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

[Callender Girl]

Losing Goo has been my toughest loss since Jim died; the two of them were great buddies. Goo wasn't a warm and cuddly cat that craved attention and wanted to be stroked and held. He loved people on HIS terms, not theirs.

Despite that, he allowed Jim -- only Jim -- to cradle him upside down like a baby in the crook of Jim's arm. I have a photo of them napping together that way.

I really can't find words right now.

 

[jvls1942]

yeah, i am glad, too. we didn't know about what he said until years later.
i haven't been watering the garden lately.
last night , mother nature took care of that for me.
looks like rain all day today.
if it stops for any length of time. i want to see if there are any puddles in the driveway.
tuesday most of the surviving sibs are getting together . one sister from Mo. doesn't want to participate. she calls us four , hicks. lol
i guess she forgot where she came from.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Losing Goo has been my toughest loss since Jim died; the two of them were great buddies. Goo wasn't a warm and cuddly cat that craved attention and wanted to be stroked and held. He loved people on HIS terms, not theirs.

Despite that, he allowed Jim -- only Jim -- to cradle him upside down like a baby in the crook of Jim's arm. I have a photo of them napping together that way.

I really can't find words right now.

Big hugs Barb. At least now Jim and Goo can be together again.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Trixie is now just one of the pack, and is growing like a weed,

 

[ShrekDawg]

Trixie is now just one of the pack, and is growing like a weed,
View attachment 4219580

Awwwwww

 

[Callender Girl]

Belated congrats, Jim, on your and Annie's recent anniversary. Hope the reunion of you "hicks" goes well.

Lisa, congrats on adorable Trixie becoming part of the pack.

I am still struggling with losing Goo. I guess my hope is to outlive all of my critters because I take the best possible care of them, and who knows what would happen to them otherwise? But this one hurts more than I could have imagined.

Lisa, if Goo is with Jim, then he's also with Soup -- Jim's big, doofy Labrador-Great Dane mix, rescued from a campground as a stray pup. Goo liked to sleep right in the middle of Soup's much-too-large bed. Poor, sweet Soupy would stare wistfully at the tiny ball of gray fur and abandon the bed to the little thief.

The chickens have all been through their twice-dusting for mites. When cleaning one of the big coops this week, I found two dead roundworms in some poop. I envy people who can just go to a store and get needed meds. I had to order online, so today is Day 2 of deworming the flock. At least it can go into the water dishes and I don't have to individually treat everyone like Anna and I did with the Permethrin.

There's enough rain every day to generate mud. If it ever dries out, I need to finish clearing out the veg garden. I bought materials to build a "cage" over the strawberry bed but haven't had the gumption to build it.

 

[jvls1942]

good sunday morning
it has quit raining for a while.
at 1PM i am going to go look at a box blade.
i don't think i will buy it, though. it sounds like it is too large for my 3pt hydraulics to lift.
i made another world class pot of chilil.
today i hope to make an apple pie.
it is time to rack the wine and get it into a final fermentatiion jug. this time i will try to fine filter it while transferring it to the jug.
the woodchuck is getting tamer each day.
he eats some sort of greens in the lawn. doesn't seem to be harming anything. yesterday he was right in front of the car when we got in. didn't even pause eating. the cat, who has been living in the garage for almost 3 years, runs away if we are within sight of him. he's nuts. lol

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

We got 2 1/4 inches of rain yesterday. Gardens are mostly all done land need their fall top off of leaves when they finally start falling.

Jim have you named the woodchuck yet? Or just call him Chunky Chucky?

Barb I have never wormed my chickens.

 

[Callender Girl]

Half of my flock is stressed by molting right now, were just treated for mites and may not have much resistance left in them for a tough fight against more parasites.

I figure if I can help them get rid of worms, I should. Most years, I don't even think of it. But finding those dead worms in the coop made me have a thought or two -- mostly, I was thinking that we had chickens back home for decades, and NEVER dewormed or dusted any of them for anything.

Maybe my girls are just more delicate. Or, since I don't kill and eat them, they have more time to develop more problems.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Mine probably have worms to some extent, but I've never seen anything thankfully. Mine free range so perhaps that helps. I have occasionally treated for mites. My husband only eats extra young roosters. All old birds live as long as they want here. I wasn't judging you Barb, mostly myself for being a more lazy keeper.