 The biggest issue with this snowstorm was the freezing rain and ice that formed on the trees and power lines. Nothing like the ice storm of of December 2008. But with such a mild winter, the utilities and towns were taken by surprise. I was lucky enough to have such a kind neighbor who cleared part of my driveway and my mailbox. My car was encased in ice and he had shoveled a path to the drivers door....he deserves a medal! As a card I received from a friend of mine says"plant kindness and harvest gratitude".
It is sunny today, and has helped the cement like snow to be easier to cut through. The snow that came off the roof would have made great snow blocks for making an igloo. But not much fun to try to cut and shovel.   Spring is trying to arrive....but is still finding it difficult to get a foothold. I found this pot of what I believe are daffodils in the debris I was cleaning up in the front yard. The fact that it survived is amazing to me, between all the disruption of the siding and windows being replaced last fall...I am lucky to have anything growing in the raised beds next to the house.
Here is the middle of the month update on the farm: 11 of the Sexy girl laying hens were killed by a weasel three weeks ago and only the sexy girl who was in the basement survived. She was in the basement as she had been sick and is just now improved enough that she can venture outside. With the loss of the 11 sexy girls I have ordered 20 more laying chicks...they are Rhode Island Reds which I have had before. But with the mass death I have had to rethink my chicken house plans. I decided that the old chicken house where the sexy girls were was not secure...obviously, needed to be replaced. But because any structure on the ground will become a haven for rats unless the ground is dug out and filled with stone...otherwise it won't be rat or weasel proof. I talked to my friend Patrick who did all the work on the house and barn and asked him if he could build me a chicken trailer,like the one I bought in 2018. He said yes!!!!!!!!! The new chicks will arrive at the beginning of April and will live in a brooder in the basement for at least a month. Hopefully the trailer will be done by then and I can put the new chicks in there, otherwise I will need to move them into a bigger brooder in the first barn till their new home is ready. Update # 2: Sparkle the donkey is doing much better! I think after December of 2022 when she had abscesses in her front hooves and was severely under weight we began to feed her low carb senior horse food (along with treating the abscesses) . Unfortunately I didn't notice the signs of the lamintitis even after her weight was back to normal. So I kept feeding her the same amount of grain and that really caused the problem as carbohydrates can cause the inflammation in her hooves to get worse. Now she only gets a taste of her grain and she is feeling much more like her old sparkle self! So, as my parent's would say"onward and upward"....we will hopefully march into spring and not have a late freeze like last year.  The month of February was somewhat stressful, but less than last year. There were 4 live lambs born and one lamb who died during birth as she was so big and her mother was a first timer. I dealt with treating the sheep for lice and had to get a coat for Lady as she lost her own coat due to the lice and needed the protection. Two of the ewe lambs needed coats at first but both grew out of them(literally) and are now coatless. The last lamb born is a ewe lamb named Tempo and her mother is my oldest ewe named Rhythm.
Sparkle the Donkey had a health scare....she developed lamintitis which is inflammation of sensitive layers of tissue (laminae) inside the hoof in horses and other animals. It is very painful and Sparkle needed to be treated with pain killers and no grain to eat..... But she is better now and starting to act like her old self. I still need to be careful and keep her bedding on the soft side. Sparkle is not a young donkey at the age of 24 but not elderly either. Donkeys can live 27-40 years and I will try to keep her healthy and happy from now on. |
Mary Will Sussman Archives
November 2025
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