Just in case you are having a rough day, here is a stress management technique recommended in all the latest psychological journals.
The funny thing is that it really does work and will make you smile.
1. Picture yourself lying on your belly on a warm rock that hangs out over a crystal clear stream.
2. Picture yourself with both your hands dangling in the cool running water.
3. Birds are sweetly singing in the cool mountain air.
4. No one knows your secret place.
5. You are in total seclusion from that hectic place called the world.
6. The soothing sound of a gentle waterfall fills the air with a cascade of serenity.
7. The water is so crystal clear that you can easily make out the face of the person you are holding underwater.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
SUMMER!
That's right folks, even though I still sleep with a blanket and a comforter at night the days are finally warming up enough for swimming pools, sweat-in-your-eyes labor in the garden, and tomato blooms. I know, I know, that is the paradox that is Colorado.
Greg is making a little extra money this week because a small storm blew through with some big hail that damaged a lot of cars. He's working 12 hour days for the whole week and into the weekend. We don't see him much and when we do he's tired but it's not for long and we can always use a few extra bucks.
The baby horses are growing nicely and providing much comedy relief with their many discoveries and playtimes. Juno has found a home with a wonderful couple who plan to train her for dressage and eventing which is just what this baby was born to do. I dream about her dancing under lights in front of a judge's station some day. Still no bites on Scarlett, the little speed-racer or little red corvette but there's plenty of time and I'm not worried because with each day she develops more personality and athleticism that will take her wonderful places.
I'm mourning the loss of my big boy. We found a great home for Bram and Casey up in Wyoming where they can not only be together but they can have jobs! I know this was the very best solution for them but my Big Boy hugs and kisses are no longer a part of my life and I miss that more than even I could have imagined. I still have my wondrous girl Fiona and she submits to my spontaneous and impulsive displays of affection with patience and a little exasperation so I'll be okay. Dixie is also very willing to hug and I like her sweet personality more each day.
Today I got up eager (really? eager?) to go out and till up the garden to get rid of some of the weed problems. In a little less than an hour I'd managed to clear the area where all the melons and cukes and zukes are planted. I'd also managed to develop two very nice sized blisters and hurt my back. Yea! Once again the empty raised bed at the end of the row stared back at me accusingly. The transplanted asparagus and rhubarb didn't make it through the move so I decided we needed to go spend some of Greg's storm pay. We bought 18 strawberry plants to replace those that died in the other beds, 3 different melons, 4 rhubarb plants and a pumpkin. Rissa, the extreme wrestler, dug my holes for me and Winnie and Annie and I planted.....hmmmmm, it just occurred to me that my younger sons must have some belief that gardening is womens' work. I'll have to introduce them to some new ideas soon. My back is already aching from tilling, bending, weeding and planting so tomorrow I should be in the most wondrous shape.
To pay the kids back for their ....help I bought some crap at the store so they could have a picnic. Kids are so easy. Buy them some ham, chips, a pop and call it a picnic and they plant garden for you.
In other news my mother, at the age of 71 has begun a small business. She is hand-embroidering kitchen towels for women who order them from her. I just encouraged her to raise her prices as she was just charging for material (well, I never said it was a successful business) and not for her time. Now she's making a nice profit though she doesn't sleep anymore because she's trying to get orders done for birthdays, before vacations and when the social security check comes.
Greg's mother on the other hand appears to be doing poorly. She no longer goes out because she "gets short of breath" though apparently no one knows exactly why she isn't able to breathe. I worry about her a lot. She used to have such a big world with so many friends and interests and no her whole life has shrunk to a little room where she slowly suffocates literally and figuratively.
And that's all the news that's fit to print!
Greg is making a little extra money this week because a small storm blew through with some big hail that damaged a lot of cars. He's working 12 hour days for the whole week and into the weekend. We don't see him much and when we do he's tired but it's not for long and we can always use a few extra bucks.
The baby horses are growing nicely and providing much comedy relief with their many discoveries and playtimes. Juno has found a home with a wonderful couple who plan to train her for dressage and eventing which is just what this baby was born to do. I dream about her dancing under lights in front of a judge's station some day. Still no bites on Scarlett, the little speed-racer or little red corvette but there's plenty of time and I'm not worried because with each day she develops more personality and athleticism that will take her wonderful places.
