Dang boys! And a growing kiddo :)

So I think that out of my 5 ducklings I have 3 boys. Normally that wouldn't be a problem but then it means I have 3 girls and 4 boys total which will not be good at all. That would mean I need to get rid of 3 drakes because to have a healthy flock of ducks you need 3:1 girl to boy ratio or at the very least a 2:1. 1:1 or more drakes than hens would be very detrimental to the hens well being. Maybe I can get some runner girls... Just a thought but I doubt Jonathon will go for it ;) I really like having ducks in the front yard and Suzie Cute to. That chicken is the funniest, best pet I have ever had. 

A couple of weeks ago the bobcat came back and cut one of our ducklings up pretty bad. You could see into her hip and all the little ligaments and all. I had read about something called Wonderdust that is used to treat cuts on horses and said it was ok for ducks in small quantities. I do believe that I am going to use it on every cut I get now. That stuff is amazing!!! In the matter of 3 days her cut had dried and started closing! She doesn't even limp at all and her feathers are growing around it like it never even happened. I think I need to have a constant supply of it on hand now.

Suzie is doing great and I think she may be losing a little bit of weight. She is able to get a tiny bit off the ground when she flaps  her wings now. It's only about 3 inches but hey that's still 3 inches :) She has turned in to the biggest character in the last few weeks. She will be standing all alone off to one side of the yard in the morning then will make a little "bock" sound and look at the ducks then run as fast as her chubby little chicken legs will take her towards the ducks then she stops and makes a "bock, bock" noise with her head high like she just did the coolest thing ever by scaring the ducks. And for some strange reason she likes to run around a lot lately. I'm kind of scared for her heart but it's just to cute to watch her and I know she is happy, so I let her do her little Suzie Cute thing and be happy. It is crazy how happy a chicken doing funny things can make you. Maybe everyone in the world needs a pet Suzie, then we would all be a bit happier and nicer and the world a better place :)

Cielo is losing more teeth!!! I had to pull one out yesterday and that's because I just pulled one out about 2-3 weeks ago! She has one more that is really loose and I expect it to be out in the next 2 weeks if she wiggles it if not about 4 weeks before it just falls out on its own. They told us at the dentist office she should be losing the rest of her baby teeth slowly again over the next year or so and then she will have a break from teeth until her 12 year molars come in. That is when we will need to go see about braces that I know she will need because hers slant like mine do. I went to the store the other day looking at father's day cards for Jonathon and looked at a couple for Cielo and almost had a breakdown in the middle of the card isle because my baby is almost 10. Can you believe it? It hasn't been that long since I had to change her pamper and sooth her to sleep and read to her because she didn't know how has it? She is getting so big so fast and it is mind boggling to me. I love that kid and I cant believe that she is going to be in the double numbers already. I am so worried about her growing up. Not because I want her to stay little (which I do) but because the world is such a scary place. I wish I could freeze time for her so that she can enjoy summer just a tiny bit longer, enjoy riding her bike all day long just a bit longer, enjoy snow days and tickle time and lightning bugs and faries and dolls and on and on just a little bit longer. I just want her to enjoy life a bit longer. That kid has been my world for 10 years now, so if it's this bad now how bad is it going to be when she graduates and tells me she is going away for college? I can't imagine what that will be like but I'm pretty sure I really will have a breakdown in the card isle then!

Life is good today. 

What good are toes really?

I found out a couple of days ago that they are really important! If one doesn't work then walking is very hard :-/ I came home just early enough to get a couple of things done around the house before Jonathon and Cielo got home. I was doing a bit of laundry and cleaning out the kitchen of the last of the boxes that need to be unpacked.  I went in to my bathroom to put up some soap and didn't even think twice about pulling out the bottom drawer which was a bad idea. My foot was in the way and of course I was pulling it out super fast and bam! it almost ripped my whole nail off! Ouch, that was bad! I never knew toes could bleed like that really. After I could feel the pulse in my toe and had to wear a band-aid because the dang thing just wouldn't stop bleeding. And it hurt to walk which was really odd. I guess I didn't realize how much your foot depends on your toes when you walk. It was kind of hard to walk for a day but it's better now. Just a bit sore and I hate it when Lily is jumpy because she likes to jump on that toe and try to bite it when we are in bed.

