A Long Post for Mid-April

The world is greening up here, lately....

The Bartlett and Callery pears, though "trash trees", are beautiful in the landscape.  I wish my dad (who died in 1969) could see these beautiful trees in the spring, and no... I have none, here. 

This striking tree is directly across from my porch in the valley. 

This is my view this morning, after two days of rain and blustery storms. 

Our winds are back... they are so annoying.  It is hard to get things done in the yard with the wind blowing constantly, and don't get me started on mowing!  This view of the ponds will be gone by the weekend, as the trees leaf out, I lose my view.  I have talked to the tree service about clearing the fence line at the bottom of the pasture, and I am saving up for it.  I love that pond view! 

I have as many as thirteen pairs of cardinals eating here.  If they are, indeed, souls of those who have been loved by us, then all my family and favorite pets are still with me. 

Speaking of family, I had breakfast on Monday with four of my first cousins, and it was so very good to see them... our regular breakfasts were interrupted by covid, and we are only now starting to meet in person again. 

I have lost my two brothers and my sister, and these dear people are like siblings to me.  They are some of the last to ever sit at my family kitchen table, the one at which I am typing now. 

This last full moon coming up over Calamity Acres. 

The big boy and his bestest friend, Bob the Porch Cat.  Bob was busy playing with Buddy's tail and I tried to get a picture of it... but he saw me.  

This morning, I found a patch of cat fur in front of the shop... Bob was following me... he is a troublemaker, despite his innocent look... and he stopped to smell the fur carefully... someone had a fight last night, and from the color, it could only be Teenie.  I will take a close look at her later, but she was moving around freely when I got their breakfast for them a while ago. 

The girls are starting to lay again, but oddly... I'll get ten or so, and then the next day, I'll only get three.  I know for a fact four hens are laying right now this morning. 

One old hen, a VERY old cochin, is on two eggs and those eggs should be close to hatching.  Her color is fading, and I am going to have to make a decision to move her into the pen I had reserved for chicks if she does hatch them.  Chicks can wait for a few weeks.  

These flowers, from an envelope from Croatia marked "Sunny flower mix", have gone berserk under lights in the shop.  I literally have the lights up as high as they will go, and the plants are still reaching.  I had hoped to harden them off and get them planted this week, but after two eighty degree days, we are at 45 at this moment.  It is also blowing like the dickens AGAIN and we are under a red flag warning for about the sixth day in a row. 

I honestly don't know how I am going to harden them off, unless I take them out from under the lights, put them in the garage during the day where the wind can't bother them, and move them back in the shop for shelter at night.  I'll think about that. 

Jester is enjoying the balmier of our days, but yes, I have turned on the air for the dogs because the house has heated up several times by late afternoon.  Crazily enough, the heat is back on today. 

Here is my little doll, Zoey, two weeks ago yesterday, April 1st. 

She loved that bed. 

On Sunday, the 2nd, she ran around here like a little farm dog.  She came in and took a nap with Bullseye in the big crate. 

On Monday, about mid-morning, she seemed to be having trouble breathing, and I called her vet's office.  They were unable to get her in until Tuesday, so I made the appointment.  I left to do another errand, but by the time I got back, I realized she had become exhausted because she could not lay down, when she did, she could not breathe.  We left for the emergency pet hospital that I have used many times in the past. 

One look at the front door and they rushed her back into an oxygen chamber. 

After two hours, a young vet came out to speak to me, and I must have rankled with my questions, because she asked me if I was "in the medical field".  I wanted to tell her no, I have had dogs for fifty years. 

In March, Zoey was treated for a chest infection.  On the 23rd, we had a follow up, and the vet said her chest was clear and heart sounded good.  I asked if she wanted to xray and she told me there was no need. 

The young vet told me Zoey's lungs were full and wanted to call in a cardiologist. 

