I haven't posted much about progress around here lately because there hasn't been a whole lot of it to be honest. Between this heat wave and work going from 20 hours to over 40 a week there hasn't been much time left over to really do anything but every day chores and mowing.
I guess I did get the first hay cutting from the front field baled and put up which I did post about. I got a little bit done on the back fence for the crossroads paddock. I had to put a post along side the barn to anchor the last two gates to and that required me to dig the hole the old fashioned way.
The Dutch clover is still blooming but the grass in the driveways and along the road edges is now turning brown. I planted one of the Buckwheat patches and have even managed to get a hose over there and water it a bit but so far nothing has come up. The topsoil is literally like fine powder right now it's so dry.
As I have mentioned a few times the heat is really clobbering us. Mid to upper 90's usually which is about 10 degrees over our norm for this time of year but the humidity is also high and so the heat just sucks the life right out of ya while the sweat runs down. The Turkey Vultures have taken to hanging out over the parking lot at work watching me. I know they are just waiting for me to succumb to heat stroke so they can swoop in.
I also got a little more restoration work done on the 861. Nothing special just switched out a front rim and new tire.
The most interesting news so far though is that we officially have a broody hen!!! One of the Barred Rock hens is sitting on four eggs and has been for about a week now. Boy is she a complete bitch about it too!!! Go anywhere near her and she gets grumpy as all hell :)
I thought we were ready for some chicks but it turns out we are not. The dog who leaves the full grown chickens alone now cannot resist chasing and killing any half grown or smaller one he can. We been having to keep him put up but I am sure if any of the eggs the broody hen is sitting on hatch something will happen to them before they get grown and I just don't have the time to build a pen right now until work straightens itself out.
The good news is that starting tomorrow I will begin training a full time replacement so maybe after he is up to snuff I can go back to my normal work hours and get back to work on things around here.
Until then as I have said before sorry about the lessened posting and replies to comments. Just not enough hours in the day right now.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!!!
Dennis
ReplyDeleteRest and be well.
PS Boy am I glad I do not live near you. :)
Dennis - It's been a very hot June so far that's for sure. I hope this turns before too much longer.
DeleteIt's bad enough that's it's hot, it's worse when the humidity is high too. Hopefully the new employee works out so you don't have to work so many hours.
ReplyDeleteJ&M - I think he will. I find I hate the heat more and more the older i get :)
DeleteYou must be feeling overwhelmed by all the work you are doing, so I hope that the replacement person will soon be able to take over. I suppose the money is nice, but at a cost.
ReplyDeleteVera - Ya but really it's about a 100% work gain on time for about a 50% gain in money truth be told. Not sure how it works out that way but it does.
DeleteThe ground is clay and rock here so a post hole digger is miss named for me, I use it to remove the dirt from the hole but the digging is done with a steel digging bar which gets slammed into the hole and breaks up the dirt for removal.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone doubts that chickens evolved from dinosaurs then they need to encounter a broody hen. I have one old one that doesn't lay but still sits eggs so she is even more of a T-rex than a normal one. I wait until they have sit for a while and then move the hen and eggs into a small armored wooden box that I can close up at night. It gets put in a small chicken wire fenced area in the shade so that the chicks can run around in safety. Before I move them I mark the eggs with a marker as hens will some how add more eggs to the batch which won't hatch because they won't have enough time to hatch and when too many eggs some get pushed out from under the hen. Plan on over half the chicks to be roosters.
Sf - We are going to have to do something because she is nesting off the ground in a raised nest box I built for them. The poor chicks if they do hatch will die trying to get down.
DeleteHey don't worry about posting, you need to make some cash to fix that old farm equipment you have..LOL
ReplyDeleteRob - Or buy more!!!!
DeleteSo just heard the Canadian federal gov't has decided to increase the payroll deductions for Canada pension plan (cpp). It will be going up on average $35 per month for people making minimum wage. The new funds will go to half pay into the current program... which is stretched to breaking and half will go to help support the public employee pension funds which are collapsing. They also promised an increase in payments to seniors tecieving CPP which should eat up any new money coming into the system.
ReplyDeleteYou called it PP, the plans are collapsing and they are robbing from the young to keep the system afloat.
Exile1981
Exile - Oh ya the governments are going to expect the tax payer to foot the bills for their promises because ya know the public employees earned it and all don't ya know!!!
DeletePP,
ReplyDeleteYour busy, we all understand. Just take it one day at a time. Congrats on the broody hen!