Time

Its that time.  The time when I have so much I could write about but no time to do it.  I could write a looooong post every single day with all that's going on.  So here is the condensed and illustrated version:

So far, I would have to say that this is my best year ever for the garden.  Things have gotten planted more or less on time and things are coming up.  The garden is a lot of work but I am feeling rather proud of it this year.  There's already lots to do.











 This morning I harvested the calendula.  When I am finished writing this, I will go make salve with it.

But there is lots of other stuff going on in the garden, too.  Tomatoes to stake....

 

 Beds to weed.  There are actually 5 cantelope plants in there.... honest.

My favourite kind of zucchini ready to pick...  yum

I created this bed this year.  Just a little bean tipi with spaghetti squash in the middle (and a lot of weeds...)

Wee peppers

Rhiannon's cherry tomatoes.  She's already eaten several

Cherries!  Most the cherry trees around here are LOADED!  We just need some sun to turn them red!

 





Riotous flower pot and a close up of some Malva that I started from seed.  The picture showed white with purple but this pink is pretty, too.

Harvested herbs.  I am currently drying nettle, lemon balm, mint and oregano.

Newest litter of Satin Angoras.

Marshmallow who is mother and grandmother to the others except for the white one.  These are our replacement meat does growing out in the rabbit tractor.

Growing lambs.  Remember these?  Here are Falafal, Olaf and Rosemary in the background.

And here are the last two on the left.  Astrid there in the middle and her brother, Cydri on the left and handsome Renauld walking towards me.  They are busy eating down the burdock before it blooms in the portable electric mesh fence.

And here is what is left of my layer flock.  2 families of raccoons have killed just less than half my flock.  A guy who traps them is supposed to come and set up some traps.  In the meantime, there is Zeus in the background warding off all raccoons.  There have been no losses since he started hanging out there.

Back to it

Well, after all those big dramatic posts, its hard to just pick up again and tell you about the everyday things I want to tell you about. Its been a very busy summer with lots of guests and lots of fun. Maybe a little too much fun. It has been wonderful to see people and spend time but it has been alot. I figured it out and from the time that Layne arrived on January 10, until last Monday we either had company or were company for all that time except for a total of 5 weeks. And that stress - most of the times a good stress - has taken its toll. Last weekend when we dropped my friend's daughter back in Calgary and spent a few days shopping and doing Calgary things and then came home, we were alone at last. We've just been quietly doing our thing. When I looked at the forecast and saw that just this past weekend would likely be the last good hot days of the summer, Rhiannon, Drew and I went to the beach every day. Just the three of us (well, Eryn and Tyler showed up on Sunday but they don't count). Dean was in Canmore with Redfish in case you are wondering. My garden has suffered and I haven't put up as much food as I usually have by now. We're getting back into the groove. Here are some images from our fun and very (overly) full summer.

End of May girls at the beach. Shopping marathon for mother-of-the-bride dress. (Thanks again, Ronni! I really couldn't have done it without you!)













George the disable chicken brought in to die in peace ends up outliving all his compatriots and even survives the wedding. He eventually died with full bowls of food and water in front of him on the evening of July 21. Dean buried him and shed a few tears...












Lots of cousin time over the wedding













and after














Lots of walks with Iris... we still miss you!











































Rabbits for sale!

















Lots of rabbit babies













Fantastic August weather and New Denver here we come! Beautiful lake, good friends, good food, lots of music and lots of talking over card games. Perfect holiday!


























.





























Rabbit time and rabbit projects!


















Friends hanging out and doing all the summer things - parties, water slides, matinees and the beach!













Calgary time: shopping, Callaway and the Calgary Corn Maze:














































Fanciest dinner ever! Can you say carnivore heaven?














Driving back to BC in the rain....

Finished

There are no more white birds in my back yard (well, except for an Ameracauna and a silky). Andrew helped me slaughter and butcher the last 7 today. Wow. This has been intense! Wedding preparations. The chicken for the dinner is now ready. Not only did we slaughter them but we cut the chickens up and then de-boned and cubed the breast and packaged it all separately. I am so grateful to the help that I had. I would not have been able to do it without the kind help of friends.

I am riding a wave of exhaustion right about now. Last weekend we did 14. This Saturday Bozenka and I did 12 birds (with Dean's help for the killing). Monday I did 10 more with the very able help of Louise. And today with some assistance from Drew I finished off the last 7. It is an all day event whenever it happens. I am sitting here at the computer to tired to remove my blood spattered clothes and have a shower.

The end of the meat birds is always a bit like putting down a heavy piggy back. Tomorrow morning I do not have to get up and move the chicken tractor or fill up their 10 gallon waterer. I don't have to feed them 5 times a day.

And that's good because there are about a million other things I have to do to get ready for the wedding....

And the weird thing? All the meat chickens are dead except one. But he's not in the back yard. He's here, in the house. Yes, George the chicken (Chicken George?) lives. Weird, eh? He seems happy enough. His muscles are wasting away. About all he can move are his wings and his head and neck. We put him out on the lawn in the sunshine on the weekend but he only flapped his wings and looked happy. Dean was too afraid an eagle would swoop down and take him so he was closely watched. Every day Dean makes sure he has food and water and cleans up his poop.

