Guess who's here???

Yuck!!! Yuck and double Yuck!!!! I found this creature curled across one of the nest boxes with an egg in his mouth today. Needless to say I screamed a scream that would wake the dead. Vince came running with the 22 loaded with rat shot. Mr. snake took a shot in the head, ha, he dropped the egg real quick. I knew they'd come but didn't think it would be so early or he would be sooo big. Gross!! I hate snakes even if they are "good" snakes. I don't think the chickens liked him either.

Chicken Hospital!

We finally got around to making a chicken hospital. I needed a place where I could separate a sick chicken from the rest of the flock in case of a contagious virus. Unfortunately, that happened much too soon. I have a sick little girl. Actually she's been coughing or "hacking" for a while and I just really didn't recognize it as something other than a cold.

We had a dog house (yeah right) that Rory and Annie really didn't use (wonder why??). So we took that off the deck and put it under the deck and outfitted it for a chicken. My wonderful hubby, who should have been some sort of engineer since he can build practically anything, fixed it up just perfect. He put in a roost, it already had a light, added a feeder, a sliding door, a hinged door for cleaning, and even a little table to put the waterer on. Now we add the chicken and she is NOT happy. She misses her buddies. Unfortunately she can barely breathe. We believe she has infectious bronchitis. To make me feel even worse this is something I could have vaccinated for when they were all babies but none of my books recommended it for small flocks. I guess I'll know better in the future. It's terribly contagious and chickens tend to suffer greatly from respiratory ailments.

I held her for a while on the deck this morning watching her gasp for air and I tried really hard not to cry over a chicken but oh well. I brought her in to Vince and told him we (he) might have to do you know what. So we decided to try antibiotics (most sites say they don't do much good) and give her every chance to recover.

So now it's just wait and see :-(

Rory kisses

I love my little orange dog. She's the one that is just happy to be alive. She's not really quick to learn things (unless food is involved) but she's very agreeable to most anything you want her to do. She absolutely hates being left outside even with Annie. She's also called our pig dog because she rubs everything with her face and back like a pig. She can't resist licking everything too, whereas Annie is very cautious. She is at this moment being vacuumed by Papa. She loves it, Annie hates it. Each time I clean the house I say these will be the last dogs but who knows, once you have a dog in the house it's hard to live without one. Well off to enjoy the evening with the two fur balls, oh yea and "that cat."

All in a day's work

So spring is here and there's more daylight but seems like there's less time!!!! I can't seem to get it all done. Remember the African Violets I re potted back in the fall well here's a pic of one of them now. I think it's doubled in size.

Jenny gave me a subscription to Vegetarian Times for Christmas and I've had fun trying new recipes. The veggie fried rice is a definite keeper. I've learned how to use the sesame oil and chili paste, whew well still working on that one. Here's a pic of one of my creations, veggie pot pie with biscuit topping. I'm still working on it but it's getting better every time. The biscuits are made with my whole wheat flour and a little of King Arthur's all purpose. They are really yummy. Now here's another pic of me sitting in my favorite tool. It belongs to Vince's boss and we are using it at the house we're working on. It's real fun and sure beats the heck out of using a shovel. I'm still a little scared of it though especially after ramming the fence with the zero turn lawn mower I figure I should go slow. Well next time I'll take some pictures of the house, it's really coming along nicely. So far it has some new wiring, new plumbing, new windows and we've sanded the floors. I think it's going to be a nice place. Okay off to see what needs to be done next!!

Talk about being SPOILED!!!

Check this out. This is what I get treated to most every morning. First I wake up or attempt to wake up and Vince brings me a very nice cup of coffee. The he, being the best egg cooker ever, makes me eggs, pretend sausage that tastes very much like the real thing, jelly toast and another cup of coffee. Ah, this is the life. Actually when I think about it my life is fantastically easy. I get to get up and do whatever I need to do when I need to do it. I don't recall us every sitting down discussing it being this way it just seemed to happen. Hey I like it, I'm spoiled and I know it. Of course, I do my fair share of spoiling him too!!!

Papa caught in the act!!!

Ha, I'm not the only one that spoils the chickens. Vince (known to the animals as Papa), went out to let the chickies peck around a bit and guess what I caught him doing. He was sitting and holding and scratching the chickies. That's not all he does. He lets the chickies out of their coop in the mornings. Well it started with a couple that would "wait" till he got there so he could take them off the roost and place them on the floor. Then it was a few more now the entire lot of them "wait" to be lifted off. One of them, we call her Ms. Henny, will climb back up the ladder and waddle all the way to the other end for a second ride. They are amazingly funny sometimes. We decided to buy an old camper and convert it into a "Mobile Chickie Town." There will be many pictures of that in the future as we customize it. They will be impressed with their new accommodations. And it will be very spacious. We plan to build a covered run that can be moved daily so they have new ground every day. That way I don't have to sit out for two hours a day and protect them from the hawks, which are constantly checking them out. They are getting pretty good at running for cover though. I scream really loud and they all run under the nearest tree. I'm thinking when they move into their new house would be a good time to introduce a rooster. Yes I said rooster. I think it's time to allow them to mingle with the opposite sex, however should he be too aggressive he might be sent packing.

Ducks at Bearpond

We spent this weekend working at one of the rentals Vince manages. We call it Bearpond cause that's the road name. The last tenant left in June of last year and it needed major renovations so it has been empty since. We noticed mama duck last June sitting on some eggs. A few weeks later we saw little fuzzies. Since the weather has been warmer we've started working there and now the babies are all grown up. They seemed to have done pretty good through the winter on their own. They all seem healthy. They aren't real tame but they don't run off until you get real close so I just watch from a distance. They are so much fun to watch too. They seem to have a routine. An early morning swim then looking for food, an afternoon nap time then an evening swim. They seem to enjoy the water so much. They wag their tails, dunk their heads and flap their wings. They chase each other and then just take it easy for awhile. From what I can tell they are a breed called Muscovy. I've read they eat lots of insects and mosquitoes which is very good. I'm looking forward to seeing more duck antics in the coming weeks.