I used to buy niger for the gold finches. But this last year they ignored it for the black oil sunflower seed feeders. I took my thistle feeder down and put up another sunflower feeder. I have a huge quantity of finches. Have you had a gigantic increase in cardinals this year? I have more than ever before.

I mixed the thistle with the wild bird seed...so far they haven't discovered the feeder.

We always have lots of cardinals.

swmogardens sometimes the thistle seed is old and they won't eat it. I had 50lbs once that they wouldn't eat and I took back a 10lb. sack that smelled rancid to me. I don't buy it anymore because most birds will eat the black sunflower seeds. I buy suet for the woodpeckers.

This is a wonderful thread, and so I enjoyed reading what you all were doing.

I am trying to brave it outside long enough to water bushes and trees that may need some winter tending.

Been going to Christmas craft fairs, but they are almost over with, and so trying to figure out what to do with the long winter. I need to make two feather trees if I remember how to do them. I am also looking for Christmas books to read, that are on the same vein as Truman Capote's Christmas Memory. And then there are other books to read as well.

The bird feeders are filled always, but I don't have a good view of them.

Then I am taking care of feral cats with help of the Humane Society who got them neutered for me. Two of them are becoming tame and sit at our French doors looking in. I feel so bad for them, but they know nothing of the house and its warmth. There are 6 more like them. I put out boxes with blankets to hopefully keep them warm. Wish people would take care of kittens and not dump them.

My friend in Oregon wanted to know if I ever saw cardinals sitting in the snow like she sees in photos. I hope to be able to get her one this year. Ah, how nice it would be to have a sun room with large windows that looked out at the bird feeders.

I thought of making plum pudding because I have always heard of it, but my friend said that it is rather tasteless. Still, maybe I will figure out how to make a steamer and make some just to say I have had it.

What sells well at the craft fairs Jessaka? I have some gourds I intended to paint and make into bird houses this summer but they are still waiting. Some are Swan Gourds that have straight necks because I grew them on a fence and I have three Apple Gourds that are big enough to make bird houses out of too. You're kindhearted to care for the feral cats. Will they let you pet them?

I have been designing a sun room in my head for at least a couple years now but one of our kids would have to work at a burger joint instead of going to college. lol It's on my "if I ever win the lottery" list. I would love to have a place for plants and would use if for an extra dining area when we have get togethers.

I was relieved that we didn't have any ice this morning. It didn't get as cold as they predicted. Maybe we'll be so lucky tomorrow morning too.

Glenda - My mother and I looked through cook books this weekend. I found a mincemeat recipe that was handed down from my grandmother's friend. Also going to look through some even older recipes that belonged to my great grandmother.

Christie, thanks for taking the time to look for the recipes. It will be so interesting to compare your Grandmother's with your Great Grandmother's recipes. I love old recipes....still making Grandma's and Mom's kind of dumplings....I don't know anyone else who makes them that way. I have some written in Grandma's own hand. I treasure them. Should seal them in something.

My sis built a fabulous room off their family room; it is where there deck was so it sits up high and you can see all across the bottom and the Raccoon River. We saw lots of deer in the valley when we visited. They eat most meals there. It has a regular roof and insulated windows and its own heating and cooling system. She put in carpet .... I wouldn't do that so I could have lots of plants.

It's my dream too.....after I get the bedroom addition built...................need I say more!

I have lots of birdhouse gourds left from year before. I should make that a winter project. They really need to be treated in some way besides just varnish....mine barely lasted 2 years with marine varnish on them. I think there is an Amish website that tells you how to preserve them.

We have a strange cat, orange and white in the barn where I milk. It doesn't seem too wild. I think it comes into the milk parlor and eats the other cats food.

Today is bread-making day. I always enjoy that.

Jessaka, the cats are fine outside if you have a shelter and bedding. They are just looking in at you. I adopted three wild kittens a few years ago caught in Joplin. One is in now meowing annoyingly and wanting to go out. I don't let it in for long because I don't want it getting used to the heat. We are out of cat food because some animal is eating it. I didn't want to go to town but cats and dogs must have their food. I will be opening a can of salmon; they prefer Purina Cat Chow. Anyone who has a cat needs to have it neutered immediately; they are so prolific.

