*NEW* Chicken Coop!!

Sooo....My dad built us a new chicken coop! He ordered a shed kit, built it, ordered windows, installed them, and then added all the extra stuff (chicken door, roosts, egg box "condo" :P, waterer, feeder, etc). I think it's BEAUTIFUL! I'm sooo happy with it; it's much bigger, much cleaner, and I can actually STAND UP in it! :P lol

The picture is what it looks like now, outside...minus the old red coop at the end (that's gone).

The chickens didn't exactly embrace the coop with open arms (err...wings) though. I had to put every single one of them in by hand the first night (yeah. EVERY SINGLE ONE). The second night, all but two went in, they stayed at the other end of the run, gazing longingly at the old coop (my dad carried them in). Now, every night, they all go in. We have a light on in the coop set so that they get 16 hours of daylight. Has anyone out there ever tried that? Does it work?

Fair

A church in our town puts on a carnival/fair-type thing around the end of each summer...When I was little, we lived close to it, and our family used to walk there for an evening. I went there last night with a bunch of friends of mine...and had a great time. I'm kinda afraid of heights, so I was a teeeeeeny bit freaked out the first time I went on the "Umbrella" ride (It's pretty much a ferris wheel) but I went twice and it was fun...These are some pics of the wheel, in the early evening and at night...tomorrow you may just see some more shots taken from the top of the wheel, during this weeks Sunday Stills challenge. :) They'll be on my other blog, http://ridingdaisy.blogspot.com.

Does your town have a fair-type thing, too? Do you go? Do you like rollar coasters?

Oh, and, two of my friends are in the last pic...left-hand side of the pic, blue seat. :)

Random Summer Ramblings

So what should I be posting about now??


My iPod nano broke! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?! :-(
Luckily, it's still covered by the warranty. I think I just have to get the battery replaced, so with the warranty, it should be free. I'm going in today. :-P

I've been listening to music by Owl City. I LOVE it! The thing that stinks, though, is my brother gave me I think 3 or 4 albums, and then my iPod broke. So I can barely enjoy it. :'-(
lol

Hummm...my chickens are laying eggs! Honestly, I'm not sure how many eggs we get a day right now...Atleast a dozen. Maybe 14??

It's been raining here ALL the time. This summer kinda stinks. We rarely have a sunny, hot day. I've only been to the beach 3 times. That's crazy, compared to going EVERY DAY last year.

I'm taking violin lessons this summer...I love it. :)

I GOT A NEW COMPUTER MONITOR! It's a big flat screen. :) Makes my room look modern. :)

Wooooo, I almost forgot. Jean, my trainer, has a Welsh/Thoroughbred cross pony named Bonita that I rode last winter. I've been riding her this week and I'm going to school her at a show on Sunday! :) Bonita was kinda crazy at her last show, she's only 6, so she needs more experience...she's currently listed for sale as well. I'm going to the barn soon to ride...

My chickens are shrieking right now. Those egg-layin' birds. :-P

This has got to be the most random post ever. Adios amigos.

BTW, the picture is of our sky literally 15 minutes ago. :)

Picniked Pictures

Picnik.com is a website I use to edit and "play with" photos; it's free and SO fun to use! These are just a few of the photos I've picniked...ones I don't think I've shared before. The Abby collage (my dog, Abby) didn't turn out as well because her name faded a bit, but it made it yesterday, as well as the portrait of Sasha with her name in blue. :)

Breaking Down "Shot-Gun" Etiquette

I was reading our High School online newspaper and found this...I thought it was kinda funny. :)

Dashing for the passenger’s side of the car, we have all at one point participated in the age-old competition of calling “Shotgun.”

This dog-eat-dog game often results in various disputes over the winner of the ultimate prize: the front passenger’s seat of the car.

Many may wonder where the ancient tradition originated. Surprisingly enough, the game of “Shotgun” started in the days of covered wagons and the Wild West.

While adventuring out into the great western plains the wagon driver needed one of his passengers to sit beside him and watch for wild animals and bandits along the way.

This individual would hold a shotgun with them for protection. The “shotgun” rider had the best view and also got one-on-one time with the driver.

