The Shelter .... plus update on COCKA-DOODLE-DO!!

Now that we have cows AND horses, we need a place for each when it's drizzly, stormy, blizzardy or just windy from the north!  They don't really congregate together.  So Mike planned and built a shelter for the horses and I've already seen them in there!!  Here you can see the progression:

The meager beginning (L) and if you enlarge the detail on the right, you can see at least 3 grasshoppers on the post, not to mention a nice side view of the house.

Once the frame was completed, it was time for the roof:

Then the aluminum siding to wrap around for the finished structure:

BUT, my favorite shot is looking out from the interior:  a nice fall day, with a view of the house and the horses just resting under their favorite tree - You may have to enlarge to see the horses!!!:

As for my cock-a-doodle-do-less 'Cogburn', about a week after my last post, he started cock-a -doing!  He didn't quite have it until about another week later when he finally got it right.  He now wakes us up with a full COCK-A-DOODLE-DO!!!  Every morning it's very noisy out in the hen house as all the hens are 'BEDAWKETTING'  VERY loudly in response.  Don't think those hens didn't notice Mr Rooster's shortcomings (L) - however, time has made him a more handsome rooster as he's growing in tail feathers:

As for our hen population, something 'got' one about a week ago.  My count was off when I put them to bed, and I hunted all over for her but couldn't find her..... until the next morning.  With daylight, I could see feathers all over the place and following the trail --- I found her dead and picked apart by something.  My cats were a little suspect at first, but we've narrowed it down to a likely chicken hawk.  Then Mike got a call from someone who was selling his chickens, so he got 6 more hens.  Upon arrival, one flew over the fence and disappeared across the road.  We've been visited nightly lately by howling coyotes and figured that hen's chance of survival was next to nothing.  Late the next afternoon, I heard a screem and went out to find Sam with something!!  It was the hen!!!!  We yelled at him to drop it and she ran off the first time.  He ran after her and caught her a second time and was 'mauling' her with his mouth.  Again I yelled at him and he dropped her and she just laid there.  Well, so much for that hen!!  So Mike picked her up so Sam wouldn't get a taste for fresh chicken, and after several seconds, her eyes blinked!!!  Then she moved a little.  So we brought her to the hen house, and she jumped down and joined her sisters - all huddled in the corner.  So by some miracle, we have all 6 new hens!!

I don't know what kind they are, but they are interesting with their orange necks and feathered feet.  The one below looks like she has fluffy slippers on.  They're pretty young, so I don't know that they're laying yet.  I did have one very light egg the other day, so maybe they're just starting.

Speaking of eggs, on the recommendation of a friend, I painted a face on an egg and put it in one of the laying boxes.  Sure enough, they like laying when there's already an egg there.  Sometimes there are up to 4 new eggs in that carton.  So I put a golf ball in one, but they didn't buy it!!!  Finally, after a month, at least one hen accepts the golf ball and sets on it to lay her egg.

No cock-a-doodle-doing here!!!!

You know when you get a little male puppy, they don't know how to lift their leg right away?  I remember our dalmation as a puppy, I thought he'd never potty like a big dog, but eventually he figured it out!!  Sam, our border collie was a quick learner and trust me, not a wheel rolls on our driveway but it gets peed on!  He thinks it's part of his job description around here.  He also breaks up cat fights and he and Eeyore have discussions at the corral gate whether a donkey should paw at the lower bar!  Eeyore says 'I will if I want to'  and Sam says 'not on my watch you don't.... get your hoof offa that gate!!'  Eeyore will ignore his grain to aggravate Sam at the gate.  It's like a game and he knows it bothers Sam, so he does it on purpose when Sam's right there.

Once upon a time there were 9 Cornish hens looking for a home.  My friend, Neta, called because she knew Mike was building a chicken house and wanted to know if we'd like to adopt them.  The yard wasn't fenced it yet and we didn't have any supplies, but how can you turn down a gift chicken that's about 6 months old and just starting to lay eggs!!  So he put wire up and we got a makeshift bowl for water and we were in the chicken business.  At first we got 1 or 2 small eggs a day, but I think they like their new home because we've picked up on the number of chickens that lay every day.

