Good Times, Bad Times

 Well, sorry that I have been so lax on posting lately, but to be honest, I have lost all interest in it.  Now, it is not that I do not enjoy hearing from you lovelies, I certainly do, but things have just gone downhill and I've withdrawn from a lot of things.  Computers and social media and the internet can be wonderful, miraculous tools sometimes.  And sometimes they can be the worst thing ever created.  I've been trying to read more actual books lately and just do other things.  I SO enjoyed the week in Florida with no online activities that it really impressed upon me that maybe life would be better with a little less of that stuff.  So far...no!...lol! but it never hurts to try!

Another thing is that while we were in Florida, you know I pigged out on all sorts of seafood.....and apparently that is another thing that I am allergic to or just contains so much histamine that my body cannot process it correctly.  So.  It took me over a week to get over the side effects of that and I still am not feeling much of any relief in just the general symptoms I had to begin with.

And on top of all that we had an incident with the rooster.  He had gotten very large and very aggressive apparently.  I'll admit I did not notice much because I have felt so bad lately, but he jumped on Little Red and somehow injured her back (or something) to the point she can't really walk anymore.  The confusing thing is she was able to walk around pretty well right after it happened but by the next morning she was just unable to get around at all.  She can sit up about what you see here and is very alert and with a pretty good appetite, so I don't want to.....well, throw the towel in for her.  It's been about 2 weeks though and not any improvement.  I've given her aspirin and even a little muscle relaxer and that seems to help her being able to sit up more.  But nothing even remotely like walking.  I want to give her a little more time though and see if she can't recover.
And Susie has been sick again with some kind of internal thing that gets her about every 6 months, so I've had 2 chickens needing full-time doctoring or looking after.
*The rooster was taken to a farm in the next county to be sold. 

The fall garden is doing well though.  Thankfully.  The weather has been really nice lately.  I've read about 3 books that I enjoyed.  And that's about it.  I've been researching job possibilities because that has become pretty important.  I've got to get back to some kind of paid work.  An old carpenter buddy that I worked with for years passed away suddenly a few weeks ago; just after we got back from the beach.  I was pretty sad to hear about it and did make the 3 county trip to the funeral.  Was nice to see some of the other guys though.
So, there you have it.  Not a lot that I've really wanted to talk about lately.  And may not for some time.  I'll see ya'll around though.

Pocketful Of Sunshine

I have tried posting several times lately, and even have a couple of unfinished posts in drafts, but just have not been able to get it together!  First, we went through this horrible gloomy week of rain or drizzle and absolutely no sunshine.  It was affecting everyone and I just couldn't think of much to write about.  I even ordered me one of those SAD lights to sit on my desk and changed the light bulbs in some of my studio lights to the daylight spectrum bulbs.  All of that actually does seem to help and just about the time I was getting up enough steam to post...the real sun came out and we all were rejoicing!  I stayed outside as much as I could to enjoy the sun and it has even been in the mid-50s (F) so the days have been really nice.  The thought of sitting at a computer did not appeal to me.  You can see that Chigger and the girls were rejoicing in the sunshine too!  Everybody is happy!

I've also been working on a new load of pottery, which we delivered yesterday, and that always takes up a bunch of time.  We are even getting eggs again! 

I've got a zillion projects I want to work on outside and am trying to prioritize them so as to get something started.  The two main ones are to start pouring my kitchen countertops and to rebuild the cold frame in the garden.  I miss growing my own salad greens and things.  Of course, the countertops are inside but you have to mix the concrete outside and it's so much better on a nice day.  Plus, I want to pour the bar tops outside and you definitely need a nice day for that.  We did pick up one big bag of portland cement yesterday but I'll have to wait until Monday to be able to get the sand and 8910 gravel.

And in between all of this I need to keep making pottery!!  I must increase my income.  You know I had thought of supplementing with restoration work here and there but all my leads on that have just come to an abrupt stop.  Nothing.  It was kinda odd actually.  But, that happens and then in a year or two I'll get some more jobs in that area.  But since I've been able to throw standing up and that is working so well it has renewed my enthusiasm for the work.  Coming up with some new colors and glazes is exciting too and helps encourage me.

