at the grocery store. Ouch. I don't like to spend that much. Normally I go to Aldi's and stock up, but we have some things to eat that are lacking 1 or 2 ingredents that Aldi's doesn't carry.
The had frozen turkey on sale, so I got one for the deepfreeze. With what I bought today, and what is in the pantry and freezers, we are good for the rest of the month.

My goal is to use up as much as I can in canned goods before snow hits in about 3-4 weeks, then go to Aldi's and buy cased can goods again. I normally once a month buy canned goods by the case, but once a year (if not twice) I try to eat the pantry to empty to ensure that nothing gets outdated. I do rotate my foods, but I buy so much that sometimes something gets missed in the rotation.

At first my husband laughed at me, but now that we have been doing this for a year (since we got married), I notice him "shopping" downstairs before he makes his meals to take for work. He has also learned to "shop" downstairs when when he runs out of shampoo, soap, shaving items... He has mentioned my system has saved a lot of fuel and trips to town.

Still no news, good or bad about Daffny. Searchers are still out looking, but it is getting dark. Last night they stopped the search at dark, so I am assuming they will tonight also. I fear the worst, but I am hoping for the better. She has now been missing for almost 66 hours. It has been warm during the day, but cold at night. They said she had no sweater or jacket. My daughters think I am the mean mom because I won't let them ride their bikes down our gravel road. I told them this is one reason why. (Also, tractors, combines and grain trucks are not looking for kids on bikes, and our driveway is 1/5 mile long--plenty of room to ride on it).
I kept the heat off today. Did some laundry but cheated and put most of it in the dryer instead of hanging it up to dry. My stomach has been weird all day and I feel puney. In fact, DH is going to pick up a pizza on the way home from work--I already have my PJ's on and its not even 6 pm yet.

I just received several emails that a daughter of one of our local homeschooling families is missing from Independence MO. She is not in our coop, but her coop does things with ours, such as skating and bowling monthly. She was out walking in Independence and is now gone. She is only 17. She is a very well behaved girl, good friends, not the type to run away. They have pinged her cell phone and narrowed it down and gone over that area once so far, they have not found her or the phone. But to me that does not sound good-no teen would go off without their phone. Please pray for her family. Her name is DAffny Star Velder. This is her senior year.

How I save money by keeping a Clean House

I save money a number of different ways by keeping a clean house. This may seem like “too much work” to some people or you may say it “takes too long”, however I have not found that to be the case. True, I am a SAHM, but I do have other activities that keep me busy through out the day, such as running a farm, and being a home schooling teaching mom. I find that I can clean our home in about 45 minutes a day. My children also take part in cleaning-as each is responsible for their own room and bathroom.

We don’t buy fancy cleaners or air fresheners. We do a lot of our cleaning with lemon juice and salt, vinegar, baking soda, some bleach, and soap and water. For air freshener, we usually burn a candle or use a match.

I will go thru the typical home, room by room, and point out the ways that keeping it clean is saving us money.

Entryway or doorway I keep our entrances clean and free of clutter. First off, I don’t want a guest (or anyone else) tripping over clutter and getting hurt or suing me… I keep a rug by each door for dirty or wet shoes to go onto. By encouraging people to take their shoes off at the door, it saves the life of the carpet and my carpet cleaner. I also make sure that once the shoes are cleaned and dried, that they then go into their proper closet.

Living room, Family room, hallways and bedrooms I vacuum daily, as it helps the carpet last longer. I also vacuum the heat registers and cold exchange ducts weekly. This keeps dust out of the air and makes it easier for those with allergies so that they do not have to take their allergy medicine as often, making it last longer. It also helps the furnace not have to work as hard so the motor will last longer.

Weekly (or more often if we use the fireplace) I wipe down the light bulbs with a damp rag, while the light bulbs are cold. Dusty lights do not put out as much light, which makes a person unnecessarily use a higher watt bulb, or turn on more lights than necessary. I also clean the globes on the ceiling light fixtures every month or more often. It only takes a couple of minutes for nice bright results.

