Marching Right Along

Today was a beautiful day.  Sunny and warm.  I have the windows open and can here the chickens' beaks hitting the tin as they peck up the chopped apple treat that Ross just gave them. Max is groaning because he wants to go out and play with the chickens and his daddy.  Earlier I planted our large front porch pots with an assortment of annuals. Other than the black flies (oh how I hate the black flies, and I rarely use the word hate), it was a great day to be outside.  Each day seems to get warmer and sunnier!

I walked around and looked at our gardens.  Flowers coming up all over the place.  Most of our hostas have little heads popping up.  Our other perennials are also just coming back to life. Lemon balm that I planted last year must have seeded as it is back and looking strong.  Seeing all this new growth is exciting. Of course, as all these new plants are starting to grow others are coming towards their end.  Our forsythia and daffodils are at full strength. So are the hyacinths and bluebells.  Soon the tulips and allium will replace them.  Time keeps marching right along.

Our fruit trees are also starting to flower.  The peaches are at full bloom.  Our bees, plus some big bumbles, have been busy pollinating the flowers.  The plum has also flowered. The apples, cherries, pears, and blueberries are close behind.  I included a picture of one of the apple buds as I thought it was just stunning.  I have high hopes of getting some good fruit this year as the fruit trees are all now several years old.  Of course, I will have to wait until each of these fruits come into season!  Everything in its own time.

It's Official

I've always wondered if I was just overstating the facts a bit when I referred to our property as a farm. We have several acres of land which used to be pasture land of a much larger farm.  It is now mostly woodland.  I never thought that having a small orchard, a handful of chickens, and two bee hives really counted as having a farm (and I shouldn't forget the electric fence). I think the fates are trying to tell me otherwise.

For those of you just tuning in to my ramblings, we sell eggs via a cooler on the side of the road.  We work under the honor system-the eggs are in the cooler as well as a bit of money to make change.  You take a dozen eggs, you leave your money.  We don't produce that many eggs so our customer base is a pretty small and loyal group.  Many a time someone also returns their used egg carton.  Yesterday someone returned a carton on which they wrote "Ross's Chicken Farm."  I had a good laugh when I saw this.  We aren't sure who wrote it, but they sure do know who we are.  That was the first sign confirming our 'farmdom.'

The second sign came in the mail today.  We received the 2012 National Agriculture Classification Survey from the USDA.  This is a mandatory form that we have to submit. I picked it up with a "yeah, right" thought going through my head.  There are four qualifying questions on the cover.  If you respond no to all four then you just send the survey back stating that you are not farming.  We have to answer yes to three of the four questions.  

I guess all signs are pointing to us really being a farm.

The Purr of the Generator Running...

A freak October snow storm.  That's what the local weather men are saying.  At least that is what I hear the local weather men are saying.  We lost our power Saturday evening-cable too.  The battery backups for Internet, telephone, and cell towers went out Sunday evening.  Ross' cell phone came back up in the wee hours of Tuesday morning.  So for one full day we had no means of communication other than knocking on a door or writing a letter (I still don't think I've seen our mail person since last week though).  We have a fireplace and a generator so we are warm and cozy, our bellies are full, and most importantly, we don't stink to high heaven.

It was a lot of snow, being October or not.  I took the measurement in the picture at about eleven Saturday night.  There is a quarter inch of space at the beginning of the ruler so there was fifteen and three quarter inches of snow on our picnic table.  It continued to snow until about three in the morning so it is easy to guesstimate that sixteen inches fell in about fourteen hours.  What made this storm so bad was that so many trees still had leaves on them.  You could hear all kinds of cracking and thuds from branches breaking and falling.  We had a tree snap in two and fall into our orchard between the chicken coop and a bee hive and right on our electric fence.  It landed on two new fruit trees we just planted this past Spring (they both made it through).  This was just one of several trees and large limbs that fell on our property. Needless to say, we spent the next day with chainsaw in hand.  At least we're ahead for next year's firewood!

Of course we are just two of many people in the same boat.  We reached out to various members of our church and neighborhood making sure they were OK and if not to come over to our house.  Yesterday I was at the local hardware store looking for oil and an oil filter for our generator (both sold out go figure).  While waiting patiently for my turn I ended up in a conversation with a man who just moved to the area a month ago.  He bought a house just around the corner from us.  He said he had no heat so I told him if he needed a place to stay just come over.  Later I thought, "wow, he must think I'm a freak inviting a perfect stranger over."  Possibly.  In realty it's just I love living in my small town, and I love that people are in each other's business here, and the best way to be neighbors is to be neighborly, to genuinely care for the people that surround you.  That doesn't necessarily mean you have to like them, although we are blessed because we have yet to meet a neighbor we haven't liked.

Today we got our phone and Internet back so I am finally able to write thanks to our generator and its ever present humming purr in the background.  The outage has us feeling a bit old-timey lately.  Mainly from our weird, power outage chores, like bringing in the daily firewood and trimming the candle wicks.  I was feeling that Ross was missing TV so this morning I read him some short stories as he cooked breakfast.  It was a good time.  Taking it all in I can say we are making do with the situation given to us, which is the best I guess anyone can do!

