Last night -- or more like yesterday afternoon -- I actually remembered to go tuck the girls in while it was still light enough to see who was doing what. It was just 4:30 but it was definitely beyond twilight or gloaming. Full dark (or Big Dark...
Slutvana laid her first egg on January 14, 2017 -- almost five years ago! I don't think she had revealed her name yet It was during a rooster-less time period in the coop and we were still referring to this young (35 weeks old) hen by her...
We have just a few days of official summer left and, if they continue weather-wise like yesterday and today, we may well leave this 2021 season with kindly thoughts after all. About the weather, that is. About summer production in the coop, not...
I've been noting "egg" on the kitchen calendar each time one appears in a nest box. Actually in "the" nest box, for although there are three of them, only the north one has seen any deposits for the last several years. The girls are silent on the...
We've all heard the jokes about being "busier than a one-armed paper hanger" but I don't know of an equivalent saying about a one-legged coop cleaner. That was Farmer Nyel yesterday -- taking on a way over-doo-doo (ahem!) project. It took most of...
I don't mind gray hair. I find gray clothing rather soothing. But I'm not a fan of this interminable gray weather. I SO wish the inland areas would cool off a bit so our "moist marine layer" would move on and we could get back to the sunny skies...
According to my Kuzzin Kris, the best part of watermelons are the black seeds. "These wimpy seedless watermelons are no fun at all," she told me not too long ago. That's because the entire point of watermelons are the seed-spitting contests! ...
I can't speak to now, but when I was in school and for the 39 years I taught young children, problem solving in math was introduced in third grade. Like most other school-related learning situations, some kids loved "story problems." Some did...
*CFW -- Chicken Farmer's Wife Last night's announcement by me:"I don't think we should let our chickens Free Range for a while." Last night's response by Farmer Nyel: "What!!! Don't be silly." Which coming from my husband-of-few-words meant "End...
By definition, pouting is "pushing one's lips or one's bottom lip forward as an expression of annoyance or in order to look sexually attractive." So, I guess the "lips" part effectively eliminates chickens from any serious pouting accusations,...
Nyel's eyes are sharper than mine. So is his mind. When he volunteered to go outside and have a look around for Missing Clara, I was all for it. So were Slutvana and Little Red Hen. The three of them traversed the the garden looking in all the...
Nyel saw them first -- day before yesterday, circling around outside our kitchen window. The swallows are back! If they'd just slow down a tad, maybe we could tell if they are of the Cliff or Barn variety. Paul, our ORF President, especially...