I hit the windows once a week on the inside with a vinegar and water solution. The outside I get about once a month. I do have newer windows and I can get the outside from the inside. This allows more light into the house, keeping the lights off.

I wipe down the TV screen and electronics every few days. This keeps dirt and dust from collecting on them and making them last longer.

Once a day I take a rag damp with vinegar water or bleach water (diluted) and wipe surfaces down to help prevent the passing on of germs. These surfaces include the remote controls, telephones, door and cabinet knobs… It only takes me about 5 minutes to do the entire house.

I don’t like clutter in the house. I have been in houses where it is cold, and I see that they have boxes and stuff stacked up over the heat registers. I make sure ours are uncovered while the A/C or heat are on. I also make sure that clutter or shoes do not block doorways. This ensures that doors can be completely shut. I keep our closet doors closed so that we are not paying to heat or cool the inside of the closet.

Twice a year I rotate and flip the mattresses and then vacuum them. This extends the life of the mattress. If you have a larger/heavier person in your home you would probably want to flip and rotate them more often.

I wash the curtains every few months and rehang them in the opposite window. This allows them to sun fade more evenly and be replaced less often. I just throw them in with the regular laundry and line dry.

Kitchen and dining room I keep my kitchen cabinets and pantry clean and organized. Why pay to go buy a spice or can of something you already have just because you can’t find it?? I run thru the cabinets and pantry weekly, and rotate foods according to the dates on them. I do the same with the refrigerator. This prevents food waste and spoilage. Why spend money buying food to rot away? That’s gross. When I do dishes, either in the dishwasher or the sink, I add several tablespoons of bleach. This helps to kill germs and prevent colds from being passed on.
I regularly clean the coils of the refrigerator and freezer, so that the motor doesn’t have to work so hard and overheat.
My trash is emptied daily, and my wastebasket is washed out at least once a week with soapy water to prevent it from smelling bad. This also helps to not attract bugs and other creatures into the house.

Bathroom The bathrooms get wiped down daily with vinegar water or bleach water. I keep lots of cheap toothbrushes on hand and change them frequently. The bathroom trash is emptied daily. I make sure wet towels are hung up to dry and not sitting around to mildew. This increases the life of the towels. Often you will find our bathroom windows open about ½ inch at both the top and bottom for air circulation.

In the basement We keep a clean filter on our furnace and A/C unit. This prevents dust and dirt from being blown through out the house and also helps with allergies and to prevent sicknesses.

Laundry I stay on top of our laundry. I try to do a load daily. This way, we aren’t buying more socks or underwear because it’s all dirty. I can also have time to line dry it by doing a load a day. We use cloth napkins in our house at mealtime, and this also ensures they are always clean, so no one is using disposable ones. (The cloth napkins just go into the next load of laundry, regardless of the color).

Office You must stay organized in the office. If you don’t, you misplace bills and get charged late fees. I keep all the office supplies in one area. I have found since I organized the office two years ago, that we have not had to buy any pens or pencils since. Any free ones we get from businesses or vendor shows go into the pen and pencil bin. I also keep our coupons organized in a bin in the office. We have a special file for warranty information. That keeps us from paying for repair calls that we may not need to.

Yard, garage, barn Keep these areas clutter free!!! Put items, tools and toys back way when you are finished using them. This prevents garden hoses and toys from being lost, run over with the mower (causing you to buy new and pay for mower repairs). Why does my brother have 4 snow shovels??? Because he keeps forgetting where he left them. Ours are hung on nails in the garage and barn. Our hoses are kept rolled up to prevent them from being run over, mowed over, frozen or chewed up by a dog. When we buy motor oil, or wiper fluid, it ALWAYS goes on the same shelf in the garage. If it isn’t there, we know we are out. We are not buying more when there is a case of it laying all spread out in the barn, basement and garage. Tools need to be put back where they belong so they are not lost and needlessly replaced, or allowed to get rusty and broken. Make sure everything has its own home, and gets returned to it. Keeping tools picked up also prevents someone from having an accident, such a stepping on a pitchfork.

