General chatter while we wait (and commentary on the "pull out method")

[claireybell]

Yeah he started his AntiB's & the incubation period after is then 24hrs so if hes doing better by Weds he can go to preschool, hrs had lotsa bugs bless him, yeah he was 3 in July 9th, csn i ask- is Des obssessed with grabbing & playing with his winky lol i wander in our liunge to find him rolling about & dry-humping his cuddly toys

 

[claireybell]

That ouat shiw sounds right up my street hehe i love stuff like thst

 

[JLM73]

Lol Claire...toy molester

Gigs how did you miss the fish talk??? lol
I love betas - especially the crown tails they sell here.
I had them in my general tropical tank years ago and they pretty much stayed in one upper corner making bubble nests lol.
I don't mind them in 10 gals or even 5 gals for a single...just hate the cups they sit in at the stores. I always feel like the employees will forget to feed them
I got away from them when I was told they aren't very long lived.
First fish I bought, then moved from tank to tank and house to house, and even survived 28 hrs without power in a hurricane ( used these fizzy tabs from the bait store that last 6 hrs each and put oxygen in the water), he was a Clown Loach. Got him from petsmart as a 2 incher, and he grew to 8"!!
Had NO idea they cost mega bucks at that side, but I never would give him up. Very comical fish. They swim in groups and bump each other - like the Three Stooges trying to get thru a doorway at the same time. Never bothered my other fish, but they don't have scales so you have to be careful if you treat a tank with meds.
Well he lasted FOURTEEN years! Was oh so sad when he finally passed.

Gigs, trust me- skip the chem testing and water changes. Just keep the feeding to where you don't get extra on the bottom after 20 mins ( time for the bottom dwellers to eat). Extra food mucks up the tank and throws the levels off balance.
Just add water with dechlorinator to replace the evap.
Also DON'T wash out your filter unless you ABSOLUTELY must. That's where all the good bacteria is, and everytime it's washed away, the biological bacteria has to start all over. Same with cleaning gravel, it removes alot of the good bacteria=fish die due to nitrates spiking.
Just feed only what they need, and replace the evap
get yourself a plecosoamus. They are dirt cheap and only grow as much as the tank allows. They eat the algae off everything AND pick up any extra food on the bottom.
They look like balck spotted catfish. They are very tough skinned too, so other fish can't hurt them, and they don't bother fish.
If you don't mind spending about $15-20, you can get them as Albinos, Yellow, Chocolate Or with blue eyes. Here's a picture chart of all the types.
I love my ppl!
https://fish-etc.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Spotted-Plecos.jpg

 

[pacificlove]

Sorry ladies for my extended absence.

Well, I tested thursday morning, BFN. Quite dissappointed but thought even though the box said "test 5 days before your expected period" i am not out until the witch shows. That was CD28...
Then DH and I went on our little road trip and I thought better bring some tampons just in case

turns out I was right

the witch showed yesterday, CD31.. she gave me an extra unusual day of hope. Stupid witch. Oh well, here's to another month of having extra amounts of fun!
I thought we really had this cycle covered.

 

[JLM73]

Ahh Pacific...So sorry!
I thought you were still out road tripping!
Hope you get some relaxation in before the ttc stress again!

 

[mrs.green2015]

Pacific- so sorry she showed up! Hopefully like J said you'll get some relaxing in before more stress.

Clair- I'm not counting out yet, but I'm not feeling great either. Lol

 

[JLM73]

So I never gave my ideas for Baby names.
I have a super common name and hate going places where 5 ppl have my name ugh.
So all my kids have not so common names- but not weird
Here's my picks
Avery-boy or girl
Caden (means spirit of battle)
Gabriel
Kye
Quinn
Xander
I like strong sounding names, and just out of happen-stance my other kids names all start with C...so wanting to break from that, but Caden fits if I decide to keep the trend. I am in love with Avery Gabriel and Xander.
Twin picks ( yes I plan ahead lol)
Xander and Xavier or Avery and Gabriel
Xander and Zhavia
Avery and Briona

 

[pacificlove]

Thanks! This month has been stressful, maybe that's why. Between trying to buy a house (stay tuned on that one), not really stressed about baby making (but you do think about it!!!) and making plans for an additional 90 ducks to move in.. yeah, we've had a lot on our minds.

I had a dream Friday night and it almost seems like it is true now. DH and I were on this path that forked. To the right we could go on, to the left we were headed toward this white thick brick wall and whatever we did we could not aim right.
Right now it really feels like we've hit that wall with the house purchase and baby making.

 

[mrs.green2015]

J- I really like Caden. We're having a hard time deciding baby names. We already decided we wouldn't find out the gender if we ever get preggo. And we have a girls name we love. But we can't get a boy name. The middle name will be Donald. We're thinking maybe Aidan Donald... But who knows. I also like Joseph Donald n

 

[JLM73]

I love dreams that seem to have meaning. It's from the subconscious afterall.
I take it to mean you are feeling pressured to make a choice, or that you are worried in making the wrong choice and being stuck
90 more ducks
omg I am so interested in how you and Gig fell into duck farming...but 90!!
How much space do they require??

 

[mrs.green2015]

90 ducks?? Oh my gosh! Is it just for eggs?

 

[pacificlove]

Love your name choices JLM!

