It’s a beautiful but chilly fall day here in Michigan. I have lost Henny Penny, my pet hen. She was here Wednesday evening, I put her on the shelf in the barn because she couldn’t get to it because we had moved a table she normally used. Steve said she was there in the morning following him around. But Thursday evening she was no where to be seen. No feathers no carcass in the road, I looked everywhere. I wonder if someone stole her, if so, I hope it was to keep her for eggs. I miss her. I guess eventually I will get some more hens, I had Steve re-building the little pen in the barn a few days ago, I thought I would get her a few friends.
I also lost the male black and white half grown kitten that I called Skunk. He followed me into a dog kennel one night when I was feeding and I didn’t notice. Next thing I knew I heard him crying. I ran back in and rescued him but it was too late, he died the next day. That’s why I say cats are just stupid. He knew these dogs don’t like cats. He was well aware there was a dog in there. They don’t go in the kennels any other time. I guess they think if they are with me they are protected. I feel bad that I didn’t notice him. He could have climbed the gate to get out of Bubbas way, he probably tried to stand Bubba down. Just stupid.
My car is missing too. It’s been at the shop all week. They promise it will be fixed tomorrow. Last Saturday after my big Education Seminar I had it all loaded up with left over food and supplies and it wouldn’t start. Luckily, just a few days before a guy down the road fixed Steve’s car. He was very nice and fixed it for $25.00. Steve was able to come and pick me up and we went back the next day to try and start it with no luck. It had some sort of electrical problem and it took the mechanics a long time to find it, then they had to order a part - for a 22 year old car. Hopefully we will soon be able to afford a slightly younger clunker. Steve’s van is all caved in the front from a deer collision, the lights don’t focus in the right direction , there is only one wiper blade, seatbelt doesn’t work and if you press too hard on the accelerator it sticks wide open- very scary. So its just for emergencies in the daylight. A deer owes us a car.
Last night we had quite a heavy frost, there was ice on water outside the barn. Maybe the tomatoes will finally die. I never dreamed I would be tired of picking tomatoes, here it is the end of October and just a few days ago I picked some from 5 different vines. The petunias and marigolds are still blooming too. At work we have had daylilies start blooming again. The Farmers Almanac predicts a mild dry winter. We will see if their predictions are better than last year. I don’t mind mild but I wish we could get more moisture. Our pond has never been this low, it is only a fraction of its normal size. We had about an inch of rain yesterday but it barely dents the soil deficit and none seems to make it to the pond. I want to find some way to channel water from the roof or even the washing machine down to the pond. I am sure glad we never got around to re-stocking it with fish this year.
We had to pen the sheep up in the west pasture. They had started getting out of the north pasture by the woods and then coming up to graze in the yard. There are lots of hunters around already and its safer if they aren’t in the woods. The grass is green but it isn’t growing much and we will have to feed hay now. The two ewes I think are pregnant are huge, if they aren’t pg then they are extremely fat and won’t need much hay. I have had Barbados lambs in October before but October is almost over. We peeled a whole bunch of apples last night to make pies and I took the peels out to them this morning thinking I was bringing them a big treat. They acted like I was trying to poison them. Yet they will break a fence down to reach some Bittersweet berries.
I sent Steve out to sit in the sun. He needs to go out each day and not sit around watching football or talk shows. The sun helps heal depression and keeps your body clock working right. It is very hard for me to be inside on nice sunny days. I know I get depressed when the days are dark and rainy but I have a book deadline to meet and it’s much easier to be inside writing if the weather is nasty. So let it rain- or snow- as long as it isn’t too deep.
I also lost the male black and white half grown kitten that I called Skunk. He followed me into a dog kennel one night when I was feeding and I didn’t notice. Next thing I knew I heard him crying. I ran back in and rescued him but it was too late, he died the next day. That’s why I say cats are just stupid. He knew these dogs don’t like cats. He was well aware there was a dog in there. They don’t go in the kennels any other time. I guess they think if they are with me they are protected. I feel bad that I didn’t notice him. He could have climbed the gate to get out of Bubbas way, he probably tried to stand Bubba down. Just stupid.
My car is missing too. It’s been at the shop all week. They promise it will be fixed tomorrow. Last Saturday after my big Education Seminar I had it all loaded up with left over food and supplies and it wouldn’t start. Luckily, just a few days before a guy down the road fixed Steve’s car. He was very nice and fixed it for $25.00. Steve was able to come and pick me up and we went back the next day to try and start it with no luck. It had some sort of electrical problem and it took the mechanics a long time to find it, then they had to order a part - for a 22 year old car. Hopefully we will soon be able to afford a slightly younger clunker. Steve’s van is all caved in the front from a deer collision, the lights don’t focus in the right direction , there is only one wiper blade, seatbelt doesn’t work and if you press too hard on the accelerator it sticks wide open- very scary. So its just for emergencies in the daylight. A deer owes us a car.
Last night we had quite a heavy frost, there was ice on water outside the barn. Maybe the tomatoes will finally die. I never dreamed I would be tired of picking tomatoes, here it is the end of October and just a few days ago I picked some from 5 different vines. The petunias and marigolds are still blooming too. At work we have had daylilies start blooming again. The Farmers Almanac predicts a mild dry winter. We will see if their predictions are better than last year. I don’t mind mild but I wish we could get more moisture. Our pond has never been this low, it is only a fraction of its normal size. We had about an inch of rain yesterday but it barely dents the soil deficit and none seems to make it to the pond. I want to find some way to channel water from the roof or even the washing machine down to the pond. I am sure glad we never got around to re-stocking it with fish this year.
We had to pen the sheep up in the west pasture. They had started getting out of the north pasture by the woods and then coming up to graze in the yard. There are lots of hunters around already and its safer if they aren’t in the woods. The grass is green but it isn’t growing much and we will have to feed hay now. The two ewes I think are pregnant are huge, if they aren’t pg then they are extremely fat and won’t need much hay. I have had Barbados lambs in October before but October is almost over. We peeled a whole bunch of apples last night to make pies and I took the peels out to them this morning thinking I was bringing them a big treat. They acted like I was trying to poison them. Yet they will break a fence down to reach some Bittersweet berries.
I sent Steve out to sit in the sun. He needs to go out each day and not sit around watching football or talk shows. The sun helps heal depression and keeps your body clock working right. It is very hard for me to be inside on nice sunny days. I know I get depressed when the days are dark and rainy but I have a book deadline to meet and it’s much easier to be inside writing if the weather is nasty. So let it rain- or snow- as long as it isn’t too deep.
