We had a 3rd winter blast early this week. It was some snow and ice, but really just super cold. We weathered it well and now we are heading into the 70's by next week. One extreme to the other really doesn't make it easy on people or plants.
This weekend I am shooting to get the fruit trees and roses trimmed up for the year. The rabbits could use a grooming.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Icey Roads
A rant:
North Texas gets ice on the roads for a certain time each winter. It will stay from 1 day to 5+ in each hit. The major roads are somewhat de-iced with sand and chemicals. No snow plows.
If you get on the roads you are taking a big risk from people who don't understand that you should only travel in these conditions for real reasons, such as work. Going for donuts is not a necessary trip! And for Gods sakes get off your *((&(((* cell phone.
During a recent week of ice I watched 2 people, on icey roads, on CELL PHONES, run through 2 different stop signs. And not because it would be safer to roll through them; they didn't see them. The arrogance is exasperating. Are you really that important?! Will the world stop turning because you couldn't talk while driving?! It didn't for 100,000 years before the cell phone came into being. And I am 100% positive the world will stay on it's axis if you don't talk while driving.
It has been demonstrated that we can't even walk and operate a cell phone at the same time so what in the world makes up think it is better to do it while driving!!!!!!!!!!!!!
North Texas gets ice on the roads for a certain time each winter. It will stay from 1 day to 5+ in each hit. The major roads are somewhat de-iced with sand and chemicals. No snow plows.
If you get on the roads you are taking a big risk from people who don't understand that you should only travel in these conditions for real reasons, such as work. Going for donuts is not a necessary trip! And for Gods sakes get off your *((&(((* cell phone.
During a recent week of ice I watched 2 people, on icey roads, on CELL PHONES, run through 2 different stop signs. And not because it would be safer to roll through them; they didn't see them. The arrogance is exasperating. Are you really that important?! Will the world stop turning because you couldn't talk while driving?! It didn't for 100,000 years before the cell phone came into being. And I am 100% positive the world will stay on it's axis if you don't talk while driving.
It has been demonstrated that we can't even walk and operate a cell phone at the same time so what in the world makes up think it is better to do it while driving!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Friday, February 4, 2011
More winter
Overnight 4 inches of snow came down. It is the perfect, light, powdery, fluff.
I was afraid we weren't going to get enough chill hours for the fruit trees to set properly. I don't think that is going to be an issue anymore.
Last Saturday my chocolate doe gave birth to 4 healthy kits, 3 chocolates, and 1 white. I decided to bring them in to raise them since the wind chill was below zero the day after their birth. Mom is brought in in the morning and she feeds them. She is an experienced mother so she is easy to work with.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Winter with a vengence
Well the time has flown and I have been incredibly busy. I thought we were going to get away with our usual cold, if over dry, winter. That changed in a heart beat. We had wind chills 5-10 below 0.
The snow was blown into the rabbit hutch. The expression on the little faces as they looked at me, each huddled in a corner of their cage, snow covered backs to the wind, was priceless. You could visualize them with a cross expression, tapping foot, and crossed arms. They were so unhappy with me and the weather.
I went to each one and brushed out the snow, gave them warm water in their bowls, fresh hay, and hugs. They were much more relaxed after that.
We also had a visitor to the hutch.
The big, bad, wolf,
came by, really coyote. He/she looks healthy. He didn't stay long and went back into the woods without going any closer to the rabbits.
I got bad news from a farm I buy Shetland fleece from every year. Lael, owner of Maple Wood North, let me know that Cricket had passed away in her sleep, age 10. I have been buying Cricket's fleece for 8 years.
She had warned me last year that Cricket was looking and feeling her age. Cricket was my standing order. I feel I have lost a friend.
I'll be at Mary Berry's Winter Retreat February 19 to vend, teach, and relax. I'm doing a class, Hand Cards vs Combs. It should be fun!
The snow was blown into the rabbit hutch. The expression on the little faces as they looked at me, each huddled in a corner of their cage, snow covered backs to the wind, was priceless. You could visualize them with a cross expression, tapping foot, and crossed arms. They were so unhappy with me and the weather.
I went to each one and brushed out the snow, gave them warm water in their bowls, fresh hay, and hugs. They were much more relaxed after that.
We also had a visitor to the hutch.
The big, bad, wolf,came by, really coyote. He/she looks healthy. He didn't stay long and went back into the woods without going any closer to the rabbits.
I got bad news from a farm I buy Shetland fleece from every year. Lael, owner of Maple Wood North, let me know that Cricket had passed away in her sleep, age 10. I have been buying Cricket's fleece for 8 years.
She had warned me last year that Cricket was looking and feeling her age. Cricket was my standing order. I feel I have lost a friend.
I'll be at Mary Berry's Winter Retreat February 19 to vend, teach, and relax. I'm doing a class, Hand Cards vs Combs. It should be fun!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Touches of fall
The year is going by really fast. I have bred my does so I will have kits available for the Kid n Ewe. Whether or not they took is another question. The extreme heat makes the bucks sterile for short periods. The weather finally moderated, but whether it was in time I won't know for 30 days.
The large wasp nests in the rabbit hutch have disappeared overnight. I originally had 2 large yellow jackets and 2 red wasp nests. I myself removed one of the yellow jacket nests as I needed to get into the hay area and put in a fresh hay bale. They were just below I store the hay on and I just knew our peace treaty would be broken if I started to bring in the new hay so close to them.
I treated them with an organic spray of mint oils. It took 3 days to get them fully off the nest, but I planned for that. The spray didn't really seem to kill the individuals, but it did drive them away from the nest. They reclustered on a nearby tree and on the 5th day began building a new nest from scratch on the inside roof. I could deal with that since it was far enough away from my work area.
Yesterday all the nests were gone, most of the wasp were gone and the hay was undisturbed. It had to have been raccoons to do such a clean sweep of all the nests. What surprised me the most was that they didn't knock my hay over. Raccoons are annoying and do damage most of the time, but in this case they did do me a favor without much damage to my equipment, for once.
The large wasp nests in the rabbit hutch have disappeared overnight. I originally had 2 large yellow jackets and 2 red wasp nests. I myself removed one of the yellow jacket nests as I needed to get into the hay area and put in a fresh hay bale. They were just below I store the hay on and I just knew our peace treaty would be broken if I started to bring in the new hay so close to them.
I treated them with an organic spray of mint oils. It took 3 days to get them fully off the nest, but I planned for that. The spray didn't really seem to kill the individuals, but it did drive them away from the nest. They reclustered on a nearby tree and on the 5th day began building a new nest from scratch on the inside roof. I could deal with that since it was far enough away from my work area.
Yesterday all the nests were gone, most of the wasp were gone and the hay was undisturbed. It had to have been raccoons to do such a clean sweep of all the nests. What surprised me the most was that they didn't knock my hay over. Raccoons are annoying and do damage most of the time, but in this case they did do me a favor without much damage to my equipment, for once.
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