Sassy & Sweet Notes

how does your garden grow...

 
The sun was beating down HOT this afternoon, so I was out at the coop refreshing the water containers for the chickens, and the duck (kiddie) swimming pool. In the background, you can see the duck pool. The fabric on the fence is shade cloth, to help keep the afternoon/evening sun off of the chicken yard. What you can't see in the photo are the mammoth sunflowers I have planted along the fence line, behind the container plants. As they grow, they will provide even more shade, and will be beautiful too!

 
While I was there, I thought I would snap some photos to document how the veggies are coming along. This year I decided to grow some veggies in containers, rather than directly in the ground. The soil here leaves much to be desired, and is very VERY shallow. We don't have to dig very deep before we hit rock.

 
Container planting seems to be working out great! This is one of two containers of cucumbers (for pickling), coming along nicely. The containers allow me to easily use better soil, and allow me to organize the containers as necessary for the size of the plants. When the plants were small, it was easy to set the containers side by side. As the have plants have grown in size, I have spread them out a bit, providing each plant with plenty of "elbow room", and lots of space for good ventilation.

The containers I'm using are wooden apple baskets I picked up at the local farm supply store for only a few dollars each. Many of them were nest boxes at one point, before I installed the antique side by side nest boxes for the girls. When compared to containers of similar size at a garden shop, the apple baskets are much more affordable and so far they work just fine for me. They probably won't last more than a couple of seasons, but at least they're made of something that I can compost back into soil.

 
I'm growing several variety of tomato. Some of them are growing gangbusters, and others are just doing so-so. The variety I am least impressed with so far are the "container" specific variety.

 
I might change my mind about them though, when we start to harvest fruit off of them.

 
The zucchini are doing really well. I have three large plants, and all of them have already started showing fruit, and big colorful flowers.

 
Ever wonder what it looks like under the umbrella of zucchini plant leaves?

 
I'm excited for our first fresh from the farm zucchini! Soon, I think, soon!!

 
We also have a couple of very tall volunteer (seeded themselves) sunflowers near the chicken yard. One of them is MUCH taller than me, and has started showing small yellow flower faces near the top. The other plant isn't quite as tall, and is starting to show signs of a big bloom yet to come. I think it's amazing how they grow.

 
And speaking of growing, my mint plant is doing well, too! ...If I could keep the caterpillars from eating it, I'd be even happier!

Spoke Too Soon...

 
Seems like my little protest yesterday about it being 99 degrees this coming Saturday got me into a little trouble with the weather man. Now look what he's promising! The NERVE!

Gnarly Feet, Dude!

 
Admiral's spurs were getting a little out of control, so today he got a pedicure.

 
Each toenail got the tip trimmed off, and the spur was trimmed as close as I dare. The spurs have a quick, just like a toenail -- trim too close, and it'll bleed!

 
Following the trimming, he also received a foot and leg massage with an ample application of bag balm to moisturize his skin, and protect him from leg mites.

Sorry no "after massage" photos -- I didn't feel like getting bag balm all over my camera. *grin*

PS: It's a good thing I took these photos today -- I realized while editing the photos that my camera was set to the smallest image file size, resulting in poor image quality. Good thing I didn't find that out after I took photos of any importance!!

Belly up to the Bar

Hope you're all enjoying the holiday weekend. Yesterday, I managed to sleep in. After getting up with the dogs at 6am, I decided to crawl back into bed and snoooooooze away. Delightful! Alan and I spent the rest of the day doing farm chores, and trying to keep cool - at one point yesterday, the temp hit 96. That was not delightful. In fact, it was downright rude. I took a look at the 10 day forecast.

They're "suggesting" it will be 942 degrees for the next 10 days.

 
And take a look at this.... As if 96 isn't hot enough, I do believe Saturday, June 5th will be our hottest day of 2010 so far (it will get worse, I guarantee). And so it begins. *groan*

Today promises more of the same, followed by a nice BBQ dinner with Alan's parents. I'll be cooking up some BBQ'd ribs, homemade potato salad, baked beans, spinach salad, and roasted corn on the cob. I also made some fresh limeade last night that has been chilling all night long. I can't wait for that refreshing first sip!