Friends, Zoey was eleven, I adopted her as a foster fail a year and a half ago.  The estimate of care for three days was 6000.00.  I am telling you all of this for a reason. 

I was asked if I wanted to see her in the ICU.  After four hours, I asked to see her, and went back there.  I wish I had not.  I will spare you the picture I took, I need to delete it but cannot bring myself to.  She saw me, and tried to touch the side of the chamber... but she was struggling oh, so terribly. 

I saw the young doctor again for a minute, I wish I had told her then and there that I wanted to euthanize gently, holding her.  

The "ICU" was bright, a huge room, with people working on a big dog frantically and my poor little girl in the chamber, suffering.  It will never leave my mind. 

I had signed a DNR when I signed the paperwork... you see, I left that hospital with a bill over 5000.00 for Fritzi's care a few years ago, and I admit it, I have to be more circumspect now.  I knew that resuscitation measures would add hundreds to a bill, with little chance of a good outcome. 

The next morning, I was here at the table when my phone rang.  It was the doctor who had treated Zoey... she had died very suddenly.  I yelled into the phone... I did not curse, but I was so stunned that I yelled, and then apologized.  I had made a decision during the night to euthanize with me holding her, as I do all of my beloved animals, if she were no better in the morning. 

The thing that made me so mad is that she died alone, with strangers, in that horrible room. 

The hospital has a new policy where "animal advocates" call to update you on the progress of your pet.  I knew when the doctor himself called that it was bad. 

I was told that I could go there and see her, and I changed out of my chore clothes and drove the thirty miles to settle the bill and see my poor little girl. 

The tech who brought her to me in the "family room" told me that when they reached into the chamber to give her a lasik shot that morning, she had fallen over dead.  The doctor believed her heart failed. 

I held her for a while... and then let her go.  I have so many little boxes of cremains here I have had to stop doing it.... though the rep from the front desk who took my payment tried to upsell me on all kinds of mementoes. 

After a few days, I wrote a letter to the actual doctor who treated her, asking for an informed guess about what had taken her from a playful farm dog to death so fast. 

I have not received an answer. 

Her cost of care for twelve hours was 1880.00. 

Now, my comment about all this... and remember, I have been there many times in the past. 

I noticed when Bullseye was there last summer that things had changed... we were now addressed by the pet's name, not our surnames.  Upselling happened as soon as we were in the room with the young vets... they are a for-profit hospital of course, though they  provide a needed service for emergencies. 

I believed the night Bully was there that he was set aside as not serious and minimum care given. 

I believe the same happened to Zoey... that she was kept "comfortable" and left in the chamber to let nature take it's course, because I had not agreed to the 6000.00 plus care that was estimated. 

If the vet had told me to my face "your dog has no chance unless we expend thousands of dollars of specialized care".... I would have euthanized immediately to spare her the agony of suffering, and for that, I am furious with myself. 

Will I go there again?  I pray I do not have to, ever.  Do I recognize I may have to?  Yes, and they are the closest of the two emergency hospitals.  

Ultimately, I am angriest with myself for not insisting that we immediately euthanize after the vet talked to me after I had been there two hours.  I have taken myself to task night after night, and for the first four days, could not hold down any food I was so upset.  

I miss my little girl.  It hurts me that she suffered so. 

I have not put anything about this on Facebook, though I shared it with her groomer when I cancelled her appointment,  and then told the groomer it was okay to make a tribute, not realizing she meant for FB.  None of my friends but one saw it.  I literally have not been able to talk about it for two weeks, and have told very few friends and my family.  I am still looking for her, and reaching for her in bed.  I am starting to cry again while typing this.  I still can't believe it. 

Spring, Glorious Almost Spring

Yes, that is Almost Spring, as we have had a blast of wintry weather this last week. 

After three days of rain and clouds, we have sun today, thank heavens, or your blogger was about ready to give up the ghost.  