I was pleased with this latest firing and need to make large batches of these new glazes.  I'm also down to my last scrapings of clay and am waiting for a new shipment to come into Atlanta.

So, I hope you all are enjoying some nice weather or at least the sunshine.  I am SO very ready for spring.

Well, time to go!!  Lots of stuff to do!!

And So It Goes

 Well, as we had talked about a couple of posts back, this is just a kind of update of what's going on around here.  Heavy on the photos.  I was sitting here thinking to myself, 'well, I just don't have that much to write about.'  But basically, that's not true.  I mean, if I really consider it, there are tons to write about; growing herbs and their uses, gardening methods, crop experiments, simple life strategies, animal care, minimalism and the list goes on.  Truth is, I've just been lazy about thinking up stuff.  I've been kinda down for the past couple of weeks, or more, and just haven't felt like talking much.  Just my usual stuff I guess.  I have had trouble adjusting to being at home all the time.  And I know it's been like 2 years since I retired from construction but it's still working on me.  I guess I need more social connections than I thought.  But, I have been making some changes around here and am feeling better about things.  I'll explain as I go on.

As far as here though, I've got a lot more herbs and such growing than I had last year.  I try to add a couple of new things each year if possible.  A friend gave me several lemongrass sprouts and so I added those to my deck herb garden.  They are doing well.  I've got a lot of parsley going this year as it seems we go through a lot of that and I like to share some with any monarch butterflies that happen through.  Unfortunately, that doesn't happen much but we do get a few.

The oats have taken a real beating in all the rain and storms and those damn moles but it is trying to stand tall again.  I really have no idea what I'm doing with this stuff but it's a fun experiment.  Hopefully I will get a few pounds of oats from it.

The rest of the garden is doing well. 

This extremely cold past winter killed back all of our fig trees, along with all the other fig trees in Alabama.  I haven't seen any that got by unscathed.  We predict a fig shortage this year!  They are coming out at the roots again but I don't know if they will have time to bear any fruit.

Lots of squash and so far, no bugs!  Well, there is that spider there but you know what bugs I'm talking about.  My friend also gave me a dwarf zucchini that grows in a pot so I'm trying that out on the deck.  It's fruiting so we'll see.

The tomatoes are doing well and I almost have some ripe ones!  I'll be so glad to have fresh, real tomatoes.  I'm not sure why some of these photos look so out of focus.  It was getting close to sundown when I took these and that may be part of it.  Slow shutter speed.

Going to the gym has been good although I am having to take it pretty slow for now.  I joined mainly to be able to swim but after getting very bad headaches from my half hour swimming stints I'm not sure how that's going to work.  Best I can figure, most of the positions that you must hold your head in to swim stresses my neck too much and walaaa! a headache!  (I can't turn my head to the side repeatedly or look up for long due to the fusions.)  I can swim on my back or side and that doesn't bother me too bad but I think I need to cut it down to maybe only 15 minutes.  I do the circuit machines for cardio though and some light weights also.  It helps my mood greatly and lets me get out and about.

And lookie!!  we got some new sweeties.  It wasn't really planned but they are so sweet.  Allen went to a local auction to sell some of his pheasants, which he did, but he ended up buying 8 young chickens just 'cause he felt kinda bad for the lady selling these.  Unbelievably enough, no one was bidding on them.  So he bid and got them!  He also bought 4 Polish Crested, which I have always wanted, but when I watched them for a while I decided they may all be roosters, and quite aggressive, so I didn't want them.  These little goobers were just so sweet though and kept following me around the pen and I am such a sucker for cute little biddies.  They were also kinda getting picked on by the other birds and Allen was concerned about that, so I bought them from him and brought them down here.  Those Polish Crested can hold their own against those pheasants.

They are in the chick run and are having a great time.  I think I have 3 hens and 1 rooster.  I hope!  These are Buff Orpingtons by the way.  This was the incentive we needed to get rid of those two neurotic, noisy Brown Leghorns, so I took those to a lady that has a small farm not far from here.  They will still get to free range but with about 50 other chickens!

These are so funny; I just love to sit with them for a while each day.  They are so excited about everything and run to you whenever they see you coming.  They finally learned tonight how to go inside the coop house into their little separate "apartment", so they are catching on and settling in.