I think my ducklings are kind of sick. The feed they were eating didn't have enough niacin so now I have to give them supplements and a different feed to make them better. I hope they get better because one of them is really bow legged right now. Luckily they aren't showing signs of feathers yet so I think I have time to fix it. Ducks don't process niacin the way other birds do and because they grow at such a fast rate they need extra to keep the right amount in their body so that their legs grow at the same rate as their body. So now I'm supplementing and hoping I don't OD them and that it gets better before their body gets to big.

I think we are about to kill one of the roosters. He is really rough with the hens and even went after Olivia the duck! So now he needs to go to freezer camp so that he won't hurt any of the others. Freezer camp, lol! I like chicken terms :) Still no bobcat though. We need to get him but he hasn't seen food here for a week so I don't know how soon he will come back. hopefully he will come quick so we can get him and then be done with him. We will of course have to check if he is male or female but I'm hoping it is a male. Females have babies and attract males so that would mean we have more sooner rather than later. Dang big cats and their need to kill the livestock in the area!

Summer is here in full force and I don't know what to do about keeping everyone cool. I think I have a plan for Suzie cute but for everyone else I'm a bit stumped. I am putting her waterer a little less than half full in the freezer and then filling it with water at lunch so she has plenty of cool water till I got home. But I can't exactly have 5 waterers in my freezer every day and the chickens kind of make me mad anyway. So I think I just might put ice trays in their water every day. But the ducks are going to have fresh water in the pool every day to keep them from overheating and keep the algae from getting out of hand. I really want to keep them cool during the summer and us to.

So one more time... Night, night duckies!!

EFFIN bobcat!!!

So we have a bobcat that lives in front of the house! The dang thing has killed 4 of my ducks,all my favorites of course. Pekin, Bejing, Oliver and Chips :( All of my most beautiful birds are gone and it makes me so sad. The only ones we have left are Olivia and Dips. Olivia is kind of dingy and chips is still a baby. I'm really glad he didn't get Suzie Cute though, I would have cried harder than I did with the others. And yes I did cry because they are more than just lawn ornaments or pets. They are part of our family and we get up and take care of them from the time they are babies and they become such a big part of us. Yesterday when I went home for lunch Oliver flew out of the pool almost to the coop. I was so proud of him and looked forward to Jonathon and Cielo seeing him do it again and again. Cielo would have loved to see him get the little bit of air that he did.

Jonathon is an amazing husband and dad. He got us 5 new ducklings even though he hates ducklings because they smell really bad in the house, lol. Jonathon wants a turkey so we may wait and get a couple of those to. First we are going to kill a bobcat.... Well Jonathon is going to kill a bobcat I'm just going to watch and laugh at it then kick it in the head when he does kill it. But I'm not mad (maybe a bit lol)

STUPID EFFIN' BOBCAT!!!

Me and Cielo went to the Sugarland concert last week and it was pretty freaking awesome! It was Cielo's first concert and I was super excited for her. It sucked because my amazing husband scored the tickets for us but he couldn't go. He would have loved it but I'm happy I could take Cielo to her first concert and that she had a blast. I like doing things like that with her. She is fixing to be 10 so I know I don't have a lot of time left to be us. Why can't babies stay babies forever, or at least until you are tired of changing pampers :) I really love that kiddo. I think I'll keep her for a bit ;)

10:30 PM
We missed the effin' bobcat! He didn't see the ducks in the yard so he turned around and was just out of range when Jonathon shot! Oh well we will try it again tomorrow night.

Suzie Cute!!!

So we picked up the chickens earlier tonight... Whew! Dang things are a mess! It was kind of a mess getting the big 3 from my dad's because they just don't want to cooperate in any way shape or form. But bringing them home was kind of funny. you could hear them scratching around trying their hardest to get out and run a muck in the car.

We went over after taking my dad to a doctor appt. He's doing better and hopefully this treatment will work to set everything right for him again. It's crazy how he has never been sick before this but it's a really good thing. Cross your fingers that he is in the lucky 80% that does great with this :) My dad is kind of cool and pretty funny. He loves Cielo to the ends of the universe and back. He gets so into her stories and will do anything to make her smile. They played a lot at the doctor's office and giggled so much I think the nurses were a little upset because they were so loud. But it made a lot of the other people there laugh because they were having such a happy time together, and who doesn't like to see a little girl happy and laughing with her grandpa? The nurses that took dad's blood were a hoot though. they made both Cielo and dad laugh especially when they started talking about veins and having Cielo do dad's tests so he would pass just like at school, lol. It makes me happy to see my family happy, especially when things aren't going quite so right.

