D.T.A.

Anyone who has followed WWF, or the World Wrestling Federation about 10 years ago knows exactly what that stands for. There was/is a wrestler who goes by the name Stone Cold Steve Austin, and it is he that coined that phrase. Shouting from the ring, wearing it on t-shirts that sold by the millions..D.T.A.!!!

So what does it mean to those of you who could care less about that world of entertainment? It means: Don't Trust Anyone. That's it...nothing more, nothing less. So why is today's blog titled such? I will tell you why.....

I've been betrayed, lied to, and played a fool. I knew it was going to come sooner or later, simply because this person is just after personal gaine, no matter the cost. My SIL....but here's the kicker.....it goes to a whole list of people in my life.

My father used to always tell me "Its a wise person who can count the number of TRUE friends on one hand." Of course, as with all teens and 20-somethings, we don't believe it. Well, I'm here to tell you, its true.

I have 2 true friends in my life.....2 people I know would drop everything to help me, who would give their life for me, and I would, without hesitation, give my life for them.

DH
The Handler

Here's the deal with everyone else:

*Your immediate family is trying to con you out of everything they can....take, take, take without giving an inch. Always conning, lieing, finding a way to get over on you, competing with you, etc.

*Your In-Laws are watching, waiting for you to screw up the member of their family that you married so they can pounce on you. They use you for personal gaine, not wanting to return a favor unless its convenient for them.

*Your 'friends' turn out to never really be who they say they are. They never really end up being the people you met, or thought you knew. Their words are hollow, with no meaning.

*Your co-workers, well, their just after the promotion and your corner desk.

I told the DH last night, "you can trust 2 individuals in life...your spouse, and your dog...both can be iffy at times". He laughed, but agreed.

So, my wonderful aquaintences, watch who you talk to, who you tell your secrets to, because you just never know. Remember.... D.T.A.

Lots of pictures

I went out to do my 'chores' yesterday morning, and decided to take the camera with me. Saturday the DH was home, and poor thing worked his butt off with the tiller in the garden. If the damn thing wouldn't take off and drag me through the country, I would have done it a long time ago. I just can't handle that beast, and I'm not afraid to admit it. Hell, its tried to drag him off on ocassion!!

Anyway, other that between a few plants, the garden is looking GREAT! I have peas growing in the pods, cucumbers getting bigger everyday, my gourds are trying to take over, and everything else is looking awsome! We dug a few red potatoes Saturday, and had them for breakfast on Sunday...mmmmmmmm...they were sooo good! This is my first garden as an adult (adult by age, not by mind!! LOL ) and just can't get over how much flavor everything has. Potatoes actually taste like potatoes!! I cut some brocolli the other day and it literally melted in my mouth! It wasn't rubbery, or flavorless...yummy!! So here are some pictures I took while out there, and some of the chickens as well..hehe. :)

Peas in the sun:



Brocolli just begging to be eaten:



Sweet corn above my knees!! (the saying goes "knee high by July")



Gourd plants stretching out:



My first cucumber:



Tomatoes waiting to ripen:





Looking from the West end:



Looking from the East end:



Brad the rooster looking handsome!:







Jon with his awsome color!:







Not sure if you can see it, but Jon is yawning!! lol :



Look what I did!! :



One of the older hens:



We would wave if we had hands!:



I've also tried my hand at making homemade egg noodles. I seperated the yolks and mixed them with flour and a bit of water. Rolling out the dough was a chore, but if they turn out good, it will be worth it. I ended up with a gallon ziploc full, so we'll see what happens. They take a long time to dry in the oven, but I don't know how else to do it. I'll be locating my broth recipe, and trying my hand at that as well. Who knows, I might be a great 'homemade' chef and not know it!! LOL

Today I'll be getting off my butt and mowing the grass, which I completely HATE doing. If it wasn't so wet out from the dew, I would have done it already when its cool out. I managed to get all of the laundry and ironing done yesterday...the ironing I had put off for so long it took over an hour to finish. I made the noodles, cleaned the butts of the baby chicks (thats something you don't want to know about)and tried to just get the little stuff done. I know it doesn't sound like too much, but I had about 4 loads of laundry, and hung it all out on the line which was nice. I actuall yenjoy haning clothes out, so I don't consider that a chore.

I guess I'm a morning person. I get up early, and try to get all my work done while I have the energy. Seems by noon or shortly thereafter, I run out of steam and just want to relax. Heck, I KNOW I'm not a night person...by 9pm I'm in the bed!! LOL

New Arrivals...

