Carol, We bought some pullets and also some straight run. Most of the straight run birds turned out to be roosters. It has been hysterically funny. If you think listening to one young rooster trying to figure out how to crow is funny, just multiply it by 5. They all can crow pretty well now but for a while it was just pitiful. Now that they've figured out the whole crowing thing, they are working really hard on crowing in unison. So far, they get along and aren't fighting. One of the Welsummer roosters is clearly the alpha male, and as long as the others respect that, they may not fight very much. The bad thing about having roosters is that they start crowing around 3-5 a.m. and I am a light sleeper. These roosters are kind of sweet. Every other rooster we've had in the past had to be taught that if you spur the human, you get kicked in the head. (They learn fast.) These roosters haven't even tried to spur a human. Hooray--civilized roosters! We're getting oodles of eggs, and one hen is acting like she might go broody and sit on the nest, but it is getting late in fall for her to start that because it would be cold when the chicks hatch out. So, we'll probably continue gathering the eggs and then let her set on a clutch of eggs in the spring. Barb, It is not at all hard to build a secure coop/run. There are photos and plans all over the internet. With a chicken run, what has worked for us is having it fenced on all sides, including the ground and the top, so they can't fly out and predators can't fly in, dig in, climb in or jump in. If the coop has predator proof doors that are closed every night, they'll be fine. Snakes are sometimes a problem here, and we kill every one that comes into the chicken coop. Tim tried catching and releasing chicken/rat snakes against my will, and they always came back, usually within 24 hours, so now they all get shot. We've had one snake take out a half-dozen chicks in one day, so we keep chicks in a brooder cage made of 1/4" hardware cloth until they are 3/4s grown. This year we have had exactly one snake in the chicken coop, and it didn't do any harm, so it has been a very good year in that regard. Check out some of the chicken housing on the link. I bet at least one of your sons is handy enough to help you build one. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Chicken Coop Designs

LOL!! Annie, I admire your determination. i like using grams because it says it on the scale, and it's a smaller unit than an ounce. Makes the math easier. :) And you're absolutely right that a recipe is an approximation. I do find that weights are more accurate to that approximation than volume, so if I'm going to do a recipe I've never made before, I'd rather one that uses weight. Both are variable, but volume is more so, unless you sift, and then it's still a little more accurate. Perhaps that's less true if you live somewhere with wildly swinging humidity, though... These last few months, I've been learning how to make breads that are very different than the ones I'm used to, with different flour and different yeast. It was probably something I should have eased into, but I just leapt into the deep end and had some "interesting" results. It's very hard to judge if the dough is off if you don't know what it's supposed to be like to begin with. That's why I advocated looking for the adjectives. They help more than anything. Right this moment, I have a loaf from a new recipe in the oven. I started off trying to follow a recipe, which meant starting a very wet rye starter. The wheels came off halfway through, when the starter started dying and I just fixed it rather than worrying about the requirements of the recipe. Then I fixed the preferment to try to get back on track, and that worked. But then I sort of went my own way with the flour choice, and started adjusting back to the recipe, but kneaded and folded in the same bowl as it rose in to cut down on wash water, which worked, but I think it was meant to absorb more flour from the bench so I sprinkled flour, but it didn't cloak well, and I needed a second pan, and then it sank, so I changed it again to a sided pan and gave it some extra rise time. And it has the best oven spring of any of these new recipes I've tried! We'll see what happens when it comes out. So, yes, listen to your instincts and do what you think you need to to get it to come out, even if what you end up with isn't the recipe you thought you were starting with!

Expendables are always a good gift. Something always used and needed. Gift certificates from specialty stores like dcarch posted. (though i still have a couple from last year i've not used yet...) I don't need anything and am gifted all sorts of kitchen things i never use but stopped in a kitchen supply today just off UnionSquare and saw a dozen things that were tempting but left empty handed... I have about six sets of measuring spoons and my last purchase is my favorite. Only because the labeling method on the handles is huge and i can spot what i need in the drawer fast. Also made long and slender so they fit in any container easily. Ya never know what might be better than the others... I was gifted 50 last year from MountainRoseHerb and used it right away. Such a good selection for expendables... Or something like this .

https://www.maslandcarpets.com/forms/productdetail.aspx?sId=9282&cId=00253 https://www.flor.com/area-rugs_carpet-tiles/graphics-and-patterns/doe-re-mi---tundra-%2F-silver/21-1487-06.html?gclid=CjwKCAjwqauVBhBGEiwAXOepkdP3chI7fCQJNQkMTvmdKw2BFBoSCvgYL651MqnTn9vexNZtw4bxnBoC9fsQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds