chickens – Page 3 – The Hermits' Rest

Calm Vibes All Around

This I know: if I send calm thoughts out, breathe deeply, and center myself, life’s a lot easier. It’s certainly made life with the animals better. All that nature walking really has helped!

Today I spent a lot of time with the horses. We tend to end up in a feedback loop of good vibes these days. Watching them interacting gently calms me down and me being calm makes them easy to work with. I’m very glad the period of stress and pain for us all is becoming a dim memory.

I enjoy watching them showing signs of affection. It’s mostly Drew, Mabel, and Dusty, though.

Apache seems to take his leadership role very seriously. At least he’s friendly with me. My daily hugs and exercise are good for us both. We’ve worked hard to get in synch and I can tell he’s in better spirits now.

I’ve tried giving him his medicine in gel caps. It takes away the smell, but then he goes and chomps on the capsule and tastes the pill. We will figure something out. Maybe I should stick them in bananas.

I finally got to where I could make myself clean out the chicken coop and run. The chicken killings were hard on me. But today I murdered all the cocklebur and birdseed plants that had grown up in the main section. That was a very unpleasant task, especially since it’s gotten hot again suddenly.

I also cleaned the evidence of poultry genocide in the coop building. I wore a mask, so I didn’t get sick like last time, and I used my horse poop shovel to clean the floor. It was really tricky maneuvering the bulky shovel but I managed.

There is a chance new chickens will magically appear tomorrow. I will insist on keeping them penned up. I’m not sure if Bianca will join them now that she thinks she’s a horse. Even she has calm vibes now, and she used to be a jumpy hen.

I love horse food, especially Dusty’s pellets.

No dog news. They all seem stable. That’s better than it could be, so we will keep enjoying them.

Present and Future Excitement

What are you most excited about for the future?

Gosh, I’m not excited about much in the future. Watching the fall of a civilization and seeing the rights of myself and my friends and family threatened isn’t what I’d call exciting; it’s more terrifying. And I feel so small and powerless (if one more person tells me I can make everything better by voting I will over-react in a ridiculous fashion. I DO vote but that’s not how things truly get done).

I’m feeling old, tattered, and fragile, like this wind-beaten Viceroy

Wait, I do look forward to driving around in Seneca and finding new bits of nature to explore. I hope to have that freedom. After all, I’m a harmless old woman and I have a heterosexual spouse, so I’m not too threatening on the surface. I just want to look at birds, bugs, and plants. Finding new ones is excitement enough for me.

This katydid was new for me: Black-margined Shieldback (*Pediodectes nigromarginatus*), pretty much only found in Texas.

And maybe Drew and I can become good partners! At least he is listening to my instructions like a champ this week. He walks until he is asked to trot. Hoorah!

We are good equines. We will be here for future excitement.

As for present excitement, we didn’t get any with Hurricane Beryl in our part of Texas, so I concentrated on seeing how my friends near Houston and on the coast fared. I was happy that our family members made it fine.

There was wind and .11” of rain here. I enjoyed the wind and the smell you get from hurricane clouds. You smell a little salt are, like the “cool Gulf breeze” Lee’s dad used to talk about when it was sweltering in Yorktown, Texas. To me it feels like Florida, when I’d take long walks at night in my breezy neighborhood just west of Ft. Lauderdale. I just stood and felt the wind for a good while this afternoon. Living in the moment!

Here’s a moment: the blanket through yesterday. If it hadn’t cooled off yesterday, there would have been a whole row of 95-99° highs.

I think the livestock were the happiest with today’s weather. The wind or “something gray” blew open the gate to the back pasture, so I found the horses far away at horse time. They liked that. Plus, Bianca, the lone chicken, was practically her old self today, since it didn’t get over 90°. She was out catching insects and sitting in the water trough like a happy hen.

Even her comb has some color in it again.

So yeah, even though I’m going through one of my pessimistic spates, I see what’s good out there! We all need each other’s support, so if you notice someone faltering, please reach out!

Maybe my exciting future bird will look like this!

Not a Good Deja Vu

Once upon a time I was in charge of a large flock of chickens that the owners were no longer interested in taking care of. Their coop had a door, but an animal had broken the screening. Let’s just say soon I had a small flock of chickens. Then I had one. Big Red hung on for a few more years.

I got a much sturdier coop and kept a few more chickens. I was down to six most of this year, then something got Bertie Lee. Then Blondie.

