BRRRRR! The Polar Vortex has Returned!

That was the view from my front door last Sunday, January 4. 

The storm started the afternoon of January 3rd. 

That was looking out towards the deck... I had tried to shovel a path, it was too soon. 

At least fourteen inches settled on the deck... I did manage to open a  path... and have used it all week. 

I have paths through the yard, but oh, the drifts were HORRIBLE. 

On Saturday and Sunday, during the worst parts of the blizzard, I went out to refill wild bird feeders and take care of my chickens at least six times each day. It was hard.

That is what my parking area looked like on Monday morning.  As you see, Bullseye went out... looked at the deep snow, said "Ooops" and ran right back inside. 

I managed to open up a tiny path and lo and behold... My neighbor Garry and his brother appeared in a Polaris with a blade!  They scraped a good path down my very, very long drive and over to the old hen house, which made my chores on that side so easy (!) this week. 

(What I forgot to tell you is that the car had no heat or defrost for a week, and the dealer could not get it in.  I had a tarp across the windshield to keep it from icing too badly. 

It was fixed on Friday in Tongie at the garage there, and I have HEAT again. )

Then Garry got out and shoveled enough snow that I could get to the car. 

I am so grateful to them. 

As of today, Sunday the 12th, the chickens have been in ten days.  I did open the door to the covered yard of the brooder house today to see if they wanted to come out in the air... 

the answer was... Uh, NO. 

And...I found possum tracks in the covered area... I think it has been under the hen house.  I may go out there this evening (at 4) and find it in the warm hen house with the chickens. 

This is not to say I have not gotten eggs all week. The rockstar Rhode Island Reds and Indio Gigantes did me proud.  There were actually nine for two days (all nine hens laying), one was in the closet. 

I have given away nine dozen eggs in the last three days. 

I am very, very disappointed in the Columbian Wyandottes, and would not raise them again, I get very few eggs from them. 

Yes, I know it's winter. 

I would gladly add more Rhodies and a few Marans. 

Having said that, I have come to understand that I am not going to be able to use the 

brooder house I bought last year another winter.  

Shoot, I did not know we could not load videos from our phones anymore thru Blogger, or I would show you.  I'll take some pictures out there when I do chores and you will see. 

When I bought the house, I intended to put it near the water pump, and near the large and small hen houses on the west side of the yard.  The cost to trench electricity from the barn came out at 4,000.00, and yes, you read that right.  I said no.  We ended up siting it just south of the garage, and next to the barn on its east side, to bring the electricity over.  Be aware of this if you buy a pre-made, and it is not wired, and keep in mind your costs to connect to electricity. 

There is about two feet of clearance between the garage and the brooder house.  It drifted DEEPLY and I had to shovel it in frigid circumstances.  The door froze and I had to shut it all week with a fencepost braced on the barn, until it thawed yesterday.  There are six hens and a rooster in there, but... I am going to have to re-home them, I think.  They are the hens who get out through the fence almost daily... and... this carrying water in bad weather (and carrying feed) has proven very hard for my seventy four year old bones. 

So. Many. Memes. 

We were indeed, closed, all highways were closed and it was terrible driving. 

I was home five days straight, and finally got out for birdseed and feed. 

My two youngest grands were out of school all week... they were supposed to go back on Friday, but there was freezing rain. 

Precip again Thursday night.  Yes, there were moments of beauty. 

I'm over winter. 

I have spent a fortune on wild bird food, and I'm not kidding. 

I'm embarrassed to admit how much.  I am trying to let them clean up some of the sunflower this afternoon. 

Wanda is living in the big hen house for the time being.  It is 34 out right now, and I would let her out... but I am afraid I could not get her back in. 

Our weather is diving tonight, and we will be up and down all week. 

If we could get a little bit of melting, I would consider letting some of the hens out, but... I don't think it will possible this week. 

The two warming lights in the barn, along with the heater and heated water dish, have kept everyone in there (three cats) safe for the week, better than I expected, in fact.  (That's Mama in the picture) 

I have not been dumping cat food into the bin at night like I usually do, I figure anyone struggling in this weather deserves a meal. 

(possums or raccoons) 

NOT KIDDING. 

And now... the pictures everyone was waiting for...

That is a bird bathing in my heated basin in the yard.  BATHING. 

It was about ten out at the time. 

I managed to dig the basin out two days later.  

I have another fortex of water out there I dump at night. 

I have seen a LOT of these guys, a whole murder, in fact. 

And these guys, who don't come in fair weather because the cats would get them. 

Three have been coming and I bought peanuts for them especially. 

It was sure beautiful, if you were not a little creature trying to survive. 

So many cardinals, and I am not kidding.  Probably seven pair out there one evening... they are always the last at the feeders so I put extra peanuts out for them. 

