Cabin Crafted

Author: Cabincrafted1

  • Chick Day

    Tractor Supply has had Chick Days going now for a couple of weeks, but they don’t carry the breed that I want.  My goal is to keep Cogburn, my Buff Orpington rooster, the two Buff hens and the one Olive Egger Hen and replace the other 6 with 10 more Buff Orpingtons.  That will give me 13 layers instead of 9 and will give me a pure heritage flock, except for the Olive Egger, whose eggs are just fun because of their color and easy to identify.  Hopefully, this will give me a self sustaining flock as the Buffs make good mothers and can raise their replacements and the table birds.  A few days ago, I reconnected with the gal that I bought my two Buff hens from last year when they were about 10 weeks old.  She has 1 to 3 day chicks and though I didn’t want to raise chicks again this year, I also didn’t want to pay $20 per bird for ones that are only a month younger than the layers I have since I wanted 10.  This morning we made a road trip to meet her in a town about an hour from here and did a parking lot exchange of money for 10 new chicks.  We took a towel lined cat carrier to bring the peepers home, with a side trip to Tractor Supply for starter feed as they can’t eat the laying mix for the big girls.

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    I have to admit that they are adorable at just a couple of days old.  However when you buy babies they must be kept warm and after my experience of having the brooder in the basement last year, I don’t want a repeat of that, so they are in a makeshift brooder in the garage with a heat lamp, which I also don’t like to use, but have no other option at this point.  Last year I used a large black plastic livestock water trough as a brooder, but it is full of split wood in the garage and I didn’t want to have to empty it. maybe later as they grow.  The makeshift brooder is half of a plastic large dog crate set inside a larger wire dog cage with the heat lamp hanging from the wire cage.  Pine shavings, a chick feeder and waterer in with them and a blanket over part of it, they are set for a while.

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    Hopefully, this brood will be a success and in 7 weeks they can be moved outdoors, the 6 hens from my United Nations flock will be moved to the chicken tractor for the young ones to be introduced to the coop.  Sometimes this summer, those 6 will go to freezer camp and my egg production will drop until the babies are ready to lay.

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    Hubby says I have an addiction, but at least I limited my purchase to only the breed I want and only females, so we won’t have multiple pens of different ages, and one of them full of testosterone like we had last spring when I bought 21 chicks over a two week period and had half of them cockrells.

  • Solo Time

    Today is a beautiful springlike day after snow day before yesterday.  The snow is gone, the day is warm and dry.  The kind of day that Jim has been wishing for all winter.  He was up as soon as it warmed and dressed to ride.  He took off on his motorcycle for a “long” ride and I was left to do whatever I wished.

    Today is the day the new yarn and fabric store opened in the nearby town, so for me it was a day to explore.  Lunch alone at Panera, reading, then across the road to the new shop to check it out.  After that excursion, I was off to my favorite local shop to sit with friends and knit.

    My current projects, since I finished the baby sweater and delivered it to the Mom to be, but failed to photograph first, are still the Honey Cowl of Green Dragon Terminator in Heatwave color.

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    It is coming along nicely, though I found a dropped stitch while I was at his shop and now have to decide how to deal with it.  And my other project is Estelle of Quince and Co. Lark in Delft color.  The body is finished on it and I’m working on one sleeve.  That leaves the other sleeve and the feather and fan front bands.  I am beginning to think it may not get worn this year, but it will be put away for the next cold winter.

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    I am considering selling my Ashford Kiwi 2 spinning wheel for a Kromski Sonata that I can pack up and take to the weekly spinning group.  I’m not addicted enough to own more than one wheel.  I was hoping when I got to the Green Dragon Shop to knit that David had not sold all of the fiber he took to Hawk’s Nest last week, he had one I really wanted, but my road trip there didn’t happen as I remembered an appointment that interfered, but alas, he sold every roving he took with him.  Maybe in the fall.

     

  • This Moment – March 7, 2014

    Another snow day.  Where is spring?

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  • Not for the Faint of Heart

    My Dad is a spry 90+ year old.  He still does most of their cooking, helps with housework, does some of his own yard work and delivers “Meals on Wheels” to folks decades younger than he.  He walks daily, hasn’t smoked since the first Surgeon General’s warning in 1964 and is much healthier than would be suspected for one his age.  His side of the family tend to exceed the average age rule, his grandmother living to 94, his mother to 88, his brother into his 80s.

