I hope the holidays treated you well. Here in our household I am geeking over my new Foodsaver & harvesting & homesteading books.
Hello. My name is Lacy and I am officially super lame.
Anyhoo....I have never been one to care much about packaging, I realize it is bad for the environment but with so many things in my life I have had to prioritize my "causes" & that one did not make the cut...UNTIL this holiday....WTH.
Thankfully my family is pretty awesome and while they do not really understand my need to reuse materials they got me many gifts that were good for the environment/locally made BUT after hauling yet another box FULL of packaging I realize how wasteful this all is...but am frustrated by what to do with it...any ideas??
As we have gotten newer stuff I have been working on getting rid of the "old" (usually really good, lots of life) stuff. And if you too are doing this I really want to shout-out an AMAZING organization that not only will take your stuff with a smile but do amazing work with it...
Community Warehouse
They have drop off points in both NE & SW, making it very convenient to donate. They use household goods to help people get on their feet, they do not discriminate what constitutes a household and I have taken many people to partake of their services & it is pretty amazing how a couple of paid employees team up with a bunch of volunteers to spread hope & cheer to so many. They are the essence of a non-profit (look at their budget on the website), turning very little into quite a lot for a lot of individuals in our community. I know that there are a lot of organizations that take goods but there is something about Community Warehouse that just seems right. I encourage you to look through your kitchen, linen closet & garage/basement to see if there are any items not getting the love/attention they deserve because I know Community Warehouse will make sure they are placed with some people that would be very appreciative of them right now.
On a total side note check out their blog....RIDICULOUSLY FUNNY. you will thank me later...
Lacy
Angry and Frustrated.
As some of you might know via Facebook last night we had a raccoon attack. We lost one chicken and thankfully because of our "guard" dog the raccoon dropped one mid-snack. This is sooo frustrating to us. Mostly because we have had this happen before. In the course of 2 years we have gone through 5 coops...trying to find the balance between happy chickens and uneaten ones. We thought we had found a fool-proof system and once again I find myself blaming my lack of care taking to losing a life and having one pretty hurt chicken currently awaiting an emergency vet clinic.
When we decided to get chickens we read all the books, joined the chicken forums, and even took a couple classes and one thing that I feel we were never warned of is how hard having chickens can actually be. Don't get me wrong usually they are pretty easy, and not much work but now having lost over 9 chickens in two years I thought I would share some of my pit falls so hopefully others do not have to wake up to a bloodbath the next day. I am doing this with feelings of shame and guilt but to be honest we went into "chicken keeping" with a lot of forethought, and education and it was surprising how many things have surprised us during these two years.
1. In Oregon you will not want to open/shut your coop every day & night, especially when it is cold and raining. There are a couple of solutions, both with positive and negatives. One is to not put your coop super far back from your back door. The plus side is that it will make the painful walk in your pj's every am or in the rain/dark every pm much easier. The negative is that the smell/rats that come with chickens will be much closer to your home....Our solution (so far) is to find an all in one coop with both the run and coop completely raccoon safe (unless you let the out for one sunny day and don't lock them up right away once the sun goes down). The positive is that you don't have to run outside all the time but the negative is that these types of coops can be a lot costlier (more materials) and your chickens might not get as much room as you (or they) would like to walk around.
2. Another way we have lost chickens is by introducing pullets too early to very dominate birds. One thing I was never told is that chickens are cannibals. Once they taste blood they will keep going. I am not going to get graphic but this is one thing I wish people talked about a lot more with new chicken owners. I did research, talked to knowledgable individuals and yet when I introduced two pullets (after days of letting them "smell" each other out) my Rhode Island Red completely went crazy on them and sadly killed them. Afterwards I turned to the forums and told my story and out came tons of stories of this happening to others. I don't know if people are ashamed, scared to admit this happened or what but it is something that should be shared. It was heart-breaking to raise chicks for months to then loose them in one night.
So here is my advice: if you have a dominate bird (Rhode Islands seem to be the most notorious of this) either raise your pullets for months separately, until they are like a full sized bird and then if you put them together (at night with no light around them) make sure that either you wake up before the sun rises to let them out or have a coop set-up where they can escape/move around A LOT easily to dodge pecks. Our other solution was to buy other dominate birds (more than one!!) and then place them in a run together for a week but at night keep them in separate coops until they have worked out their new pecking order. There were fights but no one was horrible injured and they seemed happy once they all got acquainted.
3. One other lesson we have learned is that when you raise chicks you will get some that have genetic issues. BE PREPARED. Have a plan so that when one needs to be put down you know what/how your going to do it. Believe me that you won't want to figure this out at the last minute...We sadly had no plan and had to make some hard decisions based on the tools we had at hand...if we had a plan in place (including who was doing what..and who was comfortable with what) and the proper tools I think the situation would have been MUCH less stressful to both us and the animal.