When I had seven. We lost the gray one last year.

Last night something got almost everyone else by coming in through their door and getting them while roosting. My fault. The hens liked to free range so I didn’t lock the door to their run. If the dang bobcat wanted them so bad, why didn’t he take them? Or maybe it was a raccoon. Or any other of the many predators we have.

I’ll really miss Buttercup. She and Bertie Lee were the friendliest ones I ever had.

I’m glad we didn’t have an attack like this for four years! But today was bad and made me cry. I’d had these hens a long time. But one is here still, poor Bianca, who can’t take the heat. It’s hard to be a lone chicken like Big Red was. She bonded with Sara’s horses. Either Bianca will do that or the predator will come back.

Circle of life. Blah blah.

If I get more chickens it will be in the fall, when it is cooler. In the meantime I’ll clean the henhouse out really well. Sigh. This past week has been rough.

At least the horses are okay. Apache seemed off yesterday but today he ate his food and took his meds like a champ. And Drew did all his exercises right, paying attention to me, his leader.

Thanks for being a good guy, Droodles. You were even good for your shot.

As icing on the cake, we are sleeping in the RV because our upstairs air conditioner has broken and won’t get fixed until Monday. Oh course, now is the time the bedroom slide decides to not extend so I can’t make the bed. Sigh again.

I’m doing a lot of deep breathing and trying to be kind to myself. I’d hoped to have lunch with friends today to cheer me up, but just one friend made it. I enjoyed a Negra Modelo in honor of Buttercup, Henley, and Billie Idyll and was consoled by Phyllis. I’m grateful to her and all my sympathetic Facebook buddies.

We can get through this stuff together (this means YOU, too, members of my household).

Me by Any Other Name?

If you had to change your name, what would your new name be?

I’d go for something matrilineal. Suna ní Brighid in Irish Gaelic would be my first choice. That’s vaguely in my heritage. Daughter of Brigid.

I could be some Spider Woman, Arachne, since I know how to weave.

I’m not sure if Sweden, another background ethnicity of mine, still allows matrilineal names anymore, since they have strict naming rules. If so, I could be Ada Edwinsdottir. Uh. Anyway, I also like Maeve. That’s Irish. And Ada.

Here’s a prickly poppy. That’s its name.

I could also take on my spouse’s name like a good little child of the patriarchy. I’d be SueAnn K Bruns. But I’m not. So anyway, I’m not changing my name.

And I’m not telling long stories, since I just used my blogging time being Facebook Technical Support for my 78–year-old friend who wanted to make a page. Just like when I’m at work, I realize that things are only easy for me because I’ve practiced. Most software is mystifying when you first try to do anything. I’m sure my friend will be just fine!

So, here are highlights:

I saw three kinds of swallows at the Walkers Creek Bridge.
I also watched a very large raccoon ambling along the creek bank.
Farther back on the creek bank I saw the bobcat again! It was drinking from the creek. Aww.
Next I heard a very loud Yellow-crowned Night Heron who then swooped right over me. That is a lot of creek action.
When I went to the tack room to feed the horses, I discovered Butternut the hen had been locked inside. She had plenty to eat, since she loves horse food and there was spillage.
This all balanced out a couple of sad things around here, so all in all, it’s fine.

Tomorrow we go on a trip! Somewhere hot but less humid! Kathleen will carefully go outside to take care of horses and chickens. Luckily, Apache now takes his medication like a pro as long as it’s buried in sweet feed.

Here’s the Temperature Blanket up to May 29. You can tell it’s warmed up.

Five Happy Things

What are 5 everyday things that bring you happiness?

I’m truly grateful to be surrounded by things that make me happy. To paraphrase Maya Angelou, every day is a good day, since I’ve never seen it before.

I never had a chicken inspect the tack room until today!

So, five everyday things that make me happy?

1. Being near trees. Trees always feel like my protectors.

Sometimes trees have birds in them. Double happiness!

2. Watching the dogs play. Penney and Carlton run and run while Goldie waits to tackle them.

3. Working on my journal. I love to write by hand, plus I get all my childhood arts and crafts joy back when I pick colored pens and washi tape stickers.

Journal of a few years ago. Not my bullet journal.

4. Putting on nail polish. That’s another simple way to be creative and play with colors. Hmm, knitting is the same kind of thing.