I'm mourning the loss of my big boy. We found a great home for Bram and Casey up in Wyoming where they can not only be together but they can have jobs! I know this was the very best solution for them but my Big Boy hugs and kisses are no longer a part of my life and I miss that more than even I could have imagined. I still have my wondrous girl Fiona and she submits to my spontaneous and impulsive displays of affection with patience and a little exasperation so I'll be okay. Dixie is also very willing to hug and I like her sweet personality more each day.
Today I got up eager (really? eager?) to go out and till up the garden to get rid of some of the weed problems. In a little less than an hour I'd managed to clear the area where all the melons and cukes and zukes are planted. I'd also managed to develop two very nice sized blisters and hurt my back. Yea! Once again the empty raised bed at the end of the row stared back at me accusingly. The transplanted asparagus and rhubarb didn't make it through the move so I decided we needed to go spend some of Greg's storm pay. We bought 18 strawberry plants to replace those that died in the other beds, 3 different melons, 4 rhubarb plants and a pumpkin. Rissa, the extreme wrestler, dug my holes for me and Winnie and Annie and I planted.....hmmmmm, it just occurred to me that my younger sons must have some belief that gardening is womens' work. I'll have to introduce them to some new ideas soon. My back is already aching from tilling, bending, weeding and planting so tomorrow I should be in the most wondrous shape.
To pay the kids back for their ....help I bought some crap at the store so they could have a picnic. Kids are so easy. Buy them some ham, chips, a pop and call it a picnic and they plant garden for you.
In other news my mother, at the age of 71 has begun a small business. She is hand-embroidering kitchen towels for women who order them from her. I just encouraged her to raise her prices as she was just charging for material (well, I never said it was a successful business) and not for her time. Now she's making a nice profit though she doesn't sleep anymore because she's trying to get orders done for birthdays, before vacations and when the social security check comes.
Greg's mother on the other hand appears to be doing poorly. She no longer goes out because she "gets short of breath" though apparently no one knows exactly why she isn't able to breathe. I worry about her a lot. She used to have such a big world with so many friends and interests and no her whole life has shrunk to a little room where she slowly suffocates literally and figuratively.
And that's all the news that's fit to print!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Just keep farmin', just keep farmin, farmin', farmin'....
Can you dig it? We have almost more than half of the garden in!!! Woot! Who woulda thunk it? Yesterday Greg came home early and just jumped right into digging holes for tomatoes. I hoed up some holes for my melons, cukes and zukes and got those seeds in the ground. We put up cutesy poo little pink flags with the name of the breed of plant we hoped to see arrive from the little mounds and then I went to help with the tomato planting. I called over my shoulder to have Annie bring me the rest of the flags. She in turn called to Mikey to take them to me as she was watering some stuff we'd planted earlier in the week. I happened to glance out to see Mikey pulling the very last flag out of my newly planted mounds as the unused flags lay ignored and invisible in the middle of the garden. I actually screamed. LOL! Yeah, well, it's funny now and it will be funny later in the fall as we get watermelons from the hill marked zukes but at the time it was devastating. Poor Mikey was banned from yesterday's gardening activities.
The day got better though. We threw a little bone meal and epsom salts in the holes for tomatoes and I organized the planting by finding the varieties that needed to be placed together and showing the girls how to cover them gently with the soil. I made more flags with names like Kelloggs, Costuluto Genovese, Polish Linguisa and good ol' MOM's and placed them lovingly into each planting bed. I believe we got 76 tomatoes planted last night.
The lettuces, spinach, strawberries, carrots and asparagus went to ground last week. All that's left to plant for this year's harvest is the rest of the melons that I started earlier in the year, the pumpkins, corn, beans, beets and broccoli. I feel like we're actually on our way to gardening finally!
Today was the first day the baby horsies were allowed outside to play. The moms were very grateful for the opportunity to graze and the babies were happy to run around in big circles, bucking and kicking while the dog barked at them. Is there anything more beautiful than a week old foal running in the green, green grass? I don't think so. They tired out quickly and collapsed into tangles of legs on the ground where their patient mothers stood guard and grazed. If I were an artist I'd paint a picture of this scene and call it Perfect Contentment.
And speaking of Perfect Contentment, I'm off to do laundry!
The day got better though. We threw a little bone meal and epsom salts in the holes for tomatoes and I organized the planting by finding the varieties that needed to be placed together and showing the girls how to cover them gently with the soil. I made more flags with names like Kelloggs, Costuluto Genovese, Polish Linguisa and good ol' MOM's and placed them lovingly into each planting bed. I believe we got 76 tomatoes planted last night.
The lettuces, spinach, strawberries, carrots and asparagus went to ground last week. All that's left to plant for this year's harvest is the rest of the melons that I started earlier in the year, the pumpkins, corn, beans, beets and broccoli. I feel like we're actually on our way to gardening finally!
Today was the first day the baby horsies were allowed outside to play. The moms were very grateful for the opportunity to graze and the babies were happy to run around in big circles, bucking and kicking while the dog barked at them. Is there anything more beautiful than a week old foal running in the green, green grass? I don't think so. They tired out quickly and collapsed into tangles of legs on the ground where their patient mothers stood guard and grazed. If I were an artist I'd paint a picture of this scene and call it Perfect Contentment.
And speaking of Perfect Contentment, I'm off to do laundry!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Whew!
Well, for all the worrry and wonder and some other "W" words, we had our babies. I checked both the mares Sunday night and Fiona was still FULL of milk but no waxing on the teats and while she was looser in the ligaments she still wasn't exactly lax yet. Dixie had no progress, still small but hard in the udders and not much change in the ligaments at all. My prediction was a few more days for Fiona and as much as another week or two for Dix. And I went to bed content that there was no need for worry that night.
Riss slammed into the room Monday morning trumpeting the announcement that Dixie had a baby! The look on her face made me wonder if she was trying to tell me that something was wrong but I jumped into some clothes and went out to the stable as quickly as I can. I was correct in my genetic prophecy that this baby would not be a black and white splashy, chrome covered, marvel. She's a tiny little red horse with some cute white splotches on her butt that will someday be a beautiful blanket. I see some white hairs around the ears, eyes, and nose that lead me to believe she'll gray out to a strawberry roan. Her name is Miz Scarlett and she's very curious and pretty in a delicate way. I'm very proud of Dixie and her mothering abilities as well. For a first-time Momma she did very well. The vet visited and said she may not have been quite ready to give birth (well duh) because she's very, very bruised and torn and for such a tiny baby that can only mean she was very afraid or not quite ready. Oh well, it's not like I was planning to breed ever, ever again anyway.
In the meantime Fiona started acting like she was in labor. Laying down, getting up, laying down some more, pacing, ...... but I really attributed much of this to being upset about someone else having a baby. She wasn't due for another 10 days afterall and still no waxing so what could happen? By evening she had settled down considerably and I figured we were okay.
Greg blasted into the room on Tuesday to tell me my horse had a baby. This time I didn't even bother with underwear. Threw on some pants and ran. My girl's baby is exactly what I expected. This little filly is HUGE, with a typical Frieisian head, feathers, black as night and just the suggestion of her mother's beautiful star. She's at least twice the size of Scarlett and you can tell she's destined for unimaginable greatness. Her name will be Fiona's Ebony Juno. Barn name will be Juno as I know she will be stately and majestic when she's grown. The vet came AGAIN and declared my baby to be healthy, amazingly large and astoundingly beautiful. Fiona has absolutely no bruising or tearing which is unbelievable considering the size of this baby.
So, it's been a crazy couple of days. I've not accomplished much of anything with all this excitement. There are ducks and turkeys and chickens hatching everywhere but I've been a wee bit occupied. Three of my new chickens are from my own birds. The little mutts are cuter than anything you can buy from a purebred dealer. The little call duck is a clone of a rubber duck and I have to admit I've never seen a cuter baby duck in my life.
I'm off to see if I can get something done today.
Riss slammed into the room Monday morning trumpeting the announcement that Dixie had a baby! The look on her face made me wonder if she was trying to tell me that something was wrong but I jumped into some clothes and went out to the stable as quickly as I can. I was correct in my genetic prophecy that this baby would not be a black and white splashy, chrome covered, marvel. She's a tiny little red horse with some cute white splotches on her butt that will someday be a beautiful blanket. I see some white hairs around the ears, eyes, and nose that lead me to believe she'll gray out to a strawberry roan. Her name is Miz Scarlett and she's very curious and pretty in a delicate way. I'm very proud of Dixie and her mothering abilities as well. For a first-time Momma she did very well. The vet visited and said she may not have been quite ready to give birth (well duh) because she's very, very bruised and torn and for such a tiny baby that can only mean she was very afraid or not quite ready. Oh well, it's not like I was planning to breed ever, ever again anyway.
