Dreaming of Spring Gardening in the Middle of a Wisconsin winter part 2

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Jim I hope you both get to feeling better soon. Glad your DD is coming to help out. That's a long time to be sick. I've been hearing the flu this year is particularly nasty.

 

[Callender Girl]

Hope everybody is both healthy (or at least recovering) and having much better weather.

Most of the snow has melted, replaced by puddles -- used for bathing by runner ducks -- in the driveway where I should have added more white rock last year and layers of mucky mud everywhere else.

Days of shoveling slushy snow along with loading and unloading hay bales yesterday have left me achy and cranky. Well, I would have been cranky anyway. There's something just not right about seeing snow on the deck at the same time that dozens of houseflies are gathered on the wall, waiting for me to try to open the back door without letting them in. (Spoiler alert: I failed more than once)

One of the geese was determined to make a nest against the house foundation Sunday; she was also determined to chew on the siding. Many lectures failed to convince Golly to leave the siding alone. That's why there's a huge sheet of heavy-duty cardboard, secured by an old window weight, shoved against my house.

And that's why I found my first goose egg of 2025 out in the middle of the muddy yard.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

The mud is slowly drying out here. All dogs got baths on Sunday.

Barb I'm glad my geese are confined to the goat pasture. I couldn't image them running amok here. I guess with only one goat now it's mostly the goose pasture now. I have one that has a nest going in the shed. Looks like around 8 eggs. Hopefully that's about it. I don't want much more than that, so will have to remove eggs if she lays more. I want a few more, but don't need to be overrun. Also put some eggs under a broody bantam hen. I guess I'm hopeful winter is mostly gone.

The flies and Asian beetles in the house is driving me nuts too. Vacuuming them up daily. Starting to think about what to plant where.

 

[jvls1942]

kind of quiet around here,
Annie went to the hospital Sunday morning,
they are keeping her there until her oxygen level rises to where they think they can send her home without oxygen tanks,,. they rediagnosed her from broncidis to the flu.
I have several people checking up on me,.
DD Brenda brings me food if I want it,.
today it will be a sub sandwich,
I fed Annie's ferel cat yesterday, he didn't come to eat for me like he does for Annie,. must not like how I call kitty kitty, lol
I wouldn't mind a few geese running around the yard,.
we had asian beetles all winter , they like to rest on the tv in the bedroom, Annie jumps out of bed and swats them with the fly swatter,.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Poor Annie. Jim I hope she's home soon, and feeling better. That sounds horrible. Glad you are doing okay. I was wondering.

 

[Cebarmlds]

Prayers Jim and Annie

 

[jvls1942]

good morning
Annie came home on Tuesday, they sent a c pap machine with her, it did very little good, so Wedbnesday we requested oxygen, two nice young men were here within an hour, set up the oxygen
it was instant relief,
last night she slept all night without coughing,
what a relief for both of us,
some people are tapping maple trees already,
the robin has two more times to have snow on his back,

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Great news Jim.

 

[Callender Girl]

Hurray for Annie and men who were able to set up the oxygen so quickly! Hope she starts to feel better every day

Too bad about the poor snow-covered robin. Bet it wishes it had stayed south a while longer.

Someone who moved to Fort Dodge recently joined BYC; we met for coffee in town a couple of weeks ago. Lex is coming out Sunday for a "coop tour." In preparation, I've been "spring cleaning" one big coop per day. I'm hoping to clean out the Taj Ma-Coop before the storm is supposed to hit at 5 p.m. Like we need MORE bad weather. Nearly all the snow is gone and the mud was drying up.

Lisa, vacuuming up the Asian beetles is never ending. As soon as I remove all their bodies, more pile up EVERYWHERE. Still, I find them less objectionable than flies -- which are simply adult maggots. Yuck!

I think it's sad that you're down to one goat. I know how much I will miss mine when the last two and the lone sheep are gone. But I won't miss buying, loading or unloading hay bales.

How many geese do you have and what kind? I'm considering adding a couple more from someone who needs to rehome two. Both of my girls have resumed laying; Gussie produced her first egg of the year yesterday. Goose eggs are my favorite.

I've made my list of the veggies I want to grow this year. I will need to cut back OR make a bigger garden. What are you planning to plant? Any favorite varieties?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

How many geese do you have and what kind? I'm considering adding a couple more from someone who needs to rehome two. Both of my girls have resumed laying; Gussie produced her first egg of the year yesterday. Goose eggs are my favorite.

I think 14. Pilgrim, buff american, mixes of those 2 breeds, and embden. Here's a picture from last fall. Grass is not green yet here. They were excited their pond melted and they were swimming around. By the time I got my camera they all moved on to other things.