Monday, May 30, 2011

The end of a long weekend

Greetings-

Tonight ends the long weekend we were able to enjoy.  We did chores around the house and farm, but nothing exciting.  Just regular week to week stuff like, mowing, laundry, etc.  I did some landscaping around our house a few days ago and am trying to finish the edging around the deck.  We also put some more plants in my flower garden this weekend.  Overall, a nice weekend to enjoy family and enjoy our farm, instead of just working on it. 

The chickens are doing good.  The egg production has gone down for some reason, but today we actually got half a dozen.  We have been letting them roam around a bit this past week.  They love getting out and now every time I open the door to their coop, Sabrina comes running over and tries to get out.  All our chickens still seem healthy and don't have signs of Rosa's sickness.  I am really glad about that. 

It has been super windy the past couple of days.  Today it was a lot cooler too, we were sitting with blankets this afternoon.  I can hardly believe how cool it is when June is just around the corner.  We had gusts up to 65 mph, so some of our new plants are looking like they got beat up.  They will bounce back, but they look pretty pathetic right now.  Well, that's all for now.  Cheers.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Sun

Good Morning.  Today the sun is shining without a cloud in the sky.  What a nice change, since we have had so many windy, rainy and cloudy days.   We are going to enjoy some time outside today, that is for sure.  Our garden should really starting taking off now that we have sunny days.  We planted a lot of new vegetables this year, so it will be fun to see how they do.  I have to make a list of plants that didn't make it from the ones I ordered online.  The list is long and I get so frustrated even thinking about how many plants didn't make it.  I learned a lesson and I will never order online plants again.  That was a mistake, a mistake I have to accept and forget about. 

The chickens are all doing good.  So far it doesn't look like the other hens are sick from Rosa.  It was hard to get rid of Rosa, but the day we have to get rid of Sabrina isn't going to be an easy day for me.  I actually don't think I can get rid of her and she will just become my pet chicken.  I was sitting by them this weekend and my husband came over and saw a chicken hanging out next to me.  He said, "let me guess that chicken next to you is Sabrina."  It was Sabrina, so I guess she likes me too.

Well, have a great day. Bye.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Birds, birds and more birds

Good Morning.  Well, it has been a long time since I have blogged two days in a row.  Yesterday we had a lot happen around here on the farm, so I thought I should enlighten you.  First of all, I discovered Rosa had lice and mites and they were all over her bad eye.  I read about what to do and because she had lice and an infection, unfortunately they suggest you get rid of the hen.  So, I told my husband and he did the dirty deed.  The poor hen wasn't feeling good and so it was the best thing for her.  It was hard for me, but I knew it was better than her infecting all the other chickens.

In the afternoon we went out for a few hours and when we came back one of our hens was out of the coop.  The funny part was she had a friend watching out for her.  Our dog, Oliver, was standing next to her and it was so cute to see him taking care of her.  He loves to herd and so I imagine the entire time the hen was outside, he was having a hay day herding her around. 

Last night while my husband and I were watching TV we started hearing a strange noise from our fireplace.  We went over to it and realized it was a bird.  He was flying around in there and freaking out.  We have a screen across the fireplace, so he couldn't get out.  We tried to catch him, but he flew out and was flying around our house.  Finally, my husband got him against a window and he caught the bird.  The bird was just fine and flew away. 

So, needless to say we had a fun filled day with bird stories.  Wishing everyone a great day.  Bye.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

another day on the farm...

Good Morning.  We have had rain all week, which is not normal for where we live.  It is the middle of May and it has only been in the 50's for the high.  We are still going to have overcast weather with some rain the next few days, but it is going to warm up to the 70's.  Between the rainy days and the wet ground I feel as though I will never get the rest of my garden planted.  Hopefully it dries up some today so we can get more stuff planted tomorrow.

Rosa's eye looks better, but it still isn't great.  I decided to put her back with the other chickens last night.  She won't go in the dog house and thus she has been a wet bird all week.  I felt bad for her, so I decided to just put her back with the others.  My husband keeps telling me she is a bird not a princess!  Well, I realize she isn't a princess, but she isn't just a bird to me.  One of the hens got into an egg yesterday.  That isn't a good thing, because once they get a taste for the eggs, they like it and are more likely to do it again.  Hopefully, it was a one time thing.

