Build A Little Birdhouse In Your Soul

A very curious Speckles 

P-Pirdle had to check out the action too.

P-Pirdle wanted to help. "These birdhouses are way to small for you birds!"

Goodbye, Nugget.

Unfortunately, it is time to cull our poor, prolapsed chicken, Nugget.  

Here's a very sad Peyton letting her little chicken know she would soon be in a better place. 

A New Bird In Town

We got a new little chick on Sunday (since our lil' Foxy got....gone.) Peyton sings to her, reads to her and carries her around every where -I even caught her on the kitchen table, ewwww!! (Thank God for powerful disinfectant).

She's an Americauna which means in about 6 months she'll be laying blue/green eggs. The kids will be thrilled about that.
We haven't named her yet, any ideas?

The Easter Bunny, Bambi and Chicken Little

This year we spent Easter with Aunt Sandy in Columbia. As usual, the kids were more than thrilled about that. We went to Columbia State Park on Saturday for a late lunch at Brown's Coffee House & Sweets Saloon. Then took a stroll around the old town.

We went rock climbing.......



Tried to hitch a ride on the Stagecoach....

Then back to Aunts for some Easter egg coloring.


Easter Eve was fun filled - dinner, wine, games, more wine, entertainment, more wine, and a big slumber party.
Easter Morning the kids woke up and immediately started the search for their baskets full of goodies. This year the bunny filled watering cans so the kids could help water mom and dad's garden. (How convenient.)

We suspect that the Easter Bunny may have hired Bambi to do his job this year because there were lots of deer right outside where all the Easter Eggs were hidden.



Unfortunately, Easter ended up to be a sad day. Upon our return home from our trip we found our favorite little chicken, Foxy, dead and...well....I'll spare you the details. She had been murdered in the night by what we assume to be a raccoon. As soon as we walked in the door we knew something was wrong. The other three birds were standing at the back door staring in and were obviously shaken up. The did not want to go to their roost in the coop at sunset that night. Poor girls, poor Foxy. Poor Peyton. She was in tears. Foxy was such a friendly and sweet lil' chicken. Peyton held her all the time. I never thought I'd be upset about loosing a chicken but we are all sad that she is gone. She was a good pet.
I wonder, has city living clouded my brain so much that every thing I learned growing up in the country is no longer second nature to me? I should have known that leaving the lights on would NOT keep the raccoons away, even for just one night.
Well, I'm quite sure I can remember how to shoot a .22, and if I had one, there's no doubt you'd see me parading around town in a coonskin cap sometime in the very near future. I wonder if a 2x4 would do the trick? Oops, Did I say that out loud?
Good bye lil' Foxy Girl.

Cluckin' Crazy

"I think my wife's gone cluckin' crazy!"~ Tom

A work in progress. Tom and J.T. help out a bit before the Super Bowl starts.

All the wood for this project was left over scraps from around the house or scavenged from the side of the road. It's amazing what people dump along side the road. (I ran a stop sign because I had my eye on a real nice 10ft. 2x6)

The completed coop and run.

The "girls" in their new home.

Peyton with Popcorn, Speckles, Foxy and Nugget.