Things are Improving

Well, after a morning at nine below zero last week, and multiple mornings under ten degrees... we are back in the Land of the Living here. 

It was 24 this morning when I went out to do chores. 

It's been a rough January, friends. 

I lost my beautiful old boy Buddy, a week ago. 

I knew he was failing... Tuesday, he struggled so, but was still eating. 

I found him in a corner with a hen guarding him on Wednesday morning.

He stayed under the light most of Tuesday. 

I reached to stroke him on Wednesday morning, and I believe I saw him take his last breath. 

He was the best boy, had always been a great rooster and took good care of his flocks. 

I set him in the brooder pen for a few minutes before taking him out. 

I would have buried him, but the ground here is frozen still, and I put him in the pasture. 

The next morning, I went out and got him... I could not bear to have him dragged off. 

I disposed of his body another way. 

Wanda has been sleeping in the big hen house all month.  She has food and a water bowl in there, and had a litter box but I soon realized she was just GOING in the floor litter, so as soon as it is reliably warm, that whole house will be raked out and re-bedded.  She is still sleeping in there... she was playing with Bob, last night, who was on the porch just outside the pophole. 

This Wyandotte hen has been broody for three weeks... there are NO eggs under her.  None. 

I have thought about putting some eggs under her, but.... it has been too cold for one thing, and I do not need any more roosters, for another. 

Because, you see.... I have had to separate the two Indio Gigante roosters now. 

Big Bird and Little Bird were fighting... to the death.  Little Bird, here, is about an inch shorter than his brother.  He has a deformed leg, though, and walks with a hitch.  When he was about 8 weeks old, a black snake encircled him and tried to kill him, but I caught it and pulled it off him.  He has walked with a hitch ever since, but walks and can run lopsidedly.  

I let him out of this pen yesterday, and he marched straight across the yard to fight with his brother through the fenceline. 

He is back in the pen. 

And.... he's enjoying the good life.  He sleeps on the feed room side of the hen house, and has his own warming light. 

You can see he likes it. 

I carry him in and out, ditto, his feed and water.  

Still trying to figure out a long term solution, because, you see, I like him a lot. 

Rocket, the bantam Mille Fleur rooster, is the boss of the big hen house now that Buddy is gone. 

I am waiting to see how he and Little Bird react to each other. 

Buster, the Lavender Orpington rooster, is showing signs of the severe cold we have had. 

His comb and wattles have become frostbitten. 

Most of the snow has begun melting, but now we have The Mud. 

I am still getting eggs. 

I am giving away eggs right and left. 

I have had two heated cat beds connected in the barn all winter.

I didn't think anything had ever used them. 

I thought to put a camera out there the other day, and look what I caught. 

It was not 35 degrees, either... it was under 20. 

That heat lamp over the crate .... Mama the cat has laid under it on the top of the crate (Teeny  is there in the picture) or in the straw in the crate for the last two months. 

The barn has been livable, even through the bitter cold we had this month. 

It came at a cost, my electric bill was over 400.00. 

Oh, yes, after two weeks of bitter cold when no one came out... they're baaaacccckkkk. 

I saw one of the biggest I had ever seen the other night on my porch. 

I never, ever let Chico run out the door with his leash on at dusk. 

I was looking back through old pictures the other day, and found this. 

Those are the raised garden beds Keith built, and our hoop house, which he built in 2012. 

You can see even the home built house made our pepper and tomato plants go crazy, and they were planted in wine barrels, buckets and bins with holes punched in them. 

I had Ben take the rectangular beds out about four years ago, they were hard to mow in between, and hard to maintain, believe it or not. 

However... I am going to garden again this year, after giving it up last year. 

I miss it, and.... things are getting so expensive. 

My neighbors Linda and Garry gifted me some green beans and peppers last year that were just wonderful... so... I am going to have a garden plot tilled and hope to gift others with garden produce. 

I have my seeds ordered and bought already, and will get my seed starting setup operational here in another month. 

It's 41 here right now, and to me, it's like a miracle.  I have done so much slipping and sliding on ice in the last three weeks. 

I am carrying my phone constantly in case I fall. 

 I saw in the long range forecast that we may get some snow next weekend.... but the LONG long range forecast is for dry conditions here, and friends, we need rain. 

I am so grateful my well did not freeze up... and I have regular furnace and air conditioning maintenance and I had no problems during the cold snap... and Mid States Propane delivered on one of the coldest days of the year!  I'm just grateful to have gotten through the cold blast in one piece. 

Another picture from years ago... my beautiful Ranger boy laying at the front door with Winny and Windy the goats playing near him.  What wonderful times those were, before Keith got so very sick. 

I can look back on them and smile, though. 

Happy little faces looking in the window. 

It saddens me to think that those wonderful little goats are long gone... this was taken 12 years ago. 

I have sure had a good life here, though... and it makes me glad to think back on all of it. 

Stay warm and safe and healthy.