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| The pumpkins have all turned orange. |
Sunday was a little cooler and I woke up to overcast skies. I had a horrible night sleep as my gray cat Scrappy (the cat on medication) was obviously feeling better and he'd been out hunting all night. He bought everyone of his catches home to loudly meow his victory just outside my open window. I had to praised him for his victory to get him to stop and then he would crunch the little victim in celebratory feast. I don't know if you have ever heard a cat eat a gopher or a mouse, but it's just like crunching a bag of potatochips. It's hard to be angry at a cat for being a good hunter, but at 3am, 4am, 5am ya just want to duct tape the little guys mouth shut.
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| Pears |
Sunday morning was a scheduled birthday breakfast for my Sister-in-law, at my parents house. I was a few pages short in my, 12 pages a day to Read The Bible in 90 Days, so spent a few quiet moments finishing Saturdays reading. The rest of the morning would be breakfast with family and then off to church. The afternoon would be spent winterizing the chicken coop.
After church, I stopped off at Lowe's and bought a 12' x 10' tarp and a 4' x 8' 1.5" sheet of rigid insulation, to line the chicken coop with. I had wanted to buy that curvy paneling that is clear to put on the roof of the pen, but it turned out to be $32 for a single 2' x 12' sheet and I would need at least 6 sheets. I wasn't even going to do the math, a good tarp would do just fine.
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| Inside the coop, looking out the chicken's door |
I got home and let the chickens out and I was all ready to start working on the coop, but the hens were lined up to lay eggs and I didn't want to disturb them. I was able to install the tarp, which took about 10 minutes and then I killed some time in the garden. I snapped a bunch of pictures of the pumpkins to send to my niece and nephew, who had helped plant the garden in the spring. The pumpkins were now orange, the apples were starting to fall, the pears were large and the corn was finally ready to eat (nearly a month and half behind schedule).
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| Leaves of the Honey Locust starting to turn and fall. |
After waiting about an hour, I had 5 eggs for the day and the hens were now all out in the yard. It was now my chance to insulate the coop. Using just a small keyhole saw I measured and then cut each piece to fit. Within an hour I had pretty much finished the insulation and out of the 4' x 8' sheet, I had about 2 square feet of pieces left. I remade the nesting boxes and put in a roosting bar, lined the coop with newspaper, put in the nesting boxes in and lined them with fresh grass hay. The hens should now be ready for winter. I still need to install a heat lamp for the coldest of winter days, but for the most part they should be ready to go.
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| Sun setting over my parents 40 acres at the end of my driveway |
Again, I didn't spend any time with the trailer. The leaves of the Honey Locust that had protected it from the hot August heat have started to turn gold and are starting to fall. I will either be shipping trailer off to have it worked on, or I will need to park it inside the shop. Either way it will need to be moved before the winter snow start to fall.
Despite the day being a little cooler, with a high in 70's, it was another beautiful day. The only sad part of the day was my friend Ann in Oklahoma had returned home after attending the Texas - OU game to find out that a hawk had squeezed through the 4" x 4" wire covering over her chicken pen and had killed 4 of her chickens. She had to run to Lowe's to buy chicken wire to cover the roof, so the hawk did not return. She is now down to 3 laying hens.
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