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A Little Update

Thursday, December 1st, 2011

We had some nice weather over the Thanksgiving holiday. Nice enough that I opened the kitchen window while I was cooking one afternoon.

Imagine my surprise at seeing this out that kitchen window.

Silly Tanya. She knows she’s not allowed on the deck.

I went outside to discuss her transgression with her.

And I was really glad I did. It seems Sarah was having similar thoughts about visiting with me on the deck.

And when I walked over to discuss it with her, I looked down and found Jake, Turklet, and baby Turklet contemplating the same thing.

Well, this was as good of an opportunity as any for me to take some pictures and give you a little update about what’s been going on around here with the turkeys, and the puppies.

You may have noticed there was only one baby turklet in that last picture. Sadly, I found the other one dead the day after the October snow storm came through. I really don’t know what happened, but it broke my heart.

Also, as you can surely see in that last picture, we discovered a few months ago that Turklet is a jake.

Yes, indeed. A gangly, clumsy, jake. *sigh* Turklet was dangerously close to being invited to the dinner table until Diesel’s surgeon said she would love to add him to her flock. He’s a sweet boy, and I know he’ll make a nice pet for her children.

Sarah has healed from her injury at an amazing rate. As she was healing, she was also molting. Poor girl. But the good news is that her wounds scabbed over very quickly, and are being covered by new feather growth around them – which makes me worry less about others pecking at her wounds. She was put back out with her flock within just a few days of her injury.

In that picture, if you look very closely, you can see the new feather shafts underneath her wing, and on the very top of it, that cover her wounds.

Jake finished molting and is, honestly, one of the most handsome Toms I have ever seen.

Diesel is doing really well after his surgery. He is just beginning to use his leg a little, and he rests a lot, but he’s getting around and his surgeon seems pleased with his progress.

Dolly gets a little annoyed at all the attention showered on Diesel, so we’re sure to spend a little quality time with her every chance we get.

And it’s nice to see the pups relaxing at night and feeling somewhat back to normal.

So, we’re all fine here and enjoying each day that we are blessed with.

I hope to get some posts up soon about some of my Christmas projects, and a few other things I’ve been meaning to post about.

And I hope each of you is enjoying this time of year with the people and critters that mean the most to you!

Posted in dogs, turkeys | 16 Comments »

Getting Back to Usual

Sunday, December 5th, 2010

Things are getting back to normal since I returned from Germany. It’s a cold and blustery day here. Bernie and I bundled up and went outside to get the heater bases set up for the chicken and turkey waterers. I actually remembered to take my camera and get a few pictures to share with you.

Mirrie and Georgia were happy to see us. They are getting so big.

We’re finally fairly convinced we did indeed end up with one tom and two hens – even if the tom ended up being one we thought was a hen, and the hen ended up being one we thought was a tom. As a result, two of them got renamed. Jake is on the left (he used to be called Tanya) and on the right is Loretta (she used to be called Hank).

That’s Loretta on the left, Jake in the middle, and Sarah on the right:

It’s hard to believe how much they’ve grown. You may be able to get a good idea from this picture with Bernie’s legs in it:

This is Pretty Boy Floyd – the cockerel I kept from the hatch in May:

My poor hens are finally starting to come out of their molt. These two are the last of the molters, and just starting to get feathers in again:

This is one of the pullets from the May hatch – I love her coloring:

Bernie got a nice fire going in our new wood burner this afternoon.

Elvis kept warm by laying in the sun, across from the wood burner.

And Priscilla staked out her favorite hiding place on top of the curio.

And Diesel enjoyed relaxing in the warmth of his bed.

Dolly has always enjoyed chilling in my chair, but since my trip to Germany I think she’s gotten just a little too comfortable in it.

It’s nice to be home and back with Bernie and all the critters. I missed them.

Posted in basic living, cats, chickens, dogs, goats, turkeys | 10 Comments »

Bernie Rocks and Duke is a Bully

Friday, May 7th, 2010

Look what Bernie did today.

He built gates for all three of the deck step openings.

Now the pups can go out unsupervised and bark at things and we don’t have to worry about them terrorizing goats and chickens.

Speaking of the pups terrorizing chickens, I must tell you that sometimes the chickens terrorize the pups. Dolly gets very excited when Bernie throws her frisbee off the deck for her to chase.

But sometimes Duke can’t stand to see Dolly having so much fun.

And she has to do some pretty fancy footwork to get past him.

She actually thinks Duke is her friend and wants to play. She’ll abandon that frisbee to play with her friend.

Dolly thinks Duke is the best playmate ever.

Duke chases her all over the yard.

When she gets tired of being chased and retreats, Duke lets out a crow that just about shatters windows.

Diesel excitedly watches the entire exchange.

And this is about as animated as he gets over the whole thing.

On second thought, maybe the gates are to keep Duke from getting at Dolly on the deck.

Tags: deck
Posted in basic living, dogs, rooster, rooster crow | 19 Comments »

Homesteading and Puppies

Saturday, February 28th, 2009

I think you would get as many definitions of homesteading as people who were asked. I’ve participated in several forum conversations about the definition of homesteading and it always ends the same – it depends on who you ask. Originally, homesteading was the act of claiming public land and farming it. After a certain period of time, the person occupying that land could legally become the owner of it. This is no longer the case in the United States. As a result, I don’t think there really are any “official” homesteaders left in this country – at least not in the sense of claiming public land for farming. But homesteading does exists in the spirit, heart, and daily lives of many in this country.

If a single definition of homesteading can not be agreed upon, I think everyone would agree, at the very least, that homesteading involves claiming your small section of this earth and using it to provide a level of self-sufficiency. Whether that small section is an apartment, a home in town, or acreage in a rural area. Self-sufficiency is key to homesteading. It’s the comfort of knowing that no matter what happens in this world, a person can take care of and provide for her/him self.

I don’t mean to go all “Websters” on you. I’ve gotten several emails lately from people wanting to know how they can get started in homesteading. That’s a really tough question – it very much depends on a person’s individual situation and circumstances. So I thought I’d just throw out there that I believe anyone can homestead, anywhere. Learn to be as self-sufficient as possible. Spend some time considering those things you can not live without, and then figure out how you can provide them for yourself. I don’t mean to over simplify this. This is simply the best advice I can give.

And speaking of homesteading…. what homestead is complete without a dog or two to protect it? Just look at this vicious puppy: