Viva Las Vegas!

I'm going to Vegas, with my sister-in-law.  The boys have strict instructions to make sure the chickens have water and food.  I topped them up today so if they forget, the hens just might survive, but I don't want to come back to another dead chicken.

Incidentally, one of the chicks I got in June is a rooster.  One of the Ameraucana's is a rooster, so now only one of the new ones will be a blue-egg-layer!  On the up side, it is a gorgeous looking rooster, rich dark colours and beautiful shiny tail feathers.  Photos to come when I get back from the trip.

Getting things ready to go.  Lots of commotion here tonight and as mom would say, "It's like a Chinese laundromat here."  People popping in to see dad and me, comings and goings, all hands talking at once!

As soon as I get back, gotta get the potatoes out of the ground. The stalks are dying back already.  We did have a feed of beans, carrots and potatoes already though and boy are the carrots sweet!

Be back in a week!

Picking Berries

Well, it's that time of year again, berry-picking time, although it's a job to get a chance to get some.  I did manage to go with my father's friend, Emily, last week.  We went down by the cliffs in Logy Bay and there were lots of blueberries.  I spotted some unripe cranberries growing there too, so I know where to get them in a month. Picking berries is so relaxing--you have the soothing sounds of the ocean crashing in the distance, wind blowing, the smell of the greenery, and the day we were there, it was sunny with NO FLIES!!!!  It was a perfect berry-picking day.

The blueberries, by the way, were pretty plentiful, but many seemed dried up.  I think if I go this week, I may get a few more but it's cutting it close now.

I did see lots of partridgeberries too but they aren't ripe yet either.  Usually, I get cranberries along the east coast trail above Marine Lab.  One just has to veer off the trail toward the edge to find the bushes.  

Now it's time to make jam and berry stuff.

Scarecrow!

What's scarier than a scarecrow?  A scarecrow at night with the moon shining!  Very Halloweenish, isn't it?  My photographer captures amazing shots of the simplest things.  Thanks Chris.

I was out in my garden one day weeding near the scarecrow, crouched down, when the wind blew one of hte legs of its overalls and frightened the daylights out of me!  It wasn't meant to frighten ME!

Silkie, again.

The silkies are running free having a grand time now.  People ask me how they keep their feathers so white! I do not know!  I guess they groom themselves like any other animal. They are very soft, and white, and clean-looking though.  Making their pen a little bigger now so they will be tickled pink (well, maybe not), witih more space to roam around in.

Butt out!

This is not what it looks like, I swear! Never did much gardening this weekend at all, Labour Day weekend, and I feel like I goofed off completely, but last night, we had a nice fire in the back yard. It was a lovely starry night but a bit of a chill in the air with the fog lurking around the edges and sun gone down. Sitting around the fire, my front became quite warm, so I crouched by the fire, back on, to warm up my bum and back!  That's what this photo is all about! Ya can't get away with nuttin around here!

Cool Fire!

Chris's hot hoe!!

Playing with Fire, and Photography

Contemplating life while looking into the fire.

A picture tells a thousand words....or none at all!

I walked right into this one! Just so happened my friend had his good camera with him, and has a good eye for photography.  I always loved the image of clothes hanging on the line blowing in the wind.  Stirs up all kinds of........things in me, but mostly, clothes on the line remind me of my mother. She'd hang clothes out ALL the time, no matter what the temperature, time of year, whether Rose's cows were out or not, except when it was absolutely pouring out! When it rained, the clothes were hung on the line, or wherever, in the kitchen by the stove.  There were many times all of us ungrateful kids complained about the clothes smelling like manure, or being hard from the frost, or bleached from the sun, or full of spiders because mom had hung clothes out on the line. Never gave much thought to the trouble she went through to do just even laundry for 14 kids, using a wringer washer at that!  Now, my own kids give me the same grief! It was bound to happen! I do use my own clotheseline as much as I can now, but am cautious about which way the wind is blowing (from the dairy farm or not), whether it is very dry outside, and if it is warm.  I admit the dryer is very, very convenient and fast and I haven't got the stamina my mother had.  We have all the luxuries now and have no room to complain about doing household chores! (but we still do).

Anyway, seeing clothes on the line is very calming and peaceful and just thought I would share this awesome picture with everyone.

Scent of a Woman!

I was at work last week, getting an odd smell, and I knew I had showered and was clean, but the odour kept following me.  Later on in the morning, when my tea had made its way to my bladder, I went to the bathroom and as I looked down, there it was--pooh on my shoe!  Well, it wasn't really pooh, it was what looked like a nest stuck right at the arch of my good sandals!  It was like a handful of hay from the henhouse that had gotten glued together by hens' poop, and I must have walked into it when I was checking on the birds in the morning.  Guess I shouldn't wear my good shoes to the barn!

A similar incident happened years ago when I worked at the Workers' Compensation Commission.  I went home for lunch one winter with my long, high-heel white boots (how are ya) on.  I used to be pretty stylish in my day, or so I thought!  We had a cat in our apartment then, and unfortunately, when I removed my boots, I placed them close to the cat's litter box.  The cat had done her business, then flicked the litter over it, but must have flicked some of her fresh poop towards my boots and it splattered all over the side of them, unbeknownst to me!  Shortly afterwards, I was back at work, in the elevator WITH 4-5 people, and the stench obviously was coming from ME.  I looked down, and was mortified to see that my boot was covered in pooh!  Talk about embarrassing!  I am none the worse for wear though.

The joys of having animals!