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.

dying birds and fish

I don't know what to think of the massive bird and fish die offs in several
places around the world in the first week of January except to say I don't
think its coincidence or fireworks. There were also several incidences of
bird and fish die offs in late December that were not widely reported.

Fireworks as a cause is laughable. Fireworks displays go off thousands of
times a year and birds don't die. And why would only Red Winged Blackbirds
die? Why not other birds? I think even the most scientifically challenged
can rule fireworks out as a cause, despite several so called officials
telling us that's the answer.

Then there's biblical prophecy. Of course God can do anything but why would
he pick certain species in certain places and not one event consisting of
all species of birds or fish across the world? Much more scary.

It's the picking of a species - Red Winged Blackbirds, turtle doves, and so
forth that bothers me. Natural causes don't work this way. I haven't been
able to find out whether only male Red Winged blackbirds were killed. All
the pictures show the black bodied bird with red wing patches. That's the
male. Females and young birds are brown with brown and white striped
bellies. If it was only males then that is extra odd.

Laboratory results seem to rule out disease and poisoning. The blue tissue
around the mouth of the doves that died in Italy appears to be from lack of
oxygen. That happens when your neck breaks or your lungs explode. Cause
of death seems to be trauma from falling out of the sky- at least in the
birds or maybe asphyxiation first then trauma. That's almost certainly
true- but what caused them to fall or explode internally?

Weather events once again don't pick certain species. So I think we can
rule out tornados and microbursts. But weather certainly may have been a
factor. It's more plausible in the case of fish dying from unusual cold but
then again why one species? Many species are cold sensitive. I am not a
fish expert so I don't know if the species that died were even susceptible
to death from cold.

Polar magnetic shift is being blamed but once again that should affect more
than one species in a small area. Sunspots and such would also affect more
than one species at a time. Gas such as methane would kill more than one
species. The limiting of the events to a species at a time is the key here.

I think what we can safely surmise is that these events were caused
accidentally or deliberately by something men did. ( Some people think
extraterrestrials may also have done it but I'm passing on that theory.)
There are several interesting ideas floating around. All kinds of "waves"
are being tested in secret private and military bases around the word, radio
waves, microwaves, something called Placer energy waves and other things.
Current technology seems to be trying to focus on being able to use these
energy wave weapons to target specific species, probably man, but why not
try it out on a few birds at first?

And some pesticide company, maybe one that already has many specie specific
pesticides out there may be trying to use energy waves, sound waves or
something to target pest birds, which the bird species that we have heard
about are considered to be. Kill the blackbirds leave the cardinals.

It could be that the microwaves, sound waves, radio waves or what ever were
supposed to be doing other less lethal things like pinging aliens but were
deflected or amplified by abnormal weather conditions or some feature of the
landscape. Once again we have the problem of a single species at a time
dying.

Black birds and doves do use special brain areas to coordinate flocking
behavior so I suppose a "wave" that disrupted this function might leave
other species which don't flock unharmed. And these birds do roost close
together so a very small "leak" or reflection of some kind might result in
one species dying because that's where it hit. That's back to coincidence-
hmmmmn - maybe that's what officials mean by coincidence.

The sad result is that we will probably never know the answer. Whether its
cover up or just ignorance we'll probably never know- hey is there a
wiki-leak on this?

Christmas and books

Christmas has come and went in Clifford. It was a quiet one for us. We
were awakened early Christmas morning by the dogs, almost as if they
understood what day it was and wanted their presents. Since we have
followed the same ritual of going to my parents on Christmas Eve and coming
home a bit later than normal, maybe some of the older dogs do recognize the
significance. It is Hazels 15th Christmas with us after all and Bugsy,
Cricket, and Sadie have logged 13 Christmases with us.

The dogs got new toys, some of which were squeaky and like little kids
playing with a new drum set they are driving us a bit crazy from time to
time squeaking them. Soon however they will be chewed apart and the squeak
"killed".

One of the new toys was pilfered off the counter a few days before Christmas
and disappeared outside. But it has re-appeared now that there are plenty
of toys to go around. Ginger immediately appropriated the stuffed snowman
toy on Christmas morning. She loves toys, especially stuffed ones that
remind her of a small animal. She carried that thing everywhere for a few
days, even jumping up in our laps with it. The older dogs were more
interested in the chewy rolls and special treat of canned dog food.

