Two weeks makes a lot of difference around here...especially with the help of the drying north winds. If we lived in a different part of the US, they'd be called "Chinook winds." But then, if we lived in SoCal...they'd be called "Santa Ana winds." Regardless of what you call them, they dry the air and the soil very quickly! We were able to move Willow back to the south paddock a lot sooner than we thought...it was actually a little better than the north for a few days. With Willow's return comes the return of the mourning doves...
We seem to have a flock of these peaceful creatures. Their coo is so very soothing... They hang out with Willow, wherever she is. We've counted as many as 11 hanging out, scoping out any leftover grain that got missed!
Jasmine and Half Pint are still a bit on the "nappy" side. Half Pint is one of the kittens that was abandoned by their mother last year. We brought her in to help her survive, and she's a happy house (and out) cat. We know she got out at an unfortunate time...she's starting to show the evidence of her escapades! We also have a week old litter of 3 in our bedroom closet. There's a female tabby that has wanted to be a house cat for the longest time. With a male in the house, that was a recipe for trouble. When Tiki took a walk in the wrong place, and crossed the Rainbow Bridge, that left us with all girls in the house (animal wise, excepting the snake). We decided to see how she got along with Half Pint... We tried to change to calling her Pita...she's always under foot! However, we find we continue to refer to her as "Mama." She's had two litters and was a reasonably good mom. This year, she decided she wanted to be IN the house...her kittens were born 4-3-2011...in our closet. It could have been so much worse!
Look how big the chicks have gotten! My gosh, they're pretty much ready to make the big transition to outside!! We're still battling a raccoon or something outside, so I'm not in a big hurry to put them out. We are learning that when Jasmine starts having a fit...let her go. Last week she caught the 'coon(s) before they got in far enough to cause trouble. That's our girl!!
They're currently living in Jasmine's traveling kennel, and part of the bedroom. Bruce tells me the floor is protected... I know not all of it is, but isn't that what carpet cleaners are for? Oh well....
My initial theory about which are roosters and which are hens seems to be firming up better each day. The ones with more of a crest are more aggressive, they're starting to challenge others, and there are pretty much just 3 of those...there are a couple I'm not sure about yet. They could be hens with a larger crest, or roos with a smaller crest. It won't be a lot longer before they'll let us know for sure!
Two weeks makes a lot of difference around here...especially with the help of the drying north winds. If we lived in a different part of the US, they'd be called "Chinook winds." But then, if we lived in SoCal...they'd be called "Santa Ana winds." Regardless of what you call them, they dry the air and the soil very quickly! We were able to move Willow back to the south paddock a lot sooner than we thought...it was actually a little better than the north for a few days. With Willow's return comes the return of the mourning doves...
We seem to have a flock of these peaceful creatures. Their coo is so very soothing... They hang out with Willow, wherever she is. We've counted as many as 11 hanging out, scoping out any leftover grain that got missed!
Jasmine and Half Pint are still a bit on the "nappy" side. Half Pint is one of the kittens that was abandoned by their mother last year. We brought her in to help her survive, and she's a happy house (and out) cat. We know she got out at an unfortunate time...she's starting to show the evidence of her escapades! We also have a week old litter of 3 in our bedroom closet. There's a female tabby that has wanted to be a house cat for the longest time. With a male in the house, that was a recipe for trouble. When Tiki took a walk in the wrong place, and crossed the Rainbow Bridge, that left us with all girls in the house (animal wise, excepting the snake). We decided to see how she got along with Half Pint... We tried to change to calling her Pita...she's always under foot! However, we find we continue to refer to her as "Mama." She's had two litters and was a reasonably good mom. This year, she decided she wanted to be IN the house...her kittens were born 4-3-2011...in our closet. It could have been so much worse!
Look how big the chicks have gotten! My gosh, they're pretty much ready to make the big transition to outside!! We're still battling a raccoon or something outside, so I'm not in a big hurry to put them out. We are learning that when Jasmine starts having a fit...let her go. Last week she caught the 'coon(s) before they got in far enough to cause trouble. That's our girl!!
They're currently living in Jasmine's traveling kennel, and part of the bedroom. Bruce tells me the floor is protected... I know not all of it is, but isn't that what carpet cleaners are for? Oh well....
My initial theory about which are roosters and which are hens seems to be firming up better each day. The ones with more of a crest are more aggressive, they're starting to challenge others, and there are pretty much just 3 of those...there are a couple I'm not sure about yet. They could be hens with a larger crest, or roos with a smaller crest. It won't be a lot longer before they'll let us know for sure!
