Job #6 - Dishes

Job #6 - Clearing out mismatchted dishes

And other dishes, cups, pots, pans, utensils, etc., that I don't use.

New Dishes!

Since I got rid of all the mismatched dishes

I treated myself to these chicken dishes and mugs.

They cheered up the kitchen!

There are four different roosters.

Four different cups, a salt and pepper,

dinner plates and salad plates,

and a rooster utensil holder.

I am still in the midst

of going through kitchen stuff

and have a lot more things to sort and pack up for Goodwill.

Feels so good to get rid of stuff

that has been saved or put away because it might be used.

I have to admit I was a utensil junkie.

I hardly ever saw a utensil

that I thought I couldn't use or didn't need.

But I have reformed!

If I don't use it, it is going to have to have

a very good reason for staying.

I'm ruthless!

I guess I could post a photo of boxes

of old dishes, etc.

Maybe I'll post a photo of packed up boxes later.

Not very exciting.

Morgan is all worn out

from her trip to the groomer.

She really doesn't like to get her hair done.

3 eggs today

~:>

Smiles

Job #5 - Floor

Job #5 - Wash The Floor

First I vacuumed all rooms downstairs

and then I went around on my hands and knees

and wiped the floor with the Laminate Floor Cleaner.

I put a lot of lotion on my hands

before I put on the rubber gloves.

The instructions on the bottle say to spray the cleaner

on the floor and then wipe it up.

But I hate breathing the spray

so I pour about a cup of cleaner in the bucket.

Dunk a piece of old towel in the liquid and wring out well

and use the towel to wipe the floor.

Works for me.

All the rooms look nice and shiny.

Morgan doesn't think much of the floor's new smell.

She took a sniff!

And rubbed and wiped her nose.

A lot! 

Arrgh

Poor Morgan!

2 eggs today

~:>

Smiles

Job #4 - Shed

Job #4 - Clean Out The Shed

Bright shiny new containers.
Retired the plastic cans.

These metal cans with tight fitting lids are for keeping

the chicken feed safe from little critters.

One of the cans is just for storing the

chickens feeder in overnight.

We found that mice, etc., were even getting into

the chickens hanging feeder.

I put the chickens feed out in front of the shed

in the open, in the sun during the day

where mice, etc., will fear to tread.

The old plastic cans didn't let leaks from the roof in,
but they let the mice in.

I took everything out of the shed and swept it clean.

Then I only put things back inside that were actually being used.

Or had a very good chance at it.

I need to do a better job of covering the bikes

In front of the bikes is a plastic container holding a straw bale,

the white bag is full of newspaper kindling,

the plastic can is for kindling...

...dog crate in the corner,

plastic cover and deer netting on top,

and the black thing in front of the dog crate

is a fold out metal dog pen.

So nice to walk into an orderly shed

The shelf is full of all kinds of chicken stuff

for adults and chicks.

Didn't realize there was so much.

The garden tools are all hanging

except for the small hand tools that are

in a bucket of sand.

I think I did pretty good getting rid

of lots of stuff we didn't use.

Below is a photo of what is left of the compost pile.
I need to fill it up again.

I had packed straw around the sides to keep the chickens

from pecking all the soil out.

I dug out pretty much all the soil

and added it to the planter beds.

I went out to take photos of the chickens

but couldn't find them.

Under the house?

Off in the woods?

2 eggs today

~:>

Smiles

Job #3 - Chicken Coop

Job #3 - Cleaned the chicken coop

I forgot and let the chickens out this morning

before I took a photo of them 

in their nice clean coop.

So, I took a photo of the last hen

to come in the coop tonight.

The rest of the hens are roosting.

I leave the windows dirty so the hens don't fly 

into the glass and break it.

This morning I did take photos of the two broody hens.

I would really like to believe that these are not

the same hens

who where in the photos about 6 weeks ago.

They look the same though.

I usually break hens from brooding,

but I have been busy.

And I took this photo of Morgan this morning

as she ignores the Light Brahma marching 

over to see what Morgan is doing.

Food?

And here are some photos of my owls.

One is on top of the ladder looking over the planter beds.

(it is really Kristine's owl)

See... cute, isn't he

I move the owls to different places in the garden every day.

Have to keep the birds convinced the owls are alive.

Here is the other fellow.

I have to blow him up and keep the air in

while I try to close the opening.

Tricky.

The chickens love their watermelon.

Oh, dear...

I forgot to check for eggs.

