check out my spinach

I just picked a ton of spinach from my organic garden. Spinach has by far been the easiest crop I have ever grown. It does great all year long and is basically maintenance free!

green update...

Life is just a whirlwind of events it seems these days. So here is my update... finally

My summer garden did pretty well but I have to say my fall garden is looking amazing. I have okra by the dozens. Beautiful squash growing as we speak and many other veggies popping their heads up too like collard greens, eggplant, and lots of varieties of squash. I continue to use only chicken poop for fertilizer. I actually take the soiled hay from their chicken coop and use it as mulch between my rows in the garden. So it multi-purpose! Mulch and fertilizer. My cherry tomatoes continue to grow and my spinach has never missed a beat. I think spinach and okra may be the easiest veggies I have ever grown.

I am in the process of becoming a member of a local organic buying club called Flagler Organics. I was a part of a buying club in the past but this one seems to make more sense. You pay a set price for a full share or half share each week which gives you 15-30lbs of fruits & veggies. You dont control what exactly you get but they also provide you with recipes for many of the veggies which helps when you get something you have never prepared before. And of course they buy only organic and mostly local. I love that part.

I continue to help my parents convert to more "green" ways at their restaurants. As of now they save me all their old bread (uneaten) and instead of throwing away their unused dough my dad now bakes it into bread for me. I bring it all over to the pigs. I am still working on a couple of other things I'd like to change over there but it is a slow process... lol. I am trying to convince my parents that sometimes making the right choice actually saves you money too. I'll let you know how that goes.

My most exciting news is that we are working on getting solar panels for our water pump and sewer system. We cant do it until we build our pump house but we have priced it out and it should pay for itself pretty quickly. It will save us electricity on one of our biggest power drainers (besides the a/c) but even better we will have water even when the electricty is out. I'll keep you posted!

Thanks for reading!

support your local businesses that support you!

I went to Target the other day and found out that they now give you $ .05 for each reusable bag you use, off your total purchase. Now that may not sound like much but think about it. I average 5-6 bags per shopping trip once a week. Thats $ .30 per week and over a dollar a month. Point being Target has taken notice to something we are doing right. I am proud of them and hope that many other stores follow in their foot steps.

support your local businesses that make "smart

green update...

Well as I sit home nursing my sick husband back to health I thought... good time to post an update. Things are going well. My garden is filled with tomatoes, peppers, spinach and green beans the size of spaghetti. My grandfather gave me the beans that have been in his family for years and he says they are called spaghetti beans.

Our chicken population is now up to 13. No one is laying yet but a few should be very soon (I sure hope). I expanded their area by adding a run which basically enclosed their existing coop. I give them access to the run area when I am outside to supervise. The area I have to be careful with my dogs as they are still very curious about them especially Raven. She torments them so I only let them out in the run area when the dogs are in the house. Cant wait to start getting some eggs. I am sure eventually I will have more eggs than I know what to do with. I got the new chickens from a lady I found on craigslist who could no longer care for them. I got a heck of a deal on them and they are a few different types of chickens so I should get a nice variety of eggs.

Cloth diapers have kind of taken a backseat these days. Chloe started day care a couple of days a week and they will not allow the cloth diapers. I still try to use them when she is home with me on the weekends though. I continue to use the cloth wipes on a regular basis. Those are great and a big cost savings.

As far as everything I just continue to do what I do and that is give new life to old things. I have collected some odds and ends from people at work like broken jewelry and puzzles with missing pieces and have made some earrings and plan to make some Christmas ornaments too. So dont be surprised if you get a handmade ornament this year for Christmas (that looks like a child made it lol).

Thanks for reading.

green update

Ok, ok, I think its about time for a green update. I have lots to report on.

