Mossy Rocks

[5 eggs]

I love the mossy rocks!

This is the front view

that gets sun most

of the day.

This is a view

of the back that only gets

morning sun

and lots of shade.

I think it is amazing

how the moss can

live through the 

100+ temperatures

that we have in the summer.

I would really like to

have a solar water feature of some kind this summer.

I'll have to add it to my list of stuff that I need to accomplish.

I have been searching around for some way to put this blog on a cd. The main reason I'm making this blog is to have a remembrance of living here to add to our family genealogy. But I'm not having much luck finding anything. I guess I will have to have it printed.

Phooey... I have a very light migraine. 

Smiles

Welcome

[5 eggs]

This is the Welcome plaque that I have by my front door. I love this color scheme. The shades of blue in the flowers, the golds and browns and the green. Perhaps this could be the beginning of a quilt someday?

Since Kristine has Monday free we went down the mountain to town and I bought a book, Tolkien's The Hobbit. When the girls were in elementary school I bought a lovely Hobbit for them that had beautiful illustrations. But after the earthquake who knows what happened to the poor book. I look forward to reading The Hobbit again. This is a very nice edition with illustration by Tolkien. Here is the official Hobbit site for information about the Hobbit movie Peter Jackson may be making? And here is another site with more info.

I made a quick stop at the quilt store and managed to get out without buying anything. I am going to make up some more blocks and take them with me next time to better match the fabrics and determine what I need to buy.

We even lucked out and found an organic restaurant where we had rice bowls with spinach, red cabbage, red bell pepper, carrots, sesame, and a cayenne and ginger dressing. Very, very good.

We stopped by our department store to say hello to a clerk we know that works there to wish her lots of good luck because the store is thinking about maybe closing or selling out. Nobody seems to know what is going to happen. I sure hope the store stays open especially for the people who need the jobs but also for all the people who rely on it for a place to shop.

I am so bad. I put my camera in my purse so I could take some photos and then forgot I had it with me. Sigh...

Smiles

Fruit Trees

[6 eggs today]

Apple Tree

The apple tree has small 

leaf buds getting ready

to open.

My brother and SIL planted the trees

 and I'm sure

knew how to care for them better than I have.

Cherry Tree

I missed the cherry blossoms

this year. I hope the fruit set but

with all the snow, probably not.

Fig Tree

(far right edge of photo)

The story about the little

fig tree is that it was doing fine

producing fruit until a bear 

climbed in it one day and the poor tree

has never been the same since.

I have the branches supported but I haven't seen any fruit.

Apricot Tree

All of these trees are struggling 

for their share of the sun.

I have tried pruning them

but worry that I have damaged

them because all I know about

pruning trees is just what I read

on the internet.

The cherry tree is behind the apricot tree and there is an avocado tree

on the left that has never set fruit. However, it is healthy and

makes a lot of shade besides being a lovely looking tree.

The other problem the trees have

is the poor soil. Since this is the top

of the mountain all the good soil washed away long ago.

 I put chicken compost under the trees and that

seems to help. 

I called Jean and she says she is feeling better

today and she sounds like she feels good.

Her leg needs to be stronger to

support her so she can get in and

out of bed.

Smiles

Egg Delivery

[6 eggs]

Today is the day that Tom

will make the egg delivery.

These are just some of the eggs.

The print out you see is from the hen cam here about how she doesn't wash her eggs and why.

I decided to follow her advice. As long as the nest boxes are clean so are the eggs. If the chickens have muddy feet the cold water works fine. I use a pencil and date each egg after I collect them. Next I will put rubber bands around the cartons.

I enjoy reading the hen cam blog and checking on the chickens. Silly maybe, since I have my own chickens to watch, but I like to check on the bunny. Candy is cute! Maybe we need a bunny too?

The eggs are different shades of brown and different sizes. I keep and use the large eggs that don't fit in the cartons. Anyway, that's my excuse so I can have lovely really large eggs for breakfast.

So, just because I started keeping track of how many eggs the girls are laying the count has gone down, because? They are laying eggs in the woods? They don't like the count? Too much pressure? 

Jean is not having one of her good days, but she did her physical therapy this morning and is going to have more this afternoon. She wants to go home and is working hard to be able to get out of bed and into her chair. I wish they could get her medication adjusted so she feels better.

Smiles

Watch!

[6 eggs]

After I collected the eggs this morning,

I went looking for the chickens.

First, I found areas they had cleared

while looking for edibles

and making spots to dust bath.

Go watch your chickens, Morgan...

Then I heard Morgan

smashing through the leaves

as she was running

around her chickens.

The photos on this page will enlarge when clicked on!

The chickens don't pay very

much attention to Morgan

other than to get out of her way.