I have a new bad habit to waste time - jigsaw puzzles on line. These are easy and addictive. I don't do hard puzzles. You get one free a day, but I bought a set all dog pictures today because one a day won't do.

I love jigsaw puzzles. So do my cats! My dad sent some home with me at Thanksgiving. Like I needed more. Mom is glad to get rid of them tho.

Jessaka, Do you sell or look/buy? Where all do you go to craft shows? I so want to get back into selling at them. I haven't been able to get contacts as I would like since I have been down here. Were you at the one in Nixa last weekend?

I painted a couple trufa leaves for my daughter over the weekend.

Got suet for the birds but haven't seen birds yet. I'm thinking maybe it is to close to the house. The neighbors have a feeder so I thought suet.

Got the crochet hook out and made a couple of those towels and a pot holder.

Just trying to keep busy. I can't handle staring at the TV.

Kathy

Kathy, start a big project, like an afghan, that should last you all winter! or a shawl. I want the shawl for when I sit at the computer in the early morning. I have tons of yarn so no excuse not to get started.

We just came in from battening down the hatches for the cold front. I got the strawberries mulched good (with a little help from my friends.....the chickens). Bedded down the chicken house. Gathered up 4 hoses that I thought DH has already done...........no.

Filled the bird feeders. We decided to leave the old one up so I made it a new lid out of a coffe can lid. We will see how long that lasts.

When we get rested up, we will head to Bolivar to get the trailer license and stop off at Wal-Mart. I want to buy a couple of their heavy duty hangers for the for feeders.

Christie, one of the feral cats, an ex female (Ha) lets me touch her when she is eating. she and a little blonde cat sit at our back door off the kitchen. it is one french style door so she can see inside. if you open it neither try to come inside. it took a while to get this far with her. maybe as a kitten she had been tamed. the other blonde will sniff my fingers. the other six don't come real close but they do gather around or feet when we come outside. Our border collie was always afraid of cats and so she has not liked to go out her dog door when they are on the porch. i have been making her go out, and the other day when she went out the cats gathered around her and went under her body. she accepted it. they were just wanting to be fed and she was there.

i think gourds would sell well at the Affairs of the Heart craft fair in Tulsa. I saw that some people were selling the painted gourds. I like the bird houses and had found two gourds at the same craft fair in OKC and my husband cut holes in them. have yet to put them up.

Helen, the humane society here in tahlequah helped me get all 8 cats neutered. it took a while because i had to trap them one at a time and maybe it came out to two a month. one cat had had kittens, and that is when i decided to get it done. the two kittens a vet took because they had an extra toe, and he likes those type. one kitten was part siamese and had the funniest face, a mask like a racoon. i wanted to keep it but at the time my husband didn't want a cat. And the humane society brings us feed to take care of them because they are feral. Then someone brought me a rescued 5 week old kitten that had a blow fly larvae in her neck. i fell in love with her, and so we kept her. now she plays with the ferals, sort of just hangs out with them.

My own cat loves the computer when I put up youtube videos of cats. her favorite is How catnip gets cats high. She was at the computer for 20 minutes one day, just watching them.

I put a box with a bed in it on the porch ther other day and one of the blonde twins gets in it. i guess he/she won't share with his brother/sister. i need to find another box.

my DH thinks that the cats needed heat and so put a hologen light in a little room off the house. i don't think it does much. for someone that didn't like cats, he has been every attentive to them. feeds them and had me buy used blankets, cracks the ice in their water dish, etc. i don't really like 8 cats hanging around that much and wish i could tame some and get them homes, but cats are too plentiful around here and often abused, so i just hope no one else dumps any litters like they did last year.

Kathy, I only buy at the craft shows. I don't do many crafts, but when I do I just give them away to friends and family.

I have been to Affair of the Heart in Tulsa and OKC but ony because my sister and niece came to visit then. I don't drive that far myself unless I had to, and then my DH would drive. Just wears us out. There is one just south of Tahlequah that I would love to go to, Fin and Feather. Other than that i go to craft shows here in town.

I learned to make suet for the birds. And then Chex Party Mix for my DH. Now to get back to figuring out Plum Pudding for me and my friends.

jessaka, let me know how the plum pudding turns out; it seems a little like mincemeat only steamed or dried and served with a hard sauce.

