Saturday Shots

I'm going to make a few more blogging comments and then show some random shots from the week.  We have a T Bones game tonight, as our season winds down.  It's in the 70's outside... and we have talked about wearing jeans to the game tonight! 

One of the things I have noticed (favorably) lately is that more and more blogs have done away with word verification.  Thank you, Bloggers!  There is nothing more tiresome than sitting down to read blogs of a morning, and having to verify, verify, verify.  I can't read the numbers half the time, and am constantly taking my glasses off and drawing close to the screen, over and over, when it is on. 

Another thing I've noticed, even on some favorite blogs, is that the blogger is still setting picture size at 

"small".  

It is possible to go from small, to medium, to large, to the one I use... "extra-large".  It really makes it so much easier for those reading the blog to see the things about which you are writing. 

I started out at medium four years ago, and I am satisfied with "extra-large".  

There are several blogs I would LOVE to see enlarge their pictures... because they take lovely ones. 

I did not get to go to the fair last night, as my friend has kennel cough in her kennel right now. An AKC breeder and shower of Pointers, she had not thought about the fact that we have our dear old Ranger here, with a compromised health.  We erred on the side of caution, because even exposure to her might have brought it home to us.  I did not want to take the chance. 

Our own Leavenworth County fair is next week, so I will have some pictures of that. 

I don't know if you can see what's in the middle of this picture.  Yesterday, on my way to the estate sale, I took a wrong turn, or rather, missed a turn.  I saw a break in the vegetation, and as I pulled off the opposite side to turn around, I realized there was an old barn and silo in all the trees!  My gosh... you could even see where the road into it was.  I wonder how long it's been there. 

It saddens me to see these abandoned houses along the roads.  Someone is cutting here, but the house is decrepit.  Some have been swallowed up with vegetation.  I always wonder who raised their families here, and how they came to be abandoned. 

Woo hoo... here's five of the roosters hanging out in the old henyard. 

Buddy, on the left, has taken on the leadership since Rambo disappeared... even though he is diminutive, he is the boss, believe me! 

There are only 17 birds left in the old henhouse, and of those, 10 are roosters.  Pretty soon it's going to be the Boys Club. 

It took her almost two hours, but she finally got Aflac's egg down her mouth.  Aflac lays a two-yolker almost every single day now, and I let this one stay in the dog house an hour too long. 

I can't believe she did it. 

When Keith and I visit on the patio in the evening, the dogs like to kibbutz. 

The shadecloth over the henspa yard is still holding up pretty well. 

(via Pinterest) 

Only the end of July, but I'm gettin' in the mood! 

We're also discussing Christmas, because you just can't plan too far ahead. 

We were treated very well at the Hereford House of Shawnee, last year, and we think we're going to call them this week and reserve the same room again for this year's celebration.  Keith's newest grandson will be due about the time of our party!  That will be the greatest Christmas gift two years in a row, because little Brynn was born the day of, last year. 

Everyone have a great Sunday! 

Whew!

Doesn't YOUR furnace man do your driveway? 

Early this afternoon, snow fell from the maple tree over the deck and landed on a female junco, a tiny little bird.  As I opened the door, all the other birds flew off, but the little junco stayed here, hunched over.  

(The snow was melting). 

I picked her up and carried her in, and we took her in the bedroom.  Keith went out and found a little cage that some chickens had come in, brought it in, and we folded a rug and put it in it, and put her in.  She promptly flew out and loose in the bedroom.  We gave her time to calm down, and Keith, God bless him, managed to move the furniture she had flown behind, open a window... and reach over and lift her gently outside.  He opened his hand, and she flew away.  

Yayyyy!!!!

Thank heavens he took the shadecloth down, this snow was much heavier than last week's, and would have torn it, we think.  The hens in this house had clear ground until this morning. 

I don't know if you can see them, but where the blue bucket is, I have dug a trail to the old henhouse, and to the right, to the henspa, so that this girl can do her chores.

 I have never in my life had such a plucky little dog.  

The snow stopped around 2, and there was some melting happening, as it got up above 32.  I actually went out and opened the pophole in the henspa, but the hens took one look (even after I shoveled their deck) and decided that the deep snow (see picture above) and the hanging shadecloth was not for them. 

Right now, at 5:43, the second wave of snow (another 1 to 2 inches) is coming down.  We are hoping that's all we're to get out of this round of storms, that featured lightening this morning for an hour. 

I'm tired.  

I have one more thing to do.. .put some feed out for the fox... and then I'm in PJs for the rest of the night! 

That's it for today from Calamity Acres! 

Here it Comes and There it Went

Some of you may have wondered about the shadecloth over the henspa yard with the heavy snow last week. 

Yes, that's the shadecloth on Friday, over the middle span of the henyard.  Notice the span on the right is also very full.  I stopped Keith as he was planning to put crosswise supports up in the middle... because we had to move birds fast in November.  As you can see, the supports were needed.  

Oh, stupid me. 

Fast forward to yesterday afternoon: 

Quite a bit of snow came out of it... this is not a great picture.  We left it unhooked and down for the next storm, but only two small holes were torn in it where it rested on the pole tops.  In the spring, we'll take it partially down again, and Keith will finish building the framework the way he wanted it. 

Mea culpa, Honey. 

We had a glorious morning this morning..., and that was all we saw of the sun all day. 

And it melted so much yesterday and today (under leaden skies) that I could see the garden beds again, and the tops of our greenhouse panels.  

In late afternoon, we had a dusting of snow and it blew very hard, but right now, at 9:21, there is just a little precip falling, and if our computer is right, it's 37 degrees out, actually warmer than it has been all day. 

This girl was here early this morning and yes, found the food I had left for her.  She had not come up for the last four nights.  No coyotes came behind her. 

I left another bowl of food tonight, because if it really DOES get as terrible as they have predicted, the wildings won't be able to get up the pasture again. 

I've ordered Tylan for our big tom turkey, Jackson, who is still sneezing.  Now two roosters from the henspa have begun sneezing.  I think it is the stress of the weather and being locked up off and on the last few days... the Tylan was shipped today, but may be held up for a day or so with the weather.  I'm eager to get it started.

 That's it for today from Calamity Acres!   .