Sat Eve, May 9th… Another Lousy day of feeling lousy… Surprised??? I'm Not...

Man… I don’t know what’s going on under this skin of mine right now, but I’m having a real on and off time with upset stomach, back ache, sore fingers and inflamed tendons and ligaments in my knees and ankles on a regular basis. I take Ibuprofen for the inflammation and it makes my stomach queasy… don’t take it and my knees ache like a toothache, above and below the knee cap. I sure hope this isn’t how I’m gonna live my life on a regular basis, from day to day. One thing hurts, so I favor it and make something else hurt. Psoriasis really sucks! (So, in fact, do many other peoples ailments too, so I guess I’ll quit bitchin’ about mine all the time)

In between my aliments today, I managed to run the Cub Cadet for Jeff. I carried tons of stone for the hospice gift shop foundation and they ran the tamper around, installed the plastic and rebar, then put the fence mesh material down and twist tied it all together. Monday, Jeff is going to pour and finish the concrete, first thing in the morning. I heard him tell the concrete place to make this their first stop. We are also going to use the fiber cement to help insure the foundation and floor won’t crack. I am very pleased with the results we achieved now and I believe it will be a problem free floor for many years to come.

Tuesday, our steel roofing should be at GNH Lumber, so once we get that, we will put the purlins on, install the steel and close off the gable end, soffit and facia. Then, we can cut the interior door into the barn. We thought the bunnies would be gone tomorrow but with the sickness at Reggie and Keren house, they wanted to wait another week. That certainly isn’t a problem, because as soon as the roof and everything is finished, we can move the bunnies into the new bunny house. That will be cool anyway.

Haven’t heard from Herman and his friend yet…… and that puzzles me a little, because Hermie said they would come over before the weekend to see the job and discuss it. It’s not like Herman to not show up or call. Monday, I’ll call him if we haven’t heard from him.









Door on Bunny Brothel...

It's a shitty job, but someone has to do it!

The Cluckin' "A" Dogs...

This is Christa. She did the chicken coop today and walked the alpacas. She is our farm hand.

Nesters!!!!! YES, THAT'S THREE HENS ON ONE CLUTCH...

Aaaaaaah... it can't be that hard to start...

A whole bunch of nesters perking clutches of eggs. If all works out, we'll have about 6 hens with chicks.

Movin stones..... about nine tons in all.

Remember that shitty job...... not quite as fun as walking alpacas, I must say.

She worked hard and did well!

Fri. May 8th… Back from the doctor and all’s Well… And we got Plants!!

We’re back from the doctor’s appointment and all went well for Vick. This was Vick’s first office visit with this doctor and she really likes him, so now going won’t be such a dreaded bummer……
After the appointment, we went to Cross Gates Mall for Vick to pick up her favorite body wash and lotions while they were still on sale at the “Bath and Body Works.” We then drifted around by Altamont to see if the Agway up there might have their Heliotrope flowers out yet. They did and we bought a whole flat of twelve plants. We shower the entire rear deck with their sweet, rich smell all summer long. They get such a beautiful, deep purple flower and when the wind drifts across them their heavenly fragrance is carried everywhere on the deck. We just love them.
I think we’ll go to the garden pond and rake all the crap from around it and the surrounding area, then lift the net we placed over the pond last fall to keep leaves and junk out and make it much easier to open in the spring. Since spring is here, I think it’s time to clean and open it before the surrounding perennials grow up through the net. Once open, I can install the pump and we can get the waterfall going.
Once the pond is completed…… we will go to the foundation nightmare and attempt to ready it ourselves. After that, I’ll call Jeff and tell him he can now pour it and with him out of the way, the rest of the hospice gift shop will then be under Vicki and my control and we’ll just simply “Git er’ Done”…………

But, then again... maybe not... as it has just come to be a possibility that we might just go to Grossman's in Hudson to see about a bunny door... We'll see later this evening.

Posting a Better Entry Must Come Later......

Considering that Vick has an early morning appointment with a Doctor in Albany, we'll have to leave the house by 7:45, not leaving much time for me to blog this morning. When we return this afternoon, I'll post a blog entry. I feel much better today and think we can do some moving around today, unlike yesterday when everything I had felt like it had taken a severe beating in a world class boxing match. I'm on Advil right now, but at least moving......

