A week (almost) on the farm!

 

 Hi Lester's Flat fans! Kathy & Tim's niece here. Just checking in to document the incredible week we had house-sitting the farm. From bottle-feeding baby Emma, to searching for tomatoes in the garden- we truly had the best time! Cyrus showed us around the trails & tried his best to intimidate the fox that is harassing the poor chickens. This place is an oasis and we can't wait to come back! (Are you hiring a farm hand?) 

Love,

Claire and Lorenzo 

            

On our way (almost)

This is me turning over the reins to Claire Bear, our favorite farm sitter EVER!

Chicken situation

I was hopeful in my last post that chickens would once again run free here at Lester's Flat.

After we were down to 5 in the big coop, I was happy to get them all enclosed in the fence at night before closing the door. Then they were all safe until morning.

The evening after that post, all 5 were in the fence. When I went to close the door to the coop, about an hour later, there were only these 2.

They are the last of our 16 chickens in the big coop. They are roaming free because they are not safe in the fenced area, and these were 2 of the escapees who wouldn't stay there anyway. At this point, they stand more chance of living outside. 

Mostly they hang out back by the house...very smart on their part. Then I have to coax them back in to the coop earlier in the evening than they would like.

We leave next week. 

Sad face emoji for the chickens.

Still a happy face emoji for us.

Sunsets and foxes

The black table and chairs are a replacement for the rusting and peeling red set that we have had since about 2005. That had at least 3 coats of paint on it when it was given to us, and easily another 3 coats by me.

This is the season of beautiful sunsets, so here's a good one. Even with a lack of rain recently, the mosquitoes and flies still keep me from sitting out there as much as I would like.

The trail camera caught Foxy out by the chicken coop 2 days after the massacre. We have not had any murders since July 7, due in part to keeping the chickens closed up, but 2 of the 5 having been fence-jumping every day since then, and today the rooster joined in the fun.

The fox most likely is not the killer of 7 chickens in 1 afternoon. He or she would not have left bodies lying around all over the property. More likely it was a dog that got loose out front, or maybe 1 of the huskies that live on the road behind us.

Let's hope it was just a bad day for my chickens, and that they may some day go loose again (because they already have).

I am trying

I am trying to get a good photo of Jessie and Cyrus together to replace the one of Woody and Cyrus on the left. This is my best from today. 😁

I am trying to propagate the really beautiful hollyhocks from last year from seed, but they are biennial, so I won’t know if I succeeded until next year when they bloom. 

The bumblebees are quite happy with the less interesting but still beautiful ones from this year. 

And I am trying my best to get us to Ireland without any major difficulties. Apparently Aer Lingus has resolved their pilot issues. We may even get an upgrade on our seats. 

And Tara has offered multiple versions of suitcases to replace our fuddy duddy ones from 1997 — the last time we traveled. We have settled on our favorites. Thank you Tara.

Life is good. 

Stay positive!

July is not starting out so good. We are hoping to end it with some fun.

All preparations are in place to go to Ireland. We renewed our passports, booked the hotels, rented the car, reserved the parking space with a shuttle to the airport... 

The only thing we paid for in full is the flight, and now the pilots are on strike—or "having a row" as it said in the newspaper.

Oh, and scaredy girl (Jessie) is booked at the dog spa since she still is not especially cooperative about coming in the house. She spends almost the whole day outside, mostly in the back, in the weeds, in the shade.

A boost of her anti-anxiety pills helped with convincing her to stay inside for the fireworks on the weekend, but we were all surprised and unprepared for the fireworks at midnight the night before the 4th.

And then July got even worse. The day after seeing an obviously sick, stumbling raccoon wander right past our free-ranging chickens, we lost 3 chickens to an unknown predator (it wasn't the raccoon). We tried to enclose the remaining chickens inside the fence by the coop, but they already knew they could fly over that. That's why they are free range again after losing several to a fox attack 3 years ago.

