Snow Day...

As usual, stress has crept up on  me again.  A simple, benign day turned into a long sleepless night yesterday.  My stress level is so high, I'm eating pizza pops for breakfast.  Gross. 

So, to cope with my stress, I decided to go through my snow day photos from Sunday.

Sunday we had an unexpected, and surprisingly heavy, snowfall.  Freezing rain was expected later that day, so we took the dogs outside for an extended play session.  While outside, hubby came and stood beside me.  In between kicking the soccer ball for Jack, he says "Let's take pictures of Snow White."

I was so stoked.  I rounded up the dogs, grabbed my camera and a towel, and met Earl outside again as he gathered up Snow White from her hutch.  We kept it short, but it was a lot of fun.  She had such a great time hopping around the snow and nibbling the grass poking out from the crust of snow.  Within minutes, we dried her off and put her back to bed and next thing I knew, Earl had Scuttlebutt (my black buck) and was looking for a place to put him down.  I just laughed and snapped away with my camera.

Not long after we put Scuttlebutt back, the freezing rain started.  And so ends our winter.


Well, here are the photos that turned out!

Scuttlebutt was a bit stressed.  Not many good shots of him.

And that was out snow day.  I hope everyone else is having a great winter and hopefully having some fun snow days!

Unpleasant...

Yesterday was just unpleasant.

At 5 am the dogs woke us up.  They were in the living room barking in a blind panic.  The noise they were making was unreal.  All I saw when I stumbled into the living room was red.  My window was glowing red like it was sunset.

Confused, I looked out the window and gasped.  Across the street the house was up in flames.  I must have said something because in a flash hubby was at my side asking what was wrong.  Thankfully, a police officer was standing in our driveway so we knew fire trucks were on the way.

In the light of day, and under a think blanket of smoke, we found out no one was in the house at the time of the fire, so I was thankful.

The morning chores went as usual except for a bit of agitation from a few of the rabbits and the chickens.  The smoke, the sirens, and the fire made for a scary morning for them.  I gave them all extra pets and left for a few hours.

When I came home, I had the biggest disappointment waiting for me.

Approaching the rabbits to replace the frozen water bottles, I was greeted by all but one.  I knew before I even opened the door that my lovely Big Bunny had passed away.  She had been fine in the morning; playful and cheery.  We are uncertain what the cause of death is, but I fear heat stroke.  Hubby thinks old age since it appears she passed peacefully and she was fine for most the morning and afternoon.  He also pointed out that her hutch gets the least amount of sun in the day (a privilege for being a pet), so it would be more likely if one of the others got heat stroke.

Whatever the reason, it's sad to see my pet bunny is gone.  Now, instead of a happy bunny standing at the cage door to greet me, all I have is an empty hutch.

She will be missed, that is for sure.

Darn this heat...

I really hate this heat.  We have record highs around here and its not going away anytime soon.  Though I don't care for Summer, its not because of what the weather does to me that causes me such anger.  I'm fine in shade with a fan, and if I have a cold drink, even better, but my poor animals. 

I do what I can for the outdoor animals, but its tough fighting Mother Nature.  Even my best is nothing against such high temperatures.  Knowing I'm inside with the AC cranked and they are outside makes me so sad.  Rabbits do not do well in temperatures above 25 degrees, so they have frozen water bottles in their cages as soon as temps get that high.  Still, I can see its affecting 2 of my rabbits.  They are panting away looking beyond miserable. 

The chickens are under shade most of the day thanks to the pear tree, and the pigeon sunbaths all day anyways, so I'm not too concerned about him (her? it?).  Poor rabbits, always on my mind.  I'll just keep on what I'm doing and hopefully I brainstorm some new ideas to try as well.

Oh Summer, you are relentless.

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?

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.

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.

Season's Greetings!

Its so snowy.  Love it! 

This is my first week of unemployment!  Had my last shift on Saturday.  I had a feeling this winter would be bad and I didn't want to make the trip to work through snow again.  I decided it was time to quit, not only because of the winter and distance, but because I need a change.  I need work closer to home and hopefully not as stressful.  And by leaving when I did, it means I get to spend all the holidays with my family!  I won't have to work Christmas Day again!  For the last three years I have worked Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  Not my idea of a good time.

