Chicks in Tha' House!

Well, the garage, really.

I have two broody hens--Buttercup, a Buff Brahma, and Portia, a Silver-Laced Brahma (I think).  Buttercup is in the garage; Portia is still in the coop. I didn't have any problems moving Buttercup, but Portia raised a ruckus when I tried to move her to a broody pen in the garage.  So this will be an experiment of sorts to see if leaving a hen in the coop to hatch eggs works. To be careful, I only let Portia have two eggs.  Buttercup ended up with 16--usually, a hen sits on 12-15 eggs, but Buttercup kept stealing eggs.

Buttercups chicks began hatching on May 28.  Only two hatched that day, so I'm letting her sit for a couple more days to see if any other eggs hatch. If she gets off the nest or kicks the eggs out, I'll remove them, but I don't think I'm going to let her sit on them past Sunday.  Those unhatched eggs are going to be ripe!

Here's a fuzzy pic of the first two chicks:

I think they might be Bantams, which makes sense since the only "working" roosters I have are Bantams--two Cochins and two Japanese Bantams.  The Cochins have feathered feet, as does Buttercup.

Here's Buttercup with one of the chicks:

I don't know who laid these eggs, either! Buttercup stole so many eggs that I'm not sure many of these are hers.  No telling what I'll get, so this is something of an adventure.

I usually buy my chicks.  In fact, I had just bought six chicks--four Golden Sex Links (Comets), one Red Sex Link, and a Barred Rock Rooster (regular size, not Bantam).

I'm running out of room. I have five coops. I need to consolidate these and make one big chicken yard! They mostly get along, so a large coop would make more sense and certainly save me time in the morning.

That's a project for later!

One thing--hatching chicks is wonderful.  I love seeing them interact with their mother, and I love hearing her "talk" to them.  It's an amazing experience.

Ah, adventures in chicken keeping.  I think everyone should do this.  Not only do you get fresh eggs, but you get hours and hours of free, funny entertainment.  You should try it!

Spring Break Off the Rails...

My spring break has not begun well.

Saturday, March 30, I went to Toledo Bend to visit with my family.  They rent cabins there, and, until last year, I used to stay for the weekend.  Now that I have chickens, I can't do that, so I spend the day visiting and going to the junk shops.  It's a tradition!

Somewhere, somehow, something managed to bite me on the right index finger--probably a spider, but I can't say for sure.  My finger and part of my right hand are swollen and hurt just a bit, but I refuse to go to the emergency room (last trip there cost me $700) or to a doctor.  What did people in the 1800s do?  Probably died, if the spider was major poisonous, but I don't think this one was.  I'll watch it.  If I need to, I'll go to the doctor tomorrow, but I'm not one to run to the doctor for every little thing.

On top of that, a fever blister has popped out.  Stress much?

Then, of course, that storm hit on Easter Sunday.  My yard looks as though a bomb went off, and I haven't made a dent in the debris pick-up.  I did a bunch yesterday, but, with each new breeze, down comes more stuff.  And the forecast says two more days of rain (that I know of).

Along with the storm came a power outage that left me without electricity for six hours on Sunday.  That, in turn, slowed the water pressure (don't ask me why), so that the shower was a trickle.

Oy!  Such small disasters add up to major annoyance.

Maybe I can still salvage some relaxation from all of this.  I'm going to try.

Oh, and it's National Poetry Month, and I'm writing a poem a day for NaPoWriMo.  This is my fifth year--so far, so good.  Poem posted for the day!

I hope your spring break is enjoyable!

Hoarding!

I cannot watch that "Hoarders" show on TV--mostly because I'm afraid I'd recognize myself in some ways.  When it comes to books, at least.  But, I think if someone wants to understand hoarding, s/he should have a squirrel--flying or otherwise; a squirrel can show anyone how to hoard!

This is a picture of my flying squirrel, Rocky.  He's such a sweetie, except when he bites me, but I can cut him some slack on that.  He is nocturnal, and, in the evenings, he sends out pleasant noises; I hear him pinging around his cage when I go to bed.

Squirrels "squirrel away" food.  If you watch ground squirrels during the fall, you will see them burying acorns for later.  Then, in the spring, you'll find them digging throughout the yard to find what they buried.  Rocky doesn't have a "yard," so he "buries" things under the wire at the bottom of his cage.  He might go rooting around for something later.  I hear him scratching the paper that lines the tray.

