Entropy Delivered

[Ernie]

49 mph winds gusting from the east.

NEW roof on greenhouse has been torn and blown astray. It was captured against a fence and taken into protective custody. It will be returned to its proper place on the greenhouse when the wind dies down.

A stack of plastic planting containers have been scattered across the farm, many of them now enjoying a trip across the neighbor's property and down the road.

Gate on the chicken run has busted a hinge and is now hanging askew.

Tarp used to cover tomato plants at night has gone missing. Some carpet I had laying in the garden to suppress weeds has now been blown off into the yard.

Power keeps going in and out. County electric says there are too many power lines down and they don't know when they'll get it stable. Eggs are in the incubator and can't stand prolonged power outages. Power goes out for 10 minutes at a time about once or twice an hour. Not quite enough to drag out the generator.

On a subsistence homestead, these spring storms can be a real labor-generator. I reckon I'm going to spend most of tomorrow just repairing today's damage.

[cnichols]

Wow Ernie, I guess you're going to end up being a "Master Greenhouse Roof Builder" when it's all said and done!

The winds are picking up again here as well. Last night was entertaining, although we count ourselves very lucky that no trees fell over and everything appears to be in it's rightful place. Heard on the news this morning that some people weren't that lucky.

Is the chicken run going to be able to last until tomorrow? Or do you let your chickens free-range?

Good luck with the incubator. Hope the power outages don't adversely affect the chickies to be.

And yes, storms such as the ones that just came through can be a real "PITA". Downed trees, missing items, damaged buildings, etc. Good luck on the repairs!

[Illini]

I'm glad that I locked the barn door, because the gate to the attached pen was blowing, although it had been latched. The hinge looks iffy now. Lots of free firewood and kindling to stack, though.

And, I very nearly got lift-off this morning while doing chores.

"I believe I can fly.
I believe I can touch the sky. . ."

[Ernie]

The chickens free range this time of year, but I like that run gate being shut at night. It's an added layer of protection. I can get it propped up and latched, but it will have to be fixed. The incubator is keeping its temperature so there's not really any concerns there unless the power goes off for over an hour or so.

I just saw an empty cardboard refrigerator box going down the road under its own steam. It crossed over into the next county and disappeared up the road.

Sorry to hear about the storm, Ernie.

The last one that passed through here left me yet more tree tops and limbs to cut up.

I've been wanting to put my incubator on a UPS for the longest time but haven't done it yet. You should consider one as well.

[Ernie]

Duh! Good idea. I have a UPS sitting 3 feet from the incubator. I just plugged it in.

I knew the storm was coming but I did not get out and go through everything with a critical eye. A lesson to be learned for homesteaders ... batten down the hatches before a storm!

That's why I share these sorts of things ... not to add fuel to the "Ernie is an idiot" fire.

[olivehill]

Picking up here as well. Just one more reason today is not turning out to be "my day" whatsoever. :|

[Our Little Farm]

Hope everyone stays safe.

[bluefish]

That was one thing I had to learn fast when we moved to Wyoming. Nothing moveable ever, ever, ever sits outside. EVERYTHING is inside or battened down. Same where we live now. There's only so much you can do, though. When the winds are blowing metal grain silos down the road and through the yard, you just have to keep your fingers crossed and pray.

[Blu3duk]

Ernie is not an idiot, /ernie is like everyone else, to many things to remember all to once sometimes and lets ignorance of somethings take the blissful stage until the storm wakes him up to the fact that ignoring the things will bite ya every time!!!

When we stil lived up on the acreage we lost, we had an 85mph gust or harder come up the canyon and take the roof off the barn, twice, the first one peeled it back and i just left it cause it was still useable and the barn need torn down anyway, the second time a couple years later, it took some more of the roof, and sent a piece of siding to within a foot of a window on the house... and that siding board was not loose that i knew of.... had it not been for a lilac bush in front of the window, we would have had a new window in the living room that day to put in. People underestimate the powe rof the wind and the damage it can do even when its not a tornado!

UPS on the icubator..... you could always jist pull the eggs out and put them under yer arm!!!! ok no i would did that either, but they did after the un-civil war when soldiers were sacking everything.

William
Idaho

[Cyngbaeld]

Bad here too. At least this part of TX isn't on fire, yet.

[jamala]

The wind here is horrible as well. I was in the kitchen when the kids yelled, "MOM, your grapefruit tree just went by the window". It is 6 foot tall in a LARGE pot that I can't move by myself on the front porch and it just went flipping by the window and off the porch. My Son and I managed to get it upright and anchored with rocking chairs and straps to the porch.

[7thswan]

It has gotten worse over the day here. First thing when I got up, looked out the door to see if everything was OK. I could hear the coffee pot(just water) on the woodcook stove slowly boiling(dh put wood in when he left for work). So great, add more wood. About 5 mins. later, the wind just pushes all the smoke down the pipe right into the house. I'm running arround trying to figure out which doors/windows need to be opened to rectify the draft issue. Nothing worked until the wood got flameing hot. Tryed to shut down the dampers to get some heat-nope, repeat on the smoke. Now the house smells awful, and the 4 candles burning are no help. Looked out back again and the ne side of the roof on the greenhouse is flapping,this part is steel roofing. Have to go out and get on a ladder to fix it. Button down the Hatches everyone.

[seedspreader]

Entropy... bwhahahaha.

Any new species created by it?

[Ernie]

Ernicus Mocautionus

Out of curiosity, Ernie, what are you hatching?

I just hatched out a mess of White Midget Turkeys and will soon put in a setting of Standard Bronze.

[tkrabec]

Originally Posted by A.T. Hagan

Out of curiosity, Ernie, what are you hatching?

I just hatched out a mess of White Midget Turkeys and will soon put in a setting of Standard Bronze.

From the sounds of it Chaos Chickens or Gusty Geese

[Ernie]

Just some hybrids. I'm about 8 generations deep into my own chicken breeding program. I started with about 12 different varieties and then have culled heavily to get the qualities I am looking for:

1. Foraging ability
2. Predator awareness
3. Good egg laying
4. Vigor
5. Ability to successfully hatch and raise their own young

My son argues that I'm more or less taking them back to a feral state (wild jungle fowl) but I resist that. I'm just fine-tuning them to the qualities that a homesteader would desire.

[KIT.S]

For some reason, it seems all our storms happen at night. We just batten down and have to wait until morning to see what came loose. Last spring, a 10X12 metal building that was screwed to a wooden floor came loose, lifted up over the 55 gallon drums inside, and came down on some fortunately empty rabbit hutches. We got some friends together, took out the contents, then lifted the shed back onto it's floor and screwed it down with MORE screws. It's stayed in place so far this year, despite a couple good blows that took out the electricity for 3 days. If we have to have storms, it would be nice to watch them. They can be visually beautiful and amazing, especially if you live near the ocean.
Kit

[tkrabec]

Originally Posted by Ernie

Just some hybrids. I'm about 8 generations deep into my own chicken breeding program. I started with about 12 different varieties and then have culled heavily to get the qualities I am looking for:

1. Foraging ability
2. Predator awareness
3. Good egg laying
4. Vigor
5. Ability to successfully hatch and raise their own young

My son argues that I'm more or less taking them back to a feral state (wild jungle fowl) but I resist that. I'm just fine-tuning them to the qualities that a homesteader would desire.

That does sound like a good "breed"