Click on it for full panoramic extravaganza.
Wyalusing Panorama
Wyalusing is a state park where the Wisconsin River joins the Mississippi. We took Wonder Niece there, because it is something worth seeing. I snapped this picture:
Click on it for full panoramic extravaganza.
Click on it for full panoramic extravaganza.
Photographs for August
This is a photo challenge I'm going to do for August:
Are there any other bloggers who would want to do it with me? It would be fun to compare our photos.
Are there any other bloggers who would want to do it with me? It would be fun to compare our photos.
Light Reading
My daughter needs this book. She has been talking for weeks about how she's going to live in a hole in the ground in the woods.
Terrible Ideas are Fun
Little Z, Wonder Niece and I were summoned to the post office this morning to pick up fifty baby roosters. The roosters' fate is meant to be for the dinner plate. 
A few hours after we had them settled in, I mused that, if we were to keep them all and not actually eat them, we would have quite a mess of roosters on our hands.
"But you could have them fight each other and sell tickets!" said the Wonder Niece.
Which, I couldn't help but point out, would make us quite the unique operation:
ORGANIC FREE RANGE COCK FIGHTING!
A few hours after we had them settled in, I mused that, if we were to keep them all and not actually eat them, we would have quite a mess of roosters on our hands.
"But you could have them fight each other and sell tickets!" said the Wonder Niece.
Which, I couldn't help but point out, would make us quite the unique operation:
ORGANIC FREE RANGE COCK FIGHTING!
Wonder Niece to the Rescue!
The chickens have gotten sick lately. Some of them were so sick, they died! Four dead, so far. Then I noticed something terribly disgusting- worms in the poop!
No photo. I gagged.
I got ahold of our state poultry expert (Seriously. I asked him his job title three times!) and he seemed to think that it was a fairly fixable and common problem. He recommended a de-wormer. But then it gets a little tricky, because you can't eat the eggs of a chicken until the dewormer is through its system. The FDA doesn't test dewormers for laying hens, mostly because factory farmed chickens don't get worms, because they eat off of conveyor belts. BLAAHAHAHAHA! Yuck!
So, I tentatively ordered the dewormer on line, and it should be here tomorrow.
Meanwhile, I felt like I ought to do something NOW to stop the chickens from dropping dead!
And also, my fifteen year old niece flew in from California to visit. And she says, all casual like,
"Oh, worms? Yeah, I did this report on Scotland, and this herb called Mugwort will get rid of worms."
It took me awhile to figure out the connection with Scotland, but I'll get to that later. I looked it up on the internet, and it took some serious searching, but yeah, Mugwort does get rid of worms.
We consulted the local hippy friends at the health food co-op, and they didn't have any Mugwort, but they gave me the number of Community Pharmacy in Madison, which is the solar nexus and epicenter of all good hippie vibes, and of course they had some!
Little Z and Wonder Niece and I then went on a fantastical road trip to the Mythical (and somewhat real) Community Pharmacy, which advertised sexual healing on its banner out front. Once inside, we found the appropriate counter: the one with the shelves of large glass jars behind it. I love large glass jars full of fancy herbs.
A pretty girl with a petite mustache helped us. She inquired as to what the Mugwort was for, and when I said it was for deworming chickens, she said,
"Far out."
This is what it looked like:
I put some in the chickens' food, which was eaten pretty quickly by some of the chickens, and then I brewed it into a tea and filled their waterer with it. It smelled pleasant. I might make some for myself later.
Then, Wonder Niece showed me her report on Scotland, which turned out to be a report on Scottish food. She had written that Caraway seeds, "keep away thieves and vandals."
"How do they do that?" I asked, suddenly much interested in keeping away thieves and vandals, myself.
"It's used in witchcraft," she explained.
"Oh."
Then I read on, and sure enough, she had written that Mugwort was used to treat worms. I found the report on Scottish food to be quite informative, although it did place a little more emphasis on seasonings and witchcraft than what I would consider to be necessary. (I've been to Scotland. I must have gone to the wrong places.) It had some true entertainment value, though, for sure. She included some Wiccan verses.
"What did you get on this?" I asked her.
"B+."
"Oh. That's about right."
If the Mugwort doesn't work for our chickens, the report contained some incantations which might also be helpful. Or I might also try that antibiotic that the state poultry expert recommended. Or maybe just the Wiccan chanting. Either or.
All joking aside, I'm really glad for Wonder Niece being here to make that helpful suggestion. Today was the first day in four that no chickens died.
No photo. I gagged.
I got ahold of our state poultry expert (Seriously. I asked him his job title three times!) and he seemed to think that it was a fairly fixable and common problem. He recommended a de-wormer. But then it gets a little tricky, because you can't eat the eggs of a chicken until the dewormer is through its system. The FDA doesn't test dewormers for laying hens, mostly because factory farmed chickens don't get worms, because they eat off of conveyor belts. BLAAHAHAHAHA! Yuck!