Above all, stay organized. Always keep items in the same spot. That way you are not buying what you don’t need.
Declutter!!! Turn unwanted items into cash. Sell them; get them out of the way. If its trash, then put it out with the trash. Otherwise, you are basically storing garbage, paying yourself to heat and cool it, and to clean around it.

Yesterday it got up to 70. Not sure where it is at today, but this is now the 3rd day without the heat on and it is 68 degrees inside. I could handle the weather just like this for the rest of winter-except I do like snow for Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Years Eve, New Years Day and Feb 14. Other than that, 70 is fine.

I have done it before, but can't seem to remember now how I did it....(old age starting in I guess)

We currently have a house open for rent (or sale) again. Bad part about air force is that when you do get good ones in there they get transferred out..... Anyway, signs are back up in the yard, and the ad is in the paper. So far we have gotten around 20 calls, but most have pets, and we do not allow pets. What gets me are the ones who then start to beg about keeping their pets over the phone, and they haven't even seen the inside of the house yet!!

I think I finally have made it through the chore roatation twice now. I think I can say each of my children now know how to do laundry, clean house, do the chores on the farm, basic sewing, and have some frugal shopping skills. We will continue to work on these skills daily to refine them, but I feel they each have the basics down good.

I haven't been outside yet, it looks bitterly cold. But according to the therm. on the south deck, its in the mid 60's. The heat is on 63 and it has never kicked in.

The girls are working on their schoolwork right now, so this is my computer time. I've been working on my "how I" article. I have been rather impressed with what I have read so far.

I don't think I will cook supper tonight. We have leftovers of ham and beans, potato soup, 1 hamburger from grilling out Sunday, 2 slices of pizza, 4 porkchops, small amount of chili, and a small amout salad. What doesn't get eaten today and tonight, will go to the freezer. DH is working tonight-a long shift, so hopefully he will take 2 meals worth of leftovers with him.

I turned down the heat a bit before we ate, since it was a warm cozy sort of supper menu--no one noticed. (It is set on 63 now). I made potato soup this morning, and it simmered all afternoon. Also had some Apple Grunt and fried green tomatoes and bread that I baked yesterday. Only thing is, I forgot to put out the tomatoes. Oh well, I am eating them now.

I entered a contest on tips to host a holiday dinner. I had to shorten it from my orginal, as it was too long. But, I got an email today that it is now on line. Its on thrifty fun, which is a website similar to this one. If you want to view my entry, you can. Just go to: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tell_a_friend.ldml?tf_index=tf93885878

Broke down and finally got one. Was already on sale, then I had a $50 Sears gift card, plus I also had a coupon for 10% off if used Nov 4-7. I put it on my charge, and will pay it off next month, so I can send in my $50 off if you charge a purchase coupon. So, I am only going to end up paying around $30 for it from my own money.
Also, the family went to the dentist today. The girls need to go back next week. Two of them have a tooth that never developed all the enamiel on it, so they are going to work on that, and one has a cavity.

The sears repairman finally showed up and fixed the icemaker. He was very nice, and showed me the broken part. He said they have had problems with that part and was surprised they didn't do a recall on it. It cost me $260 to fix it!! When I made the appt, I had a coupon for 10% off any parts and 10% off labor. I gave the appt rep the coupon codes. She told me that would give me the discount automatically. The repairman would have nothing to do with it-it was all done on her end. Well, guess what--it was not reflected on the bill. So, I had to call customer service. This time I got someone who actually spoke English, and she said no I was to give the coupon to the repair man. ONLY thing is, it isn't exactly a coupon--its just a blurb on the credit card statement saying call 800-my-home to make your appt and give them this code. WHY would I want to give the repairman my credit card statement??? That makes no sense. So, she is going to do some checking and call me back tomorrow. It amounts to $26-worth fighting for. Anyhow, my Sears has gone from a $12 balance to $272.00. But, there are no finance charges, as what was on there was 12 months interest free, and its almost paid off after only 3 months-plus I earned a certificate for $50 off a purchase by putting the bigger item on it 3 months ago. I am getting a new vacume cleaner this weekend with a 10% off coupon. With that $50 certificate and 2 gift cards, I should only have to pay around $25 for a $300 vacume. My old vacume is 24 years old, and moves slower than I do....

