The Word-Nerd’s Homestead – Fall 2021: Blog Edition #5 – General Update

Welcome back to the Homestead, Happy Readers!

It’s been a 10 day gap since I updated. I’ve been doing things, but they are not exactly exciting.

I’m behind on book reading, so that’s why there’s no book review this past week. I’ve got some writing to do (deadlines coming up), so that may not change. Also, my schedule is going to go down to one blog a week for a while.

That’s what it’s like sometimes. Anyway, here are some pics of the Birbs and stuffs.

Birb Update

Ducky #4 – Turned out to be a Black Swedish

Duck Grow-Out Pen

I had to make a separate area for the baby ducks to be grown out in. It will also double as a breeding section for the Welsh Harlequins this spring.

I decided to use pallets set on blocks. I had some scraps to tie things together. I plan to add heavy duty hinges to on pallet and just use it as a gate. I moved the brooder down, leveled the kiddie pool and dropped the extension cord for the brooder light. After the little ducks get a bit bigger, they will be moved in. Once they get big enough that they can’t get through the slats of the pallets, I’ll turn the brooder on it’s side and just lock them in at night.

Chicken Pen Expansion

I finally got the last of the fence put up today. I ended up enclosing less area. I was going to let the birds roam the top sized of the garden around my back porch, but the whole thing required too many gates and such, so I ditched it.

The orange section in the pic needs to be made into a gate, but I didn’t have the energy to do that today. Tomorrow I’ll test the whole thing out to see where the chicken decide to break loose. It never ends.

Spare House Cleanup

Well, I cut this stuff down about a month ago. I was going to move the limbs using my tractor, but it has potentially died. This is a major problem that I am not sure how to I’m going to fix. That’s for later, though.

So, the cleanup became good, old-fashioned, back-breaking manual labor.

Here’s what it looked like when I cut the limbs last month…

The row of yellow-bell bushes were head high after 2 years of growing without being trimmed. Here’s a pic of what they looked like as I was cutting them back.

And here’s the view after the trim.

Even better when it was all picked up, put on a tarp and drug to the woods. It was a lot of work, but the cooler temps make it possible. I wish I had a good camera setup, because this would have been a great a yard cleanup video.

Last bits from the garden

I’m still getting purple hulls from the trellised plants. I’m keeping them for seed.

A few more Romas came on the old plants. I found a stray cucumber and some of the okra decided to make some pods.

That’s what I’ve been up to. It doesn’t seem like much, but I’m tired all over again just thinking about it!

Thanks for reading!

Happy Reading, Prepping & Homesteading!

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I’m a writer, not a filmmaker, so videos are few and far between. I plan to venture out into that territory some though, so you can look for my video stuffs in the following places.

YouTube

Coming Soon: Odyssey, Rumble

Help Feed the Chickens! Buy a book! Pick up one from Amazon below, or now you can even buy directly from me if you want a signed one! Check out my Autographed Books page.

Check out my books on Amazon.

Or, even better, support me by buying some Autographed ones directly.

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Matter conversion technology—Matt-Con—has broadened the scope of mankind’s existence. It has opened up the real possibility of viable colonies on other planets in our solar system, and even space itself. Anywhere matter can be captured or energy from the sun can be felt, the possibility of expanding human habitation exists.

In this volume:

Quicksilver (short story)

The space station Chariot of Helios—on its way to Mercury to become a power collection station for Earth’s growing need for energy to power matt-con tech—encounters a strange anomaly that threatens ship and crew.

Null Gravitas (short story)

New crew and new relationships form above the skies of Venus. A post-prequel to Escaping Aurora.

Escaping Aurora (novella)

The sudden destruction of mankind’s first atmospheric terraforming platform leaves three unlucky exonauts struggling to survive in the skies of Venus aboard a cobbled-together airship. Meanwhile, the commander of the space station above battles obstacles that might keep her from rescuing her stranded husband and crew in time.

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Can the goal of ending most crime justify committing one… even a few?
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