Yep, more babies!! LOL These are Barred Rock hens...ok, pullets, but they will be hens soon enough. They are very tolerant of the cold, so will work well here in the mid-west. They should start laying around mid October. I am so excited! They are NOTHING like the meat birds we had. They don't smell and of course they don't poop near as much. They are running around in their brooder and are sooo cute! I think they are cuter than the little yellow meat birds.

Here is how they arrived. I got a call from the Post Office "we have a noisy box for you, please come pick it up! *chuckle* "



I got them home, and fixed up the brooder (crate, lol) and they are loving it!




Of course, I'll keep you all updated (like you care) with their progress!!

All Done

Finally, the meat birds are ALL DONE!! Monday the DH was home and we worked diligently from about 0930 - 1230. We had quite the system down....I got the live bird out of the pen, did the 'deed', let it drain, dipped it in the hot water, & plucked it. His job was to filet the breast from the bone, and cut off the leg/thigh portions. In writing, my job seemed more elaborate, or harder, but in truth, it wasn't. There were times when I was helping him (rinsing meat, etc) and times when he helped me with getting another live bird ready to go. We had the radio going, and yes it was hot out, but we worked hard and it went very smoothly. I say this because usually we cannot do a project together. But this time we did really well. There wasn't a whole lot of 'chatting', but we seemed to speak without uttering a word. It was very nice. And once we were finished, we did the 'happy dance' and collapsed on the deck in the shade. Although we had a cooler FULL of meat that still needed 'finishing', the bulk of the work was finished and it was a great load off of our shoulders.

We then showered, and then took eggs to the Farmer's Market. No, we didn't sell many, but it was nice to sit in the shade on the square and just relax for a bit. Coming home, we dove right into finishing the meat in the cooler and putting it in bags for freezing. No, I don't know how much meat (weight wise) we ended up having, but I know that our two freezers couldn't hold it all. We ended up having to put about 6 gallon size bags of meat in the MIL's freezer. I can say I don't want to eat chicken for this week!! LOL

I was thinking that we actually did this and the garden at a good time. I say that because of the flooding of the Mississippi River. With the millions of acres of crops being completely ruined, the news is saying that food prices will be on the rise. Hopefully my garden does well, I will be able to can the veggies and obviously have meat, so I should be able to save money this winter.

Speaking of the flood.....

I live close to the river. And depending on where I go, depends on how close to the river I am. Twelve miles West of me the town of Dallas City, IL is flooded out. Thirty six miles North West of me Burlington, IA is shut off. I have no worries about the water reaching me, as I am too far inland. If I see water coming to my house, lol, there is a HUGE issue and I am running for the hills!! Many people (family that doesn't live here) call and ask "are you under water?" um...LOOK AT THE FREAKIN MAP!!!! Thats all I can say. The link to see pictures of the towns West of me that are flooding is www.kbur.com

How does your garden grow?

Mine is growing by leaps and bounds!! I am learning a lot from said garden, as well. Like, don't plant broccoli in the spring/summer. Same with the radishes. Ok, got it. Strawberries that are transplanted will probably not produce until the following year, and weeds will grow anywhere, at any given time, especially when your back is turned!!

So we've gone from this:



To this:



With all the rain we are getting, I'm suprised it hasn't washed away. The meat birds are doing fine as well, and its time for processing them. I did 5 yesterday all by my little ol self and it wasn't hard at all. I was cutting off the leg/thigh as one portion at the joint, same with the wings, and then the breast meat I peeled the skin and just filleted it off the ribs. So, there was no gutting needed. That made my job a lot easier and faster. By the 5 bird, I was doing quite well!!









Of course, I fried some up for lunch and not only was it really good, but such a different taste than store-bought. Lots of flavor, and actual 'texture'. So this weekend the DH and I are going to finish the processing (40 left to go!) and do a 'test kitchen' of sorts...bake it, grill it, marinate it, etc. to see what works best. At some point I would like to can it, as well. I'm also going to try my hand at either grilling or boiling a whole bird. I think we have enough of them to test with!!! :)

The difference 10 years can make....

Its amazing what a difference a decade can make. But for this blog, I'm going to refer to it more loosely, and say 6-10 years. I say this because it is in those 4 years that people in that generation apart from me show a significant difference in attitude and morals. Let me explain....

