Laundy and mowing

don't have much to say. So let's just "see" what comes out. LOL. Yes, that is MY eye. Kind of creepy, huh? *evil grin* Anyway, not a lot happening. The weather is sunny and hot. I got a load of towels washed, dried on the clothes line, brought in, fluffed in the dryer (set on 'air'), then folded and put on the shelving unit in the bathroom. Later in the day after Rain went out to pull weeds because she was bored, I went out to see how it was going. Then I said to her, "Should I mow the grass around that tree?", to which she replied, "Sure". In case you're wondering, that tree is the one she pulled some weeds from inside the rock circle surrounding it. I didn't think I'd get much done besides that, being as though I didn't have much gas in the mower. Did manage to get the rest of that side of the front yard mowed though (I had mown part of it a couple of days ago). Plus the 1/4 of the other side of the front yard that has the apple tree, peonie bushes, and roses of Sharon, got mown. There is just a little bit of grass right by the apple tree that didn't get chopped because I ran out of gas. When I used the other riding mower, it gave warning sputtering when it was about to stop, usually enough time to get it back to the shed. But with this other mower, it just *quits*, and has to be pushed back to the shed, which is what happened today. Just so you know. Sent a birthday card to dad on Tuesday, so hopefully he'll get it before the 1st (his b-day). I owe mom a letter now, but instead, I'm writing in my blog. I'll probably just print a copy of this entry, and maybe the last one to send. Usually if I have something to say, I say it to the world. LOL. But since mommy doesn't have a computer, I include her with print-outs. *smile* TOMORROW'S PAYDAY! WOO-HOO!

Technorati : eye, laundry, mowing, pay day, payday

Mai-Mai, and stuff

I took this picture of Mai-Mai last night while Rain was holding her on her lap while she (Rain) was reading email. Just though it was so cute, with her tongue hanging out. *smile* Sorry about the brightness of her chest, I just had the flash on and I couldn't fix it with Photoshop. Sorry.

Other than that, not much going on. In fact, I've been feeling "down" enough that I haven't been writing in my blogs or even that much email. Going through a phase of not thinking what I have to say is all that interesting/important. Maybe it's the weather, maybe not, don't know. It's been mostly cloudy and if not raining, threatening to rain for about the last 4 days. I don't think it's that though, I think it's more that I've been following news about the u.S. government and that has depressed me, making me feel helpless and causing me to not to see much hope for the future of this country. So this week I am burying my head in the sand and reading only what comes through on email. No more searching for it or watching it on television. I know, I've gone through this before, but for some weird reason I like to know what's going on/coming down the pike, but especially for me, someone who's prone to depression anyway, I've got to take a break once in a while. I don't feel that *anything* I do really makes a difference in the grand scheme of things, so why worry, right?

And besides that, I've had a headache for the last 3 days (off and on), and that's not helping my mood either. I did manage to get a portion of the front and back yards mown yesterday, so I actually accomplished something useful besides watching the NBA finals. *grin* I still need to cut the tree that I downed into logs, but my chainsaw chains need sharpened and the place I usually take them couldn't get them done soon enough, so I'll be taking them somewhere else tomorrow. The kids got all the branches that I cut/pulled off the tree, to the brush pile, so that was a big help.

My dad's in a nursing home recovering from a bout of pneumonia for a couple of weeks. Keep him in your thoughts for a speedy recovery, please.

Technorati : cat photo, pneumonia, trees

When the Missouri rain started...

...we had towels on the line that we had to get off of the line because of the wind & rain. Put the basket of wet towels on the sofa on the porch because there were clothes in the washer waiting to go out. The kids had originally went out to block the rain from blowing into one of the broody-hen pens and got SOAKED. *grin* Then I went out to shut the shed door that had blown open and *I* got soaked. LOL. Rain was being soaked at the clothes line, so we were all drenched. We all changed our clothes but had nowhere to put them, so they're still out on the porch-sofa. When the rain stopped and the sun came out, I put the clothes that were in the wash machine out on the line and put the towels from the sofa in the washer for a spin cycle to make them not-quite-as-wet. Then the second wave of rain & wind came and I had to bring the clothes from the line in (still wet). *sigh* I put them in the dryer, just to keep the cats from laying on them until this morning. This morning I put them BACK on the line, but the towels are still in the washer, clothes are still on the porch-sofa needing washed and hung out, and there's another basket of clothes waiting to be washed as well. Guess what I'm going to be doing all day. *smile*

Tags: Missouri flash flood, rain, downpour, clothes line

Digital Divide. Cat pictures.