Morgan is laying down.

Smart dog!

She takes time out to rest.

If only those chickens would

stay together in one place,

Morgan would be much happier.

Smiles

Woodshed

(you can click on the photos to enlarge them)

[8 eggs]

I'm going to start an egg count everyday and keep track for awhile of the girl's egg production. The hens have started laying again after the winter slow down. Yesterday they laid 11 eggs.

This morning I went out to the woodshed (see photo on sidebar) to pick up some firewood to put in the wheelbarrow. I am so puny lately that instead of wheeling the wheelbarrow over to the wood I just carry a few pieces of wood at a time over to the house and fill the wheelbarrow. How pathetic is that...  Anyway, I noticed that we only have one course and a small amount of wood left stacked against the far wall. To make it through the winter we need to start with the woodshed at least half full. We will have enough wood, after all it is Spring, of course it just snowed, but we will have enough. It is dark in there so I had to use the flash which made the colors of the wood very light. It works out best if we can stack the green wood in the summer so it has time to dry, which makes for much better burning wood. 

The woodshed was originally built as a place to store building materials during the time that my brother built this house. The right half of the shed is still for storage. That is where we keep the chicken feed, paint, garden tools, dog crates, etc. The other half of the shed was turned into a place for a horse. You can see the left door opens in the middle, up (see photo on sidebar) and out so a horse can stick its head out and look around. At that time they kept the horse feed in the right side of the shed and there is a cut out in the adjoining wall so the alfalfa flakes can be shoved through saving a trip around the outside to the horse feeder. 

Then I went out and picked up the eggs. Egg! There was only one egg, but there was one dark Brahma hen laying, so I have hopes the hens will come back and lay after they have run around for a bit. Yesterday, they laid 11 eggs, which is quite good for the 16 hens that I think are laying. There are two hens that have taken up the idea that they are roosters, so I don't count them as layers. That's what happens when there is no rooster. A hen or hens will take the roosters place

in the flock. They don't crow, but they sure do make a loud crowy cackle kind of noise. Silly hens.

I think the dark Brahmas have such pretty markings. This hen was not bothered at all by my taking the photo even when the 1st photo was with the flash. (I forgot to turn it off) The Brahmas are such calm, gentle chickens. The Brahma roosters we had were such pets. Unfortunately, roosters don't last very long around here. They rush in to protect their hens and they are the ones who disappear first when there is a predator attack. We have decided not to have anymore roosters for awhile. The hens are much more settled without the rooster's attentions and we really don't want to have to worry about the crowing bothering the neighbors.

On the way back to the house I snapped this photo because everything looked so clean and bright from the snow and rain. Soon the oaks will leaf out and everything will be green and shady. I hope we get some bees this year. I don't remember seeing

any last year and the fruit trees didn't have any fruit that set. Of course that could have been from the late snows and frosts. 

I still haven't got up on the garage and gone after the leaves. My excuse is that they are too wet and I'm waiting for them to dry out so they will be easier to get off the roof.

I called Jean yesterday and she was having another of her bad days. I'll call again today before lunch and hopefully they will have her medication regulated better. Dear sweet Jean. I hate to think of her hurting. Tom is supposed to come home tonight.

[I called Jean just before lunch and she said she is doing better today. She was in her chair when I called and had done about half the work to get there. When she tried earlier in the week she couldn't do anything she was so weak. Her arms must be getting stronger. Tom and Dolores will be there to be with her while she has lunch and to visit. Sure hope the medication keeps on working and she continues to feel good. I told her she had well wishers from Japan and Texas and that cheered her up! Thanks.]

[Tom called and he won't be coming home until tomorrow]

Smiles

Happy Birthday, Jaidan!

Happy One Year Old!!!

Is he cute or what!

Hi, Jaiden

Huggles!

Looky there...

I see birthday teeth!

I tried to download a gif, but this was the best I could do because my mouse doesn't have a button (silly Mac mouse) so I can't get to the "save as" menu and the keys don't work either. Go Figure?

This little gif has the dino blowing out the candle repeatedly.

Have a wonderful birthday Jaidan!

Wow, the time goes by fast.

1 year old already!

And here he is new born.

Love and Hugs!

Thanks for the birthday photo. He is one happy camper!

Smiles

What's in the tree"

When Kristine went to Australia in 2006, she was there from September through December and she took some great photos.

I am hurting for something to post so I went searching and found this pic of bats hanging in a tree. 

This tree was in the Royal Botanical Gardens across the bay from where she stayed. She loved her time in Sydney and would go back in a minute. She went to Australia as part of her class/study.

Click on the photo and you will get a good view of the bats. I'm still sleepy and didn't do much today. Hopefully, I will be out and about tomorrow. I think I am going to try writing Jean because it is too easy to call at the wrong time.

