phoebe is fussy

now that all three duckies are laying
it's a race every morning to get to the 'good' nest

phoebe who started first always seems to lose out

this morning she wanted back in
looking for a place to lay her egg
i brought her back in but nothing suited both of us
she didn't like her crate
or the engine stand ( don't ask)
and i didn't agree with under the work bench

so back out
she settled for inside the duck house ( what a concept)
and i picked up lillianna's and cleo's eggs out of the side nest

i think phoebe doesn't like the hay
she likes leaves but they are frozen right now

cleo meanwhile didn't look too good after laying
i got her to eat and drink but she seems to be having a hard time recovering after laying her egg
lilli is fine
up and eatting like there is no tomorrow

i noticed that if they are scared or not feeling well or confused
they are right under my feet
i step on them all the time!


in peep news
the peeps are two weeks old today!!!
yeah peeps!

they are huge
and are going to move into a larger brooder i believe tomorrow
when the new freezer comes i want to take the box for them to brood in
and i want to put them downstairs
they want out of the brooder.....i can't blame them
it's kinda small for them now

i don't want to get too close to them as i suspect a lot of this hatch are roos
i am thinking....out of the 7 i got two hens

possibly three
oye

i put the big girls on 12 hours of light now
so they go on at about 7:30 now
and off at 7:30
bernie won't be feeding them anymore either
i will be

it's so cold out that i brought our little cooler that i keep the extra stuff in out on the deck
the ice packs on the next to the house wood pile haven't quite frozen through......i figure that is cause of radient heat from the house

i will say
we are burning some WOOD

the back pile we didn't burn last year is about down to half
and most of october and november was warm
!!!!!!!!!!!

i finally got a new coffee/spice grinder
i tried it out last night on dried celery, onions and peppercorns
nice powder
i am going to give it a spin with dried broccoli
if it works well
then i got dried pepper skins to do
and a few other things

meanwhile
if we can get the freezer all set up saturday
i will be making cookie dough all next week for holidays
and i will be baking early december for bernie to take to work

til next time

vi

edited to add
gee i live a boring life
isn't it GREAT

again with the no sleep

and yet i am exhausted

i had a nightmare about my sheep and goat

i dreamt that where i boarded them bred them all without telling me
intending on selling the babies

at 3am, all things seem possible so i had to get up
i need to bring them home or at least closer to me in distance
i miss them so much
and when i ask how they are,......i just get told 'fine'

and i feel that it is not appreciated that i ask about them from the person who signs the boarding checks

i know that they are taken care of well, fed etc
and part of me is certain that this dream is a nightmare

but sometimes i wonder as it is really clear to me that i have not been welcome to visit them nor inquire about them over a year now
( this is a whole nother story, which for now i am not up to talking about)

anyone know a place to board 4 sheep and a goat in nepa or northwest new jersey?
i have 2 wethers, two ewes and a doe who is ( when last i heard) dry

i swear i am ready to bring them all home and hide them in the basement

we were to have moved two years ago.......
maybe in 09 we can FINALLY move to a place they can come home to?

well i finally got my van back.......this time it was over a month with no transportation
i did town errands and food shopping for the past two days
today i am starting work on the duck pen near the back door, to replace the temporary pen i put up last week in that nightmare flood
and yesterday phoebe laid her first egg!
i imagine lilliana and cleo will start soon as well

i don't remember when last i posted, but we did end up butchering the drakes
i feel bad about it but there it is
we couldn't keep them all
and i tried to find homes.....no luck
so two of the three are in the freezer and one paid the person that did the butchering

i am tired lately, i think part of it is i am doing my chores, bernie's chores and the joint chores
we also shut off the hoses.....so i am hauling water for the ducks to swim in......
they don't have to swim but i get so much pleasure out of watching them happily take a bath that i am willing to fill the pond by schlepping back and forth with buckets of water
but my shoulders aren't happy
however i think this is going to be the way it is around here
as bernie's fleet is now HUGH, and even though he is getting two more techs he is still busy

i canned coleslaw........wow is that GOOD
i gave some to a neighbor and she gave me three more heads of cabbage to do up
i will give her some jars out of it

i want a log cart, with 20 inch wheels.
since i have to do all the wood and it's up stairs or up a hill either way you look at it here
i can't throw the wood up on the deck as my shoulders are bad again
i have been using the wheel barrow but a log cart i can bring into the house and right next to the stove unload and get my second load
it holds 200 pound per load and can go up the stairs

til next time
and i hope it is with not so depressing a post