The Old Folks Home

[microchick]

You can only do so much!

Unfortunately all too true.

That is the issue that always had me on soapbox all these breeding that way for the almighty dollar not caring

Precisely.

The Amish communities are forever trying to find a way to make money off their farms. It is almost impossible to be 100% self sufficient. Event the Amish have to pay for some groceries, material for clothing, shoes, feed for the livestock and the big one, property taxes. Most have some sort of business operating off their property. Bakeries, greenhouses, eggs, butter, produce, even small hardware stores and general stores. They think that breeding dogs is a sure way to make a dollar with little work involved. All you have to do is come up with a popular breed, let them go at it and 4 months or so later you have income for the taking.

Sorry, rant over. I admire their sense of community and devotion to God along with their work ethics but..................................Unfortunately many whose only knowledge or contact with the Amish is through the media and or what they read in fictional books. It ain't all that and a chocolate chip cookie.

So what is everyone's' plans for today? Sunny but chilly here this morning. Dang right cold when we got up with a low in the low 30s. Broody hen is doing well. All three eggs developing on schedule. The 5 Fayoumi chicks are just over the top flighty. Running true to their breed description. When I manage to finally catch one, I can get it calmed down but it doesn't want to be held and cuddled like the bantams do. That's fine. If I can get them to the point that I can handle them to worm and treat for mites without getting clawed up like I am with the pups I'll be happy.

 

[pennyJo1960]

No life style is all roses... and the dog fight has been going since they where domesticated
me thinks ... trying to get to the motivation to get in the shower then go clean my coops

 

[ronott1]

I organized a kitchen drawer today, have a load of laundry in the dryer and coffee beans are roasting!

I will be working on replacing the whole house fan today. The new one has a smaller grill opening so I need to patch the sheet rock then mount the new one. The new one is a quiet and cool fan. I hope it is quiet! The old one sounded like a plane was getting ready to take off....

 

[CapricornFarm]

I hear ya. DH used to tell me I should get up and see the beautiful sunrise. I'd tell him I'll look at the sunset - it's just like a sunrise only on the other side of the house! (He has given up on me ever being a morning person.)

x2

 

[CapricornFarm]

Fishhawks attacked the Sandhill Crane family today. The parents managed to get away with one of the babies, but left the other behind. When they left, the fishhawks tried going after the main group, so the baby was fine. Dh took the baby out near one of the marshes, and turned it loose, thinking the parents would come back to find it. I DID NOT KNOW ANY OF THIS.

Later on, one of our neighbors' came to the house, and had this baby Sandhill Crane. It had wandered into their yard through the fence. They figured I might know what to do, so they brought it to me. I really didn't know what to do. The parents come through our yard every morning, so I just needed to provide for it, and keep it safe for one night. I cleaned out the large dog crate, and put it in there. Even the babies have very long beaks, so you can't just put food down in a bowl, and expect them to eat. I learned that the don't know how to eat on their own, so the parents feed them for almost 3 months, while teaching them to eat. So how do I feed, or water this little guy? Well, I learned that a tweezers, or hemostats can be used to grab a mealworm, wave it in front of it's face, and it will eat it that way. Well, I raise mealworms, I have hemostats, so I gave it a try. The little bugger ate good. When I held the dosage syringe with some water in front of it's face, it opened it's mouth for me, and I got a little bit of water into it. Many baby birds in the wild, don't really drink water, they get it from their food. I began dipping mealworms into the water, and feeding them to it. When a mealworm would drop it would try to get it, so I put a nice pile of them in front of it, waved the hemostats, and it began eating them. When it got full, I put it back into the crate.

This thing is only a couple weeks old, or so, and still covered with down. No feathers yet. While it's only going down to 68 degrees tonight, that can be quite chilly for a little one that's being kept warm at night by mom. I began doing some research into that too. Did you know that baby Sandhill Cranes, called colts, sleep on their mother's back. I had no idea. I watched a youtube video that showed the whole thing. It climbs on mama's back, and her wings are high enough on her back, that she covers the babies with them. I was thinking of making a sort of nest with a blanket, and using a heat lamp. Not too warm, but enough to knock off the night chill. I was out contemplating setting it up, when Dh hollered at me.

He was working in the garden, and the crane family was in the back neighbor's yard, by the fence. I grabbed the baby, and headed towards the fence. It was chirping away, and I was hoping the parents didn't hear their baby in distress, and attack me. There is a nice hedge that grows along that fence line, so when I got fairly close, and hadn't been attacked yet, I let the baby go. It chirped, they all responded, and the baby went through the fence, and hedge. They were all reunited.

I love happy endings!

 

[bruceha2000]

So what is everyone's' plans for today?

I was going to finish blocking the trees I cut last fall and started blocking yesterday but just as I finished sharpening the saw and warming up the tractor DD2 showed up from an overnight with her mini spare on. So instead of doing wood, I swapped her winter tires for summer tires. Then I drove the garden tractor out of the barn to turn it around so I could take the snow blower off. Seems the mount for the winch is racked probably due to the wire clamp I had to use when the cable broke the last time I was blowing. Another thing to fix. I did get the blower, chains and rear weight off the GT.

Pile of logs to block


Blocked wood


Wood left to block.


And of course I need to cut a lot more trees for this coming winter.

 

[ronott1]

I was going to finish blocking the trees I cut last fall and started blocking yesterday but just as I finished sharpening the saw and warming up the tractor DD2 showed up from an overnight with her mini spare on. So instead of doing wood, I swapped her winter tires for summer tires. Then I drove the garden tractor out of the barn to turn it around so I could take the snow blower off. Seems the mount for the winch is racked probably due to the wire clamp I had to use when the cable broke the last time I was blowing. Another thing to fix. I did get the blower, chains and rear weight off the GT.

Pile of logs to block
View attachment 1738241

Blocked wood
View attachment 1738242 View attachment 1738244

Wood left to block.
View attachment 1738246

And of course I need to cut a lot more trees for this coming winter.

That is quite a lot of work!

 

[bruceha2000]

Yep, I'm thinking I need a more powerful chainsaw. The "homeowner" model was fine when I was just cutting a bit here and there. It really has to work to get through bigger logs. In their range of saws, it shows up under "occasional use" fallen limbs, pruning, lighter cutting". I don't think that includes felling cords worth of trees up to 16" in diameter.

 

[ronott1]

Yep, I'm thinking I need a more powerful chainsaw. The "homeowner" model was fine when I was just cutting a bit here and there. It really has to work to get through bigger logs. In their range of saws, it shows up under "occasional use" fallen limbs, pruning, lighter cutting". I don't think that includes felling cords worth of trees up to 16" in diameter.

We used to have a nice one. My Grandpa had a nice husqvarna that worked well

 

[pennyJo1960]

BF has been looking at a new one also he has a electric one I laughed when I saw it
He did finally show me a old one from his dad I got it running again sharpened it
works like a dream now starts first pull BF loves when I will kick in and do some