Newest babies & no where to put them-AKA house over-run with chickens

Baby Star April 2011

 

Baby Patunia April 2011

 

Hello to all my chicken friends, sorry its been a while since I last wrote......this whole Thomas/Afghanistan thing has had me  in a daze of sorts for awhile now. Once I dropped him off for his lock-down I thought I would be fine, but then when he went off to Texas we kept missing each other on the phone & had to play phone tag....not something I recommend when you know it may be the last time you get to speak to him in a year...sooo any-who he finally flew out to Germany this last Sunday & is now somewhere near Afghanistan for a few weeks.  Something about the climate & how they have to adjust before they get to Afghanistan....Not sure what he is talking about but sorta get it...you know....either thin air, heavy air, dry heat, too hot & on & on. But at least the count down can finally begin & I am no longer up in the air so to speak about when he will come home...sometime next April.

So I spent the 1st month he was gone eating crappy, running around in my P.J.'s, not washing my hair, drinking way too much coffee & forget about the smoking...way too much & lost 4 pounds....even eating crappy stuff!!  Only reason I know I lost weight, was I had to take Macy (kitty) into the vet for a check up & while they were out of the room I stepped on the scales....didn't realize my little purse weighed 3 pounds until I set it aside & then re-did the scales with out it!  Did you know check books could weigh that much?   Now I have a old 1950's scale at the house but it has never worked right, not that I use it often but when a 5 pound of sugar weighs anywhere from 7-10 pounds on it you know something is up.  I keep the silly thing cause I think it looks cool, its that pink that was so popular back then & heavy as all get out.

Sorry didn't mean to go off like that, my mind is in 50 million places right now.

As you can see from the new pictures Bess hatched 2 of the 3 eggs I put under her.  The babies are in the house with her in a very large cage& I let them out during the day when I put the others outside in their own fenced area & dump the cats out.  They would eat the babies, if I kept them in thought Bess has attacked Macy who got just a tad too close to one of the kids. Macy was not amused by this but I was.

The weather has finally gotten nice so I am seriously wanting to get the chickens that I can out of the house.  Bess & the babies will have to stay in until they grow a bit but Baby Girl, my blue Orpington is now healthy & can go out, I do worry about Piper & Gertie since they both have one bad leg & limp.  but I think if I put them down in the basement coop with the other damaged chickens they might be alright.....if not I can always bring them back into the house if needed.  But Porgie I am stuck with what to do until I decide if I am getting rid of CeeCee.  CeeCee has proved to be a very good rooster & has never attacked me so I hate to give him up...but if I keep him I will have to do another small coop somewhere for Porgie.  its so frustrating cause I do have the room to set them up but having another coop area is something I really didn't want to do...but if you know anything about me, you know I will cave in & do it just so they are happy...like I really need all that shop area!!!  its not like I have time to work on stained glass or jewelry lately anyway.

I finally got the herbal seeds, raspberry bushes, grape vines & so on that I am wanting to get in the ground but since it is April & we tend to get lots of rain I have been putting (avoiding) it off for the time being. I find that I am having to rethink things since I don't have Thomas here to help me with things like digging holes in the ground & setting poles in cement...that's for the grape vines just so you know...not that I am just doing this for the heck of it....though with me you never know!  I am used to doing things by myself but I like having a back-up if I need it you know?  I don't think if I yell at the cats to help me they would drop that mouse they are carrying around just to give me a hand (paw).  Now Big Momma who is my over weight diabetic cat may lay on something for me so it doesn't move, but honestly I do not want to have to pry her out of the setting cement just because I want it nice & flat. I would hate to try & explain that to my Vet when I have to take her in....'Why no, I have no idea how she got all that cement on her side???" "Are you sure its cement???"

Anyway as you can see my days are just filled with all these wonderful things I need to do or shouldn't do or don't want to do but in the end will have to get done one way or another.....OK maybe no cements on the cats but the posts will have to be done if I want the grape vines to grow up instead of out over the yard where I will move over them...Not much use to me then. 

Yeah as you can tell I am a bit off...I have got what my younger sister has...restless leg syndrome...Now let me tell you this is no fun.  When she told me years ago she had it, I didn't think it was bad because she didn't go into detail...Well mine started when I had to take blood thinners but thought it was just arthritis in my ankles & legs....then as it got worse I thought it was my high arches just falling....well finally decided to see if I could find out why I had this awful pain that would travel through my legs at night that would last for hours even if I got up & walked.  Yeap I got what she has & found out its inherited.  Well the last few years its gotten really bad where I can't sleep because I can't get the pain to stop no matter what I do.  I also can not take the meds they want you to take for it or drink soda water cause I am allergic to the main ingredient.  So even though I am told to walk a lot, which I do, some nights I am fighting my legs until I am so tired I can't think straight.  thank goodness the chickens don't mind & I have yet to mess up their feed & water & I do remember to let them out in their runs but some days that's about all I can do. I am glad I am not expected to do anything important on the days after a night of battling it.....like drive a car...go to a job....balance the checkbook ...

Just another thing I must deal with but its alright I am happy on those days to get anything done....& on the normal days I get a lot of things done & spend time with the chickens.

Well I am very tired so I think its time to go to bed & try to rest a bit.....tomorrow I am re-potting a bunch of Aloe I have that is too crowded in their pots, digging up the small garden so I can get ready to plant the potatoes & maybe figure out where those poles need to go for the grape vines....

so until next time have a great chicken day....M'.