She's Still a Tough Bird

Squawk.  Blackie, our Black Australorp chicken, is experiencing her first molting.  Molting is the process that most birds go through to refeather their bodies.  To do this they must first lose their old feathers.  A chicken's first molting usually occurs around eighteen months of age and in Autumn.  Miss Blackie is right on schedule!

If you look closely you can see bald patches on Blackie's tail and hind end.  There are little shoots of new feathers growing in all over her body.  I lovingly described her as looking like a roaster chicken with its head still on (Ross was none too happy about that description).  

Molting is supposedly a stressful time for a bird.  You can't tell with our little girl as she still is ruling her roost.  I guess you can say that all the other chickens aren't able to rustle her feathers (ha, ha, ha).

Poor, Sick Chicken

Our poor, sick chicken.

I wrote that line a couple hours ago, and then I had to stop...  

On, Monday Ross noticed that one of our chickens, Myrtle, was making a weird noise as she breathed.  On Tuesday, she was making this wheezing whine as she exhaled. We called the vet and got some medicine for her.  He said she possibly had either a gape worm that infected her trachea or a respiratory infection.  She got worse throughout the day and was even worse this morning.  We had her secluded from the rest of the girls.  As you can see in the picture, Ross was comforting her earlier today.  Unfortunately her illness got the best of her.  She passed away while I was holding her.  

I hate death.  I hate suffering.  I hate that moment when you're sitting there watching a poor, little creature suffer and you know there's no way back and you welcome death. You ask for it, beg for it, and then once you get it, you rue it.  That confliction-it's the cost of living, of loving, of feeling...

We buried Myrtle with her other fallen sisters up on the hill.  The area looks down over the house and is under an old apple tree that sprung up there probably from some deer's pooh dropped years ago.  She was a good, little chicken.  She will be missed.

Fresh Eggs for Sale

Well the time has finally arrived where Ross and I cannot consume all the eggs that the chickens are laying so our little cluckers are now in business for themselves.  We put up a fresh eggs sign last evening (handmade by yours truly).  We are using the honor system where people can stop by and take eggs out of our cooler at their convenience. They just leave their money (and hopefully all the rest of the money) in the cigar box.  The top sign says "today" for when we have eggs, and if we run out then we can switch it to say "out."  We did not get any takers today, but every business starts out small, right?  Let's hope.

Update-You're a Big Girl Now!

You'd think it was a competition.  Ross and I were out clearing some land, yes that's right clearing some land, and on a break he went over and checked on the little chickens and lo and behold we had our second, first-egg today.  Two down, four to go!

You're a Big Girl Now!

Which is the little girl egg?

After we woke up this morning Ross checked on the chickens. We still have the little girls separated from the big girls.  In the little girls' pen was a little surprise. One of our little girls laid her first egg.  We believe it was Big Bird as she is the farthest developed (she is bigger than the two remaining older girls but doesn't know it).  It looks like we will be having a lot more eggs coming our way soon!

On another note, the other night we took Max out for his final potty.  We heard this little, clicking noise and saw something gliding from tree to tree.  It was a flying squirrel.  I was so happy as this was on my list of animals that live in New England that I wanted to see but haven't.  In two weeks I've gotten to cross bobcat and flying squirrel off the list. It has been a good summer so far.

Speaking of good summer, our gardens are doing great this year.  Below are some pictures I took today.  The gardens give me so much joy.  I hope the pictures help give you a little too!

A Sad Rainy Day.

Today we lost our Curley. It was sudden and unexpected. After running our errands this afternoon we came back home, and her little body was just laying there in the garage. The remaining three were staying there until we had the coop fortified with an electric fence (because of the bear attack this past November). She was a wonderful Golden Comet chicken. We called her Curley because she had one beautiful feather in her tail feathers that curled. She was full of personality and charm. We will miss her. We buried her next to her fallen sisters with spring flowers and a little of her favorite bird seed. We will miss you sweetie.

Papa's Gonna Get You!

Here is a short video of our new chicks.  The reddish tint is caused by the heat lamp we use to keep the chicks warm.

Spring Has Sprung

March is almost over and Spring is starting to poke up all around us.  All of our bulbs were showing their heads. All those except the ones still stuck under mounds of snow. Friday, after I got home from work, I went around and cut back all the old, dead foliage from last year.  So many plants are starting to awaken; it makes me so happy to see them stirring.  I trimmed back the holly bush in the front (it amazes me how much growth it gets each year).  After a quick bite to eat Ross and I headed out back to move the snow bank that was still covering our bulb garden we affectionately refer to as the Spring Garden.  The last thing either of us has wanted to do was shovel more snow, but it was either that or no flowers.  Now all our bulbs have a chance to show their stuff. On a side note, I planted two peonies last year and have been hoping all winter that they would survive.  Both are showing signs of new growth-yeaaahhh!

On Saturday, our church hosted a pork roast fund raising dinner which was open to the community.  Ross and I have recently started attending this church so this was our first dinner.  We had a lot of fun.  It was a nice chance to get to know the various members of the church.  Ross was placed on the serving line.  As I was sitting down to eat I kept watching him.  He had the biggest smile on his face.  I love to see him happy.  He made two homemade pies for the event.  They never made it out of the kitchen as they were eaten by the church members.  I told Ross later that he was just going to have to make double in the future!