For your edification.... Have you ever had something 'stuck in your craw'?  I've heard the expression, but since we've had the hens, I've learned what a craw is!!!  If you look at the left-most hen, you can see a pouchy area below her throat.  You can see it on the second hen too.  That pouch is a 'craw' and when they eat insects (like GRASSHOPPERS) they go first into the craw for the first stage of digestion.  Since I am overrun with grasshoppers, my hens walk around with thier craws full most days and I can see which are quickest and best at catching those nasty grasshoppers!!!! 

Neta's husband, Junior, brought gifts!!!  A bale of hay for their nests and a bucket of wheat for treats!  They had to come visit and see the chickens.  Neta also has a family heirloom for me ... her dad's chicken laying station ( for lack of a better term)  It's actually pretty nice though it needs a little repair.  A week later I got another call from Neta... "Do you want a rooster???  Junior got one for you if you want him."  Now don't laugh, you'll hurt his feelings!!  Something almost had him for dinner and instead got a mouthful of tail feathers!  Poor Cogburn.... no tail feathers until he grows new ones.  We figure we saved his life by letting him come here with our 9 hens.  And af far as 'cock-a-doodle dooing, he doesn't!!!  I guess it comes with maturity.  Mike's waiting for the morning he gets awakened with a cock-a-doodle-do!!

In the meantime, we've grown to 4 or 5 eggs a day and they've gone from small eggs to medium and large!!  I weighed them the other day to compare to a 'large' store-bought egg, and I'm getting at least one large egg everyday and a few mediums!  Compared to store bought, the yolks are yellow-orange in color.  It's awesome having free-range eggs.  They make beautiful deviled eggs!

Time Changes Everything....

Doesn't this relate to everything in this life???  Children constantly change.  Relationships change.  Seasons change.  But, God never changes!!!  The rainbow is a great reminder of God's promise to us.  Over time,  things in life can change.  Take this rainbow for example.  Mike took this photo because we were so impressed with how BRIGHT the rainbow was!!!  He then gave me the camera and I took the other end of the rainbow, but when I turned back, the brighter end looked different.....The brightness was muted as it was quickly disappearing, but note the funky lighting on the trees and the grey sky on one side of the rainbow and the beautiful blue sky on the other!!  The rainbow may not be as bright, but I LOVE this picture and all it's nuances!!!  (Additionally, one could make such relationships to life transitions)  What did Forrest Gump say in the movie?  "Life is like a bowl of chocolate"?  I think life is more like a rainbow with rainy times, sunny times and times of transition - ever changing!!

And, here's the other end of the rainbow with an interesting sky... grey clouds, white clouds and blue skies in the distance.  Funky light in the field and wet bales of hay -- our very own!!!!After the storm, out came the horses to check out the new bales of hay that Mike had brought up from the field.  (L to R: Tutu, Doc, Eeyore and Racey)  After the rain, life is good again!!!

There's never nuthin' to do....

This is close to the culmination of a BIG project!!!  Designing and building a chicken house!!  What does trenching have to do with a chicken house you ask???  Well, if you want a nice chicken house, you need electricity and water.  Contented hens can see to knit while they sit in their nesting boxes and can take baths when they arise in the morning before they step outside to wake us up with their 'cockadoodle-doo'!!  We're going to have classy chickens!!  On a more serious note, we need to keep the chicks warm (use a warming light) and they of course need water, but the biggest water usage is my garden, and this trench brings well water to my garden!!!  Mike had to rent a trencher to lay pipe and electric lines ... and the cows are so curious they had to gather round to check out the activity!  The cats have explored the trench from one end to the other, and when Mike went out to lay the pipe, he found a 3'-4' snake skin and a thousand crickets!!

Now drop back to early last year - as winter was finishing up, Mike was making the specs:  He laid the foundation as soon as he could work the ground.  He framed it and put in flooring.  To test it out, one morning we heard the clatter of hoofs just after sunrise.  I peeked out to see what all the clatter was about and ran for my camera!!  Racey and Eeyore were checking out the hen house!!  When they saw me they quickly exited and tried to convince me they hadn't been in there, but I caught them in the act!!!

Then he added the trusses and all the supporting boards for the roof.  This was mostly morning work because the days get pretty warm in the summer and you're forced to move to your inside projects.

Then putting the tin roof on (below).. It's really starting to take shape.  As you can see, the chicken house is back to back with my garden - incidentally chicken poop is an excellent fertilizer!!  Where you see the plywood wall is my storage room for garden stuff and toward the front a storage room for chicken feed.
Then comes the siding and doors and window covers:

And from the backside, you can see the door to my storage room, my potting porch, places to hang my tools, and a window so I can talk to the chickens....

A few weeks ago he sectioned off a section near the corral to store hay.  That involved installing a fence and  a gate wide enough to get the tractor through.  He also churned up the dirt to get rid of the weeds and put out weed killer.  This year we can store enough hay for our livestock for the whole winter.

The hardest part of this project was digging the holes for the gate posts.  The ground is virgin and packed down - dry and concrete-like!!  It took Mike and an experienced friend to dig with the augers you see laying on the ground.  Even with the tractor, added weight had to be placed on top so the auger could dig a deep enough hole.  This project is done now.  The fields have been mowed and baled, and over the next couple of weeks Mike will be transporting the HUGE bales of hay, one at a time, to their resting place in the hay yard until needed over the winter.
There's another project that's a work in progress - my camera will find it's way out there soon to capture the action for future memories!!!  Stay tuned for progress!!!  And the arrival of baby chicks.  Right now the only residents of the hen house are crickets, grasshoppers, mud daubers, wasps, mosquitos and spiders. Except for the mosquitos, there are numerous varieties of each!!!  There's even a resident black widow!!

Ever see a RED Grasshopper?????

I have TONS of GRASSHOPPERS!!!  BIG ONES and small ones, some hop, some fly, some are brown, some green, some mustard yellow (those are some of the HUGE ones) and then the other day I saw a RED one!!!  I tried to get pictures, but was limited by the life of my camera battery.  So, I got pictures of perfectly clear, crisp leaves to my tomato plant and a blurry grasshopper!!!  But at least it is recognizable!!! 

Then there are some that are BIG and UGLY!!!!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly...

My garden is one of the things that keeps my busy. My best new garden toy is my Troy Bilt 'Horse' - a wonderful rototiller that will make my garden even better next year. It's powerful, yet easy to use. Here's my ranch partner checking out the new equipment! The 'good' parts of my garden are my cucumbers (it has now reached the top of the cage) - not so much the peppers - I am getting a few jalapenos, but the sweet green pepper is only leaves and flowers.

I've already had some pumpkins (background) Unfortunately the grasshoppers like pumpkin, so I have to fight for everything I get ... and I have some HUGE watermelons and the one we tried was sweet to the rind! They had taken over the whole back third --- BUT the horses got into my garden and trampled them!!! They're trying to recover, but the pumpkin really took a hit!! Maybe by halloween it will make some more!!

Pickling cucumbers have done great in spite of the grasshoppers and the horses!!

Not everything has been as successful.. My kohlrabi (on the left of Schnoz, who meets me in the garden most mornings for pets).... has been eaten by grasshoppers! I tried, Pam!!! I almost saved them - got them back once, but then all the new growth was eaten overnight and as of last week, the last one died : (

Then there's my poor apricot tree!!! I could taste apricot jam and apricot fried pies!! This is the first year the tree has been fenced in so the horses didn't eat the blossoms!!! There were LOTS of tiny little apricots coming .... getting bigger.... bigger.... still green and hard.. .. GONE!!! The grasshoppers ate EVERY LEAF and the fruit leaving only the pits!!!!

