Goodbye to Finnegan the Great

Finnegan the Great, Protector of our Realm,

left us this afternoon surrounded by his family who had loved him for almost 14 years.

We will never again get to cuddle with him or feel his sweet kisses. 
No more wake-up 5 a.m. calls from him so that he could go out and make sure there were no miscreants in the yard.

The sofa will be too big now without him in his spot at the end of my feet.

Who will tell us when it is time to go to bed?

Who will protect us from the big, bad world now that he is gone?

My heart is utterly broken.

Finnegan the Great - March 11, 2017

Goodbye, sweet baby.

Pesky Critters

"It's mighty cold weather, you've been braving.  

Is it more winter or is it spring that you're craving?"

Well, I know what my answer is to that and it's certainly NOT more cold.  But apparently that pesky Punxatawney Phil, cute as he may be, decided that we would have 6 more weeks of winter today.  Interesting, since this weekend is supposed to be mild and, by Monday, we'll be 20 degrees over normal.  The local weather guy actually laughed about Phil seeing his shadow.

In other critter news, Finn the Cranky, after which this blog is named, had to go back to the vet today. He is close to 16 now, which is long in the tooth even for a Pomeranian.  He's been having trouble standing and walking and it seems he has arthritis in his spine.  An x-ray shows a narrowing around his spinal cord so, in essence, he has what I had 2 years ago.  Poor little guy!  Much resting on the sofa and steroids are in his future.

Doesn't seem like there's a lot of complaining going on.  I think I'll join them until the nice weather gets here.

There is No Such Thing as Fair

Torquing the connectors that hold down our solar panels

Almost 4 years ago to today, I posted here about my concerns that eminent domain would be used to take farmers' land for the Midwest Transmissions Project, a $400 million project to bring in some 140 to 170 miles of new 345-kv transmission line to northwestern Missouri and southeastern Nebraska.  Kansas City Power and Light just announced a deal to purchase 500 megawatts of power from the new wind farm that I posted about yesterday and another farm a little more north.  I guess we know now why they needed the MTP. 

So this got me thinking, because I used to work at KCPL and I know how they buy and sell electricity.  They are not an overly profitable company, but they do well, take care of their employees, contribute to the community in many ways, and pay a decent dividend.

Looking at my bill, they're charging me as follows for each kWh of energy that we use:

• 11.44 cents per kWh for the energy only +
• 0.33 cents for a "DSIM charge" +
• 0.30 cents for a "FAC" or Fuel Adjustment Clause

That adds up to roughly 12.07 cents per kWh.  And that doesn't even count the monthly $11.88 customer charge or the $5.96 franchise fee.

When our solar panels generate more power than we use, KCPL buys it from us.  How much?  It's the same as their cost for producing energy from their coal plants.  Or presumably, buying it from wind farms.

1.9 cents per kWh

And then they can claim the federal Production Tax Credit for solar of 1.2 cents per kWh for everything we generate.  Now granted, I am not going to make a big stink about this because KCPL paid over $18k of the cost of our solar project and they deserve to recoup that investment.  But this certainly does show the disparity between what it costs to produce energy and what is being paid by consumers.  A large part of that cost is related to onerous EPA regulations.  But they just filed for a rate increase of 10.77 percent to cover costs related to "upgrading the company's infrastructure, adding regional transmission lines (MTP, anyone?), and complying with environmental and cybersecurity mandates."  The average residential customer will see an increase on their bill of about $11.92. 

The reason given for the purchase of wind energy from the new turbine farms (which I posted about yesterday) is that it is cheaper than the price that KCPL pays to buy energy off the market when necessary during peak load periods.  This power also qualifies for the federal Production Tax Credit for wind of 2.3 cents per kWh.  Yes, that means the federal government is paying more for each one of those wind-generated kWh than what it takes KCPL to generate it normally.  Why then, has KCPL submitted yet another huge annual proposed increase ? 

It certainly doesn't seem fair. 

The Changing Horizon

J. and I were in the Jeep hurtling north up I-35 toward the farm yesterday, chatting and trying to stay warm on one of those days where a chill sets in and just won't go away.  As we turned down the highway toward Maysville, I let out an audible gasp that made J. let off the gas for a moment.

