From City to Country Girl

The tiniest chick

2007-02-26T17:00:00.000-08:00

Here is a Mille Fleur Old English Bantam chick that hatched today. He is the tiniest one we have ever hatched. He weighed .5oz. We weighed the white Old English bantam chick and it weighed .9 oz. The Wyandotte bantam chick weighed 1.1oz.
Here is the chick compared to the Wyandotte chick. Twice the size.
Here he is campared to the White. It is hard to tell the size but his little body was about the size of a walnut. He kept trying to go under the Wyandotte, like it was his mother. He also kept jumping into my hand. I wish I could keep him with me all the time he is so cute.

Max

2006-11-08T13:49:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of our other parrot Max. Max is a girl. She loves be moody in the fall and then in the spring when she lays eggs. Max thinks my hubby is her man. She is a great talker but loves to scream when she is bored. I figured I had posted a picture of Stanley , I couldn't leave Max out. Max was adopted from a pet store because the previos owner couldn't stand her screams.She is 2 1/2 now. Puberty was a tough time with Max but now she is our little nut ball.

Carrots!!!!

2006-11-02T16:17:00.000-08:00

I was picking some carrots to make stir fry for dinner and I found one with such an odd shape. What does it look like to you?????

Pictures of the new calves

2006-10-07T15:58:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of the heifer we got. I haven't thought of a name yet. She is about two months younger than the bull.I had a hard time getting a good picture because of the angle of the sun.
Here is the picture of the bull. He will be a steer before we bring him home. Patsy is at this same farm getting bred. She went though a heat and the bull they have was very interested. I hope it took. She will stay there until she would have gone through another cycle. Then all three get to come home. It has been very strange not having any cows here.

Sunflowers!!!

2006-09-04T15:30:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of the sunflowers I grew in my garden this year. I think they came out wonderful.

Stanley

2006-07-29T14:49:00.000-07:00

I came across this picture of Stanley when I was looking for the garden pictures to post. Stanely was given to us by John's brother. When he and his wife divorced he took custody of Stan but he didn't have anywhere he could keep him.So we gladly gave Stan a home.He is about 18 years old but we really aren't sure because Stanley was wild caught. He has an import band on his leg. My brother in law was his second owner.So his age is a big guess.

Flowers

2006-07-29T14:46:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the dianthus I grew in wiskey barrels. I ran out of time to take more pictures of the flowers I grew.

Patsy

2006-07-29T14:36:00.000-07:00

Here is my big girl. Poor thing is in heat. She has been bellowing all day. Shs has a date with a bull in August.

Here is a side view. I know she still is a overwieght but she has lost quite a bit since she had the calf. I feel bad she has been alone for so long. We are buying a heifer and a steer, both calves, when they are weaned. So hopefully she will have company soon.

more garden pictures

2006-07-29T14:32:00.000-07:00

Here is a side view of the garden with the large coop in the background and the two farther one are breeding pens.Also is the outhouse were my Mother in law stores her garden tools.
Here is a side view you can see the beans, cucumbers and lettuce growing.

It's been a long time

2006-07-29T14:27:00.000-07:00

This the the view from the pasture.You can see the back of the house.
Here is the garden we put in this year. This is the view from the back yard. We put in two raised beds in the front to use as herb gardens. I know it have been so long since I have had the time to post but I have lots of updated picture to show.

Patsy update.

2006-04-20T16:51:00.000-07:00

Patsy is doing well.I think she adjusted to losing the calf better than we did.She was in heat on Sunday.I marked the calender so I can keep track again.We don't want to breed her until July or August.I am hoping this time everything works out ok.She needs to lose some weight( don't we all ) because she is very fat and that isn't good for her.We thought for sure there was another calf in there but nothing.She still looks pregnant.Her milk is starting to dry up.That is what I feel bad about the most.It has to be uncomfortable.She is back to herself as far as personality.She is back to being curious and affectionate.This is the main reason I wanted so badly to give her another chance.So we are back to the wait and see.Hopefully next year we will have a beautiful calf.

seedlings

2006-04-20T16:41:00.000-07:00

I wanted to try starting seeds this year.Usually I buy my veggie plants but this year I wanted to give this a shot.I got some seed starting trays from Walmart.I followed the instructions on the seed packets and I couldn't believe it when they sprouted( I wanted to say hatched cause I have eggs on the brain)
I had John hang the light for me.We also have this in the basement.With all our projects our basement is pretty full.
A week later they started sprouting.The tomato plants are about 4 inches now and started to get their real leaves.I will take some pictures along the way.So by the end of summer you can see if they make it.

