Random Lunch – 6/2/10

I know, I know… I haven’t done a random lunch post in forever.  But I had some things to show and tell you that don’t fit together and I am lacking the necessary creativity to come up with a clever title.  Or even a somewhat decent title. 

First of all, the hearing that was scheduled today for the guy that starved the Fairmont horses was for a different set of animal cruelty charges from back in January!  Add that to the arrest for animal cruelty last November, when he was caught dragging a Clydesdale down the road with his truck, and this guy has been busy!  The hearing for the latest charges from April is set for June 17th at 1:00 pm.  At least we only have a few more weeks to wait!

 

There are two places on my porch where the chickens enjoy laying their eggs:  1) in the left over beet pulp that I haven’t had to feed in months, and 2) in the opened bag of Pro Mix potting soil.  Since all my adult girls are going crazy with the egg laying right now, the supply doesn’t always match the demand and I end up with two hens trying desperately to lay an egg in the same place.

 

If I could figure out which rooster is tearing up my girls so badly, he’d be in the freezer in no time!

 

I found a new use for my rabbit hutch.  A friend had some ducklings that one of her hens had hatched and raised, and she needed to find a home for them.

 

Besides the fact that “mom” doesn’t swim, they’re still a little young to go into the pond.   The rabbit hutch is a temporary holding facility until the other new chickens are out of the outhouse coop.  You see, this so-called friend, also gave me 13 young chickens (because I obviously do not have enough chickens already).   They had been hatched and raised at her place and were “mutts”.  There are 7 hens and 6 roosters – the roosters will end up in the freezer once Glenn comes home next week to do the dirty work!

 

There was another duckling, half the size of the others and crippled on one leg.  His foot was folded and turned in.  The poor little guy would fall over on his back and get stuck there.  He’d lay there until I came around to pick him up and turn him back over.  I felt so bad for him!  When they first came to my place, I had put them in the old Silkie hutch in the coop.  But the crippled duckling kept getting out somehow, and wandering around the coop trying to figure out how to get back to mom.  Last night was when I went out to the coop to move them to the porch, but I couldn’t find the poor little guy.  I guess he escaped the hutch again and this time was found by a cat before I could get to him.  I looked everywhere and listened for his chirping, but couldn’t find him. 

R.I.P little crippled duckling.

**edited to correct my many misspellings.  One day, I will learn to proofread before hitting the Publish button!

Random Lunch – 05/06/09

 

Frog legs anyone?  I’m going to have more than enough to go around.

 

These aren’t even in the pond.  They are in the stream/run off that goes through our yard.  They’re even in old hoof prints:

 

I’ve always wondered what tadpoles eat.  Now I know.

 

 

That poor worm probably has family and friends in my garden just wondering where he’s slimed off to. 

The one death that has always terrified me is drowning.  Now I have to fear my corpse being devoured by tadpoles.  What has the world come to???

Random Lunch – 04/30/09

 

I think Megalia exploded. 

 

 

This sort of crime scene is happening all over the farm right now.  Most the horses look like they’ve been affected by mange and spend a good deal of time rubbing against trees.  If I had time to go around and pick up all the piles of hair that I pluck off the horses, my compost pile would be incredibly happy.

Ellie has a new update over on Rescue Recoveries today.  I got pictures of her this morning right before the rain hit.  Let me know if you think she looks any better, because with me seeing her several times a day every day, I don’t always notice  a little improvement here and there. 

Random Lunch – 04/24/09

It’s so warm and wonderful out today that I took my laptop out to the porch to work.  The bunnies have provided endless entertainment, the chickens visit regularly to see if I’d like to throw out some scratch, and I’ve had snoring dogs surrounding me all day.   I also left Ellie out in the yard to graze after her brunch earlier. 

It all started innocently enough.

 

But then she figured I may want to feed her again and it warranted closer investigation (read:  begging).

 

 

The next thing I knew, I had a muzzle in my lap.

 

Thankfully, she didn’t sneeze on the laptop.  I hear they don’t particularly react well to moisture, but I wouldn’t know that firsthand. 

Random Lunch – 03/24/09

I think I mentioned that I picked up two more Silkie hens the other day, right?  Well the little black one was getting picked on by the other Silkies so I had to move her somewhere else.  But where?  Certainly the big hens would also beat up on her and I was told that Silkies shouldn’t be out in the sun too much because their black skin makes them overheat too easily.  Hmmm… another dilemma.  What to do, what to do?

