Someone said it was hormones, someone else genes and yet another, blood type, I just put it down to bad luck !!! There can be 10 people in a group and the ominous zzzzzzzz comes directly at me like an F16 with no landing gear. I can be wearing "Skin So Soft" ( quick plug for Avon, gratuities will be accepted...smile) "Off" AND Citronella and they just put on their nose plugs and come straight in for lunch !! By the end of the Summer my body looks like it's polka dots, not too attractive and very itchy. Three days ago, I was gardening ( yuk, I hate gardening !), I saw the garden snakes, I saw the slugs ( chickens don't even like them !!) the spiders and even the worms came to visit but I didn't see the varmit that got me ! I was kind, I had made it an easy meal, I was wearing shorts and by the time we left the barn, my leg was getting warm, by the time we got home, hot and warm. Yesterday morning, my comfort blanket was a bottle of antihistamines, and the back of my leg looked like I was a distant cousin to the Elephant Man. ( and he wasn't too good looking ). I'm sorry, England calling, got to go, please take care, M
1 Comment
"A chicken is a chicken is a chicken"..what comes first, the chicken or the egg ??? ...to a city girl, chickens are cute fluffy feathered birds that generously produce beautiful shiny oval deep brown eggs then placidly cluck as a benevolent mom (mum) puts them in her pretty straw basket lined with quaintly country blue gingham. NOT !!! "Buy Buff Orpingtons", "Buff Orpingtons are prolific layeys" "Buffs are placid birds" ...not in my hen house they aren't !! Picture the scene, there I am, standing outside the door of the henhouse, 2 baskets of ( admittedly not too inviting looking but they seem to like it !) breakfast and I swear those Buffs are lined up behind their door in a conclave like the Gestapo or the Klu Clux Clan. The despot, leader of the feathered rebels, Puffball. Puffball, the self appointed leader of the chicken revolution doesn't lay, Puffball sits in a nestbox and as I go around the henhouse collecting eggs Puffballs growl gets louder, she watches as I get closer and I see her growing, the growling gets louder as I get closer, the bird gets BIGGER. The nestbox next to Puffball is always a tense moment, I steel myself, her beady eyes dont leave my face, we have a standoff, she dares me, I know it. Gloves are no protection, sleeve over glove no help, just go for it ! Puffball puffed up till she looks like she will pop attacks......she squawks , she pecks between squawks and then she takes off, through me. I hate that bird !! I have a feeling that she is going to have an eviction order put on her ..next time Greg gets out the WizzBang Chicken Plucker. Time to go, its 7.33am, time for another day. ...lets see what surprises are in store for us today.Take care. M
Looks like another hot steamy day down on the ranch,....our house looks down over the ranch and we can see the cows out in the distant pasture ( always a good thing, when we can't see them we worry what mischief they are making !) Destiny our beautiful "old grey mare "( we googled the words to that song because I kept singing ( ok yowling) it to her and I only knew the first line , "The old grey mare aint what she used to be....") is down in her field, she is living out until we get her stall built, before the rain, hopefully. She is looking great and her owies have healed or are healing. We rode her out on 2 short trail rides now that she is shod and that girl has a lot of life in her, she is a beautiful ride and she and Charm have become firm friends. Destiny came into heat...boy, that girl is a floosie ! The turkeys are growing daily, they should do, those birds can eat !! We have the broad breasted and the heritage, its interesting to see the difference in the growth rate. When we go to feed they gobble their way to the gate , strutting and posing, they are beautiful in an ugly sort of way. Daisy Mae is blossoming, she has put on 35 lbs in 3 weeks, she is such a cutie and she and Lamb Chop spend their days in the yard. Lamb Chop has made it his mission to weed my garden, unfortunately, since he doesn't know the difference between flowers and weeds, all my roses pansies and geraniums have been beheaded and deleafed, I am less than impressed ! Oh well, Greg has moved, the cuckoo clock has cuckood 7.30, time to go. Take care, enjoy the last of the Summer sun and have a safe day, . M
