Friday leftovers, the video version

Sunday leftovers

The re-decorating snowball began rolling downhill in January, 

when I painted the dining room and kitchen. 

Strike 1: Endive 

Boring.
 I liked the barely green color for the kitchen, but it did nothing for the dining room.
Some of you suggested an accent wall, and that seemed like a really good idea.

Strike 2: Polished Pearl
Even more boring.

So I was 0 - 2 in the bottom of the ninth.
If I didn't get a hit with the next color, the game would be over
because my patience for painting this wall was wearing very thin.

Dill Seed.
Score.
The color is a little bit grayer in person and I really like it.
There may be a Dill Seed bedroom in my future.

Remember this picture of my guardian shelf donkey?
It's on the cover of the The Donkey Sanctuary spring gift catalog.
I love The Donkey Sanctuary and all the wonderful things it does for donkeys worldwide.

And speaking of doing wonderful things for donkeys,

have you seen what ranchsitter extraordinaire and blogger Danni has been up to?

If you haven't already, head on over to Critter Farm to meet Princess Buttercup,

the BLM burro formerly known as #5918.

Danni is participating in The Great Burro Turnaround and has 100 days to train Buttercup,

who will then be available for adoption. 

 

Sunday leftovers

 Mother Nature can be such a tease. Smack dab in the middle of our cold and snowy winter,

up pops a sunny, windless, 70-degree, go-outside-without-a-jacket, take-pictures-without-gloves,

drink-a-beer-on-the porch kind of Saturday. I needed that.

 Lucy must sense the approaching spring. She's getting ready to put the moves on George,

who, of course, will ignore her, sweet and innocent boy that he is.

Earlier in the week when it was still winter, I baked my favorite bread recipe 

in a cast iron dutch oven, instead of my usual way on a pizza stone.

There's no going back. The loaf plopped right out of the pot.

If you weren't around when we baked bread together back in 2010, 

here's the link to making the 3-ingredient no-need-to-knead dough, 

and another link on how to bake it the next day. 

If I can bake bread, anybody can bake bread. Try it. It will lift you out the winter doldrums. Promise.

Here's a link to the dutch-oven method using the same recipe. (Thanks, Clair!)

Sunday leftovers

 The last round of snow is melting. We know this because of the mini-avalanches that occur

throughout the afternoon as the roof heats up. Imagine the sound of a gorilla walking across a metal roof.

That's what a mini-avalanche sounds like. The noise scares the bejesus out of Smooch. And me.

 Alan does not like to stand in the snow.

 He will seek out bare ground, no matter who might be in his way.

 Johnny spends much of his time in the feed room during cold, snowy weather,

emerging occasionally to stretch and catch some sun. 

He is acutely aware that coyotes could be around any corner.

 So are the chickens. They're not strutting their stuff as much as they usually do,

preferring to huddle inconspicuously in the bushes. Smart girls.

 George was about to say something to whomever was approaching from the rear.
It was probably Lucy.

Ears speak louder than words.

 Inside, Smooch and I reviewed my to-do list for the rest of the weekend. 

The materials arrived to re-cover the half walls in the office and the kitchen.

 

I'd show them to you now but that would spoil all the fun for the big reveals.

Sunday leftovers

A collection of images left in the camera from the previous week. 

When I clean out the chickens' water tub, all the water runs downhill and so do the chickens.

They gather at the temporary stream to scratch in the mud and 

look for bugs or worms or whatever else might float by.

Lady Mary is pretty and she knows it.

I keep my camera next to my keyboard just in case something interesting happens 

outside my office door on the porch.

The front porch is the hub of much activity during the day...

...and the night. Scroll quickly past the next picture if you're afraid of spiders.

The arrow in the previous picture is pointing to this guy.

It comes out at night to catch the moths that gather when I turn on the porch light. Ewww.

This is George pouting. If he can't eat, he might as well stand in the barn being mad.

I've said this previously but it bears repeating: green is the new brown.

Lush grass and wildflowers...the summer of  '14 will be one to remember.

Sunday leftovers

The monsoonal rains just keep on coming. Moisture plus manure is a powerful thing.

I could start a mushroom farm in the poop cart if I were so inclined.

 We haven't seen Junior all week...

 ...though we continue to look for him.

 It's a group effort.

I'm still trying to convince the silver lace vine to work it's way across the overhead

and onto the bare posts to the right.

 These tall green things are new this year. I had nothing to do with them – they just showed up.

The area where they're growing is at the base of a downspout, 

so all the water must have something to do with their sudden appearance.

Their tiny little flowers aren't much to look at, but I'm very impressed by the stalks' sturdiness.

They are very tall and with nothing to prop them up, they can still withstand heavy winds and rain.

 The tallest ones are just about eye level now.

And before you assume I'm wearing half a handcuff, allow me to introduce my new gadget – it's a Fitbit.

One of my favorite authors, Lisa Scottoline, got one and wrote about it, and I thought that I, too,

might do more activities just so that my Fitbit will approve of me.
So far, it seems to be doing the trick. We'll see what happens once the novelty wears off.

While I've been blabbering on about my Fitbit, the flowers on the green stalks have turned into little dandelion-like things.

I guess this means there might be more stalks in my future.

Sunday Leftovers

A collection of images left over in the camera from the previous week.

I love mornings...

except when Smooch tries to eat chicken for breakfast.

There was poultry drama this week. Lady Mary flew into Smooch's yard. Ay yi yi yi yi.

I was able to remove Lady Mary from Smooch's mouth before too much damage was done. I hope.

That all happened Thursday morning. I hesitate to examine her closely, not wanting to traumatize her further. 

The area around her comb bled, and she's limping on one leg. Otherwise, she's eating and alert 

and spending her days quietly in the coop. She's moving around a little bit more each day, and I'm cautiously optimistic. 

Meanwhile, Edith and Mrs. Hughes, my other frequent flyers, immediately got their wings clipped.

They were witness to Lady Mary's brush with death and seem to be steering clear of the fence

that separates them from Smooch ... for now anyway.

This year's calf crop is not steering clear of the fence. I think they want to join our play group.

They give Smooch something to watch while I fix fence.

I'll call this one Zen and the Art of Generator Maintenance. Changing engine oil is my most hated chore on earth, 

though it went a little easier this year because I hauled out my magic carpet and didn't get as filthy as usual.

I was on a roll and did Ranger maintenance, too. Next year I may have to rent a husband for a day.

Did I mention how much I hate changing oil?

Lucy and George were in sync this week.
She gave him a tongue lashing while he gave her a tail beating.