December 30, 2022 - Day 29

FRIDAY!

Buckle up for another boring post about the day...

Today was all about running around and shopping for food, for us and for the critters. 

The morning I made a trip to WinCo, hoping that by the time I was done that maybe the Azure Standard truck had arrived at the drop location. Nope. So off to home I went to wait. Since the feed warehouse doesn't open until 1pm I decided to just wait until my Azure order was ready for pick up. 

By the time 2 o'clock rolled around I decided to check the Azure Standard website... A HA! It was delivered a the regular time and the drop coordinator hadn't sent out the notifications yet. So off I went. First to Leolog to pick up scratch and mealworms - princess duck loves her mealworms. Then off to Edible Acres for my Azure order. I order several grain items to create my own chicken feed for the poultry. That box was on the heavy side and it took all of my strength and balance to first pick the box up off the floor...then try to open my car door to plop it in the back of my car. My wrist...well, I didn't damage it any more than usual I guess. THEN finally to Pioneer Feed for more food for the hogs. I'm so smart, I was there earlier in the week and picked up a couple of bags of pig chow and a bag of Alfalfa pellets for the bins in the garage. When I got home and was wrestling the bags out of my car and hauling them into the garage I was starting to get a little tired and not thinking straight. I opened the bagged WITHOUT positioning it at the top of the open bin...all of a sudden I had pellets pouring out onto the floor! That woke me up! I think I probably spilled out about 10 pounds of the pellets on the floor before getting lifting the bag up. Maybe less...I don't know. I took the time to scoop up a bunch by hand and putting it into the bin. 

I was pretty much over it by that time. I think I fed the swine dry food that day. Anyway, another day of running around done. 

A couple of days ago it occurred to me that we didn't get out to look at the neighborhood Christmas lights - thanks to the ice storm last week. So we went for a drive after dinner...

December 29, 2022 - Day 28

As we continue to move toward the new year, I am still in limbo. Not wanting to start something new and still creating a new routine. 

The day went pretty well yesterday until evening chores. Pretty much all the hens and our turkeys went into their houses because they were ready. And hungry. The ducks were compliant as well. However, Joody's babies decided to be super stupid and did not want to go into their shelter or the chick shaw. I chased them around for a while, getting more and more irritated with them. Then I decided to just lay off for a little while and take care of other tasks until it got dark enough for those two ding-dongs to go into any house.

As I observed them before I got them locked in I noticed that they REALLY wanted to go with the hennies. So after I finished up getting the pig food prepped for Friday morning I tried one more time to get them to go in. All of the hens were already on their roosting bars and settled in for a quiet night. That allowed me to open the door enough for the Aquila and Priscilla to go in. It only took one trip around the chicken tractor and they ran into the coop. Since I didn't see Priscilla go in I had to shine the light into the coop to see if she happened to slip in, she did. I continued to observe them for another minute or so to see what the hens would do.

Priscilla hopped up on a roosting bar, but after another moment or so she was back down again. She and Aquila were trying to find their place among the "big" kids and they were being picked on a little bit. They have to learn where they fit in sometime. They may have grown up around the hens, but becoming part of the flock is a process. We'll see how long this takes. 

I'm planning to list Aquila on craigslist in a few weeks. He really needs his own flock. 

December 28, 2022 - Day 27

The weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year's is rough. For me anyway. It occurred to me this morning that I miss having a routine. A good solid routine. 

The problem with the Holiday season with the short weeks and days off for Tom from his new job, my routine gets messed up. I am a creature of habit and I like to do things when they need to be done or when they make sense to me. This holiday season has been a little different because I had to jump into a new routine during National Collection Week. Just when I thought I was doing okay, bam, another three day weekend or whatever. 

So, while I was out doing chores, I was confused as to what day it was...Tuesday? Wednesday? Well, it was Wednesday because it's restock day at the Food Pantry and there were "snacks" for the piggies to be picked up.

During this crazy time with the holidays and the not so typical PNW weather I've been a little out of sorts. I've had some feelings of depression. That might just be my own doing though. I'm also an introvert. If I get asked to do something that is totally outside of the norm (depending on who is asking) then I have to think about it. When I agree I will obsess over the something until it's time to show up or whatever. This has only become a thing in the last couple of years. 

