Here Chickie, Chickie

After not raising any meat birds last year, and exhausting the supply I had in the freezer, DH and I decided it was time to raise some more.  I was a little concerned about being able to use the minimum order--25--with just two of us living at this little place here now (not counting DD2 being here this summer, because she will be gone back to college right about the time my broilers get butchered).  So, I polled my offspring, and they all said they would take at least three, leaving roughly a dozen for my own freezer, possibly less if the married offspring took 5+ each.

With that figured out, and having talked to my favorite chicken processor about his vacation schedule--being retired he takes an entire month off for travel every summer, I went ahead and ordered 25 broiler chicks.  While I was at it, I also ordered 6 pullet chicks (3 buff rocks and 3 of a blue egg laying breed) to boost my laying flock.  We've had a fox problem since May, and I'm down from ten hens to just four currently.  :0(

A little over a week ago, my chick order arrived.  Except, when I opened the box, instead of 30+ chicks, there were only 22!  The packing slip showed my entire order, plus the hatchery's typical extra "freebie" chick, and supposedly an extra broiler chick, totaling 33, yet when I took the chicks out one by one to put into the brooder, there were 11 missing. 

I had what I assumed was the freebie chick (see the striped one?) and 21 of my 25 broilers, but none of my laying breed pullet chicks.  No dead ones in the box, the other 11 were just plain missing.

I called the hatchery right away--well, about a half-hour later, had to wait for 9:00 a.m. business hours to start--and reported the odd situation.  In fifteen years of ordering chicks nearly every year from this hatchery, I'd never received a box that was missing chicks.  And only twice received a box containing any dead chicks (which sometimes happens due to shipping stress and/or rough handling of the container).

The hatchery representative was very nice, took my report, looked at my account, and offered to send out replacements for the missing chicks ASAP.  Plus enough extras ("They will have to be extra cockerels, no choice of breeds" she warned me) to make enough little bodies in the box so that the chicks stay warm enough en route this time of year .

The new chicks arrived five days later.  All of the 'missing' ones from the first order, plus more freebies. 

DD2 has taken it upon herself to name the ones she thinks will be roosters, despite the fact that they will more than likely end up in a soup pot this winter.  We currently have a Leonard, a Lionel, a Pierogi and a Stuart.  Leonard and Lionel appear to possibly be Easter Eggers, with puffy cheeks that look like they will turn into muffs and beards.  Pierogi is very obviously a Polish chick due to the pom-pom on his head.  Stuart (as in Stuart Little) is a true mystery so far. He's smaller than the other chicks, and we're not sure if he's a bantam--since we've never had bantams before, we're not sure how much smaller than 'normal' chicks they are--or if he is (more likely) a brown leghorn.  Time will tell.

Now there are 36 active little balls of fluff on skinny legs living in the brooder in our garage.  They will be there for about two more weeks before getting moved to the grow-out pen outside, and then 25 will go to freezer camp (aka the processor) in mid-August.  The rest are not meat breeds, so after they reach their full growth in several more months they will either be laying hens or roosters for the soup pot. 

But that's not the end of this story.  Nope.  Because DH just happened to be on a work trip for 10 days.  During this time, the chicks arrived.  Two days after their arrival, he texted to tell me that one of the guys he works with would like to get 10 of the broilers once they are butchered.  By my calculations, 3 for this offspring and 5 for that one and 5-10 for the one with a family and about 4 for the last offspring, plus 10 for the guy DH works with did not leave any for DH and I's own freezer.  That was a problem.

For every problem, there is a solution.

After many texts between me and DH (because he was, after all, on a work trip and coordinating phone calls across three time zones while working is difficult and spotty cell service makes phone calls nigh on impossible at times), DH and his work friend, and the work friend and some of his friends, a consensus was reached.  Would I be willing to order, and raise, and take to the processor another batch of 25 broilers? The work friend would pay all expenses and all 25 birds would be claimed; I wouldn't end up with way more birds in my freezer than I had room for.