The rolling Missouri horizon seemed foreign.  I had to blink to make sure I wasn't seeing things.  My first fleeting thought is that we were in War of the Worlds and huge aliens marching their way north.  Coming up a hill, white tentacles flailed as if controlled by a gargantuan octopus sitting just out of sight.  I blinked again...this time a little harder.  Gigantic white intruders still dotted the skyline as far as I could see before they faded off into the grey winter sky.

We had, of course, been seeing signs like the one below for over a year.  At one point, every farmhouse and field sported something similar or a simple sign with a windmill with a red cross through it.  The highway boasted signs that read "No wind farm traffic".  It seems that none of that solidarity was successful in preventing

This part of the country is American as it gets.  People here will go out of their way to help you, as evidenced by our neighbor, the farmer up the road, who graciously pulled our truck out of the mud with his tractor when we silly city-slickers buried it to the axle in mud on our land.  But if you're not from what some call "flyover country", you might mistake friendliness for gullibility and that couldn't be further from the truth.  After all, we're not called the Show-Me State for nothing.

I'll admit to not being in the know about all the hubbub on this particular issue so I had to do some digging.  The local liberal Kansas City rag, the Pitch, even ran a story on it.  The gist of it is that an out-of-state company from Florida called NextEra Energy came in and wanted to lease land from many of the landowners in the area.  That company is receiving heavy subsidies from the federal government and, in addition to being out-of-towners, are perceived to have been greasing the wheels with some local elected officials.  From what I've read, there are certainly some conflicts of interest going on.  Couple the fact that rich landowners seem to be benefitting the most and you've got all the makings of a full-fledged backlash from the locals.

A group of concerned citizens banded together to voice their concerns about the effects heavy wind farm traffic would have on roadways, health concerns, effects on livestock, abuse of land by out-of-state interests, and the scar that the turbines would leave on the horizon.  DeKalb County, where our farm sits, is a township and isn't zoned so there was no permit process to slow things down.  After a lawsuit to stop the wind farm ended unsuccessfully last year, NextEra wasted no time in getting started putting up their 96 turbines. We were last there in late September and didn't see a thing, so I guess it didn't take long.  Most of the protest signs are gone now and they've been replaced by something much larger.

More on this tomorrow....

Nevada Passes 40% Tax on Solar Users

This is a disturbing trend and one that I hope Missouri and Kansas City Power and Light don't get wind of. I think I'll pull out my contract and see what it says about changing terms of the agreement. I Missouri, we are locked into the agreement for 10 years and we're just over 2 years in at this point. The idea that they could retroactively impose this tax in order to add to the profits of a private company is beyond offensive, in my opinion.

What do you think?

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[The following article was reproduced under the Creative Commons license from TrueActivist.com]

Nevada Penalizes Solar Energy Users with Hefty 40% Tax Increase

An absurd monthly fee imposed on solar customers was just voted in by the Nevada Public Utility Commission (PUC), virtually penalizing net metering (NEM) users of the renewable energy and in a sense, screwing these guys over after making the investment to go solar. Yip-dee-doo!

Such is the current state that Nevada is in right now after it turns out that consumers opting with solar energy in the state are eating up on the potential profit that NV Energy should have. And in order for the company to combat this, they were able to coerce lawmakers to make solar energy insanely expensive – in hopes of convincing people to just stay blindly on the grid and stop being so ‘hippy’.

Of course, existing users of the renewable energy source feel cheated, with one Nevada resident writing to  the Las Vegas Sun to pinpoint how she feels ”financially ambushed.” You see, getting your home to be solar-powered isn’t cheap and a huge investment has to be made at first buying all those solar panels and whatnot to get your home solar-ready.

The way it works is that with the amount of money one can save from renewable energy, the system will pay for itself and users will get their investments back in no time. Thanks to this new development, though, that will not happen now and understandably, solar energy users feel screwed.

