Post Gordon ~ Thoughts, Commentary & Reflections

Senior-community Meat Birds

When I met these 3 new hens over in Gosport, didn't realize they were actually meat birds. They're much bigger than my 5 hens, by far. And when you pick them up, well, it's like helping your grandmother out of a chair, soft, mushy flesh. Two years old or more, give or take and probably survived this long because they haven't had commercial feed. Free rangers.

Meat birds typically don't survive this long. They eat, blow up in size rapidly and either get harvested or their hearts explode from their massive eating. They don't just eat like the other hens. They gorge, so if I want them to live will have to put less food out more often. Pace them. Very sweet birds. Except putting them to bed. They'd rather hang out on top of the doghouse.

Having someone boss them around is a new thing. But they'll be warmer and better inside rather than out in the cold, even if just a doghouse. And they'll keep the duck warm, too. The duck likes them. They're fine with the duck, a quite a bit smaller girl than the hens.

Temp this morning's about 14 degrees to start off, a degree warmer than when we got to Dayton yesterday, a lot colder than Bloomington yesterday (about 30 degrees). Supposed to get up to 40 or so today. Starting out yesterday looked worse here than Monday, when Dayton closed. Had a dusting of snow here, quite a bit in Ellettsville and streets not yet sanded or salted completely.

It cleared up going north to Indy and was clear until Dayton-area where you could still see at the rest area (where Miguelito needed to stop to pee and give me 'just in case' directions) that they had been hit hard. Saw a fresh multiple being worked by law enforcement on the westbound near there.

Took Mandatory 30 at Centerville Rest Area on way back. Forgot to put myself 'off-duty' while in Dayton for 3 hours.

 

Trucker PTSD

We truckers live a sort of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) where everything triggers a warning memory. See Seward truck in Indy, quick recall the Seward truck that drove straight into the support up on I-74. An open field running out I-70 east of Indy once held a tractor-trailer that went off-roading, axle deep in wet soil, long deep tracks and a trooper walking, picking his way out in the muck to talk to the driver, unhurt.

You come up to a long curve you know well, and you feel so familiar with it, tightens up there so that your foot goes on the brake when needed, if needed, when it should and no more to not slow your progress more than necessary. The more times you run a road, the more familiar, the more bad recollections and bad memories you accumulate, which spells experience.

Will I remember the fox out in the field just past the Centerville rest area westbound? Yeah, probably. It had stretched out it's full length, luxuriating in the sun, lying on the snow. One of these small, long-snouted, young ones. Had one in town here that the homeowner actually put water out for it. Was living in a culvert right in town. A youngster like this one, and this one had a bloody kill, maybe a rabbit. Too far out in the field to make out exactly.

Yes, it was unusual enough. I will remember that. Otherwise, it's the negatives; we go from negative to negative, some bumps here, a pothole that's big enough to avoid if there's no one in the next lane...

You recall that this off-ramp says 35 but 45's fine, really. Usually I drop 5 mph or more below what's posted--at least the first time through. There's usually a spot that DOES require 35 but usually it's just a spot, get past that and get on it. No wisdom to be found challenging curves you haven't met yet. Not a good idea. First, second, even third time's a learner sometimes when something's quirky. We remember these things. Negatives.

Sometimes where people died, truckers, too.

Just part of the trade.

 

You're one of the more contented people I've met, anywhere, in an industry of prima donnas.

So I'll look forward to that fit one of these days, uh, unless it involves bloodying my nose...

It's enough that I have a minor fight each night now with the new hens. I'd like to level this coop/doghouse and jack it up 3 feet, cut a door for cleaning, install a roost and nesting box. Or use the base and roof and build a larger coop out of it. Could do that, too. Not sure which is the most trouble.

Tellya, that duck's cute. I like that duck. A lot.

Tonight broke 2nd whole chicken down into pieces. Stayed in the fridge a little long. Should be 72 hours max. Baking the pieces now in the super-whoopee turbo convection oven. The backs from this bird and the first bird are in a crock pot for soup.

 

On Tap for Today...

Dunno. Breakfast was a pint of chicken soup from chicken backs of 2 whole chickens that I broke down into pieces and then crock-potted last night after dismembering whole chicken #2. The thing had stayed in the fridge longer than ideal so other pieces got baked up in the turbo convection oven, wrapped and put back in the refrig. That, the fridge, needs cleaning, could do that.

Car's always got 'stuff,' could clean car. Work on hen/duck doghouse.

