Lots Going On

I'm glad to say that despite the terrible bitter cold we had for three days last week, 

I did not lose any more hens.  Whew. 

Sorry for the blur.... I came out the door of the house last week and saw this cat sitting at the pasture feeder. 

This is NOT Rusty. 

He jumped up and ate... so I know he knows where the food is. 

This is a short-haired cat. 

This is it, not Rusty.  I had taken a picture a day earlier and thought Rusty was down there, hunting. 

Pretty soon, I saw him come away from the tall weeds and look to the south. 

THAT is Rusty!

(Rusty is neutered) 

There was no confrontation, at least, not as long as I watched. 

I have seen the black cat around, but not on the deck or porch. 

The white/black kitty is still eating on the porch several times during the day. 

And yes, this happened too.  I left the chickens in for three days, they hated me. 

It was miserably cold, with temps going to zero at night.  In fact, I filled buckets, thinking the 

well would freeze.  Luckily, it did not. 

As a friend said to me "If it didn't freeze Thursday night, it ain't freezing!" 

The snow brought lots of birds feeding, and here I am going to say something. 

I spend way too much on feeding the wild birds.  It is without a doubt the most expensive feed I buy... far more than chickens and far more than the sheep, even including their hay. 

I am low in the cans right now, and I bought feed on Thursday.  I am ashamed to tell you what I have been paying, and it has to stop.  

I learned last summer with the bad leg that I cannot do the weed eating here by myself, and that means I am going to have to find a lawn service.  I have been making cuts in the budget so I can afford it this year... and one of the cuts is going to be the way I feed the wild birds. 

I spend a fortune on finch feed, and most of it spills on the ground, because the feeders swing on poles.  That's going to stop, I am going to talk to a friend at the Ag Hall, and see if he can 

make a simple wood platform that a feeder fits into that holds it steady, so it is no longer hung.  The birds can perch on it and get the seed.... without swinging it so that the seed falls out.   I will be able to lift the feeder out and clean it, and fill from the top.  I tried an expensive feeder with smaller holes, and they never found the holes except the top two, would eat down two inches and I would refill and then I realized the rest of the seed was rotting in the feeder from the moisture.  So.. it's gone. 

The platform feeder in the above picture will be filled in the morning, and then one scoop late in the afternoon.  Yes, I'll support the birds until the weather breaks, but even today (it is sixty out, friends!) they are eating elsewhere. 

I love watching them!

I wanted to put this in here to remind everyone that these guys are nothing to fool with. 

This was last night. 

I go out EVERY time the dogs go out at night, because of this. 

I also will not be feeding on the porch once the weather has changed.... they will have to eat the spilled bird seed.  

I am getting very concerned that they are way too dependent on this cat food, and I pull it in when I go to bed.  The three cats eating here know where to find it. 

I saw a Facebook video last week where a lady had 23 raccoons when she opened her door.... she actually leaned down and held her hand out and one of them came forward and bit her.  I am 

not that crazy.  

Now, this guy may have only been chewing, but YIKES. 

I found this picture this morning, it is the view looking down towards the ponds at the foot of the hill, with NO TREES in the fenceline. 

Beautiful. 

This woodpecker was on the feeder this morning. 

And one of our little friends, last night. 

I tried to get a better picture of Cookie, but he always gets too close... this is his first birthday. 

If I ever have to rehome the sheep, he would be my problem boy... he is a hair sheep, not wool, and it would be hard to find him a home.  I am just enjoying him every day. 

I went to the store an hour ago to get some apples for his treat.... I bought Galas, on sale....

not one sheep ate even one!  

Happy Birthday, Cookie! 

Starting a New Decade

So much happened in the last decade...

I lost my sister, Kathleen, my brothers Mike and Pete, 

my stepson, Brandon, and my husband Keith. 

So many losses, but I am still blessed to be here and 

be in good health and be able to get around and stay active. 

I like to think these were still happy years, despite the loss. 

Keith and I moved away from Calamity Acres in 2014, as he grew 

more ill,  

but I came back in the fall of 2017 (we rented the house out). 

It was rehabbed and is a cozy, comfortable home for me, 

the dogs and the critters. 

So, let's look at what is now "last year". 

We'll start in January. 

Lilly Ann was aging, and her body had started changing, see how her 

legs were bowed out? 

Also, see all the chicken poop on the porch?  That was going to go away. 

I still had three of my original four big Pekins. 

Yes, they swam all winter. 

In February...

We had some warmish days, and some of the snakes woke up! 

And that month, there were only two sheep in the pasture, Fluffy, on the right, 

and Flicka, on the left.  Faithful Lilly Ann was guarding them. 

On February 13th, I got a bucket of eggs!  Right now, I am blessed to get two or three a day, 

but the hens are all getting old. 

On the 16th, with cold and snow outside, I had a surprise in the sheep barn!

More snow in March...

I love tracks in the snow. 

On the 11th, Cookie was wethered. 

Dr. LaRosh has since retired. 

In April, I had a real surprise! 