    This makes me young, right?  After all, I am a senior citizen, eligible for Social Security and Medicare, but still young.  Sometimes I feel like I can still climb mountains, have learned to ride a horse in the past couple of years, garden, drive a tractor and mow acres of land.  But this winter is making me feel not so young.  As a late 20 something, I separated a shoulder skiing.  As a mid 50 something, I broke a wrist roller blading with my daughter.  The shoulder was before they sent you to a specialist and physical therapy for such injuries.  The wrist was not cast correctly and has a 17º healed displacement.  Unfortunately, they aren’t the same arm and both are aggravating me this winter.  The wrist has encouraged arthritic deterioration of my wrist bones.  This was causing me pain and after a couple of steroid shots I agreed to surgery to remove the most damaged wrist bone at the base of my thumb.  This has caused the muscles to atrophy, reducing the strength of my hand and sadly only temporarily provided any relief.  The pain affects my radial nerve so I also have pain in my elbow and my shoulder.  Not wanting to take NSAIDs regularly, I have tried capsaicin cream, OTC herbal supplements that supposedly reduce inflammation, Tart Cherry juice and just about any other alternative.  I haven’t tried acupuncture, nor have I been willing to return to the orthopedist, though I wonder if there is anything else he could do other than more steroid shots which I also want to avoid.  To add insult to injury, it has also intensified trigger finger in my ring finger on that hand.

    I’m not ready to accept aging, I’m still too young.

  • Late Winter

    Skeletonized trees frosted with snow.

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    Cedars wearing white cloaks.

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    A smelting furnace from 1872, the remains sitting beside Sinking Creek.

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    Yesterday, we hunkered down and watched it snow again.  The predicted amount did not materialize, fortunately and we only received about 4 inches.  Last night it turned very cold again, but is slowly warming to above freezing and not dropping too low tonight.  With a bit of straw turning in the chicken run, they were coaxed out to their food and water this morning and the coop opened up to air out.  A bit ago, I found a supply of Buff Orpington pullets, so now a short road trip is in order to collect them and a harvesting date needs to be set with son, to cull out all of the hens of other breeds to allow us to have a self sustaining flock of heritage birds.  I may still sneak an Easter Egger or two in the coop just for the fun of finding their colored eggs.

  • The Return of Winter

    Spring is coming, we know it is by the flocks of robins, the few springlike days we have had in the past couple of weeks.  The past two days have exceeded 60ºf ), absolutely delightful weather.  The weather encouraged outdoor time, to clean the chicken coop, to give them free range time, and to allow Jim to take a jaunt on his motorcycle.

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    Yesterday afternoon it clouded up and by evening, it was a steady cold rain with the temperatures beginning to drop to the current 28º (-2º) and headed for tonight’s 8º (-13.33º).

    By the time I awoke this morning, the rain had turned to sleet, then snow.  The snow is falling steadily and accumulating.

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    The weather prognosticators are warning us of 6 to 12″ of snow, depending on which source you choose to believe.  I’m hoping for a much lower amount and a return to the weather of the weekend, but it looks like winter is back and here to stay for at least another week.  I’m ready to do more than think about the spring garden.  Instead, I will knit and spin, make a warm comforting stew for supper and sit tight.

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    What I’m knitting, Beaucoup in Happy Feet, a light baby sweater for a spring baby, and Honey Cowl of Green Dragon Terminator color is Heat Wave.

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  • Easter Egg Hunt

    The cold winter has taken a toll on egg production and on the cleanliness of the coop.  I use the deep litter method.   For you non chicken raisers, that involves starting with a very clean coop, putting down a few inches of pine shavings or fine straw, then piling dry straw, leaves, etc on top and stirring it up every day or so like compost, adding more straw or leaves as necessary.  If this is done correctly, there is no odor and in the spring, you have a coop full of hot compost to add to your pile for further decomposing.  Because we have hay fields and they are mowed and baled each year, I squirrel away 2 round bales that are stored near my coop and covered with a tarp for use in the coop.  I know, you aren’t supposed to use hay, but so far I haven’t had any problems.  Because hay generally isn’t as dry as straw, I do have to fluff and turn it daily and keep all ventilation holes open whenever the temperature is above freezing, but because of the cold and snow this year, the birds are spending more time indoors than I would like.  As a result, it has been harder to stay on top of the turning and fluffing.

    It isn’t spring yet, but I was beginning to detect odor and knew that something needed to be done.  Leaving the compost part in place, I removed most of the hay from the coop and threw it in their run.  Pulled out the last of one of the big bales that had gotten very dry and added a new thick layer in the coop.

    The chickens are very curious whenever I am doing anything inside their coop and they always come to supervise.  They lean out the open doorway, peck around in the corners, and get just where I need to be.  As soon as I put an armload of hay down, one would push it around and make a bowl shaped nest in it.  I would shoo one away to put hay down and another would be there.  By the time I finished layering new hay in the floor of the coop and under their perches.  Removed and replaced the old hay from their nesting boxes, I had about half of them in the coop making “nests” in the floor of the coop and trampling down the fluffy new hay.

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    I’m betting that today’s egg collection will be an Easter Egg Hunt throughout the floor of their coop.  Funny birds.  I just wish spring would come so that the egg production picks up.  At least I have gotten eggs all winter.

    Live is an adventure on our mountain farm.

  • Just Another Winter Wednesday

    Flurries of snow; winds do blow; bone chilling cold; but tonight is Knit Night with friends, hot tea, and fun.

