Crazy morning!

On By stefrobrtsIn 2010chicks, barclay, chicken tractor, chickens, farm, navi, pets2 Comments

This morning was exceptionally active, and much earlier than I’d have liked! Sorry, no pictures, for obvious reasons. It started off at 5am when I was woke up by the visiting roosters. The roosters are ones that were hatched out of eggs from my flock by a neighbor in town, and of course the roosters had to get out of town when they started crowing! Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find homes for them, and you can’t have that many roosters in one place without fighting, so they are scheduled to end up in the stewpot pretty soon, as soon as I can get the guy out to butcher them. They’ve had a good life so far at least, but their ultimate destiny is to be meat. This has been a terrible year for roosters, everyone is overrun with them. This lady got 4 roosters out of 6 eggs, our splash chicks appear to be 7 roos out of 10 chicks. It would be nice if it would have skewed towards hens instead!

So at 5am I got dressed and went out and caught the four of them from the pen I had left them in last night, put them in a dog crate, and put the crate in the chicken shed. Once they were in the dark shed they went back to sleep. Unfortunately when I walked over to the shed I spotted something else out of place – my four little splash chicks had escaped the chicken tractor and were running around the back field.

I spent the next 45 minutes trying to gently coax them back into the tractor, but ultimately ended up getting the net and catching two of them that way. The other two ran off and disappeared into the blackberry thicket. That was disappointing, because I am supposed to take them over Sunday to give to a friend who has their other 6 siblings, and I would like to take her all four. So I let the dogs out to play for a bit then went in and went back to bed.

A couple hours later I got up again and went outside and found the two stray chicks hanging out by the tractor, so I got the net and managed to get one of them, but the other one disappeared into the bushes again. Since I figured she’d be hiding for a couple hours after all that drama, I let the dogs out to play and got back to my morning chores.

A bit later I was in the kitchen preparing a crock pot full of carnitas, all chicken drama forgotten, when I heard squawking and fussing outside. I ran out to find Barclay had the chick pinned, and Navi was bounding around trying to help him. I’m sure he would have eaten the chick, he just hadn’t decided where to start! I ran over, telling the dogs how good they were for catching the chicken, and scooped her up and rushed her inside. Dave pushed the dogs out of the bathroom and we set her on the counter and had a look at her. Surprisingly, she seemed none the worse for wear, with just a little blood from a couple broken feathers. I put her back in the tractor and she seemed happy to see the other chicks, and when I checked on them an hour later they were all running around like they hadn’t had the adventure of their lives this morning!

After all that, I was happy to grab Barclay and go to work where it is peace and quiet!

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I ran away this weekend!

On By stefrobrtsIn airstream, travel4 Comments

I am a hyper-responsible person. I am responsible for all sorts of things – my dogs, my chickens, my property, my garden, feeding my husband, running the store. Dave says I’m a control freak, but I just like to make sure I don’t drop the ball. I try hard to get everything right! It can be stressful sometimes. This weekend my wonderful, wonderful, WONDERFUL husband let me run away from home, leaving all my responsibilities in his hands 🙂 I grabbed my big, black van, threw my camping gear in the back, and headed East.

I stopped at Bonneville Dam. I have been reading a wonderful book called Voyage of a Summer Sun about a man’s adventure canoeing the Columbia River from it’s source in Canada to the Pacific, and there is much said about the history of the dams and the indian’s relationship with the river and how the dams changed it. Makes you think about those dams differently, though I still appreciate all the cheap electric power.

BIG electric transmission towers. I hopped back on the highway and continued down to White Salmon, and hung a left, heading for…

Trout Lake, my favorite place in the world 🙂
And what did I find at Trout Lake?
Yeah! Airstreams!
My Airstreaming friends! They were in town for the Trout Lake Arts festival, and Humphrey, Hartman, and Cameron were performing folk music there. That’s all you need to say to have your friends come join you, dragging trailers, pitching tents, or even sleeping in the back of a van.
Saturday morning, with the light just right, we could clearly see the route up the mountain. When people climb Mt Adams they hike up, and slide back down, and the long line in the snow is the glissade path. 
 The path goes over the top of that ridge, down the other side, and up the next ridge to the summit. Through the binocs I could see tiny little specks of climbers moving along the path. It looked like there were a LOT of them! You can see them in the picture if you know where to look.
We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast around the campfire. Then we all went to the Arts Festival to watch Jant, Michelle, and Mary play.
And they were fantastic as always! You can buy their CDs online – totally worth it!
The rest of the day was spent relaxing around the fire, playing a little music, eating a great pork chop dinner (I made gravy), and then BSing around the campfire. Quite a bit of discussion concerned the porta-pottys which the tenters were having to use (lacking an Airstream with lovely bathroom facilities). Because of another large group nearby also using the pottys, things were starting to pile up, so Gary saved the day by taking a big stik and ‘stirring the pot’. Nasty, but it helped a lot, and the pottys managed to last out the weekend.
The next morning we watched buzzards soaring overhead. Not related to the pottys.

