What Kind of Wood to use

[Paschendale]

Lol, I like the pickup for the advantage of not having to vacuum dirt, bark and such out of the floorboards or trunk....just pitch it in the bed and hose it out later, if the wind doesn't blow it out as you drive.....I'm lazy that way.

[catherinecarney]

Wellll--I've got to admit that there's more straw than there should be in the trunk...picked up a bale for the dog's house when it got cold and haven't vacuumed yet....

Cleaning up after having 4 sheep in the back seat (with a tarp under them, of course) was a bit more involved, but shop vacs and auto upholstery cleaner are wonderful things (lol)....

Besides, I never seem to be driving the truck when I find something cool that I want to pick up--and I'm too lazy to go home and get it....

Catherine

[Paschendale]

Originally Posted by catherinecarney

Cleaning up after having 4 sheep in the back seat (with a tarp under them, of course) was a bit more involved, but shop vacs and auto upholstery cleaner are wonderful things (lol)....

Catherine

Lol, I'd have paid good money to see those sheep in the backseat. They had to have been lined up like worms in a can.

[catherinecarney]

Well, it wasn't just 4 sheep--it was actually 4 sheep, 3 chickens, and two ducks.....Yes, this is a TRUE story, I am NOT making this up....

My daughter does county fair, and on move in day if your animals aren't in their assigned spots on time you're disqualified. So, we loaded up everything onto the truck (the bedding, feed, critters, and so on) and hopped into the front. Turned the key in the ignition and got "click." This is most emphatically not the sound you want to hear on move in day....

So, the only other option was the car. Put both of the back seats down, spread a tarp over them, and put a short length of stock panel behind the front seats (otherwise the sheep would have been riding on our laps). Loaded the sheep into the back seat and the cages of poultry into the trunk and took off.

The looks on peoples faces were priceless as we drove through town, and then we got to the vet check station at the fair gates....Now mind you, the sheep are looking over our shoulders the whole way thinking this is a grand adventure, so the vets could see them as we pulled in. The vets looked at us, looked at each other, and started to grin as they mosied over. I rolled down my window and one said "What have you got here?" to which I responded "4 sheep, 3 chickens, and 2 ducks."

"Oh," said the vet "You're bringing the birds up later?" and I replied "No, they're in the trunk." This is the point where both vets lost it and started giggling uncontrollably. I asked if this was going to make it into their fair memory list and they both said "oh, yeah...."

From here the story goes further downhill, since the next year I was understandably a bit paranoid about the truck working and made a point to drive it the day before move in and it ran fine. Once again loaded everything up (with the addition of a dairy goat), turned the key and "click." Much cursing later we made it to the fair grounds with critters in the car, although this time the vets didn't bat an eye....Turned out the truck had a starter that failed, BTW....

The year after that my daughter decided to only show her pair of ducks, and wouldn't you know it, the truck ran fine.....

Such is life in the country....And this summer (again, NOT making this up) the woodchuck decided to eat my car....

Catherine

[Paschendale]

ROFL! Oh, thanks for that, I needed a good laugh this morning! That mental image is priceless! Did you by chance get pictures, lol? Of course, you'd hardly need them, as that's not likely to be a memory that ever fades

[catherinecarney]

Sorry, no pix...In hindsight I wish I'd gotten them.

So glad it made you laugh--we weren't laughing at the time, but now it's funny....And the vets at check in STILL remember us (and I'm sure the story has made the rounds of all the vets who work fair)...

The icing on the cake with the sheep/car transport is that our fair is in late July, so temps are pretty warm and sheep, even clean show sheep, have an aroma all their own in close quarters....Ours are wool sheep, so they all had at least 4" of fleece on them for fair, and we had to drive with the windows rolled up since we didn't trust them to not try to jump out. Thank goodness for AC!

We do have some pix of Piggy (registry name Starry Night), one of our show sheep who LOVED salt and vinegar fries....She made the trip to fair every year even when we weren't showing her and was our flock ambassador since she would be the first one at the front of the pen to greet people (actually she would be looking for those french fries, and on one occasion ate a large sucker stick and all when a kid held it too close)....Fair week is always a lot of work, but usually there are good times and some great stories each year....

Catherine

[tellmewhy]

Anyone try Indian White Root for orchids ?



This is the website
Branches - Natural

[catherinecarney]

I haven't tried it, but other members might have experience.

Catherine

[Paschendale]

Originally Posted by JC Espinosa

Orchids will grow on bricks and concrete blocks. That's probably my next Phal torture. Cedar is good, birch I don't know.

Is just a piece of cedar branch suitable or does it need some extra treatment? I've wondered about cedar limbs, since it has such interesting, rough bark.

---------- Post added at 01:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:46 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Orchids4ever

Here they are
Attachment 87871

Attachment 87872

Beautiful! I envy you your growing setup!

[Orchids4ever]

Originally Posted by Paschendale

Is just a piece of cedar branch suitable or does it need some extra treatment? I've wondered about cedar limbs, since it has such interesting, rough bark.

---------- Post added at 01:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:46 PM ----------



Beautiful! I envy you your growing setup!

Thank you- i envy every one that has a Greenhouse/ Solairium or can grow Orchids outside all Year.
In case anyone is intrested-i settled for the Cedar and so far so good-nice roots are growing