A Little Bit Country

Canine Nieces

2008-12-29T06:00:00.001-06:00

I thought I'd share these photos of a couple of my canine nieces. (Yes, there are others, but I haven't subjected them to the camera yet.) This is my brother's dog, Shingles. He's a roofer, thus the name, in case anyone was thinking "Ewwwww!" She seems to really enjoy romping in the cold, white stuff.

Below, is Joey, my sister's dog. I've blogged about her before. She has an endless array of facial expressions which makes her a really fun subject to photograph. Aren't they cute?

Winter Bathing

2008-12-28T08:31:00.007-06:00

Yesterday we had an unusual warm-up. Temps in the upper 50's and a lot of rain melted nearly all the snow and ice. However, the ground is still frozen solid so all that water just pooled up all over the yard. Since all the frozen horse poop was also thawing, I took the opportunity to shovel the softened piles out from under the overhang of the barn. While I was outside, I let the ducks out to play too. They had so much fun in this puddle/pond outside the barn door. All the splashing and quacking reminded me of the kiddie pool at a water park.

I'm heading outside to do my morning chores now. Since the temps are back to being below freezing, I'm guessing all the various puddles are now frozen over. Wish I had some ice skates. I think I might need them!

Got The Tree Up!

2008-12-23T08:04:00.009-06:00

Putting up our tree this year had been postponed. We've been planning to paint the living room since we moved here, but recently got serious about it and picked out our paint color and everything. I really didn't want to put the tree up until it was done because I knew it would delay the painting project by several weeks if we had to wait until it came down. The kids were complaining though. Actually, that's an understatement. They were close to rioting. They were not happy that the tree wasn't up. So the other day, we compromised and painted the half of the living room that we put the tree in, and now we can get the other half painted between Christmas and New Year's.

(Before) The room had been just white, and we wanted to warm it up. So we chose a brownish shade of paint. We also removed a ceiling fan and installed a new light fixture. The room seems so much bigger now without that ceiling fan hanging down.

(After) What do you think? This is not all we plan to do with the living room, but it's a start. Eventually, we want to put tile around the front door entry area and get new carpet as well.

Most importantly, the kids were able to put the tree up, and there can now be peace on earth - or at least peace in my own little world.

By the way, we did NOT need the generator last week. PHEW! We got much less icing than they had originally thought and never lost power. Yahoo!! However, the weather has still been really ugly. We've had wind, freezing rain, snow, extremely bitter cold, more wind, drifting snow, and for the foreseeable future, nothing but more of the same. Remember how I commented on the horrible job they are doing this year of clearing our road? Well, they are not improving. We've now encountered some "firsts" since moving here. They have not picked up our garbage or delivered our newspaper due to the condition of our road, and Dave ended up stuck in a drift on his way to work yesterday. Fortunately, he managed to finagle his way out and did eventually get there since he had the truck, but there's no way he'd have even gotten past our driveway in one of our cars. Winter, winter... isn't it a joy? And it's only just begun! Yippee.

Winter Weather

2008-12-17T08:31:00.007-06:00

My hatred of winter is not subsiding - not even a little bit. Due to budget issues, nearly all area road crews have cut back on both plowing and salting roads. In previous years, I had been extremely impressed with the plowing done by our township. We live out here in the boonies and still, the plows started running when the snowflakes began falling and didn't stop until the snow quit drifting. A plow would pass our house at least every couple of hours. This year? Well, lets just say they've done a 180. In fact, we got about 5 inches of snow yesterday. I barely made it home from town yesterday in our Toyota Corolla at around 3:45, and only about 3 inches were on the ground at that time. So far, a plow has still not come through. I couldn't leave the house if I had to. Dave took the old truck, and with the 4-wheel drive, had no problem. However, that leaves me to choose between the Corolla and a Honda Civic. Hmmmm... I think I'll just stay home, thanks. If one of the kids gets sick at school or something, well... I might have to hook a sled to Crumb and go get them I guess. Even in town, the roads are terrible. Two days after snowfall, major intersections were nothing but ice. Hills were ridiculously difficult to drive up. Time to either raise taxes a bit, cut back on something a little less life-threatening, or here's a thought, at least for our township: How 'bout not mowing our ditches every other week in the summer? Put the gas savings towards winter plowing and salting. See, grass in the ditches isn't going to harm or kill anyone, but these icy, snowy roads just might.