Bulbs are raising their heads, and buds are trying to open.  We do have some rain in the forecast this coming week, and I wish it were going to be a little warmer, but Jax, my grandson, who will be on vacation, will be working getting my yard ready for spring with me. 

This is the eighteenth year I have been here, and seen this daffodils come up.  You see the tree has grown so much that the box someone built around it has burst.  Oscar, my heart dog min pin, is buried under this tree.  

The people here directly before me were a father and two sons... I doubt they planted them, so I am grateful to someone in the far past for this spring surprise every year. 

This is the treeline of the 26 acre undeveloped piece of land directly across the road from me.  Before I moved here, there was a fire on it, but as you see, it has grown back and is nearly impenetrable.  I am told there is only enough water on it for one house, and we have fought as neighbors to not see it developed as a strip mall OR a fueling point for the local propane coop.  

At night, I often hear coyotes there. 

A week ago, I heard coyotes on both sides of me, haunting at 3 AM.  Several of my friends asked me to record them at that time, and I would, except I invariably forget to grab the phone when I take the dogs out.  This morning at 1:30, I heard a few calling to each other from "The Wild Area", as I call it. 

There is a communications tower on this land, and it brings in 800.00 a month rent, and a local realtor is the owner now.  It scares me that it will be developed with something totally inappropriate for the neighborhood, but we have banded together three times to fight developments... one was a putting green!  

Something cool happened here this week. 

Last November, a tree man who had worked here before stopped by to give me an estimate.  There had been a storm the night before, and I had a walnut with numerous hanging branches over my old hen house.  Parats (his name) was kind enough to climb up and pull them all down, and his sons stacked them neatly for me. He gave me the estimate then, for the work I wanted done in the pasture. 

I had decided to trim under many trees, and eliminate some saplings that were getting out of control. 

Six weeks ago, he called me one day to see if they could work that afternoon, but I was away from home. 

This week, he called to see if they could come Wednesday.  I said YES. 

(it was only a half day's work for them, so they were fitting me in). 

They brought in three big vehicles. 

I had two mulberry trees that had so many big branches down that I could no longer cut under them. You see one almost down on the left, and there were many more.  These guys cut them up, threw them in the wood chipper, and then raked under both trees, it looks like a park down there. 

The white thing you see is boards from my raised beds, they are on the brush pile.  I can actually SEE the brush pile from my porch now, because all the branches are gone. 

They also took down about ten big saplings that were going to be problems, three were in the rings of these trees. 

They painted everything with Tordon. 

Those trees where you see the man working had branches so low I had trouble cutting underneath them. I am so grateful to get them removed and painted over. 

The whole operation was not without drama, though... as the big truck came out, he became stuck in the mud in the gateway.  If you squint, you can see there is a winch on the front of the truck, and it was being slowly winched out.  The crazy thing was, nothing got stuck UNTIL they got to the gate, and the pasture was soft from the rain we have been getting. 

I have a highly and I mean HIGHLY rutted gate right now that will take months to heal.  But, I am indebted to Forest Keepers Tree Service for another job well done! 

The week before, Good Neighbor Troy came over with his Kubota, and carefully pulled into the sheep yard and pushed into a pile all the boulders that had become embedded in the ground and prevented me from mowing well in there.  While we were in the Big House, the renter here had put two hogs in there.  They had taken the piled boulders in the middle (for our goats) and spread them out, and some became buried.  It was almost impossible to cut in there, and even the sheep could not keep the grass trimmed. 

Troy also moved a huge boulder at the back of the house that made me swerve out of my cutting line, and another on the side, and both moves will make it so much easier to cut this summer.  

Troy picked up three huge engineered posts that had become embedded in the ground on the pad for the Barn That Was Never Built, and moved them down to the brush pile. 

I don't know what I did to deserve such good friends. 

Teenie is back to sleeping in the wood stove.  She is the most-picked on cat here, and very tiny.  She is one of my favorites.  I had her neutered by a local rescue a year ago. 

