Heritage Breeds/Varieties

I've been doing a little research lately on heritage breed chickens because of a hen of mine going broody.  Broody means that she has gone into the state when she is bound and determined to raise her own brood of chicks.  It has been really quite interesting to watch, and although I was not going to raise chicks, I have decided to do so because of the health of this chicken.

Broody chickens go into a zen, almost comatose state and will not leave their nest, and with my chicken it has meant even to the detriment of herself.  When I would try to put her back in with the other hens, they would pick on her terribly, so I just decided to let her stay in her nest.  The point that I am trying to make is that these chickens have a strong instinct that is almost impossible to override, and I got to thinking, why would I want to?

I have a huge demand for my organic eggs, absolutely adore having my chickens, and have the facilities to raise the chicks safely until they can live in with the rest of my chickens.  So, with a little research, and a couple of days of  collecting just the right eggs, we have placed the eggs under our wonderful broody hen.  But with that research, I have learned some very interesting things about heritage breeds.

First and foremost, heritage breeds are very hearty and intelligent breeds, just like my broody girl.  One of my new favorite sites is the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, and according to them: "The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy protects genetic diversity in livestock and poultry species through the conservation and promotion of endangered breeds. These rare breeds are part of our national heritage and represent a unique piece of the earth's bio-diversity. The loss of these breeds would impoverish agriculture and diminish the human spirit. We have inherited a rich variety of livestock breeds. For the sake of future generations we must work together to safeguard these treasures."

The site also has a great list of all heritage breeds, whether it be poultry, goats, sheep (which I have), cows or horses.  So if you are at all interested in raising livestock, look into heritage varieties, you won't be sorry.  It takes much less work as they tend to do part of the work for you.  And not only that, you will be keeping a part of our history alive!

The Chicken Dance Poem

 My rooster does not like my brown pants,

He made me do a very awkward dance.

He came running up from behind,

And really, I tried to be kind.

But that darn Roo, just kept coming back at me,

I think he even did it with a look of glee!

I assumed it was my pants,

and that I would no longer have to dance.

I went back the next day to his door,

And lo and behold that Roo wanted some more!

A hen that has gone broody,

And is feeling very moody.

A ram that used to be quite lazy,

now is acting a little crazy.

Hmmm...

I have done all my reading,

And hopefully patience is all I'm needing.

If it is the change of the season,

That is actually his reason,

Neither McLovin' or I... should come out bleeding!

The above photo is one I took this morning of Tom and our naughty Roo working on a desensitizing exercise!

Once in a two moon(s)!

Photo taken in June 2006 by Judy

Man, am I really disappointed!  I hate it when I find out something I was really looking forward to was a big old hoax!  Our neighbor had told us that there was going to be two moons tonight (on his birthday, Happy Birthday Old Man!), and I should have known better.  Two moons?  It actually has nothing to do with two moons, people somehow got a moon mixed up with Mars.

Actually, according to NASA: "The origins of the Hoax can be traced back to 2003 when Mars really did swell to unusual proportions. On August 27th of that year, Mars came within 56 million km of Earth—the nearest it has been in 60,000 years. People marveled at the orange brilliance of Mars in the night sky and crowded around telescopes for clear views of the planet's towering volcanoes, ruddy plains and glistening polar ice caps. At the height of the display, Mars was about 75 times smaller than the full Moon."

And the old fashioned "telephone" game started from there.  One science guy said to the next not so sciencey guy, use a 75x magnifier and take a look, and then he forgot to tell the next guy that important piece of information, and so on.  And here I sit on the 27th of August, seven (my god, I first typed in four!) years later, all excited thinking I'm going to see two moons, when I darn well know better...Thank goodness I have this blog to keep me researching and on the straight and narrow!

Judy, on being a mom, a volunteer and a politico

So Tuesday I was on my way to my last School Advisory Council (SAC) meeting for our middle school; I no longer have a middle schooler, so I was just going to finish out my post for last year.  I had a lot on my mind, I had started my new SAC post with the High School the day before, was really looking forward to teaching my new class, but was a little concerned over some things I had heard at the HS meeting.

You see, I am in a very interesting position when it comes to the schools and this town.  I am quite active in politics as a Registered Republican, and in Park County, that means that you are involved in all of the action because it (the county) is entirely Republican, sorry Democrats, but it is how I keep tabs on the pulse, if you know what I mean.  Now, in general, and I do say, in general, the school system is run by Democrats.

As we all know, education and politics go hand in hand.  Especially when it comes to the Sheriffs race.  What?  At least in Park County.  Okay, it doesn't all boil down to the Sheriffs race, but it came darn close at the last Board meeting, sounds like.  Which is a shame, because it was the last meeting of our very distinguished President who has to leave our area. 

Anyway, it turned into a circus, the day before election, ironically, or not, with allegations against the Sheriffs Dept that turned into screaming at our Superintendent to step down.  (The reason the two are connected is because we have a Sheriff Resource Officer (SRO) at our school, please follow the links if you'd like to catch up on the whole sordid story.)

Well, I wasn't at that meeting, and hadn't heard anything about it until the HS SAC meeting on Monday, been under a rock you know.  But, I went home and did some reading and found some very interesting information.  Well, as I said, I know some things that the people at the school don't know because I knew the names of the folks that had raised a stink at the board meeting... they were a lot of the same people that I had recently spent the day with up at the Republican Assembly where I was a delegate. 

My feelings on the matter were...uneasy.  I knew that it had been politically motivated, but was concerned about the schools as a whole.  Well, I was walking into a trap.  By the end of my last middle school SAC meeting I had somehow been voted Chairperson for this coming school year, as a community member, since I no longer have a student at FMS.  This will involve another year of meetings (me running them-yikes!), all of the District meetings and who knows what other duties they did not inform me of-ha!

