We had a small dusting of snow to wake up to this morning which makes our crude footbridge a bit too slippery to cross.

Option number two is a series of cinder block stepping stones just to the side of the ford. This 14 second video is how it looked about an hour ago.

I forgot to mention the fact that these last two videos are of one of the first versions of the Avian Aqua Miser. I started out with a small plastic honey bottle, but found on hot days it was just barely enough water to last all day.

The final product holds up to a half gallon of water, which makes it wider and heavier and eliminates the problem of swinging, which the hens seemed to not mind, but it made me dizzy after watching them longer than a few minutes.

This video demonstrates how several hens can share the same Avian Aqua Miser and be happy about it.

I took this 15 second video yesterday to show the Avian Aqua Miser in action.

Our chickens will never drink dirty water again, and that's well worth the admission price because that warm and fuzzy feeling continues to grow each time you watch them drink with such enthusiasm.

I was supposed to have a meeting this morning --- the good lord willin' an' the creek don't rise.  But the creek did rise and the doppler radar called for much more rain to come, so I called to say I was afraid to leave home for fear of getting flooded out.

While chatting to the folks I was supposed to meet with, I learned that the creek which folks talk about rising was originally meant to refer to the Creek Indians.  Which would make the phrase grammatically correct after all --- I always thought the "don't" in the sentence was just Appalachianese.

Anyhow, Lucy and I wandered down to the uncapitalized creek to perform a stick test on its depth.  Someday I want to install a long stick with graduated markings in the creek so I'll know the actual depth of the creek water, but for now I stick to a more quick and dirty stick test.  I throw the stick across the creek and see how well Lucy does as she bounds after it.  Today, Lucy showed me up for a wimp --- she could walk almost all the way across.  Still, I'm always glad to be flooded in, letting nature win the battle for once.

We just got back from a quick trip down to South Carolina to visit Daddy and explore all of his gadgets!

Here he is showing off his solar-powered deer repellent light.  (He built the stand himself.)  Despite my gift-resistance, I thanked him profusely when he offered to give me a set for Christmas to try in my own garden.  According to Daddy, as long as you move the lights every few days, the blinking lights scare away deer, who think the lights are predator eyes.  I'm willing to try anything to keep our deer away!

Then there's the automatic chicken feeder he built for his Golden Comets and Rhode Island Reds.  This one I'm less likely to emulate (though I'm including it since I thought others might be interested.)  The automatic feeder is obviously best in a stationary coop and I figure it would be too heavy for our tractors.  Daddy told me that his pullets got in the habit of picking all of the corn out of their mash and leaving the rest of it behind!  Darn teenagers and their junkfood.

Finally, I'll leave you with an eight second video of Daddy and his dog --- low budget entertainment at its best.  More soon on a couple of other highlights of the trip.

The EPA has a semi-interesting list of practical tips for building a fire in a wood stove. Mostly common sense stuff that seems obvious, except for the part that instructs us not to spread the coals flat. According to them you should rake the coals into a mound towards the door. I have been guilty of raking my coals flat lately, but now I can see the light of an even more effecient fire.

Another suggestion is to reload your stove with at least 3 pieces of wood each time, placing them on and behind the mound of hot coals.

If you need a little extra warmth try this short video of tonight's fire.

We don't get trick-or-treaters back here in the woods, but we do have a young visitor.  Curly is a neighbor's dog who's spending the weekend with us while his owners are out of town.  As Mark and I ate supper, we watched Lucy and Curly dive into the compost pile in search of a shrew.  I'd been meaning to turn that compost pile!

Please let me know if this video doesn't play for you.  I'm new to the world of video!  You might try right-clicking on this link and down-loading the video, if necessary.

We have a four ton hand winch that really pulls more than its own weight around here. Some folks refer to them as a "come along", I call ours an essential tool for pulling a truck out of the mud, stretching barb wire tight, or bringing down an old house as you can see in this short video clip.  There are several varieties to choose from. The ones rated for two tons can be had for 10 or 15 dollars; we got lucky and found a four ton model for only 20 bucks at the Bluff City flea market. You should expect to pay somewhere between 35 and 50 bucks for the four ton if you want to order it online.

I have a designated gear bag for our winch that includes a heavy duty tow strap, a ten foot stretch of cable with loops on each end, and a good old fashioned chain. These items are needed to attach your winch to a tree, heavy duty vehicle, boulder, etc. Extreme care should be taken when operating any type of winch where several hundred or thousand pounds are being held. The cable can end up holding a tremendous amount of potential energy, and if there is a break or slip then that energy needs to go somewhere, and if you're in its way it might be the last mistake you make. I try to imagine the path the cable might take if it did break, and stay clear and make sure any bystanders are plenty out of the way.

Simon Faure invented a new kind of hand winch during World War 2. He named it the Tirfor and due to its unique design these winches are capable of working in any position, horizontal, vertical, or angled.  What really sets the Faure winch apart from a simple come along is its shear pin. When the machine reaches 125% of it's capacity a metal pin inside the winch breaks, alerting the operator that any more pulling would be dangerous. Replacement pins are stored in a compartment on the handle. Be ready to pay between 300 to over 1000 dollars for such a tool. More details can be found at this website.

I would like to thank everyone who entered our free raffle for 50 Daffodil bulbs. 

The lucky winner is Holly Dukes. I shot a 15 second video of the drawing you can see here.

We still have some bulbs left and are willing to part with them while supplies last. You can get 20 shipped to you for 15 dollars, or for the more value minded out there we are offering 40 for 25 dollars. Go to our Native Plant website for more information.

Daffodil bulbs multiply very nicey when given the right conditions, and they keep popping up every year. They are deer and rodent resistant because all parts of the plant contain alkaloid chemicals that are very bitter and can be toxic if eaten.

Make sure to check back later in the week for another contest involving strawberry starts.

Yesterday was a very educational afternoon for me. It was the second time this year that I got to see first hand how a chicken goes from happy clucking to all plucked out in a matter of minutes. I had my trusty video camera going part of the time and managed to capture several of the steps in this rather detailed process.

I've decided to share two of those steps with you in this short video clip.

I really enjoy a good chicken dinner, and I already feel more connected to my personal link of the food chain thanks to this experience. I owe a debt of gratitude to our friends for sharing their clever set up and operation with us. I was especially impressed with the powerful chicken plucker they built which is featured in the video clip above.

We have talked about taking the rest of the chicken footage and putting together an instructional video for those who need to know more. Stayed tuned for more information on that.

The chicken pictured is one of our Plymouth Rock cousins, and she was not harmed during the making of this post and will most likely live out a life of leisure here on the farm with a few of her egg laying sisters.