Busy Days and Weeping Nights

It's been a bit of a nightmare here on the homestead. My lovely Bloodhound, Hound Dog passed away on Wednesday morning. She'd been sick for about a week. We'd been treating her for pneumonia and she seemed to be making improvements everyday but early Wednesday morning took a turn. Shelly was incredible. She gave me lots of hugs and understood why I had to leave the ranch when the vet came to put her down. Shelly buried her for me and cleared the house of the obvious reminders. I did okay until breakfast yesterday when I went looking for my slobbery dog to share the crust of my toast with.


We wasted no time in filling the slot on the dog roster though. I am so thankful that I can provide homes for all of my animals and I believe that they have a great quality of life in our family. Shelly has been wanting a "little" dog for a long time now. I honestly don't understand little dogs. I sometimes lose Virus dog and it's because of his size. Anyway, I promised Shelly her pick of a little dog as long as it was a rescue. We headed down to the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region after chores yesterday and came home with a little Chihuahua named Taco. So far all is well. Taco has been quarantined for a bit as he has a bit of the flu that was sweeping through the shelter. He's on oral antibiotics and does not take them easily. He's a squirrely guy.

I neglected to get pictures or even provide customers with an update on the chickens. They are doing fine. I've been down to feed and water each day but haven't been able to tell stories or sing (horridly) to them in several days. I don't think it will effect the taste of the meat too much. The layers are still confined to the coop yard as I have not given the fox an eviction notice yet. They are still annoyed with me.

To top everything off, I've had to dry off my Jersey cow open an account on the "Chica Chica Brown Cow" internet dating site in hopes of finding her a beau. I've been lucky enough to find a few prospects. In the meantime I'm looking to lease a Jersey or Brown Swiss in milk in hopes of feeding my addiction to raw milk. I still have my goats but the cream from the cows is oh so sweet.

I'm looking forward to an afternoon nap, even though I probably will never get one. 'At's OK, I have a wonderful life even with all the busyness and the drama.

Chicken Update!

Just a day late this time. We've been busy here. I've had to push back the date for the plucking party as my "neck slicer" has a high school reunion. She went to the same school as I did, scary stuff. Can't believe I may be attending my 20 year reunion next summer. Then again maybe not, not sure if anyone is even planning one. Anyway on to the chickens. They continue to do well. They have been restricted to the coop yard as I have a fox or a hawk picking off layers. They seem to be content as long as they have a pile of food in front of them.

FRY BREAD!

Yesterday, after taking Grandpa Larry to dinner in the Creek the girls and I came back home for some much needed veggin'. Shelly and Jolene settled into the family room with a bad movie and talk of tomorrow's chores. I headed off to the room to snuggle with my Pepsi Cat and to watch some cooking show. Generally when I beam the TV to the Food Network I make sure that I have just eaten. It's kind of like going to the grocery store. It's important to have a full tummy. Since I had just finished some yummy catfish, red beans and rice, and part of Jolene's oyster Po Boy I really thought I was safe. I got myself a big glass of sweet tea, propped up my pillows and settled in. I started watching a rerun of Alton Brown's, "Dining on Asphalt." He was traveling through Missouri, Kansas, Colorado and Utah. He even made a stop in La Junta at the Copper Kitchen. I called Jolene in so she could see that part of the segment. She was amazed. Jolene hung around the bedroom for a few minutes and chatted about the events of the upcoming day. Suddenly Alton was in Mancos CO. Jolene left and Alton started making FRY BREAD! I was suddenly hungry and ready to fry some flour. When I was young, oh so many years ago, I enjoyed many Saturday afternoons at my Grandma McDaniel's house with a mouthful of fry bread. My Grandparents McDaniel lived in Saguache CO. They owned and operated the Ute Theater for many years. My grandma worked at the courthouse and grandpa at the sawmill. Certain things in life life remind me of my childhood, a smell or a sound. Fry bread is one of those things. So, the force was just too much for me to handle yesterday and I had to make some. Since, for some reason (that is completely unexplainable to me and incomprehensible) I have no cast iron cookware, I cheated a bit and fried it in the deep fryer. It was pretty good, not Grandma Mac good but still good. Halfway through my second helping the pager went off and Shelly and I had to head out to get the ambulance. BUMMER! Maybe it was the universe looking out for me in some weird way, I would have eaten too many had I not had to leave. I ate too many anyway.

