Christmas and chickens

The sun is setting on 2019 and this decade. The Christmas tree went up late, but it still looks great so we'll let it stand until the needles start falling. And then we'll give it to the goats...

We had some snow for Christmas, just enough, but right now we are back to green grass and cold rain. The snow is returning tonight and tomorrow, but I am not sure how much we are supposed to get.

I think I finally resolved the kitchen light dilemma by ordering a third (!!!) fixture online from a place I used to order from 25 years ago for the old NJ house, Rejuvenation. 2 to 5 weeks to deliver, custom-assembled to spec, in Portland, not China. The previous fixture that I really liked—a wall-mount which I can't use—I am asking the tenant in that same old house if she can use it. If not I will return it.

It really should not be this difficult to buy local, but I will keep trying.

I haven't talked much about the chickens lately, so here's an update: they are mostly fine, don't love the snow but don't hate it, and are holding their own (so far) against a marauding barn cat from across the road. We found 7 of them up in the tree one night when we went out to close them up. I think one of the youngsters died from an attack, or else I put her out in the cold too soon. The remaining 3 blondies are healthy and stick together inside the fence while the older ones are outside parading through the snow. 2 of the littles are hens, and the rooster looks amazingly like his big daddy (in the pic above, with his older girls).

They all truly enjoyed the salad leftovers from the Christmas party at work. Thanks Jim!

Merry Christmas!

Best wishes to all our friends and family on this beautiful Christmas Day! It's sunny here, but there's still a bit of snow just to make it festive.

Woody's Christmas present every year is that he gets to shred all the wrapping paper from our gifts. It is exhausting work, apparently.

Cyrus very gently tore one little strip off the top of the red envelope in the front just to play along.

One of our other Christmas traditions is to visit with Don on the Hill (who looks like Santa, BTW). He is always too busy fielding phone calls on Christmas Eve, his birthday, but not so busy on Christmas.

So HoHoHo, everyone!

Sunshine and snow for the holidays

You would think if he had the choice between lying in the grass or in the snow, he would choose the grass. But no, acting like he does have some husky genes in there, Cyrus prefers lying in the snow on this sunny Christmas Eve. Woody, as he likes to do on sunny days, was deadheading the little daisies while keeping an eye on whatever Cyrus was keeping an eye on.

The head cold is mostly gone, thanks to the antibiotics I begged for which knocked out the sinus infection.

The tree is up and decorated (as of Saturday) after much fussing and cursing (sorry) to keep it from falling over.

I worked late-ish last night at the newspaper, so now I have off on the first ever Tuesday since I started working there in 2012.

UPS is back to delivering packages the way that they should.

The only issue that still refuses to get resolved is the kitchen light fixture. I sent back the Amazon one because it didn't fit. Went to Oneonta (Buy Local) so I could see the size in person. Lighting lady wasn't in that day, didn't see anything I liked. I found one on a link she sent me later, ordered it, Hub picked it up Friday. Guess what? It's a wall mount, not the ceiling mount that I ordered. Ceiling mount is no longer available. UGH. Trying to convince lighting lady to find one for me, but guess what? It's Christmas!

Not a rush, but it shouldn't be this difficult!

Tuesday sick old lady

Nothing like a winter cold, on a Tuesday when I have to work late, and it's snowing. And while I am whining: the printer messed up my Christmas cards and I have to take them back today, the Christmas tree is still on the front porch because I haven't felt like putting it up, we have 2 large freezers full of pork and the smoked bacon and hams are all coming next week, the light I ordered to replace a broken kitchen light was too big and had to be returned, AND I am fighting a battle with UPS which seems to have resulted in my packages being held up.

On a positive note: Doctors Woody and Cyrus did a fantastic job of looking after me yesterday, work allowed me to go in late and come home early (10:45 pm), I ordered a new kitchen light from a local store which is the perfect size, and UPS called me today and insisted there would be no more issues.

All good.

For now.