In the meantime Fiona started acting like she was in labor. Laying down, getting up, laying down some more, pacing, ...... but I really attributed much of this to being upset about someone else having a baby. She wasn't due for another 10 days afterall and still no waxing so what could happen? By evening she had settled down considerably and I figured we were okay.
Greg blasted into the room on Tuesday to tell me my horse had a baby. This time I didn't even bother with underwear. Threw on some pants and ran. My girl's baby is exactly what I expected. This little filly is HUGE, with a typical Frieisian head, feathers, black as night and just the suggestion of her mother's beautiful star. She's at least twice the size of Scarlett and you can tell she's destined for unimaginable greatness. Her name will be Fiona's Ebony Juno. Barn name will be Juno as I know she will be stately and majestic when she's grown. The vet came AGAIN and declared my baby to be healthy, amazingly large and astoundingly beautiful. Fiona has absolutely no bruising or tearing which is unbelievable considering the size of this baby.
So, it's been a crazy couple of days. I've not accomplished much of anything with all this excitement. There are ducks and turkeys and chickens hatching everywhere but I've been a wee bit occupied. Three of my new chickens are from my own birds. The little mutts are cuter than anything you can buy from a purebred dealer. The little call duck is a clone of a rubber duck and I have to admit I've never seen a cuter baby duck in my life.
I'm off to see if I can get something done today.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
National Nude Gardening Day
So what are you doing for National Nude Gardening Day? I wonder if that title should be in caps? It's about 38 degrees out and thinking about rain. I kept my nudeness in the shower. Yes, I know nudeness isn't a word. There must be some hearty souls out there braving the bugs, kneeling in the dirt and communing with nature and I applaud them even while I'm glad that they are far from here so I don't have to witness their appreciation of the Earth.
We're taking all the kids out to see a movie today. Sometimes I worry about my sanity. Perhaps Mom drank while she was pregnant with me thus rendering me incapable of using good judgment when I make plans like this. Greg and Deeday are going to see Fast and Furious. Deej is such a nut for cars, car chases, car crashes and spending time alone with daddy that I know he'll have the most fun of all of us today. Mikey and Anni and I are going to see Monsters vs Aliens. I like Pixar so life could be worse. Rissa and Winnie are going to be trusted to see a movie all alone, by themselves. They'll be seeing 17 again because they like the Efron kid. I think we'll be using some of my 300 dollars in plant money for this little outing which is fine. I'll probably take a valium before embarking on this little adventure.
We also have a lady coming out to see if she would like to buy Casey horse. She thinks ol' Case would make a wonderful addition to a horse program that she volunteers for with horses who work with disabled kids. I think so too and at least I don't have to worry about her having a forever home.
Speaking of horses, I checked both the girls last night. Fiona has udders that would make a Jersey cow jealous. I cannot conceive of any scenario that will allow her to remain pregnant for another 15 days with udders like that so expect word on a new baby sometime next week late I think. On the other hand that crazy Dixie chick scared me silly last night by flirting with Bram and showing obvious signs of being in heat!! I wondered about false pregnancies and possible abortions until I did a search and found that it's not entirely uncommon for mares to go into a false heat in the latter weeks of pregnancy. Okay, who knew? 'Course I think back on my own pregnancies and remember that same sort of ......oh well, we won't go there will we? Dixie hasn't really progressed with her udders getting any fuller or ligaments looser so now it would appear that Fiona will go first-don't count Dix out yet though. Remember that quite often first time mothers don't even get milk until after baby comes so we'll see. I can assure you the first thing I do every morning is check horses.
I made caramel rolls last night to make first thing this morning. For some reason the caramel rolls don't like it when I make them the night before and then bake them in the morning. They seem heavier, denser than they are when I just make them to eat for dessert. Think I'll get some bread flour and try that before I give up on making them ahead though. The bread flour always makes them nice and light.
We had our favorite chicken mushroom and rice soup last night. It was wonderful though I had to pick all the chicken out of mine. Needs cheese.
Some very nice woman offered to sell me her foal halters last night for the coming baby horses. Just like I hate to buy the kids new clothes when I know they're going to outgrow them in a minute or two, I just couldn't make myself pay 30 dollars for a foal halter that will fit the horse all of four minutes. So I'm very happy and look, a whole blog with no bitching for a change!