Rhodie

If you haven't read Ross' previous blog we now have six new baby chicks.  I told Ross that this time we were not going to name them. Within four days I had already broken my rule, but in my defense I couldn't help myself.  Ross picked up three Golden Comets and three Rhode Island Reds.  One of the Reds had a bit of poo stuck to her little, downy feathers. It was really stuck.  I felt so bad for the poor chick which endeared her to me.  I named her Rhodie (from Rhode Island Red).

We were speaking after church with a woman who also has chickens.  She said we should remove the poo because if left it could cause a blockage leaving the chick unable to relieve herself, and the chick could die.  So after we got home I went straight after the chick and pulled off the poo.  I tried to be as gentle as I could but the poor thing lost some feathers in the process.  Her little chirps just broke my heart.  She so has me wrapped around her little wing feathers!

We took Max on a walk along our road today.  I took some pictures and put them on the slideshow to the right.  I love our road; the open woods and the forgotten stone walls lend such charm to it.  It was also such a beautiful and sunny day but still was a bit brisk for my taste.  I am hoping for a warmer April, but then again aren't we all!

I Sit With My Head In My Hands

It has been a trying few days.  I mentioned to someone that if this was a TV show and not my real life it would be quite entertaining...

I set my alarm to wake me up today.  I rarely wake up early on a Saturday but this one was different.  I knew that we would be entertaining people today; some coming to see the spectacle, the culmination of the past several days of our lives, and others to remedy it.  It can best be summed up by a quote from Kevin, my employer and our friend, when he said, "Shannon, you have a bear." (KC I think that this is a much better shout out than the farm tour!)  It was a moment when conceptual idea met reality.

Let me take you back to Wednesday night.  I decided to hop in the tub and try to relax.  Shortly thereafter Ross came running in and was barely able to speak.  The only comprehensible things I heard were "bear" and "bees."  I went from naked and soaking wet to shirt/pants/boots with no socks/bee suit in approximately five minutes; this was unfortunate because I did not put the bee suit on so well.  

The bear had come stealthily and knocked over the bee hive.  I instructed Ross to go inside and get me a flashlight.  Once I was outside alone I heard the bear over by the side of the house in the woods moving. I stumbled into one of those moments where you just don't know what to do-I could leave the bees strewn across the orchard and they could freeze or be eaten by predators, or I could go out, put the hive back together, and risk running into a black bear.  I decided to put the hive back together.  Ross wanted to help.  I told him he would be a better help if he watched out for the bear.  

Now when a bee keeper services a hive he or she will smoke the bees first.  A cool smoke makes the bees more docile and keeps them from swarming on the keeper in protection of the hive.  There is no cool smoke ready and waiting in an emergency situation, and this is where not having the bee suit on so well comes into play.  I received a number of stings as I picked up frame after frame and put them back carefully in the hive body.   With each frame came another assault from the bees.  I tried telling them that I was there to help, but they weren't interested in listening.  I ended up with stings on the back of my neck, around my wrists (my leather bee gloves have a small mesh section around the wrist to keep the wearer cool in the summer), on my hands (the bees were stinging the palm of my gloves and then as I would pick up the next frame I would push these stings through the glove and into my hands), and around my ankles.  It was not a fun time, and I was happy when I had the hive back together.  

Damaged Main Door

Happiness lasted about a minute because Ross asked me to go check on the chickens.  Now I never really thought about the chickens during all this.  TV has left me with the impression that bears gorge themselves on honey, and the small amount that I have read and heard indicated that black bears eat berries, fruit, nuts, and insects.  I must have selectively removed the, and small fowl and livestock part from my mind.  The coop looked fine from the front, but as I walked up to it I noticed all was not fine.  The bear had tried getting in the main door to no avail but was able to break open the nesting door that we used to collect eggs.  He had ripped it from its bottom hinges, but it remained in its latches and was able to swing open upwards.  I pushed up the door and counted mentally to myself one chicken, two chickens, three chickens, where's the fourth chicken.  Please God let her be under the nesting box.  Calmly but firmly I asked Ross to get me the keys to the main door.  He asked what was wrong and I repeated for him to get me the key.  I knew that we were about to hit a moment when Ross could lose it, and I needed him not to because I had chickens in an unprotected coop that needed to be moved to somewhere safe.  This was no time for emotions, just actions.

Nesting Door Removed

Ross brought me the key and my chicken was not in the coop.  I looked under the coop to see if she was there.  No.  Then I looked around and found a small amount of feathers.  This is not a good sign.  Ross wanted to continue to look for her, but I made him stay with the other chickens as I prepared the garage as a temporary home for our girls.  Once I was done we moved each girl one by one to the garage.  They were freaked, and I can't blame them.  I wish we had heard them when the bear was mauling their home; maybe we cold have saved our dear Flopsie.  Damn bear.

We ended the day feeling violated.  I had in the back of my mind accepted that one day we might have an issue with the bees, but I was unprepared for another chicken loss.  We were proud of the coop and it had kept the foxes, raccoons, and weasels at bay, but it was no match for the bear.  How much I have learned, and no end in sight.  I mentioned at one point after this episode that we were on a learning curve on how to protect our animals from predators.  The sad part is that little lives are being lost as we ride this curve.  It is my logical personality that helps me through these trying times.  Unfortunately for Ross he is more emotional.

