I think that my main problem may actually be light since the days have shortened significantly in the last couple of weeks.  I am heading to Harbor Freight at lunch today to buy a solar powered landscaping light.  I want to cut a hole in the roof of the coop and count it so the solar collector is exposed and the light will be inside.  I am not 100% sure how well this will work but it is only $5 and is worth a shot I guess.  My objective with my homestead project has been to keep things as “green” as possible.  Using excess electricity will not help in achieving this goal.  The light is LED so it should be plenty bright for this application.  Also contributing could be a sudden cold snap we experienced.  On Wednesday the high temperature was in the mid 60’s.  I will let you know how this goes and what the egg production trend does after I get light in the coop.

To catch everybody up a little on the happenings on the homestead, last weekend was quite busy.  Since it was a long holiday weekend I was very ambitious in what I wanted to accomplish.  I was able to acquire a used swing set off of freecycle.org for the kids so I went to Home Depot to buy some replacement bolts and concrete.  While lifting the concrete I twisted my back wrong and knew I was going to have problems with it.  More on that later.  The swing set is old but in pretty good shape.  I know it would never pass current child safety standards but I guess I survived worse when I was a kid.  I am just going to keep an eye on it and hopefully no serious injuries will occur.  On Saturday I cleaned the turkey pen, got all of the trimming done around the house and mowed part of the lagoon.  After church on Sunday I was able to dig the holes for the swing set and set it in concrete.  I also cut more of the grass in the lagoon.  I have to tell you that maintaining the lagoon is the worst chore that I have.  I put it off for too long and the grass gets so high that mowing takes forever.  I am seriously considering buying a goat for the sole purpose of taking care of that for me.  Does this give me more “green” points since I won’t be using the gas powered push mower?  I just have to be careful that the goat does not tear up the soil and structure of the lagoon.  I am even considering a side business that would rent the goat out to people for the same purpose.  No input costs since the grass and water will always be bountiful.  We were invited to the Geiman’s house for dinner on Sunday night.  We had some great fellowship and grilled lamb chops.  Sarah also had her best friend Taegan Patti spend the night.  Taegan is such a nice girl and I understand why they are such good friends.  Both are very low key and thoughtful unlike many kids their age.  Monday morning got started with the daily chores and cutting the grass.  I put it off until Monday so that I could stretch the next cutting to the following weekend.  Cutting during the week is getting harder since the days are getting shorter.  If the temperatures stay cooler then it won’t be a big deal. 

I found a source for Hatch Chiles last week.  Just by chance I was driving past a local garden store and they had a sign announcing Chiles.  I have to explain that I have been to Hatch New Mexico many times since it is fairly close to where Susie’s parents live.  When living in Arizona we would go to the annual festival and go home with a large sack of hot chiles.  Living in Kansas I was pleasantly surprised that we could get them fresh roasted locally.  I think we got about 40-50 pounds of the chiles in the freezer now.  That should last us for the next 12 months or so.

Sarah has shown an interest in join the Girl Scouts.  We went to the signup and I am not sure if there is going to be enough community interest to get a troop together.  In a way, I hope she decides not to because I would prefer to see her in 4-H.  I would be able to participate more and the commitment would be lower since the meetings are only once a month, I think.

I don’t want to discuss politics too much but I have been watching the Republican National Convention closely.  I was very impressed by John McCain’s choice for Vice-President.  I think Sarah Pallin is going to be a great addition to the ticket and should give Obama a run for his celebrity money in November.  John’s speech was a little less than inspiring but the venue is not within his comfort zone.  I think he will excel in the debates and will do a good job of contrasting himself against Obama’s inexperience.  I have to admit that John is not my ideal candidate and being from Arizona I was able to experience a lot of his short-comings.  But for me the alternative is much scarier.

Tonight is the first high school football game.  Last year we won the state championship and they are looking to be good again this year.  I think we are going with the Geimans and possibly hook up with Ken Pauly from my office.  He graduated from Garden Plain High School 40 plus years ago.  In fact, he still holds a school record for some track/field event. 

Tomorrow morning I am heading to Pratt Kansas with a group from the church.  We are going to pitch in and help a local congregation complete a Fellowship Hall construction project.  Shortly after starting the project 15 years ago there was a big rift in the congregation.  Sunday attendance is now around 30 and 3 elderly men have been slowly working on it.  We figure that we can get most of the work done in 2 or 3 days with our manpower.  I will let everybody know how that goes.

Other than the Pratt project I don’t have much planned.  I am sure I will find something to tinker with.