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We had a nice weekend. I made it through without
stressing about chickens. We had some truck trouble, but made it to
Oshkosh and back without serious problems. So all the hard things
went well.
Friday night before we left, Diane took me out to our
favorite expensive restaurant with no warning. It's my birthday on
Wednesday and this was our chance for an alone dinner. I love surprises
and we had a nice time. I really like
Marty McGee Bennett. I like the way she treats animals and I think her
ideas make sense. I think we learned enough to be able to handle the
guys better and got some good ideas on pasture setup and fencing. Zeke
is our big boy llama. He was the star of the show. All the little
high strung alpacas sat around whining and misbehaving. I think the
alpaca owners were a little scared of Zeke, but he behaved beautifully and
everyone really liked him. Sam isn't used to playing second fiddle, but
he coped. As usual, Caitlin fell in
love with the baby alpacas, but on the whole we didn't fall in love with the
species. They seem so high strung. There was one other llama and
the llamas just seem so calm and dignified. I have no wish to be an
alpaca owner. I think Zeke convinced a lot of the alpaca owners to take
on a llama though. On my way up to feed
chickens this morning I stopped to give Zeke a back scratch, which he stood
and enjoyed. A big improvement. Before the weekend he would have
bolted. We also bought him a pretty blue halter so he looks very sharp!
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Another chicken disaster. I'm beginning to
think I'm not cut out for this. A fox took two chickens Saturday morning
in broad daylight, one of them while Diane was in the pasture. I had a
talk with Matthew - my plan was to call my friend Phyllis and see if she would
take them. He wants to keep them and worked very hard on Saturday
designing and building a chicken pen. I finished up Sunday morning.
The chickens don't like it, they look like they're in jail, but it's better than
being eaten.
One of the lost chickens was the dominant
rooster. The other rooster now is acting roosterish - crowing and going
after the hens. It's fun to watch him, but not really worth the price.
I finished one sleeve of my baby sweater and started
the next. I'm home alone for a few days (always happens when we have
animal problems) so maybe some knitting will get done. A friend is
bringing a few people over on Wed. for knitting lessons. It will be a
pretty mixed group, so we'll see how I do. We are
trying to take the llamas to a clinic this weekend. I had to take the
trailer in to get welded, get the tires replaced and get health certificates
for llamas. I don't know if we'll make it, plus I am really worried
about whether the neighbors can handle my complicated chicken
arrangements. Right now it's pouring rain and the new pen is not weather
proof. Hopefully it will stop soon.
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We found EGGS! We have no idea how long they've been there, so we won't be
eating them, but now we know where to look. Diane found 5 last
night. Since I don't think all five hens would have laid their first eggs
on the same day, I imagine several are pretty old. Then this morning I was
looking for a missing hen and found her in the goat shed sitting on two
more. If only Matthew had build the roosting boxes. But
this makes it more like a treasure hunt. Maybe we'll have fresh eggs for
breakfast tomorrow!
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It's turned into summer here. Temps in the 80's and sunny. I had
someone out to look at the barn yesterday. We have a plan, the first step
is to shovel out all the muck and mud. Hard work and stinky, but I
actually enjoy that kind of thing and it will help make my arms look
buff. The chickies are doing well in the van/chicken coop.
My sister teaches 8th grade in rural oregon. Her kids are horrified that
I'm using a van as a chicken coop. I thought it was a clever and creative
solution to a difficult problem. However, looking at the inside of the van
this morning I guess it is pretty horrifying. Not only the poop, but they
pick at things, so the floor is being torn up, the glove compartment has been
emptied, the trailer wiring is shot. It's amazing how much damage such
little creatures can do in such a short amount of time. I took the injured
chicken out to plant roses last week. She ran around the yard, tried to
fly and was very active, so I put her back with the flock. She seems to be
doing very well. As you can tell, I'm obsessed with chickens. They
suddenly seem so vulnerable. If only I could knit them all little sweaters
and keep them in my bedroom. A sure way to lose Diane if I ever heard one!
