Thank you, it was. I paid for it a little bit, but both were delicious. I have become very sensitive to certain foods that I ate all my life since being so strict for the past six or seven years, but overall, it's been a blessing. As long as I listen to my body, I feel so much better.
Back to chickens! None got to go outside yesterday. It misted rain most of the day and was very chilly. When it's like that, no one goes out because I don't want the old, stiff-legged birds to be out in that so the younger ones have to stay in, too.
Angus is Mr. Energy Explosion so he's not happy about it, but those four in the Omegas have an 8x9' space so plenty of room for them even if they can't leave the pen. I've had to start putting out mouse traps again, which wasn't a shock with weather turning cold. I have caught one in the barn and one in the old coop-turned-storage building so far, but my traps are stiff and don't spring if the mouse is very tiny. At least I have not seen any rats in there since I caught that last whopper last year. Was that last year? Time doesn't mean much lately, all the days run together.
Unless they come in when the barn is open or chew through the floor, a rat is too large to get inside, I think. After we spread concrete in the back open area where they had access to the dirt floor if they tunneled far enough, then I finally caught the last one living there, there was no more rat evidence. I expect mice because of that dratted corrugated metal roll-up door in back. They just whiz into the track, around and inside, no way to prevent it unless we permanently seal up or replace that 6' door.
Ethel is still bare on the back of her neck and the Hannah and Hazel are merciless bullies sometimes. She looks to me to give her scratch separately so she jumps on that little 2x2 bar we put up when the bantams were in that pen, the one we call the "princess" bar and begs for me to give her the scratch by hand.
Gosh, I wish feed prices would come down. I have fewer birds to feed these days, but still....
I have written about 31K words on the new book so far. The print version of Irises in September will be out at the end of the month or early January, barring complications. I just want it done so I can concentrate on #2 of the series completely.
