tomatoes and squirrels

I have been looking about growing tomatoes in Arizona especially Phoenix because Helen is trying to grow tomatoes in a pot. What I found is Helen is late or early depending on your point of view. To grow tomatoes in Phoenix you should start your sets in October so either Helen is early or late depending on your point of view. The ground is soaked here. The chicken pens are a complete mud holes. The lettuce has not came up yet perhaps it has drowned. The onions are sprouting and the radishes or up. Tomorrow is D day for Helen she gets her house back and her son Billy and family will move in. This is a way to go Billy will make the payment and Helen can come to stay on extended visits.
The squirrel photo is from a newspaper I read called mail on line. I like squirrels. alive or cooking in the pot.

calf coop

People have no common sense any more this plastic tub is 3 feet wide and 6 feet long with a height of about 4 feet. This is a calf shelter. I could not imagine anyone using this so I did a search and found several companies selling them . The only thing I can figure is they use them to raise veal. The price for one this size is $249.00. This one is caved in slightly and was tossed out for that reason and I have it in my yard. I think that they would make a great chicken house. Gone are the days when men like my father would take a few board some nails and a few pieces of tin and hammer together a shelter for animals to give them some protection in the winter.
Plastic is a product of oil no wonder we have shortages in oil with so many things being built by plastic.

lot of bull

I had visitors today first my brother came by and brought egg cartons and I enjoyed listening to his talks then when he went home my son tony came by with egg cartons so between the two visitors I heard a lot of bull!
My radishes are up. Clayton told me as he came in. The onions have a few sprouts . I went out to see after Clayton went home and I have enough radishes up I should have a lot when the lettuce come up I will have a salad bowl in my yard.
I got a dozen eggs and Sammy got 15 banty eggs so we have eggs again to give away.
It is cold and rainy here! wish spring was sprung.

color green

We have green color in the yard can spring be far behind?
31 degrees and it is another cold morning.

church gun

LITTLE ROCK — A bill giving pastors the authority to allow congregants to carry concealed handguns in church is on its way to the Arkansas state Senate after passing the House.

The House voted 65-23 Friday for the bill by Rep. Bryan King of Berryville.

King says the bill gives churches the freedom to choose whether to allow weapons. Current law prohibits the carrying of a gun into church.

Rep. Efrem Elliott of Altheimer opposed the bill and expressed dismay that the chamber was arguing about the prospects of shootouts in churches.

Rep. Randy Stewart of Kirby noted that the bill wouldn’t open churches to everyone with concealed carry permits, only those with permission from the pastor.

I wonder where Bryan goes to church and do I want to go to his church? Can't you see it now....WE will pray for you or if not we will shot you. church prayer "LORD TAKE THIS SOUL HOME!" BANG!
Also if the weapon is concealed why do you have to get the pastors permission? will God speak to the pastor in a quite voice" PISSS, John has a gun with out permission."

Christ restored the ear that Peter cut off how would he feel about this new church shooting you in the gut?

watermelon man

cold here today. I wish it would warm just a bit.

Old friends

I found this photo on face book, I don't visit face book usually but Janet has a page and I hit the wrong button and was pleasantly surprised to see this photo of some old friends.

hail storm

We had a hail storm this morning. I thought it would come right thro' the roof. The guineas were yelling bloody murder. I was sure it must be the size of golf balls but when it was over I looked out and it was only pea size.It is raining now. I was wanting rain on my seeds I planted last sunday and I am getting plenty now.

Remember baby Jessica

Remember the 18 month little girl that fell in the well in midland, texas. She is 25 years old now. She has just became able to open the $800,000 trust fund well wishers sent her when she was a child.
She has two children and lives less than two miles from the site of her ordeal.

back of the bus

My granddaughter's husband is a math teacher in southern Arkansas. There are several negro students in his 8th grad math class.
One Young fellow according to Adam is very entertaining and keeps the class in laughter. The other day after some antics Adam said Jamil you move up here in this first desk where I can watch you.. Jamil moved forward and said " Mr. Wade I'ze not Rosa Parks I'ze can set in the back of the bus!"

