Sparkle in the coop

Our chicken coop is built with hardware cloth instead of chicken wire.

This is because critters like weasels, who like to eat chickens and eggs can get through chickenwire. Hardware cloth has 1/2" holes.

As you can see even mice can't get through hardware cloth. They get stuck. But they like to run behind the wire on the 2x4s and hide behind the 6x6 posts.

Sparkle likes to lay in the coop and watch the corner and pretend that she can catch these mice. She always lays in about the same spot.

Usually the chickens just ignore her. Well yesterday morning I was filling the chicken feeder and Alice was in there and Sparkle was doing her thing staring in the corner. Alice walked up to her and looked at her and then looked at the corner and back at Sparkle and back at the corner and then back at Sparkle again and then at me and then walked away clucking as if to say "This cat is crazy". It was the funniest thing I think I ever saw. If nothing else, these animals keep us entertained.

Maran eggs

Our newest Maran hens have started to lay eggs. We're not sure if all of them are laying, but we're pretty sure at least two of them are.

This is a Welsummer egg on the left, two of the new Maran eggs in the middle and a Simone egg on the right.

This is our darkest egg so far. Almost like chocolate. Store bought, Maran and Lucy. Cool huh?

Pizza and weather and other stuff

Last night Gramma made pizza.

She used Mrs. Smith's sauce recipe (yummy sauce) and she tweaked it a bit for us. Wow! I think it's better than the pizza we go into town for. I don't think she realizes that she's going to have to make this on a regular basis. (So don't tell her.) Yum!

It has been raining and very windy the last couple of days. It blew the deck chairs off the deck.

It blew the the beer bottle out of Fred's hands. It sounded like a freight train all night. Then this morning it snowed. They said that we had the lowest atmospheric pressure ever recorded in Minnesota yesterday.  The weather service said that if the pressure were that low over the ocean there would be a hurricane. As it was we had sustained winds from 30 to 50 miles an hour. I'm going to have to check all the trails and shooting lanes for downed trees tomorrow. I just got done cleaning them all up about a week ago. There are trees down all over and the rivers are over their banks and running fast like after snow melt in the spring. I saw a large metal shed on it's roof in the middle of a plowed field. It's still blowing now but not quite as hard.      
On another note, we got the results back from our hay test. The U of M and other research facilities say that a sensitive horse requires hay with a sugar content of 10% or less and ours tests out at 8.2%. Yay. It also tested out at below the max for moisture content which is 15% and ours was 11%, so we're doing something right. We no longer have to soak it. We do have to weigh it though and feed them a certain amount. So it's better than soaking, but still not as easy as putting out a bale in the feeder. This spring after we butcher the pigs I'm going to remodel inside the barn and make two stalls so we can be sure who's eating what.

And on still another note, Gramma and I went to the VA medical center to find out the results of my latest hearing test. If you don't know or don't remember, I broke my hearing aid this summer. I don't remember when exactly but it's been over three months. I sent it in and waited. Finally came back with a note that it was too damaged to fix and I would need a new mold of my ear so they could make a new one. Make an appointment. A month later we go to the med center and the guy we see says I need a new evaluation cause my hearing has probably changed and the aid I have is old technology and obsolete. So I had the test and Monday got the results. I will now require two hearing aids. The cool thing is they come with a "Remote Control." What? Yes. It's like "The Bionic Man" or something. I'll be able to change the volume in each ear and change where I want the most volume to come from, behind me, to the side or in front. Maybe I can go to the movies again. Maybe Gramma won't divorce me. It's been tough on her. Maybe I can even hear what my soft talking Grandkids say. That would be nice. Still, it's going to take about a month or so to get them. Hang in there Gramma. There's hope on the horizon.

Annual cattle drive at the FD's

Today was the annual cattle drive at the Farmer Daughter's. However, no horses were used this time. They set up a pen in the pasture and the guy who owns the land put some hay in it and when the cows went in there he closed the gate. They took four trailers down there and loaded the cattle and when they got back to the FD's we seperated her cows from theirs.