We made a trip to Monett yesterday to buy 8 young (6 months) old pullets, Buff Orpingtons, from a man who advertised on Craig's list. They very nice and a good size...; he wanted to give us 4 dozen eggs too. We had just bought eggs from a neighbor so just took 2 dozen, but I made DH pay him for them. It rained on us almost the entire trip but thankfully was dry when we got home. I decided to hang some greenhouse plastic on the open end of the chicken house and keep the new girls separate for a while until they get used to the new house and the other chickens can get aquainted through the south wire side that I didn't cover with plastic. They began singing and climbing into the nests right away. One of our girls sang back. I swear they were talking to each other. We are nuts, I know but we like our country fresh eggs........My girls are still on strike and molting.

These are supposed to be laying already and the eggs we bought were definitely pullet eggs.
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All clickables.

Just had the eggs scrambled and they were a very dark gold. I will be emailing him to see what he was feeding them. Ours aren't quite that dark in the winter when they aren't getting greens.

Out to check the chickens.

OK......check in everyone!

I got the asparagus row cleaned off and about 1//3 of it mulched. It took more straw than I thought....I hope to finish it today.

Now need to get the piles of debris all burned. I don't want to compost them...tomatoes and asparagus tops...disease and bugs.

Still have mulching to do on some various flower beds...will do that along as weather permits.

I made the suet cakes....now just need to get the birds to find them!

I think I have received all my seeds except the one packet that Park bo'd. I will not order from them again. This is two years in a row they have bo'd my onion seed.

What is going on at your house?

Congrats on you new additions Glenda. My dad's always loved having chickens. I don't know how many they have now but they're getting almost two dozen eggs a day. I save my kitchen scraps for them.

I mulched all my salvias with straw before that last cold snap. I planted several Black and Blues earlier this summer that Lowe's had put on clearance. I'm hoping that they'll make it through the winter. A couple looked like something had dug around them. I wonder if voles will go after the tubers or if it was just random digging. I'll be happy if at least a couple make it.

I haven't ordered any seeds yet. I've been so busy. I sure feel like I need to sit down with a pile of seed catalogs and go through them but I still have shopping, wrapping, cleaning, etc. and the kids' last day of school is this Friday.
Glad the weather is going to be decent the rest of the week. That helps.

Jessaka I'm impressed with how much your humane society there is helping out with the feral cats. Sometimes playing with them (keep your hands back) will help gentle them down. Try waving a long shoestring back in forth in front of them. Not sure why that works but it does. Be careful. I saw a cat attack on tv once and it's surprising how vicious they can be. The cat had it's claws and teeth dug into a guys leg and wouldn't let go.

I have been doing nothing. Today I want to go outside while this weather lasts. I have plenty to do. I still have walnuts in my yard that I need to rake up. I am digging deep holes and getting out the rocks in my tomato area. The ditch that flows when it rains used to go through my yard I think because the soil is like a creek bed in some areas. I have piled good stuff on top but I need to dig down and get out the rocks.

cat attack. wow! it is too cold to go out and play with the younger cats now. i don't know how you all do it. i went out and watered my bushes and some trees yesterday and didn't last long.

i have not been doing much. seems like helen is doing more than me. i am on the computer more and decided to rent more netflix movies. today i plan to clean the house, make mincemeat cookies with an icing on top, and if the hoses are not frozen, water my fruit trees. this are only plans though.

Well, I bought a new Horse Tank Heater, yesterday, Knowing full well that they last 2 days beyond the year guarentee. This is the 4 th one. Also bought a new 5 gallon chicken waterer, the old one rusted out on the bottom.
Gldno, I envy your new pullets, my gals are on strike right now. I know, they must be close to 4 years old now, not sure if I'll get more, or not. Be nice to eliminate winter chores, but I still have 2 horses, so that wont happen.
I was wrong on Pinetree- I understand the extra charges are only on things like potatoes, etc.
Baker Creek has a nice catalog, too. I need to order flower seeds, but think I have enough everything else.
Think they're still investigating Sis's death, had to go give statement yesterday.
This is supposed to be the last nice day for awhile, hope everyone gets their shopping done. I sometimes miss the rush for Christmas shopping, mostly the excitement, I guess, but when you're Great Grandma, big generation gap.
Everyone-Enjoy Today

Jessaka, Helen is not doing more than you. In cold weather you'd think I'd clean my house but no I fiddle around. Ceresone I'm sorry you can't think of your sister's death without lots of extra pain. It is bad enough when everyone does all they can. There are always regrets and thoughts of things you wish had been done in hindsight. It is terrible to think that someone you love was mistreated when they were old and helpless. I bought myself some stuff on Amazon too easy and sent two books to my sister.

