Hope you're all snuggled up nice and warm, where-ever you are!
Just thought I would point out how bloggalific I am.
Or I just talk a lot.
Today was a day of reckoning with Mother Nature. There was a helluva snow storm here yesterday, apparently more snow fell in a single day than normally falls all winter - of course, this has to happen the only year we have a mile-long driveway and no money for a snow blower or snow removal services.
Of course.
Our kind neighbor from across the street came by with his machine and helped clear the driveway though, so that was really sweet. Yey for friendly grandpas! We still had to manually shovel a crapload of snow, digging paths between buildings, clearing the deck, etc. Oh well. C'est l'hiver!
Did I mention it's -26C (-15F) with the wind chill?
And oh, there are brutal winds, many brutal winds.
In the afternoon we drove to the next town over for errands and the fan/heater on our 20-month old Mazda decided to kick the bucket. So no heat in the car and the inside windows all frosted up - brilliant!
Silver lining: Vegas snagged an appointment with the dealership for tomorrow, last open day before New Year's holidays and all that. Yey! I assume the broken part is under warranty since it's still relatively new and has low mileage.
It better be.
In other news, the little roo Sunshine that has been in the house and on meds the past 10 days is showing zero signs of improvement. His lungs are fucked. If he's not better by the weekend, it's very possible that he is genetically weak and will have to be culled :(
I have two other girls in the coop that are also coughing, two of my best layers, so I have to bring them in too and start them on antibiotics, what HELL! They're older and stronger though and if I cured Antoinette in the fall, I can cure her sisters.
No more chickens allowed in the house as of mid-January, so they need to hurry up and get better. PLEASE!
This is ridiculous, am fed up with all the drama - if it's not one thing, it's another.
Am I cursed?!
Kay, time to dig through the leftovers and watch some House with hubby, although I'm tempted to sit in a hot bath to warm these cold feet first.
I wonder if I can eat dinner in the bathtub?
/end of Silly Ponderings post/
'Tis a perfect winter day!
Tons of fat white snowflakes are streaming down, covering the land and trees with a thick blanket of winter, it's very mild and there is no wind so the snow is sticky, a snow fight's delight! Of course we'll be cussing like sailors tomorrow when it's time to shovel the mile-long driveway but oh well, thems the breaks...
I had forgotten that we had access to trails in the woods backing our property since you can only go there in the wintertime (summer is a nightmare of marshes, brush and bugs), so we decided a snowy walk with the doggies was in order.
The two Technos all goofy-like n'junk (to quote Prin!):
The snow was coming down hard but the fatheads ran harder!
Vegas: "Wheeeeeeeeeeee!"
We are so going to enjoy these trails the next few months! YEAH!
There were happy hunting girlies:
And happy fatheads aka Snow Eating Machines:
Find the furries...
BoooYeaaahhh! Behold, the Mysterious Forest Tongue Beast!
You know life is good when Brits wear the Hat Of Canadia!
If you ever see something like this approaching at a fast clip...
Be prepared for THIS to happen:
"I'm so gonna get you on the head with a snowball..." :-o
I don't know what went on here.
The 7-month old, 99 lbs snow-catching machine! Watch!
There he gooooes! ShehZZZAM!
Everyone gets a well-deserved cookie (can you spot Mr. Oh JOY JOY?)
The Technos got Christmas cookies and hot tea:
While the storm rages outside and the xmas light shines in the window...
Hope you enjoyed spending the day with us! Right now I have some pizza dough is rising in the bread machine, we're making "personalized pan pizzas" for dinner tonight to round up this lovely day :)
I just put Blossom back in the coop, at day 25 all hope is lost for any chicks to hatch.
I had to open the eggs to see what happened and confirmed that yes, four chicks were developing, three of them were very close to hatching when they died in the shell.
I don't know what happened.
My heart is shattered, I feel sick with grief.
