I Love To Go A Gardening
Growing Our Life in Northern Michigan
Life on the Planet Hoth
We survived last weekend with its heavy Lake Effect snow.
I think the snowy north is awesome. I only have two–well, maybe three–concerns about the wintry weather. First I am concerned when my guys have to drive to work or school. I always feel relieved when they are safe at home. Second, I’m concerned about getting stuck in our driveway. Our driveway is incredibly fun sledding down, but I confess that I’m scared to drive up/down it in the winter. Last year, the Buggy (our Xterra) got stuck twice and we had a horrible time getting it unstuck. Third, I don’t like the power going out. However, we have a propane heater so we won’t freeze to death if it does.
I was quite anxious last Friday when the snowblower broke down when I was trying to get the driveway cleared in the midst of getting two feet of snow. The wire that propels the snowblower forward broke. When EJ got home that evening, he was able to “jerry-rig” it together so he could (mostly) clear the driveway. However, he had to pull on the wire with his left hand, while pressing down on a lever with his left elbow, while squeezing the right handle and steering with his right hand. Meanwhile, the headlight bulb had burned out so I had to walk beside him with a flashlight so he could see where to go. Then one of the blades stopped turning because a pin got sheared off. EJ stopped for the night when the controls froze.
I was worried about how we’d manage with no way to clear our driveway. But the next morning EJ was able to somehow better jerry-rig the wire and he fixed the blade. He spent several hours clearing the driveway. It was extremely difficult because he had to snowblow through at least two feet of snow. My hero!
The snowblower was fixed well enough that I was able to use it to clear the driveway on Sunday while EJ worked on other tasks. It was less difficult because we only had a few additional inches of snow. I also cleared the driveway on Monday while EJ was at work.
Once the wintry weather arrived, I put out the bird feeders. We have bears in the area and they like bird seeds and treats so we have to wait until they hibernate for the winter before we put the feeders out. I had thought that we’d see more birds when we moved to a forest, but we actually see fewer in the warmer months because they stay in the trees. However, in the cold months they are attracted to the feeders so we see more. We mostly get chickadees, nuthatches, gold finches, and four different kinds of woodpeckers: Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Downy Woodpeckers, Hairy Woodpeckers, and the awesome Pileated Woodpecker, which is one of the biggest, most striking forest birds on the continent. It’s nearly the size of a crow. At one point today, I saw all four kinds of woodpecker at the feeders at the same time…but I didn’t get a photo of them.
Here is an awesome video I took this morning of two Pileated Woodpeckers at the feeder.
Yesterday an arctic wind blew into our area. Temperatures dropped down to 17 degrees and, of course, it snowed. Those were “perfect” conditions for JJ and his friend to set off the fireworks he had left over from Independence Day. EJ assisted with fire-starting implements and advice while I videoed it. At least we didn’t have to worry about dry conditions setting the forest on fire.
After they set off some fireworks, JJ and his friend went sledding down the driveway. There was a full moon last night which lit up the landscape so they could see where they were going.
Today it has been snowing quite hard. We are forecasted to get 4-8 inches of snow. Wind gusts of 25-35 mph cause wind chills of 5-15 below zero. EJ texted me from work that he encountered “ground blizzard conditions” on his way to work this morning–blowing snow that caused whiteout conditions. He said that we should not go anywhere but just hunker down inside. I checked on the ducks and chickens (they are doing fine). I found about a dozen eggs hidden in the straw! I thought the hens had stopped laying. I took Danny outside a few times. Poor Danny has been struggling with some gastrointestinal problems and wanted out quite a bit today. I tried to take videos outside, but my fingers quickly ached with the cold. I couldn’t help but think of Jack London’s story, To Build a Fire.
Here is a composite of the photos I took today. My new camera has a “hybrid” function in which I take still photos and it combines them into a combo video/photos. I’m still learning how to use the new function so sometimes the videos are a little jerky. I’ll get better. Also, at one point my camera was reflected in the window so it looks as if there is a large red camera in the landscape so please ignore that. Overall, though, the video shows what today looked like:
When the wind blows super hard like today, the pilot light on our water heater tends to go out. After it happened a couple of times last year, I asked EJ to teach me how to relight it again so I wouldn’t have to go all day–while he was at work–without hot water. The wind has been so strong that both yesterday and today I had to relight the water heater.
Mostly I’m staying safe and warm inside, watching the wind swirl the heavy snow into “snow-nadoes” through our new windows. The landscape reminds me of the planet Hoth in Star Wars. Brrrr.
Storm Story
Late Wednesday night it began to snow. It snowed all day Thursday, and it snowed all day Friday, and it is now Friday night and it is still snowing. We are not just talking about snow flurries. Or snow showers. We are talking about Lake Effect snow being dumped on us. This video describes Lake Effect Snow:
During this particular storm, our area was right in the middle of the worst of the snow. It’s like we had a big target over our area. EJ says he talked to people who have lived in this area all their lives who were amazed by how much snow we are getting.
This morning the snow was really piling up. I went out at 9:30 a.m. to snowblow the driveway, intending to go down the drive and back up and then letting JJ have a turn. I made it all the way down our long driveway to the road and had just turned around when the snowblower stopped moving forward. I noticed that a wire had broken. I was able to quickly determine that it was a wire that propels the snowblower forward when the handle is squeezed. I couldn’t leave the snowblower near the road, so I managed to pull on the wire with one hand to move the snowblower forward while trying to steer the snowblower with the other. It was difficult because the wire hurt my hand and the snowblower is hard to steer with just one hand. However, I was able to get the snowblower to the sandy spot at the first curve where it was out of sight of the road and also out of the driveway.
All day long I watched the snow pile up and pile up. I wasn’t sure if JJ would be able to get to work, but he cleared off his vehicle and didn’t have any problem getting to work.
Still it snowed and snowed. I wondered if EJ and JJ would make it up the driveway after work. EJ was able to get home. He is skilled at driving in snow. After a quick supper, he walked down to the snowblower.
Shortly after EJ disappeared into the night, Danny wanted outside so I took him out. After I let Danny back in, I decided that since I had my coat, hat, and boots on, I might as well walk down to see how EJ was doing. I could hear the snowblower. Well…He had placed locking vice grips on the wire so that he could hold it as a handle rather than wrap the wire around his hand. He had to hold the locking vice grips with his left hand, put his left arm on the left handle controls, and steer with his right hand as he snowblowed up the driveway. The lightbulb for the headlights had burned out, so he was snowblowing in the dark and blowing snow. Since I had a flashlight, I walked beside him and lit his path. We went up the driveway, and then back down. The snow was very deep–about two feet–and it was difficult and slow clearing the driveway. When everything is working well, snowblowing such a long driveway is tiring so I usually take a turn, but with the wire broken it was so complicated to operate the snowblower that both EJ and I knew that I couldn’t do it. I didn’t have the strength to use only one hand to steer while holding the wire with the other. In deep, deep snow. In the dark.
On our way back up the driveway, one of the blades stopped spinning. EJ said a pin had gotten sheered off. We continued up to the top of the driveway. He tried to clear JJ’s parking space in front of the garage, but then the controls got too cold and froze. So EJ put the snowblower away for the night. We could do no more.
