The rooster farm

Preserving

2005-09-13T06:37:00.000-04:00

That is what I have been doing. Picking arm loads of tomatoes and finding ways to eat them in the future. I have made two tomato sauces fro the freezer - one with only yellow tomatoes. I also made a green tomato chutney with apples, onions, green peppers, vinegar and lots of sugar. Hours and hours of cutting and stirring and I started to wonder if it was all worth it. But the taste, the taste. It is simply not true that you can buy something off the shelf that tastes the same. I have put up two kinds of pickled beets. My cupboard is starting to look full, my freezer still has space. My plants still are full of tomatoes. Must find a new and interesting recipe. I still have two zucinnis on the vine so I think I will make zucinni marmelade. I found a neat recipe.

I met with the insurance adjuster at Maria Street yesterday. What a mess. He is going to send a building inspector and a contractor to analyse and give an estimate. I think he wants to know if part of the problem is old; that the toilet was leaking for a long time before it let go. If that is the case it is partly our problem for not having fixed it before it failed. I wish Warren had met with him. He knows so much more and could have answered questions better than I did. We will see what happens.

We have been cutting trees and throwing them in for the goats. Lennie has developped his own way of stripping the leaves. He starts near the stem, clamps down and moves toward the branch tip, leaving a bare branch behind him. Yesterday we cleared just inside the field. Took down four trees, all birch. We will leave any healthy maple and clear out 90% of the birch by next spring. The field will be cleaner, clearer, with less flies and mosquitos by next summer.

My chickens are caged until harvest is over. I cleaned the pen and added a wheelbarrel of sand the other day. Oscar the pig has a blanket that he wraps up in every night. I wonder if the guinea pigs would do the same if given the chance? When the harvest is done I am going to try letting Oscar loose. Bill & Ethels pigs run loose and they say that the pigs stay within a reasonable territory. They get along peacably with stray cats, chickens, ducks, etc...

Last couple of weeks

2005-09-10T08:05:00.000-04:00

I spent two days with Eowyn and Pierce. We moved the goldfish across the street to our neighbours large pool for the winter: splashing in our goldfish pond, catching goldfish with a butterfly net, carrying the heavy bucket across the street, catching goldfish in one's hands and letting them go. We also moved the guinea pigs out to the new rabbit hutch that I bought. Eowyn held them while I clipped their toe nails and Pierce carried them out to the hutch. We sampled everything from the garden and picked fresh vegetables for supper. The first night we cooked saurkraut and pork loin in the slow cooker. Because we substituted green apple pop for the water called for in the recipe, the kids were keen to try it. Served with perogis and sour cream it was a great supper. The second day we prepared a layered meal in the slow cooker: tomatoes, onions, hamburger, cheese, and eggplant. For the sauce we used the food processor: 1 zuccini, onion, tomato, and 1 halipeno pepper. After a day of exploring Upper Canada Village it filled the bill. They were pleasant, cheerful, a joy to be around; two very happy days for all three of us.

Monday of Labour Day weekend found WB working and Heather and I cutting goat toe nails with Bill and Ethel. We worked hard and enjoyed it immensly. I resisted bringing home any more goats. On arriving home we had a call from Francine, our neighbour in Montreal. There was a big problem with Maria Street! The toilet on the second floor had leaked, the ceiling on the first floor and the floor are ruined, the water continued through to the basement, pulling the ceiling down there too. With the help of Francine and Howie we did some clean up, installed two dehumidifiers, and drank some wine. What a day: five hours driving, six hours physical labour wrestling goats, two hours carrying wet plaster and mopping.

Wednesday and Thursday I started harvesting and preserving some of the garden. I made tomato sauce with forty tomatoes and lots of other good things. I made a pickled beets and onions recipe that I can't wait to taste. Heather and I went to the War Museum in Ottawa. I worked Tuesday and Friday. Quite a full week.

Both Heather and WB are working this weekend. There is a raft of things that I want to do. Must get started and above all I must avoid iwin.com.

P.S. The new baby goats name is Ramble.

Having fun with the animals

2005-08-20T11:20:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I spent a quiet day at home. I did my regular dishwasher filling and two clothes washes which I dried in the dryer because it was cool out. I cleaned all the food bowls and fed everyone with extra treats all round. I had bought two 50 lb. bags of carrots on Tuesday in Lachute - the goats and horse got about 20 lbs. mixed with their hay. I had also bought cheap corn in bulk and everyone got one or two cobs, from chickens to horse. I cleaned out the guinea pigs cages. I need a holster for my spray disinfectant soap and companion sponge. A clamp on the other side for the hose would leave my hands free for the food bowls.

As I word I daydream about the utility room that I want to have in my barn (when I finally get a barn). I want:

Concrete floor
Hot and cold water
Deep and shallow sinks, side by side, with waterproof counter on either side
Fridge (for medicine and perishable foods), washer & dryer (horse blankets, etc...), dishwasher (for chicken food dishes, etc...)
Cupboards and storage for tools, feeders, etc..
A work bench for fixing things
A sound system so that I can hum along as I work.