So much sorrow to deal with and no outlet... I can't help but feel like a failure, to lose four babies like that isn't normal - logically I know it's not my fault and things happen but does the heart ever listen to reason?
Christmas, I mean - first it was miles away and now it's gone! It would have helped mark the event if only ONE chick had made it to hatching but I guess it just wasn't meant to be...
Still swallowing bitter disappointment but I'm focusing on the future now: we're starting a new year in less than a week, and then it'll be my birthday a few weeks after that and my reward for not crying as I enter a new decade will be a glorious incubator! For me it signifies new life, new adventures, new beginnings.
Everything for a reason.
Vegas and I spent a quiet xmas eve watching our favorite movies (Flash Gordon, Bad Santa, Spinal Tap), we exchanged gifts and drank non-boozy bubbly - it was good! - while listening to cheesy Christmas music, very quaint :)
So far it's the only chicken art item I have in the house, hope to collect more pieces over the years to commemorate events! This roo sits on the windowsill above the kitchen sink so I can rub his belly for good luck every morning - LOL!
Yep, ain't a pretty thing!
Do these boots make me look fat?
There will be no chicks this Christmas.
My heart is broken and I'm choking back the tears... been looking forward to this moment for over a month now, poor mama hen has been sitting on two different clutches of eggs forever and there won't be a thing to show for it.
I know things happen for a reason, but this SUCKS.
And then last night I sat my fat ass on my new wireless mouse's usb stick that was plugged in my laptop, it snapped in half. I'm stuck using the finger pad thingie and that SUCKS too.
It looks like Sunshine, my only promising blue-egg layer who has been in the house on antibiotics for four days to heal a pneumonia, is a roo. That would put my total roo count to five, which SUCKS. Of course they all have a forever home here with us unless the racket becomes an eviction notice. I need more hens, this is ridiculous.
It's been snowing for 24 hours so today is for shoveling... The only nice thing about the new white covering is that it hides all the yellow pee stains so I guess it only half SUCKS.
The Christmas cookies I made last night (Vegas helped decorate) came out pretty nice, so there's at least that:
I also made a pan of Rocky Road, it came out tasty. Today is for finishing the butter tarts, cooking the ham and preparing the pasta salad. My brother's table is going to be pretty loaded with food on Friday!
Anyways. Not the best of days right now but I'll get over it.
Let's hear about your holiday plans and joyful moments, may happiness be shared and multiplied! I'll do my share in a bit, I promise :)
/end of Never Count Your Chickens Before They're Hatched post/
There was no respect for youth when I was young,
Vegas had a brilliant idea yesterday: the chicken coop needed an extractor fan of some sort to pull out the dusty moist air and bring the humidity level down, that way the flock wouldn't be fighting off respiratory infections of excessive proportions anymore.
Our awesome contractor stopped by today to help and pointed out that I should just take the little fan I bought at the hardware store yesterday, make the coops's wall ventilation hole bigger and secure the fan in there, facing outwards. Problem instantly solved for $16 (cost of the fan)!
OMG I am sooo relieved... I can't handle any more sick hens and I'm sure the flock is really grateful for warmer, drier air, too.
The coop humidity was 100% two days ago, 96% this morning and 88% this afternoon. I really hope it keeps going down to a normal level because that, my friends, is a HUGE stress and worry off my shoulders!
*happy dance*
Only two days 'til Christmas Eve, I have to get a move-on with the baking (we have a family potluck buffet-brunch at my brother's on the 25th). Prin gave me a super recipe for butter tarts, I have to also make a batch of rocky road squares, a cold smoked maple ham, a pasta salad and a loaf of bread.
At least I know to NOT make those hockey-puck cheesecake brownies, LOL!
Still smiling from Prin's visit on Saturday, my gosh had I ever missed that girl.
