I Am So Dad-gum Easy to Please
August 31st, 2009When my hens started going broody back in March, it caught me by surprise. I really did not expect to have broody hens because I intentionally bought what I believed were non-broody breeds. I quickly built a couple of brooders in the coop out of hardware wire. I disliked those brooders immensely. They had sharp wires poking up everywhere and, as a result, I have had scratches and torn clothing all summer. And I always worried that the chickens would get hurt on that wire. I actually suspect that may be where Duke got the foot injury that resulted in the Battle-of-the-Bumblefoot we’ve been going through around here.
So this past Friday, I took the day off work and Bernie and I rebuilt the brooders. I’m much happier with them.
We also put a much steeper slope on the top of the nest boxes to keep the chickens off of it. And we moved one of the roosts to keep the poop away from the brooder area.
While I had the camera out, I remembered to take a picture of a volunteer flower that came up in the strawberry bed. That area had previously been a wildflower bed and this flower is apparently the result of a seed that was left in there:
I honestly don’t remember seeing a flower like that in the wildflower bed. I’m sure I would have remembered such a beautiful bloom! OK, all you flower-name-knowing people, any idea what kind of flower that is? I plan to keep the seeds. That’s one of the prettiest flowers I’ve ever seen! It’s like a bouquet of flowers in one bloom.
I’m not very good at remembering to take pictures so, since I had my camera handy, I took it along when the pups and I went on the mail run this afternoon.
Diesel is obsessed with tall grass and weeds. He absolutely loves laying in it and playing in it. Can you see him in this picture?
Look right slap, dab in the middle. Here’s a closer view:
He finally poked his head out
Which is just what Dolly was waiting for. She immediately pounced on him
And then she ran around with reckless abandon
Until she spotted a bug on the driveway
Hey good lookin’
Dang, I never even knew the boy could move this fast!
Lordy, I do love these pups. And my flower. And my new brooders.
I am so dad-gum easy to please.
August 31st, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Love the brooders, and the colour of that flower is gorgeous. There is also much to be said for finding joy in the simple things in life:)
August 31st, 2009 at 6:24 pm
The flower is a zinnia. Those were Joe’s dad’s favorite flower when he was alive….I have them growing every year. The honey bees are “supposed” to like them but I haven’t noticed any on them. The pups are getting so BIG! and they are so pretty!
TTFN!
Love Ya!
Julie
August 31st, 2009 at 7:04 pm
Molly - If you had told me a few years ago that I would find so much joy in the simplest things, I wouldn’t have believed you. City living has a completely different set of expectations for “joy”. I always appreciated the little things, but my attention span just wasn’t that long. It seemed there was always something more pressing. Now I can sit and watch baby chicks, puppies, insects, and critters for hours on end and smile the entire time. I’m happy I’m in this “place”, and sad it took me so long to get here.
Julie - a Zinnia! That’s IT! I’ve never seen one so pretty! I officially declare the Zinnia my favorite flower. I’m going to save the seeds and hope they come up as pretty. What an awesome bloom. And yes, the pups really are getting so big. They are 9 months old now. That is so hard for me to believe. Weren’t they just 8 weeks old last week?????
August 31st, 2009 at 7:43 pm
Yep. Zinnia allright. They are so pretty. The colors are so vibrant. And they really last quite awhile as a cut flower. These bring many happy memories to me.
I love that Dolly was so intent on waiting to pounce and then got distracted so easily. Ohhhh…a pretty bug.
Those updates on your coop are fantastic. And Im thinking that you really needed those new brooder boxes. With all these chicks you keep having. Maybe this would be the time to mention just how many birds you have in your flock…would it, huh? huh?
August 31st, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Frugalmom - I am TOTALLY in love with this zinnia. Julie tells me it’s a single petal zinnia, which I’ve never seen. I’m absolutely saving the seeds from this one and may just plant a zinnia garden next year…..
Dolly is SO easily distracted. She reminds me of…… me. As for how many chickens I have now, well I have exactly…. wait…. looky there….. it’s a butterfly…… wait…… now where was I?????
