Low Tech Redneck

Other than this blog, I don't do much technology-wise, except for computer work for my job.  I'm not on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikToc or any other social media.  I was on LinkedIn for a while for professional networking, but at some point it turned political and I turned off the notifications on my email and deleted the app from my phone.

Routines are important, I think.  Although it is exciting to be spontaneous, having something you do everyday like clockwork are vital.  Prayer, Bible reading, conversation - all good ways to start each day.  After that, at about 7 AM, I hit the road.  I work all morning on the road in a four Parish area.  Around noon I come home, take a lunch break with Tricia and then sit in front of the computer from 1 until about 4:30.

After lunch, we make coffee.  We sit down in the sunroom and get out my old Android personal cell phone.  Every single day we play Wordle.  Wordle is a free app, if you don't play, that shoots out one puzzle per day for folks to solve.

Wordle is a simple puzzle for simple people.  I like to think it keeps your mind sharp, but my mind has never been very sharp in the first place.  It goes like this.  You have six chances to guess the word of the day.  The word is a five letter word.  Letters are not supposed to repeat, although for some reason they do from time to time.  

Tricia always like to start with the word "ARISE," because it has three vowels and two popular consonants.  If none of the letters are in the word, the squares will be black.  If the letter is in the word, but in the wrong place, it will be orange.  If the letter is in the right place, it will be green.  The keyboard at the bottom alerts you to letters you have already used versus letters unused.

For our first word today, Tricia went with her old standby, "ARISE."  You'll see NONE of the letters were in the word.  She knew she needed an "O" and a "U" so she guessed a five letter word with an O and a U than did not contain an R or an S.  She guessed CLOUD.  And what do you know?  She was Right!  Solved the Wordle puzzle in two tries!

We high-fived each other in the sunroom.  She was happy.  I was a little unhappy since I didn't even participate...  It keeps statistics.  We have a running streak of 147 solves.  For the life of me, I can't understand how we can have a 105 win percent?  But you can see we have guessed the word in the second try only 9 times.  Most of the time we solve it on the fourth try.  Wouldn't it be crazy to guess the word right the first time?

We're simple folks that enjoy simple pleasures of life - a good cup of coffee and a Wordle game.  Now it's back to work and then later in the afternoon, we'll gather eggs, harvest some produce from the garden, feed the animals, walk together and then go to bed.  

An Evening Ritual

I drive in from work in the afternoon, usually pulling into the driveway around 6 pm.  Tricia and I visit for a little bit and then inevitably the question will be brought up, "Do you want to do chores before supper or after supper?"  Last night she made chicken fried steak, so we ate first.  Then we went out to the barn.  

It was a peaceful late afternoon, even if the mosquitoes are out with a vengeance.  Our Maker's Acres Family Farm sits on 5 acres.  I began to call the cows in.  I'm sure the neighbors are not amused.  Rosie, Clarabelle, and Elsie were as far away as you can be on five acres.  You can see them in the center left of the photo below.

Those girls did not heed my call.  No amount of beckoning could convince them to head this way.  So, I pulled out the secret weapon.  This will get them in.  I grabbed the feed bucket and put some sweet feed and a handful of alfalfa on top.  The sweet feed smells great and is sticky-sweet with molasses in it.  I picked up the plastic bucket, banged on the side of the bucket, and yelled, "C'mon girls, Come eat.  Come eat."

Like the bat signal in Gotham City to Batman and Robin, the 'bang on the bucket' trick was successful!  You can see them heading my way.

Elsie is in the lead, followed by Rosie, then Clarabelle.  They've been out there all day eating in some taller grass, so their bellies are full.  They'll sit down tonight and chew their cud.

With anticipation, the girls' steps are sure, their gaze focused.  They cannot be distracted now.

We bring them into the barn, feed the momma cows, feed the goat family, check them all out, and then move all of the animals out of the barn except for Agnes, Cupcake and Elsie.  They sleep in the barn each night.  Rosie and Clarabelle exit the barn.  They are always sure to stay right in the gate.  Right in the way.  Why do they always do this?  Rosie will lick Clarabelle's head and ears in an affectionate display.  

The chickens slowly make their way back to their roosts in the hen house and the cows and goats sit down on the other side of the barn and chew their cud.  Belle, the dog, lays out in a freshly dug hole in the yard (Argg!) and Ginger, the cat, follows us back to the house where she'll try to sneak inside when we open the door.

The sun sets beautifully in the west and we make our way back down the garden path, over the bridge and back inside.  Another day done in our little corner of the world.

Sleeping With One Eye Open

I find that I like routine.  I like things all laid out with no surprises.  You can settle in, knowing what to expect.  Every once in a while, things get shaken up and the routine takes a back seat to change.  The time change always throws me off-kilter.  This evening when I drove into the driveway, it was dark.  I grabbed my DeWalt 20v light and headed outside.

We capture rainwater in large catch basins in the back of the house.  When we have about 300 gallons of rainwater in containment, I'll turn off the water valve to the water trough and I'll carry 5 gallon buckets of rainwater to the trough until full.  Next, out to the barnyard.  Normally the animals are still eating grass in the pasture, but the new time has changed their routine as well.  They are pretty much tucked in for the night.  Let's take a look.  Maybe we won't disturb them too bad.

The hens are up on their roosts in the hen house.  Their poop is shoveled out once a year and used in the garden as fertilizer.  We wait a year, because chicken poop can be quite "hot" and can burn your plants.  One other thing that can be quite useful is the cobwebs that line the rafters and the ceiling.  Believe it or not, cobwebs can stop bleeding.  One time we had a heifer that was de-horned at the veterinarian's office.  Later that evening, she started bleeding - profusely.  We called the vet in the middle of the night, and he told us to find cobwebs and use in place of gauze.  It's been used since ancient times.  One of the reasons it works is that spider webs are full of Vitamin K, the blood-clotting vitamin.  It worked !

We always close the nesting boxes you see on the left side of the photo.  If you don't, some of the chickens will roost on top of the nesting boxes, filling the boxes with poop, making cleaning the eggs the next day a messy chore.

As I walked out of the hen-house, Annie and Buckwheat have settled in on some hay by the barn door.  Some other chickens have roosted on top of a carrying cage.  I was talking about routine earlier.  Animals are no different.  If I come out tomorrow night, those same chickens will be roosting atop the cage...

These same chickens will be roosting atop the woodpile...

I'm planning to burn this woodpile next week.  I'll remove the hens first, of course.

And these same hens will be atop the pile of bricks.  Do you always sleep on the same side of the bed?  Chickens do the same thing.

Clarabull has his own little place where he beds down at night.  This location was previously a big mud hole until we built a roof over the walkway and brought in loads of wood chips.  This area was once avoided and now it is a peaceful place of rest.

Luna, Clarabelle, and Rosie seem to like this spot.  We throw hay out of the window of the barn that they eat on.  Once finished, they tend to stay in this spot as there are fewer mosquitoes and flies that bother them here.  Of course they are in a routine, too.  They equate seeing me walking to the barn with feed and they mosey to the gate expecting to get fed again.  I hate to disappoint, but Tricia's already fed them.


It's hard work laying eggs and making milk, so I'll leave all the animals alone and let them get som shut-eye.  I'll head back indoors, eat supper, and do the same.