Happy Harvest Blog
guinea lift
I can’t believe this just happened. I was closing up the birdies’ coops in the almost completely dark, and there was one guinea that wasn’t up on the perch. It’s tough; their perches swing, and they fall off, or knock each other off, but they are usually all back on by nightfall. He was sitting on the edge of the chickery slash confinement module. I was already crouched beside him to shut the big coop, so I reached out, like, here, I’ll help you up (haha).
New things! New things! - Greenhouse Rearrangement
I got some more work done in the greenhouse. Specifically, I untied all the strings crossing the top third, that suspend tomatoes in the summer. You can just see the strings in this pic. So I’m taking them down and crochet looping them up to decommission them until next year. The guineas will be able to fly around in the upper third of the GH again. This festooning makes sense to me. Then the irrigation came out, and the pool went in, and coops were shifted – oh my!
cheeks and the baked goods
All very peaceful, until a croissant comes out. First, it was pie crust, similarly discovered by accident – I was eating it within her reach, and she stabbed out her beak- I’ll have some of that! Multigrain croissant has proven to be such a huge and lasting hit, that I’m like Ok, eat some more of your grains, and then you can have croissant. She’s like I’ll wait. I can carry a box of them through the room, and her little head periscopes out of her banana box, following me.
magical christmassy snow
There was an unexpected veil of snow settled on everything yesterday (I wasn’t expecting it). It was warm, too, and that kind of snow that falls in huge, feathery flakes gets heavy. Awful to drive in. It’s very hard on my bird protection. Surprise, no birds are outside! I have to untether the netting when it snows like this and drop it down inside the fence. I’ve learned to tie quick release knots, so it’s not much slower than walking around the garden. Then I hoist it back up when it melts.
Oh great, it's time to move blog platforms again
I’ve been blogging here at WordPress for nine and half years, and I was perfectly delighted with it for eight and a half. I’ve never had so many problems as I did this year. Coincidentally, this year is also the first time I’ve paid for the top tier account, for extra storage (nine years of images, yo), and to keep my blog free of annoying ads. To hell with that.
Lap chicken
It's nice to have a house chicken to hold. It's like a cat. I love cats and their hot water bottle properties, and I can't have one, but a chicken will have to do. You think they're all sharp beak and talons, but chickens are pretty nice to hold. They're soft, plush, and very warm. They burn hot, like a cat. Cheeks can sit on me for a solid hour, and she doesn't even peck my keyboard. She hasn't pooped on me either. Apples was not so polite.
Accidental lanterns
I was having fun with the partially frozen linings of 5-gallon buckets. They made lanterns! The ice cylinders looked so cool I had to put candles in them. I got four came out of the bucket intact. Cheeks is doing well, although all she wants to eat are sunflower seeds. The guineas have stayed inside, and none succumbed to exposure. There were more than 70 grosbeaks here this morning - that's as far as I got before they went airborne - they're very touchy.
Everyone out!
Everyone found the chicken doors yesterday. I finished tying down the mesh around the fence, so it should be guinea tight.It's kind of dead and slim pickin's, but it's outdoors. They also noticed right away that it's quite cold outside, so most of them had a look around, and then went back in to warm up. Spoiled bunch. They seem to much prefer being in the corn stalk strip. In the open they act nervous, exposed. Heard some of the most pathetic, unsure, low-volume crowing out of the roosters, too.
Hen yard
Another afternoon spent in service of chicken comfort.I created the chicken yard, finally. The fence was already there, keeping chickens out of my garden all summer, but now they are to be kept in, and I strung up the bird netting to keep the pro-flying guineas in and raptors out. I imagined that the chickens would come out and enjoy it this sunny afternoon, but instead it was a tedious, cold, frustrating task that I clued up right around the usual guinea grass hour before dusk,
#LocktheClock, please!
I HATE time changes!! I don't really care for regular time or savings time, for God's sake let's pick one and stick to it! More people agree time changes are garbage than any other issue, so let's dispense with "War Time".Each time change means a week of having half the clocks on the "old time", to remember when the animals get fed, and doing math, like it or not, all times of day.
Little cuties
Baby barred rock. Two Silkie crosses, apparently They like to tightrope around on the coop. It's just challenging enough that they look tentative.This little leghorn has moved in with the Silkies (sitting on the swing). I don't know why they make the choices they do.