September 1st, 2009 at 7:25 am
I grew Zinnias for the first time this year. The little yellow bits were a sweet surprise. Try the multi-colored seeds, I’ve never seen a more vibrant yellow flower in my life!!
September 1st, 2009 at 7:33 am
Jocelyn - I am SO going to grow a bunch of single petal zinnias next year! The regular ol’ zinnias I’ve grown in the past were nice - but the single petal is just gorgeous! It is definitely my favorite flower right now!
September 1st, 2009 at 8:25 am
Oh how I love the new brooder boxes. They are perfect and exactly what I would like to have for mine. Heke I may only have one red star that goes broody. I am not so sure about my others. I am now up to 43 chickens and hope am holding for now anyways.
you are so right that little flower is beautiful, I wouldn’t mind having some of them for my self. My husband is a Horticulturist afterall and it would be quite easy to obtain them. Have you ever seen the Calla Lilies, OMG they are super cool also as are the Stargazer Lily, but not sure if they match the simple beauty of the Zinnia.
Hope Duke is doing well with his foot:-))
September 1st, 2009 at 5:53 pm
The brooder boxes look great and I just love the color of that flower. But most of all, I love the pups. They are just adorable. Since I lost my black lab and my lab/golden retriever mix, I have really missed having a dog. We’re waiting for our next special dog to find us. All our animals are strays that have adopted us.
September 1st, 2009 at 6:10 pm
SVB - that is so sweet! Our pups are rescue mutts. We found them on http://www.petfinder.com We looked for over a year, and when Bernie saw their pictures he said “Those are the puppies for us.” And he was 100% correct! So many pups get thrown out. It’s heartbreaking. But I just know there is a pup or two headed your way right now!
September 3rd, 2009 at 8:12 am
Lisa - Sorry, I missed your comment for some reason! Yes, I do think the Calla lilies are gorgeous - and I love Stargazer lilies! That zinnia is just beautiful though. I hope the seeds will do well for me next year.
Wow, your husband is a Horticulturist? How cool is THAT??? As for poor Duke, his foot is back and forth. As soon as I am convinced it’s healing well, it will swell again
But, he doesn’t seem in any pain whatsoever with it. He’s not tolerating the dressing changes very well anymore. But I’m bigger than him, so we get through it 
This morning the swelling was way down again. I’m keeping my fingers crossed….. How is your hen’s foot?
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Penny do you want your seeds mixed or separate? I have spider, double (but they look multiple) (see pics on my Nature blog) and single. Orange, pink, red, yellow…BUT if you want them bagged separately it will be by category the colors will be mixed:O) Boy do I accommodate or what??? The only thing is I’ll have to tell you where I put them and you’ll have to remind me to give them to you when you come down:) After all Christmas is still a long way off for a memory such as mine LOL…speaking of which I guess I’ll have to keep reminding you of the horseradish won’t I????
September 3rd, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Julie you are VERY accommodating! If you wouldn’t mind bagging them by category, I would appreciate it! Wait - if they are all about the same height, mixed would be just fine. But if some are much shorter than the others, I’d prefer them separate so I can plant them accordingly. Am I a pain or what? Please tell me where you store them and I’ll tell Bernie and then none of us will remember at Christmas
And I will remember your horseradish! But remind me again ok? BTW - our neighbors down the road have a bunch of it and he thought they were weeds. I told him it’s horseradish and he told me I can have all I want because they don’t eat it anyway. So I’m going to dig a bunch up and put some to the side for you. Love you!
September 3rd, 2009 at 9:06 pm
I didn’t wait for your reply because I went outside after I mailed you anyway I have them bagged up separately….spider, single and double. They are all the same height about four to five feet tall. I couldn’t find any yellow though….they must’ve went to seed early or I didn’t have ‘em….I have yellow roses in the same garden and maybe thought about them when I wrote earlier. Everything is going to seed right now. DO you have or want any basil??? I have all kinds of herbs that seed. Pineapple sage..smells so good and has beautiful little red flowers…. I have lemon and licorice basil..wonderful in tea…plus the honey bees are all over it when it blooms, this year I just scattered it everywhere and next year will be even worse, but I love the way it smells when you walk past it. The same with my mints. My ginger is so beautiful this year, the yard smells heavenly…..anyway, if you want any just let me know and I’ll save you some seeds.