But, I may be a great person for the job.  Although there was a little chuckle when I said that I recognized the names of the trouble makers (they must think it's the tattooed, hillbilly in me), I think the real surprise to these ladies might be that these are the same folks who are running this county.  Or at least representing them when it comes to voting at the assembly, again sorry Dems, but numbers don't lie.  So I can see both sides of the coin so to speak.

But, the very good news, is that in all of this brew-ha-ha, I have answered one of my own questions!  So, our Sheriff beat the first guy in the Primary.  My question was, does this declare him the final victor or can people change parties?  Well, I don't know about changing parties, but I do know that you can still become a write in candidate after the primary, and I'm adding my name...Just Kidding!!!!  No, but another fella did just that, and lo and behold if he isn't one of the fellas causing trouble for the school district/SRO relationship.

I knew I liked his name...

"We have bigger houses but smaller families,
more conveniences, but less time.
We have more degrees, but less sense
more knowledge, but less judgment
more experts, but more problems
more medicines, but less healthiness.
We've been all the way to the moon and back
but have trouble crossing the street to meet the neighbor.
We built more computers to hold more information
to produce more copies than ever...
but have less communication.
We have become long on quantity but short on quality.
These are fast times of fast foods but slow digestion.
Tall man but short character.
Steep profits but shallow relationships.
It is a time where there is much in the window
but nothing in the room."
~the Dalai Lama

My friend Tiffany wrote a great post on acceptance yesterday, check it out.  It led me to a great new blog, that led me to this poem.  Thank you, Pilgrimsteps, for the inspiration!

Royal Ranch Royalty

 My new favorite picture

Happy Sunday to all of you!  I hope you are having a great weekend.  I know I have been a bit sporadic about my posting this week, and that has been for a number of reasons.  First and foremost, I have been letting my brain recover, secondly I have had a lot going on with getting the kids back into a school routine, etc.  But, you all have been on my mind a lot.  So much so that I have decided that I am going to make YOU, yes, YOU, my Royal Rebels, today's Royal Ranch Royalty.  So here goes (in no particular order, of course):

To ifhpueblo:  You are Royalty for being such a great commenter and being so strong in everything you do.  I can tell you are a backbone to your family and friends, and I am so sorry that our country does not take better care of its service men and women.  Because you deserve the Royal Treatment!

To Tina D:  I have heard through the kids that you read everyday and really enjoy my blog, thank you, and I know you are out there.  Thank you for all of your compliments on Metaphysical Monday, it really means a lot, and you too are clearly a Royal Rebel!

To My Parents:  Thanks for being such great supporters of the blog, I know you look forward to it everyday.  I think you have finally gotten used to my rebellion, and maybe even embraced it, and for dealing with it when I was growing up, the biggest thank you of all!!!

To Daisy:  I know that you just dropped off Amigo at College, and I think this might mean you are an empty nester now; clearly a weird time in life, I think of you often.  You have been one of my best blogging mentors, and a great "green:" wealth of knowledge, thank you!

To Tiffany:  You are my friend and teacher, and you even give me wonderful products to review for this blog!  You too, are a partner in green living, and understand how challenging that can be at times.  You've even asked me to come help you teach, WOW!!!  Thanks, rebel sister.

Speaking of sisters:  Kelly, although you are quite busy you were kind enough to forward the blog to Lisa when you thought she needed to read it, Thank you.  I truly appreciate your comments and input.

To Mishaun:  Who is so dedicated to homesteading in this technology filled world.  I am very impressed with all of the work you have done over the past year or so, thanks for sharing all of your knowledge.  You my dear, are definitely a Royal Rebel.

To Irina and Matthias:  Reading all the way from Germany.  I really love that.  My heart is with you during this adoption journey, but you are two very strong, rebellious people that can handle just about anything this old world tosses at you, I know things are going to work out just the way they are meant to.  Until then, know that I am sending positive vibes your way.

To Amy:  You are such a great neighbor, and supporter of all of my writing!  I love to hear your kids playing outside, and can't wait to hear news of the new arrival-Good Luck!

And to those of you that I didn't name, know that I appreciate you as well.  I know that you are out there, because the numbers show it.  I'd love to get to know you better.  So, nobody freaked out and jumped ship over the ads, so it will soon be time to start Royal Rebels officially.  Have you, my dedicated readers, been thinking of a daily and long term goal you would like to work on as a group with us?  Come on, get ready to get your Rebel on!

A quick note on Karma

To the jerks who left my spectacular campground a mess,

My husband let you stay for free because you said you were Veterans, that alone could get us fired.  You left your campsite dirtier than any site I have ever seen in the five years I have been cleaning sites, I have my doubts you are truly a Veteran.  After you filled the legal fire ring with trash, you built a half assed, illegal fire ring, and almost caught my forest on fire!  Although you stayed at the only campground with a dumpster, you could not get your trash bag over to it, along with the rug that your mutt crapped on.  Thank you for that nice surprise.

I guarantee your move across the state is not going well.

But on the other hand...

To my friend Kristi,

I hardly remembered referring the folks from The Royal Roost to you when they told me they were looking to buy real estate in the Jefferson area.  So it was such a wonderful surprise to receive a $100 gift card right when I was back to school shopping for the kids!!!  You helped us buy The Royal Roost, oh so many years ago, you are a wonderful Real Estate Agent and friend, you go girl!  Thank you and you know that only good things are coming your way.

Now that's what I'm talking about.