More Puppies!

When we went to bed around 2 am we thought Molly was all done having puppies.  She had seven very regularly about a half hour apart, then nothing for well over an hour.  We put down fresh bedding, made sure everyone was dry and warm and came in the house. 

   

When Rick went out to check on her this morning – surprise! Three more puppies for a total of ten.  

Molly handled giving birth to the other three pups just fine without us.  She’s been amazingly calm and collected and seems to know exactly how to take care of her babies.

The puppies of course are adorable.  Seven white ones with heeler markings and three black ones that look like Molly.  We haven’t discovered yet how many males and females.  Any guesses?

Puppies!

We are happy to announce the safe delivery of seven puppies late on the 24th and into the early morning on the 25th.   

Mama Molly is doing well and she was a real trooper.  She was cool and collected and very calmly went about her business.  

More details to follow soon.  For now, it’s been a long evening for everyone and we are all going to bed. 

Any guesses on how many boys and girls?

P.S. To Alex:  Molly really appreciates the use of your old sleeping bag.  I don’t think you are going to want it back

That’s a Birdbath!

While I was waiting for Rick one day, I caught this robin in action – very enthusiastically splashing around and enjoying the water.    

 

After her bath she seemed a little damp, but very pleased with herself.

The most entertaining part of this was her choice of bathing facility.  Can you guess what it is?

Here is a clue.

A bit more of the picture.    

Here is the rest of the story.  It had rained the night before, and we were at our friends house.  John’s old – and not very recently registered – dump truck had accumulated quite a puddle from the rain.  A robin hopped right in and made good use of the ”birdbath.”  

I think the truck is a little large to fit in most yards, but it did attract the bird, and it made a great bath.

Fungi and Foliage

It is chanterelle mushroom season again. We went out the other day to see how many we could find.  It was a beautiful, crisp fall day.  The leaves have started turning and the colors are very vibrant against the backdrop of the evergreens.  

 The maple leaves are my favorite.  Gold, yellow and reds. 

Most of the chanterelle mushrooms are a buttery yellow color – almost the same as the fallen leaves which makes them harder to find.  

We are very careful  to only pick the two types of mushrooms we are absolutely sure are safe.  Chanterelles in the fall and morels in the spring. 

There are probably at least fifty types of mushrooms that grow in this area, and some folks around here eat a lot of the others.  We are not that brave, but there are some interesting looking ones. 

Chanterelle’s are very popular in this region.  The grocery stores and farmer’s markets sell them fresh in season.  They even have them at Costco.  

We found quite a few chanterelles, including some of the rare white ones. Probably about four or five pounds all together.

 

Rinsed off and ready to chop.

Chopped and spread on the dehydrator trays. 

We enjoyed the beautiful day and have plans for the ushrooms. Fresh, homemade cream of mushroom soup mmmgoood.

She’s 21!

Our baby is 21 years old today – it doesn’t seem possible.  I wish I had some pictures of Megan when she was a little girl to post - but alas those are all in storage at the moment.  I will have to settle for some fairly current pictures in different settings. Here she is in New York with her friend Ashley just after they graduated from high school.

  Playing in the snow at the ranch.

 

 With Brandon this summer overlooking Ross Lake.

With Grizzly – who has been trained not to climb on people. 

This photo also says Megan to me.  She loves shoes.  When Megan visits, you are liable to find her shoes anywhere and they will be very cute, designer shoes at that. 

Here is her senior picture from high school; note the shoes.

With Brandon and Rick on the bridge over the Skagit River.

With her Dad.

We are a little sad not to see her on her birthday - she is in Texas.  We will see her soon when we have Thanksgiving with her this year in Aggieland.  Happy Birthday Megan!

Is She or Isn’t She?

Our hens have begun to regularly lay eggs.  I don’t know how they know they are supposed to lay them in the nest boxes, but for the most part they do. A couple of the hens laid their first egg on the floor in the corner, but now they are in the boxes.

Though they have twelve boxes to choose from, the hens all seem to favor the same two or three to lay their eggs.  You often find four, and sometimes as many as six, eggs in one nest.  

The hens are pretty mellow about us gathering the eggs.  When we open the egg doors in the back of the box sometimes there is a hen still on the nest.  We just reach under her and get the eggs.  They are very curious, but that is about it.  I remember my Grandma’s hens would peck at you when you gathered eggs, so I’m glad these are nicer.     

It has been interesting to see the variety of colors of the eggs.  I knew different breeds laid different colored eggs; some even lay green and blue tinted eggs, but assumed all the Austrolorp’s eggs would be the same color brown.  Not so.  There are a lot of colors ranging from a barely buff to chocolate brown eggs.   

The sizes have also been surprising.  Some very small, which according to the chicken book is typical for new layers. They are very cute, and fun to eat.  You can easily fit three or four of these little ones poached on one piece of toast.  Some have been quite large and most of those have double yolks.

  

The hens are laying so well we have started supplying eggs to some of our neighbors.  It is a good thing we started saving cartons when we got the chicks – they are filling up fast.   

