Saturday, May 31, 2014

Long Time, No See, Friend...


Why hello.  Its been a while.  Terribly sorry about that, but I haven't been feeling well recently.  Let me give you a couple of highlights to catch you up.

I had a few wonderful blacksmithing lessons!  Pictures are coming.  Both projects are unfinished, and once they are, I will post some pictures for all to see.  I will tell you that I made a tomahawk and am finishing up an ornamental snail.  Its pretty cute.

In sad news, and the main reason I haven't posted, is the Hen I adopted passed away yesterday.  Her recovery was such a rollercoaster.  She did better, then got worse, then got so well I was thinking of naming her, then disaster struck.  On Monday, I saw a mite on my hand when I was feeding her.  I treated her for them, knowing that mites will impede her recovery, and hoped for the best.  Tuesday, she looked depressed.  Not moving, but still eating.  Wednesday, she was very ill.  When I picked her up to examine her, my arms were covered in mites.  I looked at her chest, and her skin was black and moving.  She was infested.  Her comb and wattle were white, she was anemic, and she was in pain.  They were sucking the life out of her. 

This was a desperate situation, and I took desperate measurements.  I got stronger chemicals and applied it under her wings, on her chest, and around her butt, all the mites hiding places.

Thursday was constant care, but no improvement.  The mites were dead, but she was drained. 

Friday, just before, 3pm, she passed away.

Telling the previous owner who trusted the hen to my care was devastating.  A lot of 'if only' have been running through my head.  If only I realized how bad the mites were sooner, if only I started force feeding her sooner.... If only.

I'm crushed.  I really hate losing an animal, and with its history, it makes it hurt more. 

Sigh.

Lets move on to happier things. 

My sister gave me her two rabbits, a black buck and a silver/grey doe (who is actually my Prince Charming's sister).  She is deciding that chickens will be more worth her while.  For the same amount of effort, she gets fresh eggs everyday, and no messy butchering!  I'm happy.  I can't wait to start breeding my does!  Baby bunnies are adorable.

My garden is doing well.  Except the spinach.  It was attacked by a worm and eaten away.  My cucumbers were almost wiped out by a slug, but we saved 2 plants!  Today, I finally got around to planting some more salad mix, new spinach (ripped out the gross ones), radishes, and carrots.  I'm late doing all this, but oh well.  I'm still learning.

Here, have a few pictures of my garden.

My carrots, before I thinned them.

Potatoe, a week ago.  They are huge now.

Aren't they lovely?

I will get back in the grove of things shortly.  I am finally feeling better, so I will be able to lug my camera around and get some good pictures.

Side note, I'm puppy-sitting my in-laws dog, Abby.  She's a lab-golden retriever mix and she is adorable!  She's not use to being inside, but she is having a good time with my boys!  Expect to see a lot of photos of her over the next 3 weeks.

Another note, did you know the dogs have twitter??  Its mostly me, dictating what's happening, but its fun!  Check them out on the side of the page!

I also have instagram!  Follow me?


Wednesday, May 14, 2014

This and That


Just a quick note about things here.

I didn't have a blacksmith lesson on the weekend.  Instead, I attended an amazing Retirement Party for my father-in-law put on by my brother and sister-in-law and celebrated Mother's day!

Pigeon is doing well.  He/she/it broke a nail on the wire cage, so I had to clip and clean the area and fix the bottom of the cage so it wouldn't happen again.  Bad news; pigeon now hates me.  He tries to remove skin every time I feed him.

Chicken is iffy.  We are doing everything we can for her, but she isn't doing as well as we hoped.

Garden is amazing!  So many veggies growing!

Flower garden is terrible.  So many weeds...

Rabbits are happy in their hutches.

Chickens are happy, but stopped laying eggs.

Dogs are monsters.

I'm very tired.


Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Welcome to the Flock!


Today has been eventful.  I spent all of yesterday, and a good portion of today, getting ready to bring home 2 new flock members!

One, a young pedigreed Australorp hen, was the sole survivor out of 40 chickens after a devestating mink attack.  She was badly injured on the back of her head by the mink.  The other is the last of 6 pigeons that shared the coop.  Knowing that the mink was still roaming around, it was felt that it was too dangerous to keep the birds there.  On Monday, I was asked if I would take in the birds.  Their owner had helped me get started with chickens and has been such a help with my silly questions, I couldn't refuse when she asked.

Going home!

Driving the birds to my house was nerve wracking.  I couldn't help but feel bad for the hen every time there was a bump.  I imagine she is in enough pain as it is, I hated the thought of adding more.  When we got home, she seemed too stressed to move, so she is resting in her crate with some water until tonight.  Once the sun starts to set, I will move her to her hospital room to recover.  Once her wound is healed up, she will join my little hens outside.  I'm sure she will enjoy it!

Blurry, but then you can't see her owie.

The pigeon seems to be settling into its new home quite well.  I hope that means I won't have to worry about it!


On a lighter note!  I had to move around my rabbits into new hutches.  My Holland Lop, Big Bunny, was moved last night into a cozy new hutch that hubby just refinished.  This morning when I checked on her, I found this-


She ripped out her belly fur!  Not only that, but look...


The brat is carrying around her hay!

I've seen this before in my sister's pregnant rabbits.  There is no way Big Bunny is pregnant.  After consulting my sister, we figure she is looking for lovin'.  Not sure if the move brought this on, or the season, but there you have it.  Big Bunny wants a man.


Tuesday, May 6, 2014

More Pictures of My Nails


Since everyone loves to see photos (I hope), I have for you a collection Rusty took while I was making the nails!






Fun times were had.

Photos thanks to Rusty of White Rose Forge and Foundry.


Sunday, May 4, 2014

Nailing the Art of Blacksmithing


Yesterday I had another lesson with Rusty the blacksmith.  This time, we made nails.  No joke.  

Left to right, in the order that they were made.


It was great practice for squaring up a round rod and tapering it to a point.  After 4 nails, I started to make some real progress.  I'm getting pretty good at swinging that hammer!  Last week I would hit the anvil or miss the mark, smooshing everything the wrong way.  I had to get help squaring everything up since I liked to swing the hammer at an angle, pushing everything off center. 

With the nails, my first started off as a huge mess.  I was doing everything wrong, but Rusty was great and talked me through how to fix it instead of doing it for me.  Of course, that meant it took longer to make a nail, but he gave me a great chance to learn.  By the end, I wasn't messing up nearly as bad, and my nail was very passable.  That being said, I really didn't put any effort into the nail heads and they are all off center and more like railroad ties.  But that was totally on purpose and not at all related to my inability to swing a hammer with any force...

Added bonus: My arms aren't as jelly-like today as they were last week.  I hope that means I'm building some muscle!

We discussed future projects, but I couldn't think of anything easy to make.  Eventually, I would like to make a hatchet and tools, but none of that is appropriate for a beginner. 

All in all, I need my own forge now.  I want to play and make more nails.  Rusty said he can make them in one heating (as opposed to the 10+ I did for each of mine), so that will be a goal for me.

Funny looking heads.


Friday, May 2, 2014

Cucumbers Too??


My cucumbers have made an appearance!  I think everything has started growing now!  Hope I can keep them alive until harvest...