Today was quite the windstorm here. Not as much as a few days ago but enough to make me very glad that we only received a skiff of snow. Just enough to cover the ground. Had it continued to snow with that wind it would have been a Wyoming blizzard in the truest sense.
Such was not to be today. The bit of snow we had this morning melted and the moisture held the blowing dirt and sand to a minimum. It was actually quite nice when you could get out of the wind. It was 40 degrees F this afternoon while I was outside.
I am getting stronger day by day, making it possible for me to spend more time outside working with our critters. Today our girls (Hens) gave us 9 eggs. Love fresh eggs for breakfast with some home fries cooked in a bit of olive oil with a dusting of cayenne and garlic salt. A bit of grilled bacon is lovely too, and lets not forget the grapefruit and fresh black coffee. :)
Anyway this white cochin hen was sitting in a nest, so of course I had to look under her. She had a treasure trove of 6 eggs hidden under her; there were 3 eggs in another nest. I stole her eggs and stashed them in my little red egg bucket. Then I picked her up and petted her back for a bit. She is such a gentle soul, she just sat in my arms.
I love the feel of their feathers, so soft. When I placed her on the floor she started talking to me. Making happy chicken sounds.
As I stepped outside I was given a beautiful gift. Just south of our chicken yard, and north of the Quonset a beautiful male ring-neck pheasant flew up out of the tall grass. Such a beautiful bird.
After I latched the chicken yard gate I headed on up the hill, red egg bucket in hand, to the dog runs. Today was the day I'd planned on moving Poncho (orange chow cross) into his own run. He was a happy camper. Tail up over his back, wagging back and forth exploring his new house, yard, and fresh water pans.
He had been sharing a run with Charlie ( Orange Saint Bernard Golden cross) and Cisco (Cream Sable Chow mix). The three of them have been together for over 5 years but something in the dynamic has changed and Poncho was being pushed out of the pack for some reason. Or rather being picked on as the low man in the pack rankings. His whole demeanor was sad, depressed. I didn't want to separate him and Charlie, as they have been together their entire lives. But Poncho just was not thriving. So, I compromised, Poncho is in a run next to Charlie and Cisco, so he can still visit with his friends, and yet have food and water to himself, as well as have a break from the pack politics.
It was a pleasure to see him come trotting up to the fence wagging his tail and smiling with his whole face. He had been staying back because Cisco would chastise him for coming near me. Today I looked at him and started opening the gate and he was there. People say dogs don't talk or understand. Such people just don't understand and/or do not listen. Dogs communicate all the time, just not in English.
There is a similar situation with a lab and 2 lab crosses. It materialized much quicker though. And I had to separate them. I kept them close to each other, right next door but in separate pens. Once again 2 dogs in one run and 1 next door. They are doing well next door to each other and can be let out in the surround to run together. It's just not a good idea to leave them unsupervised when they are together. Sooner or later they will turn on each other. Some monster had fought these three dogs before they came here to live.
Btw, no these dogs are not up for adoption. They have been here for 9 years and are welcome to spend the rest of their days here. This ranch is their forever home, just as it is mine. I hadn't planned on taking the labs in but we were asked if we could take them after a shelter worker had been badly bitten trying to handle them. It was us or a bullet, so to speak. So here they came.
I stopped for a bit this afternoon and just watched the sparrows. There is a whole flock of them living in the trees and shrubs by the lab cross pens. I have water and feed out for them under a fir tree. Well it's either a fir or juniper I'm not really sure which. I love listening to them in the mornings, wonderful sound. I've been filling a 3 gallon pan with chicken scratch grains for them. They eat in the chicken house as well.
The little feathered thieves love dog food too. They will empty out a 3 gallon pan of dog feed in a couple of days. I couldn't believe it, I thought something else must have been eating it. So I put out the scratch grains to see if they would disappear as well. Oh yeah, it's birds... lol... lots of little feathered food munchers. I do enjoy them though.
Enough rambling for now.
Life is a journey, each moment a treasure.
Mary E. Robbins
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