July 3, 2021

Wow! It's been TWO years since I posted to this blog. So much was going on at that time. Issues with my mother; trying to get the house ready to sell, etc. So glad that time has passed!! I've since moved from California to Arizona (NOT my first choice ...) I bought land in Dolan Springs, Arizona, in February 2020, with a decrepid old mobile home with add-on room and basement, and travel trailer on it. It's a mess, but liveable. I lost my job of 17 years, due to the 'plague'. My mom died April 11 and, after 58 years, I am finally alone to do what I want when I want. No one to constantly second-guess me. I have started a poultry farm ... a very small one. I am selling on eBay and other venues. I'm re-vamping my graphics shop this summer. So many things going on and, for the most part, I'm loving it ... except for the insane heat and wind. But, that's to be expected in the desert Southwest! I'm learning!

I've archived/reverted-to-draft all previous posts, so they don't clutter up the new version of this blog.

As to my animals ... Gypsy (the old Cocker Spaniel rescue) died earlier this year. Robin Hood Rabbit died late last year from the excessive heat. The others who traveled in the RV with us are still around. Sheriff the rabbit is still kicking, and so are the 3 doves - Big Boy, Little Girl and Doveling. Nikky, I think, is very happy that Gypsy is gone ... they never got along. She now has two inside cats, Scotty and Casey, to love on. I got them last year from someone in the little town of Chloride, as kittens. My mother insisted she wanted a cat, but never took care of them. All on me ... 

Oh, and I sort of have an outside cat ... a scrawny red tabby tom started hanging around in March or April. I'd see him every few days on the air conditioner that hangs over the chicken yard. He never bothers the chickens, so they ignore him. I didn't notice him much after my mom died in April. Then, in May he was here more and more. Sooo ... I started feeding him. He is really skinny! He now comes almost every day. He knows there is always water here (I have 10 water stations for my chickens and the little wild critters - birds, rabbits, lizards, squirrels, etc.) I've named him Truman (after Truman-Lodge - Anthony Starke's character - in the Bond movie License to Kill.) 

I have about 30 chickens ... the number is always changing as I butcher roosters and hatch eggs. I sell extra eggs to a couple of neighbors. I have a purebred Brahma pair and two Bantam roosters. The rest are 'Easter Eggers', which are just mixed breeds. Most are Brahma crosses, with a few Bantam crosses. Most have the feathered legs of the Brahmas. I love that trait. I have a Barred Plymouth Rock cross hen, too. She lays olive green eggs. Most of the others lay mint green eggs, and the Brahma and one of the mixes lay brown.

I had goats for a year ... but, that didn't work out, so I sold them. Most are living on a dairy farm in Pahrump, NV. :)

It's going to be a struggle, financially, for the next few years until I get my Social Security, but it's doable. 

My cousin keeps saying he will haul all of my stuff from storage in California ... but, the date keeps changing ... someday I will see it all again. Most of it will be sold on eBay or locally, but there are some things I will keep ... photos, a few collections I miss, etc. Until then ... I keep paying for the storage! Ugh.

Nearly every week, I get free food for me and the critters from a place in the next town over that donates to the needy. What's leftover after the giveaway, I get - mostly for the animals - or it would just be dumped. They don't give out much that I will eat, since I am mainly carnivore! But, my chickens are definitely well-fed!! Sheriff gets some treats, too. This week, it's a lot of cilantro, apples and corn.

Yesterday, I traveled to the small town of White Hills. It's just north of me, but I'd never been there before. I wanted to check out a new barbecue place ... I wasn't impressed, but it was a nice drive. There is a wind farm there. If you continue north, past the town, you will be in Las Vegas, Nevada.

I hope to post regularly here, like I used to. I'm trying to cut down on my posting to Twitter, MeWe and FaceBook. But, I still need to talk things out and put my opinions out there! So, will mostly post my blog posts there, from this blog or one of my others. I do have several other blogs you might enjoy, which I will be linking in the sidebar on the right soon.

Sales have been going well on eBay, but I really need to get back to listing more things. I have a roomful of stock! I haven't listed anything fresh in about two weeks! I've been updating the listings to include worldwide shipping. But, I made a sale last night and packaged it up this morning. It'll ship on Tuesday, since Monday is a Federal holiday. 

I recycle a LOT of my shipping materials and discovered a new packaging box this week! Puzzle boxes. I always make any used/open jigsaw puzzles before I list them for sale to make sure all of the pieces are there. A few are not complete, so I usually burn the puzzles. But! The boxes are perfect to ship small things, or books!

A few months ago, I joined HipCamp. I've got 1.25 acres and I don't use the .25 for anything ... so, I let campers/RVers/travelers stay on it for a fee. It's nothing fancy. Just a place to stop for the night or a few days. I offer a firepit, porta-potty, and I sell eggs and firelogs. I've had several overnight campers and a family that stayed for 3 days. My next camper is in a couple of weeks. If you have property, it's an easy way to make a few bucks and if you click on this link and host your first campers, I'll get money for the referral! Win-win!

I'm having a yummie berry smoothie for lunch. Tonight will be homegrown chicken leg quarter for dinner. I don't eat breakfast and rarely snack.

I started wearing shorts in May. And, 'tank tops'. Very weird for me, if you know me. I'm a jeans (Levi's!) and t-shirt person. Always! I hadn't worn shorts since I was 15. I hate them ... I hate my thighs ... They are knee-length, so not really short. The heat here can be unbearable. I had to cave in to them. The heat was insane a few weeks ago. And, I can only run one small air conditioner at a time in the house ... the wiring is crap and breakers kept tripping if I ran another one at the same time (there are 3 in various rooms ...) So, it was just as hot inside as outside ...

Not sure how well the hatch will go in the incubator. They are due today. But, only 2 are barely pipped. The excessive heat has made it nearly impossible to keep the temperature stable. So, most of them are probably baked in the shell ... :( It's the third clutch for the year. First clutch in May had 6 hatch and 5 hatched in June.

I've been watching a lot of series that I'd never had a chance to watch or never finished watching. I just finished the entire series of Grimm. That was a good show. I was catching up on Murder, She Wrote, but Peacock will not stay on with my poor connection. So, had to stop on Season 11 ... I'll try again soon, so I can finish it all. I re-watched all of BBC Marple. Loved that series, wish there'd been more episodes. I'm now watching BBC Poirot, Midsomer Murders and the Aurora Teagarden Mysteries. I love mysteries.

It's 3pm and 100°F. I'm going to relax and watch one of my shows before it's time to deal with the critters' dinnertime.