After breakfast I sat around with Jim and Michelle and we played some music. I’ve been playing guitar many years, but have never played with other people, so they helped me along. It was great fun!
After breakfast and music it was time to pull up stakes and head back to the real world. I had hardly thought about my responsibilities all weekend, but they were starting to creep back up on me.  Time to head home.
I stopped on the way out of town for this lovely shot of Mt Hood. The drive home was very windy through the gorge, and I stopped in Skamania to take pictures of the windsurfers and parasailers playing on the river.
Catching air!
I wish I could make a living taking pictures!

Simple Cooking

On By stefrobrtsIn food1 Comment

Tonight I made a spectacular roast. I did a bit or research before I bought a nice round roast at the market, hoping to make a good dinner and have leftovers for sandwiches. I found this very simple recipe

All American Roast Beef

I put the roast in my iron skillet and roasted it in that. That way when it was done I could put the roast on a plate to rest while I made the gravy in the skillet. It came out perfect! So delicious, smooth gravy, tender and juicy roast, and plenty leftover for lunches this week. Yum! I’ve never been very happy with pot roasts, but this roast came out just right 🙂

My other favorite recipe I have been using lately is Baked Chicken.

Simple Baked Chicken

Again, this recipe is SO SIMPLE anyone could do it, and it has come out absolutely perfect every time I’ve done it. Dave is nuts for it! And again, I bake the chicken in the iron skillet, let it rest while I make the gravy in the skillet, and it’s just a perfect dinner. Hardly any cleanup either.

Who would have thought such excellent results could come from recipes that are so doggone simple!?!

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Navi & Barclay

On By stefrobrtsIn barclay, navi, pets1 Comment

Navi & Barclay were wrestling and playing so hard yesterday, that today Barclay has been pooped out all day. This afternoon they were laying in the living room, gnawing on each other’s faces, because that seems to be all the energy they had left.

Barclay sleeping.
Pretty Navi
We call this Froggie Doggie, with those little legs stuck out behind her!
Navi, sacked out behind Dave’s chair in the office.
Navi is doing really well, she’s only potty-ing in the house maybe once a day. Pretty good, since Barclay wasn’t housetrained until he was 7 months. I know she’s going to figure it out. When she potty’s outside I praise her like crazy and she comes running back all waggy for hugs, it’s the cutest thing ever! She’s getting better at sitting for treats and not springing up to steal them, and at not chasing the cats. The cat interaction is probably the biggest challenge right now. I’m sure they’ll all learn to get along.

Mid-summer garden update

On By stefrobrtsIn garden1 Comment

We were certainly off to a rough start this year, with continual rain, hail, and wind until well after when we should have expected to have our gardens in and thriving. Then we’ve had a few hot days, and a few gloomy, cool days. It’s just been a weird summer. Time to look at how the garden grows…

Lettuce and spinach have been loving this weather. I was able to pick all my baby beets and pickle them, and we’ve been having fresh lettuce for salad so often that Dave is sick of it. I’ve also had lots of chard for stir frys, and fresh baby onions too.  So this section has been a big success.

The tomatoes are not getting the heat they want, and they have a lot of flowers on, but no tomatoes, except a few here and there. Hopefully the summer holds out long enough for some to ripen.

Beans are coming along, and the pole beans are stretching out tendrils to climb up the trellis. The cukes in the back in the raised bed aren’t up to much yet. I think they like heat too. There are a couple pepper plants scattered in there, but they were a real gamble this year.

The potato row is looking good. I haven’t dug in there to see what’s going on under the straw yet. I’ll wait a bit longer. The tops look healthy.

The zucchini is starting to produce, which is nice, because if I couldn’t grow zucchini it would be time to give up and go buy a condo!

The spaghetti squash plant is going nuts, spreading off like it’s going to cover the whole end of the garden!

Hidden under the leaves are some good size squash. I hope we get plenty of them that grow to full size!

So that’s my garden so far. I have also planted carrots in the raised bed, but that was just last week, so they haven’t even sprouted yet. I also just received my shipment of seeds for my winter garden, so I need to start figuring out where my cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and tough leafy greens are going to go, and build cold frames for my winter lettuce crops so we can continue eating salad all winter. That’s the plan anyway, as I’ve seen already, the weather does not always cooperate with garden plans! Winter greens need to go in by mid-July so they can get all their growth in before the frost comes back. I’d better get busy!

Too hot!

