Winter Returns for a Day

Thank heavens only for a day. 

It reminded me of what November to February was like... 

Ugh. 

It was only a dusting, but at 29 degrees with the wind blowing hard... it felt like 12 inches as I did chores. 

Yesterday, a family came here to look at chickens. 

Mother, father, daughter, who thought she wanted baby chicks, but was 

willing to look at older chickens. 

It was 71 degrees out, and I took them into the new henspa yard. 

She loved the D'Uccle's, both porcelain and Mille Fleur. 

She wants this one. 

April, who is never separate from Moe anymore.  It hurts me. 

However... see these guys? 

I did NOT pay attention when the parents were here with the ten year old.  I went over and let the goats out. 

They proceeded to run to the strange people to check them out, and began nibbling at their clothing.  The people backed up, clearly afraid, and I realized I had made a huge error.  

One of them either nipped at or stepped on the gentleman's foot... and then I realized they had FLIP FLOPS ON. 

On a farm. 

They had gone into the henhouse like that. 

Ugh. 

I should have warned them. 

The upshot was that the man went and sat in the car the rest of the time... and even though they said they would be back to get four chickens after their spring break trip... I doubt if I will see them. 

I'm not doing very well in the rehoming area. 

Spring has, indeed, sprung. 

And tulips are coming up everywhere, finally!

Geese are going back...

and forth. 

Abby had been helping me with chores yesterday, and it was 72 degrees out.  She had a nice, long drink of cold well water as I filled the duck's pool. 

While Lil laid in the shade of the car. 

This is a naughty Winnie, who got out of the pen and came up to the house with Abby and me. She likes to butt the dogs, so I wanted to get Abs in so she wouldn't get hurt.  She had a look and smell at the taco bar on the counter, I had had to eat before running out to do chores.  

You mean I can't stay in here where it's WARM????

No, Winnie, you can't! 

(She got lots of crackers). 

And here it is, folks, the first look at our new house... out in the county, but in a bona fide "neighborhood" of 

houses, all on one to two acre lots, on a farm that was cut up about 15 years ago into 

these large lots.  The house is fourteen years old.... needs some updating... and was never fenced, so 

we are taking care of the fencing first, before moving Abby and Lilly. 

We anticipate moving on the 29th. 

However, I will still be coming here daily to clean, paint, etc. etc. and care for 

any (all) of the animals left. 

I have to get busy and rehome. 

It's hard, that's all I can say. 

Everyone stay warm! 

Random Shots

A crazy day... we got up to 41 degrees and had a sleet shower this afternoon!

There is a fine layer of sleet on everything, but it does not appear to be "sticking". 

Crazy weather. 

Yesterday, I showed you how Buffy has been sleeping for weeks 

in the old nest box in the old henhouse. 

Last night I went out to lock up... and found her like this:

Will wonders never cease???  When Christopher and I 

went out there tonight... she was back up on the roost. 

I have not seen her roost for many months. 

Once, those roosts were full of birds... there were about 70 in that house. 

There were four little roosters just above her on the upper roost.  (they are stepped back so the birds did not poop on each other). 

This is the bare ground under the flat open feeder.  There used to be about two inches of spilled sunflower seed, etc. on the ground here, but the last three weeks have cleaned ALL that up... the birds were frantic to eat.  This is just bare shells... nothing more.  I have not even seen any grass or sunflowers trying to sprout here, there is nothing left, believe me. 

That is a very happy Buddy the Bantam Rooster having a dirt bath yesterday under the 

4 x 4 pen in the old henyard. 

And five minutes later, a red hen had taken his place. 

Today, the sun was gone, and the skies leaden all day... but the hens came right outside this morning. 

The juncos, cardinals, and mourning doves now have the opportunity to feed without 

500 starling and red-wings crowding them.  Yes, there ARE a few there, but nothing 

like before.  Once the weather improves, they are off to better climes. 

This was taken this evening. 

And for the time being, this is the new seed mix we are using... from our feed store, who 

mills all their own grain... we have dropped the higher-priced mixture I showed you a few weeks ago for this less-expensive version.  It is long on scratch grains, and black oil... no striped sunflower, or peanut pieces, or safflower.  I had to cut back somewhere, and should have done this months ago.  I fed 80 pounds 

between Friday and Monday morning. 

As I told you yesterday, we are going to get a decent feeder... with perches for the smaller birds, 

and sneak away from here lest the starling hordes follow us. 

Even when we rented in Leavenworth, we fed the wild birds, and in Illinois, on our third floor apartment balconey... I fed the wild birds! 

Here's hoping for sunny skies tomorrow!

These two (Winnie and Windy) want the sun back, too!