I'm bored. I've been thinking, "What should I write about?" off and on all day, and still haven't came up with anything in particular, other than I'm definitely feeling that I'm on the wrong side of the "digital divide" out here in rural country, MO. Everyone that's read my writing for a while knows that we can't get Centurytel to put DSL in this area. We don't get very good cell service either (1-3 bars max), and I don't think we can afford it anyway, even if that was strong enough for cell-broadband (or whatever it's called). We COULD get satellite-broadband, but at $50 per month and $200 for set-up, we can't afford that either. So, we wait and hope that we'll eventually get DSL. Besides, I've read good and bad opinions about satellite broadband. From what I understand, the main contentious point against it is that on-line video and/or two-player games don't work well because of the latency (time the signal goes back and forth between the modem and the satellite). Now that I'm done bitching... again, here are some cat pictures we think are cute. *smile*

This is Kilala (boy).

This is Ruth (boy).

And this is Suicune (girl).

This is a tree that we cut down yesterday. It's one of two Poplars in the back-yard we want gone because of the leaves they put in the pool. Now if I can get the kids to help with the clean-up, I'll be really happy.

Poplar tree.

I was bored last night, so I took a picture of a night light, just for the hell of it.

And NOW I've got to get off-line because it's POURING rain and thundering.

Technorati : Digital Divide, cat pictures

Dems Drop Timetable Demand in War Funding Bill, Nuclear War?

Well, I guess I've should've expected that the newly elected demopubs would fail the America people and the people of Iraq. *growl* This is from DemocracyNow

Dems Drop Timetable Demand in War Funding Bill
In a major victory for the Bush administration, Democrats have officially abandoned their effort to include a non-binding timetable for withdrawal from Iraq in the war spending bill. On Tuesday, Democrats said they would accept a Republican plan to fund the war through the end of September. The measure would also establish benchmarks for the Iraqi government. The Democrats made the concession after President Bush vetoed an earlier bill that included a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. Democrats say they do not have enough votes to override a veto and want to avoid accusations of denying funding for U.S. troops. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she may even vote against the bill because it doesn’t include a timeline. As many as one hundred-twenty Democrats are also expected to oppose the bill. Democratic leaders plan to divide the measure into two votes so that domestic spending is separated from war voting. The domestic provisions include a federal increase in the minimum wage. In a statement, Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin said: “There has been a lot of tough talk from members of Congress about wanting to end this war, but it looks like the desire for political comfort won out over real action.”

Pentagon Plans Near Doubling Iraq Troop Size
Meanwhile the Hearst news bureau is reporting the Pentagon is quietly planning to nearly double the number of combat troops in Iraq this year. A new deployment order shows plans are in place to boost the number of combat troops from fifty-two thousand to ninety-eight thousand. With support troops included, the number of U.S. troops in Iraq could top two-hundred thousand by the end of the year.

Is Bush Leading Us to Nuclear War?

While the United States demands that other countries end their nuclear programs, the Bush administration is busy planning a new generation of nuclear weapons known as "Complex 2030."

Tags: Democrats, Pentagon, War, Iraq, Iran, Bush, Nukes, Nuclear

Broody hens and kitchen sinks

I wrote on the 19th that we had 3 broody hens sitting on eggs and one of their nests was due to hatch that day. Unfortunately, the hen who was sitting on those particular eggs was *not* a good egg-sitter. Sunday afternoon when we still didn't hear any peeps, my wife and daughter took said hen off the nest. What they found was that there were zero hatched eggs. Apparently the hen didn't even get off the nest to go potty, rather she just pooped *on* the eggs. Don't know if that was the cause of non-hatching, but I'm guessing it didn't help. So, yesterday (Monday) afternoon we gathered some fresh eggs and put them in the nesting box for a new hen. We put a new hen in the pen with a cat carrier that had hay and eggs in it. This morning she was NOT on the eggs, so my DD and I got a different hen out of the main coop and put her in the pen. Several hours later, she wasn't on the eggs either. So now that pen is empty while we decide whether or not to put another hen in the broody pen. We still have two other broodies sitting on eggs and doing a fine job, so it's not like we *need* a 3rd sitter.

Rain (my dear wife) was not feeling well yesterday. She was however feeling good enough to go into town and go to the feed store for chicken food, to another store for some "energize" pills. Not only did we get the pills, but when I went down another isle to see if there was another gum section (we were looking for Big Red gum), I found a THEN DOLLAR BILL laying on the floor. WOO-HOO! Anyway, that store didn't have 'Big Red' gum, so we went to the other store we usually buy lotto tickets at, bought tickets, B.R. gum, and chocolate (she said it would make her feel better). Then we splurged and got lunch, and then stopped at Meeks to get a new ring that holds the drainpipe of the kitchen sink to the sink drain. Then we came home and I installed it after a couple hours of frustration because we don't have the "proper" tools (i.e. no pipe wrench or extra large pliers). But eventually I got it done and now that sink doesn't leak. YAY!