Well, I hope I will be back soon enough with something more interesting.  We go to Antiques Roadshow on Saturday!!!!!! so I may post before that or that may be the next post!!  Who knows!!  I hope you all are having  a nice summer so far.

Cold Day In The Sun

Although we didn't get any snow around here, the frost was heavy enough that if you squinted just right you could kinda see a white Christmas morning.  Ha!  We'll take what we can get.  Thank you all that left Christmas greetings and I hope all you that celebrate had a wonderful holiday.  Ours was fairly quiet but enjoyable.
Sorry that I have not done my usual Christmas postings but the little bit of reprieve I had from this illness or whatever was short lived and I have just not felt up to it.  I have continued the routine that I thought was making me feel better but it just isn't working anymore.  I don't understand what is going on and no one else seems to either so I'm just kinda floating along.  I managed to do a little cooking and a tiny bit of gardening but most efforts leave me very weak now and I have to nap or lay down a couple times a day.  I feel like an injured herd member that just keeps falling further and further behind. I appreciate those of you that continue to come here despite the lack of posts and in spite of my whining about being sick.  I thought maybe I could just go to showing photographs.  I still walk every day no matter what, so I can take a few pictures here and there.  I think in some ways I've dragged this blog out way longer than it needed to be, but then, I have lots of projects I'd still like to show and I like to hear from ya'll.  We live kinda "out" and I don't see a lot of people most days.  And let me tell you, when you're sick, you'll hear from and see even less.  But I'm sure most of you know that.  At any rate, I enjoy having people to communicate with online and to me, blogs are nicer than other social media.
I've been trying very hard not to get discouraged or depressed but it's kinda hard at times.  Still, I think I've actually been doing pretty good on that part.  I've been planning a good bit that I want to do when I get to feeling better and that gives me something to look forward to.  Next year HAS to be better.  Not just for me but for lots of folks.  Seems like there has been a lot of sadness and difficult times this year all around.  But, life has it's ups and downs and I guess most bloggers would tell you that is what they try to capture in their writings.  So they can show other people that they are not alone.  If we are honest about things, well, sometimes they just suck and there's not much else to be said.  But, things always get better, one way or another.  Maybe it's not in a way we imagined or hoped, but things do get better.  So, here's to next year!!  To that irrepressible human tradition of Hope.  If I'm not back by Tuesday I wish all of you and very happy, safe and prosperous New Year!!  May the sorrows of 2013 be drowned in the joy of the coming year.

Summer Of Discontent

It occurred to me that I don't seem to rant or "vent" as much as I used to via this outlet.  Of course, having constant male companionship doesn't leave my evenings open as much as it used to and the darkened hours when you are alone are a fine time to conjure gripes and tirades.  The storms and aches of the past few days are about enough to convince me of the latter.  Actually, I had felt pretty good until today.  We have had somewhat hot but sunny days and I have finally caught up on some pottery orders.  But the lightning came again today, jarring the earth and my sore bones along with it.  Perhaps there is something to the electromagnetic fields that accompany the downpours.  Or perhaps it's just the side effects of a new round of prescriptions that I don't want to take to begin with.  Whatever the reason, I have what can best be described as, a crappy attitude.  A sore ass, as we used to say on the job sites.

The gardens are enjoying the water and I'm grateful not to have that extra work.  The chickens make me happy yet and somewhat fill the hole left by Grendal's passing.  I make a point of going out at least once a day to sit amongst them on one of the many large rocks in the yard.  As soon as I am seated Susie and PeePee usually come running in their awkward, penguin-like trots to be the first one up in my lap.  It is physically impossible to watch them and not smile.  After they make themselves comfortable they proceed to chatter away while I scratch their backs.  Occasionally they will stop and look right at me, as if they are expecting a reply and in those moments I always feel somewhat self-conscious at my obvious lack of understanding.  I take a stab at what seems to me to be the same sort of chirupping sounds but as they resettle in their position on my leg and nod off with a shake of the head, I believe they are just resigning themselves to the fact that I will never learn to talk properly.