Ten years can mean the difference in The Great Depression and a boost in funds because of WW II. Ten years is the difference between Cassette tapes and CDs. Ten years can mean the difference between putting leaded gasoline in our cars, and non-leaded ethanol. Ten years can be cars made of steel, or cars made of fiberglass. Ten years can be creating your own entertainment, and the home PC. Get the picture? Ten years is a LOT of time folks. And that, well, the 6-10 year reference, is what brought me to this particular blog. It started out about 2 weeks ago in my head, and was nothing but tidbits of a major rant. Thats right, a complete 'bitch-fest'. But I kept fighting against it. Then a good friend sent me an email, asking how I was doing since I hadn't blogged in awhile. And that got me going again. Thinking, brooding, deciding. Again, it was a complete whiner blog about all things that piss me off. But after working in the garden, walking on the treadmill, and taking the dogs for a walk, I've worked it into the following "words of wisdom" ....if you want to call them that.

You see, there are very few people in my life that are older than me that are of any signifigance. My father and a select group of others are all that matter to me. I was taught at an early age 'respect your elders' and 'do what you're told'. Fair enough. No, I haven't always done what I've been told, I figure at the age of 37 I can do what I damn well please. But I HAVE ALWAYS respected my elders. I have NEVER asked them for help or advice with the intention of doing it my own way. To me, that is a waste of my time and theirs...a waste of knowledge better bestowed on someone willing to listen. After all, our elders have 'been there done that'. I do not call them up bitching and whining about how my life is so hard, and why is life so unfair, and all the other silly crap that plagues our youth these days. And just for reference, YOUTH = anyone 6 years or more younger than me.

Time and again I get baraged with a phone call or email of our 'youth' in some sort of drama. I will not name names, it consists of both family and friends of all aquaintence levels. I also get calls of "can you help me?" in which case I always do, because that is the way I was raised. You help people in need. Another little tidbit that has escaped our 'youth'. Call me 'old fashioned', but I was taught that if you want help, expect to one day return the favor. In fact, ASK when you can return the favor...GO OUT OF YOUR WAY to help people, because you just NEVER KNOW.

I have also learned through the years that you should never ask the question you don't want to hear the answer to. Boy is that the truth. So why...WHY do people call me, write me, IM me,etc, with questions when they could really care less about my answer???? Why are you wasting my time??? And then....THEN...why do you call me later, whining because things aren't working out? or things didn't go like you thought? IF YOU WOULD HAVE LISTENED TO ME, YOU WOULDN'T BE WHINING!!! Do I actually tell them that?? No, I don't. I get so many excuses, and even the "I don't know why I did that"...well DUH!!! HELLO IN THERE!!! Do you honestly expect me to have sympathy, when you can't take responsibility for your own freakin actions??? NO!!!! You scream that you are miserable in your (school, life, relationship, marriage, house, car, etc). NOT MY ISSUE!! Or how about when you KNOWINGLY are in a position of self destruction?? When you are KNOWINGLY causing yourself hurt/pain?

My son once said to me "Mom, it hurts when I poke right here." My response? "Well, son, don't poke right there." End of discussion.

Our 'youth' is so wrapped up in petty bullshit, and anything that makes 'drama'. I know people who claim in one breath to hate it, but in the next breath say 'but it makes me stronger'...BULLSHIT. It makes you selfish and self centered. You want to gain strength? Go help the hungry, the poor, the sick. Go live on the streets for 10 years. Join the military and travel the world to some of its poorest countries. Go to war. Go to a place where your life is on the line every time a car pulls up to your post. Be in a relationship where you actually stand up for yourself, and not just take whatever you can get. Strength comes from wisdom, and if you aren't wise enough to get yourself out of the bad situation you are in, then in my eyes you are weak. I have no tolerance for that. People tell me all the time "I am a strong person", when the whole time they are KNOWINGLY in a situation that makes them the 'lesser' person, because they are too weak to take a stand. The are afraid of the outcome, afraid they might have to stand on their own and move on with their lives. Trust me people, the world keeps moving whether you are in it or not. It doesn't care if you bought the wrong car, married the wrong person, hate your in-laws, or are being treated badly by your parents, spouse, bf/gf/partner, your dog, or your co-workers. We each have the power to get ourselves out of the unhappiness we are in. We made choices, and if we stand behind our choices, and stand up for ourselves, then we are strong. But if we make a choice, and then back down for fear of retrobution, lonliness, outcasting, or being 'unloved', then we are weak. I just wish the 'youth' would listen. As elders, we are not telling you these things because we are old fashioned or out of touch. We are telling you these things because we want you to be strong....stronger than us. But how can you be when you won't heed our advice? How can you be strong, when all the people in your life see is you making a decission and then going back on it? What type of trust does that build? NONE.

Respect, trust, gratitude, and sticking to your guns is what life is about. And somehow, in the last 6-10 years, those things have gone away. Wow, the difference 10 years can make.....