I cleaned out his cage this morning. Oy! Talk about hoarding!  He had enough stuff "buried" under the cage wire to feed him for a month or two.  Whole nuts, wilted lettuce, sunflower seeds--he wouldn't starve if I forgot to feed him!

I try to clean out his cage once a month, but I might have to shorten the cleaning cycle to every two weeks. Cleaning took about 30 minutes this morning, and I had trouble finding a tool to push out all of the junk.

I won't release Rocky into the wild because his tail is broken; I think that would cause him some problems.  He needs his tail to glide from tree to tree, and I think the other squirrels would give him a hard time.  As long as I have him, I need to take care of him, even if he is a hoarder.

New Look for Spring

Yes, I feel that spring is coming soon--thanks Puxatawny Phil!  With spring comes rain, and we've had our fair share of that the past few days, but, with rain, comes a new garden.  I need to start on that today, so, while I'm out with the chickens today, I'm going to plant some eggshells and sprout some seeds.

The last week has been awful.  One of my chickens died--always a sad event.  But the worst was yet to come.  My beloved Uncle Anthony--Tony--died on February 9, my youngest brother's birthday.  I haven't been to New Orleans since Katrina. Perhaps, one day soon, I will go.  Katrina was, I think, ultimately responsible for my uncle's decline.  Before Katrina, he was a vital, energetic man.  After Katrina, he seemed to give up.  I can understand that, but I am sorry for it.

Sunday morning, a thunderstorm hit here with a fury.  Lightning, thunder, heavy rain.  The chicken runs were all mud, the feed turned mushy; we were all cranky.  As often happens at my house, the electricity went out.  While I was without power, a tree limb fell on the telephone/Internet line.  I spend most of Sunday afternoon and part of Monday morning without the home phone or Internet.  This is just the situation that calls for a cell phone and one of the few times I will use it.  For me, a cell phone is useless.  It's nice to have when I need help on the road, or when the home phone goes down, but, otherwise, it's an expensive annoyance.

AT&T managed to fix the phone line by 9am or so on Monday, and I was back to business as usual.  I'll be honest--I didn't want to work at all during the Mardi Gras Holiday.  I just wanted to sleep and/or watch TV.  Thanks to my hefty work ethic, I powered through the ennui and graded/returned assignments.  That's the true definition of "discipline"--doing what you don't want to do because you must.

Today, more grading--always grading.  But, this afternoon, my heart belongs to the garden.  And that's where it needs to be as I remember my uncle, whose funeral is today.  I'm sorry I'm not there, but I will dedicate my efforts to making the garden a beautiful place, just for him.

Sad and Sadder

In the "bad news" department, one of my Leghorn hens, Eliza, died Sunday.  She probably suffered from bound egg syndrome; this happens when a hen cannot pass an egg.  I hope I didn't stress her more by giving her a warm soak.  That's supposed to help.  But she wasn't used to being handled.

When one of my chickens dies, I generally burn the body in a bonfire.  I either have to bury the chicken deeply to keep the carcass away from predators, or I have to burn it.  Burning is easier for me, and it's less risky.

We're all a bit sad here at Casa Smith.

Things are going fine, otherwise.  The girls are getting through their molts, and the egg production has picked up.

I'm hoping I can get through the year without another chicken death.  I also hope I can get through the spring without buying more chickens!

***
February 9, 2013

My mother called today to tell me that my Uncle Tony (Anthony Rigaud) died this morning.  His is the second death in two weeks--my mom's oldest brother, my Uncle Christie, died in January.  His wife, my Aunt Agnes, died last year.

Uncle Tony was the most wonderful, funniest man I've ever known.  He was married to my dad's sister, Patricia.  Tony could fix anything, build anything, imagine anything.

Until Katrina.

My uncle opted to stay in his house in St. Bernard Parish with my aunt and my cousin, David.  He had no clue that the levees would break and force them into the attic of their home.  They had weathered many hurricanes, and, though this one seemed serious, he and his wife felt they could survive it.

They did, but not by much.  They spent quite some time in the attic before rescue.  My cousin started having seizures because he didn't have his medicine; he and my aunt went by helicopter to Lafayette.  My uncle spent some time in the high school in St. Bernard before being bused to Texas.  We thought we'd never find him, or my aunt and cousin.

After that, my Uncle Tony just seemed to give up.  According to my mom and my daughter, he just sat in his recliner in the living room.  He developed congestive heart failure--my aunt, also.  I didn't want to see him that way.