Technorati : broody hens, kitchen sinks

From Elm tree to firewood, to yardwork, to politics

Our major accomplishment of the day was cutting a tree down that was creating too much shade in part of our garden. We cut it high enough that there's now a seat next to the garden where one can rest and contemplate the meaning of life. *smile*

Here's the after view of the tree, and the new view of the garden-side chair.

And here is what happened to the tree - got turned into logs that will be split and then used as firewood this fall and winter. Need to split it pretty soon because we think it's Elm, which we've heard is *much* harder to split when it's dry. Definitely heavy, so maybe that means the fibers are so interwoven that they get *locked* together, making it almost impossible to split dry.

Other than that, I cut and pulled the grass and weeds away from the outside of the house, on the side and back, then sprinkled Diatomaceous earth around it. I'm hoping that it kills the ants and other bugs, but who knows what will really happen.

Oh yeah, and I read an article called "Can We End the American Empire Before It Ends Us?" That basically says if we (the people) can't bring a stop, or at least a major slow-down to the Military Industrial Complex, then the future will be pretty bleak. He also says that what it may take is an uprising of people at least as large as the 1960's generation, probably needs to be even bigger. I must say, that I feel that if the government continues the way it has been for at least the last 7 years, we're in deep do-do. *sigh*

Technorati : Diatomaceous earth, american empire, elm tree, elm trees, garden chair, imperialism, imperialists, splitting elm

News, shopping, garden, and broody chickens

Had a pretty good day today. You know I got up about a quarter after 7 this morning to feed the chickens, which I did, then I went back to bed and slept until 9:30. Watched E.R. until 10 and then watched the news. The Dems are going to push for a "no confidence" vote in the Senate about Gonzo's involvement in the illegal wire-tapping of American's phones, and the political firing's of those 8 attorneys. I hope they get it and force the bastard to resign. I heard that they found a list of *over* 20 judges that Bush and Gonzo wanted fired because they wouldn't bow to the pressure of picking up democrats accused of voter fraud and putting them through "show trials". And here's some awesome news that I sincerely hope is done: "House Votes to Close Guantanamo: In other news from Capitol Hill, the House has voted to demand the Bush administration begin the task of closing the military prison at Guantanamo."

We drove to Lebanon (MO) to get gas ($20 worth got us 6 gallons), pick-up some "hope" tickets (lottery), and do a little grocery shopping for a few essentials. Also, picked up some more aluminum screen for the kitchen window that needed re-done, which I did this afternoon.

Rain watered the garden this morning before we left, and everything is doing well so far. The pumpkin is growing *very* well.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention that right now we have three hens that are broody (sitting on eggs). The eggs under one should start hatching tomorrow (I'll post pics), the 2nd one's should hatch a couple of weeks after that, and the 3rd one's should hatch around June 3rd.

Tags: Bush, Gonzales, Guantanamo, Senate, no-confidence vote, chickens, broody, eggs, chicks, gas prices

My cat (Mae-Mae) came home today! :)

Well, I was trying to make this thumb-print size, and Zoundry didn't do it for me automatically, so you get to see it full-size as a thumb-nail :-) The reason that I'm posting this here picture of Mae-Mae (pronounced:My-My) is because she had been MIA for several days and just came back this afternoon. She is looking kind of skinny, but otherwise in good health. The *first* place she headed after coming in the door was to a food bowl. After Rain announced she was home, I went to the room to pet her, but I had to wait my turn because there were 3 other people trying to touch her too. *grin* She was definitely missed!

Well, I've got laundry that is dry, hanging on the clothes line, that I need to bring in. I also need to fix the newly installed screen in the kitchen window because a cat climbed up it and pulled the top loose. *sigh*

Later gators!

Technorati : cat, cat photography, cat photos, cat pictures, cats

Our garden....so far

This is our garden :-)

Bean plants

A bean plant and a pumpkin plant

And this is the new paint job and a new screen that I did yesterday

The short one are garlic, and the tall 2 are wild onions that were replanted

And this is the cake my dear wife got today

Left pic: Squash plant. Right pic: Roma Tomato plants

Technorati : beans, cake, garden, garlic, paint, pumpkin, screen, squash, tomatoes, wild onion, window

Busy, busy. Mother's Day!