Cloth diapers:
First off I am proud to say that I am still using my cloth diapers. I think the biggest hurdles with using them is when someone else watches Chloe for me it is difficult to ask them to do something like changing cloth diapers. For me, it has not been hard. It is a passion of mine to reduce my waste. Its hard to ask someone else to do something just because its important to you. BUT I will say that my mother gets the "Best supporting mother" award. She has done a great job with the cloth diapers. We do occasionally use disposables, like when she is going over to my grandparents house and at night but overall she is mostly using cloth diapers. Here is what I have learned.
1. Cloth diapers need to be changed more often since the cloth comes in direct contact with the skin.
2. Poopy diapers are not fun but tolerable if you are well prepared. Have a towel ready to lay under the baby for those thrashing moments when poop gets every where. I was spoiled by my diposable since I would fold it over and let her poopy butt touch the outside of it. Since I will be touching the cloth diaper when I go to drop the poop in the toilet I dont exactly want poop all over it.
3. IMO disposables are easier at night. I bought extra absorbant inserts for the diapers for nighttime but they get very bulky and Chloe was not happy with me when I put them on. So what is 1 disposable diaper a day. Not much in the big scheme of life.
4. Reusable wipes are amazing. I highly recommend you trying these even if you have absolutely no desire to try cloth diapers. Basically all they are is wash cloths. You store them in the same container you would your wipes. (mine are in my wipes warmer) with a little bit of water. I add a small amount of baby wash to the water too. I had gotten some fancy recipe for a wipes wash using lavender and tea tree oil but all in all it got the be a pain mixing it up every time. I find water and baby wash work just fine. Just squeeze them out and use. Its great. I do keep disposables for traveling though.
5. Cloth diapers do tend to give baby the J-Lo look so be prepared for a booty that may not fit in every thing her size.
6 Oh yah, one last thing. sprinkle a little bit of baking soda in the storage container of dirty diapers and do not put the dirty diapers in a sealed container. They need to breathe. I also found that they smell much much less if I do not put them in a laundry bag. I actually just use a trash can and wash it out every time. Strangely enough the smell seemed stronger when I put it in the laundry bag that came with the package I bought.
So bottom line is (no pun intended) I am very happy with the cloth diapers. I dont have leakage problems (during the day) and Chloe seems very comfortable in them. 2 THUMBS UP!!

My Garden:
Its doing great. All organic. I have 27 tomatoe plants (if this surprises you, you dontk now my grandfather), corn, squash, watermelon, honeydew, peppers, carrots, mesclun & green beans. I use only chicken poop (yes I said poop) as fertilizer.

I have some new things going on right now that I am very excited about. One is that I am trying my hand in some jewelry making. Earrings is what I am interested in. Most of you know that I love my funky earrings. Well I plan to make some using all recycled materials. I dont want to divulge too much since this may be a flop. I promise to share pictures (if they are not an embarrasment).

Lastly, I have started making my own dog food. I was watching an episode of my favorite show WASTED on planet green and got the idea. I heard that it was cheaper but also there have been so many recalls on pet foods it puts me in more control of my food. As you all know I rescue dogs (sometimes they rescue me) and my tally is now up to 6 with the recent addition of my dog Roxy. So saving money on dog food was definitely appealing. We calculated that we were spending approximately 125.00 per month on dog food. I estimate that making my own food is going to cost us half of that. I'll know more by the end of the month and I promise to share!

Thanks for reading!!!

cost of painting my living room....

10 hours labor (mine) to paint the living room, hall way & breakfast nook - FREE

Moving furniture and sweeping up the scary stuff living behind the couch - BACKACHE

5 gallons of bear paint from a sealed bucket bought at the Habitat for Humanity Store - $15.00

Feeling great about only spending $15.00 and saving something from a landfill - PRICELESS!

My chickies....

I chuckle when I look at this picture now because these chicks looking nothing like this anymore. They almost 4 months now. I lost my 2 hens a couple of months ago. One to natural causes one to not so natural causes. So now I have my full grown rooster and my two baby chicks that my momma hen hatched. It was pretty amazing. I am sad that I lost my two hens but these three seem to be getting along great. Only problem is, one of the chicks is a boy. I am working on a plan. I am looking for more hens. Basically right now I am feeding three mouths and getting nothing in return. LOL.

first harvest`

Wow have I been slacking on my blog... its because I have been so darned busy. I took this picture probably a month and a half ago. This was the first of my mesclun mix of spinach, arugula and some various lettuces. If you could see it now!! Thank God it survived the heavy rains.

let the challenge begin....

