Thursday, April 19

Really?

Just so ya know...I hate selfies...at least of my self...

And this one is not especially flattering. But WHY do we still have snow, every morning, and sometimes in the afternoon, in the middle of April? Did I mention the wind?

This one from this afternoon when I was walking a friend's beagle. It was about 40° and cloudy when I drove the half-mile to take her out. Then this snow squall after I went in and put her little coat on and came out for our nice spring walk.

It will be spring soon.

Please?

Lucille

We had to bury Lucille today.

She was our first adult goat. We got her from our friend Karen (The Goat Lady) in June of 2012, with her little doeling, Helen, and a buckling, Jack. All 3 in the pic to the right.

http://lestersflat.blogspot.com/2012/06/goats-are-coming.html 

She was mother to Helen, Beatrice, and Tony and Rose. That is a pregnant Lucille and pregnant daughter Beatrice in the second small pic.

Although she had several years of delivering kids with no problem, she had a difficult delivery last year, where the doe kid died a couple of days after, and she had a stillborn the year before.

Just yesterday we had to take her to the vet because she had gone into labor the night before but was unable to deliver a kid. Turns out she had 2 in there (which is common), both premature. One was dead, the other nearly dead. The vet had difficulty removing the kids, and poor Lucille must have had some internal damage because she died a few hours after we brought her home.

She was obviously in pain, and I am happy that she passed quickly.

Lucille was always the leader of the pack.

She will be missed by all.

Muddy floor

The stars of these photos are hard to focus on when all I see is the muddy floor. Mud season. Why bother cleaning it until the mud goes away?

Poor WillWill the cat had to make a trip to the vet today. When we came back, he was feeling brave enough to hang out with the Cyrus on the first floor while the WoodMan was outside. This is a BIG deal!

Progress! I thought perhaps this would convince Willie that it was safe to be on the first floor with the dogs and his buddy Monkey, the cat who prefers the company of dogs.

It worked. Willie came down again a few minutes later when both dogs were down here. They were as surprised as he was. They chased him and cornered him in the kitchen where he feared for his life (me too...for him) until I was able to grab them.

Needless to say he won't come down again any time soon.

Poor guy!

Sunny winter days

Oh wait, I'm sorry, it's spring!

It has been warm enough that the snow is melting. New icicles are replacing the old ones that crashed down making it sound like the house was being bombed from above. Now we just have to wait until the snow melts enough that I can walk the dogs somewhere other than down the driveway and across the busy road. Snow in March is all well and good, we are all just a bit bored with it at this point.

Update: A few minutes ago I posted this photo of MonkeyCat sleeping soundly on the green blanket. Just now, the WoodMan came over and reclaimed his spot.

Nice to see who owns the green blanket AND the sofa. Not the humans, for sure.

More pretty snow

Snow is definitely prettier than mud

No BBQs just yet

These photos all from yesterday. The icicles are all around the house, but the best ones are outside the dining room window where the screen gets in the way of a good photo. The biggest one was about 5' tall, but it fell before I took this shot.

The sun was out most of yesterday, so the icicles are growing bigger and then crashing down. Today, more wind and snow and cold—high of 26°.

I am not worried, spring will come. And snow is preferable to the mud or the ice we had before.

Cyrus sees the deer. I do not.
He will sit out there with snow up to his belly, just waiting...

Woody, who is not on the leash or fenced in,
cares more about the pig poop/mud he can find under the snow.

March and the disappearing bench

March 15, 2018

Last year this time we lost the bench in one huge snowstorm, almost 4 feet, maybe even more, hard to tell. This year we have been getting a little snow here and there. It melts and then comes back. Total accumulation is hard to judge, because we are getting wind making some serious drifts, and sun doing some serious melting all at the same time. I am guessing it is about 2 feet total on March 15, 2018.

March 15, 2017

Cabin fever

All that melting snow makes for some lovely icy adornments to the roof (last pic). When this is what it looks like from inside, it is difficult to get inspired to go outside. And we just keep getting more snow every day. Not a lot, just enough to keep it all covered in white.

So these boys are getting bored with all this quality time inside by the woodstove. What do they do when they're bored? Destroy the sofa, of course.

It was a nice Pottery Barn sofa so many years ago. Now it is one big dog bed/dog playpen. It's really fun to knock off all of the cushions and pillows and then chew on the nice wool blanket... Doncha think?

Alright, I'll get off the computer and take you for a walk.

Snow, sun, mud, ice and then again...

Toyota Tacoma, mudbathing

It's not all that unusual to have this kind of weather this time of year, but it's just getting kind of repetetive. Some pretty snow, not too much. Then the sun shines again (which the cats are loving!). Then the snow melts and makes lots of nice mud (which Tim's new truck is not loving). Then it gets cold and the mud freezes and makes lots of slippery ice (which none of us are loving). Then more snow covers the ice, but not enough to take away the slip factor.

Spring is coming. The cats don't really care.

Willie, sunbathing

MonkeyCat, sunbathing

House or ice cube?

Looks like I just popped it out of an ice cube tray, but we are warm inside. It's 82° in the living room right now with the woodstove all fired up. Just went canoeing with Marie on Oaks Creek yesterday. No snow, a bit less than 50°, but still ice on the lake when we made our way up there. Wish I would have worn boots instead of water shoes, but otherwise a very pleasant ride.

This storm even has a name—Riley. Since when do they name anything other than hurricanes?

Legbars and Bielefelders

Not a Legbar or Bielefelder, just a Golden-Laced Wyandotte checking out the new girls while laying an egg for me...

3 Cream Legbars with fancy hairdos

The Husband convinced me to buy 5 more laying hens last night rather than be tempted by all the new chicks coming to nearby hardware stores and Tractor Supply...not to mention how easy it is to purchase them online and have them shipped to the Post Office.

The problem with buying the chicks locally is that they only ever have the same breeds available, and we always end up with a rooster in the mix even though they are supposed to be "sexed".

1 of the 2 German Bielefelders

The problem with buying them online, where they have all the interesting chicken breeds available, is that you have to buy a minimum of 15 if you buy now, with a $15 shipping charge. Or you can buy a minimum of 3 after April 1, but then the shipping is $35. The more interesting breeds are $3 - 8 each, and sometimes over $20.

So $20 each for hens that are already laying is a pretty good deal. We chose 3 Cream Legbars that lay blue/green eggs, and 2 German Bielefelders that lay brown ones.

We picked them up last night from a nice guy in Mt. Vision, which is only about 20 minutes from here.

Now we just have to somehow convince the ladies that this is their home, and more importantly, that Rte 28 which is only about 50 ft from the coop, is to be avoided. Also, the big black chicken-killing dog named Cyrus must be avoided at all costs! So far they are hiding out in the coop even though they have access to the outside. And that's a good thing as Martha Stewart would say!