Weather Apocolypse

Like you all have not been through it, too... right? 

I realized this morning I have not posted for three weeks.  Friends, I was too pooped. 

Even on the worst days, I went out three or four times a day to clear the ONE unheated water bowl 

and re-fill it. 

So grateful for my many masks, they kept my face warm. 

BUT... I wore two layers of clothing, socks and gloves for the duration. 

I actually also wore a second hate over this lovely ensemble. 

On February 10, I ordered propane over the ARU at Ferrelgas... the very first time I 

could not speak to a live person.  We were just going into the deep freeze, and I was at 25%. That afternoon, I called the CSR line, and got connected to a lady in North Carolina.  I told her we were descending into the deep freeze, and asked if there was an emergency line I could call if it looked like I was going to run out of gas. (she said no)

Let me stop right here and say that I never, ever waited more than three days for a gas fill. 

I watch my tank like a hawk. 

She told me I was scheduled for the 19th.  (I ordered Wednesday, the 10th).  

On the 19th, I must have looked out the window fifteen times to my gate, which was wide 

open.  Chat online was disabled... no emails were being answered, and I had left two messages on 

the phone which were unanswered. 

I checked on a local page on Saturday and asked if anyone had seen the truck out delivering. 

I was told by one man I "Should have planned for living in the country". 

As you can see from the picture, it snowed three or four times, but we never got a huge load, it was just bone-chilling cold. 

On Sunday afternoon, I got a call from North Carolina that my gas would come on Monday, the 22nd. 

Thank God, that's all I can say.  I had gone to Menards and bought two 

electric heaters, and then used one in the kitchen to take the load off the furnace. 

I closed the doors to all the bedrooms and with the electric heater, it stayed cozy. 

I was staring running out in the face though, and did not want to pay to have to re-run the lines. 

I learned from this... I will have to call at 40% in the future... and, friends, that man, 

Rick Trieb, delivered every single day, and he is the only driver in my area now.  I do not know how he did it!

That, believe it or not, is a heated water bowl that is frozen to the ground. 

I had to sweep the dirty water out of it for a week... I could not prise it up. 

The starlings could actually drain this deep bowl in thirty minutes. 

The chickens were in for two full weeks, they hated me. 

I had three other heated basins or bowls that I had to fill multiple times a day. 

There was no chicken at the commissary on Thursday... the signs say that inclement weather is the reason. 

My poor old Ferdie suffered much damage to comb and wattles. 

I believe his comb points will fall off. 

This guy is on a diet.  Jester got treats right along with the little girls, every time they took a pill, they all got a treat.  He is woefully overweight. 

He and I are walking at a local park every day now, I drop what I am doing in the afternoon and off we go. 

He needs to get twenty pounds off... but I would be overjoyed with ten. 

There is an aging opossum living in the sheep barn right now. 

Possums only live about three years, and I suspect this one is close to its' end. 

However, I find him curled up in the hay in late afternoon, and out of the camera view 

to the left there is a bowl I keep cat food in.  I have noticed it has gone to the garden though, 

every night, to eat birdseed.  

There it is on deck with a smaller one. 

The yellow tabby has disappeared.  I have not seen it in five days now, not on 

camera, not in the pasture. 

I have heard coyotes DURING THE DAY three times in the last week, 

this is breeding season. 

I have not seen Gray Kitty, either.  

Four Long Days. 

I did not see Rusty for three, but he is here and safe.  I have fed him several  times with his 

wet cat food in the last two days. 

I have noticed that NO cat is eating on the deck right now,

and am thinking of pulling the cat food in at night because I am 

overrun with 

I swear that some are as big as Jester!

These are my two youngest grands, Jax and Paiton. 

I have to say something here.  They have not been in real 

school for over a year right now, and I feel badly for them. 

Right now, they go to school four mornings a week, 

for 3 hours.  Then they go home, and a second shift goes in. 

In the meantime, they get off the bus, go in the house, and 

log on and go to school online for three more hours. 

On Friday morning, here, they log on for one hour only, for a social studies 

type course. 

They are missing their friends (the rooms are very sparsely populated to be safe) and 

they are not thriving as they did before. 

I believe they will be back to school full time in the fall.

I believe it will be safe then. 

We will have the virus here, but more and more are being vaccinated, 

and numbers are falling. 

I am going to be vaccinated as soon as I can be, Leavenworth County 

has not gotten large amounts of the vaccine yet. 

I am signed up. 

Many of my friends are vaccinated already. 

If we can just hold on a little longer.... 

I only lost two chickens to the bitter cold, and one that I thought surely WOULD die, 

has not. (these two are alive and well) 

This old red hen is sleeping in the closet of the old hen house now, instead of roosting, and I honestly believed I would go in and find her dead.  I still have the warming light on in there for support....

I have turned off the other two hen houses. 

So far, though, she is holding on!

I also have been getting six to ten eggs a day from the old girls....

until yesterday when I did not get ANY! 

I do have an old black hen on a nest right now... 

she has two eggs under her and I am actually considering letting her go 

broody.  I will move her to a brooding cage if that is true, because she is up high in the nest box. 

This came up in my memory this week... it's little Cookie, 

two years ago this week.  He was just a DOLL! 

So much fun to watch. 

The finches!