I am using the bedding from the guinea pigs, as well as used bedding from the animal shed, to fill hollow spots in the acre that the goats and horse live in. When I took the wheelbarrow in they all had to check out if I was bringing in food. When I dump the bedding Lena always has a good roll in it. Mr. Tumnus loves the wheelbarrow. He jumps in. I move it an inch or two. He jumps out. If I don't make off with it he jumps back in. We played this game for ten minutes or so. Noah knew we were playing. He did not want to jump into the wheelbarrow, but each time that Mr. T did, Noah did a bounce, bounce, bounce run ending off in a high twisting leap. He has really filled out, his horns are growing, he looks magnificant.

I put a 1/2 bag of bedding in the corral for Oscar. It was the second time that I gave him wood shaving for bedding. The first time he approached slowly and checked it out. This time he surprised me. He ran at the pile and threw himself into it and rolled. He did this over and over with his little tail turning round and round like a wind up handle.

About eleven at night a storm blew in. We brought the animals into the shed for the first time in a month. I leave them out if it drizzles all day, but Lennie does not like lightening and thunder, and the goats hate being soaked. They crossed the yard and went right to their places as though they had been coming in every night. The first drops started as we left the field, and by the time we had them settled it was coming down in buckets. Only WB and I got really wet.

Tomatoes and eggplant are ripe. Cucumbers and squash are ripe. I don't like the type of turnip I grew. I mowed part of my lawn and took care of things yesterday. Life is good.

Burning my ass

2005-08-19T10:53:00.000-04:00

Hot coffee on a car seat as I turned out of the Tim Horton's parking lot - that is what burned my ass. An emergency when you are driving is like nothing else; you know you have to keep driving. I stopped on the edge of the road but I could not get out of the car immediately because there were ten bicyclists about to pass me. Luckily I was wearing a cotton dress and while that spread the wetness and cooled it off more quickly. I returned to the store and put cold water on the part of the burn which hurt the worst. I then decided that it was not so bad and that I should continue into Montreal. Ten kilometers later I realized that I was speeding and not paying attention to the traffic. I was in shock. I returned home, driving more slowly and carefully. Kriste and Steve were visiting and Heather was off work. They took care of me: cold compress, antibiotic spray, bacon and tomatoe sandwich, chips and chipdip, application of aloe every hour, advil for pain and a bottle of vodka for the evening. The skin bubbled up and I kept asking others to look at it. Three days later I have a swatch about 1/2" long and 2"-3" long in the crease where my ass joins my leg. It does not hurt all that much, but the feeling of shock and readiness to overreact are slow to subside.

I stopped at the Tim Hortons yesterday to let someone know what had happened. I wanted to make sure that, if someone asked for a cardboard tray as a replacement for the cup holder that their care did not have (as I had), the staff could tell them that it was not a good substitute - not stable and not safe. It was hard even to enter that store, talk about instant conditioning. The staff was not concerned. No one even wanted to talk to me. So later I wrote an email to customer service at corporate headquarters. I asked about training of employees and accident reports. It seems to me that if they want to take advantage of brand recognition and the smearing of a good reputation among the various franchises that they have to keep track of product safety. They cannot improve the safety of a product and help customers avoid accidents if they don't keep track of how frequent they are and how they occur.

For the record: hot coffee and driving do not mix. I will not go back to that particular Tim Hortons, but I will still frequent the one on Main Street in Hawkesbury. Some stores are cleaner than others, some have more competant, caring staff. I will walk out of any store that pays more attention to the drive through clients than to the clients who enter the store.

Quiet birthday

2005-08-13T08:40:00.000-04:00

I enjoyed my birthday by quietly doing the things that I love best. I had picked up my birthday "Slow Cooking Crock Pot" the day before. I had painted and re-finished my bedroom with Heather's help to match the sheets and bedspread that were Heather's gifts to me for my birthday. So on Thursday, I fed the animals, did some washes, mowed my lawn. When the mower spurtered to a stop I filled the gas tank and restarted it. Picked up Heather, letting her drive home. We took the dogs for a swim on the way home. Warren arrived with some googly eyed salt and pepper shakers for me. He took me out to the local tavern for the Thursday night spaghetti supper and some beer. I slept well and woke up in my bright sunny room for more of the same.

Tonight we are going to Morrisburg to help Bill Britton celebrate his 60th birthday. On our way we will pay a visit to Upper Canada Village and walk around together. There are many parts of it that WB has not yet seen. WB and Heather are both working on Saturday, so I am not sure what I will do.

Must get on the search for hay in quantity. Bill was kind enough to sell and deliver a large square bale of hay, but I would like to get ten round bales delivered and find a supply of small bales that I can go and get five-ten at a time. The round bales I can roll into the field and it helps keep the animals from getting too bored. I also need to get a shelter built before winter comes. I must move Oscar's pig pen into the larger field so that he and Lennie have a chance to get used to each other safely. Lisa, Lena, and Mr. Tumnus have very poor coats this summer. I will not get any wool from them. Noah, on the other hand is majestic, covered with long silky locks. His personality is changing too, he is getting pushier and more sure of himself as time goes on. He is quiet enough and so used to being patted that I can rub the sleep from his eyes, but if I am struggling with the bag of hay I have to watch him and be ready to shout and push him away. My hens are finally laying eggs again after the shock of having their pen moved. My fishpond is clear and there are two frogs among the golden fish. The grubs that ate holes in my cabbage have produced the prettiest white butterflys. My eggplant plants are 3" high with surreal light purple flowers and deep purple fruits.

Ceiling orange, walls green, & floor red

2005-08-09T07:30:00.000-04:00

These are the colours in my bedroom now. After two & a half days of work by Heather and myself the bed is back in. My new bedspread of yellow, orange, tan, beige, red, and burgandy stripes (horizontal broken patchwork) stripes with matching pillow cases, my deep pumpkin sheets and pillow cases, and my umber accent pillow cases are all in place. It looks wonderful. Heather gave me the bed set for my birthday. The powder blue walls, wood ceiling, and red oriental carpet did not set it off well. Heather choose the colours to match. We emptied the room. We plastered all the holes and the gaps between the wooden siding on the walls. It now looks like a finished wall with texture, rather than a bunch of loosely nailed on piecies of wood. It is no longer obvious that the ceiling is wood paneling.

The orange of the ceiling is slightly yellower than caramel. The walls are a yellowy apple green, very bright. The floor is slightly darker than a deep 1940's lipstick colour. The wooden airplane propellor is, so far, the only touch of wood in the room. This is restful as the rest of the house is a wood panel and ripped linoleum palace. Oh well, a room with only one piece of furniture in it - that will not last long. But, it is beautiful.

Cleaning up

2005-08-05T17:17:00.000-04:00

I putter all the time and my house is never clean. I have enough "stuff" for two or three houses. Things lie in piles. The two dogs and the cat shed. My housemates are alergic to housework most of the time. Heather cleans only if she is alone with her music blaring. She does a great job on the bathroom - cleans it until it sparkles. But, she leaves everything she took out of the bathroom in piles in the hall. Warren's method of cleaning is to pack all the piles in boxes and put them out of sight. Of course, the things he needs are not really part of the pile, just everyone else's things. I tend to pick an area, clear and clean it and put half the stuff back. If only I could throw out or get rid of the stuff I don't want to display things would be cleaner. There are several things I do on a daily basis: dishes, washing clothes (usually), feeding animals, cleaning the filters on my fish tank and on the pump in the goldfish pond. I cut the grass on a regular basis, I tend my garden. I buy food for all the inhabitants, human and animal. I take care of my car. I pay bills. I am a good girl. The house should be cleaner, for me and for all of us. I will try harder and be bitchier to get the others off their asses. Wish me luck.

Upper Canada Village

2005-08-01T08:19:00.000-04:00

Warren is working at the village. Most of my family have season passes to the village. Heather and I went yesterday. Because we have passes there is no pressure to see everything. Yesterdays highlights were:

The various gardens and one lovely young agricultural student working in one of them. I learned more from her in ten minutes than I have in the last week. It is nice to have someone to ask questions of when things are starting to get a bit puzzling.
The nine baby pigs running rampant while their mother lolled about and the older sows who get progressively more hairy as they get older (looks like a bad wig, but who would wear a wig on their ears).
The quilting ladies who encouraged Heather to try a new craft.
Actually getting to see the cheese making in progress (it has been too hot to keep a fire going before now).
A new colt, some new calves, a new bull in the field. There was a cow daintily bellowing "chase me, chase me" as she trotted short distances and waited for him. As he came up to the fence he was more interested in the people than in her. Heather asked about the ring in his nose and a gentleman explained. Heather tried to pat the bull on the forehead, but as he was nervous and she was nervous, they both pulled away at the last minute.
I found two craft books and a book on living on the land at the general store.

Later we went to the Morrisburg flea market (found more books), went to visit Bill and Ethel (but they were not home), explored the Chrysler beach (swim at your own risk due to bacteria) without swimming, met WB at the village, ate supper at Quinns Inn and came home tired and replete. Another good day.

Mowers & ineptitude

2005-07-30T07:45:00.000-04:00

Took me four days to get my lawn mowed. I have both a push mower and a ride on. In our family WB is in charge of everything mechanical, all maintainence and problem shooting. Given our lack of resources, and his determination not to spend a penny more than necessary he gets blamed for all failures and problems. This is what happened:

I started the ride-on mower, but did not realize that the choke had to be pushed in immediately before engaging the gears. I then was not able to start it again and ran down tha battery. I tried to start the push mower, but it did not start. When WB came home from a long day at work we talked about it and as he drove off the next morning I lifted the seat and took out the battery to charge.
I will never more forget that red => positive. I tried phoning Howie, I lurked outside the neighbours houses, but no one was home. I did not want to do it wrong and blow up the battery. I tried the push mower, but still no dice. Late in the afternoon, I tried it again, really watching what was happening and discovered that the lever which was supposed to give it more gas was not moving anything. I moved it manually and I got the mower started.
WB came home that night and we put the battery one charger. In the morning, as he drove off into the sunrise, I was planning my attack on the lawn. I thought I was bolting the battery into a threaded hole on the battery. One side tightened down nicely, but the other side seemed to be stripped. Again, hours later, I took a close look and discovered than the side that tightened had a nut sitting under the metal strip that I was turning the bolt through. I then spent hours looking through every tin and jar and nook and cranny that stray nails, bolts, nuts, screws, etc... have been deposited in over the years. Of course nothing fitted. When I picked up Heather I bought two packages of bolts and nuts (apparently my bolt had a fine thread, not standard) and installed the battery when I got home. The mower still did not start and the push mower was now spurtering and dying.
Lack of gas!! I know know where to put in the gas on the ride-on and that even if there appears to be a half tank of gas in the push mower it might still need gas.
Finally the next morning I started my fleet and within a short time I had my yard looking trim and neat.