Yes chickens are awesome, yes they are great, useful animals, even pets. But like all animals they do have their negatives/their challenges. I hope that fully sharing our downfalls will help others avoid them. I also know that some of you out there will poo-poo us taking one bird to the vet. But honestly it is our fault they got hurt, it was our lack of knowledge/planning. I think that is the worst part, the knowing that it could of been avoided.
For chicken owners currently if you have a raccoon problem there are some options. We just called Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife and asked them about Raccoons they said that it is the states job to trap them but when we said that we had lost 3 chickens they said that because the raccoons are attacking our "wildlife" they are mailing us a permit (for free) to trap the bastards. They said that Raccoons are really hungry right now and acting VERY aggressive, so please watch for them with your dogs/cats/small children (seriously...he said all of these things). They also do not only come out at night during this time of year...they have been seen quite frequently during the day.. He also told us to NEVER approach one without a gun (even though you can't "officially" shoot them within city limits) as they will attack humans. We found a trap that is dog-proof and chicken-proof and ordered it off of amazon....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prCJCHY468Y
Wish us luck. I would like to give a shout out to North Portland Animal Hospital. This is the second time they have helped us out in a crisis and they are caring/not pushy and have amazing hearts (they have seen me cry more than most). They understand people have to choose sometimes between paying rent and pet operations and have never pressured/guilted me to do anything. As someone with a very high maintenance pug I appreciate this. The vet even showed me a website to get her meds for like half! They have one bird vet and even though his day is packed he personally called me and when I said I had called all the referrals and that the other vets were all on vacation he is shoving us in during his lunch break. Really awesome people that I know I can trust. Makes horrible situations manageable.
I know this isn't a super happy holidays post but I am hoping that it will help some.
Lacy
When we decided to get chickens we read all the books, joined the chicken forums, and even took a couple classes and one thing that I feel we were never warned of is how hard having chickens can actually be. Don't get me wrong usually they are pretty easy, and not much work but now having lost over 9 chickens in two years I thought I would share some of my pit falls so hopefully others do not have to wake up to a bloodbath the next day. I am doing this with feelings of shame and guilt but to be honest we went into "chicken keeping" with a lot of forethought, and education and it was surprising how many things have surprised us during these two years.
1. In Oregon you will not want to open/shut your coop every day & night, especially when it is cold and raining. There are a couple of solutions, both with positive and negatives. One is to not put your coop super far back from your back door. The plus side is that it will make the painful walk in your pj's every am or in the rain/dark every pm much easier. The negative is that the smell/rats that come with chickens will be much closer to your home....Our solution (so far) is to find an all in one coop with both the run and coop completely raccoon safe (unless you let the out for one sunny day and don't lock them up right away once the sun goes down). The positive is that you don't have to run outside all the time but the negative is that these types of coops can be a lot costlier (more materials) and your chickens might not get as much room as you (or they) would like to walk around.
2. Another way we have lost chickens is by introducing pullets too early to very dominate birds. One thing I was never told is that chickens are cannibals. Once they taste blood they will keep going. I am not going to get graphic but this is one thing I wish people talked about a lot more with new chicken owners. I did research, talked to knowledgable individuals and yet when I introduced two pullets (after days of letting them "smell" each other out) my Rhode Island Red completely went crazy on them and sadly killed them. Afterwards I turned to the forums and told my story and out came tons of stories of this happening to others. I don't know if people are ashamed, scared to admit this happened or what but it is something that should be shared. It was heart-breaking to raise chicks for months to then loose them in one night.
So here is my advice: if you have a dominate bird (Rhode Islands seem to be the most notorious of this) either raise your pullets for months separately, until they are like a full sized bird and then if you put them together (at night with no light around them) make sure that either you wake up before the sun rises to let them out or have a coop set-up where they can escape/move around A LOT easily to dodge pecks. Our other solution was to buy other dominate birds (more than one!!) and then place them in a run together for a week but at night keep them in separate coops until they have worked out their new pecking order. There were fights but no one was horrible injured and they seemed happy once they all got acquainted.
3. One other lesson we have learned is that when you raise chicks you will get some that have genetic issues. BE PREPARED. Have a plan so that when one needs to be put down you know what/how your going to do it. Believe me that you won't want to figure this out at the last minute...We sadly had no plan and had to make some hard decisions based on the tools we had at hand...if we had a plan in place (including who was doing what..and who was comfortable with what) and the proper tools I think the situation would have been MUCH less stressful to both us and the animal.
