely had an appetite today, he would really only eat oatmeal and yogurt and goldfish. I feel so bad for him, but he still has like 6 days left, they're just so harsh. He is almost completely healed, I might take him to the doc and see if he can come off of them. But, since his stomach and butt hurt, he's been extra whiny today and I feel so sorry for him.

I think thats it. My brain is fried. I've had all of my in-laws to deal with this weekend and my parents and dad's girlfriend have been here too. OMG! Its been crazy. I feel like I can't get anything done, because my husband is like a child and he can't do anything for himself. haha. Sorry to keep bashing him, he's just annoying me today. He should have just let me sleep in a little!

Oh and last thing...I burnt some chicken on the grill tonight! I decided since today was a semi-nice day, I would grill some chicken breast. We have small smoker style grill that uses charcoal, as I would not have it any other way. I love the taste of charcoal. Anyway, since I am the cook of this house, I am also the grill master. I know that sounds nuts, because men are supposed to do the grilling, but its usually me because I'm the only one who cooks. But tonight, since it was already dark and this is the first time I've grilled anything since...September, I burned some chicken! I'm not in my grilling groove yet! During the summer, I keep my windows open until the middle of June, when it gets over like 93 during the day and actually gets hot in my house. I also cook outside every single night. I grill the meat and sometimes veggies every night so I don't have to cook much in the house. Since we have window units in this old house, its hard for them to keep up when the stove is cooking. So our grill is going constantly. I love it. There is something so satisfying about grilling!

And now I'm done. hahah. Pictures tomorrow evening. Someone just remind me. No really, every post, tell me to put pictures up. haha. Seriously.
Sorry this was SO ranty. I'm so tired and obviously very ill! hahaha.

 

[agnesthelion]

......

 

[whitelop]

Oh Lisa, I went up there at like 11 and to disturb him. Since we have a hole in the middle of the floor for the stairs, I could sit on the stairs and have half my body up in my bedroom. Sounds weird, I'll have to take a picture. haha. Anyway, I've been rearranging our room up there and there was huge pile of clothes hangers right next to the stairs. So I decided I would start to throw the clothes hangers at him! haha. They fly SO well! I would throw them HARD, they were crashing against the wall behind the bed and basically exploding. ahaha. My husband was completely covered in blankets but he was laughing. He had to be scared because they make this really sinister wooshing noise as they come flying at you! hahaha. I was laughing so hard! I would hit him in the body with them and he would scream out in pain. It was great! He got up after that, I ran out of clothes hangers at like 30 and he finally checked to make sure I was out of ammo and got out of bed. hahahaha. One of the single greatest moments of my life.

My son woke me up at 2 am because he has a rash on his inner thigh and when it gets wet with pee it hurts, so he was leaking through and woke up crying. It was terrible. Then after I got him changed and got the stuff on him, he wanted to play...at 2 am. He didn't understand that it was the middle of the night. I put him back down and he was hysterical because he thought I was just being mean. haha. Poor baby. His thigh is much better this morning, I swear that butt stuff is SO good. I've been changing him really frequently to make sure he's not wet at all because that can not be comfortable.

So Ellie now! I get up this morning and she is completely stretched out in front of the fridge. It blows out warm air and she was flopped out in front of it, soaking in the warm air. This is not the first time I've caught her like this, but she always looks SO happy. The air isn't super hot or anything, its just a really nice warmth and its probably really nice if you have fur and it can warm your fur. So happy. I'll try to take a picture of her doing it, but she always gets up when I come in and say something to her.
Oh and she has several boxes that he lays in, one of them is a bigger diaper box and I just realized last night that she stays stretched out in it. Her upper half of her body will be up like normal, but her legs will be stretched out to the side and she stays in the box like that! haha. She always looks so happy and content, I love it.

Too much Phineas and Ferb. But I love it. haha.

 

[Chrisdoc]

Morgan, I think they should make a show with your family in, I bet it would be so entertaining, you always make me laugh with your stories. I´m glad I ain´t got a husband so don´t have those problems lol. I did so laugh at you throwing all those coat hangers at him, that was so mad.