Harbingers of Spring

Ignore the window that has been like that since we moved here... it's inside the glass... to see the beautiful geranium I brought inside last fall.  This is the second time it's bloomed since Christmas, and 

it is SO CHEERY to me. 

Ohhhhh that feed is so going away when spring is here.... we need to slim the girls and Kelly down. 

This is not a spring story.  This is a dead mouse, unfortunately. 

Remember when I reminded everyone to turn your buckets over when you finish 

using them?  I forgot to turn this one over, and he couldn't get out last night.  He may have been in there several days, without my noticing, because I have not used this bucket since the first of the week. 

Poor little mouse, even the leastt of God's creatures deserves a better end than this. 

I turned over ALL the buckets immediately. 

And this, friends, is the FIRST sign of spring here in the gardens.... and tomorrow, we are expecting sleet, followed by 3 to 7 inches of new snow. 

Oh, Joy. 

Sleep, little daffodils, sleep! 

Random Shot Thursday

An early post today, as I have plans for this evening if the weather holds. 

I have tickets for a touring Broadway show in Topeka, about 50 miles from us.  A friend is supposed to go, but we already have rain coming down, and we are expecting later tonight a change-over to snow, so we are playing this by ear. 

I would hate to lose those tickets, but we won't go if the weather is very bad. 

(Update... my friend has written to say that we'll go in her heavier vehicle, a Suburban, and she'll drive, so we're set to go, yee ha!)

I'll tell you about the show tomorrow. 

Gratuitous goat cuteness, Winnie, making up for jumping on Maa Maa's car. 

The henspa flock is still working on turning over my raised beds.  I'll be gardening in these again next year, and for the first time, I kept a notebook to remind me what was planted where.... and will rotate everything.  I still need to do some maintenance on these beds, as you see... pull the pumpkin vines out of the top one... and then put compost on all of them. The straw bale garden will be alongside this one. 

Oh, I am so proud of this, but I am going to have to move the yarrow next to it, and I planted it way too close to the fence. 

It is a white lilac that Kathy next door gave me three years ago.  It was a tiny little plant.  

It is going to grow and bloom before I die... I'm so glad!

I hope whoever lives here in years to come enjoys this plant as much as I am going to! 

Gratuitous pug cuteness, courtesy of Abby Lynn. 

This is what the fortexes in the big henyard look like in the morning, after a night with the ducks.  

These are the things that are hard to clean out once the hoses stop running... maybe even tonight.  

It makes hauling water the harder, because I can't carry full buckets anymore. So I haul a half bucket to clean out the fortex... and a 3/4 bucket to fill it to the brim when clean. 

So much easier when the hoses are running. 

Filling this is also much easier when the hoses are running, though I did fill it once by bucket last week while waiting for the new yard hydrant to be put in. 

This morning's fill may be the last for a few days.  Once it truly does get lasting cold, I'll put this up, and we'll use a double deep fortex for the ducks.  There is one in the pasture, and I'll put another in the henyard, and fill them for the duck's winter use. 

And speaking of the ducks, only two are laying now, and I found this egg in Fort Apache, under the little red hen house, this morning. 

This one was out in the open! 

I thought you might all be interested in seeing what I feed the wild birds daily. 

This is "Back Yard Blend" from our feed store where I have bought feed for 20 some years, Valley Feeds in Bonner Springs, Kansas.  They mix this blend.  They also mix a more expensive one... about five dollars more a bag, and a cheaper one, similar to the Pennington mixes. 

As you see, this one has peanut halves, safflower, milo, cracked corn, striped sunflower and some black oil sunflower.  It's a great mix, and the wildings love it.  I already have moved the dog's water fortex onto the middle of the deck where the sun can warm it, and they are coming to it for water now... and I am seeing more birds at the flat feeding station.  I have seen the Northern Flicker twice in the last week at the suet feeder. 

(Reddy, in toto.  Notice the white tail) 

Today on Facebook I saw a great post about how chickens see... if you have time, please glance at it.  I learned so much from it, and things I did not know about chickens despite keeping them for so many years. 

It's HERE , presented by Lisa at Fresh Eggs Daily, but actually was written, I think, by another blogger. 

Excellent article!  Lisa's blog is also a very good one, if you are not familiar with it. 

And lastly... it's World Hello Day... thanks, MA!  

Say hello to all your friends and loved ones with a smile on your face, 

and remember to carry some one dollar bills and a smile for the hard-working Salvation Army bellringers who will be out in the cold and rain and snow of the next five weeks on their annual 

fund raising mission!

A Visit to the Vet

The little girls had a visit to the vet this morning, and got their second CD and T shots, and a wellness check. 

Their poop was deemed worm-free! 