Fluffy was a lamb when she came here with the boarded sheep two 

years ago.  There was a ram lamb in with them, but I honestly never 

saw him breed her, and did not have a clue that she was pregnant. 

She presented me with Niblet on April 2nd. 

By mid-April, spring was on the way. 

In May...

I planted one of the big planters on my deck with lettuce, and it took off! 

And saw one of my favorite groups, Little River Band, for 

the fifth or sixth time.... (Colin Whinnery)... I know they are 

not the original Australian band... but if you ever have a chance to 

see these guys .... GO. 

May 14, one of the hardest days of my life... My beloved Lilly Ann crossed the Rainbow Bridge. She had spent her whole life with me, it was so hard to let her go. 

In June...

In June, the poultry was rapidly wearing out their welcome on the deck and porch. 

Folks, chickens (and ducks) are dirty, there are no two ways about it.  I have kept them 

for many years, but they are dirty.  I had to wash the porch off every single day, 

and use a shovel to shovel off the poop. 

It was onerous.  

The fun of watching them was not equal to the job of cleaning up after them. 

I had cross-fenced the yard in March, and it was rapidly becoming time to 

fence them up. 

We had some spectacular evenings. 

In July....

these were coming along. 

And I was privileged to have the time to take 

my two grands on the left (and their cousins to the right) to the pool this summer...

In August....

(Sorry, couldn't resist) 

And this happened, our wonderful Fritzi came in to Jester's and my lives, and we were so glad. 

She is just our little doll, thank you again, Bonner Animal Rescue.

In September...

I made a decision to re-home Duckie and the Duckertons. 

I love ducks.... but I was having trouble taking care of them 

as I felt I needed to.... they were rehomed to a women 

with duck experience and a pond, and the young layers and 

their rooster went to a new home, too. 

It was very hard to let Duckie go, let me tell you. 

He was the duck with personality!

We had a beautiful late summer. 

And I watched some fall baseball...

On the 28th, I saw another favorite band...

Toto, at the Uptown theater. with a horrid rainstorm 

as we came out of the venue.... What a ride home! 

(that's Steve Lukather and Joe Williams)

In October....

Granddaughter Paiton celebrated her birthday with a riding lesson. 

In early November, I caught a glimpse of my favorite maple tree 

down beyond my neighbor's pond. 

And we began preparing in earnest for "Santa's Express" at the National Agricultural Center, where I have volunteered for five years now. 

Jester was never far from me.  He is the pluckiest little dog, 

and I am so glad to have him. 

December.... 

Penning the chickens on the far side of the yard was a great decision. 

No more nastiness tracked into the house... hardly any flies. 

Of course Singleton, who was living at the Ag Hall, 

is home for the winter, and every morning, chases his daddy 

Ferdinand out of the enclosure...

and Ferdie now lives by the deck, porch and side of the house 

during the day, with one little red hen.  

I am dealing with small amounts of poop again. 

When Singleton and his girls go back to the Ag in the spring, 

Ferdie will move into the old hen house with his little hen. 

We had a wonderful Santa event at the National Agricultural Center, despite the fact we had a near-blizzard on the second day.  Santa was there, and 50 or so hardy people came through the storm to see him, do crafts, and have some hot chocolate and cookies. 

I built Gnomelandia in my spare bedroom, because great-granddaughter Maci 

was coming for the first time. 

I had so much fun doing this, and am going to improve it next year. 

The dogs and I had our Christmas picture taken.

When family came for Christmas. 

And finally....

The Reason for the Season. 

And so it comes to an end, the year and the decade. 

Like I said, I am so blessed to live where I do, 

to enjoy the fauna and flora (a lot of fauna), 

to have two faithful and loving little dogs, 

and an array of critters coming during the night 

to keep things lively. 

I want to thank everyone for reading this and reading 

for the last ten years about my humble life. 

I so enjoy sharing aspects of it with you. 

Here's to a great new decade for all of us!

From Winter to Spring!

On the fifth, we had bitter, bitter weather. 

This young bird hung around all morning, I am sure it was 

very, very hungry (juvenile red-tailed hawk). 

It was bitter most of that week, and my electric bill 

reflected it.  

This week, just past, was milder, but very, very rainy and windy. 

Every time I looked out the door, this is what I saw.  

Chickens (and roosters) on the doorstep, staying out of the rain. 

I have tripped over them numerous times, and frankly, I am 

up to here with chicken poop. 

So....

I have hired a fencing crew to come and put up fence.  I originally 

thought to cut the yard in two, and fence off the southern half for the chickens, 

with a wide driveway gate, and two smaller walk gates.  I realized I did not 

really want to do this, so asked the fencing supervisor to re-measure, and we are now 

going to fence the half acre around the two bigger henhouses on the west side. 

The hens in the old hen house, pictured above, are moving back to the 

National Agricultural Center for the summer. 

Tuesday night, the fencers came to drop off supplies.  As you see, the truck was 

parked just OFF level ground, and they became hopelessly mired. 

