beautiful day on the farm

The weather was beautiful today.

I managed to get some garden chores done and even got a start

on the steps project from my balcony to the pool area!

I'll post some pics when I get farther along.

The forecast indicates it may be awhile.

But for now, enjoy these sites I shot today...

I love this willow shrub! It is over six feet tall now.

This time of year it is covered with a worm-looking growth.

It was too breezy to get a good close-up of them.

The Japanese blood grass I transplanted is doing very well.
I love the way it looks when the evening sun hits the blades.
It becomes almost transparent!

The color of the sky was a perfect contrast to the brightly lit branches of our ornamental plum.

This iris is what I remember from my grandmother's flower bed.

I love the combination of the stark yellow and delicate lavender.

I only wish my camera could capture the brilliance of the evening sun

hitting this bright yellow iris!

I just noticed this artwork on the sitting rock today.

The grandkids were playing with their sidewalk chalk this weekend...

I think it's a 'welcoming' touch!

The new iris bed is doing well.

I worried because the bulbs were out of the ground so long.
It's certainly an improvement over the transformer box!

One of our baby pines. It's about six feet tall now and is getting it's first pine cones!

chickens, and horses, and goats - oh my!

Ridding the critters of mites and worms... I never had these worries in the burbs. Hubby suspects the chicks are infested with mites. No big deal, it's quite a common thing, but still needs prompt attention. The big deal is in the treatment...

There is a powder that will eliminate the problem. The problem lies in that the powder must be applied to not only the hen house cracks, crevices, bedding, nests, etc, but also to each and every chicken. ALL EIGHTY! So Hubby asked, "How are we supposed to treat seventy-five chicks?" I replied, "One at a time." I've got a plan. I hope it works.

Let's make it a pest-ridding week. I figure I might as well worm the six cats, four goats, and two horses.

The last time we wormed the goats was nearly fatal... for us! Fully grown, they are quite strong. I, being a 'townie', bought the first goat wormer I found. The labeled stated how much of the liquid was to be administered to each goat. Apparently, even though the goats love the taste of mud and dandelions, they abhor the taste of this pink liquid stuff! I'd love to have a video of Hubby wrestling Elvis while I scurried around them with the eye-dropper! I'm sure our 'country' friends laugh at us quite frequently.

I'm using a different approach this time... Turns out there's a pelleted form of wormer for goats. They're supposed to eat it like feed. You just pour the correct amount into the feed trough and let them eat it! Who'd a thought? I'll let you know how that turns out.

I mastered the cat meds long ago. When we had fourteen (oops) it was either learn a fail-proof method or be scarred for life! I tried the 'wrap-the-pretty-kitty-in-a-towel' trick. Yeah, right! Without resorting to duct tape, how do you keep the claws inside the towel? (It did qualify for my insurance to cover a tetanus shot on my next doctor visit.) Four hands were simply not enough to control to flailing limbs with extended switchblades.

What would a mother do? Isn't that a question we ask often when faced with a dilemma? So what does a mother cat do when handling her young? Of course! The scruff of the neck! Turns out it works, not just for kittens either. Now, whenever I have to give meds to any of the cats, I simply lift their front-end off the ground by the scruff of the neck. (Sqeeky Bear sometimes requires lifting his entire body.) They passively accept anything I stick in their furry little faces.

The horses can't be picked up by the scruff of their necks. 'Real' horse people do not approve of my worming method. Some meds must be administered orally, so teaching a horse to accept the wormer is a good way to keep them 'med-ready'. Mine aren't. Sorry. I do need to take the time to work on that someday. But for now, I use a wormer they like. It comes in a tube they don't like. So I squeeze the wormer into a little bit of grain and stir. They lap it up as long as I use enough oats & feed to dilute the taste.

So 'country folk' - go ahead and laugh! At least I have blog material!

gone in a moment...

