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Post by nhlivefreeordie on Nov 14, 2011 0:34:55 GMT -4
WOW!! That looks like a double for sure. I used to get my eggs in NH from a nearby farm, for just .30 more a dozen you could get what they called Jumbo's, almost all were double yolkers, never had a triple. That will be a great story Mike! Looking forward to it.
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Post by Martin on Nov 15, 2011 0:10:12 GMT -4
The BIG one is 3ΒΌ" long. Do you have any Delaware's? They can lay some huge eggs! ~Martin
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Post by leatherneckpa on Nov 15, 2011 7:54:25 GMT -4
Do you have any Delaware's? ~Martin Yep, got four of them. Can't remember if they came in this last batch or the one before. Either way, they could be laying like that, I suppose. Boy, if they lay like that on a regular basis they could become my "breeding flock" when we finally move to our land. Once I move, it is my plan to stock the entire homestead with ALBC watch list breeds and help maintain some genetic diversity for future generations. So I'll pick some breed of chickens and keep just the one breed.
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Post by capecmom on Nov 15, 2011 21:55:55 GMT -4
My ISA Browns can lay some big eggs-but not THAT big! Wow!
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Post by Martin on Nov 15, 2011 23:40:18 GMT -4
Do you have any Delaware's? ~Martin Yep, got four of them. Can't remember if they came in this last batch or the one before. Either way, they could be laying like that, I suppose. Boy, if they lay like that on a regular basis they could become my "breeding flock" when we finally move to our land. Once I move, it is my plan to stock the entire homestead with ALBC watch list breeds and help maintain some genetic diversity for future generations. So I'll pick some breed of chickens and keep just the one breed. I understand that Glen Drowns at Sandhill Preservation has some very nice Delaware's available.....he's selected for large eggs and proper type. I now have it in my mind that I'd like to create my own breed of dual-purpose birds that lay a reasonable amount of eggs and have some real meat on their bones. I'm thinking of using CornishXRock and White Wyandottes as the foundation stock. CXR's for the meat and the WW's for their foraging and egg laying ability as well as their rose combs. I sure wish that I could get my hands on some Poulet de Bresse from France, they're the ultimate dual-purpose breed, but that's never going to happen. ~Martin
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Post by Martin on Nov 17, 2011 2:14:00 GMT -4
I've pretty much decided that I'm going to split our 15 pound turkey right down the middle and roast the dry-brined half in the oven in the big cast iron fry pan and cure and smoke the other half, there's only the two of us so that'll give us some diversity rather than just roasting the whole thing. Sure wish I had some capons, can't wait to get back to raising a few of them. One of our best Christmas dinners ever Mom roasted a couple capons in the wood burning cookstove...it was awesome....I can remember the capons, bread stuffing and rolls more than anything. LOL I'm a bread stuffing addict....gotta have good stuffing. Scalloped oysters too! I love oysters! I think I was meant to live by the shore...I love all seafood, and fresh water food too! Maybe it's in the blood, considering my last name. Anyway...I got thinking about good food tonight, and obviously it snowballed! LOL ~Martin
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Post by nhlivefreeordie on Nov 17, 2011 9:51:20 GMT -4
Careful Martin otherwise you will be all foodied out before Thursday next gets here... ;D
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Post by nhlivefreeordie on Nov 17, 2011 17:17:58 GMT -4
In amongst everything else that is going on, Lynn brought home three bags of pears from a faculty member at PSU, most likely drops, only about 30% were salvageable, but I still got 12 pints of "Spirited" pears out of them, half with Rum and the other 6 with Kahlua.
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Post by azlonerider on Nov 17, 2011 22:21:03 GMT -4
Party at Wayne and Lynn's house!! I'll bring the Tequila and a case of Guinness for chasers.
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Post by nhlivefreeordie on Nov 17, 2011 23:12:47 GMT -4
Party at Wayne and Lynn's house!! I'll bring the Tequila and a case of Guinness for chasers. Bring er on out Andy!! I am hoping if we can put this Meet the Writers gig together you can make it. It would be so cool to have everyone in one place.
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Post by nhlivefreeordie on Nov 18, 2011 14:00:18 GMT -4
I finished the pears, and got 10 more pints, which were "spirited" with Chambord, they should be AWESOME!!!
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Post by leatherneckpa on Nov 24, 2011 10:46:14 GMT -4
First a small rant, and I'll bet I'm not alone in this group. I grew up knowing that people got crazy the day after Thanksgiving and mobbed the shopping centers. (We didn't have enclosed malls way back then.) While I refused to get mobbed, I suppose I could live with it. But for crying out loud, they were putting Christmas stuff out the day after Halloween this year! We have become far too commercialized and gotten far too distant from the real reason for the season.
