sheepdog

I always like to try new things, and I also think it's important to realize that you never stop learning, no matter how old you are, or how smart you think you are. The brain is like any other muscle in your body, and if you don't use it you loose it! So in an effort to help ward off oldtimers disease, every year I try something new. One of the things I learned in this years growing season, is that while sunflowers are relatively easy to grow, getting them to harvest and processed is an entirely different situation. Since I am growing them for seed, the flower heads have to be completely mature before they are harvested, and there in lies the problem. It seems that EVERYTHING loves sunflower seeds. Even my own billy goat! Bugs, wild birds, the seed snacker list seemed endless this year. It is nearly impossible to get them completely mature before something else eats them. (on the positive side, I did see some very pretty wild cannaries and blue birds around the old flower bed this year, something you don't see too much of normally) Hulling is another problem. Oddly, if you can catch them just right, get them dryed, you can practically turn them upside down and shake out the seeds, but for the most part most of the flower heads have to have the seeds scratched out of them. It's really rough on the fingers. It required short stubby fingernails, which is fine, cause that's what I have anyway. And the things even after they are dry, leave a lot of stain on your fingers. Not to mention a really weird smell. My main reason for raising them was for some chicken feed, and in future years after I shell some out for seed I won't have to worry about hulling out the seeds anymore, I can just store the dryed flower heads and let the chickens peck them out for themselves. But for this year I needed a lot more seed, so I was stuck with hand hulling them. I should have about 3 quart jars full of seed by the time I'm done hulling all the rest of the flowers I have drying right now. That should make me a nice crop to plant next year. Providing of course, we manage to get the garden plowed.

Hate to say it, but for whelping this isn't going to work very well. Pups need to be kept very warm the first few days, and the open or mesh sides will let in too much air. Drafts are not good for newborns. Also, if the pups get to crawling around, the openings on the gate are big enough for a puppy to crawl threw, getting away from mom and possibly getting chilled, or cause mom to panic and tear the whole thing down trying to get to her missing pup. Another thing is it's too light and airy. A dog likes a dark, quiet place to whelp. It could be improved by hanging towels or something around it to lessen the drafts. It will be ok for later maybe, when the pups are a little older, but since it is designed for human babies, I don't think it would stand up to much abuse from sharp toothed little puppies.

I used to have a pretty nice Mahjong game on my computer, I believe it originally came from a link here on the give away of the day forum, but I lost that one when my computer crashed. I?ve been trying to find another one, free of course, and not really having a lot of luck. This is the one I am using now http://www.freegames.ws/games/boardgames/mahjong/freemahjong.htm The only thing I actually like about this game is the fact that the tiles are large and easy to read, and the page loads quickly, I have it saved in favorites. So many of the free varieties have tiny little tiles that give me really bad eyestrain. Other that that, it doesn?t have much going for it. There are no bells and whistles at all, no undo move, or hint or anything else. I do like the hint option, I don?t use it much but occasionally I get stuck and if it?s late and I?m tired I need to go to bed and get it over with. And the worst part is that it is a real bear cat to beat, I do good to win one in ten games, which I don?t mind loosing occasionally, but the odds on this one are so bad it?s just too discouraging. It?s so bad that sometimes you get to the last two tiles and then can?t finish the game. I did find this page, http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ that has a variety of different games, but most of them are really hard to read the tiles on, or are just weird. So, help me find a good Mahjong game, that?s easy to see the tiles on, not impossible to beat, and maybe has some other nice features like undo for when you see you?ve screwed up and matched the wrong two tiles, or a hint to help you finish up before bedtime.

Hubby was better, thanks for asking. Except now both of us are down with the flu, or some such thing. I just barely could get out of bed yesterday, felt like I'd been beat with a stick. Don't know if I'll get to do any more riding or not, hopefully we will.

Well, you certainly are a busy person! Welcome to Xisto.

Yes, and in the mean time, our own government in the USA is doing it's dead level best to regulate dog breeders out of existance. Then when no one can raise dogs here in this country, imagine the cruelety that will be prevelant in the Chinese dogs we will be importing.

Yes, I definatly think mcddictator is on to something. You need some kind of positive motivation in your life desperatly! A girlfriend might just be the ticket. If you can find one that is also motivated, and a positive influence. One that really liked school and was working hard to make good grades is a definate plus. Helping each other study would benefit both of you. I know this also may sound rather corny, but remember what they always asked little kids, "what do you want to be when you grow up?" Think about that a little. See if there are classes, wether elective or regular classes in subjects that you have an interest in. Like for example, if you want to be a vetrinarian, you would want to take biology and chemistry courses, that sort of thing.

