She Rings True

I was able to get the name of a local piano tuner to come and tune my over 100 year old upright piano.

He came and worked on my piano for 4 hours. 

One string broke and had to be refitted again. 

By ear he was able to adjust the pins to get my piano back in tune. He removed parts of the piano to get to the strings. A bit dusty but this old piano was stored well and has aged beautifully.

We used our electric tuner as a visual aid for us to see what notes he was tuning to. He was dead on for all the notes. My old upright makes bright and loud notes again, no longer flat. Before he left he signed the low key hammer and dated it. So the next tuner will have the info. Unfortunately, our tuner's children had no interest in learning the tuning craft. It is a dying art just like playing music. At least here in the Missouri Ozarks, they still have music jam sessions.

Da Bunny

Here is Alan and Rose modeling the latest in bunny treats, a natural basket.

This basket is now nothing but a pile of twigs at the bottom of her cage. Rose loves to chew baskets.

Behold, the holy hand grenade.If you have ever owned a bunny, you know they are a lethal force to be not to be reckoned with. Such a cute thing with teeth as sharp as knives.

Osage Can you See..?

This is an Osage Orange tree or hedge apple tree.  It makes softball sized 2 pound green oranges you can't eat.We collected a truck load to plant as a natural hedge/fence. The tree is hedge size in 3 years and its thorny branches, create a natural barbwire fence. You do not want to stand under one of these trees. The green fruit can knock you out.

This is half way full truck load we collected to bring home. Some people put them in their house to keep spiders away. They do smell nice and have a great green color. But they have a sticky sap that oozes out of the fruit if cut or bruised.

Osage tree bark is very hard and inter woven looking. Very straight tree who's leaves turn yellow in the fall. The seeds we plant will not produce fruit for another 10 years. You must have a male and female tree to make viable seeds.Cows, deer and squirrels do enjoy eating these green fruits.

Culling Time

The chicks have all grown up and they are all roosters. I have roosters I raised, other peoples unwanted roosters and ordered "hens" that grew up into roosters. It is time to choose who lives a long life and who is dinner. First to go are the bad tempered ones, then the defective ones, ones that are too many of the same line.  I am only culling 5-6 and keeping 7! I have 2 that will be given away to a rooster collector.The rest of the lot include an Easter Egger, Cuckoo Maran, Bantams, Phoenix and my home grown breed. This leaves me with a great blend for next spring. Now I just need some new hens again. I usually hatch in August to have young hens for the fall. But I was too busy to do a hatch for me this year. After 4 hatches for other people; I was burnt out. My ducks are very fertile and have had no problem keeping their ranks full. But the ducks are pets and are not eaten.

Raising poultry has been rewarding in providing meat and eggs for us.