 
The chicks are growing like crazy.

 
These photos are a week or two old, and the babies have already changed so much! I need to get out and take more photos, because I tell ya, they grow like weeds!

Oh! And for those of you who were concerned about the little grey colored chick in Edwina's Baker's Dozen, worry no more! That chick is doing just fine! Still a bit smaller than the others, but her papa is a little tiny pip squeak, so she won't get too big herself.

Be safe this holiday weekend!

Cheers to you!

Duck, Duck...Duck!

I'm pretty sure 3 of our 5 ducks are girls, and one of them I'm pretty sure is a boy. But this duck, I'm not sure about...

 
This is a Buff Orpington duck that I'm HOPING is a girl... I'll refer to it as a "she" until proven otherwise. She is in the middle of molting out her first set of feathers, and I'm seeing some darker brown (almost antique gold colored) feathers coming in. Such a pretty little thing... We have two ducks this color, and I think (90% sure) the other one is a male. He barely has a voice at all -- just a whisper of a quack.

 
This is also the duck with the not-so-perfect hip joint. She gets along pretty well, though not as swiftly as the others, but doesn't seem to be in any pain. We hope she continues to get along just fine! We are rather attached to her. She's not able to scratch her jaw on the right side with her foot, and just LOVES it when we scratch it for her. Her little leg twitches just like a dog's leg when you're rubbing a "good" spot. She is also the most tolerating of affection.

 
The ducks love to poke around in the soft soil of the chicken yard. And when I'm changing the water in their swimming pools, they take advantage of the extra water on the ground and create little mud pits for themselves to play in. Kind of looks like chocolate pudding, doesn't it! There's another photo of this duck on this post (freeze-frame a quack), and as you can see, the mud is a big hit with the ducks!

 
This is our fawn & white Indian Runner duck. 90% sure it's a female, and is just about the most comical thing on the farm (aside from Baaaaaad Boxcar Betty!)! She got a Y shaped stick caught on her leg yesterday, and oh my GOSH you would have thought the world was coming to an end! She was quite upset. Thankfully, she did an about-face turn, and the stick fell free. All was well.

 
We also have what was supposed to be a Khaki Campbell, but I believe is a Chocolate Runner who is also very comical. Here she is doing some gardening at the edge of the chicken yard. I now have river rock in this area to keep the ducks from making the soil along the edge of the fencing weak, or eroded. Now they make their mud holes in the center of the chicken yard, and everyone is happy -- including me. *grin*

It wasn't too long ago when the ducks were itty bitty little things, swimming in our bathtub! I can't believe how fast they grew!

I've been tossing around name ideas, but haven't settled on any just yet ... not sure what's taking me so long. But they've got to be right!

Plans...

A holiday weekend is nearly upon us, and let me tell you, I am THRILLED!

#1 on the agenda: A nap.

I need one. I am, quite simply, tired.

I was soooo tired this evening after work - it's been a long week [month(s)] - but I decided I would make a run to the grocery store for the weekend meal items, and necessities we were out of. I knew that I wouldn't even want to think about making a trip to the store on Friday evening and have to muddle around in all of the other shoppers who saved their holiday weekend shopping for Friday.

I'm so happy to have all of that out of the way!

#2 on the agenda: Relaxation (which is different from napping). I need to recharge, and spending good quality time with Alan and the farm critters is just the ticket!

We're supposed to have 93 degree days all weekend. That's awfully HOT for some of the chickens, so maybe just maybe, a few of them will get to take a dip in the pool with me!

#3 on the agenda: BBQ! Sunday we'll have Alan's parents over for a wonderful BBQ dinner. I'm looking forward to it already!

 
What are YOUR plans for this Memorial Day weekend!?