5. Moving around. I used to think I was a sedentary slug, but as I’ve gotten older I realize that I was always happy when moving around. I loved walking and riding my bike, then I loved aerobics and yoga, and now I love riding horses. I hope I can always walk, at least.

Horse update: Apache is still sore but can get around. He got painkillers today, though he didn’t like it much, so Mabel and Dusty are probably feeling good tonight.

Drew is still sore from all his injections, and he still has a few to go, but he should start feeling better very soon. I’m glad he’s being well cared for.

Everyone else is unhappy about flies and very happy about food.

As for me, my lower back is still unhappy. I may have to get it worked on. Ugh.

But I got my yearly recertification done for Master Naturalists, and I even went to a party yesterday, for my friend who’s retiring as the head of our local Chamber of Commerce. They will need two people to replace her! Neither of them will be me.

Oh, and today Anita and I went to a Hat Bar at a local shop. I should not have been introduced to this concept. Too much fun, again, probably because it reminds me of my childhood crafts obsession.

I’d love to know some everyday happiness YOU experience!

All Is Well and Colorful, Too

Friends, it’s been yet another pleasant day with nothing to complain about. The lack of stress in my life right now is very welcome. Plus it enables me to be available to people who do have stress going on.

Hard to stress out when you are surrounded by fields full of flowers, butterflies, and bees.

Yeah, the closest I got to being stressed today was trying not to step on honeybees who were busy on the various clovers and other flowers. The ground was buzzing!

Bees love these yellow ones and the bur clover. I still hate burs.

In a major Suna triumph, I managed to get through an Easter pasture ride with Sara today without letting Apache’s stress get to me. Because of that, we went all over the front pasture, including places he historically had issues with. Mabel neighed at him a little, but I got him refocused.

Both Aragorn and Apache did a good job going up and down a hill, then successfully went across the dam on the big front tank. There was a lot of tight turning and steep climbs, but we all did fine. It was even fun. This was the spot where I had to fall off or get impaled by a mesquite tree the first time I ever tried riding out there. That tree is dead, too. And this time, I was in charge, not the horse.

I tried to boss Suna, but she didn’t let me.

When we got to the gate to our place, Apache expressed his opinion that he wanted to go home quite strongly. It didn’t work. I rode him away and THEN dismounted. And yes, he’d been a fine animal, so he got to go home.

Aragorn would like to point out that he was also brave and cooperative.

Because I now have a new hose and spray nozzle, I was able to give Apache a much-needed bath when we got back. There was some deeply ground-in dirt to remove. He was also extra sweaty, thanks to still having a lot of winter coat.

I was impressed that, even though he wasn’t dry yet when I turned him out, he took six whole minutes before rolling in dirt. I’d thought it would be 30 seconds, max.

I’m sure it felt good. After he ate his dinner, he let me curry him some more, and the dirt came right off, along with a lot more clean, fluffy hair. I did have to chuckle, because when I finished, I realized that Fiona, Mabel, and Dusty were waiting for their turns. So they each got some rubbing. I’ve created a real love for grooming in these guys! It’s fine with me, because next poor Fiona will finally shed out. That’s always a workout.

Kathleen came back from her latest adventure. I knew she’d arrived when I found the first rat snake of the season in the chicken house. They know she’s here, we’re pretty sure. I’ll keep an eye on Kathleen so she can safely get through her medical stuff with no more help from insects, arachnids, reptiles, or livestock.

Could you please escort the guest away from our perches?

Yes, Laughter IS the Best Medicine

What makes you laugh?

My dad’s Readers’ Digest magazines always had lots of jokes, with some of the corniest ones in the column labeled “Laughter Is the Best Medicine.” My kid friends and I would go up in our treehouse, where dozens of old RD magazines were stored in an old trunk, and read each other the jokes until our cheeks hurt. Being a kid in the 60s was pretty great.

Now I read most of my jokes on Facebook, but rarely laugh out loud. What does get me going are the antics of the animals around our ranch. Chickens running because you might have food for them always elicit at least a smile.

And when the dogs start playing, Lee and I are thoroughly entertained. They run themselves ragged, with Carlton being fast, Penney being clever, and Goldie falling all over herself. Harvey watches and barks.

Then there’s stuff like this. She jumped up and immediately commenced to licking.

As for the horses, they can be just as awkward as Goldie and as graceful as Carlton. Mostly it’s Fiona who makes me laugh. Today she was begging to be petted, but Tarrin and I quickly realized she was covered in poop. We stuck to picking burs off her head and sides, which she loved so much we just had to giggle.

