The Evolution of Atlas: A Breeding (and Chat) Thread

[speckledhen]

Yeah. It's the calm before the cold here. We got a few inches of snow. Today was a bit warmer and melty, and than I freeze my bottom off. Well actually it won't be really cold yet, that happens in the coming months when we drop down in the -20's and those lovely -40 wind chills kick in, that's cold. I actually am too warm when the temperatures are near 30.

My husband will be on call for the weekend and Christmas. He works on RR signals. That stuff breaks when it gets colder, so we will see how that goes.

I saw that it was mainly just nose-freezing cold, not really snow, in your forecast. I remember being in Ohio for stuff like that all too well! I'll take our few small snow events over that again any day. My husband, having lived "below the gnat line" in south Georgia thinks if it gets below 50*, it's too cold. Silly swamp rat.

 

[speckledhen]

Forgot to say that our weather that day I mentioned yours, Lisa, is going to be 30's for highs and about 13* for a low, so still cold enough, but not so your breath freezes when you walk out the door. The night that poor Isaac got frostbitten toes was 2* actual temps with windchills about -15*. The new barn can't have air blowing underneath it so doubt that would have happened to him if he had been in this barn that night.

Finally, I got this little quilt quilted and the binding made and ready to whipstitch to the back of the quilt. I was having trouble getting into the rhythm of it, I admit, but still, it could be a cute one for a baby boy gift this spring, I guess. What I want to do is figure out what to make with some of the historic print fabrics I have. Will have to wait for just the right project, though I'm sure I don't have enough of them for a bed quilt, maybe just a couch/snuggly quilt or a wallhanging.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Forgot to say that our weather that day I mentioned yours, Lisa, is going to be 30's for highs and about 13* for a low, so still cold enough, but not so your breath freezes when you walk out the door. The night that poor Isaac got frostbitten toes was 2* actual temps with windchills about -15*. The new barn can't have air blowing underneath it so doubt that would have happened to him if he had been in this barn that night.

Finally, I got this little quilt quilted and the binding made and ready to whipstitch to the back of the quilt. I was having trouble getting into the rhythm of it, I admit, but still, it could be a cute one for a baby boy gift this spring, I guess. What I want to do is figure out what to make with some of the historic print fabrics I have. Will have to wait for just the right project, though I'm sure I don't have enough of them for a bed quilt, maybe just a couch/snuggly quilt or a wallhanging. View attachment 1215870 View attachment 1215871

Did Isaac lose his toes? I have a few with missing toes. Gets so cold sometimes it's unavoidable.

 

[speckledhen]

He lost two toe ends, yes. His comb had zero frostbite and no other birds had it, either, just Ike's feet. It was only because he fell off the roost and slept on the floor that night and his circulation was so bad in his legs. We would go out and either put him back up or make him a good nest on the floor when he'd lose his balance, but for some reason, we didn't hear it on the baby monitor that night. But, he recovered with a few weeks of care.

 

[speckledhen]

...WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM EST THIS EVENING...

* Locations...Higher elevations of north central and northeast
Georgia

* Winds...Sustained southwest winds of 25 to 30 mph with gusts
between 35 and 40 mph.

* Timing...Through 6 PM.

Too bad because it's so warm prior to the bottom falling out and the birds hate wind like this so no one would go outside. The only saving grace is that it is drizzly from time to time so I guess they are fine inside the barn.

Last night, apparently, the barn door did not latch. It locked and it seemed shut, but it wasn't. We've had issues with that cheapie mobile home door they put on for a long time now. DH heard slamming over the monitor and went out in the middle of the night to see what the noise was and the door was blowing open and closed. All birds were fine, nothing got inside. If it had not been such a wet, windy night, we could have lost all the birds by predator. I did hear coyotes, then a few minutes later, a fox's alarm bark, first nearby then further away, so it could have been one fox running or two of them.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It's always frustrating to find a latch that didn't close properly. That's how I end up with turkeys running amok or more rabbits. I have become an obsessive checker of knobs,and hook, and latches, oh my. Glad your birds are all safe.

 

[speckledhen]

Just off another several hours power outage. If they'd buried the lines, this wouldn't be a constant thing. So frustrating! I mean, if I was off the grid, then I'd have it set up that way, but we've had maybe 5 outages over the past two weeks. This time it was a tree falling not far from us, we heard.

 

[holm25]

Merry Christmas!

 

[speckledhen]

Merry Christmas!

Same to your family, Isaiah. Hope you're doing well up there in snow country!

 

[holm25]

Same to your family, Isaiah. Hope you're doing well up there in snow country!

Thank you! We are doing good considering our high for tomorrow is -11!