I'll always remember him as larger-than-life, a big Italian man who could do anything, who always made me laugh.

I have missed him for a long time.

New Semester

Here we go again!  The spring semester is nearly a week old, and we've had our first bad weather scare.   Usually, the powers that be overreact and shut everything down, but they didn't this time, probably because the daytime temps were above freezing.  I delayed my start time when I had to drive in to the University, and I didn't have any problems.

A colleague of mine told me that some of the parents of seniors at Byrd High School kept their children home on Wednesday, January 16, because one of the seniors was in a near-fatal car crash on Tuesday.  I haven't read anything about the accident, but the young lady suffered severe head trauma when her car skidded on black ice and flipped. No word yet on her condition.  I'm sorry that happened, and I'm wondering if school could have been delayed by a couple of hours; that might have prevented the accident, but who really knows?  I hope the young woman recovers, but the outlook is not good.

At my house, I had to contend with wet, cold chickens and grumpy cats!  I managed to put up tarps to help break the north wind; those helped enormously. The chickens still weren't happy, but at least they were a bit warmer.

The sun is out today, and the temps are supposed to rise into the 50s.  I can see the hens, already, basking in the sun.  I hope the runs dry out quickly--we're supposed to have more rain soon.

The work at Casa Smith never ends, so I'm off to complete as many tasks as possible.  Enjoy this sunny day!

The chickens, the "stick of death," and Rocky, the flying squirrel

I have had to put my chickens on restriction, because they keep getting in my neighbor's yard.  I don't want a ticket for roaming livestock, so I only let them out when I can be with them, which is usually between three and six pm.  In order to keep them in line, I have "the stick of death," which is actually a garden fork:

All I have to do is swish it, and they move into the back yard.

And here is Rocky.  He's doing quite well!

Heavy Rain!

This is what happens when we have a heavy rain for an hour or two.

I have a ditch on the side of my house, and, when we have a hard, strong rain, this is what happens.

The water rose to the property line, but, once the heavy rain stopped, the water began receding.


Below, one of my Leghorns laid an egg in the fire pit and sat there for about 20 minutes, keeping it dry.

We've had a worrisome morning.  I'm afraid the girls are going to be swept away by the water, since they love to go down in the ditch to forage.  Henry the roo has been keeping an eye on them, though.


Really, I don't know of anything more contrary than a wet hen.  They've been fussy for two days!

Hope you stay high and dry!

Chickens in the Driveway...

I have a Barred Rock hen, one of the Henriettas, who likes to walk on the wild side.  I constantly have to chase her from the front yard to the back, so I've named her "Miss Adventure" for her tendency to wander off in search of new pastures. At least I'm exercising more!  Wrangling chickens is a demanding job!

Yesterday, while I was reading drafts from several of my classes, I heard something--not loud, but rather metallic.  I thought, perhaps, the acorns were falling on the roof of the shed, which makes a nice pinging sound.  I looked out and discovered that several limbs had fallen from the Oak tree in the middle of the yard.  Not that unusual--limbs fall all the time.  But these limbs fell on the Henriettas' chicken run, flattening it to the ground.

Poor Henry the Roo was in the run by himself, but he's okay.  He did manage, though, to make it out into the  yard with ALL the hens!  He's having a great time chasing them.  And he's awfully proud of his prowess, too, judging by all the crowing he's doing.

This is Lydia, a Barred Rock mix.  Barred Rocks lay brown eggs, but Lydia's eggs are white.

Mrs. Bennet.  She's a Red Sex Link.  She lays brown eggs.

The Brahmas, aka The Dashwoods, Marianne and Elinor.  They lay brown eggs.

One of the Henriettas--this one is a Buff Orpington.  She lays brown eggs.

 A view of the collapsed run and some of the limbs that brought it down.

Another view.  You really can't see all the limbs in this, but I figure three large limbs came down, as well as a few smaller ones.

And yet another view. All in all, a mess, and a time-consuming repair.

Even my best-laid plans go awry.  But, in the midst of reading/grading, I need a break.  This wasn't quite the break I was looking for!

All's well, though.  The run is functional, though they don't usually spend much time in it, except when I go the the University to teach.

A New Post, Finally!

Since FB came on the scene, I've been terrible at keeping up with my blog.  FB is too easy; keeping a blog is difficult, and I've become accustomed to short, pithy posts, as opposed to long, considered ones.  But I shall try to post once a week for my students' benefit.