My good Russian friend came out Friday and brought her class of 4 art students so they could learn a bit about clay work and make a couple of small things for themselves.  Sveta is a lot of fun and always insist on bringing food when she visits, and I had plenty from the garden, so we had a nice lunch after class.  I'm not sure how much they learned about clay but the kids learned what a good, honest-to-goodness, real tomato is supposed to taste like and that may have been more important anyway. 
So, they are calling for more rain in the week ahead and I hope they are wrong for at least part of it.  I hope this fog lifts off my head also and lets a little sun shine in.  I could use a bit of sunshine.

*Edit:  I have temporarily removed the word verification and we'll see how badly I'll be inundated with spam. lol!

New Day

All my daffodils have actually faded away at this point but nothing as showy has taken their place so these are going to be my default Easter flowers.  So, Happy Easter! to those of you who celebrate it and I hope my Jewish friends had an enjoyable Passover and all.  We've had a wonderfully sunny and warm week but today is gloomy and rainy again, darn it.  I truly hate to complain about getting rain but I think most of us in this area of the world are still operating on a sunshine "deficit"!  Such a miserable winter we had; I think it's going to take many, many sunny, warm days to get everybody caught up.

Today's post isn't about much of anything, as many of my posts have fallen into the habit of lately.  Really, I just wanted to welcome a couple of new followers and to thank all of you that continue to read and comment here.  Don't anybody let the number of followers there fool ya though.  Half the people listed there never read anymore.  And yes, yes, I know all the 'just write for yourself' adages and all, and I do....write for myself that is, but I still enjoy the interaction with folks and comments.  I think one reason I have blogged for so long is the blogs being such a great avenue to talk to people from so many different places and see how other people live and think.  I really love to hear how things are for you in your part of the world and learn about people that live in a different environment than me.  I know my writing style may suggest that I am just presenting info for you and don't want feedback but that's not true by any means.  So, thank you for hanging in with me.  I know this blog is not as interesting since I retired from construction and got married, my falling statistics tell me that, but I have been wanting to kinda revamp things here anyway and I am considering some new stuff.  Nothing drastic, just maybe adding some pages with new info and stuff and maybe a new weekly listing such as the ol' Friday Food or Wordless Wednesday thing.  Anybody have any suggestions there??

And as I've mentioned a little before, the gloom, sickness and sadness of this winter has really done a number on me these past few months and I have struggled to maintain an optimistic and cheerful attitude at times.  But ya'll know that I've always had a little bit of an issue with that anyway.  I have made some progress on feeling better lately though, probably through no small coincidence of more sunny days, and plan on writing a little about that.  Some of you maybe feeling the same way and my experiences and solutions  might help a little.
So, I hope everybody is hanging in there and enjoying some better weather lately.  Hopefully Spring will be upon us all very quickly and we will all be soaking up the light and warmth of the sun and good times in no time!!  Happy Easter or just Happy Sunday!!

Waiting To Spring

A friend of mine said the other day that, even though February is the shortest month, it just seemed to be dragging on and on and on this year, and I had to agree.  I think a lot of people have felt that way.  Not sure what it is exactly but March took it's time about getting here it seems and still managed to haul the cold and gloominess of winter along with it.  We woke up to a light dusting of snow this morning but it has at least, turned into a beautiful sunny day and might even warm up a little more than what they are predicting.  Snow in March is not particularly unusual for the deep south, actually.  If I can find my old photos I'll show ya'll some good spring snows we have had in the past.
At any rate, I have been trying to prepare the garden for spring, in between trying to get caught up on my pottery.  I am making a little progress on both fronts.  A local store got some rhubarb roots in so I bought a pack of 3 to get a very early start with them.  So far it seems they are loving this cool, rainy weather we are having.  I know they won't make it through the summer but I thought if I planted them early enough I might could harvest enough to make it worthwhile.  One pack of roots was less than a package of stalks for cooking at the grocery store, so I figured what the heck?  I put one root in a pot and will transfer it to a very shaded area after it gets warmer, just as an experiment to see how long I can get it to last.

Most of the garden has pooped out or been harvested and we are waiting on a dry spell to till things up and get the potatoes in.  I hate to mention all the rain we have been getting because I know so many of you all are in drought.  If I could send some your way I certainly would!

