Wednesday, July 27, 2016

A Real Adult

Emma turns six today.  A real adult.  All grown up and mature.

You can tell by her delicate, lady-like manners....

Her often serious, quiet demeanor.  

Her flawless grace.

Well, most of the time.  Even a lady has her moments.

Emma can always be relied upon to lead the way....

...and keep out of trouble.

A real adult.  All grown up and mature.

Happy Birthday Emma!

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

This and That

Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.  I am still here and doing well.  I do confess to being a very bad convalescent, which leaves me feeling grumpy and useless with little to say.  Little that anyone might want to hear at least.

Still, life goes on and there are things happening on the farm.

The small white chick (who is not so small anymore) has gone to a new home.

This was planned from the start, as the friend who gave the chickens to me wanted him to grow up with his mom, but another friend wanted a rooster.  Now that he thinks he is too grown up to have a mom, the white chick has moved on to a new flock.  I can't say anyone is sad to see him go as the hens (except Mom) all hated him and were rather unkind to him.  That is the way of chickens.

The beehives seem to be doing well.  Both hives have had a large population boost and their numbers seem to be growing steadily, as they should.  Hopefully, they will be strong enough to make it through the winter.

I have figured out where the grass carp like to hang out in the pond and I have been seeing them more regularly.  If I sneak up on them slowly, I can watch them and they are very interesting.  There is a group of 4 that almost always hang out together while the other two go off and do their own thing. Sometimes they mingle and break off into ones or twos, but usually the Fabulous Four stick together.

I have always felt that the intelligence of fish is greatly underrated and I find their behavior fascinating to watch.  My dentist office has a number of very large aquariums with several species of fish in them.  The way they interact with each other and the people who come near them is fascinating.  I sometimes even look forward to visiting the dentist just so I can see what the fish are up to.  I confess too that I always shudder when I see fish bowls, they seem such a small, deprived existence for creatures who are so obviously curios.

The hay sheds are all full of hay thanks to a new hay supplier who not only delivered hay, but brought helpers along and stacked it for me since I can't do it right now.  Kind of amazing and a bit disconcerting to have hay show up in the barn with no help from me - aside from writing the rather hefty checks.  Quite a novelty.

Tessa and the donkeys are doing well, although they are unhappy with the strict diet they are all on.  A barn full of hay and grass everywhere and they are stuck eating last year's low sugar hay.  Life is very unfair.

The friends who gave me the chickens have listed their farm for sale.  The listing can be found here just in case anyone out in blogland might be looking for a beautiful, organic and historic farm nestled in the hills of central NY.  They are about 20 miles from here and a whole growing season warmer than it is here on my hill!

Friday, July 15, 2016

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Trouble Makers

It's a good thing that chickens only weigh 4 or 5 pounds or they would rule the world.

Which would be horribly terrifying.

The red hen is the most adventurous of the group and often goes off on her own to explore.  That habit got her into some kind of trouble as she injured her leg and has been quite lame.  She gets a bit better every day so I think she will eventually be back out exploring soon.  

The two wyandottes can be told apart by their tail feathers, one has very puffy feathers and the other is very sleek.  Hence, Wynnie of the sleek tail and Dottie of the pouf.  Wynnie is the meanest of the bunch and is the personification of the term hen-pecked.  That is her in the back, looking innocent while plotting something nefarious.

The others don't really have names unless Little Red Hen and Aussie count.  Then there is the little white chick, who gets bigger every day.  He is rather a doofus - always getting lost when mom is three feet away, but around a corner, running around with dead frogs, getting picked on by everybody, especially Wynnie....He does not really have a name either, but is starting to respond to Doofus, because, well....if the doofus fits....



Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Physical Therapy

"OK, you hold the ball with both feet and streeeetch the neck down as far as it will go.  Don't forget to tuck in the chin and keep the ears relaxed."

"Now, with this one, you set your forehead just so and push...a little more....that's it."

"Doing good, doing good, but you'll need a helper for this one...."

"...you want to curve that neck around....then tip your chin....that's right."

"Aaaandddd, relax."

"Hey, wait a minute, we're not done yet.  Get back here!"


Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Decisions and Observations of an Invalid

Some things I decided in the past week:

  • I am never going under general anesthesia again unless it is a life or death situation.
  • Even then, I would have to think hard about it.


  • If everyone in the world reacted to opiates the way I do, the drug wars would be over for good.  You wouldn't be able to give the stuff away.  


  • Never, ever taking opiates again.  I might even have to pull up my flowers just to be safe.


  • I definitely have to pull these out - the bane of my existence.  They look so innocent don't they?
  • Honey bees are sooo much safer.


I have never owned a TV.


  • I have not been missing anything.


I am still alive and working towards well.  I am at least able to slowly wander around and take pictures.

Which is a great relief, because my eyes have been too tired to read.  I can only listen to so many audiobooks and television....well....

....I think I am going to stick my head back in the sand on that one.  It must be an acquired taste.

I hope I fully recover before I get that far.