AL - Recording baby steps: Newest Addition

[Wifezilla]

 

[AL]

It has been a day or 2!
I have been slowly getting back into the swing of things here. My chickens miss my dad LOL he feeds them lots more than I do and let them out in the yard way earlier. I had to move Pat the little buff brahma out of the pen with the 3 young roos - they have hit puberty and were misbehaving, and Pat has chosen a life of nunnery. So she has the whole backyard to herself for now.
I plan to halve the rabbit house my friend gave me and make a little "apartment" for her and then fence in a small pen. She will be able to get into the hutch at night or in cold / rain or sleep under it in this hot weather but still be safe from 'possums. Pat has become quite the pet, so she is in for a long life of luxury if I can help it.

I can't guarantee that same long life for all of those roos running around!! I have my original white EE roo - Poppy; the one hen hatched roo - Solo; then the 3 leftover incubator roos (the previous 3 went to my friend's crockpot).
Solo is probably going, which I feel kind of bad making that choice so easily. The big boys are so beautiful I can't decide whether to butcher them or keep them. If I kept them I would have to make some bachelor pens for them. Easy enough to divide their current run in half - but that leaves one roo without a pen and volunteering for the crockpot. I'm such a wuss. LOL

On the other hand, I totally have enjoyed visiting with my cousin from central Florida. He raises Angus cross cattle . We looked on Craigslist in his area for me a horse trailer and found a couple that looked great and were reasonable $ (at least online). Then we started in on my folks about how if I go down there for a trailer I can't come back empty handed - so I should probably get either a young heifer or a cow from my cousin, maybe a couple of goats. He lives pretty close to a slaughterhouse so maybe I could find a hog? HAHA I think I almost lost my inheritance with those threats.

 

[savingdogs]

they sent me flowers in the hospital but wrote the note as if they were from Ri

this is the best thing i've ever heard! yay!

and glad you are doing well - keep up the great recovery!!



*hugs!*

What a cute and special touch! Stay well.....and I'm glad Cheto turned up.

 

[AL]

I spoke with the trainer who has Buddy and she said he is doing really well. He has learned to lunge and is starting to figure out changing directions. She ties him in the arena while she works other horses and she said he is a perfect gentleman. And he is FINALLY leading with some manners! She is going to tackle applying fly spray today lol.
I hope to be able to take him to the charity trail ride put on by the rescue group I foster for (and where I got Buddy). He won't be broke to ride yet, but I think it will be great for him to be exposed to the activity and chaos of a big ride, as well as the woods and such. They will have an obstacle course but I don't know if I will try to lead him through that at this point. The state forest where it will be held has creeks, woods, paddocks, covered turnouts and nice stalls so it will be fun for both of us!

Today is actually a decent day outside.. hot but not unbearable. It was 98* yesterday with an index of 108. I'm looking forward to moving past this point of hot days with nothing to do and into the cooler weather when I can work on my barn walls and haul dirt without having heat stroke. For the past several weeks the horses have had free access to the garden lot. Skye stays there now that Buddy isn't here (comes back 9/10) to pester her. They have it pretty well mowed and cleaned out so I am hoping this weekend I can take the lawnmower to get it cut close and then start tilling. It is going to take forever to get it cleaned back up and ready to go, so I won't be able to plant a garden for the fall. I may try to get some container stuff going, just because I neeeeed to grow something.

 

[AL]

We are forecast to get about 5-8" of rain from Tropical Storm Lee. Right now it feels amazing outside... temp of about 78* and good steady breezes. I was all excited going to work outside but my very first step onto my back stoop (wet wood) resulted in my slipping and falling. I landed half in the trailer and half out - banged my shoulder on the door as I went down and landed on my hip and back on the threshold (which is raised metal. My body is not happy with me right now. At all. I feel like I was hit by a truck instead of a simple slip / fall.

