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Friday, November 4, 2011

Forging ahead - and falling back.

This week has fallen under the heading "Never A Dull Moment".  Besides the monster snow (any snowfall, in my humble opinion, over two inches BEFORE November is a monster), there was Flora's seasonal wheezy, raspy, snotty nosed self; Bernie decided - overnight, mind you, that she no longer cared for the kind of dog food she was being served; I discovered SEVEN pullet eggs laid next to the house, behind a fence, in amongst the depleted rhubarb; there are three flat tires on my garden cart.

So...I gave Flora her second dose of wormer (and extra apples), a big handful of comfrey and tomorrow I will give her some Vitamin E/Selenium.  Hope that boosts her immune system, as I don't want her to develop pneumonia, which then involves daily injections of penicillin.  She is getting up there (10 y/o) and has had respiratory problems since she arrived at the farm.  But she's a sweet old gal and I'd do anything for her. 

Luckily for Bernie, I had been planning on transitioning to a different food (read: less expensive), and just happened to have gotten a small bag to have on hand.  She inhaled it.  I swear my animals would rather eat at McD's than Sardi's.  Scrappy, however, would happily eat anything, anywhere, at all times.

Since I now get home in the dark, and my mornings are so much shorter, I have not done perimeter checks of the chicken yard and totally missed this pile 'o eggs.  It looks as though two pullets are involved, so that is hopeful.  Now, to get them to lay in the nesting boxes.  Too bad they don't have any older hens to show them the ropes (dripping sarcasm).

Air in the tires is on my list for the weekend.  I will spare you the gory details of my weekend list - you all know the drill by now - more hopeful than do-able.  But, "hope springs eternal", as they - whoever "they" are - say.

Can't wait to "Fall Back" Sunday morning.  That should throw me off for at least a week!  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend - forging ahead, falling back, or just standing still!

14 comments:

Jane @ Hard Work Homestead said...

Ok, what the heck does that saying mean??? I have always wondered! Does it mean you hope the season of spring is eternal? Does it mean that hoping for something is eternal? Ahhhhhhh! Tell me and end this long suffering of hearing that phrase!

Susan said...

Jane - I feel awful! I have caused you angst! The saying is from Alexander Pope's "An Essay on Man" - basically, and I am paraphrasing up the wahzoo, man tries to be good, never is totally, but will be redeemed in the afterlife (heaven). Now go get a cuppa and relax. I prefer your version of "hope the season of spring is eternal". Now that would be heavenly.

Jane @ Hard Work Homestead said...

Thank you Susan, I can pass on to the afterlife now knowing what it means! I feel releived and redeemed:)

Candy C. said...

Hope Flora is feeling better!
I'm so glad we don't do daylight savings here in Arizona! I used to hate trying to get things done in the evening when it got dark so much earlier!
Good luck on your weekend to-do list! ;-)

Jenyfer Matthews said...

There was no daylight savings when we lived in the United Arab Emirates and I can't say I ever missed it! Not looking forward to the long DARK MI winter!

Erin said...

I too, can't believe we haven't "fallen back" yet... my schedule and body feels all out of whack!

Judy T said...

I want to know who 'they' are. I want to give 'them' a piece of my mine- the nerve of them- saying all those trite things. huh!
Good luck on your weekend list- if it's like mine we're both in trouble.
Judy

Susan said...

Candy - It doesn't make much sense, does it? I am hoping that Flora comes around quickly. I do worry about that old girl.

Jenyfer - I think it's adding insult to injury by messing around with an already shortened day. Don't forget your Vitamin D3!

Erin - I think most of us will just fall over. It takes me until March to get with winter - then it's almost (hopefully) over.

Judy - Ah, yes. The "they". "They" are everywhere, aren't "they"? Trouble is our middle name, I'm afraid.

Mama Pea said...

Well, at least you know now that your pullet hens ARE laying eggs! Hope when they realize that you've found their laying spot, they don't go find another one . . . that's not in their nest boxes where they're supposed to be!

Consider yourself lucky your flat tires are on your garden cart. Chicken Mama has had two flat tires on her car this week. See? Could be worse. ("Could be worse." That's the Minnesota marching song.)

Even though our Zoey has been gone since early spring, we well felt the pain of buying the best dog food for her. We always supplemented her dry food with venison (highway killed deer) but for about the last two years of her life, cooked up rice and hamburger to make kind of a soup that we mixed her dry food into to make the dry food go farther and try to put some weight on her. Of course, the dish was topped off with a few venison chunks. (Where was the win and chocolates?)

When it gets dark so much earlier at night it does nothing but push us to get all the more done during the daylight hours because we know darkness will fall so soon. Lack of light while trying to get anything done outside on the homestead is like walking backwards . . . with one hand tied behind your back.

Leigh said...

Never a dull moment for sure! Sometimes dull sounds good, LOL. I can't say I like the time change. I'm trying to adjust my milking times now, so it won't be too much of a shock to my system when they do it. :)

Sue said...

I don't look forward to the time change--all it does is confuse the animals who expect to be fed at 6, but now it's 5 for us and, ..oh, never mind. You're WELL AWARE of all that. Best of luck on getting Flora feeling better. And add me to the list of folks wanting to find the "they" people---LOL!

Jenyfer Matthews said...

Interesting on the meaning of that phrase by the way - I always took it to mean that man is at heart an optimist and that you can't keep him down forever, therefore the "hope spring eternal", LOL. Perhaps that's just my own personal outlook however ;D

Dirt Lover said...

Good luck on your long list of to-do's this weekend. I have added a bit of relaxation on mine. Not that adding it will make it happen, but I've been getting over a cold, and now trying to get another one. Thinking if I take a little time to chill now it will save me time later. That's the plan, anyway! I work with kindergarten and first graders, and there are a few that are snot machines camouflaged as children. When I started this job, I was hoping the germs would stay at just 2 feet high and not make it up to 5 feet to my head, but alas, such is not the case. Whew! Sorry for the, "all about me" bit, but I'm done now!
Please take time for a cuppa something next to the fire, and maybe some reading or just staring off into space.
~~Lori

judy said...

I didn't know we had a MN marching song but come to think of it when you have car problems in MN you march-on foot-my husband once walked all the way home from work about 1988---18 miles ,he worked 2nd shift and after calling 1 person and nobody to help in the middle of the night you march0-took him 4 hours