Tuesday, May 25, 2021

Sittin' time and critter wars

I got those 2 new chairs just in time for sitting outside and watching the perfect sunsets with a glass of wine and the birds singing all around me. We had a week or so of rain, and then a week or so of beautiful weather, and then we're supposed to have a high of 46° on Friday just in time for Memorial Day weekend. You never know what you're getting up here, so live for the moment. I am required to take advantage of all the nice days! 

We added a young rooster to the flock when he got kicked out of Cooperstown for being too noisy. I had him in quarantine outside the coop after he decided he was man enough to take on Big Roo. He was safely enclosed in a fence, but something still got to him enough to yank a few tail feathers.

No more quarantine. He has been behaving in the yard and the coop ever since.

Then we lost one of our black hens a couple days ago. Just feathers left in the chicken yard. Put up the trail camera and caught the raccoon first, and then the fox 2 hours later, right outside the coop door.

I am not sure I like having a trail camera. I think I am better off not knowing what's out there, especially because there's not too much we can do about it. All critters have to eat. I just wish they wouldn't eat my chickens.

Thursday, May 20, 2021

Weeds and ravioli and neighbors


Early spring is mostly all yellow flowers here, daffodils and dandelions. I love both. I went back to pick up the trail camera today and found this carpet of blue with 2 lonely dandies and some goldenrod poking through. I think they are forget me nots, but didn't look it up yet.

Trail camera was again a whole lot of nothing. I aimed it toward what was left of the beaver dam, and I think I actually caught the beaver in a couple of the nighttime pics, but it is too hard to see. I will try a different location. Haven't had much luck lately with the camera, but I know for sure the coyotes are out there because I hear them crooning every night.

The purple plate special was butternut squash ravioli with sausage and spinach. The cheese on top was from one of my failed goat cheddars. They always come out hard as a rock, but they make excellent grated cheese. So much nicer than that Italian stuff that comes in plastic...

And then there's the WoodMan begging for some soft goat cheese from his favorite neighbor Don on the Hill. Don lives in that house on the hill (between the beer and his right ear). Woody and Cyrus and I used to go up there all the time for a romp, but Cyrus had become too adept at killing critters of all sorts, and Woody had very much improved his skills at hunting for really old dead stuff and bringing it back to share with Don.

That's Gracie the brown girl in the front. Don borrows her from his buddy while he's at work since his dog Bandit passed away.

Woody is nowhere near passing away, by the way. He probably doesn't have a whole lot of time left, but he is definitely back to his normal crazy self.

Thursday, May 13, 2021

Blue skies o'er the Flat

Black chair with blue sky.
Black dog with blue eye.
Young man with old man.

Porch with trippy shadows.

Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Slow spring


The men in this house are much better at taking naps than me, the only female. Woody fell asleep while sitting on the sofa watching the birds with me. He didn't seem to care that there is a nesting pair of bluebirds in the new bird house. First bluebirds I have ever seen here!

And just today the orioles showed up in the apple trees that are just about to open their blossoms.

Spring has been slow in coming. We had a few warm days in April, but May has been chilly and mostly rainy. We are still getting temps in the 30°s at night, and tonight there are a few of those darn little snowflakes sneaking back into the weather report.

Rain's little boy kid has been very entertaining as the latest spring addition to the farm. He is tiny compared to our usual kids, and he has those funny Nubian ears that add to the cuteness! The Husband is pretty cute too, even though I am technically not allowed to post his picture on here...