DSCH1 Sony Digital Camera Lens Sticking

I had mentioned in my last post that we had sent the DSCH1 Sony digital camera off to Sony because the lens was sticking causing the camera not to work. After looking at new Digital Camera's we decided to pay the minimal fee of 170.00 in advance to send it to Sony to fix. The final cost was 183.00 dollars to tell us that we must use only the most expensive high quality lithum batteries for cameras in order for lens to stop sticking. I am upset that we had to pay that amount to get that info when we called them before sending camera off and they could have mentioned that info. My reason for posting this rant is so that if anyone else is having the problem they may have access to this info. We looked online before sending off to Sony and did not find any info that helped.

Mama Duck is still laying on her nest and we should have babies ducks any day now. Mama Hen has weened herself from all 14 biddies. They stay together and are doing well.

I am sorry I have not posted lateley but seem to be battling constant fatigue.

OH MY! I have been trying to post for two days. Darn Dial up.

Mama Hen and her 14 biddies are doing fine. They are all free ranging now going into the coop for safety at night. Mama has taught them to fly up into the trees to perch during the day.

Mama Duck is still on her nest. She is spending all day on her nest only getting up to eat in the evening. I do dice up tomatoe's and toss them to her while she is sitting on the nest. I can't take pictures due to my Sony Digital DSC H1 camera lens not working. We have sent it off to Sony to see if they can fix it.

I will try to update again this afternoon. I had a wonderful post update twice and lost it all so will make sure this is working before spending any more time on it.

Hormones are a 'Bad Thing'!

Wow is it hot. On Thursday it reached 112 degrees, Friday 110, Saturday 105 and yesterday was 101. I work outside and let me tell you it has been very uncomfortable. The dewpoint has been in the mid 70's. I have a kiddie pool for my dogs and I have been making sure they have fresh water. Both of my dogs get into the kiddie pool and lay down. I also give them ice. I also put ice into the water bowl. Bueller the rescued chicken did not make it thru the heatwave. In case you have not kept up with my blog Bueller is the Rooster that was rescued from the middle of the road when he escaped the truck on it's way to be butchered. At 6 weeks he was over 10 pounds from hormones and I was worried that he would not make it thru the heat due to his size. Hormones are a 'Bad Thing'. I went outside to check water bowls and found Bueller having stroke.

Mama Duck the Khaki Campbell is still on her nest. She will not let anyone around the nest. She is like a rabid pit bull even if the male ducks get around the nest. She did come over and swim in her pool last night while I was cleaning up the duck area.

Congratulations to the reporter that escaped from the Taliban.

Coming Soon-Baby Khaki Campbells Ducks

I had noticed that my Female Khaki Campbell was missing so I went looking for her. I found her under some brush on a nest. She is hidden so well under the brush that you could walk right by her and not see her. She is laying on the nest occasionally coming out for food and water. She was feeding and a large crow had flown over and she ran for her nest to protect it.

Mama Chicken Hen (Buff Orpington) is doing fine and all 14 biddies are still with us. It is amazing how much smarter they are then the ones hand raised by a human. They are 3 weeks old as of today. They are already flying and able to perch in trees. Mama made a 'protect yourself' noise and they dropped and covered themselves with leaves. You could barely see them. They have learned that if I call 'Chick, Chick, Chick, that I have some type of goody to share with them. They love blueberries, blackberries and enjoyed the watermelon I gave them. My wild woodland blueberries that are on the property are not ready yet but, they will enjoy them when they are.

In the garden I have been harvesting, green peppers, jalapeno, blackberries, cherry tomato's, cucumbers and various herbs. I am going to plant a second planting of just about everything including corn, this weekend. I did get sweet potato's planted this past week.

We no longer have the problem with the nieghbors dog. We completed the fence and the dog liked us so much that he was digging under the fence. I had a talk with the nieghbor and they installed a fenced in area with shelter for the dog. Scooby is the dog's name and Scooby dug under what they had installed to come over and see us. The nieghbors installed electric fence and Scooby has not dug out since. Problem has been resolved peacefully. It has been a challenge at times but I am thankful this issue has been resolved without the nieghbors being hateful. Of course I had to work at it. Taking baked goods, homemade jams and jellies and rounding up new clothes for the young mother that could not afford clothes for herself. I have gone out of my way to keep the peace because in the past we have had very unhappy hateful souls for niegbors with no communication and I decided when I moved here that no matter what I would keep the peace. It is a challenge doing so but so far all is well.

