Incubator Update

Black bantam chick.

In one of my earlier post about my incubator, I said that I would give a update about my hatching status. Around two weeks ago, I hatched my first bantam chick ever. Its father won first place at our local livestock show. Since its dad placed so well, I'm hoping to enter it in the next show. My newest chicks were Buff Orpingtons. I was really excited to hatch these because it was my first time to hatch this breed and all of the eggs hatched. All of them are healthy and active but one has a club foot if any of you know how to treat this, please comment and tell. I like this breed because they are one of the most docile and best egg laying breed. I also like the color of this breed too.  

Buff Orpington chicks.

Happy Fall, Y'all

                    Happy Fall, Y'all

This is the pumpkin my brother Andrew and I designed.

Well, after a long and hot summer fall has finally come. I always look forward to autumn because it's not too hot and it's not too cold. I like autumn because it's perfect weather for being outside, reading books near a fire, and being thankful for what God has given us. One of my family's fall traditions is to carve pumpkins. Dad has always been our chief pumpkin carver. After we draw up the plans for the way we want our pumpkins to look, dad will carve them. No matter what  the design is, they always look just like our designs-if not better. When we finish carving our pumpkins, we butter and salt the pumpkin seeds and toast them in the oven. Another  fall tradition of ours is to go to the Dallas Arboretum and look at their magnificent pumpkin displays. My favorite types of pumpkins are the really small  Jack be little and the big Atlantic Giant pumpkins. If you live near Dallas you should definitely go to the Arboretum and see them.

My all time favorite autumn food would probably be Pumpkin bread. I enjoy pumpkin bread because it is a very healthy bread. The bread has canned pumpkin, raisins, and walnuts in its loaves  Instead of  using a regular loaf pan, I bake the bread in a mini loaf pan, that way I can bake more loaves to give to neighbors and family members. If you would like to learn how to make pumpkin bread click here to go to my recipe page.

Pumpkin bread 

Me with the seeds

Mom and Andrew buttering the pumpkin seeds

Andrew salting the pumpkin seeds.

Hogs

Picture of the hog that Dad shot.

 Today when our dogs started barking, we realized  that they were barking at three feral hogs. Dad ran and got his gun and shot the biggest one twice. Then, he tracked it down and found out that it was a male.
The reason Dad shot it was because that they will tear up our lawn (like last year) and they will eat our chickens. Plus they are very dangerous if you happen to run into them. If you would like to learn more about feral hogs read the following.

A different picture of the hogs on an earlier date. 

Diet: Feral hogs eat nuts, roots, grass, fruits, mushrooms, vegetables  bugs, small birds, rabbits, eggs, and even dead animals.


Size: they can be up to 5 feet long, and weigh 300 pounds.

Hunting Season: There is no hunting season because they are not native to Texas. 

Popularity: Many people don't like feral hogs because they compete with native animals for food. Also, they root up native plants and grasses. 

Lego Lighthouse

Last year at Christmas one of the gifts I  received was this Lego Lighthouse creator set. During the time I've owned it I have had a wonderful time building and rebuilding this fabulous Lego set. As seen on the box, you can build this set into a lighthouse, restaurant, and a boat house. I've only built the lighthouse and have not built the others. The lighthouse has a big door on the side of it so you can open it and look inside. It also, has a handle in the back of it for you to turn the light up top. When you finish  building the light house, you can build an included boat and to sea gulls. My favorite thing about this set is that it comes with a real light.

                                 Five lighthouse facts

1. The world's first known lighthouse was built by the Egyptians around 283 BC.
2. The oldest light house in  America is in Sandy Hook, New Jersey and is still in use.
3. The most expensive lighthouse built in America cost $ 715,000.00.
4. Once there were 850 lighthouses in America at the same time.
5. The first fog horn was a cannon which was at the Boston lighthouse.

For more facts go here:http://www.seathelights.com/other/facts.html

Our newest pets

Callie

 The newest addition to our farm is four new kittens. We recived these kittens from some good friends of ours. Their names are Smokey, Spot, Indiana Jones, and Callie.

Smokey has a kind, shy personality and loves to play. Smokey's favorite game to play is tag, where he chases Indy and bats him with his paw, then runs up a tree. 

 Indiana Jones is an easy to please, loving, friendly, active, all around cat. He loves to explore, climb trees and play. Indy likes to play fight, where he wrestles and bites the other kittens playfully . 

Indiana Jones 

Spot's personalty is shy and secretive. Spot loves to hide, climb, and explore. He loves to play spy, where he sneaks up on people and kittens. Also he likes to pounce on bugs that he never catches.

Callie is one of the friendlier kittens who will follow you around everywhere. Her pastimes include playing, batting kittens tails, jumping, exploring and chasing things. Her favorite game to play is when you drag a string and she pounces on it.

I hope you've enjoyed hearing about our kittens. 

Callie with Smokey in the background. 

Smokey 

 

Vintage cars

 Ford Sedan Slant Back 

I really like vintage  cars, so I was excited when a local Volunteer Fire Department  put on a car show. My favorite cars were this Cadillac and the Ford Sedan Slant Back. 

