Finally we could burn some brush piles that we have been meaning to burn for years. Sunday was an amazing day, sunny and bright, no wind and perfect for the project.
bird in the hand
Monday, February 27, 2012
Bonfire day
It snowed all night Friday and then most of Saturday and now we have more snow on the ground than we have had all winter.
Finally we could burn some brush piles that we have been meaning to burn for years. Sunday was an amazing day, sunny and bright, no wind and perfect for the project.
Finally we could burn some brush piles that we have been meaning to burn for years. Sunday was an amazing day, sunny and bright, no wind and perfect for the project.
February break is over
I haven't blogged at all over the break, the kids had 9 days off school and it was pretty busy in the house.
I found this quote : "It is the purest sign that we love someone if we choose to spend time idly in their presence when we could be doing something more constructive." -S. Cassidy
.... and I think that about sums up what I did all week!
I did manage to get a mini quilt project started one day, the mouse fabric was from a fat quarter that I received in a fabric swap and I chose the rail fence pattern because it was so simple and because it reminded me of a maze...kind of mice in a maze idea. I think I have just enough fabric left now to make a narrow border with the mice print and then I want to make a wide border around that with the green fabric.
I found this quote : "It is the purest sign that we love someone if we choose to spend time idly in their presence when we could be doing something more constructive." -S. Cassidy
.... and I think that about sums up what I did all week!
I did manage to get a mini quilt project started one day, the mouse fabric was from a fat quarter that I received in a fabric swap and I chose the rail fence pattern because it was so simple and because it reminded me of a maze...kind of mice in a maze idea. I think I have just enough fabric left now to make a narrow border with the mice print and then I want to make a wide border around that with the green fabric.
Friday, February 17, 2012
That wonderful sun!
The ground was covered in frost this morning, I think it was down to -15 last night, quite a bit colder than we have had it in a while. What suprised me this morning was how much power the sun has in it now, a big change since last month. By the time I finished feeding the horses and calves around 9:30 it was warm enough to take off my gloves and as I walked, the heat from the sun was so nice on my bare hands...Spring is getting closer.
I want to finish off my breeder pens and move my Barred Rock pair over there so the hens will be ready to go with their own roosters soon. I have 7 + 10 eggs growing in the incubator now, but they will not be purebreds.
R found a fresh brown muley antler yesterday. It was down where they were feeding the heifers. It was just a small 2 point but now the treasure hunt for antlers can begin!
It is a lot more fun than picking up cans for sure, we find most of them while riding but it is quite a feat to carry them home...sometimes we find a better one so we leave one of the poorer ones in its place. Usually 4 good sized ones at a time are the most I can manage depending on how far I have to ride with them (and who I am riding at the time!). My favorite thing is to scout around and find the matching pair of a set, especially if they are a little unusual.
I want to finish off my breeder pens and move my Barred Rock pair over there so the hens will be ready to go with their own roosters soon. I have 7 + 10 eggs growing in the incubator now, but they will not be purebreds.
R found a fresh brown muley antler yesterday. It was down where they were feeding the heifers. It was just a small 2 point but now the treasure hunt for antlers can begin!
It is a lot more fun than picking up cans for sure, we find most of them while riding but it is quite a feat to carry them home...sometimes we find a better one so we leave one of the poorer ones in its place. Usually 4 good sized ones at a time are the most I can manage depending on how far I have to ride with them (and who I am riding at the time!). My favorite thing is to scout around and find the matching pair of a set, especially if they are a little unusual.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
8/9 aint bad!
OK I candled the 9 eggs last night and they are all viable except for 1 bantam egg so surprise, surprise, that big guy must be getting something done after all! He doesn't have a whole lot of style but I guess it still works!
So now (depending on the idiosyncrasies of this incubator) I may have some chicks to look after end of the month...I do have a Dominique hen who is broody so maybe I can talk her into the job!
So now (depending on the idiosyncrasies of this incubator) I may have some chicks to look after end of the month...I do have a Dominique hen who is broody so maybe I can talk her into the job!
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
couldn't wait....
I know, I know, I was going to wait until March 1 but I was dusting off an old incubator wondering whether to sell it or not, got it up to temp and thought why not? So I threw in 9 random eggs from the henhouse...they could be sired by a Barred Rock rooster, one of 2 Old English Game roos or a bantam Rhode Island Red rooster and the hens....could be any of 6 breeds!