Let it be known that just because I don't have to go to work anymore (disability), that I do get things done around the place. *smile* I know you know that, but it's called a "segue" (3) into what I want to tell that I've gotten done so far today, in no particular order. *grin*

• Blanket washed, hung out, brought in

• Load of laundry washed and put on the clothes line

• Started a second load of laundry in the washing machine

• Emptied and re-loaded the dishwasher

• Ate breakfast

• Played 4 on-line games at BlizzardFanClub and didn't win any of them

• Read (pronounced: red) & responded to some email

• Cut a branch off of a tree using a bow-saw

• Watched the news on DemocracyNow, although it was just the first part (headlines) of Fridays newscast

I do have plans to watch an NBA Playoff game at 4 p.m. CST (and another if my wife allows me to), and I'm considering whether or not to get some more of the grass mowed.

Probably should take a shower sometime today too.

Oh yeah, and we (family) went to the store and got my dear wife a few Mother's Day presents. Did you know that Mother's day was originally started as a war protest?

In the United States, Mother's Day was copied from England by social activist Julia Ward Howe after the American Civil War with a call to unite women against war. She wrote the Mother's Day Proclamation.

Anyway, the washing machine just stopped, so I've got to go. Have a nice day.

Tags: chores, clothes line, Mother's Day, war protest, Julia Ward Howe

Playday Wednesday & Sun Signs

Despite the fact that it rained yesterday morning for a bit, the weekly homeschool playday was not canceled, the sun came out well before it was time to leave for the park. Besides, even if it would've been raining, we still would've went to visit with the friends who were going to be at the park, only we'd go to their house. We did however go to the park. We were about 15 minutes late and were the first ones there, so we played basketball (shot hoops, then played "h.o.r.s.e.", which I won). It was a hot day, so after we finished the game we decided that since our friends were late and we didn't know how late they would be, that we would just head-out, run our errands and then head to their house. We first went to the grocery store to get a few essentials and pick-up my prescriptions. After that we went to McDonalds to get some ice-cream. Unfortunately their ice-cream machine was down, so we went to Dairy Queen instead. YUM! Then we stopped and got a few gallons of gas in our portable tank so that I could mow the yard. Fast forward to our friends house. There we sat and talked for a while, got some clothes that she was planning on putting in a yard sale, and we also got a really cool thing I call "the sign wheel". Not sure where we're going to hang it, but it'll be somewhere close to the living room if I have any say-so. While we were visiting, we (both families) decided that we'd come back to our house and have some hamburgers and hotdogs and the kids could play - video games of course. We had more great conversation until well after 9 p.m. when they left. It was really nice to hook-up again. We hadn't seen them in a while and were missing them. Hopefully now that we've rekindled the friendship, we can have more visits and visit them too. Well, that was our Wednesday playday. How was YOUR Wednesday?

Technorati : Dairy Queen, McDonalds, friends, homeschool, playday, sign wheel, sun signs

Okay weekend, and Monday

Don't really know if anyone wants to know, but we had a fairly good weekend and even a Monday that was pretty good. Didn't actually *do* anything over the weekend other than enjoy each other's company amongst the four of us. *smile* Ah, if it weren't for my wife and kids, I wouldn't have anyone in real life to talk to. Oh well, guess that's how it's going to be in the 21st century for us. *sigh* You know what, I lied, we did *do* something over the weekend, we went to town on Saturday to the store and then to breakfast at Sonic (because McD's card [debit] machine was down). Rain and I both ordered the "breakfast burrito" combo and got the burritos with *everything* on them, when what we really wanted was the "regular" burritos without all the crap (onions, jalapeno peppers, tomatoes, lettuce). That being said, at least we weren't hungry once we finished, although we did have a bad taste in our mouths despite picking as much as the crap off as we could. And another thing, there was so much of it that by the time we finished picking it off, the burritos were cold. *SIGH* They (Sonic) *really* should change the names of the 'regular' and 'breakfast' burritos to better distinguish them! The kids really enjoyed their breakfasts though - they had "blasts". *grin* Yes, sugar for breakfast, "the breakfast of runners-up to champions". LOL. Another thing we did over the weekend (Sunday to be specific) was share a bottle of "Peach Wine" made by the "St. James Winery". It's a 'sweet fruit wine' that was okay as far as wine goes (don't really like the taste of any wine, but it's better than beer). *grin*

Today we went to the Wal-Mart Supercenter (yes, I know they're evil, but it's all we can afford. sigh) and got a few things, including some *wire* screen to fix a window-screen that the cats have destroyed, and enough to make a screen for the living room window that usually has an air-conditioner in it. We're going to put the screen on and see just how long we can get into Summer before we have to put the AC in. And since we're not currently running the pump on the pool (it doesn't work), we're also saving money and electricity there. *smile*

Tags: Sonic, Wal-Mart, wire screen, blast, burritos, McDonalds

I hate dial-up!!