After figuring when my brooder would be ready, when is the last date my favorite processor is willing to do birds in the fall, and what availability is with the hatchery, I went ahead and ordered that additional batch of broilers.  So, I will have chicks in my brooder from June 14 (when the original order arrived) through August 15 or so (when the next group is feathered out enough to live outdoors).  The grow out pen will be in use from early July through the end of September.  

Guess I'm a chicken farmer this summer.  I did manage to get a new poultry transport crate and a chicken catcher (4 foot rod with a narrow hook on one end) out of the deal.

Horse News

After a winter of feeling like I just never could get back up to speed in my riding program, only managing three rides a week at most (and sometimes only 1), near the end of April I began to notice a difference.  We'd turned a corner!  Something so subtle, and yet, so huge:  improved connection!

I'd spent a few weeks consciously trying to overcome a habit I had clung to despite not wanting to have that habit.  I knew that when I got busy thinking too much, or when I felt just a little unstable, my hands had a tendency to 'dive' as I call it--heading downward toward the withers, taking the bend out of my elbows and making me slightly shift my shoulders forward and down which also affected my core and by proxy my seat.  So, early in April, I decided that I must give up this habit.  That I needed, no matter what was going on, to keep my hands (and by association: elbows, shoulders, core strength, center of gravity, and seat) where they belong.

In keeping those hands correct (elbows bent and shoulders back, core stretching up, and seat where it belonged), I noticed that my wandering left hand, which tended to want to take the rein across the withers at times, stayed put.  It wasn't so vagabond.  And when my left hand wasn't wandering, wonder of wonders, I had a better and more consistent connection on the outside rein when tracking right.  This lack of connection had been a bugaboo for pretty much the whole time I've been riding The California Horse.  And guess what!  With a nice connection on that outside rein, our turns on the haunches became much tighter.  Like half-pirouettes at the walk.  Our lateral work became easier.  Corners became corners again, not cheater half-20 meter-circles on the short ends of the arena.  And The California Horse began to use his hindquarters more.  Oh hallelujah, connection and better impulsion!

With the second six months of our (extended) lease approaching its end, The California Horse's owner contacted me.  Was I still enjoying him?  Was I interesting in continuing to work with him?  Now that she's out of college and in the working world, she had come to the conclusion that she does not have time (or $$) for two horses and would like to talk to me about finding a more permanent situation for him.

Would I like to talk about his future?  Yes.  Did I have really any time to get together with her or idea of what my finances were at that moment, just a few weeks before DD1's wedding?  No.  Which is what I told his owner, asking if we could wait and discuss it after the wedding.  She agreed that it could wait until mid-May.  Our lease wasn't up until summer time anyway, so no big rush. I would keep riding him as often as I wished.

Then The California Horse got kicked. In the hind leg, above the hock.  It was ugly, so ugly.  But luckily, not damaging.  With cold hosing, daily cleaning and goopifying (aka, antibacterial ointment slathered on thickly), plus a little Bute for it's anti-inflammatory properties, it healed well and only a few days off our riding schedule were necessary.

Thankfully just a flesh wound,

 no stitches needed and no joint or tendon damage.

Then he managed to poke himself in the eye (with some hay, we think), and had a little more time off, an actual vet visit (for staining the eye to determine the extent of the damage), and more daily doctoring; this time in the form of eye ointment applied every morning and night.

Then, I had to take a break for DD1's wedding; anyone who has ever gotten married knows that the week leading up to wedding day is just hectic.  But right after the wedding weekend, I was ready to ride.

And . . . The California Horse had a giant welt the size of a softball on his belly.  An absolutely enormous bug bite (or perhaps bee sting?)  that extended into the girth area and canceled any plans I had to ride him until the swelling went down after a few days.

By that time, K2 had a mental health crisis resulting in hospitalization and I had the pretty much round the clock care of K3 and Toad for about two weeks.

