Southern NY, Dutchess county and below

[Imprfctme]

John and I went to the Museum of the City of New York today and while it was interesting it was a bit smaller than I expected for so broad a topic. There was a display set up on Staten Island entitled From Farm to City: Staten Island 1661-2012 but it was so not about farming it was a little strange. There was a lot more about development and stuff. I did take a few pictures of vintage produce can labels though:




Those all have Staten Island on them in small letters

and there was a very stylish bathing suit that I would like to wear for next season:


I say bring back wool suits! The more coverage the better.

There was also this toy in the basement display hall that I adored:


Not quite what my Duchie looks like but close.... she certainly could pull a cart by this time next year if I wanted her to.

I keep thinking about how little time we always end up with during the holidays and how nice it would be to go do all that stuff you'd want to, like visit historic houses and wear period costumes and drink real eggnog made from real eggs and real cream and real nutmeg. Here's hoping we all get some free time for that!

 

[magsrags]

Last night we had dinner with my cousin and her husband. We were telling them about Ben and laughing about how he never crows and lets the girls pick on him.

Big mistake.

He started crowing at first light this morning and when I ran (literally) out to let everybody out, he was strutting around pecking all the girls. Then he mounted Mabel (who I don't think is even laying yet).

Loks like Ben is out of the closet...

Well suzanne Ben, my white silkieroo and now" I am convinced" my blue orp can all go live where the roosters go..........

I simply give up.

Christine I was thinking you should get geese Instead of a pheasant. They are excellent guard animals, used by the Romans. I hope lily feels better.

All the pheasants lived with their own kind and color, no mixing was going on at all on the farm. They were really in well protected pens with lots of branches and brush for them to hide in if they wanted to.

I was supposed to go to Hunter College in the city to hear Temple Grandin speak tonight but I have too much of a cold still. So naturally what I did with my extra free time was clean and organize the kitchen, take out the trash, etc. Such a wild and exciting life I lead! I may just settle into bed with a few NCIS episodes on TiVo now. Call the paparazzi!

Mags I would love to visit that historic house! I am a huge sucker for anything in period costume. If you ever read BossyPants by Tina Fey - well you really SHOULD it's hysterical - but there's a part where she talks about coming home from school and relaxing in her colonial girl costume. I just know if I'd had one that's exactly what I would have done too. I am still utterly crushed that the BBC America series Copper was horrible because I so love that time period in NY. I kept watching it just for the costumes and the sets but the plot and the acting was so abysml I had to stop.

I never got around to posting my chicken enrichment article on the site but maybe I'll get to that sometime around 12:00am tonight after one of the girls wakes me up by coughing in my face.

I saw Temple was going to be there and told my dh I'd have loved to go! He was NOT interested!

I really enjoyed my time out at the Conference house today. I am planning on joining the SI herb society in January and looking forward to helping tend the Colonial Garden at the house. I bought lots of lavender and spice items, a redware piece from our local clay.....home made goodies to eat and just really enjoyed my "alone time" there. I needed that. No rushing around cause someone else was bored......I even had "Santa" sprinkle me with some extra Fairy Dust.

 

[stoopid]

Suzanne... I got someone that said "I would take him if I weren't so far away".
So hoping he isn't full of shiRt and asked where he was. Maybe he can get a white AND a blue

I believe he is up by Boston....Waiting for an answer.

 

[magsrags]

Maggie, how's Opal doing?

Well, sadly my Opal died early this AM. My son came around the kitchen to check on her when he got in late last night..... and she was laying in an un-usual way so he knew immediately.
He wrote me the sweetest note, covered her crate with one of my little quilts and left the note on the top. He didn't want me finding her without warning first thing when I woke up.

She'd been treated with her meds.....and well cared for living indoors right off my kitchen in the sunroom. I don't believe anything else could have been done. 7 days of meds.
Oddley enough she had been eating well, poos were almost solid again. She just kept losing weight....getting weaker and her comb stayed very pale. I could never feel a full crop even AFTER she ate??? How odd?

Treated her first with wazine and then with the sulfa meds after 3 days. Because her appetite had improved and she always drank plenty right from the get-go.....I was surprised she took a turn for the worse.
But she sure did eat well that afternoon. Flax....whole grain bread crumbs, both hard boiled/shell and scrambled eggs ....... cottage cheese.

Maybe I killed her with kindness.

I don't know what her problem in the end really was ...I likely never will.... but she knew only kindness and caring. We should all be so lucky right?

I still conoider myself lucky that after all these years, this is my first fatality from sickness/genetics whatever it is. I feel just terrible for those of you experiencing multiple sickness on your hands.

Roberta, I thank you again for all your help.

 

[magsrags]

Suzanne... I got someone that said "I would take him if I weren't so far away".
So hoping he isn't full of shiRt and asked where he was. Maybe he can get a white AND a blue

I believe he is up by Boston....Waiting for an answer.