”With the new pricing for [net metering] customers, the value or price of the energy they produce will be vastly reduced,” the woman writes. ”In addition, the flat service charge for NEM customers will rise to three times that charged to non-solar residential customers, a kind of penalty for producing much of our own electricity. The people with solar on their homes feel cheated; solar businesses are closing or leaving.”

Indeed, solar energy providers have already left the state with SolarCity and Sunrun Inc. packing their bags – causing a minimum of a thousand job cuts.

”Big rooftop solar companies say they just want energy choice for Nevadans. The truth is their plan gives you no choice,” -says a commercial now airing in Nevada, paid for by a Political Action Committee called Solar Energy Fairness.

Got seeds?

My homemade seed envelope!  Find out how to make these here.

I love flopping on the couch in front of the fireplace with a good seed catalog, but one of the best ways to get seeds is to trade them.  If you've got extras from the growing season, attending a local seed exchange can be a great way to get locally-grown and proven seeds and learn about plants that you are interested in from growers who have experience with them.  Not to mention...pie (see below)!

For those of you in Kansas City, there are a few seed exchanges coming up in the next 6 weeks.  I've added these to the events calendar for you as well.

SEED SAVERS KC WINTER SEED EXCHANGE - 5TH ANNUAL
When:  Saturday, 21 January 2017 from 11:00am to 1:00pm
Where:  Anita B Gorman Discovery Center, Missouri Dept. of Conservation, 4750 Troost, Kansas City MO 64110
Cost: FREE, but $3 to $5 donations are suggested to cover event costs (Seed Savers is non-profit)

This is Kansas City's 5th annual organic, non-GE seed exchange.  Things you can trade include: organic, heirloom, non-GE vegetable, herb & flower seeds, bulbs, starter plants, shrubs, vines, food grade essential oils, tinctures, dried herbs, dried vegetables, ferment starters, fresh eggs, pickles, jams, jellies, honey, garden-environmental-homestead books, etc.  Bring something/get something, bring a little/take a little, bring a lot/take a lot.  Please bring your things to trade in individual labeled containers (envelopes, bags, jars, pots) and date them. 

There will be door prizes and free samples, and a table with flyers, business cards, and magazines.  Learn about our expanding Seed Library, proper seed harvesting and saving and planting, and promoting biodiversity in your community, your yard and your home.   For more information:  https://www.facebook.com/events/1612347692404955/.


EIGHTH ANNUAL KAW VALLEY SEED FAIR
When:  Saturday, 11 February 2017 from 9:00am to 3:00pm
Where:  Douglas County Fairgrounds, 1930 Harper St., Lawrence KS 66046
Cost:  FREE

The annual Kaw Valley Seed Fair is a pre-spring celebration where people can share seeds, information and other resources.  The fair features a free seed exchange that includes books, catalogs and other gardening and seed-saving materials, plus exhibits, local producers and food for sale.  Please bring your saved seeds or packaged seeds to share, and envelopes, containers, or baggies to collect the seeds you select.  This is a great place to meet people devoted to sustainability and biodiversity in our Kaw Valley region.  For more information: www.facebook.com/kawvalleyseeds.

The Most Majestic of Birds

If you're from around here, you might think I'm talking about the yard bird.  Nope...the chicken doesn't take this title, even if it's an $8,000 all-black chicken, and it's not the turkey, pheasant or cardinal either.

I'm talking bald eagles here.  If you've never seen one up close and personal, then it's something that at least oughtta be on your bucket list. And now's your chance with the Missouri Department of Conservation's annual Eagle Days program.

Because of the state’s big rivers, many lakes, and abundant wetlands, Missouri is one of the leading lower 48 states for bald eagle viewing. Each fall, thousands of these great birds migrate south from their nesting range in Canada and the Great Lakes states to hunt in the Show-Me State.

Eagles take up residence wherever they find open water and plentiful food. More than 2,000 bald eagles are typically reported in Missouri during winter.

The Eagle Days events include live captive-eagle programs, exhibits, activities, videos, and the opportunity to see bald eagles in the wild with the assistance of guides with spotting scopes. Watch for eagles perched in large trees along the water’s edge. View them early in the morning to see eagles flying and fishing. Be sure to dress for winter weather and don’t forget cameras and binoculars.

