The road less traveled...back to good health! They have lice, mites, scale mites, worms, anemia, gl

[Beekissed]

Bee, I see you're in "Beautiful By God" West Virginia. How do they think Sandy will impact you? I heard it was possible for some WV areas to get a good amount of snow. Fingers crossed that you're south of that squall line!

Supposed to get 2 ft...but in the mountains we will get more like 4-5 if the lower parts of the state are predicting 2 ft. Everything is more in the mountains...more rain, more snow, more wind, colder temps. Got to love it there and I miss it like breathing! I currently live in the "hills" of WV, not what we consider the mountains. In the mountains where I have been living up until recently, it could be sunny one minute and the whole landscape encased in ice the next, with it steaming off and melting in the next, followed by snow squalls and hail. Anything goes in the mountains...I love that predictable unpredictability.

What happens here locally(IN THE TOWNS~not out in the countryside) is this...we'll get lots of rain, which will soften up the ground. Then we'll get lots of heavy snow, then wind, which will bring down all the pine trees(we have a ton) all over the electric lines and roads. People will act like they've never seen snow before and be running to the grocery stores the day before, buying milk and eggs(????) and other things. They will drive like they have never driven in snow...creeping along and slamming on their brakes every two seconds while tailgating the person in front who is doing the same thing. There will be a high-pitched whining throughout the state because even the cell towers will go down, people won't get to watch the football games or text or...or ...or anything on an electronic gadget, and the children have forgotten how to have fun in the snow. When you drive by the houses they will be deathly dark and quiet, as if no one lives there...while inside the people are ready to kill each other because they have to interact with one another for the first time in a long time.

That about covers it.....

 

[Mtn Laurel]

Down here the acorns are legion, the persimmons were loaded and huge and the apples were plentiful, cherry trees were bent over with fruit, as were the crab apples. These were all in the wild, so not sure if the domestic crops have much bearing on the woodland life.

We've had a larger and closer pack of coyotes here in this area....they are howling about 100 yds out from the homestead every other night. Would love to see one in real life...never have. We never had coyotes anywhere near this region when I was young, so the increasing coyote scourge has really put the hurts on any small game in the woods. Even ate our cat and would probably eat any other cat we would obtain, so we are abstaining from getting another. That cat was older and very savvy...but had a gimpy hip and so got eaten, not quite fast enough to avoid the fox or coyote.

I've lived in the same patch of VA woods for the past 27 years and have NEVER seen the acorns like we have this year. I have to sweep off the deck daily or we'll roller skate our way out the door. Husband actually got beaned on the top of the head by one the other day and it left a red welt. As a bald guy, he's taken to wearing a hat outside at all times!

Although in the woods, I'm only about 45 minutes from D.C. and - believe it or not - we have coyote's here, too. We saw one a few years ago and it was the strangest thing to look at. We weren't expecting it and all of us had a hard time figuring out what it was. Looked like half straggly dog and half small wolf. Years ago you wouldn't see one here but they're here now.

 

[Melabella]

I've lived in the same patch of VA woods for the past 27 years and have NEVER seen the acorns like we have this year. I have to sweep off the deck daily or we'll roller skate our way out the door.

Be Careful! That's dangerous!

Sorry, I woke up with the smiley thing still in my head thanks to Bee!

 

[siroiszoo]

Me too....have never had one inkling of a desire to see NYC. Ever. Would give me the skeevies to be that engulfed by humanity...not fear, just crowded up and pressed in.

Why, folks live stacked up in big boxes they call buildings! Like sardines in a can. I like my wide open spaces and clean air.

Agreed!

 

[lalaland]

Re: FF disliked by hens
Ok, they have had the FF for a couple of weeks now. They do eat it, but it seems as if it is a last resort. By the end of the day, every bit is gone, but when they come out in the morning, they could care less about it - in contrast to feed that isn't fermented. The hens were even going for dry, brown grass instead of the troughs of FF. It smells good, nice and sour, is bubbly - it is laying mash, but in the past when I have served them the mash moistened with water, or buttermilk, or yogurt, they have gone hog wild.

I've been reading on this thread how everyone's hens are crazy over the stuff - what gives here?

Hard to tell any positive improvements yet due to molting and slow down of laying.

 

[Melabella]

Ah, ,

Don't be hatin on NYC. It's a wonderful place, for all it's imperfections, and differences. Just like us human beings. We all have somewhere to shine, and if you look deep enough, they will show through.

I will admit though, as this ol gal ages, I can only do very small day trips, unlike my youth, when it was my Oyster, and I was a shiny pearl!

 

[siroiszoo]

Supposed to get 2 ft...but in the mountains we will get more like 4-5 if the lower parts of the state are predicting 2 ft. Everything is more in the mountains...more rain, more snow, more wind, colder temps. Got to love it there and I miss it like breathing! I currently live in the "hills" of WV, not what we consider the mountains. In the mountains where I have been living up until recently, it could be sunny one minute and the whole landscape encased in ice the next, with it steaming off and melting in the next, followed by snow squalls and hail. Anything goes in the mountains...I love that predictable unpredictability.

