07/02/2009
Chick Peeps

Our new chicken peeps arrived yesterday -- 15 Light Brahma pullets and 2 cockerels. (Click here for a glossary of poultry terms.) This breed is large and docile and versatile. We got a couple dozen 3 years ago and have been very pleased with them. Their large size means they cannot fly over our fences so they stay in the pastures where we want them to be. They are also the most docile chickens we have ever had; we were very pleasantly surprised at how well they accepted the day-old muscovy duck peeps that one of our duck hens hatched about a month ago. So this year we are trying something new with the peeps: rather than raise them in a separate area fior a month as we have done in the past, we are starting them in a corner of the poultry shed. We hope that in a week or two we will be able to let them mingle with the adults. The cardboard you see in the picture is to keep out drafts from the spaces between the wall boards, and since it is summer, the light is a regular 100W bulb rather than a heat lamp.

05/17/2009
Goat Kids

For various reasons, we decided to only breed a few goats this year. Here we have moms Oona (the white one) and Queen Bee (the brown one) with their little ones. Oona kidded on the 4th, one boy, one girl, and Queen Bee went the next day with this girl (plus one kid that did not make it.)

04/13/2009
Chilly Spring

On cloud nine? Well, almost. This is our cat Sunny zonked out on our sheepskin bedcover. And, yes, even though it is mid-April, the weather is still pretty chilly, and it has been unusually windy all winter. Spring is slow in coming this year, but

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... there are some encouraging signs of spring, including these lovely daffodils in the front garden, as seen through the living room window.

12/14/2008
Oh The Weather Outside Is Frightful...

... but the fire is so delightful! When the weather turns cold, the cats scope out their spots in front of the living room woodstove. That's Sunny in the foreground and Rupert up closest to the stove.

10/09/2008
That Time Of Year Again. Sigh.

The ladybugs are back. Actually, they're Multicolored Asian Lady Beetles. Follow the link for info about how they infest homes in the Autumn. Last year tried a new strategy -- sprayed poison around all the doors and windows and used making tape to seal around all of the doors. Worked pretty well, although we still had to use the shop-vac from time to time. Trying it agin this year, but with a bit less poison this time.

07/23/2008
The tree is dead. Long live the tree.

Around noon ago I heard a noise out back and then Roy the Collie stared barking furiously. It turned out that a limb on the left hand side of our ancient, dead hickory tree had broken off. Then, about 20 minutes later, I heard a short burst of furious barking then a grand thump and crunch. It's been stormy today, but mostly rain not a lot of wind -- guess it just got too waterlogged and heavy. The tree is dead. Long live the tree. No animals were harmed in the making of the death of this tree. We have for awhile been concerned about goats getting hurt when that tree came down. But upon reflection, it was highly likely that it would come down in a storm, and goats are *never* outside in a storm! The tree is hollow so we cannot count the rings, but it seems likely that this tree was over 100 years old.