The Ups and Downs...

So we've had an interesting time lately here at the Muddy Manicure. Depression relapse, tibial fractures, disappearing chickens and house training new puppies have reared their ugly head recently!

I suffer from clinical depression and recently had a relapse that lasted the latter part of the summer. This caused me to spend a lot of time traveling between Montana and Washington to visit family. I also suffer from seasonal affects disorder and "clicked" into fall and started to feel sooo much better! :) I was feeling some of the warning signs but hadn't realized how far the depression had progressed. During this time I came to the conclusion that I will never beat the depression; I'll just have to pay closer attention.

Once I surfaced from the relapse, dad and Scott came over for a guided antelope hunt. They teamed up with Toby Werk from Blue Heaven Montana and Scott filled his tag immediately. It was a good hunt and everyone had a good time!

As a result of the hunt, my dad misplaced his really expensive binoculars. He requested me to head out to the gut pile to see if they were left out there. So I headed out yesterday and took my pups with me. Yotee came with me to scout out the gut pile and instead of behaving he took off the 1/4 mile to the highway and got hit. He ended up with a tibial fracture and I thank goodness that Dr. Schmidt in Chinook was able to take him on. He came home today and is a bit more mobile than I thought he'd be, but it's obvious that he hurts pretty bad.


For those of you who have been keeping up on the chicken escapades I have news. The goose (who thinks it's a goat) is the only bird left from the original group. I purchased an order of 5 silver laced wyandottes from Cackle Hatchery. They arrived happy and healthy and were doing great until my mom's wiener dog ate one. Then the next trip home two more chicks drowned in the water bucket.

So I am now down to two chicks and I caved and bought a pre-fabricated chicken coop from Chicken Saloon. It cost me a pretty penny but I'm hoping it will preserve the chicks I have left. It's called the "Corral" and it turned out pretty cute. I gave myself a blister putting it together but it was way easy to put together by myself and came in good condition!
 
I ended up with a new puppy when Lil Guy was run over. Sad day! I miss him! I now have Kooper who was one of Karen's puppies that she wasn't able to keep. He's a pretty good little doggie but he's no Lil Guy! :) I'm luck y that he was pretty much house trained but having been in a crate most of his life, I'm finding that I'm having to teach him how to be a dog. It's an interesting experience for sure!

Well that's all folks! Enjoy the dregs of summer! :)

Update-a-palooza!

I finally had a harvest from my garden! I'm not really sure if you'd call it a "harvest" but I got two small tomatoes yesterday. I was so excited I couldn't even wait to take a picture! I just wiped 'em off on my t-shirt and popped 'em in my mouth. Yummy! They tasted amazing! I think these are called Tom Thumb tomatoes but I can't remember the variety for sure. I've still got the seeds so next year I'll pay more attention. I've got a couple more orangey-red small tomatoes again today!

There pictures to the right are my Amish Paste tomatoes. This is a new variety for me and I'm noticing that they take a while longer than regular varieties to mature. I'm hoping they get nice and red soon! :) Also, sorry it's a sideways photo! LOL

This is my Three Sister's bed. It contains two varieties of corn (Yukon Chief and Orchard Baby), Small Sugar pumpkin's and Scarlet Runner beans. They are all doing well and the pumpkin's have left the bed and are crawling all over the yard now! The runner beans have produced a hand full of beans which I will be picking as soon as I have enough for a dinner. The corn have a few baby ears on them which hopefully will be ready to eat by the middle of September!

Sorry again for the sideways aspect...think of it as abstract. Abstract is art...right? LOL This is my soap box...literally! The soap that I made and highlighted in an earlier post has finally cured and was ready to be wrapped. I went the freezer-paper, scotch-tape and marker route. I wanted to get all fancy and creative but didn't want to spend the money it would take to do it that way. This works great and now I have a lot of soap and one more batch to make and cure.

So remember my last post about the coupon extravaganza? Well I have started my mini-stockpile. I have also started a list of when to stock up on certain things, like in June you should grab pickles and condiments.I'm already planning some more couponing and price-matching at Wal-Mart. I'll keep you posted!

My baby chicks are coming in the mail this week. I ordered 5 hens from Cackle Hatchery and I picked the Silver Laced Wyandottes. A post will follow when they arrive! I'm headed home for the last week in August through the Labor Day holiday. It'll be nice to be home for a bit and do some catching up! Well that's about it for my updates. Have a great day!

It's A Coupon Extravaganza...

Hello, my name's Samantha and I fully admit I am an "Extreme Couponing" addict. *A chorus of hello's ensue.*

If you never seen it check out TLC and bask in the amazingness of all that savings. Most of these women, and they are almost all women, are totally OCD but they do save a lot of money. Now with more student loans coming due and possible salary reductions in the future I am trying my best to save as much money as possible. And hey, what chick doesn't like to save money?!?

The show inspired me to give it a try and of course that spurred a Google search. I came up with an excellent blog from the Krazy Coupon Lady and devoured her information. She really makes it easy to understand for the beginner. If you're thinking about starting this kind of thing I encourage you to do plenty of research before hand.

After absorbing my Krazy Coupon Lady glut of information I started clipping coupons but didn't really have the opportunity to use them the same way as the shoppers on the show or how the Krazy Coupon Lady says to do it. Shopping choices are rather limited up here. Since WalMart has the best prices and literally the only place to find a variety of products, I decided to focus there.

Coupons lower the already low prices but I wasn't having so much luck saving the amounts I wanted to, which is a lot! So after regrouping I went after the health and beauty products, cleaning products and other commonly used household products like Ziplock bags. There were some really good coupons for that kind of thing this week so I clipped 'em and headed to Havre.

I was able to purchase the following items:
4 - 50 oz. Purex detergents ($1.99)
2 - Gain dryer sheets
2 - Gain liquid dish soaps
2 - Ziplock bags packages
2 - Suave Rosemary & Mint conditioner
2 - Suave dry shampoos (FREE)
2 - Suave deodorant
2 - Whiskas cat food (B1G1)
2 - Advil PM
1 - Garnier Fructis conditioner
1 - Clean & Clear facial cleanser
1 - Pampers diaper wipes (excellent for removing make-up & grime)
1 - OralB toothbrush
1 - Advil Congestion Relief
1 - Milk & Cereal Bars
1 - 1/2 milk

It totaled $71.03 before the coupons and I paid $48.55 when it was all said and done. That's a 69% savings and I am jazzed! I had to call my mom and totally geek out for a bit. I'm proud of myself and amassed a nice little stockpile, which is another key to using coupons like this. Be sure to research your store's coupon policy before you head out...it's important to know the rules they have so you can use your coupons to the best advantage!

A Goose And Two Goats Walk Into A Bar...

Good intro huh? :) So the coons have prevailed and all my chickens are now raccoon poop. Bummer for sure! Now all I have is my goats (which are doing great!) and my goose. Still not sure if Gooses is a boy or a girl but "he" now thinks he's a goat. I feel bad because he must be lonely but if thinking you're a goat keeps you from being eaten by raccoons then who gives a damn right?!?

I have gone back and forth on whether or not to get more chickens, finally deciding to repopulate. I want to be able to have chickens for several reasons but mainly I like watching them be chickens. I also like watching my goats be goats. It all calms and relaxes me! What can I say? I have an affinity for animals.

So in an effort to thwart those damn raccoons I began researching enclosed coops because I will have my chickens! I'll let them free range during the afternoon/evenings while I'm home. But holy-moly-cow those pre-fab coops are REALLY expensive. I mean we're talking the cheapest one is close to $350 plus shipping. I then thought I'd make one and quickly on the heels of that thought came a reality check that I simply don't have the tools needed to construct such a structure. However, I knew what I had in mind from searching Google images.

After some thought I realized I know a soon to be unemployed, soon to be college student (who always need money) who will have some time on his hands. Enough time to construct a coop like this. So my brother is going to take a few pictures I found him online and make me a coop for my chickens. Oh yeah, I totally ordered new chicks as soon as he confirmed he'd be willing to do it. :)

I had to do some searching around the online hatcheries because most have a minimum order of 15 or 25 chicks. Now I know I have a 100% mortality rate on this place but I don't need that many chicks! So I looked around and stumbled upon Cackle Hatchery which has some amazing specials for small orders. They call them "City/Town Small Order Specials" and you can pick your chick's variety and sex or just have an assortment sent to you. I've never used this company so I will report in on the procedure and quality.

I ordered five Silver Laced Wyandotte hens. And I think they are some of the prettiest chickens out there. My mom likes her Buff Orphingtons and Black Austrolorps because they are friendly, but I think if you handle the chicks enough when you get them they will grow up friendly. A perfect case of nature versus nurture!

I am determined to successfully have at least three hens to get my eggs from, eat bugs and be a friend to Gooses! Coons be damned! :)

A coon hunting I will go...

Remember these guys? Cute huh? I started with 10 hens, 2 turkeys, 2 geese and 1 duck. They all grew well until the goats showed up and then I lost 1 turkey and 2 hens...squished by the goaties. Forgivable. The remaining birds were doing well, going through a bit more feed than I was expecting but well all the same. They were large enough to run outside for a supervised amount of time, then they were large enough to stay out all the time.


One day they started to mysteriously disappear! I initially thought it was my resident feral cats, so I started feeding the cats. However, the disappearances continued. Then one evening I saw something blob-like moving out in the yard. Running to grab my glasses I identified the culprits. RACCOONS!

I was unknowingly feeding (chicken feed, grain and unwittingly my birds) a family of raccoons. Oooo my temper got the best of me that night! I let the dogs out and ran outside yelling and flapping my arms, making a general raucous. I'm sure the neighbors were entertained. There mama and four babies scurried away and weren't much of an issue for a bit. I went about my business and was able to travel home for an extended weekend. The evening I pulled in my driveway there those damn coons were!

I kind of kept an eye on everything but wasn't seeing any missing birds until the spilled grain ran out. I bought a garbage can and put my grain in there with the lid bungee corded closed. This apparently sparked a revenge mentality in the coons, who then ate 2 of my remaining hens and my only duck! Oh hell no those lil bastards were not going to eat my entire fowl investment! Those birds were expensive!

So for the last two night I have been camping out in my TrailBalzer with "Old Betsy" otherwise known as my .20 gauge shotgun. The first night right at dusk the family appeared (minus mom who is MIA). They knew I was there because they curiously inspected my vehicle from a distance. They were kind of cute but I felt no remorse taking them out. Farm life at its best...you have to protect your investments.

I had a successful night that first night. I killed one for sure. I'll spare you the details but it took two shots. That's what I remorse about. If you are going to kill something, humanely with one shot is the best way to do it. I'm pretty sure I wounded one enough that it will eventually die, and perhaps another one. Three down and one to go...ok maybe two.

Unfortunately last night was not as successful. I stayed staked out until it was too dark for me to comfortably shoot. Sometime during the night I lost 2 more hens. I am down to one hen and one goose. I will be placing an order for more hens and a coop to keep them safe. I hope the coons don't decide to eat the goats next.

I'm thinking a spotlight might be a good idea too so I can get the remaining coons. :/