Yes chickens are awesome, yes they are great, useful animals, even pets. But like all animals they do have their negatives/their challenges. I hope that fully sharing our downfalls will help others avoid them. I also know that some of you out there will poo-poo us taking one bird to the vet. But honestly it is our fault they got hurt, it was our lack of knowledge/planning. I think that is the worst part, the knowing that it could of been avoided.
For chicken owners currently if you have a raccoon problem there are some options. We just called Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife and asked them about Raccoons they said that it is the states job to trap them but when we said that we had lost 3 chickens they said that because the raccoons are attacking our "wildlife" they are mailing us a permit (for free) to trap the bastards. They said that Raccoons are really hungry right now and acting VERY aggressive, so please watch for them with your dogs/cats/small children (seriously...he said all of these things). They also do not only come out at night during this time of year...they have been seen quite frequently during the day.. He also told us to NEVER approach one without a gun (even though you can't "officially" shoot them within city limits) as they will attack humans. We found a trap that is dog-proof and chicken-proof and ordered it off of amazon....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prCJCHY468Y
Wish us luck. I would like to give a shout out to North Portland Animal Hospital. This is the second time they have helped us out in a crisis and they are caring/not pushy and have amazing hearts (they have seen me cry more than most). They understand people have to choose sometimes between paying rent and pet operations and have never pressured/guilted me to do anything. As someone with a very high maintenance pug I appreciate this. The vet even showed me a website to get her meds for like half! They have one bird vet and even though his day is packed he personally called me and when I said I had called all the referrals and that the other vets were all on vacation he is shoving us in during his lunch break. Really awesome people that I know I can trust. Makes horrible situations manageable.
I know this isn't a super happy holidays post but I am hoping that it will help some.
Lacy
AHHH!
Isn't it crazy how the sun can make your whole mood? Is there anything better than drinking a fresh cup of french press watching the chickens mosey about the yard softly clucking to themselves? I think not. Hope you are enjoying the beauty that is this day.
Reflections/Rant
Today is my birthday which is always very odd to me.....mostly because for 364 days a year I have no concept of my actual age.....I think once you get past 21 the digits kinda blur (maybe because of the increased booze??). I work with people much older than me (and always have), my friends vary in age from 12 to 93 and most are in their upper 50's. To be 27 seems so minimal to where I feel I am in my life.
As woman we are supposta do so much with our lives and do it in a very specific order, which is mostly dictated by our biological clocks. These days not only are we supposta be career woman, with degrees, success and titles BUT we are also supposta be mothers, lovers and homemakers. I have this constant nagging feeling that I am not doing enough...yet how the hell are you supposta do it all???!!?
In so many areas of my life I feel successful. I have a partner who both challenges me and yet also accepts me, a home that is more than I should be blessed with & a yard that could keep me busy for years, I have a job that I created for myself working for an agency that I not only believe in 100% but I get to see people's lives improve every single day. I get thanked for doing my job, a job I actually love....how many people are lucky enough to have that??
I have a family that while not perfect always rallies to support, even when my progressive, very left values do not match up. I still remember my father saying he was proud of me for all my work with planned parenthood....or when I broke up with my first adult love and not once did I hear a "I told you so" when they were moving me out...instead it was a hug and a threat to kick his ass :)
All of that seems so awesome yet society states that it is not enough....and sadly too many people in our society believe that bullshit hook, line and sinker.
I cannot begin to tell you how many times in the past week I have been encouraged to get married...or how many times my partner has been told to "make an honest woman out of her".....what does that even mean??? While always said in a loving manner I kinda want to say that I know everyday B makes a choice to be with me, that there is no piece of paper/contract/pressure to be with me...he CHOOSES...and how honest is that??? I do not take tomorrows for granted and while our relationship is not perfect I still get to make the choice of it is still worth it...and amazingly it has been.
While I am not someone who never wants to get married I do not understand this pressure to do so. Sadly some of my friends are in awesome relationships but they minimize them because he hasn't popped the question yet...they even start questioning if "he is the one". They forget to live and love in the moment, instead they focus on outside pressures that no one can measure up too.
The plight of a woman.
It is so easy to get caught. They have ads aimed at you (and we don't even have a tv.....hello sneaky facebook...). They have whole magazines about it, and books. Talk shows, and children's stories (don't even get me started on sleeping beauty...her whole life STARTS when he gives her his love...fuck that).....it is so engrained in us that by X amount of time we should have Y to show (or more like Y amount of carats). I can't even begin to address how woman's bodies are portrayed, or how expensive clothing is sold to "make us feel better" (ala sex in the city)....It can be overwhelming, so minimizing and truly harmful if one gets caught up in it all...
All I know is that I love my life. I love that at any point I could change it. I am learning to stay in the moment and no matter if I am laughing or crying, to be genuine and not compare myself (and my accomplishments) to those of the fake/unattainable society. I love that I was called (and sung to) by over 9 people on my cell, had more cards in my mailbox than it could hold and felt more love than anyone deserves.
