Tired Of Winter or The B's Have It!

It has been cold and wet and I am craving visions of Spring. Here are few photos that make me think warm and happy thoughts.



Blooming Bulbs.



Baby Brangus.



Bama! Even though I am an Auburn fan, this picture still makes me happy.



Big Mose.



Big Bass.



Bocephus.



Burros



Baby Birds



Beautiful Bloom.



Bare feet.



Bliss.



Best Buddies.

Chicken House Tenants

Chicken House Tenants

We have a wide variety of chickens, from solid and rather dull laying hens to those sporting pretty cool afro styles. They make us laugh!


Biscuit, a Buff Sebright rooster. He is very tame and friendly.




This is a white Crested Blue Polish hen. 




This is a Buff Laced Polish- he hasn't earned a name yet.



Here is Soren, a tiny but fierce little Golden Sebright rooster.




Rosemary bought this pair, Zeus and Roxanne, last weekend. They are very fancy Mille Fleur Old English Game chickens.




Another photo of Zeus. He is very sweet natured and likes attention.




A funny Silver Sebright hen- I love the feather patterns.



And a golden Sebright hen.



A Golden Comet named Mrs. Lazenby. The Golden Comets are the best layers I have ever had.



Pearl is licking her chops just thinking about all the eggs!



Blue Cochin named Priscilla. She is very fluffy and fat and will sit on other hens' eggs hatch them and raise their babies. I once had a Cochin that sat on wild turkey eggs that a logger brought by the house in a hard hat. It was so funny to watch those huge turkey poults following that tiny little hen around.



Hard to believe that this adorable chick grew into....



THIS! He is a homely White Crested Blue Polish rooster named Blue Jim. He is neither tame nor friendly. We shall see if he is to remain.

Chicken Coop

When we lived in Forest Home, we really enjoyed our chickens. When I asked Rosemary what she wanted for Christmas, she declared- "chickens!". So, we ordered 10 laying hens; 5 Golden Comets (my favorite year round layers) and 5 Ameracanas (lay beautiful blue and green eggs). We also ordered about 30 different bantams (miniature chickens), including White Crested Blue Polish and adorable little Silver Sebrights.


After we placed our order, we then started on the coop. After the coop was well underway, I took Rosemary up to pick the colors that we would stain it, as we were using rough sawn pine boards that had not been pressure treated and they need some protection from the elements.
She picked her favorite colors, blue and green. I don't think we have to worry about any "haints" moving into this chicken house! Here is how the coop has progressed.





Rosemary and Kevin framing the floor.

Framing out the window and door openings........

Wall framing is up, Rosemary is dying to hit something with that huge hammer.

Rosemary handing up a fiberglass panel- we used some of these instead of all metal so that the coop would be brighter inside.





Roof is all finished, cleaning up for the day- start the siding the next morning.




Siding up and we get a first look at that blue stain.... Um, wow!

Still have the green trim to finish up. Antler door pull- there is a a latch on the inside- you pull the string to raise it. I once read how Pa made one to keep out the Indians or maybe the bears out of the cabin in one of the "Little House on the Prairie" books and I always wanted one of those neat latches. I remember being quite impressed that you could be inside and pull the latch string in and nothing "bad" could get you. The girls were quite impressed that I could remember something "from such a long, long time ago" - they must think I am 100.

Need headphones ASAP

The local music store and an auto glass store recently co-sponsored an essay contest. The essay had to be postmarked by December 31. The topic was "How I Would Make the World a Better Place" and the grand prize was an electric guitar with all the trimmings. Rosemary was beside herself over the prospect of such a glorious prize and set to work immediately. The hustle and bustle of the Christmas season caught up with us and Rosemary decided to mail it in after Christmas. We were called Christmas morning with the news that my Daddy was in the hospital. So, we threw everything in the car and drove to Greenville, without another thought of the essay. Daddy ended up requiring surgery, and the girls and I stayed in Greenville while Kevin came back home. On New Year's Eve day, Rosemary said " Well, I guess I can enter the essay next year." She had mostly finished, but I had forgotten completely about it. I called Kevin and asked him to try and get home and print whatever part of the essay that Rosemary had written and get it in the mail. He was able to, and I really didn't think much more about it. A few weeks later, we get a phone call announcing that Rosemary had won the essay! She was absolutely beside herself, and I was dumbfounded, having never won anything in my life.

Anyway, does anyone have any headphones we can borrow? (Please. The whammy bar is her favorite thing.)

We've been busy!

We've been busy!

Riding,

Dividing perennials

Working together,

and laughing.

Resting in the sun,















Baking bread,

and watching sunsets.

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

I missed the pappy after a while and searched the house for her, finally finding her in a spot of sunshine on a box of items destined for Goodwill.

New Puppy

We went to Greenville for Christmas. I was sitting in front of Mama and Daddy's fireplace, enjoying the warmth on my back and perusing the latest Bulletin Board. For those unfamiliar with The Bulletin Board, it is an amazing conglomeration of want ads. It covers everything from cars to personal ads to pets and every imaginable other thing. It is like a hard copy of Craigslist without the offers of massages.

They define themselves as " Alabama's #1 Buy-Sell-Trade Publication, offering over 5,000 items each week to over 100,000 readers. The home of FREE classified advertising to individuals!" Here is the website. http://www.thebulletinboard.com/

As I was going through the "Pets" section, an ad jumped out at me- English Shepherds, to a good home. Now, I am a sucker for an English Shepherd. There used to be one on just about every farm around, but I haven't seen one in ages. They are super smart, adaptable, loyal, tough dogs. Since Sass, my Vizsla, died last October, I had not wanted another dog- I just wasn't ready, I guess. Of course, we have Daisy, but she belongs to the girls. However, I couldn't stop thinking about those English Shepherd pups. That little roly-poly bear body, that puppy breath and those needle teeth- I could finally picture myself with a new dog. One to go with me on horseback rides and hunting and to bark at the garbage man.

So, after a day or two, I broke down and called. I talked to the man for a few minutes and then discovered- he was one of our neighbors from Forest Home! Small world and very ironic. We went out the next day to look at all of them, and decided on a fearless little female. She had some dominant traits and was quite independent. I knew she was going to be tough to handle until we got all of the "pack" issues straightened out, but hey- I have raised Isabelle for 9 years and I figure I can do anything. We named her Pearl.

She is absolutely as tough as nails and has been a handful, but she is incredibly smart and driven and is learning her place in the family.

I love my jobs.

My first job is a mama- giving Isabelle a birthday hug.

My "other" job is at the Rock Ranch.

My Boss.

My office.

Molding young minds- reactions to rubber animal scat (poop). This is my favorite part of my job.

This one wasn't sure what to make of me.