I hate this. I am waiting on the Sears repairman. All the customer service could tell me is that he will be here between 8 and 5. It would be nice if hey could narrow it down to either morning or afternoon, but no, 8-5 "eastern time" and I live in CENTRAL!!! yikes! The rep keep saying my state was MA instead of MO, so I hope they are sending the man to the right location.... (English was not the Sears reps greatest asset)
So, we are stuck at home till then. The girls are supposed to be at a halloween harvest party at 4, which means we will need to leave around 3:15.
She said he would call first,--I tried to tell her we homeschool and the computer uses the phoneline, and to use my cell, but instead the did yesterdays and this mornings reminder calls to the house number.
Our ice maker is doing thing thing where it works, then doesnt work. Now it just doesn't work at all. The fridge is only 2 years old, but out of warrenty, of course. I'd keep using the ice cube trays, but I have little wrist strength and it hurts (MS) so I'd rather pay $150 to fix it, than pay out $150 in copays and PT. We use a lot of ice, since we are home most of the time

We have been getting ready for winter. We have had several heavy frosts, but I did manage to pick the last of beans, okra and green tomatoes before the frost hit.

The last of the hay has been cut and is in the barn for this farm, yet we still need to go over to the other farm and bring the big bales over to this one.

I brought back 2 loads of firewood so far, from my house that I rent. (I have about 1 load left) Right now it is vacant, as we have been doing some painting and such to it. If I leave the firewood there, it will just get stolen. I have set up the wood holder on one of the porches and filled it. I started making firestarters last week (I save our TP cardboard tubes and fill them with dryer lint)

I located the box of rugs from the basement, and moved it for easier access. In about another week we will be ready to put them down on the kitchen, diningroom and bathroom floors. They are hardwood and our feet will feel the cold thru them.

I have had all the girls try on their winter coats. I have 2 coats I will need to donate as they fit last winter, but not this winter.

The propane tank has been filled, and I got birdfeed.

We plan on butchering a steer as soon as deer season ends, so we are eating down the deepfreezes to make room.

We are stocked up on candles and kerosene. I also bought my "winter supply" of tea, cocoa mix, powdered milk sand and ice melt.

So, what do the rest of you do to prepare for winter??

In this tiny tiny town (blink and you will miss it), there are no jobs. Decent ones are 25 or more miles away, and in Northen Missouri that is not a fun drive in the winter for a part time job. For months I have been trying to find something nearby (nothing) or clean or babysit (nothing). This is rural farm area, and most women around here are SAHM, and just do their own cleaning and childcare.

Well, today I went up to DD#3 bedroom. I admit, I have not been up there in probably 3-4 months. Her room is on the opposite end of the house as all the other bedrooms. She puts her own laundry away, brings down her own trash...so no reason for me to go there. OH MY GOSH!!! Last time the room was fairly decent. Today, I could not find the floor!!!! It looks like a clip from Clean House on TV. 3 of my DD and I have spent about 3 hours each up there, and we are maybe 10% done. It looks like a tornado came thru. Its so bad, I took pictures of it for future reference.

As I did so, I wondered if I could put an ad in the local paper and put before and after pictures of her room and sell my cleaning and organizing childrens bedrooms as a service???

I'd have to charge by the job--no one could afford it by the hour. To be honest, I'd probably pay someone $250 to do her room. It made me so sick and mad I cried the first hour.

Her sisters and I are tracking our time--we plan on her working it off. I first got her sisters involved, as I know they had some part of it as they have slept in there they last 2 nights--although, I can't see where--even the bed is piled 6 foot high with clothes.

How does an 11 year old manage this??? I have a huge pile going for a garage sale. Trouble is, with 5 girls, things get passed to her that end up in boxes under her bed that don't fit her now but will next year, and then there is what she has outgrown that will fit her sisters next year. With 5 of them you can't afford to get rid of it now and then buy or remake it in a year.

Its my own fault. I used to do daily inspections, but thought she had grown past that stage-but NOT. Daily inspections are now back in her life, along with no CD player and no portable DVD player for 3 months.