Can you imagine having a friend who drives 4 (or was it 5?!) hours to see you and bring you Victoria Secret bras that fit so perfectly, you wonder if she has your body double (ok breastesses double) at home in blowup form for practice? Yeah, she's that awesome! I also loved seeing her two black furries, thems so sweet and funny - if only more dogs were so loved in the world, the shelters would be empty.
Then Saturday night we went to my chicken breeder friend's place to return Miss Pixie aka "Screamie", she was just a very bad fit for the coop and she was glad to return home so all was for the best.
He spoiled me with an 8-week old dark brahma girl from champion stock, I was sooo touched and awed... I have her sister here so having a pair is just splendid! If you saw how stunning the parents are you'd understand my glee, LOL! They are going to be very big, beautiful, cold-hardy girls who should lay a nice brown egg next summer. Yey!
Eggs! Eggs! Eggs!
I had to BUY a dozen for Christmas baking, I'm so pissed... Two weeks of tossing out eggs after the flock's annual deworming, UGH. Store eggs give me the willies, they don't look or taste real. Mleh.
Yesterday was a miserable waste of time, let's pretend it never happened.
Today's happy! Got bank papers signed, did two loads of laundry, fixed the coop(!!), prepared the pen for the chicks' arrival on Wednesday, cleaned out my email inbox and now it's time for popcorn and a book, then xmas baking. Maybe a hot bubble bath later on, we'll see.
Christmas gifts ALL wrapped and ready to go, I think I broke my own record by getting it done this early, LOL.
Puuurrrrr!
Anyhoo, that's that for the crazy chicken momma.
Bored yet? ;-)
/end of My Dogs Are Smelly post/
I know I should blog more, I want to blog more - not just about problems and worries and laundry lists, but about real things that touch my life and *mean* something...
But then there's the wall.
I'm kinda private about some things and have difficulty expressing what I really want to say, so I divert to the easy stuff (ranting, cussing, talking about the weather and what's for dinner... well, if you read this blog then you already know all of this).
Um, I sure I had a point in here somewhere. Oh yes:
I'm blessed to be surrounded by incredible people.
I really am.
I don't go out much and avoid the phone like the plague (yey for innernets though!), but my heart is full of love for those of you patient and kind enough to see me through the highs and lows of the past years and decades.
I often say stupid things I don't mean because it's easier to be mad than to be sad.
I take days and weeks to return phone calls and emails because I have so much to say I don't know where to begin and when I do, there's the blockage again.
I'm lazy and imagine people know what I'm thinking so that should be good enough.
How do you tell someone how much they mean to you without it coming across as silly, needy or out of place?
I'm a loner. I know I need to make an effort to get out there and see people, to catch up face to face, to experience life in 3D! I am trying, just taking baby steps. So thank you for being patient and accepting this is how I am, that doesn't mean I don't care - promise.
I don't know if this post makes any sense whatsoever to anyone except myself, it was a fumbled attempt at gratitude and I think I need to scrap this and start over.
Bah I'm hitting the post button, let it fall where it may.
Something like that!
/end of This Was Lame post/
Those who wish to pet and baby wild animals "love" them.
Today wasn't so bad after all!
Got great news from the bank, possibly very good news from the gov'ment, did more xmas shopping and found a superduper gift for Vegas (yes I was DONE shopping but what the hey), found out that one of my brother's two dogs that he had to give up got adopted today by a very nice lady, the water pipes in the stable are frozen solid but don't seem busted, Vegas is officially on vacation for the next two weeks and all my chickens have so far survived the ongoing, brutal cold spell.
Yey, dat's good :)
Now if only the freaking mice would get the hell out of our bathroom...
Oh, didn't I tell you?
A couple of days ago I opened the bottom drawer under the bathroom sink and found it littered with mouse droppings - gross! What the hell are mice doing in our bathroom?! Every single drawer and cabinet had chocolate sprinkles in them, the little bastids!
Then we found holes in a tube of toothpaste - Crest, to be specific.
Guess the little critters wanted to improve their dental hygiene?