I'm sorry, I haven't visited for a few days, actually I did this morning but then forgot to post it and there it was ...gone, disappeared into the ether, all those thoughts lost ! So here I am again, it's lunchtime now, I just took Greg down his 3 course sandwich and here I sit...waiting for inspiration. Thats how I write,....I sit down ...and it just does it itself, good job really because if I had to use my brain as well as my 2 fingers and tongue to type, I'd be calling myself multifunctional !!!!smile.It's been a sort of tough few days, one day the sun is shining, the birds are singing, the turkeys are gobbling and strutting the chickens are happily clucking and scratching in their pens and happy goats are munching their way through the pasture...(but which pasture ???) The next day its like Armagheddon hit, off went Jolene and her goat herd for a hard day eating and when it was time to come back home little Soul was missing. Soul was one of our bottle fed babies, very loud and very friendly, he was always first for a peanut and now he is gone. We didn't hear any cayotes calling and everything seemed to be as it was...except for little Soul who was nowhere to be found. As if that wasn't enough, something has decided that our chicken pens are a new fast food joint, Charles my beautiful Coronation Sussex rooster ( hence Charles...as in prince Charles !) has "gone, as are several of his hareem. Now, I am an animal lover and I appreciate the wildlife that shares our ranch BUT when something starts turning my girls into a quick snack, its time for a rethink. War has been declared ! Then there is the egg recall issue, we always feel sad when we hear about something like this and it isn't the time to be smug, we just hope that it is resolved soon. We would like to take the opportunity to thank our egg customers and to promise that we will do everything we can to make sure that our eggs are produced by happy healthy hens living in clean airy conditions. All our animals are special to us, from Drumstick the tiny little chick to Lady and Quest our huge Shire horses and we will do all we can to keep them safe and well. Got to go, need to check that the Ranch hand (Greg, smile) is ok. Take care, M ( I will remember to post this time !!!)
We wont be having anymore horses.....we don't do mares, ......we don't do grays....we don't do Arabs......introducing Destiny ! our beautiful old gray Arab mare ! We had sold or gifted all our small horse tack...Destiny needs a whole new wardrobe ! Destiny is the whole package, she is sweet and kind, inside that sort of ageing body we have a beauty who is "all that"( as they say over here). We have just put her in the pasture with Charm ( beauty with attitude) our golden palamino gelding who is a "want to be" stud, we turned them loose and held our breath.......it was Destiny, the old (25) gray mare who took the attitude, it was Destiny who lifted her tail and started to strut, bless her. I have never had a horse who talked so much, that old girl has a whinney, grunt whicker or squeel for every occasion. She came to us by default, her other mom (mum) had to find her a new home after a bereavement and we had the space for her, we are so glad we did ! Greg wont take me near a horse sale, humane Society or auction, he knows that I would bring home anything with 3 legs and/or 1 eye but we couldn't turn our back on Destiny. Yesterday we had her shod, again she was a sweetheart, that girl hasn't put a foot wrong since she came through the farm gates. We hope we will have her for a long long time and her golden years will be lived out on Gentle Giants green pastures. Still smiling, take care M
Yesterdays diary cont'd.....All was "relatively normal" ...whatever normal is around here ! The sun was shining, birds were tweeting, flies ( lots of them !) were buzzing, the sheep eating team, having been returned unceremoniously to their designated pasture were continuing to munch their way through anything and everything green and the goats,...well, they were bawling at the gate. So what's new ?? OH NO !!! The WRONG GATE ! Confident Greg ( I think I'm going to re-Christen him that !!) said "not a problem..." (where/ when have I heard that before ?) . So off we trotted to get the escapees in out of the field they, not us, had elected to place themselves, in to their barn they charged, dinner in the feeder making roses, pansies, cedar trees and juicy Alder saplings irrelevant. The rest of the evening continued in its normal manic routine and all was good.....until Greg noticed that my prized Japanese cherry tree was leafless, I noticed the roses had been "pruned" ..and not by me , something was amiss ! Quite adverse to spraying Greg consoled me that "whatever" was eating my precious plants would be dealt with ....things were not going to be quite that easy ! Around 2am the next morning, it seems Greg woke with a start, apparently a ticking timebomb in his head had just detonated. After noticing the chaos in the garden, he had noticed the gate was unlatched... ( Jolene ??) and then, in the early hours of the morning realised that the Rhodadendrums ( which will kill the goats if eaten) were in the area the girls had been munching. When I woke up, Greg had, for several hours been considering the ramifications of their excursion and decided to stew alone and let me know after my cup of tea ( always a smart move !!) The last time 2 of our goats had got to the rhodies there was 360 degree vomiting and projectile poo....not pretty and reminiscent of the Exorcist film. I didn't smell good for days and they certainly didn't feel good !! We were lucky they survived and my first thought was..OH NO !! multiply the earlier nightmare by 10...I'm leaving home ! To cut a long story short, thank goodness, somehow they had elected not to prune the rhodies and when we went down to the barn we were met with the usual chorus of plaintive bleats and baaas. All is well on the ranch. Time to go, take care, M