2 chickens break up rabbit fight!

cold spring day

cold here with some rain. I went out to feed the poultry and then rushed back to the fire.
no garden plants sprouting today.

locked out

They locked Obama out of the oval office while he was in South America.

not to be locked out he went merrily on his way to find an unlocked door.

Presto he is back inside the white house again.

Kung Fu Rooster and Black Cat

thrusday

36 degrees here this morning but the sun is shining.
I put a nest in Sammy's banties pen 3 days ago and he checked it yesterday and found 15 eggs when banties decide to lay they really lay.
He brought all the eggs in and I wanted to leave them there because maybe the hens will start to set soon some banties only lay about a dozen eggs before they start to set.
My spring garden isn't sprouting yet to cool.
The big news is Elizebeth Taylor has died. she was 79 years old and had been married 8 times. Mickey Roony is still around and he is 91 years old and complaining about how his step son is treating him. I guess he should not have married so many times .

our dreams and hope

I saw a name on the Carroll county police report that says more about lost dreams than any thing I ever saw before.
April Sunshine xxxxxx arrested for ..DWI #1--Drinking on highway--Impeding flow of traffic.
I can imagine a young mother giving birth to a beautiful little girl on a bright day in April and filled with love for her baby named her April Sunshine! and the girl grows up and all the mothers hopes are dashed.

chickens and green patches

it is a fair morning. The wild cheery tree is leafing out. My rose bushes are getting leaves can blooms be far behind?

garden soup and nuts

I talked to Fleta and Clayton and they have been planting garden too. I think we all have spring fever. Onion, lettuce and radishes are all in the ground in our gardens. What about Betty? She has had surgery so Larry better get busy and plant that spring garden for her.
we had a warm day yesterday and wind. I hear wind out side now so more wind is in store today.
With the time change the school bus goes before day light , it just passed and the daylight is just peeking in my window.
Remember the relative of my husband who called in his own obit well day before yesterday Steven called His brother Donnie and said he was going to kill him self when that didn't produce the results he wanted he called 911 and told them he was going to kill himself. The sheriff came over and when Steven saw them he made a fight at them. He was transported to the Hospital and from there taken to the nut house. This no doubt was not the reaction he wanted or expected. Life is hell when you can't get your way by threatening to kill your self and no one cares if you do.
Donnie said Steven was complaining about having to live alone. I guess he didn't like not having someone to push around but that's what happens when a 30 something year old man is such a pain no one can stand the sight of him any more.

medical care

When you are young you take math test
when you are old you take health test.
I think we have the worst medical care in the world, The doctors I have seen over the last 15 year, ever since our Dr. Wallace retired are on one tract it is the tract to their wealth. I have not seen one doctor that has any compassion or feeling for their patients in years. It is all about what they can do to charge the insurance companies to bring more money in to their pockets.
Dr. Wallace would see 30 or 40 patients a day most doctors feel over worked if they see 10 patients a day.
Sammy goes to a doctor that I used to go see, he fills his calender with appointments that are unnecessary and when you really need to see him you have a 2 week waiting period. It is all about money.
health insurance is a thriving business in this country keeping people in work. All the money is going to the paper chasers and such trying to find away for the patient not to get medical help that he needs.
Now with the new health bill that has been labeled obamacare it seems that people are going to have to pay for health insurance which will be more money for the insurance companies to spend to keep people from receiving medical care. Health insurance only means insurance for a thriving business.

Cindy is on the war path!

indy Sheehan: ‘Barack-A-lujah! I Have Seen The Light!’
Sunday, March 20, 2011



I used to be against ALL wars and the use of violence, but (and I must admit a little confusion on this one, at first) now it seems that I am against wars, acts of war, and violence ONLY if a Republican is president. Now I understand with perfect clarity that it was good to protest Bush—and if the US-UN resolution against Libya was done when Bush was president, it would have been wrong—but now it’s “compassionate.” I must admit, I was a little shocked to find out that the US actually commits compassionate acts and, again, silly me—I thought most acts of war and war were for profit. I realize that only a jerk (or racist) would think that now. I have repented.