What have I learned? Looking closer and thinking about the problem is the only solution. Experience and knowledge is only a previous examination brought to fruitation.

Chicken pen

2005-07-28T07:12:00.000-04:00

We spent hours yesterday joining three 8ft skids and adding a fourth wall with a door. We lined the whole thing with chicken wire and Warren built a little roosting house for them. In the afternnon we filled the pen with a rabbit and three guinea pigs. The rabbit loved it. It is not safe for the rodents long term as they could burrow out of it. After the chickens roosted in the shed at dusk we carried them to their new pen. It is 7:19 a.m. and everyone has escaped except "Ugly" (my injured meat hen who is too heavy to lift herself very high). So out with the rabbit and pigs again, and I will try again tonight.

How should I discourage them from getting out? If I cover the top with chicken wire I will have to stoop all the time I am in the pen. I think I will try cords across the top that won't hold their weight if they land on them and keep the chickens from reaching the walls.

My cabbages, which only yesterday seemed so pristine, have lots of holes right into the ball if the cabbage and not just in the outer leaves. My turnip leaves have lots of holes, but I have been ignoring this because I don't want to eat turnip leaves. In a perfect world the chickens would eat the pests, leave the parts I want to eat, and not have to be penned.

Back again

2005-07-25T07:50:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted here for so long. Lots going on. I have a garden for the first time in twenty years. I got interested in doing something about the soil in my yard, and in doing something with the mountain of manure and bedding from the animals this winter. Our neighbour resurected three broken rototillers from the dump and Warren transposed them into one which works for an hour if one tenderly spends three hours rebuilding it for each outing. Still, three hours of machining and one hour of tilling equals eight hours of digging. Twentyfive wheel barrels and five hours of tilling:

Cut a square out of the sod, remove birch roots heading into this square.
Till lengthwise and across too a depth of six inches.
Add loads and loads of mixed manure and wood shavings and old hay. Till this into the mix.
Dig trenches and raise the growing rows with the dirt dug out. Because the clay is so close to the surface (just under the sand) this will give the plants a greater depth of soil to grow in. We don't know it yet, but when the rains pour down and the clay will not absorb it, this will save the vegetables from drowning.
Plant a rows of carrots, beans, peas and turnips with the grandchildren. They are all too close together but it was a great afternoon.
Buy fledgling plants from Canadian Tire: tomatoes, cucumbers, zuccini, cabbage, eggplant, frizzy red lettuce. Plant the tomatoes facing south around the house, the zuccini and cucumbers in "hills" beside the garden plot. The rest just fits in the last row and on the ends of other rows.
Add mint, thyme, fennel, corriander, chives and parsley between and around.
Discover freebees popping up from the compost (rotting vegetables) that were added to the manure pile. I have a squash plant (pumpkin, cantelope, squash ???) the size of my former backyard in the city beside the animal shed.
Just short of two months later I have eaten: peas, beans, many cucumbers, zuccinis, and turnips from my garden. The first grape tomato has just started turning red. The tomato plants are five feet high and full of tomatoes.
The garden is thriving, and beside it the clay/sand mixture still supports only moss.

Have to get ready for work in the city now.

Two roosters moved next door

2005-04-29T06:51:00.000-04:00

My poor hens were being plucked clean. With three roosters the competition was fierce. The two young roosters that I raised are huge and heavy. I had to find a way to give those poor hens a break. My neighbor has two cages that his peacocks used to live in, and that is where my roosters now live. I put them both in one at the beginning, but one ended up facing the corner in the nesting box and not moving. I am going to have to come to terms with my inability to kill and eat my farm animals. We are either going to go with Raymond and trade the roosters for new chicks, or take them to a company that charges to turn them into freezer fodder (deliver live bird, rabbit, etc.. and return an hour later to pick up brown paper package).

The good new is that the hens are calmer, and starting to heal - new feathers like fuzz on the red chapped skin.

Perfect weekend

2005-04-10T17:43:00.000-04:00

The weather has been beautiful. On Friday night I saw three sheep who had just been sheared. Their pelt was short and choppy. On Saturday I started out combing Lena. (Lisa blew out her coat about three weeks ago.) No wool was coming out, so I went in the house for scissors and a plastic bag. She loved it. She stood still and let me cut the wool off. She rubbed against me and licked me as I cut away. Next I did Mr. Tumnus. He came over to see what was happening and leaned against me and fell asleep as I clipped away. They look smaller and nicer than when the wool lets go by itself.

Noah was a different matter. We cut some yesterday and some today. Warren held him and I clipped. His wool is more matted, heavier and greasier. Hopefully by the next shearing time he will be content to stand there and let me cut away. They obviously feel a lot better when it is gone, less itchy. If I brush him often between now and then he will be used to being handled and his wool will be cleaner and easier to lift and cut.