Here are some photos of the storm:
We were exhausted and cold from working to clear the driveway for several hours. The driveway wasn’t as cleared as it would otherwise have been. I wasn’t sure JJ would make it through the uncleared drifts. However, he made it home ok. He said he just “gunned it” up the driveway. One good thing about living here in Northern Michigan is that he is getting more experienced driving in snowy conditions. Me? I don’t plan on driving until the snow all melts in the spring.
New Views
Today the guys came out to install our new windows! Yay!
It was supposed to rain today, but instead the sun shone and the temps climbed up to 40 degrees–chilly, but not frigid. The windows were installed just in time because beginning tomorrow the weather is supposed to worsen with colder temps and heavy lake effect snow. Lake effect snow is when moisture from the Great Lakes is picked up and dumped on us in the form of heavy snow. We live in a “snow belt” where the snow gets dumped.
I never know what I’m supposed to do when people come to work on our house. Am I supposed to stand around and chat with them? Leave them alone to work? Make them coffee and/or cookies? Today I chatted a little and offered to make them coffee, but mostly I left them to work.
The guys installed the window in the kitchen first. I stayed out of the way in the living room, crocheting items for an Etsy order. When the guys began to work on the living room windows, I went out to look at the window they had finished in the kitchen. We had ordered windows with lattice (can’t remember what they are called) but these didn’t have them. The previous installers obviously ordered the wrong windows. They also never called to schedule the installation and never returned our calls. Lowes switched us to new installers who were awesome.
I decided to say nothing about the windows because we had had such trouble getting the work done and I was so thankful that the windows were getting installed before the bad weather. The new windows don’t match the other ones but I actually like the windows without the lattice much better. Without the lattice hindering our view, the windows look so much bigger even though they are the same size as the old ones. It feels as if nature is coming right into our house. It’s awesome. And eventually we will get the other windows replaced so everything will match. EJ and JJ also love the new windows and consider the mis-ordered windows to be a blessing.
Although we love the new windows, we all agreed that they are very spooky at night. The lattice windows were almost like bars that kept the darkness out. Without them, the darkness seems so powerfully menacing–like it’s pouring into the house. Eric actually closed the blinds for the first time ever in order to keep out the night. LOL.
Here are some photos from today:
Home Sweet Coop
Sunday EJ and I worked all day to turn the shed into a nice home for the chickens and the ducks. We began to work as soon as we had eaten breakfast, and we continued working until dusk.
Ever since we ordered the shed, I have been thinking about how to set it up. First, we moved the coops into the shed. I wasn’t sure if they would fit or were necessary, but both the chickens and the ducks seemed to love their coops so I thought I would give it a try. I figured that we could always take them out if they didn’t work. However, they looked great! (The duck coop is actually a study old dog house that the previous owners left behind.)
Next, EJ installed a vent. We had learned that good ventilation is essential because too much moisture can make the chickens sick or give them frostbite. EJ would like to install another vent, but one is good for now.
Then EJ made doors for the ducks and chickens. He made the doors out of clear Lexan (polycarbonate sheets) so some light would come through them, and he built them so they slid up and down.
While EJ was working in the shed, I built my gates. I have one gate going into the poultry compound, and I built a fence within the compound separating the chicken side from the duck side with a gate to let me go from one side to the other.
I used pieces of cattle panel for the gates because they are sturdy and inflexible. I had already attached chicken wire to the bottom half of them so that the birds couldn’t get through their large holes in the old pen. I kept the chicken wire attached to them, but I also cut some of the fence that the previous owner had used for his dog pen. It has medium-sized openings. I attached them to the fence as well to keep the poultry and predators from getting through.
Because I had to cannibalize pieces of fence from the previous pen for the new gates, I couldn’t separate the chickens and ducks in their old pen. So I shut the chickens into the new enclosure and rearranged the temporary fencing so that the ducks could go into the garage and outside pens until I was ready to move them into the new pen.
Chickens are very curious and they were fascinated by our work. They didn’t seem at all afraid of EJ’s power tools. They kept “visiting” him while he worked in the shed and often commented on what he was doing. As soon as EJ cut the hole for their door, they hopped right in, which made EJ feel good. The chickens watched me at work too.
After I finished the gates, I went into the garage and unscrewed a section of the dog pen that we had used for the birds’ inside pen. I took the section that had the door. We used it as a divider between the chicken and ducks side in the shed. The door allows me to easily access both sides. We also fastened fencing around the top of the ducks’ dog house because the chickens love to roost there.
EJ built a ramp so the ducks could get in and out of the shed. The chickens had no problem getting in and out so he didn’t build them anything.
While EJ was finishing the ramp, I went to herd the ducks into their section of the new enclosure. I used the temporary fencing to make a corridor leading the ducks into their side. Only they wanted to go everywhere except where they were supposed to. I had a horrible time getting them where I wanted them. Then they had to wait while EJ finished getting the shed ready. They weren’t particularly happy to wait. About mid-afternoon, it began to snow. It snowed and snowed, covering the ground and trees and fence. It was pretty, but we were getting chilled.
While the ducks waited, EJ attached a power strip on the wall so we can plug in the birds’ heated water dishes. The heated water dishes prevents their drinking water from freezing on cold nights. When EJ finished–ok, I was a little over-eager so before he was quite ready–I scattered straw around, moved in the food dishes, and set up their water bowls.
Finally, just as it was beginning to get a little too dark to see well, the shed was ready. We still have some “tweaking” to do, but that could wait for another time. The chickens were already nestled on their side of the shed. We herded the eager ducks up their ramp and shut the little doors with everyone snug inside. It felt very peaceful and cozy in the shed.
Finally EJ and I were able to go in the house. We were exhausted and chilled to the bones. We hadn’t eaten since breakfast so I fixed us a quick supper. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing…and groaning whenever we moved because our bodies ached.
Today I took this video of the chickens and ducks enjoying their new surroundings. The chickens spent a lot of time outside, but the ducks seem to be happy to spend most of their day inside the shed.
Floor & Fence
My body was so tired from all the work I did yesterday that I had trouble getting myself going this morning. After I drank the last cup of coffee and said goodbye to JJ, who went off to school, I managed to get myself motivated.
First, I went to the garage to get the two wooden posts for the fencing that I wanted to do later. The posts were imprisoned behind a bunch of other things that I couldn’t move, which meant I would have to pull them up to free them. I considered climbing on top of the stuff in front of the posts, but I imagined falling and seriously hurting myself so I decided against it. Then I got out the ladder, but I couldn’t position myself well enough to give myself the leverage I needed to pull the posts out. So finally I stood on a sturdy wooden box that was just high enough–but not dangerously high–to get the posts free. I knew that it would be difficult to get the posts, which is why I did it before I got too tired from other tasks.
After I freed the posts, I carried them out to the yard and then I got my paint supplies together and headed out to the shed to paint the floor. Normally I wouldn’t paint a shed floor, but I thought the paint might help protect the floor from messy ducks. Ducks are very messy.