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  • The Wait

    A few months ago, I mailed a padded envelope with a skein of yarn to someone who purchased it from me.  It was just mailed first class, no tracking number.  The recipient was very patient and finally after about 3 weeks reported to me that the package had never arrived.  Bewildered, I refunded her money and told her I didn’t understand as I had mailed it from the Post Office window, but things do get lost.  I felt badly though as she needed this specific yarn to finish a project and I had been in that situation before.  Several more weeks went by and the package reappeared in my mailbox with postage due of under a dollar.  I contacted the lady and told her the package had come back to me and was being mailed again to her.  She offered to repay me, but I just sent it on to her.  At the Post Office, the clerk was very rude to me, though the mistake had been theirs.  I added more than necessary postage and sent it off again, marched out of the building a bit angry and frustrated, went to open the car door and something caught my eye and I slammed the corner of the door into my forehead raising a goose egg and creating a small cut, just adding to my frustration.

    About 10 days ago, I mailed two packages, having learned my lesson, I got tracking numbers and emailed the recipients of the numbers.  That night, I ordered something for me and got a tracking number.  The next day, I mailed two more packages and got tracking numbers.

    The first two items were to be delivered last Thursday, but the tracking showed they were stalled at a processing facility and ended up not being delivered until Saturday.  The item I was expecting was due Saturday and again seemed stalled at a processing facility and arrived late this afternoon.  The remaining two packages, the last shipped, were the first to be received.

    With customer service that is rude and not meeting the date they project for delivery, it is no wonder that the Post Office is failing.

    I still have two pending shipments due me.  I wonder how long they will take.

  • The Dump

    We live a rural life in our retirement, in a county that has only about 15000 residents.  Since we bought our property, several suburban changes have been made along the main Route that bisects the county, installing town water instead of wells to most of the residents along that route.  To dispose of your garbage, if you live on a main paved secondary road, there is garbage pick up once a week.  If you live off of the main route or the paved secondary roads, you still have well water and you pay a mandatory monthly fee for the privilege of taking your garbage to one of 4 collection sites in the county.  We fall in the later category.

    This is a fairly recent development, within the last decade or two and before that, the rural method was to have a garbage pile on your property or find a place that no one would complain and dump it.  Taking your garbage to the collection center is a hard pill for some of the folks up here to swallow and many have the mindset to never throw away anything and to take anything that is free, because maybe someday you will find a use for it.  As a result there are properties that regardless of how close their neighbor is, have junked cars, dead tractors, collections of plastic yard toys and yard ornaments, piles of half rotted lumber, barrels and buckets of who knows what, old tubs or toilets, you name it and it is in their yard, creating an eyesore.  Don’t get me wrong, that is not the norm.  You see many neat well kept farms as well.

    Another facet of cattle raising land is the use of old tires to hold down tarps over silage or to line the edge of a difficult to fence area as the cows won’t step inside or over them.

    Our 30 acres was used to graze cattle, then miniature horses prior to our purchase.  The land had been rented out to various farmers over the years.  And our land has a natural sinkhole with a creek running down into it and then disappearing into the a cave.  Two edges of the largest hayfield had well over a hundred tires placed in an alternating double row, just in the edge of the woodlot.  The sink hole was a repository of many years of dumping, right off the edge of the cliff, so that the junk fell near and into the creek.   This wasn’t just cans and bottles, but an old wringer washer, part of a car, an old stove, a water heater, rolls of rusted fencing and more tires.  This bothered us, a lot, and every weekend that we could visit our land before construction, we came armed with boxes of huge garbage bags, work gloves and boots and we loaded and hauled sacks and sacks of glass and plastic out of the pile.

    Once we brought our trailer up to store, we started collecting the tires and had to pay to drop them off, not at the nearest collection center, but the central one in the county.  Each tire costing us $1.50 to leave it.

    Two summer’s ago, a neighbor, Jim and I with our tractor and the neighbor’s long steel cable, spent a couple of day hauling the big junk out of the sinkhole and piling it up in the edge of the closest field where one of the local men came and loaded all of the metal onto his truck to take to the metal reclaiming site for whatever money he could get for it.

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    We thought when that was hauled away that we were done with the worst of it and had done a part to help clean up the environment and local groundwater.

    When the leaves fell this fall, we noticed another tire in the edge of the woods, then another, and another.  Now that the snow has melted and before we get any more rain or snow, we hooked up the trailer, put on our work clothes and dragged 15 more tires out of the edge of the woods.  We are afraid to say that we have finally gotten them all, because that might jinx us and we will find more.  For now, the sinkhole, the barn, and the edge of the woods look better.  We will never get all of the old rusted cans and broken glass from the edge of the sinkhole, but hopefully, each year, Mother Nature is dumping a new load of leaves to compost over them and they are settling into the earth.

    Life is good on our mountain farm.