New Additions Lead to New Projects

So in the midst of a pandemic this little sweetness joined our family. Meet Skye. She joined us this spring in the end of April. Skye is a VERY energetic German Wirehaired Pointer. You haven't had a sloppy puppy kiss until you have gotten a kiss from a whiskered pup after they just got done drinking.  WET!

 So for ease of letting new pup and old beagle out to potty, we decided to put in a small fence around our back deck and back door. Now if you have read back in the early posts round about March 15, 2010 (there is a wonderful pic of my little A who just turned 4, trying to dig up a gate post) we have come full circle. This however is not fully fencing in our entire back yard, which has gotten much bigger in the last 10 years.

All played their parts, the girls got good at digging post holes, we had more than one child who actually climbed down in them (silly kids) and the kids got a good education in math, tech ed and physical education. I would say it was well rounded.

Tidbits #5

Today is a tidbit day, nothing big, just tidbit thoughts.

1. I have a high schooler!  With so much talk about what this fall will look like with school and COVID-19, it makes me stop and think, I actually have a child who will now be a Freshman! How does that happen so quickly. Crazy!

2. Long Legs - I do not have them. The kids have been doing a lot of running this summer, one - for something to do and two - in hopes that there will be some kind of Cross County this fall. I don't necessarily trust people out in the world and there is no way that I would ever be able to keep up with the kids "running" so I have been following in the car. Man, my girls are nothing but legs and they most definitely get that from their father. Not looking forward to shopping for pants when the weather changes.

3. Former stay at home orders and global pandemics lead to getting a lot of projects done around the acreage. I will speak more to that in future posts.

4. Chipmunks are NOT my friends! They like my garden too much.

A Boy's Hunting Dream

The 20th of April can not come fast enough for our Adin Boy. For his 12th birthday we got him his own hunting buddy. She is a beautiful little Chocolate Lab who he has tentatively named Iris, the Greek goddess of sea and sky. The 20th is when we will get to go and pick her up as she was just born on March 2nd. 

We don't know which one she is as we have 7th (last) pick of the females. No matter which one our Iris is, she is going to be a well loved pup. (Maybe not so much by the cat! Poor Buddy the cat, first Freya and now Iris.)  More pictures to come, don't you just want to snuggle them all?

Planning for Spring Chickens

The kiddos are all in 4-H still and are entering the 3rd year in poultry for Adin and the 2nd year for the girls. Our feathery girls are getting older and so we are looking to add to our flock this spring. As the Poultry project leader, I have tasked the kids with researching the breeds that they want to get next. They have to look at what will go best with our aging flock, what will meet our needs, what will work with our climate and what they want in a show bird as well. 
This has been a fun project so far and the kids have really gotten into it.  Both Elle and Eliza have written & typed up reports that they are putting in their record books and Adin is bemoaning the fact that the site we are using is pretty much out of Silkies and Polish breeds. He is loving those fluffy unique birds. I guess we'll have to order those come fall for next spring.  Wow, who knew. 
E & L both want leghorns, one white and one light brown along with an Easter Egger and a Silver Spangled Hamburg. Why do I have a feeling that Hamburg will end up with a name closely related to hamburger.
When chicks finally arrive (once actually ordered) we'll be sure to post pictures. They will be taking up residence in the sunroom again as our first flock did.  What is your favorite chicken breed? Mine is still and always the forever sweet Buff Orpington.