Dr. LaRosh and his assistent, Ryko... with Winnie.  

Ryko is a man of few words with people, but we notice he exudes confidence and gentleness with the animals. 

Both babies got a well-baby check, and a fecal float.  Well.. one fecal float. 

Winnie weighed 24.6 pounds, and Windy, 26.1 pounds. 

Keith was able to take time out from his work day to help me, so it was easy to pop them in the carrier and take them the two miles to the clinic. 

Goat friends, this concerns me.  It appears to be bloody urine, on our patio. 

Ick factor aside, bloody urine is NOT a good thing.  Is it also an indicator of a goat in heat? 

I'm thinking Delilah, from the copious amount. 

I did mention it to Kori, Dr. LaRosh's nurse, and found out that Dr. LaRosh still does outcalls for farm animals, which I did not know.  We are but two miles, and can schedule a call here if I get really concerned about Dee.  

Your opinions? 

Ryko had to go in and out of the exam room several times (okay, someone pooped on the scale)... and you can see that the little girls were very interested in what was beyond the door! 

As we were leaving a lady brought in one of the tiniest chihuahuas I have ever seen.  The poor little dog had broken it's leg this morning, she thought, in play with another chihuahua.  My heart went out to her... it was truly a teeny, tiny dog and I hope it is okay. 

Here's our beautiful girl this morning... you can see the sun has come back, and the skies are blue again. 

It was cold this morning, and is warming up to 60 today, for mild temps for a few days and then getting cold again next week.  

And it's a comfort to see the henspa flock out enjoying themselves. (and cleaning up some of the sunflower seed!) 

I wait every year to see this gorgeous tree at the foot of our hill, just beyond the Spehar's big ponds.  Isn't it just beautiful?  I fear we will have total leaf fall by this weekend,s o these scenes are soon to disappear for another year.  How grand it is to be alive! 

Pictures Galore

Lots of pictures today to use up some that are stacking up in the computer. 

Hmmmm.  I found this in the goat barn when I took the fresh water in about an hour ago, today. 

Hmmmm. 

I still have seen no rats, but this looks like a rat hole to me. 

It's within about six inches of the door of the goat barn. 

See that big hole in the wall, the highest? 

While I was working on the divider between the coop side and the feed room side today, 

I kept hearing a buzzing.  I was putting staples in the framework, trying to fix the fencing that divides the two spaces.  I stood up to see a wasp go in the hole. 

I hate to say it... but it's going to get wasp-freezed with the super spray. 

This whole side had become loose.  You see, the birds all walked back and forth between the two rooms at will.  I realized about a week ago that the Elvi were terrorising Butch, my one eyed pet rooster who lives in the feed room. 

I noticed he was spending a lot of time up in the window.  Last night, I put him in the nursing cage, with water and feed.  He attacked the food bowl and ate and ate. 

I realized I needed to straighten everyone out. 

So this afternoon, I cut some chicken wire, and closed off the door (out of sight to the left) and this whole section... if you look hard, you can see the new wire against the old. 

Then Butch went back down into the litter. 

Tomorrow, I'll scoop out all the old litter and dress things with fresh straw.  This litter is going onto the bed I started last week.  I can't do it while the goats are loose, because I am keeping them far away from chicken feed. 

And speaking of the goats... 

I can't have a wreath on the porch now. 

Now I understand why my fall wreath was on the floor twice. 

That's our beverage container, which we rarely use. 

Uh huh. 

Gratuitous goat cuteness, thank you, Windy. 

The Donald has an injury, and I am watching him very closely.  When he is up, I see no open, raw places on his leg or webbed foot, but he has a pronounced limp.  

And in other news, the Kaw Valley Farm Tour is two weeks away.  Last year, tour days were raw and cold and blustery, and I had the flu.  

I'm hoping to participate this year, because there are lots of new places to visit.  I always get good ideas from the farms visited. 

Still getting a last blast of flowers. 

And I love, love, love the color of these mums on the deck. 

Today, while stopping at the feed store, I asked where they had gotten their beautiful cornstalks with which they had decorated.  I have a picture... if I could find it on my phone!!!

Anyway, Keith stopped by to get a bale of straw for me to clean the big henhouse tomorrow... and there in the back of the truck was a cornstalk, a big one!  I asked him how he happened to get it, and he said the feedstore had given it to him!  

Marti must have found one extra for me!  Thanks, Marti! 

I hope to find more so I can get our deck in shape... then the goats can lay on straw bales to their hearts content.  

I leave you with a picture of early morning here today at Calamity Acres.  There was fog coming off the ponds, and it was truly a beautiful scene.  I am so blessed by God to be able to get out and take care of the animals, and enjoy each and every day. 

I am truly grateful to Him!