Ice Storm 2009.

You may have noticed I haven't been online much here lately. Well, reason being I have been without power for three days, having it turned on yesterday afternoon. I don't know how many of you remember the ice storm of 2003, but it was very nasty. We didn't have electric for 5 days that year.....

This storm wasn't as bad due to the fact, most of the old weak trees got "weeded" out from the first ice storm. I have included some pictures from midday Wednesday, right after the freezing rain stopped and it started snowing again. The main concern was the snow putting more weight on the already burdened trees. Luckily we only lost a couple of trees and a dozen branches and limbs. The cleaning up hasn't been to much fun, the ground is still ice. I have had Samson (my harness goat) pulling limbs the past couple days, since I have been unable to convince the 4-wheeler to start.

I work at the Library and due to the weather we had two snow days. This helped because there was no way I was going to get out of the driveway with my Grand Prix. The 4-wheel drive Suburban had some difficulty. It took me three hours yesterday to get all the ice off my car, and the limb that had fallen on it removed. The limb left some nasty gouges in my hood, but thank goodness that was all.

Other than that, not much to report. Cloud our other dairy doe, gave birth the day before the ice storm, with twins. A doe named Sassafras and a buck named ??? He doesn't have a name yet...lol. I will try to get some pictures of them tomorrow if my camera is charged by then. I will also try and get some updated pictures of Impalas twins.

Also, the title to this post, "Ice Storm 2009" is a link, click it and it will take you to a local news site, with more pictures from the ice storm in KY, WV, and OH. Stay safe out there everyone!

Looking into the barnyard.

My Car, one solid sheet of ice, you can see the limb dangling really close at this point.

The road....a nice skating rink.

Our beautiful flowering peach tree, it lost two large limbs in the back and will have to be removed...*sniff* *sniff*

No, this is not a Pine Tree, its actually a Pin Oak....heavy with ice and snow.

The precarious drive way. So not fun trying to get out of!

Well, that's it for the ice storm pictures. Please keep the rest of the Ice Storm victims still without power in your prayers.

Baby Goats!

We finally have our first baby goats! Born 01-20-09 around noon. We have twin bucks, on is solid black and the other is colored almost like Oberhasli, only he has a white belly. The black on is Angus, and the Brown one is Orion.

Edward Drawing

I wanted to share with you all a drawing I did of the Actor Robert Patterson, who played the role of Edward in the movie Twilight. I could post this earlier due to the fact it was a Christmas present for a friend. The picture does not due it justice.

New Years Day Photos

Hey everyone! I have took some first of the year farm pictures.

Fawn Call Ducks, and a Chocolate Call Hen.

Brd. Buff and Splash Silkie Hens.

Brd. Buff Silkie Cockerel.

Chocolate English Angora Buck.

Fawn English Angora Doe.

Impala our dairy doe, being goofy as usual.

Jack Jack, a black dairy wether.

DD, a half Kiko doeling.

The herd, with Samson looking to see if someone brought him something to eat.

Impala looking fat and ready to go any day now! Can't wait for babies!

The Chickies enjoying some winter sun.

Minnie Guarding the chickens.....lol.

Sittin Pretty.

Law Grey Game Trio.

Law Grey Hens.

A very nice LB Dutch Bantam Cockerel! I can't wait to get some chicks from him!

SC Black Leghorn Cockerel. I wish I could find him a mate....blacks are hard to come buy.

My Favorite Rooster ever. He is so elegant and docile. He is going on 4 years old and still breeds better than any other Leghorn rooster I have ever had.

Well, that's the farm as of right know. I will be starting my breeding pens up this coming week, and hopefully I will set my first batch of eggs the last week of January! I'm looking for an Incubator right know...so as soon as I get one, breeding season will be in full swing!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Rough Travel Day Yesterday.

I had a very um.....interesting day yesterday! I thought I would share my experience with you all.

It all started when I got off work at 8:00pm from work. The rain and ice had started coming down around 4:30pm. Then the news started reporting many accidents, esp. on the overpasses. I was really hoping that they would let us off early so we could avoid the worse weather....no such luck. On a usual day it only takes me about 30 minutes to get home, if that. I only have two different ways to get home, one is taking all the major highways and the other is to take all the back roads. On a day when the weather is bad I always take the highways just to avoid the slick back roads.

I had decided that I would take the highway even though the overpasses were still closed due to accidents. It would probably not be very bad on the highway......RIGHT! I get off work and headed to the gas station, since I was running on fumes. I put 5 dollars in which gave me 4.4 gallons....lol. I about fell on my but just filling up with gas, the concrete was so slick! I have never really experienced Icy road conditions since I am still a new driver.

I managed to merge onto the highway doing about 20mph. About three cars in front of me a driver looses control of his car and ends up nose firs on the side of the embankment. He was not getting out of that. So I started slowing down, finally realizing the roads were nothing more than a sheet of ice! I fishtailed a could of times, but managed to keep the car under control, when I came to a stop behind a very long line of cars.