Thurs May 7th… Looks As If It Will Rain Through The Weekend……

That certainly is bad news for planned picnics on Sunday… which is Mother's Day, but they are only projecting thunderstorms. Hopefully, they will be regional and pass quickly, so people can celebrate with the traditional BBQ's and other outings. Vicki’s family is supposed to come for a cook-out, to relax and enjoy the back deck's sunshine. Hopefully, all the thunderstorms will pass us on either side that day, sparing us the hassle and allowing all to enjoy warm sunny skies.
We finished the electric fence around the front of the pasture, between the driveway and the barn. That will allow the alpacas an area almost a third the size of the original pasture to graze in. We also plan to put in temporary fencing at the pond area, so they can enjoy all that tall grass, rather than just mow it down. They love fresh green grass to graze on and can be contented to graze all afternoon long.
We’d like to get the center beam cut and put together for the rear deck roof project, but the rain has kept the lumber a little too wet to glue together, so we’ll have to wait for it to dry out a bit. Actually, I’m kind of waiting for Herman and his contractor friend to stop by to look at the job, so I’m sure we have the correct stuff before making a twenty one foot long, cut, glued and nailed chunk of lumber I can’t do anything with, if it's the wrong material. At least by waiting, if the lumber isn’t right, we can return it and pick up the correct thing.
The metal roofing for the “Bunny Brothel” should arrive at GNH Lumber around next Tuesday, so we need to find a clear day to install the purlins, so we’re ready to put the roofing on when it comes. We’ll also need to take a trip to Shokan soon to pick up our door for the building. Then of course, Jeff will come and complete the cement work some day for the Hospice Gift Shop. We hope!

Wed. May 6th… Looks like the Loss is the Loss… I figured so……

Well, this morning I was up at 5:00 Am looking for any stragglers that roosted out in the woods last night. I hoped there would be at least a few that were afraid to come in last night, for fear that the pack of dogs that decimated the flock would again attack them. I was wrong. Not a bird appeared this morning. I fed all of the remaining birds in their houses and will do so for the next four or five days, until the dogs lose interest in checking here for an easy meal. If they come looking for birds now, they’re going to find #4 lead birds that kill back!
In talking last evening, Vicki and I figured that we must have lost at least a dozen birds yesterday afternoon. We hadn’t taken a good count for quite awhile, and we know that there has been a hawk taking a bird now and then, because we missed certain birds as the days passed. All in all we figure we have lost a total of around 30 chickens. Twelve yesterday afternoon, based on the feathers in the yard and the other 18 to hawks since leaving them out in March. I’ve seen the hawk once and didn’t have a gun handy. He was sitting in a tree at the edge of the woods, directly above the chickens, ready to swoop down at anytime, but I scared him off when I went to the back shed. I know he would have gotten one that day. I have been watching closely (I thought) for him to return. Now, I have to wonder… since missing the massacre yesterday, right under our noses. It makes you feel like you’ve failed as the animals keepers…… after all, it’s our job to care for them and protect them. We both feel so bad for the scared, defenseless birds, then I feel rage and contempt for anything that threatens the farm animals and will strike instantly when I see a predator…… wild or domestic.
I’ll have a gun handy today as we place a bottom fence section under the pasture fence to make sure that Bollero can’t squeeze under while stretching for grass anymore. He keeps stretching and stretching for that succulent, green grass and then he realizes he is outside the fence and stands up, then goes frantically around the outside of the fence trying to find a way back inside…… scared to death. After we install a strand of wire midway between the bottom rail and the ground that will stop that worry too.

Tues May 5th… Tragedy Strikes Today at the Cluckin’ “A”……

Well, it happened today and right under our noses…… and I’m pissed! Obviously a band of dogs from the surrounding area came into the yard and decimated our flock of chickens profusely. There was a chicken left laying in the yard which tells me it was not coy dogs or coyotes, but a group of domestic dogs. Everyone knows that coy dogs and coyotes aren’t likely to come around a property when there are regular dogs there and surely not right out into your yard, in the middle of the day. We were sitting in the computer room when the attack occurred and we saw and heard nothing. As near as we can figure, we are missing about 50 chickens right now, but we have no idea how many are scattered out, through the woods and out into the fields or swamp, because they are slowly trickling back into the yard. We had guinea fowl sitting in trees, thirty feet off the ground and the turkeys were scattered, one in the swamp and Timmy was out in the woods, beyond where our campers are parked, on the other end of the property.

