Snowy Morning

It's snowing this morning.

Mr. Pumpkinhead looks good covered in snow.

I can shake the branch and knock off the snow 

but I like how the branch hangs down over the driveway.

What's that?

A pile of empty feed sacks!

They were full of leaves that ...

I dumped in the chicken pen to give the chickens something to play with.

Nice and dry in the pen.

I love to walk in the snow.

Everything looks so clean and new.

Another snowy branch wall.

This time with a door.

This looks like more fun in the snow.

Morgan would like to take off and run in the snow 

but she would get way too wet 

and I don't want to deal with a wet dirty dog.

She went to the groomer yesterday and is clean.

I filled up the paper and the wood kindling barrels in the house.

I think I will make oatmeal for breakfast and a scrambled egg.

Sounds good.

We are supposed to get rain and snow 

so don't know how long this snow will stick around.

1 egg today!

...and I found another one tonight!

~:>

Smiles

Me And My Shadow

It is very cold which made the sunlight extra welcome.

I was waiting at the gate for Kristine 

and stood so the sun could warm my back.

Kristine just came back... trouble with the brakes.

Brake trouble is not good at any time, 

but especially not good in the mountains.

Here is a bit of lush greenery in this shady protected spot.

Morgan wants to continue her walk 

and not pose for more photos.

Update later...
It's later...
The brakes on Kristine's car were frozen... with water...
so they are OK now.

1 egg today
The chickens were out an about today.
Storm due tonight.

~:>
Smiles

Shy Snow And Snow Geese

The snow was shy and it stopped snowing 

when I went out to take photos.

It was snowing when Kristine left this morning and 

had to stop while I moved a long branch 

out of the middle of the driveway.

Maybe more snow tonight?

I didn't take my camera or I would have taken a photo.

I wish we would have a real winter storm 

and all the dead branches would fall 

so I won't have to worry about them when I'm out raking leaves.

The hens are not happy in their pen, 

but they are dry.

~~~

The geese flew over today!

Every year we hear them, but can hardly see them 

as they fly by overhead so very high.

I searched up a site looking for info about geese migration.

Birding Is Fun

I don't know what kind of geese fly over but,

the snow geese do have a migration fly way over us.

~~~

I just checked and an Australorp laid an egg!

Good girl.

~:>

Smiles

Jupiter And Moon Conjunction - 2012

On my computer screen

The sky is overcast

so I couldn't see the conjunction outside
but I watched it on slooh
and took the photo of Jupiter on my screen above.

Slooh - YouTube

There is going to be a conjunction of Jupiter and the Moon tonight.

I am going to try and get a photo 

but there are so many trees around here 

I may not be able to view them.

I found this site 

Slooh - Space Camera Site - click here

on g+ 

There will be live feeds.

Hope I can see the event, but if not, 

I hope I can see the conjunction on this site.

and
!!!

I tried the regular URL click here 

This is the Slooh page!
It loaded!
(3+ hours to go)

I don't know how the YouTube site works...
live feed?

I'll update this page later tonight...

Dog Tooth Care

Morgan... Sit... Stay

A little doggy tooth paste, 

a soft plastic finger tooth brush, 

and a lot of cooperation from Morgan, 

and we can achieve cleaner teeth, 

get rid of bad dog breath, 

and pick off a bit of tooth plaque.

I only try to clean a little plaque each time 

because I don't want Morgan 

to take a great dislike 

to having me clean her teeth.

She likes the doggy tooth paste, 

but she is not that excited about having her teeth brushed. 

I brush her teeth a few times a week  

and only pick at the plaque on one tooth each time. 

I would like tooth brushing time to be a good time...

for both of us.

So far, so good.

Photos by Kristine

~:>

1 egg today

Hide And Go Chicken

This morning I forgot that we were going out for dinner 

and I let the chickens out to roam for the day.

This worked out fine 

until we needed to leave around 4:30 

and the chickens were not locked up.

I caught most of the hens and locked them up 

but that left 4 hens out in the cold.

Poor babies.

We stopped at the market in Meadow Vista 

and then met Kristine at the Cafe Vista 

for my birthday dinner.

Artichoke and Sun Dried Tomato Stuffed Chicken Breast
with garlic mashed potatoes and fresh vegetables,
Artichoke Bisque and Mediterranean Salad. 

Not much picture taking went on because we were busy eating.

When we got home, Kristine and I 

went on a chicken hunt.

Kristine found the 4 hens each sleeping 

in a different location.

An Australorp in the wood shed, 

a Wyandotte outside in the leaves, Curly in a shed 

and a Buff Brahma behind the coop.

Morgan laying down on the job.

Did I get any photos of the chickens... no.

Too busy catching chickens.

Took these photos when all the hens were locked up

and then noticed that 

Kristine had caught a lot of chicken poo.

No poo on me...

I just held a flash light.

I was going to catch chickens... I brought my gloves.

But Kristine did the chicken catching and poo catching.

