Thanks, Deborah!

I've got another couple posts in the works but this morning in my inbox I learned that Deborah of Antiquity Oaks nominated me for the Kreativ Blogger award, so I thought I'd insert a post on that here.

First of all, thanks, Deborah! There are two blogs I follow that are great campaigners on the subject of real food (among other things): Deborah's and Miss Effie's. If you don't read them, you should!

Secondly, I'm so glad Deborah changed the rules from listing one's seven favorite mystery writers to listing seven of one's favorite authors. I haven't read a lot of mysteries, so probably couldn't name one favorite mystery author. In fact, as little reading as I've done in the last decade, I'm going to have to clear the cobwebs out of my mind just the come up with past favorite authors! I used to read voraciously, but other hobbies and demands have horned in on my reading time, big time. One of those newer hobbies, knitting, has added a favorite author to the list, though; I'm sure some of you will recognize her name. :-)
1) C.S. Lewis
2) Madeleine L'Engle
3) Robert Fulghum
4) James Herriot
5) Elizabeth Zimmermann
6) Marguerite Henry
7) Irving Stone

Finally, I'm to pick seven blogs to nominate for this award. Without looking to see if they have accepted a Kreativ Blogger award before, I'm just going to go with the first seven blogs that pop into my mind when I think "creative."
1) Miss Peach's Meowz
2) Tulip Tree Hill
3) Stories From the Farm
4) Mud Ranch's Real Dirt
5) Chronicles of a Country Girl
6) The Pioneer Woman
7) Yarn Harlot
(Not that I expect the last three blogs, with their huge followings, to acknowledge said award; it's just that they are so creative in their various ways that they have to be on my list!)

That's it for now at . . .

They've flown the coop!

Wednesday morning when I opened the henhouse door, I was startled by all the flapping below and above. I quickly realized that the barn swallow babies had fledged, as one youngster fluttered at the henhouse window instead of flying out the open doorway over my head. With a little encouragement, it went the right way. Couldn't quite clear the chain-link chickenyard fence, but made it through an opening and on over to the maple tree by the sheepfold. I breathed a big sigh of relief; I was so worried the fledgling swallows would end up on the coop floor and be killed by chicken-monsters. As I did chores, I noticed a chirping family of four on the top arena rail, so the swallow parents have successfully replaced themselves in the world. I don't know if this is the same pair of barn swallows that built a nest earlier in the barn; one of the babies from that nest did end up on the floor. We rescued it only to discover something was wrong with its feet, and it had to be humanly destroyed.

Yesterday morning the swallow family repeated their departure from the chickenhouse when I opened the coop door; I didn't realize they would come back to roost at the nest once the babies fledged. Later, when I checked for eggs, I caught two babies perched on the light cord (their nest can be seen at the far right):This morning there were five swallows perched on the cord when I opened the henhouse door, so that's even better!

Wild birds of all kinds seem scarcer this year; I haven't seen any violet-green swallows in a long time, and the black oil sunflower seed isn't getting eaten very fast. One of our neighbors noted the same thing; it's worrisome indeed.

As for the chickens themselves, all nine hens are more or less integrated again. I was keeping Lucille isolated in an inner pen until her broken toe healed and she hopefully stopped limping. But last week she started escaping her quarters to roost with the other hens before I could move her pen inside at night. In the morning I'd catch her and put her back in protective custody. Finally, I just let nature take its course and left her with the others during the day, too. Often she would retreat to the plywood covering part of her isolation pen (still inside the chickenyarn), making me rest easier knowing she could get away from any henpecking if need be. One day she even went into the isolation pen - and left again when she chose!

Yesterday she laid an egg while up on the plywood, and it rolled down into the isolation pen below and broke. So I removed the plywood and piece of hog panel that had covered the pen, leaving only the x-pen for a place of refuge. Here is Lucy resting on the top edge, with Lucille on the ground inside:Believe it or not, Lucille-the-lame is dominant over Lucy-the-latecomer. Lucy still regards me as her guardian, and I regard her as my "special" hen, not unlike the pair of banties I had as a teenager.

The girls are not quite keeping up with demand, now that I have three regular clients plus the occasional additional request for eggs. Sometimes I have to go out and squeeze a hen or two to get an order filled in time!Welsie's new feathers are coming in, so maybe she'll be back in the nest box again soon.

This morning's sunrise was stunning. A front is moving in, and the resulting clouds added drama. It's supposed to be a wet, cold weekend here, with summer returning next week. Should give the garden a good late-season boost.

That's it for now at . . .

Our family fair day

Tuesday Rick was the horse show vet for the State Fair. Since he had to be there at 8:00 and I didn't fancy another o'dark thirty rising to get all the chores done and my shower taken (not to mention rousting a little guy out of bed early) in order to ride with him, Brian and I drove down later in the morning to join him. We had a great day together and apart, and I took as many photos as my camera batteries allowed. (In other words, "fair" warning: this is a long, photo-heavy post!)

