Chicken.....House?

Today was a gorgeous day, with a gentle breeze and temps almost touching 70. I woke up early and took "Gato" the dog out to do his thing. We are dog sitting for my sister Melissa while she is on a bug hunting expedition in Costa Rica with Rachael.

I've always been an early riser, I love the peace and quite the morning brings. As I walked Gato I heard the gravel crackle under the tires of the neighbor's car as it slowly snaked its way down the hill over a quarter mile away. Steve says its just not right to be able to hear a fly buzzing 20 feet away, but I love the silence. It makes me feel like I'm in another world, somehow separated and distant from the troubles that attempt to surround me daily. It's nice to feel that all is well with the world, even if just for a few minutes. Even the sun rose quietly, without the usual colorful fanfare from the clouds.

It was nice enough to open the doors and windows as I worked at the computer. One of the great things about a nice February day, no bugs. But, I do have to watch out for livestock because they will always take advantage of an open door.

As I sat at the computer getting some work done, I heard a rustle at the door. Hershey lifted her head from her bed and attentively peered between the log steps out the front door. I too looked up from my desk tucked under the steps to see who had come to visit. Two hens poked their heads in and casually walked across the living room floor. They curiously poked around and made their way up the stairs. After shooing them out the door a third time I shut the door behind them and returned to my tasks. I have a feeling they were sizing up my accommodations.

With all the woes and uncertainty these days, sometimes its nice to just stop and smell the roses....er...uh...watch the chickens.


A couple of hens checking things out.


One of the girls making her way upstairs.


A little shaky on her feet. Its her first time doing stairs after all.


Almost there... When I chased her out, she flew from the top step all the way down and out the front door.

Two Guys and a Pair of Pants

I apologize up front for being a bit chauvinistic, but I had to tell on the two men I love most in my life. Mom and I laughed so hard I had to make a mad dash to the bathroom to avoid wetting my pants. I figured a good laugh ought to be shared.

Last time Mom & Dad came to visit Steve was getting ready to leave for China. The night before leaving he had everything pulled out of his closet ready to go into the suitcase except a pair of jeans that were in need of laundering. He was leaving for the airport around 4:30 a.m. the next morning, so I was quick to drop them into the washer and make sure they were taken care of. I don't have a dryer here; the dry Colorado air makes for no need of that appliance. Everything in this household is line dried, which usually presents no problems.

Well, in my book, having company in town is a recipe for memory impairment. We got busy visiting and other random stuff and I kinda forgot about the jeans still being in the washer. About 8 that evening Steve asked where his jeans were....ooops! I was in the middle of making dinner and somehow Steve & Dad got the job of hanging the jeans out on the back deck's clothes line.

I will say Steve was none too happy about the whole thing and I really couldn't blame him either. He came in mumbling something about them not being dry by morning. I assured him all would be fine, they would be plenty dry by 4 a.m. I didn't mention I would be happy to hold them out the window for the hour plus drive to the airport...somehow it just didn't seem an appropriate thing to say at the moment.

After dinner I went out back to see how the jeans were coming and much to my surprise when I opened the door I was greeted by a man's version of doing laundry. I let out with such a screaming laugh Mom came running and we both laughed till we cried and proceeded to rib the guys for their effort. Further, we explained the proper way to hang laundry. The guys insisted their way was the correct way and we were just plain crazy which unfortunately just incited more giggles on our part.

Dad wasn't too happy about the fun being poked at him and Steve. Figuring he had Em on his side, He later that evening quietly asked her how she would have hung them and she proceeded to explain the proper way to hang a pair of pants. We overheard the question which led to more teasing. I think by bed time the guys were plain fed up with us. But oh we sure had a great laugh.


Dad taking revenge unexpectedly. Somehow I think their manhood felt diminished by us gals laughing at them all evening.

