And Freezing...

Time to start culling more roosters.  They are getting noisier.  Don't want to bother the neighbors that much.  Especially at 5 am.

Another Thaw

Big Mama only had one kit, this time several days after I removed the nest box and moved her back outside.  She and Lil' Poppa are now chilling in the freezer.

I am doing well with my weight loss, I am hoping that with continued effort I can cure my diabetes but that is a long road.

My first seeds came in for the garden!!  I can't wait till the trees come in April.

Camo is interested in Miss, if you get what I mean.  He is still kind of small to do the deed but he is trying and that makes my hopeful.

We have another dog for the moment.  Not sure if we will keep her but she is learning the ropes here.  Received her from some friends because she and their other dog weren't getting along.  Giving her till March to worm her way into our hearts.  Right now to me she still feels like someone else's dog that we are just watching.

The back yard was a skating rink the past few days.  The snow melted just enough to refreeze into a thick coat of ice.  Especially on the paths I use where it was compacted.  I am looking forward to spring and no more snow and freezing temperatures.

I am making progress on my book again (the third one in the series).  I am waiting for a friend to help me out on the first one, to make sure there aren't glaring mistakes with spelling, grammar, or plot, before I self-publish on Amazon.

&#@%$ you winter!!

I am so tired of the cold and snow.  The constantly frozen water and the slippery snow is depressing.  The world has become a white canvas with grey trees.

I am so ready for spring I will dance in the yard when I can start my garden.

I do have some nut trees on order as well as some berry plants.  I am excited to get them and get a start on having a harvest from this land.  It will likely be several years at least before the trees produce but at least it will be something to tend and look forward to.

The rabbits are back inside because of the temperatures.  I still haven't gotten rid of my extra male.  I just don't want to have to stand out in the cold and do it.  Hopefully next week will be better weather.  I will need to start taking out some more roosters too.

Tomorrow I have another doctor appointment.  If it hadn't been for trying to keep my CDL I would probably never gone to the doctor.  Apparently I have been diabetic for awhile.

rotisserie

We cooked the chicken in the toaster oven on the rotisserie and it turned out pretty good.

I tried to breed little mama since she would be 6 months old, and found out she is a he.

So rabbit stew will be on order soon.

Feeling a bit cheated since the same guy that sold me Big Mama who isn't doing her job, also sold me "Lil' Mama" who he said was a female.

The only one that is doing their job is Big Papa and I bought him from a different guy at the small animal swap so I would have different lines to breed together.

I wish the weather would stop being so cold.

I am diabetic.  Which I expected to happen eventually, but now I have to do something about it.

Need to gather myself up and put more effort into life.  Buy a new female rabbit and get my health back in order.  It can be done.  I just have to do it.

1st chicken

He never saw spring or summer.  He never flew more than a few feet.  But compared to the factory birds he had a descent life.  We didn't name him till the day before we were going to kill him, and it was with gallows humor Rob dubbed him : Rotisserie.

He was the black naked-neck chicken, the biggest of the three and one of the obvious roosters in the flock.

I am going to make a break here so that if you don't want to read or see the pictures of what happened you don't have to.

What is smart?

In my little muddleings of the day, I got to thinking about people and critters.  And then people and people.  It kind of amazes me still that we can live with carnivores and omnivores in our human habitats without fear of being eaten, or even threatened. Yet in the world some people live in fear for their lives from other humans.  Creatures we can actual converse with and share ideas through simple word of mouth or written language.  And yet we can't seem to work out all of our differences without violence.

We are supposed to be the creatures of logic and reason.  We are supposed to be able to negotiate and compromise, and yet... When you gather us in large groups those ideas separate us more than combine us.

There is nothing wrong with different opinions so long as it harms none.  Why can't we live with that?

If animals are so stupid, why do we invite them into our homes and give them free shelter and food?  Most people have pets dogs and cats, and all they are for is to be a pet, a companion, something to pet.  Could we not get the same fulfillment of relationship from another person?  Could we not just stroke a teddy bear and feel calmer?

I think there is something to humans having pets in their lives.  They keep us in that slight touch with nature.  To have another living thing with you, even if it is a house plant, that connects you back to the Earth.

Then why can't we get along with other people as well as we do our pets?

Maybe it goes back to the abusers of animals.  Maybe there is a type of person that is so out of touch with other people and the animals on this world that they offer violence.  I am not talking about self-defense violence either.  The violence of car bombing random people on a sidewalk because they believe a different idea of god than you.

Perhaps it is more complicated than that.  Maybe there is some other oppression going on.  But people are also killed for their sneakers.

FiFi doesn't kill Fido for his sweater.  They might fight over food, but rarely anything else.

Not really sure what I was trying to make of all this.  I guess I was just trying to put it from my head to a screen.

Still, who is smarter?  Us or our critters?

Roller Coaster

Seems like I have been mentioning weather a lot lately.  But when it has this much affect on your daily life you take notice.  When the temps drop to dangerous lows it makes it tough not only on me but the critters as well.  The water is the toughest issue, keeping everyone's liquid refreshment ... liquid.
The past few days have gone from highs of 50s - 60s to lows in the teens at night.  It can play havoc on a critters system.  I know with the horses at the barn we were always careful with them cause the shifts in weather like this could make them colic if you worked them to hard.
I have been getting over a sinus infection (I think).  Those few days of illness had me laid out.  Rob helped with the critters in the evening but the morning chores I was on my own.  Frequent breaks in walking were a must, I just didn't have any strength when I was sick.
The goats tore up the gate to the back of the garage to get at the hay.  So while sick, I had to put up a new gate made from a pallet.  It seems to working much better and is keeping them out of the remains of the hay reserves.
Now I just need to find somewhere close to replenish those hay reserves.  Next year I will get 20 instead of just 10 bales at the beginning of the season.