Later...

1 egg

~:>

Smiles

Job #2 - Planters

Job #2

Planter Beds In Green Garden

Small planter bed full of herbs

Larger planter bed:
Kale, Lettuce, Potatoes, Carrots, Onions

The top two photos are of the planted beds.

Job finished.

These lower photos are of some of the steps

I went through to get the beds ready for planting.

First I took out all the berry bushes and weeds.

I did leave the potato plants.

I turned all the soil over

At the bottom of the beds are old branches.

See the Hugelkultur Tab above for those photos.

Compost pile. shovel, sack

Then I went to the compost pile

and shoveled sacks full of soil to add to the beds.

This was in addition to the soil we got at the nursery.

I turned the soil over again

and made trenches, filled them with water

to soak the branches at the bottom.

Soaking the bottom of the bed.

Filled the beds up with soil.

Raked the soil and removed twigs, rocks, etc.

Beds ready for planting.

The potato plants are at the high end of the bed.

I have deer netting over and around the beds.

I also move two plastic owls around the garden

to scare away birds.

The garden hasn't been bothered by deer.

But If they spot this green stuff

they may decide to hop the fence.

?

~:>

3 eggs today

Smiles!

Job #1 - Posting Again After A Work Break

Job #1 completed! 

Cleared out this loft for the second time! 

Only thing left is the vacuum hose...

 This is the second and the last time 

I'm going to move everything out of the loft. 

and the horrible old rug

This time the loft gets a new floor 

before anything goes back upstairs. 

!!!

It has been very hot here 

so we got Morgan a "cool bed." 

Morgan really doesn't like her photo taken.

It took a long time to fill the bed 

with water and it is heavy and not easy to move around 

but Morgan has started using it to cool off. 

I even tried it out. It is cool to lay on. 

These three beds are Morgan's night time bed.

What I really like about these three beds 

is that they all will wash in my washing machine. 

The thick bed on the bottom has a foam core 

and the cover zips off to wash. 

One of my new rules is to just have 

dog beds that I can wash in the machine. 

I'm done with hand washing dog beds! 

I have been working and not posting or even reading blogs. 

I think I should feel guilty 

but I don't. 

I just feel tired. 

Tomorrow, I'll post photos of the garden beds. 

The carrots finally sprouted. 

The chickens are not laying well. 

Some days no eggs. 

Some days one, two, three or four. 

I think they are laying eggs under the house. 

Maybe? 

Smiles 

~:> 

Broody Hen

Update2
8/22
Ok, this weekend
for sure
I'm going to start posting.
I still have a few things to finish.

Update 8/7: I really am going to start posting again soon...
I'm busy cleaning/clearing house and yard.
The chickens are fine.
I even cleaned their coop.

Broody Hen

This Buff Brahma puffs herself up but stays silent

when I open her nest box.

Hen laying egg

This little Wyandotte just sits quietly.

I made soup tonight.
It wasn't a plan... it just kind of happened.
I steamed a pot of brussel sprouts, green beans and kale
and the water under the vegetables
turned this lovely shade of green and I just couldn't throw it out.

Green Refrigerator Soup
(stuff I had in the fridge)
I had some leeks.
Washed, chopped and added them and some garlic.
Leftover cooked bacon.
Let it cook.
Added cooked potatoes and seasoning.
Then I whipped it up with the immersion blender.

Added chopped cooked chicken,
1 roma tomato chopped fine (seeds removed,)
and 2 finely chopped spring onions.

Then I added juice of half a lime.
and some more salt.

I put it in the fridge.
Hope it will taste even better tomorrow.
Might add a bit more lemon or lime juice before serving
And ?

It's still green!

~:>
1 egg today
The hens got watermelon and kale for treats
Smiles

Rocks

Hard to find some good eats among the rocks.

Poor hen.

I didn't promise her a rose garden.

This is what the hens get.

Dry. Hot. 

But they have a lot of room to forage.

Remember I mentioned the thunder yesterday.

Well, there were over 500 lightning strikes

in the Tahoe National Forest

and over 2,000 strikes in national forests in California.

CA lightning strike map

There are over 20 lightning forest fires.

See, there really was a lot of thunder

and lightning.

1 egg

~:>

Smiles

It's A Duck!

Look! A duck in the water!

No... can't be a duck... its got fluffy chicken feathers!

What?

Both of these Light Brahmas love to play in the water.

On hot days

I fill up the water bowl

and let it overflow and make a puddle.

