PRACTICAL PARSIMONY: A Thought

Saturday, February 28, 2015

A Thought

The fact that there’s a highway to hell

and only a stairway to heaven says a lot about

anticipated traffic numbers

Okay, blogger thinks this format is good and won't change it. My longtime sweetie called and will be back in Huntsville for a year. He asked me to come up for a few days. He has a washer and dryer I can use for the piles of laundry I cannot afford to wash at the laundry. Plus, carrying them hurts me soooo.

I can take a shower every day. I may take two a day. And, I can wash my hair. I will shower and wash my hair as soon as I get there. AND, I will be able to wash it in a few days instead of waiting a week and having to hide in the house the last three days. YAY for friends with water. Plus, his apt won't be so cold.

The hens have been taken care of. They will be confined 24/7. Since they don't like snow, tomorrow will be okay. They will be antsy by Monday.

I have to pack food for them--3 bags of oats and corn, 3 pbj sandwiches, 3 chicken thighs, and 3 bags of vegetables. I only plan on being gone for Sunday and Monday morning feedings, but one day extra for just in case. I trust Tony because he loves animals and he grew up with 100K chickens.

Maybe I will check in. Okay, I will. Keep your fingers crossed that I don't get into any icy spots as I drive.

Your turn

Do you have someone trustworthy to feed or care for your pets/livestock/animals so you can leave home for a few days?

16 comments:

Elephant's ChildFebruary 28, 2015 at 11:47 PM
I don't do stairs well, so I suppose that says where I am going.
Have fun with your sweetie, and revel in all that water.
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LL Cool JoeMarch 1, 2015 at 12:26 AM
Enjoy the hot water and sweetie, and don't worry about the chickens, they'll be fine!
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JaneMarch 1, 2015 at 12:45 AM
We are lucky that we have neighbors we trade chicken-sitting with. We watch theirs when they are gone and they watch ours. When we had a milk goat it was a little more difficult. There aren't many people that want to milk a 150-pound goat twice a day. :)
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Kitty GreeneMarch 1, 2015 at 1:55 AM
Have a nice break.
Dare I ask - is long time sweetie different from exbf then ?
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Gill - That British WomanMarch 1, 2015 at 6:55 AM
enjoy your couple of days away. What is the issue with water at your place?
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Barb.March 1, 2015 at 8:20 AM
"longtime sweetie* Have I missed something?

I have just come back from a couple of days house/dog sitting so it seems that I am that *someone trustworthy to feed or care for your pets/livestock/animals so you can leave home for a few days* person.

I'm hoping my husband and son between them will be that person for me when I am away for 3 weeks.

Enjoy your hair-washing.

Barb.
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Home on the RangeMarch 1, 2015 at 9:55 AM
Travel safely and enjoy those comforts of his home.
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Okay, hoping the annoyances have gone away.

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The Cast

Fancy is my favorite hen. She is one of the three youngest hens I adopted. Because she is so gentle and friendly, she may be the one I rescued when she was being pecked to death after she could no longer stand. She got to live in the house in a box. Sometimes, I let her sit in my lap while she was convalescing. Now, she comes to sit in the swing with me, cuddling up to my body like a cat or dog. She died in February 2012.

Fancy follows me begging, complaining, needing me to do for her. She talks to me in various voices. She allows me to pick her up and carry her. When she became an adult, her head was a darker red and her body was light brown. Around her neck were tips of black feathers. It appeared she had a necklace of jet around her neck. When I showed this characteristic to a friend, he said, "Oh, you have fancy chickens and plain chickens."

Chessie has a broken toe. I broke it! She had a habit of jumping really high and almost sticking. A raccoon ate her in October 2009.

Thelma is the blonde. She is also the largest hen and the alpha hen. I suspect the gigantic eggs are from her. She often squats and presents herself to me. She is top hen, but I suspect she knows she had better be deferent to top feeder of the flock--me.

Louise is the auburn-feathered hen. She looks like the true Rhode Island Reds in pictures. She is almost as large as Thelma. Some days I suspect she is trying to be top chicken. When I got Pepper, I found out Louise is the Alpha hen.

Pepper came here from the same home as the first four. We were discussing putting red pepper on their food, wondering if it really would increase egg production. Pepper is the only name we agreed on. She is terrorized each day by Louise. Even after the worst was over, she was and is still filled with terror and very wary.

Linda is owned by four hens. They allow her to fetch for them. She loves them dearly, so she allows them to boss her around. Linda comes out in the rain to perform chores for them and make sure they have food and water. She begs scraps from all sorts of places to make sure they have fresh fruits and vegetables.

Parsimony is not a vegetable

Parsimony is extreme care in spending money. Stick around and learn about my random thoughts on accomplishing goals economically--dumpster diving aka safari, gleaning, do-it-yourself, sewing tips, recipes, and whatever is happening in my life.

Okay so maybe "parsimony" is not your thing. How about thrift, frugality or just plain saving money? I try not to go the tightwad route as that seems to imply others will suffer from my habits.

Some of my not-spending habits have very much been a part of my lifelong habits. Other habits are newly acquired and are an extension of my lifelong not-spending habits.

I am very imaginative when it comes to substituting or making instead of buying. I will tell you about making a heater for the chickens' water. Not one dime was spent since I had everything I needed right in my basement.

Practicality must rear its head alongside parsimony. For example, I will use the dryer in bad weather or because of allergies in the spring. But, I will not wash clothes in a tub as long as I have a washing machine or can find one.

You may hear more about my four Rhode Island Red hens than you care to hear. They lay delicious brown eggs.

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Saturday, February 28, 2015

A Thought

16 comments: