As of last post I had some roosters that needed to be butchered off, well they are still alive and doing well. I did not get time to take care of them when we had some half way nice days in late fall. I still am feeding them and guess now I will have to wait till we get a weekend of well above freezing weather to do the deed. They are going to be stock and canned chicken so it wont matter much, just more meat the bigger the bird. Although I did have to separate them into another building alone so they didn't hassle the young hens to death. They don't fight among themselves and get lots of food and drink so its all good. My young layers are laying well now. I get more than enough eggs to keep us in supply and a few to sell. Actually have a few dozen in the fridge as we speak.
I left in early November to go to west Ky to work at the hunting lodge again this year. Dang, talk about hard on the body. Sure made the ole arthritis flare up pretty bad. But it was fun to get to work and visit with Karly and Glenna out there. I really enjoy that time of year. I came home as soon as the season was over. I got home the Monday before Thanksgiving late in the evening. I came home with lots to do and a short time to get it done. I had a doc appointment each day for the next 2 days to get ready to leave again. I ended up having a sinus infection and bronchitis. Not a good combination if you plan to fly anywhere. I got meds and a couple shots and was a tad bit better by time I had to leave for Arizona on Thanksgiving day. Yep I am off and gone again. We were expecting our second lil grandson in mid December. He was due the 19th. But if like his big brother Liam he made an early appearance someone needed to take care of Liam while momma and daddy had lil Zach. So I was more than happy to do that as any grandmother can imagine. I arrived in Phoenix the afternoon on Thanksgiving day. We waited and waited for Zach and waited some more. The plan was for Rodger to drive out as soon as Zach was born so he was constantly waiting for the phone call. The long and short is Amoy was induced on December 28th after going 8 days over her due date and lil Zachary Donovan was born that evening. Such a precious lil fellow. Hes just a lil fellow but his big brother was scared to death of him at first. He is starting to like him now so I hear. We think he is perfect just like Liam.
Nothing in this world compares to the love for grand babies. I am so thankful I lived long enough to learn this fact.
As the story goes Rodger left our house on Christmas day to drive to Arizona to see this lil boy and bring me home. He arrived late Friday night because we knew Zach would be coming on Sunday. At this point I had been away and not seen Rodger for a month. We got to enjoy Liam and cuddle Zach for a few days and then it was time for us to head for home. The weather went to crap as we planned to leave. We left on New Years day headed east. We knew of the freezing rain that was forecast ahead of us but was guessing it would be gone as well ahead of us. Not the case. We spent a few hours sleeping in a rest area in Texas because we were not able to find a hotel room. Then decided to just drive on after a rest. It was late night and we hit more rain and snow and ice on I-20 thru Texas. So Rodger decided we would pull into an abandoned weigh station and just sleep till daylight. So nice gas was cheap and we could leave the heat running in the car as it was about 25 degrees. We woke up about 6 am with the car covered in ice and the whole parking lot full of semis. Well we may as well move on and see how the roads were as some of the big trucks were pulling out. They were still ice covered and slick. SO many big trucks wiped out and 4 by 4 vehicles wiped out along the interstate. So at the next exit which was Sweetwater we decided it might be a good idea to stop and get some hot food and see if we could find a hotel there and try to just sleep and hope it melted. As we were blessed we did find a room and got a hot meal and slept most of the day and all that night. We left Sweetwater early Saturday morning and headed on east. Our plans were to go see our friends Deb and Danny in Mississippi on the way home. We made it to their house about 9 or so on Saturday night. As is custom of a good southern lady Deb had a hot supper waiting for us. Oh my, my very first crawfish stew and it was so very good. I even froze a bag and brought some home for my supper the next night. Jason is a picky eater and he loved it too. Maybe Deb will share her recipe with us and I will post it for ya here. We stayed up late visiting and then started out the next day on for home. We made it here late on Sunday night January 4th. So yep, that is what I been up to for the past 2 months. I loved every minute with my lil grandsons, I did get to spoil Liam longer as I waited for Zach and enjoyed getting to see our friends in MS but by golly there is not place like home. Since we got here the farthest I have been from the house is out back to take care of my chickens. No plans for going much farther any time soon either. We have had rain all day today and then tonight they are forecasting freezing rain after midnight. So that in itself will keep me on the farm. Not that I mind at all.
So back on the farm. All is well here with one exception. While I was gone in November to west Ky Rodger called to tell me that my Luna was gone. We had her 6 or 7 years and for some reason she made a bad decision crossing the railroad and got hit and killed. Needless to say it broke my heart. I miss my big girl so much. When I go out to feed I am totally on my own to make sure some critter is not out there to get the chickens or worse, me. She was for sure my security here. Not sure I will ever find another girl as sweet and loyal as she was. Hard as it is I do plan to get another Great Pyrenees in the spring. Am thinking this time maybe get 2 girls and have them fixed. I personally think females are just better guard dogs and protectors. We do have a problem here with people dropping off unwanted dogs that can be a problem with the chickens and there is no Luna here to protect them. But life goes on with that sad note.
While I was away my freezers got filled with deer meat. That was a nice thing to come home too.With one small problem, all the chicken is in the meat freezer under about 3oo lbs of deer meat. So if we want chicken I have to do some serious digging in the freezer and that is no fun at all in freezing weather. But it is doable. We are so blessed that the freezers are full and cellar is well stocked. But once in a while we like to get a box of ice cream and really cant do that right now for there is no room in the freezers. It is a good problem to have tho.
Not much else happening here on the farm. So till next time (not as long, I hope), blessings from the McGuire homestead.
Stella
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