I love Lena's personality. She is my escape artist. She jumped out of the new corral on the first day she was in there. I put her back immediately. With the melting of the snow there is a big puddle where the gate opens. Goats do not like to go through water. The other three plowed through, but she went to a dry area and jumped over the fence. Today we put a piece of plywood over the puddle by the gate opening. She laid down and had a sleep on it. When I open the shed in the morning sometimes she is over on Lennie's side, sometimes up on the chicken shelf. She is always the first out of the shed and the last back in. She is friendly and affectionate.

Lennie is still a bother. He is much more friendly, but is still untrustworthy. He bit Warren hard the other day and neither one of us understands why. When he is afraid he bulls through with no regard for people. That makes him dangerous. You have to always be watching him, always ready for him to make a move. This morning an irrigation ditch (6" wide by 6" deep) was so frightening that he had to jump over. So we walked over it about twenty times until it was boring and ho-hum; and we repeated the exercise again this evening. As long as the spring thaw continues we will be OK, but heavy rains in the summer or in the fall will mean that we have to be cautious and repeat the exercise. Lately I have been thinking that if I have to do so much training that I might as well try a colt.

Oh, and I also sheared George. He sat outside the goat pen and wined for his turn so I thought why not. He is all patchy, and in some places his skin shows. But I think he is more comfortable and I will try to keep him cut back all summer. He sure enjoys the attention, and there will be a lot less dog hair on the floor.

While we were out with the animals we left the patio door open. (There is no screen on it because George went through it last summer.) We entered by the front door to see a chicken standing just inside the patio door. Have to be careful about that one.

25 years ago .....

2005-04-01T06:15:00.000-05:00

1/4 of a century - that is how long Warren and I have been together. For about 15 years I loved him more and more as time went on. About ten years ago I hit a wall. He is a fine man, a gentle, kind man. I know him too well. We fit each other too well. When I want change (as I often do) he is an anchor. The drama of whether we will make it through another 25 is too much for me.

For the last two days we have been working outside. Warren picked up 10 8-foot skids from Kim's warehouse. We made a corral at the back of the yard. The goats are enclosed, but loose. They love it. I put the little train table in and they take turns standing on it. I climbed Paul's tree and took down the garbage can lid (swing made by the kids) that has been hanging there forever. I jumped down the last 5 feet, had a sudden reminder that the earth is still frozen with a skim of loose snow and water over. After I changed my wet pants i hung it up for the goats to play with. I have been sitting on the table myself - patting and combing goats. Noah will not yet come to me for a pat. We cut the wool off his head and neck yesterday, and later in the day I caught him and held him down for a good scratch behind the ears. He has such a nice character, not so much fearful as cautious. He will touch noses with Lennie or George over a fence, but run away if there is no fence.

Lennie went to roll in his favorite spot yesterday. There was a freezing lake just under the snow. He got up quickly and ran off bucking, his back legs were straight up and out at times. He kept is up for about five minutes, he was so shocked and angry. Later in the day I took him out and brushed him. I was talking with Warren and our neighbour Raymond when I noticed that he had pulled loose from where I tied him. He mosied on back to his hay bale in the field and I had to go get him. When Richard, the blacksmith came to remove his winter shoes I was not prepared for what I found in the field. We had a sudden meltdown yeaterday afternoon. The snow that was disappearing suddenly had nowhere to go. Lakes and rivers were springing up everywhere. Lennie's field was now six inches deep in water between our yard and the rise with his hay on it.

A sea of mud surrounds the house and the road in is unstable. Walking past Roger's the road is cracked and gives as you walk along with bubbles coming up a foot away. Next year I will pay more attention to cleaning around the door to the animal shed - rotting wet hay and manure frozen in with eash snowfall is not fun in the spring. Also, we bought a second hand snowblower from Alex and Susie. It turns out that the dogs do not like to wander into the deep snow to do their business. As spring approaches the compacted paths are the only way to move through the ward. Clearing the paths will ensure that the dog pooh is blown into the field with the snow.

But a robin just peeked in at my patio door and the drainage around the back of the house seems to be working well. I can stand on dry land to hang up my washing. The goats are happy in their corral, and Lennie in his field. Pierce and Eowyn seem happy here. They eat their supper with gusto, are full of stories. They take a bath every night and Eowyn reads Peter Rabbit to Pierce every night. We need to find a compromise for the need to sit quietly when they come home from school and the need to be rowdy after supper. The forecast is for rain for the next couple of days. I think I will pay some (much needed) attention to the inside of my home.

6:00 a.m.

2005-03-29T06:11:00.000-05:00

It is a gray morning, but above freezing. Pudge and George just came back in and Spider is out for the day. I am eating my yougurt and drinking orange juice, as I do every morning. Sometimes I think I should not be such a creature of habit, but the combination is such a healthy start to the day compared to the alternatives that I always come back to it. It is hard, hard work to develop new habits. First one has to decide what new habits one wants to acquire. Taking care of the animals is one that obviously has a hold on me.