The goats were on the move, they have munched down the last of the delectable yummies in their former pasture and we had cultivated ( actually, the blackberries have resurrected themselves with a vengeance !!) a new area for the eating team to spend their day. As usual, Greg is positive "this IS what will happen" .....my plaintive ..."but what ifs..." were met with disdain. Bran could hardly hold his excitement, the goats were lined up at the starting gate and I set off with the peanut bucket. All looked good then I didn't hear the pitter patter of little pointed hooves, hardly daring to look back, I chanced a quick glance, where were they ? I shouldn't have looked, Half the herd was munching their hors d'oerves on my carefully tended roses the other group were having entrees on the newly planted saplings in the barnyard ! Greg caught my look of horror, Bran was in heaven ...the chase was on !! From my vantage point in the pasture accross the road, I watched the impending disaster unfold.....the girls reluctantly left the tender morsels...or should I say "what was left of the tender morsels !!" and came in a cloud of dust accross the road. Maybe it wasn't too bad...then, disaster ! The flock of sheep spotted a gate accidently left "not quite locked" ( open !!) they came charging through the gate into the oncoming herd of goats, all my fears were coming true....Greg provided another few dollars for the swear jar, Bran went into overdrive...oh NO. !!! Then the goats STOPPED...latched like a swarm of bees onto the cedar tree, Bran took matters into his own paws and set off after the sheep ( I think I just put my hands over my eyes and prayed !) Greg said Bran did great, one sheep jumped the fence ( so why do we have fences or for that matter gates that dont close ?) . Eventually, the goats were lured into the field they were supposed to occupy and it only got worse from there.. I dont have time this morning, I'll fill you in on the outcome of their excursion hopefully tomorrow. Take care, M
It wasn't just the lamb cooking on Saturday...and Sunday..gosh, it was HOT !!! We got up early to the smell of slow cooked lamb, simmering in rosemary, thyme, mint lemon juice, lemon pepper and garlic, Greg had to be handcuffed and herded down to the barn to keep him from "taste testing", no time to waste ! The Nimrod picnic was due to start at 10 and chores had to be done before the fun started. Greg was excited to see his friends from his earlier life and catch up on all the news and I was looking forward to seeing some very special people who we had shared some fun times with in England in my other life. I had excitedly prepared treats and games for all the lovely children....time had stood still for me and those little children that had stood wide eyed and in wonderment at our huge Gentle Giant horses were now sophisticated teenagers. DOH !!!! I couldn't play with the water pistols or scrabble round in the hay pile on the candy hunt, the hay ride tractor and trailer stayed parked in the barnyard...but young William had fun !! Those lovely little children are now attractive young ladies and we had given young William the keys to the quad,....that boy had fun, the girls had fun..and the quad got a LOT of use !! I think William had a smile from ear to ear..all day ! The picnic was lovely, time hadn't changed the bond formed between the Nimrod Team during those years across the pond and we thank you all for coming all this way to visit,We really enjoyed the whole day.....I'm not sure that I remember getting into bed...it is a blur, but it was great. Sunday was just as hot, 98 degrees in the barnyard, the chickens were digging mud holes and splaying themseles around the pen like dozens of dead bodies, the cows disappeared into the trees, the inch worms were falling out of the trees, goats and sheep just sprawled everywhere trying to use as little energy as possible and the horses just kept on munching their way through the heat, birds parked on their backs eating the flies. It was a hot day, in the depths of the Winter to come, I will remember struggling through the searing heat and I'm sure it wont seem so bad but right now.....rain sounds good ! Got to go, it's time to go down to the barn. Take care, M ( ps. reunion photos will be posted as soon as I can pin Greg down for long enough to post them !!) Got to go, late now !!!!