And, since I know you are all wondering, the rest of the house is very clean. In fact people often comment on my clean house when they visit. Her sisters rooms are also clean--just this one DD and her room and bathroom.....UGH!

The kids and I have been gone most of the summer. I think we are (for the most part) back home for ggod. Since the end of May, we have had 5 funerals to attend-all either family or very close friends. 4 of the 5 were out of town. We also had church camp for 3 weeks. I go too, as dorm mom. It is a big help when I go with my one daughter as he has health issues that sometimes require a lot of attention.

We also had a week of vacation (camping) in there, and a week at the family reunion.

We spent more time than usual at the family reunion, and I am very glad we did, as my aunt died 3 weeks later. About 1 week after the reunion, she got sick (has been fighting caner for almost 2 years) and went into the hospital. So, I loaded up the kids and their school work and we went back home The hospital staff was so nice, they had a low cencus, so they turned the room across the hall into a family room for all of us. Her 6 kids and grandkids live scaattered all over, so we stayed with her quite a bit till they all got there. We never had to buy a meal, the hospital fed us all, or people in the community there sent food, and a couple of resturants sent food over. She knew everyone, having practiced medicine there for years.

We stayed at my parents a couple of nights till my renters moved out, then we stayed at my rental house.

My renters moved out the same day I filled out the eviction papers. In fact, the law had not even served the papers yet. Needless to say, they will not be getting their deposit back. They left behind 2 truck loads of trash and old broken furniture Seems the ones on the lease got shipped out (airmen) and guys not even on the lease were living there.

They broke the hottub, fireplace and fireplace screen, put holes in walls and ceilings...and it was filthy dirty. I was last there in July, and it was not like that then. One wall between the dining room and living room is glass block, and they broke some of the blocks.

I think the damage all happened after the repsonsible ones left. The other boys were not to have even been in the house. All of them were air force, so the commanding officers are now involved. I have sent them photos of the damage, copies of the lease, and copies of the letter where the boys on the lease swore to me they were the only 2 living there, Yet the utilities are in the others names..Guess they thought I was stupid and would not check that out???
Also, one of them got a ticket and the paper there prints that--there he was in the police report using that address. Why would that address be on his license if he was not living there???

The house is cleaned up now, and we ar repainting it. About 4 more days work and it will be done.

We are also going to move the hottub-I think we will just bring it up here.

Needless to say, it feels good to be back home for more than a day now and then.

All my pountry are still accounted for. So, maybe we have gotten all the coons involved with the massacures.

Got the new lease from them today in the mail. They signed it with the new rent increase. They also sent in the correct amount due for this month. I will start seeing the difference next month. They moved in the middle of the month, so part of the month is the old rate, and part is the new rate. I'm not looking to get rich on this rental house. But, I barely broke even last year. I am glad it was only rented 1/2 a year last year, or else I would have lost money. By the time I paid the mortgage, income tax on their rent money, repairs, personal property tax on the shed, and real estate tax on the house, gas going to and from the house....I came out ahead about $13. That left nothing to put into my house emergency fund, for any further repairs.

Needless to say, I feel about 50 lbs lighter now.

Which reminds me to brag on the fact I have now lost 26 lbs in the past year. I wasn't really dieting or trying to loose it (although I needed to). It is just from not sitting at my old work desk for 8-12 hours a day. I didn't realize how many calories farming takes. But the extra walking, hoeing, tilling, mowing, haying, raking, baling, slinging bales, chasing horses, cows, poultry, and kids adds them up.

Nothing from my renters in yesterdays mail, and of course with the holiday today there will be no mail. I am afraid they are sneaking out on me. So, in case they are, I started the works to cash in some stock. Hopefully I will get the check from the sale before the mortage comes out of my checking account on the 9th.
The lease they have that runs thru the 15th has a big problem. This is a lease that I found on the internet recommended to me by a realtor that her company uses. My attorney approved it, and so did DH attorney. But, now that I read back thru it, I see nothing in it that states they have to give me 30 days notice if they are not staying. I thought for sure it was in there, so I will just take a brake from looking for it and look at it again later. I can't believe its not there. (You know sometimes you can't see the forrest for the trees). Hopefully I am worrying for nothing.