I looked at my husband again today and thought about what a handsome man he is. He got his hair cut the other day and he looks so much younger than I do! I thought about it the other day and soon I will be in my 30's and he will still be in his 20's... Yikes! 3 1/2 years isn't that much difference but it is still funny to think about and it's good for a laugh when you need one. He really is a handsome man though, and Cielo is a really pretty girl. Man where does that leave me :-/ Oh well every family needs and ugly duckling, I just don't think I'll grow out of it thought :)

The ducks in the front have started picking on Suzie Cute again... grrr! She is way to sweet for her own good. I tried putting up a small fence but when she realized that the ducks had more feed she jumped it to get to it. How funny is that? My chunkers can hop a fence, well fall over like a big clutz but still, that amazed me! This weekend hopefully we can get her space built so that she can't hop over and no one will pick on her so that her feathers can grow back. I'm really frustrated at all the other birds for picking on her but I know that's what happens in the animal world so I try not to be to harsh on them. Suzie Cute will have to learn to be a bit more aggressive if she wants to be with the others but I think she is content just to be herself and be happy and nice to everyone. I think Andrew would have loved her just as much as I do. He always had a soft spot for the underdog and that is exactly what Suzie is. I love the way she runs up to me after not seeing me because I was at work. I know that she is a happy girl and will live a good life here for as long as she wants to be with us. I love that chicken :D

Chicken poo on the sidewalk!

The new house is great! Lily has learned to use the doggy door that are in the back but will not use the ones that are in the front, the cats are able to go outside without me having to worry that they aren't coming back and we have all but the old chickens at the house. The Ducks are in the front yard happy as could be. After a couple of days of putting them out for the day in at night the baby ducks are staying outside all the time now. They seem to like it and are getting along with the older ducks. They still do things separate like eating, swimming, or just free ranging but they sit together a lot of the time to. Jonathon built a little duck hut and the big ones will sit all the way inside while the babies sit at the front or just outside and they are together at night usually. We put up a fence to keep the ducks off of the sidewalk and to keep them from pooing all over it all the time. They are still looking for a way over the fence :/  Of course our chunky girl was getting picked on so me being a softy let her stay on the sidewalk side of the fence o_O bad idea! She poos more than the ducks do! So back over the fence she goes. The others still try to pick on her so we are going to have to come up with a separate little Suzie pen but I think we can come up with something good soon. She is the sweetest chicken ever and I can't imagine our little farm without her.
     The chickens are all set up in the back yard and seem to like it. of course the banty flock and the easter egger flock don't really mix a lot but they are starting to get used to each other. We have one feeder and one waterer out back for them and it seems to help with the making them get along problem. I noticed a couple of them mixing it up yesterday and getting along a little bit until one of the ever so happy bantys got in a huff and chased off the bigger chickens for some unknown offence. We should be able to let the baby bantams out this weekend so that they can all join the flock and be happy campers.
   Camping... I really want to go soon. I really want to try out a lure I got last year but never got a chance to use before life got in the way and we didn't make it out to the lake before it got to cold to fish. I really like fishing with my family, it's peaceful. i wonder if I can convince Jonathon to go for our 3 day weekend???

Random Ramblings

One of my fat chickens died yesterday :( I cried a little bit because I'm going to miss seeing her chunky self run up to me to see if I'm going to giver her food and because she was so sweet and let me pet her and carry her. And now my other chunky chicken is lonely and was cooing waiting for her to come cuddle last night but she never came and that made me a little more sad. So now I'm in the process of trying to find her a buddy that she can sit with and not have to be alone all the time.

I have been concerned about a disturbing new trend I have seen with people coming into my office. SERIOUSLY bad tattoos! Is this going to be a thing now? I like tattoos but come on you have to draw a line somewhere! Really do you think people are going to respect you just because you have it printed across your face? Ummm.... NO! And I'm sure the naked lady sounded like a good idea in prison but did you think you were never going to come back into the real word? I could go on and on about bad tattoos and now that summer is almost here I get to see even more bad tattoos because people LOVE to wear less clothes. *shudder*

We got a new house! Moving was a pain in the butt but luckily we were still packed so that part went pretty smooth. Now we have to figure out where to put everything in the new house and get rid of all the dang boxes. It has a jacuzzi tub!!!! That is one awesome thing! Great for your feet after a long hard day of moving :) We have ducks in our front yard!! They are so pretty and since we have an enclosed porch that we can watch them from we figured it would be a good idea for now. But the kitchen is pretty small. That part I don't like at all but I'll live and get used to it eventually.