I have all of the animals set up to get out of the wind and rain when / if it shows up. Poor Pat the bullied hen is used to having the whole backyard to herself, but since I didn't finish her little pen I have her in Rio's 48" wire kennel in the rooster yard. She has walls on 2 sides, the kennel is covered and I propped a piece of tin on a 3rd side (it doesn't have room to blow around / away). She has a branch for a perch, plenty of water and feed and she is p*$$3d! The roosters are beautiful but they sure aren't smart... had to herd them into their shelter and then toss some scraps in along with their feed so they would realize it was dry and safe there. Opened up the house part of the new rabbit hutch for the dwarfs so they can get out of the weather, and Bon the big rabbit is in the rooster shelter in his cage.
Skye is standing out in the wind loving the break from the heat.

My barncat PITA (yes, pain in the a$$) has moved up to the garage on her own, guess she senses bad weather coming. She'd probably be drier in the barn though since the garage floods lol.

I am off to take some tylenol and sit out in the cool while it lasts.

 

[Farmfresh]

My barncat PITA (yes, pain in the a$$) has moved up to the garage on her own, guess she senses bad weather coming.

That is so funny! The mother or our two old long haired calico sister cats, Zinnia and Gabby, was my sisters barn cat Pita! Sounds like they act a bit alike as well.

Hold on to your hat in the rain!

 

[AL]

that's awesome! LOL
My PITA came from the pound. She is a plain brown/ grey tabby and was almost a year old when I adopted her. I knew nobody would adopt her so I took her. She had what we call the county crud... upper respiratory infection. Hers was raging and took forever to treat. We did the traditional amoxicillin with no help, then I took her to the vet everyday for injections and finally they gave me the shots and I gave them at home. When we finally got her over that, she went into heat so we couldn't have her spayed until that was over with. So her first month with us was pretty traumatic!
She loves attention but decided we were too crazy for her to hangout inside with us, so she moved to the barn.

 

[AL]

So Tropical Storm Lee has dumped about 3" of rain but it overall it was such a light, steady rain that it all ran off from my one area that tends to get super soggy. We are still having periods of steady rains and winds up to 35mph. The best part? It is like 75* !!!! WOOOOOT! I just stand out in the wind and enjoy it! (I LOVE storms, clouds, and WIND ). Yesterday while it wasn't raining I let Pat out of the little kennel to roam the backyard - when it came time to put her up she knew what I was up to because, unlike usual, she wouldn't let me catch her! I finally cornered her and put her in the kennel where she went straight to the pan of feed like it was her idea anyway.

Last night I was incredibly sore from my fall so I just chilled out for the most part. Then about midnight I took Rio out for our "walk about" and he went nuts! I heard him at the fenceline growling and barking like he was something ferocious instead of my Rio. I took my flashlight and went looking for him. Then Rags came tearing out of the pasture and went into my garden lot, Rio close behind. More barking (that growly kind of bark) and growling. Mostly I knew it was some critter, but there is a homeless camp not too far so I had some hesitation about joining the dogs. After some more commotion, a big ol' possum took off across the garden and Rio nailed him about halfway across. I am all about shooting possums (especially when the dogs had him pinned against my chicken house!) but I really didn't want to watch him be mauled so I called Rio off. I think it was too late anyway, but if it wasn't Rags finished him off very quickly, no suffering there.
A funny thing... as you know Rio runs about 110lbs and is 27 1/2 inches at the shoulder... a big boy. Well, when he gets excited (even viciously excited) his barks start off with a high-pitched puppy bark - almost a yelp. It makes me laugh that he is barking so hard it squeaks.
Good dogs.

About 3am the winds and rains really picked up... actually woke me up pelting my trailer and my window. There were a few very small pecan and pear limbs down, but overall it just looks like we had a decent rain. The winds and rain are supposed to continue through early tomorrow morning, but we aren't in a flood prone area so no real concerns here....just certain places take on water but it drains pretty quickly.

 

[AL]

We have had 3 different tornado warnings this evening... very rare around here. This latest one there was actually a circulation spotted by the news crew.... fortunately on the other side of town so maybe it will just stay at the bay.
Might make for a restless night in a mobile home

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

hey baby!

any damage from the storms? sorry you had the tornadoes - blech. did everyone make it!!?!? except well that stupid possom??

good dog, Rio! thats the way! way to be a team, Rags!