I cringe with embarrassment when I think of the wasted years imagining that there could be any other way to solve problems without killing more innocent people! It’s okay to bomb Libyans to save Libyans (or Iraqis to save Iraqis; or Afghans to save Afghans; or Yemenis to save Yemenis, etc) because a Democratic president who has been given the cover of the UN Security Council may bomb them. Yep, it’s all starting to make sense. With all the continuing conflicts, imagining a world without war was starting to seem useless—and now I know it was! Phew!

This is another kooky idea I had—that the Security Council of the UN oftentimes, if not always, bowed to the will of the global oligarchy—or should we say, OILigarchy. I chuckle, because apparently that notion was either dead wrong, or was just a fact of life up until January 20, 2009.

Here’s another mistaken notion that I labored under all these years: Torture is inhumane and a war crime. Up until just last week, I thought the US torture camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba should be closed and that military tribunals should not resume—but President Obama signed an executive order to keep Gitmo open and resume military tribunals. Wow, it’s like from almost one day to the next, torture and illegal, indefinite detention became acceptable practices.
I AGREE WITH HER> Patsy

4 toes 5 toes 6 toes

San bought this rooster at the Huntsville sale a while back thinking he was a hen. Most chickens have 4 toes but this one has 5 toes on one of his feet the other has the normal 4 toes. There are some breed of chickens that have 5 toes on their feet so I think this is a gift from his forbears.

The silkie and the dorking chicken breeds both have 5 toes. The faverollies breed also sports 5 toes and this is where I think Sam's rooster got his fifth toe.

There are some people born with 6 toes believe it or not. When I work at Tyson it was my job to sell boots to the employees and one day This young fellow a native of Guatemala was buying boots and he requested a certain size. I told him I felt that size would be to large for him. He explained that he had 6 toes on one foot and had to have a larger size than you would expect him to wear. I ask him to remove his sock so I could view this foot when he did I saw he had a second little toe. This no doubt was not a problem in his home land having gone bare foot or perhaps wearing sandals but it was a real problem at Tyson where everyone had to wear shoes.

gone with the wind

The wild birds are gone. I heard they flew the coup with a large one and last seen was crossing the highway over by Powell's one stop gas station going south.

April fools came early this year.

new birds

I got the birds in a pen. I don't know what they eat but I am feeding them layer pellets and crack corn. I had all the neighbors helping me pen them up. Sammy says he would like to raise some young birds but we don't know if there is a rooster or hens. We are hoping that they are a breeding group.

I named them Pat , Mac and dodo . dodo is resting in this photo. I think he is a rooster. I am going to make them some nest in case they are laying. My nephew has a incubator and he said he would loan it to Sammy if we get eggs.

strange birds

I looked out of my window and saw these strange birds strolling toward my chicken pen what could they be? I have seen about every bird there is here in the wild and I never have seen any like these.

spring garden is in the ground.

lot of bull for Helen.

Sammy plowed and I planted onion, lettuce and radishes and just on a dare I planted some turnips. I never tried to grow them this time of year but if nothing else I will have greens. I am tired , I don't have any strength any more.

The tires are filled with dirt so maybe I can grow tomatoes. I Will get the sets in April.

before and after

Tony is bringing me dirt today and I have prodded Sammy to get the tires where I want them. Tony will bring his tiller and I will have Sammy plow up the last year's flower bed. I am going to put lettuce, onions and radishes in that spot.

The two photos are before and after .There was a lot of tall dead grass there and I burnt it off last week. Our neighbor hauled the big rocks in last fall and put them on the edge so no one would drive over the flower bed.

Everything I read says the guineas will not bother the plants. We shall see.

77 for a high today is the promise with a sleight chance of rain.