Irrational, sure. But its one of the things I love about my husband. There seems to be a purpose to George's life. Not like his compatriots. He won't be feeding us or the dogs. But he brings something to us, nonetheless. Eryn insists we can't tell if he is happy but we think he is. He gets petted and talked to and looked after. He's still got the look in his eye that led me to call him 'my little friend' and prompted me to bring him in from being trampled to death in the mud by his faster growing friends. Who knows how long George will live. Not long, I'm sure. But as it is, the disabled chicken has survived all his able bodied brothers (who have taken up their new abode in my freezer).

Dean's Pet

(Just in case you're wondering... still waiting... read previous post for explanation if that makes no sense to you)

Here are the meat 'chicks' or 'the wedding dinner' as they are also referred to. Getting close to the end of their lives. In the meantime there has been one chick who hasn't thrived. His (its become apparent he's a he) legs were not able to properly support him after about a month. This sometimes happens with the fast and heavy growth of meat chicks. (its never happened to chicks I've had before, though). He made do using his wings to get him around on his less than adequate legs. But as his compatriots grew and grew, he had a harder and harder time getting his share of the food and water. I started to call him my 'little friend' and would try to angle the food trough towards him when I fed them. But alas he continued to weaken. I usually let nature take its course with meat chicks and it seemed that his death was immanent. But every time I went out there expecting to see him dead, he would pop his head up and look at me. As this went on for a couple of days, I decided to bring him inside and at least let him live in some kind of comfort for however long he has.

After the first day with his own food and water, he quickly perked up. On the second day, I cleaned out his cage (pet carrier) and washed all the mud and poop he was encrusted with from outside. Here Dean is holding him after his bath. Dean took an instant liking to him and has declared him his pet chicken. Within a few minutes he and Rhiannon had named him George



George's 'drumsticks' are small and undeveloped and he sits there most of the time with his legs splayed out at awkward angles that chickens don't normally do. He turns himself around using his wings. But I notice that even his feathers are not well developed.


I suspect that despite our efforts he is not long for this world. But for now, he is our pet chicken. George.

Box of Cheepers

Look what came in the mail today!


















27 chicks from Rochester Hatchery. And really, they came in the mail. The Post Office called early this morning and before 7:30 I was at their back door getting my box of cheepers. All 27 survived their trip from Northern Alberta.

A racoon killed Marigold, our Buff Orpington rooster in February. We were very sad. And all my arrangements buying broody type hens last year (5 silky hens of whom 3 remain - Zeus ate one and the raccoons killed the biggest hen 6 weeks before Marigold got killed) so that I never had to have laying chicks in my house ever again came to nought. No fertile eggs. Who cares if they go broody? The day after his death I ordered these chicks (his replacement).

Actually its not entirely true that they wouldn't be fertile. In the fall I got myself 2 Rhode Island Red pullets and 2 Plymouth Bard Rock pullets just to have a few very dependable egg laying types. However one of the Plymouth Bard Rock hens turned out to be a rooster. But that only gives me mutt chicks and not pure bred Buff Orpingtons like I wanted. This young rooster is the meanest dang rooster I've ever had. He has attacked me several times. Luckily I was wearing full winter gear. He's gonna go before I wear bare legs outside... The other day I picked up my pet chicken - the only one left of my original Silver Laced Wyandottes. She squawked and he came running. Then later he followed me around and flew at me. I kicked him away but he kept coming back. His days are numbered.

These wee cuties are Buff Orpingtons (one of them will be our new Marigold - our third rooster named Marigold) and Buff Brahmas - a breed I've long wanted to have. They have feathers on their feet and they are known for being good brooders and exceptionally good mothers. Let this be the end of indoor brooding.... please....

Later I have some new Silver Laced Wyandottes and Americauna's coming. I will likely keep a rooster from the Wyandottes as well. They are a rare breed and they have a spot in my heart because of our first 4 girls and Roostie the rooster who were our introduction this time round in to backyard chickens.

Couldn't Stand It...

The inside workings of the hot water tap on our tub went - we couldn't turn it off. But we just used the stops because I didn't feel like calling our landlord and arranging to have someone come and fix it. And then the stop broke and I had to turn the hot water off at the tank and we had no hot water at all. So I called the landlord. They are always great about fixing things right away - better than any other landlord I've ever had. She called back within 5 minutes to tell me that the guy would be there in a hour to an hour and a half.

Okay. Great, right? Except for the guy is a good friend of my landlord and sure to report on the condition of my house.... So not great because 50 chicks were in residence in my basement who should have been outside a week earlier and my whole house reeked of a chicken coop. Dean was gone to work. So I woke up Layne (it was his day off) and Drew and we began the panic evacuation of 50 stinky chicks and the transformation of my basement from chick brooder to ordinary basement.