One of the things I love about Ross is his sensitive soul.  Unfortunately, this is not a desirable trait when you are dealing with trauma.  The bear's attack on the bees and chickens really upset him.  He, having seen the bear during the day in the past, was scared to go outside.  During a conversation Ross told me that before the attack he thought the idea of a bear in the area was novel or whimsical, but after seeing its destructive force the idea became frightening.  He was so distraught, and I was worried for him.

My Precious!

These feelings only intensified when the bear came back the next evening.  Ross had been feeling down in the dumps.  I called him about 5:00 PM from work to check on how he was doing.  He said he was cold and tired.  I told him that he should take a shower to help him relax.  He was in the shower for ten minutes.  When he went in the bee hive was fine.  When he got out it was knocked over.  He called me very distraught to tell me.  I told him to just let them be, and we will get to them when I got home form work.  I didn't want him out there with no one watching for the bear.  When I got home we moved the bees to the back porch hoping that the bear wouldn't venture so close.  We ate dinner and then I washed dishes checking the hive every ten minutes or so.  After I finished the dishes I knew I couldn't sit and watch TV because I was just going to keep getting up so I decided to process some of the honey we removed last weekend.  Given the fact that the bear had now stolen more honey from the hive I decided to freeze most of the frames to give back to the bees once it got cold outside.  I processed two frames with a mixing bowl and some cheesecloth.  A crude setup but was quite effective.  I was able to get thirteen 4-oz jars out of it.  I was really hoping to have more to share, but the bear had a different idea.  I cleaned up my mess, Ross and I wound down for the night, and went to bed with the hive untouched.

Nature called early in the morning, and when I got up to answer the call I noticed that the hive was down again.  I'm cold, I'm tired, and I'm ticked.  I left Ross to sleep; he needed it.  At first I went out to see the damage.  I was in a night shirt.  I was not sure how long the bees had been exposed to the cold, night air. I subsequently got stung on both my calves.  More stings, how nice.  I went in and dressed, got in the bee suit, and put the hive back together.  I noticed that many of the bees were dead.  The porch was strewn with little bee carcasses.  I moved from annoyed to beaten.  At this point reality kicked in.  I knew that even if the queen had survived all three assaults on the hive there were probably not enough bees left for all to survive the winter.  They rely on clustering to maintain warmth.  Fewer bees mean a smaller cluster.  Couple that with depleted honey and we have a disaster waiting to happen.  I crawled back into bed demoralized.  Ross awoke and asked me if the bees were OK.  It took a second for me to answer because I thought maybe I should tell him a lie.  I didn't which is good because he noticed that the bear tried to get in the chicken coop again (the chickens were still in the garage).  This time he wrenched the nesting door completely off the coop.  I feel a spiral pulling me down.  I happily go to work; I need the distraction and the feeling that life continues forward.

Bear In a Can

Now I should mention at this time that bears are monitored by Connecticut's Department of Environmental Protection.  Bear sightings can be submitted online, and the state maintains a 24-hour emergency hotline in case someone is in danger.  The state has biologists and rangers and by Friday they were well aware of us and our struggle.  On Thursday morning, a ranger came out to survey the damage caused on Wednesday night.  Thursday night, before I got home, a ranger had actually seen the bear in the woods behind our porch after it hit the hive the second time.  The ranger didn't shoot the bear because he was not a threat at that moment.  That same ranger came over Friday morning, after the third hit, and was looking for the bear because at this point he was a nuisance to us and our agriculture (our agriculture-I can't tell you how tickled I was to hear this from Ross).  Later that morning, state biologists delivered a bear trap to the side of my house.  I have armed rangers, and biologists, and bear traps (oh my!).  By 5:30 PM I also have a bear in a trap.

What a sight to come home to.  Ross had seen the bear sneak into the back yard.  He scared the bear enough that he bypassed the bee hive but couldn't resist the banana peels and doughnuts in the trap.  Our neighbor Mike came over shortly after, and Ross sat down in a chair and started laughing uncontrollably;  three days of pent up frustration can do that to a man.  We all stood outside with our flashlights looking at the bear.  The biologist called and said that they would be out in the morning to take care of him.  Our neighbors from across the street stopped on their way out to tell us they had seen a bear on their property (we routinely call them when we see a bear heading their way).  We pointed to the trap and said you mean that bear.  They got their boys out of the car to see the bear in the tube.  Later the ranger from that morning stopped with his daughter and a friend so see if the bear sprung the trap.  They all took a moment to look at the poor thing.  I say poor thing because I really felt for it.  He was scared and wanted out and I could relate.  I hadn't forgiven him for killing my bees and chicken, but I did feel for him.  After all, he is just a bear and was just doing bear things.