All a long five weeks or so of very little riding for me this spring.  Really, I think I could count on one hand the number of times I got to ride during the month of May. I'd probably even have extra fingers left.

But never fear!  June arrived and brought with it much better luck for me, and better health for The California Horse (and improved state of mind for K2) so my riding schedule is back to normal.  While both of us lost some conditioning (you should hear us huff and puff at the trot), apparently we didn't slide backwards much in training, because all of our rides in June so far have been at least as good as our sessions in April.  I'd even dare to say the trot connection and impulsion has been better than it was in April (our trot sessions are shorter as we build our endurance back, but of better quality).  The California Horse is eager to work and seems to enjoy our rides together.  I feel like I'm making the jump to the next level in my riding; like I won't be stuck at barely First Level forever.

"Are you going to stand there taking pictures or put my bridle on me?

Come on, we've got work to do!"

I would love to have another six months to a year with this horse.  Right now, it feels to me like I am close to making a break into Second and with another year on The California Horse, I might actually be able to ride him to the extent of his Third Level training.  It's time to sit down with his owner and see what she has in mind for his future; if another lease extension is possible or if she is wanting to sell him outright. 

A lease, I can swing.  Not so sure about a purchase (especially with the on again off again care of the grandkids), it would really have to depend on the price.  Schoolmasters such as The California Horse are typically very salable even in their twenties (he's currently 18), but with his shivers and his enormous stature, I'm not sure how easy it would be to sell him in a few years if I were somehow able to purchase him this summer.  Because as in love with this horse as I am, he is aging and I'm not in the position now--nor do I see being able in 2-5 years--to carry a giant retiree who eats a ton and also requires shoes and special care (for his shivers).

Here's To Many More

Today is DH and my 25th wedding anniversary.  WOW!  25 years!!  Um, how did that happen?

Honestly, it was a decision we made, not just when we got engaged (a few days over 26 years ago now), not just when we got married at the tender ages of 21 & 23, but over and over, and over again, through the years. 

Getting married is easy.  Staying married, not always a piece of cake.  We've been apart a lot in the last 25 years.  Not in terms of separating from our marriage, but physical separations due to DH's job with it's regular travel requirements.  Those separations, while being challenging--talk about having to trust each other and stay true to our marriage vows--have also been strengthening.  While being a hardship mentally (and often physically too) when we didn't want to be away from each other, all those work trips sometimes gave each of us a needed break from each other.  They make DH appreciate me more (my good cooking, how I make sure he's up and fed in time to leave for work each day, how I manage all the finances and running of our household), and they let me, as he gets older and snores more, get a few good nights' sleep in!  LOL.

There have been times when we didn't see eye to eye.  Times when we seemed to be going in opposite directions, with opposite goals.  And, truthfully, one time when I'd had about all I could take, and actually told DH that if things didn't change, I was ready to see if the kids and I could move in with my parents. Now, sharing a house with my mom is something that I have never wanted to do as an adult.  It's something that I've avoided like the plague; one of the reasons, early in our marriage when we had three small children, a mountain of debt (doctor bills and student loan payments) and DH lost his job, that we worked so very hard to stay solvent, to make payment arrangements with our debtors, to not declare bankruptcy and to take whatever jobs we could find, just to keep a roof over our heads and food in our bellies until more gainful (and enjoyable) employment came along.  So, when I told DH that I was seriously thinking of moving myself and our three teenagers in with Mom, he knew our marriage had hit dire straits. 