To answer Laure's question: Noah is a white Angora goat who carries the genes for colour. He is a couple years younger than Lisa and Lena. He is no relation to them, we checked. All day yesterday we left all four goats loose in the shed and left the little chicken door open. Every time he was outside George sat with his head inside the shed (throught the chicken door). Noah threatened to butt him several times, but backed off because George doesn't flinch. When Pudge takes a look to see what all the excitement is he growls at the goats to get out of his way and gets bored because there are only goats and chickens in there - same as always. Last night we moved all four goats to the small side of the shed and brought in Lennie. Another first for Noah. This morning I will feed them outside with Lena and Noah clipped on the clothes line.

Things I want to do with my animals:

Get my chickens into individual cages for a couple of weeks, find out who is laying, feed them individually and let their feathers grow back.
Get rid of two roosters.
Build a small pen for the goats, with electric fence that is easily moveable and independent from Mr Beauchamp (the farmer who lets me use one of his acres).
Clean up the yard: burn the burnables, pick up the dog pooh, move some of the manure pile into the low part of the field, plant grass seed, etc...
Build hutches outside for the rabbit and Guinea pigs.

We all need more sunshine, more fresh air, more greenery.

P.S. The geese have made it as far back as Morrisburg. They should be here soon. For some strange reason I have been waiting for the geese to come back, longing for the geese to come back as if they will bring some major change with them.

Bringing home Noah

2005-03-28T08:44:00.000-05:00

Noah is a loaner, an angora buck to impregnate my does. Yesterday Kriste, Heather, and I went to the flea market at Morrisburg and then visited Bill and Ethel. For those who do not know, Bill and Ethel are the wonderful couple who sold me Lisa and Lena. They have about 140 goats, llamas, sheeep, pot-bellied pigs, and lots of cats. I got all gooey, dewy eyed over the baby goats. I think of Mr. Tumnus as a baby, but he is huge in comparison. So we got to talking, Ethel and I. We came up with a plan. Last year when I asked about the possibility of borrowing a buck, they were not keen. They had done that in the past with bad results. But I guess they believe me that my guys came through the winter with flying colours.

So Lennie spent his first night in the field since the fall. Heather sat on plastic in the back seat of my K-car with a goat on her lap. Half way home she discovered that she should have been under the plastic. Each of them were tied up last night in different parts of the shed. This morning I let the loose. Mt. T. is amazed. he had not guessed that other goats existed. He is unafraid and very, very curious. Lena is shy. She may be in heat. She is the only one that Noah sniffs the backend. She runs away. Lisa waits for her chances. She is agressive. Every time Noah is vunerable she butts him. I am glad to see that he has challenged her a couple of times. Noah looks astonished. For the first time in his life he is a male alone with females (Mr. Tumnus is an it). If I appear at the shed half-door my girls come for pats and solace. Noah looks on wondering why a goat would choose to run up to a person. He will learn. Later today I am going out with my brushes to pester each of them.

I am keeping them in the shed for the next couple of days, loose when I am home and tied if I have to go out. I can't wait for the electric fence to be up an running this spring. for next winter I need a small enclosure with access to their shelter so that they do not have to be tied up. With any luck I should have two-four more goats to take care of.

Thank you Bill and Ethel.

Lennie

2005-03-24T07:10:00.000-05:00

I finally made a breakthrough with Lennie. Last August I moved him to the cottage. I rode a bit into the fall. In general, he became a lot more gentle and tractable. I found Sylvia to give me lessons in how to work with my horse. My car died; my money dried up. I stopped taking lessons. Over the winter, Lennie was walked to the field in the morning and back at night each day except for the 3-4 coldest days of the year. He was brushed from time to time. Every morning he gets his special mixture - oil, lin seed, apple, carrots, molasses, oats, and mixed cracked grains.

Last week Warren & I started walking Lennie, Pudge, & George down the road in the morning. We asked him to go forward calmly and only as quickly as we were (amid excited, barking dogs) and to back up from time to time. He resisted backing up. Warren likes to hold on to the halter and not use a lead rope. If the horse does not move in the desired direction he pushes or pulls. This works, for him only. I discovered yesterday that he responds well to hand signals. I had been poking him in the chest and applying pressure on the lead rope when he did not move or moved only slowly. For both Warren and I he was showing a lot of resistance - head up, ears back, setting his legs and having to be pushed to get moving, moving sideways and every which way but back.

Yesterday morning I tried moving my finger in a pointing motion (like saying naughty, naughty), and actually poking him in the chest if he did not move. Last night it clicked. Not only did he move freely backwards with no pressure on the lead, but his ears were forward, his head tucked down, and he was paying attention to me. I can't wait to try again this morning.

Two days ago we put the saddle on him for the first time since the fall. We walked him down to the corner and back with Pierce on his back. I am hoping to be riding by the end of the Easter weekend. I hate to ride alone. I like to have someone to chatter to as we ride along, even with safety issues aside. Warren has asked his brother to find out if Cole ( a quarter horse that Warren met and liked) is still available.

Warren says that Lennie is a dud and in many ways he is right - ill trained, ill socialized, headstrong. But there was something I liked about him when I met him and I hate to give up. I know that his future would be iffy if I sold him and I would get much less money for him than I paid for him. Given the fact that my money seems to disappear I am afraid that I would end up horseless it I did not buy another horse immediately. Even if I bought another horse to replace him I would still have to ride alone. No, I think I will keep working on him. Even if he remains a field ornament for most of his life I want him to be my ornament in my field.