Buying Local

Hello All, Many of the farms in my area are harvesting crops. Corn, potato's, watermelons, cucumbers, carrots and green beans. I drove out to Suwannee Farms yesterday and purchased a bushel of white corn and 50 lbs. of creamer potato's. The corn and potatoes were being brought in from the field as I made my purchase. The carrots are being harvested 2 miles from my house and when the trucks are leaving they drop so many carrots when turning out onto the hwy that many locals just pick them up. I also purchased a watermelon for 2.00 right out of the field. I love this type of shopping.

Note on the pickle recipe from last post. I do not like it. Maybe it needs to sit longer. I may dilute and add sugar to pickles. I only made three jars as I did not want to waste my cukes on a recipe I may not like. I did make a vinegar, sugar, water solutions and cut some cucumbers and onion into the jars and chill. I love the recipe and have enjoyed cucumbers this way since a teenager.

Mama Hen and her biddies are doing fine. Biddies are two weeks old as of yesterday. They are progressing much faster then the biddies I purchased originally and hand raised. Mama has already taught them to perch, climb, fly, take dust baths and also to haul butt if needed.

For those of you who keep up with my blog you know that I do not pay to watch tv. No cable or satellite bill. Now that all stations have gone digital I have a few more stations. With my antenna I get two ABC stations, NBC, CBS, FOX, CW, 4 PBS stations, MYTV and ABC 24 hour weather. Do not miss cable or the bill at all. Of Course with the' Beyond TV' program I downloaded, I can view the tv program guide up to a month in advance and record up to two shows at a time and always have something to watch or view if I miss it. If you are not aware of 'Beyond TV' check it out. Note, do not type in www.beyondtv as some weird site comes up. You need to go to http://www.snapstream.com/

Making Pickles

A gardening friend shared her abundance of cucumbers from her garden with me and I am making pickles. They are soaking in a brine at the moment. Here is the recipe I will use.

Slice fresh cucumbers into a brine of 1/3 cup of pickling salt to 1 quart water, let set overnight or all day (or overnight and all day.)
Per poung of cucumbers (or about 3 cups) bring to a simmer / brief boil:
1 3/4 cups cider vinegar and
3/4 cup sucanet or turinado (or other brown sugar)
In each pint jar put 1 teaspoon mixed pickling spice ( with cinnamon and cloves). some dill and a few small grape leaves. (I am not using grape leaves>)
Drain brine off cucumbers, cover with hot water, drain. Pack not too tightly into jars. Cover with hot vinegar/sugar solution leaving 1/2" headroom. Lid and process as you normally do (boil-water-bath or steam-pressure-canner can) for 10 minutes.
Recipe is out of my 'Countryside & Small Stock Journal Magazine, July /August, 2009 isuue. Will let you know how they turn out when complete.

Peaches and Blueberries

This past weekend we picked peaches and blueberries at the local U-Pick farms. Thanks to the long cold winter peaches were large and plentiful. The blueberries are at the beginning of the season which will continue through the summer. We picked 17.5 lbs of blueberries. I had the blueberries put up that same day and the peaches within two days. I will use them to make jams, jellies and preserves as well as eating as is and for baking. I am looking forward to having several entries in the County Fair next year and possibly moving from Second place winner up to First.

Mama Hen is doing well and all 14 biddies are as well. They are already perching on the perch we have provided for them. They loved the blueberries I shared with them.

I harvest Bell Peppers, Jalapenos, Cucumbers this week. I am harvesting more Cucumbers than in the past. Planted them in pure compost and created a dike to hold in water. After the flood I had to start over with the Squash and Tomatoes and while they are growing no harvest as of yet. I recently sprayed my tomatoes with Calcuim to prevent blossom end rot.