Aside from the weather, I like summer.  I usually teach one course online, so I can legitimately stay home all summer, interact with the chickens, and just generally do whatever I want.  I drive when I want to, which amounts to maybe a trip into Shreveport to see my parents, or have lunch with a friend, or maybe I'll drive down to the Brookshire's in Natchitoches. I don't use up much gas during the summer; I've been known to fill up my car maybe three times in two months.  Works for me.

Then comes the fall semester, and, depending on how many trips I have to make into Shreveport, I fill up my car twice a week.  I have a seven-year-old Mazda, which gets decent gas mileage on long trips, but these weekly forays to teach my class seem to drink more gas than I like.  I use three gallons of gas, at least, to make my round-trip each time I go into town.  It seems excessive, and, considering gas prices, I tend to not drive any more than I need to.

I plant gardens in all seasons.  The summer garden did well until the heat of August.  I had a nice crop of tomatoes, cucumbers, and pumpkins, but the squash and beans withered, thanks to squash bugs.  The eggplant is just now starting to bloom.  The same thing happened with the eggplant last year--in September and October, I had more than I could reasonably eat, so I gave a bunch of it away.

I try to garden organically. I don't use chemical sprays on anything I'm going to eat, and I expect some attrition--I don't mind sharing with the bugs, to an extent.  When I do spray, I usually use a spray I've mixed myself from natural ingredients--apple cider vinegar, hot sauce, and castile soap.  It works, most of the time. If it doesn't, I use Neem oil-based sprays.  Again, organic.

In addition to the eggplant, I still have some greens and (mangled) brussels sprouts (the chickens like to peck at them), and I've planted some fall tomatoes, cabbage, and broccoli. A few of the watermelon vines are hanging on with blooms, but I don't think they'll produce anything. I have a number of herbs growing, as well.

The chickens have been laying fairly well, producing usually 5 - 8 eggs a day.  From 10 hens, that's not bad. I'm glad I have family and friends who like eggs!

That's about it for this post.  This tells you most about what occupies my time and my thoughts--though I didn't include all the grading I do.  With three writing classes and a fiction class, I spend a great deal of time grading/reading.

It's a life!

Pictures of My Chickens

The Buff Orpington hen. 

My Light Brahmas.

Three of the five "Bennets"--two of the three Leghorns, and Mrs. Bennet, a Red Sex Link.

I have eleven chickens--10 hens and a rooster.  I had 12, but one died over the summer. In addition to those pictured, I have a Barred Rock/Leghorn mix, and two Barred Plymouth Rocks. Henry, the rooster, is an Orpington.

You will hear a great deal about these over the semester.  They are fun to watch and interact with, and they lay delicious eggs!

Facebook Page for Students

If you can't reach me by any of the other ways I've given you, try https://www.facebook.com/KathleenSmithLsusEnglishInstructor, which I set up today.  I also have a  twitter account that I don't use much, dotsmom1.  I have no idea how to use twitter, so I'll have to find some instructions. 

Home email: englishlsus@yahoo.com
Skype: dotsmom
Yahoo IM: englishlsus@yahoo.com
Twitter: dotsmom1
Facebook: see link above

For my English 226 students--post critiques as soon as Moodle comes back up.  If you need to send something to me before Monday, attach it to a message to my home email account. Go ahead and post to your blogs, but I won't be able to read them until the system comes back up.

I know the current power outage at LSUS has thrown many people into confusion, but it's not a crisis.  Just think through it, and, if you have questions and concerns, contact me.  Also, keep an eye on LSUS's Facebook page for updates.

I Caved!

I saw the baby chicks at the Feed and Seed store the other day, but resisted the temptation to buy them.  Then I read up on caring for them.  On my second trip to the S&F, I bought four--two Buff Orpingtons (the golden ones) and two Barred Rocks (the black ones).

I'm waiting for the temps to warm up today to put them in the movable coop for a while.  I want them to become used to seeing the big chickens before I put them in the coop.  They need to grow, as well, since they are only about three weeks old.

Cute, huh? Like I needed more chickens.  That brings my total count to 10.

New Garden Box...

It's not finished yet, but it will be as soon as I buy more dirt.

I had the hairbrained idea to create another garden box.  I went out, looking for pallets to make a vertical garden, but couldn't find any.  So, I went to the hardware store and bought 12 cinder blocks.