Snowball & Moonie

2005-03-23T06:56:00.000-05:00

To: Eowyn & Pierce

My name is Jenna, I am 9 years old. I am giving you my Guinea pigs. The one with the grey patch is named snowball, she is a girl. The one with the black patch is named moonie, short for moonlight. You can name them different names if you want. But that's just what I call them. The reason I'm giving them to you is because first I have a new baby sister second is that I have 3 guinea pigs! The other Guinea pig is a boy that's brown and white I'm keeping him. His name is caramel. The pet shop I got them at said Snowball and Caramel are both boys but Showball was actually a girl so they had Moonie!! I hope you enjoy them and maybe we could mail each other once and a while.

From, Jenna courage

P.S. Sally Coghlin is my grandmother.

This is the lovely letter from Jenna that came with Snowball and Moonie. Snowball has short hair and a grey patch around her left eye. Moonie has long hair with a larger, darker patch around her left eye. They made a quiet trip out to the cottage and had just been brought in when Eowyn arrived home on the bus. I clipped their nails and then Eowyn held Moonie and Pierce held Snowball. They sang them little songs to make them feel good. They held them again just before supper, and I held Crumpet (Heather's rabbit) and we talked. After their baths it was too late, already bedtime. Taking the pigs out of their cage has to be done carefully because Pudge has to be tied up or outside. He gets very excited about rodents and will hurt them if they fall on the floor.

It is easy for us to take care of Guinea pigs and rabbits here. We buy 10-12 bags of wood chips for animal bedding one a month. This is shared between Lennie (horse), Lena, Lisa, and Mr. Tumnus (3 goats), various chickens, Crumpet, and the pigs. If we want to clean the cage we put the pigs in a box, empty the bottom of the cage on the manure pile, hose it out, put in a layer of wood chips, pull some hay off the round bail, and bring it back into the house. Morning watering goes from 20 liter buckets in the field to cleaning the goldfish filter. Food scraps are shared according to species. Eowyn and Pierce have been great at helping me clean the animal shed and looking for eggs. Only the cat is not interested in scraps, but she mangles and mushes cucumbers if you leave them on the counter.

Eowyn and Pierce have been great at helping me clean the animal shed and looking for eggs. Eowyn says that farms are lots of fun for kids but when you grow up they are just a lot of work. Luckily I never grew up.

Grandchildren - day 1

2005-03-22T06:55:00.000-05:00

Warren picked them up from school because the bus is not yet set up to bring them here. They played at the sand pit (luckily still snow pit and not yet mud pit). They were watching TV when I got home. I asked about homework and Eowyn said her homework was to spell three letter words. We did that for a while, but Pierce was better at it than Eowyn so she didn't want to play. I had them peel apples for desert and Eowyn peeled them all (and ate all the peels as she went along). Pierce tried, said it hut his hand, and ate an apple instead. They ate their suppers with less arguements than I had thought would be forth coming (pork roast & spaghetti squash). Eowyn ate the minimum, and Pierce had seconds. We all ate many, many of the scrumptous, plump olives I had bought. They shared a bath, washed their hair, got ready for bed, brushed their teeth with their new toothbrushes, ate their apple brown betty, brushed their teeth again, and went to bed. They knew they were going home last night, but kept talking about how good the apple mixture would be for breakfast. When their Mom came to get them at 11:00 p.m. they struggled awake and went home cheerfully.

Spending time with grandchildren is a privelege. Every adult I can spend time with has their own agenda, even my own children. Children don't present masks, they are just there. Life is too busy and too fragmented to get close to most other people. Children let you close. But for this to happen your children have to let you spend time with your grandchildren. I loved it when Paul and Leia lived with me. I missed them dreadfully when their Mom moved on to bigger and better things. (I missed her too.) For the next three months I will have a chance to get share the things I love with Eowyn and Pierce.

Blues on Tues

2005-03-16T06:11:00.000-05:00

I almost didn't go.

On he third Tuesday of each month the Granary Allstar Blues Band plays at the St Eugene tavern. This band plays for themselves. They are there for the fun of it. the music rocks, slides into jazz, gets lost a little, slides back into sync and moves on. About three months ago the band broke in two - and now we have one lead singer, one bass, drums, keyboard and a new addition - the horn. It has taken a couple of months for the horn to feel at home, but last night you would have thought that he never lived anywhere else.

It is impossible to sit still when the band plays. While most of the audience are almost old (like me), and many of them haven't danced in years (like me), a surprising number do get up and the dance floor is almost always full. Only on the soft, slow songs can you see the band from a sitting position. I dance mostly with my friend Mary Margaret. I started off slowly last night as I still am not feeling all that well. But I really enjoyed myself, danced a lot and came home happy.

Bangs

2005-03-08T14:23:00.000-05:00

The problem with bangs is that you can't easily get rid of them. They need constant adjustment or you have hair in your eyes. You can't tuck them behind your ears. They take forever to grow out. If you get tired of bangs your only choice is to cut your hair short.