Next winter ranting? How about this forecast for tomorrow:

If you can not read it, it says big, nasty, ICE STORM! AGAIN! What is going on around here? Up until the past couple years, I only remember one semi-serious ice storm ever in my lifetime, and I'm quickly approaching the four decade mark. Growing up, I never remember the power being out for more than 24 hours for anything. Lately, we've had these crazy weather events causing outages of several days. Out here, no power means no water, which means no toilet (GROSS!) and worse, no water for the animals. Do you know how much water all these animals drink? In the past, I have had to take several 5 gallon jugs, drive to somewhere that has power, fill them, and then haul them out to the animals. This takes a lot of water and many trips back and forth. Since Dave works for the power company and is usually working during these lovely events, I generally find myself doing this alone. Can you say NOT FUN?! Factor in my bad back and the weight of those 5 gallon jugs, imagine trying to juggle them in ice and snow, then add freezing temps on top of it all and I just want to cry. So, as you might understand, this forecast brought me to near-panic mode. This resulted in the unplanned purchase of this little beauty:

I'm hoping Murphy's Law comes through for us here, and that now that we've spent the money on it, we will never need it. Not the cheapest insurance policy, but if it works, it will be worth every penny!

Stewie

2008-12-15T06:00:00.003-06:00

Look at this sweet guy! When we found out we were moving to the country, Dave insisted that he wanted to pick out his ideal farm dog. He wanted a very light, almost white, yellow lab, and he isn't a fan of the narrower, dainty-headed labs. He likes the big, muscular and more block-headed type. So a week or two before we moved, we started calling and visiting the shelters, but we just weren't finding what he was looking for. Then one day I called and they said they had just gotten one in that fits the description, but that they needed to hold him a certain period of time (can't remember now, a week or ten days or something) because he had been found out wandering around the countryside and they had to wait to give any previous owners the opportunity to claim him. Also, they wouldn't "hold" him for us. His adoption would be on a first-come basis. So the day he was to become available for adoption, I showed up an hour before they opened and waited. That did the trick and the big goof came home with me. He only stayed with us in town for a day or two, then it was off to the vet clinic for neutering. When we picked him up, we had already moved and he got to come to our new country home.

Of course, anyone who has had a lab will understand this. He wasn't always the ideal farm dog. He was about 18 months old when we adopted him, and he was a wild maniac for a long time. Our yard wasn't fenced at first and he wanted to chase cars. He chewed up everything left within his reach. When the ponies and horses arrived, he ran up and down the fenceline barking like a lunatic and scaring them. He jumped up on everybody and knocked the kids down. He was just a total pain in the butt and had no desire to learn much of anything beyond "sit" - and even that was something he did only when he felt like it. I don't remember exactly when it was that it finally dawned on us that he wasn't like that anymore, but it was several years. I bet he was at least 6 or 7 years old before he finally outgrew puppyhood. Now he's about nine years old and the perfect farm dog. Nearly everything makes him happy. If you want to see him giddy with doggie happiness, just put him in the truck with Dave. Don't tell me that dogs can't smile. Look at this face:

Shadows In The Snow

2008-12-14T06:00:00.001-06:00

Here's a creative photo taken by Erin. She managed to capture her shadow in the snow as she gave my horse Gypsy a kiss on the muzzle. Gypsy is still pretty bent out of shape about the arrival of Crumb. I keep telling her we all still love her too, and that it's time she got over it, but she's not buying it. Have you ever seen a horse pout? This one certainly can. The silly girl.

Giving Thanks

2008-12-13T06:00:00.004-06:00

Erin was emptying out her bookbag the other night and this paper came tumbling out. Apparently she was supposed to list things she is thankful for on Thanksgiving. Her entry for "N" thoroughly cracked me up.