EJ had originally suggested using paint from our supply (leftovers from previous projects) to paint the outside of the shed, but we bought paint because I didn’t think we would have enough of any one color to cover the shed and I also wanted the shed to match our house. Although EJ and I both enjoy beautiful things–like beautiful art and beautiful nature–we differ slightly when it comes to practical every day things. EJ loves to re-purpose items and he prefers function and practicality over beauty. So last weekend he dragged the old broken hot tub–which the previous owners left here and which we couldn’t figure out how to get rid of–out into the back yard to re-purpose as a raised garden. It’s not beautiful, but will be very functional. Conversely, although I like functionality, I also like things to have beauty. So I don’t want my shed to be covered in whatever color paint we happen to have; I intend to make it pretty and cute.
Unlike the outside of the shed, it didn’t matter to me what color the shed floor was since it will just get covered with straw and pine chips and chicken and duck poop. So I used the Floor and Porch paint from our supply. It was gray–perfect floor color. We had probably intended to use it to paint the floor of our unheated back porch in our old house. I sat on the shed floor and used a brush to paint the edges and corners of the shed. I painted up the sides of the walls about six inches or so–where I estimated the straw/pine bedding would reach up to. The November day was pleasant and peaceful and I felt extremely happy and contented as I worked. I love our new home.
After I had painted the edges and corners, I screwed a very long handle onto my roller and, beginning at the back, I painted the floor. The handle was so long that I could stand up as I painted and sort of “mop” the floor. Painting the whole floor only took me about an hour.
After I painted the floor, I put away my paint supplies, changed from my paint clothes into my work clothes, got out the post-hole digger, and put up the two posts I had taken from the garage.
I had a dilemma because I needed the tall fencing from the duck/chicken pen to complete the new pen, but I also needed to keep the ducks and chickens penned up. I finally figured out that I could replace the tall fencing in the current duck/chicken pen with shorter fencing. I took out the big staples holding the fencing to the posts, and rolled up the tall fencing while I also unrolled the shorter fencing. In this way, I was able to remove the fencing but still keep the poultry contained.
While I was setting up the short fence, the chickens found some grass under the leaves that had been outside their pen. They clucked with delight and gobbled it up. I kept the fence loose until they had eaten it all.
The chickens are so much fun. They always run to me when they see me. They are also very curious and will watch what I’m doing. In this photo, they ran up to me when I started to work on their fence.
Once I freed up the tall fencing, I could finish the new pen. This involved digging a trench so that we can bury about 1-2 feet of fencing, which will make it more difficult for predators to dig under the fence.
When I got the trench dug, I position the fence in it, and then nailed in huge staples to fasten the fence to the posts. I’m not good at hammering, but I get the job done. When the fence was fastened to the posts, I filled in the trench.
After I finished that side of the pen, I went to the other side and put in another post–which I had taken out of the current duck/chicken pen. Then I dug another trench, unwound the fencing, stapled it to the posts, and refilled the trench.
By the time I finished putting up the fence, I was really tired so I quit for the day. Next, the outside pen will have to be divided into a chicken side and a duck side. I also need a gate into the pen and another one that gives me access from one side to the other. I’m thinking of constructing temporary gates out of bits and pieces of fencing, but I’m hoping EJ can build me better ones.
Once the shed floor is dry, I can move the coops into the shed. However, I can’t do that until EJ makes little doors so that the chickens and ducks can get in and out of the shed. I want to have poultry-sized doors to protect the birds from drafts, snow, rain, which would get into the shed if we had to leave the big doors open.
When the little doors are completed and the coops are moved in, I can divide the interior of the shed to keep the ducks and chickens separated. Then I can move my birds into their new home!
After I finished working outside, I had to work on my household chores. I folded and put away a bunch of laundry that I had done yesterday, vacuumed, cleaned out the litter boxes, refilled the pets’ food and water dishes, washed the days accumulation of dishes, set up the coffee pot for tomorrow, put supper in the oven, shut the ducks and chickens in for the night…and finally I could sit down. My body is so tired that I feel practically crippled. But I feel very satisfied with all the work I did today.
When JJ came home from his class early this afternoon, he told me that his professor said that he is doing very well in the class. The lowest grade he will get (if he skipped all his remaining classes, which he won’t do) is a 3.5. JJ is also thrilled because he was able to get a loan and his next term’s classes are paid for. That takes a lot of stress off him.
EJ came home from work and showed me a memo he had gotten notifying him that a safety audit had been performed in his department on their busiest day of the month and “without a doubt” his “area is head and shoulder above any other area” that was audited. So that made EJ feel good.
We are all thriving here.
Shed & Windows
Yesterday the guy from Lowes came to build our new shed. I had never had a shed built before so I was kind of surprised that just one man came instead of a crew. He arrived a little after noon and worked on the shed until it was too dark to see. He got all of it finished yesterday except for shingling the roof. He got here early this morning to finish it up.
I love the new shed. It is big, roomy, sturdy, and pretty. We located it behind the garage. The garage will help shield it from the weather. It is also not far from the outside faucet so it will be easier to fill up water buckets and, in the summer, fill the ducks’ pool. It’s also not far from the “man-door” entrance to the garage.
Today I painted the shed. When the building date was scheduled for late November, I was concerned that the weather would be too cold to paint. However the temperature was forecasted to be in the high 50s today with clear skies (although it rained buckets last night)–just perfect for painting. I do not know if the temperatures actually reached into the 50s. However, I felt comfortable in the clothes I wear for painting. My paint clothes are a pair of old jeans, an old t-shirt, and an old sweatshirt. I don’t ever wash them so they are splattered with paint from a variety of projects–which means they are actually splattered with memories of painting this room or that item. Because it felt a little chilly when I started working, I put an old–but not paint splattered–peach-colored hoodie under my sweat shirt.
I started out painting the trim. JJ had to get a paper written for his college class, but he spared enough time to paint three sides of the shed with the roller. The roller didn’t get inside the grooves of the siding very well, so after JJ painted the large areas, I followed with a paint brush and got inside the grooves. After he left, I finished painting the trim and also the fourth side of the shed–where the doors are. That side was harder to paint so it took me awhile. I would have liked to have painted the trim a contrasting color, but we had to get the shed painted today before the weather conditions make it impossible to paint.
We got the whole shed painted except for the bottom of the shed–what I call the “foundation boards.” I didn’t have enough paint left to do that. By the time I finished for the day, I was totally exhausted and my body ached. JJ saw how tired I was so he drove to the grocery store where he works (it’s only two miles away) and bought us a taco pizza for supper. I thought that was very sweet.
Tomorrow it’s supposed to rain, but that’s ok because I’m going to be working inside the shed. I’m going to paint the floor with porch paint in an attempt to protect it from messy ducks who get water everywhere.
After the floor is painted, I will have to set up fencing to separate the ducks from the chickens. I have to figure out whether I want to divide the 10 x 12 shed side to side or front to back. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. EJ will have to make two little doors in the side of the shed so the ducks and chickens can go in and out without leaving the large doors open. I have to decide whether to put the coops inside the shed. They will take up space but will provide perching and nesting areas for the birds. If I don’t move the coops in the shed, we will need to build perches and nesting boxes. And I will have to finish the perimeter of the outside enclosure. I would like to get it all done by the weekend so the ducks and chickens can get moved in and EJ can have his garage back.
