Weights and measures

In high school I hated Geometry - just despised it.  Worse even was trigonometry: sine and cosine and tangent.  Experiencing such a strong emotion for this discipline must have helped me retain something.  Each time I put a new roof onto a shed, coop or hut, I manage to figure out what angle the chop saw needs to be set at to accommodate my roof rafters.  It may not be perfectly square when I am done, but since I am not building any houses (yet), I am managing just fine.

Along with angles, weights also play an important role on the farm.  For example, it was time to worm Zeb this week.  This medicine is dosed by weight.  Last time I checked, a six to seven foot long pig doesn't fit on my bathroom scale.  There is also little chance that I would get him into a sling to measure him from a hanging scale.  Thankfully they make a formula (darn that algebra coming into play in adult life)!  Measuring squirming pigs isn't easy so I am certain that my weights came out a little heavy but they were close enough to ensure Zeb got enough medicine to combat any parasites.

Zeb - 750 lbs
Sally - 700 lbs
Little One - 250 lbs
Chicken - 6 - 15 lbs

Chickens you can put in a milk crate from a hanging scale - they are easy to weigh.  You can also step on a scale without a chicken in your arms and then back onto the scale with the chicken and the difference between the two is the weight of the chicken.  

Sunday I was pretty thankful that my girls are a little well-endowed.  The boys (two-legged ones) had settled in to watch the race and I went to write this blog post after my driver wrecked.  As I logged in, the squawking and crowing from the front yard immediately drew my attention.  I couldn't see what the rooster was upset about so I stepped out in my stocking feet.  (It is mud season here.)  At the corner of the house, the hawk had one of my newest layers pinned.  He wasn't the least bit deterred by my presence or my hollering.  I went back in to grab my shoes and the camera of course.  The second time the door opened he knew I meant business and flew away before I could even aim the camera.  I scooped up the bird, brought her inside, checked her all over and gave her a couple of treats for her ordeal.  She had lost a couple of feathers but otherwise wasn't much worse for wear.

Whether you choose to home school, un-school or go the traditional route - make sure you find some good old-fashioned math for your bag of tricks.