Why I would rather live in NY

I was just going to post the picture and let you figure it out...but couldn't help complain that it shouldn't take 40 minutes to go about 10 miles on the PA Turnpike just because it is raining. No major accidents, just 2 apparently uninjured cars in 2 separate locations with a tow truck waiting to cart them away. And everybody (except a few of us who don't drive like we are from NJ or Philly) changing lanes every 2 minutes to try to gain the advantage over everyone else.

I might also point out that the funny looking evergreen tree far left, is actually a very cleverly disguised cell phone tower. I bet you will have a hard time figuring out which one I am talking about. Makes me chuckle every time I see it.

NJ tomorrow

 
I planned to go back to NJ today to visit Little Sister and maybe hook up with some old friends, but snow got in the way.

I took the dogs (separately) for a walk in the unexpected snowstorm to decide whether or not I should leave today or tomorrow. The driveway had not been plowed by 2 pm, it was just cold and nasty out there.

I got back from our walks only to find the cats curled up in my mostly empty suitcase.

OK. I get the message. I went to work instead, and will leave for NJ in the morning.

These "little" piggies went to market

"Pigs-to-market" really means pigs-to-butcher, but I am still in denial. And there is no denying that they are not "little".

The transport yesterday was delayed long enough to make it a nightmare for the 3 Peters he-men involved. It was scheduled to happen around 3 or 4 pm, with the 3 of them waiting here to help convince Stormy and her 2 boys that getting on the big truck was a good idea. Turns out the convincing was the easy part. Jim the Trucker was delayed because he had to pick up for the other trucker who had emergency heart surgery. Jim showed up around 7:30 pm. He-men were not pleased. At least I didn't have to be there with them while they were waiting so patiently. Sometimes Ugly Tuesday at the newspaper is a good thing.

This lovely photo of Cyrus in the snow is from before the nightmare. I had let the boys out before I left for work. Woody came right back in, and when I went to look for Cyrus, he was lying in the snow enjoying the sun. No desire to move, just chilling. Literally.

That's my test location for the firepit that looks like a Hershey's kiss on the right. Some day the snow will go away and we will have a nice big fire out there...

The big snow

Winter Storm Ezekiel apparently missed my cousins in PA (Hi Maureen!) but it did leave us with about 12" of snow.

As you can tell by their tracks, the boys mostly go out and do their business and then come right back inside. Cyrus still enjoys rolling in it. Woody still enjoys the comfort of a nice warm living room, and so do I. Hard to get motivated to take them for a walk, but it is the right thing to do. 

Today the piggies "go to market". I am very much hoping to avoid the pig loading operation. It is Tuesday after all, my ugly day at the newspaper. I think this is a job that the Peters he-men need to handle on their own. Wishing you well, men!

The pretty snow

The first thing Cyrus does when he goes out in the snow is to roll in it, spinning his body making snow spirals instead of snow angels.

The first thing Woody does is make yellow snow and then run back up on the porch because he doesn't like wet cold feet.

And all that Kathy does is take some pretty snow pics before the dogs mess it up too much. It is especially pretty when the flakes are really big, and there is no wind to knock it off the tree branches.

My poor little redbud tree might not make it through till spring. I had to remove half that died over the summer.

Cold chicks are free

The 4 chicks who spent their whole life in a box—first in the basement, then outside in a crate with a heat lamp, then same crate out in the unheated coop—got their first taste of freedom yesterday. Not surprisingly, they were reluctant to come out the open door. Once they did, they stayed in the coop for as long as I was watching. When I checked later, I think the older chickens had bullied them back into the crate.

It has been warmer the last few days. I had to get them outside without too much of a shock before it gets back to being really cold. (Just now as I am writing this, the rain turns to sleet.)

The day after the last post, Big Blondie on the right gave his first pathetic attempt at crowing like a rooster. This gives me just a bit of hope that the other 3 are hens as they were all born at the same time. The other 3 are smaller, with smaller combs, but those curly tail feathers still look suspicious to me. Soon we will know.

Some cold chicks and the Herkimer Creek

I signed up The Husband, myself, and friend Erin for The Stream Team, sponsored locally by the Otsego County Conservation Association, and by a group in PA called Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring. Volunteer teams are recruited to assess water quality, in our case in the Herkimer Creek that runs through our property. Once a month, even in winter, we collect samples which are taken back to the nice warm house/chemistry lab. We make quite the comical group of scientists, but so far are enjoying the process. Erin was the brave one to go into the cold creek yesterday. Husband: it's your turn in December!

