In the 'Mean' Time

Going through some pictures I realized I have a lot of misc. pics that are cute and just give a good idea of all the things that go on around here.  Please enjoy!!

    Here Marisa and Angel are catching a few Zzzzzz....Marisa's favorite thing to do and Angel is re-charging her batteries.  Can you tell who's dog she is?

 This here is/was the chicken coup that is being converted into my tack shed!!  I am very excited about the progress-it will make life so much easier; all of my tack has been in the horse trailer, garage and in the house but now it can all be on one spot.

  Jessie is showing this year in Nevada Bandits. This is her and Nina at their 2nd show.  She is having a blast and they are both doing very well.  This is the first year for both of them.

   Our gym has been a huge blessing in many ways to many people.  It has become not only a place for fitness but also for friendships.  It has definitely turned into a lot more then we ever thought it would-we love it and look forward to the 'work-out' for the day.

 Of course, we are riding as much as we can too down at the fairgrounds, at home and out in the desert. Practicing for shows and just having fun working with our horses.

Chicky Chicky's!!

After having chickens for a few years I've decided that it would be easier and more efficient if I could get some of my hens to sit on eggs and hatch them.  However, how do you really get a chicken to sit on eggs if she doesn't want to?  This is a question that I've been pondering trying to figure out what to do because I really didn't want to raise chicks again and have to deal with the heat lamp and the treated water and then the introductions into the main flock. I've had a couple hens that in the past have managed to hatch 1 chick and it was so much easier to just let mom take care of them and show them the 'ropes'.

So anyhow, a couple weeks ago, i noticed that I was missing 2 hens. I figured one of two things has happened-they are sitting on eggs somewhere or they became someones dinner.  Well, I started looking around and found 1 of the hens and sure enough, she was sitting on 15eggs!!!  

I was concerned with where she was sitting on them at and if they would live long once they started to hatch due to the cats around here. We tried to move her but that made her very upset and she refused to sit back on the eggs so we ended up putting her back-this made her very happy and she settled right back down to sitting on those eggs. Oh, while handling the eggs, we placed them over a flashlight to see which ones were fertile-12 of them were so we put only those ones back.

   Here is mommy, the girl's call her Firework.  She herself was hatched back here a little over a year ago-she is following in her mother's foot prints.

   She has herself quite a very nice nest tucked back under the brush and garbage. Its quite protected from the weather and out of the direct sun. I think she knew what she was doing when she picked this spot.

  Well, today like any other day, I went out to check on Firework and her eggs.  YES!!  They were starting to hatch!!   1 chick fully hatched and 3 more working on it!!

 Chicky number 2

 and chick's 3 and 4!

  This here is the daddy.  Between his coloring and the moms, I can't wait to see what these birds will look like!!

Puppy Tales

Looking through some of my past posts I noticed that I haven't brought you up to date on our current dog 'life'.  We love our dogs-usually, and after owner quite a few variety of breeds and from my experience working at a veterinary clinic for many years, I've been able to see many breeds, we have our favorites picked out(so we thought). 

As you may know, German Shepherds have been a favorite, especially with Bryan. I myself have grown quite fond of the shepherd with the only complaint is they can really shed!!  The girls on the other hand, like the shepherds but have always talked about owning different breeds.  Jessie's idea of an 'ideal' dog has changed many times from a Pomeranian, whippet, golden retriever to a great dane. Marisa on the other hand has had her heart set on a corgi-a smaller breed dog. 

With all of the dogs we have owned, it is funny to me how to Jessie and Marisa the dogs have to have that one person they belong to-none of them just belong to the family although we all share the dog. So, with this thought, it became very evident to Marisa that she didn't 'own' a dog and that Jessie had owned 2 in the past(neither of which worked out with life here) and she currently owned many cats and a rabbit.  This of course brought Marisa to us with a question, "Can I get my own dog?"

We thought about this quite a bit and knew that she had her heart set on a corgi but neither Bryan or I were sure we wanted a 'little' dog so we talked her into a shepherd. We contacted the breeder that we had gotten our other shepherd from and she just so happened to have a litter ready in a couple weeks with one male-we had also talked Marisa into a male.  So, after a couple weeks, Bryan and Marisa went and got 'John', named after John the Baptist.

Of course, Marisa was very excited with a new puppy that was hers but as he got bigger and a bit rougher when playing she had a hard time 'dealing' with him and he started to show that the 'bond' between them wasn't how she had envisioned it to be.  Needless to say, she still loved him and she tried frequently to get those 'special moments' of bonding with him and never seemed to get to discouraged when he wasn't that interested.

John continued to grow into a huge shepherd and was falling into a nice routine with the other dogs here and was great with knowing his place when it came to the livestock, chickens, cats etc....Bryan and I were thinking we had gotten ourselves another really nice, well behaved dog; but maybe we got a little to proud about it, maybe not. 

On a beautiful fall evening, Jessie went outside to start doing evening chores and as usual she took the dogs with her.  I was going to go out and help her after I got Marisa set up with watching little Melody, my niece, long enough for me to go help.  The next thing I know, Jessie comes running through the door yelling that she thinks John is dying!!!!   What!!???   I went running outside to where he was, Bryan was already there, and there on the ground was lying John's lifeless body-he was indeed dead.