Two Peas In A Pod

2008-12-12T06:00:00.003-06:00

This is my latest favorite photo of my boys. It captures the true essence of this mischievous duo, and gives you a good idea of what it's like for me to live with these two on a daily basis. Separately, they are each a force to be reckoned with, but when they put their super-powers together, there are days when I am just no match. I was trying to figure out how best to describe them and began looking through the thesaurus for just the right words and phrases. Let me throw out a few of the most descriptive, and I think you'll understand what I'm dealing with here. When I'm in a light-hearted, easy-going frame of mind, the following terms apply:

pranksters

fun-loving

playful

nutty

humorous

cute

roguish

entertaining

rascally

goofy

spriteful

sportive

kooky

teasing

But when I'm trying to get something done, speak to someone on the phone, am pressed for time or have something semi-serious to deal with and they are running around wreaking havoc, I sometimes have a hard time dealing with the fact that they both seem to have been born without that built-in sensor that should be telling them "NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR THIS." At those moments, I would generally describe them and their nonsense as follows:

troublesome

vexatious

asinine

exasperating

petty annoyance

absurd

naughty

frustrating

Still, no matter how frustrated I get, I find those crazy goons pretty hard to resist. They know it too and always use it to their advantage. As I said, I am no match. Those blue eyes are my kryptonite.

Okay, I'll admit it...

2008-12-11T10:31:00.002-06:00

Okay, all you snow-loving weirdos. This one's for you. I cannot deny it. This is pretty... but I still hate winter. All that orange and red looks nice and warm, doesn't it? Well, it's a mirage I tell you! Don't be deceived. Summer sunsets are just as nice, and I don't have to freeze my fanny off to get a picture of them. However, until the warm weather rolls around again, I guess I'll settle for views like this.

Introducing Ducks To Snow

2008-12-09T15:02:00.004-06:00

The ducks have now had their first encounter with the snow. Wish I could tell them that it would be their last, but alas, these photos were taken November 30th and since then we've had several episodes of snowfall. So I'm afraid we're all just going to be stuck with it! How long till spring????!

Bun-buns Abound!

2008-11-29T08:19:00.003-06:00

Last weekend, we acquired a couple more bunny girls, Gizmo and Lulu, from our friend, Corinne. The introductions all went well and they were soon hopping around and exploring the big bunny bungalow.

Lulu quickly mastered the Stump Towers:

Gizmo couldn't figure out why that camera kept clicking at her and eyed me warily:

Tammy Faye and Gizmo were getting to know one another in one of the tunnels:

Ashes hid out in the Big Blue House for awhile. She wasn't sure about these new fuzz-balls. Before too long though, she came out to say hello:

Erin doesn't think you can ever have enough bunnies:

Look at this face! Who could resist that kind of cuteness?

Cold Weather Really Bites

2008-11-23T18:28:00.006-06:00

I hate being cold and I hate cold weather. I have no idea why on earth I live in the midwest and if it were up to me, I wouldn't. But I do, and since I am stuck in this god-forsaken arctic tundra, it is time again to get everything as ready as possible to ride out the chill. Since I can't use a 100' hose to fill water tanks as I do in above-freezing temps, I can only use one livestock tank. Normally, all the horses run the pasture together and this is not a problem. However, this year, we have Brett recovering from a broken elbow, and we don't want her getting down into the lower part of the pasture in several feet of snow and not being able to get back up under the overhang of the barn for shelter and water. So we had to find a way to divide up our dry lot AND our overhang AND our water tank. With various materials we had lying around, Dave managed to get the job done yesterday, with a little bit of help from me. So far, it looks like it's going to work just as I'd hoped; both sides have access to the overhang and the water tank. Yay! Now I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for a quick, mild, uneventful winter. And if Dave's employer could relocate him to some tropical area, that'd be cool too.

So sorry...

2008-11-01T09:26:00.005-05:00

I know - not a single post in October. What can I say? Things have been a bit wild and wacky around here. Not that that's unusual by any means, but it has been time consuming. So to tide my few but faithful readers over, I thought I'd share some pictures of my darling little monsters on Halloween.

At best, this was a lazy and feeble attempt at a costume. I guess she felt the ears were enough to make her deserving of some candy. She didn't even bother with a tail. Sad, sad, sad...

Of course, her little brother was more eager to turn himself into some sort of creepy, undead creature. Say hello to my little zombie-child.

He even mastered the fine art of hovering. (Look ma! No legs!)

And here the sweet little pumpkins are taking a 2 second break from beating the crap out of each other to pose for this picture. Wasn't that kind of them?

I really will try to do better this month.

Wildlife Prairie State Park

2008-09-18T08:52:00.006-05:00

Yesterday, the kids didn't have school. So we decided it was a good day to visit my friend and her adorable little daughter. We took a trip down towards Peoria and spent the day at the Wildlife Prairie Park.

