Country Girl

See How They Grow

The chicks have graduated from their swimming pool nursery. 

 They are now tumbling around in what is supposed to be our potting shed, but is doubling as the meat bird coop.  This is fine because what the potting shed really was being used as before this was a nice mouse hotel.

I can't believe how fast these meat birds grow.  And they ARE getting uglier by the minute!

Cabin Update

The cabin is to the finishing point where we can stay in it.  And since it's not sold yet, we're doing just that!  Well, this cabin is so fun Mr. Bechtel had to pry me out of it with a crow bar.  I completely forgot about things like milking goats, adjusting temperature on baby chicks, watering garden, and cleaning house - even though we were only there for 12 hours... 

 Somehow, cleaning a cabin is just easier.  We went on a walk in the evening and the pines smelled so good.  It was  perfectly still and all you could see besides forest, meadows, and aspen trees were the little yellow lights in a few other cabins.

I loved it.

The kitchen is my favorite.  I love cooking in here and feel like I could possibly have my own food network show on cabin cooking:  how to make popcorn and hot chocolate.  Yes! I know we are selling it!  I know we are selling it.... I know we are selling it....Do you want to come visit before we do?

Can you find the baby Killdeer?

We have a little family of adorable killdeer at our house.  Several nights ago Mr. Bechtel was driving down the lane when the momma or daddy killdeer flew right in front of the suburban, laid down on the road, and flapped it's wing like it was broken.  We stopped the car and opened the door, and there, running all around the car were little baby birds.  Granny Smith said, "They're so cute!  They're like little eggs with legs on them."  They are so cute, and they are amazing at blending in perfectly!  See if you can find this one...

Happy July 4th

Little Red Shoes

We have trouble with shoes at our home.  We lose them or get them so muddy in the ditch they are just rectangular blobs of mud.  This happens especially when the back field has been irrigated but we still need to get back there for milking chores.

Enter the solution:  

This is the best $5.00 I've spent recently.  Granny Smith now has shoes I can spot a mile away and they can be sprayed with water.  I know, I don't know why it took me so long to come up with a solution.  These little shoes have been available for years and years, but it takes me awhile sometimes.  Now the Spy twins want a pair (NOT red though, they stress) so we'll have to see if I can find some - and THEN we'll see if they wear them, or just look at them and then pull on their old muddy familiar shoes.  Old habits die hard you know.

Cheep, Cheep, Cheep

Let me introduce to you our 15 new chicks.  These adorable creatures are cornish cross chickens bred for MEAT.... At 8 weeks of age we are supposed to think they are MEAT and put them in the freezer for winter.  To further this goal, we're not naming them.  Right now, though, they are so darn cute it's hard to imagine them being MEAT.

Aren't we great chicken farmers?  Look how happy they are.  I know all the magazine and book articles say you are not supposed to use pine shaving as bedding because the chicks eat it instead of food.  But the book recommended corn cob hulls....corn cob hulls, who in Idaho has such a thing as that??  So far the birds have not eaten (too much) of the pine shavings.

This brilliant little nursery was designed by our neighbors: round so the chicks can't suffocate in a corner, washable, and tall so the birds can't fly out.  In a few weeks the birdies can graduate to the potting shed.  Stay tuned for further exciting poultry events.