I have a surplus of pine straw in the yard right now so I have been raking it up and remulching all the stuff that like an acidic environment, like the blueberries and strawberries.  I have pruned most of the raspberries but still need to remulch them and start getting them lines up on their fence.  I also need to refresh that stone path in the garden!

The blueberries are loaded with buds and ready to pop!  Hopefully this will be a good year for fruit.

I know this is a horrible photo but I was just trying to show some of the broccoli and onions I have started for spring.  This photo is about 2 weeks old so they are a bit bigger now and I also have a flat of new cabbage plants started.  This is my first time to try onions from seeds so I don't know how well that is going to go.  I'll probably order some starts shortly just to make sure something makes it!

Just more gratuitous daffodil shots.  I was afraid the snow and 20 degrees temps would kill the flowers back but they seemed okay this morning. 

I add to them each fall and would like to just have blankets of daffodils all over the front lawn.  I like all the colors and varieties.

The chickens have been getting lots of cabbage and broccoli stalks after I harvest what I want.  You can see many of the plant skeletons laying around there.  They are pretty thorough in their scavenging and eventually pick the stalks down to nothing.
I've also got a crop of new lettuce and carrots planted in the cold frame and am just waiting on that to come up.  I am very slowly getting over the bronchitis and catching up on pottery and getting a jump on some spring cleaning but this winter has left me with some severe wanderlust and cabin fever.  The sadness of this past winter still clings and leaves me with a chill that even the sunniest day or warmest fire has trouble dispelling.

When It Rains It Pours

Our annual winter rains began earlier in the week and hopefully, will end soon.  Just as I hope my run of personal misfortune ends soon.  I would have sworn to you that this rains only occur in the spring, March, April etc. but after checking back through the blog I see that it is actually right on schedule.  And exactly in line with Alabama weather, we are expecting snow tomorrow!  As I heard someone say once, Welcome to Alabama! Bring your whole wardrobe!

I must say the whole blog thing is handy for checking your memory if nothing else and I find more often than not that my memory is the one that is faulty.  There have been several times over the years here that I would have sworn to you that such and such happened but after going back and reading the actual account.......well, okay, so it wasn't quite the way I remembered it.  I have read numerous studies over time about just how faulty the human memory is and so influenced by our own personal beliefs and this blog has proven that to me more than once!

I've been a little worried that the chickens would get a little too close to this flowing water and be swept away but so far they are okay.  Well, safe from the water anyway.  I heard an awful screaming going on today and ran outside to see a hawk pinning one of my babies down on the ground.  I screamed profanities at him and ran out in the yard in my sock feet.  He finally flew away and I was astounded to see the chicken jump up and run towards me, diving under the deck for cover.  I was sure she was already dead.  She did suffer some serious cuts and tears but she was alive, albeit missing a good percentage of her butt feathers.

They refuse to stay out of this rainy weather but do hide under my truck during the worst of the downpours.  I am anxious to see what they think of the snow!
Oh, to JMD, yes, we are getting a fair number of eggs right now; around 8-10 a day.  Some of them are still kinda small but they are getting bigger.

And in keeping with all the wet, miserable gloom I have now developed a nice case of the shingles to go along with all the other crap of this new year. I don't think I would wish shingles on my worst enemy.  It is very painful.  But, I guess on the bright side, my rash is fairly small and only on my shoulder area.

Only poor Scooter looked as miserable as I feel.  Not much is sadder looking than a soaking wet chicken with a gapped up head.

Well, I suppose I have vented enough for this post.  Maybe I'll be back tomorrow or the next day with some pretty snow pictures!!  Or maybe I'll just hide in bed for the next week.  It's a toss up!

Carry On

Well, I've been trying to come up with a decent post to counteract the past few but honestly, things still aren't going that well.  I'm sorry for all the downer posts and I suppose I shouldn't even try to post much of anything until things improve but I wanted to put something up that didn't contain some horrible information.  I thought I'd just put up a few photos but I've even had trouble finding anything interesting to photograph due to the terribly dreary, rainy weather we have had for countless days lately.  So, you get chicken pictures!
The ladies, at least, are doing well and I sold one more rooster for a decent price so now we have only the one, Gaucho, and the girls are much relieved.

