Ahhh, another snowy morning and we have nothing we have to do right now... I love being able to finally relax and think, sip coffee and talk with ya'll in the morning. With all the snow on the ground and the way we have been ramming extra food to the critters, they are content until noon if we don't make it there until then.
The boys now have their huge round bale of hay in the pasture, so they are extremely happy...and the cats have warm bales of hay that they curl up on and in, so they are content with their food and water present also. Yep, all's well on the farm right now and moving at a snails pace to our enjoyment...finally.
Tomorrow, I go to my Doctor in Troy for the synvisc injection in each knee. It is a new drug intended to lubricate joints where bone is rubbing (such as mine) and is the last resort before surgery. I'll take that and continue to follow Vick's planned weight loss program and as soon as I feel better, perhaps I can do a little work on the treadmill or the elliptical runner and then strengthen and regain muscle on the old Bow-flex hopefully.
Last week, we lost the second bunny we had bought from the little girl in Vermont at the arts on the lawn, near Poultney. I believe we were sold an inferior bill of goods, perpetuated by the parents of this little girl. They said they were registered, with papers and in good health, from extremely good bloodlines. She was selling them at a good price, so we bought two of the three or four she offered. The first died about a month ago, as you recall, from a tumor which the Vet thought it was probably born with. This one died of something...very quickly. We noticed he was listless and lethargic in the morning, after being normal the day before. Losing the last bunny caused us to be more concerned than usual, so Vick immediately contacted the Vet and made an appointment for an hour later. Upon examination, he concluded that the temperature was normal, weight was ok and he seemed well fed. Everything seemed good, with the exception that we kept enforcing about being lethargic, compared to normal. Curt took our word and injected him with his favorite antibiotic and a touch of steroid to perk him up some. He made a return visit for three days later and told us to call in the morning with a progress report. When we went out at 10:30 to lock the cats in the loft, we checked and knew he would not make the night, because he looked like he was drunk and could not stand. In the morning he was in fact dead.
We had emailed this little girl several times about the pedigree papers the parents assured us she had and would make sure she sent us....to no avail. We really didn't care, because we wanted the rabbits for their fiber to spin with our four others. We did discuss one time that we may have wanted to breed these boys to our girls sometime in the future and it would be nice to check the bloodlines first. More emails met with no reply. I now have to guess that these were probably not pedigree bred angoras, but more likely inbreeds of brother and sister, which she was selling off. As Vick said, you get what you pay for, but she agrees that it isn't the dollars lost...it is the fact that these were such loving little creatures with excellent personalities...both loving and friendly. Such a loss should not be the result of poor management by humans, especially ones teaching a child.
We have contacted a reputable breeder in Massachusetts about two more angoras. This lady has been breeding for forty years and is highly respected, so we will make the three hour trip each way to pick up a male and female angora bunny, after picking her brain while visiting her. She is a very nice lady that we met in Rhinebeck, at the annual sheep and wool festival last fall and briefly had a chance to talk with. She sold quite a few of her bunnies at the festival, but we already had ours and weren't interested in going above a total of six bunnies then. Now we only have four, so we will return to six sometime soon by driving to her near the eastern seacoast..... That will be an enjoyable little trek to the town of Taunton, MA. In the meantime, she is going to email us a few pictures of the available bunnies she has for sale. I'll post pictures of ours and the intended pair we will be going for shortly... Ours are so beautiful now!
Today we intend to travel a little down the road with the "Beast", to fill the tank with diesel fuel. If the price is $3.00 per gallon, it will cost us around 40¢with our fuel advantage card from PriceChopper. We only use the "Beast" for picking up farm items, feed and such...due to the cost of diesel fuel, but it is more comfortable than the car. For those who don't know what the "Beast" is, it is a Ford F250 4X4, extended cab with a fiberglass cap...so named the "Beast" by Andrew, our grandson from Long Island. Anyway, we're going for fuel, and then sometime later, we are going for five bales of wood chips which we will continue buying weekly for barn cleaning. For what we were paying to have it cleaned by a kid we know...I'll do it just as quickly... weekly... for the cost of the wood chips alone...and have less broken tools and ripped up equipment to deal with.
Ahhh yes... life on the farm... Ya Gotta LOVE IT!!!!!
Now, for another cup of coffee.....
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