Chicken wranglin'...

I have owned chickens for years and thoroughly enjoy them. Unfortunately, at also means an ongoing struggle with predators. Namely, raccoons!

We built a hen house with a chain link chicken yard, in which they are safe. I like to let them free-range during the day and lock them back up at night. Early spring they began to migrate to roosting in the barn at night. This is not a safe location! Long story short my beautiful flock of 6 ducks and 30+ chickens quickly was reduced to no ducks, one rooster and 5 hens.

Thankfully Sylvia has survived. She is a beautiful silver Araucana who lays green eggs. The only way we would keep the remaining chickens alive was to get them roosting back in the secure hen house. Which would require catching them and keeping them "locked up" for a week or so to retrain them.

I have found the easiest way to capture them is with a fishing net. My first attempt was Sylvia but while I was trying to get her out of the net Mr. Roo came to her rescue. Which quickly prompted me to bring hubby in to help. We were able to capture all of them and they are now safely locked up.

While we didn't get any pictures my barn cam captured a couple funny videos. When you watch keep an eye on Mr. Roo, he is the giant black chicken.

When I'm gone...

Everyone goes! Sometimes it's temporary...sometimes it's permanent.

The pain of that loss is the price we pay for loving someone sooo much. But, it's worth the pain!

I lost my Romeo this week. He was MY first horse. He was full of piss n vinegar if you were riding but a true gentleman on the ground. Never a kick or bite...and ALWAYS a nicker when I went to see him. Gentle with everyone. He lived a loooong life...31 and in horse years that's quite old.

The grieving process is a strange one. Of course, there are tears as you stroke their face and hold them as the life drains away. Then comes the anger. Intense fury!

Then comes the numbness. And you wonder why doesn't it hurt? Why don't I cry? Then your met with the silence at the gate or a song plays on the radio and it all rushes in. He has left an everlasting mark on my heart.

Thanks Bubba...sure going to miss you....so will Rio.

My Favorite Things in pictures

The smell and feel of clothes fresh off the line

My horses...oh how I love them

Sidney

Sweet Maria and Frank

Jon and his junior dragster

Jon has a definite need for speed

Sidney is never far away

Jon on Meg (sure miss her) so does Romeo

Frank and I at Presque isle

Morgan and her Daddy

Mo and Dad-o share a passion for racing

Morgan keeping kitty warm

Being out in the sunshine working out is my passion

Summertime...

What a beautiful summer day we have had. We went to the drag strip this morning and got our runs in before the rains came. But the rain was a nice steady garden friendly rain. And our garden needed the rain. Then the sun came back out accompanied by a wonderful breeze.

Jon and I decided to head to a local farmers market for some fresh fruits and veggies. That's one of my favorite parts of summer. The fruits are so much sweeter, tomatoes taste like tomatoes and I enjoy canning and freezing. My family enjoys the taste of summer from the canned goods in winter, too. They all love fresh blueberries. My Morgan used to call them booberries...we always had to have them in the cooler when we went camping. And we can't leave without picking up some Stewart's soda. Frank's favorite is Black Cherry, Jon's is Cherries 'n Cream and Mo & I love the classic...Cream Soda.




After we took some leftovers to the chickens the kids wanted to go horseback riding. Romeo (the brown horse) is the only one who is broke to ride. Meg (the yellow one) is what they call "green broke". But Morgan had a lot of luck with her tonight. Meg was responding well to her commands and she was able to walk all around the front pasture with her. Jon did ok on Romeo except when Jon was trying to get him to go one way and exclaimed "oh great, now he's in reverse!". Cracked me up!
Now they are building a bon fire and roasting marshmallows! Yep, yep...summertime...good times!

Nothing special...

Aaargh!!! I lost my phone at the racetrack yesterday. Before it was turned in someone ran it over. I was still able to make phone calls, but the phone kept shutting off and the screen was broken. I couldn't see who was calling or see who I was calling. After we got home I headed to Alltel to buy a new one. Well...that turned into purchasing a blackberry. The salesman said how wonderful it was...I could do everything I was doing plus check e-mail or weather from my phone...kinda like having a mini-laptop. Unfortunately, I can't even figure out how (or if I can) change my ringtone...or if I have one :) A friend called and he said he has several friends who struggled with their blackberry at first but now they love them. I sure hope that holds true for me. Right now I feel completely technologically challenged!

The little kitty is doing much better. She's just over three weeks old now. We're still trying to get her to drink out of a saucer and use a litter box. She's eating much more now and awake more. When she is awake she likes to cruise around checking out everything.

Tiny survivor...

About a day or two after we first found the kitties, Mama moved them to a "safer" place. We kept our eyes open but didn't see any of them but occasionally thought we heard a little "mew". Tonight when I went to feed the horses I was sooo sad to find a little one had apparently been stepped on by one of the horses and was dead. Then as I reached to feed Meg (my haflinger) I realized there was a sweet little grey and white kitty laying in the stall. When I picked her up she didn't look good. Her eyes are matted and she has discharge from her nose. When I picked her up she/he let me know she was frightened, cold and hungry. I tucked her in close to warm her up and headed to the house. After a few phone calls we washed her eyes with a warm cloth, wrapped her in a towel and headed to Wal-mart to get some mama milk replacement.