Side Note: When I've mentioned my "real job" in the past, some of you have said that you're surprised to hear that I have a "real job" outside of life on the farm and the other things I do. Yes, it's true... I do have a "real job". I work full-time for a large computer software/security company as a project manager. I've been with the company for about 12 years now and really enjoy what I do, and the people I work with. Many, including me, are fortunate to be able to work from a home office, so I do not have any commute time to a corporate office which saves me 3 to 4 hours a day travel time. Time I can spend working, or feeding chickens. And don't tell anyone I work with, but I can even wear my overalls to work and no one giggles at me! *grin*

Random Thoughts

 
Here's what it's like to walk Daisy and Farley. Notice the out of focus appearance and stretched tight leashes ... probably because I'm being DRUG down the road and it's amazing I don't come home with a skinned chin.

 
Ever freeze-frame a quack?

 
Isn't it true that yellow striped cats are most often male? Why are the majority of ours female?

In other randomness, tonight Alan and I watched (rather quickly, thanks to the DVR) the American Idol finale. Talk about a random show! I'm still not sure how they pulled that lineup together... or why.

 
Did someone say QUACK?

Google's Pac-Man...

How many times did you play over the weekend? 1, 10, 100... more?

Missing the fun? Go here.

And, did you figure out how to play the two-player version?

Go on, insert two coins to play Mr and Mrs Pac-Man at the same time!

Control Mrs Pac-Man using the WASD keys on your keyboard, and control Mr Pac-Man using the arrow keys on your keyboard.

Chainsaw.

 
Chainsaw was the first chick I hatched in the incubator last spring. She's part Silkie, and part bantam Cochin, and is one of *the* favorite critters here on the farm. (It's OK that I choose favorites ... really, it is!) She is particularly fond of Dancing with the Stars, and last season rooted for cowboy Ty Murray.

 
Most every evening while I'm doing the evening chores around the hen house, Chainsaw keeps busy by scratching around in the wood chips in front of the coop. She is a VERY busy chicken and does an excellent job of rearranging the chips.

 
But last night was different. She wanted grass seeds! Alan and I haven't been mowing all of the grass around the chicken coop to allow the grass to seed itself. This makes for very happy chickens, too! (See Wiley in the background, happily scratching around in the wood chips...)

 
Soft blades of grass get gobbled up just like warm spaghetti noodles!

 
But grass seeds take a little more finesse. Some grass seeds are easy to harvest.

 
Others take a bit more effort.

 
Nugget and Teaspoon look on in pure amazement at Chainsaw's persistence and agility.

 
More times than not, a bit of grunting is required to get the best seeds off the stalk.

 
But it's all worth it in the end. Fresh grass seeds are delish!

 
And Chainsaw is not one to share.

 
Wiley on the other hand, is more than willing to share is bounty. Wood chip, anyone?

1+11+13+6

= how many baby chicks we have on the farm as of today! That's right... six more joined the menagerie of critters entertaining us, and now you. I've never been good at math, but I can tell you that 1+11+13+6 = babies galore!

BBC (Brown Barn Chicken) disappeared not quite a month ago, leaving John's Chicken as the only hen at the barn, along with Admiral and Buddy Boy who is the last remaining rooster from last summer's batch of chicks. (All the other hens/roosters are in coops at different places on the farm.) But it would seem that BBC wasn't "gone" from the farm, just "missing".

 
Apparently she was sitting in a location completely out of sight on her own little (20+) nest of eggs! She managed to hatch 6 babies, and brought them out to hunt for bugs this morning. Alan came into the house to wake me after he obtained a count of the chicks. Barely conscious I slipped on my clogs, grabbed the camera, and went out to meet the new little flock.

 
It may not surprise you to hear me say that I *love* baby chickens. It's true... I do. And look at the stripes on these little guys! 

 
BBC is an Easter Egger hen, and lays pretty green eggs. The pullets (pullets=girls) in this batch of chicks should lay green eggs too, since both Admiral and Buddy Boy are Easter Egger fellas and *should* carry the green egg laying gene, and pass it along to their offspring.