When I picked up eggs this morning I noticed that the chickens have been roosting instead of sleeping in their nest boxes. Hope they keep it up when it gets warmer.

Smiles

Snow This Morning

What a strange day... I got up this morning picked up eggs, let the dog out, made Scottish oatmeal, took a photo of the bright shinning snow melty morning, went to eat my porridge, read my Daisy Dalrymple book and went to sleep. 

Hard to believe, but I just woke up and thought I had slept the clock around and that it was Tuesday morning instead of Monday after 6:00. I am still catching up on my sleep evidently or oatmeal is a great sleep enhancer.

I'll have to try making myself some oatmeal the next time I have trouble going to sleep. 

So, for the second exciting photo of the day I took another pic out the slider. The snow doesn't stick around very long once the sun comes out.

No snow forecast for the week so I'll be able to get outside. Yea!

And I would like to do some sewing this week too. I should be able to get something done. I feel sleepy and rested at the same time.

I gave Jean a call and naturally got her at dinner time. But she sounded like she felt better. I will give her a call later. 

Smiles

Snow Day

You can see from the photo that the snow is light

and has not covered the ground under the trees.

The snow is still falling

but sun is forecast for tomorrow

so I will enjoy the snow while it is here.

You can't really tell but the flag is wound up around

the pole because of the wind we had last night.

I was awakened by what sounded like ice or hail

pelting against my window.

But I didn't wake up all that much because

I went right back to sleep.

Now I wish I had got up to take a look.

[It is afternoon now and it is still snowing.

But it has stopped and I see blue patches of blue sky.]

Yesterday, I baked sweet potatoes

in my dutch oven on the wood stove.

I put a metal steamer in the bottom of the pot,

put the potatoes on that,

and put on the lid and in about

an hour they were done.

Pretty neat.

This morning I got to trek out through the scant snow

and collect 3 eggs and I made myself an omelet

with onion and red and green bell pepper.

Thing were working out pretty good

but I had the fire up a little too high and

there was a little burning starting

but

the real problem was

eek!

I picked up the plastic flipper for some reason.

I'm asleep?

You would think walking in the snow would wake me up?

Yes, I melted the flipper a bit.

Oops!

I will call Jean later today

and hope to catch her when she is not napping

or eating or having physical therapy

or something.

Maybe, I should just get her address

and send cards?

[Jean said her new room is much quieter

and she got a good nights sleep

and that may be partly why she feels better today.

She said she remembers Grandpa Joe

saying that if he got a good night sleep he could

put up with most anything the next day.

Her gout was bothering her yesterday

but the meds are helping.]

Smiles

Where'd the sun go? Rain? Snow?

Jean is not feeling well today.

I hope they find some pain meds that will work.

She was moved to a new room and has a different phone #.

Hugs and Kisses, Jean

Our sunny days are gone and we are due

for some rain and maybe even snow on Sunday.

I let the chickens out early so they could play

in the sunshine, but by 11:00 it was cloudy.

To tell the truth there was mist in the air

even when the sun was out earlier.

We need the rain, so it is a good thing.

I went to the door and called the chickens

to give them an apple core

and to take a cloudy day photo of them for the blog

but they are up to something

because they didn't come.

They must be behind the house?

They stay out and forage in the light rain

and only go in their coop if we get a heavy downpour.

The trees act like very large umbrellas.

I put out a fresh table cloth and this candle holder.

The holder used to belong to my step-mother Mary

and I got it by way of my mother-in-law Dolores.

I always loved its colors and especially

enjoyed watching green bayberry candles

burn in it at Christmas time.

I really don't care for the candle/holder

in there now but it is what I have.

I think I will go search around in my candle drawer

and see if I can't find something better.

Smiles

New Window

Looky there!

Tools

I was so glad that Tom found the screwdrivers.

So, I went outside to the chickens coop

to take off the broken window

and

found two eggs out in the chicken pen.

Very strange.

The girls have never done that before.

I put on the new window

and moved the ladder closer

so there won't be much room for them to hit the glass.

When Kristine gets home I will ask her

to take a look and maybe

we will just take the ladder out.

As soon as it warms up I will be leaving

the windows open.

I don't remember if I said before that my brother

built the chicken pen area originally as

two pens for his dogs and eventually

converted one of them to a chicken coop/pen.

Kristine and I have been thinking of enlarging

the pen by incorporating the other fenced area.

We will need to put on an anchor roof on the

other side to keep the critters out.

Another project for the summer.

These girls were giving me a bad time

as I fixed the window

and even as I bade them goodbye.

I thought I would put a photo of this wild plant

on my blog to keep as a record.