I am actually going to mount a special flat feeder for them out in the yard about twenty feet, they 

are just tearing the deck up too much.  I will miss seeing them up close... but 

I won't miss the mess and the seed wastage. 

I  hope everyone has held on, Febaruary was a rough month for so many... 

it's almost spring!

And thank you, thank you, my friends, for still taking a look at this blog!

 

Some More Back Home Shots

Bird One 

Bird Two 

That was actually Bird Three. 

Again, the grape jelly does not make up their entire diet.  They seem to come 

early in the morning for some, and again in the evening. 

We had other visitors, too, but I want you to look at the bottle hanging there. 

See those two black dots on the upper right? 

That is MOLD. 

I take those down just about every single night and clean them, 

and indeed, I have a friend who has quit feeding them because it is a pain to keep them so clean. 

Hummers can get black tongue disease, and die from the mold. 

That one will be coming down in just a few minutes to be scrubbed out again, and I DID take it down last night and scrub it.  The heat and humidity is doing it. 

I had just refilled this one, and cleaned the bells out... you see I rarely use the bee guards 

any more.  I get a few wasps, but really, they are pretty much left alone. 

This little guy was sticking his tongue out, but so quickly I couldn't get it on 

camera. 

We are also about to be hit by an onslought of large and small tomatoes!  

They are late all over this area this year... I just heard tonight of a big grower here 

who is just now getting ripe tomatoes, so I am not alone.  

The straw bales?  I'll show you some pictures of them in the next few days! 

Stay cool, friends. 

The Rest of the Fair

I spent an hour at the fairgrounds today, walking around and taking pictures. 

Production hens. 

Total. Cuteness. 

Love the poodle cut, but it had just awakened from a nap! 

Hogs were being shown. 

The Corps of Engineers has been contouring the land around the Big Ditch.  I was totally dismayed to see on the way home that an herbicide was sprayed on the banks. 

I can't imagine that the herons will be back, or the ducks who came down at night while migrating. 

If I had had the color right, you could see the acres of contouring, you can also see plants dying.  The big earthmovers are gone now.  The creek line is at the right. 

I stopped to take a picture of the crossvane... but got my color all out of balance again. 

You can see how low the creek is now. 

Can you see the flies on the poor calves? 

Those ear tags in their mamas are not just for identification, 

there is usually a fly ear tag, too.  The calves have not been 

tagged yet.  I felt so sorry for them. 

Sometimes I get the color right. 

I felt guilty about the grape jelly for about two hours 

this summer.  You see, I read an article about how it 

did not really "feed" the birds, it was more of a treat. 

I can testify to that, because they do not come and eat all day long. 

They fly off, eat seed on the ground in the side yard, go far off and 

eat... and come back for little bits and bobs of jelly. 

They are so fun to watch. 

I change the jelly bowl out every other day.  I wash them the day 

I change them, so in other words, I put this one out Wednesday night, 

topped it off several times yesterday, and then will take it in 

tonight and put a fresh one out tomorrow. 

I should find a little lower container, then I would not waste hardly any jelly. 

These little bowls are just so handy, they are ridgid enough for the birds to perch on 

and we don't eat anything out of them. 

The hummers are every where on our feeders these days! 

Catch Up

We have had a long week here, with Keith having some medical problems. 

We hope to have those ironed out this week, and get 

back to regular posting, the weather allowing. 

Yes, it's hot here in Kansas! 

Take a look at our ground: 

Keith and I have missed most of our T Bones games this year, 

his health has not been good this month.  Today, we 

went to the 1:05 PM game.  Clouds came over, 

and Keith left at the fourth inning, and I waited until the 7th to go 

home.  I was praying for rain, and indeed, we had strong storms south of us. 

Eventually, the clouds receded over us, and as of right now... are almost gone. 

No rain in Leavenworth County.  You can see that we need it. 

However, I am watering the containers daily (sometimes several times) and I have been rewarded with 

lots of bloom. 

This is a purple Stella D'Oro... it's gorgeous, and I am so glad I got it. 

It's one of the 2.00 plants I bought at the end of winter. 

This balsam is grown from seeds I saved at the old place ten years ago. 

I love balsam, but a warning... it has to be watered intensely when it's in a container. 

It will lay down and look dead if it has not been. 

The one dollar apiece geraniums are all blooming nicely... mostly pinks. 

There is a zinnia plant right in their middle!  

I will dig these up in the fall and bring them inside for winter. 

I have so much digging to do in the flower bed, but I am happy with the plants I brought from the old house.  This monarda is one I love (though it will take over if I let it) and the daylilly in front of it is lovely. 

I have lost the name of this one, but it is nice, and large, compared to the others. 

This is a smaller monarda at the far end, and oh my gosh, to see these pictures makes me realize how much digging I have to do!  The thing is, it won't happen in the terrible heat. 

On my way to the game today, I ran by the Ag Hall to check on the chickens... it was so hot yesterday and Friday.  They were mostly inside, smart birds.  I replenished food and water, and left them alone again.  They have plenty of room in their big new henhouse! 

We are still feeding birds here, too: 

The mockingbird is still feeding at the jelly bowl, I love how he is on tip toes here. 

The finches are still coming, too! 

We are remembering those in West Virginia who have suffered so terribly this week in our prayers.