Today was more of a peaceful and pleasant day than anything else. I managed to get all my work done and still have time for a bakery treat with Anita. Then I spent enough time with horses that I ended up sunburned a little. It was worth it.

Another beautiful day in the neighborhood.

It was Tarrin’s monthly visit to the ranch for lessons. Since Drew is still at her house we worked some with Mabel. She’s really doing so well. You can barely tell her back is messed up, and she has nice muscles. She’s so friendly now, too. When I went to get Apache and called for the horses, she immediately galloped up. Dusty and Fiona trotted. Apache did come halfway…

Mabel let me brush a lot of mud off her before Tarrin arrived. Then I got to watch how Tarrin gained her trust by being patient and calm. Soon enough, Mabel volunteered to be haltered. Tarrin just approached and retreated and let Mabel sniff her hand as she shaped it just like a horse nose. I learned a lot.

By the end of the session I was brushing her mane out while Tarrin got all the burs off her forelock and mane. Mission accomplished with no stress on my lady horse!

Working with Apache also went very well. Tarrin kept telling me how much I’ve improved at things, and I have to admit she’s right. By gosh, I gave some groundwork and riding skills developing!

And Apache stayed pretty calm over by the house.

We practiced doing a variety of circles at a walk and trot in the round pen. He practiced calmly walking (much improvement) and I practiced using just one hand on the reins. I practiced with each hands, which is important to be able to do, according to Tarrin. It was fun practicing.

Learning

I’m impressed at how much calmer I am now while riding. Things no longer escalate like they used to, because I’m learning to nip things in the bud when Apache starts to go wonky. My calm helps his anxiety, too.

This is where Apache was thinking he’d gone far enough.

I also think he was pretty tired after a lot of cantering in the groundwork part of the lesson. I doubt he was up to frenzied uncontrollable trotting, so the whole lesson was quite civilized. I’m so grateful to Tarrin for her patience with us, and proud of myself for sticking with this horse through all our ups and downs.

If only I had on a cowboy hat, I’d feel so Texas.

It’s a lot easier to laugh when you are feeling good about yourself. Dang. I feel good about myself! Past me would be surprised.

Yes, I Like Horses, Even Cold Ones

What is your favorite animal?

I think anyone who has read a couple of entries in this blog can figure out that I’m fond of horses. I always have been, even though most of my life I had neither the space nor the funds to have any. I’m so incredibly grateful for the chance to work with horses now.

They have plenty of food and water! And of course their new shelter.

Horses have fascinated me since I figured out they existed, but I’ve also loved dogs my whole life. I think regular readers can also figure that out.

I’ve had cats when I lived in apartments, but I had a couple that made me decide I like them better at other people’s houses. Cat pee is not a thing I can handle well. Plus, Lee has one of his many allergies to cats, and outdoor cats don’t last long here due to hawks, owls, coyotes, and guardian dogs.

I could use a barn cat, though. Sigh. Mice are another cute animal I’d prefer not to cohabit with.

It’s the coldest day I can remember here, but we’re coping. I’ve especially enjoyed watching the animals running around in the dusting of snow and/or ice. Penney and Carlton seem to be energized by it, and seem to smell many new smells. Alfred was out all day, since he was made for this stuff. Goldie goes out to annoy cattle but doesn’t seem thrilled. Harvey and Vlassic run out to pee and go back in.

The horses have spent less time in their shelters than I expected. Instead they’ve been eating a little more than usual, as expected, and are playing on the crunchy pasture. As a wise family member has said, they are livestock, after all. They are smart enough to crack the ice in their water trough without my help, too. Huh.

The chickens appreciate their heat lamps, but they are not alone. I was a bit startled when I opened the hen house to get food and leave water for them, because there were dozens of house sparrows in there with them. I startled them, too. everyone flew right out.

No bird photos, because I only took these few outside.

As for us humans, the heater downstairs had trouble coping with these 14° temperatures, but upstairs was great. If only my work area and television were upstairs. We found some oil heaters that came with the horse trailer and put one in my office for my Zoom chats and one by where Lee and I sit to watch football. We have plenty of afghans, so it was cozy enough.

One more really cold day and normal winter will return.

How to Keep Up Online

In what ways do you communicate online?

Greetings from the Polar Vortex where it finally got cold, even way down here in Texas.