It's Chicken Time Again.

That title sounds like an old country song. Oh wait, maybe that should be "It's Crying Time Again." I'm not crying though. Chicken update...I'm on time this week and the chickens are doing awesome. I had a few getting a bit top heavy so I backed off on the high protein feed and gave them a couple days of a general flock maintenance feed. I allowed them out of the coop for a a couple of hours yesterday to roam around the long grass under the trees. Things are coming along great. They are five weeks old today. Three more weeks until BEER CAN CHICKEN Q!

A new member!

The new Gato, Shadow!
Black Cats Rule!

This past winter we had the opportunity to hire a little extra help. Our hired help lived in Woodland Park. I happened to be running behind one day. I know, big surprise there! I entrusted a couple dozen eggs to the hand, gave him what I thought were adequate directions to the home of one of my customers and asked him to deliver the eggs. Several days later I received a phone call from the recipient of the eggs. It wasn't my usual customer on the other end of the line. Instead it was a new, bright and shiny voice that was singing the praises of my layer's gifts. After chit chatting for a bit I gained a new customer. For the past several months I've been delivering eggs, milk, and meat to this new customer friend. This wonderful family passed my name and information along to others and I've gained many new homes in which egg deliveries are made. Business is good, I'm thankful for the mistake the hired hand made.

Last week I received an email from that original "mistake" family. They were searching for a new home for their family cat. After a couple of phone calls, several emails and a visit to the ranch my family has been honored with another member. We welcomed Shadow to our clan. After a couple of days of adjustment he is starting to get the hang of things. He has become fast friends with one of our other cats, Thompson. They curl up together in one of the cat beds, eat from the same bowl and prowl around the basement harassing Mama Kitty.

I know what some of you are saying....Just keep it to yourselves. I'm happy, my family is happy. I am thankful to the universe that I have the means to provide homes for all of my critters.

Always late with the chicken!

Okay, get off my back! I know I'm late with the chicken pictures. It's been a busy week. What week isn't? I transferred the cockerels to the coop last week. Last time I had broiler chickens in the coop I lost about 20 to a patient hawk. The hawk would perch atop the layer coop and lay in wait until one of the broiler chickens would stick its head and neck through the chainlink trying to get a morsel on the outside. The hawk would pounce or dive or whatever hawks do. It would kill the chick and eat whatever it could pull through the fence. If the hawk had dinner after I had put the birds up for the night, a fox would come along and try to get whatever the hawk couldn't. Nightmare, I tell ya. At any rate, this year I built a smaller chicken wire fence inside the coop until they were larger in hopes of foiling the hawk. They have graduated from the smaller yard inside the coop. They now run amok inside the coop yard and the coop. The still eat as if they've been wandering the desert for days without an oasis. They are getting big fast. They've got feathers but nothing like the layer chickens. They were 4 weeks old on Wednesday. Four weeks to go before beer can chicken. I am getting very excited.
Other things about the ranch are busy as usual. The Nubians finally kidded out. I don't think we will be expecting any more babies around here for awhile. Tawny had a boy and a girl Wednesday afternoon. Ivory decided to show no signs of labor and had a boy and a girl around 1130 that evening.
All are doing well. Along with babies, I've been finding lamb's tails about the barn yards. We band tails with a castrator band at about 3 days old and now they are dropping like flies. I try and pick them up and throw them in a trash bag or toss them into the grave yard. If left, one of the dogs will sneak them off for a treat. A treat for the dogs means a long smelly evening for the family. Fun on the ole rancho.

New Roo!

Several months ago I opened up the coop to find my old, crotchety rooster in eternal slumber. I only had one. When I broke the news to the girls, their faces barely changed expression. Since then amidst protest I have been looking for a new roo. Yesterday I found a perfect fit. He has survived his first night among 50 layers. His name is Herschel and he's a beauty. He has a fabulous crow and puffs up his chest feathers just right. He may not have a practical purpose, as I'm not eating him and I'm not breeding him but he sure makes my day a little brighter.