Let me start off by telling you what a fantastic time I had today at the Green Expo in Jacksonville. As many of you may remember when I first started this blog I mentioned my desire to switch to cloth diapers. I have not done so to date because I had yet to meet anyone using them and I had so many questions. Well there was a company there today called Baby Blessing Natural Products (www.babyblessingNP.com) and the young lady there was such a wealth of information. She told me everything I needed to know. Well ladies and gentleman I am so happy to report that later this week (when the shipment comes in) I will be the proud owner of cloth diapers. I ordered a package for a very reasonable price and received 15 cloth diapers, inserts, reusable bag for the diaper champ, reusable wash cloths (to replace the baby wipes), among other things as well. They also gave me free shipping. I went ahead and bought a bathing suit/diaper as well. I should receive everything later this week and cannot wait to tell you about how it goes. Below are a few reasons I have chosen to switch to cloth diapers.

CLOTH DIAPERS ARE MUCH FRIENDLIER TO THE EARTH AND ENVIRONMENT
Do you have any guess as to how long disposable diapers last in the landfill? Estimates range between 100 and 500 years per diaper, so each diaper you put into the landfill is a diaper that future generations will have to deal with in time. Disposable diapers are the third largest source of waste, behind only paper products and food packaging. That’s amazing, considering disposable diapers are one type of product and there are millions of types of paper and food packages. Besides the waste they produce, also consider that the paper, plastic, and chemicals used in those diapers has to go through the manufacturing process, wasting energy again and again, 18 billion times per year.

CLOTH DIAPERS ARE HEALTHIER FOR YOUR BABY
Besides the obvious health implication of minimizing diaper rash your baby will not be exposed to the chemicals present in disposable diapers when they use cloth. Disposable diapers contain both dioxin, a byproduct of the paper manufacturing process, and sodium polyacrylate, the chemical that turns urine into a jelly-like substance. Dioxins have been linked with cancer, birth defects, liver damage, and skin diseases. Long-term effects of the exposure of babies’ reproductive organs to these chemicals 24 hours a day for two to three years has not been determined. In addition, cloth diapers are made from breathable materials, permitting air to circulate to the skin while letting out ammonia, the byproduct of urine breakdown.

green update...

Wow! I can't believe it has been so long since I have posted. I have to say life these days is insane. But dont think for a minute I have stopped caring about the environment. Actually I find myself more passionate about it than ever.

I continue to bring leftovers from my parents restaurant to the pigs and now Marina, our cook and my friend is even saving veggie scraps and bread for my chickens. My chickens are doing great. I have a possible 6 baby chicks on the way that if my calculations are correct should start hatching this weekend. This should be interesting. I continue to collect fresh eggs daily from my other hen which is fantastic. With the new additions on the way I plant to close off a "run" for them. I have some left over wood fence panels that I plan to use for this. This will give them some access to the yard at my leisure without me having to worry about the dogs staying in the house.

Speaking of dogs, most of you know that one of my loves is for animals. I have rescued a total of 6 dogs, 5 still living from various situations. Well that total is now 7 (6 living) as we have a new addition to the family. She is a very sweet dog, boxer mix, who was found in very bad shape when we got her. She had mange and was very sick. The wonderful woman who found her took her to the vet and got her on the way to recovery but then brought her to the humane society because she travels for work and could not keep a dog. The humane society called the next day to tell her she would be put down. The woman went back to get her and needless to say she is now mine. I started out as just a foster home for her but Roxy and Chloe are BFF's and I couldnt stand to tear them apart. She is probably the sweetest dog I have ever had. She is very calm and loving. She has finally put some weight on and you'd never know she had mange. It was hard keeping her separate from everyone while she recovered but now you'd think she's been with us forever. We think she is close to a year old. I promise to post pics soon.

As many of you may know I am on the green committee at work. I have been working to help eliminate all styrofoam cups and plastic plates and utensils. I brought in a bunch of old plates and stuff from my parents restaurant. We are also running a dishwasher at work once a day instead of everyone hand washing their own items. Now keep in mind I work at the Utility dept so there are a couple hundred people coming and going so this is no easy job. But I have to say all is going great. I am also helping to turn scrap paper into small scratch pads.