Saint Patrick day

Today is the day to plant potatoes.
Everyone Irish, this is your day.
Saint Patrick was a monk in Ireland born in Britain . He was transported to Ireland as a slave then escaped to France after 6 years he made his way back to Ireland and spent his life there doing the work of the church.
It is said there are no snakes in Ireland because Saint Patrick drove them out..
many cities have parades today celebrating their Irish roots. one that comes to mind is Boston.
In work place you had better wear some thing green or you might get pinched.
When and where did this tradition start? It is not native to modern Ireland, by the way! I found it very strange, that no one in Britain, that nobody observed any aspect of St. Patrick's Day.

One tradition is that the pinching started in the early 1700s, about the time that awareness of St. Patrick's as a holiday came to the fore, too, in Boston (in the Massachusetts colony). If you wore green it made you invisible to the Leprechauns - else they were out to pinch anyone they could see. So the pinching was to warn you about the Leprechauns.

bacon grease cookies

MOLASSES COOKIES

Ingredients :
3/4 c. bacon grease
1 c. sugar
1 egg
2 1/4 c. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cloves
4 tbsp. molasses

Preparation :
Mix all ingredients together. Shape into small balls. Roll in
sugar. Grease baking sheet very lightly and bake at 275 degrees
about 15 minutes.

Dumb people

I found this on the web site I visit....

can i use lard in cookies instead of shortening??i have a peanut butter cookie recipe and it calls for 1/2 cup shortening, but at the store i bought lard instead of shortening, can i use it, will it change the flavor any???? thank-you!!!!
Answer ..

1. Re: can i use lard in cookies instead of shortening??I would not....I would not want my cookies tasting like bacon or anything.

2. I thought they outlawed lard. Thats what my mother-in-law told me. Where can I buy some! LOL

3. I don't even think you can get lard here in California. I've NEVER seen it in any grocery store, and I have NEVER cooked with it, not even once, in my whole life.

cool weather and guineas

I still have 9 guineas. The others may be dead.
It is a cool 33 degrees here with a promise of 55 for a high.
Friday is suppose to get up to 80 degrees. Helen wont have any thing on us Friday.
I gathered 3 bantam eggs yesterday 2 brown and 1 white.

Japanese or Jap

It is a fact our life experiences can effect our attitudes. I was 5 years old when my father went to war. he fought on Iwo Jima and he fought the Japanese on that island.
Hate for the Jap, that was what we called them, was in our being they were the enemy and we hated the very name.
When the war was over we didn't forget those felling. People my age and older will remember those days and how the jap was our enemy.
I am 72 years old and deep down I still have those feeling. When I see the great Calamity that has falling on these countries that have had the earthquake I feel sorry for the people but when I view the The island of Japan and their great tragedy deep down in my being creeps the thought that they deserve what happen to them and I find no great sympathy in my heart for these people.
I am ashamed for these thoughts but they creep back in my mind often. I am deeply ashamed of this but it is a fact.

bantams

I had forgot how much I liked the bantams until SAM brought these home if I am still here this fall I am going to sell all my big chickens and keep only bantams.
They eat less lay enough eggs for us and are cleaners because they have less body waste.

Project mud turtle trap, job for Larry

Things You'll Need:
6 plywood boards
Hammer
Nails
Chicken wire mesh
Stapler
Staples
Tape measure
Electric drill
Drill bits
Metal rod
Rope
Mesh bag
Bait


Read more: How to Make a Mud Turtle Trap | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_6390076_make-mud-turtle-trap.html#ixzz1GZcdn0pj
Nail together four plywood boards to create a square or rectangular box frame.

2
Cut the chicken wire mesh to fit the bottom of the box frame. Staple the chicken wire mesh to the bottom of the box frame.

3
Drill two holes with the electric drill on opposite sides of the box frame. Use the tape measure to make sure the two hills are drilled evenly across from each other. The holes should be large enough to fit the metal rod inside.

4
Slip the metal rod through the two holes.

5
Nail one plywood board to the side of the box to create a ramp. The ramp will rest in the water so the turtle can crawl up to the ramp to get to the box.

6
Balance one plywood board on the metal rod. Once the turtle crawls up onto this plywood board, it will flip up, and the turtle will fall into the trap. It will then become trapped at the bottom of the plywood box until removed.

7
Go to a body of water where mud turtles tend to congregate and tie the box to a fence post resting near the water, or another structure, to keep the trap from floating away.

