Lonely chick seeks companionship

This little guy/gal was hatched by our Silkie Bantam. She was broody for quite some time, then we heard peeping and found this little one wandering around in the pen on his own. Little Sis attempted to put him back in with mom, and mom immediately tried to peck his eyes out.

None of the other eggs hatched. There wasn't much sense in setting up the brooder for one lonely chick, so he's happily peeping away in a smaller version in the kitchen.

It's a bit odd: he doesn't sound at all like the peeps we've had before. There's none of that insane peeping at earsplitting decibels. He just chirps contentedly and actually sounds a bit more like a canary or finch than a chicken.

We can't be sure of the gender until the little peep gets a bit older. Little Sis named her Saphira, after the dragon in Brisingr. I call him Linus, after the Peanuts character. The reason I call him that is that he has a little blue blanket that we used to warm him when we first found him, and it's been in his mini-brooder ever since. When Little Sis changed his bedding last time, she forgot to put it back in, and he peeped the loudest ever until she brought it back. Too cute.

Now we just have to figure out where to house a pet chicken (we have meat and egg chickens, but this is the only pet chicken) once he's fully grown. I don't think he'll be able to sleep in the kitchen forever, especially once the crowing starts. On the other hand, if he is a she, it would be convenient to have the egg dispenser right there by the stove. lol Tiny eggs, though.

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Tonight, we are supposed to have our first frost. Seems a bit early to me. I'm notating it here so that I'll be able to look it up next year.

I spent part of the afternoon picking the last of the peppers and other tender things. Ok, not the last of the peppers. The plants are still blooming and covered with teensy baby peppers. If the frost misses the plants, we may have another gallon or two to put away.

My head is spinning

I have so much to do, and no idea where to start. My head is, literally, spinning. I need to prioritize, I suppose, and yet it seems that everything needs to be done now.

I have one more day of work. While I will truly miss my job, I am looking forward to the extra time at home. (Yes, I know I mentioned this before, but it's my blog and I'll be redundant if I like. I may even repeat myself. :P)

There's just so much to do before the cold weather hits: I need to get some firewood in. I have about two dozen flats of perennials to plant. I have crabapples to harvest and make into jelly. I have apples to harvest, cut up, and freeze. The list goes on and on...and on...and on...you get the idea.

Today, since I've been up before sunrise and it's about to start pouring rain...again...and I've already put in a day of work (at work), I guess I'll just do some basics and clean house. This weekend we have big plans to butcher all the chickens that are ready and finally finish up the harvest, weather permitting. If it does pour rain, we can still get the chickens done and then move on to inside projects, maybe even get the crabapple jelly out of the way.

*sigh* Back to work.

Ever so slowly...then a bit faster...

...we are adapting a self-sufficient lifestyle. I guess it started gradually with a small garden and food in the fridge freezer, then developed into this mega garden and three chest freezers plus a pantry full of home canned goodies.

Despite the slow start, it seems that things are picking up steam. Just this year, we've expanded the garden, started incubating, raising, and butchering our own chickens, got a mating pair of Muscovy ducks (to raise ducks for meat), among other farmsteading advances. We're even going to start using a composting toilet. Closer to the end of the year, I'll post a list of our accomplishments for the year.

My farmsteader attitude has greatly improved: I've stopped being frantic over firewood, mostly thanks to Hubby and his ever so calm demeanor. I don't complain about the tons and tons (and tons) of canning that keeps me stuck in the house on beautiful days (not complaining, just stating facts) because I enjoy popping open a jar of fresh homegrown goodies in the middle of a snowstorm. I try to worry less about the approach of winter and enjoy fall.

Harvest is finally slowing down. I think we did well despite this being a blight year. And was it ever a blight year. Yikes. Harvest totals will be posted once I have finished up the canning (still doing tomatillo salsa), picked all the peppers and winter squash, and finished digging up the potatoes and onions.

Speaking of which...I'd better get diggin'.

Let's talk poop

Lol..bet that post title gets hits. Gross. :P

So, let's talk poop: Do you have a composting toilet? Do you want one? Could you use one?

The Humanure Handbook has some easy directions for building your own. But, when you look at it, it's really just a bucket of sawdust with some pretty wood surrounding it, and of course a seat.

I think I'd like one, once I got over the initial shock of going in a bucket. If I didn't use it any other time, it'd be awesome for power outages. (No electric means no running water when you have a well pump.)

I'm sure it beats an outhouse. Nothing wonderful about traipsing outside in the middle of the night in the dead of winter to have a pee, is there?

It is funny how we are used to flush toilets; a tremendous waste of water when you stop to think about it.

I realize that the majority of people find composting toilets gross, or just plain weird. One person I know of (IRL) has one, and I thought it the coolest thing ever. *shrug*

So, tell me of your experiences with composting toilets, good or bad, as well as your recommendations, opinions, etc.

Wow...free time??

My job is seasonal, and the end of the season is fast approaching. At the end of the month, I'll be home full time again. I will actually miss working because I really do love my job. (I've always heard people say that and never believed it was possible until now.) Of course I'll go back to work in early spring, so, as Little Sis says, "It's like summer vacation, only it isn't summer and you still have lots to do." lol

It's going to be weird to be home full time again. Life was hectic before I started working, and even more so once I did. Now it will seem odd not to rush to get to bed so I can get up early (very, very early). Funny, though, that the things that seemed important (before my job started) didn't seem quite so pressing when I had less time on my hands.

It will be wonderful to spend more time with Hubby. We've really missed each other, as our schedules are generally opposite during the week. We make up for it on weekends. ;)

I'm working on prioritizing a to-do list. You know, all that fun stuff like: harvest firewood; clean out garden, prepare beds for next year; finish remodeling projects; harvest and process apples; can and freeze meals for early spring when I return to work, etc etc.

If all goes well, I will have time to make a quilt, soap, and homemade pasta. I hope to post a tad more often as well.

But, that's at the end of the month, so for now, I'm off to can some goodies.