I just stopped typing long enough to go put more peanuts outside and the squirrels came down out of the maple almost as soon as I did. 

The joke is on me... I am watching one eating right now at the foot of the maple, and he is eating sunflower seed with a pile of peanuts next to him! 

Beauties. 

Stranger Creek valley to the east of me. 

Finches trying to eat during the storm.  They are on the balcony rail outside my window. 

Even the eagles looked cold.  

Saturday, Sunday and Monday, they must have been in their aerie. 

Tuesday, they were back on the comm tower. 

The wind was blowing their feathers. 

Looking opposite directions. 

Click on the pictures to make them bigger. 

And... just so you know... Chico runs up and down the plowed driveway to do his business, dragging his 20 foot long leash and MAMA right behind him.  He is not going to be eagle bait. 

I was standing at my back door, which is in my bedroom, trying to take these pictures with the camera and heavy lens, and freezing to death... I did not get very good ones. 

I love these majestic birds.  They were here this morning, but a friend stopped to get eggs about 2:30, and they were gone.  To see them in the air is to feel your heart in your throat. 

My friend Kim, who lives here in Leavenworth County, and her husband Mark, raise cattle.  They have had a week like me.   

She posted this last night and I laughed my head off.  

My feelings, exactly!

Stay safe out there, friends!  

And those who are in California... my heart goes out to you and yours for your terrible losses. 

I am joking about winter, but I am so very, very blessed, and I know it. 

 

Cold Weather and a Return

I remain resolved to try to post more often in this new year!

We are one month from Christmas, can anyone believe it? 

Let's get right onto it. 

This first picture is someone who brought a smile to my face, and my heart sang. 

This is my beautiful Rusty, the cat from the header. 

He looks in great shape, doesn't he?

I had not seen him in four months, and last week, I caught him on the deck camera. 

I was so relieved, and then was "rewarded" with this additional picture of him on the twenty-third. 

My theory is that when the females came from Kitty Cat Connection, Rusty gave up and departed. 

I nearly cried when I saw him last week.  

He actually came from Kitty Cat Connection four years ago, with his three siblings, as kittens. One by one, they disappeared.  I thought he had, too. 

But you know what?  Now that I stare at this picture, as I type... I am no longer sure this is he. 

The face looks too narrow, but... I am going to look at the many pictures I have of him to be sure. 

This cat, with a collar, and in great flesh, appeared Sunday night. Remember, that basin is heated. 

I pick up the cat food most nights, except when it is really frigid, and then I leave it down, because the raccoons and possums generally den up. 

I don't know this cat.  

This is the only swinging feeder I have left.... I have not had to fill it except once or twice a day, however.... for some reason, I had to refill it at least six times yesterday and today.  I finally went out there and taped it to the shepherd's hook so it will not swing.  I had so many of these feeders, but they are so wasteful... I wasted pounds of birdseed last winter.  It's far too expensive to waste this year. 

A 40 pound bag of Back Yard Blend has gone from 18.99 at this time last year, to 33.95.  I have all the feeders stored in the shop now. 

I put sunflower chips in this feeder, the most expensive of the feeds.  

Yes, it was horridly cold. 

Here is Wanda, in the big hen house.  She has made her bed in there for the last three nights. I believe Cleo, who normally sleeps rough, has run her out of the shop.  Cleo has been sleeping inside since the really cold weather hit.  

Wanda has a bad eye, and I know it looks bad here, but it is actually open when she is up and about. I am studying about how to catch her, and have talked to a local vet about her being treated there. 

Unfortunately, I was going to let her live in there... I put soft fresh straw in the nest yesterday... but this morning, as I walked out to open up... I caught her going after the old hens with mal-intent.  She was ushered out.  

There are enough mice in there that the hens should not be enticing... I suspect she was playing, but it looked rough. 

Cleo, the Queen of the Shop. 

She lets the others know it, too. 

Bullseye's work.  Remember, he started out feral in the woods. 

I have been keeping him in as much as I can, and I believe tomorrow I am going to get him a collar with a bell on it, one that can be heard by anything he is after. 

Sorry for the gore, but it's a fact of life in the country. 

There are thirty or more cardinals eating here right now, and I hate to see any go down to the Killer. 

There was another possum on the Kuranda bed... and you can just see Coco's head in the deck chair in the middle of the picture.  That is an electric heater in the middle, and I have to say that it is making the shop livable for the cats ... the possums are just visitors (I think).  In this sequence, Coco's head came up every once in a while as she made sure the possums were not bothering her. 

You can see where they have been drinking out of the heated basin in the front of the picture. 

I took this through the window last week... I felt so sorry for the birds and squirrels.  On days like this, I don't let the chickens out at all.  I hate going out, the older I get, the more I dread the cold, I admit it. 

Also staying inside in the bitter cold. 

