What a Rollercoaster

 In the past 10 days we've had two ice storms and a snowfall of 10".

Scenes from an ice storm

donkey bowls are ice filled and stuck solid to the ground

transporting water and a torch to the chonkey area 

It was impossible to open the chicken porch (ice buildup  blocked the door) and the horse trailer where all chicken food and supplemental salt for donks is stored.

Thank goodness the chicken feed supply in the barn was full.

Scenes from a snowstorm

Thank goodness for the manger shelter Rick built in 2019

It allowed for immediate feeding outside of the barn.  Then I got to work shoveling a couple of other feeding areas.

With a snowfall this big, I had to shovel paths for the prima donas. 

It was tough with heavy wet snow.

Their bowls were lost under the snow.  We finally unearthed all three today.

Chickens faced a wall of snow outside one of the little doors

As it stands tonight, snow has melted somewhat and everything is accessible -- thank goodness!

****** Vegan Delights ******

One of my taste treats.
It's a bit pricey so I ration it.  :)

Sweet Pea Boasts Her Age

 It appears I'll be limping along tonight with this installment of the blog; my computer is being a tad persnickety.  But let's see how far we can go.

As I mentioned last week, Sweet Pea is turning eight.  Although I can see changes as she's aged, she appears to be in good health.  

2020

In the past couple of years she has become more sensitive to the cold, often just peeking out of the coop while her colleagues feast on treats.  And she used to be johnny-on-the-spot to tear apart a flake of straw.  Her gusto for that task has diminished.

 

see the little head just barely peeking out

2022

I will tell you after spending the past month and a half doctoring (picking up and holding) Marigold, Sweet Pea feels like a tonner.  She must weigh 2-3x what little Marigold weighs.

Speaking of Marigold.  One foot continues to improve and is looking pretty darn free of scaly mites, while the other (which started as the better foot) just won't shake loose.

This is the awfulness of the situation when we started in January.  

Clearly we learned the lesson of stopping treatment too soon last fall, so we continue to plug on.  If we could just get that left side to drop the last three small scaly nodules.

Let me leave you with the story of Stella.

If you were with me last summer you heard the saga of babying Stella the hibiscus.

 .at her full glory

Over the winter she lost all of her leaves but two.  Two.
I have made sure she's getting all the sun the house provides (southern exposure) and have continued to water what has looked like a dead plant.  Would you believe she started leafing teeny foliage about a week ago.  Who knows what will transpire in the next months until i can get her outside, but I'm proposing the moral of the story is never give up!

Goofy Donkadonks

 This photo sums up our weather.

Taken February 5 -- lots of snow, donkeys blanketed.  And yes that's Gabby photobombing the scene.

Today snow is gone, ice is 97% gone and mud has arrived.  March-like weather.  Of course we've not off the hook yet.  It's Michigan and snow could be just around the corner.

Here the little prima donnas peek out at the rain.

Heavens to betsy, we wouldn't want to get our little footsies wet...

And here the goofs show their enthusiasm for Sunday hot slop.  They actually recognize the bucket I regularly use and start singing as soon as they spot it.

As for chicken news, we are a month in to treating Marigold.  We goop and wrap her feet every 2-3 days.  Immense improvement but not quite 100% and we haven't seen improvement in the past week.  Well, that's not exactly true, but we can't seem to get over the final hump.

Next week the spotlight will shine on Sweet Pea.  She'll be turning 8!

Snowy Donkeys

 Once again we have a winter wonderland in southeast Michigan.  The big snow dump arrived last Wednesday.

I think I show you this scene every year, but it's my favorite winter view on the property.  Just outside the garage, heading up the driveway.  I love it.

 

Looking across the pasture

Thank goodness for the covered manger - less shoveling to clear dining areas.

 Donkeys are not eager to forge new paths and, conveniently enough, leave that for me.  When we run out of room significant traffic jams arise.

And I am stuck, um "allowed" the task of shoveling another.

With immense love I remember the last snowy video of Luigi...

Teeny Tiny Farm Happenings

 I must admit, nothing tremendously exciting is happening on the teeny tiny farm.

Marigold is getting treated for her scaly leg mites and we're finally seeing improvement.  Every other day we schmear her footies with herb treated goo, wrap them in gauze and then in vetrap.

Here she shows off her vogue look.