A Beautiful week

Looks like its going to be a nice week around here. Almost got up to 50 today and is forecast to be in the 60's by the end of the week. My heating bill so appreciates the cooperation Mother Nature has shown lately. We filled the propane tank June 22nd and are still at 51%. Since they will only fill to 80% to allow for expansion, we've used just 29% in seven and a half months. Even with two cold snaps in January one for a week straight hovering around 16 below dipping down to 23 below and the other one down to 14 below for a few days. We've been able to heat mostly with wood this winter, thanks to Josh's muscle power.

The chicks I ordered last month will be arriving in another 10 to 12 days. I'm looking forward to picking them up at the local post office. I got a great deal by ordering the leftovers of the day. 200 for just .25 each, .47 each with shipping. I'm hoping there will be plenty of hens in the bunch, but they make no guarantees. They just take whatever is left over at the end of the day, toss them in a box 200 at a time and put them on the airplane. And I bet you had visions of sharing an airplane with chickens as a third world thing.

Ben and Jerry are getting big. They have 40 acres to roam, but prefer to acrobatically cross 5 strands of barbed wire and electric fence onto either one of the neighbor's property. The grass really is better on the other side, they'll tell you its true.

I'm trying to hold off starting some garden seeds. I started too early last year, probably need to wait till mid to late march. I do have plenty of manure to till in this spring. I hope to get a nice crop of sweet corn this year; hopefully no goating accidents this time around.


Ben, down by the garage hoping for a handout.


Tigris and Cheddar. "Its cold out here, can we come in?" They like to hang out on the back deck, Steve hates it since they leave puddles and dingleberries everywhere.


Becca and Em after the superbowl game with their 3-D glasses on.


Because we are in a bit of a valley, we don't get the greatest sunsets, but I never tire of the incredible sunrises.


It was beautiful, even to the north west. Every cloud in the sky looked as if it were on fire. Just incredible.

Out of Hibernation....I hope

I feel like I've been hibernating over the past few months. Winter tends to do that to me. I think I'm more sensitive than the average bear (pun intended) when it comes to daylight hours and that winter-blah funk. Thankfully the daylight hours are on the rise.

The hens are laying again, after slacking off for a month or better. Egg sales are going well. Steve had someone from his building pop into his office and ask "So Steve, what exactly is it that you sell out of the back of your Jeep? It looks like egg cartons, but it couldn't be eggs, so what is it really?" So he had to explain we have hens and the whole "Egg Fairy" thing; he puts eggs in the cooler and sometime during the day the egg fairy comes, takes the eggs and leaves money. He has only ever seen one of the egg clients. Another of the clients rides his bike to pick up eggs, three dozen at a time, rain or shine snow and cold....must be good eggs!

Ben & Jerry are growing, adding about 10-12 inches since they came. They roam the place and have on occasion hopped up on the porch deck to see what exactly I am doing inside. They know when I holler "hear, hear, come boss" it means dinner is on.

Speaking of dinner, I got the hook-up when it comes to feed. I found out, compliments of Craigslist, that the local brewery has a bunch of spent grains that they have to haul to the dump each week. But alas, no longer. Now Ben, Jerry, Cheddar, Tigris, Gretel and the hens eat high off the hog compliments of the brewery. Last load I got was about 700 lbs of grain. They win because they don't have to pay to dump and we win because free feed is a always good thing.

I placed an order for 200 chicks. Woo hoo! I found a place that sells the days left overs for $45/200. So I scooped up an order of 200. They should arrive around February the 9th. I'll have a few schools hatching for me as well, so I'll probably end up with 250-300 chicks this year. Yikes! I'm going to raise them up till I can tell hens from roos and them butcher and sell the roos, keeping the hens to add to the egg business.

