Last night, while we were away having dinner with friends and picking up the chickens, some weather came though here. Half of the roof to the pump house was blown about 20 feet away, so it must have been quite a little storm. This morning found the air heavy with moisture and the ground soaked and thankful. The sight of wet branches and grass made everything look still, but it was hardly quiet. I have yet to learn what birds give rise to the various calls I hear around here.

The chickens made it to their new home in relatively good condition. As I opened the coop this morning, a couple of them cautiously poked their heads out, but upon seeing me, refused to come out. I heard them talk it over a bit inside, apparently discussing my potential threat to their safety, so I stepped out of view and waited to see what would happen. A few seconds later, a third chicken boldly stepped outside, followed by the rest, jerking their heads around to take it all in.

I'm a little curious to see if any lay today, though I wouldn't be surprised if the trauma of last night keeps them from doing so.

On a side note, I've been wanting to name the place. Names like 'Green Acres' and 'Sunny Fields' plague my mind but are instantly dismissed. I asked Chris if he had any ideas. "Funny Farm," he answered instantly. Then we had a good laugh. I am open to any other suggestions.

I know my husband loves me because...

...he is out in the 90 degree heat working on the chicken tractor I started building yesterday.
He wasn't ready for chickens, he said. But he knew I wanted them.

Agonizing...

...over the design of a chicken coop/tractor.
Some one is giving me their 5 chickens (two of which are Polish mop-heads!) and I am trying to get it together and build something for them before I pick them up.
I am thinking too hard about it, but if I don't, I am afraid it will end up an unstable disaster.

His Face Says It All

The Duck

Not long after we moved here, we were visited by the neighbor's two male Rouen ducks. (From what I understand, Rouens are basically domesticated Mallards). Chris, of course, got some bread and fed them. Bread must be like crack for ducks, because after that, they followed Chris wherever he went, anticipating his every move, waiting outside doors, quacking their low little smoker-quacks whenever they saw him. I convinced Chris to stop feeding them bread, opting for a small handful of oats to keep them visiting, but not more than that so they would keep feeding on insects and whatnot.

It was fun to watch the ducks, always alert and cautious, yet hanging around on the outskirts, waiting for a 'fix'.

Sadly, we found when we returned from vacation that one of the neighbor's dogs had done away with one of the ducks. The kids gladly collected a handful of his feathers to play with. The remaining duck, apparently distraught and frightened from the loss of his only friend, has opted to stay where he feels the most safe: our place.
I catch myself calling him Ferdinand in my mind after the duck in the movie Babe. That poor Ferdinand was a harried and paranoid creature, anticipating that he was to be Christmas dinner. This duck is harried and paranoid as well. He doesn't look as groomed as he used to, but always a little ruffled and frazzled, like he didn't get a good nights rest. He hides out under our bushes and in our garage, following us around like a lost puppy.

Lately, though, he's been getting more brazen. Realizing that we are definitely not out to kill him, he has wandered closer to us when we are walking around. The kids used to be able to chase him away, but now he just runs around in a little circle, keeping just out of their reach. He has terrified Zivah, nipping at her shirt. She no longer wants to walk around outside on her own in fear of the duck, but is still happy to see him if she is in my arms. Today, he nipped at my toes when I was hanging out some laundry. He's getting too brazen. Hmm....

I wonder if he'd make a good 4th of July dinner.

This One Takes After Her Dad

She takes in upon herself to nap.

I was cleaning in her room after lunch and had some toys on Z's bed. She wandered in, saw that she couldn't lie down, and started to cry. When I offered her ours, she ran off, tucked herself in, and fell asleep.

Nibble, nibble, like a mouse. Who's done nibbling on our house?

or

Three dead mice, three dead mice. See how they don't run...

In spite of the fact that we don't really want to spend any money on the trailer, some things are necessary:

1. a bigger fridge

2. cabinets that don't stink of nastiness

So we tore the cabinets along the wall out this morning. It will be nice to know at least some of the dead rodents and their petrified feces have been removed from the place.

Dear Santa, I would like a pair of these in a low-rise women's version, please:

Today, I wrangled the rest of the barbed wire off a section of fencing. Deer skin leather is not as tough as cow. They don't sell good, heavy-duty gloves in my size at the local Co-op.

Perhaps I should come out with my own line of women's work-wear.

Snapshots and Comments

Here is Chris taking a catnap with our new kitty-cat, Dragon.

Yesterday was miserably hot (90 degrees, 90% humidity), and although I attempted a few things outdoors, we spent most of the day inside. I can't say that is good for my state of mind, or for the kids. To make matters worse, I was (am) still recovering from a cold, and didn't seem to have it in me to do much.

This morning, I took advantage of the 'cooler' weather. (It didn't reach 80 degrees until about 11, I think.) All three kids joined me outside. I bought a couple tomato plants yesterday in hopes to have a few decent tomatoes this year, so Joe and I went to dig up a small section of the yard to plant them in.

[An aside: Joe is quite the little worker. He helped me knock the dirt out of the grass clumps and load the clumps into the wheelbarrow. On Monday, he helped Chris unload some bricks out of the truck, moving them from the back of the bed to the tailgate while Chris stacked them behind the garage. He didn't stop until the job was done, and didn't complain.]