My biggest accomplishment this month is planting my garden. It is about 20 x 20. It cost me nothing. I had the fence left over and actually used up the last of what I had. The top soil came from a great friend of Rob's who owns a landclearing dump and screens the debris that gets dropped off. So far I have planted peppers, mesclun salad mix, carrots, honeydew and I have tomatoes. I still have tons of room but my aching back said I had to stop. I cant wait to see my veggies grow. I am using no chemicals on my garden. I use my chicken poop as fertilizer. As a matter of fact I have started creating my own concoction I like to call "Poop Water". I disolve chicken poop in a gallon of water and have been watering all my plants with it and they LOVE it! Its been great. I will try to post a picture of my garden very soon.

Hope all is well!!

My new years resolution...

So I have been thinking... I want to try and buy nothing new this year. So much goes to waste every year. Think about how many things you have laying around your house that never get used. I have slowly been thinning my "junk" out and donating to the Humane Society Thrift Store (which I shop at weekly!) and at the same time have been picking up things I actually need. So my resolution is this. I want to buy everything used this year. Clothes, toys, furniture etc... The exceptions to this will be food, gifts and home/car repairs. I buy mostly used as it is but I want to really challenge myself. We'll see how it goes. I'll let you know.

In the meantime, the chickens are doing great. They lay about every other day so I am not sure if that is going to be their schedule or if they are still adjusting.

My compost bin is doing great too. I am saving coffee grounds and my banana peels from work and of course putting my chicken poop in there too. Oh yah, and I am so excited, I found a rototiller for $10 on craigs list. It is a 4 hp and is self propelled. I am really getting close to planting this garden!! Thanks for reading.

Composting

I have been planning on building my own compost bin for some time now but with the recent addition of chickens to our "Williams Family Farm" I figured it was time I got off my rearend. I actually found this one at Sam's by accident for just $40.00. It is great. It is made of 100% recycled material, has a locking lid, is very easy to put together and has 2 sliding door panels on the bottom (2 sides). It lets small amounts of rain in and vents. I was able to set it up just outside the coop so when I clean it up that is where it will the chicken droppings will be going. Then eventually it will find its way to my vegetable plants. I am very excited! 2 exciting additions to my "green venture" in 1 weekend... I can barely contain myself. LOL

We've got chickens!!! We picked them up late Saturday. We have 2 hens and a rooster but are getting another hen. We actually had not planned on getting a rooster but this guy would not leave the girls side. Not to mention you all know how much I love roosters so I fell in love with him and couldnt let him go. They are transitioning quite well considering I had 2 eggs already this morning. It was pretty exciting. I heard the rooster crowing this morning while I was getting ready for work so I went outside, 5:30 in the morning in the pitch dark with a flashlight just to check. Did I mention that the coop is on the far side of the property?? LOL it was a great feeling to see my first egg laying there. I have been feeding them tons of scraps. I was bringing the scraps to the pigs before so they were not going to waste but it feels even better to feed them to MY chickens now.

share your leftover paint

How many times have you painted a room in your home and had paint leftover that was destined to sit in your garage for years until one day your husband finally cleans the garage and it ends up in the trash, wasted? My brother painted his living room this past month and had a can left over. I loved the color so he generously passed it along to me. I expected to have to buy a small can if needed but didnt even have to. Not only did I save money by not having to spend it on paint but I saved a can of paint from being destined to a life in a landfill. I also noticed that our local Habitat for Humanity store accepts used paint. So think about it. If you have paint left over maybe a friend can use it. Even if it doesnt do an entire room it may be used for an accent wall. If they really like the color they can always purchase additional cans of the same color. Either way it saves money. 1 can did my entire dining room. I still have a little touch up I need to do but I have a little bit left plus my brother has another half of a can at his house that we can share for touch ups. I am really pleased with how it came out. I still have to finish the trim around the windows and doors but still it will be very little cost now to buy a small can of white paint versus what I would have spent.

