November 2014

ELLEN
I will probably get a few hens in the spring, just not from the guy in the parking lot. My roosters were supposed to be my new laying hens. All my old hens died and other than a couple of older tiny Cochin hens, I am out of female chickens. The little Cochin rooster really thinks he is hot stuff. He is the only rooster here with any hens. He double dog dares the big red roosters to get near his babes. I am blessed with 4 roosters crowing all day

.I was hoping to just buy three hens, but will probably have to order chicks from a hatchery and have to get 25. They only ship chicks in batches of 25. Hopefully, I will find someone to split the order with. We will be up to our eyes in eggs a few months later if I get an entire shipment!

I tried to give the roosters away, but have gotten attached to them, so will keep them. They are pretty laid back for roosters. According to a breed book I was browsing thru at Tractor Supply, the roosters are a cross between Rhode Island Reds and New Hampshire Reds and are called Red Production chickens. The hens have very large brown eggs.

Speaking of birds, we just got back from seeing the new penguin movie. Very cute! John Malkovich was the voice of the evil octopus villain, Dave.

Eeeeeek!  ELLEN: The short answer is yes, we are buried in snow!
The long one: On Wednesday at 6:20 p.m., I put the finishing touches on two pies to take to dinner on Thursday, popped them in the oven to bake and set the timer while making a mental note to check on them at 7, then bundled up to slog out through a raging snowstorm to the barn to feed the horse. Out there, I'd hardly had time to flick the lights on when all went dark.  VERY dark. And ALL OVER dark: In the barn, in the house, and all up and down the neighborhood.                   And, yikes, it stayed that way until last night at 10:30. Actually, the sun, of course, came up, bright and clear the next morning and the morning after that, but we were without power for two days and four hours.     First thing I did when the power came back was bake those pies!  And sat down at midnight to scarf up two huge slices of both. The outage was so widespread that our Thanksgiving plans were at first postponed and then cancelled, with most of us spending the time struggling to get out from under about a foot of snow that was very wet and very heavy. My woodstove, bless it, kept me warm; my biggest challenge was getting water for the horse. On the first day, I drove, on treacherous roads, to a spot six miles away on the other side of town where water from a mountain spring runs freely through a pipe to the roadside; I came away with 15 gallons in milk jugs. On the second day, I went in another direction to the home of a friend who did have power.  In the past, I'd have thought all that a lark. No more!!!! No lights to read, no TV, no music, no cooking, no running water, no heated bucket, no electric fence, no computer....Boy, did that hot shower feel good this morning!

Hi BEECH………….woooooo.  BRRRRRRRRR.  You answered my question.  I couldn't remember if  you had a working wood stove.  I assumed you do as we all have/had them in NE.  Those storms are something.
Glad you could get watSkiing was cler for your horse.  My friends in RI lost electricity but didn't get the snow………bad sleet and just some flurries.  Hers was Wed night and back on Thur afternoon.  I sure remember those crisp clear cold beautiful days.  I loved to hike on those days as I lived rurally and I felt so good getting in for a hot coffee or tea.  We kept the hot water right on the stove for moisture and for tea.  Skiing was close also so did a lot of that.  On a good day it's great to feel the breath of horses in the morning and listen to them munch…………….I still so love sitting there listening to the munch.  Not many do that, esp in the cold.

Glad you're back……keep writing your adventures.

Beech, I kept hearing about the snow and rain that was moving up the east coast and thought about you. It sure is nice to have an alternate heat source, isn't it. I have my gas fireplace that will keep my house warm in case the power goes out - which is does around here.
I also have a rather large supply of the votive candles that I can light. I've often thought of getting a generator to run my pump and refrigerator and maybe a light or two. Several of my neighbors have them.