We've been having one of our southern warm spells so the garden has been doing well.  I've harvested all the main heads from the broccoli so they are now putting out the side shoots.  With 16 plants I can harvest enough side shoots at once to make a dinner.  The chickens did get in the garden the other day, somehow, and ate about 1/3 of the bok choy before I discovered them but that's okay.  I had been giving them a head every other day anyway so they would have more greens.

Chigger and I have been going on many walks lately, even in the rain sometimes.  I am very, very ready for spring to be here.  I lost my enthusiasm for the Christmas season so we cut that all short and took everything down well before Epiphany and I'm actually cooking our New Year's meal today, because that got put off too.  After this, I am ready for a new season; ready for springtime!  However, the rain is coming back and they are predicting showers and storms for the next 3 or 4 days.  And the cold is coming back too.  I wish we could at least get a little snow if it's not going to be spring.

So, life marches on and I limp along behind it until I can catch my breath and get to feeling better. I took a little road trip to Atlanta the other day to pick up a load a clay and other supplies, so we have been getting out some.  I also bought a nice book on landscaping and have been pouring over that, planning some of the final gardens, walks, patios and such around the house.  Life will improve again but sometimes it just takes a while for the sun to come back out.

Still Amongst The Living

 Yes, I am still here.  I haven't been mashed or givin' up and run off to the circus.  Not yet anyway.  I have really wanted to post several things lately, visit your blogs and leave comments but for some reason my crummy Internet out of town has deteriorated even further these past couple of weeks.  Most evenings I can only get on for a few minutes before it throws me off and then it's just sort of hit and miss getting back on.  I did go down to a local Books a Million one night, where I got an excellent and fast connection but, to be honest, I usually just don't have the energy to do that.  I have even given up dinner on a few nights, preferring to just shower and go to bed after a quick snack.
There is enough steel work on this job to keep 2 or 3 welders busy but so far they seem to think I can do it all, so they have been throwing it on me pretty heavy and with no help to boot.  It takes a little ingenuity to hang some steel by yourself but I have managed it with the help of some equipment.  I finally got a small crew to help this past Friday though and we made good progress.  So, I've been a little discouraged and disgruntled also.  Many on the job feel the same way as I do and are reconsidering their choices of employment.  It has just become a lot of bullshit to put it simply.  They want everything fast, cheap and right.  Well, like the old saying goes, you get to pick two of those items, not all three.  Those of us who've been with the company for years want to turn out a good quality product but they make it darn near impossible nowadays.  I do not want to participate in this lifestyle anymore.  I want to get out before my body is completely worn out and I am discarded by the company as I have seen them do so many before me.
 But, I did not mean for his to be a rant, believe it or not.  I have just been so tired lately and down and when I get down I don't know what to post.  This lifestyle is SO not like what I was doing at home and SO not what I want that it has been a bit of a shock to my system basically.  I am managing to still eat good although not my own food for the most part.  There is a wonderful organic grocery store in the town that I go to for many things so that helps some but it's not like being at home.

 So, just a little update on what is going on here.  The chickens are all doing well.  These Barred Rocks and the one little blond one on the far right are the four that we hatched in the incubator back in the early summer.  They are doing great.  The roosters are very handsome.  The one hen (Scooter) is doing well but looks a little funny.  See, way back when they were bitties, one of the older hens got a hold of Scooter's head and just tore that little chick up.  they are mean that way sometimes.  We had them in a separate pen but Scooter must have managed to get her head through the wire right when the big hen walked by.  It was bad but we nursed her back and she is fine now.  Well, for the most part.  She doesn't have feathers on part of her head and sometimes seems a little slower, mentally, than the others but they look out for her.  At least she doesn't run backwards anymore though.  That's why I started calling her Scooter.  It must have messed up something in her wiring because she would just be going along and all of a sudden throw it into reverse and take off!  She doesn't do that anymore though.

 I have managed to get something of a fall garden planted.  I planted a few things on the deck in pots as an experiment.  This is a lettuce mix.  So far so good.