Rangers and Biologists

So that brings me to an alarm waking me up on a Saturday morning,  people coming over to see the bear (like this doesn't happen everyday), and the biologists and rangers coming to take care of our prisoner.  I wasn't lying when I called it a spectacle.  The state's team came and gave us our options.  We could have the bear hazed on the property and released or hazed off site and released.  Either way it is hazed.  Hazing involves irritating, scaring, and causing moderate pain to the bear.  The benefit of doing it on site is that the bear remembers and associates the negative stimuli with the area and it almost always causes the bear to never return.  If they do it off site the bear is likely to return.  We had the bear hazed on site.  They banged on the metal tube of the trap, shot it with paint balls,  poked it with a stick, and yelled at it.  The bear was not too pleased.  When they finally opened the gate on the trap he didn't come out.  They had to bang on the tube again to get him to run and boy did he run.  As he left the rangers shot him with these bean bag shells that police officers use in crowd control situations.  You'd never think something that weighed 250 pounds could move so quick!  I felt for the poor guy, but it is in his and our best interest.  His other option was to get caught too close to the house and shot to death.  I didn't want him harmed, but I didn't want him back either.

Ross Bunyon

We breathed a sigh of relief and moved on with our lives.  We still had to get out the chain saw and take care of the tree that fell in the driveway Monday morning.  We took turns chopping up the larger pieces with the ax and put everything on the woodpile (the ax work was a little therapeutic).  That frees us up tomorrow to go source an electric fence for the orchard area (the chickens and the bees are both housed in the orchard).  As the biologist told me, this bear will probably never return, but there is always another waiting to take its place.  It is not a matter of if another predator will visit us but when. I want us to be prepared for the next one, and can you really call yourself a working farm if you don't have a four wire, barbed, electric fence (boo-yah)!

Time Flies

Guess what...

Boy does time fly by in the blink of an eye.  It just seems like yesterday that we were growing and harvesting our garlic, and Ross planted his new bulbs for next year today.  His garden is officially defunct for the year.  He pulled the last of the plants this past week.  We were able to get one last lettuce haul that gave us enough for a salad, and there are some carrots in the fridge that we will need to eat.  For the most part it was a good growing year.  All did well except the potatoes.

I spent part of the day performing the sad task of disposing of our annual flowers that are now spent and cleaning and storing the pots for the Winter.  It's sad to see the plants fade away knowing that another Summer has come and gone.  I still left some plants that are hanging in there go so that there was at least something on the patio when my sister comes to visit next weekend.

Ross planted some more daffodil bulbs in the front of the house last weekend.  The first Spring after we bought the place we had some daffodils sprout.  Ross has added to them each year since.  I can't believe we are quickly coming up on three years in this house.  All I can say is that the house and the landscaping keeps getting better every year.

The weather seems to be getting cooler and cooler as the month rolls along.  I haven't broken out a coat yet but did pull out my quilted flannel shirt.  We are back to wearing multiple layers while we are outside.  What is worse is that I have turned on the heater in the house.  It kills me to say that.  I usually try to make it till November to turn it on, but the temperature has been low enough that the house does not get back to a comfortable temperature during the day on its own.  It is not fair to Ross to ask him to freeze his tuckus off all day long just because I'm a heat miser.  FYI, I know it's gotten cold when Ross tells me that he is cold.  He has officially been wearing jeans and even wore his coat one day while he watched the chickens.  The chickens on the other hand don't seem fazed by the temperature change.

Last weekend Ross and I had our anniversary.  We had a relaxing weekend at home.  We did go to the Garlic Festival at the the Bethlehem Fairgrounds.  It is fun to go and see all the people and try all the different garlic dips and sauces.  I bought a carved wood bowl there to house my pocket change.  While walking around we discussed whether to go out to dinner or to cook at home.  We ended up cooking.  For dinner we had prime rib, baked potatoes, fresh garden salad with a garlic vinegar dressing (we got the vinegar at the fair), mushrooms sauteed in red wine, and champagne to toast another year together.  Ross made an incredible dinner.  I am blessed to have such a talented husband.

All in all it does seem that time is flying by.  I think part of what makes it seem to go so fast is the good company I get to keep!

Break Out the Coats

What a weekend.  We had two beautiful and sunny days with daytime temperatures in the 60s and evenings in the 40s.  This was the first time since Spring that we had to bundle up.  By this I mean that I put on a sweatshirt and long pants (and thought at one point of getting a jacket) and Ross went with a long sleeve shirt and his shorts instead of a short sleeve shirt.  Ross is warm blooded and I am always cold.  In the dead of winter I want to place flannel sheets and a wool blanket on the bed but he gets too hot.  He is best with a light blanket and regular sheets.  I would wake up as popsicle if he had his way.

As you can see in the picture we are starting to lose our leaves.  Everything in the garden has been early this year and it looks as if the changing of the leaves will be early too.  We had a tropical storm go up the East Coast Thursday and Friday which dumped a lot of rain on us.  With it came strong winds which knocked down a lot of leaves.  We needed the rain but could have done without the winds.  We thought about starting to rake, but I thought we should wait another week and let some more drop.  Ross mowed the grass though to help mulch what was already on the ground.  I think the chickens were upset since they love scratching up the leaves looking for bugs and worms hiding beneath.

