You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘Pets’ tag.
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!
As you may or may not know, St. Patrick’s Day is our wedding anniversary. This year was number 16 – and we celebrated the way we always do: with good food, cold Guinness, and watching Darby O’Gill and the Little People together. Maddie made a lovely Chocolate Stout Cake with Bailey’s Cream Cheese frosting, and I made Jamie Oliver’s Steak, Guinness & Cheese Pie (from Jamie At Home). I made fresh granola and played with my new Janome sewing machine, and Paul brought home his new toy: a giant trailer.
There’s no real recipe at play here: I just toss some oats, sesame seeds, coconut & sliced almonds with some dried blueberries, some honey, some maple syrup and canola oil and bake it lightly.
Truffles and Speckles fighting over a nesting box. Neither one would cede to the other, and they ended up both laying their eggs at the same time.
No, I don’t particularly like “Hello Kitty”. The machine just happened to be branded that way and it was a steal.
Paul’s new toy.
What do you mean I can’t have this marshmallow Oona dropped that’s bigger than my head??!!
Have I mentioned?
We think Milkshakes is expecting again.
She’s still nursing, yet we think she’s expecting again.
It all started when Adelaide and Sophie were about 2 or 3 months old and we brought Solomon the ram to service the ewes. That’s sheep talk. Sheep. Not goats. Solomon was to service the female sheep. There was even a green marker put on a special harness he wore so that once he had serviced a lady you’d be able to see a green spot on her back end.
There were lots of ladies with green butts out there. Lady sheep. Because Solomon was also a sheep.
Yet somehow Milkshakes wound up with a green butt.
Bless her little heart, she just couldn’t control herself.
Don’t worry, she’s not prego by the ram. She honestly can’t be. They’re not the same species. Any fertilization that may occur in such cases ends up in a misfire.
So she started breaking out of the lady pasture and into the pasture with Jack, her stinky one – time beau and baby – daddy to Addie and Sophie. Not that I can blame her, he’s quite handsome. And he was still stinky, which is how the ladies can tell he’s willing and able.
And now lo these many months later, she’s looking quite fat. I’m not sure when she’d be due because we don’t know when exactly she got herself knocked up.
I snapped this picture the other day with my phone. She wouldn’t look at me. Or come near me. Most likely because I had no food on me. If you look closely you can see she’s sticking out her tongue.
Me calling her “Whorey Mc-Shakers” probably didn’t help.
That’s Birdie (Bertie?) in the foreground. She was slightly less willing to give up on the possibility that I had food.
Well, we knew this day would come. It was a quiet fall and winter, we had a huge hatch – out of chicks last August and not one of those idiots will remain in the penned areas where it’s safe. We have a large-ish group that free – ranges all over (even into our neighbor Jack’s yard – good thing he likes them) and I am always worried those dummies are going to get eaten by something. I freely admit we get far too attached to them, and when they get snatched it’s sad and traumatic.
Fortunately, we have Tevye.
I’d been noticing that his rooster-ish behavior has been much like our dear departed Big Jim – unlike our other roosters who hog all the food to themselves and run at the first sign of trouble (or beat up on each other as well as us humans). By this I mean that he is an exemplary roo – he makes sweet clucking noises when we bring out the food to tell his ladies to come eat. He keeps them around him when they’re all free – ranging. The few times I’ve noticed a hawk circling fairly low I’ve seen Tevye gather all the hens into the underbrush and wooded areas to keep them safe.
He’s also pretty darn friendly to us. In other words, the perfect rooster.
Today he’s proved himself again.
Today the foxes came back.
We were alerted by the sound of probably all 40 or so of our chickens clucking in unison and when I looked out the window I could see a fox departing across the creek and away, a chicken clearly in its mouth.
Emily and I ran out and I heard a loud “squawk”, and then the fox dropped the chicken and ran. It was Tevye, and he came bounding back to us.
A check through the yard proved no one was missing. Tevye clearly gave the fox a good fight and kept the other chickens safe. He’s got some rather nasty wounds right now, but they could have been much, much worse. I doused him with Blue Kote, gave him some treats and sent him happily back to his girls, where he crowed loudly and triumphantly. My fingers are crossed they heal up quickly and don’t fester.
I think somebody deserves a bag of meal worms, don’t you?