We worked it out, though.  Wasn't easy, and we both had to give more than a little.  (And, I do still get rather annoyed with his job when it starts working him to death--for the good of the program he's been assigned--and by default I get the crap end of the deal--like a grouchy, rarely available husband).  We also have had to keep a sense of humor, especially in those "you can laugh, or you can cry" times.  Like when we sat down and talked through the logistics of a divorce, and he said "I will pay the mortgage payments so that you and the kids can stay living in our house until the youngest one is 18, but I don't make enough to pay a mortgage here plus rent a place for me." and I replied "well, I work in order to pay board on my horse, I can see if the barn owner will let me work more hours in exchange for you living in the apartment in the barn."  It was kind of a ridiculous thought; getting divorced and working to 'board' my ex-husband at the horse farm.  Especially since in a horse barn is the last place on earth that he'd want to live. Made us both laugh, and admit we had faults that needed working on, and realize that neither one of us really wanted to go through the rest of our lives without the other. 

But up until that discussion,  as much as he denied it, his work situation for the previous two years had turned him into a super critical and grumpy person who was mostly a negative presence when he was home.  And I, in return, had pulled away and was less willing to spend time with him when he wasn't working.  Rectifying the situation took a lot of conscious effort from both of us.  I had to trust and reach out.  He had to try to put on a happy face when he walked in the door after work, and bite his tongue--rather than bite my head off--about any not done housework he noticed, or dinner menu that wasn't his favorite.

We both still slip up and fall back into those roles from time to time.  He's really dedicated to his work, and that is acknowledged and reflected by the heavy load his boss puts on him.  He doesn't realize when he's becoming what I refer to as a "large and growly bear" at home because of overwhelming work pressure.  I'm not fond of housework (I'd much rather do outdoor cleaning than indoor), and when I'm really busy with stuff I do slack in the housekeeping department.  I also lose my motivation to clean when DH is hardly ever home and prickly when he is home.  Compound that with my introverted-ness, and what he comes home to after a mentally and emotionally strenuous day isn't a welcoming and relaxing home with a companionable wife.

Extra hours at work = less time to keep up with his chores at home = more work for me at home = he's stressed out + I'm stressed out = more arguing and less fun.  As long as we both keep that in mind, when it starts to happen, we can pull together as a team instead of letting the situation rip us apart, as it nearly did those years ago.  It's really important to stay on the same team.

In fact, that is pretty much the advice that I wrote on a slip of paper back in March at DD1's bridal shower, where one of the activities was for the guests to write advice and well wishes for the soon-to-be bride.  My advice was "Always remember you are on the same team.  No matter how tough life gets, remember marriage isn't DD1 Team versus Honorary Son team.  Marriage is the DD1 and Honorary Son Team."

A team pulls together, whether the score is in their favor, or the score looks like victory is unreachable. A good marriage is the same way.  Good times, tough times, husband and wife remain on the same team and pull together.

DH and I intend to keep pulling, keep together, for many more years.  Hopefully at least another twenty-five.

Yarn Along: June

It's time to join Ginny once again for the June edition of the Yarn Along.

I've not knit much in the past month.  Just one dishcloth featuring Michigan's Upper Peninsula (using a pattern from the booklet Knit the U.P. that I purchased while on a brief visit to DD2 in late April.)  and not quite one sock--I have a few more rows on the toe before grafting it closed--using the Vanilla Latte pattern I've made a few times before.  This time I am using Trekking XXL yarn that I purchased at the same shop where I bought the U.P. themed pattern booklet.

The dish cloth is for me, as I've had several of mine wear out and needed to make a few new ones to replenish my supply.  I do intend, however, to make another one for DD2 yet this summer so she can take it back to school with her in August.

The socks are (shh, it's a secret) for her.  When I saw the yarn I knew it would be socks for her; the colors are just perfect for DD2. They too will be done by August, barring any unforeseen complications that keep me from being able to knit the second sock in the next two months.

Reading-wise, it's been slow going.  May was a very busy month with DD1's wedding, the garden to plant, and again having the grandkids temporarily live with us.  The new issue of Taproot arrived, and I've thumbed through it, but not actually read any of it yet. (Spoiler, this issue contains a sock pattern!!)  As far as books go, I'm about one chapter into Emma Miller's newest Amish murder mystery Plain Confession.