Tag: chores

Mountain Farm Morning

Where is the camera when you need it? I opened the back deck door to let the dogs out and caught just a flash of movement across the side of the deck. It’s size told me it was either a mouse or a chipmunk (the farmers up here call them ground squirrels). Below that edge of the deck is the retaining wall that son and DIL built during construction. It is a beautiful piece of stonework that gets covered each spring and summer with Hairy Vetch and Virginia Creeper. The doors out onto the deck are a full story above the ground, though the deck itself is only 3 steps up.

Beneath the deck there is loose rock tossed in to help with erosion and to keep the weeds down. I’m sure that it is a great hiding place for all sorts of wildlife, more or less protected from the cats. As I stepped to the edge of the deck to see if I could spot the little critter, the chipmunk scurried quickly across the deck and through a space I can barely stick my fingers through and down under the deck. They are cute, but destructive little critters, I hope it doesn’t take an interest in the Direct TV cable that is fastened to the front leg of the deck, travels along the lower edge of the deck then follows the flashing across between the basement and ground floor of the house to where it enters.

Breakfast prep was started as I put some of our fresh eggs on to boil for the pups and me. My morning ritual includes cleaning up their feeding area, two plastic trays on a bath mat to catch at least some of the food and water that the big guy slings around when he eats or drinks. His tray always has a cup or more of water and a dissolved kibble or two floating around on it.

Once their area is cleaned up I call them back in to eat, only as I stepped out to call them, leaning around the west end of the house from the front porch as that is where they always return to be let in, I heard a racket of turkey chatter and dog barks and spotted the dogs both chasing a wild turkey across the near hayfield as the hen took flight and landed way up in a tree on the edge of the field. Shadow once she stopped bounding, couldn’t even be seen in the tall hay waiting for good days to cut and bale. Ranger continued to stare longingly up at the tree where the hen continued to cluck. Hopefully they didn’t disturb a nest, but if it is in the hayfield it will suffer destruction as soon as Jeff comes to mow the hay. Finally I got them back in the house and breakfast eaten.

Then it was chicken care time. I filled the pans with mash, millet and sunflower seeds to take out to the two pens and just as I stepped out, I heard the rain moving over the ridge and through the trees in my direction. Raincoat collected just as a torrential downpour started. Chickens had to wait for it to subside at least a bit. We are in for a stormy day. A good day to sew, knit, spin, and read. Tonight is Knit Night, hope it isn’t storming too badly when it is time to leave.

June 4, 2014
A benefit of Retirement

When I used to be employed outside the house, housecleaning and laundry always had to be done on weekends or in short spurts after work. This past weekend was spent in doing more enjoyable things, going to the farmer’s market, playing outside in the dirt and with two big dogs that live in the house, there is a constant need to vacuum and dust.

Today, while Jim went off on his motorcycle for a ride, I tackled all three floors of our house. Sweeping, damp mopping, dusting, cleaning and scrubbing, floors, tables, bathrooms, kitchen. It looks good, but I know that by tomorrow, there will already be dog hair and dust again.

The injured pullet is still hanging in there, but I am afraid she may still fail, her injuries are so extreme. She misses her siblings and perks up when I walk past her crate. There is no way that I can put her in with them. The Americana, in spite of me having clipped a wing, still is figuring out how to get from coop pen into the cull pen over a 4 foot fence. I don’t see anywhere that she can get under it, but she shouldn’t be able to fly over. If she is so desperate to be with Cogburn, I’m leaving her there until he gets moved back with the Buff’s.

June 2, 2014
Back on the Farm

The return to the farm has brought with it the return to Virginia winter weather. Today’s high occurred early this morning with a chilly day and frozen night in the forecast. With dusk last night came rain all night long, creek flooding rain and snow possible as the day wears on. The ridge behind us shrouded in low thick clouds.

Last week when I was babysitting in Northern Virginia and available regardless of the weather, it was sunny and warmed to the 40s and 50s, today they are on the rain/snow line of this storm and likely having to deal with another weather closure or delay. That problem, I remember well, having three children and both of us having professional level jobs that were difficult to miss.

It is good being home, watching the antics of the dogs. Ranger the English Mastiff romping with the German Shepherd indoors and out, but having much less stamina and collapsing on his back outdoors, or into this position next to Jim when he is spent.

The only place he is allowed to do that in beside hubby in his oversize worn out recliner.

When I got home yesterday afternoon, I went out to check on the chickens and do a bit of coop maintenance, I don’t ask that of Jim when he is chicken sitting for me and finally caught a Buff Orpington sitting on an empty nest, so now I know which eggs to set aside for brooding when one of the hens gets broody this spring.

I don’t know which breed is laying the pinkish tan eggs far left, the Olive egger is obvious, the nearly white tan eggs are the Buff Orpington (at least one of them though I think the pinkish ones might be the other one. The darker brown even colored ones are the Red Stars, nice sized consistent eggs with good yolk structure and flavor, and then there is the girl with the faulty sprayer that lays a brown egg, sometimes speckled always with a color distortion on the wide end and the girl that lays extra elongated pointy eggs. I may never know though, because as soon as there are 14 Buff Orpingtons including Cogburn or his descendant, the rest will go to freezer camp and my eggs will be boring, but my flock self sustaining.

February 3, 2014