While Joe and I were working, Finley made some 'decorations; with a stick, rocks, a day lily leaf, and scotch tape.

At some point, Joe wandered off to collect 'fruit' with an idea to make juice.

While digging, I found this marble. I also kept digging up these crazy spiders that toted what looked like mini golf balls around by their hind ends.

By lunchtime, I had three little tomatoes planted.

And I used the plastic on the mattresses we bought for the kids' bunk bed to cover up another section of ground in hopes that it will kill all the grass and weeds and make for easier bed making in time for a fall planting. Later, while Z naps, I hope to get the rest of the barbed wire down near the area I want to put the compost piles.

Weekend Update

Last week in Florida, the first day on the beach, I was out in waist-deep water. I saw a smudge of brown in the sand and thought it might me some critter. I blindly dug the net into the sand and came up with this crab:

His body was roughly 4 inches across. What a catch! None of us caught anything quite so large the rest of the week, but we did get a variety of small crabs, shrimp, pipe fish, baby flounders?, sand fleas, and sea slugs.

The kids enjoyed checking out our finds as well. Finley enjoyed playing in the shallow waves on the edge of the beach, as long as she had her trusty hippo floaty with her. Joe never got the courage to brave the water on his own (which was fine by me) and would also freak out a bit if we carried him out too far for his liking.

The kids also enjoyed playing in the pool at the house. Z loved floating around in the baby float, and Finley got to where she could kick her way across the pool on her hippo floaty. Not bad for a kid that had never been in a real pool before.

Today is my birthday, and 'back at the ranch', I am sitting here fighting off a chest cold, looking out on the property and wishing I was up to doing something... We badly need to bush hog, but the tractor was overheating when we got it running, so it needs a little work before we can really put it to work. Chris is off picking up my birthday present: a 10HP chipper/shredder that I can't wait to put to good use on the big tree that has fallen down back by the old barn. My future garden plot is begging to be dug up, and I have some plastic I want to put down somewhere to kill off the grass and weeds in another future garden spot. We have some basic ideas for the house we want to build, and I want to get the measuring wheel out and drive some stakes to see where and how big we are thinking, but I need to wait until Chris mows today. If I had a riding mower (next on my wish list), I wouldn't have to wait on him...

But since my lungs are touchy and my energy is sapped (and lets not mention the 90 degree weather and high humidity), I suppose it is best to take it easy...

Moving On Up

Finley and Joe finally got the chance to move on up to big-kid beds. It was necessary. Finley was about to kick the bottom out of her old bed, and we needed to stack the kids to make space in our little trailer. So Chris happened upon the perfect bunk on Craigslist last night: The footboards are carved with a running horse.

Even Z gets to move up in the world. She is inheriting Joe's old bed. (Not only does the color match the bunk, but she was always partial to his for some reason.) She spent her first night in it last night. I only had to chase her back to it a dozen times or so before she finally stayed and fell asleep in it. Today, I didn't even need to put her down for her nap. She got tired and crawled in bed and fell asleep on her own.

Home, Stinky Home

We just got back from a nice, week-long trip to Florida, enjoying the beach.
Our home greeted us with an unpleasant odor that I was hoping would not be there when we got back. Hopefully a little airing our will help.
Highlights from the trip will have to wait for another day while we attempt to settle back in to our not-quite-settled life here...

Peeping Frog

Caught him hanging on our living room window.

Memorial Day Weekend

I suffered my first major disappointment yesterday: The neighbors cows aren't mini... They're just calves.



Met our other neighbors as they drove up on their ATV to check on the calves. I suppose only a silly, ex-city girl like me would make such a mistake, but in my defense, I was told they had mini cows. They used to have mini cows. I also learned donkey's name is Buford and likes peppermint. He is only 7 months old. I didn't realize a donkey's nose would be so velvety-soft.



Finley, Joe, and Reanna had a lot of opportunity to ride horses this weekend. The neighbor's 8 yr old niece gave Fin and Joe rides on Queenie, an older gentle mare, and Reanna got to ride Cane, a younger, sometimes-feisty male, solo around the neighbors' yard.



Joe and I are getting more than our share of ticks. We've each had three to pluck, and last night at 3 a.m., I felt another crawling on my shoulder. I threw it down on my night stand and smashed it with my contacts case.

Sunday, we got a visit from friends and Chris' folks, and Monday, my family came to visit for the holiday. I made beer-butt chicken for the first time. Turned out quite well.

The kids have been having a blast on the tire swing I hung out in a tree in the backyard. The previous owners had hung a small, old, tractor tire from the tree with doubled-up clothes line. It had long since fallen down. It was sitting on the ground full of stagnant water offering mosquitoes a nice nesting ground. Remembering how much I hated the sloshing water in the tire swing of my youth, I had one of those 'eureka' moments, and drilled holes in the tire to allow rain water to drain. I was also able to hang the tire out far enough from the tree so that no one will ever smack into the trunk. The result is a nearly-perfect tire swing.

The to-do list is a mile long, the garage is still half-full of boxes, and I'm anxious to get started on garden prep and compost bins, but first thing on my list is to paint the kids room so that I can move them out of the room that smells like mildew.

My coffee cup is now empty, so I'd better get the move on...