Normally I wouldn’t give up on winter so soon. After all, where I grew up, March was blizzard season. Even here in Virginia we’ve had more than a few surprise March snowstorms; at least of those was nearly record – breaking. However, given the incredibly mild weather we’ve had since fall I think it’s not foolish to expect winter is done. Perhaps we’ll have another blow-out – who knows? But I am not holding my breath. Not when in the same week we’ve had several inches of snow followed by nearly 80 degree temperatures three days later.
So, over the course of the week we’ll be washing and packing away the heavier winter items and changing out our winter decor for spring.
Yes, I change the art on the walls along with the sheets, the pillows and the blankets to coordinate with the seasons. It’s easier than a re-doing your furniture every time you get sick of where it all is.
It’s hard to believe I took all of these pictures not eve a full week ago, considering a few days ago we were outside like this:
I gave in and planted some of the cold crops: beans, peas, arugula, Black Seeded Lettuce, and Red Romaine. I’m afraid if I wait for the normal planting date it will be too warm.
Spring cleaning, here we come.
Yesterday I was treated to being able to get out of the house a bit (Paul is almost fully recovered, aside from restrictions on lifting) and see Susan, who was home for literally ONE day between trips, and also to see my animals, who I’ve been missing terribly.
We’re making headway in our efforts to bring them home, though. Trees are coming down, cleaning up is underway, plans are in process. It’s very exciting! I can’t wait to be able to look out the window again and see my flock.
Sophie and Adelaide’s baby-daddy, Jack – who may or may not be the future baby - daddy of kids that Milkshakes may or may not be already carrying. She’s been sneaking into his pasture to spend some “quality time” with him.
I got to see Coconut, who is 18 kinds of adorable, and I just want to rub those ears! But, aside from nibbling at Susan’s fingers, he’s a bit skittish still.
Mr. Jefferson here gave me lots of nice, wet cow kisses.
Sophie and Adelaide are almost as big as Milkshakes, and they won’t let me near them. On the plus side, unlike Frodo and Finnegan who thought they were lapdogs, these little ladies know they are goats.
Wren! She’s gotten just about too big for me to be picking her up and snorgling her now.
As for Jerry, he likes to make it difficult to get a decent picture. Once he knows your game he’s either INYOURFACE or lurking just behind you.
This way you either get NO pictures, or ones like these:
I miss that crazy llama!
This weather here is crazy, y’all. Two days ago there was snow and ice (well for us, crappy rain. For people a mile up the road and points north, snow. For all of us, ice overnight). We were shivering in our beds from the cold.
Today it’s been practically t-shirt weather. And since a lot of the eggs Emily has been bringing in from the coop have been dirty, I decided I’d use the warm weather to see how coop winterization was faring.
NOT GOOD.
People take care of their chicken coops a lot of different ways. Some people use hay or straw, some people use pine or hardwood mulch. I’ve even heard of people using grass clippings. Personally, I like to use pine shavings. They’re nice and fluffy and comfortable for the chickens’ feet, and they do a great job at drying out all the many droppings that chickens leave behind them and absorbing extra moisture and odor. I’ve used hay and straw but find that the poop doesn’t get dried out at all and the hay doesn’t break down as easily. If you’re going to use hay or straw, you’ll need to clean it all out more frequently. As for grass clippings….I imagine it would be like the hay but even less absorbent. The last thing you want is a moist coop to harbor bacteria and parasites. You’re going to have those anyway, but you don’t need to put out a welcome mat (and you don’t want to chance introducing any droppings from wild birds that might be on that grass).
Anyway, pine or hardwood shavings. You don’t want to use cedar because the aromatic oils are bad for the birds. I really wish that wasn’t the case, because my coops would smell SO much better.
I do a thorough cleaning out of the coop twice a year, in the spring and the fall. At those times I’ll completely remove all bedding materials and the leave the doors all open for a few hours to air it out well. If you’ve had a bad time with parasites or illness this is the time when you also want to scrub the surfaces a bit with some hot water and dish soap. You can bleach it if you’re so inclined, but be careful to dry it out completely and remove any residue before the chickens go back in.
Personally, I like the method that Zac over at Juniper Moon Farm used this past spring after a bout with mites. He used a propane – fueled weed burning tool (read: flame thrower!) and lightly charred the entire inside of the coop.