This of course was shocking to say the least!  I asked Jessie if she knew what happened and she said he was playing ball with her and as he was coming back from retrieving the ball he started to wobble and then collapsed.  I, of course, am trying to figure out what would cause that and knowing that just yesterday a friend of ours down the road had just suddenly lost there 'healthy' dog too made me wonder about some poison but I couldn't think of a single poison that kills without symptoms.  I called the vet and made arrangements to have an autopsy done the next day.  We took him to Elko and they discovered that it wasn't poison that killed him-this was a huge relief because the anger that was boiling inside of me at the thought of someone doing this was scary; the cause of death was a deformed heart and that it was only going to be a matter of time before he out-grew and out-worked the capabilities of his heart.

This in someways brought relief knowing that he never suffered-he never showed any symptoms of anything wrong and he got to live like a puppy would love to right to the very end.

   I don't need to go into great depth at the heart ache that this brought to Marisa-her first dog died and then she had to remind me that all of the cats that she claimed as hers have also passed away and then her bunny which then begged the question, why?   This brought about a great discussion of how sin has had a very negative affect on all living things in this world and that death is one of them.  I reminded her that God knows when even a sparrow falls to the ground-none of it happens without Him knowing but one day we can look forward to a life with no death, no sickness, no bad hearts, etc......
   Okay, gotta move on; gettin a little teary eyed here.  Bryan and I decided we were going to wait a while before we got another dog and we did........not quite  a year.  Some friends of ours raise Corgi's-yep, we decided that we should contact them and see if they were going to have any litters available.  Sure enough, they had a litter just barely born.  We decided not to tell Marisa but made plans to go out and see them and let her pick one out.  She was so surprised!!  After looking at all of them, she decided on the runt of the litter.  We had to wait 7wks before she would be ready to come home,  so we went out a couple times to go see her. What a doll!!!

   Her she is, Marisa's little 'Angel'.   

  I have to say, that she has definitely grown on all of us and fits in quite well.  Her size is made up in attitude by far-she runs the place and isn't even a year old yet.  Most importantly, she sleeps and snuggles with Marisa and loves to play with her!!

 Have I mentioned yet how common it seems to be for dogs and owners to be 'alike'?   If I haven't, it quite often is true for them to have similarities and this is no different for Marisa and Angel. They're both cute, little, like to snuggle and have no problem taking control of a situation and gettin things lined out!
   Wow, so now we are up to 4 dogs-this is enough, right?  Now, Jessie starts talking about wanting to have her 'own' dog because technically none of the dogs we have our hers-now, which is kinda true but we told her she was going to have to wait a year or so. I reminded her to be thankful for the critters that we did have- horses, many cats, rabbits, chickens, etc......
   Ha, ha, ha......I get an e-mail from a friend that has a very nice blue heeler that needed a home. I made the mistake of telling these people that if for any reason they couldn't keep him, let me know-he was 8wks old at that time a year and a half ago but she hadn't forgot.  So, yep, we caved-showed Jessie a picture of him and she was 'sold' on this dog.  On the plus side, he was already housebroken, neutered, good with kids etc.....so we said we give him a try.

 Meet Waylon!  He has proven to be the typical healer-strong willed but loyal and he is definitely Jessie's dog!!

   He has proven to be well behaved(most of the time-he's still young) and to be a good patient when he cuts his foot open on sheet metal.

 He has also proven to be a big 'ham'.  He loves to snuggle-very affectionate unlike our other healer.  So we are now up to 5 dogs. All in all, its not that hard to have them; they know the routines around here and on a whole are extremely well behaved and most importantly, the girls each have 'their' dog that loves them!

Homemade Creamy Mushroom Soup

Our 'spring' weather has had many 'wintery' days that are just perfect for making you want to stay inside, build a fire and have a bowl of hot soup.  A few months ago, my dad made this soup and after a sip, it was something I had to make-tastes nothing like the stuff in a can(I've tried that).  Anyhow, I came home and made a bunch of it and put it in the freezer. I've used it for recipes that called for cream of mushroom soup too and its just nice for a hot bowl of creamy soup!!  Jessie and I love it-Bryan and Marisa not so much but I remind them how good mushrooms are for the immune system and they gobble it up-NOT! 

   So, a little over a week ago, Jessie came down with strep throat-not sure where she got it but she got it; anyhow, it was a 'soupy' kind of day and her being sick made it all the more reason to make soup. I thought I should share the recipe.
   Melt 1/2 cube of butter in a med. to lrg pot
   Cut up 1 cup of fresh mushrooms and 1 med. onion. Put them in the pot with the butter and cook until onions are soft.

  Blend in 4 tbsp of flour......

 and 3 cups of chicken broth stirring constantly. Add 1tsp of salt and 1/2tsp of pepper, reduce heat and simmer for 5 min.