It only took 20 minutes to get the kids to stop shoving each other long enough to snap this shot:

They had a little movie about the park that played continuously inside the Visitor's Center. We were the only ones there, so the kids had more fun making their own shadow-puppet movies. We were able to get pretty darn close to some of the animals. This is a black bear. I thought black bears were a smaller bear, but this one seemed plenty big to me.
That's Cole up there on the observation deck, overlooking the prairie full of elk, geese and buffalo.

There are statues of animals all over the park. Of course, Cole (being the huge fan that he is of toads and frogs) wanted to take this one home with us. I'm sure it would've been lovely in his room.We had a really nice time visiting with Susan and Ella, and the weather was just beautiful. So it was a wonderful day to spend outdoors enjoying Mother Nature.

Football Season

2008-09-11T12:37:00.005-05:00

Football season is in full swing here. Cole is really enjoying his first year of tackle. Doesn't he look tough despite being the lightest kid on the team?

The Ducks At 5 Weeks

2008-09-10T08:20:00.000-05:00

The feathers just keep coming in. You can see how much brown and beige coloring they are getting. I'm not sure exactly how large they will eventually get, but they seem to be nearly the size of adult ducks to me.

This appears to be a female, and it looks like she's a crested duck. She'll be almost as funny looking as the runner duck with that puff-ball on her head.

See all the funny feathers just starting to poke through around their faces? Right now they look a little bit like a pin cushion. I can't wait to see the final result.

Country -vs- Crumb

2008-09-08T14:15:00.006-05:00

I'll just let the pictures tell the tale of the introduction of our cat, Country, and Crumb.

Erin and Crumb

2008-09-08T12:45:00.005-05:00

As you can see, I'm not the only one who likes to snuggle with Crumb. Erin thinks he's a pretty sweet boy too. He's already figured out that she's very good at giving lots of attention and bats his big brown eyes at her often. Like me, she finds it impossible to resist.

Slightly Obsessed

2008-09-08T08:25:00.004-05:00

I am more than a little obsessed with Crumb. He is just SO sweet. It's such a sharp contrast to my Arabian mare, Gypsy.

Gypsy loves me... when she feels like it. She's not warm and cuddly. She prefers that I dote on her by grooming her until she's beautiful so that she can trot around with her tail in the air like she's better than everyone else. If I dare turn my attention to another horse, or god forbid RIDE one, she is thrown into a jealous rage. As soon as that horse is turned back into the pasture with her, she runs after him/her with her ears pinned back and teeth showing. She lets them know that they are not supposed to be messing with HER human. She follows that by completely ignoring me for my infidelity. She refuses to make eye contact and will turn her head back and forth just to avoid me. If I reach out to pet her, she turns two steps away, just out of reach. If I step forward to pet her again, same thing, until she finally trots away with her snout in the air. I'm pretty sure she'd flip me the bird if she had a middle finger. Instead, she uses her tail. She's a bit like a possessive stalker.

But Crumb? Oh man, he's a lover. I think he'd stand all day with me to hug and snuggle. He wants to do whatever I want him to do - even if he's not sure what that is sometimes. He is something else. I'm sure Gypsy has noticed this as well. Currently, they are in adjoining pastures, but have not yet been together. I'm guessing she's about to boil over with contempt.

Who could blame me though? Look at this pretty boy:

Look how big he is compared to me. He makes me feel so little.

Isn't he just too cool??? :)

A New Halter For Crumb

2008-09-04T08:36:00.005-05:00

Yesterday I ordered a personalized halter for Crumb. I am SO excited about my new buddy! I found a site where I could cyber-create the halter first so I could see what it would look like. You can choose your horse's color (or close to it) and then design the halter by color and personalization. This is the simulation of what I ordered. (Can you tell I finally figured out the "screen capture" thing on my photo editing software?) I ended up just getting his name put on the noseband, and not the cheek piece, but I think it will look very nice on the big man. Now I need to measure him for a blanket. This is way better than a Barbie doll!

Meet Crumb

2008-09-02T09:34:00.004-05:00

I was NOT in the market for another horse. Really. Why are you laughing?

