FarmerDenise's journal - full on harvest time = busy, busy, busy

TanksHill

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Hey FD how close are yo to the Atascadero/ Templeton area? I have family up there. With goats. Not sure if she has a buck but I am sure she would know someone.

g
 

FarmerDenise

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I think Atascadero is way south of us. I think I should start with emailing the person I bought my goats from. I know she had bucks and she was only 45 min away.

So I got myself all dressed up in my purple velvet skirt with it's gold embroidery, put on a white sweater and some makeup, grabbed my dish (our own frozen blackberries, I didn't get the carrots done in time) and hopped in the car to go to my first Solstice celebration in a long time. It is dark and the rain is coming down. I cannot see!!!! My windsheld is slightly foggy and won't clear. I open the windows and it still won't clear. The lights are reflected everywhere due to everything being wet. I arrive and find parking at the location and I can't figure out how to get in the building. I try to call my friend, but realize she is probably not answering her phone, since she is one of the people running the ceremony. Now it really starts to poor. I am parked in a bad neighborhood. They have shooting in this area all the time. I decide to go back home. I white knuckle drive at least 5 mi below the speed limit all the way home. I am safe now. Guess I am calling my other friend and telling her I won't be coming to the Christmas caroling party tomorrow :(

I think now is a good time to make myself some eggnog...with brandy in it!!!!
And for desert, we're having blackberries, lots of them. :lol:
 

framing fowl

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Whew... glad you're safe but bummer about missing the ceremony. Have an eggnog and bite of blackberry for me!
 

FarmerDenise

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It is raining....at least there are some breaks in the rain. When I went out to feed the critters this morning, I actually amost saw the sun.

We have one ameraucana hen that has laid 3 huge eggs so far. They are double yolkers and the yolks are huge. I don't know if it one of my older hens or a yung'n.

I was happy to see the stray hen that adopted our flock slept in the henhouse for the first time last night. I think she started laying too. She came from our bad neighbors a couple of houses over. They moved and this little hen got away. It has taken her months to join our flock. SO and I realized this morning that most of our new additions this year all joined us of their own volition. Only 3 of the young ones were purchased and there might be 2 others that we hatched. Many of this year's chicks have died for one reason or another. We seem to have a form of Marek's that immunization isn't preventing. The good neighbor who died recently and I were working on figuring out what to do about it, since we both have the same problem. We even traded chicks and eggs, in the hope to develop a chicken, that would be resistant. I really miss my neighbor.

Dallas is doing much better. She did loose her eye. She was moping around in the bathroom and not eating or drinking. So I took her outside. She immediately walked into the pond that appears after the rains and drank and drank and drank. Then she ate lots of greens. She had no trouble getting back with the flock and in the evening she was on a perch in the henhouse. I took her into the house one more time, to give her her final dose of antibiotic. She is back outside this morning.

Since I couldn't go to my friends christmas carol party yesterday, I had to do something christmassy. I decided to make a christmas tree. SO was really missing having a tree and we hadn't come across a $10 tree yet. I made a tripod using bamboo sticks and wrapped it in lights and then put decorations on it. It looks cool. Kind of artsy.

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Today I want to make a nice dinner and bake cookies. I also want to finish cleaning the front room, get the boxes back out of the house.

Oh it is dark outside and windy. We better prepare for a power outage...
 

2dream

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That is a really cool tree. I love it. I have a friend who can take a naked tree branch and turn it into the most amazing Christmas tree. I on the other hand, I can take that same tree branch and have a tree branch that is suppose to look Christmassy.

You artsy folks amaze me.
 

murphysranch

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Cute tree, FD! Very creative and inventive. I hope you've not had to use those sand bags. There is high wind up here today. Trees down and mudslides on roads. So far....cross fingers - no power outages for us yet.

Chickens didn't want to come out of their run, infact they wanted to stay in their coop. My wood duck and mallard are happy tho. But they don't free range.

Dogs and cat are not happy. Nor is DH. But I cooked some, did Xmas cards (since I didn't do any last year and ppl family don't have our new address), and then read some chapters of a book.

Hunker down, FD! There's more to come!
 

TanksHill

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I hope you two are doing ok up there. Sorry you missed your party. I hate driving in the rain. The glare kills me..

Enjoy the eggnog.

g
 

FarmerDenise

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Oh My God!!! we had SUNSHINE!!!!! :ep for 1/2 hour. I went out and let the goats out of their pasture for a bit, fed the rabbit and the chickens and video taped SO killing a rat that he had trapped :rolleyes:

As much as I hate rats, I don't enjoy killing them. or watching them die.... It needs to be done. Ok do it and over. NOooo SO wants it video taped so he can watch this poor creature die over and over again. :sick

I made my cutout cookies. Since I did not get any help I made them all into christmas trees and they only have simple white icing on them. I got dinner going. The carrots I was going to bring to one of my events this weekend, some brown and serve rolls and hot wings. I had planned on making a fancy greek salad, but my back is killing me and I am tired. So we are having a simple dinner. As it was it took long enough to get those carrots cleaned. I have a bag of nice clean carrots in the fridge though, for easy use in the future.

I am going to put some brandy in the syrup from the black berries and enjoy the rest of the evening. SO got a nice fire going, so I am managinf to stay warm tonight.

I am also experimenting with the carrot trimming. I put them in a wide metal bowl and set them on the stove. I am hoping to dry them out and feed them to the critters as treats. WE'll see how that goes.
 
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