The last chicks?
The last broody hen is hatching her eggs (well, there's one more broody in the coop, but she doesn't have any eggs and I'm not letting her have any. It's too late for that). They're having a hard time too. Shortly after Brown Bonnet hatched, I came in the morning to find the disgustingly distinctive smell of rotten egg. This one had an exploded egg under her (so gross, but it happens - instead of growing a chick, it rots, and they're keeping the eggs nice and hot...so boom!)
Bee drama
My house smells like a hive. I have all the removed frames, capped honey, and partial frames in here because it must all be perfectly dry before storing. I've also got all the unshucked beans and hanging dried herbs in here, so it's crowded. But it smells good. Not surprisingly, there's the odd bee in here, browsing. I have to keep the doors shut.I heard one, screaming, and it was intense enough I had to investigate. "Screaming" might sound hyperbolic, but it is, it's a high pitch buzz of panic and desperation.
Serious frost
We got a proper frost last night. I ate a tomato and it had ice crystals in it (unpleasantly cold first thing in the morning), so lots of tomatoes are frozen on the vine in the greenhouse. I think the cucumber and melon vines are finished too. The basil is finished. I worked all day yesterday to prepare for the frost, so it wasn't a surprise, except I thought the basil would be ok. Mom, it's cold! She's in her full polar bear.
All they needed was a keet ladder
Last night when Galahad and the keets went to bed in the greenhouse, there was a lot of noise, and G was running laps around the greenhouse-like he wanted out. He settled down, but I felt he was distressed, and maybe frustrated with sleeping on the ground. Tonight after bedtime, I thought the greenhouse was remarkably quiet. I peeked...and just about died! In case it's unclear what you're seeing, that is one keet perched on Galahad's back, yes, and all the keets lined up on the (swinging) perching rail, at 6' in the greenhouse.
The before bedtime lounge
Before it’s bedtime, 7-8 pm-ish, it’s the hour for serious lounging. The various chicken cliques are scattered around, and more likely to be settled down on the ground than perching above ground. They just sink down in the grass/weeds (or wherever they are) and have a little lull, maybe even a proper nap. Two of Ursa’s new chicks came supplied with the most amazing permanent eyeliner. It’s too bad I used up the name Cleopatra already (although it was entirely appropriate) because these two have totally Egyptian eyes.
Full perching potential
Well, the chicks are all out. I figured it was today. The hens let me know when it's time. They become dissatisfied with the playpen and start doing this. Can you let me out? Then usually a chick leaks out (all of them can jump out the top anytime and sometimes do), and instead of helping it back in, I let all the rest out. Ursa Minor came out first and launched into a scratching demo the likes of which have never been seen. She was scratching and scratching, like crazy, like she meant to dig a hole.
Definitely a dirt bath day
It's a dirt bath lineup. They're lovin' it. They get really satisfying results from their pint-sized scratching practice in the fine mulch of the greenhouse. The dirt flies! She's panting because she's hot, so within a few minutes, they were back out on the grass. The heatwave wasted no time arriving. We got the rain overnight, and early, and then the sun came out again, and wow, it's already hot, and muggy, and the bugs are terrible!! The mosquitoes are awful, lying in wait in big clouds, and the noseeums are eating me alive, right now.
Waiting for rain
The guinea got into the greenhouse adjunct garden and while I was helping him find his way out, I came across this little fellow burrowed in. Almost, but not quite, completely hidden. I hope he's not responsible for eating my lettuce heads. There's 20 missing. We have rain on the way, followed by a heatwave. I've finished the course of antibiotics for Lyme disease. On the whole, I feel better than I did before I got bit, except for the sudden powerful episodes of fatigue that put me to sleep in the middle of otherwise productive days,
Chicken family updates
I've got a few garlic scapes. All the chicken families are doing well: Perchick, etc, almost, but not quite, ready for bed. Apples and cohort, very active. The orphans. They're settling down. They like to sit on and run over those covered wagons like rolling hills. It's a raised vantage point. The hens inside are near due. At night they crawl under the loose canvas on the left, and I let them into that left kennel with the resigned hen.
Instagram.
I may not make a blog post every day, but at least I Insta.
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