Third day in a row with temps up over 90 degrees. What is with this weather, this year… it’s September! Nearly all of August was absolutely perfection… low 80’s and just beautiful. Now we hit September and it’s like August aughta be.. haha.. Miss Katherine here, is enjoying the extra buckets of water that we set out for everyone, nice and full of cold well water. We have four main outside watering stations and then each coop has water in it as well. Everyone seems to be staying cool enough.
It’s supposed to rain tomorrow and finally cool off. So we are working inside the house, the next two days… trying to get our to do cards done. We’re getting there. Slowly, but surely. Nothing like a deadline to keep you focused and on track. I’m finally starting to feel a little more balanced… the last week has been a hard one, and sleep has been rough, tummy issues have made me just outta balance. And my heart is still sore and a little sad. Thankfully, today, I woke up from a nice full night of sleep, and my head was clear and I’m finally feeling a little more, well, right.
On the banty hen hatch… I’m sorry to say that we only ended up with two live babies. Four passed away after they hatched. I believe they were just exhausted and just didn’t thrive at all. They were almost two days later than they should have been hatching. 2 outta 18 is just not very good success. And these two little ones are fiesty, but they still seem frail. I’m not sure what of the many variables went wrong. I am thinking that maybe the humidity could have been higher for their hatch dates, that might have helped, but I had it on the high edge of normal… 70 to 75%. I just don’t know and probably never will. I hope we get at least some of the others to hatch out better. I’m putting in some of our home grown Marans eggs to see if we can get a better hatch, but I still have 24 ebay Marans in there and the 12 Jersey Giants… all of which don’t candle very well… many are clear. Failure to create life.
Our nursery setup… We put the banties in a cardboard box, inside the aquarium for now, to really keep their warmth and humidity level up and nice. Plus, they are SO small… the whole big aquarium would be so big for them! We have 8 little quail eggs that were given to us as a thank you gift and they are soon to hatch. You can actually see them moving! Just our luck, we will have all 8 hatch when we don’t really know what to do with them! haha… We like using the camera tripod for the heat light, it’s very stable and easy to adjust for the warmth.
This little one is Petunia…. she is a darker color over all with a solid cream beak.
And this is Daffodil… she’s a little lighter colored, but has a dark spot on her beak. They may be a little scrawny at the moment, but they are fiesty and this morning were walking around, pecking at stuff and trying out the little water dish I made out of a spaghetti sauce jar lid! The big chick waterer seems WAY too big for them! We are going to get them going on a little chick starter today. I think they are ready.
Our first official load of clothing out on the line! I can’t tell you how much that made me feel happy and content. It was so cool to be out there pinning up a load, with the sheep watching me and the hens all gathered about giving me suggestions and just pretty much overseeing the new event in the yard. It came down with such a sweet sunshiney smell, all nice and soft and dry. I think that the nice wind really helped to get it all nice and soft. So I have heard! We will do loads here and there as we need them… we do still like the laundrymat, but it’s sure nice to have this lovely gift washer from our friends Meshell and Pat!!!
Been trying to get at least one room finished in the house before the party! And it’s going to be the dining room. I made this little table scape with some of the delightful finds from garage sales and auctions and swapped out the gold framed mirror for this lovely darker one and wow, I really like that better. It pops with the dark frame. And it’s a little more, well, country, then the gold one, it was more renaissance, foo-foo looking and kind of blended into the wall too much. We added baseboard trim, but need one more piece! We’re hoping to score some door frame molding at the Habitat for Humanity Restore shop on Wednesday. And our wonderful neighbors helped get the new ceiling tiles up! Yeah! Almost done…. getting there for sure!
Well, we have quite a list and I just finished lunch, so I better get busy! The girls just finished up and are ready to start. We’re going to try and work in a good 6 or 8 hours and see what we can get done. We’ve got 8 to do cards… so, hoping we will get it all done. We should!
Hope all are good… and have a wonderful, relaxing weekend ahead of you!!!
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i envy your clothesline and the clothes blowing in the breeze. i don’t have a clothesline here in florida, nor do any of my neighbors. when i lived in Pa. i had them and enjoyed hanging the clothes and the smell of sunshine dried clothes. oh, that smell. my daughter commented the other day about how good line dried sheets smell and feel on the bed. winter was not as much fun hanging clothes outside. frozen fingers don’t feel to good. haha. clothe diapers are the softest when dried in the cold weather.
My first thought was ‘chicken baths?’. Then I read further and realized you’ve had a heat wave up there.
I’m so sorry about the recent loss of your two doggie companions. They were surely loved and treasured. I remember pictures of Gypsy and her soulful eyes. I think the more love and attention we give our pets, the more they develop in potential and personality. They were blessed by being a part of your family.
Now, on to a totally different topic: Dear Sherri….is there any way to do some kind of techie trick to make your page load just a teensy bit faster? Maybe it’s something I need to figure out on my end, but when it comes to that kind of computer knowledge, I’m stumped. ):
I so enjoy your blog and look forward to reading each installment.
hugs…stef
I remembered my mom always hung her clothes outside..she had one of those old wringer washer machines..man doing laundry back then has to be HORRIBLE..lol..but she always used looooooottttttssss of bleach…and everything..towels..sheets..smelled of bleach..a heavy bleach smell..so..Im not liking the outside hanging clothes thing..pass..lol.
Also..I had some drop ceiling like you had..and I didnt want to pay for expensive crown molding..so I used 1 x 3’s of prime. There SUPER cheap..like..what a dollar a 10 ft board or so..painted them white..they’re beautiful..I had to cover up all the gaps and mistakes of the hung ceiling.
Too bad about your eggs not hatching..surprised sending them in the mail like that..hard telling what they went thru..heat..humidity..shipping period. But..know what lady..last year this time..there was no “farm” ..no nothing..and here you and the girls are..a yr later..with you own farm..with “how many” farm animals..all unique..and you and the girls of coarse..turned this abandoned piece of property..into a sweet home for your family..and living the dream..you have spoke about so many times in your past blogs..so see..dreams DO happen to those that pray..its a piece of heaven to be proud of..listening to crickets on a summers nite..bon fires..the sound of roosters..sheep waiting to great you..and those gorgeous little bunnys. Im so proud that you have accomplished so much..I know you have worked hard..your a strong woman..a great example for your daughters!
Linda
sorry..1 x 2’s or 1 x 3’s of PINE..not prime..”furring strips” are scrap lumber..dont use THOSE..there warped and twisted..but some decent pine..I love how mine turned out.
How are the chicks and rest of the eggs coming along?