Chicken Massacre

We bought eight chicks last Saturday and they have been doing great.  We've had them in a big box in the garage under heat lamps.  This morning when my husband went out to feed them, he found something had gotten into the garage and killed all but one.  There were three dead chicks and the rest were nowhere to be found.  As we were wondering what had happened, I saw an animal, I think it was a weasel, run from one side of the garage to the other.  Now I am wondering if it got in last night when I had the garage open for a while to install a new car seat in my car.  I am just sick about it.  Of course, our garage is not rodent proof and he could have come in some other way also.  We left the garage door open for a while this morning before we left for church to give him an opportunity to escape if he did come in through the door.  The little lone chick is living in the utility room now.  I don't trust it out there just in case the weasel decides to try again.  Next week I'll have to find another big box and we'll have to get some more chicks.  I think we'll keep these in the house until they are bigger.  Hopefully there will still be some available.  Hopefully the chick that is left will survive her tramatic experience.

~Jane

Saturday

This has been a crazy week weather-wise.  It has really affected how much I could get done outside.  My husband bought some tubes of sand to put around the edges of my greenhouse, so now it is anchored.  I was afraid it was going to blow over in some of  the wind we have been having.  I managed to get the chicken coop shoveled out Thursday evening and my husband cleaned the skylight panel in it's roof to let more light in.  Now it needs a good power-washing inside and then a coat of white paint inside.  I've been researching nest boxes on the internet to find some plans for new nest boxes that my son-in-law is going to build and install.

Three co-workers plus one of Elsie's friends are having babies, so I've been doing some knitting for gifts for them.

I bought Malachi a new booster seat for my car.  Zach is ready to move out of the infant carrier and into a regular car seat, facing backwards of course.  So Malachi gets the new booster seat and I completely disassembled the old car seat and gave the cover a good cleaning.  I couldn't believe how black and dirty the water was.  Zachary will get to start with a nice clean cover.  :)

Hopefully this week I'll get some weeding done outside and some projects done inside.  I need to be productive!

~Jane

Rainy Days

Last weekend, I cleaned part of the greenhouse.  I hoped to get the rest cleaned this weekend, but the weather is not cooperating.  Nor is work.  I ended up working very late two nights last week, one night to 11 p.m., and the other to 1 a.m.  By this weekend, I am dragging and I still have to go in on Sunday.  Hopefully this is the last big push and we are done, because I have lots of other things I want to get done this spring.

Malachi, my husband and I went out and purchased chicks today.  I wanted a dozen, but we ended up with eight.  Hopefully they all make it and aren't roosters!  They are living in a box in the garage under heat lamps for  now, but in a few weeks they'll have to move out to the chicken house.  I want to get the chicken house all spruced up for them before then.  It needs to be cleaned out, then sprayed down and disinfected, and then I want to paint it a light color inside so the light will reflect better.  I'd like my son-in-law to make me some new nest boxes that you can access from the outside.  Inside needs some new roosts.  So that has to be the first priority.

We purchased some weed blocker cloth for the floor of the greenhouse.  That needs to be cut and put down and covered over with pine shavings before anything else is done inside the greenhouse.  I am still thinking of painting the outside with a clear gelcoat marine paint for fiberglass.  I'm kind of waiting to hear back from a manufacturer about that before I try it.

My mother's house is sold, papers signed and everything.  Just to finish up with the estate accountant and the lawyer now and it will be done.  Well, except for sorting through everything I drug home.

I have one sock knit to the heel and I love the way it's coming out all diagonal lines and lace.

I'm back to knitting on Malachi's cable sweater.  The entire body is now done and I have the collar and sleeves to go.

We finally got the new TV installed on its stand, so the stand isn't in the middle of living room where it's been for the past couple months.  The coffee table is back where it belongs and things are looking a little more settled.  I just need to continue cleaning and sorting.

My little Zach has been dropping off the bottom of the length charts and they ran tests and found that his thyroid is not working correctly.  The poor little guy has to be on medication.  So glad they figured it out though before he fell behind too much developmentally.  My Malachi is as funny as ever.  Grandma sure loves her boys.

~Jane