Well, it was my birthday dinner day.

Thank you, Kristine!

Doing laundry now...

1 egg

~:>

Smiles!

Waiting At The Gate

Morgan is the white spot.

She is waiting while I unlock the gate.

Spring green?

It is in the 30's at night,

but but looks like Spring during the day.

March 20 is the Spring Equinox.

Not too much longer to wait.

But we could use some more winter rainy weather.

Snow?

2 eggs

~:>

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to me... 71

Love the color!

Thank You Kristine!

This electric kettle heats water very fast.

Making tea is easy.

No eggs

~:>

Time Off

Taking some time off...

not feeling well and the rest is helping me mend.

Feeling better today.

There is not much snow...

but the little snow that sticks

freezes.

Makes for tricky walking.

The Buff that was not doing well

didn't make it through the cold.

She was acting OK...

but, these hens are old.

1 egg today.

An Australorp laid it!

I'm going to take some more days off from blogging.

No blogging until I'm doing much better.

I'll have a lot of blog reading to catch up on.

Thank you for reading and leaving comments.

~:>

Smiles

Sleepy Week

The chickens have laid some eggs!

 There were two eggs cracked open and eaten.

But I still have 4 eggs.

Enough eggs so I can go back to having eggs for breakfast.

Morgan and I have been doing a lot of sleeping.

Feeling very tired

and not doing much of anything worth blogging about.

I have moved things around in the sewing room

so I can get to my sewing machine easier.

It's been one of those weeks where I can think of things to do,

but don't have the get up and go to do them.

Sad.

This is a goofy post.

Now that I can have eggs for breakfast I hope I will get some energy back

instead of feeling sleepy all the time.

I have stopped eating wheat,

so maybe my system is having trouble with the change?

No wheat = sleep?

The Buff Orpington is still doing OK

and acts just like her sisters.

1 egg today

~:>

Smiles :)

Happy Anniversary To Me, 1968-2012

Wow... 44 years...
We are going out to Cafe Vista for dinner!

Photos to come...

Starting off down the mountain.

I hate driving into the sun.

A river is way, way, way, way down there over the left side.

There is a deep canyon with the American River at the bottom.

Lots of curves.

This road is much better since it was worked on in 2000.

Bridge ahead.

Slow down... work on the bridge ahead.

This is the tallest bridge in California.

Only half of the bridge is open. 

Off the bridge heading for...

Supplies and workers cars parked.

Civilation!

It is always something of a shock to meet up with the city.

The moon came out to play!

At Cafe Vista in Meadow Vista...

Tom had beef.

I ordered soup and a salad...

I had chicken.

I ate the pumpkin soup before I thought to take a photo.
The best bread from the artisan bakery,
The Baker And The Cakemaker in Auburn.
There were candied walnuts and apples in the crispy salad.
Sparking apple juice to drink.
Ice cream for desert.
We were too full to eat cake or brownies too.
Everything was delicious.

It was dark when we left and I tried to take a photo
of Venus and Jupiter
but my little camera couldn't capture them.
The moon, stars and planets were shining bright in the dark sky.

~:>
0 eggs

Crowing Hen

What's that noise?

We don't have a rooster!

This hen, an Australorp, has decided she needs to crow.

She makes an awful racket!

I wonder if that is hen-roo?

She finally gave up making all that noise and left the coop 

in favor of cabbage treats.

It was damp and cold today 

but the Buff Orpington is still on her feet 

and doing well.

Morgan finishes up her pill taking

tomorrow morning.

I found that using a piece of soft, fluffy, hot dog bun 

to wrap around the pill 

is a great way to hide the pills from Morgan.

I toss her pieces of hot dog bun 

and then the wrapped pill... she gobbles them all down. 

The bun works much easier than sliced bread.

The little egg scratching critter 

is still around.

There were scratches on an egg the other day. 

I was hoping the chickens would catch 

the mystery guest.

I was supposed to clear out the sewing room today 

but I didn't.

I thought about it a lot.

Tomorrow...

~:>

0 eggs

Sick Chicken Recovered

The sick Buff Orpington went from being floppy 

and not able to walk for a week 

to running around in her cage one morning. 

I was very surprised to find a very upset chicken 

one morning. 

She wanted out! 

A few years ago one of the Wyandottes 

went through the same 

illness and recovery. 

Click here for that post.  

We are very lucky that a few days of lots of rest, food and water 

were enough to allow the hens to regain their health. 

I kept the hen on a layer of straw in a cat carrier 

for a few days 

with access to lay, scratch, and water.  

I covered up the carrier with plastic at night. 

I kept her penned for an extra day 

just to make sure she was feeling better 

and then let her out to run around 

with the other hens. 

We have not been feeling well but are much better 

except Kristine still has a bad cough. 

I know I was not well because I didn't want to read blogs or post. 

And I didn't even feel guilty.

Morgan still has medicine 

to finish up but she seems to be feeling better too. 

~:>

1 egg