LOL, you may be new to cron jobs, but at least you know what one is! I don't even have a clue as to what you are talking about. I sure wish I was smarter about computer stuff. After all these years of fighting Front Page and making my own web site, I still have problems with it.

Got my pictures from the friend I went riding with and there is actually one I believe I can share of me on a horse with everybody here at Xisto. So then you will know why I get along so well with horses, my hair looks like a hay stack! At least my butt is not quite as wide as the horses!We were riding down on the semi famous Glade Top Trail. It's a large public use area with lots of trails for both cars and horses and ATV's. It has roads all threw it and small parking and picnicking areas scattered all threw it, usually positioned at exceptionally nice viewing spots. There is an anual event, usually sometime this month to view the "Flaming Fall Review" on the Glade Top Trail. They organize drives thew the area, and I believe they also have a big fund raising bar B que for one of the area organizations. We went riding a good bit before the real bright fall colors were getting started, but you can still see some, and the view is really nice. The Missouri Fox Trotting horse association had just had their anual trail ride threw the Glad Top about a week or so before we went riding. They had gone threw and made sure all the trails were clear and open before their big ride so when we went the trails were still very nice and open. People seem to be very respectful of the area. I didn't see a candy bar wrapper or beer can anywhere along the trails. That is certainly nice!

I thought this was an interesting topic to read, but then I realized this thread was started back in 2005. I wonder if anyone would be brave enough to claim Christianity these days? Christian bashing seems to have become all the rage the past few years. Funny, you don't dare say anything bad about any other religious group, but it's ok to bash christians. I just heard on the news tonight that a man is going to be put to death in Iran or Iraq because he is a christian preacher and will not renounce his christian faith and become a muslim. But if you critisize Muslims you get in hot water in a big hurry, and somebody will come along and start telling you that you don't know the first thing about being a Muslim, that it's all about peace and tolerance, yet they are killing somebody that doesn't believe? Sorry, that doesn't sound very tolerant to me. Quite frankly, I find all of this talk very confusing.

Has anyone used any of that red colored mulch you can purchase in big bags at most hardware stores and other various chain stores like Walmart, etc. It appears to be mostly shredded bark and wood, and then is dyed in some way in various colors, like black or red. I've used it now in several different locations and I'm a little concerned about the results. I can't prove it of course, but I think it's killed a few bushes and trees for me. I had 2 purple leaf sand cherry bushes in the frount yard that I used it on 2 years ago, and they have just about died completely out. They were well established plants, had been planted 5-6 years before I used the red mulch on them. Now there are only a couple of spindly sprouts where the trees used to be. One thing that it certainly didn't seem to hurt was the Naked Lady Lillies I had planted in a circle around the purple leaf trees. It was a really showy looking planting, with the pretty pink blooms and the purple folage on the trees, so I'm not happy the trees died out on me. The Naked Ladies did fantastic this year, they are on of the few things that I had a really good growing season on. For those of you not familiar with this rather unique plant, they send up green folage, early in the spring, about the same time as daffodils, and after several weeks the greenery dies out and dissapears. You'd never even know they'd been there. Then suddenly, almost magicly, in August or September, they shoot up a stem only, no leaves at all, that has a beautiful pink flower. I'm going to post a couple pictures of this years blooms, they did spectacular this year. Too bad I have all those dead sticks in the middle of the patch.

Wasn?t sure where to put this post, in lawn and gardening or cooking, but since I?ll include some preparation tips, I guess I?ll go for cooking. While most people get shrooming fever in the spring, I?ve never been able to find enough morals in the spring to even start to appease my mushroom taste buds, they are without a doubt about the hardest thing in the world to find. (not including finding an honest politician) I?m just one of those fall mushroom freaks, I can spot a puffball 100 yards away! My favorite, the little meadow mushrooms just jump out at me, I usually find a good batch of them over at the other farm every fall. Of the various fall mushrooms the puffball is one of the safest and easiest to recognize. They vary considerable in size, I found one today bigger than a soft ball, and one about the size of a tennis ball. They can be much smaller too. If your not sure if it is a puff ball all you have to do is split it in half, from top to bottom and make sure that there is no stem or gills forming inside of it. The mushroom should be exactly like a marshmallow on the inside. They are a light tan color, it can be somewhat mottled outside, and generally roundish, but can grow in a sort of ?mushroom cloud? shape, with the base narrower than the top. They should have no sign of any type of stem at all. Puffballs are best eaten fresh. Cut off the base, and trim away any flesh at the base that is yellowing and appears to have tiny tracks of holes in them. The peal is like rubber so you have to peal them too, but they can almost be pealed by just your fingers, a sharp thin bladed knife works well, you can feel where the peal separates from the flesh. Just slice them up in bite size pieces, and fry in butter on low to medium heat (don?t let the butter get too hot and smoky) until golden brown. Yum! If you have more than you can eat in a few meals, about the only way to preserve them is, oddly enough, to dry them. This really sounds crazy if you?ve ever come across an overripe or dried out puffball, since when you step on them or crush them they basically explode in a cloud of yellowish dust. I?ve tried freezing them and it just doesn?t work. They turn into a mushy wad of rubbery goo when you thaw them out. I have my food dehydrator running right now with a tray full of small pieces. They dry quite quickly, then you just need to store them in a very clean, air tight jar until you need them. They are a bit chewy when rehydrated, but work great in anything that you?d like to get a nice mushroom flavor added to. It?s easy to just put a handful or however much you need for a recipe in a glass cup, cover with water and pop them in the microwave and run it long enough to get it either close to or at a boil, do this before you start the rest of you meal to cooking and by the time your ready to add them they have soaked up enough water to be softened, and the rest of the time they need you will get while they are cooking in the dish you are making. Disclaimer. Just because a mushroom is not poisonous to some people, it doesn?t mean everyone can eat them. Some people can have an allergic reaction to any type of mushroom, so exercise caution when trying a new type of mushroom. Don?t do what I did tonight and fry up an entire skillet full and eat the whole batch if you don?t know how they will effect you.

