A Snowy Last Day of November 2010

Some days I find a hen all snuggled up warm and cozy in a nest box.

But today all 15 hens are out and about in their pen looking for something.

Most of them have their new feathers and they are all full of scratch and pellets.

It is so cold I'd have thought the chickens would have all stayed in the coop where it is relatively warm compared to outside.

The windows are open to let the sun shine inside the coop to warm it a bit. I leave the windows dirty so the hens don't try to fly through them and break the glass. That still happens once a year or so.

The snow looks so soft and puffy, but it is frozen solid. What we call Sierra Cement, and it is very tricky to walk on because it is slippery and it will break when when you least expect.

I like stomping around in the snow when it's soft, but I don't want to have anything to do with this stuff.

The people and doggie footprints were made soon after the snow first fell.

A trip out to the shed and chicken coop once a day to feed and water is all I can get myself brave enough to tackle.

I really don't want to take a spill on this stuff and break myself. Sometimes, I take my walking stick with the metal point and stab it in the cement so I have a better chance of keeping my balance.

What I feel like doing at times is getting down on all fours and crawling to a place where I can find something to hold on to. But, I don't... crawl, I just walk very, very slowly and carefully. I hate Sierra Cement!

Someone gave Kristine these beautiful Birds of Paradise that were blooming in the snow.

They are lovely, but dangerous! I turned around next to them and got stuck in the eyebrow. So, I turned all the pointy birds to face away from the edge of the counter.

I manage to survive walking outside, but the flowers almost take me out! Sigh...

I haven't been doing much, except trying to stay warm and sleep. Can't sleep when I''m cold and I've been staying up all night so I can keep the wood stove full.

We heat the house with the wood stove, so when the fire goes out there is no heat and this place cools down quickly.

Hot chocolate, quilts and afghans, and wearing a knit cap helps a lot towards keeping me warm. But, I am sleepy and it seems like I'm repeating myself.

I've been waiting for it to warm up a little so I can start putting up Christmas decorations, but I don't think the warming up part is going to happen for a while. I'll just have to bite the bullet and go out and brave the cold and haul in the Christmas boxes. Tomorrow?

November - Last Thankful Quote

The road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And wither then? I cannot say.

~ excerpt from "The Road Goes Ever On (Song) by J. R. R. Tolkien

I am grateful for my paths

and being able to get around and make them.

I find that for me there is something magical about paths.

Love my paths!

Last Riddle: From house to house I go, sometimes narrow, sometimes wide. And whether there's rain or snow I always stay outside. What am I?

The answer to November 20th's riddle: Fire

Peek at the Past

(November 30, 2009)

(0 eggs today)

Here is the cute little black Australorp

who is laying the occasional egg.

Thank you, little black hen!

I really, really don't like the store bought eggs!

~:>

Smiles

P.S. This is the second time I typed and published this post. The first one had the spacing all wonky and I couldn't fix it. I think the additional spacing happened when I reopened the editor several times to fix spelling errors and to change words. Goofy editor!