The goats have a new past time, rock climbing. At the north end of the property is a pretty big rock, I'm guessing 70 or 80 feet high. They like to climb that thing up and down back and forth. Scared the bejeebers out of me the first time I saw them up there. They even bedded down for the night up there once and I had to go retrieve them with a flashlight in one hand and a can of feed in the other to lure them back down. I've sold Tigris and Gretel, they go to their new home the first week in February. I'm really, really sad to see Gretel go, she is a very good-natured, affectionate, obedient doe, but I need to get out of goats.....they have a mind of their own and are just too stubborn and mischievous for me. The kids wont drink the milk, which was the purpose of getting them in the first place. Besides, I'm getting kinda tired of climbing that rock with a can of grains every day.


An incredibly beautiful sunrise


I'm an early to bed, early to rise sort of person. Gives me the opportunity to see the handiwork of God that those night owls in the family tend to miss.


Goats on the rock


Gretel likes to walk along the front of this rock. scares me to watch.


One of the roos picking through the spent grains in the steer's feeder.


Got a bunch of handsome guys around the barnyard.

Oh, that boy is makin' me gray!

It's 12:15 am, its a cold snowy night, with about 3 inches on the ground already. A heavy snow, it is accumulating quickly. A fire burns in the wood burner and we were all ready to settle in for the night. Josh, out with friends, wasn't deterred in the least by his fender bender last night. In fact he apparently didn't have enough action and just called to let us know that they just rolled his friend's pick-up truck and its in the ditch on its side. I keep telling him he needs to think about us too...he is making me gray. He just laughs. The "mommily" runs through my head....I hope you have 10 sons and they turn out just like you. He laughs off my foolish belief that someone could possibly have gotten hurt.

"Buddy, your girlfriend is going to drop you, she probably isn't too fond of the excitement" I quip over the phone, knowing that she was along both times and is pretty quiet, not one for much of the wild side of life. "Ya, I know, she already said that." he answers back slowly. Wow a teenager with a brain, he should hang on to her. Rather than have us drive out to get him, he has decided to call Becca and spend the night at her place. Seems he left his pick-up at his friend's house and now no way to get home...

We offered to come get him, but he would rather impose on his sister. She is glad to have him since her roommate is out of town for the holiday and she is not fond of being alone. Last time she was out of town, Becca bribed several friends with ice cream and card games to spend the night. She will be glad for his company.

So, we sit and wait for a phone call to let us know they made it back to the apartment safely. I hope Becca doesn't let Josh do the driving...and yes, I hope he really does have 10 sons just like him. But when is life ever fair?

The Redneck Santa

The weather has been really nice this week. Ok well, its only Monday, but its been nice since the crazy wind decided to move on. Today it got up to 68 and tomorrow they expect to break the old record of 74...by several degrees. The low tomorrow night will be the average high for this time of year, kinda hard to be believe its mid November in the mountains. Thursday will be more seasonal with a high in the 30's and drizzle....yuck, I need to bring in another load of firewood before then.

We got a visit Saturday evening from the Redneck Santa. You know you're a redneck if you consider a freshly shot goose a cool gift. You know you're a redneck if giving gifts of packaged of deer meat excites you. So, Saturday night, our friend Ben shows up at the back door with a rifle over his shoulder, a 17 pound Canadian goose in one hand and a bag full of packaged deer hamburger and steaks in the other. "Hey, its the redneck Santa!" he exclaims proudly as he walks through the door. He smiles, and the excitement of the gifts and twinkle in his eye sets off his boyish charm. He tells the drama of the goose hunt, anxious for us all to experience the thrill. Lifting the invisible rifle he traces a path across the kitchen ceiling and "smacks" the equally invisible goose. "It was too big for Thatcher to retrieve!" he proclaims, eyes wide, his face rugged with stubble.

The deer was one he and his brother had hunted earlier on our place, a nice sized two by two buck. It was his brother Isaac's first deer, a proud moment for both. Isaac, a southern California cop, was in town to hunt and had missed a bigger five by five earlier in the week. He had a fancy scope and yet missed. Upset with himself, he ditched the scope and fell back on his police training. At that, he put the buck down with one shot. Straight through the lungs, it took the shot and immediately fell without a struggle. Em and I helped gut and hose it out, or maybe we just got in the way.

