It Aint Over 'til It's Over

I've had a week's worth of sick....three, really.... the symptoms showed up three weeks ago in chills and aching, and then a full blown cold this week.  Now I have a stomach complaint so bad that... well, too bad to talk about in genteel company.

I took off at noon today, since Keith was to go up north to Ioway to the funeral.  Mapquesting the route to the designated city made him realize that instead of a 3 hour drive, he was facing a 5 1/2 hour drive, so he has left already this afternoon.  Our local garage here in Tongie was able to get his ailing truck in, replace the battery (which he could have done) re-set the computer (which he could not have, and therefore they get ya!) and have the oil changed and then took off to spend the night in Ottumwa. 

He took along pictures of the new baby to show his parents.

I am pretty worn out tonight, so truncated chores and am in for the evening.  I have most weekend errands done, so will concentrate tomorrow on house-cleaning and getting some things together to prepare dinners for the coming week.  Keith will be working out of town most of the week, but I am going to make a skillet cake tomorrow with some fresh apples, and decorate the porch for fall. 

We have noticed lately that our little Hannah, who was also sick for a while, has lost almost all her remaining eyesight.  She eats by herself, as she cannot defend herself from the two younger dogs. 

Yes, we're in the bathroom.  As you see, she is a messy eater.  She gets regular soft dogfood, cottage cheese, and chicken in small pieces, and relishes it.  Tonight she had just cottage cheese and chicken, and hoovered it up, (her nickname was always Hoover).  It hurts us to see her sitting alone and lost in the house... she backs into a corner so she feels safe, because she can't tell where everyone is.  The really sad thing is, we think her hearing has gone pretty much, too, as she can no longer tell where we are.  I literally have to go right up to her and stamp, and then keep stamping in order for her to follow.  We watched her this afternoon... we were talking in the kitchen as Keith got ready to go, and we realized Hannah was not with us.  When we went to find her, she had backed against the couch and sat there, staring out, trying to figure out where everyone was.  It wasn't until Keith got up to her that she realized he was there. 

We will cope with this for the rest of her life, because of all the dogs, she is the most undemanding and sweet.  She justs wants to be by me, that's all she asks.

The colors of fall are all around us now. 

The birds look especially beautiful in the light, and it's sad to know that soon, it will be dark in the evening as we do chores.

Red, the little cochin rooster, looks so pretty in the sunlight....

But two seconds later the red rooster beat this guy, Boots, up badly, and Boots cowered in the little hutch inside the pen on the right.  Boots is the one that Lilly got last week, and recovered for several days.  We are watching him closely, as he was always rather dominant before.  At some point, some of the little roosters are going to need to be winnowed out, we are aware of that. 

If you remember, a few weeks ago, I got this little quasi-nest box at Tractor Supply:

It's made by Ware Manufacturing and sells for 9.99.  It is the cheapest of the cheap.  But as you can see, the little hens LOVE it.  They fight to lay in it, and there are usually two in it at any time.  So today, I made a special trip to TSC because their wild bird mix (in the white bag) is the best mix for 9.99 for 35 pounds I can find.  I scraped the bottom of the bird seed barrel this morning.  I noticed they had a few more nest boxes, so bought two more, and in the morning, I am going to install them in the little henhouse.  If I'm right, it's going to be much easier to find eggs in there.  This one is not attached, it is just sitting there.  For two weeks, my black-headed blue silky hen has been in it, and I have the bite marks to prove it!

I leave you tonight with a picture of the hyacinth beans... they are so beautiful in the evening sunlight:

Linking (I hope) to Verde Farm for Fall Farm Friend Friday!