So, I tentatively ordered the dewormer on line, and it should be here tomorrow.
Meanwhile, I felt like I ought to do something NOW to stop the chickens from dropping dead!
And also, my fifteen year old niece flew in from California to visit. And she says, all casual like,
"Oh, worms? Yeah, I did this report on Scotland, and this herb called Mugwort will get rid of worms."
It took me awhile to figure out the connection with Scotland, but I'll get to that later. I looked it up on the internet, and it took some serious searching, but yeah, Mugwort does get rid of worms.
We consulted the local hippy friends at the health food co-op, and they didn't have any Mugwort, but they gave me the number of Community Pharmacy in Madison, which is the solar nexus and epicenter of all good hippie vibes, and of course they had some!
Little Z and Wonder Niece and I then went on a fantastical road trip to the Mythical (and somewhat real) Community Pharmacy, which advertised sexual healing on its banner out front. Once inside, we found the appropriate counter: the one with the shelves of large glass jars behind it. I love large glass jars full of fancy herbs.
A pretty girl with a petite mustache helped us. She inquired as to what the Mugwort was for, and when I said it was for deworming chickens, she said,
"Far out."
This is what it looked like:
I put some in the chickens' food, which was eaten pretty quickly by some of the chickens, and then I brewed it into a tea and filled their waterer with it. It smelled pleasant. I might make some for myself later.
Then, Wonder Niece showed me her report on Scotland, which turned out to be a report on Scottish food. She had written that Caraway seeds, "keep away thieves and vandals."
"How do they do that?" I asked, suddenly much interested in keeping away thieves and vandals, myself.
"It's used in witchcraft," she explained.
"Oh."
Then I read on, and sure enough, she had written that Mugwort was used to treat worms. I found the report on Scottish food to be quite informative, although it did place a little more emphasis on seasonings and witchcraft than what I would consider to be necessary. (I've been to Scotland. I must have gone to the wrong places.) It had some true entertainment value, though, for sure. She included some Wiccan verses.
"What did you get on this?" I asked her.
"B+."
"Oh. That's about right."
If the Mugwort doesn't work for our chickens, the report contained some incantations which might also be helpful. Or I might also try that antibiotic that the state poultry expert recommended. Or maybe just the Wiccan chanting. Either or.
All joking aside, I'm really glad for Wonder Niece being here to make that helpful suggestion. Today was the first day in four that no chickens died.
My Weekend: Cowboys, Ducks, and Lucy the Mexican Girl
The backs of cowboys taking me on a wagon ride (not just me, but, you know, us):
Mama duck leading babies to water at the zoo:
Lucy is an art piece that Mary gave us for taking her old chickens. We ate the chickens, so I didn't consider it any huge favour to take them, but Mary was so happy that we took them off of her hands that she gave us our pick of her current art stock. I liked this one best because it has a Mexican theme, and also in part because of the heart playing card, with my lucky number: 27. I placed Lucy in our mud room, flanked by two handsome and also sort of freaky owls. This probably isn't her permanent home. I might build her a knick knack shelf- a little shrine. One of those corner deals.
In the meantime, she can scare off Jehovah's Witnesses and small children (if the giant whiz-bang chicken plucker in the driveway doesn't frighten them away, first).
Mama duck leading babies to water at the zoo:
Lucy is an art piece that Mary gave us for taking her old chickens. We ate the chickens, so I didn't consider it any huge favour to take them, but Mary was so happy that we took them off of her hands that she gave us our pick of her current art stock. I liked this one best because it has a Mexican theme, and also in part because of the heart playing card, with my lucky number: 27. I placed Lucy in our mud room, flanked by two handsome and also sort of freaky owls. This probably isn't her permanent home. I might build her a knick knack shelf- a little shrine. One of those corner deals.
In the meantime, she can scare off Jehovah's Witnesses and small children (if the giant whiz-bang chicken plucker in the driveway doesn't frighten them away, first).
Wiz Bang: Completed!
I'm hoping BAH will help me to carry it outside before I use it! I don't think I want to send chicken feathers and lots of water flying all over the house. At least, not at this point in my life.
DIY Train
This is what happens when you don't buy your child the toy she wants (at least, if she's anything like my child).
She wants the Dinosaur Train set, and I keep telling her to wait for her birthday. This is the dinosaur train.
So, that was kind of fun, except that she spilled a huge glob of paint on the rug, and I had to take out a section and wash it before it dried. Bodkay was watching, and kindly jumped in as a place holder during the cleaning process. Always helpful.
She wants the Dinosaur Train set, and I keep telling her to wait for her birthday. This is the dinosaur train.
So, that was kind of fun, except that she spilled a huge glob of paint on the rug, and I had to take out a section and wash it before it dried. Bodkay was watching, and kindly jumped in as a place holder during the cleaning process. Always helpful.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)