This seat became the most desirable.

From there, generations of riders have developed rules to decide who gets this coveted seat.

The original rule, of course, requires you to call Shotgun in the presence of at least one other person.

This alone will earn you the shotgun position.

Other rules include no pre-calling Shotgun days or weeks prior to a specific car ride.

The automobile must be in sight when Shotgun is called, and, if the original Shotgun winner leaves the vicinity of the car, Shotgun becomes fair game again.

The rules are endless and many technicalities have been formed over the years.

Some specifications have become commonplace: the ever popular “No Blitz” and “Reload.”

“ No Blitz” is simply a way to ensure your security of the Shotgun position. It also prevents others ahead of you from sprinting to the car and potentially “stealing” your prize.

This is often said as “Shotgun, NO BLITZ!”

“ Reload” is a special privilege given specifically to the driver of the vehicle. This privilege constitutes that once Shotgun is called the driver has the ultimate power to call “Reload” and reset the process all over again.

Terms such as a “Shotgun Gaper” or a “Shotgun Void” have also come into use. The hated “Shotgun Gaper” is essentially a cheater at the game. The Gaper will run out of the house with no shoes to gain the advantage over fellow riders or stay in the car for extended periods of time.

A “Shotgun Void” means someone has broken one of the various Shotgun rules and regulations. A void can be best described as the taking away of your privilege as rightful Shotgun winner.

With these numerous technicalities, infinite controversies can arise. Not only are rules often broken, but many undocumented conditions can frequently be used creating even more chaos.

For example, the use of “No Johnson’s” in place of the more common “No Blitz” makes reference to the reference to the former world’s fastest man, Michael Johnson. We also see that the owner of the car, if not driving, has automatic rights to shotgun.

Significant others also reserve these rights.
Though the many formalities provide a basis for dispute, each disagreement can easily and efficiently be overcome with a simple game: Rock, Paper, Scissors.

Written by Katie P.

Appreciating Fathers...

I have a poem to share that my (mostly email)friend, IL(ove)J(esus), wrote and shared with me. She lost her father a few years back, and wrote this poem recently. It made me, personally, appreciate my father more. Hope it touches you the way it did me. I think she did a great job.

"Daddy; I Miss You":

I miss you so much,
I wish you were still here.
I want to hear your voice....
Just one more time.
I want to have you kiss my forehead....
Just one more time.
I want to be called "Peanut"....
Just one more time.
You are my Daddy.

Why did you have to get sick?
Why did you leave?
Why did God take you?
I know God took you for a reason,
But I wish you could be here with me
For all those special moments.
My 13th, 16th, and 21st birthday's.
My high school graduation.
My collage graduation.
My wedding were you walk me down the aisle.
And all of the other special things that will happen.
I know you’re gone,
But you're still my Daddy.

I will remember you forever,
And miss you always,
But I'll stop crying soon.
Don't forget me when you’re in heaven, Daddy,
Because I am your Daughter
And you are..... my Daddy.
I'll love you forever and always!

Gloria in Excelsis

This is our school Orchestra that I'm in combined with the Chorus to play "Gloria in Excelsis"...wow it was a hard song. But we got it done! :D

Double-Yolker...

READ POST BELOW FIRST

...and it was delicious.
We didn't ever get a double yolked egg out of our other birds; not that i know of, anyway. I hope this keeps up! :D

Can It Be?!! Yey for the Lady-Birds!

I think it might just be.

When chickens are raised, they normally begin to lay eggs around 20 weeks of age. They will start laying eggs regularly a few weeks after. I'm not sure how soon our chicks started laying last time, but it seems we might just have our first egg!