The plants grow near the fence line

behind the chicken coop.

There are not many of these plants and

only in a few shady areas.

I wish I knew the name of the plant.

I'm still taking it a bit easy

and haven't started sewing yet

because my eyes still get tired but

I'm better!

Jean sounded pretty good today.

Making jokes and laughing.

She had physical therapy.

Hugs Jean!

Smiles

Aunt Jean Update

Aunt Jean is still in the hospital and she has a lot of pain

but they are not going to cast her ankle.

She is going to get physical therapy and hopefully

learn to get in and out of bed within a few weeks.

Or she will need to go to a facility

and get physical therapy there until the ankle heals.

The physical therapy will continue

when she gets home.

Hope she gets to come home soon!

Yikes!

When Kristine went out to lock up the chickens last night

she noticed the broken pane.

The chickens are all fine. She even counted them.

I picked up the two broken bits of glass this morning

and went to the shed to get another window. 

Took it out to the coop to check the size

and it will fit even though it is a lower window.

It is thicker but the same size.

Then I went to get a phillips head, flat head and a punch

so I could take off the old hardware

and put on the new

and...

there are no phillips heads anywhere

???

Beats me?

I looked in all the places they should be,

soooo.....

I guess I will have to keep looking

and I have a feeling that Tom has them.

Phooey!

I will have to give him a call.

Smiles

Aunt Jean

Last night Aunt Jean spent the night in the hospital

because she fell and broke her ankle.

Hopefully, they will cast it

and she will come home today.

Dear sweet Jean

I hope you are doing better today!

Hugs and Kisses

Tom has gone to stay at Bill's and

he will stay to see if he can be of help.

I couldn't sleep last night thinking of Jean.

I'll try and get a nap in and I'm not

going to go rake leaves off the garage roof today.

Sleep would be good.

But I don't think that is going to happen

because Morgan is barking.

Oh well.

I'll need to go outside for a bit

and check out what she is upset about.

I told Morgan to be quiet and I went to sleep

for about an hour.

I can't believe I'm still awake.

Smiles 

Feeling Better!

I didn't want to over do my first day of feeling Ok

so I started out collecting eggs.

Then I went out to get my gloves

and found that I had left them under a leak in the shed

so I put them in the sun to dry.

I took a photo because

they are the neatest gloves.

Knit on top so my hands don't get sweaty

and laytex or something on the palms and fingers.

Picked up mostly dry leaves

and put them in the pen

because the pen was getting too muddy.

Then I went over and raked up some

leaves and twigs and stuff

off of the driveway.

Checked back with the chickens

and filled the feeders and cleaned the nest boxes.

Morgan wants her chickens out of the coop

because she wants them all together.

But there are some late layers.

This little girl is telling me to go away.

And these three girls all want to lay their egg

in the same nest area.

Go figure?

There are lots of places for them to lay

but there seem to be favorite spots

that they compete over.

Silly chickens.

Smiles

Migraine Food

I woke up late today because

Kristine and Tom went to a movie and

the house was quiet and I just slept.

After I woke up I had two migraine episodes

but without the terrible pain

just the fortress lights, a bit of ache, and disorientation.

So, hmmm, does this mean that I ate too much

salt or sugar yesterday, or slept too long

and didn't eat and drink when I should have?

I remember I was bumping into stuff yesterday.

I thought that was a bad sign.

I am going to have to cut the salt way back.

And get some really good honey.

I'm not going to use that store brand

syrupy stuff 'cause I think that

because of the way it pours it is not all honey.

First I made the dog some rice.

Morgan gets rice added

to her dog food along with cottage cheese.

That's the rice under the chicken

with Kristine's school stuff in the background.

I decided to make myself something to eat while

I couldn't see very well, so the photos

are a bit off and out of order too.

The rice is the bell pepper, carrot, onion, mix

that I added chicken to.

This is my lemon water.

I miss my tea.

I reduced the chicken juices after

I added lemon, orange, curry, and raisins.

I read that curry is supposed to help with migraines.

I thought why not try it?

Since things are working out so well... not!

This is the chicken starting out with

the lemon and orange.

No salt. sigh....

And since I hauled this out to get at the lemon and orange slices.

I thought I would show you my answer to

plastic wrap.

When I was little around 1947

I remember my great Aunt Bertha

always put her leftovers in the refrigerator

stored like this.

Neat!

Sometimes I use big bowls and use a plate or pot lid

for a cover.

Whatever works.

Well, it would be nice if the curry helps?

See what happens tomorrow.

This migraine stuff is getting to be a pain.

Ha! :)

Tom and Kristine just got home and

brought me more lemons and stuff!

Good thing I love veg, fruit and simple food

otherwise I would be a very unhappy camper.

Smiles