Found this little guy adorning my chicken run fence this morning, while I was letting the girls out of the coop. It doesn't take much to get me smiling these days.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Solar powered
Found this little guy adorning my chicken run fence this morning, while I was letting the girls out of the coop. It doesn't take much to get me smiling these days.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Poor Boots.
Boots is my White Sultan hen. Normally, she looks so poofy that she can hardly see out from under her little white crest... I think she is actually a rejected Muppet. But when this photo was taken, she had just come out from the shower, and none too happy about it.
I found a spot of blood in the coop yesterday when I let the girls out in the morning, and being the paranoid chicken mother that I am, I had to check everyone over, toes to comb, for injuries. I didn't find anything definitive, but one of Boots' feet seemed to be a little sore, so I decided to take her inside and give her a bath so I could get a closer look. She has such heavily-feathered feet that it's almost impossible to see clear down to the toes without getting her wet - and I figured if I was going to get her legs soaked anyway, why not do the whole hen?
Turns out that she had an injured feather shaft that was a little bloody. I don't know if one of the other hens picked at her feet, or if she might have injured it some other way - but I got it cleaned up and disinfected, and it seems much better today.
Hopefully I won't be bathing any more chickens anytime soon, but hey, I'll try anything once. I'm not sure that Boots would agree.
Friday, June 26, 2009
The lonesome little garden
Well, here it is at the end of June, and me with only one lonesome little container garden.
My seedlings met with absolute disaster, and although I have no idea where I went wrong, I ended up with only a few starts of tomatoes, peppers, and melons. All my herbs and several vegetables succumbed right as I was about to begin laying the groundwork for the new gardens.
All is not lost, however. I went out on Wednesday and replaced a portion of my herbs with new transplants from Trader Joe's. OK, so it's not as self-sufficient as starting from seed, but at least I now have a little gardening going on. I'm greatly enjoying the little container, and can't wait to plant its clone next week with the other remaining herbs - dill, parsley, and chamomile.
The other good news is that my dad tilled up a sizable portion in his backyard for me to start my remaining plants in. I can't wait to get over there and get everything put into the soil. There was no way I could have gotten my own gardens built in time, so I'm extremely grateful for the little patch of soil he loaned me.
(By the way, the container pictured is one of the self-watering containers I built back in early May. It's my first time using one, especially a DIY job, so time will tell how it works out.)
Thursday, June 25, 2009
They're coming to take me away, hehe...
Just a little something on the lighter side. This photo absolutely cracks me up! As you can probably guess, that's Jasper, during the long car ride home from the shelter.
He's every bit as crazy as he appears in the photo. I mean that in the best possible way.
The show must go on
By 1:00 am on Monday morning, my husband was dialing for an ambulance and I was heading off to the emergency room.
Yep, I told you that things went downhill fast!
Don't worry, it wasn't some crazy farming accident. I didn't impale myself on cattle panel, catch some horrible zoological disease, or get mauled by the dogs.
To be honest, even now, no one is really sure what exactly did happen to me that night - other than the fact that I went from totally normal, to suffering from excruciating abdominal pain in under 2 hours. (It's not the first time that this has happened - the last time, when I lived in Columbus, I was also taken to the ER; but, the hospital never saw me, and I fell asleep in the waiting room after suffering for 10 hours straight. Woke up the next morning, spent a week in recovery at home, and haven't had a single problem since. It's been nearly two years since that incident.)
The staff in the hospital were wonderful, and took excellent care of me. After getting some serious relief from an IV and pain meds, I fell asleep quickly and spent all of Monday in the hospital, going in and out of sleep. I was completely exhausted and wasn't fully comprehending much, thanks to the strong pain medications the night before. By Tuesday morning, though, I was feeling much better and ready to get back home. A lot of soreness still persisted (and still does, 4 days later), but it was clear that the worst was over.
Over the 2 days I spent hospitalized, doctors came in and went over my CAT scans with me, but there wasn't very much to conclude from them, unfortunately. The potential causes mentioned included:
-Scar tissue buildup from surgeries I had as a child
-Dilated appendix
-Paralysis/dysfunction of the ilieum
-Chron's disease
Needless to say, ignoring serious issues like that is not an option. I have followup appointments over the next two weeks to try and obtain a clearer diagnosis.
In the meantime, I'm just trying to get back into my normal routines, and do as much work as I can without overtaxing myself. No matter what, as one of my favorite authors likes to say: life rolls. As unfortunate as it might sound, the dogs, cats, chickens, gardens, and farm are all indifferent to my pain and exhaustion. The show must go on...
Yep, I told you that things went downhill fast!