Do I hear "ROAD TRIP" again?

 

[magsrags]

Heather, check my daughter out in her Christmas present from 3 years ago. She had a matching american girl doll outfit too. She wore it many times, including that whole Christmas day! I had a woman on either Ebay or Etsy make it for her. Maggie was in love with Little House on the Prairie at the time and she said she wanted to look like them. The first pic was taken at candlelight evenings in Old Bethpage Village Restoration. We are going next weekend, most likely Saturday night, come with us, it's a great evening.

How adorable is she???
Oh I don't know what I wanted to be more when I was little....Annie Oakley?? Or a pioneer on a wagon train heading west.....Sacajawea??............oh my so many choices
I have a pattern for a prairie pocket women wore with these dresses someplace around here.......a pretty caloico pocket with ties like an apron to hold what ever your hands weren't.

 

[magsrags]

John and I went to the Museum of the City of New York today and while it was interesting it was a bit smaller than I expected for so broad a topic. There was a display set up on Staten Island entitled From Farm to City: Staten Island 1661-2012 but it was so not about farming it was a little strange. There was a lot more about development and stuff. I did take a few pictures of vintage produce can labels though:




Those all have Staten Island on them in small letters

and there was a very stylish bathing suit that I would like to wear for next season:


I say bring back wool suits! The more coverage the better.

There was also this toy in the basement display hall that I adored:


Not quite what my Duchie looks like but close.... she certainly could pull a cart by this time next year if I wanted her to.

I keep thinking about how little time we always end up with during the holidays and how nice it would be to go do all that stuff you'd want to, like visit historic houses and wear period costumes and drink real eggnog made from real eggs and real cream and real nutmeg. Here's hoping we all get some free time for that!

Those are wonderful Heather!!!

 

[stoopid]

Well, sadly my Opal died early this AM. My son came around the kitchen to check on her when he got in late last night..... and she was laying in an un-usual way so he knew immediately.
He wrote me the sweetest note, covered her crate with one of my little quilts and left the note on the top. He didn't want me finding her without warning first thing when I woke up.

She'd been treated with her meds.....and well cared for living indoors right off my kitchen in the sunroom. I don't believe anything else could have been done. 7 days of meds.
Oddley enough she had been eating well, poos were almost solid again. She just kept losing weight....getting weaker and her comb stayed very pale. I could never feel a full crop even AFTER she ate??? How odd?

Treated her first with wazine and then with the sulfa meds after 3 days. Because her appetite had improved and she always drank plenty right from the get-go.....I was surprised she took a turn for the worse.
But she sure did eat well that afternoon. Flax....whole grain bread crumbs, both hard boiled/shell and scrambled eggs ....... cottage cheese.

Maybe I killed her with kindness.

I don't know what her problem in the end really was ...I likely never will.... but she knew only kindness and caring. We should all be so lucky right?

I still conoider myself lucky that after all these years, this is my first fatality from sickness/genetics whatever it is. I feel just terrible for those of you experiencing multiple sickness on your hands.

Roberta, I thank you again for all your help.

I'm so sorry. Unfortunately one of the symptoms of the many facets of Mareks are "a failure to thrive" I hope you don't have that.
I know alot of people getting Mareks, I don't know where this is coming from. It can be spread by the wind, so we are all screwed.

 

[magsrags]

I'm so sorry. Unfortunately one of the symptoms of the many facets of Mareks are "a failure to thrive" I hope you don't have that.
I know alot of people getting Mareks, I don't know where this is coming from. It can be spread by the wind, so we are all screwed.

I hope it isn't marecks...ugh. All my other birds are otherwise doing well. I wormed them all as a precautionary measure as you suggested. And then I grabbed up each one the other night as I could before dusk to check for full crops and to make sure none were skinny. All seem really solid n healthy.
Today I cleaned the coops and got that out of the way. Those birds love throwing around fresh bedding!

 

[smkchick]

Maggie, I'm sorry to hear about Opal. But as you said, she knew only kindness and caring. You did everything you could for her. Sometimes, the inevitable is, well, inevitable.

Heather, thanks for the voicemail message. Let me know what you find out. I will gladly drive Ben to Westchester or would LOVE to have an excuse to head to Boston.

My schedule is filling up with clients. I have two tomorrow afternoon, two on Tuesday, two on Wednesday, and one Thursday and Friday each. Thank God!

A friend of Bobby's came over this afternoon to see Ben and visit us. While we were hanging out in the backyard looking at the flock and shooting the breeze, a hawk flew over the yard. Ben immediately made warning noises and the girls scattered to safe locations. I rounded the girls up and locked them in the coop. Ben wouldn't go in. Then I realized: Leave him out. Problem solved.

Okay, I'm only kidding...I so wish I could keep him. He's so beautiful. At least he will be until he starts crowing at 5 am.