It seems that this year, 2012, is starting out with my getting behind in everything. My desk is piled high with stuff that needs purging, letters that need answering, papers that need to go into my "tax" file upcoming. Then there are several farm, chicken, livestock magazines from which I need to glean and tag articles for my reference file. And on, and on, and on.
We finally have had rain for a couple of days and more to come. This morning at 6:30 a.m. I staggered out of bed to the sounds of thunder and a real downpour. Little Dog Blue didn't want to come out from beneath the covers. She never does on cold mornings; but I said, "It's time to go feed Kate (our barn cat)," so she hopped down, stretched, and reluctantly followed me out to the kitchen. I took my morning regimen of atenolol and a low dose aspirin, pulled on my muck boots (there was a lot of standing water outside), my heavy jacket and a plastic poncho. Luckily it's only a few steps to the garage side door. I opened it and Kate was waiting for her breakfast. She looked out and decided she would brave the rain to do her morning business outside. There is a litter box in the garage, but she prefers not to use it when possible.
We started closing Kate in the garage at night after a neighborhood cat began attacking her out in the shed. Ordinarily she was sleeping in the rafters there and her food and water were there. With the colder weather, she now is safe in the garage, sleeping on a heated pad in the garage storage closet. It's easier to feed her there, too. She still patrols the sheds and area for mice and rats. We have had none!
Blue absolutely refused to go out of the house. I walked down the driveway and picked up the morning paper. I didn't check on the chickens yet, since it was still dark and they would be snug and dry in their hen house. Even Othello, the rooster, wasn't crowing yet.
I came back into the house, put down Blue's kibbles in the laundry room and made my coffee. I turned on the computer, but didn't take time to do more than see if there were any email messages. The news could wait. Blue and I went back into the bedroom and I closed the door so that I didn't wake anyone. I turned on the TV to check the weather, tucked my feet back under the covers and reached for my Little Office and Missal for morning prayers. Blue immediately burrowed herself back under the covers for warmth and more snoozing. She hadn't touched her breakfast.
While I say my morning prayers, I have a CD of Gregorian chant playing quietly in my bedside clock/radio/CD player. It keeps me calm and helps me focus without being hurried. After about an hour, I've finished and turn up the TV to catch Fox. This is pretty much a morning ritual. I open the paper and read as much as I can, read the funnies, then do all the puzzles except for Sudoku (forget it!).
This morning, the rain had stopped and I figured I should throw on my jeans and check the chickens. Also, people around here do come early sometimes to buy eggs. In fact, the vet called at 8:15 a.m. to remind me that Blue was due for some shots. They don't mess around in Texas.
There was a marsh around the chicken coop, but the girls and Othello were out scratching away in the hay I put down in their yard. I went to the store room and got some cracked corn to throw out with the turnip greens I had taken from the refrigerator. They love their greens! I figured I had better get things out there before the next storm, which is coming. I put a cup full of flax meal into a small dish for the hens. Flax increases the Omega 3 in their eggs. It's a great supplement. I opened the chicken house door to check for eggs under the nests. It seems that some of the girls like to lay their product on the floor instead of in their comfy, hay-filled nests. Seeing none, I checked their water and feeder. Chris will have to fill the water for me. It's pretty heavy. Othello, as usual, began to come at me menacingly. I always carry a stick in with me. Roosters can get pretty aggressive, and he's feeling his oats these days. I have had to whack him several times.
For the winter I will not be changing their house litter, pine shavings, often. The cold weather calls for deep litter. I add diatomaceous earth over the layer in the house and add another large amount of litter on top. The chicken doo, inside the litter, helps keep warmth in the house, the diatomaceous earth keeps bugs away, and in about a month I'll clean out the whole thing and have a good mulch ready to go.
A friend from church brings me bales of hay - free- and I give him the mulch. We also use the hay to cover the planted crops we have in the vegetable bins, to protect them from frost.
We began to have less and less eggs due to the cold weather and the fact that another friend from church (Mimi's "twin" brother, we say) is building our perimeter fence. His tractor has a tendency to stress out the hens. However, I have a heat lamp in the chickn house, which also serves to keep their water from freezing in really cold weather, and have a 40 watt bulb on a timer, 4 a.m. to 7 a.m. in the morning, and 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at night. Hens need about 14-16 hours of "daylight" to lay properly. These things have really helped. A couple of friends from church who also have chickens, say theirs stopped laying altogether.
Anyway, Blue, after seeing that it had stopped raining, had come out with me, deviled the cat for a bit and took care of business. I decided to go over to the bird feeder area and check on that situation. The feeders were soaked, of course. I emptied out the wet seed and refilled the feeders with enough seed to be eaten, I hope, before the next downpour. The birds are really hungry now. When we came back into the house, I fixed my usual breakfast, one egg and a piece of sprouted wheat bread, toasted. Blue had her usual spoonful of cottage cheese and decided to eat her breakfast. So, I came over to the computer, checked my e-mail and went to my usual "Favorites," steeling myself for the usual ugly and disturbing news on most of them.
Except for the rain situation, this is my usual morning. I decided since I was here at the computer I would just make this a real journal type entry. The rest of my day will depend upon how the rest of the family is and what else needs to be done, either around the house and yard, or shopping, etc.
About 11:30 a.m. I fix my protein drink for the day. I put bananas (blueberries and strawberries if I have them) into the blender, add a chocolate whey protein powder, a tablespoon of metamucil, half a tall glass of milk and cranberry juice, and blend. I drink that with a B complex tablet, a fish oil capsule, vitamin C and a calcium tablet. Hey! I need to stay healthy.
I did make a pot roast last night and may use the leftovers to fix a hearty soup for the cold evening coming. Some hot biscuits would be good with that. I wish I still had some of my Christmas German gluwein (there should be an umlaut over the "u" in gluwein). It's a spiced wine that you serve hot. Mmmm!
1/10/12
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