October Already With A Story!!

 It's October and it feels like it's on a witches broom flying through!

This is a long read, get a cuppa & settle in! 

I didn't look forward to October as I knew my husband, Bill, would be away more than he would be home. I miss his day to day company and helping me with daily chores that now I would do solo.

An eventfully day happened on the 18th when an eagle would swoop in & attack one of my hens!I was in the laundry room when I heard what I thought to be a kitten crying. I opened the door to hear better and the adrenaline kicked in and I ran, slippers flying over the asphalt parking, gravel, over the bridge yelling, no screaming, 'Leave her alone!' and the huge 2yr old eagle flew upwards, with me still screaming at it. It flew high on a branch and watched me as I yelled until it left. The hens were scared into a corner of the fence in the wooded area. OMG I ran around the fencing doing a head count, two were gone! The feathers, so many red feathers, but where was the carcass, or the feet? Just feathers. 

I got the hens over the bridge and they all clustered together in the coop. Then I saw that Reba had been attacked and all her neck, back, and tail-feathers, were gone! she had been the one crying as it had its feathers plucked out, one by one. Oh Reba, my heart went out to her and the trauma that the others had gone through listening to her screams.

Going back to them several times, going into there run and talking to them I look to the gate that goes over their bridge and there was the rogue hen wanting to be with the flock. It must've flew over the fence during the commotion. She had survived this horrid ordeal and I had lost one hen to the eagle.  

Bill arrived home from the airport hours after and we took inventory and tended to Reba with antibiotic spray and Peck Off spray when they were all quiet on the roost that night. If she made it through the night, I knew she was going to be OK. And by morning she was! However she was quite the sight for sore eyes!! 

This is Reba 6 days after the attack, she looks like a porcupine with quills!

She's one of the original chicks that Jocelyne and I picked up a couple of years ago. She a hardy bird and is getting all her feathers back!

And the hen story continues!

A few days ago our neighbour two doors over, came over to tell us that a hen was loose in her yard. 

The young, escaping, rouge hen never ventured away from the fence.

We went over and it looked like one of the original Reba's! We tried to capture it but it was hard and after many attempts gave up. The next day Bill left for Rhode Island's Elevator Code Meetings and I saw the hen again. I was determined to get her with our flock and coached her with meal worms to our property. When she saw the flock she ran to the fence to see them. The injured hen wanted nothing to do with her and pecked through the fence at her.

It was dusk now and the hens went to the coop, she flew up onto the open fence & looked int the coop, she wanted in. I coached to into one run, then the closed run with the hen door to the coop.She shot into the coop! This is the time to introduce a new chicken to a flock, at night in the coop. The hens would not allow her on the roost, so she went into the nesting box. After watching them, we have a camera in the coop and on both runs to view them from the house. I let the girls settle then went out and tried to move her out, she flew onto the roost. I left turned the light out quickly and went to the house to watch from the camera. 

Mission accomplished! All ten hens were settling in for the night. 

I was so excited that I had told Bill, Nick, & Leslie about my evening adventure. Leslie put the thought in my head, was it the missing hen? There never was a carcass left, only feathers...

In the morning, it hit me! It was the missing hen!! There was Henny, the three original Reba's, and the six new hens!! The flock was complete again, all ten present & accounted for!

Now that quite the true, October story, don't you think? One with a happy ending.

With the first frost comes the picking of rose-hips for our winter evening tea. Rose-hips are loaded with vitamins & high in vitamin C to help support the immune system. Bill helped me pick one day & then he was gone the next so the morning was filled with getting these ready for the freezer.

The first task after picking is the cleaning of stems and leaves. I listened to the radio whilst doing that chore.

Then I washed them in cold water with lemon juice, everything tastes fresh with lemon juice. :)

Cookie sheets and large tray's were lined with clean tea towels as I rocked them back & forth to dry them. I used paper towels to roll them around to help with the drying.

The I relined them with clean dry tea towels to finish the drying. They were then put into empty containers & froze for this winters enjoyment.

October is canning time for me.

Red Pepper Jelly for gifting and winter enjoyment.

Lady Ashburn Mustard Pickles, one of Bill's favourite!

I stumbled upon this recipe trying to use up zucchini and however I do not grate them, I cut everything into small pieces. And the 'regular mustard' I use mustard powder. It's a yummy relish!

Such a wonderful flavour year round with meat,fish, or poultry(not my hens!)

With the canning shelves filling up and the weather changing, the winds are getting colder now with the water cooling down.

This coleslaw is a staple in our fridge and great along side a meal or sandwich at lunch. 
 

The lens on my phone wasn't clean. This is a door hanging I made for my girlfriend Dorice. Everyone at the apartment has something hung on their door year round. I thought this was beautiful when I saw one that Seraphie had made at our sewing group in Baie-Ste-Anne. She let me take hers home to make a pattern from it and here it is!

The back is as beautiful as the front! Dorice liked hers, I gifted it to her and Seraphie showed it to her the day before from her phone pictures. She a big grin and her eyes were shining telling me about the sneak preview! 

You know the saying 'What's old is new again' well, that's what I did with some paint to giving back colour that the sun has faded with this pumpkin outfit. It just took $2 craft paint and some time & effort!

TaDa! Next year this goose is going to have some painting done to her! She wears the crochet turtleneck to cover the duct tape holding her cement rod. I pulled the hose on year & tripped her, braking her neck! Cosmetic cement surgery from Bill will be on the agenda too!

Bill has made the fence for my Halloween Vignette. 

How whimsical is this?!

I used Rexton's real whiskers on this kitty!

The days are getting shorter and the winds produce white caps on the water, Baxter stays warm & cozy.

 

Rexton's ready to bewitch those dogs!

The sun porch is now closed, her tree tower is now in the great room & she's delighted!

Bridget has so much love in her and soon she'll be 10 years old!

Baxter loves to be cozy and has claimed this bench as his own. He loves watching out the window to the backyard.

I'm doing my first sewing retreat here in New Brunswick Nov 6th-8th. This is the sewing I hope to accomplish. I've had this quilt kit for years!

All cut, labelled, and ready to sew!

 I love a woodland scene, it will finish at 71"x78". Photos to follow.

Well, if you've stayed till the end, thank you for visiting. It has been eventful for sure. With the turn of events, this happy ending has me so happy and grateful.

Wishing you a Spectacular Halloween with health & happiness!

Cynthia xXx