That heater looks like it is right on the bed, it is not.  

Zoey has been in front of it all day today, and Jester is with me here in the office. 

It is 24 as I type this.  It was 52 yesterday.... go figure. 

The Killa better be glad I love him. 

Starliings gotta eat too. 

I would like them better if they didn't poop all over everything... but... I have to admit to you that I am not getting them this year in the hordes of years past. 

I watch this redtailed hawk at the bottom of my pasture every day, he is watching one of the ponds on the Spehar's property.  I always want to to tell him to turn around, there is a cornucopia of birds in my yard just behind him... but he always watches the pond and looks so cold and lonely. 

These guys love Back Yard Blend, though. 

So do these, and they were waiting for their turn. 

Hoping she was not The One. 

I caught these beauties up in the walnut tree. 

So grateful I foster failed.... again. 

And so grateful for this old guy, who has been accepting of everything and everyone that has come into this house in the last five years.  He's my doll, and my big buddy.... Jester. 

He is the last pet Keith and I had together.  

That smile on his face is for real. 

Comparing the two... it's Rusty. 

So relieved, I can't tell you how much. 

I'm putting food in the pasture feeder again at night, just in case. 

He's eating good somewhere, though.  

Stay warm, friends. 

Spring is in 54 days! 

 

Catching Up

Friends, I did not know it had been a week since I last posted. 

Sometimes life just rushes past us. 

Yesterday was the second anniversary of our loss 

of Brandon, Keith's youngest boy. 

It seems as if time  has rushed these last two years, with this 

loss and our move, and Keith's illness. 

Anyway, I will try to get caught up. 

Here is a big-eared little friend enjoying some bird seed 

on the patio. 

Oh, if only his friends weren't invading the house, and 

making me realize that the feeding must stop for a while, and 

traps be set again. 

If I just didn't like to watch the birds so much! 

The babies are doing well, at least three are moving around and vibrant, 

and unlike this past year, I am seeing mother there daily feeding them. 

Yesterday was the Tractor Cruise at the Ag Hall. 

There were all kinds of old tractors, restored and not restored, all running. 

The participants (some were ladies) had driven them to Tonganoxie, and back... and were loading 

so they could go down to the barn and have a good dinner. 

While all this was going on... a troop of boy scouts was setting up shop to camp out 

last night.

They had other, smaller tents set up near the tree line. 

What a wonderful place to camp. 

And interesting companions. 

The scoutmasters (four dads) were 

overseeing the boys cooking on the grill. 

I hope they had a good night, because it has been storming here since

mid-morning this morning. 

I have been trying for many weeks to get a picture of a cardinal. 

This is a MUCH cropped picture, I was trying to get a picture of the mockingbird, 

and when I saw it in the camera I realized I had got him picking a bug out of the air. 

Serendipity. 

That's the National Farmer's Memorial mound behind him, throwing so 

much white in the picture. 

Look what I was working on yesterday! 

In the morning, I went to Leavenworth, where I bought tomatoes from a young 

woman who raises them in her basement, as I did last year. 

I bought four different kinds.  She also was selling geraniums she had started from slips... I bought ten, at a dollar apiece!  

I will be pulling the grass from the bales, but it also signifies that there are no herbicides in the bales (and that's a good thing).  

Then I stopped at Home Depot and got four pickling cukes and two watermelon slips. 

As you see, I filled the well in the middle of the bales and put the watermelons there, 

I will train them out the sides. 

See the tomato supports?  They are simply protecting the tomatoes for a few days, 

because they will not hold in the bales.  I am going to have to bite the bullet 

and build a trellis system, with some tee poles and some twine. 

I wish you could have seen the black gold that was happening in the 

bales, it was incredible.  I will try to get a picture this week. 

There were also lots of mushrooms that had come up and died off in the bales, 

also a good sign that they are working inside. 

While I was working, we had a flyover.  The Nascar races were this weekend at Kansas Speedway, about ten miles from our house. 

They actually flew over and back around at least six times.  

I wish you could have heard them! 

My feathered friends were chattering non-stop trying to hurry me along. 

The dogs had been out there, but it was very humid, and I soon took them 

back in the house. 

I will be working on the patio this week and will take pictures. 

Okay, this was odd.  

I turned a corner this morning on the way to church, and there were two hens walking down the road. 

The only people I know on this road that keep chickens are the people that sell eggs at the road, and these hens were about a half mile from that house.  

Strange. 

They were nice birds. 

I am not so sure that isn't a rooster above, now that I look at it.

I passed the little pasture pond I have shown you so many times: 

There are three birds in that picture. 

I turned the corner... 

Uh huh.  It's that time again. 

The sun was short-lived... and we expect storms off and on all week. 

It's storming again now, so I am going to end this long, long entry. 

I hope everyone had a grand Mother's Day!