I’ve been on somewhat of a hiatus since last December. The Rescue just began taking off and demanding much of my free time. Now that everything is in place, and I have an awesome team of volunteers working with me, I can breathe a little. So, I decided to write an update.
Recently Chris and I had to reinforce the chicken pen, as we have had so many foxes in the area, and one even dug under the fencing to get a poor hen. We lashed 36″ chicken wire all the way around the coop building and fencing to the ground, then put soil and grass seed over the top. The worst part was burying the wire under the landscaping blocks around the kennel panels – those things are 28 pounds each! Add in July heat (90 degrees + STL humidity), and we were pretty wiped out after the project.
Because of said foxes, my flock had been dwindling from 16 down to 8 with the last attack. I bought 9 new pullets and was given 4 pullets by a friend. So, I’m up to twenty-one now (6 Rhode Island Reds, 3 Buff Orpingtons, 3 Leghorns, 3 Black Australorps, 2 New Hampshires, 1 Barred Rock, 1 White Rock, 1 Black Star, and 1 Polish). Unfortunately, the girls can’t free range any longer, but they now have a 22′ x 30′ pen (we decided to expand from the 12′ x 20′ pen before renovating).
The garden had been doing well until July. All of the squash family plants were taken over again this year by stink bugs. I really need to work on an organic solution – I guess my concentration of Neem oil was too high again this year for the poor plants. We did get some great cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes. Some melon plants have survived too! Just so sad we don’t get any great Connecticut pumpkins this year!
I have been sewing and crafting a little this summer (thank you cards for the Rescue, a few dresses for myself and Kari, painting and tie-dying shirts, making some new jewelry pieces, and knot blankets as a fundraiser). I enjoy making my own things, as I think it is so fun to have a piece no one else in the world has…and to be able to make it your own!
The Rescue is going very well – so far, we have rescued over 275 pets! We have adoption events several times each month, but by far, the Internet is the heavy hitter for adoptions!
After much flip flopping, I decided to make the jump to get the iPhone 4 from my 3G. Although I pre-ordered mine, I stood in line for 6.5 hours. And, yes, next time I am going to have it shipped. Turns out, I broke even with the upgrade as I sold my still new looking 3G on ebay.
Then, now that my computer demands have changed (video/design), I’ve become more taxing on a computer’s get-up-and-go, so I (after again much flip-flopping) sold my black Macbook and bought a new iMac. I had to calculate a method of making the upgrade financially responsible, then I was more comfortable with it (buying on tax free weekend, selling my computer first). And then, when the new iMacs were announced, I was all on board! I went Friday early so I could be sure to get my iMac. Friday also was the first time in my line waiting history that Chris (and Kari) actually waited in line with me! Kari was the line’s comic relief.