Monday, October 1, 2012

And the Winner is...

After 3 days of grey, cold showers of rain here in Maine, the afternoon sun has finally chased away the last of the dark clouds to reveal a lovely crisp fall afternoon. I cannot begin to write how I needed this break in the weather. For one thing, we have things to do around here and the rain really gets in the way of that progress. For another, after a few days, my mood matches the dreary skies and I find it a challenge to make myself useful on the various projects that still can be done inside.

We broke down our resolve to save the starting of the wood stove until mid-October and had the first fire of the season laid in the new wood stove in the kitchen last night. The chill from the rain which had settled unwelcome into every crack of this house was no match for a cheery fire throwing off its much needed warmth. I am so thankful, yet again, for the capable men in my life. It is not a very large stove, but with the built in blowing fans, it put out a sufficient heat to make the kitchen and living room upstairs quite toasty warm.

Another issue with the rain is that it is miserable for our critters, especially the older, more susceptible hens. One of our 6-year old Rhode Island Red hens has been displaying symptoms of being ill. Her comb is pale. She is not eating as much as she should be and her tail end is on the messy side. Sean gave her a warm bath, cleaned and dried her. We moved her inside, gave her some extra vitamins and electrolytes in her drinking water, and a heating pad in her pen for added warmth. She is not ill with a respiratory sickness or dreaded Marek's, nor does she have mites or worms. Her crop is not impacted, nor is she egg bound. We hope she'll regain her strength and recuperate. But, we lose an older hen or two each fall/winter to age and that is always sad. It is comforting to know that we do the best we can for our critters to give them their best chance at a long, happy life and love them all the days they are with us. When something is amiss with our chickens, a couple of resources I visit are my backyard chickens or Down the Lane for information. She was eating when we left her tonight, which is good.


In happier news, it is time to draw the winner for our hand made quilt give away POSTED HERE. I wrote all the entry names (all 16- good odds, right???) onto slips of paper and folded them. Sean did the honors of drawing the winning entry. Drum roll, please....

And the winner is: Jackie Johnson who wrote:

"I really like the trellis pattern. I have never gotten up the courage to try quilting. I used to have a crazy quilt top my grandmother made as a child but, somehow, over the years it has been lost. Saddens me greatly as I think I know what happened to it. Life moves on..."
Congratulations, Jackie. Please send me an email with your address so I can send you your prize. The deadline for claiming your prize is 5 pm EST October 3, 2012.


We have been working more on finishing the lower floor of the barn. We finally have the windows framed out and are looking forward to installing them after sheathing the rest of the down stairs this week. Stay tuned for Barn Building Part 3 this weekend. ♥
Thanks for visiting, friends.
Sonja ♥

2 comments:

  1. Sorry about your sick hen :( Sounds like you are doing everything you can to help her out. She is lucky to have you!

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  2. I think your barn is going really good Sonja. And having the stove in for heating the house is great. I look forward to having a game nite at your place and being warm. Cherie

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