I finally got a bucket of bait today, cleaned everything out and set the poison. Hope it works cuz we can't afford a house extermination... Haven't see any evidence that the mice went anywhere else but we have to kill the nests before they spread.
This is a new problem, too, since we got an exterminator in here about 2 months ago to check out the attic (we thought there were bats in there) - it was all clean. Now there's vermin.
So. Disgusting.
Tomorrow's supposed to be a tad warmer, well less siberian cold at least - let's hope so cuz momma needs a break from hauling buckets of hot water out to the coop for the flock. Ah, the things we do for love!
I baked a pan of cheesecake brownies tonight, don't get all excited they're not all that great. I must have messed up the recipe cuz it just would NOT cook in the middle! The taste is ok, a bit strange in places - I won't be making that recipe again. Hope my special guest doesn't mind...
Vegas said they were "lovely, nice and creamy, brownies are usually hard to eat and dry but these were really good" - so maybe it's just me being fussy.
I'll try to divert my guest's attention with hot chocolate, fresh eggs and a couple surprises :-D
Off to bed goes this old arse o'mine, am very pleased with this day despite swallowing half a pound of dog fluff during the grooming session (hey! free fiber!) since both akitas take it upon themselves to blow their coats each and every Christmas season...
G'nite peeps, are you dreaming of santie yet?
/end of More Stuff, Less Fluff post/
What the HELL is wrong with this climate!
It pissed rain half the summer and now we're locked in a deep freeze that normally only happens in January or February, if at all - my chickens are freezing their tails off despite having a 175W heat lamp on in the coop 24/7 (super expensive to run), their water freezes within 30 minutes and so does any food I put down.
Now I just heard the stable's water pipes are frozen and we have one pissed-off renter on our hands. I insulated those pipes as per the hardware store's instructions and I can't do more, she wants us to buy a heater and blast it on the pipes about 10 hours a day - is she crazy?
She can take her horse elsewhere yesterday, with my blessing.
Never wanted her around in the first place, it was just as a favor to her and now it's a headache and a wallet drain.
It'll be a miracle if I don't lose any chickens, two are coughing wetly from the coop's humidity and high dust/ammonia factor (no fresh air circulation the past few days, it's too bleddy cold) and everybody's just plain miserable.
Please remind me why we live here again?
*cries*
On a happier note, I did get to dress up tonight for Vegas' office xmas party and had a lot of fun pretending to be a chic girly-girl for a few hours! We didn't stay long though (he felt ill, I think some of the snack food didn't go down well) but it was nice to see some familiar faces and chat for a bit.
I'll admit it was reeeaaally nice to come home and slip into warm soft jammies though :)
Time for bed, tomorrow is another day full of trials and tribulations, am bracing myself for bad news from the bank and bitchings from the horse tenant, store mobs, finger-numbing trips to the coop to try and apologize to a flock of freezing birds that I love with all my heart and can't warm up.
I just hate feeling helpless.
Fcuk this week of siberian crap!
/end of But What Can Ya Do? post/
We're all born brave, trusting, and greedy,
I know I should take the time to blog properly but man, I'm just not seeing the hours nor the days fly by! Zaaaaaah!
Let's see, in a nutshell:
I'm finally getting a much-needed haircut today, yey! Last one was in the city before we moved so you do the math. Gonna feel good to look a bit more put-together. Plus tomorrow night we're going to Vegas' office xmas party, he can't be dragging along some frumpy chumpy country wife now, can he? I thought not!
Got some xmas shopping done yesterday and will finish that up today, gotta mail the holiday cards and all that fun stuff. I usually don't bother but since we're not seeing many people this year I figured I ought to be nice :-D
Oh, guess what! Miss Coco Chanel, my gorgeous white sultan hen, finally laid a first perfect egg for me yesterday! The breeder said she was laying before I got her but she needed time to settle in and de-stress, and now it finally happened: it's the small, pointy white egg to the far right:
How cute is that?
Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like