Sounds like you had a tough weekend with you son not feeling well and all that family, things like that can wear you out. That reminds me of when I first moved over here and family used to come out all the time and they´re on holiday and you´re working and they think that you´ve got time to be going out every night and doing loads of things and all you feel like doing when the weekend comes round is getting a rest. It used to wear me out having people stay, the apartment was so crowded and noisy and i really missed my space and just being on my own. Luckily now, they like going to other places so don´t have that problem now.

Ellie sounds like she´s just so at home now in her kitchen and she´s getting used to it and feeling sooo comfortable, that´s such a great sign. And don´t sweat too much over the cabinet or the chicken coop, they´ll get done when you have time and the energy to get them done.

Lisa, I was so laughing at you shouting instructions to your husband and then going and doing it yourself. I´ve done that so many times before so it made me really giggle.

 

[whitelop]

Hahaha. I've always said I should have my own television show! LOL. I knew I needed a show for sure when I was in a store once trying on shoes with a friend, and we weren't aware that anyone was around us so we were talking loudly and being ridiculous. I think I went on a rant about some kind of shoe...imagine me going on a rant about something! Me...NEVER! Anyway, this woman comes up to us with tears in her eyes because she was laughing so hard and said that I needed my own show because I was hilarious! I knew then, that I should be on tv. Unfortunately my dreams of reality show stardom didn't pan out and now I'm a house wife. lmao.

Its the same way when I'm sick. My whole house falls apart. If I were to ask my husband to get my son breakfast and do all that it would be the same way. Wheres the oatmeal...how do you make oatmeal...how does this kettle work...what number do you put the burner on...where is the baby? hahaha. Thats how it goes. I get really bad migraines and jeez, its like pulling teeth to get him to do any of it. ahaha. He doesn't even know how to work the washing machine. lmao.

Anyway. On to the chicken related notes. The thing with the coop is, the barn we have isn't structurally stable enough to make a coop into it. We would have to replace A LOT of one side of the barn to make it okay to use. Its more than both of us are willing to do for it. SO what we're going to do is use the pen they're in now and add to it. We're adding to the house that they sleep in to. We're going to use an old metal swing set to add to their run space, by fencing in the swing set. AND I'm going to make chicken swings! haha. Its still got the hooks at the top for 2 swings. So I'm going to tie two ropes with a piece of wood to make a swing for them! Its hard to explain, so I'll take pictures when its all done.
So what do you guys think about Carolina Blues Hatchery for my name of my hatchery? It would be the words Carolina Blues on the top, a blue giant chicken in the middle then the word Hatchery on the bottom. I think I'll try to draw it up and post it. So what do you guys think about that?
I'm really excited for these chicks to get here!
OH! I had to put more hay in for the hen to nest in. Chickens are not like normal animals, I can't just ask her to move so I can put hay under her. She just growls at me, so I totally covered her in hay, a huge pile. I couldn't even see her because of the hay, it was hilarious.

And now I'm done. haha.

 

[Chrisdoc]

I´m all for a reality show with you in it, I´m sure it would be hit with you and your rants...I´d be there watching it. Do you know, that you´ve got great talent if you can make people laugh with you and you seem to do that all the time.

I can´t imagine chicken swings so you´re gonna have to do pics for me...mind boggling it is so I have to see this.

The name is just great, I´m loving it, yes would love to see a design for it. Your chickens do sound great and if the chicks look like the ones I saw on the google search I did, they are absolutely gorgeous. You see you just have me in stitches, the idea of your chicken buried under a pile of hay is hilarious, you have such a talent for describing things and creating such an picture for us to imagine.

 

[agnesthelion]

......

 

[whitelop]

I like Carolina Blues Hatchery too. I did a google search and there were no websites named that! So I think its a go!