Sunny, how's the knee coming along?

Yesterday we finally got the rest of the veggie garden mulched. I think I spread 4 more bales. I also did the fence bed that runs along the garden, but I used the old alfalfa hay flakes for that; it is more brown colored. I had three bags of leaves from our son-in-law's yard and used those on the dahlia, rosemary and new garlic and herb bed.
I think I am finished....at least with all the bales DH had brought me.

I also burned three big piles of debris....and smelled so smokey when I finished I had to hit the shower.

That was in the afternoon. That morning I had made the cottage cheese and the Surprise Candies (I call them Reece's). I had a good day.

Today all I am doing is making Spritz Butter Cookies and reading.

I pushed myself yesterday because the weather was so nice.

I certainly don't work that hard everyday!

Helen, I love shopping on Amazon.

Ceresone, I hope they get your sister's death resolved. I know what a sad time that is for you. Family things are the worst....don't ask me how I know.

Glenda

Sorry to hear about your sister Ceresone!!!

I love amazon.com too.

We have some pipes outside that keep breaking. the insulation we can buy here doesn't work well. may have to leave water dripping.

helen, well, we must be good fiddlers. at least yesterday i made some cookies, cleaned the bathroom, did some dishes, help paint our house a little outside. maybe today the outside of the house will be all painted.

Breaking pipes is a pain. I hope you have a handy fellow around to fix them. I don't know about your pipes, but I have learned from past years what will freeze in winter. Bags of leaves work on my concrete thing at the top of the well. Straw bails piled against things work; then you can use the rotted hay in spring for mulching your garden. I always leave water dripping when it gets around 10 at night. I leave my kitchen cabinet doors open in bitter cold because the drain can freeze probably needs some wall insulation there. I have to figure out things for myself no helpers here only dogs and cats.

jessaka, check into a frost-free hydrant if that is the issue....we leave the water dripping in the barn and the house when it gets down around 10°, but the outdoor hydrants are all frost proof so don't with them.
I want to say thank you to whoever showed the picture of the green dog waterer! How have we lived this long without one of these....amazing. Now cats and dog and birds are taken care of.

We made a run to Bolivar today to get chicken feed....and couldn't pass by Wal-Mart. My white chocolate turned into a $90 cart full of things. Hopefully that will take care of us over the Holidays.

I may try a new technique for feeding the chickens....just whole grains and rolled corn and scraps. Couldn't get the wheat so am trying whole oats. I bought a back up bag of egg krumbles....just in case.

Just finished baking the Russian Teacake cookies I had chilling.

Will now finish my Robert Ludlum novel. He is a little far out with spy intrigue for my taste...but I am almost done.

Glenda - I forgot you asked me about the knee. Sorry. I'm doing fine. Still in physical therapy and it's hard work, but he says it's coming right along. By March it should be strong enough to support me for the left knee surgery rehabilitation.
Thanks for asking.
Sunny

my husband is a retired plumber, but he has only plumbed in warmer climates. thanks for the advice.

do people here ever put their water heaters on the outside porch in a closet with insulation? my friend thinks it would freeze anyway?

The VERY MOST IMPORTANT thing to remember, in installing frost-free hydrants outside, is to be sure there is a deep bed of gravel under the faucet (underground). The way these work is when you shut them off, the water drains out of them at the bottom, insuring there isn't any water there to freeze.
Wonder how I know--and I have 5 of them!
Oh, and Gldno, do you have a heater base for your chicken waterer, too?

i copied your message for my dh, and will show him the photo of a frost free hydrant. he said it is the shut off value that keeps breaking.

ceresone, we had just bought a new base heater which is why I was so surprised when it was frozen (DH said).....he said it wasn't frozen yesterday morning so don't know why it was the morning before.