8
Bait the trap by placing a mesh bag of food on the plywood board balanced on top of the metal rod. Mud turtles typically eat insects, worms, shellfish and plants, but will also eat liver and fruit.

9
Check the trap daily. You have to reset the trap each time a mud turtle falls into the trap. Also, checking the trap daily will make sure turtles don't die in the trap or that snakes or other unwanted creatures become trapped in the box.
.Refurbished Q TRAP 4000www.IetLtd.com

Read more: How to Make a Mud Turtle Trap | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_6390076_make-mud-turtle-trap.html#ixzz1GZcPnh9u

project for Larry , turtle trap

Top 5 To Try
How to Make Homemade Turtle Traps
How to Make a Mud Turtle Trap
How to Build Turtle Traps
How to Catch Water Turtles
How to Make a Turtle Trap at Home
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Related Topics
Homemade Turtle Trap
Turtle Traps
Making Homemade Traps
Water TurtlesMake a Crab Trap
more » .How to Make a Water Turtle Trap
By Bobby Ingram, eHow Contributor
updated: May 7, 2010


Snapping turtles can be trapped and their meat used in soup.turtle image by Stjepan Banovic from Fotolia.comSnapping turtles can become terrors in a lake or pond, praying on the other residents of the water, but their aggressive tendency can be turned against them with the introduction of a floating turtle trap. Once caught, the turtle meat can be used for cooking in a turtle soup. A simple homemade turtle trap can be constructed with household and fishing materials and will allow you to catch turtles without having to watch it.
.Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Instructions.Things You'll Need:
Empty 2-liter soda bottle
Awl
Rope
Mesh bag
Metal wire
String
Hook
1
Punch a hole near the bottom of a 2-liter soda bottle.

2
Pass one end of a rope through the hole and feed the rope through until the rope comes out the mouth of the bottle, and tie a knot in the rope small enough to fit through the mouth and back into the bottle, but too large to fit through the hole in the bottom of the bottle.

3
Cut the rope to a length that exceeds by a few feet the depth of the lake where you wish to set the trap. Tie a mesh bag to the end of the rope.

4
Cut a foot long piece of wire. To create a small fixed loop at one end of the wire, make a loose loop approximately 2 inches from an end and tighten the 2 inches of wire around the longer portion of wire to hold the loop in place.

5
Pass 3 inches of wire through the eye of the hook, and twist it around the body of the hook repeatedly to secure it in place.

6
Tie 2 feet of string to the loop in the wire and around the neck of the bottle.

7
Bait the hook and fill the bag with some rocks to serve as an anchor, then place the bottle in the water where you wish to set it
.

time change again

Helen said these chickens were ugly. I think they are cute. We will get rain today I think.
Fleta and George went down in Dan Norton's Field and cleaned the briars from a old grave yard.
I spent yesterday morning installing antivirus protection on my computer. I bought what I thought was antivirus dish a month ago and installed it yesterday then I discovered what I had bought was a Norton Utilities disk so I had to get Janet up a 8 O'clock to go to walmarts to buy another disk. I always have had trouble installing the anti virus disk and yesterday was no exception. I called Fleta for help and she was down in the grave yard so after several attempts I finally was successful.

Helen called last night she was baby setting Bill's children. I can't understand her attraction to grandchildren.
The clocks had to be set this morning again. The time changed last night again. we are near to spring now!

Bantams

Sammy went chicken buying again yesterday he bought 2 bantam hens. They are cute as a button and old as the hills. They have spurs on their feet a quarter of an inch long so I think they might be 4 years old at least. I think they might live through this spring and summer but next winter probably not.

I think they are mixed breeds. I can't find any breed that has feathers on their feet, feathers beards and top knots.

earthquakes and famines

Matthew 24:7 (King James Version)

7For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

earth quakes and high tides

Recent earthquakes near Greenbrier, AR
Time Magnitude Location
3 hours ago 3.2 Oklahoma Map
Yesterday 2.8 Arkansas Map
Yesterday 3.5 Arkansas Map


The sun is shining and we have the promise of a nice day unlike Japan and all along the west coast. Sammy heard on the radio they had another quake in Arkansas. sounds as if the the world is coming apart at the seams.