Anyway, once the coop is aired and dried out I dust it down with Poultry Dust. This is an insecticide powder to ward off lice and mites. Then I add the pine bedding and let the chickens back in to mess it all up.
Like I said, unless we are having an infestation of some sort or there is some major illness afoot, I only do this twice a year. The bedding and the poop break down together and whenever it’s looking more “muddy” than “piney” in there I’ll throw a layer of more pine on top. The composting of the under layer of poop and pine creates some heat and insulation during the winter that helps keep them warm. In the summer, it breaks down a lot faster with the heat and I replace bedding a lot more often.
But back to today. Today I intended to check the bedding and add some fresh stuff on top. That’s not what happened.
The winter this year has been very mild and very, very, very wet. The chickens are spending more time inside trying to stay dry and therefore pooping a whole lot more inside. It hasn’t been cold enough to keep the waste in any kind of deep freeze, and it’s been just cold and wet enough to keep everything gross and damp. No drying. Not breaking down as fast. Gross.
Today I cleaned out the coop.
The good news is that all the “muddy” compost I shoveled out can be used as……. compost. I chucked it all over the area that will be the garden this spring.
And while I was at it I spent time listening to the chickens, observing their behavior and taking stock of their general health and well – being.
Speckles – our Egyptian Fayoumi – just started laying for us. We’re getting the cutest little cream – colored eggs from her. And it took her long enough – she’ll be a year old in about a month and a half.
Miss Harriett, a pretty black Cochin.
Roobert, the resident jack-ass. He likes to attack boots.
ETA: Emily and I have been calling him “Mad – Eye” because he lost an eye a few years back, and that’s when the bad behavior started. Nothing worse than a grumpy one eyed rooster.
This handsome boy was one of the batch we hatched out in August. He’s called “Tevye” and he’s a bit off a mutt.
One of Speckle’s adorable little eggs next to a normal – sized egg.
And speaking of eggs: last summer our hens were on strike. Nobody was laying. For months we were in an egg drought. I couldn’t figure it out. I treated them for every possible ailment, checked thoroughly for any and all problems.
We’re pretty sure they were all in a slow molt. Nobody looked bald or shabby, but there were a whole lot more airborn feathers than usual. So this fall we installed a light into the back coop so that once the molt was over they wouldn’t go immediately into winter mode. ( chickens stop laying in the winter due to loss of daylight, not the cold temperatures. Increase their light, and they won’t stop laying)
Now it’s January and we are overloaded with eggs.
There are no fewer than 6 dozen eggs in my fridge at this very moment, and we haven’t collected yet today.
Anybody want an omelet?
It’s been a hectic, eventful couple of days for us here.
Yesterday morning Paul underwent his neck surgery at our beautiful new local hospital while I waited it out in the hospital lounge. I brought my knitting (and finished a hat for myself) as well as plenty of reading materials and the time flew by. It helped that my lovely friend Sallie brought me lunch and offered a friendly face amid the sea of waiting and worried strangers. Staying connected to the outside world via social media was a great help and I am ridiculously grateful to everyone who wished Paul well.
Maddie stayed with the girls and they got her hopelessly hooked on “Dr. Who”. In fact, they stayed up ALL NIGHT watching it (and eating ice cream).
I got to spend time with Paul as he recovered from the anesthesia and adjusted to having a neck full of staples (seriously – staples. They come out next week, thank GOD). I spent a lot of that time helping him in and out of bed for potty breaks and fluffing his pillows, switching out ice packs and holding a straw to his mouth so he could have water. He does fairly well on his own now for short bursts during the day, but it’s going to be a long couple of weeks for me helping him manage. So, if the winter gods would just smile on me and dump a bunch of snow right now, we’d all be pretty happy since we can’t go anywhere anyway!
I’m doing my best to enjoy the temporary quiet that has fallen around the house as the girls are reading by the fireplace, and Gully is curled up in his new dog Snuggie on my lap. I think it might even be time for a cup of Harney & Sons tea.
For those of you who haven’t seen the story on Susan’s blog already, we had quite a fun adventure a few days before Christmas.
