I stopped and got two new chickens on the way to Possum Manor West on Friday. I completely stole the idea from Maria up the hill. She posted a picture of her new Silkie chicken, and I fell in love. They are fuzzie chickens that seem much more docile than others. They are soooo cute. We do not have a name for the two yet (I name all the breed the same; makes it so much easier. They really stayed away from the others at first, and they did not even sleep in the chicken house the first night. All is well now. They get chased every once in a while, but I don’t think they are in danger. I am glad I got two of them; because they pal around and snuggle together when they sleep. They are sweet things and actually let you pet them. Thanks Maria!

This is one of the Billie Jeans. They are getting huge! The Rebas are even getting bigger than these. Their feet are unbelievably big. I did not get a photo.

This is part of the chicken house. We decided on a ladder type roost, as it is very difficult to attach things to the cinder block walls. If this proves to be too small, I will make a second one. Actually, I think it might be a good idea to plan on making a second one. They have used it already. How do I know? Poop. That is how I know.

This was a shelving unit that Ann’s dad made. They liked to sit in it anyway, so I put some of the nesting boxes in it. I just had to remove every other shelf. Not an easy task since those bolts had been in there about forty years!

It seems my nesting boxes are a bit premature. They took all the straw from these during the night. I will wait a few months, until they are actually nesting, to fill them again.

These use to be forty dollar Crocs, but Brando still chews shoes. They are now what we use to go into the chicken coop. They are fondly referred to as the poop shoes.

I am planning of building nesting boxes for the chickens this weekend, so expect massive numbers of photos on Sunday!

Until then…….you can look at okra…ugh.

We had a little ceremony, and buried the Gidget near the driveway. Hopefully the others will make it. We know they need to be outside, but we cannot leave them out at night because of the coyotes.

Brando still spends most of his time drooling over the girls in the hen house. We had to buy a spray for the chicken wire, so that he would hate the taste and stop grabbing it in his mouth while he tries to tear it down.

Brando is part Sharpei and, we are sure, part hound. His bark is pure hound. Well, he points also. He stalks the chickens and freezes in the point stance. It is pretty funny.

I also got another photo of him showing his intelligence. Carrie and Ann say he is very smart because he figured out how to get into the hen house last weekend, but this photo contradicts their opinions.

I left the ladder in the hen yard because I had not yet finished the wire work. I think the chickens are telling us they are ready for a roost. It is one of my jobs for next weekend. A roost and nesting boxes.

That is one of the Billie Jeans. I took a close up of one of them also. I think it is pretty good.

Isn’t that a good one? These chickens become more beautiful each week. When I walk into the hen house or just into their yard, they come running around my feet. I would like to think it is because they know who I am, but I do know they know people bring food, and they live to eat.

Well, first of all, one of the chickens got out of the fence. I am assuming she got onto the old dog house and then just flew or jumped over the fence. Why? Because Brando the bully got into the fence and scared the heck out of them. He trapped the one and I am sure would have killed it if we had not gotten there in time. I don’t think he is mean, and he did not want to eat the chicken, but he is worried that any living thing on earth is a threat to his food. Side note: He threw up the other day and then guarded it for a long time. He would not allow another dog near. Anyway, this was Friday evening when he scared the life out of that poor chicken. We hunted and hunted and hoped for the best. Saturday, still no chicken. We looked under everything and figured she was dead somewhere. Well, late on Saturday Carrie saw the chicken on the other side of the fence, a bit up the mountain. We quickly put feed near the fence to keep her there, and Ann s l o w l y crept around the back of the fence in hopes of catching her. Long story short, Ann had me open the window of the chicken house, which was near where the chicken was. Within about thirty seconds, she hopped, happily I might add, into the hen house.

I have finally named the chickens. There is now way I can tell them all apart, so I just named them by breed. The Aracanas are all Billie Jean. Remember that movie from the 80’s where a teen aged girl ran away and people started hanging signs all over in support of her? I think it was called “The Legend of Billie Jean.” So, the runaway was an Aracana…thus they are called Billie Jeans. The Rhode Island Reds are all named Reba. They are thin and red headed. The babies are all Gidget. the photo below is one Billie Jean and one Reba. This was Ann’s dad’s work shop and is now the hen house. It is only a third of it, and it is plenty of room. We are going to move the table at the left and the the red thing at the right. We need to make nesting boxes soon.