My back has been a disaster for the past couple years. I've hardly ridden, and when I have, I've been in so much pain afterwards. I have truly been depressed, thinking maybe my riding days are over. I've had so many people tell me that I need to try some of the gaited horse breeds. They have sworn that the way they move is much, much easier on the ol' back. Also, all of my neighbors have Tennessee Walkers. I have been the odd man out around here. Well, long story short, one of my neighbors called me about a Tennessee Walker that was for sale, the owner offered me a two-week trial on him, I fell in love and we moved him home this weekend. My back has actually IMPROVED from riding him. The gentle swaying movement seems to be loosening it up. And this guy is the biggest love bug! What a personality! Plus he's absolutely gorgeous, and compared to the rest of our shorter horses, he's huge. His name is "Crumb" (his mom is "Cookie") and I'm so excited. I almost feel like I've gotten my life back. Woo hoo!

Looking different

2008-08-27T19:04:00.003-05:00

The ducklings continue to grow bigger, and are starting to get feathers vs. fuzz. Check out the brown feathers coming through. They look different each day and are so funny to watch as they waddle around.

Speaking of looking differently... look at our poor pony, Taz. This spring, Starburst decided to chew on his beautiful tail. His tail used to almost hit the ground. It was so long and gorgeous. Now look at it. He looks like a colt. As if that wasn't bad enough, the other day I found Taz's forelock looking like he was hit with a weed-whacker! It appears now Starburst is reaching OVER THE FENCE to chew on Taz. I swear, I'm going to have to muzzle that little turkey!

It reminds me of a typical little kid. It seems nearly every young kid tries to cut either his/her own hair or the hair of a friend or sibling. I guess horses are no different.

Silence!

2008-08-21T08:04:00.002-05:00

You should hear how quiet it is here. The bus just picked up the kids for the first day of school. Nobody's fighting. The tv isn't blaring the Disney channel. No one is wrestling with the dogs. No one is tattling on anyone. There is nobody "calling" the last bowl of cereal. Ahhhhh! I'm just typing away with my cup of coffee in complete silence. What a difference from the past few months!

The Ducklings Are 2 Weeks Old

2008-08-21T07:49:00.001-05:00

These ducks are growing almost as fast as the weeds! It truly seems like they double in size twice a day. Unfortunately, one of the little fuzzies died last week. I wasn't very surprised because he was much smaller, and seemed weaker, than the others and just wasn't growing much. It looks like the other eight are doing fine though.

We can't trust our two rat terriers with the ducks for even a second, but our lab, Stewie, seems to actually enjoy watching them waddle around the yard as much as we do. Sometimes he runs in circles around them and then seems disappointed when they won't chase him.

Last night, I tested the ducks' ability to eat Japanese beetles. After all, this was one of the big reasons I wanted ducks in the first place. I knocked a bunch of them off of my beans and into a coffee can, and then dumped them into their water pan - just like my neighbor recommended. Boy, she wasn't pulling my leg! They all went crazy, diving in and gobbling them up. I was so proud. Next year's beans are already looking forward to having these wacky quackers guarding the garden.

Back From Horse Camp

2008-08-15T09:44:00.008-05:00

Erin just got home from horse camp. She was at Cedar Valley Stables in Tipton, Ia. (http://www.cedarvalleystables.net) is also the same location where I first rode a horse, went to horse camp and worked as a ranch hand in my younger days. It is my favorite place on the planet, and is the backdrop for the vast majority of my favorite childhood memories. So I think I was as excited about my little girl going to camp there as she was. We attended the camp horse show and brought her home last night. It was so much fun to talk to her about her camp experiences and share my own. I had dug out all my old "ranch" photos and had fun comparing. First, is me with "Diamond Jim" at age 12. Next, is Erin, last night, age 13, with "Cochise."

Now for our horse shows. First, me on "Scottie" at my horse show in 1980. Next is Erin, last night, on "Cochise" at her horse show.

This mom was pretty excited to have the opportunity to see her "baby" out there following in her footsteps. :)

The ranch suffered extensive damage this spring during the flooding. The water reached levels never before seen. Anyone that has ever been there will be shocked by the photos on this link. Click on the slideshow. You just won't believe it: http://picasaweb.google.com/CedarValleyStables/June2008BeforeTheCrest

My niece, Joey

2008-08-14T08:14:00.002-05:00

In June, my sister came to visit from Colorado. She brought her doggie-daughter, Joey, with her. She is the smartest, sweetest, goofiest Springer Spaniel there is, and we all adore her. She's better behaved and better trained than any of our dogs, that's for sure. Look at that face!

