This is one spoiled dog.  He loves the fireplace but he thinks he is freezing all the time.  He was laying by the couch (only about 15-20 feet away from the stove) and got up almost in a huff to sit closer to the fire with the fan blowing full blast straight on him.  The house was about 75 degrees at the time.  The other day he actually got too hot and had to cool off in the other room…panting.  He was only away for about 20 minutes before parking himself in front of the fire again.

We have our first eggs!  These are from the Ameraucanas.  A beautiful pastel green.  Now our girls can start earning their keep.

~ Merriann

As I am going through pictures of summer events I think we’ll just start where we left off.  Back in May (I know, I know) we were getting our chicken pen ready with coop and fencing.  We found a design online we liked and set to work.

Ezekiel was not at all sure about Greg’s ear protection

We had to make some adjustments since we had more chickens then the coop design was originally for.  So, we made two and put them together.  Here is the front of the finished coop.  The goal thing at the top is to keep them from jumping on top of the coop and pooping all over it.

This is the back.  We can access this to fill food and water without having to get into the pen.  Makes it nice with the electric fencing (more on that)

The top part is the nesting area.  Also accessible from outside the pen to collect eggs.

They’re growing up!  I love the look of these chickens.  They are Ameraucanas and are suppose to lay
pastel colored eggs.  So we will see when they get to laying.

We used electric poultry fencing for the rest of the fencing.  There is a dog that lives at the end of our road that likes to come and visit.  He is big and sweet and we love having him around but apparently he loves chickens.  Loves shaking chickens.  By their heads.  So this fencing is as much to keep him (and other animals that may like a chicken dinner) out as it is to keep the chickens in.  Although they can be stubborn little creatures.  There are always technical difficulties that have to be worked out when dealing with electric fencing.  These difficulties make it all the more rewarding when it is working and the animal that was just teasing you hopping back and forth through the fence gets zapped trying to rub it in.  You have to laugh out loud when this happens.  You find yourself daring them to touch it again.

I have a confession to make.  I love electric fencing.  I mean I really love it.  It probably all stems from the time I lived with my sister and brother-in-law.  My sister loves electric fencing too.  She gets it.  One of my fondest memories with regard to fencing is when one of the horses had to be confined to their stall because of a leg injury.  He started tearing up and eating the stall walls.  We tried to get him to stop using other methods but then just lined the whole thing with fencing.  He kept pushing his neck (the tender part under his chin) against the wire while we were working on it.  We tried to warn him.  Then, with great satisfaction we plugged her in, stood back and watched.  You have to stay to see the fruits of your labor.  It’s very rewarding.  It didn’t take long for him to put his neck back on the wire.  Is it wrong that we got so much joy from seeing him get zapped?  I don’t think so.  And he never touched it again.  A thing of beauty.

For any out there that may think this is cruel and unusual punishment for an animal.  I have myself been shocked (by accident of course) by different forms of electric fencing.  Greg recently experienced the power of the poultry fencing.  So, we know what they experience.  We love electric fencing :O)

~ Merriann

I love ducks.  Chickens are great for eggs but, ducks are just down right adorable.  Whether big or small they are cute.  Waddling around the yard.  And they eat the slugs that eat our garden!  Now, we haven’t gotten our own ducks but, for the last couple of years we have had a male and female “couple” use our pond for their babies.  They have been hanging around for a while using the “pond” that formed in the garden.  Zoe would head out their with my latest oops bread (it has gotten better by the way.  I’ll post some success bread stories soon).  As long as she kept her distance they would wait for her to through out the bread and then head over to eat it.  They used the real pond for their babies and this year I got a picture.

They are so fun to watch.  She has five babies this year.  At one point she allowed them out of the fenced area to play on the grass.  Under her watchful eye of course.  You know, little ducklings are so obedient.

I was looking through our blog site and found a post that never posted. I have no idea why. So here is one that was written back in April.

A couple weeks ago we headed down the Seattle Aquarium with a couple other home school families. This was the first time I had been since they completed the remodel. It was so much better than before. The kids had a great time, of course. The highlight was the divers feeding the fish. We were just in time for the feeding and had a great spot to sit.


~Merriann