• KANSAS CITY: Jan. 7 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Jan. 8 from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Smithville Lake Paradise Pointe Golf Course Clubhouse north of Kansas City. Call 816-532-0174 for more information.
• ST. LOUIS: Jan. 14 and 15 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge south of I-270 off Riverview Drive in St. Louis. Call 314-877-6014 for more information.
• SPRINGFIELD: Jan. 21 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Jan. 22 from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the MDC Springfield Conservation Nature Center with viewing opportunities at the nearby Lake Springfield Boathouse and Marina. Call 417-888-4237 for more information.
• JEFFERSON CITY: Jan. 28 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Runge Conservation Nature Center in Jefferson City with wild eagle viewing at the nearby Marion Access. Call 573-526-5544 for more information.
• MOUND CITY: Dec. 3 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Dec. 4 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge south of Mound City. Call 816-271-3100 for more information.
• CLARKSVILLE: Jan. 28 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Jan. 29 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Lock and Dam 24 and Apple Shed Theater in Clarksville. Call 660-785-2420 for more information.
• PUXICO: Feb. 4 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Mingo National Wildlife Refuge near Puxico. Call 573-222-3589 for more information.

Can’t make it? Other hot spots for winter eagle viewing include:

• Lake of the Ozarks at Bagnell Dam Access east of Bagnell
• Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area on Route K southwest of Columbia
• Lock & Dam 20 at Canton
• Lock & Dam 24 at Clarksville
• Lock & Dam 25 east of Winfield
• Mingo National Wildlife Refuge north of Puxico on Highway 51
• Moses Eagle Park at Stella
• Old Chain of Rocks Bridge south of I-270, off of Riverview Drive in St. Louis
• Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary east of West Alton
• Schell-Osage Conservation Area north of El Dorado Springs
• Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge south of Mound City
• Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge south of Sumner
• Table Rock Lake southwest of Branson
• Truman Reservoir west of Warsaw

And, if you really want a dose of cute, go watch momma Harriett and dad M-15 tend to their just-hatched eaglet on live-cam in Southwest Florida.  We're still waiting for the second egg to hatch and I will warn you - it's addicting!

Upcoming Winter Small Farm Webinars

I'm in the process of updating the Events Calendar (see link on the right) and wanted to give everyone a heads up on one of the best resources I've found over the past couple of years.  The University of Illinois Extension presents a weekly educational series for the small farm community on emerging topics which advance local food production. And guess what....even if you're just growing for your family (like us), many of these webinars will have useful information for you as well.

Webinars will be held from noon -1:00 pm on Thursdays and are free.  Note that you must pre-register but, if you miss the webinar, they will send you a link to the archived, recorded version.

Topics include:

• Jan. 19 - ABCs of Strawberry Plasticulture Production, Bronwyn Aly, University of Illinois Extension Local Food Systems and Small Farms Educator
• Jan. 26 - Buying Hay: Quality vs. Cost, Jamie Washburn, University of Illinois Extension Local Food Systems and Small Farms Educator
• Feb. 2 - Slow Flowers: Small-Scale Cut Flower Production, Candice Hart, University of Illinois Extension Horticulture Educator
• Feb. 9 - Out with the Old: Pruning Old and Neglected Fruit Trees, Grant McCarty, University of Illinois Extension Local Food Systems and Small Farms Educator
• Feb. 16 - Small Commercial Microgreen Production, Zack Grant, University of Illinois Extension Local Food Systems and Small Farms Educator
• Feb. 23 - Food Safety Needs for Midwest Produce Growers, Dr. Angela Shaw, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Food Safety Specialist
• Mar. 2 - Growing Your Hobby Farm into a Business, Andy Larson, University of Illinois Extension Local Food Systems and Small Farms Educator
• Mar. 9 - Do Your Bees Have PMS (Parasitic Mite Syndrome), Doug Gucker, University of Illinois Extension Local Food Systems and Small Farms Educator
• Mar. 16 - Maximizing Windbreaks on Your Farm, David Shiley, University of Illinois Extension Local Food Systems and Small Farms Educator
• Mar. 23 - Benefits of Mulching Vegetables, James Theuri, University of Illinois Extension Local Food Systems and Small Farms Educator
• Mar. 30 - Soil Management for High Tunnels, Nathan Johanning, University of Illinois Extension Local Food Systems and Small Farms Educator

I've added the complete list of topics and speakers to the Events Calendar so it's easy to copy to your own Google calendar if you like.