Love Ya!
September 6th, 2009 at 8:30 am
Hey Julie - Thank you for collecting the seeds! I do have some basil, but I’m not happy with the variety. Very tiny leaves. Last year I had a jumbo basil that I loved - but not much came up this year. So yes, if you have herb seeds or any other seeds you want to share, I’d be happy to have them! In town I had a wonderful herb garden that reseeded itself each year - and it got totally unruly! But I’d like to start another here. I have all my herbs in containers right now. I’ll use your seeds and it will be my Happy Cousins Herb garden
September 7th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Trenten(our 3 year old) likes your chicks. He said he wants one in the house. I don’t think I’ll let one roam the house but wouldnd’t mind raising more chicks. The chicks we brooded back in November are finally laying. We’ve ate a few and I got my eye on a few more.
September 7th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Hi Jennifer! That’s sweet that Trenten likes the chicks. I have thoroughly enjoyed them this year. My broodies started in March and there hasn’t been much of a break from it yet! I have one more on eggs right now - she may be the last. It’s really nice to let the mamas raise them! We are set to send all but 3 roos to freezer camp next weekend. Well, there are 4 more hatches that may have some cockerels - I only see one so far in those though.
September 9th, 2009 at 4:10 am
Love the little privacy curtains on the chicken coops LOL hahahaha visions of your hens saying……. oh darling please draw the curtains I need my privacy LMFAO
your dogs so make me smile……
x
September 9th, 2009 at 10:35 am
Mi Marmy! Yes, those spoiled hens have me hen-pecked for sure! I had trouble with them laying outside the nest boxes until I added the privacy curtains. And you should hear how indignant they get if I lift the curtain to check for eggs while they are in there! The minute that curtain is lifted, they start fussing and screaming. Spoiled little snots.
September 18th, 2009 at 8:15 am
Looks like everyone else guessed the flower too — zinnia! Which are annuals, so surprised it poked it’s lil head up. I’ve had certain annuals come back the next year too — alyssum and snapdragons seem to always reseed and come back.
I absolutely adore your pups, such cute pics of them playing!
Your dog food page reminded me of several years ago when I homemade my dog food for my aging dalmatian. As I read through that page, I thought, I really should do this these days to save $$$. I buy my girls good stuff and it’s really starting to hurt my pocketbook since I haven’t found a permanent job yet. And the dog biscuits - I’ve always made those at one time or another. I got a new organic dog biscuit book a few months ago with a ton of recipes - I have several pages post-it marked and I think today is the day I’m going to try one. I’ve had the necessary flours for several months, I just need to DO IT.
I know I already said it, but I love, love your website and its philosophies. Great stuff, and we need to subscribe to more of these philosophies on our piece of land. That’s half the battle, having the land, isn’t it??!
September 18th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Oz Girl - I LOVE those zinnias! I’ve seen them before, but nothing as pretty as this little volunteer. I plan to dedicate a small plot to nothing but zinnias. They really make me smile.
Our vet is very impressed with how healthy and happy our pups are. She knows we cook their food and treats and she encourages us to continue what we are doing. It does save us some money, and I know exactly what they are eating and that makes me happy. Maybe you’ll share some other recipes from your book?
Thank you SO much for your sweet compliments. And yes, I think you have plenty of land to be very self sufficient. We’re not there, by the way, but we are working on it day to day. It’s not easy. But it’s SO worth it! I look forward to following your blog!
May 4th, 2010 at 7:07 am
hi guys…
I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in writing this article. I am hoping the same best work from you in the future as well and i have start my own blog now, wedding flower arrangement, thanks for your effort…