Have I mentioned lately how MUCH I truly HATE dial-up? Didn't think so, so I'm re-telling you now... I FUCKING HATE DIAL-UP!!

Ever since my daughter found YouTube, she started downloading anime videos that aren't being shown on television yet. And of course for her to get *an* episode of whatever show, she has to download 3 parts to make one video, which take 2 or 3 HOURS! Which of course not only takes so long, but slows EVERYTHING else down on the computer :-( And before anyone tells me "if you can't get and won't be able to get high-speed in your area... move and stop bitching!", let me just say, "WE'RE TRYING! But it's hard without money, ya know!" Okay, I feel better (a little), thanks for listening.

Tags: dial-up, high-speed, dsl, highspeed internet

Rare posting, Congress numbers, Iraqi blogs, laundry

As you probably *didn't* notice, I haven't been writing in my blog much lately. Yeah, I've posted a few article excerpts and links, some pictures, but nothing all that personal or original. I haven't been writing because compared to SO MANY others, my life/activities aren't important (i.e. store, laundry, vacuuming, yard work, etc). We have hardly any money, so we don't travel far because we don't have the extra for gas money upon our return from a long trip. Therefore we don't visit friends more than a couple of times a year. And because our friends aren't much better off financially, they don't visit us more that a couple of time a year. I feel bad for the kids because we SUCK at making real life friends, and the ones we do have are usually busy doing something else.

I've been trying to keep up on the news about the Iraq, Afghanistan, and other political stuff, even though I can't change anything that I'm aware of, at least not quickly. Which reminds me, in the u.S. you can call your public officials toll free at any of these numbers: 800-828-0498, 800-459-1887 or 800-614-2803.

I've been browsing a few of the blogs from Iraqi's that I found on the Iraq Blog Count, which I found at the Independent Media Center. One in particular that I found interesting is from an Iraq Atheist. I checked it out because I just wanted to see how an Atheist sees things in a war-torn, Muslim country. And did you know that there are heavy metal rock bands in Iraq? I didn't. One is Semi-Death, and another is Saddam's Family.

Well, that's about all I've got. Need to fold the clothes I brought in from the line about an hour ago, check the ones still on the line, and unhook the dishwasher from the kitchen sink because it's done. See you later.

Tags: Iraq Blog, Indymedia, Independent Media Center, Saddam's Family, Iraqi Atheist, Official contact phone numbers, politics, Impeachment, congress

USDA Tainted Feed Found in Poultry

Well, what can I say. Pretty soon it may be critical to grow ALL our own food :-( - Rambleman

May 1, 2007

USDA Tainted Feed Found in Poultry

News — walterj 4:40 pm

The tainted feed that killed pets and poisoned pig meat has been found in processed poultry. It is interesting to note that the USDA does not feel it is necessary to recall the tainted meat. It is okay to burden small farmers with NAIS but let’s not hurt our most favored trading partners like the People’s Democracy of China or the big factory farms who are known for hire illegal immigrants.

For the birds: Contaminated feed now found on chicken farms in Indiana

SDA and FDA investigators said Monday that byproducts from pet food contaminated by wheat gluten imported from China were used in chicken feed on farms in Indiana. The discovery came as part of the government’s probe into imported rice protein concentrate and wheat gluten, which have been found to contain melamine and melamine-related products. Full article

Tags: USDA, NAIS, contamination, contaminated, food, chicken, poultry, Indiana, farms

Cat pix, chicken pix, window pic, cowhead pic

Good news! Well, for us anyway. Hedwig, who had been gone for at least a month, came home a few days ago :-) She's GOT to have another home, because she definitely didn't look like she went without food.

Every nite when I go outside to feed the chickens, they surround me and follow me until they get their food.

And you KNOW that I mention our cats from time to time, so I took a few pictures just because :-)

While outside a couple of weeks ago, I found this miniature cow head by a tree with a real one that had decomposed too much and had to be tossed. But I thought this was cute.

Not exactly who or why this picture was taken, but since I'm posting pictures I thought I'd just throw it in. It's either a picture of the trampoline, or the bottles on the top of the window - you decide :-)

Technorati : cat, cats, chicken, cow, cowhead, head, photography, pictures