Roos, silly youngun’s and eggs out the wazoo

Wednesday, February 19

This morning dawned grey, foggy and cold. There was a good amount of frost on the window of the truck when I left for work. Eventually the sun broke through the clouds leaving a clear blue sky and warming the air to 50 degrees. Seeing the sun shining so bright in February is truly a wonderful thing!

B&B day today. Work was good. It’s a bit crazy there right now as there is some construction going on but it’s all good and it’s going to be fabulous once it’s all finished. I had a limited space to fold and create sheet sets but I managed without any problems. Eventually my ‘space’ will be redone and it will be awesome! We are all so excited about the changes and I think they will help us be more efficient at our jobs. And that’s always a good thing!

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With the sun shining so bright CountryBoy stayed busy outside. He installed a solar powered trickle charger we found on clearance the last time we were in Rural King…

This should help keep the battery charged in the side-by-side.

He also spent some time working on the cabin gutter to stop it from leaking and if it does eventually leak again, at least it won’t be right over the entrance.

Bit by bit we are working the kinks out of the cabin hopefully making it more efficient and even cozier. Now we need to knuckle down and figure out how we’re going to get the water from the rain barrels to the outhouse & bathtub so that it will be ready for use in the warmer months.

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Farm news: 20 eggs

They are light brown, dark brown, green, and avocado. We’ve only gotten one blue egg so far. Seems the blue layers aren’t quite interested in laying any eggs just yet!

So far the two roos are getting along OK. Here’s Popcorn (named by the previous owner), the older rooster, proudly watching over his girls…

and here’s the young rooster, who is currently nameless, trying to blend in and not draw attention to himself…

but that tail and comb are dead give-a-ways that he’s not one of the girls! He is a Hamburgh breed. Think we oughtta’ name him Hamburgh? Popcorn & Hamburgh kinda go together as they’re food related, ha!

Sadly, our boy Fuzzy Foot passed away a few months ago as well as our little bantam Cotton Top. It’s always very sad when this happens. Part of life on a farm is dealing with death. We grieve and then we let it go. If not, we would constantly be in mourning and that’s not good or healthy.

Thursday, February 20

It’s my Friday – yay!!!

Work was uneventful.

I stopped on my way home to pick up a can of brown spray paint and I inquired about a swag light kit. They had an all white kit (white electric cord, chain and hooks) and that was all. I don’t really want the chain and cord to be noticeable and white against my dark wood walls well, I think it would detract from the light. Besides, it would clash with the stained glass. The store clerk offered to order one for me but discovered that the other colors were out of stock with no information about when they would be back in stock. I found several options for swag kits online but was hoping to purchase locally. I thanked her for checking, paid for my spray paint and was on my way.

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It’s supposed to be a low of 18 tonight. That means it will probably be 10 – 12 degrees here at the farm. We’re always at LEAST five degrees cooler than the forecast which is great in the summer. Looks like I’ll be keeping the electric radiator heater on in the bedroom all night tonight.

Speaking of heat, I am SO thankful for all the heat sources we now have in the ‘ol farmhouse. When we first moved here – whew – you could see your breath inside the house. Honest to goodness! It was downright cold because the only heat source was an outdated, inefficient gas heater installed in front of the fireplace but we had no gas because the propane bottles would freeze. Our first order of business was remedying the lack of a proper heat source. We now have a wood-burning insert on one side of the double fireplace and on the other is a ventless gas heater. There’s also a wall-mounted heater in the downstairs bathroom, an electric fireplace in the upstairs bathroom and we have the electric radiator heater that can be moved to any room. I am so, so grateful for each and every one of our heat sources.

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Farm news: 19 eggs + 14 hidden eggs

CountryBoy found a hidden nest in Mabel’s pen today. Those girls! 98% of the found eggs were small with a couple larger eggs mixed in. Seems a few of the youngun’s wanted to have their own special egg nest. Silly girls!