10 interesting vintage car facts:

1. Karl Benz, the first inventor of the gasoline-powered automobile, made one of the first cars in 1893.
2. Henry Ford, the inventor of the Model T in1908 , once said about the colors of cars he produced “any color you want, so long as it’s black.”
3. The first Chevrolet Corvette came out in 1953.
4. Original V.W. beetles had no gas gauges but if you ran out you could pull a lever under the dash to access a "reserve" supply of 1/2 gallon. 
5. More than 15 million Model Ts were produced.
6. Henry Ford sold his first Model T for $950.00. 
7. The first V.W. beetle was made in 1945.
8. During the Model T nineteen years of production the price came down to $280.00.
9. A new V.W. beetle in 1968 cost $1,800.00.
10. The first car radio was invented in 1929.

A Cadillac 

Iroquois Indians

Today I've learning about the Iroquois Indians. So far I've learned the following information about them:

1.   Iroquois man dancing.

                          - Name

The first thing I'm going to share is the Iroquois name. Iroquois is pronounced, “eer-uh-kwoy”.

They call themselves "Haudenosaunee" which means: "people of the longhouse." Their enemies nicknamed them Iroquois, which means "snake". They were nicknamed snake because they were known for their warring and fighting skills. 

2. An Iroquois Indian home.

               

             

                   - Housing 

The Iroquois lived in the woodlands of the  Northeastern United States. The Iroquois built houses called "longhouses". Theses house were made from tree bark. They could take parts off the roof to let the smoke out. Longhouses were one hundred feet long and could house sixty people.  They would later fence in their towns and clear land around the village to see approaching Indians and farms.  

3. A example of Iroquois clothing. 

                            - Clothing 

 Most of the Iroquois clothes were made from deerskin that they obtained from hunting. Although, some clothing were made from corn husks or plant fibers. Iroquois men wore leather shirts and leggings and a few wore tattoos. The women wore leather dresses with legging underneath. Sometimes the women wore special beaded tiaras. Iroquois women never cut their hair unless they were mourning. The children dressed like their parents. They all wore leather shoes called moccasins. A Iroquois baby's diaper was made from the fat end of a cattail. The men also wore feathers on their head these were called "gus toweh". The gus toweh showed other Native Americans what kind of tribe they belong to. 

                   - Food

4. Food of the Iroquois.

The Iroquois women were farmers.They planted crops that they called the three sisters, which are beans, corn, and squash. Besides these they ate melons, berries, mushrooms, roots (like potatoes), and nuts. While the women tended to grow fruits and vegetables, the men hunted and fished. The meat they valued the most was venison. They used almost every part of the deer. They used bones for tools and weapons, and sinew(which is made from the animal’s tendons)was used for thread.

     

5.  Iroquois weapon.

          -Weapons

The Iroquois tribe used bows and arrows,spears, tomahawks, clubs and shields for hunting and fighting. To fish they used bows, arrows and spears. The weapons mentioned  above would be made from stone, wood, animals, and bones. Before the Iroquois tribe declared war, the members of The Iroquois Great Council would unanimously all choose for or against war or trading.

         - Handmade items 

6.  Water drum.

The most common crafts of the Iroquois are bead-work, and porcupine quill-work. Other skilled workers would steam wood and bend into wood tools. Some lacrosse sticks are still made this way today. They were also known for their masks; their masks were so sacred that they didn't let outsiders see them. Iroquois also made flutes and drums. The drums were  filled with water so they would make a different sound. At night men would play the flute at a women's door to let her know that he was thinking about her.

Thanks for reading and feel free to leave comments, questions, & suggestions on this post.

----------------------------Helpful websites I used below----------------------------------
http://www.homeschoolshare.com/if_you_lived_with_the_iroquois.php
Lap-book above.
http://www.bigorrin.org/iroquois_kids.htm

http://www.dynamic2moms.com/iroquoisconfederacy.htm

//www.prontolessons.com/iroquois_native_americans1.html




           ---------------------------Photo Credits------------------------------------

picture 1. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/media/95753/Traditionally-dressed-Iroquois-man-chanting-and-dancing-outside-a-reconstructed

Picture 2. and 4 http://www.dynamic2moms.com/iroquoisconfederacy.htm

picture 3 and 6.http://www.bigorrin.org/iroquois_kids.htm

picture 5 .http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&sa=X&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-Address&rlz=1I7GGLR_enUS261&biw=1024&bih=611&tbm=isch&tbnid=FQ2BOUe6alW42M:&imgrefurl=http://canada-natives.blogspot.com/p/iroquois.html&imgurl=http://www.westirondequoit.org/technology/k-6/Iroquois_Nation/images/bowarrowquiver.gif&w=763&h=480&ei=3X9CUMKKJYOd2QWF_IDQDA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=203&vpy=313&dur=199&hovh=178&hovw=283&tx=115&ty=196&sig=103665139066187244955&page=1&tbnh=99&tbnw=157&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:0,i:109