These bantams are going about their lives undisturbed by earth quakes or high water.

Bantams

One of the bantams has laid 4 eggs. I have left them in the nest as Sammy said they are not large enough to eat.

31 degrees here at 7:08 and cloudy. The chickens and guineas were glad to see me with the feed bucket.

I hope Betty is beginning to recover from her surgery and I also would like to know if Winnie Jo received my E-mail ?

Tony has promised to bring me some dirt to grow tomatoes in this spring if you remember he brought me dirt last year that killed everything that got near the stuff. I told him no more of the bad dirt!
The deepest snow I ever saw in our area fell on March the 10th a few years ago and if we get by that date I always think the chances of a Hugh snow fall is past. That snow was 3 feet with winds that created driffs. One fellow over by Rudd went out to look about his cattle on horse back. The horse stumbles into a low place and the man thought the horse would die before he escaped his prison of white snow.

We were snow bound for 5 days and finally had to shovel our way to the road because we were about out of food. it was some time in the late 60's. I don't miss those days at all, any time I get blue these days I think about what a struggle I had feeding my children when they were all home and I think I am in a better time than I was then.

pay day

the chickens are waiting on the sun just like me.

A B C

Helen told me this story the other day and it is really cute I think.
Her daughter's son Benjamin is 5 years old and can spell many words. Helen said in the past Missy and Helen would talk in front of Benjamin about his father and the fact Missy was getting a divorce. They would spell key words hoping to keep the 18 month old boy unaware of the divorce.
One day they were in the car with Benjamin in his car set in the rear and they were discussions Benjamin's father spelling key words when from the back came this young voice " no more a b c d E F G's!

dead birds, dead fish

its been a couple of months since a large group of animals has baffled locals and scientists alike by mysteriously turning up dead, but it appears the trend continues this week in Los Angeles.

Millions of small fish, including anchovies, mackerel and sardines, washed up dead in the middle of the night in Redondo Beach, California, in another bizarre mass death that has authorities puzzled and looking for a cause.
Boaters woke up this morning to find the dead fish up to a foot deep from the water’s surface at King Harbor Marina, which is about 22 miles south of Los Angeles.
Revelations 8 verse 6-8
6 Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.
7 The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

8 The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, 9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

my eggs

my eggs green/blue and brown.

promise of spring

I keep taking photos to see if the download of photos is still possible.

eggs

15 eggs yesterday. 9 blue/green eggs , that means all the pullets laid yesterday. the Easter egg hens are finally producing.
40 degrees here and we have thunder storms in the forecast.
I am still able to down load photos. hurrah.

Oh happy day

I have had a problem with my computer. I was not able to down load photos. Fleta came today and worked on my cameras and computer. The card reader on my computer was shot. She left me her card reader and now I can take pictures of my chickens again. sorry if you were enjoying a break from my pictures.
I know it isn't earth shaking if I can't down load pictures but it really makes my day to take photos and then put them on my computer.

Pain at the pump

Gas is going up everyday and the Mideast crises in Libya , Iran and Egypt is fueling the price. Needless to say we have plenty of gas , there is not a shortage the oil companies are just taking advantage of this opportunity to enrich their coffers.

Saudi Arabia may be the next place for riots and oil troubles.

In some of our cities not long ago they had rolling black out due to the extreme cold and electric heating systems. something has to give or we will see the end of live as we know it. we may find we can not afford to cool our homes in the summer or drive our cars when we want and along with the price of gas food prices are rising also.

I read the other day that bread and milk prices are expected to climb because the price of wheat, corn and other grains are climbing.

Rev. 6:6.
And a voice came to my ears, from the middle of the four beasts, saying, A measure of grain for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny: and see that you do no damage to the oil and the wine.

I heard this explained once as the grain and barley were a poor persons food and the wine and oil was the food of the rich. In other word the rich will grow richer and the poor will struggle to survive.