See? I am busy, busy, busy.
The shed is going well, but the window installation is not. The installers were supposed to call us around Nov. 14 to schedule a time for them to come install our windows. I waited a week, and when I didn’t hear anything from them, I called Lowes….twice–once last week and once this week. Both times Lowes contacted the installers who said they’d get back to me the same day, but they didn’t. I emailed and left voicemail messages for the Project Coordinator, but she never returned my calls. I was getting frustrated because we’ve had all these relatively warm-ish days in November when we could have gotten the windows in. The longer it takes to get the window installation scheduled, the higher the likelihood that winter’s brutality will hit before the windows are in. I really don’t want the old windows taken out (imagine no windows in the house and our house open to the elements) and the new windows put in during sub-zero temperatures and blizzardy snow. That is IF they can even get up our driveway.
I finally heard from the project coordinator late this afternoon. She said they are going to get a new installer for us. Apparently the current ones aren’t working out. She said she would keep us informed, which is really what I wanted in the first place. I mean, I am pretty understanding but I’d like to know that we haven’t been forgotten and I’d like our questions and concerns heard.
Thanksgiving
I meant to get on my computer and wish all my USA friends a Happy Thanksgiving! However, I was very busy preparing for our own Thanksgiving and I didn’t have time. So here’s a belated…
Wednesday I spent the day making pies. I planned to make two pumpkin pies and two mincemeat pies. Even though mincemeat is my favorite kind of pie, I promised JJ he could take one of them to his co-workers because none of them had ever heard of mincemeat. He also took them a jar of spiced apple rings because they had never heard of them either. These two items are part of our essential traditional Thanksgiving meal and we couldn’t believe they didn’t know what they were. I remarked to JJ, “They have heard of Thanksgiving turkey, right? And do they know about second breakfast?”
JJ came home after delivering the pie and apple rings to his co-workers with whip cream for our pies and two cans of cherry pie filling. “It sure would be nice if someone would make cherry pies!” he hinted repeatedly. So I made an additional two pies.
Every Thanksgiving EJ makes the turkey while I do everything else. It’s just one less thing that I have to do. I declared that I wasn’t going to make a huge feast for just the three of us, but no one was willing to give up a favorite traditional dish, so I make the green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, stuffing (from a box), and homemade dinner rolls. I was glad that I did because in addition to it all being very good, we love the leftovers. On Friday After Thanksgiving we all fix ourselves meals from the leftovers whenever we get hungry. A day or so later, I always make homemade pies from the leftover turkey.
We had a lovely, quiet Thanksgiving day. It was wonderful.
Today was a busy work day.
The Lowes crew is arriving on Monday to build our shed–which will be our new chicken/duck coop–so we had to dismantle part of the outside pen to give them access to where we want shed located. Actually we dismantled most of the pen.
Ok, this is sort of complicated to describe: Since the chickens/ducks will no longer be going into the garage, we are reconfiguring the outside pens. We are eliminating the duck pen–I mean, where it is now located. The new pen will begin on the right side of the garage door and go around the back of the garage. The garage door will then be outside the pen.
Today we reduced the size of the current duck and chicken pens as much as possible. Except for the few posts we still need in place (temporarily) so the ducks and chickens can still get outside until their new home is ready, we removed the wooden posts to the left of the garage door. We took out all the t-posts in the pen behind the garage, which is where the new shed/coop will be, and replaced them with the wooden posts. I pried out the staples holding the fencing to the wooden posts while EJ dug post holes and installed the posts we took out in their new location. EJ will use the t-posts for the snow fence along the driveway.
The weather had warmed enough on Thanksgiving that most of the snow is gone. The melted snow made muddy puddles in the duck pen, which they thoroughly enjoyed. They played and splashed while we worked. The chickens were very interested in what we were doing. I explained to them that soon they would have a wonderful new coop.
We had hoped to get most of the fencing re-installed on the wooden posts behind the garage and the t-posts put in along the driveway today. However, we will have to put off that job until Sunday because while we were still setting up the wooden posts in their new location, it began to rain…and at times sort of sleet. The rain/sleet was hard enough that we got rather soaked. The rain and damp was cold. We finished putting up the posts and then went inside to get warm and dry.
Mid-morning our power suddenly went out. It was a surprise because it wasn’t even raining at that time. I called our electric company and their automated message said that several counties were without power and it could take several hours to get it back on. Fortunately, our power came on after about 10 minutes.
My camera had developed a dark spot on the lens in one corner. Since I take a lot of photos, EJ bought me a new camera. It arrived today. I spent the evening hours trying to figure it out. It took me forever to figure out how to set up my camera so I could send my photos from the camera to my computer via wifi. I’m giving the old camera to EJ. It’s fine for what he wants to use it for.
My Chore Boots
I have a chore coat. It is the old coat I wear when I work outside. It is an old green coat with a brown collar and cuffs lined with green and brown plaid.
I’ve told EJ several times that I love my old chore coat, and I love that I really need to have a chore coat here in Northern Michigan. Of course, I wore this coat at our old house downstate when I had to do yard work or stack wood but somehow it seems more necessary and authentic in our Enchanted Forest, where I’m cleaning out chicken coops, spreading out straw, and lugging water buckets–and other such stuff.
Chore boots are also necessary because I don’t want to go to the store wearing boots that I walked through the messy chicken/duck coops in. In the summer, I have two pair of shoes that I wear when I’m outside. One is a pair of backless sneaker shoes that I can quickly slip my feet in and out of. The other is an old pair of New Balance athletic shoes. They are very beat up, have holes in them, the laces are broke and tied together, but they are so comfortable that I’m not ready to discard them. I wear them when I walk down the driveway for the mail or when I have to do hard work and don’t want my feet slipping out of my shoes. I have good shoes that I wear when I have to be out among people.
My chore shoes are great in the summer, but inadequate in the winter. Last summer I told EJ that I would need a pair of old chore boots and he found me a pair at Goodwill. When it snowed this last weekend, I started looking for my chore boots because I didn’t want to be slipping on the ice or walking in snow deeper than my shoes. And I didn’t want my regular boots to get all yucky. I only vaguely remember what the chore boots look like and I couldn’t find any that looked like what I somewhat remembered the boots looked like. But I found a pair of JJ’s old worn out hiking boots so I wore those out to do my chores.
Yesterday I said to JJ, “Can I have your old hiking boots to use as chore boots?”
JJ: “Which ones?”
Me: “The ones you don’t wear anymore because you bought new ones.”
JJ: “Sure. You can have them.”
Me: “Good. Because I already wore them yesterday when I did my chores and they have chicken and duck poop on them.”
JJ: “You know, you really should have asked BEFORE you wore them and got poop on them.”
Me: “True. It would have been really crappy if you had wanted to wear them. I mean, seriously, they have crap all over them.”