Here's what I made:

I'll post another pic as soon as I plant the "holes."  I plan to alternate flowers and herbs.  So far, I've planted two holes of marigolds and a cinnamon basil.

Inside the garden, I've planted corn and bean seeds, squash and cucumber plants, and I stuck in a couple of rununculus bulbs.  I want to make it friendly to the bees to encourage them to hang around.  They swarmed the Mayhaws when those bloomed, so I'm hoping they've stuck around.

This is so much better than whining about car repairs.  Now, if I could just get my iPad back up and running, the world will be a better place!

If It's Not One Thing...

I took my car, my dirty, seven-year-old Mazda to a local garage on Thursday to have it inspected--yes, March is the inspection month for me.  I had noticed some oil stains on my carport--I haven't ever had oil stains before--so I asked the guys at the garage to take a look.

I had a cracked oil filter housing.  I don't know how long it had been cracked.  My last oil change was 2 1/2 months ago; my next oil change was scheduled for March 19.  Good thing I had it checked.  I was down two quarts.

So the old guy at the garage said he'd call Mazda and get the part and fix it today, Friday.  Except he couldn't get the part today.  Mazda had to order the part--overnight it--but it wouldn't get to Mazda until 10am today.  The truck that comes to Coushatta from Shreveport leaves S'port at 7:30am.  The soonest they could have the part here would be Monday.

No good for me.  I could have cancelled class on Monday--I'm sure my students would have been thrilled.  But I wouldn't.  So I drove to the dealership today and sat there for1 1/2 hours and spent over two hundred dollars for a $17 part.  Because they couldn't just replace the part.  They had to do the 105,000 mile maintenance on my car (which actually has about 108,000 miles on it).

Again, this stiffens my resolve to NEVER take my car back to the dealership.  Even if they had just replaced the $17 part, they would have also charged me for an oil change and labor--to the tune of nearly $100.  I can have my oil changed for about $35 at other places.

I can't understand the shipping schedules.  Wouldn't it be better to expedite the shipping to have the part arrive before the truck leaves every morning?  It doesn't seem to be that difficult.  Planes fly all the time.  Trucks trundle up and down the highways. But maybe I'm missing something.

Coushatta isn't the end of the earth. But I'm amused, and a bit put off, when companies act as though we're a thousand miles away from civilization.  Gasoline is at least 20 cents higher here.  Don't those trucks have to come down the highways to deliver gasoline to other places along the road?  Do they increase the price of gas by every extra mile they have to drive?  I don't know.  It doesn't make sense.

What makes less sense to me is that my family members say they don't come to my house because it's "too far to drive."  I tell them, "I drive it to come see you."  "Yeah," they say, "but you have to come to Shreveport to work. You're coming this way, so you can come see us."

I think my friends think I live down some unpaved, muddy road.  I live, actually, two doors away from the town hall and the police station. I do have nearly an acre, but I'm not out in the woods.  A highway runs in front of my mailbox. It's a paved highway, too.

If it's sunny, I'm outside...

Apologies to all students whose papers I haven't graded/read yet.  The sun is out, the temp is good, and my garden and the chickens are calling my name!

Today, I turned a tire into an herb garden; I need to figure out how to cut the rim to open it up more, though.  I planted cilantro, dill, and parsley I wintersowed, then bought some English thyme at the Ace Hardware store.  I planted eggplant, some Dragon carrot seeds, sowed more cabbage in some of the other beds after I pulled up greens that were going to seed.  I've made a spring soup of greens, squash, and carrots.  I just want to dig in the dirt.

 I took this pic before I planted the thyme.

I've collected four eggs today, but I had to eat one because it had a small dent in it.

This my newest garden box; mostly tomatoes.  If all of these produce, I'll be canning tomatoes all summer! I've also planted basil, yellow squash, acorn squash, and a few pumpkin seeds in here.

Mrs. Bennet says "Hi!"

The sun is still out, and I just want to be out in it.  Sigh.  I must read drafts and grade papers.

Instead of grading papers...

I'm adding a picture to my blog and trying to motivate myself...I don't think the personal pep talk is working, though.  I just want to nap.

I spent the day in Shreveport, helping Dr. DuBose with his talk, then went to a looooong lunch with two favorite frends.  And, of course, I had to go to World Market and spend some money...by the time I came home, I was tired and too relaxed to give serious thought to anything.

Except...the hens are digging in the new run, so I need to "plant" some wire around the bottom, and I need to do that tomorrow.  I also need to fence the new garden box to try to keep the cats out.  They decimated two eggplants.

