Okay last night I lost another Call Duck. This time a white one, but this morning Mom got me up and we were determined to make today great and positive. Even though Mom didn't get much sleep last night, Mom said we would see God winks today, she said she just knew it. She said she had said a prayer and that our hard times were over. "The winds of change were going to blow today" she said. Th e funny thing is that the wind did blow all day long. After no wind for so long I liked it.
First, we took my two big heifers to meet their bull friend. They will stay and play with him until about the first of the year. The excellent thing is that they are just a mile away and I can go see them anytime I want. And if all goes well, by next Fall I will have two great calves on the ground. The first one will be named Cherokee.
While I was working on my school work Mom was busy but I didn't know doing what. I took time this afternoon and drenched all the goats with am Electrilyte, vitamin and mineral mixture. Everyone should now have a good dose of everything they need to be healthy. I even gave Chief one just because he is so little. I have noticed that the animals that have been born and raised in the Oklahoma heat seem to handle it so much better then the ones raised in a different part of the country. Just goes to show you, moving is hard on everyone not just people.
When I came in from my check of everything at the barn Mom said it was time to get to work. I thought she was nuts. I had just scrubbed two water troths and drenched all the goats. I had been working but Mom had other plans. While I had been working so had she. She had plans for a Duck Center, as she calls it. And she wasn't stopping until we got to work on it. Dad wasn't happy about it but he learned real quick Mom was not playing. We were going to make today positive.
I know I blogged about my plans for after this fair season but I also know I didn't explain to much about it either. So here is a better run down of my plans. I am going to cut back on my show birds. I am going to sell off all but a select few pairs of Chickens that I really love and my Laying flock. The laying flock is my Black Australorps and they will be here forever. They were my first breed and are now my own bloodline. I have breed show chickens in with my Commercial flock and made a good Flock better. I plan on showing them as well as using them for eggs. I am, however, moving in a new direction with my poultry. I am going to Breed my ducks. We seem to love to watch the ducks more and Mom loves to hear them "talk" as she calls it.
Anyway back to Mom and her "get to work" plan. Mom had been working on a plan to help me get a better set up for my Ducks. I am scared now that I can't keep them safe or that I can't keep them alive, let alone get them to breed and hatch eggs. Well, Mom says with the right tools I can do anything. And she set out to get me the right tools. First she told us she had decided her yard is just to big and she didn't want to have to mow so much. Then she asked Dad and Me if we knew we lived on a farm. At this point we had thought she had lost it. She hadn't. She explained that when you live on a farm you don't have to live by city rules. Mom is a city girl and worse a European. She has always had a clean yard. Prim and proper she would say. A place she was proud to say she lived. But that was just looks. She then told us that since we live in the country that means we can have things in our yard and not everything has to be at the barnyard. She then started saying that the garden was all dried up because of the drought and it was perfect for wildlife to hide in. You know what? She is right. So she then explained her plan to us. She said if we want to keep things safe we have to be able to see them. So she set out to make it happen.
First, we took my two big heifers to meet their bull friend. They will stay and play with him until about the first of the year. The excellent thing is that they are just a mile away and I can go see them anytime I want. And if all goes well, by next Fall I will have two great calves on the ground. The first one will be named Cherokee.
While I was working on my school work Mom was busy but I didn't know doing what. I took time this afternoon and drenched all the goats with am Electrilyte, vitamin and mineral mixture. Everyone should now have a good dose of everything they need to be healthy. I even gave Chief one just because he is so little. I have noticed that the animals that have been born and raised in the Oklahoma heat seem to handle it so much better then the ones raised in a different part of the country. Just goes to show you, moving is hard on everyone not just people.
When I came in from my check of everything at the barn Mom said it was time to get to work. I thought she was nuts. I had just scrubbed two water troths and drenched all the goats. I had been working but Mom had other plans. While I had been working so had she. She had plans for a Duck Center, as she calls it. And she wasn't stopping until we got to work on it. Dad wasn't happy about it but he learned real quick Mom was not playing. We were going to make today positive.