These are Brad's and his brother's cows.

These are the FD's cows.

This is a little bull calf. He really is a pretty color. I tried to get his face, but he wasn't having any of it and kept running away.

These are the cows that she kept at her place all summer. She is going to keep all of them there from now on and rotate pasture to save time and money.

This is her bull. His name is "Red Bull". He is a very handsome boy. He is a yearling.

This her newest horse. A three year old Clydesdale mare. We just found out about her today. Big horse. The FD plans to have her trained to drive.

This is her other new horse. Another miniature to be Barbie's friend. He' pretty shy.

This is the FD's last tom turkey, the other one is in my freezer. The hen kept following me around and while I was repairing the electric plug on the grain bin auger motor she kept tasting my shirt. Bite and pull, bite and pull. Finally I had to give her a good push with my boot to get her away. What a Turkey!

Baby piggies!

A duck and pig parade.

Gramma and the FD's good friend Stephanie. Stephanie has been staying with the FD and helping her with a lot of stuff. She also slipped on some rocks and hurt herself bad enough so she couldn't go back to work. So she quit. Bruised her ribs, but she's getting better. Thanks Steph. If they look cold it's because they are. Rained all day and was windy and only in the forties. I bbq'd some pork chops and Gramma made chili, so everyone ate well. The last cattle drive forever. Or not. Who knows? Not me.

We Survived

Well the grandkids came on Saturday morning and stayed overnight. We didn't go fishing cause it was real windy and I was having bad day with my back. But we still had fun. We fed animals, gathered eggs and played games. We went grocery shopping, (Some fun huh?) we watched movies and the kids each had a handheld game that they played. I made carmel corn from Mrs. Smith's recipe and it turned out yummy.

I didn't get pics of the kids, (I need a smaller camera) but Gramma did and she's going to post them on her blog. Bubba had a couple of nose bleeds (Air is pretty dry) and he fell off the stool in the bathroom while washing his hands and pulled the towel bar off the wall, but he didn't get hurt, so it's all good. Sent them to bed and they went right to sleep without a peep. When Mary got up in the morning she came to me and said, "I've got some good news!" I asked what it was and she said "Russell didn't fall out of bed!" So it was a good night also. We'll have to do it again. I think they had fun.

Strange stuff

Here are some gourds that Gramma got for the table decor. I think they might be from Mars or some place weird.

Here is a tree out behind the house.

Started growing one way and then changed it's mind and went back the other way.

Here's a rock I found in the driveway the other day. It's an agate in the middle of some quartz. Should be interesting after it's polished.

Here's the strangest thing of all, Grampa! I had four chickens eating from my hand today. First time that's happened.

This isn't strange, just a pic of the new deer stand. It's sitting in amongst our maples, deer trails right next to it. Hopefully it will be a good one. Tomorrow the Berg kids come to spend the day and stay overnight. Yikes! Hopefully we'll all survive. They don't know what an Ogre Grampa really is. I think I'll make Bayou Mommy's carmel corn tonight so we have some homemade snacks. Maybe tomorrow we can go fishing.

Cats VS Chickens and who's a Redneck

A very interesting thing happened today. I have been building another deer stand and since I was working on the chicken coop I had my saw horses and skillsaw in the barn. So I've been walking between the shed and the barn and as I got close to the barn I noticed Simone and Sparkle staring intently at the tire on the wheelbarrow.

Here is Simone.

Here is Sparkle. (Isn't she cute?) Well when I got close I saw a small mouse trying to hide next to the tire. Suddenly the mouse took off. Sparkle jumped and the mouse ran and Simone grabbed it. She shook it, dropped it, poked it, and did it again several times while Sparkle watched. Finally she picked it up pointed her nose to the sky and swallowed it whole. Wow! I guess I read somewhere that chickens would eat small rodents, but seeing it was a little amazing. No wonder eggs are full of protein. Yummo!

Here is a picture of a sophisticated Redneck deck chair. If it was a regular Redneck deck chair there would be two beers and a shotgun.