Well, I still have not heard from my renters yet, which strikes me as odd. I had sent them a letter last month, and a new lease to sign. The current lease ends July 15. I am raising their rent. I also left a message on one of the tennants phones, with no reply. I don't have a number for the other tennant. Makes me wonder if they don't plan to skip out, but considering they are military, that would not be wise.
I also sent a cover letter reminding them that only 2 are on the lease and the lease states only 2 are to live in the house. Per the post office, they have been delivering mail to 3 occupents there. And, the utilities also have 3 names on the bills. Yet, they continue to lie to me and tell me only 2 live there. If they move, they move. However, the lease also states they are to give me 30 days notice if they are not contining the lease. I have not gotten any indication from them either way. Rent for July has not been paid either, but its not due till Thursday. Even if they don't stay, they owe me half the rent-acutally all the rent for not giving me 30 days notice.
I just don't want the house sitting empty with no income coming in from it while I am still paying the mortgage on it.

Slept in late. Haven't spent a dime (yet). I need to get myself motivated and do some baking-we are completly out of bread.
It had been cool the last few days, so we had the a/c off. but, today its humid and almost 90, so its back on.

From the "Clinton County Leader, June 28 2007" Sheriff's Report... The report is written for the paper monthly by an officer. These are direct quotes...all are 911 calls. I love reading it.

Thurs May 10, 2007

"Party called 911 at 6:30 pm. Calling party states that a guy has fallen off a motorcycle at Maple and South Streets in Lathrop 3 times"

8:41 pm "a racoon is attempting to break into a residence. It is attempting to enter via his chimney in Gower."

11:06pm "The racoon on the roof is now taking baby racocoons out of the chimney and bringing them to callers lawn, in Gower"

Friday May 11, 2007
10:36 am'911 caller states apartment on fire in Plattsburg on Cedar St. Strong smell of smoke. Fire dispatched. 10:40 am, 911 caller says never mind. its the vacuum cleaner belt slipping"

Saturday May 12, 2007 9:20pm 911 resident west of Trimble had 6 motorcycles come down his road. They were loud."


Monday May 14, 2007 4:44pm "A diabetic patient passed out several hours ago and has been on the floor since. Now he is cold to the touch."

7:19 pm Holt fire advises that a heard of beef cattle are running north on 33 highway away from El Guapo's Restaurant that serves steak fajitas."
7:20pm 911 caller hears on scanner and calls to add the cattle are prime black angus and they are all now standing in a line in the middle of 33 highway'

10:44pm. 911 caller" states has caught a masked bandit in is home. Latrop police are dispatched and remove a racoon."

DD#3 just stood at the open pasture gate, dreaming her head off over some 12 year old boy and let all but 1 of the horses out, and 2 cows.... We kept yelling at her to close it-right over her head.

It went crazy for awhile. The one horse that didn't get out wanted out. I thought it was going to go over the fence. I finally got one horse in, then the cow and her calf followed her. Then it took about 20 more minutes to get the other 3 horses in. The entire time, they kept running back and forth, thru my garden. Several rows got trampled. They also kept racing by the poultry pen, so the ducks were quacking and flapping their wings, which seemed to encourage the horses to run faster.

The garden is too muddy (is rained all week) to try and do any repair work now. If this was old mcdonalds farm, he would have quit and went to city life.

I didn't reset the traps for the coons tonight-raining too hard.

DD #4 missed her 4H riding lessons because of the stock being out, and then after we got them in we discovered basically the trailer is stuck in the mud anyway. Will probably have to pull it out of its parking spot with the tractor.

No bills in the mail yesterday or today. No money spent today or yesterday.

I did sell $5 worth of books tonight on Craigslist, and 2 books off half.com-but they were only listed at 75 cents each.

I broke down my books into smaller lots and have 1 bite and a nibble. Hopefully one sack will go out tonight. I just want the pile out of the middle of the bedroom. I have a large bedroom--good thing, because in the middle is my ebay-sell pile. In the corner is my donate pile...