Currently she's laying on a heating pad but isn't doing great. She/he apparently has a pretty bad cold and is very congested. We're hoping she makes it until Monday when we can take her to the vet. She hasn't eaten much, a couple drops. But I'm hoping she's exhausted from being sick and left on her own and when she gets rested will eat more. If anyone has any suggestions of how to care for this sweet little baby I would welcome any thougths. Little prayers would be good too...I hope she doesn't die.

Tiny visitors...

Friday morning I trudged to the barn, umbrella in hand because it was raining buckets...yuck! I took the lid off of the feed tub and when I laid it to the side I heard a faint little "mew". I stopped and listened harder and looked around....nothing. As I went back to feeding I heard several little "mews". Thankfully I had my cell with me...normally I don't during the morning feed. I phoned Jon and asked him to grab a flashlight and come to the barn, quickly. By the time I was done feeding, Jon was there. We did some investigating (aka following the mews) and found this bundle of baby kittens. We estimated their age at about 4 days. By Saturday morning we were worried they had been abandoned because we hadn't seen the Mama Cat anywhere. Fortunately, after laying on our bellies and looking under the floor where the babies were we found Mama hiding in the back watching us very intently. We aren't sure if the 7th baby (the little white & black one next to her) is alive or dead. Mama has eaten the moist food we put out for here and we've been "peeking" in on them daily. The babies should start opening their eyes in the next week. More pictures will follow showing their progress.

Woo Hoo...let it snow...

I have always said if it has to be cold...it better snow. Today it finally did! We've had several inches, probably around 7 so far. We're supposed to get a couple more overnight. The roads are very bad, but passable. I had to go get supplies for the barn. After breakfast we "suited up" and headed out to plow driveways, haul firewood and take care of the animals. I love these days!!! (to bad there aren't more...but I guess that's what makes them special) All of the neighbors were out too. So while Frank and Morgan plowed with the tractor and Jon cleaned the bunny cage and gave her fresh bedding I took care of the horses and chickens. Poor Romeo (my brown horse) was covered in snow...though he didn't seem to mind. The only thing he doesn't like is when the snow (especially wet snow like today) builds up on the bottom of his hooves. I chip them off while he eats his chow. Fortunately Meg's don't build up because her feet are more challenging to mess with.

Josie dog loves when it snows...granted she's sleeping soundly under the table now...tuckered out from her adventure. She hops and scoops the snow with her bottom jaw as she trods behind me. I fear this will be our last year with her so it was great to see her enjoy the weather. When Frank drags the kids behind the 4-wheeler Josie likes to chase along side them biting (in a playful manner of course) at the sled. We used to set her in the sled with us and let her sled ride...she loved it. One year we went down south sledding (huge hills) and she would chase us all the way down and run all the way back up. After a couple of hours she was whining at the truck and we let her in and she slept on the floor the whole way home.

Jon and I hauled wood to the house and garage. It's a pain in the butt, but worth it when it's toasty in the house. When we were done I saw my neighbors (and dear friends) Tammi & Guido shoveling their drive so I headed over. It doesn't feel like work when your chatting and laughing while you shovel. And besides it's cheaper than a gym membership!!

By the time we were done my hair was frozen with ice sliding down and I was soaked thru and thru. I know Mom...where's my hat...you know I don't like hats, they make my forhead itch. But I did have my earmuffs on! The outside was obviously from the snow and the inside was from sweating! That one-piece carhart sure does it's job!! The only time I was a little cold was when my first pair of gloves got saturated with water, but nothing that a fresh pair didn't fix.

I hope you take the time to enjoy the weather today...wether it's warm, cold, raining, snowing or the sun is shining! God Bless!!

And He's only 11....

My menfolk love to go hunting. Archery season is their favorite. Probably because, contrary to what anti-hunters think, they love the outdoors and the wildlife as much, if not more, than the actual hunt. I hear lots of stories of how squirrels "hollar" at them if they're sitting at the base of HIS tree, chipmunks run around gathering and hiding nuts and the beautiful skies blazing various colors of crimson, violet and blue. They all come back renewed.

We had a big discussion with Jon about being very selective before raising his bow due to the unseasonable temperatue of 80 degrees. Well I received a pic on my cell phone showing this magnificent 8-point buck. Jonathan is only 11 years old and this is his third dear, two with a bow. His very first hunt (at age 9) he bagged a 3-point and last year a smaller 8-point. He says he wants to be a Professional Hunter when he grows up...I'm starting to think he just might be!

I hope I didn't offend anyone with the picture...I kept is tasteful.

Feathered Friends...

I had a beautiful flock of around 40 chickens of all kinds/colors. I had chickens that laid brown, white and green eggs. (yes, I said green). They lived in a large fenced area we called the "compound", if you've seen Chicken Run that will make sense. Unfortunately, we didn't have a covering over the top and the raccoons little by little had my entire flock for dinner. Yes, very sad.

My kids and I really wanted more chickens so Hubby helped us build a new Poultry Palace and fenced (top and sides) run yard. This project took several months because we could only work on it in the evenings and we wanted to make absolutely certain it was raccoon proof. The Palace is finished (except the paint) and the chickens really like their home. We headed to the local auction and were lucky enough to purchase 7 chickens total, 4 are arachaunas (the ones that lay green eggs). They should be laying soon and I will post pics.

The kids wanted ducks! At the auction a gentleman brought in two ducks after the auction started. I had a bidding war with another lady and came away with two call ducks, much to my kiddos delight. They are very fun to watch and cute to listen to. Hope you enjoy the pics.