Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Back at the Coop

Howdy all. 

The Farmy adventure is over and Mama Hen is back at home in Colorado.  The chickens are doing well, under the care of Papa Hen and for a couple days, our chicken sitter.  It's quite a change to have five hens to care for rather than chickens in three different coops.  Chores go so quickly here at Red Door Coop!

Fitz and BB were especially friendly today.
Bill was busy choosing a nesting box.

Weezy was getting the job done in another nesting box.
And Lou was typical Lou, all up in everyone's business.





Friday, June 26, 2015

June Storm

This morning, Kim and Cecilia worked in the barn while I got things going in the kitchen as today's Kitchen Mama.  When the skies opened up after lunch we were all holed up inside for a bit.  Cooking, chatting, cleaning.  Then back outside.  The animals must be fed, you know.




Thursday, June 25, 2015

Farmy Animals












For more on our day visit The Kitchens Garden.

Sleepy Dog

Boo dreaming after a busy day.

A Colorado Day

If you are not familiar with Colorado weather then you need to know that in Colorado there is a saying: if you don't like the weather then wait for fifteen minutes and it will change.  Our day at The Farmy was like that.    

Morning sun.
My pal Ton helping tend the chickens in the back field. Ton's always got something in his mouth for us to throw for him.  There's one surprise after another with his selections of grass, feathers, pebbles, sticks so small you can't see them in his mouth, sticks so big he can barely pick them up, or the occasional dog toy.  
Marmalade supervising the sunny morning chores.
 The baby turkeys peeping their way around the turkey house.
Snout, I mean Poppy, saying good morning.  To see Poppy's best side, dip your toes in the trough here.
Today was a day of gardening for me, Kitchen Mama for Kim, and a little bit of everything for C.  I fed the vegetable gardens in a light drizzle and weeded and transplanted some huge rhubarb plants in the sun.  There were also chickens to feed, dogs to pet, and delicious eats to eat from the Kitchen Mama. 

There is dirt under my nails that might never clean off. 

After a sunny dinner and rainy dessert time I found the verandah to enjoy a few minutes of rest.


Wednesday, June 24, 2015

1940s Kitchen Mama

I had the privilege of being Kitchen Mama yesterday.  The camera rested on the kitchen counter while I cooked, baked, and then took a break to chase a broody hen with Kim.  It was fun to prepare the meals of the day in addition to prepping some things for the days to come.  When Kim wasn't busy with the birds, the wool, or cleaning baby birdie houses, she was a huge help in the kitchen.  That was fun!

On the agenda (and menu) were:
Vanilla Ice Cream with cookie crumbles (from cookies baked by Kim)
Tending the sourdough starter
Baking Pita Bread (from Roger's flatbread recipe)
Paninis and Smoothies for lunch
Baking Nut and Seed Crackers
Cooking dinner for everyone.  I made Shakshuka

I've made bread a few times on my own but always feel a bit nervous about baking with yeast.  In one of my first post-college jobs I had a big argument with yeast while making English Muffins from scratch for the brunch menu at a restaurant.  The yeast won.  I barely made it through the day.  And my confidence in working with the beast, yeast, has always been low.  Until yesterday.  Pita Bread! 
For a bigger and better picture of our day at The Farmy, visit Miss C.

Monday, June 22, 2015

Marmalade the Hunter

Marmalade's tree climbing is epic.  Last night she carried a tiny blue robin's egg in her mouth down from a nest in the highest branch of a tall tree.  That was sad.  But impressive.

This morning,  I put down my weeding tool to watch her find a comfortable spot in this small tree.

Holly Hobbie, the Cat Whisperer

We fixed a gate today.  We meaning Holly Hobbie (aka Kim), the Cat, and me.











 Mission accomplished.

Sunday, June 21, 2015

At The Farmy

I arrived at The Farmy this afternoon.  After greeting all the animals I dove into the garden.  Thistles and other weeds, Be Gone!  Clearly, there was more play time with the animals.  Take a look at some of the characters here.

Brenda and Freya were hopping all over.
The dogs were ready to play about 30 seconds after I arrived.  It was good to see these old friends.
 This is just one of the many chicken homes here.

We had a lovely farm dinner on the screened porch.  Pasta with pesto (Fede's pesto recipe), a salad, and Fede's delicious flan.  It's great to be back at The Farmy.



More tomorrow. 


Saturday, June 20, 2015

Complacency

...is a disease.  And that's what chickens get when chicken owners are complacent.  After all the rain we've had, there's been a bit more water in Red Door Coop than normal.  We've been busy doing all kids of things besides cleaning out the coop (and I mean a deep cleaning, we clean up after the chickens every day) and now they are paying for it.  The birds got lice again.  We discovered it when Fitz was acting a little wonky this morning.  Luckily, experience is a good teacher.  We dropped other tasks--camper, sprinkler, packing for a trip--and cleaned the coop and nesting boxes, dosed the birds with the magic powder, and did a little redecorating in the spartan style.  Red Door Coop is nearly empty of chicken furniture at the moment.

Here are the chickens back in the coop, recuperating.

Monday, June 15, 2015

June Days

We've had a cloudy-rainy-sunny-cloudy-rainy-sunny June so far.  I've been planting the garden and flowers in between storms.  Some have had to be replanted after hail storm destruction.  But we carry on.  The chickens are carrying on as well.
BB loves to be photographed.

The rain has given us a very green lawn this year.

I'll soon be visiting a place where things are much busier than at Red Door Coop, The Farmy.  Counting down the days now...