I talked with the dog law enforcement officer and told her what I suspected had happened and she agreed; a group of domestic dogs. When I finished talking to her, I told her to keep me posted, because she told me she was going to act on the free roaming dogs here in our little neighborhood area. I told her that if she heard from me again, it would be to come and pick up a dead dog, because I will shoot any dog running on the farm now; sorry. She assured me I had every right to do so in protecting our flock. I’d hate to shoot a dog, but I come from farm life and won’t hesitate for a second. (Although I’d rather shoot the people that own the dogs)
It’s now 8:30 and Vick and I just came in… We’re tired, cold, wet and MAD as hell that people in this area think they have a right to allow their dogs to run. We’re now down to the point of missing 36 birds… 10 or 11 of which, I’m sure are dead, so we’re hoping that another 25 are hunkered down in the woods and will show up at daybreak tomorrow.

Previous to this, Bollero ate his way out from under the fence again for the second time in as many days, so we went to Hilltown Agway to get wire to place all around the bottom of the existing fence so he can’t do that anymore. Had we put that wire on…… even in the rain…… we would have been out in the pasture working when this happened. Instead, we were sitting in the computer room, not 20 feet from the massacre. I sure hope tomorrow is better…… We only need this kind of crappy day once in a lifetime.

Mon May 4th… Looks Like A Trip To The Vet With Puppy D. Pooh Bear…

Bear has been getting worse and worse with her coughing. Originally, when she would lie down for the evening, she would begin coughing after awhile. We took her to Curt, our Vet, some time ago and he diagnosed her with some congestive heart failure and put her on a small dose of Lasix to get rid of the fluid. Now she has gotten worse, so the medication must either be increased or she needs to actually be put on a medication for a different condition or whatever. That… is for Dr. Halsted to tell us, once he has examined Bear today, at three PM.
We are going to GNH Lumber to order the metal roofing for the Bunny Brothel today also. WOW… has that stuff shot up in price. We’re looking at about eight sheets and a partial (which we have) at about $32.00 per sheet or a whopping $256.00…… and then shortly after that, we need to order steel roofing for the rear porch roof project…… and then after that, we’ll need a bunch for the Hospice Gift Shop too.

At least when these three things are completed, we are done spending large chunks of money and we can sit back and enjoy our labors of love and giving. We hope!

Sun. May 3rd… It Appears to Be a Lousy Overcast Day for All……

Things are not always what they seem... Life is good here on the Cluckin’ “A” Critter Farm. We have our little aches and pains just like everyone else in the world and we manage to do what needs done just like everyone else. I am more and more amazed, as I watch things on the farm change, almost on a daily basis. The dream I’ve had all my life is finally coming true in every aspect of the word. I have Vicki to share it with too. All I ever wanted was to be loved by a person that wanted the same in return; someone to understand me, share my likes and dislikes and smile when I did something stupid or frown when I was sad or feeling bad. I must say, I have found all that and more.
I awake every morning to a loving person at my side, which smiles and is happy to be there, no matter how badly she feels or how little sleep she got during the night. I arise to start the day, looking over what we have amassed together…… the things we have built together. These are all things we have both ached for, our entire lives. Things we felt envious of when we saw others enjoying them in their lives, where they made their dreams come true. How I love walking to the barn, knowing that the alpacas will be waiting their morning feeding. I also enjoy leaving all the chickens free to roam and watching the ducks going out, single file, into the pond, as they quack and make their daily plans. Everything Vick and I do in adding to the farm, ends up being another stepping stone to things we never figured to achieve. We are looking forward to the kick-off of the Hospice Gift Shop and being able to write checks to the local hospice office in Catskill, knowing that the funds we’ve raised will help to supply more quality to all persons nearing life’s end while in the program’s care. We also now are pursuing the “Pride of New York” program certification, which will also make us members of the NYSEQAP, which is the “New York State Egg Quality Assurance Program”, which will allow us to market our eggs and let everyone know that we adhere to cleanly, safe quality products here on the Cluckin’ “A Critter Farm. Once we’ve attained this distinction, we can apply for membership in the “Pride of New York” program and display the sign below on our sign post above the farm sign. Everything we do is and feels like a lifetime achievement goal for both of us.
Click on the “follower button” in the Followers section on the left side bar and become one of our regular followers on the blog. And watch as we continue to add to the farm and you too can enjoy what we have. We are always open to visits from folks that read our blog and those that are just passing by. Stop in, call or email us. We’ll be glad to have you visit.