But, not to a coon. These were still in a box in the house-they just hatched Saturday, and arrived in the mail Monday morning. They were doing fine, but I found 2 dead this morning. But, still have 25 doing well.
I found some chickens that are laying for sale just down the road about 15 miles. They were on Craigslist. I have emailed the lady 3 times--I want them, but she keeps sending me the same response over and over--just listing the price. Even though my email says call me, or send me your number so we can set up a time to pick them up. I guess she isn't paying attention to what my email says....
I set the traps by the coup again, only to see something furry and grey run underneath it. I would have stuck my head under there to see what it was, but with my luck it would have bit me on the nose.
DD#4 takes several meds. One of them just went over the counter. Which stinks, because now the insurance wont pay for it anymore. The last time I had to buy it without using the insurance it cost me $80, and that was for the generic. Not sure what the OTC price is, hopefully the manuractur lowered it. Plus she takes it several times a day, sometimes every hour, so a bottle does not last her long at all. I hope a generic is available OTC. Sometimes it takes them awhile to get approval from the FDA to come out as an OTC. When I worked in a pharmacy several years ago, I learned that each company who makes the drug has to get approval.

I have listed several things on Craigslist. I list them for my husband, and I get a response. I list them for me, and don't get a single response. I have been trying to see a bunch of paperback books. Over 300 of them. All I want is $25 for them all. I have been stood up about 7 times over the last 4 months of selling them. Yet, I see people selling smaller lots for more money. They get what they ask because then their ad says gone, or sold on it.
No luck selling a bunch of little girls size 6 clothes, summer and fall-2 laundry baskets full for $25. Some still had tags on them. very nice, excellant condition. No luck selling leap pad books and the cartridges for them. No luck selling a bunch of kids books. No luck selling school uniforms-yet one in a "stained" condition listed by another ebayer went for big bucks--same uniform, same size......
I also listed the stuff on ebay, no response-I have perfect feedback on ebay also.
I was doing real good, then its like I am invisible all of a sudden. I had pictures on the ads. Took me several hours to get them to upload, but they were there.

But, only 1 middle sized one. So, based on the tracks we found, there are more. This ones feet aren't big enough to be the momma, and they are too little to be one of the babies. But, a great big one got hit in front on the farm, so I hope it was a guilty one too.

While it was in the trap, it managed to get to the water hose that runs beside the coup, and chewed it beyond repair. So, add another $22 worth of damage to the list these things have caused.

Traps will be set again tonight.

I know people will ask, so I will go ahead and tell you, the trapped coon died of "lead poison". A 22. Can't really release it down the road, or it would just start killing someone elses chickens. Others along the road are complaining of damage caused by coons also, so we are not the only ones having this trouble. I have seen more this year than ever.

Mowed hay Saturday, raked it yesterday, and baled it this morning. A crew is outside now picking up the bales putting them on the wagon. A neighbor bales our hay for us-we split the hay with him for his effort and neither of us has to buy hay for the winter. Works well for both of us. He buys the fuel to do it, and we pay for the fertilizer for the fields to grow it.

Well, since we have had invasions on the poltry coup, we have traps everywhere. Mice keep eating the bait. So, we threw out poison for the mice. The leg traps caught a cat (not ours--a wild stray). It is not the critter that caught the chickens, but to get in the trap it was caught in kind of indicates that cat was up to no good, or it would not have been where it was.
This morning when we went out to check the traps, we discovered something had been in the live trap, and ate threw the wire to get out. Chewed a hole the size of a softball right threw the wire trap. (Now I am wondering, are we safe in the house?? How big is this animal???) It did leave behind a small amount of fur--its grey with white tips. No tracks, which was odd because it was very muddy out, but, it may have rained after it got caught and left, and washed out the tracks. Previous tracks were of a coon.
On the bright side, the remaining ducks made it through another night, and nothing has attacked the rabbits yet. Nothing has managed to get into the pen or coup for close to a week now. But, they keep springing the traps. Tonight the big traps and additional traps have been set. I am anxious to see what the results are in the morning.
I have more chickens due to arrive by mail either Mon or Tues. They will be in the garage or basement for a couple weeks before they go to the coup.

