Apocalyptic Homesteading (Day 1283)

Hello Everyone!

Sorting fasteners, Cutting back the vegetation, More washing and packing & Esmarelda is not doing well!

Alright, I am beginning my writing routine eleven minutes ahead of schedule this evening. It has been a heck of a long day... so we will see just how much that I can get spelled out here before the fatigue catches up with me.

Last night I did not have as easy of a time falling asleep as I thought that I would... and wound up being up until a little after midnight. I did however try to fall asleep much earlier... but I just had too much rattling around in my mind... and wound up tossing and turning a lot before finally drifting off.

This morning I awoke not all that long after dawn... and had a heck of a time convincing myself to get up and start my day because I ached all over. I guess that during all of yesterday's activities I really over did it... because not only did I ache all over but all my joints were stiff and my muscles sore to boot... which yeah was far from the most exciting things to wake up to.

At this point in the day I cannot recall how much that I did online with my Hive engagement routine and whatnot... but I do recall getting out the door not all that long after waking. For the most part all that I achieved at first was getting the shop tent door rolled up, the wagon pulled out of the way, shuffling a bunch of stuff around... and then figuring out what all I was going to do... before heading back inside to make more espresso.

Lately I have been trying to tackle the tasks that I find myself avoiding as soon as I start my day... so that no matter what else I do (or do not) get done I always feel like I got a lot done. Today's such tasks were to finally sort through two big containers of fasteners... and separate them from all the rodent waste and nest material that they were mixed in with.

That was quite the tedious process actually but eventually I got everything sorted out... and was happy to find a bunch of hardware (like joist hangers and such) at the bottom of one of the containers. To avoid the fasteners becoming a mess again... I separated them the best that I could into various small containers... and then put those containers into larger lidded containers for safe keeping.

After all that jazz, I switched gears and got my swing blade from the tool pile and cut down all the vegetation in front of the shop tent... and along the road where the moving truck and trailer will be parked. That particular task went rather quickly... but raking it all up and pulling a bunch of vines that remained afterwards... took about twice as much time.

Since I have been needing some more flat area to stage (and wash) stuff on... that is not on the ground... I carried four cinder blocks to the other side of the road from the shop tent... and then got four more pieces of lumber from the lumber pile to create a platform. Of course the lumber itself was filthy with rodent waste... so I spent a good amount of time scrubbing it all down with my plastic bristled broom and some bleach water.

Honestly, much of the day is a blur after that... because I just stayed in motion and kept washing stuff down and packing away anything that I could that had already been washed. Somehow during it all I even managed to continue washing those socks that I started washing a few days ago... and even got them hung up to dry by the end of the day.

The last major thing that I worked on (before getting a bath) was to go over to that other tent... and haul back the giant wheeled trash can that had all my spring capture gear in it. I will spare you all the gross details... but the trash can itself was beyond filthy... and although the carbois that were in it looked clean enough... I will need to thoroughly sterilize them before using them again.

Anyways, before I got in the bathtub I noticed that Esmarelda (the hen) was laying on her side near the chicken coop... and at first I just thought that she was taking a dust bath or something. Then though, after my bath (when I went to fill their water containers) I noticed that she was still laying there... and upon closer inspection she did not look well.

I am unsure what is wrong with her but she was more or less unable to stand upright or walk all that well when I got her on her feet... and tried to get her to walk with my assistance. After not finding any visible wounds and doing a little 'research' online... I think that she might be 'egg bound' or have some kind of calcium deficiency.

All that I could think of to do for tonight was to let her get some water off my finger tip... and put her in a tote with a bunch of old linens, a cup of water in the corner and a small container with blackberries and wheat bread in it. I also stuck her in the solar shack where it is much warmer... because everything that I was reading said to try to keep them in a warm (and humid) area if they are showing the kinds of signs of illness that I was observing in her.

If she makes it through the night, I am going to cook her some white rice and see if she will eat it throughout the day tomorrow. If I had anything else with calcium in it I would give it to her too... but after racking my brain on the matter I think that the rice is the only thing that I have at the moment.

Well, my little brain is tired so I am going to call this entry good enough... and get on with my evening. I hope that everyone is doing well. Ta ta for now.

Just another sunset through the pines!

Poor little Esmarelda! I hope that she recovers!

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Cheers! & Hive On!

All content found in this post is mine!