Problem solved.

Since the Silkie will be living in the rabbit hutch with Loretta and Travis for awhile, and it seems they are getting along just great, I need a name for the little girl.  Suggestions?

 

Maverick’s one year anniversary here on the farm was last week.  As I scratched him I reminded him that a year ago he couldn’t be touched and it took four people to lasso him and get him out of his prison.

 

You’ve come a long way, baby.

Random Lunch -- 3/6/09

It's a beautifully warm, sunny, and breezy day here today.  Everyone is relaxed and naps are of the utmost importance.  Especially naps taken in holes in the yard that have been dug with your own two paws.  It just gives one a sense of accomplishment, pride, and exhaustion.

Spring fever is setting in for all of us here on the farm.  The chickens are going further from the coop each day and some of the younger birds are finally starting to lay some eggs.   I used my lunch break to sow some seeds, the horses have been alternately cantering around the pasture in play and napping in the sun, and the cats have been up to no good all day.  Especially Lucifer.  The biggest, furriest, and silliest cat we have.  

He posed for this session just for you, so please enjoy the following pics of Luci.  It's not likely that I will ever see him like this again.  At least for another 10 minutes or so.

 

 

 

Battered and bruised

Is there a doctor in the house?


Can you get tennis elbow from hammering? I must have hammered hundreds of nails over the weekend, in all positions and from all angles possible. It was like Twister with tools. I did learn one very valuable lesson -- I'm not ambidextrous when it comes to hammering. Not unless you call it talent that I can hit the nail 1 out of 5 times with my left hand. And I have bruises all over my arms with no clue how they got there. And my right elbow aches. And I think I'm done whining.


We finally got a roof on the new run-in shed. It's a temporary roof, but it will keep the bachelors dry until we can bring in more plywood and tin. We also got the truck very stuck in the mud while hauling the rafter materials. And I am being incredibly generous in the use of the term "we", seeing as how I wasn't even in the truck at the time and was yelling for Glenn to stop before he got past the point of no return. Not only did he reach that point, but kept on going. Poor Bertha truck now has one less tail light and a huge dent in bed on the driver's side. Cattle Baron had to come over yesterday with his tractor to pull Bertha out of the hole Glenn had put her in. Now I'm really glad I didn't get too vicious over the cows in my yard.


We also built three more standing stalls in the big barn yesterday. Now Gentry, Willow, and Meghan have a place to eat where they can't beat up on anyone else once they're done. This leaves Mandy (who goes home tonight now that everything is frozen and we can get to the trailer), Hunter, Jewel, and Radar out loose with their own buckets. Three more standing stalls and I won't even have to tie up the brat pack while they eat and life will be good. Or at least feeding the herd will be easier.


Anastasia came over this weekend to show Glenn how to butcher a chicken and to show me how to "disassemble" the chicken. I'm honestly curious as to how Glenn did the deed, but really too much of a wimp to ask. I can live without the details. Really.


And what was I doing yesterday evening as the wind was whipping through our hollow at 40mph with the temperature in the teens? I was in the garden. Clipping spinach and collards. Then I canned the greens (7 quarts, thankyouverymuch). Have I mentioned I don't even eat canned greens??


It's extremely cold today and I've had to break the ice in the troughs twice already. With another hammer. Cause I seem to have a thing for hammers lately. All the critters are cuddled up in the living room around the kerosene heater. I really wish we had a toilet in the living room because the bathroom feels like -30 right now. And I have to pee. But that's another story. Heidi and Cody are sharing the dog bed, Brie is under my feet (of course), Zeus is taking up his usual spot right in front of the door, and Thor, well... Thor is just Thor.

Random Lunch 11/25/08

As most of you who have read my blog for awhile are aware, I am not the clothes shopping type. I abhor shopping for clothes and have worn the same pair of stretch jeans for the past three years. This last year I've been pulling them up every couple of steps and feeling like a big fat plumber in the process. I've pulled them up by the belt loops so often that the belt loops have all busted. And yes, I'm sure I could sew them back on if I had another year or two. But as I was telling Anne just this morning, put a needle and thread in my hands and I'll likely stitch a couple of fingers together.