 
Their wing feathers are just barely starting to show, which leads me to believe that these babies hatched late yesterday. Their wing feathers will grow quickly and soon they will lose their unbearably cute fluffy fuzz and be a mix of new incoming feathers and thin fuzz as they outgrow their fluff.

 
Baby chickens and mother hens make life on the farm extra peaceful. Like things are the way they are meant to be.

 
Fuzzy butts. *giggle*

 
What is not to love about baby chickens...

 
I have another cute little farm update to share with you tomorrow... it features Chainsaw! Stay tuned!

How About a Baker's Dozen? (Video)

Happy Saturday morning! I've got a baker's dozen to share with you this morning... enjoy!

Edwina hatched out 13 little itty bitty bantams, and I'm pretty sure they couldn't be any cuter!

Camouflage and Bug Hunts

As I was downloading these photos, all I could think of was how nicely camouflaged the babies are in their environment.

 
And you can't tell me this fluffy little baby chicken's bum isn't cute!

 
The stripes really help break up the outline of the chick's body, making her blend into her surroundings even better!

 
Even the coloring on her little wing feathers helps her blend in. The barring of color on the feathers really looks like the color variations of the ground.

 
I imagine being camouflaged with your surroundings helps when hunting bugs, too!

 
Even John's Chicken has some nice camouflage attire with the variation of color in her feathers.

 
More bug hunting demonstrations took place...

 
...as it would seem that some paid better attention than others.

 
And, some even less.

 
Thankfully, it's OK to ask questions and offer advice.

 
And working with a buddy is strongly encouraged.

 
But it's always nice to have someone do the "cooking" for you.

Too Close...

This afternoon, our area was put under Tornado Watch, Severe Thunderstorm Warning, and Tornado Warning. They weren't kidding... I took all of these storm photos between 5:15pm - 5:30pm this evening.  They are posted in order of how they were taken.

 
This is looking northwest from our farm. You can just barely see the neighbor's place on the right side of the photo. Their house is less than 3/4 mile from ours. This is the field that I photograph the longhorn cattle in.

 
Then I went to the other side of the house to our back pasture and took this photo looking southeast towards town. I'm not sure which sky is more menacing. You can barely see the water tower in our small town, about 2 miles from our farm.

 
After locking up the chicken coop, I went back to the front of the house to watch the clouds. We knew that rotation had been seen in our area, so we were on the lookout.

 
We could actually see the large sweeping circle of the storm, with the rain coming down right out of the center.

 
There was a slight breeze, but I certainly wouldn't say it was "windy".

 
We could see the rain coming closer.

 
Closer still... at this point I decided I'd better lock up the goats...they don't like to get wet.

 
I took this photo on my way back to the house from the barn...Whoa...

 
Thankfully, it dissipated... at 5:30 the rain started and I was under cover. It rained for about 45 minutes or so, and then I returned outside to see what I could see...

 
Amazingly enough, we were given a beautiful sunset while the storm moved southwest of us. The clouds from another storm move west of us.

Sunset.

 

We had a beautiful sunset this evening, and I happened to be outside to see it. Thought I'd share!

   

I think it looks like Africa (if you ignore the fence line). But, it's just central Texas.

ELEVEN!

 

John's Chicken hatched 11 of the 12 eggs she was nesting on! Go, John's Chicken, Go!! Here they are getting a lesson on bug hunting.

There are only 9 chicks in this photo. The two other chicks got taken in the house prior to the photo opp for a day or so while the last-to-hatch gets some strength. I don't think she was quite ready to take on the world when John's Chicken decided it was time to leave the nest and search for grub. Still a little damp, the smallest of them all, and super wobbly, she needs a bit of TLC before she joins her flock mates. The other chick we brought in the house is just fine, and was only brought in because it's good for babies to have a friend. They are very social creatures, and do so much better when they have a friend.

So there you have it... ELEVEN!

Surprise!

 
Alan found John's Chicken sitting on a nest of eggs in the goat house, back in the corner where we can't reach her. Apparently, she decided that was the best place to take up residency. How many chicks do you count?