DIY Household cleaners

One of the things I have been trying hard to do is to use less chemical based products, especially around the house. I have found some great DIY household cleaner recipes I'd like to share. Let me know what you think.

EIGHT ESSENTIALSThese eight items make up the basic ingredients for nearly every do-it-yourself cleaning recipe.

Baking soda: provides grit for scrubbing and reacts with water, vinegar or lemon by fizzing, which speeds up cleaning times
Borax: disinfects, bleaches and deodorizes; very handy in laundry mixes
Distilled white vinegar: disinfects and breaks up dirt; choose white vinegar over apple cider or red vinegars, as these might stain surfaces
Hydrogen Peroxide: disinfects and bleaches
Lemons: cut grease; bottled lemon juice also works well, although you might need to use bit more to get the same results
Olive oil: picks up dirt and polishes wood; cheaper grades work well
Vegetable based (liquid castile) soap: non-petroleum all-purpose cleaners
Washing soda: stain remover, general cleaner, helps unblock pipes; should be handled with gloves due to its caustic nature. Washing soda is usually found in the laundry aisle of grocery and drug stores.
Don't forget to pick up an empty spray bottle at the hardware store, and keep those old rags and used toothbrushes for wiping up and scrubbing.

WHOLE HOUSE
All-Purpose Cleaner
1/2 cup borax1 gallon hot water
Mix in pail (or use smaller amounts in a spray bottle: 1/8 cup borax to 1 quart of hot water) dissolving the borax completely; wipe clean with rag.

Floors

Wood
1/4 cup white vinegar1 gallon warm water

Linoleum
1 cup white vinegar2 gallons warm water
Mix in mop bucket, rinse afterwards.

Furniture Polish
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon olive oil
Mix and apply with a clean rag to dust and polish. Reduce the olive oil if wood looks too oily.

Metal Polish
Copper and Brass
2 Tbsps salt
White vinegar
Add vinegar to salt until you've created a paste. Adding flour will reduce abrasiveness. Apply with a rag and rub clean.

Stainless Steel
Baking soda
White vinegar
Apply baking soda with a damp cloth, using the vinegar to eliminate spots.

BATHROOM

Toilet Bowl
Baking soda
White vinegar
To clean and deodorize, sprinkle toilet bowl with baking soda, add white vinegar and scrub with a toilet brush.

Tub and Tile
1/2 lemon
Borax
Dip the face of the lemon half in borax to create a hand-held scrubber for dirty areas. Rinse and dry the surface afterwards.

KITCHEN

Countertops
Marble: Mix one Tbsp castile soap with a quart of warm water, rinse well, then dry with a warm cloth.
Other surfaces: half a lemon and dip the face in baking soda to scrub off residues. Follow up by spraying with glass cleaner mix (below).

Drains
1 cup baking soda
1 cup vinegar
Add baking soda and vinegar to a pot of boiled water and pour down the drain, then flush with tap water. For more stubborn clogs, use a "snake" plumbing tool to manually remove blockage, or try suction removal with a plunger. To prevent clogs, install inexpensive mesh screen, available at home improvement and hardware stores.

Glass
1/4 cup vinegar or 1 Tbsp lemon juice
2+ cups water
Fill a clean spray bottle with water and either white vinegar or lemon juice; wipe with a rag or old newspaper.

Oven
Baking soda
Water
Sprinkle baking soda on surfaces, spray water, then let soak several hours or overnight. Rinse with water.

Stovetop and Oven Grease Remover
1/2 tsp washing soda
1/4 tsp liquid soap
2 cups hot water
Add washing soda and soap to hot water in spray bottle. Since washing soda is caustic, wear gloves.

LAUNDRY ROOM
Bleach alternative
1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide

How much trash do you produce?

Do YOU generate 21 bags of trash a month?The average American does - and one study found that a staggering 75% of things in landfills could have been recycled. All that garbage produces toxic emissions and worsens pollution. One of the things I do to reduce my trash is I buy in bulk and package using reusable containers. For example I bring my own lunch to work every day. I shop at Sam's and buy large containers of grapes, cherry tomatoes and snap peas. I use snack sized zip lock bags and split up my fruit and veggies so that I can just grab and go in the morning. I also reuse the zip lock bags. I wash them out and hang them to dry over my sink. They dont get very dirty. I also reused a plastic container that my salad mix comes in and put the bags inside so that they stay organized in my fridge. It works out great.

