This and that on the farm and leaving town!!!

We had a huge storm a week or so ago and after it was over we were missing a hen so I got four 10 week old pullets on craigslist. Mixing chickens is a pain and so am going through all the drama of introducing new chickens.  Even though the old hen is outnumbered 4 to 1, she can't help herself and has to terrorize the poor new girls.  I have to keep her penned separately so they can eat without being harassed.  Then after she lays her egg I put her out in the garden and keep the young ones penned. It's like a carefully orchestrated ballet.  Not sure how I will explain all this to the house sitter.  They won't be laying for another month and hopefully by then will work things out with the old hen... 

 

Our Molly dog is having age-related mobility problems and now we have a ramp to make it easier for her to get in and out of the house...She wouldn't walk on the hard surface so now she has a red carpet.  She's needing a lot of extra attention now.

 

Remember my favorite neighbor?  The one with all the garbage who sits on his deck and shoots at owls and hawks... Well now his pigs are always getting out and coming over to eat our apples on the ground and chase each other around the garden.  He does not think it's a problem as they eventually  do go home but they come and go whenever they please.  Morris stays on the porch to bark at them...pretty wise move on his part.

 

 

 

 

Have you ever mislaid something and it drives you crazy looking for it.  One of braces on the stand for my magnifying lamp wouldn't stay attached and I put it somewhere SAFE until I could drill a hole and put a bolt in it.  That was weeks ago and I have even crawled around on the floor with a flashlight looking under everything to no avail.. This is not small...about 12" long with a caster the size of an orange and heavy..  I keep thinking it will turn up but I really need it as without it my beloved lamp is not only not mobile it is not stable.  So with the frustration of my eye problems, the heat, the unstable lamp, the chickens and the rampant pigs I'm glad to be leaving town...although feeling a bit guilty leaving our lovely house sitter to deal with all this.

We are going to Ninilchik Alaska Wednesday to visit my son.  He has a fishing lodge and hopefully DH will get a fish or two.  I love hanging out in the kitchen with the chef and have delicious meals cooked for me and they even have a masseuse (although I have never used her).  And even better than that, they have an espresso machine so I can have a white chocolate mochas whenever I want... decadent.   It has been seven years since I had been there...and this will probably be my last time as I'm not traveling well and getting there requires three different planes and the last hour by car.   It has been in the 90s here and it looks like it will be rainy and in the 60s in Ninilchik.  It will feel so good to be cool and pampered....