These hens love to scratch around in the puddle.

They don't play nice

and share their play puddle very often.

There

under the little stack of branches

in front of Morgan

is the rock that I tripped over.

Today I stopped hurting, so that's good.

This evening I had to turn off and unplug the computer

because we got a surprise.

Lots of thunder!

But there was a little rain too

so hopefully there won't be any forest fires.

It is almost 3AM

I stayed up until the thunder pretty much stopped

and I could finish my post

and send a chat message to Kristine

and let her know we survived the thunder .

~:>

3 eggs today

Smiles

No Fruit ...Mouse?

The chickens followed me down to see the fruit trees.

I wanted to check on the trees

and see how they were doing in the hot weather.

The trees look great

but there isn't any fruit that I can find.

This is an apple tree

that some years produces about 10 apples.

There is a cherry tree

but it doesn't have fruit either.

I suspect that it is my fault

for not taking proper care of the trees.

The trees just grow on their own.

So I think they are doing a rather marvelous job

staying alive and green.

Fruit would be a bonus but

I think the energy they would put into producing fruit

is needed just to stay healthy.

It's ok.

I just love the green trees.

Note:

Last night a noise woke me up!

At first I thought there was an animal on the porch

scratching at the window or door...

but when I got up to check

the noise was coming from the kitchen.

So I thought a mouse was under the sink scratching

around in the (empty) garbage pail.

No...

I finally found that the noise was coming from a wall!

Loud scratching and gnawing noises!

I pounded on the wall

and the noise would stop for a few seconds

and then start up again.

After pounding on the wall for a while

the critter stopped... went away?

I hope it doesn't come back.

The mouse? was scratching away

right around where there is a 220 outlet.

Did it zap itself?

I guess I can always cut a hole in the sheetrock

and take a look

and see what's going on...

If I'm going to start cutting up the wall

maybe I should get new cabinets... hmmmm?

Tomorrow I'll tell my Los Angeles

rat story.

1 egg today

~:>

Smiles

Vegetable Omelet

The makings of a veggie omelet made with one of our free range eggs.

There are frozen chopped bell peppers in the plastic bag behind the plate.

Beaten egg, chopped broccoli, spring onion, tomato, and garlic.

Fried potatoes on the left.

Sometimes I feel like standing over the skillet

and adding ingredients slowly and moving them around,

but not tonight.

So, I put some olive oil in the pan and let it warm up to simmer,

added the onions and garlic to cook a bit and

then added lemon juice and hot water.
Season to taste.

Then I put a handful of the frozen bell peppers in the middle

and dumped in everything else.
Put on a lid.

And let it cook while I read the news on the computer.

I checked the pan every 3 or 4 minutes

and added a bit more water if needed so the veggies

would steam and I didn't have to watch.

When the veggies were done
I poured the beaten egg over the top
and covered the pan till the egg on the bottom was set
then I flipped the omelet to finish cooking.

I usually put in some fresh chopped kale
but the kale looked really bad so I gave it to the chickens.
I cooked the potatoes earlier.

Since Morgan eats an egg a day

and so do I... the chickens really need to ramp up their egg laying.

I gave them watermelon with the kale today.

1 egg today

~:>

Smiles

PS
A suspect has been arrested,
who is suspected of starting the Robbers fire,
which cost California over 10 million dollars.
http://colfaxrecord.com/detail/213578.html
Very glad they caught him.
Makes you wonder how people can be so thoughtless.

This Clean Dog Is A Sad Dog

Ahhh... not again! Take the camera away!

Poor Morgan!

To wash or not to wash. 

I don't like the smell of stinky pooch. 

I can't stand the smell of that doggie shampoo either. 

It's a terrible thing to do to a dog... 

I forgot to ask them to skip the foofoo stuff. 

Morgan's time at the groomers 

is stress filled for her 

and she needs a day of sleep to recover. 

She is snoring away even as I type. 

Getting her photo taken was not going to help her relax 

but I needed a photo for the blog. 

Sorry! 

Morgan and I both lazed around today. 

I was going to pull the tarp off the top of the chicken coop 

but my back was hurting 

so

since my rule is if it hurts, stop and let it rest until it gets better, 

I didn't do much except cook dinner 

and play computer games 

and chat with Kristine. 

I'm on a vegetable omelet kick again. 

I make one for dinner for myself. 

