Dreaming of Spring Gardening in the Middle of a Wisconsin winter part 2

[Callender Girl]

Hope you are doing okay, Anjanet. I know you are still and will be grieving for some time. Are you doing anything to commemorate your pup's life? All my dogs (and my first, sweet goat) have been cremated and put into urns with their photos on the front. A past pet sitter said he thought it was creepy to see them all lined up; I think it's comforting.

Today, I am off to a community Halloween party, which is always held the first Saturday after Halloween in my hometown. My sister and brother-in-law rent a community hall, decorate it to the hilt, hire a band, prepare a buffet (they own a grocery store and do catering) and award prizes for costumes.

Because of COVID, this is the first time they've held the party since 2019. I'm a little nervous because too many folks down there don't seem worried about getting sick -- although many of them have; my costume will include a hand-beaded mask.

It will be the first time I've been back home since I stayed there overnight last year when Jim was in hospice. A good friend is staying at my house to care for the menagerie.

The weather has definitely turned cooler; I'm hoping the predicted precipitation will be rain and not snow. Not Yet!

 

[WIchickMama]

Thanks for asking Barb, it will get better I know, she was just out last dog to put down and now we have none-we have always had two so when we put one down it was hard but we still had one wagging tail to greet us at all times, now it is so quiet. All our dogs have been cremated, and Kharma will be too. We have their ashes up on a shelf in the living room. Once we get hers back, we will take a bit of her and her brother out to our property and put them by one of the trees they loved to lay under when we were out there working. Our vet also does clay paw imprints so we have those from each dog as well.

Sounds like a fun party, and what a good idea to do it the weekend after! Hopefully sickness avoids the party and everyone has a blast.

The weather is cold here too! 29 degrees this morning! Chickens are going to have to wait for a bit longer, lol, gotta get this coffee in.

Jim, how are you feeling?

Lisa, I hope you are doing well and taking care-miss hearing from you but understand.

I hope to curl up with a good book and a blanket today. I should go grocery shopping or do some house work but I think I will be a bum. I haven't had a down day since probably spring and a cold, rainy day seems like a good time to fit one in.

Take care all.

 

[jvls1942]

cold and raining here , too,.
thanks for asking , I am feeling fine.
BP seems to be better. I check it a few times
a day. I am not having the head rushes as often
or as bad. each day should be better.
did I mention that Annie found the mystery chain ?
It was on the ground in front of the pallet that has the
5 gal buckets on it. for those of you who don't know.
when we started cleaning the lean to out. I found two pieces
of chain . I connected them with a repair link and ended up
with a nice ten foot long chain with hooks on each end.
within two hours, I couldn't find it. We kept an eye out for
it for weeks as we cleaned the lean to. I finally decided that I
must have dumped it on the burn pile accidentally. I even
called my brother to bring his metal detector out. He
hasn't , yet. now he doesn't have to.
Yesterday, Annie made a big kettle of beef barley soup.
she loaded it with lots of veggies. that will sustain us
through this first cold snap.
There are five of us here this weekend. Nobody eats at
the same time. Just dip up a bowl, nuke it and eat.
One good thing for the cold weather, the back porch
becomes a walk in cooler for large kettles of soup, bottled
water , etc.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Lisa, I hope you are doing well and taking care-miss hearing from you but understand.

Doing okay. Some days are better than other. It will take me a long time to get used to the void. You'd think 6 other dogs would help, by nope, they are all individuals, and I love them all.

Lots of rain here today. The roof we replaced shingles on seems to be holding okay, so that's good news. Husband went to Minnesota hunting for a few days, so being lazy here. Probably will get out the ladder and start turning back my multiple clocks around the house. Might as well dust in high places too while I'm at it.

We used a to bury dogs but I didn't like leaving them behind. We now cremate them. I have a shelf upstairs for them.

 

[Callender Girl]

Anjanet, I love your plans for Khama! And, Lisa, I have had all my dogs -- and my first goat, Rocky, cremated. But, like you, I've buried other pets, which is one of the reasons it would be hard for me to ever leave this property.

Jim, good news about the BP. And, it sounds like you had a pretty good weekend. Congrats on finding the missing chain. It drives me crazy when I KNOW I should be able to locate something and can't.

My sister was worried that after the 2-year break because of COVID no one would show up for the party. But, nearly 250 did, which is pretty good in a town of about 3,700. I have to admit that I incorporated a highly decorated mask into my costume -- made me seem more mysterious, I hope, as a fortune teller with an LED-powered crystal ball.

A big bonus is that the ONLY BYC member I personally know -- although we didn't realize the connection when we first met -- came to the party. I got to show off photos of my molting red frizzle Cochin Bantam to someone whose eyes didn't glaze over when I talked about pin feathers.

Looks like we are in for a big shift to cold weather way too soon for me. By the end of this week, night time temps could be in the teens.

Since I rarely sleep through a night, I hope to catch the tonight Beaver Blood Moon in the wee hours.

Have the best possible week ahead everybody!

 

[jvls1942]

cold today. It has to warm up some before I
will take the tractor and push one of the brush
piles to where I will burn it after the ground is
covered with snow.
I am having trouble shifting the tractor from
high range to low range and back to high.
did some searching on the net. got some ideas
to try.

 

[WIchickMama]

Jim, good luck with the tractor! A tractor is on our wish list...someday

Barb, that sounds like a good turnout for the party and awesome that you could talk chicken to someone!!! Sounds like an all-around awesome party.

Lisa, hope you are staying warm and that your dusting went well (I despise dusting and ti rarely gets done in those high places,lol)

We had a tree fall during the wind gusts yesterday so on my lunch break and after work I will be helping DH with that, unless he sneaks out and does it on his own. We got a stove cord of wood unloaded from the trailer last night in the dark, so today I will help stack and then we will go load up one more and then we should be good. I am glad to get it all done now as last year we were cutting and stacking in the snow, which wasn't horrible but mighty cold on the fingers.

We are headed for some hard cold weather here too by the end of the week, looks like highs in the low 20s and overnight in the teens. Hopefully the chicks feather out a bit more this week, but they are doing well so far and will be 3 weeks by Sat so they should be good. There is lots of straw and pine shavings in the coop for them and mama to snuggle into.

I fine it nice to have the sun in the mornings and dark at night, makes it easier to settle in the kids for bedtime without them thinking they should be playing outside still I do have to say, though my love for snow is very very small, during the first couple snows I LOVE to take the kids out in the dark and play--it is so peaceful and quiet and the only light we get is the one from the barn.

Happy Monday all!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Lisa, hope you are staying warm and that your dusting went well (I despise dusting and ti rarely gets done in those high places,lol)

I generally dust that high up stuff once or twice a year. I actually take the knick knacks down and wash them in the sink as the dust is thick. Got it done until spring now.

I don't mind the cooler weather. Been running the heat a bit here and there, but nothing too much yet.

 

[jvls1942]

cold cold cold.
but today I am going to dress warm and
take Ollie and push a brush pile out into
an opening. I will burn it when the ground
gets covered with snow.
going to try to get Ollie's transmission
out of low range and into high range.
it is a tricky maneuver ..
but it sure drops into low range accidently
easy enough.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Good luck with Ollie, Jim. I hope Ollie cooperates for you.

It is such a change in temps that the cold feels even colder I think! We were so spoiled by the warm temps for so long.