In 90 minutes we arranged the chicken tractor, put down shavings to absorb the moisture, moved 50 chicks who are getting quite heavy into it, and covered it with a tarp. Then we peeled the sodden cardboard and newspaper and chicken poop off of the floor - several loads in boxes and a laundry basket. Then we swept and swept and swept. And vacuumed up cobwebs now extremely obvious because they were coated in chick dust.

The last load was cleared out, the last remnants swept up, basement 'stuff' moved back into place, the vacuum cleaners carried back upstairs and I was just adjusting the tarp over the chicken tractor when the guy drove up....

It was a good excuse to get them out of there. And they have survived the cool, damp temperatures just fine.

Indeed

As Sarah would say, 'why not post'? Normally I would be going to bed about now but I had a nap and I'm not tired yet. It has been almost 2 weeks since Mom and Dad left. They were here for one day short of 5 weeks. It was an action packed 5 weeks. Mom sewed herself an entirely new wardrobe for Trinidad (and, I discovered the other day when I went to use it, went home with my Fabricland card!).

They were here for so long, we really got used to them being here. Although I don't think I could keep up that pace for much longer. And for the last 10 days or so of them being here, Bethany and Owen were here, too. Although, as I told Bethany, it didn't count as a Bethany visit because her and I didn't really get to spend any time together and I didn't get to spend enough auntie time with Owen, either. It was harder for Andrew and Rhiannon once Bethany got here because they had to share a room. They are both the baby of the family, really. Andrew was 7 when Rhiannon was born. Although neither one is particularly tidy, they are both particular and are used to having complete control over their space. Rhiannon was known to break down in uncontrollable sobs because Andrew left a towel on her bedroom floor.... what is that right beside it, you ask? Is that HER towel on the floor?.... well yes it was.... but that is besides the point, according to Rhiannon. Rhiannon had a list of rules for Andrew to use her room. Which basically amounted to 'don't exist in my room'... They made it through, though and I am sure it was good for both of them... right?

Laura came for Easter weekend and Eryn and Tyler's engagement party. So then the house was really full. It was very fun having everyone here for Easter. Eryn's party was nice but Eryn was very stressed out. She worries too much about Tyler's family and her family getting along. Tyler's family seems very nice and I am sure that Laurel (Tyler's mom) and I will make wonderful grandmother's together! Eryn's older sister, Sarah, my step-daughter, came down for that, too. It was very nice to see her after so long!

Laura was supposed to do a family photo shoot of us on Easter Sunday. But it was a disaster. Rhiannon had not been getting enough sleep, sharing her room with her brother for almost a week by that point, not having as much of my attention as she is used to, a breakfast of chocolate.... It was the makings of a disaster. Eryn messed up her hair that she had carefully arranged and she lost it and then she was embarrassed and ran away and it took me about half an hour to find her. I was so upset. I wanted to cry. I so wanted to have family pictures. But that was it. Kaetlyn and Nadia had to go to have Easter dinner with Nadia's parents so our window of opportunity passed. The last time we had family pictures done it was 2000 and Rhiannon was 2 weeks old. Laura took some nice pictures of Drew and his bike and Rhiannon and I with the animals but the elusive family picture slipped by. I will remain jealous of all of the rest of you who have beautiful family photos done by Laura.

Laura left on Monday and then the rush was on to finish things up around here. Dad put the finishing touches on the chicken coop. I painted the inside floor and the inside of the nest boxes and the outside of the end that had to go up to the fence. On Wednesday, Dad, Andrew, Dean and Tyler levered and rolled the chicken coop into place right up to the outside of my chicken yard. The next morning we attached the fence and cut a hole for the chicken door. Dad also finished another rabbit hutch in the last couple of days.

Mom, Dad, Bethany and Owen rolled out of here just after 1pm on Thursday afternoon heading for Williams Lake. It was awfully quiet around here - the hush after the storm. Slowly we (who am I kidding, it was not a we project, it was an I project) started putting the house back together, washing bedding, reorganizing furniture.

Then Rhiannon and I decided that we would sleep in the chicken coop. So we took out the thick foamy off of her bed, her duvet and a sleeping bag and Jodi and made ourselves a very comfy (although a little short for me) bed in there. We hooked up the light, took out some reading material, water bottles and kleenex and snuggled in. We had a great sleep and it was very fun! For the next couple of days we called it the guest house. Rhiannon's friend stayed over night the next night and they slept in there, too.

In the end, I had to force the chickens to go in there - carry them one by one out of the old coop and put them into their new deluxe quarters. I left them shut up in there for 2 days and in the meantime shovelled out the chicken yard and demolished the old coop. Now they are loving it. And it doesn't look so much like a guest cottage...

The coop is beautiful - beyond words. I loved sleeping in it that night because I could feel in every board, every detail, the love of my father. I know that he made me this most beautiful coop because he loves me and I can feel it inside my coop and I can see it every time I look out my kitchen windows. It is a hard thing to put into words but I feel in it the best love that my father has for me. Thanks Dad and I love you, too. I'm really going to miss you for 18 months!