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

[WIchickMama]

we have so many red squirrels this year too! I know that we have 3 for sure in the trees right by the house, they are so destructive and LOUD! Let me know Jim, if you find any solutions, right now our thought is a .22?

I found a home for our aggressive hen, chicks turn 4 weeks tomorrow and even with being separated 90% of this time both in the run and the coop she still goes after them for no reason. I could see if there was food involved and she gave them a peck on the head/back if they came up while she was eating but nope, she literally lunges after them and will sneak up on them wherever they are in the run and then peck them and keep pecking. So strange, she is the only one. I was hoping that her time alone would allow her to think about what she has done but apparently she doesn't care She will be going to a farm right down the road where our oldest works-they have a flock of 30 maybe and never have chicks so she should be a.o.k

This weekend, I think, will be freezing the last of the corn for the season and canning some more beans, cucumbers (I am going to try sweet relish) and tomatoes. Gonna have a messy kitchen come Sunday night! lol

I need to mow again, but that is bottom of the chore list for the weekend (fingers crossed DH will get it done Monday when he is off, but he has to do his parents so I try and keep ours done)

 

[Callender Girl]

I used to think squirrels were cute. There weren't any here for the first few years, but I have gray squirrels everywhere! And, Dinah, one of my rescue dogs, goes absolutely bonkers, barking at the windows, racing across the yard and trying to climb trees to catch them. Sweet, blind dog George has no idea what's making his sister insane.

Jim, congrats on the lights, and I hope you got that walnut branch cut; wouldn't want Annie to quit mowing!

On the other hand, I won't be surprised if I don't have to mow for the rest of the year. Predicted rain still isn't falling. I will need to take the weed eater out soon because while grass refuses to grow, thistles, lamb's quarter and dock are doing fine.

Anjanet, good for you getting that hen a new home. Hope Sunday's canning goes well.

I have a couple of stepping stone paths so that I can avoid the mud created by all the poultry eating every bit of greenery. Over the years, the stones have slowly sunk into the ground; a few have been totally buried.

It's taken me two days -- mostly because I had to go to Menards for supplies-- but today I managed to dig out the last of the sunken stones and dump some sand underneath them to keep them from sinking again, at least for a while. Of course, I was aided -- and greatly slowed down -- by a whole lot of hens who thought there might be yummy bugs under them.

The paths look pretty good, but I was already feeling it in my hip after yesterday. I have every reason to believe it will be sore again tomorrow.

 

[jvls1942]

I got the chainsaw all sharpened and the rakers set. my plan is to cut the branch today. however it is supposed to rain on and off.
right now it looks like on..

 

[WIchickMama]

We also have rain, and thunder and lightning! I had only watered half of the garden last night so I am glad.

Barb, don't you love it when you have extra "helpers". Sounds like a lot of great work to day, even though you might be sore. I know how you feel, every time I do the extra chores that require the extra physical labor I am super sore no matter where I am in the season of work.

Heading to the farmers market now with the youngest, she has been up since like 6:30 am and will need something to do in a couple minutes.

 

[jvls1942]

i did not get the black walnut branch cut off. the rain that was supposed to quit at one o'clock, didn't..
I am going to use my electric chain saw. I have it all sharpened and ready to go.
went up to Merrill with Annie instead.

 

[Callender Girl]

I usually don't appreciate being woke up in the wee hours, but I felt differently today. At about 1:15 a.m. I could hear rain -- and lots of it -- hitting the porch roof. It's hard to say how much fell since it's still dark out. But when I took out the dogs, I grabbed the little rain gauge and peered hard at it; looks like well more than an inch. Maybe 2, if I'm being optimistic. That would be the biggest rainfall here in quite a while.

Today, I don't have to be envious of you Wisconsin folks who actually get rain!

Of course, it's a bit later than I would have liked. Except for my tomato plants, yesterday I pulled out all the sad veggies that were languishing in my garden.

At least my undersized tomatoes are ripening; one of my neighbors stopped by yesterday with kitchen scraps for the chickens (I had to disappoint her on eggs since the dewormer withdrawal isn't quite over). She said she has tomatoes but they're still all green. She actually had to BUY tomatoes at the farmers market yesterday morning.

Anjanet, did you snag some good stuff at the farmers market? In any case, happy canning today!

Lisa, hope you're able to get some corn. The drought here has ruined a lot of the corn. And, I hope you dog is having good days.

I'm glad I got all those stepping stones elevated this week because I know the "chicken side" of the yard will have plenty of mud this morning. I'm going to force myself to be grateful for it -- even as I wipe down muddy paws all day.

In anticipation of my company on Wednesday, I forced myself to cut the cedar boards that I want to stain and install under the deck. While I would have expected some consistency, whoever built the deck played pretty fast and loose with measurements. I realized the safest thing was to cut each board and dry fit it before cutting another board. Now, I need to stain them to match the deck.

