the weekend

as usual, had a busy weekend.  made the weekly trip to east valley feed & tack on saturday - a 15 minute drive down the 210 to sun valley.  we blow through two bales of straw and hay, two bags of wood shavings, and about 100 lbs. of lay mash and scratch for the chickens every week.   having animals is not an inexpensive proposition.  we've started feeding bermuda grass to the sheep instead of alfalfa, so now that's on the list, too.   i spend as much on their food as i do on ours.

we have a few gimpy critters limping around.  ivan has been hobbling for awhile since a scrape on his upper leg became infected.  we spent months repeating a cycle of de-briding, then letting it heal. over and over.  the infection is back so i'm cleaning and dressing his leg every day and keeping him in the pen.  i think it may be time for more chicken surgery in the dining room.  two of the sheep are limping now, too - skittle and isaac.  maybe it's contagious.  foot and leg injuries are the worst because they can take so long to heal.  last year, one of the lambs twisted his foot when it became wedged in a lawn chair.  don't ask me how he did it - lambs get into all sorts of trouble that defies physics.  one managed to get trapped in a tomato cage this year.  his torso was actually inside the cage and it looked like he was sporting one of those gaultier contraptions that madonna wore in the 90's.  anyway, i had my first experience with a large animal emergency facility as a result of the chair episode.  the humphrey-giacopuzzi animal hospital in somas, to be specific, where their medical facility is a barn with cranes (for lifting the biggies).  they have a special, hand-held xray machine that can accommodate an animal in any position on the floor or standing.  we all had to wear heavy lead aprons, of course, which was only slightly worrisome.  fortunately, the lamb had no broken bones, just a sprain, and i had a lesson on lamb leg structure and vet-wrap.

we finally saw the sun yesterday after a gloomy couple of weeks.  tango, our little rescue "chorkie" (i'll let you guess his mix), enjoyed some sunbathing.  i think my tomato plants are perking up after looking listless for a week.   spent most of the day doing chores outside.  i cleaned the chicken coop, raked the pen and worked in the garden.  transplated the fig saplings james started from cuttings last fall, and planted the lettuce seedlings given to us by a friend.  all the veg have sprouted except for summer squash, so i planted more seeds.  

last night, we had dinner with the husband and family of a friend who recently ended her life.  edith's brother lives in duluth, so we bonded over farm tales.  he explained how he successfully super-glued a hen who'd been nearly torn apart by a wolf.  i was glad that our stories and iphone pics (cute little lambs are always a hit) added some levity to a difficult time.  edith's husband asked us to take her upside-down tomato plants, which are apparently huge and loaded with fruit.  looking forward to enjoying them but also slightly concerned, considering my track record with tomatoes.  hopefully edith will watch over and save them from my brown tomato thumb.