Sunday, May 9, 2010

Yuck

As I write this, it's 31 degrees, about 30 degrees below normal, and the wind is blowing the trees sideways.  Last weekend when it was 85 degrees, I took down all the storm windows, so the wind is blowing right through the house.  The wood stove and the electric heater can't keep up, same as when it's 10 degrees outside, the storm windows made that much difference. The warmest I can get it in here is 65.

I worked incredibly hard yesterday to get all the coop parts primed and painted and started to put the parts together in anticipation of finishing the job outside today and getting the chickens into the new coop.  I thought I was buying a kit that needed to be painted and assembled, but this kit still needs sawing, drilling, etc, etc.  Instructions have been confusing about what needs to be painted, sawed, etc, So I cut off a part I wasn't supposed to cut (a very difficult thing to recover from), and you can see that the painting isn't right.  I can go back later and do touch-up painting, but it took a while to figure out how to fix my cut off mistake.

Of course, it's so cold now, I can't imagine spending the time outside that would be needed to get the coop together.  Even though I spent most evenings since Tuesday and all day yesterday figuring this thing out, it's all been the easy parts so far.  I'll try to get some of it done, but I think the chickens are going to have to wait a little longer.  One of them "bit" me a few times yesterday as I was feeding them.  I feel their pain - I'm trying to hurry and get them better space.

The goats are fine, I guess.  Thankfully, I've heard other goats being weaned, so I'm hoping that the fact that they're screaming bloody murder a bunch is because they're being weaned and they want their mom, not because life is really that bad.  They're 8 weeks old, so they're not too young for this.

I took them out a bit last night.  I haven't named them yet.  I'm thinking about calling them Penny and Coco, based on their color.  Banana bread didn't tempt them at all, but an apple branch with fresh blossoms got them following me a bit.  I hardly slept at all last night, imagining the wind blowing the shed over, or lots of other bad scenarios, and I suspect that other aspects of my low mood have a lot to do with that lack of sleep.  That and the extremely cold weather.  Yuck.

5 comments:

  1. D'oh! That coop has been a tough project. Good thing you've got some skills in that department to figure this stuff out.

    Damn, those goat-lets are cute!

    I usually wait too long with my storms. It's hard to predict when the best time to take them off is.

    Hang in there, things will turn around. I hate that feeling of stuff that needs to happen but you can't do it because other things have to happen first.

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  2. I am with you on the sleepless nights listening for the worst! Which is why I am not a mother. I will say, that what you've done on the coop is awesome! Once those girls get out in their new digs, they will be cooing at you. The weather sucks.

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  3. You know what? It's a holiday. You get to celebrate it, too (just like I do), 'cause where would your dogs, cats, chickens, and goats be without YOU to mother them?!

    I think you should scrap the idea of getting anything "done" today and snuggle under a big blanket (heating pad?) with a glass of wine and watch a movie!

    "Take the day"! You deserve it! And know that another gal is thinking of you from the middle of the country. :)

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  4. Good day to snuggle up on the couch and watch a good movie. Work will always be there. Peace.

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  5. Hey, how soon is Linda coming, because I'll bet she'd LOVE the coop assembly experience!! Maybe you can't wait that long...just think how much better you liked things when you had to wait longer...of course, if it's all in your way, that makes it a little trickier

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