A Start to a Long Weekend

I took Friday off, so I could get a jump on the weekend.  On Saturday, son Jim will be out to weedeat and move some heavier things for us, to earn some extra money.  We're glad for his help, and would rather pay him than a stranger.  I'm going to stop at the dentist tomorrow to have a small filling replaced, and then we are going to have a pleasant weekend.  Yes, we'll work in the garden and yard a bit, but I did get started on the mowing tonight, and will finish tomorrow.  At some point, I'll need to get down in the pasture... but we are actively trying to find someone to come in and do a brush hog sweep before it gets too out of control.

Strange phenomenom .... in March we saw a big snake in the henhouse.  Two weeks ago I almost picked one up getting eggs.  None other has been seen.  Because of this, the mice are out of control, so starting this weekend, we are going to have to poison the mice again.  On Saturday we'll move Butch and his girls out to the a pen in the pasture, and then I'll commence to put poison in the feed room.  We are considering NOT feeding inside the henhouse, and leaving feed outside at all times except in inclement weather. 

Tuesday night I got my cheesemaking kit from New England Cheesemaking Supply.  I stopped at Roxanne's dairy and bought a gallon of goat's milk from her, and it is thawing in the refrigerator now.  I hope to make goat cheese on Saturday.  I will, of course,

take pictures of the adventure! 

If I can do this, or at least make it edible, then I think we will be on our way to someday having our own pair of milk goats. 

If I can get this Moondrop video to load (and I have tried once, and it did not) you can see it change colors at night, after the solar lens has loaded all day.  We love to look out the door and see it changing colors at night! It was a Mother's Day gift from son Jim, and have we ever enjoyed it!

A Great Sunday

After our fun Saturday night, we came home to find the tornado sirens had been blown in our own county while we were "next door" at the game.  The small town of Reading in Lyon County was destroyed by a tornado, and Keith stayed up until 3 on the radio as the Incident Management Team arrived and took over organizing things.  They stay approximately two days, set up support systems, and then turn things over to the locals.  They have access to calling in the Salvation Army, Red Cross, and beginning to organize volunteers.  They also lliase with the state for aid.  One other important thing that many people do not think of is a specialty in Kansas now.... animal volunteers who come and pick up the pets that are dazed and confused and hurt or wandering in shock.  Those pets for the small town of Reading that was virtually wiped out were being taken this afternoon to Emporia's shelter. 

Then, in midafternoon today, another tornado or tornados struck Joplin, Missouri, and the death count is currenty at 24.  Please pray for all those affected by these terrible new disasters, along with those affected by the flooding, etc.  Keith is on call to go if he needs to, tomorrow or Tuesday, so is waiting to see.

In the meantime, he worked very hard on the base of the henhouse.  As he said this evening, it will be strong enough and will have enough windows and a nice door and small porch, that anyone moving here after us can have it cleaned and then let their mother in law live in it!

Of course, I did not take a picture because I helped hold the two end boards.  I'll get one this week.

This morning, we put together the Ware Chicken Hutch that I got on sale at Tractor Supply last month.  It is not a very sturdy little cage, (they make the rabbit version the same way, but the Chicken Hutch has a roost and a small "egg door"), but it is now inside the 4 x 4 pen, and the babies are locked up in it tonight for the first time. 

The Seabright was the first to decide to lay down in it.

It has a door that I can latch shut at night, so tonight, for the first time, I can shut them up outside in the pen. There are tarps over the top of it, and a cement block up against the gate.

When I went out there at 8, they were all bedded down in the straw.  The good thing is, during the day, they are small enough to walk around under it, so they lost hardly any space in the pen.
They figured out how to walk up and down the door quickly, and how to roost.

Here are the two Mille Fleur D'Uccle cockerels figuring out how to walk up the door to the hutch.  There is one Millie pullet with this bunch, the other two are in the little henhouse and getting along fine. The Millie pullet with this group was attacked when in the little henhouse, and she is bald and appears to not have good sight in her left eye, but is healing now and getting along fine.

The buff cochin chick that looked sick last weekend was in the shop all week, and she is doing fine, pooping, drinking and eating well, so I snuck her in with the juveniles after dark tonight.

What a relief it was not to have to load everyone up in their cat carrier, take them in the big henhouse, and then divide half into the nursing cage and half into the rabbit hutch!  Whew! 

Here is a Brassy Back Old English Gamebird cockerel and pullet. You see how tiny and delicate the pullet is, the smallest of all the bantams.  Of course, straight run... I got three cockerels and only ONE pullet.

My eventual plan is to have a pen of OEG's, one of Porcelain D'Uccles, and one of Mille Fleur D'Uccles.  That's the Welsummer cockerel next to them, he makes five of her.  As HE was attacked while in the little henhouse, he is with the juveniles, but the Welsummer pullets are still in the little henhouse.  That will all get sorted out, too.

We spent the balance of the afternoon on the new henhouse, and gardening.  I got almost all of my plants in the ground, but have some iris still to put in in the next two days.  I am going to take Friday off, I hope, and have a four day weekend.

Here is last year's bed, I was filling in holes in it.

And lastly, here are the babies going to bed tonight!