First, I lightly apologize for missing a post last Friday. I say lightly because I’m not doing this to impress anyone, I’m doing this as an outlet for my frustrations and as a form of therapy, as well as a log of sorts as to what I’m involved in. The apology part is for the one or two of you that actually look forward to my posts, either to laugh at me, or to secretly laugh at the world with me. I had a busy week (and in another one this week), and simply ran out of steam.

I’ve created a fan page on Facebook to try to separate FloridaHillbilly posts from my personal stuff, though we all know its one and the same. Please go over and “like” it at http://www.facebook.com/FloridaHillbilly and as always, be sure and tell your friends….

I’ve added a “Wanted” page…and if you are looking for something, let me know, I’ll put it in there.

I’ve updated the Calendars section, gardens, rabbits, and birds all have updates.

Speaking of birds, another of the frizzles was crowing today. Looks like there will be another chicken dinner very soon. Hope I don’t turn this one into a cinder too.

I worked on my solar panel today, and scrounged enough parts and pieces to get it all set up and tested. I even pulled a favor and got a 12v deep cycle battery to go along with it. I should have the battery hooked up tomorrow, though I may end up burning the house down! I finally pushed this task through because I found a source for 55 gallon plastic drums that didn’t cost me a kidney. The drums are for an aquaponics system -raising fish in a barrel, and using the water to feed plants, the plants in turn filter the water to make it clean for the fish. The water needs to be pumped around, I have a couple 12V bilge pumps and the solar panel, I just needed to combine them. I now have an email out to try to scrounge the fish I want. I LOVE barter!

On the barter note, I’ve been trading favors (not THAT kind) with BlueTang for several years. I’d do him a favor, then he would do one for me. We’ve passed the torch back and forth so many times, I’ve lost count (If you are reading this BT, you owe me still…just in case I need something :P)

Sorry, rambling again….so BT and I look out for each other.NOt sure why he looks out for me, but I have personal motives….things like he is a member of http://www.bbq-brethren.com/, a website that talks about anything BBQ, and runs regular BBW challenges. The latest was “Man vs Food”, and BT needed someone to eat his cooking, and LOTS of it…he asked me, and feeling like I owed him a favor, I did it.
See the results here (my handle is Kazion)

For the record, I’m STILL burping BBQ smoke…

And then two days ago, he was given a kingfish (from another person that owed him a favor), and smoked it off, then made fish dip. He made sure I stopped by to pick up a tub of it.

I guess I’ll keep “helping” him out, as long as he keeps feeding me! It’s the least I can do for a friend….

Barter is a great way to stretch a budget. Sometimes you can manage to acquire things or services you wouldn’t be able to any other way. For instance, I traded out a fresh rabbit for two pounds of bear sausage, and while it may not be to your liking, there was no way I would ever have been able to taste bear sausage. I’ve received rabbit (before I raised my own) venison, wild boar, smoke boar sausage, deer sausage, deer bacon (YUM!), alligator, duck and turkey eggs, snapper, mahi, grouper, kingfish, catfish, crappie, tilapia, and cobia, as well as LOTS of coconuts and many non-food items such as bamboo plants or lye soap (the REAL thing). I like trying for the food items for the dietary variety, who of you can say you’ve eaten alligator AND bear?

For trade items, I swap a lot of rabbit meat, rabbit hides, chicken feathers, home-preserved

foods (jams, jellies, tomolives, jerky and fruit leathers), and chicken and quail eggs. I don’t really make a profit, I just convert it to a new item. I’m not worried about the profit as much as I am the variety. (This is an open invitation to offer me some of your home goods for some of mine, just email me.)

So, if we ever have the “Pockylips”, you can guarantee you’ll be finding me in Bartertown…just not in the Thunderdome.

db