 

I had wondered if Bernadette would start laying at about the same time as the other chickens, and if her eggs would be larger?  I have a definite answer now.  Bernadette will not be laying eggs – ever.  In fact Bernadette is not a hen, she or actually he is a very late blooming rooster.  Our nephew Nick has always said Bernadette was awkward and wierd and now we know why,  she is a HE. 

Nick said she always seemed like she didn’t fit in with the others, and he was right.  Bernard as she is now known, is truly the odd man out.  We had suspicions when we heard someone making what sounded like crowing noises, but couldn’t tell for sure.  Lately however he has started pursueing the hens very vigorously to fulfill his husbandly responsibilities.  The hens do not appreciate his attention one bit.   

 He’s a lot larger than the hens, partially because he’s a rooster and partially because of his breed.  He is a Cochin of some type.  

Unfortunately for Bernard, we do not need a rooster.  The hens lay quite well without one.  We especially do not need a Cochin rooster – in case we ever did want more chicks we don’t want them to be half Cochins which is not a good laying breed.  So, I believe Bernard will the star attraction at a barbeque in his honor very soon.

First Snow

The first snow of the season dusted the mountain tops around us last night.

Fall is definitely in the air – and winter feels soon to follow.

Isn’t this a picturesque farm?  I always enjoy looking at it as we cross the bridge into town.  It has flooded several times over the years as it is barely a stone’s throw from the Skagit River, but it looks beautiful – especially with the dusting of snow on the mountains.

The weather people around here say we are going to have a fairly mild winter this year and I hope they are right.  It does seem a little early for snow though – a portent of things to come?

Because I thought it was time for something new, I’ve changed the look of the blog.  Don’t the new colors remind you of fall?

The Scenic Route

A few weeks ago, after we dropped Megan and Brandon off at the airport in Seattle, we decided to take the scenic route home instead of our usual straight shot up I-5.  There is a lot of area around here that we have never explored.  We drove through some beautiful countryside and took a short ferry ride to Whidbey Island.  As we wandered up the island we came upon a nice sandy beach.  Several boats were just sitting out on the sand.  I assume they float when it is high tide?  I had never seen boats parked on the sand.

We also discovered the light house with views of Admiralty Inlet and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We’ve never lived where there were lighthouses nearby, so that was a nice surprise.  We toured the inside and climbed around and around the winding stairs to the top – what a view!

Years ago the lighthouse keeper and his family lived there. The lighthouse is not in operation anymore and is being restored.  Inside  the house are mementos of the families who lived here over the years. 

Next to the lighthouse overlooking the bay are a series of World War I era gun emplacements which were part of the coastal defense system.  A coast artillery post features two 10-inch and two 3-inch historic guns on display.

Here is the view of the gun emplacements looking out towards the water. 

The guns were part of Fort Casey, an army camp here that was charged with coastal defense.  The guns were never fired in battle, but there are pictures of them test firing.    

There is some interesting information about Fort Casey and its mission inside the lighthouse museum.

The guns are gone now but the bunkers remain.

 

We were getting hungry by this time, so we drove into the nearby town of Coupeville, a quaint little place overlooking Penn Cove.  

It was a beautiful, warm afternoon so we ate on the deck of this little restaurant at the end of the pier.  The building is part of the old grain wharf.  What a view!

The town is right at the water’s edge.

After lunch we continued our drive over the bridge at Deception Pass. 

Then back up to Hwy 20 and towards the Cascades to our own little ranch.  A very enjoyable side trip and we learned about some new places (to us) in the area.  We should take the scenic route more often.

Happy Birthday Russell!

Today is Russell’s (Rick’s Dad) Birthday – hope you enjoy your special day.  Here are a few photos of one of my favorite people.  This was taken at the tulip festival this past spring.

He and Rick raking out the rocks from the planting bed in the spring.  That bed is now covered with pumpkins.

Russell petting the puppies.  Grizzly always hogs most of the attention.

On the way home from Nick’s wedding, we all stopped at Russell’s favorite In-N-Out Burger for lunch.

                                            Happy Birthday!

More Money Than Sense?

I went to our little post office in town yesterday to mail a package to my favorite college student (yes Megan your apron is in the mail).  When I pulled into the parking lot I noticed lots of fancy cars parked around the local restaurant next door. 

It is not unusual to see car clubs and lots of motorcycles stopped here.  Hwy 20 is officially the North Cascades Highway and part of the Cascade Loop, so our little town gets lots of visitors passing through on nice summer weekends. 

I am not a car person at all, but even I could tell these were very fancy sports cars.

I just don’t get why anyone would spend enormous sums of money on a vehicle.  Don’t they all drive on the same roads and have the same speed limit?

They all park in the same parking lot?  I don’t get it – why would you spend as much on a car as you would on a house?  And they are so small – where would you put the groceries? Maybe more money than good sense?

I still have no idea what kind of cars these are – I’ll leave that to you car people.  They did get a lot of attention in town though