We're taking all the kids out to see a movie today. Sometimes I worry about my sanity. Perhaps Mom drank while she was pregnant with me thus rendering me incapable of using good judgment when I make plans like this. Greg and Deeday are going to see Fast and Furious. Deej is such a nut for cars, car chases, car crashes and spending time alone with daddy that I know he'll have the most fun of all of us today. Mikey and Anni and I are going to see Monsters vs Aliens. I like Pixar so life could be worse. Rissa and Winnie are going to be trusted to see a movie all alone, by themselves. They'll be seeing 17 again because they like the Efron kid. I think we'll be using some of my 300 dollars in plant money for this little outing which is fine. I'll probably take a valium before embarking on this little adventure.
We also have a lady coming out to see if she would like to buy Casey horse. She thinks ol' Case would make a wonderful addition to a horse program that she volunteers for with horses who work with disabled kids. I think so too and at least I don't have to worry about her having a forever home.
Speaking of horses, I checked both the girls last night. Fiona has udders that would make a Jersey cow jealous. I cannot conceive of any scenario that will allow her to remain pregnant for another 15 days with udders like that so expect word on a new baby sometime next week late I think. On the other hand that crazy Dixie chick scared me silly last night by flirting with Bram and showing obvious signs of being in heat!! I wondered about false pregnancies and possible abortions until I did a search and found that it's not entirely uncommon for mares to go into a false heat in the latter weeks of pregnancy. Okay, who knew? 'Course I think back on my own pregnancies and remember that same sort of ......oh well, we won't go there will we? Dixie hasn't really progressed with her udders getting any fuller or ligaments looser so now it would appear that Fiona will go first-don't count Dix out yet though. Remember that quite often first time mothers don't even get milk until after baby comes so we'll see. I can assure you the first thing I do every morning is check horses.
I made caramel rolls last night to make first thing this morning. For some reason the caramel rolls don't like it when I make them the night before and then bake them in the morning. They seem heavier, denser than they are when I just make them to eat for dessert. Think I'll get some bread flour and try that before I give up on making them ahead though. The bread flour always makes them nice and light.
We had our favorite chicken mushroom and rice soup last night. It was wonderful though I had to pick all the chicken out of mine. Needs cheese.
Some very nice woman offered to sell me her foal halters last night for the coming baby horses. Just like I hate to buy the kids new clothes when I know they're going to outgrow them in a minute or two, I just couldn't make myself pay 30 dollars for a foal halter that will fit the horse all of four minutes. So I'm very happy and look, a whole blog with no bitching for a change!
Monday, April 27, 2009
The latest haps on the farm
Yeah, we're snowed in again. Living in the desert as I do any moisture at all is usually a cause for at least a smile but I really need to get going on this whole garden thing and snow is not conducive to good gardening. Rain, I can work with rain because it doesn't keep the ground temperature from warming so while I can't actually plant something I know it's not going to set me back but snow means another week at least before anything can go in the ground.
Does it seem like I'm always bitching about something? I assure you I was once regarded as the eternal optimist so perhaps it's the blogging experience and I only feel compelled to write about my adventures when I'm having difficulty.
In other news, the horses are not happy about their advancing pregnancies. Fiona who actually knows what's going on inside her is still kicking her belly to teach that little foal a lesson for kicking her mama. She moves very slowly and deliberately. You can see her weigh her options these days. "Should I walk up and see if Mom has a treat for me or should I stay here awhile and see if she'll come to me?" Dixie is very worried about her own belly as she glances back frequently to see what it was that just moved inside her and then asks me what the heck that was. She too is moving slowly though she's a third of Fiona's age so she still seems a little lighter on her feet. I still worry about them both and can't wait for this to be over.
The kids took some tests for school today and really did quite well. I was rather surprised. Sometimes I wonder if I'm really doing them any good at all by keeping them home to teach them and then I get results like this and realize that somehow, some way they are learning something so I'm not the worst teacher in the world. Annie actually asks to read so that's gotta be a good thing, right?
I've moved all waterfowl to my hatcher incubator. My mentor seems to think my humidity is too high for turkeys which may have spoiled my last hatch so I put the ducks who are close to hatching in one incubator with much higher humidity and I'll leave the turk eggs in the incubator with lower humidity and see what happens. I've gotta get at least a few out of this batch or there will be no breeding stock.
The ducks and geese and turkeys that came from the last hatch are all doing very well. You can't help but like a little duckie although it seems like my heart belongs to turkeys. My pet turk Jefferson (who appears each day to be more female than male) likes to pretend that he (she?) is a parrot and flies up to the top of the gate so that he can sit on my hand and be cuddled. The new little Midget turkey (Tattoo) is coming along quite nicely. I think from now on I will offer food that has been wettened for new turkey hatches. They seem to eat it easier and make it through those first few dangerous days easier.
