A name!

I figured out a name for my favorite little rooster.


















It came to me today while he was sitting in my hand.


Cogburn! You might think it's strange. David and I went through phase of watching westerns on the Encore western channel. We still watch them, but not quite as frequently. One of our more favorite movies starred John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn. John Wayne isn't normally a favorite of mine, but he was good in this movie. Of course I like pretty much anything with Katharine.

The movie was Rooster Cogburn. John Wayne played Rooster, a tough old goat chasing some bad guys with a wagon full of stolen nitro. Katharine played Eula Goodnight, the grown daughter of a pastor who'd been killed by the bad guys. She was sassy and mouthy and didn't listen to Rooster when he told her to stay back. Instead, she rode with Rooster and another man named Hawk....chasing the bad guys.

So, the little man is now Rooster Cogburn. :-) I think I have the perfect little pullet to name Eula too. I'll show her to you tomorrow.

Summer Storms

I remember thunderstorms when I was younger. We'd all be out in the yard doing something...working in the garden, playing with the animals, doing whatever. The wind would pick up and it always seemed the storms came from out of nowhere! We would all scurry around and frantically clean up...putting garden tools away, securing the lawn chairs. We'd rush inside at the last second and then the sky would open up! I always thought it was exciting...and a little scary. The sky is so big here that we always have a good bit of warning when trouble is brewing. This storm took its sweet time this afternoon. The kids were playing in their little pool and I was unloading stuff we'd moved on the trailer from the old house. Finally it got close and we all went inside.

I love the clouds. They always look so scary and menacing.


This is the house across the street.






And then.....calm. The sunset was worth every rain drop and thunder clap!

Random stuff!

This evening was so nice. Well, it was hot and sweaty, but turned out nice. David's parents came over to watch the kids so we could finish getting our stuff out of the old place. All that's left over there is a mirror and our vacumn. There's a few small things in the shed, but we're just about done! It was hot and stuffy because the air conditioning hasn't been on in the old place. My legs were sweating. I hate that!

We came home and put the kids to bed and then we stayed out in the yard for a bit. I did a few things in the garden. The cukes haven't been coming up very well, so I replanted some pickling cuke seeds and some regular ones.

The corn seems to be growing better, so I thinned some out. I want to give more room so the stalks don't get cramped. These poor plants below had no chance.


The gourds I planted the other day are all coming up!


The beans I replanted are doing MUCH better. Just about al of them are breaking ground now.


David got on the roof yesterday to fix some shingles that had never been nailed down. It was hot up there! I had to get up and help hold them so he could nail them. It was nice to get a bird's eye view though.


Hens and chicks! These came from a house that we looked at (more like glanced at) when we were looking to buy. The old woman who lived in the house had moved into a nursing home. This poor pot of hens and chicks was sitting on her porch, and I'm sure it hadn't been watered in forever. When the realtor went around the side of the house, I snatched two of the hens and put them in my pocket. :-) I'm sure the old lady would like that someone is loving her plant babies. They're doing really well....they've more than doubled in size and now they have babies of their own! I really need to repot them, because they've outgrown this little pot.


Hey there Tucker! Enjoying the daylillies?



















New arrivals! David and I drove to Delaware on Saturday and got these six new babies! There are two barred rocks (a cockerel and a pullet), a leghorn mix cockerel (put looks pretty girly to me), two araucana pullets (they call them easter eggers because they lay pale blue and green eggs!), and an araucana/barred rock cross pullet. They're smaller than my original chicks, so of course they got picked on. They get along fabulously with the turkeys though, so they'll have their own little gang. :)


I put the big kids in the garage this afternoon so the little kids could go outside and play. What did they do? Huddle in the corner and try to all take dirt baths in the same spot!


The two barred rocks getting a drink.


David's dad brought me some more step-in posts (sweet!), and I got another roll of fencing, so now their pen is much bigger! I'll take some pictures of that tomorrow! And I really need to start thinking of chicken names. They're too friendly now to not have names!

Another dreary day...

More rain. Good for the garden, but slightly boring for us. I'm so glad it's Friday. Not quite sure what we have going on this weekend, but I'm looking forward to resting some and getting a few things done around here. We STILL have stuff at the old place, and we need to move it this weekend. Most of it is the kids' stuff, and just some other random stuff we could probably live without. How lazy is that? Aside from the kids' stuff, I'd rather just throw the stuff away than move it!

I spent some time with the turkeys today. I forgot the camera though. They took a nap in my lap. I'll try again tomorrow and take some pictures!

Sorry for the lack of pictures today. Rain makes me lazy!

