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

[jvls1942]

Barb, the wing flapping might be just a reflex.
she might feel that she is off balance when you
are moving her..

 

[jvls1942]

I hope all is well with everyone.
I was going to clean up the parking area,
but it rained most of the day.
now I will wait until we get the 5" they
are promising us.
can't really complain too much about the
above average temps. all the snow has slid
off of the garage roof. some has slid off of
the south side of the house, too.
I am all over the head cold I had. it
lasted only a few days. Annie is better, too.
hers lasted over a week.
weather and health report.. must be a
slow news day..

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Good to hear Jim that you and Annie are feeling better. I like the warmer temperatures too but this rain has made our driveway slick. Lots of slow shuffling and choosing my footing just to get to my sheds. Not looking for to the snow or the predicted colder temperatures next week. Hope they are wrong on both accounts.

It was weird listening to the sump pump running non-stop yesterday and we have a bit of flooding in the basement. Strange January indeed.

 

[Callender Girl]

Tomorrow night, they are predicting 6-9 inches of snow. I still have leftover snow from the December blizzard. Although, yesterday was warm enough that the door to the Cochins' coop FINALLY thawed out enough that I could open it. I had been chipping ice away from under the door for days.

Adding to January's strange weather, there was a brief spell of hail yesterday morning.

Am using my old four-footed cane to make sure I don't slide across the yard when I hit the ice that's hidden under the melted snow.

How many more days until spring? And, will it REALLY be warm then?

 

[jvls1942]

here too, anyplace that is snow packed,
now has water on top. much worse than
ice.
be careful, don't fall. the birds are not
worth being heroic to feed them.

 

[Callender Girl]

Heroics has less to do with it than good, old-fashioned stubbornness.

Today will be the fifth consecutive day of deworming, then we have to do it again on Day 10. I have incurred the wrath of 20 hens and two roosters, forcing them to drink from a tiny syringe for four days already for their own good. They WILL get today's medicine.

In a funny, but sad, twist, my blind dog, George, has had to climb over a frozen drift to get to where he likes to do his business since last month's blizzard. Two days ago, I shoveled a path through the middle of the drift to make it safer and easier to get to the main yard. George, unaware, continues to scale part of the remaining drift every day, inches away from the cleared pathway. Even when I've led his through the pass, he immediately chooses the high drift again the next time he's out.

Makes me think of how often people, accustomed to their particular path, keep making things harder than they have to be, just because it's the way they are used to doing things.

 

[Callender Girl]

I am grateful that all the chickens got their fifth day of deworming YESTERDAY. Today's snow was measured at 8 inches in Fort Dodge, which is about 12 miles away. I don't think there was quite that much here, but it was truly heavy, wet snow to shovel.

I kept wishing one of the trucks with snow blades that kept driving by would stop and offer to clear the driveway. That's only ever happened twice, and today was not one of those days.

How's everybody else's weather?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Wet thick snow. I fell down out there this morning. Snow cushioned the blow a bit and I managed to get up before the dogs noticed and trampled me into the nearest snow drift. The win goes to the old lady. I'm a bit sore in new spots but nothing seems too serious.

 

[jvls1942]

I was waiting for noon to plow.
when I heard Annie on the phone.
She called Bob to come with his truck.
OK by me.. however it is three o'clock and
he isn't here yet.
Annie cleared off the wheelchair ramp. that's
all the hand shoveling there is to do. I have it
set up that I can do everything else with the tractor.
when I get to do it, that is..
we ended up with five inches, about..
you gals,,,no more falling..

 

[Callender Girl]

Lisa, hurray for the "old lady"! Glad you weren't seriously hurt -- although all falls are scary to me.

Let's make Jim feel better by promising not to fall!