We went from 70's back to thirties this week, and Wanda has been sleeping in a nest box again.  She and Coco hurry to get in when I lock everyone up at night, Wanda in the Big Hen House and Coco in the old hen house. 

I started some flower seeds, but nothing like as many as I started vegetables and flowers last year.  These are out in the shop. 

The Egg Dam is slowly breaking.  Chickens lay less in the winter, with the shorter days. 

On Wednesday, I got six 18 month old chickens.  They are production reds, meaning hybrid layers designed to lay a lot of eggs for a year or so, and then be replaced.  

They are in the old hen house with Singleton, the rooster and four other hens. 

I have not seen a huge outlay from them yet, but it is early days, and my seven original red hens have begun laying again. 

This is Sunday, and so far, I have eight... and there was a hen on a nest with at least two under her, and another hen with one. 

I also have not checked here yet. 

Can you see the hen?  I have to get on my hands and knees to get the egg out, and so help me, if there is something in there that goes for me, that's IT! 

This is the doghouse that the possum died in in December, no one has been using it, until this hen. 

I found a lot of blood in the shop one morning, and other spots in the garage. 

(That's the beautiful Cleo) 

This guy turned up with a swollen paw, and then a wound that was leaking blood. 

Bullseye was NOT happy to go to the vet, and let me know in no uncertain terms. 

His wound is healing... the vet thinks he was bitten.  He has all his shots, so got a two week antibiotic shot to get him over the hump.  The leg looks much better.  

I am so grateful for blue skies today, the days of clouds were getting me down. 

Can you see the moon between the trees? 

I hope the weather is calming down whereever you are reading this.  

 

A Cold April and May

It appears we are going straight into summer from a very chilly spring!

We have had rain since Wednesday... and... after one last cool day, today, we are to dive into the nineties!  

Too soon! 

Here are some pictures from around the place in the last few weeks...

I walked out on the deck and happened to look to the east one day and saw this! 

It is in about the same place where the maple that turns into fire every fall stands... but I have never noticed it before! 

(Could the big maple have been felled??) 

It was beautiful, and shown like a beacon for several days. 

Yes, I know it's probably a pear tree that needs to be cut... but gosh, 

it was beautiful.

Jack Flash is always around, always watching.  The other cats are scared to death of him, and I am not kidding.  He has beaten up Cleo several times, and she fears him.  I have to carry her food to her now. 

He comes on the deck about 4:30 AM, and curls up in the chair by the door. (camera)   At 5:30 or so, I haul myself out of bed, and go to the door, having filled the dry food bowl the night before.  He jumps down as soon as the door opens and eats his breakfast, and yes, he will let me pet him now.  He is the only one left not neutered... and I am working on that slowly.  The other males are gone (except Bullseye)... Yeller and Rusty are eating across the road at my friend's house now. 

The orioles are back, both Baltimore and Orchard. 

However... I could not feed on the deck as I did last year, so I have not seen them "up close and personal" .  Cats.  Cats everywhere. 

The feeder is way out in the yard, and after trying it on the shepherd's hook for a day, I moved it to the flat feeder that Ben built for me last summer.  

They will be gone in another week. 

Oddly, I have had the hummingbird feeders up on the porch for two weeks, and have yet to see a hummingbird.... also cats?  I wonder. 

I could move them down in the yard in the shade... and may try that, but the littles are everywhere.  The littles are Wanda, Coco and Bullseye, even though all are a year or over a year now.  They are all small and young cats.  They are also good buddies. 

Wanda and Coco playing on the trellis and fence. 

That is literally the cross bar of the big main feeder Keith built. 

No wonder I am not using much wild bird seed right now. 

I have to admit they make me laugh all day. 

The rainy cool days caused us to spend a lot of time inside. 

I have never grown sweet alyssum or lavender, isn't that crazy?  I had no idea that 
Sweet Alyssum actually smelled so wonderfully sweet!  I know it is spring-flowering, but, my goodness... it's wonderful!