Yesterday morning we knew she'd hatched at least one chick... Alan saw it, but I only heard it.

 
As of this morning, she had hatched more babies... How many chicks do you count now?

 
How many chicks do you count now?

 
Now how many chicks do you count? I'll give you a hint... ____ is enough. But is it really? I don't think so...   I think there are at least 9 chicks, since there's a little pale yellow one with a little black spot on the top of it's head that is visible in the third photo, but doesn't seem to be visible in this last photo.

Alan knows she was sitting on 12 eggs. We should be able to get a final count on the chicks tomorrow or Tuesday. She'll have the chicks out and about when either all of the eggs hatch and the babies get their newly hatched wobbles under control, OR she's sure that the other eggs aren't going to hatch. What a good mama John's Chicken turned out to be!

 
Bad Boxcar Betty says "WHAT?! BABIES IN MY GOAT HOUSE!?"
And from the looks of things, Bad Boxcar Betty has been snorting around in the tall grass, where there is lots of pollen!

 
Admiral says "Happy Father's Day to me! Cockadooodledoooooo"

And before you even ask, YES, yes it's true... we have Christmas lights on the goat pen next to the barn. They need holiday decor, too!

i love the weekend

 

I've been working a lot of extra hours recently, and just haven't had time for much else. Hopefully I'll start to get more time in the evenings to be crafty, soon! I thought I would share this card I made using images from my recently released Whipper Snapper cling set called Think Happy Thoughts.

 
I stamped the image in black Memento ink on linen paper and colored her with markers. I used some distress ink to warm up the edges of all the layers, and added some vintage buttons for extra charm.

 
I even decorated the backside with another one of my stamp images, from a set called Signature Series. This is one set that never leaves my workspace!

Now, I'm off to run errands. I can't remember the last time I went to the grocery store ... and there's not much else in the fridge besides farm fresh eggs. Time to hit the market!

Enjoy the weekend!

Happy Birthday, Mom!!

 
I hope you have a beautiful day!! Happy Birthday!!

Alan says "Happy Birthday, Mrs. Wight!"

The photo above is Mom (on the bike) looking so cute in her pedal pushers and striped t-shirt, and my lovely Aunt Judy.

The Goats (Video)

For all you Bad Boxcar Betty fans ... *grin*

Happy Mother's Day!

To all you Moms out there, have a wonderful day!

Enjoy these photos taken of mothers on the farm throughout the years. We've had a lot of mothers here, that's for sure!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Happy Mother's Day!

Joy on the Farm (Video)

Here's a little treat for you today... enjoy!

Do I Smell a Weekend?

 
The company I work for recently had a RIF (reduction in force), and my immediate team lost a lot of talented workers and friends. They are missed not simply because there was more of us to do the work, but missed because they were all great people. There is now, literally, a handful of us doing the work of what used to be done by many. Am I thankful I still have a job? YES! I love my job! But I'm also thankful for weekends! I need a few just to catch up!

An A Muse Birthday Blog Hop!

 

A Muse stamps grabbed my attention when I first started stamping in 2005, and I've been an A Muse fan ever since. So it is a true honor to be an invited designer helping A Muse celebrate their 9th birthday!

 
Part of the birthday celebration means, of course, new stamps! Everything's Rosy releases today, and the images couldn't be more beautiful! For this card, I chose to use Bursting Blooms and the Flowers Whisper sentiment. The small trio of leaves on the stem of the flower is from the Bare Branch with Leaves stamp.

If you've never participated in a blog hop before, it's simple! The hop begins at the A Muse blog where there is a list of participating designers who have created projects featuring the new release. Visit each blog, ooooh and ahhhh over the wonderful inspiration shared. You are invited to participate in a giveaway at each designer's blog.

Each designer is giving away an image and a sentiment, and the A Muse blog will giveaway a Grand Prize to one LUCKY winner! Entry is simple... just leave a comment and that enters you into the drawing. One winner will be chosen randomly from each designer's blog. The winner will receive the stamps selected by that particular designer. 