Daisy Mae is blossoming ! That little girl has piled on 10 pounds in a week,...if that was me I'd be seeing a councellor , Daisy....she just bawls for another bottle. She came out to play today with an adrenalin rush, running hopping and bucking. Poor Bran, left to babysit the nursery ( Daisy Mae and Lamb Chop) got left in the dust storm. Bran is usually hot on the tail of anything doing faster than walk but he had to resort to meeting Daisy on the way back !! Little Lamb Chop has started to exert his crooked little horns and we found him and Bran wrestling in the yard,..Lamb Chop won, I think Bran will take on Daisy now his ego has gone to the dogs ! You have to be quick with those critters in the yard, leave a gate or a stall door open and before you can say Lamb Chop that scruffy little lamb has got where he shouldn't be and POOPED. Daisy Mae is starting to experiment with her diet, caught today checking out the beauty bark, plastic fence (keeping her from eating my roses ) Lamb Chops tail and Brans ear, we are trying her on calf manna but it clearly doesn't look as inviting as her alternative diet. On a different subject, my back is feeling better ( there goes my "light duty" allowance !!! DOH !) Dave the chiropractor does it again !Thanks Pat, nice to nice to know you are hooked , is there an antidote ???In answer to your question,no, I never can plan it right, why do I do Mustard Seed on a Monday and have to see Dave on Tuesday...Angels Guild is very inconveniently closed both days .... I'm not too good as fore planning obviously ! Thanks for your comments too Annie, I smile when I think of you checking in...you really should find a good book ...smile. Diane, good to hear from you too, nice to hear you laughing at the farm high jinx. Got to go, take care, M
This weekend the ranch is hosting the Boeing ( Nimrod UK) reunion, we are really looking forward to seeing people we haven't seen for several years....in our other life !! It is hard to remember the time we used to get up, shower, shave ( no, not me, Greg !!!) and then join the rat race down the freeway (motorway Brits ) for another day in the office. Corporate clothes, corporate lunches...not any more ! We still take the shower (smile) eau de buck is not the most endearing smell, unless you are a goat and we do seem to gather a collection of odours during the course of the day. I always know it's bad when the big horses refuse to take a treat after sniffing my hand !! ( normally they would sell their souls for a carrot !) Clocking on is no more....we still have to be on time but our time clock is now the cows tummys and the whole Penninsula would know if we are late. Roosters and goats are also very vocal, it's a lie that roosters call in the dawn, they crow ALL THE TIME and goats just winge because they can. The shires wait patiently for their food, Charm the Arab/quarter horse ( beauty with attitude) doesn't have patience in his DNA and Destiny whickers away for anyone listening before we even open the gate. The new and very loud voice on the ranch belongs to the little calf, Daisy Mae, that girl can bawl !! I guess, on thinking about it, we have the same dynamics as the office, we have the noisy, complaining, never satisfied animals and the quiet, contented compliant ones. Just like the office, we have the mundane jobs (mucking out) followed by the more fun ones, and we have the business meetings ( generally when I have an idea and Greg is half asleep, always the best time !). That being said....the similarities end, we are as happy as cows in clover, pigs in muck and we have no regrets. Time to go again, thank you all for your comments, thanks especially to Curt, I SO look forward to m |
AuthorIts me, Maureen, (the Boss) Archives
March 2018
Categories |