Had 1 chicken left. DD #3 left the coup open and now we have no chickens. We have not caught any coons in the traps yet, only cats. But, the tracks we finally found were coon tracks. (found some bloody ones under the hay in the coup). Still have 3 ducks though. I have ordered more chicks, and they are due to arrive this coming week.
Took the 3 little ones to a nearby dairy today. It was family day. All events were free, unless you bought something at their store. We got a free hotdog and french fry lunch, free samples of cheese and milk, milked cows, toured the farm and bottling plant and had some games for kids. Lots of displays also. They do this once a year. The rest of the time they charge for their tours.

People don't believe how rural it is where I live. If I can get it to upload, I am trying to post a picture of downtown of the nearest town. Whats in the picture is it. 3 buildings.

They came again last night. We found prints in the barn--lots and lots of coon prints. But, we still can't figure out how they are getting into the coop and the pen. As before, doors were locked, so its not a door being left open. Windows were closed and locked. No holes that we could find-except for 1 and we blocked it up. I don't think a coon could have gotten in that hole, and no way a coon could have carried a full grown chicken out the little hole. A few survived the attack, some died today. We now have 2 yellow ducks, 1 black duck and 1 leghorn chicken. Thats all. One duck lost 1 eye, and the other may have lost both. No vets around here treat birds either...

I talked to a wildlife agent who confirmed that coons will eat a chicken down to the feet and will snap the bone so clean that it looks like a knife cut. (scarey). He also said they have been known to chew thru chicken wire and even hardware cloth. Apprently June is the month around here where the parents teach the young how to kill and hunt. If they are doing that, then they will kill more than they will eat (for the practice I guess). But, we found no prints of any kind in the coop or the pen.
The paper had a deal in it about 4 seperate reports of people finding a man sleeping in their barn. So, maybe we have had a combination of that and coons?? We will probably never know.

DH is off Monday, so we plan on electrifing the feed barrel. Something is eating the feed in it and tipping it over. So, we will hook up an electric fence charger to it. I wonder if a coon will turn it off....

I know for a fact they can open some types of locks-a girlfriend in college had one and it would let itself in and out of his cage. He would also open the kitchen cabinets and get into the catfood and lift the toilet seat to get a drink.

The only other think we can think of, if the coons are going under the coop and coming up thru the floor somewhere. It has a wood floor, but since its covered with wood shavings and straw, we can't see all the floor. Tomorrow I will take the shavings and straw out and examine the floor.

The survivors seem to want to sleep in the pen rather than in the coop, so that makes us think the invadors are coming in thru the coop then getting over to the pen. Its unusual for them not to sleep in their nests or roost.

Between what I paid for the birds and their feed, I am out around $216. I have been keeping track because I was planning on selling eggs.

You sleep in your vehicle in your nightgown, boots and holding a 410.....
Something raided our chickens the night before, so we slept in the truck last night trying to catch it. It did not come back.

It took 18 hens and a couple of roosters. We found chickens and chicken feet all over the coop, barn and yard. Some it ate completely except for the feet and wings. Others it just killed and left behind.

We can not find how it got it. No holes. The coop is tight. The pen is completly surrounded with chicken wire, with holes no bigger than a quarter. Its covered top, bottom and sides. We can find no holes, rips, tears or signs of fur from a preditor or a struggle.

The remaining chickens that were killed and left behind don't seem to have any marks on them. The ones (remains)that we found in the yard and barn have no blood on them, and appear almost to have been butchered. We are wondering if perhaps a person did it??? Doors were still latched when we got up. Dog went nuts that night-did he run someone off??

Almost like someone went it, rang there necks, was piling them up, left in a hurry, ran out and into the barn dropped a couple of wings and feet and was gone.
No fur or feathers left in a trail like an animal normally does. No animal prints or scratch marks on the side of the wooden building.

2 of my daughters at times have sworn they think someone lives in our barn behind the hay....Now, we are wondering do we have a hobo that visits??? A couple of times barn lights have gone off and on for no reason. We have had the law out twice, but they could not find anything. But, a neighbor is also having similar problems....