Yummmm....Chicken! Great timeing, my roosters are just about there! I get hungry every time I walk by their pen and eye up those drumsticks! I can't wait for that first fried chicken dinner. I hope to be able to convince hubby to hang a couple up in our smoker, oh, nothing beats slow cooked smoked chicken!

Yes, sad to say, they really do. I heard more about Trump than I have Ron Paul. I am actually leaning a little toward Ron Paul. He does have a few ideas that I think are off base a little, but for the most part, I think he would really shake things up, which may just be what this country needs. It sure doesn't need any more of the crap we've had for so many years now. Some years ago I read a sci fi novel, and it explained how in this fictous world the political system was run, and I thought it was a fantastic idea and wish we could do something like it. Apparently, when someone in that world was put into political office, everything they owned was turned over to the government. Then, after ever how many years their term was, when they got out of office, if the country was in better shape than it was when they went into office, they got all their property back. If the country was a mess, they lost everything. Now doesn't that sound like a pretty slick idea?????

Oh Dear, I am sorry to hear what a mess your life has been. It's amazing your sane at all. You've suffered far too much trama for someone so young. But now, having said that, it is the hand you have been dealt, and there isn't anything you can do about it, so your best chance is to learn from it and realize that there is a better way to live. You cannot make your father stop drinking. But you can get your butt back to school and stay there. You said you realized why you need the educations, that is certainly a good thing. What you need is just a little more motivation, which I'm sure in your circumstances, is pretty hard to come by. It does sound like your cousin would be a big help. You'd be far better off staying with him than your drunken father. I think if you just apply yourself, you can figure out how to get motivated. You sound like an intelligent person, you can make good grades when you try. Maybe if you make that one of your goals, to apply yourself to good grades, or find a subject that you really like and take advanced courses in that to make you feel better about yourself, and give you goals to attain that will help you in a few more years when you get into the job market. Don't let your sorry lot in life drag you down. You can be a better and stronger and smarter person by just applying yourself. Good luck and my best wishes to you.

Yes, it would weigh out a tidy check at the recycleing center. However, there is the problem of getting it there. I'm not sure we wouldn't need a special heavy duty trailer just to haul it instead of our current 16 foot flatbed. It would be quite a challenge just to get it on the trailer. We are talking about some massive dead weight here!But at any rate, it's probably worth more to sell it as a dozer. We do occasionally have someone stop by and ask about buying it, though not nearly as often as they stop to ask about his 1954 snub nose Ford dump truck. Hubby just isn't quite ready to turn loose of it yet. So I guess I'll just come up with a few more flower pots and do my camouflage job on it again next year.

Those are some ways to teach children, but more importantly is that parents need to lead by example. You can tell your children all day to be kind and treat others with respect, but if the parents are rude, obnoxious, and ill tempered towards other people in their day to day contacts, the children will pick up on that a lot quicker than what their parents tell them to do.