I read an article one time about how much "convenience" costs us. For instance buying bagged spinach versus fresh spinach. The results were amazing. The next time I went to the grocery store I took the time to price things out and I saw with my very own eyes how much money I was wasting. Besides wasting money its amazing how much fresher things are when they are not prepackaged. Sam's has amazingly fresh fruits and veggies so it makes it easy to buy in bulk there.

Check out my window trim... all from a job site left over

For those of you who dont know, my grandfather was green when green wasnt even cool. Of course he is green for different reasons than me. He is green for the green in his pockets! LOL. Now dont get me wrong. I love saving money but I also love saving waste. You have probably read in many of my blogs about things that my grandfather has given me or found. Well years ago he found tons of left over trim. Truthfully I cant remember where it came from but my husband tells me got it from a dumpster at a job site. This would not surprise me. Needless to say after years of me complaining about how ugly our window trim is (joys of a mobile home) I dug through my closet where the trim was being stored and paired up all the "like" pieces. Come to find out that I actually had quite a bit. It isnt all identical so I have to make sure I use the same ones within the same room so they dont look "ghetto or redneck" depending on where your from! LOL. Tonight Rob and I started the project and replaced the window trim in our dining room. I am so excited about the results. Now keep in mind that I will be painting it obviously but the picture gives you a rough idea. For those of you who are not home improvement savy the white blotches are liquid nail/silicone to fill in gaps. Let me know what you think. We actually had just 1 tiny piece of this trim left over when all was said and done. We almost thought we were going to run out but we stretched it. Thanks for reading!

Mission Accomplished. We have a chicken coop!

Woo hoo. I am so proud of myself for getting this done this weekend. But most of all I am proud of the fact that we reused material to build it. All in all we only spent $30. This included about 25.00 for 2 sheets of plywood (one for the roof and the other for the back hatch) and hinges and a latch. Thats it. Everything else was reused from leftovers (other projects) or things we have picked up or accumulated over the years. I even already had the hay from our halloween party. Now all we need are the hens. I visited Lory (Pig Tales) this past week and she is in need of an electric fence to keep the wild pigs out to avoid more babies this year. Well I just happen to have one that we no longer need so I plan to trade her for some hens. So all in all this turned out to be a great project. I cant wait to get my chickens and start collecting eggs. Checkout my pictures!

Let me know what you think.

P.s. no making fun of my boots.

I challenge you... stop using those paper towels

Ok, I'll admit it. I used to be a paper towel addict. There I admitted it. I challenge you to face it too. Are you one? A lot of my reasoning behind it is that I was once at someone's house, who did not like to use paper towels, only hand towels, and it stunk. The towel I mean. I mean it was gross. So me being me, I was grossed out and became the paper towel addict that I once was. Suddenly one day I realized it. What was I thinking? Now I am in recovery and can honestly say I go through only about a roll a month. I do still keep them around because I do believe for sanitary reasons they are sometimes necessary. So here is what I do. I keep 3 towels handy at the sink. One for washing for dishes (get rid of those sponges. They are germ factories.), one for wiping down counter tops & the table with and last I have one strictly for drying my hands. Every day or two I toss these towels in with my others to be washed. This keeps them fresh (and non-stinky) but keeps paper towels from going to waste. Not only am I saving trees and preventing waste but hello I am saving money. Lets face it I am washing towels anyway so what is a couple more towels each load going to to do? As for the sponge thing this is pretty new to me although Rob said he always grew up this way. Sponges are dirty little demons and wasteful. With a cloth (small cloth, larger ones get clumsy) you get the same effect but can wash the towel regularly instead of throwing away the sponge. I do still keep a sponge handy because sometimes I need the extra scrubbing power but I find if I at least rinse off the food right away I dont need to scrub so much. I do not use my dish washer because my well water is pretty rough and I found myself re-washing dishes all the time (wasteful!). So here it is. I challenge you to replace your regular usage of paper towels with that of a hand towel. Remember to keep the hand towel somewhere it will be specifically designated as the "hand towel" Only clean hands should be touching it. I hung a small rack above my sink for mine. It works out great. Let me know how you do!

exciting update about Pig Tales Sanctuary!!

