The terrible part was women leaving when I needed them the most. They moved the horses I'd given to them ( yep- free, w/ no board due). Here I was a few days out of surgery, and yep- one had dreamed up something she didn't care for and gave notice. Turns out I wasn't the only one relieved when all the proverbial dust settled. The barn's inhabitants settled down and got back to happy/ relaxed again, as did the people. Sometimes awful things have to happen to make room for more good things- and I think that is what happened here this past Spring. I am looking forward to 2017 with high hopes.
We finally got to take a 'real' vacation like normal people do- driving up the coast to Maine and relaxed a bit. It wasn't long enough though- not for me. I fell in love with Maine big time and could easily move there when we finally retire.Of course, the husband warns me about the cold weather and big snow amounts. I tell him that I lived in Michigan and did alright.
Chicken stuff: Issac has been doing what he's good at and we have had ummm,5 new hens grow up here. Four blacks and one Lavender hen. Turns out this is great because a couple of months, we lost Daisy our other Lavender hen. Also,we have discovered that Gracie, the small Silky hen is a horrid mama,but oh myyyyy,she'll sit until something hatches on fertile eggs. What I've learned is to let her sit, and then once her baby hatches, to raise it in the tack room. Otherwise, she'll hurt the babies... duh. Little to no motherly instinct in that little gal. She tried her best to make her feet hatch this Fall- to no avail. This means she went broody and decided that she was sitting in the nest, on her little feet instead of eggs.(we took them away because it would have been way to cold for peepies) Winter isn't a wise time to be born when you're a teeny little chick. Some of the girls have gone thru a molt earlier this Autumn. Oh lordy did they ever look Horrible!Some only did a semi molt and others like Chocolate were all but bald for a couple of days. Thank gosh new feathers grew back in fast.
We have a new short guy here. He's the newest part of the farm. This is Eli :
He's all of 11 hands tall and is a rescue. He'd been sent to an auction sale in New Holland, Pa which is a big " kill buyer" sale. Long story short- he arrived here a couple of weeks ago and everyone loves him. I bought him a little teeny pony turnout blanket as it turns out he doesn't like the wind/ cold very much at all. He still isn't sure about us not getting after him for something but is getting used to the routine and people here. Even my husband seems to think he's an okay pony. We want to teach him to drive and what grand fun that'll be! I am hoping "Santa" brings us a new teeny little harness for him. Ha- I have Never had an equine so short. According to Eli, he's as tall & fierce as any of those Percherons he's seen.
I had to face facts about the ancient barn kitties. They were totally deaf and so arthritic their lives were pretty awful. I had to make the choice to call our vet to let them both move on or risk someone running them over, or being stepped on by a horse. The most kind thing was to peacefully let them move over "Rainbow Bridge". I know we all shed some tears over having them go, but even though it was hard to say goodbye, it was the kindest thing.
Seems that God/Goddess saw what was happening and decided to send our farm a lovely little kitten. We had no idea if it was a male or female, so I started calling it "Simon/Simone`" until we figured out which it was. SHE is now becoming very friendly and is gorgeous. The plan is to get her spayed after the first of the year,and hopefully she will stick around. She adores Amanda who keeps her pony here!
That's about all of the news here in PA. WE are getting ready for Christmas and our annual party so it'll be hectic here for a while. I love this time of year, but it needs to get a little colder to seem more like Christmas. A little dash of snow would be perfection.
Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful.
Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season,
no matter what holiday you celebrate!
4 comments:
Another year gone by without my horsey and Krissy fix. :( I was wondering about the 2 horses that left, cause I thought they started out as yours... oh well, like you said better days. Broody chick with no eggs... dip her into a pan of cool water and hold her there for a few minutes. Dad always did that, said it cooled the broodiness right out of them. Right now my cockatoo is sitting on two dummy eggs. No, I will not try to cool the broodiness out of her... I'm liking the quiet too much. I do miss her snuggles though, but it won't be much longer. I've been staying off Facebook... too much political crap. I got on long enough to let everyone know about John and his surgery and a week later his pneumonia, started to read a couple things and it was the same bullshit, so I'm off again for a while longer. It's a good thing though, I have time to crochet and pack/sort all of our crap. There just doesn't appear to be any less, no matter how many boxes/bags I carry out. I think the crap is breeding when we're not looking.
I totally understand about fb. It's getting to be a bother, but I still like hearing from pals and family, so I check it. What I do is delete those folks who are constantly mad at something / someone. Don't need that in life- so Poof! They are gone. < laughing> I think my stuff is doing the same here- what's with that ??
thanks for sharing..I sympathize with you on terrible part of the year and celebrate your achievements http://vc.uonbi.ac.ke
thanks so much Rose !
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