Its a good thing February is a short month

My canary sang a little bit today. I was playing the songs of a goldfinch
and he responded. He has not sang all winter so I am taking it as a sign
that winter will soon be over. Please let it be over. We haven't had it as
bad as some places this winter but it has been so cloudy and cold. Its
sunny right now nut it may be the only day this week and the sun just means
the cold front- high pressure system is moving in. But I'll take the sun.

My hens are responding to the lengthening days though and we are getting
lots of eggs. The little black Silkie hen and her friend the Frizzle
rooster are busy scouting the barn for a good nest site. They should
produce some interesting babies.

I really wish we would get warm enough for grass to grow. My horses are
starting to look thin. They are getting as much grass hay as they can eat
but I think its low calorie. Since Lily foundered again this winter there
can be no grain or even better hay. I long for the days when she can just
roam the fields eating when and where she wants. She doesn't seem to
founder then, (except when she gets under apple trees) just when penned up.
Maybe it's the exercise.

Chance the crippled mini we took in last fall actually seems to be doing
fine on the hay - he needed to thin down. But he is acting like a stud, and
even though tiny, he's got to be gelded soon. The old adage - there is no
such thing as a free horse - is ringing in my ears.

I'm picking out little starter perennials from our Master Gardener
Association plant sale and that helps, planning the garden. I just hope it
won't be one of those springs when everything needs to be done at once.
One day its 30 degrees, the next 80 degrees type of thing. I guess any kind
of spring weather would suit me right now.

Mostly birds

It's dripping away here today. The temperatures rose to above 40 degrees a
small heat wave that is much appreciated after the cold we have been having.
But this wetness isn't as great for livestock and pets as people would
think. Many will get sick from the weather change. Wading and walking in
icy water in pens and pastures then walking in the still chilly air is one
reason. Heavy coats cause sweating and then animals get chilled from being
wet. Respiratory disease climbs in confined animals.

I take a cautious joy in the moderate warmth however. Even without much sun
the air smells like spring and the birds are starting to sing. Some
ambitious sparrows are building a nest in a drain pipe that became
disconnected by the house. They are flying back and forth with chicken
feathers from the barn to line their nest, making it fluffy and warm. They
seem to prefer white feathers, although we have fewer white feathered
chickens than dark and there should be less white feathers.

The birds at the feeder are starting to show a bit of spring mating color.
The starlings spots are fading and the yellow of the goldfinches is getting
brighter. My canary inside however, still isn't singing. He needs a mate
and I am determined to find one for him. Canaries are harder to find than
they used to be. I think I may try to raise some.

I'd also like to find a Bourbon red tom turkey. Checked prices for Bourbon
red chicks today and found them up to nearly $10 each. My hens are
excellent sitters, I bet they could hatch a couple hundred dollars worth of
chicks if they had a tom. They sat on a clutch back in December, I'm hoping
if I found a tom they'd lay again this spring.

Thinking about buying some muscovy ducks too. They are getting banned in
some states as they go wild easily and then compete with native ducks rather
successfully. But we had them years ago and I liked them. They are a South
American breed and are slightly different genetically from domestic ducks
and North American native ducks. They can mate with domestic ducks but
most of the young are sterile then. The males have a big ugly lump on the
face and are a lot larger than the females. There are many colors in the
muscovy.

Yep that's what I need, more animals to feed.

after the blizzard

On Wednesday, the day of our big snow storm, I stayed inside all day except
to trudge through snow up to my knees to go to the barn for chores twice.
I didn't want to shovel a path yet because of the way the wind was blowing
and drifting the snow as well as the continuing snow. We got about a foot
of snow but the drifts made it seem like more. But on Thursday the sun was
out and decisions needed to be made- should we wait for a helpful neighbor
with a plow or start to dig ourselves out?

Normally after a heavy snow one of two neighbors comes by and gives us a
helping hand with their plow. Our driveway is relatively short, maybe 50
feet, and it doesn't take them but a few minutes. We knew they'd be out
making money though and would probably put a free job at the bottom of the
list. We had no where we needed to go until Friday.

The path to the barn though, was a priority, as was cleaning off the steps
at the back entrance. So Steve, sitting in his wheel chair, and I took
turns cleaning a nice path to the barn, big enough for the wheel chair.
Right at the barn door the snow had drifted to over 3 feet and you had to
step down to go in the barn. The turkeys were happy because now there was
a clean spot for them to walk outside the barn a bit. The barn cats were
happy because they now had a spot to go out and potty in - generally the
middle of the path.

With the sun out and the wind less, the day didn't feel too bad. I made
Steve go in and rest. I cleaned off the car, dug a path to and around it and
then started the driveway, just in case. I started at the end of the
driveway and dug out the huge mound the county snowplow had thrown up when
it cleared the road. Then I went up and started behind the car. I figured
if I could dig out where it had drifted I might be able to get through the
rest if needed.

After I had cleaned out about 15 feet or so I had to quit. My heart was
pounding and my bad shoulder aching. I thought I would do some more today.
When I got up this morning I really was feeling my back and shoulder so I
was pleased as punch to see that early this morning one of our beautiful
neighbors had ran his plow up the drive and cleared most of the snow out.
Thank the lord for good neighbors.

We went to the grocery store, the roads here in the country get plowed
fairly quickly, but they tend to drift back over quickly too. In some
places only a single lane was open. There were drifts easily 6 feet high
along some roads. But our trip was uneventful. And when we came home my
neighbor caught me unloading groceries and had me move my car so he could
clean the drive a bit better.

We noted that one farmer had actually plowed an area of his horse pasture -
I guess so the horses could get around. I kept Chance, the crippled mini
locked inside Wednesday but he was eager to be out Thursday and I let him
out with Lily. By today they had beaten down some paths and were able to
get around where they wanted to go. The dogs have a nice well worn path
from the doggie door to under the big red pine, where the snow was much
lighter.

Rabbits have been making paths too, it amazes me that they can get through
this snow but I guess they have to if they want to eat. I hope they don't
start eating my tree bark. Darn squirrels have been on my porch again, they
don't need to get in the snow to find food. They are raiding the bag of
sunflower seed for the birds. The day of the big storm was groundhog day -
as if any groundhog around here would be out in that weather. You can bet
that there is 6 more weeks of winter.

The sad story is that in a small town north of here a young guy is missing.
He was coming home from work at a fast food joint- why they stay open in bad
weather is beyond me- and rolled his car. Witnesses saw him crawl out, and
he told them he was ok. They offered him a lift but he declined and began
walking down the road in nothing but a T-shirt and jeans. In the howling
blizzard. That should have been a clue to them that he was probably in
shock. Anyways he never made it home, and they haven't found him. He is
probably in a ditch somewhere although I pray for a happy ending. All his
family and friends are helping look for him and it's very sad.

There are several lessons here. All of you young ones should always have a
winter coat, hat, gloves and boots in the car in the winter, even if you don't
wear them except in an emergency. Put them on if you need to get out of the
car. And if you witness an accident and someone is acting irrationally
afterwards even if they say they are ok, call for help and stay near until
it arrives. Save a life. And for heaven's sake stay home when the roads
are so bad. It should be a law that everything that is not essential like
hospitals close during severe weather. I know people need the money but
risking your life for a minimum wage job- or almost any job- is just crazy.

All things pass and this lousy winter will too. I just hope it passes
quickly.