I was excited to get the goose and deer meat. Oh, you thought I meant Ben was the redneck? Ha, I guess we both qualify. The goose is plucked, the down bagged up and ready to put into a quilt or slippers or something. I soaked the bird overnight in saltwater, marinated it all day today and bagged it up. It's vacuum packed and in the freezer along with the deer meat. It'll probably end up on the Christmas Day dinner table. I can't imagine anyone living without a Redneck Santa in their life.


Ben with his deer from last year.


Josh with the Canadian goose. It dressed out almost as big as the turkey I bought for Thanksgiving.

The Blustery Day

Oh bother, its been a rather blustery day. In fact it feels a bit like the 100 acre woods here. A bit of rain and lots of blustery wind all night and all day. It even started on "winds-day." But hopefully, my house wont blow down, and thankfully no Hefalumps and Woozels to steal my honey.

I noticed the deer were very restless yesterday, roaming back and forth unsure of where, or if, to bed down and not too interested in eating. They often would suddenly look up staring motionless for minutes on end, as if catching the sound of a stalking predator. The young bucks and does chased each other around all day. Last time that happened we had a huge wind storm with winds clocked at over 110 mph. So I battened down the hatches here and hoped it wouldn't be too bad. Sure enough about 9:30 last night the wind began to whoosh through the trees on the mountain top. Like the sound of mighty rushing waters, a deafening roar, it's an incredible racket. A sense of restlessness overtakes me. Like the deer, I feel unsettled, edgy, and nervous.

I lay in bed listening to the wind buffet the house, it creaks and groans under the pressure of the gusts. I hear the occasional thud of something blowing across the yard outside the bedroom window. At one point I hear the grill topple and glide across the deck. Then I hear another thud unsure of what object just hit the house, I feel uneasy, wondering what I'll find in the morning. I arose several times and grabbed the binoculars I keep by the window to look out at the animals. The brightness of the full moon illuminated the night, adding to the ominous feelings.

When I was doing chores earlier, my gut said the calf pen would blow over in the night, so before I retired to the warmth and comfort of the house, I shored it up with several heavy rocks, one weighing more than 60 lbs. I thought that ought to hold it...just in case. But I couldn't help but feel it was going to go over.

Finally fatigue won out over fear and I drifted off to sleep, awakened only occasionally by the flight of an object into the back of the house or across the deck.

I awakened in the morning to Em's voice. "Mom, the calves are out, the pen blew over." I jumped up, instantly awake, and pulled my worn leather barn coat on over my flannel PJ's and donned my black rubber boots. The calves were contentedly hovering over the feeder, as if nothing unusual had happened, enjoying the remains of the alfalfa I had placed there the evening before. Josh & I moved them into the chicken run till we could right the pen and repair the section of fence the wind had knocked down.

The calves eyes were watery from the wind, tears running down their faces and bits of alfalfa and dirt stuck to the tears. The wind continued to buffet us and kick up a considerable amount of dust as we worked on the pen and fence. Finally finished we went inside for breakfast. I noticed patches of rock had blown off the driveway leaving only bare, hard-packed dirt. A couple of tree limbs were down, chunks of firewood had blown off the wood pile and into the yard and down into the window well, thankfully the window was intact. It was a doozy of a windstorm.

As I type, the wind is still driving, threatening without words, creating that uneasy feeling inside of me. I hope it decides to settle down soon. They are forecasting snow tonight and highs of 30 tomorrow. Winter in Colorado is upon us.


Taken just two weeks ago. The colors this fall were incredible. Now all is dead, brown and no leaves remain. Amazing what can happen in two weeks. I love the placement of the house, nestled down in the valley. I still feel like I live in a postcard.


Even the grass was beautiful.


A storm approaching from the east. Usually that means snow.


We had a really spectacular fall. Too bad it couldn't last a bit longer.


The full moon last night shrouded by clouds, rising over the mountain top.