Incubator

2006-04-20T16:26:00.000-07:00

Here is our incubator.It has automatic turners so they turn every so often.John know what brand it is and what degree it is set to.The humidity has to be just so.He has it all down to a science.We get great hatchs.I would say around 95%.
We incubate and hatch in our basement so to keep an even temperature.I love hearing the sound of little peeps coming from inside the eggs when they are almost ready to hatch.

Hatcher

2006-04-20T16:22:00.000-07:00

Here is the eggs all set in hatching baskets in the hatcher. It is great because you can see them hatch right before your eyes.

Hatching chicks

2006-04-20T16:19:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the cute chicks that hatched a week ago

Patsy's calf

2006-04-01T06:50:00.001-08:00

Patsy had her calf very early Wednesday morning.We found him at about 5 a.m.He was very tiny and was very cold.She had cleaned him off but he just wasn't responding.We brought him into the basement and dried him off.Warmed him up until he was alert. It took a long time to get him to stand.We had gotten some colostrum from a dairy farmer.We bottle fed him some to give him strength.He was doing well.But he just didn't have the sucking response he should have had.
We didn't want Patsy to forget about him so when we got him stronger and standing we brought him out to her.She was wonderful.She licked him all over again.She tried to get him to nusre but he didn't have any idea what to do.
So we put her in the head gate and milked her.She stood still and was a very good girl.We feed him some more.He would lick and swallow but just not suck.We didn't want to leave him outside at night because we were afraid of him getting cold again.So we brought him when the sun went down.We fed him every 4 hours during the night.The first feeding he ate well.The 2 O'Clock feeding he wasn't interested and by morning he didn't want much at all.I had to go to work.Lucky John was off and could stay.The calf wasn't responding well by mid morning so John called the vet.They recommended giving him a shot of vitamin E and selenium.We did but he just wasnt strong enough and didn't make it.If it wasn't for John's cousin's Sharon and Robert I didn't think he would have made it as far as he did.They were are endless supply of information.My deepest gratitude goes to them.

More Patsy pictures

2006-03-19T11:13:00.000-08:00

Here is a back side view of how wide she is.I hate how muddy she is but the weather has been wet lately.
Here is her and the steer.He will be leaving our farm as soon as she has her calf.

Patsy is getting closer to her due date

2006-03-18T16:43:00.000-08:00

Here she is getting bigger.One area in our pasture has been so muddy lately.For some reason she like to lay in it.

It's beautiful out today...

2006-03-11T13:02:00.000-08:00

I went and had a massage this morning( I still am a little high maintence) It was so nice outside,sunny and in the 50's.When I got home I started some laundry then I went outside.I have been itching to get my hand in some dirt.I can't plant anything yet it is to early but I did get all the flower beds cleaned up.All the leaves are out and I pulled up all the old annuals.They looked 100% better after I was done. Patsy has 20 days left until she is due.She gets bigger every day.I am going to take more pictures tomorrow.I had a dream last night that I was right there when she gave birth.I hope I am home when it happens.I don't think my boss would appreciate me taking a day off to watch her give birth but I would if I could.

John with the cows

2006-02-19T14:09:00.000-08:00

Such a face, she looks so sad.
Here is John, he was try to help me get a good pic of that big belly. We just had finished bring in a few loads of wood for the wood stove.It has been bitter cold this past weekend.I am glad she isn't due until the end of March.Hopefully it will be warmer.I haven't been out in the yard in a while,It has me wanting to get those new gardens in.We talked about what we were going to put where.I think I am going to put in a herb garden and I want some Lavender somewhere but I haven't decided where yet.
I changed postions at work again so hopefully now I will have a normal schedule.It means less hours at work and more hours to garden.Yeah!

Patsy getting bigger

2006-02-19T14:01:00.000-08:00

Her she is from behind,she is getting bigger.
I checked out her bag and it is getting full.Before you couldn't see her teats hang down but now they are.I tried to take a picture but with her being so black it was hard to see.I can't wait, Poor thing is starting to move slower so I think she feels it.

Patsy

2006-01-07T09:50:00.000-08:00

Here is Pasty and our steer.Isn't she getting big.I can't wait until she calves. 3 more months to go.
I wonder if she is going to have twins.Every says no,she is normal size but I can hope.

