Good morning

Ya, just that. Each morning I come and check out if there are any new posts, and for so long, there have been so few, a few, but just that. I think that our friends are still just getting ready for winter and we will be back having fun with each other. I know Hidden Ranch asked that question some time ago. So anyways, just wanted to pop in and say good morning, and will be back again another time to check and see if anyone is posting. So please, take a bit of time, and let's begin our winter ramblings. I am sure we have all kinds of awesome experiences from this past summer and fall, let's share. And well, again, good morning, smiling that smile....have a beautiful day, CynthiaM.

Good morning Cynthia! Well, cold weather starting, luckily got all the hoses and such put away already. Probably have to pull the duck pond soon. It is 7:00 right now and just waiting for it to get light out so can start to do the chores. The snow has melted, but I started in with feeding the cows/horses/alpacas when we had a few inches...so no stopping now...I'd have a lot of disgruntled critters!

I really enjoy winter! Things slow down and we take it pretty easy...fire going in the stove right now...

Have a good one everyone, love to hear about your day!

Good morning!  It's a little chilly here this morning. Sun will shine and I am off to work.  We still have a few things to do before winter REALLY sets in....always seem to be running behind.  Today was to be a day to catch up on all the things that have to get done but hubby was called into work and I am already working.....  Why, when you have animals, does it seem there is more work than time?  I am on the forum frequently!  My morning ritual is check the forecast, check the forum, let the birds out and dash off to work....... Speaking of which, I'm on my way

Cold here. Minus 27 and 12 inches of snow. Glad I finished up my yard work last week.

Chilly out this morning, but finally some sunshine.. YAY!
With homeschooling my youngest and trying to keep up with garden and animal chores, things have been busy, but it will be nice to slow down for the year.
This morning I'm so thankful for wood heat, love how it pushes the warmth right into you. Also love to cook on it.

Perryschofield wrote:Cold here. Minus 27 and 12 inches of snow. Glad I finished up my yard work last week.

Holy smokes! Only minus 10 here, and a beautiful day!  Still working on some odds and ends until it snows more.  Had to set up a heater in the alpaca water tank as it froze last night.  Still trying to figure out what to do with the duck pond....

We're about the same - started the day at -12C and have worked our way up to -3C. Not a cloud in the sky and brilliant sunshine - just why I moved here in the first place. The first truly cold night of winter so a few kinks to work out (why didn't the hoses drain properly?) but all the livestock seem just fine and after weeks of cloud this sunshine is certainly welcome.

I love how all the animals are sun seekers on these days. Not a lot of noise or movement, just finding a sunny place out of the wind and being very quiet. Most of chores spent filing water tubs!

Busy catching pack rats. Don't know why there is a such of flood of them this year - one ate through the exhaust pipe in the dryer and got inside. YUCK! He is no longer with us now though... still catching them in the barn. They make such a mess and smell so horrible!

I agree Heda...more pack rats this year! I've caught several. I know I have one more in the barn, but the mice keep setting off the trap, so I have to catch the mice first...it's a never ending cycle...

Try a bit of tin foil or something else sparkly - seems to attract the pack rats and not the mice.

Hmmm...that's a good idea...I guess they are called pack rats for a reason! I'll have to try that!

Cold and more cold here. I am still working out the kinks in all my heated water dishes. All four were working fine until I rearranged the plug- in situation, then only two worked. Got one going this evening and am going to tinker with the other one tomorrow.

Tomorrow is back to work after a nice four day weekend. I have decided four days is the perfect lenght for a weekend!

What's a pack rat?

