The Early Monday Morning Post

I posted late last night, at 11:15 or so, so for cute goat pictures, go to "Older Posts" at the bottom right hand of this post. 

Just some random thoughts this morning after doing chores. 

I am noticing that my reading lists in Blogger are slow to come up again, and I am seeing "You are not currently following any blogs" when I try to get my list to come up.  Fix it, Blogger! 

I'm a captive though, because I do not like the fact that you must subscribe to Wordpress blogs by email.  All of you WP bloggers be warned, I have gone through and dumped almost every single email entry from WP blogs now, I just had too many things cluttering up my email daily.  I also went through and dumped manufacturer's blogs and many that I no longer needed/read... like store blogs such as Target's.  I rarely shop there. 

Over here, on one of my favorite pet blogs, 

Two French Bulldogs

you can read about Benny's fight with the Big C.  

If some of you can donate, there is a button there, 

and his expenses are many in this fight. 

HERE, on 

The Three Little Pugs, 

another of my favorites, 

Stella Rose Long writes about a philosophy we all might consider having...

8 seconds of our lives, and how we need to concentrate on living those 8 seconds.  

Please take a minute to read it, and remember that Stella is a pug, and 

sometimes grammar suffers but true thoughts are true thoughts.  How many times have I laughed and cried at what she, Baby Gussie, and Maggie, the Three Little Pugs,  have written. 

We have three porcelain D'uccles left on the big henhouse side.  Two live in the little red henhouse on stilts... and they are the ONLY ones living in it.  I had hoped to clean it out and close it up by now. 

The third sleeps in the big henhouse at night, and has for the last two months.  These guys are about a year old now.  

This one, for some reason, has begun challenging me in the mornings.  Each day as I turn him loose and then go over to turn the three chicks loose (they are still sleeping in the white pen he is standing on...

he comes over and struts for me. 

As I turn to leave, he flies down and starts whapping me on the leg.  It's tiresome, and at some point... he is going to become a candidate for removal. 

Here comes our Big Guy up out of the pasture this morning, slowly but surely. 

There's still some pep in his step... but it's fading slowly.  He loves to go down there in the morning and sniff around. 

I noticed some new dynamics in the henyard as I bucketed this morning.  Notice how Swamplandia is clearing up nicely with some judicious trimming of branches? 

Rambo did not come out first, as usual.  The smaller roosters hurried out, and while these two (Boots and Speedy)  do not really try to breed the bigger hens, they were rushing around being important. 

Instead, Mr. Self-Important Buddy appeared to be running things, and was running around dogging the hens, in and out of the henyard and pasture. 

I finally found Rambo inside. 

The last time this happened, his father, Old Rambo, was dying.  

He began waiting until the very last to go in at night, and waited until everyone was out before he came out.  

He stayed away from the hens and the other roosters. 

One morning, I found him dead under the roost. 

He was a full-bred Buff Orpington, a beauty. 

I know Donald has been bothering Rambo since his entry into the henyard two weeks ago... but Rambo can get away from him, though he has now lost his tail feathers. 

I'm wondering if something else is wrong. 

This Rambo, whom I called "Baby Rambo", is only about 4 years old. 

The little guys were lounging in their hay feeder when I finished on the Big Henhouse side... and I called them to come and go out in the pasture.  They don't need a second invitation! 

Here's the newest bed from a distance... I'll be using that peat moss this week, and tidying up.  I pulled some weeds this morning, and did a little push mowing over by the henhouse.  

The Jacob Cline monarda in the middle... you can see the red... is the same size as the daisies in front of it, so I am going to have to move the daisies to the rear this fall, where the zinnias are now.  The yarrow is definitely going to have to be divided, too, it is taking over that corner... and what you can't see is there is a 2 1/2 foot tall white lilac bush in that corner that is coming along nicely, and the yarrow is shading it.  The lilac was maybe six inches tall when Kathy gave it to me.  

I am going to help Kathy get started with a big perennial bed, too... she has lovely gardens over in her yard, and a true green thumb. It's so fun to have a neighbor near that likes to garden like I do. 

And here's a closeup of one of the prunellas that I started this year... I'm very happy with these small plants that will grow on and fill in next year.  They have lovely purple blossoms! 

Okay, it's laundry day here, and I'm going to take a cue from my friend Lorie and try to find a place to put up a clothesline outside.  When we first came here, there was still one up, but it was in an odd place and hard to cut around.  Keith eventually took it down.  I'd like to start drying outside again, and save on electricity and humidity in the house.  

For two people, it seems I do a load a day, and I'm washing bedding today. 

I'm also going to pop a chicken in the oven to bake, early this morning, and then get my seeds out and see what I can plant this late.  

We are going to pull some potatoes tonight to see how they are developing, and I saw some watermelons at the nursery yesterday (I popped in after taking Nathan home to Garnett) that are icebox size (Sugar Babies) and I may go get a couple to put in one of the beds.  

I hope everyone has a good Monday.