Since the weather has been yucky I decided to paint the mud room yesterday.  I painted it the same green as our kitchen and it looks good.  It at least looks better than what it was before.  I have been working on a bench too for that room.  I have to put one more coat of paint on it and it will be ready to bring in the house. The bench was $20...a find thanks to my husband. 

Well, breakfast is calling.  Have a great day!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Rosa and weather

Well, another hen is injured.  Rosa, the one that looks similar to Sabrina has been separated from the others. The side of her face is swollen and we don't know what caused it.  It doesn't look like she got pecked from the other hens, but rather she has some sort of infection.  I called our vet and she told me to just keep her separated and she will either pull out of it or she won't.  My oldest son isn't too happy about the possibility of Rosa not making it and he informed me she is his favorite.  Oh, gee, thanks kid pull my heart strings.  This morning I went and checked on Rosa and I would say her face looks a little better today.  I hope she pulls through, she is one of our best hens.

We are supposed to have 300+ days of sunshine where we live, but this year so far it seems we are going to have 300+ days of no sunshine instead.  The forecast is more rain and gloomy days.  I can't really finish my garden when it keeps raining and being windy.  Hello bad weather...we don't want you around anymore.  It is starting to get frustrating and annoying. 

Well, hopefully it is just overcast today so I can plant some more seeds in the vegetable garden.  Have a great day.  Bye.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Just another free ranger

Good Morning.  Life is good on the farm this week.  The other day I decided to let the chickens out of their coop and free range.  I was just going to let Sabrina out with me, but once she was out the rest wanted to join her.  So, I couldn't resist and I let them all out.  They are so fun to watch wandering around.  They all pretty much stick together, except Henrietta kept falling behind.  Just another reason to prove that she is at the end of the pecking order. I realized yesterday that a few of the hens are starting to molt.  Once hens are around one year old they loose their feathers and stop laying eggs for about a month.  Then, they get new feathers and lay fewer eggs, but the eggs are bigger.  Hopefully they all do this at different times, so we don't miss out on too many eggs.

We should finish up planting seed for the garden today.  Yesterday, we planted our tomato plants, peppers (hot and bell), onions (white and yellow), corn and cucumbers.  The garden is going to be a bit of an experiment this year because we have never watered by gravity (flooding).  Overall, it should work fine, but we will learn some things that work and don't over the summer.  So, next year we will be better prepared. 

Well, I am going to enjoy my morning coffee.  Bye.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

flower garden

Hi.  I realize, it has been a week since I last wrote.  This past week has had distractions, so the farm hasn't been a top priority.  The weather hasn't been cooperating again either.  The end of this week it is supposed to warm back up, so we can get our vegetable garden planted. 

My boys spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house last night, so this afternoon I was able to work on my flower garden.  I am creating a "secret" garden filled with flowers.  I made the paths this weekend and my husband tilled the ground too.  Today I planted two fruit trees, blackberry plants, lavender, butterfly bushes and hibiscus.  These are the plants I ordered on line, so they are small, but once they mature in a few years, my garden is going to be so fun.  I have a lot more plants to add to it, but convincing me to buy plants is not hard.  I actually have an addiction to buying plants, and I love adding more and more to my gardens. 

Well, have a great day.  Bye.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Sunshine

Good Morning- Finally we have a 10 day forecast that I love...sun, sun and more sun.  Not to mention warm too, so now this week I get to plant my vegetable seeds.  This season feels like it was in slow motion and now that it is warming up it is probably going to feel like it is in fast forward.  We fixed our deck up this weekend.  It had stuff everywhere and not set up with our table and our sitting areas.  We purchased a gazebo too, so that will give us some shade in the heat of the summer.  It looks really nice all set up and since our deck is gigantic we have plenty of ways to enjoy it.

The chickens are doing good.  No current injuries with any of them, which feels like a miracle.  This weekend I went out and found an egg in their dog house and it was the smallest egg I have ever seen.  I have no idea which hen laid it, but it was tiny. Out of all the chickens we have, I love Sabrina.  I don't think I can eat her for dinner.  I want to just keep her as my pet chicken.  I figure eventually, I will have Sam (our weiner dog) and Sabrina following me around the farm keeping me company.  Sam will eat the mice we find and Sabrina will eat the bugs.  Sounds like a good team to me, however, my husband will need some convincing.

Well, have a great day everyone. Bye.