I'm taking this time to get things in order.  I need to clean up and shape up!  My house is a constant disaster, and I feel like a zombie.  Before I start looking for a new job in January, I'm going to get as much clean up here done as possible.  I've made a good dent in the living room, but there is more to do.

Other than that, we had our first huge snowfall yesterday.  It was really great!  One of my fingers went completely cold and white, but it was fun to make snowmen while Jack tore them down.  I did a little video as well, a look around the backyard with clips of the dogs playing.  My first attempt at a video.

Well, only a few days left until Christmas!  Hope its great :)

Third Update: Home sweet home

That's right, for those who didn't know it, we moved.

Not just moved, bought.

Me and hubby bought our first home (last year)!  Old news really, but news to this blog!

In the last year, we've done nothing to fix it up really.  However, we have had some pitfalls.  Turns out, with such a shallow slope on the roof, a driving rain will seep under the tin roof, down the nails, into the attic, to land on the kitchen floor.  Small amounts of water have made it in, but not something you want in the Fraser Valley.

As well, last summer we noticed a large puddle constantly in front of the house.  That, coupled with extreme water bills, lead us to call the city to investigate.  Turns out we had a leak somewhere between the water meter and house.  Sigh. 

We used the excuse to chop down a tree, rent an excavator, and Earl had the leak located and repaired in an 18 hour day.  Not too shabby, hubby.

The yard and garden is a mess, we have an abundance of clutter and junk devaluing our home, and I really need to learn to organize.  Other than that, my goal is to get the place fixed up to move in a year or two.

Shortly after moving to our new home, I did a foolish thing.  I bought chickens.

Front: Bertha          Back: Black Eyes Chicken

I'm on a city lot with chickens!  Bad, bad Laura.

It all happened so fast!  My sister sent me a kijiji listing for 3 bantam Cochins, one rooster, two hens.  I thought it was sweet of her, but didn't think anything of it.  Well, until she came over and asked me about it.  So, to appease her, I called my hubby and asked if it were ok if I got chickens, thinking he would say no.  Boy, was I surprised when he said yes! 

With his blessing, I called the number on the ad and asked about the birds.  The seller was a bit distraught to inform me that someone already took the rooster.  Well, heck, that was fine by me!  And to boot, he was selling the girls with food and equipment. 

This was getting better and better!

When hubby got home from work, we went over and checked out the hens and I fell in love!  $20 bought both birds, food dish, water dish, half a bag of feed and 2 bales of straw.  I found it a bargain!

At home, with no coop to speak of, I locked the birds up in a guinea pig cage.  I know, mean.  The silver-lining?  Earl's boss offered the use of his chicken tractor!  All I had to do is pick it up on my home from work the next day!  

Now if that isn't meant to be, I don't know what is!

My girls, since named Bertha and Black-eyed Chicken, are living out in the backyard since last spring.  They are about two years old now, and stopped laying for the fall, but they are great additions to my yard!  They rarely make a noise, and when the do, its for good reason!  Think large collie dog terrorizing them.  I've also been informed that they are not pure Cochin, but that matters little to me.  And so far, only one neighbour has noticed and he thinks its cute, so we are off to a good start!

Only problem is I now have chicken fever!  I've commissioned a larger coop from my hubby for my girls so I can get a few more for eggs.  We're hoping to have it done in the spring some time. 

I'm beyond happy.

Snow White, about 3 months old (?)

While we are on livestock, I have some new rabbits.  Shortly after moving into our home, my sister built an open rabbit shed and moved in 4 Mini Rex rabbits and a grey New Zealand.  She raised several litters at my house for pets and food.  Just a few months ago she moved them all to her new house, but before that I decided to try my hand at raising rabbits.

I bought a stunning white New Zealand doe and a grey New Zealand buck (possible sibling to my sister's grey).  I haven't bred mine yet, but it is the plan.

My baby Turkeys

I have, however, raised 5 turkeys, butchered them, and froze them.  It was, in short, a horrific experience.   One I'm a bit shy to repeat.  It may be the reason I have yet to breed my rabbits.

Few months old

That's all that's new for the backyard.  I don't really have photos of the house, but I will get some up soon-ish.  Maybe.