Back from a much needed vacation!

And boy, is it EVEH hard to leave for a week and a half. There is SO much preparation to do. Most of the prep work centers around making sure the animals will be safe and easily cared for while I am gone. We have a house sitter that comes in to stay here, in an effort to keep everyone on somewhat the same schedule. Her note of How-To was four pages long! ;)

and since this was the worst thing to happen.. I am pretty happy.

I dream of a Beautiful Farm...

But, I make do with extremely functional instead. When I get frustrated with exactly just how functional rather than pretty my stuff is.. I try to look for the things that ARE pretty.

I really really want a nice goat shed.. one where I could--if I wanted to--actually milk a goat inside it.

'We are fat n sassy, and pleased with our dog kennel 'shed'--no worries Mom!'

I am NOT posting another picture of the current shelter.. I think if you have been reading my blog for any length of time.. you will have seen it! lol!

A prettier Hen House...

BUT, these guys are healthy and happy, glad to simply have a dry, safe place to sleep at night... Paint is in it's future... and maybe some planters too.. :)

A cuter Duck Safety House...

It works.. everyone is securely closed in at night, protected from night time meal shoppers.

Pondering the Non-Importance of 'Cute'... ;)

Thankfully the animals don't care if I spent tons of money on Cute. They only want warm and safe. (There IS a goat shed in the works though--YAY! )

The Story of a Crow and some other pictures...

Can you spot the Crow? I had just thrown some especially delicious kitchen scraps out to the ducks and chickens.. and Mr Crow could hardly stand it. He was flying from roof-top to tree to fence post and back and forth, desperately trying to figure a way into the yard....

Unfortunately for him, we have the Redneck ChickenYard Force Field fully in place. Everyone got to eat their snack in peace. I don't mind the crows, as I have mentioned before, they do a great job chasing the hawks out of the area. (which is what the Force Field's real purpose is for, to keep the hawks OUT of the yard.)

A little spot of Sun in a Pot.

Wren doing that weird goat thing... Twisting her head all the way around, Owl-like.

Miss Molly looking regal.

A nice day for bee working. This is when Jack restocked the hive.

Still Here :)

I know it's been 'awhile' since I have updated the blog!

With the longer days and a little nicer weather, I have been trying to catch up on things outside. Nasty weather brings me back in and I try to catch up on things inside! It's never ending ;) That has left little time for quality time with my computer.

Going on around here:

In the Garden~

Potatoes are coming up nicely..they seem to be happy in the Tater Corrals. Guess we will truly know when we see how many potatoes are produced. The leaves look great so far. There are baby lettuces coming up - finally. I had to replant them, I planted the seed too deep the first time, and then didn't keep the top of the soil moist enough often enough. They were displeased and died. Picky seeds. I met up with my friend Arial and she gave me some really great starts for the garden--tomatoes, zukes, a fancy cuke and some other goodies too, it will be fun to get those in the ground.

In the Yard~

Jack stopped by and helped out our bee hives. They suffered over the winter. It appears the hives were affected by Colony Collapse as they both had a lot of honey in them. Not sure though. Jack said that he hasn't ever seen it before in his own hives-which also emptied over the winter at his house. Remember he is like 97 and has been keeping bees for a looong time.

The flower beds are waking up, and the yard smells like heaven! We have all sorts of Daphne's and fragrant Azaleas... yum. Wish you could smell it, it's definitely Spring. The Swallows are here too, we cleaned out their nest and in they zoomed. I also moved the 6 baby ducks out into their Outside House.. they are actually not ducks, but small pigs with feathers. I couldn't stand them in the inside brooder for one more second! They are in a nice hutch up off the ground for now. I also picked up a nice Butterscotch drake from Arial, I totally can't wait to get him into the breeding pens. :) Arial has some nice calls.

In the House~

The cochin and serama babies are doing great... getting in their big bird feathers. This is probably my favorite stage with them, they are so funny and gawky looking.. then *poof* one day you wake up to see them all looking like miniature chickens, with all their nice feathers. They will be ready to go into an outside hutch soon too, with the nicer weather. Yay, no more brooders, no more chick dust! ;) Arial ALSO gave me some call eggs, so those are cookin' in the incubator. They are due early June.

In General~

I have been selling some eggs and chicks here and there, and I have to say I have met some of the nicest people. :) Thank you guys.. I look forward to keeping in touch with ya, and learning how your own hatches are going.

Y'all have a nice day now! I am off to meet up with an acquaintance and her daughter in Leavenworth for a Serama Chick Drop.. Taking my son and his girlfriend. It should be fun!

*sigh*

INSTALLING SPRING... ■■■■■■■■□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ 44% DONE.


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O The Weather Outside is Frightful

And not a bit delightful....

The rains and the cold have kept my outside seeds from sprouting.

So, this last weekend~Saturday~ the one bright and beautiful SUNNY day we have had in .. gosh, I swear it's been weeks.. I replanted the spinach, lettuces, carrots, and moved the baby kales back in place because the chickens can't stand to leave fresh dirt alone. Yes, the garden is fenced in, but there are a couple of persistent hens in the flock that refuse to be fenced in or out. The Araucana girls are fabulous foragers!

I think the chick tractor also will work as a baby kale tractor....

I need to invest in some of those cute little row hoops.. but since I have a redneck style all my own.. I just used some wood stakes to hold the plastic up and fabric stakes to hold it down temporarily.

I know the inevitable rain will squash it pretty quickly.. in fact, that is happening as I type. So, for long term protection especially after the baby plants have begun to sprout, that plastic will need to be off them. I just want some warmed up soil ~~durn it!

**edited to add: this is actually still holding up pretty well, it hasn't fallen down at all! The other two like this, that don't have a stake in the middle have squashed however..but this one continues to stand against the torrential downpour we have had! :)**

We PNW gardeners have to be creative... ;)

...and stay hopeful that Spring WILL get here EVENTUALLY!

at least if the flowers have a say about it anyway....

From the Washington Feather Fanciers Spring Show in Monroe

washing the sexy feet off... The joy of washing the free rangin' show chickies.. ;)

Total dejection.. how can you be proud and soaking wet at the same time...

a little better...

Ready to head out the door--for one day---this is crazy!!

Miss Sheryl..all cleaned up. Isn't she pretty? She is my little pig-pen hen. Always covered in dirt. I am not kidding, as soon as she got home from the show, she immediately rolled in the dirt.

Talon--much less dejected, and placing Reserve Variety! :)

All in all, it was a very fun time. I love visiting and catching up with my Chicken Friends, meeting new friends and enjoying some friendly razzing and competition from fellow fanciers. If you enjoy chickens at all, attending a show is very worthwhile! :D