Hoffman's potion

2005-03-07T13:58:00.000-05:00

I watched the neatest documentary last night. Hoffman discovered LSD. Some bright soul from the NFB thought to interview many of the people involved with scientific study of LSD in Canada and popularizing it world wide. The documentary is interspersed with interviews and film clips from the fifties and sixties. While the visuals and the descriptions do not come close to evoking the LSD experience, some of the off hand remarks are brilliant.

"Alcoholics are full of self-pity and show very little feeling for others."

"People have a tendency to blame others for how they are feeling; only you can know how you are feeling. Only you can make the decisions that will let you feel otherwise."

Anyway, along with better health, I am feeling more determined to own my environment and make it suit me.

Sick and getting better

2005-03-06T20:32:00.000-05:00

I have spent the last two days breathing through my mouth and being prompted by my body to swallow every so often. My throat was so sore and swollen that swallowing was no longer automatic. My sinuses threatened to squeeze my nose off my face. I could not see to read because my eyes were watering constantly. I neglected everything and everyone: friends, family, animals, and plants. Today for the first time I woke up with some energy and did some work. It was a two aspirin day. I feel better now at the end of the day than I did earlier. I am going to ensure that tomorrow is better by having a bubble bath and going to bed early.

Technical problems

2005-03-03T05:57:00.000-05:00

After hours and hours and hours of trying to convince sympatico that the problem was in their system and not in ours they finally sent out a lineman who found a blown fuse down the road. I have been able to get on the net the last four times I tried. Warren warned me that there was a day and a half period where we had no problem. If I disappear again, it is simply that spending hours having telephone technicians telling me to unplug and replug, or buy new equipment, or pass my around to to each other is more amusing. The last straw was saying they were sending out a techician and leaving a supersilious message saying they had tested from central and that if we were still experiencing difficulties call 310-bell. Warren reamed them out: told them that they did not keep their word; that he wanted his grace period where service was free to start over; suggested that we cancel the service because he was tired of wasting his time.

If ever you get caught in this dilemma keep a log of dates, names, employee numbers (they all have them) and promises and suggestions. They don't seem to keep a log, or perhaps their employees can't read.

Anyway, I need to re-establish my habits of using the internet. Think I'll go play Tip Top.

Finally back on the internet

2005-02-12T10:47:00.000-05:00

After two weeks of trying to get Sympatico set up properly, it has worked twice in a row. Having internet was supposed to be my Christmas present. When it finally all came together there was some technical problem with our telephone line and the phone number in Cornwall. Hopefully it will work consistantly in the future. If you don't see me here it will be because of technical problems.

I have the goats out on clothes line in the backyard. With the electric fence turned off they will not stay in the field with the horse. I have strung wire between the trees for Lena and Lisa and left Mr. Tumnus free. They have a christmas tree and the end of a bale of hay for their eating pleasure. They need access to the edge of the bush to be able to brouse, but they quickly become entangled if I don't set up their ropes carefully. They need to be close enough for comfort, but far enough from each other not to get tied together. Still, it is great to see them out in the snow.

Visit with Christine's family

2005-01-11T14:48:00.000-05:00

On Sunday I followed Christines instructions to an "halte routiere" where she and part of her family waited for me. Felix (her brother), Christine and I went off to see his first pony (fat and friendly), his three year-old horse Big Ben (lovely tall friendly beautiful horse) and the stable where he takes lessons every Saturday (Western riening). He will be competing this summer. Back we went to the family farm where I was invited for a meal of chinese fondue - their own beef and veal - salad, vegies, wine, and home made yougurt with honey for desert. Out we went to see the barn - 42 cows being milked, 3-4 babies under a week old, a bunch of older calves in calf huts facing south, and the solar barn with the older calves and heifers.

What a wonderful family they are. The younger daughter will be in Vancover competing as a weight-lifter (185 lbs). Felix has a pony tail and an earring. They all seem free to be themselves, but happy together and helpful to each other. There is a sense of happy ease in their interactions. I came home happy and content.

Why farm roosters?

2005-01-08T15:32:00.000-05:00

My goal is to keep as many of my animals alive through the winter as possible. I know logically that the roosters (at least three of them) should become Sunday dinner or soup. But watching them is so fascinating. Howie, who was king of the roost until September, was attacked by Rocky. For three days they fought with Rocky who is half the size of Howie pinning him down and pecking his head. After the three days Howie stopped crowing. Now he only makes noises like a hen and hangs out with the hens.

The other day I heard happy crowing. Cock-a-doodle-doo, over and over again. I found one rooster and three hens in the part of the shed where I keep animal feed. But I knew from the sounds that the birds were happy and curious.

When it is cold the goats do not go out into the field. I let them loose when I clean up the shed. Mr. T, my half-grown wether chases the hens and roosters. He popcorns around the yard, into the wheelbarrow, up onto the round bales and back down again, chasing them every which way.

These small things please me inordinately. As I sit hear writing a downy woodpecker a rose breasted nuthatch, and many chickadees flit about my feeders. Life is good.

Here I am

2005-01-08T09:27:00.000-05:00

This is my first post to my new blog. I will have to attach my contacts to my daughters and do all sorts of other things. My rooster farm is holding its own through my first winter in the country. I want to take a look at this now.