Having a working farm, and a business at the same location can lead to some difficult challenges. Old farm equipment can really be an eyesore, and while it is needed and used, some odd pieces don't get used much or are broken down and too big and ackward to do much of anything with. Thus is the case of our old bulldozer. It's an ancient one, I think it was made back in the 30's (so old it even has a pony motor) and though it was a good dozer and we used to use it alot, it's been parked in the same spot unused for quite a few years now. No hope of moving the monster, so this year I decided to camouflage it. I remember from years passed raising Luffa goards and remembered that they made a tremendous amount of follage, but when I looked for seed, I discovered that it requires a very long growing season, so it was way too late to plant from seed. Trying to find already started plants proved to be a real challenge, but finally at the Baker Creek garden festival I found several plants. I planted those in the single cell concrete blocks, to protect the base of the plant from wild men with weed eaters, and to make watering easier. Planted 3, along the tracks on the ground at the edge of the dozer. I also had to dig out and move one of my cane patches, since that is where I am going to eventually build a stone post, so those went in front of the dozer along the blade. I then proceeded to decorate the rest of the dozer, on the hood and top of the tracks with brightly colored plastic bowls, and also a nice big painted up galvanized water tub that had been used for the dogs water, but had sprung a leak. (yes, we recycle everything around here!) Non working shop vac bottoms also make nice planters. Anyway, the whole thing would of really turned out quite nice, except that we had so bloody much rain, and one of the large tubs I had placed just behind the blade was supposed to have some Mexican sun flower in it that grew to a height of 6 ft. which would of coverd the big gap you will see in the picture. My petunia's also all drowned, unfortunatly. But even so, I think it still looks pretty neat. Wonder if there is a Guinness Book of World records for largest plant stand? I may just have a winner!

LOL, like I said, Flame Thrower! But seriously, a lot of bushes can come back from the root, so to be on the safe side, dig up the base of the root too after the branches are out of the way. Also, there are certain times of year when any damage even minor, to a plant will kill it. They are called "amber days, and one wack with an ax can actually kill a large tree if done during amber days. Unfortunatly, I don't know exactly when they are. It's kind of one of those Old Farmers Alminac things.

Really good advice! You want to fit in naturally in the new prospecive surroundings. So much depends on the way you look at an interview, and it does make a difference for what job it is for. For example here, if somebody came for an interview all dressed up I'd be concerned. I learned a long time ago that those teenage girls that came for an interview with inch long fingernails were never going to stand the strain of kennel cleaning. They are usually too pround of those nails to do any kind of work that could damage them.

All you really need to do is be quick witted and come back with a fast, hard hitting insult that will just put them in their place in a spit second, and then walk away. For example, when some one says, "your haircut is retarded dude." just come right back with "that's ok, my hair will grow back, buy you'll always be an arrogant a$shole."

Pups and all her are doing well, thanks for asking. I saw your comment about your new litter, tried to respond but got an error saying action failed. We had a litter of Standard Schnauzers last night. Only 5 and they were huge. But I'd rather have 5 big stroung pups as a litter of 9 scrawny ones, they always seem to just do better. Yes, I'm going to miss anwiii around here. Welcome satsuke1! I'm hoping since you posted on this thread that your not a goat herder whom I may of ticked off. I like goat herders, really I do. We do have a special section for newbies to make introductions, but it's fine with me if you want to do it here. Tell us a little about yourself and what your interestes are. Hope you find your time here to be beneficial and educational.

Hay there Dude, glad you dropped in. There is certainly enough variation in topics here to rejuvenate the mind! We discuse everything from computers to dogs.

Oh COOL! Somebody posting in gardening besides me!!!I've seen a many a time I wish I had a flame thrower, and for just the reason you mentioned, getting rid of obnoxious briar bushes and weeds. But since most garden supply stores don't carry such handy dandy tools, you'll have to do something a bit more complicated and tedious. You'll need a set of the long handled prunning shears. And it's helpful to have a good pair of heave duty leather gloves. You also need something to put the trimmings in as you cut them off, leaving thorny branches laying around is not a good idea, it takes forever for them to rot down and you can get stickers in you a year or two later if you don't pick up all the branches. Just start trimming off the bush at the outer edges where you can reach to without getting poked. You just have to slowly work your way in and eventually you can get it all cut off. Make sure when the branches are out of the way that you do enough damage to the root base it doesn't grow back. Depending on the type of bush, you may actually have to dig it completely out to kill it.

Great, will look forward to more stories about your dogs. If you have any questions about the impending whelping of your lab, just ask. I have been threw countless whelpings and puppy raisings. Since you have a week or so left before you girl is due, make sure now that she is on a good quality dog food, the pups do most of their growing the last few weeks and her nutrition level needs to be at it's best. Also, as the pups grow inside her, and there is less room in there, many dogs will start eating less, so make sure she is provided with frequent meals rather than expecting her to be able to eat enough once a day to fill her up. Make sure her exercise level stays about the same. Now is also the time to start preparing her to use what ever whelping area you have chosen for her. Unless you want that gooy mess of puppy juice and blood in the middle of your bed!