The other cold chicks from yesterday (besides Erin and me) are the 4 that have been hanging out in our basement since being hatched in September. They probably should have gone outside sooner, but by the time they were are all feathered out, a cold snap came through. I was worried about sending them from the 65° basement out to where it was in the single digits sometimes at night. This week is looking a bit warmer, and they were getting rambunctious in the box downstairs.

For now, until I see how they are doing, they are in an even smaller box next to the garage where I have a heat lamp on them, and the box is insulated with hay bales around it. I just know the larger one in the front is a rooster. I have some concerns that the other 3 are as well, but only time will tell. For the moment they are still "peepers"—still making that baby chick sound. When they start crowing like a roo, I will start crying...

UPDATE: Posted this yesterday. Today Big Blondie started crowing. :(

Second snow

I guess it's time to stop counting. Two sort of snowy days in a row, but no real accumulation. Good thing that, because we haven't yet cleared out the garage to put the cars in. Don't want our favorite snowblower to come by and blow all the snow onto the cars.

Chicks are getting cabin fever downstairs. Snow or no, they must go out this weekend.

And my dear tenant had to shut off the heat in NJ at midnight after a visit from the Fire Department and then the gas company to discover the source of the burning smell. Something probably died in there somewhere, but no one could figure out what the problem was. Hard to find an HVAC guy to come out in an emergency (no heat) when the problem is probably not the heater. But we don't know that yet. Working on it...

First snow

First snow of the season, November 7. Not much. Not much fun. We all would rather stay inside with the woodstove, where it is 77°.

I am still struggling as to what to do with the chickens in the basement. They have all their big girl (boy?) feathers, but I don't want to shock them going from 65° inside to low 20s° outside at night. I will figure something out this weekend.

Still waiting, by Cyrus

I am still waiting for one of those deer to jump the fence, as I cannot. They sure do like to tease me by standing right outside the fence eating all the toys (apples) on the ground.

I am still waiting for that cute little opossum to come back. He could have fit under the fence, but I guess Woody and I scared him so he played dead until mom chased him away.

I am still waiting for mom to trust me to go outside the fence. So what if I killed 4 of her chickens and a duck? That was a very long time ago.

Still waiting.

Sunny living room snooze

Fall color is almost gone, but there is still plenty of sunshine. Nice day for a morning nap.

Before they fall

I know if I wait to get a better photo of this oak tree out by the chicken coop—one where a blue sky and the fall-colored mountain is in the background facing east, or the setting sun is behind our house in the west—that it will be too late.

So before all those pretty leaves fall to the ground, I will have to live with these.

(Shout out to Barbara and Kimberley: hope you enjoyed the peach cobbler. I don't think there was enough for Jack.)

Two dogs and a sunset

We had some visitors for the weekend—Sue and Joe came up from Pennsylvania to eat some food (with help from the Barnwell Inn where they stayed) and to drink some wine with us, all while putting up with our misbehaving children.

Much fun was had by all, and we have enough goodies leftover from their breakfasts at the inn to last us the rest of the week. I offered to take some into work, but Husband won't let the peach cobbler leave the premises until he has finished every crumb.

While The Husband was out entertaining the visitors yesterday, I stayed home to make some pizzas for dinner and to take care of those misbehaving children. We sat outside for a bit to watch a gorgeous sunset from the porch. These photos pretty much sum up the difference between the 2 dogs: Cyrus is content to chill, while Woody is more interested in finding out what's for dinner. And he won't give up until I go inside to start cooking...

Sadly, the visitors missed the peak fall color by about a week. The young maples and oak in our driveway are still sporting some pretty leaves, but a few frosty mornings have pretty much killed off the rest of the color. Even the goldenrod is brown.

Dog talk

Cyrus and Woody are still enjoying the enlarged fence. It came just in time for me to weasel out of walking them the last 2 days when it has been raining and cold.