 Fall is definitely here now.  Our normal first frost is around October 26 but it came about a week or so early this year.  We have been keeping a fire going on some nights when it dips into the 30's.  The mums are all blooming so pretty.  These are all plants that I picked up last year or so when Lowe's puts them on clearance towards the end of the season.  I got most of them for a quarter or fifty cents.  Yeah, they look like hell then but the next year they always come out real pretty.

 I have got broccoli, lettuce and cabbage planted in the garden.  That is one last bell pepper plant still hanging on there.  My leeks and Egyptian onions are doing really well and I have been harvesting a few here and there when I'm home.

The broiler chicks are doing well and growing fast but these are no 6-8 week birds.  I guess they'll be ready at about 10-12 weeks.  These are very active and have completely decimated the grass we had planted in their run so we have been letting groups of them out in the chicken tractor to get fresh grass.  We still have a couple with leg problems though.  Although the majority of these are just fine (it seems) I don't think we'll get these again.  And on a very sad note, my little Katsu died.  Katsu was the little exotic chick that came with these in the order.  They just send you one for free.  Katsu was a sweet little chick and would have probably been very pretty.  I nursed her back to health after these hybrids just about stomped her flat once and she rebounded well.  She was fearless and would jump feet first right in the middle of a pack of these even though they outweighed her by a substantial amount.  She got sick with something though, it may have been thrush and couldn't get over it.  I tried to nurse her when I came home but she was too weak and didn't make it and then I had to leave Jack to deal with it and a messy house because I had to go back to work.  I was upset to say the least.  I have already expressed my intention at work to retire after this one.  I will not live this kind of life anymore, finished house or not.

Dead Beat Club

Well, I kinda hate the direction the blog has gone in.  I know it's boring and crappy but I just don't have a lot of time to do many projects around the house so any kind of how-to posts are on the back burner.  I do plan to plant a garden for fall but that's probably going to be sporadic.  I know many of you are not terribly interested in commercial construction, so I'm trying to limit the number of posts on that subject.  So, I'm not sure what to write about and my Internet connection here is still unreliable so when I do feel like writing I sometimes can't get on.
So..........anybody have any ideas or suggestions?  I am still reading your blogs when I have time and trying to leave a few comments.  Work has become infinitely easier lately so it's not near as rough as when I first came down.  I guess I've gotten used to the workload again and welding is easier on me than the other work I was doing.  So, tell me what you think if you have any ideas.  I don't know.  I'm kinda bummed.  It's lonely working out of town and boring when you're not at work.

Crazy Bitch

Well, this is certainly a night for the Halloween season. Storms moved in this afternoon, reflecting the overall mood that pervades this place. At one point lightning illuminated the house on regular intervals. A light show specific to solar houses; especially those that don't have curtains. Even with many of the windows open, the air is still thick and heavy. Not much of a breeze blowing despite the foul weather.
I think I shall name this land The Valley Of Misfit Things (a homage to The Isle Of Misfit Toys) and I will be Queen MoonRacer. Queen of all Fucked Up Things. I will scour all of the local animal shelters and only take in creatures that are deformed like me. You know, 3-legged dogs, 3-legged chickens.... beings that no one else wants. And I will take care of them and give them a full life. Well, the chickens might eventually go in the freezer but they will be happy up until then. Makes sense to me. We can relate to each other. You know, animals seem to understand things about people even though they can't speak. It won't matter to them the way I am. They will be my children since I can't have my own. They will be my companions since I don't know how to maintain such a human relationship.
And Grendal can be Second-in-Command! I may even make her a little hat to wear! She would probably get a kick out of that. Now I must go and ready the projectile turtles and man-eating goats*. (long time readers know) Even I have sense enough to know when I'm whipped.

Just When You're Having Fun

Well, I am just sad, sad, sad this evening. We heard today at work that our last full-time concrete finisher is leaving us. Work is so bad that they have had him driving a dump truck on our job, so he found another job with a competitor. Now, for reference, many of our finishers used to work for a couple of different companies at once because pouring concrete is not something that is always done every day. However, our company was once big enough to support probably a couple of dozen full-time finishers. Those days are long gone. He is going to stay with us long enough to finish pouring the sidewalks on the job I'm on now and then he's gone.