I don't really like eggs but I think our chickens are funny. I cooked breakfast on Saturday but I couldn't tell if the eggs were bad because I don;t really like them anyway and they always taste a little bit bad to me :/


Cielo is going to a day camp for the first half of summer!!! We sent her for part of spring break but she was determined she would hate it... she loved it of course! So she gets to go for summer camp and she is really ready to see her friends again.She is like me in so many ways afraid to try new things but does them anyway and then loves it :) It kind of sucks that it won't be all summer but that may be a good thing so that she is not worn out when it comes time for school to start again.

I'm going to miss living at dad's house. I loved the fact that there was no one out there to bug us and it was so peaceful. it's great tho that we will be there several times a week to help with the massive garden and I can still see dad and he can see Cielo grow and hear all of her funny stories :)

We got our bed out of storage and now Jonathon say's it's to small and he wants a new one. The one we were using at dad's was a queen but he was always saying how he didn't notice a difference... until he had to sleep on the full again, lol. His feet hang off the end and it's hard to get used to a bed after using a different one for so long.

The ducklings are getting their feathers and are getting ready to be put outside full time. As of today they will go out during the day and back in only at night or on bad weather days (aka wind but I really wish it was rain). The big ones aren't really sure what to make of them yet so we will have to see how it goes. And I figured out a few days ago that my Olive is really and Olive-r, dag nabbit! So here's hoping that the 2 babies are girls to!

When I become president of the world I am going to make nap time mandatory at least once a day. About 2-4 every day will be nap time. Just like the kids you don't have to sleep but you cannot work and must take one hour any time between 2&4 for rest time. I think I'm going to get all the votes because of that law alone ;)

My cup runneth over...

So today I was making supper and looked out of the window and what do I see? I see my amazing husband and my sweet daughter gardening together :) He was showing her how to do something. I'm not sure what it was but she rann off like a bullet and grabbed something for him then ran back and they were off working again. I don't think I will ever get over the felling of aww that I get when I see them together bonding and having a good time doing normal dad and daughter things. It kind of makes me want to cry (and only cried hard that one time, thank you!) I never thought I'd see Cielo go out of her comfort zone and do kid/dad things, only the kid/mom things. My heart is full everyday and I think there is no more room but then I look at both of them and it grows a little bit more and it makes a bit more room for next time. I can't imaging what my life would have been like if I hadn't had Cielo & met Jonathon.
I read a story today that made me cry. I'm a member of a chicken website (insert snikers here from people that think I'm crazy) and there is a forum and one of them is a space to post about your family. A lady from south TX  posted about the crap sentence that they gave the drunk idiot that killed 2 people and crippled her sister and another friend. It reminded me of Andrew. I miss him every day and wonder if he would have liked Jonthon. I like to think that they would have been great friends :) They both work harder than anyone else I know and have a way of making me smile just by existing. I think he would have been proud of Cielo and how smart she is and all of the things she is doing in school and how far ahead of her class she is. I wonder what he would have thought about my ducks and my chickens and the garden and our little farm we are making. Maybe he would have thought I am crazy but at the same time I bet he would have secretly loved it, lol. I miss him today. I miss him every day but today I miss him more. I miss his laugh and that half smile and his big hugs. Today I could use an Andrew hug. I'm greatfull that he hugged me that last time that I saw him because I know that that day he was happy and that it was a good day for him. I missed him at our wedding. He would have been my maid of honor if he had been here, sorry Ash lol.
I think I'm going to get a couple more chickens in a few months. The cornish crosses that we got are amazingly sweet. Every day I go out back and they come running up to me like I'm the best thing they have ever seen. They are the 2 we have left from the batch we bought at Gebo's when we bought the ducks. Maybe it's because they are the runts and they have been sick and their brooder-mates died or maybe it's because they have been picked on by every chicken and duck we have or it's just their little personalities but there is something about them that I don't want to lose them. They are super sweet and they depend on us so much. There is something about the way they run up to me when I go outside that I could watch them and cuddle them all day. I know it's crazy that I would care so much about a chicken or a duck but I don't mind being crazy because when you meet them you will like them and feel the same way about them :)