I received my "Farmgirl Sisterhood" badge from MaryJane's Farm.  MJF is one of my most favorite magazines, so joining wasn't a hard decision.  It's a great way to connect with other women who are interested in self-sufficiency; I learn a great deal from reading their stories.

Here's the badge, sewn on my bluejean jacket:

And, for fun, here's a picture of a cat in a cube:

That's Ginger Baker enjoying her new toy!

Hope you're having a great week.  I think I'm going to bed early.

Addition to the Chicken Coop

Yes, I should be reading drafts and otherwise grading assignments for my students.  Instead, I added a run to the chicken coop.

I ordered this one instead of building it myself, and, while I'm pleased with it, I think I'll just stick to making my own.  The hardware cloth really is much bigger than I like, so I need to add some with a tighter weave to the bottom--and, of course, dig a trench to bury said wire.

For the time being, though, it will work.  When the ground dries out a bit, I'll finish it off.

The girls like it, and that's what counts!

They didn't even wait for me to exit after I cut the wire that divided the bottom of the hen house from the new run. I was cutting wire while they were trying to eat the buttons on my jacket!

I need to make this more raccoon-proof, but I'll do that over the next couple of days.  I can still reach the nesting box to gather eggs, and I have a small door where I can reach in to close the hatch at night.

It gives them more space, and they need that.

The chicken yard looks a bit like an airport, with its various terminals!

Egg count to date...

about four dozen eggs.  I gathered four today.  Here is the egg basket--minus one brown egg I gave to my mother and a white egg I ate for breakfast!

These are the eggs (minus the two I've mentioned) that I have collected since Monday.

Rain sometimes affects the laying, but not today.  I covered part of the run with a vinyl tablecloth to help keep the rain off the girls.  The run was still muddy, but at least the rain wasn't falling on their heads.

I've been experimenting with treats.  So far, they like seedless grapes, cooked oatmeal (I'll cook it for them, but I hate cooked oatmeal!), all kinds of greens, apple bits, bananas, wild bird seed, hot dog buns, lasagna, cornbread, pinto beans, and lentils.  One of the great things about having chickens is that they will eat my leftovers.  But I don't feed them meat of any kind.  I do feed them eggshells, but I wash and dry them, then pulverize them with one of my food choppers.  I don't want them to start eating their eggs.

In addition to layer pellets and treats, they receive grit (for digestion) and oyster shells (for calcium).  I make sure they eat most of their pellets before I give treats, but I give treats two or three times a day.  It gives them something to do--they chase each other all over the run, trying to steal the treats from another hen!

I pulled up a few carrots, cut some collards and bok choy yesterday and threw it all in a pot for soup.  I love being able to walk into the garden and pick up what I need for dinner!

I cut the broccoli because it was beginning to flower.  The weather's been a bit too hot for broccoli.

I have tomato, pumpkin, and herb seeds germinating, so I should be able to get a head start on my spring garden.  Let's hope Punxatawny Phil was wrong about six more weeks of winter--though we really haven't had one yet!

Not About Chickens!

As a college professor, one thing I've learned is that I need clearly stated policies regarding every aspect of my classes.  This applies to grades, especially.  My policy, I think, is simple.  Any assignment past due by three days receives an automatic zero.  Students can contact me for permission to turn in late work, but that doesn't mean I have to grade it.  I also tell students in my syllabus that they need to remind me--before dead week--of any assignments they submitted that I agreed to grade. 

I have a freshman from last semester who contacted me after final exams about her grade.  I have been going back and forth with her--though, again, my syllabus says that I will not discuss grades when dead week begins.  I have reminded her of my policies, but she persists.  Perhaps she thinks that "the squeaky wheel gets the grease"--that if she bugs me enough, I will relent. 

What generally happens is this--I go to the chair of my department and the dean of the college and explain what's going on.  My policies are clear. I remind students about them constantly, especially at the end of the semester. Students must submit all assignments to keep from making an automatic F in the class.  That still doesn't mean I'll grade the late assignment.

I have to jump through hoops to change a final grade in a class.  That's why it's important for students to read and understand my policies.  If I make one exception, then any student who didn't submit work and wants to do so now can use this one case as justification.  I like to be consistent.

I don't know how this will resolve, but it's something that won't go away until I hand it over to my bosses.  I hate dealing with this kind of stuff.  It detracts from the work I need to do now.