Like most girls her age, Grand #2, my eleven-year-old granddaughter, is crazy about High School Musical. She even has two pink, fuzzy, HSM throws - one at home, one here. She has T-shirts, posters, etc. So last year when I made my reservations for my season tickets at LaComedia, a sorta-nearby dinner theater, I bought an extra ticket for her to go with my BF and me to see their production of High School Musical. She adores my BF and was really looking forward to going... just us three ladies!
When I made the reservations, I didn't realize the date I picked was Mother's Day. Sadly, my BF's children made plans for her so she couldn't make it. Hubby wasn't up to sitting for that long with the physical impairments he's suffering lately, so I decided to take Grand #3, the almost-five-year-old, with us. She is also a big HSM fan.

I came close to chucking the whole plan! Grand #2 can be a difficult child and this weekend she tried to break her record on how many times she could get in trouble. She pushed me to my limit and I finally told her that I was seriously thinking about leaving her at home because I truly do not believe in rewarding bad behavior. She adjusted her attitude just enough...

We had perfect seats! We were center stage, one level up and one table back from the stage. She had a spectacular time! The tuxedo-cloaked host had fun teasing her and even gave her a sweet, faked-for-the-camera kiss on the cheek.
She got autographs from over half the cast while I snapped photos of her with the stars. One of the ensemble members was in a local university's production of 'Children of Eden' with her last year. He, along with some other members of the cast had already headed back stage by the time we got through the line on the right; so the host-with-the-most took her program backstage for some more autographs, including the guy she 'worked with' before. We were probably the last patrons to leave the theater. #2 was quite happy as I jumped on the interstate and heading to their house. This was a magical night for her... so far.

We got to their house well past bedtime. Both girls were bubbling about the show. #3 laid claims to the new 'boyfriend'. They were far to energetic to be sent to bed!

Then Mommy had to relay the news... It seems that sometime over the weekend, Ruby, #2's guinea pig, had expired... kicked-the-bucket... DIED!

All the excitement that had filled the room seconds before instantly vanished. She only got to bask in the magic of the evening for the twenty-minute drive home. Life is so unfair.

I've Been Nominated!

Rae at WeatherVane has nominated my 'blahwg' blog for the 2009 Blogger's Choice Award for best blog about animals and countrylife! I am so very flattered. But now I am, according to Rae, supposed to shamelessly solicit votes from you guys! So here it is: PLEASE, PLEASE, PRETTY PLEASE WITH SUGAR ON TOP follow the link and vote for me... or not. But thank you Rae for including me in a list of some very fine blogs.

http://bloggerchoiceawards.com/

Rub-a-dub-dub...

Three girls in a tub!

Since Mommy is away celebrating her anniversary in a cabin at Hocking Hills, I get the joy of having her four daughters here with me. Lots of fun was had today and they had the grime to prove it! So it's in the tub they go. Fortunately, my tub is big enough for three...

Melody loves the tub, the bubbles and being in there with her sisters. However, she's scared to death of the 'bubble machine'! She climbs up on the corner seat when I go to push the button.

Lexi is still young enough to want to hop in with the babies. She is my princess that enjoys pampering like having her back washed and her hair dried by Nana. I know it won't be long though...

What can I say about Gracie? Here she stopped bouncing off the walls long enough to smile for the camera. What a ham!

chick, chick, chicken....

This dude thinks he runs the place! Not really a rooster yet, more like a chickster. But they are pecking and fighting already! Hubby is regretting his decision to take the 'freebies'. We were going to raise those 25 for the freezer, but I'm not sure he can hold out that long.

This gorgeous gal is one of our silver-laced Wyandottes. Not exactly a great shot, but seeing how I was all alone, I think I did pretty good with a camera in one hand! They're getting pretty hard to catch. Their feet are huge! It's going to be fun clipping the wings - NOT! When you spread out the wings, the feathers in the section farthest away from their bodies gets clipped... Just the ends and only one side. This keeps them from flying off. When they molt and get new feathers, guess what? Yep, all over again!

In case you don't remember, scroll down... There is a short video of me spreading the wings on this beauty. I called them angel wings. The light from the window made the feathers glow. In the video, you could see my hands. Yes, they've grown! A few more months and we'll have plenty of eggs to sell.