These are the Gidgets. They are becoming speckled and will eventually be black and white tweed.They are very friendly.

These are the Rebas and the Billie Jeans.

This is the runaway Billie Jean.  She was very happy to be home.

We spend the day securing the hen yard. We do not want them to fly out, nor do we want something to fly in to get them. We have to think of hawks and also coyotes. We were going to put chicken wire across the whole yard area, but that stuff was not easy to work with. So, we found the plastic chicken fencing and use that. It was a much easier task. I know it will not keep the coyote out if they really wanted to get it and had brought their scissors, but it will be a deterrent. We will think of something to make it coyote proof next. We actually thought of barbed wire on the edges of the fence, but that stuff is hard to work with. Suggestions?????

Ann’s dad built that dog house for RD years ago. When he built something, he built something. It is so dang heavy that three of us could not carry it. So, we pushed it to the middle, and it will give the chickens a home away from home. They will technically be free range, within reason. They can come and go from the chicken house into the yard. It is about 15 x 40, so I think they will have plenty of room.

Coming this evening, I hope.

We have eight one month old chicks, four Aracanas and four Rhode Island Reds. We have four two week old chicks that are the beautiful black and white ones, Barred Rock.

This is what they look like now:

This is what they will look like! The will be beautiful and none of them will lay white eggs!!

Our dogs were not happy being kept inside while we corralled the chickens and built them a Taj Mahal.

Xena looked out of the window at us.

Carrie’s cat stayed in the rafters of the chicken house just watching. He left when we stapled the chicken wire.

Brando does not make himself uncomfortable ever. He was a maniac when outside because he smelled the chickens. Once inside, however, he finds the nearest bed.

The garden at Possum Manor West is really doing well. Carrie has a green thumb for sure.

Okra, lots of okra….UGH

Today we went to Cherokee and down into Maggie Valley. The view was very good.  I cannot wait to go to the same spot in the fall and get the valley in full color.

We also stopped on New Found Rd. and took a photo of beautiful Leicester, but the pictures really did not turn out as good as I had hoped.  I thought of using that electrical line as a zip line, but I really wanted to live to teach another year with nasty, unappreciative ninth graders.  Can you tell it is that time of year again?

“M is for murder, a movie that is, Mackinaw Island and Bridge, mink, motels, manufacturing, and (I slap my arm) mosquitoes.” Cannot believe I still remember that!!!

My brother Dave and sister-in-law Debbie, my sister Diane, her husband Stewart, and my niece Olivia all met at my brother’s cottage for the weekend. My nephew Ryan brought his three kids (Emma, Connor, and Ben) for a part of the weekend. The kids get along wonderfully, and are all interesting. Sadly Connor got sick right after breakfast on Saturday and Emma got sick around dinner time. Ryan took Ben and Connor home early in the day. Poor kids. I don’t mean whiny not feeling good sick, I mean really sick.

Ok, I have taken photos of hummingbirds my entire adult life. This is the first time I have gotten the wing speed in the photo.  I think this is a darn good photo.

This is Olivia, age 7, getting ready to pulled behind the boat, in a tube.  We convinced her that the sun glasses just might come off. She opted for goggles, and they can be seen in a later photo.

My brother decided that taking the kids in the canoe was a good idea.  Connor, age 4, opted out of the canoe before it left the shore. He wanted steady ground. The girls went with him to the little nearby beach/play area, and they were so thrilled because they went swimming in their clothes.

I took this one morning before everyone was up and about.

This next one is part of the Lake Michigan shore line, but Lake Michigan was behind me. I thought the dunes were so nice with the clouds.

I am not sure why this is in the parking lot of a produce store. I am wondering how many times a year it takes a shot or two; if I hunted, I doubt I could resist.

Did you know some dolls, at least American Girl dolls, come with wheel chairs?  I think it is great; although I am really not ready to see prosthetic Barbie.

Emma, age 6, made her first raft jump this summer. This is a big deal, and I got it on film.

Olivia does not have a fearful bone in her body.  She was ready, goggles and all, and did a very good job.