We’ve MOVED!
We took several trips moving our stuff from Riverside Farms over here, but given the pandemic there was light traffic so it wasn’t so bad. We hired a couple of guys to move our furniture. It’s about a 25 minute drive between the old and new houses.
We’re somewhat settled in. Looking forward to hanging pictures and setting out a few knickknacks. Today I put my rocks outside in a long row. I tried to take a panoramic image of them but there are too many. Just imagine it.
The previous owners, Rhonda & Guy, had planted loads of herbs around the house as well as other plants like roses. So many herbs! Huge swaths of rosemary, cilantro (bolted), Italian parsley, a small bit of curly parsley, oregano thyme, mint, and lemon balm. Deer are reliably around the fenced periphery at dawn/dusk.
Met our closest neighbors (stood at a distance) who have a dog and two young kids. They have accepted some eggs, (turns out they are accustomed to already from Rhonda & Guy).
Our kitchen is nicer than we could have dreamed and so spacious. Endless counters and even lots of drawers! Do you keep your measuring spoons in a heap and dig through when you need to find the proper one? We always did. But now, I have them all spread into proper categories in an extra silverware dispenser! Such a luxury that can only be done with loads of space. Just an example.
We also have loads of kitchen things as we both previously had our own well-stocked kitchens. Also Rob often gets kitchen tools as gifts from his kids. We have an entire pantry full of things like food processors, hand blenders, salad spinner, etc. I recently tried out Rob’s gorgeous mortar and pestle to grind up some herbs with garlic and olive oil which we placed atop our pasta :)
We will need to get some furniture but there’s no rush. Like a few dining chairs which we’ll pick out from craigslist likely. And eventually different living room furniture.
Rob setup the music playing stuff (sonos), including outdoor speakers. We can control what plays in what room, including turntable!
It’s nice that the house is pretty new and everything WORKS! We loved living on Riverside Farms but that house had a lot of broken things. In fact, we are still trying to unlearn the habit of opening the freezer by the door edge rather than the handle (at the old place the handle was attached by duct tape which wasn’t able to withstand a pull).
Our stovetop is so so nice. First of all, the knobs stay on. But then, you can adjust the heat in subtle gradations and it all works like pro-fession-ally. Really, really nice.
There are several things we’ll need to learn how to maintain including: lawn care (hiring someone for now at least), sprinkler system (not sure working correctly), pool maintenance (we have a semi-above-ground-pool which is non-chlorine), water filtration, thermostat programming. As far as lawn care goes, there’s a bunch of land in front of the house with long grass and trees. This area will be mowed rarely as it is kept kind of “wild”. But the backyard has a bit of grass to be mowed more frequently. We have not yet put anything in the raised beds. There are a few overgrown green onions which we did eat one time.
We are getting to know the chickens and they are getting used to us. Usually by 6:30 in the morning, I slide open the door to the roosts, and they bolt out and run to their feeding station as if they hadn’t eaten for days. Then they wander the yard all day. They’re usually mostly together unless one is in the roost laying eggs. At dusk, around 8:30, we (usually Rob), puts them to bed. By this time they are already up in the roosts (they are often all huddled together in one seemingly) and Rob just has to shut the sliding door. They are gently purring at this point.
In late afternoons I usually go in the coop and collect the eggs. Average day: 5 eggs. They do vary in color. Then I grab some kitchen gloves and quickly toss the few poops that were up in the roosts. The coop has pine shavings and straw. I bought some more but the store guy advised me against the long straw so I’ll be using shorter cut stuff. Hopefully the chickens will be OK with that. Also sometimes I cut herbs and toss them in the coop.
Eggs taste great and actually I don’t notice any difference between these and grocery ones I was buying (I bought those pasture-raised/organic branded ones). Rob noticed the yolk texture in these is different and better I think. Ask him, I forget. He’s more perceptive on food tasting than I am.
I’ve tried out kitchen scraps on the hens but they are far pickier than the pigs. They refuse carrot peels, roasted brussels sprouts. They are OK with pineapple core and banana (but not the peel). They had an OK time picking at fish skin. They enjoy seedy bread. But most of all, they love SEEDS! Shared some pumpkin seeds and now I have a stash of sunflower seeds that I offer a handful of each day. While the hens are wary in general, seeds they will eagerly eat out of my hand.
I asked Rhonda what types of chickens these are and she e-replied, “Two are Buff Orpingtons ( light brown eggs) , two are Barred Rocks ( medium brown eggs), and one is an Ameraucana ( blue/green eggs). The others are Maran crosses ( dark brown eggs and white eggs)…. I’m just not sure what kind of cross.”
There’s a clear pecking order!! The Barred Rocks are at the top. They are first to grab food from us. Next up are the Maran crosses, (one is mostly black and the other is black/white speckled). Then are the Buff Orpingtons (brown ones), and last and definitely least, is the Ameraucana which has a notable morphological difference in that she’s got a “feathered face” (my description).
We were just getting accustomed to all this when the NFL draft occurred. So that is how some of the chickens got their names…. The two Barred Rocks are named One-a and Tua (Tua derived from Tua Tagovailoa). The black with a touch of brown chicken is named Matt Patricia and the speckled black one is named Cole (for Cole Kmet), and the feather-faced one is named Mrs. Joe Burrow. The two brown ones are “the hash browns”.
I picked up some more pellet food for them- at TRACTOR SUPPLY!- but discovered it’s not the same kind as what Rhonda & Guy were using and I don’t think they like it. Still using up the old but once we break into the new stuff I’m kinda nervous they’ll make a fuss and refuse to eat it.
We need some time to get all this under our belt and then we can go DOG SHOPPING at the shelter!!
I’m including pics of chickens and a couple things we saw on walk in the neighborhood. Also I put some of my crab/sea urchin and stuff collection in a couple of drawers. If you click on the pics they should scroll to the right for a total of like 11 pics.
