ELeVan ~ Honaker Farm Journal

[elevan]

For the past few nights we've been missing a few chickens. 2 nights ago we were missing 3, then last night it was 2 more and tonight we were 1 short. We've looked each night and not found anything. Tonight we were missing Susie, a favorite hen, our only Silver Laced Hamburg. As I walked the fence line with my flashlight I smelled death ahead of me and found one of the chickens who was missing one of the previous nights without her head. I yelled for DH to come bury her and continued on by the time I got to the end of that side of the fence line I smelled it again and then came upon another chicken that was missing from a previous night, this one not much more than a shell and feathers. Again I yelled for DH and continued on. I never did find Susie. I can only hope that she found good cover for the night. I do find it odd that both the chickens that I found were missing from previous nights and they were dead long enough to have that putrid smell of death and yet they were not where I found them on one of the previous nights. So now I still have 4 chickens unaccounted for which displeases me immensely. that they make it home safe. that Susie has taken good cover for the night. It saddens me to lose any but even more so when it's one with a name, one who was loved and special.

 

[autumnprairie]

for Susie

 

[Pearce Pastures]

Hope she comes running home soon. Sounds like you have a critter to contend with too.

 

[Vickir73]

. maybe put a trap out. I use a trap with chicken flavored cat food. it worked like a charm

 

[Bridgemoof]

for Susie!

 

[elevan]

Today is one of those days that I just should have stayed in bed.

Walked out the backdoor this morning to find Jerry (llama) in the backyard. He'd bent the fence down to about 3 feet high and just stepped over. And he was darned if he was going back the same way.

Walked into the field and Susie came running up to me! Yay! But at lock up time tonight she wasn't present in the coop. 10 to 1 she's setting a nest. We searched everywhere and cannot find it though. So keep those for Susie still.

Tried to feed Boingo his breakfast and he refused to eat. I can't give him his insulin if he won't eat. I tried to force feed him...didn't work. So I called the vet. He told me to give him some Carafate and to give him 24 hours and see how he's doing.

Dealing with Jerry and Boingo meant that I was late leaving the house. So B and I grabbed breakfast at McD on our way to his counseling appointment. Things were going well until B upended his milk and it ended up all over their table, floor and my bag. So we had to ask them to get a mop. I had to clean up my bag and B tried to help and got milk all over him. So he had to go to the restroom and clean up.

Got a call earlier and I'll go in on Monday to find out the results of my blood tests on the bleeding disorder thing.

Arrived at the counselors and the intention was to drop B off and then go to my chiropractor's appointment finishing up in time to pick B back up. The counselor was 10 minutes late calling B back AND B wanted me to go back and tell her about the little girl in his class that had been killed by the falling tree last week. So I was walking out of the counselor's office at the exact time my chiropractor's appointment was.

Thankfully the chiropractor was just across the street so I was only a few minutes late. But I told them that I needed to be sure that I was out of their office by 10 till the hour so that I could get back over for B. Can't leave a 6 year old waiting for you in a waiting room after all. Got out of there in time, thank goodness.

Then back over to get B and off to grab lunch for him and get him to school. I was running behind and had to get to my doctor's to pick up a lab order prior to them going to lunch and B was taking his time eating his lunch so I had to drive slower so that he would be done before reaching the school.

Dropped B off and rushed to the doctor's arriving with 5 minutes to spare...good thing I did a little speeding along the way. Then off to get blood drawn to check my vitamin D levels after being on toxic levels of D for a month now.

Mind you that this is Friday which is my baking day for the Market...and this week I had a regular customer put in a large order.

I left the lab and had to run to the bank to get change for tomorrow. I always go through tons of ones because folks tend to bring 20s to the market. Gah!

Then to the store to grab a couple of things that I needed to get my baking done today. I arrived home at 3:30pm...

Turned the ovens on and started pulling out ingredients and lining things up...then the kids arrived home. MOM!... "Go to your room and do not come out I'm way behind..."

I then proceeded to bake. I made a dozen Cheddar Onion Bagels, a dozen Cheddar Garlic Biscuits, 1 Zucchini Chia Loaf, 6 Zucchini Chia Muffins, 4 dozen Carrot Ginger Flaxseed Muffins (new recipe), 8 Cinnamon Rolls (new recipe).

Tried to get Boingo to eat his dinner - no luck. He wouldn't even sniff it. So again, no insulin.

Then I had to package everything, label everything and since I had 2 new items then I had to create labels for those. Then prepare the things that would be sampled for tomorrow.

Packed everything up and have it waiting to go for the morning.

Checked Boingo's blood glucose and it's 260. Not good, too high. I'm that he'll eat in the morning. I decided to give him some SubQ fluids since he's had diarrhea since yesterday afternoon and combined with not eating I know he needs the boost.

I'll be heartbroken if something happens to my Boi. He's only 7 and for Basenjis that's young so he has a lot of life to live yet (I hope).

I was able to sit down and rest about 20 minutes ago. Hope I can sleep good tonight cause I really need it.

 

[Symphony]

You are a great mom and business woman, keep it up!

 

[Bridgemoof]

Yeah wow! What a busy day! Sure hope Boingo is feeling better soon.

 

[elevan]

Woke up this morning to rain. Bah! Great, I thought...all that baking and it rains to keep customers away.

DH let the chickens out and since it was raining there was no sign of Susie. I'm still hoping she's ok given that I'm fairly certain that she's setting a nest.

Boingo only ate a 1/4 of his food this morning which normally isn't enough to give him his insulin but since his blood glucose was 260 last night I called the vet and asked his opinion. His opinion was to go ahead and give him the shot. So here's hoping that he'll eat properly this evening.

Got to the market and it was still raining. I had the kids sit in the car while I put up the tent. As soon as I had the tent up it stopped raining...wouldn't you just know it? It stayed chilly though and the damp feel in the air made it feel cold.

We only ended up with myself and 3 other vendors today. Part of that is due to the rain the rest is due to their being 2 lucrative festivals in neighboring counties.

I felt kind of bad for the other vendors as I had customer after customer come to my booth. Today turned out to be my best sales day yet! The customer with the big order bought additional stuff as she has a Celiac Support group this week and she's taking some of my stuff with her for other folks to try.

It's kind of frustrating that as the word is really getting out about my stuff the season is coming to an end. I'll continue to sell from the farm and take orders and the market is thinking of having a winter market a couple of times per month. I may try to partner with a small grocery store or coffee shop to sell my stuff...working on that.

B was a little disappointed that I sold out of the cinnamon rolls...but then the excitement came back when he sold 3 jars of his Spicy Pepper Jelly!

It's gonna be a jelly making week since my stocks on them are pretty low.

 

[verkagj]

Emily, you are truly an amazing woman!! Wow, I get exhausted just reading about your "ordinary" days.