I am going to a "chickenstock" in May, I don't like the term chickenstock, its a little...ehhh. Anyway, what it is is a swap meet of sorts. Like a flea market of chickens, waterfowl and turkeys. Along with handmade items like blankets, quilts, aprons, purses, and baked goods. I am going to take whatever roosters I have that I won't need to make my flock better, to sell them.
I think that I'm also going to take some banana nut bread or banana bread, probably both. Maybe some beer bread. Is there anything you guys would want to have at a outdoor flea market sort of place? I was thinking breads or maybe a pound cake.
Or maybe I'll make some flock blocks for the chickens and sell them. Oh, well a flock block is a cake or sorts that I bake for the chickens, its got their feed, wild bird seed, corn, bread, eggs with shells, potatoes or whatever other veggies I need to use, and molasses as a binder. I bake it for a while and get it hard and break it into blocks, and feed it to them. They love them and it keeps them busy for a while. People buy them from TSC but they're expensive and they're filled with preservatives. Homemade is much better!

I think that sounds like a good day and I think my husband will go with me. He said he would think about it. He has no interest in it but its a lot of people and we might be able to get some good homemade goods. haha.

 

[holtzchick]

LOL.. I think it's so cute how they just add the suffix stock to everything to make it a big event! mmmm... I say you make some beer pretzels! Everyone loves those! With a salty nutty coating!

I miss reading your blog I feel horrible not being on often enough! I will catch up on it on my day off. I can't believe how long this blog already is. I was chuckling reading your story on the previous page about your husband really ticking you off as I had one of those days today, literally the WHOLE day. You have the best rants!

Nose bonks and binkies for Ellie and wishing you a good week

 

[Chrisdoc]

I think the flock blocks sound really good and yes, homemade is always better. It sounds like a good day out and you get to meet people who will be interested in the sames things as you so good for collecting info and seeing what people are up to.

 

[whitelop]

I think I will do a few flock blocks. I'm not going to do many of anything thing that I do though. Just a few loaves of bread and a few blocks. I don't want to have bring back too much stuff if I don't sell it there. It would get used here, but it would disappointing to not sell it! haha.

Well, I just sent away for my NC "green card" OR my poultry sellers license in NC. haha.

I have a hilarious child! I don't know if all other children are like this, but he is too funny. I, stupidly, left a pen on the couch because I *just* filled out the envelop of my NC license and I left it on the arm of the couch to run to the mailbox. Anyway, I came in and he was drawing on some papers I left on the couch last night before finally going to bed. So I told him no, took the pen away and asked him if he wanted to color. He was like "culla? culla? CULLLAAAAA!" Then he took off running into his room and started running in place looking up at his dresser, where I keep his coloring book and crayons. It was so funny! haha.

Oh and Ellie has started grooming her elephant! I've seen it a few times and today she was cleaning its ear. haha. How funny.

I've got to clean my son's room and straighten the living room, after that though, I'll post of some pictures of Ellie and maybe the chickens. hahaa.

 

[Katielovesleo3]

My mom came over today to see my son. She goes into the kitchen and she's like "uhhh..wheres the rabbit?" I was like, 'shes in the kitchen.' my mom- "where's her cage?" me- 'its outside, I was sick of looking at it so I threw it out' her- "so where is RIGHT now? I don't see her" I then told her that she stays under the cabinet if she gets scared and she just looked at me like I was a crazy person because the rabbit just lives in my kitchen! I told her to f-off because the rabbit is better with the litter box than the freaking cats who are MEANT TO USE A LITTER BOX. .

Muahahahahahaha! People ask me that frequently as well and give me a strange look and I tell them the same darn thing! Ha!

 

[Katielovesleo3]

I like Carolina Blues Hatchery! Sounds great!

Love your "culla" story lol! I imagined it in my head and laughed my ass off!

Awww she wuvs her effalant!

 

[Chrisdoc]

Mine have a hedgehog on the sofa which they´ve started grooming and they also groom the toy I have of a kids TV show, they´ve bitten off most of his ear as well lol.

So funny, your little boy and his cullaring. I love seeing where kids imagination goes when they start drawing and how they see things. Gives you another perspective on life.

I´m sure you´ll manage to sell your stuff, I love being able to buy home made things in markets.