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Food, not oil, may prove to be the bigger threat to global growth, with the pain falling disproportionately upon the developing economies that powered the latest economic recovery.

Oil market investors are pricing in only a small risk that Middle East unrest spreads to top oil producer Saudi Arabia -- an event that would instantly catapult oil to the top of the global economic risk list.

Assuming Saudi Arabia's oil flows unimpeded, the blow to global consumer spending looks relatively modest. Food prices, however, are expected to remain elevated for some time, which puts more pressure on household budgets.

"At the moment, the increase in food prices is much more of a concern," Thomas Helbling, an advisor in the International Monetary Fund's research department, told Reuters Insider.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner echoed that view last week, pointing out that rich nations could tap strategic oil reserves if needed, while food prices will remain high "for a long period of time."

Retail sales figures coming this week from the United States, China and Britain will shed some light on how consumers coped in February, when violence in Libya drove energy prices sharply higher.

Mercy mercy!

ATLANTA — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said late Friday that he expected to be a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.

Gingrich announced Thursday that he's exploring a run for president, launching a website to collect donations.

In an interview Friday night with Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity, Gingrich said "my expectation is that by the end of this exploratory process that we'll have an announcement and we'll be in the race."

Palin, Gingrich what else can they drag up?

cock of the walk

I went to feed this morning and the head guinea cock was chasing sparrows around the yard of course he didn't catch any but not for the want of trying. I took them out of the pen because they were chasing my chickens. I still have only 9 hanging around in the yard but I believe the others are still among the cedar tree patch across the road.

I am gathering about 12 eggs most days. The hens are much happier with out the company of the guineas.

I am have a great deal of pain in my legs and can only stand for a few minutes so I am not spending much time out there in the mornings. I will be glad if the sun shines today because I will go out and set in the sun shine for a while.

Stacy, who are you?

My son has this little black dog who he raised on a bottle because his mother died shortly after giving birth. Sammy tends to connect his dog with human traits. The last few days Getmo, that is his name by the way, has refused to come into the house. Sammy thinks Getmo is mad at him. I think he has a lady friend about to come into season.
Our neighbors apparently have a baby. They throw out their trash in this fire burner and every week they burn the accumulated trash. Getmo has been going over and bringing back treasures to our front door step where they lay until I pick them up and burn them. This week he has brought several dirty diapers, a dead new born pup, old bits of clothing and several stuffed animal;s with the stuffing torn part way out. I will be glad when that baby get past the diaper stage of Getmo gets out of the puppy stage.

I went to visit velvet and she was telling how her new pup was tearing up jack all over the house. I could tell her she hasn't any trouble compared to Sammy.

Rained last night here and I wondered how the guineas were doing in the hurricane. I peeked out and they were still on the roost with the rain sliding off their feathers. Just now I looked out my window and they were strolling around the neighbors yard. I still only have 9. 3 are missing but Sammy hears them across the road yelling yesterday so they are still among the living.

I have a puzzle which I need help with, The last couple of days I have had someone named STACY commenting on my blog and it appears that I should know who she is but when I click on her name it tells me her blog is private and I have to have permission.
Yesterday she wrote...Stacy said...
I am pooped. Working after having surgery is pretty hard. I am surviving. Like you I have lived my life knowing "I can do this". My 8 staples come out Monday after work...I will be glad to get them out.

STACY who are you? and can you let me read your blog? What kind of surgery did you have? I feel like I started reading a book from the middle and don't know the first part.

Daffodils morning

I am behind Fleta and Betty but I have daffodils blooming today.
I have 9 guineas this morning one came back under the cover of darkness. I know not where the other are or if they are alive or dead. 9 is a plenty sort of like warts. less is best.
54 degrees this day with a promise of thunder storms.
I am getting a dozen eggs most days now.
I went to sleep early and woke in the night. I made a cherry pie and washed all the dirty dishes after I cleaned out the refrigerator. then went back to bed. I put a roast out to thaw and it is in the oven as we speak.
I hope Betty is doing well and Helen is enjoying her company. I wish everyone a good day.