Bibbi and Survivor have been laying eggs almost daily for awhile. The large, green egg on the left is her's (roughly 2.7 ounces). Bibbi lays the small tanish-white egg (middle egg) (1.8 ounces). Today I went to the coop and found one egg...and it's pretty brown. I'd be willing to bet that one of our "little ladies" has started laying! :D It's brown, 2 ounces (far right). I'm not sure, unfortunately, who laid it...I think it might have been one of the Black Sex links...but I'm not sure. I'm going to eat it tonight. I'll let you know how it tastes. :-P

See it over there?? What a nice little egg. :)

I counted and if the chicks were really born on February 11 (we got them the 12th) then today would be, on the dot, their 18-week Birthday! It's kinda early to start laying, I guess, but that's fine with me! :D
Ok, that's the news of the week...I'll let you know if this new egg keeps "appearing". ;)

Chicken Update

Hey! Long time no talk! I'm not sure if you're (still) interested, but here's a new chicken coop video! :)

Burgen in Deutschland

Hey, guess what?! I MADE ANOTHER VIDEO!
yeah, duh...

Anyway, while we were in Germany, my great Aunt and Uncle took us on a ride along the Rhein river and we saw TONS of castles! I loved it; it's a shame that America doesn't have that kind of cultural history. By the time America was discovered, places like Kloster Eberbach and the Marksburg (castle) had already been around 300 years! Sooo yeah..we drove along for about an hour, then had lunch, then toured the Marksburg! It was pretty cool, and SO high up! We also went to a cafe and I had the best hot chocolate! :D AND there were two goats! they were SO cute and friendly!

At one point we were walking through the garden of the castle and this one guy stopped and said to his little son "This is the most important plant here" as he pointed to the Hops (Which is what beer is made out of). The little boy said to him, all questioning, "Kakao?" (Kakao is like chocolate milk). It was SO cute! :D

Soo yeah...I'm still going to do another video....next on my cousins that we visited, so maybe not that interesting for those outside of the family, but oh well. :)

BTW, due to Technical difficulties AGAIN, the song that it says was playing, "Not About Wings", is not what is playing, I did change to to say that it was a Mozart piece, but i guess it didn't save...

Hallo Ihr Deutschen!

Ich wollte nur mal sagen was los ist.

Ich will bald einen neuen Film machen von Deutschland aber hab' gerade keine Zeit.

Ich wollte aber auch sagen, vielen vielen Dank fuer alle eure schoenen Kommentare. Ich lese sie alle und sie gefallen mir. Entschuldigung dass ich nicht mehr in Deutsch schreibe, aber ich kann das nicht so gut.
Bis zum nächsten Video,



I pretty much said up there^^^ Thank you for all the comments (even the English ones! :D) and that I am going to make another "Germany" video this weekend (hopefully), I just haven't had time at the moment. I'm kind of annoyed that youtube won't work for my Kloster Eberbach video, but we've tried EVERYTHING; if you have suggestions, bring 'em on.
Thanks, ~Mellimaus

Route 66

Also us last night singing Route 66 arranged by Roger Emerson. GREAT song! :D So fun.

Lascia Ch'io Panga

Kloster Eberbach

I had meant to have this new video uploaded to YouTube, but I tried KID YOU NOT 6 times with different files to upload it and it didn't work. So here it is...I hope you like it anyway, I finished it on Saturday but like I said, it wouldn't load... Sorry, I'm not sure the quality is as good as youtube, but at least it's here.

This features the Eberbach Monastery just outside Kiedrich, Germany. It was absolutely beautiful there, so historical and just pretty awesome.

Enjoy,

Germany Post One

I took a trip to Germany with my parents and my older brother last week that was absolutely wonderful. I made a video to highlight the first day. It's pretty self-explanatory. Enjoy.

Chicken Update

New Blog!

Hello! Just wanted to tell you all whats up, why the new blog, etc.

My original blog, http://ridingdaisy.blogspot.com, was meant to be about my quarter horse, Daisy. However, looking back, I realize I've posted a ton about my cats, trips to different places, chickens, etc, on it as well. I've decided to make this blog to share things outside of my horse world...I'm not sure what. Interesting photos? Of say, perhaps, my recent trip to Germany? Yes, I've decided to share about my trip to Germany here, as well as other trips I may take in the future, and other things going on in my life. I may not post here often, but this blog will be here when I need it.

I hope you'll like it. Video with pictures of my trip should HOPEFULLY (Not promising anything yet) be up tomorrow night, Tuesday at the latest....hopefully. I took over 1 thousand pictures, soooo it could take awhile to share, but all the better for you readers. :)

Until my next post,