A second and then a third truck was brought to try to pull them out, and as you can 

see, it left a mess, nine inches deep in some points.  The supervisor told me that 

when they DO start fencing, he will use displaced dirt to fill it in. 

I have told him NO fencing will commence until the yard is dry.  I can wait. 

I went down to Garnett on Sunday to get grandson Chris.  He helped me 

on Monday morning to take Cookie to the vet in Tonganoxie to be 

neutered.  I did not realize that with lambs it is imperative that it 

be done EARLY, within two or three weeks, because goats can 

wait a little later. 

As you see, Cookie was getting to be  handful at three weeks. 

Dr. LaRosh at Pleasant Valley Veterinary Hospital made quick work of the neutering. 

Yes, Chris and I had to leave the room.  Cookie and his mama were so glad to see each other 

when we got home, and Chris got the crate broken down and put away and we actually jumped in the car to go back to Garnett. 

Cookie stayed away from me the rest of the day after my return, and I was glad it was still cold, as it helped with healing and NO FLIES.  

By Tuesday, I could tell he was still stiff, but running around happily again. 

He is one month old today.  He is eating along with his mama and Aunt Fluffy, 

both grain and some hay, though he is still nursing. 

I wish he had a playmate, but frankly, after the hard winter we just had.... I am glad 

I was not caring for all eight sheep that boarded here before. 

It is a glorious day today, and I actually enjoyed carrying my feed in buckets to the different hen houses.  So much better than trudging over the snowy ground. 

There are buds everywhere. 

As I took the feed into the hen spa this morning, 

I interrupted feral Rusty eating his breakfast (I leave a deep dish of 

cat food in there for them) and I stopped to look at the nest boxes, 

there were five hens already laying.  I am averaging from 21 to 25 eggs a day now.

I have a lesser number about every third day, some of these hens are, after all, three year olds. 

I talked to one of the shelter managers at The Community of Hope on Thursday, and 

6 cartons of 18 eggs are about what they need weekly, so I have enough to give to friends, 

which makes me happy.  

Yes, I know this morning's news has announced more bad news about eggs and cholesterol.... but eggs are not the only cause of cholesterol, and people have eaten them for millenia.  I am still going to eat them. 

All three henhouses need a thorough cleaning, and that is part of what I have on the agenda 

this coming week in the better weather we are now having. 

Paiton and Jax had spring break this week, but I had so much going on, I did not see them until yesterday.  We went to lunch at Ihop, and as you can see, they had breakfast for lunch. 

We had a great time visiting. 

I have a confession to make, I LOVE IHOP HOT CHOCOLATE! 

Last Friday, I took Paiton to her riding lesson. 

At this stable, they just don't jump on and off the horses.  She had had to go to the pasture in the cold to catch the horse up, bring her in, groom her, tack her up, ride the lesson, and afterwards (it was nearly seven pm and dark) blanket Appy again before she was turned back out.  Thankfully, her riding instructor took care of that on Friday evening. 

Paiton is doing very well, and I hope to take her again in a few weeks and get good pictures of her. 

Jester loves his sunbeams. 

My girl Lil, in the last light of day on Sunday,  on her favorite couch 

in my bedroom. 

There was standing water everywhere after the rain this week, and the ducks were in their glory. 

Here I need to talk about ducks.  These are three Pekin drakes.  For the last week, 

they have been displaying mating behavior on each other... it is normal, but disconcerting. 

They are actually hurting each other.  

I looked out this morning and did not see them anywhere, and finally, after I started chores, I saw them way down in the pasture, trying to breed each other, filthy dirty (all the water has sunk into the ground). I could tell their pool had not been used. 

I went ahead and bucketed a fresh pool, but left them alone.  I had a chance this week to 

send them to the annual spring poultry auction in Gardner, but turned it down. 

I may still re-home them at some point, but for now, we will just see what we will see. 

As of my sitting down to type this at noon, they have still not come back up to the yard. 

More about the fencing... the chickens are going to be in the half-acre on the southwest side of the more-or-less-two-acre yard.  I will miss seeing them running all over, but I will NOT miss 

having no garden (they pulled it all up last year) and having no vegetables at all. 

I can always open the gates if I want them out, but I am making a considerable investment to do this. 

Singleton's group will still be loose in the old hen house, but this is the flock of roughly twelves hens and Singleton that are headed to the National Agricultural Center for the summer. 

It is already 47 here, and going to 57.  I am going to go out and do some preliminary work 

in the gardens, but grandson Chris will be back up in two weeks to do the heavy lifting. 

I hope this was the last blast of winter, it is so nice to walk outside without double layers on! 

One last comment, directed at any other bloggers reading this... last post, I had the strangest comment, one unusual for me, and I have been blogging literally ten years now. 

It was a post from a foreign country delineating "escort" services for those visiting the country.  It was lengthy.  I am sorry if anyone read it and was offended, I took it off, and I realize I need to LOOK at my comments regularly.  I have never had anything like that posted before, though I have had some critical comments that were unwarranted (and I removed them).