Ever since retiring, I'm pretty happy being at home, only leaving the house if I absolutely have to. Also, For a time, Tom was home most of the time. He had times of doing his handyman services or working. Since I retired his current job is the second engineering position. The first one was a not well thought out position that frustrated him more than anything. In the end the job didn't last long, we were okay with that. While Tom has a solid purpose working for a pretty good company I'm left to figure out what I will do with my days. Apart from the holidays and church related activities. 

The point is - I've been feeling a little lost. So, as we move out of 2022 and into 2023 I am hoping to make a change in my daily routine and add some physical activity - away from the house. Like walking and when I'm feeling stronger, running. Also, I plan to focus my bible reading effort by studying a specific book. The first one being the book of Philippians. I'll be going to a Warren Wiersbe book called Be Joyful. These are two things that I can accomplish in addition to my daily activities around the farm. I'll need to leave time for other activities such as the Food Pantry and other church related events. 

What did my Day 27 look like? Well, not a whole lot, I decided to be a little lazy. Didn't leave the house to do anything until around 3:30. I had a trip to the Food Pantry and then off to the Chiropractor for a 4pm appointment. My chiropractor moved her practice from the Mt. Vista area to Felida which is only a half mile from our church. Anyway, I tend to keep my chiro days a little on the light side so I don't mess up my back more than it already is. 

Since I had my chiro appointment at the time I would feed the animals, they got early dinners! Fortunately, I didn't have too many problems with the hens. They all were hungry and were more than happy to be locked in early. 

The boys (except Zeke) were enjoying the lettuce that I brought home from the Food Pantry. 

December 27, 2022 - Day 26

The day after the holiday weekend was a doozy! Kind of like our TV room on Christmas morning.

First lets just start off by saying that the start of winter in the Pacific NW has been "severe." Okay, severe is relative, we don't get the kind of weather that happens in the Northeast - tons of snow, but what we get happens so seldom that we PNW people don't know how to handle what little we get. 

Starting on Thursday it was super cold, it stayed in the 20s for most of the day and for fun, it started to rain that evening. So, cold + rain = Freezing Rain. I'm sure that there is a better explanation for freezing rain, but here is my estimation. I'm no meteorologist you know :D Friday morning there was a thin layer of ice covering most surfaces. It wasn't terrible though. It was okay enough for Tom to make it to work. I on the other hand did not leave the house - there was no reason for me to go out. Not long after Tom left, he was back home again. The powers that be at Otak decided to send employees home due to the weather - with pay! So bonus day off for Tom. It rained off and on throughout Friday and a little bit into Saturday. The good thing is that I didn't have to take care of the critters! Tom, however, had his turn taking care of them during the icy periods. Christmas was good, everything pretty much thawed out and we were back in business. Monday weather was good, nothing spectacular. Tuesday was TERRIBLE! 

It started to get a little windy Monday and only got worse! We had HUUUGE gusts Tuesday. The duck house was blown over, part of the roof on the chicken tractor came off and one of the doors on the big shed blew off the building and into the girls paddock. I didn't notice that until I went to give them food in the evening :(

Oh, and to make matters even more interesting - the power went out late morning and wasn't restored until nearly 4pm. 

I was already having a hard time with the pigs, so all of these things just sent me over the edge. It seems that I'm not able to handle the surprising things in addition to the annoying things. 

Carl on Christmas

Our typical weather day here in SW Washington is basically rain. LOTS of rain. Always raining. The amount of rain varies. A little, some showers or all out downpours. I'll take rain over wind any day of the week. 

So, my outside activities will depend on what the weather. Mostly how much mud will dictate how much I do outside. It's just a mud fest here every winter and I get tired of mucking around all the time. It is more than just mud, we have to add the pig poo in there also. The pigs poop where ever they are standing! So, there are land mines everywhere! Hosing the driveway is a daily thing, depending who you are. I do not like seeing any kind of poo on the driveway...not that the driveway is that great, but still, there are spots that are decent that we don't need poo.

Anyway, the weekend was relaxing for the most part. Christmas morning was fairly cold and we ended up bringing gifts into the TV room to exchange/open rather than in front of the fireplace in the Living room. Since the driveway was icy thru Christmas eve, it was a bit treacherous to go and try to get firewood from the pile. It would have needed to be split too, so that would have added an extra layer of unsafe-ness. 

ALSO - we went to worship Sunday morning! So, going to church made it feel less like Christmas and more like a regular Sunday.

Overall the weekend was pretty good. Weekends and weekdays are all the same to me, except I get the weekends off from taking care of the critters. AND when there's a three day weekend I get an extra day off :D

So, we are heading back into business as usual here at Windswept Farm!