I think I counted 20 grasshoppers in this picture:
Just as ugly was my corn!!! Early on we had some NICE corn from the first 2 rows of corn we planted. The second 2 rows were planted later, and we didn't get a single ear. Guess what got them all?? Not the birds! Not the horses (they only ate some leaves and trampled a few plants on their afternoon in the garden)! Not catapillars or worms? Not rabbits?? YUP.. those pesky grasshoppers!!! It gave meaning to the plagues in the Bible!!! Just like the locusts!!!

They swarmed all over!!!

... and what they left behind wasn't edible...

Not pictured: they also ate leaves and branches of my string beans. Did I mention that I HATE GRASSHOPPERS!!!!

Family

I am so delinquent on this blog, but I've been out of town without my familiar computer and familiar software! There's too much to put in one blog, so I'll divide topics - starting with grandchildren and family. What blessed times we've had over the past couple of months!! Travis and Pam (and family + hounds) visited here at the ranch on their way to Phoenix for a few weeks of additional training. Though this picture was taken by Cheyenne in Phoenix, it's an awesome current family shot. Actually they also visited on their way back to the east coast to move to Italy, where they'll be for the next 3 years! While here the second time, Grandpa Mike took them to the Wildcatter Ranch (a steak and ribs place) for dinner, and they took some good pictures:

(from here down, left clicking once will enlarge any small picture)

I thought this was a particularly great photo, capturing Grandpa with Brenden and Marissa.

After their first visit, Travis and Pam arranged for Marissa's baptism while in Phoenix, so Grandma ("Noni") headed for Phoenix to represent our family at the baptism. They were at Luke AFB for another week or so, so we got to spend some time together every day. When Travis wasn't busy on his graduate studies, he was helping Brenden share his love of trains (choo-choos) with his cousin, Riley (who now has a love for choo-choos and cars too).

Here's beautiful Marissa (below, left), showing off her new Noni beanie and it wouldn't be complete without Pam and a good shot of Brenden! While together at 20 months old, Brenden and Riley developed a password (Da-dah) which none of us adults have a clue what it means, but they are very enthusiastic when saying it to each other. It's how Riley knew if Brenden was in the house, and how they greet each other on Skype now that they are in Italy and carry on quite the da-dah conversation!!

Of course I stayed with Cheyenne as John was deployed and I was to be her labor coach. Her due date was about 2 weeks away. Of course in her inimitable fashion, she was 8 days past her due date (last time it was 10)! Riley seemed oblivious to the impending arrival of his little sister. He loved playing outside as you can see.

Because of Cheyenne's last fast labor and delivery in an apartment parking lot, we prayed for discernment as to when to go to the hospital (about 1/2 hour drive) ... not too early, not too late and prayed that her doctor could be there for the delivery. For her account, check out http://www.cjwilson34.blogspot.com/ ("Did we make it to the hospital?") Things could not have fallen into place better! Alas Scarlett Chaeny Wilson was born at 0336 on May 11th, and I was back home by the time Riley woke up and he was none the wiser! He did so well during the transition to 'big brother'. No tears until Mommy got home with the baby. When he saw her sitting there holding his new sister, he was incredulous!!! Heart broken!! How could Mommy bring that baby home???? By later in the day, he'd gotten over the shock and has been fine ever since!

With no further adieu, here's the beautiful brand new Scarlett, just minutes old with her mommy:

and here's Scarlett in her new Noni beanie ready to go home:

And here's Scarlett during her first photoshoot! Do you think she's going to be a well photographed child???

And last but not least, HERE"S SCARLETT.... at one week with her new 'Aunt Pam' bracelet! Needless to say, she's a welcome addition to the Winslow family, and now Marissa will have a playmate whenever the families come to visit in years to come! We are very happy grandparents!