JJ’s old hiking boots are adequate as chore boots but they are hard to get on and off–I like to be able to easily slip my feet in and out of shoes/boots. Also, they have deep treads and the poop sticks to them and gets tracked in, even though I use Vladimir to wipe my boots on before I come into the house. Vladimir is our raccoon with a brush in his back for wiping dirty shoes on. Downstate we used him as a door stop and we occasionally stubbed our toes on him when we walked past him, which hurt so badly that we accused him of leaping out and attacking us. Since we moved to our new house, he has been in the garage. He hasn’t attacked me since I began wiping my dirty shoes on him. I think he’s much happier fulfilling his intended purpose. It was beneath his dignity to be used as a door stop.
Anyway…Since JJ’s boots were not totally adequate, I went searching for the boots EJ had bought me. I finally found them yesterday! At least, I was almost sure these were my chore boots. So I wore them out to do my chores in the afternoon. They were easy to slip my feet into and out of. They got covered in straw and poultry poop.
When EJ came home from work, I told him that I had found my chore boots! Later, he said to me, “Uh, those aren’t your chore boots. They are boots I bought for me to wear. Not for doing chores.” Oops. An hour or so later, Danny wanted out, so I asked EJ if I could wear the boots. He said yup–and please wipe them off in the snow. So EJ, Danny, and I went outside and while EJ waited near the door, I shuffled my feet in the snow to clean the boots as I walked with Danny. Then I clicked my booted feet together to knock off the debris and as I did, I quoted Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, “There’s no place like home; there’s no place like home; there’s no place like home.”
EJ said, “It didn’t work.”
Me: “What didn’t work?”
EJ: “Clicking your shoes together and saying “There’s no place like home.”
Me: “It did work.”
EJ: “No, you are still here.”
Me: ??
EJ: “Clicking your shoes together and saying ‘There’s no place like home’ is supposed to send you home.”
Me: “And here I am. At home. It so totally worked!!!”
There’s no refuting fairy tale logic.
We have learned that life can be difficult and that it’s very important to laugh, so we laugh whenever we can.
Like…JJ is a night owl and gets up much later than we do. He was still sleeping last weekend when I texted him:
“Dad and I are going to the farm store to get some straw…so we can build a house that hopefully the wolf can’t blow down. If that doesn’t work, we will get sticks…and then we will try bricks. We might also get a snow fence to keep the wolf off our property.”
JJ texted back: “Uh…what?” Then he came out of his bedroom and asked, “What was that text all about?” I replied that I had started out attempting to inform him that we were going to the farm store to get straw and somehow the story took on a life of its own and got away from me. Oops.
Last year I discovered that you can specify how to pronounce your name in your FB profile and–at least in the settings–you can hear it vocalized. Mischievously, I found a website listing a bunch of elvish-type names and inserted two names on my profile as the proper pronunciation of my first and last name. Zy-lee-uh AH-dhul-win has absolutely no similarity with my actual name. EJ also changed his pronunciation–I think he put down “Count Renfrew.” EJ has been wanting to change his pronunciation again so last night he changed it to UN-klnukklz CHUKL-BUNGK-ker. I kept mine the way it was. We kept playing the audio for our names and then laughing so much that we almost went into convulsions. JJ came out to see why we were laughing. We told him and he rolled his eyes and said “You guys are abusing technology” and then went into his bedroom. (He is not without his sense of humor. He was trying not to laugh.)
Just for the record, JJ often teases us as well. For example, on Election Day I drove JJ to the township hall so he could vote. I had voted earlier in the morning so I waited for him in the Buggy. After several minutes, JJ walked out with a very distressed look on his face. “What’s wrong?” I asked in concern. He said, “I thought I had registered to vote when we moved up here but it turns out that I messed up and I accidentally registered to vote in Nigeria.” Since this was his first time voting, I said, “Seriously? Oh, JJ, I’m so sorry…” Then my eyes narrowed in suspicion, “Hey! Wait a minute! There is absolutely no way you could ever register to vote in Nigeria for a United States election!” He started laughing, and so did I. In my defense for halfway believing such a ridiculous thing, I hadn’t slept well the night before and had been very busy all that day. I was tired and susceptible.
Yup. Sometimes we’ve just gotta laugh.
Turkeys and the Straw
Yesterday the power flickered off and on a few times through the day. Fortunately we didn’t lose our power for more than a couple of seconds but EJ was worried we might lose it so he decided to drive home last night instead of this morning. He drove through some pretty nasty weather, but I must confess that I was relieved to have him home.
Here is a YouTube video a guy named Charles Russell shared with Michigan Emergency Weather Notification at FB. It shows the weather we had in Northern Michigan last night and the nasty conditions that EJ drove through to get home to us. (The guy also took this video earlier in the day.)
Tomorrow when he gets home from work, EJ is going to remind me how to set up the propane heating so I can do it when he is not home.
With winter arriving so suddenly, I got our winter boots out of storage from the pantry yesterday. Our pantry is HUGE and stores a lot more than food. In fact, the previous owner had a jeep business–he installed lift-kits on jeeps–and I think our pantry used to be where he stored his jeep parts. It’s a large room with sturdy shelves. Anyway, JJ laughed at me when I said that I was going to spray my boots with spider killer spray before I put them on. However, I would think spiders would love to make their home in an unused boot and I didn’t want any nasty surprises. I sprayed JJ’s boots a bit too.
I opened the garage door high enough this morning so the chickens and ducks could go outside. I’ve read that it’s ok to let chickens and ducks outside in the winter. If they don’t like the weather, they won’t go out. A couple of hours later when I took Danny outside, I noticed that none of the poultry were outside so I decided that they must not like cold, windy, snowy, icy days, and I just shut them all in for the day.
In the early afternoon, EJ and I drove to the farm store to buy some straw. I’ve been reading on all the duck/chicken pages that straw makes good insulation in the winter. If I had known how icy the roads were, though, I never would have wanted to leave home. They were pure ice and we saw two vehicles in ditches on the way.
We were going to stop at a local farm store, but on our way we remembered that they are closed on Sundays. So we drove to TSC instead and bought four bundles of straw. The employee who helped us said that everyone was buying straw today; he had already re-stocked the shelves four times and he still had to go into the back room to get us some. I also bought two heated water buckets–one for the chickens and one for the ducks–so their water doesn’t freeze in the cold. Our poultry is so spoiled. I spent the afternoon spreading straw around and setting up their heated water buckets.
I found only four eggs today. I think it’s too cold for the chickens to feel like laying eggs. I read that extra eggs can be frozen and then used during the winter when the hens don’t lay is much, so I’ve been trying it. I haven’t yet had to use any frozen eggs.
On our way home from the farm store, we stopped at the grocery store where JJ works. They are having a great bargain on turkeys. If we spend $50 we can buy their store brand turkeys for 49 cents a pound. We bought some supplies for our Thanksgiving meal and the turkey. EJ’s sister invited us to spend Thanksgiving with her, but EJ is so tired that he really just wanted a quiet day at home. That’s fine. Today’s turkey was actually the third one we have bought during the last week. The price is so good that we figured we could buy several and freeze them so we can have a turkey now and then throughout the year. I love making–and eating–homemade potpies.
Snow and Wind
I can’t believe the crazy weather we are getting! Yesterday the temperatures reached 70 degrees and today we have winter. The high winds began to rise yesterday afternoon and this morning it began to snow. Both winds and snow has continued all day. The meteorologist forecasted wind gusts of 50+ mph and several inches of snow today.