Please keep an eye on the calendar, as I'll be updating it over the next week or so with more local and online events that might be of interest. And, if you know of any events that you'd like to share, please send them my way at crankypuppy at gmail.com.

Have a great New Year's Eve, everyone!

Feathered Family Planning

Spring will be here before we know it, so I'm using up some my vacation time today planning out my chick order on the MyPetChicken site. This will be the 3rd time we've ordered our chicks from them and we do for several reasons:

1. I haven't found a good source of sexed chicks locally and, since we can't have roosters in the city, I don't want to take the chance of ending up with all rooster and no hen.
2. They cater to hobbyists and will ship as few as 3 chicks at a time.  Other hatcheries want you to order 15 or more which is, well, just way more chickens than I need in my backyard.  We'd be eating omelets morning, noon and night!
3. We've never had a problem with any of the chicks and they have great customer service!

For those of you who are thinking about chickens but are tentative about picking up a peeping, cheeping package of chicks from the post office, let me reassure you:  it's the most fun ever!

This year, we'll have more heavy birds that are great egg layers.  Of course, we'll have 2 of our favorite, the Austrolorp.  They're consistent daily layers of a light brown egg and their docile, perky personality makes them a great bird to have in the backyard.  Kermit and Henrietta, my favorite hens who like to talk to me as they followed me around the yard, were both Austrolorps. 

I fell in love with the Golden Laced Wyandottes we had last year so we'll get another of those.  And then the rest of the gang is all new to us:  1 Lavender Orpington, 1 Buff Brahma, 1 Blue Copper Maran and a Double-Laced Barnevelder for a total of 7 colorful hens.  The Maran and Barnevelder lay darker, chocolate-colored eggs and I'm excited to have those for the first time.

April 3rd is the delivery date.  I see adorable chick pictures in our future.  Are you adding to your flock this year?  I'd love to hear what breeds you have - please leave a comment!

Starting Again

Hello!  I'm happy to be back here after a loooong hiatus from the blog.  It's been a crazy 18+ months of post-back surgery life-rebuilding and life-living.  The short version is that my back pain is gone although a nasty infection nearly killed me in February, everyone else is fine and we started work on another beautiful Victorian house restoration.

Our house, along with the project house and another one we completed a few years ago were both featured on the Historic Fall Homes Tour in October, which almost killed us.  It certainly killed our garden, since we were so busy trying to make the project house walkable and ready for the tour that we didn't have time to tend to the veggies.  So they ended up looking sad and forgotten among a sea of ever-encroaching rye grass and weeds. I suspect the super-wet Spring this year and then bone-dry summer had something to do with it also.

It's with a heavy heart that I mention that we lost our entire flock of chickens not long ago.  We suspect it was a possum given the small space that the fiend would have had to fit through to get to them in their enclosed kennel.  J. and I had never fully re-fortified the coop and pen when we moved it to make way for the solar panels, so it's entirely on our heads.  My beloved green-feathered Kermit, the oldest of the flock and J.'s self-declared nemesis, will never again follow him around the yard demanding mealworms.  She made it to the ripe old age of 4, which I suspect is old age for a chicken in  most cases, though.

R.I.P. Kermit. We will miss you giving us a stern talking-to every time we visited the coop.

And I just realized that there's a lot of references to death in this post, which makes this title so apropos.  It's the circle of life that ends and then begins anew and that's where we are now on the cusp of the new year.  2017 will bring a new flock, a renewed garden, a honey-do list dragged out from under the cobwebs and spit-cleaned, and a revitalized hope for what we can accomplish this year. 

Let's begin, shall we?