So it was time. Time to toss the stretched out stretchies and get a real pair of jeans (or three). The weather here lately has made me lust for a pair of those fleece-lined jeans from L.L. Bean or Cabellas. Every time I hike up to the barn and top the ridge, the wind blasts at me and my thighs take hours to thaw. But what size am I now? I know I've lost a ton of weight since buying this farm (imagine that), but had no idea what size I was down to. Of course it would have made sense to go to a store and try things on. But that would have required going into a clothes store. So I just took a guess and ordered a pair of fleece-lined jeans from Cabellas that were three sizes smaller than what I was a year ago. At least I didn't order three pair all at once. What a pain it would have been to return them all, right?

I wish I had ordered five pair! I can't believe how wonderfully these fit! They're comfy in the waste, not too baggy in the hips or thighs, and absolutely toasty warm! I also bought them with a 34" inseam so they wouldn't ride up my leg when sitting or riding a horse. Can I say again how perfect they are?? Now I can't wait to go out into the driving snow and 28 degree weather to feed tonight.

But most importantly, do you know what this means? It means I don't ever have to set foot in a clothing store again! Somehow, I've mastered the art of clothes shopping on the web and will never need to try on another article of clothing again. Which means I can spend my shopping time in more functional places, like Lowes, Home Depot, Tractor Supply, and any tack store I happen to find.

Life is good.

Random Lunch 11/17/08

It's been snowing on and off all day. While very pretty it does make trudging up the hill of death to the barn a treacherous undertaking. I have visions of me slipping and rolling back down the hill becoming a large snowball and taking out the chicken coop in an avalanche of snow and mud.

I'll try to have the camera with me. Just for you.

At least the spinach and collards are still doing well under their protective covers.

I wanted to fertilize with fish emulsion last week, but never got around to it. One of the many vacation tasks on my list that went unchecked.

Random Lunch 11/4/08

I'm doin' the Happy Dance. I have a little celebratory dance that I jump up and do whenever something incredibly wonderful happens. I just finished entertaining the dogs with the dance and now I have to share.

THE NEW VET IN THE AREA IS COMING OUT TOMORROW!!!!!!

He just started making appointments yesterday and I am in like Flynn!! I just spent 15 minutes on the phone blathering on like an idiot in my excitement to finally have a vet that is taking new clients and isn't too far away. LIFE IS GOOD! He doesn't have all of his equipment yet, but has enough to do what I need done for now.

Whew, I think I'm calm enough now to post the random lunch pictures.


This will be a common occurrence in my yard during hunting season. Oh, yippee.




The guineas! I know you've been losing sleep at night wondering how they're doing. It's ok, you can admit it.

Egads, they're ugly.

Random Lunch 10/30/08

We've had about 10 nights of frost so far. The garden is dead.

Or is it?

Glenn's collards growing happily without protection. This weekend I'll take the same stuff I made the tomato cages out of and make a hoop frame using clear plastic for extra protection.




Glenn's spinach. Picking up on the theme here? I am ready to be done with the gardening and canning for the year, but because my man wants more canned greens this winter I'm still at it. He owes me big time for this.





Thor's life is so very hard. I'm really not sure how he copes with living here.

Quest may not like Maverick at feeding time, but I think it's safe to say the two are getting along just fine.

Random Lunch 10/14/08

Today I discovered the nifty little Macro feature on my camera. I've only had the camera for two years, you'd think I would have discovered this sooner. I probably would have if I had read the instructions, but I am not fluent in Korean. So during lunch I flitted from flower to flower looking for things to photograph. Be prepared for totally lame pictures of a bee on one of my Hyssop plants.

Coming in for a landing.




Diving into the nectar buffet.




Showing me his best side.




Leaving the trigger happy human with the camera.



I think my camera and I are finally starting to come to an agreement.

Oh, and check out the Training blog for an update on Meghan and her future humans!

Random Lunch 10/13/08

I found the camera. Actually, Glenn found the camera. Apparently my evil twin took the camera after downloading the auction pictures last weekend and stowed it in the truck so we'd have it for the trail ride on Sunday. And there it sat for a week while I tore apart the house looking for it, and wrongly accused Thor of stealing it. At least I didn't go so far as to clean the house. That would have been a real waste of time.

I have a large basket full of maters sitting on the kitchen table waiting to be canned. Which is a shame, because I'm really over the whole canning thing. Done. Honestly.

There are more maters waiting on the dying vines.






All but one of the vines is dying and I really want to rip them out of the ground. But I can't. Because they are still producing and I just don't swing that way.