Whenever we have high winds, the forest trees really begin to sway wildly. Often we hear creaking and sometimes crashing as a tree falls. It’s kind of spooky. I took a video of the winds this evening:
We made it through the night without losing power! The power flickered off once, but came right back on. We lost our Internet last night, but it was back by morning. The power flickered but so far it’s remaining on. I’m hoping and praying it stays on. EJ was going to return home from his hunting trip tomorrow, but he has decided to start home after dark tonight. I’m rather relieved. I don’t really want EJ to cut short his trip, or to drive home on dangerous roads and high winds (he’s a good driver and he says the roads aren’t that bad), but I’d actually prefer him to be home. Last year EJ taught me how to hook up the propane heater, but I’m not sure I can remember how to do it and I’d really prefer that he give me a refresher course before I have to do it myself.
When the weather is bad, I kind of miss the wood stove we had at our old house. If we lost our power, all I had to do was throw another log on the fire and we kept toasty warm.
This morning when I let the chickens and ducks out, I arranged the garage door so it was open just enough for them to get in and out. After the power flickered, I thought that it really wouldn’t be good if the power went out and I couldn’t get the garage door closed for the night, so I decided to get shut them in the garage a couple of hours early. When I went outside, they were all in the garage already. The weather had apparently gotten too nasty for them.
While I was putting the birds to bed, I got propane tank from the big wooden box in the chicken pen and lugged it over to the front deck. That way we don’t have to struggle with it if the power goes out in the night.
JJ is at work. I will be glad when my guys are safe at home.
Warm & Cold
EJ was able to get today off from work so he left this morning to go hunting at his friend’s parents 100-acre woods on the other side of the state. He expects to be gone until Sunday.
Early this afternoon, I heard the chickens squawking in alarm. They were making a terrible racket so I went out to the garage check on them. I found the chickens all hiding in the coop in the garage and the ducks all on their side of the garage. I couldn’t see anything wrong, but they kept squawking so I went outside to check around. I looked up and saw the reason for their alarm: a large hawk was circling around overhead. The hawk flew off and after a few minutes my birds calmed down.
It’s amazing how alert the chickens and ducks are to threats. I’ve even seen the ducks look up and watch airplanes flying overhead.
Today was super warm–close to 70 degrees! But meteorologists are forecasting at least 4-8 inches of snow tomorrow as well as 50+ mph wind gusts. The winds began to increase this afternoon and have gotten stronger and stronger as the hours passed.
JJ texted me from work to tell me that people just a few miles away have already lost their power because of the wind. I know where our flashlights and battery-operated lanterns are, but I couldn’t remember what to do about heat. So I called EJ and asked what to do if our power goes out. He told me where our propane heater is, and reminded me of where he keeps the propane tanks. EJ taught me last winter how to hook the heater up and turn it on, but I’m not sure I can remember. I sure could have used a refresher course, but of course, EJ had to be gone during our first wintry weather of the year. Well, maybe JJ and I can figure it out between us. Either that or we can cuddle up with Danny and the cats for warmth.
Winter Race
I woke up very early on Tuesday morning–about 3-ish–and couldn’t go back to sleep. I wasn’t able to get a nap because it was an extremely busy day with many errands to run. I fed, watered, and let the chickens and ducks out, went to vote, drove into the Emerald City and made a brief stop at Joann Fabrics for some yarn before going to an appointment, drove home and went with JJ to his dentist. On the way home, he stopped to vote and we made a brief visit to the grocery store where I bought a deli chicken and coleslaw for supper because after all the running around I didn’t feel like cooking. EJ voted on his way home from work.
Because of the early morning and busy day, I didn’t plan to stay up to watch the election results. Besides, I pretty much thought I knew who would win. However, I started watching the election results on the Internet (we don’t have our TV hooked up) and then I got drawn in. It was like watching a cliff-hanging movie. A friend and I “watched” the election together via FB chat, commenting back and forth as we watched the results trickle in. We ended up staying up until about 3:30 a.m., which means I was awake for 24 hours. Ugh. I felt as if I spent the rest of the week trying to catch up on all the sleep I had lost.
I won’t say a lot about the elections except that I deplore the violence that the Hillary supporters have engaged in. I can understand feeling disappointed, sad, upset, concerned, and a bunch of other emotions when people’s candidate loses an election. However, rioting, assaulting and insulting people because “their” candidate won is deplorable. The USA has been great because we have a free society, we have the right to speak our minds and vote for who we want, and we have a peaceful transfer of power. In a free election, sometimes “our” candidate will win an election, sometimes “our” candidate will lose. That’s the way it is. We don’t always get what we want. If “we” are concerned about the world view of the “other side,” we can work to change it through lawful and peaceful ways and protests. The smashing, burning, assaulting, and insults is nothing more than a tantrum and no matter who wins an election, both sides ought to speak against the violence. Our country is great because there is a peaceful transition of government.
Enough said.
In our beautiful, peaceful Enchanted Forest, we are in a race to get projects completed before winter slams us with cold and snow.
We have some windows that lost their seals, which means that condensation has gotten between the double panes. We decided that we’d rather pay for new efficient windows than higher heating costs so we are having Lowes replace the three worst windows. Although we first contacted Lowes in September, their crews have been so busy installing windows that we were down on the list. We’ve been contacted that the windows are now ready so I’m hoping they can get installed this week.
Although my solution/setup of having the chicken and duck coops in the garage is quite clever, it was only meant to be temporary. Our dilemma is that we have to have the garage door open during the day so the ducks and chickens can go outside. That’s fine during the summer but in the winter keeping the garage door open 1. puts EJ’s equipment at risk of weather damage, 2. would make it too cold for EJ to work in his garage, and 3. does not enable the poultry to escape from cold and snow. Also, I don’t know if we could get the garage door open if the snow gets deep, which means the chickens and ducks would be stuck inside all winter, and that would make it unpleasant for EJ to work in his garage. So what to do?
We are paying for our windows with our new Lowes credit card. When I saw how little our minimum monthly payment would be, I realized that we could very easily afford to buy a shed for a coop. EJ agreed. So we ordered a 10 x 12 shed. Since we need to get it set up before winter, we are having Lowes build it for us. They have scheduled the installation of the shed for Monday, November 28.
Once the crew builds the shed, we have to quickly get it painted and then get it set up: We need to set up fencing both inside and outside the shed to keep the ducks and chickens separate, we need to cut little doors for the ducks and chickens so they can go in and out without leaving the big doors open. We’d like to make the fencing around the outside pen more predator-proof. In addition, we hope to replace some of the t-posts with wooden posts because EJ wants to use the t-posts along the driveway for the snow fence. The dilemma is that so many tasks depend on completing other tasks. It’s like a brain game:
- We have to remove the fencing so the installers can get in to put up the shed.
- We can’t remove the fencing until just before the installers arrive because the chickens and ducks still need to be contained when they go outside.
- We can’t put up the snow fence along the driveway until we can remove replace the t-posts in the chicken/duck pen with wooden posts.