We have 6 frost free.....when we were milking, we had a water line run all the way to the back of the farm, so have two way out there.

We didn't install any of them; had plumbers do it. We aren't great in the DIY department!

I meant to ask: Jessaka are you an early riser like I am? I never know if the times posted here are correct or not.
I am usually up by 4 AM.........and on the computer with my first coffee.

I dont have a heated base on my chicken waterer-that's why I wondered.I do have a double-wall waterer, and so far Ft. Knox hasnt frozen inside there.
I also have 5 frost free waterers, down by the barn's and around yard. Plumbers put them in too, as well as the 2 repair people who had to redo them everytime.
Seems the originals were just installed in a bed of clay. The shut-off is actually at the bottom of the hydrant--5' in my case, that allows water to drain back down above ground pipes. If it can't drain off, it freezes-and clay dont drain--thus the bed of gravel.
But--my problems are solved there--last year, it broke the main line there--so we keep it shut off, and only turn on to fill tanks. LOL--more than you want to know??
beginning to look like they may cancel our snow for Christmas--hope we don't get ice instead.
Everyone have their shopping done? and menu planned?
Don't forget, if your turkey's frozen, to thaw it out in ref. days ahead--my daughter has a 22+ bird--and despite my reminding her-- she won't!!
Enjoy!!

I finally got some help to get the veggie an flower beds all prepped for winter.
You all sound so busy.
Glad you are all doing so well.
Haven't been here in a bit. Too depressing to think about gardening when I can't get it done.
big health issues last few months. That seem to get worse at times.
Dr. thinks hand eye an mind exercises will help. In other words play a game. LOL was never any good at those to begin with.
I will continue to live my garden life vicariously through all of you.
Happy holiday's to all.
Bonnie

I am sorry you have been ill. I'm glad you checked in.

Bonnie, You hang in there. I hope you get better. Visit here whether you can get out to garden or not.

With no little ones at home anymore, my Christmas Eve and Christmas Day aren't so busy.

Sounds like the weather is going to happen! I will be milking this morning so I don't have to wade snow tomorrow morning.

I baked a pound cake yesterday and it is in the fridge. Will be serving it with fruit salad and whipped cream for desert. I think I will also make a cheesecake since I have been promising our daughter one for ages. No pies...I have had it with pies from Thanksgiving.

Will be doing the regular turkey dinner with dressing for when ever we get to have dinner.

Have a wonderful Christmas.

Glad to hear from you Bonnie. It's frustrating not to be able to do the things you want to do, but try not to get discouraged. ((( Big hug from all of us ))) You're always welcome to join in, even if you haven't been working out in your yard.

gldno, I get up early, but it depends. been up since 2:30 this a.m. sometimes if i turn on tv and watch the news i will fall back to sleep. didn't happen. but i am often up at 4 or 5. wish i could sleep in because i like to stay up until at least 9 to watch tv.

my husband didn't want to get one of those water thingies, so he got a stronger shutoff value or something and more insulation. and maybe it will work. time will tell. he may give in yet.

bonnie, i hope you feel better too!!!

we got chinese food for christmas. after making a turkey for thanksgiving i wasn't in the mood for another big dinner.

Merry Christmas everyone.

waiting for snow here. kind of like the play, waiting for godot. but maybe we will get some. for us it usually means losing power, and so we have a generator ready. why did we have to move into a house that loses power every year? And then sometimes we lose dsl or cable tv.

jessaka, I hadn't expected to lose electricity but they are now saying there maybe some ice before it turns to snow. I am filling up my bathtub because of your post. I don't have water when the electricity goes out. You can flush the toilet if you have a bathtub full of water.

It got cold last night. Hope everyone has heat and electricity this morning. It's going to be even colder tonight.
Jackson stood by the door when I put him out this morning with a "you've got to be kidding" on his face. He finally took about five steps out into the snow and then came back. lol He needs booties. My other two didn't seem to mind it. They're all back inside now where it's warm.

Watch for ice if you got out today. Walk carefully.

How are you this morning Bonnie?