If you win from my blog, you will receive Bursting Blooms and the Flowers Whisper sentiment, both shown on the above card.

Winners will be announced on Monday, May 10th on the A Muse blog.  A Grand Prize winner will be chosen randomly from all comments on all blogs, so the more places you comment, the more chances you have to win!

 
For this card, I chose to use the Marigold Solid image, and again the trio of leaves from the Bare Branch with Leaves stamp, just for a pop of green. I stamped the four marigold images using the same ink, but varied the intensity of color by "stamping off" the image on scrap paper before stamping each lighter impression.

 
For this card, I chose to use the Flutterby Flock image along with the Hello sentiment. Once I had the butterflies stamped, I added a glittery cardstock butterfly for a bit of dimension. Quick and easy!

 
Finally, for this card I chose to use the Bare Branch with Leaves image, as well as the Dreams Take Flight sentiment. To give a sense of motion to the butterfly, I added a swoopy line of faux stitching. Having a couple of EK Success butterfly punches really came in handy!

Now, pop on over to Becky Rusher's blog at http://thepolkadotcafe.blogspot.com, and check out her incredible inspiration! And while you're there, check out her other card designs too! Becky's projects ALWAYS inspire me! Tell her I say hello! *grin*

Participating Designers:

A Muse Blog: http://amusenews.typepad.com
Krystie Hersch - http://www.cupcakemartini.com
Lisa Spangler - http://sideoatsandscribbles.wumple.com
Lexi Daly - http://www.confetti.typepad.com
Anna Wight - http://sweetmissdaisy.typepad.com (you are here)
Becky Rusher - http://thepolkadotcafe.blogspot.com
Elena Shacochis - http://thestampingshac.blogspot.com
Lisa Strahl - http://apetitepalette.blogspot.com
Emily Montenaro - http://stampingscoops.blogspot.com
Jennifer McGuire - http://www.jennifermcguireink.com
Heather Meeson - http://onelittlespark.typepad.com
Julie Ebersole - http://www.papertrufflez.typepad.com

 
Happy Birthday, A Muse!!

Sunday Photos

It was a Sunday, but it certainly wasn't lazy! After a quick run to the grocery store and the feed store this morning, I spent the rest of the day working outside. Here are a few photos of my day...

 
Here I am, in my new hat, in desperate need of some water to drink!

 
My tomatoes are coming along nicely! Can't wait to enjoy them! ...and the chickens think they'll get to enjoy them too, but I have news for those silly chickens!

 
I planted lavender in my big aluminum water container. It should fill in nicely! (Clearly, no longer used for water...)

 
I planted new hanging baskets of spinach and lettuce. Grow little seeds, grow! ...it's amazing how big this photo makes the mulch in the soil look!

 
I started some cucumber and squash seeds in little peat discs. Later this summer, we'll have tasty homemade pickles! Grow little seeds, grow!

 
More tomatoes growing out near the chicken yard.

 
A month or more ago I planted some dahlia tubers -- probably not early enough, but things get done around here when things get done. They're coming along nicely too... I can't remember what else I put in the bed, so it will be interesting to see how things progress. Can't wait for the flowers!

 
I also came across this situation today...

 
Apparently, I need to cut a larger hole in the lid of the water container the ducks use when they're in the brooder during the day! No ducks were harmed in the incident. *grin*

Hope you had an enjoyable weekend! Come Monday, it's full speed ahead again.

Wild Texas Pigs

Alan and I had a really long work week, and it has been ages since we've done anything just for "fun" away from the farm. This morning we decided to take a road trip down to Waco to do a bit of poking around.

 
About two miles from home, we saw this family of wild pigs along the side of the road. We pulled over to take a photo and just as Alan took the first photo, the camera battery died. Then the family of 6 ran off into the woods and back to the safety of the trees. Such LUCK!

 
Here's a closer look at the family. The piglets are quite large already! I'm guessing that is the boar (dad) closest to the tree line. He was the gnarliest looking of the group. The sow (mama) is the second one from the tree line. See if you can see all four babies...