- We can’t replace the t-posts with posts until after the installers are finished and we reconfigure the outside fencing.
- We can’t put up the snow fence until after the window and shed installers have come and gone because we want the large trucks to be able to get up and down the driveway without them damaging our snow fence. Putting up the snow fence makes the driveway feel very narrow.
Meanwhile, winter is coming and everything has to be done before the weather turns bad and the ground freezes. The weather has been very nice for November–in fact, today I barely needed a sweatshirt– but I feel as if we are racing winter and I’m not sure which of us will win.
Yesterday we were busy with a lot of tasks. Ever since we moved last year, our bed has felt very uncomfortable. We wake frequently during the night and in the mornings with sore backs. No doubt something was damaged in the move, but we don’t know if the problem is the bed or the mattress so we have been tweaking things and trying less expensive measures first. We bought new box springs last year (we had to leave our old one behind because we couldn’t get it down the stairs of the old house). That helped a little, but not enough. So we bought a memory foam mattress topper, which helped a little, but not enough. So yesterday EJ built a platform to set inside the bed frame. We slept much better, not waking so often in the night, and with less sore bodies this morning. EJ says he thinks we will probably end up needing to buy a new mattress but he would prefer to delay it as long as possible…so we can afford to buy more books. He is my kind of man!
While EJ was working on the bed platform, I did laundry, cleaned, cooked, washed dishes, and dragged boxes of books out of the pantry to sort through. I put some books in the library to keep. Some went into a box labeled “garage” because EJ wants them in his garage. Others went into boxes labeled “donate.” And the books I think I can maybe sell at Amazon went into the “sell” box. I finished sorting the boxes this afternoon. I found it very odd that even though I put a few boxes of “keep” books in the library, and have at least four boxes of “donate” books in the entrance hallway, and even though I completely emptied a few boxes, I still seem to have just as many boxes of books (to be sold) in the pantry as I did before I started sorting. I suspect it’s one of those wibbly wobbly, timey-wimey, space-time continuum sort of things?
After our work was all done yesterday and the chickens and ducks had been put to bed for the night, we went outside to enjoy the super-moon.
I had always lived in a town until we moved to our Enchanted Forest. Because of the street lights, I had never realized that a full moon can light up the landscape so brightly that I don’t need a flashlight to see my way at night. I now really look forward to full moons. But the super-moon was so huge and so bright last night that I could very clearly see my shadow and the shadows of the trees in the forest. It was very amazing and beautiful. I tried to take a photo of it, but my camera does not have fancy lenses or filters and I don’t have technical expertise so the best I could do was this photo–and although I think it is somewhat interesting, it did not capture the hugeness of the moon at all:
I was, however, able to capture the colorful glow of the sunset. We have had some amazing sunrises and sunsets lately. I love the effect of the trees silhouetted against the glow of the sunrise/sunset.
I’ve been trying to walk down and up our driveway several times each day for exercise. Sometimes I try to run up the driveway, but the driveway is so steep that I cannot run for very long before I am huffing and puffing and in danger of collapse. The other morning I was walking down the driveway when I heard a rushing sound like the approach of a powerful wind-except all the trees near me were completely still. Then I looked behind me and I could follow the approach of the wind as the trees began to sway, closer and closer and closer until the wind passed by me and continued on it’s way. It was amazing. I love our Enchanted Forest.
JJ has struggled to figure out what he wants to do with his life. He has been interested in law enforcement so last week he talked to the director of the law enforcement program at his college. The director was impressed with him and JJ decided to major in law enforcement. He signed up for 14 credits for next term and now he has three weeks to figure out how to come up with almost $4,000 to pay for his classes. We have helped him with college a little, but we can’t help much. Mostly we help him with his medical bills. He continues to have periodic x-rays and blood draws to make sure that his cancer doesn’t return, and those procedures cost money, especially with our medical insurance going up. So he has to pay for his classes himself. He is working, of course, but doesn’t make enough. He has explored grants, scholarships, and financial aid with little success. So he is now looking into loans, the possibility of increasing limit on his credit card, etc. I’m praying he makes it. If he can take his desired courses, he can enter police academy next fall.
The Enchanted Library
I really enjoy the beauty of early mornings but the sun rises so early that if I didn’t have to get up to let the chickens and ducks outside, I would sleep right through the dawn. Instead, I get up early to let the birds outside as soon as the sun rises so they can enjoy as much daylight as possible. And because I get up so early, I get to enjoy beautiful mornings like yesterday.
The other day I tried to describe the ruckus that occurs when I open the garage door to let the chickens and ducks outside. It’s hard to describe so I took this video:
Our alpha Rooster’s name is Sassy. He wears a band on his leg with a Superman “S” on it. The other roosters have a Batman charm and a Captain America charm on their bands. Because of the charms, I named the one Bat-Roo (for Bat-Rooster). EJ named the one with the Captain America charm “Captain AmeROOca.” Ha ha.
I’ve been trying to get more exercise by walking down and up our long, steep driveway several times a day. Danny usually comes with me. Sometimes he meanders around and sometimes he just stops and waits for me.
At our old house, we turned the extra bedroom upstairs into our library. I have always, always wanted a downstairs library so the books would be easily accessible instead of hidden away upstairs. Our library in our new house is also in the extra bedroom but our house is one storm and the library is right next to the living room, which is perfect. EJ has been working on building the book shelves in the evenings when he gets home from work. He finally finished the shelves last night. Yay!
Today I spent most of the day organizing the library. EJ’s books are on the higher shelves and my books are on the lower shelves. I grouped them by subject: Dictionaries, history, literature, science, gardening, home improvement, crafts, fiction, and religious books. Our china cabinet holds my favorite Biblical/Hebrew books instead of china. Except for our desk and file cabinet, every available wall space has bookshelves. We also have a rocking chair in the library for comfortable quiet reading. A little stool can be used as a footstool and as a step stool to reach books on high shelves. Most of my paperback books are on shelves that hang over the bedroom and closet doors. The closet holds our printer and my crochet supplies and Etsy store items.
Libraries have a quiet peaceful feeling to them and EJ loved being there. This evening he began to further organize his books and to cull the ones he doesn’t want. We will either sell them or donate them. We still have about a dozen boxes of books in our pantry that we have to sort through.
It’s difficult to get good pictures of the library but it looks like this:
I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.
~ Jorge Luis Borges
Timey Wimey, Wibbly Wobbly
This morning I woke up and looked at the digital alarm clock to check the time. It said that it was 5:99 a.m. And then as I watched, it turned to 5:98…5:80… 5:40…5:99…I rubbed my eyes and looked again, and the clock was still timey wimey, wibbly wobbly. EJ woke a few minutes later and as he got out of bed, I said, “Do me a favor and look at the clock.” He did and then exclaimed, “What is going on?” and we started laughing. Obviously, we need to get a new clock. I browsed clocks at Amazon, but finally remembered that JJ has an alarm clock that he never really uses so I asked him if we could have it and he said yes.
EJ and I spent most of the day on Sunday organizing his garage. We still have to find places for a lot of things, but we both were amazed and satisfied at the tremendous progress we made.