I know I blogged about my plans for after this fair season but I also know I didn't explain to much about it either. So here is a better run down of my plans. I am going to cut back on my show birds. I am going to sell off all but a select few pairs of Chickens that I really love and my Laying flock. The laying flock is my Black Australorps and they will be here forever. They were my first breed and are now my own bloodline. I have breed show chickens in with my Commercial flock and made a good Flock better. I plan on showing them as well as using them for eggs. I am, however, moving in a new direction with my poultry. I am going to Breed my ducks. We seem to love to watch the ducks more and Mom loves to hear them "talk" as she calls it.
Anyway back to Mom and her "get to work" plan. Mom had been working on a plan to help me get a better set up for my Ducks. I am scared now that I can't keep them safe or that I can't keep them alive, let alone get them to breed and hatch eggs. Well, Mom says with the right tools I can do anything. And she set out to get me the right tools. First she told us she had decided her yard is just to big and she didn't want to have to mow so much. Then she asked Dad and Me if we knew we lived on a farm. At this point we had thought she had lost it. She hadn't. She explained that when you live on a farm you don't have to live by city rules. Mom is a city girl and worse a European. She has always had a clean yard. Prim and proper she would say. A place she was proud to say she lived. But that was just looks. She then told us that since we live in the country that means we can have things in our yard and not everything has to be at the barnyard. She then started saying that the garden was all dried up because of the drought and it was perfect for wildlife to hide in. You know what? She is right. So she then explained her plan to us. She said if we want to keep things safe we have to be able to see them. So she set out to make it happen.
First the Garden of weeds went. They were taller then the tractor and Mom said she would start a different spot next year if it meant safe ducks.
How would you like to mow that and it isn't even the biggest part of our yard. It looks so different cleared out but Mom seemed happy so Dad and I kept our mouths shut and did what we were told. In this picture please note the two red tubs. One had strawberries planted in it but they all were brown and dried but Mom left them because she said they were mine and if I wanted to replant next year I would have to clean the tubs out but we didn't have time right now.
Then she made Dad and I move the big 4 chamber cage to the yard. To tell you the truth I have never been so excited about building pens in my life. Then again we have never been allowed to have pens in the yard. I will be able to look out my bedroom window and see my ducks anytime I want. That is just way to cool.
I know it is not much to look at but Mom wasn't finished yet. Then she made us go with her to town. We ended up at the lumber yard and Mom had these hand drawn plans. She started working with the owner of the lumber yard and he knew that I was working on a project. He seemed to know more then me so I think Mom might have called and talked with him before we got there. He took Mom's list and started sending me to discount baskets to dig things out. There were latches we needed and wood and hinges... He gathered all kinds of things and even made me a great deal on an outdoor timer. I had no idea what I was going to need it for but I bought a 25 dollar timer for 16 bucks. We even got stuff to do with electric. Dad and I still said nothing. The owner of the Lumber Yard loaded the flat bed trailer and we headed back home.
Mom got to wiring something and digging a deep hole .... She had to let water soak in it just so she could get it dug but she made that hole over 2 foot deep. Me? I just played in the water Mom was using to water her hole. I even watered the ground where Dad was working. You wouldn't want those sparks to catch anything of fire would you?
Dad got out the grinder and started fixing a pipe..... I wasn't really sure where all this was going but for some reason I liked it. I couldn't help be think of Statler as we worked and even Mom said that her heart was still heavy as we were working not to far from Statler's Ground. You would think that at some point Mom would have tired out and be done but she didn't stop there. She then informed us that she was putting GRANDPA to work. Dad and I just looked at each other because we both knew that all our Grandpas have met Jesus and that all they would be doing is looking down on us. Mom just grinned and headed to the pasture on the tractor. Over in a corner where we keep stuff we plan to reuse Mom got something and headed back with what she lovingly called Grandpa because it was made by my Great Grandfather over 50 years ago and yes it will watch over us.