Well, I started off with saying to DH, I think we should get 4 or 5 chickens for fresh eggs for our table. So I came home with 6 chicks soon after. Turns out we had 3 roosters and 3 girls when they grew up a bit more. One rooster died, so I replaced him with 4 hens to get the hen/rooster ratio a bit better. I learned a bit more about one of the breeds I had and decided I needed more of them so I could breed my own replacements (it's a cold hardy breed, which we need here).
So then I learned about the duck eggs and how cold hardy ducks are. So I purchased some hatching eggs. Since I am impatient, I decided to purchase some more ducks that would lay eggs this year for sure. So then I got into the whole duck business and met some people, so somehow I ended up with an additional 80+ ducks. hahahaha, I love my husband and apparently he loves me too!

On top of that, I love the sound of turkeys are funny, so I got 2 turkeys this summer. They were supposed to be a pair. Turned out I had 2 males, so rehomed one and replaced him with an actual female (now we can breed our own turkeys for next year).

So, all I wanted was 4 chickens.. it's called "poultry math" and it's a real thing!! ROFL

 

[JLM73]

Thx Mrs G
I'm far too nosey to not find out gender lol
I like to start choosing names and talking to the baby by name.
Feel free to take any of my names . I'm not one of those I picked t firrrst ppl
I am focusing on boy names mainly since I gender sway for boy, but I have the girl standbys as well.

 

[mrs.green2015]

J- I really have no gender preference at all! Lol kinda crazy I think. Sometimes I think "I'd really like a girl... But I'd also really like a boy." Lol our girls name is Lillyann Louise Green. And our boy is (something) Donald Green. Hahah I'd like to have twins is possible... I know I'm crazy. But there so many twins on his side of the family but none this generation. So I think it would be cool.

 

[JLM73]

Pacific
OMG that is totally something I would do!
Sounds like ducks are better for what you want and need in that weather.
And your own turkey is awesome!
I sooo can't wait to get out of a deed restricted neighborhood.
All I'm growing is Portuguese Peppers. Startes 70 plants from seeds a few month ago, and 25 made it to thru the 2 repottings. Gonna focus on keeping these alive.
I am planning on using them as the basis for a sauce in my cooking biz.
I Sooo want to move onto some land with a decent size house for the kiddos.
Then I could start the whole eggs thing.

Do ducks free roam, or live in a coop or barn setting primarily?

Oh and how long are the eggs good from laying to sale?

 

[JLM73]

MrsG me too.
I would love to have 2 sibs for DS to grow up with- I always wanted alot of kids and ain't getn any younger at almost 42 lol.
I'd take twins. Pref a boy and girl and I'd be done!

Who is the middle name Donald from?
Also I like Lillyann...Lilly isn't a bad nickname ( since everyone seems to do that anyhow)
Reminds me of Liliana...ooh...gonna add that to my list lol

 

[mrs.green2015]

Me too J! A boy and a girl. But if I end up with twins I might have to bride OH so we can find out the gender. Lol

 

[pacificlove]

They say duck eggs don't go bad as fas as chicken eggs due to the thicker shell and membrane. But if you buy chicken eggs from the store they are already 3+ weeks old is my guess.... so by the time you have used them they are probably in the 5+ week age.
I have too many customers, usually my eggs are barely cold by the time they get to my customers.

Ducks can be free ranged, or even pasture raised, some people will give them a couple of square feet per bird in a pen. Since my ducks aren't quite as nest box trainable as the chickens, they lay them all over the coop floor in the early morning hours.
The ducks are much better on the ground then chickens, they don't tear it all up and they leave a lot of stuff alone that the chickens would peck into which makes ducks the better garden pest control.

I wish I had a green thumb like you JLM! Hoping to start our garden next year. So tell me more about those portugese peppers!

 

[mrs.green2015]

I personally hate chickens lol but my mom has chickens and had done a lot of research on them. I know they'll last up to 3 months if you don't refrigerate them. If you do refrigerate them they only last a few weeks. And of corse once they're refrigerated you can't take them out. Chicken egg yolks also taste very different depending on what they eat. For example if they eat the actual chicken food they taste less strong. If they eat bugs and are free rang their yolks are very strong. We used to have ducks but I never tasted their eggs. I'll have to try.

 

[JLM73]

Pacific I love it!
Sounds like a great biz! I cook portuguese pastries for a few local cafe's and do the farmer's markets and food shows here and there.
I am hoping to really crank up my customer base closer to holidays.
Summer is slow unless it's a reception dinner or luncheon.
These peppers are extremely hot...ghost chili family basically.
The thing I love is you need VERY little to make a dish pretty spicy, and can scale the spiciness up or down depending on how much you use.
The BEST thing I like about them is they do not have a distinct flavor, so they NEVER take away from the flavor of the food you use them in, they simply add heat.
It will be about a year of good fertilizing until these are big enough to produce, but full grown the bushes are about 3-4 ft tall and 3 ft wide.
They produce peppers pretty much all year, and I can get a full bush every couple weeks.
I can't get them to grow as big as in Portugal, but it works out because they are still just as hot as bigger ones. These are about 1" max length.
For now they are only 6-8" tall so I have them all on the screen porch. Hardest thing is keeping them out of direct sun, and keeping the soil moist. They can dry up in a day of FL heat and wilt. Just put them on the patio 2 days ago when a neighbor threw out a plant rack that was the perfect size.
It is still in high 80s low 90s some days, so getting them acclimated...but they are cold hardy so winter is not a prob here (to 35 degrees anyhow).