On By stefrobrtsIn barclay, jack, navi, pets2 Comments

Yes, I complained, complained, complained about the rain – but now all that is in the past! Now it’s too hot! It has been ridiculously hot the last couple days. Because it was cold and rainy for so long the dogs haven’t shed their winter coats – Barclay looks like a big wooly bear. Then the cold wet spring went directly to temps hovering around 100, and there’s nothing to do but stay inside with the AC on all day and sneak out when it starts cooling off around 8PM.

Then the dogs can come out and play…

Some folks have noticed Jack has been absent from the last few posts. 

He’s still holding his own with the white fluffy dogs

Sometimes he even gets the toy!

But then someone else spots it and races over to steal it (leaving behind the dog she was mauling)

What’s that? What have you got? Is it a toy? Can I have it?

What is it huh? Can I see it? Gimme!

Let me see it, let me see it..

Oh, give it to me, give it to me, give it to meeeeeeee

Jack: I’ll give it to you, you little punk!

*krnch*

You’ll never catch me, slo-pokes!

Ha ha! Got her!

When she’s had enough of being mauled, the chair is her safe time-out spot

Whew, break-time!

Into the water trough for a cool-off

Lay in the cool grass…

Just another afternoon hanging out with their buddies

Barclay and Navi

On By stefrobrtsIn barclay, navi, pets2 Comments
They play play play from morning until night. 
When Barclay needs a break, he just knocks her over and sits on her 🙂
Barclay is a funny guy, he’s hard to read, but he seems to really like his new eskimo buddy, even if she does get a lot of attention right now. He doesn’t seem jealous at all, mostly just tired! 
He enjoys the extra treat opportunities.
Get off my back, girl!
Barclay
Navi

Navi, settling in

On By stefrobrtsIn barclay, chickens, mighty, mouse, navi2 Comments
Navi & Barclay cleaning up where the chicken tractor was

Today I moved the chicken tractors out in the field next to the garden. I did that because Navi has been running laps around the chick’s tractor, and I thought that was cruel for the chicks, because they are surprised to see her every lap around – it’s like ‘she’s gone’ immediately followed by ‘aargh, she’s back’ – over and over and over.

While moving them the little roo who looks like he was made of spare parts snuck out and ran away, and before I could catch him he found a hole to get into the big chicken area. That was bad news for him, because I couldn’t get him back in the tall grass, and the big chickens were going to kick his little feathered butt, so there wasn’t anything I could do about it. So I went on about my chores, and an hour later I was out there with the dogs when suddenly I heard a commotion and here’s that little rooster back out of the chicken yard, and racing across the backyard with three dogs after him! I caught up just as Barclay and Navi pinned him and picked him up and snuggled him high against my chest – high, because Navi will jump high, springing up to snap at and try and grab him! I kept blocking her with my leg until she gave up and sat, but she could barely control herself. I finally was able to walk him to the tractor and reunite him with his flock.

She is still getting the hang of the cats as well. Sometimes she pounces on them and chases them if they run, sometimes the other two start it. I’m keeping a close eye on all of them.

She’s quite athletic, and can jump up on the crates. I put a piece of plywood on top of her big crate so I can put her food up there when the crate is open and she can jump up there and eat.

She’s an absolute doll! What a cutie 🙂 Yesterday she had a vet visit and the vet gave her a vaccination that upset her stomach all night. Poor pup puked and puked, and then collapsed on our bed. She was so pitiful we let her sleep there all night instead of in her crate. This morning she was feeling much better.

It’s taking some getting used to for everyone. Barclay is being such a good boy. He’s really tired from all the playing, and I’ve been trying to give him special attention as well. I felt like Barclay and I had a special one-on-one relationship before Navi showed up, and I’d like to keep that as much as possible. She’s got so much training to work on, it’s easy to forget there’s still more work to do with Barclay too. I don’t want his training to stall just because I have a new student who needs more work!

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Fixing the steps

On By stefrobrtsIn Uncategorized1 Comment

The steps off the back deck get a lot of use, like many many times a day. They have gotten wobblier over the years, and finally something broke and we decided we’d better do something about it. So we pulled them apart and to our surprise, the only thing holding up the step on one side seemed to be a rusty old coffee can! Not too surprising, considering all the deck piers are stacks of scrap 4×4 piled on top of paver blocks, instead of concrete piers property supporting the deck. Luckily if it falls you’ll only fall about a foot and a half. And It’s stayed up since 1994 so I guess it must be pretty good.

 So I measured the old pieces and Dave went to the hardware store and picked up some pressure treated lumber, and we whipped up new stairs. No coffee cans in our plan. They came out nice and solid. I hope they last as long as the last set. Now I need to finish cleaning and re-treating the decks – something we’ve been putting off for years. They are on the must-do list for this summer. I’m afraid any more neglect and it will really cost us.

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