I spent a lot of the weekend watching the chickens (they desperately needed some outdoor time after two days of rain) while Ross worked on a new Spring bulb border in the front of the house.  He has gotten really good at making rock borders, and we are in no short supply of rocks.  We chit chatted a bit with our neighbors from across the street, and they even mentioned how nice Ross' borders looked.  Now that he has finished this border we will have Daffodils framing the entrance to the driveway; I just love Daffodils and they look so nice with our old stone walls as a backdrop.

Speaking of the stone walls, I have decided to make several jack-o-lanterns this year to place along the wall.  I already started getting pumpkins (because pumpkins are also early this year) to complete my task.  I just love Halloween.  I only wished that the communities around here made a bigger deal over this holiday.  I'll probably start carving in a week or two and slowly build up my army of orange gourds.  As I buy more pumpkins I will of course sneak a sugar pumpkin or two Ross' way for rendering.  He makes a mean homemade pumpkin pie and Thanksgiving is right around the corner!

But Does He Do Windows?

The answer is yes he does!  I spent a good portion of the weekend cleaning windows.  Now I'd like to say that this was part of my semi-annual maintenance, but truth be told, we have not done a thorough cleaning of the windows since we bought the place two and a half years ago (and I can't begin to tell you when they were cleaned before that).  I never really realized how dirty they were until I cleaned one, and then I had to clean the rest.  I also didn't realize how many windows there are on our house between the regular panes and the storm windows until I started this very tedious job.  My thought half-way through was thank God we have a one-story house.  Although the job is in no way glamorous, I cannot describe the feeling of going inside and looking out through sparkling, clean windows.  It was very satisfying to see the world in full color instead of through the whitish-gray haze that was there before.  Of course, someone had to put a finger print on one of my freshly cleaned windows within hours of me cleaning it.  Ross assures me he did not do it.

This was just a precursor to the interior cleaning that we will be doing this coming week.  We are having family visit next weekend.  As such the whole house will be getting  a good going-over.  My mother accused us once of keeping our house too clean, and referred to us a Felix and Super-Felix (me being Super-Felix).  I took it as a compliment.  One of my fondest memories of meeting Ross' family was the first time I met his grandmother, affectionately referred to as Sito.  She came to our place for Thanksgiving, and her first remark after greeting everyone was to compliment us on how clean our home was.  Personally, I think our house could be cleaner, but that's just my obsessive compulsive disorder talking.

It has been a banner year for our tomatoes.  Ross was able to can another batch of his tomato sauce this weekend.  I love his tomato sauce.  For Friday supper, he made homemade spaghetti in his sauce with garlic bread (he made the bread himself and the garlic was from our garden); I am so spoiled.  With all the tomatoes this year, he has canned three batches of sauce, two batches of tomato soup, a batch of salsa, and two batches of tomato ketchup.  We will be eating well this winter!

Of course with me washing windows, Ross was on chicken patrol.  Blackie, our Black Australorps, had a tough Saturday.  Every so often chickens can lay soft-shelled eggs; the shell is there but it is not rigid or hard.  Blackie for some reason does this pretty much once a month, but instead of one egg she usually lays two in quick succession.  This was the case on Saturday.  It was later in the day, and Ross noticed that she was all puffed up and was looking like she was going to lay.  He got the other girls to go to their run so he could baby sit Blackie while she passed her eggs.  I was out front with them cleaning windows at the time.  To my great dismay, I heard a pack of coyotes in the distance howling while Ross was herding the rest of the girls to the back.  Coyotes are common place here, but hearing a group of them howling in the distance during daylight hours is not.  I said a little prayer that out little Australorps would get her eggs out before our property was overrun with hungry mongrels stumbling upon a chicken dinner.  She did get her eggs out, and we were not overrun by coyotes.  Of course, had we been, we would have been able to see them clearly through those freshly cleaned windows!

A Beautiful Weekend

Well the weekend is almost over and no more cougar sightings thank the Lord.  We had a very productive weekend.  Ross was able to can a batch of his homemade tomato soup and made a terrific Mexican dinner for us Saturday night.  He made everything from scratch including the nacho chips for the cheese dip.  Mmm, mmm tasty.  They were even better today as a snack!

On Saturday, we finally got the roof completed on the chicken run.  I had placed wire mesh over the top to keep our little cluckers in but it was not secured.  This weekend we connected each of the posts with 2x4s and nailed the chicken wire in place.  We started to weave each of the sections together with galvanized wire, but still have some weaving left to do.  I'll leave that to Ross to finish this week.  I am feeling much better about the safety of my little girls.

Ross noticed that one of the hens was limping as she walked.  We checked her foot and all seems in order.  We are hoping that she just strained it and that in time it will get better.  We'll keep an eye on that.

