A feather garden

It's that time of the year again:

...when walking through the chicken run:

or the chicken coop:

or, basically, any place my chickens have been "hanging out", I see feathers. It's molting season on Critter Farm:

Chickens generally molt in the fall, when the days become shorter than the nights. They lose many of their feathers and new ones grow in their place:

At first, it was mostly small feathers, but then I started to find bigger feathers here and there:

Soon, they were everywhere. I had a hard time just leaving them lying there, all over the ground. They're so pretty:

Before I knew it, I had gathered quite a few:

Then it rained and they took on a whole new look:

Now there are a lot (can you see Roopert the rooster's curly tail feathers on each side?):

I may need another pot:

Pete thinks they're pretty and likes to sniff them:

My poor chickens. Many of my girls are looking like they've had rather invasive bikini waxes. Not an attractive look, if you ask me. :-)

Goats really love celery

Mmmmm....fresh from the garden.

Things I've seen lately

I've been going through a bit of a rough patch. A number of family challenges have surfaced lately that have left me feeling, well, challenged. And sad. I don't have much to say about this, but looking through my pictures from the last few weeks, I notice that this hasn't really lessened my appreciation of the various things going on around me. Here are a few of the things that have been intriguing me or making me smile lately. I'll let you decide which pictures did which. :-)

A very kooky raspberry:

Poison Oak. Did you know it turns various shades of red and yellow in the fall?:

My fall/winter apparel. It kind of looks like a crime scene chalk outline, doesn't it?:

This really cool package that was delivered to our front porch:

A new weather station was inside that package. My husband has proudly (and quite prominently) displayed it off the edge of our deck:

A Fork-Tailed Bush Katydid. We have yet to have our first frost in my part of Oregon - I find it uncanny that in mid-November I am still hearing these guys chirp at night:

Reggie and Pete helping to put up the clear roofing panels onto the chicken run. Thanks, boys:

My oldest son and his girl taking a fall walk with me and the goat boys:

My friend from middle school, Scott, helping me clean out the goat house:

Roxy, my farm pup, mesmerized by a squirrel in a very tall Douglas Fir tree:

A heart in my avocado. I see hearts in the most unexpected places some times:

Lots and lots of Earth Bread ready to go into the oven. This bread is heavenly (and an awful lot of fun to bake with your best friend):

My pal, Marcee, taking my sweet donkey, Beau, for his first "off property" walk. He did *such* a good job!:

A lacy tomatillo. It looks like a piece of art, doesn't it?:

Today, I am especially thankful for my camera and the ability it has to remind me of all the happy stuff that goes on, even when I'm feeling low.

Such a silly thing really

Once upon a time (yesterday morning), I went into the chicken run to give the chickens fresh water. A small stump that I had (ridiculously) positioned next to the coop a few weeks ago...:

tipped over after I went into the run...:

and blocked the door. It wedged itself in such a way that I couldn't open the door far enough to fit my hand through to move the stump. It was an uncomfortably helpless feeling to realize that I was completely stuck:

Though it did leave me with a bit of quality time to spend with my girls:

and Roopert:

Fortunately, I had my cell phone (and my camera). And it was the weekend, so when I made my call, someone was there to answer:

All (chicken) eyes turned at the sound of the footsteps:

of my sweet husband coming to my rescue:

He kindly moved that stump so I could get out. It only looks in the picture below like he's wedging it tighter. And he really only laughed at me for a little bit about getting stuck in the first place:

And now that stump is no longer next to the chicken run door.

The end.

Roxy and Chester

Roxy, my farm pup, is a great big dog personality in a little tiny, prissy white dog body:

Chester, my donkey, is a pushy, alpha male donkey personality in a smaller, compact, feisty donkey body:

Roxy is a smart girl and is extremely wary of the big animals. It's interesting to watch her around them because she always 1) maintains her distance and 2) uses classic non-threatening body language (averting her eyes, turning her body away) when she is in close proximity to them, even when certain bigger, pushier animals are trying to get her attention:

"Hey, you...little DOG!":

No matter what amount of noise or snuffling Chester makes, Roxy will NOT look:

Chester tries to get closer, but Roxy is suddenly fascinated with the ground: "Hmmm....now this is an interesting dirt smell...":

Nope, not gonna look:

Chester can't quite figure out why she won't interact with him:

So the big boy tries a new technique:

This is his classic "scratch my butt" maneuver, used to win over the most die-hard donkey-resistant folks. Still not working, though:

Chester looks to me for help. "Does she really not know I'm here?":

So now they both pretend not to care:

On the other side of the fence, things appear pretty much the same:

Clearly, we're at a bit of an impasse:

Beau, my gray donkey, can't take this ridiculous situation any longer and comes up to talk some sense into Chester:

Apparently it works, because they both suddenly decide they'll benefit more from some cute carrot-begging:

I mean, who can resist faces like these?:

I know I can't:

Roxy, however...

...continues to feign complete disinterest:

I could watch these guys for hours - can you tell that I sometimes do?