OK, now for a little cheer. Yesterday I went out to the mailbox and almost danced all the way back into the house. I received my FIRST SEED CATALOG for 2012!! I don't count Gurney's catalogs because they mail those mailbox stuffers year-round. Nope, this was an honest to goodness real seed catalog, Totally Tomatoes. And it was dated 2012 on the cover. Let the drooling and planning begin!
I have finished stapling my ground-level chicken barrier to the garden fence and down to the ground. (You'd be amazed at how small a gap a chicken need to squeeze into a garden. And then they COPY each other and destroy a garden in just a little over day!) the next improvement for our garden is going to be taking that pretty white lattice frame off the top of the garden. I have watched my girls fly to the top of it, walk the length of it, and drop into the garden. Instead I'm going to nail on 8' 2x4's and then staple 4' garden fence from the top down, with no rails along the top. I'm hoping that will stop them. They won't be able to perch on the thin wire top, and I don't think they will fly over it. We'll see.
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Post by leatherneckpa on Nov 26, 2011 18:35:50 GMT -4
I will NEVER go out on Black Friday again!! I remember taking Candice out shopping once on Black Friday. She was probably 10 or 12 at the time. Haven't done it since, until yesterday. Won't do it again, EVER! So what could entice me to brave the throngs of rude, inconsiderate, pushy, obnoxious, crowds who were too busy swearing at each other, cutting each other off in the store and in the parking lots, and flipping each other off to ever remember that the whole reason for this season is supposed to be a message of peace and tolerance? Well, I've wanted a gun safe for many years. Sure I could build a nice gun cabinet like the one I made Kevin. But those aren't fire-proof and if someone broke into the house the first thing they're going to steal are the weapons on display. Believe it or not, there has been a break-in within this sleepy little village that I live in. So I have yearned for a nice steel gun safe. And yesterday they were on sale at Tractor Supply for $200 off. They were offering a nice Winchester 24 gun safe for only $550. I called to make sure they still had one. The lady who answered the phone said they had opened at 6am with 24 in stock, but there were lines at all three registers to the back of the store so she couldn't tell if there were any left. I decided to take a chance and try to get one. I must have hit the store at a good time because there were hardly any lines, I could navigate the aisles easily, and I actually got to park in the front row. I found the safes easily enough and they had a half dozen left. I paid for it and went to the side yard so they could load it with the fork-lift. It has been my experience that the people who are hired to work at Wal-Mart aren't exactly hired for their brain power, and the seasonal help at Tractor Supply must come from the same pool. They put a 5' tall gun safe in the bad standing up vertical and asked if I had enough straps to tie it down securely. I had them take it back out and set it on the ground, then tip it back onto the tailgate, and finally lift the bottom and slide it into the bed. And that's when it happened! Remember back in June when I broke my foot motorcycling? Well, I didn't scream as loud then as I did when that forklift rolled over my foot. I was in so much pain I couldn't even curse. And of course when I screamed the woman operating the forklift stopped, ON MY FOOT!! Then she backed off of it. You know those tires are not pneumatic, they're solid robber. And a forklift is bloody heavy. Once I could think straight I hobbled off to the emergency room. Guess what, nothing's broken. I don't know how. Iced it, wrapped it, and stayed off of it yesterday (after my neighbor and I got the 500 pound safe out of the truck and into the house). My right foot, which has had 5 months to heal, actually hurts worse than the one that got run over by a forklift yesterday. Go figure!? BTW, when I went back to Tractor Supply to fill out an accident report the parking lot was full, people were parking on the mulched islands around the light poles and in the grass, and there were lines as far back into the store as I could see. The accident report consisted of my name, address, and telephone paper on a pad of paper.
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Post by azlonerider on Nov 27, 2011 0:12:01 GMT -4
Wow, Mike that is horrible!!! Hopefully as time goes on the soft tissue that was damaged will heal quickly and there'll be no ill effects. The good thing is you got the safe!!!
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Post by leatherneckpa on Nov 27, 2011 9:01:43 GMT -4
Andy, the wife dragged me out shopping for the grandson yesterday. We were out for, oh, about six hours. And as reported the forklift foot did not hurt as bad as the motorcycle foot. Toying with the idea of seeing a quack to find out just exactly what kind of damage I did to the motorcycle foot back in June.
So, what kind of rave reviews did the family give your work when they were out? Any of them express envy or interest in copying?
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