Finishing nestboxes & dealing with weeds.

 Spent some time this morning finishing the new nestboxes.  I used a design recommended by the folks at the Tree Swallow Project (http://www.treeswallowprojects.com ) which will allow the tree swallow nestlings (aka TRES) a lot more room as they’re growing and exercising their wings.  My old Peterson bluebird boxes (1^st picture) have worked fine for the BB, but I gotta believe the TRES are cramped!  

   

 

To make the nestboxes, I used a chunk of old board that had been used for the past three years in the barn to store hay.  I couldn’t believe how dusty it was!  I think I sneezed every 2 minutes while cutting the stuff!  Must’ve gone through half a box of Kleenex…  I was appreciating Dad’s old table saw, though.  I’m too wimpy to do that much sawing by hand, and even the skill saw (yeah, I know it’s a brand name but you know what I mean!) gets heavy after a few cuts.  The plans were simple (check out the website – it’s great!) and I made four solid boxes for use next year.  Today I figured out a way to mount them on the T-posts, which was not a smooth process either.  The most frustrating (and mortifying) part was realizing that the drill bit wasn’t actually dull – I was drilling in reverse!  Gawd…  I can just hear Dad laughing at me.  Once I figured that out, the rest went smoothly.  One of my goals with these projects is to complete them with the materials we have on the farm, not buying anything, and this one made the grade.  YAY!

Molly’s foot was swollen today so I took off the pressure wrap and we went for several long walks to reduce the swelling.  Hard to get a pressure wrap tight enough to do any good, but not so tight as to cause problems!  The seroma site is now firm and feeling kinda solid, almost like a tumor would feel, with discrete edges.  I talked with the vet again and the thought is that the tissue will resorb as the seroma heals.  Hope so!  She doesn’t seem bothered by it, so that’s reassuring. 

I sprayed for weeds along the driveway and some rough spots in the pasture.  We have a kind of thistle that I’ve become obsessed with eliminating.  It’s evil and bites back, if I’m not careful.  I haven’t ID’d it yet – here are a couple pictures and I’m thinking it’s a Canada thistle.  The horses want nothing to do with it, and the spines on the leaves keep them well away from any patch of grass they’re hiding in!  Wicked leaves…

Now it's time to go finish the stalls and bring in the horses.  Hope they're all okay - we don't need more vet bills!

Hi Mom,                                                                                                                                                            

Just got out of the shower, after coming in dripping from two and a half hours of yard work.  It’s appalling and amazing how quickly weeds regrow, even after being blasted with serious herbicides.  Kinda reassuring too, though.  When the apocalypse comes, at least we know bugs and ragweed will return!  I also spent some time with the weed-whacker, cleaning up the edges of the gardens.  The dogs were both out with me, mostly sticking around, but with our 10 acres, plus the surrounding fields, sometimes the temptation gets to be too much.  All of a sudden, I notice there are no dogs to be seen – rabbits, beware!  Good thing I can make that really loud whistle; the shock collars help, too.  Sometimes Henry (the 14 month old Golden mix) will simply look at me, obviously wondering why I’m jumping up and down, making all that racket (“What does screaming ‘Henry, come!!!!’ mean again?”) .  That’s when he gets a small tap with the shock collar to remind him…  He also gets a treat when he comes back, so the world is not entirely hostile to adventurous dogs.  Molly, on the other hand, as a 10 year old Lab, is usually content to wander with me on my rounds.  There are certain advantages to older dogs…

I had to bring Molly back to the vet today to deal with a seroma that developed in her laceration site.  They drained it and put on a pressure wrap (pretty pink Vetrap), which was down around her paw by the time we got home.  The laceration is up by her elbow on the inside and front of her leg, so the wrap really needs to be tucked up and around the elbow to have any chance of staying put.  I redid it and we’ll see how long it lasts.   At least they only charged me for a set of antibiotics.  I have pet insurance for Henry, but not for Molly, so of course she’s the one who got injured.  I’m still not certain what she sliced herself open on, though I think the old harrow is the only possibility.  I still feel bad that I sent her back for her Frisbee, after she came gimpily trotting towards me.  She obediently turned around, picked up the Frisbee, and came on back to me.  Then I saw the gaping wound and the blood running down her leg!  She’s such a good girl.  Can anything beat a good Lab?

Fred’s been riding regularly again, which is good.  My old horse is basically retired, but the two younger ones need regular work, especially Faye.  She’s so pretty!  We can’t afford lessons or shows these days, but Fred certainly knows enough to get her into pretty darn good shape.  If we ever do have to sell her, at least she’d stand a better chance for a good and permanent home if she’s reasonably well-trained and showing some dressage ability.  I do love being able to watch horses ramble around outside my window, but they are not  an inexpensive hobby!

Time for a check of the nestboxes.  We had one brood of tree swallows fledge, one of bluebirds, and are waiting out one more of each.  I’m keeping an eye on the empty boxes in case some $%#@ house sparrow decides to move in – NOT!  I want to mount some more nestboxes – I’ll tell you about the building process in my next letter.

Take care!