I planted lettuce at the back of that planter, you can barely see it.  It did not 

germinate well.  The flowers in the front are all volunteers, so we will see what they are. 

(they look like daisy foliage) 

Here are more volunteers... Batchelor's Buttons, from the planter 

directly above them on the deck.  There is also catnip growing out of sight on 

the right.  I am leaving all these, they are doing wonderfully. 

There are pink versions around the corner there on the right. 

Serendipity, folks. 

The crazy thing is the planter is my "pasture flower" planter that was planted with a 

wildflower mix.  These were obviously seeds that dropped from it. 

On Monday, my young friend Ben stopped by to invite me to his graduation party. 

Any of you who have read this blog over the past year knows how Ben has helped me so much... he weed eats, does simple maintenance, builds, fixes... the list goes on.  I was afraid I had lost him forever, as he is working at the local bank this summer.  He reassured me that he will still work for me this summer, and I can't tell you how happy it made me! 

I have a list already. 

My local friends are so tired of hearing me talk about On The Hook. 

They are in about six states... if you have a chance to eat their fish and chips, try them! I am NOT a seafood lover, but I could eat their cod every day of the week, and believe me, the weeks I can hit the truck more than once stand out in my mind!

(My friend Gloria calls it "The Truck" and that is how I think of it now, even though there are many food trucks) 

They have the best tartar sauce I have ever tasted! 

I rarely eat more than a few french fries, but I savor every bit of the cod. 

I bought four pieces last Saturday (dinner comes with three) and ate every single bit. 

They are five miles from me this Saturday... I will be there as soon as I leave the Ag Hall. 

Speaking of the Ag Hall, we had our first Barnyard Babies Family Festival on the 23rd... and had a decent crowd after not having it for two pandemic years. 

This is not a very good picture, but you can see that people are starting to gather around the Southwest Dairy trailer to watch a milking demonstration. 

It was so good to see families enjoying themselves, and we had many, many animals there for them to see (and no, I did not get pictures, I'm so sorry) 

In the afternoon, I was the Schoolmarm in Island Creek School, and I invited kids to come up 

and draw on the blackboards behind the teacher's desk.  There are no blackboards in schools today, and it's a novelty to draw with chalk and erase what you have drawn. 

Unbeknownst to me... a young artist drew ME. 

My granddaughter, Paiton, was there helping me all afternoon, and she laughed and said 

"Grandma, turn around and see what is on the board."

I couldn't believe it!  She had actually captured me perfectly, and oddly enough... there was also a cat on the board to the left of me!  

I did not get her name, but she was very talented! 

Another young girl drew a city across the board... it was really something to see.  There is so much hidden talent in our young people. 

My little Zoey had to make a trip to the emergency vet on the 24th... she had a bladder infection, they thought.  She was on meds for over a week, and seems to be much better.  We go on Monday for a checkup with her own vet to make sure.  

She and Jester did a lot of resting up during the chilly week. 

This came up in my Facebook memories this week... Little Snowy in the haybarn, looking for mice. She was as dogged a huntress as is Zoey! 

How I miss her sweet little face! 

Here are the three littles caught by the deck camera.  They are together, many times, when I look outside. 

And to close... proof that there are still a few wildings around. 

However, I don't know whether it is because I am feeding MUCH less feed, or whether it's because I went to a cheaper feed, but 

I have nowhere near the number of wildings eating in the yard now. 

The cameras catch only one or two, not ten or eleven, as they used to. 

Last week, I had a raccoon strike during the day, and kill one of the silkies I use for education at the Ag Hall. 

I have not had that happen, though I have had coyotes strike in daytime. 

I have watched for a raccoon around the place... but have seen only an opossum hurrying home early one morning. 

I know it was raccoon.. it had pooped under the bird.  

And on that happy note... 

goodbye until next time, I am going to deliver some eggs!