Last year, I put out my 'candle' lights that line my yard. But, the winter went on and on and when I finally got a day that was just barely warm enough, I grabbed those lights and put them in the garage without bothering to removed the bulbs and take them apart. Today when I decided this might be the last warm day, I grabbed those lights and started to plant them in the ground. I thought. How they could get so tangled just lying in a plastic tub, I have no idea. What should have been a 10 minute job was nearly an hour and a half. If I ever put them away again without doing it right, just shoot me. (Just for the record, there were no swear words.)

"I said I'm not going to the prom!"

Fortunately, horses have no clue how whacked owners are………………..

I bought him a blanket for simple  exercises, etc………….it does have cold rain here sometimes but right now I had to take it right off as it is too hot for a blanket………….I just wanted his baby pic in his new blankie…………I won't embarrass him this way again…………………

I think certain things are so funny.

It's okay, Eli. You'll grow into it pretty soon.

BEECH:
 Yikes! I am also glad you have a woodstove!  That is all we are using right now since our dear neighbor's truck wiped out our Monitor propane heater.  Thank goodness we have a woodstove, too!  Actually, we really like a woodstove and there have been a few times that it has kept us toasty with no power here or in our former house.  In that one we went a week without power after a 2 foot snowstorm and another week after hurricane Hugo.  We camped out in our house and cooked on the woodstove.  We felt like pioneers .  After the 2 foot snowstorm, we eventually ran out of some groceries and we walked to town with our pony, Zippy, and hung grocery bags all over him to haul home.  I have no clue how people deal with several feet of snow like in Buffalo, NY.  I would be eating roosters.


GRAYMARE:
  Awwwwww, that is so cute!  How did he like having it put on him the first time?  Our donkey won't move a muscle if we put a blanket on him.  He freezes in place until we take it off.  Silly thing will just have to freeze without a blanket.  Our horses all seem to like blankets, although so far this year they haven't had one on.  

If the weather cooperates, we are taking Ivan and Areion to a 2 mile Christmas parade in Radford, VA, next Saturday.  I have their decorations all gathered up.  Today I spent some time with some bells to get Areion  used to some jangly noise.  She didn't like it at first, but after receiving a treat for not running off, she decided she sort of liked those bells..at least as long as the treats were forthcoming.   Tomorrow I am taking a set of sleigh bells down to the barn to see how freaky that causes them to be.   We will probably end up walking most of the parade route, but if they behave, we will ride them.  Lori will handle Areion.


ELLEN:
Have you started on your Christmas tree lights yet? We have set a record of sorts for us, we just put up our Christmas tree and its lights this evening. I don't think we have ever had a tree up quite this early. I haven't gotten the decorations on it yet, though.


Can you believe tomorrow is December 1st?  Wasn't it just summer?

GRAYMARE - I'm so glad to hear that somebody else "listens to the munch!"  I'd probably be rich and famous if I didn't spend so much time leaning on a pitchfork and doing just that. When I write that book about why I keep a horse at my silly age --especially one I don't ride or otherwise use and can't afford --I'll title it (with your permission) "Listening to the Munch."    

Snow melting here, temps in the 40s and 50s.  Pies almost all et.  

Ark, I did get my outdoor 'candle' lights installed, but haven't started on my tree yet. I have some party plans for after Christmas, so I'll leave the tree up just a little longer. Putting it up later won't hurt anything. I have several projects that need to be done before Christmas.

Beech, these long winter days would be a good time to start that book. When you get it published, let us know. As I'm sure you know, you can easily self-publish on Amazon.

ELLEN:
It took us three hours just to hang what lights we did on the tree...and get it out of the attic space, drag down boxes of Christmas ornaments, clear out some building clutter in the living room, etc, etc....One thing always has to be preceded by a dozen others. Good luck with your tree!


BEECH:
Yum, pies! I am on diet day today, trying to make up for all the goodies I have eaten over the past four days. Pie sounds very good.


Well, it is December 1. Time to change the thread. Go to: https://horsefriends.forumotion.com/t39-december-2014#5077 or go to Basket and click on December 2014.

Happy December! November 2014 is now closed.