Lorihadams-- hi guys...been busy!

[lorihadams]

Bless your heart honey, thank you! I used to be a teacher....read USED TO BE. I was so stressed out that I stayed sick and it just wasn't worth it to me.

I am blessed to have a husband that has a fantastic job that allows me to stay home and do all this physical labor

We have been really lucky to get the home we have....hopefully all will go well and in 10 years it will be ours for good

I honestly think joining the YMCA was probably a good move for the summer and we may or may not continue our membership after then. My husband loves to work out and since he gets off work at 2:45pm every day he goes straight to the gym and is still home by 5 to help me get the kids straight so I can cook dinner. I'm thinking about letting the kids take swimming lessons in July so that they have actually had a class. They want to go down the slide at the pool but you can't unless you can pass a class and swim the length of the pool without touching the side. We'll see what happens.

I am grateful for my goats cause they are getting me up earlier every day and I am done with the majority of my chores by 8:30 or 9am. It will be interesting if my son decides to go to public school in the fall cause then I have to get him to school on time every day while milking the goats. Fun stuff. I don't do mornings....I am a night owl but my husband is up everyday at 4:30-5am to be at work by 5:30. He loves it cause he has more time with the kids in the evenings.

Oh, Tyler wrote the tooth fairy a note last night. It said "Tooth Fare Ma I Kep Mi tooth? Tyler" Gotta love 6 yr old spelling....but he got the sounds right. He was so excited when he got up this morning and found a $5 and his tooth....note to self...gotta get change next time

 

[hillfarm]

yep, one time my son was so confused. He couldnt figure out how such a tiny fairy could carry all that change.

We raided the change jar because neither of us has anything smaller than a twenty. And I wasnt about to set that kind of a precedent.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

hey lori, don't know how close Chatham, VA is to where you live, but thought you would like to know that there is a Dadant for bee supplies there! (if you don't already know, that is!)

Their toll free number is 1-800-220-8325
website is www.dadant.com

just wanted to share! of all the catalogs given to us, we like theirs best!!

 

[lorihadams]

I grew up right next to Chatham over in Martinsville so I know exactly where that is! I have a feed store 2 minutes down the road that has started carrying beekeeping supplies and you know what that means....NO SHIPPING!!!

If I break down and buy a smoker I will go there but I got all my initial setup from Brushy Mountain Bee Farm in November when they ran a special for the month for free shipping on every order over $100. I got all my hive bodies and frames and foundation and tools, except the smoker. The only thing is that all the supplies down the road are from Dadant and they are slightly different dimensions than all my stuff from Brushy Mtn. :/

I think the smoker down the road is like, $40. UGH.

 

[lorihadams]

Well, been busy and I got 30 ducklings in the mail this morning but with this heat I have already lost 3 of the mallard babies. I don't know what to do. I am only going to run the heat lamp at night with these temps in the mid to upper 90s. They are in the shade of the garage and they are much cooler in there. The runners seem to be doing fine...knock on wood.

I had to run some errands this morning which included getting some lumber for the garage door install tomorrow. The kids want to go to the pool but hubby is leaving to go to his mama's for the fishing tournament this evening and I don't think we'll go. Depending on when the garage door is done we may go tomorrow but we'll see.

I need to see if my neighbor will come over this weekend and help me work the bee hives. I am thinking I will switch over one frame of brood and bees from the stronger hive to the weaker hive and see if that helps. I am also thinking the stronger hive is gonna need the upper hive body installed as well.

This heat is ridiculous and the kids want to camp out in the yard this weekend at some point but I'm gonna have to keep and eye on the weather.

The last time I tried camping alone with the kids hubby had to rescue us from a surprise thunderstorm. :/

Tyler has had an attitude issue today....I think it may be cause it is just so hot....everyone has an attitude issue. He seems much better since we got home and stayed inside. We're watching A Bug's Life and eating popcorn.

Aliana is giving me a varied amount of milk....probably from the heat. She is giving me around 20-24oz a day. I've been giving them each a bucket of water twice a day to make sure they stay hydrated. Last night all three were doing laps around the "playground" and butting each other. Bethoron looked like a deer running and jumping around the field. We stayed inside the kitchen and watched them out the window for a half hour and the kids laughed and laughed. My breeder would have been awestruck if she saw Tally and Aliana acting the way they were cause at her farm they just lay around since they are older. Tally needs to run, she's a chow hound and needs to lose some weight. Wouldn't hurt her a bit to get on a treadmill.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

aw, Lori, I'm sorry about your ducks!! (almost had a really bad typo there!)

did you contact the place you got them from? sometimes they'll issue refund or ship replacements.

 

[keljonma]

Sorry to hear about your ducks. If the temps are that warm do they really need a heat lamp at night?

 

[TanksHill]

Sorry about your ducks Lori. Are they to young to have water to play in??

g


Whats typo??? Been there done that.

aw, Lori, I'm sorry about your ducks!! (almost had a really bad typo there!)

did you contact the place you got them from? sometimes they'll issue refund or ship replacements.

 

[lorihadams]

Okay, so now I'm up to 5 dead mallards out of 25. Not good. I just flew to TSC and got chick electrolytes and then ran down to Dollar General and bought a 6 inch desk top fan to put in the brooder. While I was gone Chad cut a piece of lattice to replace one whole side of the brooder so they can get some more air flow. I am gonna watch the temps tonight and if it drops below 80 degrees I may turn the heat lamp back on but keep the fan going. The brooder is in a rectangle and I have the lamp at one end so they can go to the other end to get out of it if they need to. This morning they immediately ran to the lamp and it was in the upper 70s. When the temps started to soar they just didn't have enough air flow I guess even though I turned off the lamp.

I'm off to call Meyers now to see what they want to do. I just hate it cause they aren't even my mallards, I'm raising them for someone else. At least my indian runners seem to be okay for the time being. I don't know what else I can do but I definitely have 2 distraught children that have dug 5 graves today. Maddie has picked flowers for every one of the dead ducks.

Unfortunately Frawg the dawg found 2 of the graves....

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

FYI on Meyer's waterfowl - ducklings are all drop-shipped from Metzer farms in CA so those little ducks just travelled cross country. That's a long trip for them in this heat!

Good luck!!