Thursday, March 26, 2015

 I love this picture.  I've named it Peaceful Pastures.  It looks so serene.  Our livestock guard dog (LGD) Bella has finally realized how lovely it is to be over in the pasture during the day with the goats.  She is nearly six years old now, very stiff with her bad knees but does such a great job guarding all five of them.

She can be away from the other dogs, all the cats except for Willie, our little black one and me chasing her out of the house every time she comes in.

The pasture has once again begun to turn green with the warmer weather and the nice rain we've had for the last few weeks.  Not every day, just when things need a little greening up.

The goats are great at keeping down the weeds as they thrive not so much on grass but on weeds and brush.  Not to say they don't like eating hay (which they do) but they are healthier with the brushy stuff.  It keeps their rumen in good working order.



So check out this pretty runner I got the other day at TJMaxx.  I bought it for our back door and it helps to keep our carpet cleaner.  It was Very reasonable in price as most stuff at TJMaxx usually is.

The only problem I have with it is it will 'walk' or move when anyone or any animal walks on it.  Gets a little bump right in the middle, you can almost see it in this picture.  I think it must have been folded there before I bought it.

Oh well, its a lot easier and cheaper to clean this one or throw it away and buy a new one instead of doing the entire carpet in the room.

And I like going to TJM anyway seeing all the pretty stuff they have there.

I got a new app for my phone the other day that I can make these line pictures with.  I took an old picture of Bella and used the app.  I love the way it looks.  I may just have to take it to FedEx / Kinko's and have a large print made up of this.

I wonder what else I can do with it ... ?

Oh yes, our chickens have started laying lots of eggs again.  We were only getting about one a week this winter but now can get as many as five a day.  They are so good.  The yokes are bright orange and stand up very high when I fry them.  Nothing like the light yellow eggs we get when we have to buy them.

Right now I have about five dozen in our refrig and have given some away.  Last year we used mineral oil on them to try saving some.  Good, but not like fresh.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

 I was watching a couple of videos this morning of parakeets.  YouTube has some amazing ones.    This one has sound and was so cute with two birdies courting each other. 

All of a sudden my crazy kitty River jumped on my desk and could not get enough of the videos, pawing the screen.

The picture below on the right is my Great Pyrenees Bella in for a groom.  She hates for me to leave her anywhere, even in the house.  I took her to a new groomer last week, a very nice lady with a great facility.  After I left to get in the car, Bella walked to the window and watched me leave.

I missed the opportunity to get her sad eyes pleading with me not to leave her and by the time I got my phone out to take her picture the groomer Karen had put a leash on her to bring her back over the the tub area.

But if you look closely you can still see her sad look.  Too funny.  But she looked so pretty and sure smelled a lot better!  Thanks Karen.

Today is just beautiful, at least in the 60's sunny and warm.  Our chickens have been loving it.  We only have six chickens left but still have 4-5 roosters I can't catch.  They eat a lot but also keep the bugs down on the property.  One of these days they will be chicken soup.

I found some chicken nesting boxes on sale yesterday.  The one I got is 36" long, divided into three nests and the box is made from wood.  Its pretty nice.  Now we just have to figure out where to put it.  The chickens have decided roosting in our big bull pine behind the old goat pen at night is more fun than in the chicken coop so they rarely go in the coop any more.  That makes it hard to put some nesting boxes around.  Right now they are using the little two nest gray coop we bought two summers ago.  Its pretty well worn out but every day we get at least four eggs, sometimes more.  And talk about large eggs.  I will post a picture of the box as soon as I can get it put together.  Their other favorite place to lay eggs is in the dog kennel.  Go figure.

So far the new goat shed we put together last fall is doing a great job.  The goats seem to like it and it has kept them warm and dry this winter.  I'd like to get another one only a little larger this time.  We will see what happens this summer.  I did buy some electronic fencing last winter that hasn't gone up yet.  It takes a battery and a charger that I still need to buy.  Its not a permanent fixture and can be moved anywhere.  A great way to keep some of the weeds down and still maintain at least a little landscaping.

Then we're planning on redoing our electric fence around the pasture.  It works great until a tree falls on it and breaks the wire.  A couple years ago somehow it got cut in two or three places.  Not sure if it was human or animal that did that.  Probably those sharp little deer hooves heading over the top.  Or maybe a moose or two.

Don't forget to set your time forward tonight.  Happy Spring everyone!