As you can see, Cole and Joey are very similar in personality. They get along great.

Ducklings - One week old

2008-08-12T15:53:00.005-05:00

Boy are these ducks fun! Look how big they're getting already!

Starburst

2008-08-12T08:54:00.005-05:00

Introducing, STARBURST, my daughter's favorite horse in the world. He is a yearling, Appaloosa colt.

Last year, Erin turned twelve, was diagnosed with cancer, and underwent two surgeries to remove a tumor in her lung as well as the lower half of her left lung all within the month of May. As a birthday gift and incentive to get well soon, Starburst was given to Erin by a multitude of kind and caring friends who certainly knew how to raise the spirits of our horse-crazy daughter.

Today, Erin and Starburst are growing up together. Here are a few pictures of their past year together:

This is Erin and Cole, visiting with Starburst before heading off to Iowa City for surgery.

After two weeks in the hospital, Erin couldn't wait to get back to her new friend!

She had barely recovered from surgery before Erin started working with her little buddy.

Erin still loves to ride Brett, who has been a big help in showing Starburst the ropes.

This "little guy" is quickly growing into a big guy!

He's already as tall as our other full-grown horses and he still has a lot of time to grow even bigger!

Today, these two are quite a pair.

Once he's old enough to ride, look out.

These two are going to be inseparable.

The ducks are here!

2008-08-07T07:12:00.005-05:00

I have ducklings! Yippee! I've been wanting Golden Cascade ducks since this spring. First, I ordered hatching eggs from someone in Colorado. I don't know what went wrong, but every single egg was developing nicely, almost all pipped the shell at hatch time, and then died in the shell. To say I was disappointed is an understatement.

Then I learned that a hatchery in Iowa sells Golden Cascades. It was about an hour drive from me. So I ordered some. And then I waited and waited and waited... These things take time, you know. Sometimes there are complications, like I had myself. So finally, I got a call this week that my little quackers were ready!

At that point, I asked if they had any extra runner ducklings. You see, my dear husband saw some runner ducks at the county fair this year. If you've never seen a runner duck, you have to follow this link for a good laugh.
(http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/Ducks/Runners/BRKRunners.html)
They are long and upright, much like a bowling pin with legs and a beak. As soon as he saw them, Dave asked me, "What is THAT?!" I told him a little about the silly runner ducks. He immediately told me that if I was going to bring home ducks, he wanted at least one of those crazy looking things. :)

Anyway... it just so happened that the hatchery thought they might have some runners. So when the kids and I drove out last night, there were two runner ducklings in the box as well. The funny thing is, they are buff runners, and the Golden Cascades are a buff color too. Right now, all the ducklings are yellow and you can't really tell them apart yet. Guess we'll have to wait until they get older. Originally, I only wanted 4 or 5 ducks. So I ordered 6. You know, just in case... Well, the hatchery had already sent an "extra", plus the two runners. So now I have 9 ducklings. Funny how they multiply, eh? Of course, they are totally adorable. As I type, my son has a sheet on the living room floor and is watching tv with a couple of them. See for yourself.

Check out this little one. Cole has already taught her to smile pretty for the camera! :)

Stay tuned. There will undoubtedly be many duck updates in the future.

HISS!!!

2008-07-31T19:57:00.002-05:00

Our rat terriers generally kill any critters that show up uninvited in our yard, but they weren't messing with this bad boy. I found them barking at this big, coiled-up bull snake from a considerable distance. Obviously, I don't have a great fear of snakes (as long as I know they're there anyway). So I picked him up with a stick, put him in a big garbage can and then drove him into a wooded area about 5 miles away to release him. While I would've appreciated him consuming any rodents around here, I was also concerned that he might eat some of our eggs as well. Plus, I didn't really want to run into him again unexpectedly. Therefore, I decided that relocation was the way to go.