Today I finished up a job that I have put off for two summers now.  When we first bought the property the woods came right up to the house.  The house sits on a hill (hence Looking Glass Hill) with the area that the house sits on leveled out.  On one side of the house the property slopes upward and on the other the property slopes downward.  Several months after we closed the septic system was replaced.  To do this the contractor had to cut down a lot of trees to place the tank and leaching field as well as to gain access to those sites.  He created a quasi road on our property and opened up a lot of what is now green space for us to enjoy.  That summer I placed some stone steps on the downward sloping side of the house that led to the quasi road.  I always intended to build a hand rail as the grade is somewhat steep but have put it off until this weekend.  As fate would have it Ross and I came across discounted, end of season hostas and decided to place these in this small swatch of land right next to the stairs.  The area was overrun with weeds and was the last remaining section of the area between the driveway and the quasi road that we still had left to reclaim from the woods; probably half of Ross' poison ivy outbreaks have come from reclaiming this area of our property.  I decided before planting the hostas that I should place the handrail  so that I wouldn't have to disturb the plants later.  So as Ross cooked brunch, and a tasty bread pudding that we had for dessert tonight, I went out and started digging the post holes.  Thankfully there were no major rock obstacles so hole digging went quickly.  For the posts I used a maple tree trunk from a tree we cut down earlier this summer.  The handrail is a maple sapling that I cut down today.  I had the posts in place and the sapling cut all before Ross called me to the table.  After a quick trip to the local hardware store for some quick drying cement to hold the poles in place, I was close to being done.  I'm really happy with the railing and was done so quickly that I was able to get all the hostas planted too.  Progress makes me happy.  What makes me really happy is crossing a two year old project off my to do list!

City Chicken Weekend

The weekend is almost over, and it has been a full one!  We started it off with City Chicken for Friday supper. This is a new dish to our table.  I personally never heard of it before, but it is something that Ross grew up eating and thought only his grandmother made (until he did some research and realized that many others had grown up with it too).  Although the name states chicken it is actually not.  Ross' recipe calls for a mixture of beef and pork.  I guess in the old days beef and pork were cheaper than chicken so City Chicken was the poor man's dish.  All I can say is that it was quite tasty, and as you can tell by the picture we had plenty enough for leftovers.

Speaking of chicken,  all four of ours are now laying eggs pretty consistently.  On Saturday I took the camera with me when I went to let them out and collect the eggs.  I took this picture of these three brown beauties waiting for me.  We are now getting more eggs than we are using so either Ross is going to need to bake more, or we are going to have to start giving them away.  I am amazed, and feel somewhat bad, that these little hens push out something relatively so big on such a consistent basis.  I guess there is no rest for the little cluckers.

The ladies are also getting accustomed to their new run.  The first couple of days they tried to escape via their not so great flying, but realized very quickly that their was no escape from Chicken-traz (think Alcatraz-my other name for it is Fort Clux like Fort Knox).  They also went from wall to wall looking for a way out to no avail.  Now they go about their business like it's old hat.  They even found a little space to have their dirt baths.  They are so adorable as they roll themselves around in the dirt.  They get it all up in their feathers.  When they are done, they give a grand shake and release a plume of dust.  It reminds me of Pig Pen from the Peanuts cartoon.  They are my little dirty birds.

Ross and I also spent part of Saturday replanting his largest fig tree and changing out some of our spent annuals with mums and asters.  I have a thing for mums.  I just love their smell and the bright colors.  It is one of the things that I love about the late summer/early autumn period.  I will definitely post some pictures later once they start to bloom.  So far I picked up a couple of smaller pinks called Gigi and for the front planters I got a couple of oranges named Hannah.  Ross also picked out one that has a yellow center that radiates out to white; it is quite pretty.  In the evening we ran into town and got some more chicken bedding and food from the Tractor Supply store and then grabbed some supper.  When we got back it was dark, but it was still nice out so we took our kitty Daisy out to the rock garden with us.  I used this time to cut the flower stems off the lavender so that they could be bunched together and dried.  It was nice to just sit, talk and share a moment with our little girl who is quickly winding down (damn cancer).

We awoke today to rain.  Now I normally would be a bit down about a rainy day on my weekend, but we are in such need of water that I found it refreshing.  The rain caused a bit of trouble to my rain barrel though.  Those in the know know that I have had fits with this barrel since I got it.  It was sent to me as long wood slats with these small metal bands to hold them together.  Inside the barrel is a plastic bladder to hold the rain water.  The problem with it is that these metal bands cannot withstand the outward pressure pushed on them by the water.  I have now had three of the bands break so I went to Home Depot to see if I could find a solution.  Now my rain barrel is being held together by nylon tie downs attached to tensioning ratchets.  If it works...

I have included this picture of peaches I took Saturday because peaches permeated the whole weekend.  Our peach trees are young but have given us several tasty treats to snack on.  All I can say is that I cannot wait for these trees to mature so that I can stuff my face with peach after peach.  So, so tasty.  

So now I must go as I hear Ross in the kitchen working on his salsa (he finds so many ways to preserve all the tomatoes).  I also promised him I'd do the dishes, and then I think he wants to make a batch a red cabbage kraut this evening.  With all this still pending I'm really hoping to get to bed before the day's over.  Wish me luck!

The Talented Mrs. Hull

When I got home from work today there was a little package waiting for me.  Inside I found the most adorable chicken that my sister had made for myself and Ross.  Our little hen pumpkin makes a great companion for the original pumpkin that my sister gifted us last year.  I can't quite remember, but I believe they are made out of paper mache or a material of similar quality.  My sister then paints them.  They are simply adorable and beautifully crafted.  My sis is definitely talented!