Nice Deal on Canning Jars at KMart

 

We may still be dreaming about garden season (heck, I don't have a thing in the ground yet!), but canning season will be upon us before we know it.  What else are you going to do when you are knee deep in tomatoes this summer because you went a little overboard on planting? 

I just spotted this great deal over on kmart.com where you can score this Ball Quart 32oz Mason Jars 12-Pack for just $5.99 (regularly $11.99). You can't have them shipped, but you can choose free in-store pick up if they are available near you.  That's a nice deal on quart-sized jars that doesn't come around very often.

The Rumors of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

Is anybody out there?

Well, the prodigal urban farmer has returned.  Sure did take long enough!  In addition to missing all of you, I have endured a massive amount of browbeating for having not gotten back to posting here. 

The reality is that, after my back surgery in April, I've spent 8 long months in physical therapy trying to build up all the muscle tone that I lost after a year spent sitting and laying on the sofa.  Not being able to walk without pain just...well...sucks.  So you can imagine how happy I was to be pain-free a week after surgery.  I felt (and continue to feel) that I had gotten my life back and been given a second chance.  So I hope you understand my having taken the last 8 months to live rather than sit in front of a computer writing about living!

So here we all are in 2016 with the shiny promise of a better year ahead of us.  I have so many things to tell you about!  How about:

•  another project house that we bought a few months ago
• our plans for expanding the urban farm and this year's garden
• an update on our solar project (one year later!)
• a new addition to our barn
• some new recipes
• ....hmmm...what else?

But I'm going to leave you hanging until next time for the really good stuff.  Gotta ease back into this posting thing, you know?  Wouldn't want to sprain something...  ;-)

Until next time,

Hey, Bees..Bad Timing!

There's a well-known beekeeper poem that comes to mind today:

A swarm in May — is worth a load of hay.

A swarm in June — is worth a silver spoon.

A swarm in July — isn't worth a fly.

 With all these back issues in the past year, I've been a terrible beekeeper.  So I was so excited to see that my first hive survived their first year.  In fact, they seemed to be flourishing.   But here we are at the arrival of Spring and the weather has been awesome and I still haven't been able to get out to check on the hive. 

 

So you can imagine how mortified I was when J. showed me this picture that he had captured while checking on the chickens tonight.

 

Yep, the bees have swarmed up into the new sugar maple that we planted last year.  I'd say they are in a mass about the size of a bowling ball and J. says they're about 10 feet up.

 

I'd love to catch them and put them into a second hive that I had prepared for the day I could split the hive.  Question is...it's dark outside now.  Will they stay there overnight or will they be gone in the morning?  And can I even move them with this bad back of mine?   Surgery is in 36 hours!

 

I guess I can't be too sad if they are gone when the sun comes up.  Swarming is a natural lifecycle of bees and it just shows that the hive was really strong and outgrew their home.  Hopefully, the old hive should still be viable and working on getting a new queen up and running.  J. certainly isn't going to check given his bee-phobia and there's no way I can do it until I've recuperated. 

This swarm may have to be the one that got away.

 

Finally, A Bill I Want to Open

Who wouldn't want to see a bill like this one every month?  I wish I could say that the massive credit was due to the solar panels, but it isn't.  We held our own there and only used 4 kW the entire month of March.  The credit is from the energy audit changes that we made late last year (new windows, more insulation in the attic,etc.).  For all that work, the utility companies paid for the $400 energy audit and gave us almost $450 toward the work that we did. 

 

Of course, that only pays for 1/4 of the new gas tankless hot water heater that we put in. But, heck, anything helps!

 

4 more days until back surgery.  The oral steroids are working their magic, but I am down to one every 12 hours and they run out on Tuesday night.  So that leaves me with a day and a half of no protection.  I may try to "cheat" the remaining pills out just a bit each time to try to cover more of Wednesday.  Thursday is coming...slowly but surely. 

An Update on Me

Wow, it's been 17 days since I last posted.   A lot has been going on and not all of it is good, unfortunately.  This back pain I've been dealing with since last May has gotten the better of me.  After several months of chiropractic treatment (don't do it!), physical therapy and two epidural shots into my back, I am now facing surgery on April 30th. My first epidural wore off just shy of the 2 month mark and the second one actually made my pain worse.  Where I was just  feeling sciatic pain all the way down my left leg, now I feel it on both sides.  Actually, right after, it felt like a mule kicked me right in the butt.  Good thing that's subsided.