What happens here locally(IN THE TOWNS~not out in the countryside) is this...we'll get lots of rain, which will soften up the ground. Then we'll get lots of heavy snow, then wind, which will bring down all the pine trees(we have a ton) all over the electric lines and roads. People will act like they've never seen snow before and be running to the grocery stores the day before, buying milk and eggs(????) and other things. They will drive like they have never driven in snow...creeping along and slamming on their brakes every two seconds while tailgating the person in front who is doing the same thing. There will be a high-pitched whining throughout the state because even the cell towers will go down, people won't get to watch the football games or text or...or ...or anything on an electronic gadget, and the children have forgotten how to have fun in the snow. When you drive by the houses they will be deathly dark and quiet, as if no one lives there...while inside the people are ready to kill each other because they have to interact with one another for the first time in a long time.

That about covers it.....

Sounds like the exact same thing that happens here: the driving scenario - every time it rains; the rest of it sounds like when Hurricane Ike hit here a few years ago minus the shootings that occurred while different ones were trying to protect their gasoline & generators.

Me? Man, I kicked back, read lots of books, took naps, and TOTALLY enjoyed the peace & quiet that came with no cell phones, no tv, and no electricity. It was close to being the best 10 days of my life. I kinda missed not having any water (we are on a well; no electricity, no water) but we have enough water gardens on our property to keep all the animals watered & the toilets flushed. (I also had plenty of drinking water stored.) And there was still plenty left over for the fish! LOL. It was NICE! I'm a "critter sitter" and you wouldn't believe the number of people that tried calling me during that time. They wanted me to take care of their animals while they left for a city that was unaffected by the storm. GEEZ! As if!!!! Sure am glad my phone didn't work (and the few times it did...well...what would they know?). Like I'd risk my life for or could even guarantee that I could make it to their homes to care for their animals? What a world we live in!

 

[Beekissed]

Re: FF disliked by hens
Ok, they have had the FF for a couple of weeks now. They do eat it, but it seems as if it is a last resort. By the end of the day, every bit is gone, but when they come out in the morning, they could care less about it - in contrast to feed that isn't fermented. The hens were even going for dry, brown grass instead of the troughs of FF. It smells good, nice and sour, is bubbly - it is laying mash, but in the past when I have served them the mash moistened with water, or buttermilk, or yogurt, they have gone hog wild.

I've been reading on this thread how everyone's hens are crazy over the stuff - what gives here?

Hard to tell any positive improvements yet due to molting and slow down of laying.

If it's cold where you live, and I'm betting it is, the mash is cold and wet. This makes it a little undesirable for eating at first but they whittle away at it. Plus, they just have to eat less than normal to get full with the wet feeds, and the nutrients are more absorptive in this feed so the need to eat and eat to get satisfied is a little lessened. As long as they eat it, it doesn't matter how long it takes them...and it's a good thing that they are foraging for other things.

Saves you money on feed!

 

[thedragonlady]

I'm jealous! When I was a kid, the people down the street had what they called the "maids quarters" over the old carriage house but it was the chauffers quarters originally too. They simply had their maids living in it at the time. And now that I think, it's odd to me that the house itself wasn't bigger. The carriage house was almost as big as the house.

It took a lot of room to store the carriages, feed, and horses. My carriage house is 5000 sq ft. on one brick floor . It used to house just 4 horses, and 2 grooms. Judging by the layout, it could house 4 carriages, or buggies. A huge carport addition was added in 1932, for 2 big cars. Behind that is the chauffer's quarters. The whole area above that is floored with oak, and was then used for hay storage. I could easily put 2 large bedrooms and a bath up there, but then I'd be swamped with too many house guests !

I love this old barn. I knew it as a child when it had horses in it. I bought it in 1988, just as they were talking about demolishing it.It was a steal, but a lot of work.

 

[galanie]

It took a lot of room to store the carriages, feed, and horses. My carriage house is 5000 sq ft. on one brick floor . It used to house just 4 horses, and 2 grooms. Judging by the layout,  it could house 4 carriages, or buggies. A huge carport addition was added in 1932, for 2 big cars. Behind that is the chauffer's quarters. The whole area above that is floored with oak, and was then used for hay storage. I could easily put 2 large bedrooms and a bath up there, but then I'd be swamped with too many house guests !

I love this old barn. I knew it as a child when it had horses in it. I bought it in 1988, just as they were talking about demolishing it.It was a steal, but a lot of work.

That carriage house sounds a lot like the one down the street when I was a kid. The second floor was the "maids quarters" and was floored in oak like that, the old casement windows all round. It would have easily housed a couple of carriages and horses. It had 4 huge doors and a utility room or storage room off to one side which was also where the staircase was. I'll bet yours is a beauty!