Garden withdrawl

2005-12-14T16:25:00.000-08:00

Here it is close to Christmas.I haven't been in the Christmas mood.I miss my garden so much.I used to love feeling to dirt in my hands.To have to go until May or June just seems so far.I did buy some garden books to read.One was Square foot gardening and the Vegetable gardeners bible.I want to see what I did wrong on some of our garden.The one we put down John's Uncles didn't grow well at all.It might be the difference between raised bed and not.I have no idea but next spring we are putting the whole garden here.It was just too difficult to go down there every day to weed and water.That might have been one of the reasons it didn't do so well.With trying to get my promotion I only got down there every two or three days.

Tomorrow I am baking all the cookies for Christmas.That always seems to get me in the mood and once we get the tree decorated I will be in the full swing of the holiday spirit.But I will say once they are over I will be longing for spring again.

Patsy all grown up.

2005-11-20T18:20:00.000-08:00

This is Patsy with the bull we used to breed her.He was only 14 months old but it did the trick.She is due March 31, 2006.I can't wait.I love my cow.I am hoping she has a heifer so we can keep her.

My large Dahlias

2005-11-20T18:18:00.000-08:00

I had a huge flower garden filled with dahlia someone was going to throw away.The came back beautifully after they took off.

Some after picture of the flowers I grew.

2005-11-20T18:10:00.000-08:00

The Cosmos and Sunflowers bloomed around the stump.
The dahlia and the chocolate mint bloomed beautifully.

Here are some close ups of the finished produce.

2005-11-20T18:06:00.000-08:00

Juice tomatoes.These made great salsa.Another adventure in learning how to can.
Great big bunches of broccoli.It is hard to go back to frozen after you have had fresh.I was in complete surprize I grew anything at all.I have a hard time keeping house plants alive.

Pictures of the veggie garden after.

2005-11-20T18:00:00.000-08:00

I couldn't believe how big the tomato plants got.
Even the broccoli was big.We grew peppers in there also.I had a bigger garden down at hubby's Uncle's house but I never got a good picture of it.

Pictures of my first flower gardens.

2005-11-20T17:55:00.000-08:00

This one was my first try at putting in a garden.
This one was already there I just changed the flowers to something I liked.
This was just an experiment.

My first Garden

2005-11-20T17:37:00.000-08:00

This is my first try at a veggie garden.This is how it look when I put it in.

How we met....

2005-11-19T13:28:00.000-08:00

I don't know if everyone is wondering how a girl from Florida could get hooked up with a guy in Rhode Island.Well I will give you one guess.The internet.I was a single mom with lots of alone time at night.One boring night I went chatting and I was talking to a nice guy.We talked about his chickens.I used to breed finches and parrots so we had tons in common.Every night for 4 months we would talk and talk until one day I decided to go visit some family in Connecticut.We met for dinner and had a blast.He was as great in person as he was on the computer.We hit is off well but I lived so far I didn't think it would go anywhere so we swore we would be friends.John wanted to visit me in Florida but I would always say no.I didn't want my heart broken.Thank goodness he persisted and I relented so he came to meet my family and we have been together ever since.We dated long distance for a year and a half then we were married.It was tough to go a month or two between visits but it made our relationship stronger.We decide to have my son and I move here because the schools are better but I sitll have a tough time in the winter.I love the summer here though.

My Chickens

2005-10-30T16:19:00.000-08:00

This is one of my dark Cornish hens.She has been winning her breed and her class.I love them,I call them my little footballs because of their shape.

Our first steer

2005-10-29T09:06:00.000-07:00

This was our first steer Kodiak.He was 8 months old when we bought him. He was the sweetest cow.We halter trained both Kodiak and Patsy so we could handle them more easily.

Our first heifer

2005-10-29T08:59:00.000-07:00

This is Patsy my first heifer calf.When we bought her she was so tiny.This is her at 4 months old.What an adventure this was to learn about cows

My first time washing chickens

2005-10-18T17:12:00.000-07:00

This is me the first time I helped my hubby wash chickens for a show.This was taken 5 years ago before we were married.Little did I know that I would soon have my whole world change.

So then my adventure began...

2005-10-18T17:11:00.000-07:00

John and I were wed July 27th 2002.My adventure with learning the farm life began.