 

The thing is, it's difficult to get comfortable and has been for quite some time.  Definitely no standing because the "buzz" in my leg quickly turns into pain around the 20 second mark.  If I stand long enough, I can no longer feel my leg.  It's as if it's fallen asleep.  What little benefit I got from the second epidural is now wearing off and sitting is becoming more painful as well.  My life now consists of trying to get through each day of work and then collapsing in a painful heap on the sofa.  Except for bed, it's the only place I am not in a lot of pain.

 

The orthopedic doc gave my Hydrocodone, which doesn't do diddly for the pain.  I've found good ol' ibuprofen takes the edge off but then I worry about what it does to my stomach.  I don't want to trade this back pain for an ulcer. 

 

The neurosurgeon, who specializes in minimally invasive surgery, was concerned that my pain was "on the wrong side" because my herniation is on the right but my pain is on the left.  I guess I'm one of the 3-4% that are weird like that.  He ordered another MRI which we did on the 11th.  I didn't see the pictures, but he said it shows that the disc herniation has gotten significantly worse since the first MRI in December.  Yea!  I'm not surprised...it's evident from the pain levels.

 

So, for now, I am counting days until the 30th.  I just have to make it through 10 more days counting today.  The surgery is minimally invasive and is over 98% successful.  The surgeon will make a 1-inch incision in my back, insert a series of tubes down to my spine by pushing my back muscles out of the way.  Then they will remove a small piece of bone over the herniation and remove the herniated piece of disc.  Just an overnight stay to make sure I come out of anesthesia, am eating OK, walking OK, etc. is needed.

 

I'm so sorry I've been absent and only posting sporadically over the last year, but now you know the whole story.  I have watched life pass me by for almost a year and can't wait to get back in the game.  And, if you don't mind me asking, please keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I go through this.  I haven't had surgery since having my tonsils out when I was 6, so I am scared to death.

The Turn Into April

It always seems that I'm late changing the calendar.   Just 4 days into April and this hasn't been a good month already.  J. went to check on the chickens and found Cruella dead in the coop.  He said it looked like she had gone to sleep on the roost, died in her sleep and then fallen off.

 

It happens I guess.  But not that long ago, she was happily scratching away in the sunny yard and newly turned garden. 

While Cruella may have been, well, a mean chicken at best, I do miss her now that she is gone. 

 

Here she is with her pinless peepers on.  It was the only way to keep her from pulling everyone else's feathers out and she did NOT like it!

 

Still, she was a gloriously beautiful chicken.  And not at all afraid of telling you what she thought about you.

 

As leader of the flock, she was always first in line for the treats.  Her favorites were mealworms and watermelon.

 

 

We got out Cruella and our other 3 barred rocks when they were about a week old back in late April of 2011.  Even as a baby, Cruella did her own thing.  She wasn't one to cower in the corner like everyone else. 

 

Cruella, on the left, already showing her independent streak.

She was the last of our Barred Rocks and will probably always be the last.  While they are great layers, they aren't the friendliest breed.  The Black Austrolorps (of which we still have 2 of our original 5) are also consistent, daily layers but are much friendlier.  In fact, they like to follow you around and talk to you.  We have some new chicks coming in a week or so and I decided to try some new breeds.  But you'll have to wait to find out what they are!

 

Signs That Spring is Coming

My, how times gets away from you.  I meant to post these pictures on Monday and here it is Thursday already! But I do have a wonderful excuse - I received a promotion at work and I've been a busy bee organizing all  my new responsibilities.

 

We're in the middle of a streak of 60 and 70-degree days right now, so it certainly is starting to feel like Spring.  That and Daylight Savings Time that started on Sunday.  Over the weekend, J. and I took advantage of the nice weather to get out of the house.  And so did the chickens.

Cruella demanding to know what we are doing in her yard.