I sat in that line for about 2 and a half hours, moving little to none. Turns out there was another accident on the overpass so there was no getting through. I ended up turning my car off and sitting there waiting, it was not fun! I was hungry, I also really needed to use the restroom.....lol.

I finally got moving around 10:50pm. Although the traffic was still heavy the roads were not as bad as they were earlier. So I managed a steady speed of 40mph on the highway. I finally made it into the driveway around 11:15pm. Safe and sound...thank the Lord!

This is buy far the most stress full driving situation I have ever been in, but I was a good learning experience!

Tools and Their Uses

Tools and their uses

If only I couldn't relate

DRILL PRESS:
A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat
metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and
flings your beer across the room, denting the freshly-painted project
which you had carefully set in the corner where nothing could get to it.

WIRE WHEEL:
Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere under
the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprints and
hard-earned calluses from fingers in about the time it takes you to say,
'Oh sh -- '

ELECTRIC HAND DRILL:
Normally used for spinning pop rivets in their
holes until you die of old age.

SKILL SAW:
A portable cutting tool used to make studs too short.

PLIERS:
Used to round off bolt heads Sometimes used in the creation of
blood-blisters.

BELT SANDER:
An electric sanding tool commonly used to convert minor
touch-up jobs into major refinishing jobs.

HACKSAW:
One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board
principle. It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable
motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more
dismal your future becomes.

VISE-GRIPS:
Generally used after pliers to completely round off bolt
heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer
intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

OXYACETYLENE TORCH:
Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable
objects in your shop on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside
the wheel hub out of which you want to remove a bearing race.

TABLE SAW:
A large stationary power tool commonly used to launch wood
projectiles for testing wall integrity.

HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK:
Used for lowering an automobile to the ground
after you have installed your new brake shoes, trapping the jack handle
firmly under the bumper.

BAND SAW:
A large stationary power saw primarily used by most shops to
cut good aluminum sheet into smaller pieces that more easily fit into
the trash can after you cut on the inside of the line instead of the
outside edge.

TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST:
A tool for testing the maximum tensile strength of
everything you forgot to disconnect.

PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER:
Normally used to stab the vacuum seals under lids
or for opening old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splashing oil on
your shirt; but can also be used, as the name implies, to strip out
Phillips screw heads.

STRAIGHT SCREWDRIVER:
A tool for opening paint cans. Sometimes used to
convert common slotted screws into non-removable screws and butchering
your palms.

PRY BAR:
A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or
bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part.

HOSE CUTTER:
A tool used to make hoses too short.

HAMMER:
Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is
used as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts
adjacent the object we are trying to hit.

UTILITY KNIFE:
Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard
cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well on
contents such as seats, vinyl records, liquids in plastic bottles,
collector magazines, refund checks, and rubber or plastic parts.
Especially useful for slicing work clothes, but only while in use.

DAMM-IT TOOL:
Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage
while yelling 'DAMM-IT' at the top of your lungs. It is also, most
often, the next tool that you will need.

Angora Bunnies!

I don't know If I have mentioned it or not. I think I did. Well, anyways.....we have English Angora Rabbits. There not mine but my moms, and she has a pair. I don't have a picture of the female but here is a picture of our male. He is the most friendly and softest rabbit I have ever seen! I can't wait till spring when I can see them in their full fur.

I plan on doing a post tomorrow with a lot of pictures from around the farm. I hope to get some good pictures to add to the website to update it a little. I think its time for some new pictures.

For Comparison.

I have here three pictures of the White Leghorn Cock in the post below. This is just to compare how the tail length has got longer over the last three years.

One Year Old


Two Years Old


Three Years Old

As you can probably tell, I'm very interested in this bird. I will be keep close watch on the total length. I plan to measure the length of the main sickles this year once he has finished out his molt. Then I am going to measure the length of the main sickles after spring molt to see if they get any longer.

White Leghorn........Pheonix????

Hey everyone, I have an interesting blog today. I have a two, almost three year old SC White Leghorn Bantam Cock. I have used him the past two years in my breeding pens, and was planning on using him this year also. Well, he molted started molting around the end of September. I didn't start noticing anything unusual until about Thanksgiving. I started to notice that his tail feathers were beginning to drag the ground. I though maybe they were just wet or dirty making them heave and drag the ground. But when I started looking over the bird he was quite clean. I also examined the shafts of the main sickle feathers and notice that they were still blood feathers! Meaning they are still growing. This is very unusual, and I don't know when they will stop. He is going on three months since his molt. I find this very interesting since he has never had this same feature in the past years molts. I have some pictures here of the bird, and I tried to show the length. I will also try and get some pictures of the shafts to show how they are still growing.

Here is a picture of the same bird at one year old.

You can see his full son in the background at 10 months old. He dosen't have very long sickle feathers either.

So If anyone has any clues as to why this is happening let me know. I am very curios to see how long they will actually grow!