Rainy Day

It's been raining lately, which means I don't have to water the garden. Yesterday a storm came through and it poured, but today it's a nice and slow rain. I went out when I got home and fertilized everything. Hopefully the corn will get growing, because I feel like it's slacking.



The flowers I seeded in front of the garage are doing really well! There are some seedlings that need to be thinned. Maybe I'll get a chance to do that this weekend. Hopefully I can carefully thin them and then re-plant them elsewhere.


The nasturtiums have grown quite a bit! I can't wait until they bloom. The blossoms are edible!


The chickens were outside huddled next to the wall of the garage today when I got home. A few of the Golden Comets (the big girls) had gotten out. Scooter tried to help me catch them, isn't he helpful. ;-) I think the rest of the chickens were staying outside with the escapees for moral support. Once they were back in the pen, they all went inside and huddled together next to the pen.


The turkeys are doing well! They get lonely when all the chickens go outside though. I still don't want to put them together because they're still a little vulnerable and the chickens form gangs and harass them.


I re-did the run for the chickens yesterday. They'd eaten all the plants in their first one, so I expanded it lengthwise to give them a little more greenery. I really need to get more mesh so I can make a bigger pen. It's amazing how fast 14 little chicks can demolish the plant life.


Here's a shot of the backyard in the rain. All I've been able to do lately is daydream about getting a goat and some sheep. I talked to a goat breeder the other day and he said he'd be able to sell me a bred Oberhasli doe (they're much prettier than the one pictured) this fall. She'd kid in the spring and I could start milking her then! Hopefully she'll be within my budget. I thought about getting a Nubian or an Alpine, but after talking to breeders, I think an Oberhasli would be a great goat. Apparently Nubians can be stupid, and Alpines are too noisy and troublesome. We had a few Nubian/Alpine crosses, and they were a handful. I don't remember my sister's Alpine being naughty, but I figured I'd give a different breed a shot.

The sheep/goat pen will go in the back, and hopefully we can lease the acre next to us for more space.


What's that Scoot? You're tired of being out in the rain and you want to go inside? Ok!


Oh, I found a great blog today! It's called Squash Blossom Farm, and it's great so far! I'll have to find some time to read the older posts. I wish I had 10 acres like they do. I always think about all the stuff I'd love to do....sell eggs, make cheese, sell chickens, sell lamb, make things like pasta and bread to sell. The list goes on and on and on. One day....one day.

Gobble!

On the way home from our honeymoon, David and I made a quick stop through Southern Maryland to see if there were any turkeys at the farmers market. (Dad, I didn't call because it was a last minute decision and we didn't want you to feel obligated to wake up early and meet us there! ) The Amish farmer who was selling poultry said he had turkeys at home, but he didn't bring them because he thought they might be a bit small. He said he'd bring them the following week. I explained that we were just passing through on our way to the Shore, and asked if he'd sell the ones he had at home. He agreed, and gave me directions to his house. I met his nice wife, and she got the turkey poults for me! Yay!

They're already feathering out, which is great because now they don't need the heat lamp unless it's very chilly at night. I put them in with my chicks, and the darn chicks started picking on them. Now the turkeys are kept separate. Hopefully when they get bigger I can combine them.

I think I'll name them Thanksgiving and Christmas. ;-)

We're back!

We're back from our honeymoon! Everything was so amazing! The wedding was perfect, the weather was great, and I couldn't have asked for better friends and family! I can't believe how much they all helped me those few days before, during, and after the wedding. I'll go into more detail about the wedding another day. I'm still kinda overwhelmed by everything. Even though the wedding is over, the wedding "stuff" is all over the house. We spent some time this evening putting things away. It seems we'll have salt and pepper, napkins, cups, and silverware for the next several years!

I made a little outdoor pen for the chickens yesterday. They've been in a pen in the garage for the past month, and it was time they went out. I made a little temporary pen with plastic poultry fence and step-in posts. They had a blast! Every time they'd see a shadow of a bird flying overhead, they'd make a beeline for the corner and pile up!





This little guy is my favorite! He's so tiny, but he's got a huge attitude! He's so funny. I'll put my hand down towards him, and he'll come right up to me. He still fits in the palm of my hand. I need a good name for him. Any suggestions?



And here's Miss Frizzle all feathered out. Have you ever seen The Magic School Bus? I thought the name Miss Frizzle fit her. Check out her hair!


Well, that's all for tonight! We're getting ready to eat dinner. We also moved the big couch from the basement up to the living room. We only had that loveseat up there, and it was so hard to relax and watch TV on that little thing!

Oh yeah, and tomorrow I'll show you my turkeys!