Using a compound miter saw is one of the skills I've developed in recent years; I'm hoping to master the table saw next. It scares me a bit more. Oh, and Jim, electric chain saws also frighten me. I have a Worx Jawsaw -- a small chain saw that makes it almost impossible to hurt yourself -- but the chain came off, and I can't find the specialized tool that came with it that I need to replace the chain.

I'm debating whether to spend the money on the tool OR apply that cash to a replacement saw. My original was a gift, and I'd rather have the cordless version. Dragging a cord around makes it much harder to want to use.

Hope everybody has a good week!

 

[WIchickMama]

Thanks for asking, I did get some good stuff. Lota of corn, peppers, celery, tomatoes and apples (everything I dont grow). They were selling apples for $2.50 a bag! Perfect kid sized and taste amazing. I got 4 bags

Canned 8 pints of corn relish yesterday and today I will freeze some corn.

Rain all night and still going so the lawn will not get mowed today.

Kids start school in 3 days! I am looking forward to some quiet during the day, makes working from home much easier. Today, I pull out fall/school clothes, sort and wash and get some outfits picked out for the youngest. She is willing riding the bus this year, so that is also exciting.

 

[jvls1942]

ah yes, the school bus ride. that's where kids expand their vocabulary with words they won't learn in the classroom.
Barb, you don't need that special tool. I looked up how to change the chain on youtube. all you need is a flat screwdriver and a box wrench . I am guessing the wrench sixe is about 5/8" or 3/4". It might be metric. a socket wrench will work and in a pinch,, an open end wrench will.
It looks very simple to replace the chain. give it a try, what do you have to lose ?
I might get that branch cut off today. supposed to rain on and off again. cloudy right now.
my chainsaw has a cord. when I bought it there was no such thing as a battery operated chainsaw. I was building lots of decks at that time and I needed something that would cut through 8/8" timbers. I had a gas saw, but it was such a pain to shut it off and start it so often in one day.
I cut many cords of fire wood with the electric saw. I really like it.
It is an Eager Beaver 16".
through the years, I have worn out about a half dozen circular saws. but the beaver still works well.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I'm hanging in here. My pup ate some hamburger I cooked for her, and some scrambled eggs. She's getting very picky and I'm running out of things to offer. She still tries to play at times, so we keep going.

Corn probably has another month. Ears are just starting. It will be a close race. Hopefully the frost comes later.

Got about 3 inches of rain in the past few days. Glad you are finally getting some Barb.

Geese are finally integrated. Had to remove 4 young gander and put them in the freezer for it all to work out. The African are a loud trio.

I was supposed to get 3 young kittens in a few weeks, but niece said something killed the young batch last night. I will take 3 slightly older ones instead in a few days. That will bring us up to 8 cats. Probably enough for me. They are great mousers and have cut down on how many times I have to treat my dogs for tick diseases since mice are an I intermediate host to deer ticks.

My cats are well cared for with lots of food, and heated houses to lounge in. They all get fixed too as I don't like running a cat farm.

My garden is starting to look tired and I may start to cut it back and pull some up in the coming week with the cooler weather predicted.

 

[Callender Girl]

Jim, thanks for the tip on the chainsaw. However, since my Minnesota company is coming tomorrow, I think I'll let Tom take a whack at fixing it. He's pretty good with tools.

While I struggled through a summer of drought, Tom and Renee had lots of rain up north. So, they are bringing tomatoes (larger than my puny ones, no doubt) and green beans (nope, didn't get a single one -- but something got into my garden and snagged beans before they were big enough to pick).

Lisa, glad to hear the dog is still having some good times and eating.

My under-deck project has hit a couple of snags. First, I have no math skills and incorrectly figured how many boards I would need. No problem, will be going back to Menards when Tom and Renee are here to get materials for the chicken runs we're going to build.

I decided to stain the boards I have so we can install those along the deck and do the ramp boards later. I got out the sawhorses, the tarp I use to protect the garage floor from "decoration" and some big chunks of cardboard to put on the sawhorses. All I needed was the partial can of stain.

I spent more than an hour looking in the garage, the garage addition, the basement and the kitchen closet. Then, a thought hit me: what if that one heavy trash bag in the garage actually held the stain can? I sometimes put paint/stain in trash bags to keep from smearing unwanted color everywhere. Problem is, I haul my trash into a friend's house in town. She has city trash pick up, but doesn't fill a 96-gallon container every week, and I don't want a Dumpster out here to attract even more vermin.

So, I drove into town yesterday, put on gloves and dug through her trash (ugh!), eventually finding out that the stain isn't in her trash. Some day, probably soon, I will find that partial can. In the meantime, I bought another gallon at Sherwin-Williams. At least, there was a 30-percent-off sale going on. I will be much more mindful of where I'm putting the unused stain this time -- maybe with all the partial cans of paint the basement, where I should have put the other one!