The Rabbit Ritz

2008-07-31T18:21:00.006-05:00

My husband tends to go a little overboard when it comes to building things. Our rabbit house is a great example. I wanted to build the bun-buns a bigger cage/house/hutch. One day, I started sawing and drilling, determined to construct... something. My husband saw what I was up to and decided to "help". Before too long, he had created one heck of a rabbit cage. The end result is WAY more elaborate than I had planned, but the bunny-girls (Ashes and Tammy Faye) haven't complained a bit.

Some Feathered Friends

2008-07-30T08:11:00.005-05:00

I haven't always wanted chickens. To be honest, I really never gave them much thought... until I visited my neighbor, who had a small flock of chickens. I was fascinated by the interesting things she told me about her chickens and their behavior. Then she sent me home with some fresh eggs. I thought it was a nice gesture, and while her eggs were very pretty in various shades of tan, brown, green and blue, I didn't expect any difference in taste. I was wrong though. Fresh eggs definitely taste different - in a really good way!

So then I was hooked and had to have some chickens of my own. I've had chickens since April 2006 now. The past two springs I have even raised some chickens for meat. Did you know that there is a big difference between the chickens you keep for eggs, and the broiler birds you raise for meat? They're like two separate animals. Stick around, I'm sure I'll walk you through it next year.

Currently though, I have 21 laying hens. Some are old and don't lay many eggs anymore, but they're nice old gals and so I'll just keep on feeding and housing them through their retirement years.

The girls are well protected by two roosters. We call the older one, Herman, because he looks just like my neighbor's rooster whose name is Herman. Yes, I was a total copycat on that one. I couldn't think of a name for him and Herman seemed like a great thing to call a rooster. Don't laugh. Have you ever tried to name a rooster? So now when I'm talking to my neighbor, I refer to him as "my Herman" as opposed to "your Herman." She knows what I'm talking about - or at least she pretends that she does. That is Herman there in the picture to the left. He's a curious fellow, but also pretty darn gentle for a rooster. The younger one never even got a stolen name. I just call him "the younger rooster." It doesn't seem to have given him any kind of complex yet.

Then there are my smaller, new chickens. I ordered eggs from eBay and incubated them this spring. What I have now are one Frizzle rooster, one Frizzle hen, and two Silky hens. They are smaller chickens and they lay tiny little eggs (though these haven't reached the laying stage just yet.) The silkies appear to have wild fuzzy hair rather than feathers, and the frizzles look more like regular chickens that have been caught in a windstorm. Their feathers curl around all over the place. I think the purpose of these four will be purely to make me smile every day. They look both cute and ridiculous. I need to get some current pictures of them so they can make you smile too.

So that's how the chickens found their way into our lives. They are the one and only animal here that actually makes an effort to earn their keep. We keep them fed, and they return the favor:

A Quick Introduction

2008-07-29T21:30:00.004-05:00

I'm generally not good at being brief, but I'll try to give you a quick idea of who I am and how I live without writing an entire autobiography in my first post. Bear with me, I will probably find this a very difficult task.

I grew up a country girl that was born and raised (okay, TRAPPED would be a more accurate word) in town. My earliest memory is of petting a horse at rodeo when I was 18 months old. My mother swears I can not possibly remember it, but yet she can't explain how I am still able to accurately describe the entire scene with great detail - right down to the fact that the horse was a palomino. I can not remember a time when I didn't love horses - all animals really, but horses especially.

Growing up in a family that wasn't exactly "pro" animal was a challenge for me, but over the years I managed to weasel my way into having hamsters, rabbits, a cat, and eventually a dog. I begged and begged and begged for a horse - probably every day of my life. I went to horse camp every summer and worked as a ranch hand as many weekends as possible at a riding stable about 45 minutes away. All I've ever really, really, really longed for in life is to live in the country and own horses.

Fast forward to marrying my husband almost 16 years ago. He had grown up on 25 acres in the country himself and while animals weren't really his focus, he eventually wanted to live the country life too. Finding and affording the right place wasn't easy though. It took 9 years before we were able to buy our 8 acre farmette and move from town out to the country.

While nothing has been exactly "easy" for us, living here with our two children is something we truly cherish. Today we share our country home with 4 horses, a pony, 27 chickens, a goat, 2 sheep, 3 dogs, 3 cats and 3 rabbits - though these counts are always subject to change without notice.

I guess, for me, this blog will be a way to document my thoughts and experiences - a diary of sorts. If anyone cares to read it, fantastic. I hope it doesn't bore anyone to tears. :)