The Weekend "Off"

Wednesday morning already - how the heck did THAT happen?!

Northeastern Minnesota has been lying under a h-e-a-v-y blanket of grey, grey, grey weather for days now. The 2-3" of snow we got over the weekend and the following sleet that coated everything with a hard shell of ice has yet to melt since the temperature hasn't topped 32 degrees since. So, while I'm sure it will be much different in just a week or so, for now, it feels like spring will never come!

Tom and I both took the weekend "off" . . . meaning we only did what we WANTED instead of what we felt like we SHOULD be doing.

For Tom, that meant building a fire in his trapper cabin Saturday morning, brewing up a cup (or two or three) of tea, and enjoying the warm sunshine out on that deck. Then, after a couple of odd jobs that it felt good to get done, he installed the closet door and knob assembly that we'd bought last week. Unfortunately (and not thinking - that was my fault), we'd gotten a standard-size door . . . and I had all the downstairs doors framed for 80" doors (to better highlight the 9' high ceiling). So, Tom had to do a little jury-rigging and quickly re-frame the top of the door, but that was the only real problem. And, since the closet is in the utility room, we'll "make do" with a smaller-than-planned door there. (Thank goodness we didn't buy any more doors . . . like we were considering!)

I, meanwhile, got some deskwork done that had been mentally hounding me . . . including the spring poultry order completed! We'll be expecting 26 chicks, 2 goslings, 7 turkeys (what are baby turkeys called?!), and 7 ducklings on June 9th. And, speaking of poultry . . . .

On Monday, I had my camera with me when I went out to do chores, and I thought I'd try to get some good pictures of the chickens. But, just as I thought that, something made me turn around, and this is what I saw (not a happy sight for any chicken farmer). One of the hens had been attacked - her crop ripped open and head . . . well, gone. The "scene of the attack" seemed to suggest a winged predator. When I told Tom about it that night, he said that he HAD seen a huge hawk swoop through the valley on Sunday. Yep, that was probably it. But, that's all part and parcel to having livestock. As the saying goes, "if you have livestock, you also have dead stock".

But, what's worse than finding an animal killed by a predator is having to put one out of its misery, like we did last night. (Bad week for chickens.) When I went out to do chores last night I found a hen standing on one leg, all fluffed up: a bad sign. Her back end looked messy, and so I grabbed her and enlisted Tom's help for a full inspection. She'd prolapsed, and it was beyond the stage of intervention. So, rather than having her suffer any longer, it was "off with her head". Quite literally. But, not a fun thing to have to do.

Anyway, that's the news for this morning. I wish this grey weather would break! Ugh!