I was just going to see if it worked or not and here I am , it's day one. Figures that we already had a power outage this morning but oh well it is early days yet so time will tell!
I was just going to see if it worked or not and here I am , it's day one. Figures that we already had a power outage this morning but oh well it is early days yet so time will tell!
Friday, February 3, 2012
about walking..
It has been wonderfully warm and the ground is mostly open with some small hummocks of ice in patches. A couple of friends were telling me about their new treadmills and elliptical machines that they have. One friend works out on her elliptical for an hour every evening and is pleased because she has lost 17lb since October. My neighbour was worried about his risk of having a heart attack when he will have to drag calves around at calving time this Spring. After walking 5 km every day on his bowflex treadmill he said his exercising heartrate rarely goes over 125 now, apparently at first it was up to 135 beats per minute. I believe that exercise of any kind is good for the mind and body but I think walking outside every day is good for the spirit as well!
I love walking outside and this has been a great winter for it. It does help to have company though. Whenever I suggest a walk to the dogs they jump around so eagerly, wagging their tails and then their whole bodies until they are wriggling with pure joy. Even if I am feeling ambivalent about a walk and especially when I don't feel like going that day, just knowing they are waiting outside and expecting me is the motivation I need.
It also helps to have a wonderful place to walk in which I think I do: No traffic and exhaust, no hard pavement or other people in sight. Just creeping juniper and native grass poking up through the sandy soil and an open view in every direction... I like to walk a different way every day, I don't have a plan in mind, just start walking and go wherever my fancy takes me. If it is really windy I try to walk into the wind on the way out, learned this the hard way in really cold weather, I walked too far away from the wind and had a terrible time keeping my face from freezing on the way back.
One thing I really like out here is there are very few worries about large predators. Where we lived in B.C. it would have been smart to pack a rifle at certain times of the year as bear and cougars were common.
I usually try to cover an outer circle all around our home place every week, I think it may help to keep the coyotes and foxes away from discovering our free ranging poultry as the dogs mark their territory all around as we walk.
Today we saw several mule deer, I haven't been seeing many deer lately. The sun is out and there was lots of frost on the grass, it was down to -10 last night.
I seperated the silkies into their own pen under the nest boxes so their eggs will be pure for setting. I am getting kind of anxious to start hatching but the plan is to wait until March 1 to get the incubators out.
I have been looking through a couple seed catalogs, found a couple that sell only open pollinated, heirloom varieties so I can save the seed. I planted some last year and it was fun to share the seeds with other people like this really meaty pumpkin, a very old variety from France.
I love walking outside and this has been a great winter for it. It does help to have company though. Whenever I suggest a walk to the dogs they jump around so eagerly, wagging their tails and then their whole bodies until they are wriggling with pure joy. Even if I am feeling ambivalent about a walk and especially when I don't feel like going that day, just knowing they are waiting outside and expecting me is the motivation I need.
It also helps to have a wonderful place to walk in which I think I do: No traffic and exhaust, no hard pavement or other people in sight. Just creeping juniper and native grass poking up through the sandy soil and an open view in every direction... I like to walk a different way every day, I don't have a plan in mind, just start walking and go wherever my fancy takes me. If it is really windy I try to walk into the wind on the way out, learned this the hard way in really cold weather, I walked too far away from the wind and had a terrible time keeping my face from freezing on the way back.
One thing I really like out here is there are very few worries about large predators. Where we lived in B.C. it would have been smart to pack a rifle at certain times of the year as bear and cougars were common.
I usually try to cover an outer circle all around our home place every week, I think it may help to keep the coyotes and foxes away from discovering our free ranging poultry as the dogs mark their territory all around as we walk.
Today we saw several mule deer, I haven't been seeing many deer lately. The sun is out and there was lots of frost on the grass, it was down to -10 last night.
I seperated the silkies into their own pen under the nest boxes so their eggs will be pure for setting. I am getting kind of anxious to start hatching but the plan is to wait until March 1 to get the incubators out.
I have been looking through a couple seed catalogs, found a couple that sell only open pollinated, heirloom varieties so I can save the seed. I planted some last year and it was fun to share the seeds with other people like this really meaty pumpkin, a very old variety from France.
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