They are arguing over who gets to chew on the garden stake. I wish I could understand the conversation.

It reminded me of the second photo, taken in July 2009, when all we had was a driveway to our future house. Lester loved the water and swimming. Sophie would only go in up to her knees. Also a great conversation, I am sure.

Eagles and the new fence!

The video below will tell you everything you need to know about the new fenced yard. The dogs were slow to discover the beauty of it, but once they did... The current plan for the deck/patio is patio and firepit only. Deck was too expensive, and probably not necessary.

Yesterday while I was sitting out there—the eagle parent and 2 youngsters passed overhead. While I would like to believe they were admiring our new enlarged backyard, I suspect mom or dad was showing the kids where our chickens live. Either way, I am always happy to see them. We had an eagle siting or 2 in NJ, but nothing like this.

Frost, fog, a new fence and frogs

We had our first frost of the season on Friday night, which made for a very foggy Saturday morning. You could see the moisture in the air. It looked like rain coming down, but as a very fine mist.

Even though I covered my heirloom tomatoes with blankets, the frost did enough damage that I think they are done. I did manage to save about a half dozen that were mostly ripe, and I left the green ones out there to see what happens. I have not had much luck ripening green tomatoes indoors, and there is no predicted frost for this coming week.

What is predicted for this week is the installation of our new improved dog fence. I call it a dog fence, but it serves a larger purpose—keeping the critters out so that I can have a larger space for gardening. I am also planning a firepit, and patio and/or deck inside the fence, but that won't happen any time soon.

Bart the Handyman dropped off the fencing materials last week with a bit of help from his 2YO son Beckett AKA Bucket. Out there in his diaper and bare feet, he helped Pops unload the truck. He will need warmer attire if he returns. :)

Pre-frost, when the garden was still looking lush, I happened to hear something fall or jump from the porch railing when I let the dogs out in the evening. I thought it was a spring peeper (in Fall?) but when I saw this photo enlarged, I realized there are 2 peepers, oddly hanging out together.

Celebrating with food

The leaves are turning color faster than ever. Is it possible to go from green to peak color in a week or 2? Probably not, but it feels like it. I took this photo out the car window (while Tim was driving) to show Tara in London what she was missing. I don't think she was as jealous as I wanted her to be.

Tim took the day off on Friday to celebrate our 22nd anniversary. First we did some international food shopping in Utica, then we went to dinner in Cooperstown.

I did not get the names of any of these stores, but we will definitely go back. At the Italian place we bought some hot sausage, ravioli, and pork braciole. I made the pork on Saturday with some of our garden plum tomatoes, olive oil, lots of garlic, and leftover pasta (see below). Excellent!

We went in the Asian store (I think it was Vietnamese) in search of hot chili oil which we have been unable to find. No chili oil, but we got a dried and a fried chili paste, a red curry paste (my fave) some fresh hot peppers, rice noodles, sesame oil, and Hub's fave—the fried shallots. Now we just have to figure out what to make with all this.

And finally, the Polish store provided some pierogies, kielbasa, vanilla cookies, rye bread, and some hot dogs that we already tested and gave a thumbs up.

After all the food shopping, we went to dinner at Toscana. Great food (but too much pasta) and they just kept refilling our glasses with the house red wine. The leftover pasta made a nice addition to the pork on Saturday. I forgot that it was Coffee House night and I didn't have time for a proper dinner...

Fall eagle and bees

To distract us all from the latest political nightmare, I will share some pretty pictures.

I was talking to a contractor on Thursday about our new enlarged dog fence, when I saw something over his head off in the distance. I interrupted our discussion for what turned out to be a crow.

Minutes after he left, I was texting him to tell him he forgot his axe, and the eagle I was expecting earlier flew right over the house.

Also, I recently talked to Frank, our favorite beekeeper, about there not being many honeybees in his bee boxes. I am still trying to convince him (not seriously) to bring his boxes over here. Our weedy property has no shortage of honeys and bumbles.

Oh, and an abundance of wasps. Every variety. One stung my pinky finger while I was sitting outside with a cup of tea yesterday. Why?