I picked up some small candy canes for the horses. Horses love peppermint.
Lily very much appreciated the gift, although Chance was a bit skeptical at
first. The chickens and turkeys got greens for a present and the barn cats
canned food. The canary got a few hulled sunflower seeds. All creatures
great and small were gifted.

I got to read a few books over the holidays, even though I did a lot of
baking and candy making. There was no good TV shows so I read instead. I
read Of Bees and Mist,(Setiawan) an odd story set in what must be an
alternate world, and Larry McMurtry's Rhino Ranch, also a bit odd, and Eight
Days to Live,(Johansen) a spooky thriller, lots of action, with a bit of the
supernatural. All of them I would recommend, although Rhino Ranch somewhat
disappointed me as there was not much of a story there unlike McMurtry's
other westerns.

I am going to dip into my reading box again before New Years. I buy books
from time to time and put them in a box on a shelf in my office until I have
time to read them. A lot of them come from book clubs- I can't resist those
get 5 books for a dollar things although I usually regret it later. When I
read I get really absorbed in the book- my husband will attest to this, and
it rarely takes me more than three days of reading in the evening to finish
a book. There is some danger in reading in the evening- especially if you
have to work the next day. Just one more chapter syndrome makes you plenty
tired the next day.

Winter- what is it good for? Reading!

Wicked winter weather

You forget just how brutal Michigan winter can be until you get a day like
today. Last night we got 6-8 inches of snow - it's hard to say because of
the drifting. But the north wind is whipping through here and the
temperatures are in the teens with wind chills below 0. Getting to the barn
this morning with a bucket of water was a real job. In places the snow
had drifted over my knee boots.

Inside the barn out of the wind it is a bit better but still plenty cold. I
kept Chance inside because his little crippled legs probably couldn't make
it through that stuff outside and of course Lily won't let him come back in
"her" barn and he would be stuck out in the cold. Lily had been out and
wandering the paddock this morning but was back inside when I went out.

I tried to get some wild birdseed out of the car but all the doors were
frozen shut. I finally got the passenger side door open and was able to
reach the jug of finch seed I bought but not the sunflower, which was way in
the back. And when I waded through to the bird feeder I found the big one
was frozen shut- I was freezing so their seed got dumped in a spot I tramped
out on the ground.

Outside my home office window the wind is blowing the plastic we covered our
home made storm windows with around. It's still attached on one side but
that probably won't last. The snow outside is blowing around like a
blizzard, even though the sun is out and no snow is really falling right
now. I have my little heater running full blast under my desk. The office
dogs are gratefully huddled around it. My canary is sitting under his heat
light.

I haven't attempted to shovel yet - with it drifting so badly it's useless.
I didn't have to drive into work today and that's a good thing. Just the
thought of cleaning that car off makes me tired. If they plow tonight I'll
try making it to my Extension job tomorrow. I am supposed to attend a
memorial service for a colleague's wife and then go to the office Christmas
party.

I spent a great deal of time over the weekend baking and making candy. My
father decided he could no longer make our family's traditional Christmas
meat pies. His hands make peeling potatoes hard and its just too much work
for him. It's our tradition to eat meat pie on Christmas morning and dad
made them for everyone after his mom died. That's 10 full sized pies, one
for each family. So I decided as the eldest it's my turn to make them.

Meat pies are a lot like pasty's - meat, potatoes and onion in a nice crust.
Of course at one time they used turnips or rutabaga in them but for the last
30 years or so it's just been meat, (we use ground beef), potatoes and
onions. Dad didn't quite remember proportions, and there is no written
recipe. I have watched him make them a few times and I have made them just
for us a few times so I hope I got the huge amount done right. I used 10
pounds of ground beef and 5 pounds of diced potatoes and 2 pounds of diced
onions. I'm hoping that will fill all the pies.

