RIP Little One

Amy was the name I gave her she died shortly before 7pm today. I held her and as soon as I set her down she died.

I really got attached to her and at one point thought she might make it. I think she was born too soon. Maybe she had internal stuff going on.

I tried to save her but couldn't

Chicks have arrived.

All but one made is safely. They were hatched around 10am on 1/5/10 in Texas and arrived at the Post Office here around 4:15 yesterday. I day earlier then expected. I picked them up about 4:45 as I got the message late and was out of town.

One little chick was laid on her side and was getting trampled so I gave her her own setup. She seemed to perk for awhile last night but now is sluggish again.

Her feet seem misshapen which is causing her trouble walking. I got some water into her but she won't eat.

I've posted on Backyardchickens.com so hopefully someone will help!

Winter here to stay?

Well, that November snow didn't last 24hrs.  But yesterday we got a good dusting and some more today.  Judging by the forecast for tomorrow, Winter is here.  Very late for this neck of the woods.  Although, we got next to no summer with all the rain.  Regardless where you stand on the Global Warming issue, you have to admit weather patterns are changing.

My supplies from Mountain Rose Herbs came today and I quickly whipped up a batch of this homemade hand lotion.  I put it in 2 wide mouth half pint jars from Kerr that I was hoping to use for mushroom cultivation.  They were hard to find!  Hopefully, I'll have enough left for mushrooms when I get around to that project.

The half pint is a good size seeing as how this stuff has a shelf life of at most 3 months.  Its cooling now.  I'll post a pic later.  I'll see if anyone wants to try it at work tomorrow.

Snow Falls on the North Country Homestead

Well, the first dusting of snow has hit the Homestead.  Here's a view of part of the back yard:

Flickr mangles the colors after editing in Lightroom and I haven't figured out how to avoid that!

Fireplace

One of the first fires in the fireplace.  I love a nice fire!!

Update

Well, not much new going on at The Homestead.  Still taking my time moving things.  I do now have the bed in the bedroom!

I purchased a chainsaw and have begun cutting all the down wood that is piled around the property.  That will be stacked and dried and used in the fireplace.

New replacement windows are coming.  Twenty in all, which replace the single pane windows in most of the house.  Only three larger windows not being replaced.

Raked some of the massive amount of leaves that fall on the property.  Someone has been taking the full bags that I set beside the road.  Oddly, enough someone came way up the driveway and took some that were beside the house!!

Researching raising some chickens.  I'd like to get some Barred Rocks because I love their coloring.  I'd like to find someone locally that has them.  I only want about 6 hens, that should be a manageable number.

I'm having a hard time finding course vermiculite.  I need at least 8 cubic feet for my first Square Foot Gardening box.  I have everything else.  Hopefully, in the Spring it will be more available.

One of the blogs I follow, A Sonoma Garden, has a recipe for making hand lotion.  I ordered the stuff I didn't have from Mountain Rose Herbs.

Well, I guess that's it for now.

House

Well, Odin (my yellow Labrador Retriever) and I have stayed in the house 2 nights now. Base camp is the living room where the TV is located! Bed is there now until I get other furniture. I haven't been in the mood to move. Luckily, I can leave my stuff where it is for awhile.