Oregon turned 150 this year, so there were lots of nods to this auspicious milestone at Oregon's annual state "party." A huge sculpture had been added to the grounds just outside the horse show stadium (attendees could vote on the best name for it), and when we walked by it the first time, a huge group of "Red Hat" ladies were gathering underneath it. I thought of my mom, who has loved Jenny Joseph's poem "Warning" from the first time she heard it.

Speaking of the horse show stadium, we spent a lot of time there, and not just because Rick was the vet on call. There was a wide variety of classes and horse breeds to be seen. In the "Carriage, 14.2 hand and over" class alone, there were two Friesians, an Arab, an Arab/Saddlebred, a Shire, a palomino Paint, and a mule competing against each other! I have to admit I was partial to this lovely bay Arab (so was the judge):
Another reason I hung out around the horse barns so much was this dear friend and her very special little stallion Just Keegan:Kate and I have been friends for nearly 20 years; in fact, she was the person who got me into dressage and got me to look into Morgan horses (as a result I bought a yearling colt and trained and showed him to Prix St. George); she has since "defected" and gone over to the dark small side. :-) We happened to be there for the last day of the miniature horse show, and I wanted to be sure and see her jump Keegan in the Open Hunter class.
Sixteen-year-old Keegan is such a gentleman, and has produced champion offspring out of several different mares for Kate. Brian had fun leading Keegan around while we were waiting for his class to begin.

But Brian's favorite - indeed, the favorite of many fairgoers - are the heavy horses. We are blessed to still have a nice selection of draft horse classes at our state fair, and a good-sized contingent of exhibitors. Seven farms participated - four have Belgians, one has Shires, one has Clydesdales, and one has American Creams. The Shire guy and one of the Belgian owners are local clients of Rick's.
But wait; there's more! Brian saw the mutton-bustin' arena and wanted to ride a sheep. We told him he was too big; I don't know if he really was too heavy to qualify, but I thought the sheep would appreciate our decision. This seven-year-old boy was considerably shorter than Brian, and the poor sheep still collapsed under his weight:
Instead, for his one "ride" of the day, we let him have a go at the mechanical bull. Dad gave him some tips on form:
And away he went!If you click to biggify, you'll see the progression of effort and concentration on his little face!

We got to see a good sea lion show put on by California State University, then Rick and Brian watched the Chinese acrobats while I took the horticulture, photography and quilt exhibitsThese were the first two I saw when I walked in the hall, and they remained two of my favorites, although I liked this striking flag design as well:
And, as always, the grounds were beautiful, too:
Beau and Boo's owners came to the fair on Tuesday, too, and we met at the Shetland area. They had mentioned they were considering getting a ewe lamb, so I introduced them to Wally and the friendly little moorit girl that Brian loved when we were there on Thursday:She won their hearts as well, so as soon as they get a quarantine pen set up, she and a little wether Wally has will be joining their growing flock!

That's it for now from . . .

Start-somewhere September

I've been having a hard time keeping up with a lot of things lately, this blog included. I don't think my mood is affecting my productivity - I think my productivity is affecting my mood! I hate having things pile up on me....

ANYway, this post is not about my mental health. After not having a lot to say or show for awhile, I suddenly have a LOT - TOO much for one post. For example:
• our animals' mental health
• the latest from the chickenhouse
• knitting projects
• fiber acquisition (maybe I shouldn't admit that one!)
• our big day at the State Fair

In the interest of starting SOMEwhere, how about something that's not even on the list - food and flowers! Remember those peaches from a recent post? We're still eating a few from that box. Planned to get another box this week dedicated to the freezer, but when Rick stopped by Monday afternoon, our neighbor was sold out! If you heard a faint wailing in the wind that night, it was me. I could look around to see if other varieties are still available, but might just skip it for this year. We still have some pints from last year in the freezer. Our own Italian prunes will be ripe soon, and then local apples will come on. Our tomatoes are finally producing well, maybe even well enough to put a batch in the canner. The beans still haven't been picked and the zucchini is getting ahead of me, too.

As for flowers, there isn't much color at Boulderneigh right now. The dahlias are doing their best, but they got off to a slow start and I should have planted three times as many. I always forget that without them, we are bereft of color this time of year. I need to make sure that I redeem the gift certificates to Swan Island Dahlias from my MIL this coming season; a visit to their annual festival this coming weekend should inspire me.

I did notice this tiny cluster of flowers on one of my Gold Mound spirea this morning. I got a total of five sad little plants on close-out at Lowe's and they are such pretty little shrubs now. It was a good save. :-)

Okay, here's one thing from the list. Our animals are lonely. Poor Jackson was shut in the laundry room for four days in a row with hardly more than potty breaks because we were out and about for various reasons, and his love cup is dry and parched. (Not that I can show you, because I find it nearly impossible to get a good photo of him!) Bronwen told me this morning that she needed loving more than grain, and Oreo was even hitting up our farrier for attention today! Brian is shown trying to fill her furry needs.

That's it for now at . . .