Fresh snow

Fresh snow, very light, just right for a sleepy Sunday.

Happy chickens, pregnant goats, a stray cat

Miss Molly Malone, in with the boys, is definitely pregnant.

The 5 new black chickens we added back on January 1 are fitting in just fine. I think today was the first day they followed the others, through the snow, back to the house. Until now they have mostly stayed closer to the coop, with the youngsters.

The youngsters are still a bit miffed by being bumped back to the bottom of the pecking order. Little Roo has not crowed since we moved him in with Big Roo. And the poor big guy is suffering again with the cold. I don't see any more frostbite on his comb, but I think he is having problems again with his feet. :(

We have several pregnant goats who will probably start giving us some kids very soon. The youngest ones were separated from the males months ago, but maybe not soon enough. Some of them, including Little Tara, are looking quite large!

In the past few weeks we have had a stray cat, probably from the horse farm across the road, coming here looking for us. He or she has been at the front door begging for food (or warmth) several times, even once made it through the dog fence and came up on the porch to the back door. Luckily the dogs didn't notice.

So we borrowed a trap to try to catch it and have it neutered, but haven't seen it since then. I think it knows what we are up to! I don't mind having a "barn cat" around here to help with the rodents, but I don't want a whole cat colony like across the street. Anyone who makes it across the road can stay, as long as they don't make any more.

Am I crazy?

I must be crazy.

I signed us up for Water Quality Monitoring of our own little Herkimer Creek through the Otsego County Conservation Association. Once a month we (meaning Friend Erin, Husband, and me) have to take water samples from the middle of the creek and then process them back at the house for dissolved oxygen, pH, nitrate, and orthophosphate, among other things.

The chemistry bit back at the house is fun, but time consuming. A lot of mixing in 8 drops of this and that, dissolving tablets, matching colors... Some wine drinking might have taken place while the samples were being timed... About 2 hours total for the science lesson.

The collecting water samples part is no problem at all in nice weather, but the weather was not so nice yesterday. Erin is in warmer climates until March (lucky Erin!) so it was just me and the Hub. It was 16° and snowing lightly, but more snow was predicted for today, when it is a balmy 28°, so we decided to give it a go yesterday. This part takes about a half hour.

What I learned:

1) My new waterproof gloves are not waterproof at all.

2) Cold fingers do not function well when trying to fill a small bottle with all water, no air, and then screwing the tiny cap back on while still under water. (and if you lose the cap, you're screwed :)

3) Cold fingers hurt like **** when they are thawing out.

4) Winter is not my friend. Here's hoping that February will not be so brutal. Or that it will be so unfriendly that we have to call off the sampling.

Recipes for 2020

Due to a recent overload of pork (we had to borrow some space in another freezer) I am searching for some new recipes in the new year. My first creative use of chorizo was this white bean stew with kale and spinach, red pepper, saffron, and paprika. (There are plenty of beans in there, they're hiding.)

Now that the WoodMan is getting older, his recipe for 2020 is to get more rest. He is still full of I don't know what, but at 11 or 12 years old he needs some rest after acting like the goofball that he is. He just finished tearing up the sofa blankets and pillows, and then pretty much just passed out with his ear backwards over his head. He acts more like a toddler than an old man.

More about the chickens (meaning more chickens)

The 3 little blonde chicks we hatched here were just settling in to their new digs and enjoying being left alone back by the coop while the big girls and Roo were out wandering.

Then The Husband found a post on Craig's List for 5 free laying hens, so we celebrated the new year by going to pick them up yesterday.

They appear to be Black Stars, a very pretty mixed breed.

It is always difficult adding new chickens to the flock, even more so in winter when they spend more time "cooped up", but this was too good a deal to pass up.

My biggest worry is that they don't know where their home is and will wander off somewhere. We added a few hens a few years ago and all of them immediately went on a romp across the busy road to the horse farm. And they were not easily convinced to come back...

At least we still have a passable (literally) fence around the coop since the bobcat attack, so the girls are semi-contained for the moment. I did find 2 of them were working their way down the driveway toward the road when I went out today, but they recognized me enough to come running back.

For now, all are happily back inside the passable fence with the 3 littles and Big Roo. The 3 littles are not quite so happy because it seems they have been bumped back to the bottom of the pecking order, again, with the 5 new big girls in the house. Big Roo has already identified himself as lord and master of the new pretty ones. He is very proud to still be the big man on campus, and crowing about it to tell all the world!

I think peace will resume soon enough. At least it is a nice sunny day and all are outside rather than inside what is now a somewhat cramped coop.

Happy New Year!

Not really a New Year's Eve or Day photo, just a MonkeyCat sleeping in a laundry basket on my new green Christmas sweater.

Wishing you all a happy, healthy, and most importantly peaceful 2020!