We were once so proud and such a good company. We were some of the highest paid carpenters in the biz and still are really. Everybody wanted to work for us. Now, we can't compete with all the others that work nothing but Hispanics for $16/ hour. We were a family. I've thought all day about so many of the guys I have been privileged to work with. Dal, Daddio, Jimmy, Dominecker, Anthony, Big Daddy, the Cobbster, Daddy Rabbit and all the others. Damn, we had some fun. Most of the stories I won't even write here 'cause I know I'd offend a lot of people but we loved working with each other. And we could work like hell; it was nothing to pour three, four hundred yards of concrete at time. That's 40 of the trucks filled to the brim. We had a helluva time at the railroad. The Cobbster was the boss there. At lunch we would all eat in the trailer and he would have us laughing so hard I thought we would fall out in the floor sometimes. He's retired now and I heard he had another 3 stints put in his heart this past week.
Jimmy was a labor foreman years ago. He's passed away now. We like to have gotten run over together trying to direct traffic in downtown Birmingham. Now, he was one of the most unattractive men I've ever known but he always used to brag about being, well, hung. I remember him popping off one day about having 12 inches. Dal busted out laughing. "Yeah, Jimmy, if you measure it like you measure a cat's tail; from the tip to your butthole." I know that's crude but they were so damn funny.

We would nail each other's tool belt down to the floors or bolt their toolboxes down. Or fill all the pockets up with sawdust or rocks. That's what you got for not wearing your tools. One time when I was just a little apprentice I was on the Cobbster's job. I was wrecking some forms and inadvertently chipped the edge of the concrete. Now, he was very particular about his concrete and he saw me do it. He pulled out his pocketknife and held it up to me. "I'll cut your throat if you ever chip my concrete again", he growled in all seriousness. Man, those were the days. He was also one of the most generous men I've ever known. He took good care of his men.

But we are all slipping away now. A few each week or every other. The company might stay around for a few more years but it will never be like it was. We used to hold around 350 carpenters. Now, we might have 25. It's hard to explain the camaraderie of construction unless you have experienced it. One minute you might be cussing someone toe to toe and the next laughing and carrying on. It's not faked though. I think it is as real as it gets. Lord, I'm going to miss these guys. I think I will be one of the next to go. I'm actually the highest paid carpenter on my job, even above the foremen, and in today's market, that ain't good. They got to cut those costs! Most of the guys are already looking for other work. I'll hang on as long as they will pay me but I think the time is drawing very near. Probably the end of this job will be it. Maybe not but it's not looking good. Hell, they even let our personnel manager go because we don't have any personnel left to manage.
The guy on the left above is Head, whom you have heard me speak of before. His head and his feet are about the same proportion, his feet being about a size 13. Thus, the nickname. His little boy turned 3 today. Bama is the guy on the right. He is our crane operator and a real sweet guy.

T-Dog, the guy in the middle, leaves tomorrow to go to a short term job in Tuscaloosa. When one of us leaves a job we always say, "See you on the next one". I told him I would like to say that but wasn't sure there would be a next one. I taught half these boys welding as part of their apprenticeship training. They used to try to get me to go mud wrestling after class so they could win money by betting on me. They were sure I could put anyone down in my weight category. There's so many stories I can think of. They would always put me out when I set myself on fire welding but in the next breath be ragging me about eating tofu and shopping at Wal-Mart. Anthony and Head standing behind the Switchman acting like me (goofy) to try to distract me while I was talking to him. Of course, he could not see them but I could and they would be prissing around with their chests thrown out. I remember going to a company Christmas party and dancing with Hippy. Someone once described Hippies' dancing as a cross between buck dancing and a seizure. They were pretty damn accurate in that but we had a blast and to hear his tales of his younger days and his unfortunate encounters with some Texas Rangers will just make you sore from laughing. They don't call him Hippy for nothing.
This past two weeks I have woken up several times in pain in my joints and muscles. The work is getting to me more and more. I have to take pain meds more often. But I'll hold out as long as I can to work with these guys just a little longer. Hell, we might even go mud wrestling.


*Cock Robin