Razz~Ma~Tazz

My favorite echinacea flower :)

waking up

stretching

*poof*!

Butterscotch male in Eclipse molt

I thought it would be fun to show you how much a boy will change during his molt..

This is Lucky in Nuptial plumage:

Here he is again in Eclipse... at this point he would be hard to tell from the females in the group. He will stay like this for about a month or so then start to get his Man colors back.

The females also go through Eclipse, although not as dramatically as the males. The hens here are also molting. They lose their eyeliner and most of their general markings.

It is important to note that during a molt they are flightless. It would be especially important to keep them safe from predators.

There are feathers feathers EVERYwhere in the chicken yard right now, everyone is molting, chickens included. It is because the Fairs and Shows are coming up of course, so some of our best show poultry will be standing out as they get their new shiny feathers in ;)

Welcome to the Slug Saloon!

I have been battling slugs in my potatoes.. they LOVE the leaves! So Dad made a Slug Saloon for each of the potato corrals. He made openings towards the tops of a quart sized yogurt container.

And I put beer in them....

and nestled the little saloon down in the dirt. Easy to toss the drunken (dead) slugs out, and refill. So far it is working fabulously. ;)

Meandering.. a photo stroll around the Holler

The Alpines are trying to make a come back ~yay~

their suffering happened while we were on vacation a few weeks ago...

Waiting to bloom into splenderiferous color!

I love bright colors ;)

Slick is ALWAYS good for making me smile...

(she is one of my pet Silkies)

Flower jewels... nice sparkles.

Fabulous Mt Rainier in all of his late afternoon glory

Gandalf wants to know 'What's up?'

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.