We had a great weekend this weekend! I sold 180 dollars worth of plants!!! Can you dig it? Any naysayers out there who think I can't make money with my growing prowess now? No, I didn't think so. We also sold some not-so-baby chicks but I doubt that we are making much of a profit on them at this point. Still, came out of the weekend with over 200 bucks I didn't have going into the weekend so I'm not going to complain. Tomorrow I'll be selling more tomatoes and chickens....sounds like a good day to go shopping!
Does it seem like I'm always bitching about something? I assure you I was once regarded as the eternal optimist so perhaps it's the blogging experience and I only feel compelled to write about my adventures when I'm having difficulty.
In other news, the horses are not happy about their advancing pregnancies. Fiona who actually knows what's going on inside her is still kicking her belly to teach that little foal a lesson for kicking her mama. She moves very slowly and deliberately. You can see her weigh her options these days. "Should I walk up and see if Mom has a treat for me or should I stay here awhile and see if she'll come to me?" Dixie is very worried about her own belly as she glances back frequently to see what it was that just moved inside her and then asks me what the heck that was. She too is moving slowly though she's a third of Fiona's age so she still seems a little lighter on her feet. I still worry about them both and can't wait for this to be over.
The kids took some tests for school today and really did quite well. I was rather surprised. Sometimes I wonder if I'm really doing them any good at all by keeping them home to teach them and then I get results like this and realize that somehow, some way they are learning something so I'm not the worst teacher in the world. Annie actually asks to read so that's gotta be a good thing, right?
I've moved all waterfowl to my hatcher incubator. My mentor seems to think my humidity is too high for turkeys which may have spoiled my last hatch so I put the ducks who are close to hatching in one incubator with much higher humidity and I'll leave the turk eggs in the incubator with lower humidity and see what happens. I've gotta get at least a few out of this batch or there will be no breeding stock.
The ducks and geese and turkeys that came from the last hatch are all doing very well. You can't help but like a little duckie although it seems like my heart belongs to turkeys. My pet turk Jefferson (who appears each day to be more female than male) likes to pretend that he (she?) is a parrot and flies up to the top of the gate so that he can sit on my hand and be cuddled. The new little Midget turkey (Tattoo) is coming along quite nicely. I think from now on I will offer food that has been wettened for new turkey hatches. They seem to eat it easier and make it through those first few dangerous days easier.
We had a great weekend this weekend! I sold 180 dollars worth of plants!!! Can you dig it? Any naysayers out there who think I can't make money with my growing prowess now? No, I didn't think so. We also sold some not-so-baby chicks but I doubt that we are making much of a profit on them at this point. Still, came out of the weekend with over 200 bucks I didn't have going into the weekend so I'm not going to complain. Tomorrow I'll be selling more tomatoes and chickens....sounds like a good day to go shopping!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Spring.....?
Just an update on the farm happenings. My last hatch was yet another failure more or less. Apparently the humidity either was too high or spiked after a fill and drowned my little turkeys because everyone that went into the hatcher was nicely developed and alive but only one hatched. I could just cry. I spent good money on those little Midget turkeys babies and hated to lose them. On the other hand, I did get three duck babies to hatch. They LIKE the high humidity hatch. So I have one lonely little white midget turkey baby and two blue Swedes and one black Swede. They are awfully cute. Then Greg came home with three baby buff geese. I really, really need geese....I do! They're adorable, who could not need geese? One good thing about the whole thing is that the ducks and the geese keep reminding the turkey about where the food and water are so he's doing very well at eating.
On to the next hatch. Seems like I'm always pinning all my hopes on a new incubator full of eggs. The next hatch is lavender turks, Beltsville turks, runner ducks, call ducks, some chickens from my chicken house and some Pilgrim geese. The plan is that I will use the hatcher for a high humidity hatch for the waterfowl and keep the turks and chickens in the incubator with the turner turned off and lower humidity. THIS time it's gonna work. I've ordered some more Midget eggs too because I'm just that confident that I can do this. Damn it.