What is a pack rat you ask? Don't bother checking on Wikipedia...... the fairy tale they spin there is nothing short of LIES! Wikipedia represents them as delightful little woodland creatures, scampering about, fascinating the researchers who monitor them....... NOT!!!!!! They are the spawn of all things evil (at least in my mind)!  So cute, they look a bit like a Chinchilla,(wolf in sheep's clothing if you will) but the damage they do is unbelievable.  They chew everything, saddles, wiring, insulation, they seem to have a special passion for bale strings that are still holding my bales together ...the list goes on and on!  What they don't damage by chewing they steal!  Oh and did I mention the SMELL? Pack Rats STINK! We have found their nests with everything imaginable stored in or around it.  If they can pick it up they will take it!  We have trapped several in the attic space of our home.  They are the reason our lights to the paddocks  don't work...... hubby has not had time to fix them AGAIN.  This time he is replacing all the wiring in the attic with something that is metal clad to try to slow them down.  We trap them, shoot them and send the dogs after them and still they prevail.

You forgot something Echo...if it is too hard to chew...and too big to pack away...then they pee on it! Gosh darn things!

Yes Farmer Bob...they pee and leave their dropping on everything............. I have had them in the front entry of my home and even on my dining room table, hence the depth of my rage!

And they can get BIG! We use all sorts of rat traps including the ones like giant mousetraps and we area always losing them unless we wire them down - they just drag them off otherwise. Dog caught one the other day that was the size of a cat. Their love for all the twine on hay bales, small squares and large round bales alike makes our life a misery and I feel sad feeding the stock hay that stinks of pack rat urine.

Anyway, it is a bad year for pack rats!

Minus 14 this morning. Still no snow at this level.

Morning all. It's been around -18C in my little section of Parkland County. Brrrr! My pet turkey tom BigGuy has had his muff up around his little head like a hoodie. Thanksfully, he and the other critters are in the barn which is reading around -10C.

Been busy all summer working on the barn. Been remodeling it. Pretty much threw myself into it, putting everything else on the back burner. It's been a year since me and my dad parted ways. Was several months of anxiety being examined by health care people and stress trying to prove that it was my dad who was refusing any outside help and not us preventing it. After we were finally cleared, I just needed to decompress from everything. I just decided to concentrate just on the barn. Was able to work through a lot of things. Best part is I was able to get all the started work done. 4 new barn coops and feed/storage area. The smalls I can do on the warmer days. Even managed to get some other outdoor repairs down too.

Now I am getting ready for the big poultry show in Red Deer on Nov. 22 & 23. If only I can feel ready for that. *lol* I always get so stressed.

Oh and I've never met a packrat but sounds like that's a good thing.

Are these only in Western Canada? (hoping) They sound like the voles we have.

Actually no- I just looked them up. they are HUGE compared to our wee little voles!! They really are rats. And although cute there's not much to love, habit wise!! I think it's a pest we don't have here, thankfully.

Yes, never saw them in Ontario.  Think more like skunks or raccoons (neither we have here) - smaller than that but even more damaging. Gnawing and peeing, peeing and gnawing. At least they aren't predators.  They are native to North America, unlike other rats. They make enormous nests and hoard shiny things especially. And STINK!

Formal name:  Bushy Tailed Woodrat

Our dog killed one last year that was in the shop. He did major insulation damage. In the last week I've heard one in the attic of our house so need to get a trap set up for him. I'll have to think of something shiny to bait him to the trap. Good to know about having to anchor the trap, I wouldn't have thought of that.

guten Tag!

Getting ready for the show here, too, plus all the usual chaos of farm, work, and children. We managed to get all of our "MUST COMPLETE" jobs done before it snowed, and even a few of the optional items on the to-do list got done. Feeling quite good about the state of the farm and yard, although spring will see us embark on another season of work, of course.

We are enjoy a temporary rest period now, since we worked ourselves to exhaustion every day for the past few months. Just the normal daily chores, no epic projects for a little while! Soon we'll get bored of that, though, and then I have some indoor projects in mind ... mwahahahaha!

toybarons, building stuff is very therapeutic, for sure. I hope everything works out well........and good luck at the show.

Thanks Derbyshire. Much appreciate it.

Well, still mucking around with power to all the water heaters. The breaker was blown when we got home tonight, so had to reroute the stock tank heater to the shop tonight. Should be good for tomorrow. A few additions this year (ducks and alpacas), so need to get the new routine down. Just came in from outside, and it is -12, so not too bad.