I had to cook all this in my big roast pan in the oven because I didn't have
a big enough stock pot for the top of the stove. That seemed to work all
right, I took it out and stirred and mashed it a couple times to keep it
from setting up like a big meatloaf. The problem is getting the seasoning
right. It has to be spicy, but not too spicy. I think dad just used pepper
and salt, I added a bit of garlic and used seasoned salt.

The crusts- now that is a chore. Making pie crust is not my favorite thing.
So far all the bottom crusts are done and in the pans and I have the top
crusts chilling in the refrigerator. I will finish and bake them tonight,
then wrap and freeze them for Christmas Eve. The proper way to eat meat
pie is to heat it up on Christmas morning and enjoy it for breakfast -
usually with catsup slathered on it. With this pie we have fruit salad and
generally some kind of loaf bread like banana nut bread.

I also made peanut butter fudge - and I really need to make another batch of
fudge if I am going in to work tomorrow. We exchange white elephant gifts
but I always put in some of my fudge and it's kind of expected. Every
Christmas I usually make about 12 batches of fudge to give as gifts - but I
am cutting that down this year. And most of that will get done next week.

Ah, Christmas. I don't shop much for it but I still keep busy.

Lily gets a friend for Christmas

We rescued a mini horse for Christmas. His name is Chance. Chance has
some very "deformed" hind legs yet he still manages to get around pretty
good. He's four years old but hasn't been gelded- something that will
change this spring. He's a dark sorrel, about 30" at the shoulder; possibly
he shows some of the dwarf traits some mini horses exhibit. He's a little
fat and full of burrs but a sweet, well mannered guy.

He spent his time with some other mini horses and some large mares until his
owner could no longer keep them. She was able to find homes for the other
horses but Chance scared everyone off with his bad legs. We decided to take
him and give Lily, our spoiled mini, some company. Somebody needs to care
about the disabled ones, and who better than us, with our own disabilities.

Lily has been alone since her son Charlie died and she was moping around and
getting fat. She got very excited whenever riders came down the road and
even talked to passing horse trailers. Although she could see horses at the
farm across the street it wasn't the same as being with another horse.

Despite all of that Lily wasn't totally sure she liked this new guy. He's
shorter than her by about 6 inches. He smelled different and was a little
unkempt. We put them in stalls with a gate between them for the first day.
The next day I took Lily out on a lead into the pasture and turned Chance
loose in it. He was happy to get outside again; he wasn't used to a stall.

Chance wandered around smelling everything and Lily was stamping her feet
and giving little mini squeals. If he came too close she presented him
with her rear and kicked out. But she watched him intently. The next day
I put Lily in the east pasture and Chance out in the little paddock behind
the barn and they could see each other through the fence.

Lily spent a lot of time standing at the gate but if Chance stuck his nose
through she bit him. She also spent a lot of time racing to the far end of
the pasture and back, tail in the air, showing Chance just how well she
could run. She was getting exercise without even being with him.

After an hour or so of this I let her back into the little paddock with him.
She promptly began chasing him around but didn't seem too intent on actually
catching him. Chance seemed to understand just what he should do and he
didn't seem to have any trouble keeping away from her. Still I was a little
worried that she would make his poor little legs sore and I put him back in
the stall after 20 minutes or so.

The next day I let him eat his breakfast and then let him out. Lily's stall
opens into the paddock and she was already outside eating some hay I put out
there. They spent several hours together, with only minor chasing although
he was not allowed to get too close to Lily. However Lily would not let him
go inside to the water nor eat from either of the two widely separated piles
of hay I put out. So I put him back in the stall for the night.

They are out together today, well Chance is out but Lily was inside keeping
out of the wind. Hopefully in a day or two more they can share that big
area for shelter like Lily and Charlie did and I can use the other stall for
hay again. Our barn is crowded and we used the stall we put Chance in to
store hay. We are too old to put it in the loft anymore and go up there to
throw it down.

Chance needs to be able to get to the water and eat his share of hay in
peace. There is a windbreak for him but being inside on a blustery day
would be better. So for a few days at least I will bring him in at night to
the stall. Maybe by Christmas Lily will appreciate her Christmas present!

There are a lot of horses out there that need new homes because of this bad
economy. A friend actually adopted a mustang mare that was with Chance. If
you have room in your barn and heart for a horse rescue this winter please
consider adopting one.