They were fascinated with the work we were trying to do in getting our equipment ready for work.  The old Cherokee had thrown a shoe right before it got super cold and it had been sitting and waiting for a nice day when we could work on it.  It's 17 years old so things are gonna break, I guess.

With the chickens getting in our way help, J. issued a diagnosis of a bad power steering pump. 

Now, I'm not mechanic but I do know that those ball bearings are supposed to be nicely packed and evenly distributed so I'd say that's the problem.  The parts are less than a $100 and I was able to use a coupon to get them for 40% off so it didn't hurt as much as it could have. What did hurt, though, is that you have to use a special tool to put the plastic pulley back on the pump or it will crack.  As luck would have it, the tool was checked out at our local Auto Zone so we'll have to try again this weekend.

 

In other news, J.'s mother had her second knee replacement so we went to see her several nights ago.  She's doing well and will be up and running in no time. I'm STILL dealing with these back issues that are keeping me on the sofa.  After a round of 2 more steroid injections in my back last Friday, I've been in more pain now than before I got them but it's starting to come down.  The orthopedic doc wants to do 2 more this Friday in an effort to get all the inflammation out.  Cross your fingers for me.  I've gotta kick this thing so I can get our garden planted and start work on the $1400 house!

We are Modern Day Homesteaders

This is from From Scratch magazine, a daily e-zine devoted to those of us who have better things to do than sit in traffic all day.  According to them: "You are the modern homesteader. Whether you have 1000 acres or live in an apartment – homesteading is an attitude. A lifestyle. A journey."

 

Amen. And I'm so happy that we have neighbors that feel the same way about a simpler life, even if it's right in the middle of the rat race called Kansas City.

 

If you want a printable version of this to display in your house (or barn?) just click here.

Solar Panels and Snow

Drat. Winter just won't leave!  Since Friday, we've gotten about 3 inches of steady snow that has now tapered off into semi-sunshine.  I guess I can't complain, since they forecasted up to 8 inches.

But snow on solar panels means we get no electricity production until it melts off.  Zip. Zero. Zilch.  With the array  over 12 feet wide and almost 10 feet in the air on one end, we've had to be rather creative with how we get the snow off the panels.

 

Luckily, I was able to take advantage of an awesome deal that Home Depot had a couple of weeks ago on this Snow Joe telescoping roof rake.  Normally, $39.99 and we caught it for $17.99.  I pity the poor people that actually have to get out and use this thing to get snow off their roof!  But it works really well for our panels, as it telescopes out to 21 feet and is really lightweight.  The scraper head is made of a poly material and is a nice 24-inch length. The only gotcha is that it has a tendency to catch on the panel frames.  Once it's warmer, J. is going to rig it with a squeegee edge that should fix that problem.

 

On Thursday, we generated 56.02 kilowatt hours.  That's way over what we projected our peak power production would be (45 kWH). And it's still winter.  I can't wait to see what peak we hit in mid-summer when the sunlight hours are longer and sun is right overhead.

 

Time to go cruise everyone's blogs and see how they're whiling away winter's end.  Stay warm, everyone!

 

 

Countdown to Spring

 

Can you believe that the official start of Spring is just a month away? While that may be the official date, I'm not so sure that we're not going to see an early spring this year.  In our neck of the woods, we really haven't had much of a winter other than a few piddly snows not even worthy of trying out the hub's new snowblower on.  He's been down in the dumps about that all season.

 

I'm not the only one that's betting on an early Spring either.  Looking at our trees yesterday, they all have huge buds on them.  And I just read this about the grizzlies in Yellowstone that have woken up from their long winter hibernation almost a month early.  Yep, it's around the corner.  That cranky ol' Punxatawney Phil may have predicted 6 more weeks of winter, but I'm pretty sure he was referring only to those poor folks in the Northeast and not us lucky people here in the bread basket.

 

I've got seed catalogs to flip through and seed organizing to do. Garden plans need to be made. Early seeds need to be planted.  Where are we going to move the apple trees?  or the blackberries?  And where do the strawberries go this year? 

 

So much to do!  The clock is ticking...

 

p.s.  Happy Valentine's Day!