Took 12 minutes to walk up the hill in back, then down to the bottom of the trail I'm working on, back up again, raise arms and shout, "One!!" Then repeated two more times. Takes me up and down a good 40 feet and feels great. Shouted, "Two!!" after next and "Three!! after last.

Like to do that 3x day. Just under 300 paces each trip up and down. 1,000 feet, give or take. Go up and down 3x for 3,000 feet (1,000 x 3) and do 3x/day for 9,000 feet/day. Under 2 miles but a bump up all the same.

My dog Freddy loves it. Tika, not so much.

Well, when I'm here. Spent another 15 minutes digging some red sand (have been told there's no clay here; that's heavy sand--have sugar sand and everything between sugar sand and this. Extended the trail a bit and got all of 1 wheelbarrow full to place just down from top. Will gradually work down widening the trail. That's good exercise, too.

And don't have to drive into town for it.

Brought fresh water out after second feeding the new hens/duck. Trying to pace them. Duck shifted from quack-quack-quack---quack-quack-quack---quack-quack-quack to kind of a soft rhythm with more of a click/downbeat-click/downbeat and sidled up next to me, let me stroke its back.

Put some sliced apple in the worm bins. Need new cardboard on bottom, old cardboard's gone and then I lose a few through the 1/8" drain holes on bottom. And the rack, could work on the rack, make the frame over dog area sturdier first (just some boxed 2x2s with plywood on top but dogs like it. They know where to go when inside; worms go above that.

Ready to add a bin or two. Split each into two.

Sometimes I lose whole mornings in 'could do this, could do that.' Sometimes I give up and head into town or Bloomington. It's not completely make work to avoid work, to avoid deciding what to work on, at least, not all the time. Maybe some of the time. There's laundry, more dishes...

 

Got My 2nd Uphill/Downhill Done

Number 3 uphill/downhill trip coming up shortly and sure beats the flat inside walking track at the Spencer Y. Got a little more dirt work done, too, but the red sand up the hill is too sticky to do much with; brought the wheelbarrow down to the lower part where have some that's loose and worked there.

Then, oh, no!! Rooster in the convent. Ugh! Actually 2 had gotten in through the back of the coop where the wind had caught the tarp that's stapled to the door frame where I haven't installed the door that has to be removed from where it was before I expanded the coop and... yeah, it's somewhere on my to-do list, too.

No small battle getting that straightened out.

Got the 2 roosters finally in their area but one of the Reds came in along with--such a little [insert derogatory word for too sexually generous female of the species]. She knew where she needed to be and after I isolated just her and one rooster, he'd jump on her and bang her just out of reach, she'd run up to the gate and try to poke her head through the chain link...

Well, it's all over now with none the worse other than her back feathers kinda roughed up again.

Lunch was one of the chicken breasts that I baked up last night from whole chicken #2. And peas. There is no comparison, fresh versus restaurant.

Why is that? I ask you.

One of these roosters is likely moving up the cull list. Either that or their sister, the Buckeye, with better reflexes than all the others to catch a tossed piece of scrambled egg--gets it on the bounce before another can pounce. But repeatedly pecks my fingers and hard. She loves me, she loves me not...

 

Gorgeous Day Today, Winter Storm on Way

No run tomorrow (Saturday, Jan 31st) and should be nice until late afternoon when storm watch kicks in, with claims, claims, of up to 6-9 inches of snow--so Accuweather warns right now. Too chilly this morning to get a shovel into the ground even on the lower part of my walking/hiking trail so did 4 uphill-downhill trips, adding 1, still less than a mile. 1,200 paces. 4,000 feet.

Really sweet outside this afternoon.

Brianne had Broccoli Cheese soup (Friday's soup day at Main Street Coffee down in Spencer) and Tuscany but the Tuscany had already sold out by 11:30. I reminded her in no uncertain terms that since they're open tomorrow she could make enough and sell the rest tomorrow morning. Opens at 10.

"Like I've got nothing else to do!!" she objected sharply. Josh is not taking this fight on. Apparently she's making the soup in standard-size crock pots. No oatmeal cookies. Very busy little place.

Boy!! Is this really the end of January already?

Usually last frost no later than May 15. Let's see Feb, Mar, April...

 

Chilly This Morning

This morning my bare fingers stick and risk losing some skin on the gate latches to bring the birds water and feed. After the first round, brought gloves out. Feels crispier than 18 degrees.

Happily, no 6 am call asking me to take KY (or other) run later this morning. There's some elk meat, stew meat defrosting in the fridge since last night that'll go into a crock pot in a bit and had been storm watch warning 6-9 inches. Looks like warning's been pulled and 2-3 inches predicted.

It's all good...