Don't worry, it wasn't some crazy farming accident. I didn't impale myself on cattle panel, catch some horrible zoological disease, or get mauled by the dogs.
To be honest, even now, no one is really sure what exactly did happen to me that night - other than the fact that I went from totally normal, to suffering from excruciating abdominal pain in under 2 hours. (It's not the first time that this has happened - the last time, when I lived in Columbus, I was also taken to the ER; but, the hospital never saw me, and I fell asleep in the waiting room after suffering for 10 hours straight. Woke up the next morning, spent a week in recovery at home, and haven't had a single problem since. It's been nearly two years since that incident.)
The staff in the hospital were wonderful, and took excellent care of me. After getting some serious relief from an IV and pain meds, I fell asleep quickly and spent all of Monday in the hospital, going in and out of sleep. I was completely exhausted and wasn't fully comprehending much, thanks to the strong pain medications the night before. By Tuesday morning, though, I was feeling much better and ready to get back home. A lot of soreness still persisted (and still does, 4 days later), but it was clear that the worst was over.
Over the 2 days I spent hospitalized, doctors came in and went over my CAT scans with me, but there wasn't very much to conclude from them, unfortunately. The potential causes mentioned included:
-Scar tissue buildup from surgeries I had as a child
-Dilated appendix
-Paralysis/dysfunction of the ilieum
-Chron's disease
Needless to say, ignoring serious issues like that is not an option. I have followup appointments over the next two weeks to try and obtain a clearer diagnosis.
In the meantime, I'm just trying to get back into my normal routines, and do as much work as I can without overtaxing myself. No matter what, as one of my favorite authors likes to say: life rolls. As unfortunate as it might sound, the dogs, cats, chickens, gardens, and farm are all indifferent to my pain and exhaustion. The show must go on...
Pre-mayhem
Well, I'm sitting here typing away again, after a truly crazy weekend and week.
Although the real mayhem didn't begin until later, I guess the best place to start would be Saturday afternoon. Byron and I headed north to my hometown to attend the annual community garage sales. We really got lucky, and brought home a treasure trove of great finds - among them, $4 fondue set, new in box; a $10 industrial livestock/barn cooling fan; a $10 antique metronome from the early 1900's. I just love garage sales! Many of my most treasured kitchen tools have come to me that way. I wouldn't be baking bread or drying my own vegetables and herbs if it wasn't for garage sales!
On Sunday morning, we undertook another little adventure. My husband and I have been really hoping to get a portion of the yard fenced in for the dogs soon - they really need the space for free-running, especially now that it's warm and all they want to do is lounge around in the kennel all day. They really need that extra motivation to keep them exercising. So, after realizing over the last several months that no pre-made fence was going to suit our needs, we decided to construct our own fence out of 16' x 4' cattle panel and wood post.
So, on Sunday morning, my husband, parents, and I rented a 17' Uhaul trailer, headed off to Tractor Supply Company, and picked up 50 4-foot cattle panels and 50 6' posts. It was pretty uneventful for such a big job, which was pretty surprising.
The rest of Father's Day was spent relaxing and visiting with my dad at his house. We had a wonderful visit and I really enjoyed spending time with everyone.
Sunday night was when things really went downhill, and there's enough there for a separate post...
Although the real mayhem didn't begin until later, I guess the best place to start would be Saturday afternoon. Byron and I headed north to my hometown to attend the annual community garage sales. We really got lucky, and brought home a treasure trove of great finds - among them, $4 fondue set, new in box; a $10 industrial livestock/barn cooling fan; a $10 antique metronome from the early 1900's. I just love garage sales! Many of my most treasured kitchen tools have come to me that way. I wouldn't be baking bread or drying my own vegetables and herbs if it wasn't for garage sales!
On Sunday morning, we undertook another little adventure. My husband and I have been really hoping to get a portion of the yard fenced in for the dogs soon - they really need the space for free-running, especially now that it's warm and all they want to do is lounge around in the kennel all day. They really need that extra motivation to keep them exercising. So, after realizing over the last several months that no pre-made fence was going to suit our needs, we decided to construct our own fence out of 16' x 4' cattle panel and wood post.
So, on Sunday morning, my husband, parents, and I rented a 17' Uhaul trailer, headed off to Tractor Supply Company, and picked up 50 4-foot cattle panels and 50 6' posts. It was pretty uneventful for such a big job, which was pretty surprising.
The rest of Father's Day was spent relaxing and visiting with my dad at his house. We had a wonderful visit and I really enjoyed spending time with everyone.
Sunday night was when things really went downhill, and there's enough there for a separate post...
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The first step...
Is admitting you have a problem. In our case, a problem with flies.