I chop up bell peppers, tomatoes and spring onions and freeze them 

so all I have to do is add a handful to a pan with some simmering olive oil 

and cook for a bit and then add fresh chopped broccoli, garlic, and kale. 

Cook, add a little water, cover, cook, add beaten egg, cover. 

Cook, flip, cook. 

I also have some rosti or fried potatoes on the side. 

I guess I'll keep that up until I get sick of omelets 

or run out of eggs. 

Which will not be that long at the rate the hens are laying. 

I'll take some photos tomorrow. 

I'm always going to do that, but then I'm in a hurry cooking 

and I eat the omelet! 

1 egg today 

~:>

Smiles!

Hungry Chickens

The rest of the hens are hiding under the house where it's cool.

They are not really hungry.

The chickens have been eating all day, from the feeders

and out scratching up the forest.

And they had watermelon and grapes!

No, what happened is that they saw me walking

over by the feeders and they have all

run over to see if I'm going

to leave them some special treats.

Sorry chicks.

I was walking around trying to find something

to take a photo of that looked interesting.

I used up my kinda interesting photos in yesterday's post.

The Robbers fire is now 75% contained

and some people are being allowed back in their homes.

Otherwise, things are pretty quiet around here.

The only thing I have been doing is going through

my closet and getting rid of clothes

I don't wear... and for some reason have kept.

There is a lot of room in my closet now!

Some things I hung on to because I loved them,

but I don't wear them so they are bagged up and ready 

to go to goodwill.

I'm left with a good feeling

tinged with a tiny bit of remorse

that is getting smaller day by day.

I'm actually feeling rather proud of myself for getting rid

of the clothes.

1 egg today

Smiles!

~:>

Robbers Forest Fire And Other Updates

Name of card, "Bottom's Up"

Lucky me!
My very good, long time friend sent me a letter
written on one of her lovely cards.
She is an oil painter!
Susan Murray
http://www.susanmurrayart.com/
Animal, Western, Portrait, Landscape and Many More Paintings

Friends are precious!

~~~

Kristine took these photos of two of our neighbors before she left...

This little fellow was on top of the car!

Don't know what it is about the cover on the car 

that attracts animal life...

we have a chicken that likes to hop up there 

and leave her deposits.

Strange.

Really didn't want to take a photo of that! 

This baby jay looked lost... 1st flight out of the nest?

We were worried about this little one 

but then noticed that the parents were flying around 

watching the fledgling... 

he might have been out taking flying lessons?

~~~

Kristine
 is settled and has a bunch of wildlife to enjoy!

She actually made a post on her blog!

Hope she will post some more photos.
...I want to see a photo of Willie Wagtail!

Testing The Waters 

http://19chickens.blogspot.com/

~~~

Yes, I took a photo of Morgan making water.

But Look at what the chickens are doing!
The chickens have taken to running after Morgan
when I take her her for a walk and ...
It is a reciprocal thing...
she eats their droppings and they swig her piddle.

Honest, I usually cover it up
or take her out when the chickens are
not around.
But, soon Morgan will be out with the chickens
and then ?
Who knows what they eat...
I don't want to know.

I've been making Morgan's food

instead of using commercial dog food.

She gets, cottage cheese, cooked egg, cream of wheat or

sometimes chicken (not ours,) or/and

potato, veg. and other people food and pet tabs and oil.

I guess Morgan's piddle is full of good stuff?

~~~

Robbers Fire

We have been watching the progress of the

Robbers Fire

http://yubanet.com/nevada/Robbers.php

It is close but now 60% contained.

The fire has been moving away from our location. 

One home has been destroyed.

The firefighters are doing a wonderful 

job saving everything they can.

We are very thankful to them!

~~~

We are full and we don't want our picture taken!

I tried to get a photo of the hens eating but no joy.
I have started putting the feed out like this during the day
because Tom kept seeing the feeders
swinging when he went out to the coop.
Some critter was climbing on to the hanging feeders
and chowing down on the feed.
Crafty critter!

~~~

I have been taking it extra easy...

loafing really...

recovering from a fall I took on one of my paths.

I knew there was a rock in the middle of the path that 

I couldn't dig up... eventually it got me.
I should have moved the path 

and I finally did just that 

but it took skinned knees and hands 

to convince me to make the effort.

My old bones really didn't like getting shaken up.

Well, that was a lesson...

~~~

2 eggs
Kristine said I should have gotten chicks this year.
Our hens are getting old.
Or they are hiding their eggs?

Smiles!

~:>