 Slowly stir in 1 cup of whipping cream and mix well.  Continue to cook of low heat until hot.  Sprinkle with sliced mushrooms on top and serve hot; or you can let it cool and put it in freezer safe containers to have for later.

  I think this recipe lends itself for 'tweaks' like adding bacon or ham or something but I haven't tried that yet.

Great Egret

Somedays you just never know what your going to see or where you are going to see it and the other day was no exception.

  I was coming back from town and on the side of the road was this large, white bird that normally you would see down on the river-not on the side of the road in the sagebrush.

  He didn't seem to concerned about the traffic so I went  home and got my camera and came back to get a few pics.

  He was more comfortable with me in the car and promptly flew to the other side of the road when I got out.

 Anyhow, the Great Egret is a fairly large bird. They can be found almost all over the world in areas that are warm and or tropical.  They are a migratory bird that passes through Nevada to and from the warmer west coast and southern areas. Some stay around here usually around the river and other wet lands to have their young. There food consists of fish, frogs, small mammals and sometimes reptiles and insects that they 'spear' with their long bill. 

Needless to say, it was pretty cool to be able to get a few pics of him. I was pretty surprised to see him here especially since the river isn't that far away. 

Oh Deer!

As most of you know, I love the outdoors and all that it has to offer.  I love going hiking and if I get to see some deer, antelope or elk that's always a bonus.

   Come late winter and into spring, the deer and elk start dropping their antlers in preparation to grow new ones.  Lots of things factor into a deers antlers as far as size and points go-genetics is a huge one but nutrition, age and even trauma while they are still in velvet can affect how they grow.

  Trying to find antlers can be harder then trying to find deer; deer move around and leave signs-antlers don't but if you can find where the deer have been then there is a chance of finding antlers.  Coyotes and rodents like to find the antlers too as there is some nutritional value to them.

   Here are a couple of antlers that I found; one of them is a shed from at least a year ago and has been chewed on quite a bit; the other one is a 2 point from this year still in good shape.

   The most important thing to remember when out 'hunting' for sheds is to not disturb or stress the deer!!  They are coming out of winter and especially this year are showing the affects of a severe drought from last year and a very cold winter-the last thing they need is to waist energy getting away from you. This poor doe was definitely suffering from the 'long haul' of winter and was quite depressed when we came up on her.  She was in no hurry to get with the rest of the herd which was quite a ways off so we went the other way.

   Here is the rest of the group that we sat back and watched for a while. There was still one large buck in here that we could see that hadn't dropped his antlers yet. Over all this herd looked pretty good despite the one doe.

  Here, my dad, Jessie and I went out to another place later that week to look for more.  We didn't see any deer this time but lots of sign that the elk had been there recently.  Dad found a nice 4 point shed that was sticking out of the snow.
   So, you may be wondering at this point, why?  I like it!  I like hiking and I like the wildlife.  I am thinking about making some table center pieces with the antlers in my 'free' time though.

Cold Weather Perseverence

"Because of the Lord's faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!"  Lam.3:22-23

 This verse came to my mind frequently as the extreme cold and the problems that came with it started to really 'wear' on me.  The snow was beautiful and very much needed but the extreme cold and ice that stuck around became a daily test of patience and perseverance.  It didn't take long for all of the critters to show that the cold was getting to them too.  The chickens lived in their coup for an entire month which brought lots of extra cleaning of the coup, the goats don't like the snow very well so they would 'cry' from their shelters for food to be brought to them and the arthritis that a few of them now have became very evident as they would limp and shiver their way to the feed; one goat in particular was actually to cold to eat a few times.  The cats had cozy holes in the hay stack and gladly appreciated the path that I made them through the snow to their food.  The bunnies hutches had been filled with lots of straw so that they could burrow in except to eat and drink.  Even the horses after a while seemed to get a bit 'depressed' but always readily accepted the extra hay with never-ending appetites.  The dogs spent more time in the house enjoying the heat from the wood stove then being outside; a couple of them got really good at holding the urge to have to go outside and relieve themselves-this was almost comical as I would open the door to let them out, they'd take one look and turn around-can't say that I blame them.  The hardest thing to deal with in this cold and the most important was the water-hydration for an living living is key to survival and as waterlines started freezing up it got even more challenging.  Thankfully, Bryan was able to get the power finished this year so that we were able to run tank heaters on a few troughs so that helped a lot for the horses, goats and cats.  The chickens had a heat lamp in the coup to keep their water thawed and the dogs have heated water bowls so this left the bunnies and the horses out back to twice daily break ice and water. 

"There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven....."  Ecc.3:1

   Our wind chimes after the snow came in.....sideways.

   We heat our house with firewood so the rack was filled almost daily since the fire was never allowed to go out.

   Despite the cold, some chores had to be kept up on......like cleaning up after the dogs-Marisa's favorite thing to do.

   Jessie sporting the 'winter chore' look and enjoying a little sunshine.

  School work quite often started in front of the wood stove in the morning-notice the puppy curled behind her-she likes it there too!!

 .....and after a while, school moved to the recliner and out she went.  Cold weather seems to have a draining effect even when your in the house most of the time.