Every morning as soon as it begins to get light outside, I let the chickens and ducks out, feed and water them, and collect Peeper’s egg. Peeper–the only duck giving us eggs–lays her egg first thing in the morning, while the chickens don’t finish laying their eggs until mid-afternoon. I have a clever system of gates to keep the chickens and ducks separated. During the day I have a fence that divides the pens and latches to the coop in the garage, but because I had to be able to close the garage door at night, I swing that fence out of the way at night and use an inner gate that divides them at night. When I enter the ducks’ side of the pen to open the garage door in the morning, Sassy, the alpha rooster, usually comes up to the gate to see what’s going on. He is always the first outside when I open the garage door so that he can check to make sure everything is safe for the others. Once I open the inner gate that divides the chickens and ducks at night, I have to step aside because the ducks stampede outside.
Sometimes things get a little crazy: For example, a few days ago as soon as I opened the dividing gate, Sassy chased one of the other roosters into the duck side of the garage pen. I had to let the ducks outside while getting the rooster on his side of the pen, but every time I got him close to the gate, Sassy would appear and scare him back into the duck pen. Finally, I got everyone where they were supposed to be.
Things can be just as funny in the evening when I close everyone n for the night. Most of the time things go well. In fact, usually most of the chickens are already in their garage coop when I go outside. Sassy is usually the last one in because he likes to make sure everyone else is safe. I always enter the outside pen through the duck side and herd the ducks into the garage. Sometimes one will escape around me, so I have to go back and get her. Meanwhile, the other ducks start coming back out of the garage. Some turn around back into the garage when I start walking toward them, but others escape around me. It can take a bit on those nights to get everyone in with some going in and others coming out. The crazy mornings and evenings make me laugh.
Meanwhile, for the last week we’ve had a mouse running loose in the house. The cats have caught it several times, but they keep letting it escape. The mouse is getting arrogant. A few nights ago, EJ suddenly exclaimed, “The mouse is walking right across the middle of the living room!” A living room filled with four cats. By the time I had grabbed a cat to show him the mouse, the mouse had disappeared. We miss Princess Winter, a cat we used to have. She wouldn’t play around with the mice. The moment she saw one, she’d ferociously pounce on it and we’d hear her crunch, crunching on its bones. It was rather macabre when we’d hear the crunch of bones under our bed in the middle of the night but…Princess Winter always got her mouse.
Yesterday I decided that I’m going to do my best to walk up and down the driveway several times a day for exercise. Yesterday I walked up and down five times. As I walked, I saw a flock of little birds walking on the driveway. They took off in a group whenever I got close. They looked sort of like sparrows, but not quite–and they didn’t really fly like sparrows. I wasn’t sure what they were. Then a Northern Michigan photography page at FB called McGill’s Nature in Motion shared a page of little birds that they identified as Snow Buntings. I compared their awesome photo to the not-so-great one I had managed to take of the birds in my driveway and I saw that they were the same. Cool! I’ve never seen a Snow Bunting before! I added them to my bird list.
The trees are still very colorful, but the slightest breeze causes the leaves to rain down and there are more and more bare branches visible. The night-time temperatures have also dipped down into the 30s, although this week we’ve had some warm days. I think today the temps reached up into the high 60s. It was nice.
Hermits
EJ has a very beautiful drive into work every morning. He gets to drive through forests and along the coast. This morning he texted me that the sunrise was gorgeous. Alerted, I took my camera outside with me when I went to let the ducks and chickens out. We have trees all around us so I don’t have a clear view of the horizon, but I could see the fiery sunrise through the trees. It was stunning:
I’m sure the sunrise was so beautiful because of an approaching storm. When EJ got home from work, he asked, “So what did you think of the snow?” JJ and I both asked, “What snow?” because it had rained here all day. EJ said that it had been snowing since about 4 p.m., and it snowed all the time he was driving home, and it was even snowing as he drove through the little town about two miles from us. But up in our Enchanted Forest, it only rained. And rained.
I have experienced all sorts of new things since I have moved north. Like propane. I’ve always lived in a town and I’ve never lived in a house that used propane. So…yesterday our new propane company brought us a tank. They filled it with 25 gallons of propane to last us until the fuel truck came to fill it all the way up because, duh, they can’t be hauling a huge tank sloshing with a bunch of propane. Well, the fuel truck came lumbering up the driveway about mid-morning today. After the guy filled our tank, he came to the door to give me the invoice. The guy filling the tank was one of the same guys who had been here yesterday and this time when Danny greeted him at the door, he gave him a dog biscuit, which Danny took very politely. I thought that was very nice of the guy.
I took some time to crochet this morning, but I spent most of my time doing laundry and cooking. I have to use the apples that we bought at the farm market a few weeks ago. Last week I made apple pies which I put in the freezer. Yesterday I made Apple Brownies, which were very good, and today I made Apple Hermits, which were even better. We didn’t know what “hermits” were–I mean, as far as food goes–but we decided after eating one (or two or three) that they must be called “hermits” because after tasting how good they are a person really wants to take all the cookies with him (or her) to an isolated place so he doesn’t have to share them with anyone. That’s our theory.
We all have symptoms of PTSD from a variety of sources and difficulties. Most of the time I think we are patient and supportive of each other, but sometimes one person’s PTSD symptoms get triggered and can also trigger another person’s PTSD symptoms, which makes emotions a bit difficult and messy. I think it’s difficult enough when one person in a family is dealing with PTSD symptoms. October is emotionally difficult for JJ because it was the month he was diagnosed with cancer. And this year was even more stressful because he had to have a blood draw and an appointment with his oncologist. He is really afraid of his cancer returning. His response to this stress triggered my struggles with abuse. We are trying to re-stablize our battered emotions.
I feel as if we are so weary that, well, it’s kind of like….If a wealthy person’s car breaks down and needs major repairs, he has the money to get it fixed. No big deal. But if a poorer person’s car breaks down, it’s a major problem because he doesn’t have the money to repair it. In the same way, normally we have had the strength to deal with problems, but we have gotten so depleted that everything seems to bankrupt our meager energy supply. Life doesn’t stop because we are tired, and there will always be problems that we have to deal with. However, one problem that we can diminish is toxic people who cause turmoil in our lives. We have decided that we just aren’t going to deal with them for a while. We are going to give ourselves a break, for however long we need. And, seriously, only those who respect the boundaries we set for ourselves will be allowed access to our lives.
In addition to not allowing toxic people in our lives, we also are filling our lives with as much delight as we can. Such as enjoying sunrises, chickens and ducks, and working with our hands, and enjoying the beautiful area we are living in….and enjoying our delicious Apple Hermits.
Oh! One more thing! EJ got home from work late today and he was tired, and it was raining, and it was getting dark so we didn’t band anymore chickens. However, with the help of google, I was able to figure out how to put the video that JJ had taken of us banding the chickens on Monday on Youtube so I can share it here. Just a warning, though: I don’t know how they do it, but without fail my guys somehow always seem to take HORRIBLE photos/videos of me. So I think I look pretty awful in the video. This is why I like to be the one on the other side of the camera. But here is our Chicken Roundup video.
I Love To Go A Gardening 