I know that in this upcoming year there will be days full of crap, where I will take things for granted, or even get caught up in superficial ideals of happiness. I hope to think back on this reflection and remember. I hope to look back at this in a year and have built on my confidence, my ideals. So here is to another year full of laughter, animals, traveling, loving, and learning.
Lacy
As woman we are supposta do so much with our lives and do it in a very specific order, which is mostly dictated by our biological clocks. These days not only are we supposta be career woman, with degrees, success and titles BUT we are also supposta be mothers, lovers and homemakers. I have this constant nagging feeling that I am not doing enough...yet how the hell are you supposta do it all???!!?
In so many areas of my life I feel successful. I have a partner who both challenges me and yet also accepts me, a home that is more than I should be blessed with & a yard that could keep me busy for years, I have a job that I created for myself working for an agency that I not only believe in 100% but I get to see people's lives improve every single day. I get thanked for doing my job, a job I actually love....how many people are lucky enough to have that??
I have a family that while not perfect always rallies to support, even when my progressive, very left values do not match up. I still remember my father saying he was proud of me for all my work with planned parenthood....or when I broke up with my first adult love and not once did I hear a "I told you so" when they were moving me out...instead it was a hug and a threat to kick his ass :)
All of that seems so awesome yet society states that it is not enough....and sadly too many people in our society believe that bullshit hook, line and sinker.
I cannot begin to tell you how many times in the past week I have been encouraged to get married...or how many times my partner has been told to "make an honest woman out of her".....what does that even mean??? While always said in a loving manner I kinda want to say that I know everyday B makes a choice to be with me, that there is no piece of paper/contract/pressure to be with me...he CHOOSES...and how honest is that??? I do not take tomorrows for granted and while our relationship is not perfect I still get to make the choice of it is still worth it...and amazingly it has been.
While I am not someone who never wants to get married I do not understand this pressure to do so. Sadly some of my friends are in awesome relationships but they minimize them because he hasn't popped the question yet...they even start questioning if "he is the one". They forget to live and love in the moment, instead they focus on outside pressures that no one can measure up too.
The plight of a woman.
It is so easy to get caught. They have ads aimed at you (and we don't even have a tv.....hello sneaky facebook...). They have whole magazines about it, and books. Talk shows, and children's stories (don't even get me started on sleeping beauty...her whole life STARTS when he gives her his love...fuck that).....it is so engrained in us that by X amount of time we should have Y to show (or more like Y amount of carats). I can't even begin to address how woman's bodies are portrayed, or how expensive clothing is sold to "make us feel better" (ala sex in the city)....It can be overwhelming, so minimizing and truly harmful if one gets caught up in it all...
All I know is that I love my life. I love that at any point I could change it. I am learning to stay in the moment and no matter if I am laughing or crying, to be genuine and not compare myself (and my accomplishments) to those of the fake/unattainable society. I love that I was called (and sung to) by over 9 people on my cell, had more cards in my mailbox than it could hold and felt more love than anyone deserves.
I know that in this upcoming year there will be days full of crap, where I will take things for granted, or even get caught up in superficial ideals of happiness. I hope to think back on this reflection and remember. I hope to look back at this in a year and have built on my confidence, my ideals. So here is to another year full of laughter, animals, traveling, loving, and learning.
Lacy
Excess.
Christmas makes me almost cringe. It has turned into this holiday of excess, where we buy gifts to buy gifts...not because of thought/planning...well at least for me. I have trying to change this holiday....to be thoughtful, less wasteful (save $$) but honestly it is sooo easy to go down that whole 80% off holiday, or buy 2 get 3 free...even stuff for the house (I sooo need a mini muffin tin..right??!!?) BLAH!!!
ENOUGH.
GGGrrrr....this time of year also dictates that I buy a dress that I will only wear once...and that I will spend about 4 hours in total pain and discomfort.
More Excess. (Though granted I will look pretty smokin' for a hot minute).
What is hard is enjoying the excess you choose in your life (and is really the reason to celebrate) and not allowing the stuff you have chosen to run/ruin/overwhelm your life. If that is for the upcoming holiday or even the days after, including those credit card bills the next month.
Gotta keep reminding myself.
ENOUGH.
GGGrrrr....this time of year also dictates that I buy a dress that I will only wear once...and that I will spend about 4 hours in total pain and discomfort.
More Excess. (Though granted I will look pretty smokin' for a hot minute).
What is hard is enjoying the excess you choose in your life (and is really the reason to celebrate) and not allowing the stuff you have chosen to run/ruin/overwhelm your life. If that is for the upcoming holiday or even the days after, including those credit card bills the next month.
Gotta keep reminding myself.