For the record Grandpa is the light and When Mom and Dad were done this is what they had remade. The light started out at my Granny's house and was used the whole time her kids were growing up. She was happy we found a use for it. She also liked the thought of it being called Grandpa and him watching over us here on the farm. This light towers over everything but the large tree in the back yard. We tried to get a better picture but it was so hard because it was so tall. I bet that thing goes 20 ft in the air. (the picture was taken after dark cause I kept cutting off the top and I needed a better one for my blog sorry)
After we got all that done we saw GOD! Okay it wasn't like his face or anything but it was a God wink as Mom calls it. We noticed the strawberry tubs. The strawberry plants now stand taller then the tubs. Mom said that we must be on the right track. So she took an old bench and set it lovingly by the strawberries. She said that way I can sit and eat strawberrys, see Statler's Ground and .... Watch my ducks play??? Is Mom nuts or what?? She had bought this "thing" for 10 bucks from someone and now she had plans to use it for a duck playpen. I don't know what it is but it says it is certified up to 2000 lbs. I have to admit if 2000 lbs can be kept in that thing then wildlife can be kept out. She added a small duck pond that was really a rubber pig feed pan and a feed bowl that was an old dog bowl and she called it a playpen for ducks.
Mom also took time to redo the supports on the hutches and rip off the front of them. With all that done we had worked from sun up to sun down and we still haven't used the lumber yet. Mom says that is for Tomorrow. Some how I think she has something funny up her sleeve. To tell you the truth I like everything so far and I am sure Mom is going to do something good with those pens. At the end of the day we had worked hard and even Mom admitted Statler was never far from her mind. She also said that she had been repeating the same prayer all day long and that she just knew the deaths and drought would be over with soon....
On our way to clean up for the night, Mom saw a God Wink again. This time in the form of a baby bird. The nest had been blown from the tree it was in by the winds of change and all the babies but one were Dead. How can a baby that small survive such a long fall? Mom took it in to the incubator and it will be staying warm all night. In the morning if it is still with us Mom says she will puree some worms and eyedropper them to it. If it works she will be hand raising this little guy/gal until it can fly away .... She says she just knows that it has to work.... She says it was a sign from God to keep trying everything we can until the devil turns loose. Then when I went to put up the chickens for the night I couldn't find Daisy. She is my Duck you know? Well, I found her on a nest. She has 11 eggs and since it isn't safe for her to stay where she put the nest all night we put her in the coop and took the eggs to the incubator with the baby bird. Tomorrow we will sneek the eggs back and then turn Daisy loose and see if because they are still warm if she will still sit on them. If not they will come back into the incubator ... Either way ... more ducks on the way!!! Did I mention that yesterday three eggs hatched in the coop? I am telling you we have been so busy with the bad we have failed to see the good. There is good going on it is just being over shadowed by the bad and it took Mom saying we would see more good for us to see it ... sometimes Mom amazes me....
On our way to clean up for the night, Mom saw a God Wink again. This time in the form of a baby bird. The nest had been blown from the tree it was in by the winds of change and all the babies but one were Dead. How can a baby that small survive such a long fall? Mom took it in to the incubator and it will be staying warm all night. In the morning if it is still with us Mom says she will puree some worms and eyedropper them to it. If it works she will be hand raising this little guy/gal until it can fly away .... She says she just knows that it has to work.... She says it was a sign from God to keep trying everything we can until the devil turns loose. Then when I went to put up the chickens for the night I couldn't find Daisy. She is my Duck you know? Well, I found her on a nest. She has 11 eggs and since it isn't safe for her to stay where she put the nest all night we put her in the coop and took the eggs to the incubator with the baby bird. Tomorrow we will sneek the eggs back and then turn Daisy loose and see if because they are still warm if she will still sit on them. If not they will come back into the incubator ... Either way ... more ducks on the way!!! Did I mention that yesterday three eggs hatched in the coop? I am telling you we have been so busy with the bad we have failed to see the good. There is good going on it is just being over shadowed by the bad and it took Mom saying we would see more good for us to see it ... sometimes Mom amazes me....
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