Somehow I got them closed up early for the next 2 nights.

Then we went to a friend's house yesterday for about 3 hours in the afternoon, and came home to feathers all over the yard. Just that fast we lost 7 more chickens. We only have 5 left in the big coop who, so far today, are scared enough to stay inside the fence.

I think the days of our free ranging chickens are over for good, but only if they continue to cooperate.

Zelda, Otis, and the (ex)Polyphemus Moth

The 2 outdoor cats are proving to be quite the loving pair. Both are neutered, as you might tell from their tipped ears, so not that much loving.

Otis is quite the killer—mostly rats raiding the chicken/goat feed in the garage—but also an occasional bird :( and what I think was a baby rabbit yesterday.

I am pretty sure Otis was not the perp who killed the polyphemus moth. It was most likely one of the mom or pop parents feeding the insatiable baby birds occupying the 4 birdhouses inside the back fence (where I found the fore and hind wings).

Of course I had to Google it to determine what the heck it was other than 2 different moth wings.

What a beauty it must have been!

[User:Kadoka1]Template:Stephen Lody Photography • CC BY-SA 3.0

The Creek and the Jessie Project

I am back to doing water testing in the Herkimer Creek after just learning in a Zoom meeting how to be a real scientist (haha) and upload all of the data to the Chesapeake Monitoring Cooperative website.

It's hard to fathom how our little creek can have an impact all the way down to the Chesapeake Bay. If you click on the link, I think I am still the second most northern dot on the map, just below Utica.

I have pretty much given up on winter testing because access to the creek is getting more and more difficult. Erosion, old age and/or beavers are taking down some big trees (and small ones) and a few good storms have eroded the bank so much that it is difficult for this old lady to get into the water.

Update on the Jessie Project: she is still spending most of the day outside in the yard by herself teasing the vultures. She's had 2 practice visits to Breezy Acres Dog Resort where she gets to hang out with other dogs and humans, but she was still too nervous to enjoy it.

When we go to Ireland she will be there for 8 or 9 days. I have to do a better job of preparing her for our temporary abandonment. I am just not really sure how to do that...

Lovin' it!

Having a lovely glass of malbec (from Tara who also bought me lunch today, thank you Tara!) while watching The Husband mow the lawn and appreciating the aroma of a roasting duck in the oven that he is making me for dinner for my birthday.

And it is a gorgeous day! My perfect weather— a sunny 66° with 37% humidity—definitely not New Jersey weather.

It doesn't get any better than this.

PS: Hub is on a picture-taking spree—second pic is Miss Jess, pre-mow, also loving the weather.

The baby forest and the snapper

The house looks great from back on the trail through the young forest we had planted by the Trees for Tribs folks. Burr oak on the left, river birch on the right, old apple trees in the background have already lost their blossoms.

This snapping turtle looked like she (?) might be laying eggs in the gravel pile by the driveway. Of course we don't know if she's a he, or if they were just sunning themselves.

They were there for the whole day, gone in the morning. I was afraid to get too close to see if there were any eggs in there, even after they left.

Catching up with apples and chickens

The Husband took a long walk through the back 40 (20 actually) on May 14, one of those gorgeous spring days we have been blessed with recently. By the looks of it there will be plenty of apple pies and apple butter this year.

Often the blossoms open only to be killed by frost or snow, and then there are years like this where all these apples just fall to the ground for any critter who wants them. The deer will be very happy. Some of them even get drunk when the apples start to rot on the ground. Hard cider for everyone!

The baby chicks were a month old when I moved them from the dog crate in the garage to the Omlet coop out in the yard. Luckily the freezing temps did not return, so I could turn off the heat lamp and let them get some sun.

These little teenagers look pretty silly before all their big girl feathers grow in. The 2 red ones both have a little crest on their head, which means they could be part Cream Legbar, a breed I really like.

And then there's our handsome rooster, strutting his stuff in front of the ladies.