Wednesday, February 29, 2012

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

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

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

Monday, February 27, 2012

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.

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

Sunday, February 26, 2012

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 
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...

Saturday, February 25, 2012

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

Friday, February 24, 2012

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!

Thursday, February 23, 2012

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
~:>

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

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
~:>

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

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

Wednesday, February 08, 2012

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 :)

Friday, February 03, 2012

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

Thursday, February 02, 2012

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

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

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. 

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