Then there's this little rebel. This is the Kellogg's Breakfast yellow tomato and it has decided to put on a bunch of new growth and flowers. Dumb plant.



Several weeks ago I had chopped off the tops of all the Finnichio fennel that I hadn't had time to harvest before it bolted. Much to my surprise, baby fennel bulbs are sprouting from the main stalk! Perhaps I will have some fennel to freeze this season after all.




Woohoo! My garlic is coming up! Happy days!



Stay tuned next summer when I'll be wondering why the hell I planted almost three pounds of garlic for two people. My propensity for over abundance amazes even me.

Random Lunch 10/10/08

One of the things that I majorly suck at is keeping track of the camera. I haven't seen it since downloading auction pictures last Saturday. The pictures of the trail ride were taken with Anne's camera. I've torn up the house from one end to the other looking for the darned thing, and I know where I had it last but it's not there. Do they make those clapper things for cameras? Heeeere camera! CLAP CLAP!

I do have a question for those dog people out there that are way smarter than me (Lena, this means you). Recently the BDD has become aggressive when being disciplined. And I don't mean discipline like smack him around or beat him with a rubber chicken. I just mean raising my voice and pointing a finger at him. And if I'm really mad, I get up in his face about it. Cause I'm just SO trusting like that. In the past month or so he has started growling and barking at me when I'm mad at him. I haven't backed down, but maybe I should? Yesterday I was yelling at him and Thor because the two were having a growl fest out on the porch. They haven't growled at each other in a long time and even seem to be friends these days. When I heard them carrying on yesterday I thought I'd go out and break it up before it became a physical fight, as has happened before when Thor first arrived.

I sent Thor to his corner, then turned to Zeus. I pointed my arm off the porch, stomped my foot, and told him to "go lay down". That's when he started barking and growling at me. That's when I saw a big black blur fly past my right shoulder and land squarely on Zeus. Thor had him pinned to the ground with his jaw around BDD's throat. But Zeus was up quickly and the battle was on. I grabbed the closest thing I could find, which was a walking stick left here by the previous owners. A couple of quick whacks with the stick to both of them and they broke it up. Neither one was hurt, except maybe in the pride department.

What am I doing wrong with BDD? Not enough time spent teaching him things like COME, HEEL, DOWN? Granted, he's the only one of my dogs that doesn't know these things. He can't even shake. I've tried teaching him, but run out of time because it takes him forever to pick something up. I'm used to brainiac dogs, but BDD is as dense as a rock. Any ideas? Should I break out the rubber chicken?

On another note, the TB trainer that brought the boys called me yesterday "just to check on them". Imagine that... a racetrack trainer who gives a damn about where her horses end up!! And two of the boys weren't even her personal horses. But Joma's previous owner called the trainer up crying because she was so worried about him and wondered if he was in a good home and being cared for. I guess there's hope after all if there are breeders and trainers like them!

Random Lunch 10/2/08

I'm pretty sure my camera can take better pictures than this, I'm just not sure that I can.




This is a flower on one of the Litchi Tomato plants, which is still pumping out those yummy red fruit.








Here's my pineapple sage which started as a 6 inch rooting from last years' plant from Virginia. I carefully nursed the little guy throughout the Winter and now it's a monster. But the hummingbirds are happy, which makes me happy.







My flat of spinach and collards that are ready to go out into the garden.







Sunbathing in October?

Random Lunch 10/1/08

I thought maybe I'd try something new on top of my regular posts and do a quick post on my lunch break of only pictures that I've taken during that break. I'd like to do this on a daily basis, but I don't always get a lunch break. For some reason, clients sometimes think that I don't need nourishment and don't understand that I become a raving lunatic when I'm hungry. If only they knew.

On today's lunch break I went out to the garden for the first time since the weekend. Why did I wait that long? What was I thinking? Did I assume that just because it's now October that the garden would be almost dead and not producing?

All I can say, is that it's a good thing one of our friends gave us a bunch of jars they weren't using anymore.




Today's pickin's. What you can't see are the dozen or so eggplants and five chocolate bell peppers on the bottom. Oh, and the gazillion little Litchi tomato fruit. I didn't even bother with the pineapple tomatillos. Collecting those requires more time and patience than I posses on my lunch break.







This is not my boot.







And if anyone comes looking for it, this is not my dog either.