Fine thank you.
I'm sitting here w/coffee looking out at the snow drifts across my yard. Thanking heaven above I don't have to go out in it. Well other than I went out to get the paper this a.m.
How everyone is safe. An no one is w/out electric or water this morning.
Sounds like you better get to knitting booties Christie.
Thank the lord above for spell check. since this I can't type the way I used to. Words end up with all the letters there just typed in the wrong order. Dr. say's practice but I'm really beginning to wonder.
Bonnie

Is everyone keeping an eye on the weather? Our forecast says it's supposed to get down to 10 tonight. brrrr

The blueberries I bought last spring are sitting up against my house on my patio in pots and I'm starting to question my thinking. They're in those type of planters that look like concrete but they're really foam, about 4 gallon size. I've been wishing I could lug them into my garage but there isn't room.

Bonnie - I'm staying inside too. The only garden related chore I plan to do is turn the pages of a seed catalog.

Chhristie is there anyway you can place them against either a south or east wall and then cover them with leaves or something? They might be fine but I would feel better if the pots were mulched. But..........I was by that greenhouse on Kearney the other day and she has left out all her potted bushes without any protection at all.

I am starting walking again (2x so far) and so I am outside for that.

The house is quiet again....kind of nice.

I got Johnny's seed catalog today and I might have been more tempted if I hadn't looked in my seed drawer. I have lots of old seed and probably it would grow if I had a place to plant it. I have been sprinkling poppy seed in the snow. That also makes me think I don't need seed. It is hard to find a good place to sprinkle the seed I have. I have a dug up place planted with hyacinths. If I put seeds there it will shade the hyacinth foliage and they may not return next year. I may sprinkle some alyssum seeds there. I am so hard up for places to put seeds that I am thinking of moving my burn barrel, raking that area and planting shirley poppies there. There is a nice bare area there but it isn't good soil.

helen, did you need to use the water in your bathtub?

we didn't lose electricity.

a friend sent me an amaryllis bulb. when do i plant it? it came in a kit, and i am not interested in using the kit, just the bulb.

didn't realize that i had been away from here for so long.

just had 6 inches of snow christmas morning, and it is still on the ground. so pretty.

Jessaka - Did you mean that you're wanting to plant your amaryllis outside? I know there are people in zone 7 that leave them outside all year but I'm not sure about zone 6. That may be pushing it too far. I thought zone 7 was pushing it. I'm curious now who has gotten them to survive outside. I may want to stock up on clearace bulbs. : ) We're at the end of the month. You may need to start a new thread on amaryllis.

I have kept a bulb going for three years now. I plant it outside after frost and when the ground has warmed. I plant it in semi-shade and leave it until just before the ground freezes. Then I leave it in the milk parlor (any cool place will do) repot or add fresh soil to the top, bring it in and put it under the lights. I should have done it in time for the holidays but didn't.{{gwi:1123149}}From Plant Light Stand

Oh my! A friend sent me something that has to grow indoors, as if i have enough light to grow much. I am going to do what you do gld. i have no cool place to keep it except in the workshop. will that do?

How cold does your workshop get?
I don't think the kits need a lot of light to bloom. I just set mine in the middle of the kitchen table if I remember right. I wish I had deep window sills for plants like my mother.

I should have explained all this is after I watered the kit and let it bloom inside the first time. I just kept it a brightly lit room that had windows on three sides. Then in the latter part of May, I sunk pot and all outside in a shady flower bed. Before a hard freeze, dig it up and start all over again, letting it bloom inside. Mine did bloom outside this summer.

the workshop has no insulation. i put it in a closet that doesn't get heated, hopefully that will work.

we have a porch in front and back, so we don't get a lot of sunlight. the window that does has ferns in it. kind of crowded.

thanks gld

jessaka, why don't you plant it in the kit. It is an interesting plant meant to be a winter bright spot. I consider them disposable like pointsettias. Gardeners and patient people save them and go for another year. I did that once. The flower is already in the bulb from where it was grown last year. If you don't have a place for it, throw it away after it blooms.

we don't have enough sun coming in our house. but i wanted a back porch and a front porch and got it. maybe i will put it on top of the washer and so sun comes in that window until sad window is removed later on when the kitchen is remodeled.