Abrupt twist in the tale: Woman gets her pigs back

By KENYA WOODARD Staff Writer

BUNNELL -- The battle between the Flagler Humane Society and Lory Yazurlo over a herd of swine has ended.

The estimated 450 pigs that live at Pig Tales Sanctuary are now back in Yazurlo's custody after more than a month under the care of the humane society.

But the sanctuary founded by Yazurlo in 1995 will no longer operate as it once did, and Yazurlo still faces charges related to the seizure of her animals.

In a phone interview Monday, Flagler Humane Society director Donna Howard said she decided to return the pigs to Yazurlo after it became clear that the only way to remove the pigs from the sanctuary would be to euthanize them.

Howard said she couldn't let that happen.

So the two sides have agreed to "a happy medium," Howard said.

To keep the pigs, Yazurlo must abide by a list of rules that include refraining from taking in any more pigs or adopting them out, neutering all males and tagging the herd, Howard said.

In turn, the humane society will continue to pay for feed one day a week until March and inspect the 20-acre sanctuary on a weekly basis.

Then, the inspection will take place monthly and later be reduced to twice a year, Howard said.

Howard admitted she has reservations about giving up the pigs to Yazurlo. But the plan, coupled with assurances by Yazurlo's attorney that Yazurlo is capable of caring for the animals, has smoothed over those concerns, Howard said.

But if the deal doesn't work out, the humane society will step in and again take control of the pigs, Howard said.

In the meantime, Howard said she and her staff will "play big brother."

"We're going to keep an eye on them," she said. "Hopefully, this will turn out to be a good thing for the pigs."

Reached by phone Monday, Yazurlo said she's satisfied with the arrangement, including the no-pigs-in-or-out rule.

"Pretty much nothing has come or gone in five years," she said.

The inspections are no bother either, she said.

"I've always let them on my property," she said. "I had no problem with them."

The humane society took control of Pig Tales in November after officials discovered many of the pigs were "emaciated and malnourished" and suffering from illnesses, according to reports filed with the Flagler County Sheriff's Office.

Nine pigs were killed with single gunshots to the head during that visit after a veterinarian recommended it because of "their extreme suffering," the reports state.

Another pig in a deteriorated state was euthanized -- not shot -- by the vet the week after the initial visit.

The scene at Pig Tales prompted humane society officials to file complaints of animal cruelty and unlawful confinement of animals against Lory Yazurlo. Those complaints have been referred to the State Attorney's Office. No additional pigs have been killed.

About five pigs recently tested positive for pseudorabies, a contagious viral disease that causes a high mortality rate among infant pigs.

The sanctuary remains under a state-imposed quarantine order after some of the pigs tested positive for the disease in 2003. The state's refusal to lift the quarantine order made removing the pigs from the sanctuary impossible, Howard said.

"Once they told us the pigs couldn't leave the property, there wasn't much we could do," she said.

And the $3,000 weekly bill for the pigs' feed has become a financial burden the humane society could no longer support, she said.

The decision to work with Yazurlo is what's best for the pigs, Howard said.

Yazurlo, however, still faces charges. An arraignment is scheduled for Jan. 6, State Attorney's Office spokeswoman Linda Pruitt said.

Howard said the charges were filed to allow the Humane Society of the United States to offer monetary support to the Flagler organization.

But the HSUS is no longer in the picture and the charges aren't necessary, she said.

"She didn't intend to starve the animals," Howard said. "We're going to work with the courts and tell the judge 'listen, this is where we're at . . .' "

Yazurlo said she's not worried about the case.

"I think I'll be fine," she said.

kenya.woodard@news-jrnl.com

Here's How to Help

If you would like to help, contact:

· Bunnell Feed & Supply, 386-437-2032

· Curley's Place, 386-586-1180

· Charlene Yazurlo, 439-4583 or e-mail at jyazurlo@cfl.rr.com