We've moved the baby chickens out to the new coops and my baby turkeys are now in the grow room so the new ducks and newest turkey could have the little bathroom brooder. Where will I put the new hatch? In Greg's sock drawer of course! I hate cornish chickens. Just want to get that out there. If I EVER grow meat birds again it will not be these aggressive, ugly, smelly things I can assure everyone of that. I'll butcher my Reds before I do cornish again.
My plants are thriving of course. Ever see a plant that I couldn't make grow? People have purchased quite a few but everytime I get some extra space I plant some more stuff. Last week I planted my pumpkins and some more herbs and the last watermelons and broccoli. In theory, I'm done but all bets are off if I sell some more of my babies.
So we have snow now. I mean really, a LOT of snow. We're so snowed in that if I didn't know we were going to have 70 degree weather on Monday I'd think this would be something we were going to have to deal with for awhile. Ah, but my pasture and trees are so happy. By mid-week next week we're going to have so much green out there that it will burn your retinas. You just gotta love spring in the Rockies.
Kids had a review at the school last week. All went as expected. They all had vision and hearing tests. DJ flunked his hearing test but it's allergy season for him so my guess is that his ears are swollen or fluid filled. The three little ones had reading tests. DJ went into sensory overload and failed miserably even though he's been steadily improving since he got the Hooked on Phonics program. He' s actually relaxed quite a bit about reading since he's started to gain some proficiency. Oh well. Mikey did as well as expected considering he still lacks some of the fundamentals regarding phonics. He knew a few sight words and then wanted to do something else, anything else. Annie showed off and did a good job so at least someone was able to confirm that I am teaching the kids something. We did DJ's IEP which was the usual stuff, nothing new. Rissa has been playing lately so we discussed some ways to motivate her. We'll see. And that was a day at the school. It was nice to have Greg be a part of the process too.
And that's about it for me. I'm canning chili today and have a couple of whole chickens in the oven for supper. I've discovered that I really like black beans so I put them in the chili. I had a bowl of black beans with some butter and a little salt. They were very good. Need to do that more often.
On to the next hatch. Seems like I'm always pinning all my hopes on a new incubator full of eggs. The next hatch is lavender turks, Beltsville turks, runner ducks, call ducks, some chickens from my chicken house and some Pilgrim geese. The plan is that I will use the hatcher for a high humidity hatch for the waterfowl and keep the turks and chickens in the incubator with the turner turned off and lower humidity. THIS time it's gonna work. I've ordered some more Midget eggs too because I'm just that confident that I can do this. Damn it.
We've moved the baby chickens out to the new coops and my baby turkeys are now in the grow room so the new ducks and newest turkey could have the little bathroom brooder. Where will I put the new hatch? In Greg's sock drawer of course! I hate cornish chickens. Just want to get that out there. If I EVER grow meat birds again it will not be these aggressive, ugly, smelly things I can assure everyone of that. I'll butcher my Reds before I do cornish again.
My plants are thriving of course. Ever see a plant that I couldn't make grow? People have purchased quite a few but everytime I get some extra space I plant some more stuff. Last week I planted my pumpkins and some more herbs and the last watermelons and broccoli. In theory, I'm done but all bets are off if I sell some more of my babies.
So we have snow now. I mean really, a LOT of snow. We're so snowed in that if I didn't know we were going to have 70 degree weather on Monday I'd think this would be something we were going to have to deal with for awhile. Ah, but my pasture and trees are so happy. By mid-week next week we're going to have so much green out there that it will burn your retinas. You just gotta love spring in the Rockies.
Kids had a review at the school last week. All went as expected. They all had vision and hearing tests. DJ flunked his hearing test but it's allergy season for him so my guess is that his ears are swollen or fluid filled. The three little ones had reading tests. DJ went into sensory overload and failed miserably even though he's been steadily improving since he got the Hooked on Phonics program. He' s actually relaxed quite a bit about reading since he's started to gain some proficiency. Oh well. Mikey did as well as expected considering he still lacks some of the fundamentals regarding phonics. He knew a few sight words and then wanted to do something else, anything else. Annie showed off and did a good job so at least someone was able to confirm that I am teaching the kids something. We did DJ's IEP which was the usual stuff, nothing new. Rissa has been playing lately so we discussed some ways to motivate her. We'll see. And that was a day at the school. It was nice to have Greg be a part of the process too.
And that's about it for me. I'm canning chili today and have a couple of whole chickens in the oven for supper. I've discovered that I really like black beans so I put them in the chili. I had a bowl of black beans with some butter and a little salt. They were very good. Need to do that more often.
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