As the snow turns to a dogs delight: slush and mud

The day stayed well above freezing yesterday. The snow began to melt and all the animals  heads came back up.

Incredibly the sparrows indulged in a bird bath. Splashing about in the melting ice. Not quite that warm I thought. But there you are,  I am  not that kind of bird.

I opened all the doors in the barn, locked the plonkers out to play in the snow and cleaned their pen. When it is cold their toilet habits get a bit lazy. But they love digging in the snow.

Lulu is such a lovely cat. She is so quiet and unassuming. And very well fed.

Boo wants to show you Tons frisbee. TonTon did not eat it though. Boo did. Boo stole it. Ton is deeply unimpressed as this frisbee was a gift from his favourite Miss A.  When she sees the damage she is going to be appalled. Bad BooBoo. In trouble again.

Kupa had his shot and then I carried him out to the Chook House. He turned on me when I went to catch him yesterday, reared up and had a go. Good boy Kupa, John and I said to him as he tried to rip me apart. He was showing spirit.  But his breathing is still ragged and his mouth is never shut. He is terribly traumatised by the injection and will lie down for a while afterwards. So he lay under the warm light with the chooks to catch his breath.  If I can catch him today we will give him the extra injection. I am hoping he is so much better I cannot get near him. It is torture to keep sticking needles into this bird.  But I think he is slowly responding. Though we have to be aware that he may have a very short life with his ruined lungs.

I checked him last night and John checked him on the way to work this morning and he was quite settled under his warm light. He has water and food and company in there and a whole big chook house to roam if he chooses.  The rain will keep him inside which is a good thing.

Mama’s Vitamin B12 paste arrived yesterday and so we popped her into the hospital wing (a smaller enclosed pen) so we could coral her and shoot it down her throat, (it came already in a monster syringe) John kind of waved it under her nose to introduce her to the smell, explaining that this would help her get her energy back and she reached over, sniffed at it and sucked it right out of the tube,(she has a sweet tooth) he hurriedly depressed the plunger straight into her mouth, we did not even have to hold her. Good Mama. I hope it helps her buck up a bit. She is still very quiet.

It is going to be another warm wet day (yes above freezing is now labelled WARM) and I am looking forward to catching up on even more of the chores that my injury and the weather stalled. I worked outside all day yesterday, it was wonderful.

As I can drive again I do my rounds today. I visit the Old Codger with his lunch, (lamb patties today that I will make this morning from last nights roast), then I drive to my friends farm and collect my 2 gallons of raw milk, then I drive to the village store and pick up the bag of past- their-date vegetables and fruit, then I drive to the pub and swap my clean bucket for their full bucket of prep scraps, then I come home and feed the animals  and chickens their fresh food and milk. I do this Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. My animals eat well.

I hope you have a lovely day.

your friend on the farm,

celi