It's always nice to receive an unexpected gift.  Especially one that is as unique and thoughtful as the chick-o-lantern.  It will be a wonderful reminder of all the highs and lows we have experienced in our first year with chickens.  Thanks sis!

Chicken Run. Try Chicken Fly.

So last week we got the poles for the chicken run in place.  It was nice to go out out every night after work and see our little, poultry Stonehenge.  What made it extra special was the subtle reminder it gave of all the work that was necessary for the run to get completed.  The plan was to build three walls with a door.  After thinking this through a bit more I realized that it would be nothing for a fox or coyote to jump on the roof of the coop and just hop in the run so a fourth wall on the coop side became necessary.  There was no plan for a roof.  I should state that again-no plan for a roof.  I really did not think that a roof was necessary.  Really, six foot high walls should keep everything out.  Right?

So I was up working on the coop side wall, and Ross was over with the chickens while they were taking their nap/dirt bath (I think they do this about midday every day).  The next thing I know Ross is swinging the get'n stick (a hiking stick that we use to herd the chickens) in the air and ranting.  I see two hawks move out of a dive straight toward the chickens for fear of being hit by the crazy man and his stick.  They ended up roosting in a nearby tree.  Ross did not take his eye off them. Talk about the evil eye!  So this little escapade gave me a quick, second thought about the roof.  I looked at the area, saw the trees overhead, and then thought there is no way a hawk will get them in here.  Back to work I went.

The next thing I know the beautiful, sunny weather turns overcast an muggy.  And this happened just in time for me to start digging the first of three ditches needed to bury some of the chicken wire in hopes of keeping the wild things from digging under the fence.  It was sweaty work.  Ross finally was able to corral the chickens back into the coop and came to my rescue.  Together we worked on the remaining ditches and got the chicken wire in place all the time being serenaded by the clucks and squawks of our little hens.  They were not happy about being cooped up; I now know where that colloquialism came from.  After we got the wire in place (no door yet as I still have to build it) Ross started cleaning up the tools and I decided to let the little girls try out their new yard.  They were not happy to say the least.  Ever since we first took them out they have been free range birds.  These girls did not like the idea of a fence.  They went from wall to wall looking for an escape as I sat in the doorway blocking the only route out.  Blackie, our Black Australorps, tried to fly right over my head, but I caught her.  She was not happy about that!  And then, Curley (so named for her funny, curly tail feathers), took flight right to the top of the beam over the door space.  I could only laugh.  I have spent so much time wondering if the walls were tall enough to keep all the critters out and if the trees would keep the hawks at bay that I neglected to think if they were tall enough to keep my little cluckers in!  Guess not.  So, now on next weeks agenda is a roof.

By the way, our other two remaining hens are named Flopsie and Maddie;  Flopsie got her name because her comb flops over to one side and Maddie got hers from Ross as an homage to my niece-our Golden Comets' ginger feathers are a close resemblance to my niece's hair.  During a conversation with my sister, post informing them of our hen's name, she told me that my nephew wanted to know why we didn't name one of the chicken's after him.  My reply, "We don't have a rooster!"  Situation averted...

On another side note, the whole time I have been writing this Ross has been in the kitchen canning green beans.  The boy just doesn't stop.  I think I got him riled up by mentioning that this year they are having a canning contest at the Bethlehem County Fair.  Maybe Ross will be the blue ribbon winner!

It's Good For You. I Promise!

Last October when my mom and Bob visited we went to the annual Garlic Festival held at the Bethlehem fairgrounds.  While there we had some good garlic eats, bought some fancy garlic oil, and Ross got a quarter bag of seed garlic which probably cost the same as buying three garlic bulbs from the grocery store.  He planted many a clove.  Almost a year later our harvest is in, and I am amazed at how much garlic we have.  I spent several hours trimming the stalks, dusting the cloves off with a soft bristle brush, and grouping them together in several bunches so that they may hang and dry.  The herb hook we got earlier this year is really paying off!  For all visitors still to come this year please note that at least one of your meals will be garlic inspired, and I am not make any promises on our breath.

Ross the Chicken Herder

On another note, we made progress on building the chickens a run to help keep them safe from the wild beasts.  We got some 4x4 poles in the ground which was somewhat of a chore.  As my mother explained so eloquently as she was digging in one of our gardens, we "sure do grow great rocks here."  My hands are sore from digging out small rock after small rock.  I'm not quite sure if the 4x4s are a bit of overkill, but I'm trying to keep our poor, little birds safe.  During one of my breaks I asked Ross if he remembered that earlier this year I declared 2010 the year of the bird, and he did.  We laughed over how true my proclamation became.  What makes it funny is that I never expected to get chickens; one day in April Ross went to run errands and when he returned he surprised me with baby chicks.  I then stated that I never knew how much work the year of the bird would be with building the coop and the run, and then I said that 2011 WILL NOT be the year of the goat (Ross has wanted goats ever so badly since we picked up our bees from a farm where their goats had and were giving birth and Ross and I got to hold the babies).  I just don't think I have it in me to build a barn next year.

All in all we had a great weekend.  Ross spent much of it chicken herding while I worked on my projects.  He really is a great man.  I hope to get the run completed soon so that he can stop worrying so much about the remaining chickens and get on to other things.