It's finally stopped raining for a while. It is so wonderful to see
the sun. We had 8" over normal last month. The barn is ankle
deep mud. I saw a llama peeing up there this morning and yelled at
him. That's all we need is another gallon of liquid on that barn
floor. Llamas are supposed to pee outside.
We had a chicken tragedy and I feel terrible. A coon (we assume) got
into their enclosure. 3 hens missing, one left dead and one
injured. Diane did find the carcasses over the fence and the injured
chicken is now in my living room. It looks like she'll survive, but she
was bitten in the head so it may be that she has some kind of invisible damage
that will get her in the end. I'm also worried about infection, but she
looks pretty good and has moments of perkiness. She is eating, but
sleeps a lot. I guess I would too if someone bit half my head.
We had my family out for mom's birthday on Saturday - the morning after the
chicken incident. It was very nice. Mom has been upset with me but
was very friendly and the afternoon went well. I was pretty stressed out
by the end of the day, so we rented went out for a drink, then came home to
knit and watch a movie. I ended up with a numb finger the next
day. Disturbing.
We have an old van in the pasture and the chickens are sleeping in there
for now. It is certainly predator proof and will do until we can be
certain the barn is safe. It will be too hot eventually, but I think we
have a little time.
Good thing it's sunny, or I'd be seriously depressed!
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We've had at least 5 inches of rain over the weekend.
Violent thunderstorms with the weather radio going off
constantly to warn of more coming. Everyone has some
water in the basement. So Diane and I decided not to
look. Sometimes denial has it's place.
Since the weather didn't look promising for outdoor work we
decided to paint the last wall in the living room. We
got it washed and rinsed and I went to look for the
paint. I opened the basement door. Oops. At
least the water was only in one side (I guess we aren't
level). And it only covered our feet. We know
someone who had water up to the ankles. It wasn't too
bad. Most of the stuff down there was in plastic tubs
and the main storage area was on the high side. We got a
lot of the water vacuumed up and decided to let nature handle
the rest. By Monday morning it was pretty dry. My
parents also had a wet area. I went over yesterday to
vacuum there. The morning care giver had brought over her
daughter's father to clean the gutters. The aim being that
then he could pay child support and not go to jail. My mom
let him do the work and paid him probably 4 times what the job
was worth. So now I have to have a little talk with Yolanda
about taking advantage of my mother. I hate that kind of
thing. Not only was it not right to bring him by without
asking first, but the gutters aren't the problem. And while
it looks like my mom has a lot of money, she is also looking at
extremely high long term care expenses. I am very
irritated. My mom can not get involved with Yolanda's
family problems and if Yolanda can't understand that Yolanda will
have to go. I rewarded myself for cleaning up water by
buying a new ball of yarn so I can finish the baby sweater.
Of course with taking the living room apart to paint and the
basement full of water there hasn't been too much knitting
time. Maybe this evening. No kids and the worst of
the clutter has been picked up.
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I finally had time to do some knitting the other night, and
can't find the yarn. I'm done with the front and the back
of the baby sweater but there is no yarn for sleeves. I
can't believe I used it up - it has to be around
somewhere. But I can't place it at the moment, so I'm just
going to buy some more. I met the baby the other
night. Marco. He's very cute. Since I can't work
on baby stuff, I started another shawl. This one is Two
Old Bags "Concert in the Park". I really like
the pattern. It's in a navy so dark it looks black.
Not what I expected for color, but it will be nice. I
decided to make a square, but I've dropped down a needle size in
hopes that I won't run out of yarn on this one. Of all the
shawl kits I have lying around, I chose this because the yarn
was already wound and in my knitting basket. Anything to
avoid a trip into the yarn cave in the basement. This morning
a big storm moved in so I sat in front of my picture window and
got the first 10 rows done. That's the hardest part, so
the rest will be fun.
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