Susan called me one evening and I asked if I would like to help her pick up some baby cows. An hour and a half away. In my truck. The thing about this kind of this is that YES. Yes this is the kind of thing I would say YES to. Also, Susan and I haven’t been on a road trip together in ages, and this mini trip promised the kinds of fun we could talk about well into the future.
So we loaded up our “Ram Cram” box into the back of the suburban and headed out after a quick run through the Dunkin’ Donuts drive-thru for large iced coffees all around. Did I mention Zac came with us? I think he was picturing a fun and relaxing road trip. I think Susan and I were thinking it would be fun to have along someone else to do all the hard work.
Fortunately we had great weather and the drive was easy. Before we knew it, we were there, staring down the reality of cramming 3 calves into the truck.
One cow in place. At about 2 and a half weeks old, these guys are just under 100 lbs each. In a year’s time they’ll each top out around 1,000 lbs or so.
Cow number 2 in place. These two are called “Madison” and “Monroe”.
And cow number 3! This cute little brown guy is called “Jefferson”.
With some trepidation I closed the hatch and we started our drive back to Juniper Moon Farm. They were a bit anxious and had trouble adjusting to the movement at first, but after a bit they settled down (and thought the lights and hooks in the ceiling were teats).
Susan got to hang out in back and get lots of cow kisses. These little boys are very friendly.
We felt quite smug cruising down the highway with our haul.
Caroline was thrilled to come out and help us get them all situated in the barn and nuzzle their sweet faces.
Once they’re full grown it’ll be hard to believe we ever managed this, but we certainly won’t forget how much fun it was.
I can’t wait to see what she’ll ask me to put in my truck next!
I have finished a second set of Super Secret Baby Socks.
Don’t tell anyone, okay?
My friend Theresa got a pair just like this in green, along with a striped hat. This pair will go to my friend Laura, along with another striped hat.
Now that the pre – Christmas super secret baby knitting is more or less done (more to do in January) I can work on some holiday knitting.
On the needles now? A shawl out of luscious Malabrigo for my grandmother. I have visions of warm mittens, socks and Sluggy Bonnets in my head, too, but I doubt I’ll even get close to all that.
If only the weather would cooperate so I didn’t feel like a lump sitting on the couch buried in wool drinking coffee. Alas, the 60 degree – plus sunny weather is killing me in that regard. It’s hard to feel all Christmas-y, and I’m sweating under the wool.
But it’s okay. Maddie put a reindeer bell on the dog.
7:30 am
Paul was enjoying coffee on the couch and getting his computer up and running to check his work calendar for the day. Conference calls and expense reports loomed large, but for at least a few moments there was quiet and he could relax a bit.
Suddenly a black and white blur flew by his feet toward the tree and disappeared underneath it. He could hear the tinkling of ornaments as the cat passed under the lowest branches and settled int he corner behind the tree. He leaned over to get the cat in his field of vision and admonish him for being in what is certainly a forbidden zone when, to his astonishment, the cat wiggled his back end (as cats do) and launched himself up and into the middle of the tree.
The weight of the cat more than halfway toward the top tipped the balance of the tree and in slow motion Paul watched the tree come down, as he helplessly tried to reach it in time.
CRASH!!!
I awoke upstairs to a crashing sound, a yell from Paul, and a moment later, the sound of the cat tearing through the cat door into the bedroom.
I came down the stairs and helped as Paul righted the tree. There was candy cane and colored – ball carnage all over the living room. The pearls hung all cockeyed and forlorn off the branches, the snowflakes in catastrophic disarray.
Water was everywhere; the tree skirt was sopping wet.
It took quite awhile to get the tree somewhat straight again (it’s not ever going to be quite right) so that we could clean up around it.
Luckily we didn’t lose as many of the precious ornaments as I had feared; mostly it was the colored glass balls and candy canes which are easily replaced.
But we weren’t taking any chances this time. Before re-decorating the tree we had to be sure this wouldn’t happen again.
We found a stud in the ceiling, moved the tree under it, and anchored that SOB with wire. Oh yeah, we don’t fool around.
Fortunately the lights are still working; had they not I may have killed the best and cuddliest cat I have ever had. The lights were a total P.I.T.A. (we had to exchange brand new boxes back to the store because they didn’t work – it took forever).
The tree is all fine now and we are back in business.
The cat owes me big time though.
