Living the Home Life

Miserable Weather

Here in Upstate NY, the weather has been terrible.  Warm to cold, snowing to sunny, wet and yucky.  Last night we had almost 4" of snow, followed by ice and rain, so everything is a slushy mess.  I'll tell you what, I can't wait for spring:  warm breezes, flowers, and hopefully our first lambing.  Time for Old Man Winter to blow himself out.

This picture is of some of the geepers after a storm a few days ago.  Izzy and Garth are in the backround, and Gracie is in front.

Nearly Dead Dog

Well, you guys aren't going to have to read about fiber this time.  Instead you can read about the absolutely insane week we've had here.  It started out last Saturday with me having excruciating abdominal pain, which lessened, but did continue, all the way through Easter and continued into Monday.  After a trip to the local Urgent Care place and many hours in the ER, I found out that I had ruptured an ovarian cyst.  If you want to know what it felt like, think labor pains.  I spent Tuesday in bed and Wednesday at the vet's office, because my 21/2 yo male German Shepherd swallowed a rock.  Actually, he swallowed three, but only one had to get cut out.  The surgery was pretty cool, though.  Fortunately, my boy came through it, but unfortunately, he needs much pampering.  The first night he was home, I had to get up every hour to water him, feed him every two hours, and potty him every three.  Now he only needs to eat every six hours, which is a major improvement.  In the midst of all this, my son ended up at the same Urgent Care to get his head fixed up after his friend hit him in the head with a rake.  He got a tine right in the forehead.

Do we think things are going to improve?  I surely hope so because I am EXHAUSTED!!!  I am about to collapse.  I know this whole entry stinks and is nothing more than a rant, but it's about the best I can do in my present state.  I'll try to do better next time, I promise.  I do at least have next weekend to look forward to.  I get to spend Saturday at a fiber show with a friend, her llamas, and my spinning wheel, which sounds like a little bit of heaven.

I hope all of you had a blessed Easter!

My Chicken Story, a Cautionary Tale

For those of you who have read my profile, you will see that one of the things that I occupy my time with is chasing feral poultry.  What is feral poultry, you may ask?  They are chickens and ducks that have gone semi-wild. 

When ds was younger and we first started homeschooling, I got the bright idea that we would do an embryology project and hatch eggs, so I dutifully called the 4H office (they know me there, I'm a leader and train dogs for them), got the name of the person to get fertilized eggs from, and went to fetch the incubator. To make a long story short, we did hatch chicks, and they were murdered by my beloved cat, Patches, when he threw the incubator on the floor, chicks and all.

Ds was crushed.  He wanted to show chickens in 4H, and now they were all gone, so, out we go again to the chicken breeder, along with my friend, Lana, and her kids, to by chicks.  This was the beginning of the end of being able to walk around the yard without watching where you step.

Life with the chicks spun out of control very quickly, because, lo and behold, chickens DO fly.  They all escaped from their pen and started multiplying like rats!  Those little banties are the broodiest bunch I ever saw, and would easily hatch out two clutches a season.  They'd disappear for awhile, and you'd think, AHA! down a chicken, and then she'd come back with a dozen more.  One year we must have had 100 chicks.

Did I learn from this experience? NO! I then went out and bought ducks.  They also rapidly reproduce.  Mrs. Ducky churns out three clutches of eggs a season.  These critters fly, too, right on to the roof.

Two years ago, we had what will be forever known as the great chicken round-up.  Not necessarily great because of all the chickens we caught, but because it was the most ludictous sight I've ever seen. Dh Mark's sister and husband came over with a fishing net, and we herded, chased, grabbed, and tripped over chickens all evening, and the worst of it is, for every chicken you tried to put in the cage, you'd lose one.

Now, we do have a coop full of chickens, and we still probably have a good dozen running around, which will turn into about ten dozen over the course of the summer if we can't catch them soon, and there are six ducks roaming the yard and sliming up the driveway.  One big goal we have here is to catch everyone that's loose, and pen it or sell it.  Some of the little beasts I'd like to put in the freezer, but, as ds says,"You don't eat your pets!"

So, what is the moral of this cautionary tale?  Don't count your chickens before they're hatched, because I guarantee, you'll UNDERESTIMATE.