Our property is in the beginning throes of fly war. I first noticed them showing up about two weeks ago - biting flies, pest flies, horseflies, deerflies, every kind of fly you can imagine, coming in droves. It's getting to the point that a nice lunch outside, or a nap on the hammock, is becoming a major turf battle.
I can understand why this is happening, though. Between the kennel, the chicken coop, the (as-yet-unoccupied) barn, and the woods nearby, flies are bound to appear. Combine that with the not-so-sound property management that I struggled with over the winter and spring (namely, cleaning out wheelbarrows full of once-frozen shavings and straw from the kennel when it thawed), and we have quite the problem on our hands now. At least I've learned from my mistakes and won't be repeating the same methods in the kennel again this coming winter - and I now have a functional compost pile that greatly cuts down on lawn and chicken coop wastes.
Still, something needs to be done - I know that if I let them get established this year, next year they'd be even worse, no matter how I manage the property. So, enter Spalding Lab's Fly Predators. I've heard nothing but good about these guys from the horsewomen I know, not to mention on numerous online review sites and blogs. Basically, they are tiny, parasitic wasps that hatch on the property and attack flies and their larvae. They are almost too small to see, and don't sting - so it's almost like they're not even there. They can't survive the harsh winters here, either, so there is no chance of them becoming established in the environment.
My first shipment of these guys should be arriving by the end of next week. Here's hoping they can help me win the war against the flies before it even really starts...
Our property is in the beginning throes of fly war. I first noticed them showing up about two weeks ago - biting flies, pest flies, horseflies, deerflies, every kind of fly you can imagine, coming in droves. It's getting to the point that a nice lunch outside, or a nap on the hammock, is becoming a major turf battle.
I can understand why this is happening, though. Between the kennel, the chicken coop, the (as-yet-unoccupied) barn, and the woods nearby, flies are bound to appear. Combine that with the not-so-sound property management that I struggled with over the winter and spring (namely, cleaning out wheelbarrows full of once-frozen shavings and straw from the kennel when it thawed), and we have quite the problem on our hands now. At least I've learned from my mistakes and won't be repeating the same methods in the kennel again this coming winter - and I now have a functional compost pile that greatly cuts down on lawn and chicken coop wastes.
Still, something needs to be done - I know that if I let them get established this year, next year they'd be even worse, no matter how I manage the property. So, enter Spalding Lab's Fly Predators. I've heard nothing but good about these guys from the horsewomen I know, not to mention on numerous online review sites and blogs. Basically, they are tiny, parasitic wasps that hatch on the property and attack flies and their larvae. They are almost too small to see, and don't sting - so it's almost like they're not even there. They can't survive the harsh winters here, either, so there is no chance of them becoming established in the environment.
My first shipment of these guys should be arriving by the end of next week. Here's hoping they can help me win the war against the flies before it even really starts...
Friday, June 12, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
The best kind of neighbor
On Sunday, while I was away studying wolves (true story - how do normal people spend their weekends?), Byron headed over to our next-door neighbor to give her some help on her computer. When I got back home from my little adventure, I found this huge, beautiful jar of sweet treasure sitting on my fireplace hearth. A gift given in thanks for some simple neighborly assistance.
It's the biggest jar of real, raw, locally-produced honey I have EVER seen. I don't think there is any way to communicate to my wonderful neighbor how much this gift is appreciated over here... except to blog about it and shout thanks to the Internet heavens. I did call her and thank her profusely but I'm not sure I made it clear what a completely wonderful gift this really is, considering:
-I use honey instead of sugar in almost everything I cook or bake - it's better for maintaining blood sugar levels without a spike, and healthier than refined white sugar
-I am a local food nut
-I am a raw food nut
-I have been wanting to try true local honey for years!
It's gone to sugar so it needs a little reheating to get back to liquid form, but I can't wait to crack this jar open. In fact, I think I might just have to go do that now...
Jasper can fly
...or, "Why Wolfdogs Require a Very Tall Fence".
As some of you know, I have a new foster dog here that was just pulled from a county pound a couple weeks ago. His name is Jasper, and he is a wolfdog (wolf hybrid). I've been helping a wolf rescue organization for the past several months, learning how to evaluate and temperament-test animals, as well as take photographs and help transport the wolfdogs to their destinations. Jasper is the first wolfdog foster I have had here in several months.
I caught Jasper and Willow playing together last night, and was just amazed at the aerial acrobatics this animal could pull off. Willow is capable of feats like this as well, but generally doesn't bother to expend so much energy at once (unless she is directing that energy towards scaling a fence). I wish the lighting could have allowed for better photos, but I'm sure this isn't the last time I'll see Jasper attempting to take flight.
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