We’ve been busy keeping ourselves and the dogs warm

Today’s question is harder than it seems. It forces me to admit something that kind of makes me sad: I’m no longer an internet pioneer. Y’all, I’m even in a couple of books for being an early feminist voice on the ‘net. I made websites before color monitors existed. I had email way before most people did, thanks to being at the University of Illinois.

I helped make online communities before Facebook. So what? Yep. That’s the past. Zzz.

I no longer keep up with things. Twitter bored me, I have to admit. I also don’t enjoy watching videos for very long (amusing since I create them every day at work). So I’m not on YouTube for hours. And I cannot tell you how annoying and boring I find Tik Tok and Reels and social media influencers.

Please enjoy them and tell me about it, though. I am fine experiencing those things second hand.

So. Boring senior citizen Suna communicates online mainly in Facebook and communities there, and by reading and writing blogs.

I text friends and family a lot, and enjoy my text groups with them. Certainly I’m up on Cameron news thanks to that! I also really enjoy online Zoom meetings that started in the pandemic but are now just nice ways to keep in touch with people I used to email a lot. I feel so close to friends all over the place!

Email is there still, but mostly for work or nonprofit stuff. The few email lists I’m still on don’t get much of my attention these days, because I run out of time.

For what it’s worth, that’s that. I enjoy the online communities as much as the in-person ones, though. I like blog comments and interacting with readers, a lot. So thanks to you commenters and silent readers. You know who you are!

It’s too cold to have a daily bird, though I did enjoy looking at puffy sparrows today. It’s supposed to snow tomorrow. I know the chickens are enjoying their heat lamps and the horses appreciate the new shelter. I tested both of them out today!

Our heater is still working, so us humans are coping well with 19° F weather. The heat pump unit got wrapped in insulation, so it’s not failing when it got into the 20s like it used to. We are getting stuff figured out, thanks to the brain power of the ranch commune.

The far left square is today. That’s the coldest day I’ve recorded!

It may snow tomorrow! I bet I take pictures. What do you think?

Better Days Do Come

Sometimes when you have a long string of anxious and worried days, it’s nice to have one that builds you up. I hate it when I’m dealing with annoying physical symptoms and I’ve done all I can to get my equilibrium back, but the truth is sometimes I just have to wait it out. Today helped!

I got to enjoy what passes for fall color in College Station Today.

Penney woke me up by wigging and licking like crazy for about an hour, so I got up, looked at the damp day, and did my nails with a set I’d looked forward to using, which looked like a brocade cloth with big flowers on it. It didn’t go on really great, but it perked right up when I added some gaudy jewels I had hanging around. Now the whole thing looks over the top, but it cheers me up.

After talking to the chickens, I headed over to the place I got them, Bird and Bee Farm, where our Master Naturalist wildscape project is located. I rarely have time on their special days to get out there, so I was glad I had a while to drop by.

I’d intended to take photos of all the butterflies, but it was still too damp in late morning for them to be out. Even the bees were still napping.

My friend Debi and I looked at all the flowers and found lots of caterpillars and a cat.

All these black ones came up as salt marsh moths

It was so pleasant just wandering around and seeing what is still hanging around this time of year. The dew was so heavy that it made for fine photo ops. It’s nice to photograph non-wildflowers like roses and zinnias occasionally

I hung out with birds a bit, and heard a new wren on Merlin, a sedge wren. I wish I’d seen it because it sure looks cute in its photo online. Instead, here are turkeys.

After talking a while with other Master Naturalists, I had to leave. I hope Patsy notices I put my nails in the blog for her.

The reason I had to leave was that I had my second watercolor class at Brazos Watercolor Retreats in College Station. We learned to paint trees with sunlight pouring through them. There were lots of new techniques to learn, like making white space by putting some rubbery stuff on the paper before painting. I also learned to make the sun rays.

I didn’t do a great job on the tree part, but I know what I’d do differently if I tried again. For a first try, I’m fine with my finished product. Maybe I should get some paints, brushes, and paper. It’s fun to see how the colors come out.

I even made it home in time to feed the horses before it was too dark, which makes it a lot easier to give Apache his medicine. They have a new bale of hay, and judging from the holes in the wet ground, they had a good time running around after they escaped while the tractor was going in. Those little dickenses.

So, yay, today has been fine enough that I’m handling learning about a few deaths in my circle pretty well. I have plenty of energy to send out love to all the families and friends, which feels really good.

Hug a loved one.