A spring-like mud fest

gave way to a couple of inches of snow.  Which I much prefer.

My little mountaineer, Stevie, is drawn to the garbage cans (full of chicken feed and donkey Equine Senior) almost every morning.

And Gabby's face says how much she loves hot slop Sunday.

* * * * * * Vegan Delights * * * * * *

After a recent visit to a local farm's organic produce market (slimmed down for the winter season) and talking to the farm's director about her mom making lentil stew as a kid, I said, "gotta do that".  And voila, a recent dinner.

Hearty Lentil Stew

The addition of sweet potato helped make it a nice blend of flavors.  And I do favor lentils.

Chickens and Sprouted Lentils

 Let's turn immediately to the good news.

Etta James was sounding a bit wheezy a couple of weeks ago.  I started putting a few drops of Vetrx into the water every other day and (always knock on wood) she sounds so much better.

You know I like to avoid pharmaceuticals if possible.  Ingredients:  Canada Balsam, Camphor OilOriganum, Oil Rosemary, blended in a corn oil base. 
I'm happy.

Last week I mentioned the lamb born next door.  You know you want to see pictures.

surrounded by her aunties

Somewhere in my reading I decided it would be a splendid idea to sprout lentils for the chickens.  Nutritious, easy to prepare, and something new to try.

Everything went according to plan.  In four days I had a quart jar of sprouts.

To my tastebuds, they have a mild flavor.  To Rick's they are tasteless.  (of course he is wrong)

They have bombed with the hens.  Sometimes when trying a new delicacy the girls take their time warming up to it.  Well, after two days there appears to be no warming.  Think I'll put them in our salad tomorrow night!

Now for the bad news.  Marigold's feet look awful - again.  We treated her for bumblefoot and scaly leg mites in September and thought we had them licked.  Appears we were wrong.

* * * * * * Vegan Delights * * * * * *. 

I give you a recipe for vegan baked beans which we prepared for the Christmas Eve family gathering.  I think it was received well; Rick and I liked them.  The only modification I made was to eliminate the liquid smoke.  

Yoga Kleshas and Sheep

I believe I have been remiss in introducing you to our current next door neighbors.

Longtime readers will know feelings on each side of the fence are not always amicable.  Mutually. So although I was screamed at by one of the humans next door (a year ago?) for giving carrots to the animal crew who was there at the time, I picked up the oh-so-damning habit again about a month ago.  The sheep run like crazy to get the treats while Whitey (my name for the cow) likes to sashay over.  She comes pressing up to the woebegone fence and takes the carrot pieces like a dog.  Although today I got some of the slimy sandpaper tongue.

Well a couple of weeks ago I realized I hadn't seen the sheep in several days.  I immediately concluded they had been sent to slaughter (yes, they have advertised fresh meat on our little community's FB page).  I comforted myself by saying I had given them attention and treats before their demise.  Then, just a couple of days ago as I was calling Whitey, I heard the sheep bleating from the barn (lordy I should show you a picture of the barn). I concluded they had been locked up from the severe and biting wind we had about 10 days ago.  With ill thoughts, I assumed the humans were remiss in not letting them out with the warmer temps.  Then, today the real answer presented itself.  A wee little baby lamb pressed against mom standing in the small pen attached to the barn.

I have been a student of yoga for over 25 years.  We study yoga tenets are well as physical poses (asanas).  Including the five yoga kleshas (pronounced kleeshas) or sources of trouble.  Boy oh boy did the story above smack me in the face.  One of the kleshas is "wrong information".  We form assumptions/opinions/judgements all the time based on wrong information.  And this was a perfect example.  I find sometimes the universe has to smack me in the head to remind me.  Message received.

Weather wise in the past 10 days we've gone from snow and those biting winds

with blankets a must, and yes, they were fed inside.  Followed by a warm-up with a bit of ice, and now a complete melt with balmy temps in the low 40's.

Yesterday morning during chores the rain transformed into a mini-blizzard in the wink of an eye.  And was done in another blink.

The chickens are loving wandering in the snow-less pens.  But holy cow did Gigi give me a fright.
This is the sight I came across

I watched before panicking and said she's just taking a dust bath.  Of course, it's just a dust bath.  But to be sure walked over and picked her up.  She stood there unfazed and went right back to bathing (although I have a dust bath in the coop).

Never a dull moment...