and then there were three

Massacre in the hen houses two nights ago.
It happens to other people but we have never experienced it before and it's awful.

Three survivors - one silkie hen and the 2 barred rocks.

5 Silkie babies and 3 silkie hens vanished  with just the odd puff of feathers.

the 2 Ameracunas and Silkie rooster bodies were left - 1 in each coop and one behind a coop - the heaviest birds

Vasco, Marco, Roo, Rav, Veronica and Momma and babies- you will be deeply, sorely missed.

I feel like I failed them in some way but I have no idea what we could have done differently. 4 years of chicken keeping and I spent most of the first two years worrying about this. Then I relaxed.

Hope whatever it was (most likely suspect is a fisher) doesn't come back ever let alone any time soon
.

DeVareHarri Truck has no hair in it at all

Blue, gorgeous, exciting the farm truck is also spotless, unscratched and AWESOME!

It drives like a car - way too easy to speed in and has a huge gas tank (over 100 liters) the only two tiny issues with it. 

It is so like the Ranger and so opposite too - it has bells and whistles I've never even imagined (pedals move towards your feet if you want, remote car start (yah I've dreamed of that actually), adjustable mirrors on both sides from drivers side, electric brake, tow package, and a system that lets the car sync to my phone. 

Yet again, full of gratitude and love.

how does your garden grow?

We've had another long dry spell and it's impacted the garden this year. The lettuce, herbs, tomatoes, peas radishes and beans all have managed with a little help from us. The garlic crop is great. The carrots are small - but the rabbits enjoyed the thinnings and I know the horses will enjoy whatever we don't eat.

Cucumbers, corn, spaghetti squash and zucchini?
Failures. Monumental failures in fact.

Not sure about potatoes yet - I'd guess so so but have been pleasantly surprised before.

We also have broccoli growing for the first time- I have nothing to compare it too - but if there were no bugs I think it would be doing what it should. Beets are small but tasty. Pumpkins are finally giving Big T a beautiful sprawled out patch. YAY!

and that's the way the garden grows

Interestingly the apples look like they will be great - guess we had water when needed for them!

here a peep there a peep everywhere a cheep cheep

We live with 4 Silkies - 3 hens, 1 rooster -it's our first time living with a rooster and Roo is a great bird - watchful, protective but accepting of all the rest of his family ...

We raised chicks for a friend this spring and were given 2 Ameracuna and 2 barred rock hens out of the chicks. They are beautiful and social birds.

About 3 weeks ago 2 of our Silkies very happily incubated a set of eggs and we now have 8 little chicks beeping and peeping and being adorable.

We have raised quite a few chicks to date - and we are finding it quite nerve wracking - so much is out of our control this way - and the chicks are quite skittish. That said it is amazing to watch a mother hen at work. the 2 girls co-parenting is pretty neat too. One chick is particularly bonded to one hen - the others are more attached to the other but both hens share duties quite evenly.

We do love out chickens!

Click Click Click that horse and that one too!

Ran a very cool workshop yesterday. It was a horse camp of sorts - working with horses on the ground training them in a clicker/positive way to do some new things. The small but mighty group was largely dog trainers with amazing skill sets who were happy to play with horses and learn about training new species.

We did some basic scent training. The horses all were very happy to target the scent an wait for their treats.  Then we did some targeting.

The participants were all terrific about working with a variety of horses. The horses were all quite willing to work with the range of participants too!

We had a lovely lunch just chatting about all sorts of things - interestingly enough the horse training was tiring for the humans it seemed. When working people were very focused and when there was down time there was lots of random chatting and laughter.

After lunch we did some more advanced scent work-using boxes in both lines and circles. What a great way to learn better handling skills for working with dogs. (Turns out you simply don't rush a horse scenting!)

Then people picked a horse, a trick and a human partner and got to work. One trick was touching one pylon then another.

Another was hoofing a jolly ball. Nelly got quite enthusiastic about this one!

Amaretto worked on polite and offered mounting block behaviour (he had developed the habit of flinging the box rather than staying beside it nicely). At the end of the session anyone who wanted tried lunging one of our happy horses.

I was so delighted with all the work that got accomplished! I hadn't done that much clicker work with horses but can certainly see doing it more and with more conscious thought.

awesome treat ideas for horses

not even July

and the garden is growing well
Potatoes
Garlic
Watermelon
Pumpkin
Honey Dew Melon
Peas
Flowers
Spinach
Lettuce
Carrots
Beets
Radish
Broccoli
Cucumbers
Zucchini
Spaghetti Squash

is all coming up happily

just need to get tomato and pepper plants and maybe onions

then just keep up with weeding

Random Gigs ...

Paying gigs are sporadic for me at the moment

I teach dog sports, and horse back riding sometimes I pull a mane or do a trim for somebody. I did a little tutoring through the winter. I take pictures and videos of horses for sale for people. I facilitate scent workshop.

If somebody wants to pay me to do something once I am quite happy to try as long as it's in my skill set. I ended up tripping into something I enjoyed very much that way. Judging little in barn schooling shows! Photos by Karen - I was busy judging!

it starts to fall together ...

First show in many many moons

a dressage show with Nelly 

on our way in the ring I was thrilled to see people I knew there supporting us

after our test I was full of gratitude and appreciation for the most amazing journey we've had so far

Thanks for the weeding

What is a weed?  I have heard it said that there are sixty definitions.  For me, a weed is a plant out of place.  ~Donald Culross Peattie

Spent an early half hour weeding the pea and lettuce beds thinking about how much I owe to my maternal grandmother and paternal grandfather - then my mum and aunts. I have been "helping" weed since I could walk. I don't remember ever getting in trouble for pulling out a seedling tho  I am sure I must have, probably often. I do recall getting diverted to other jobs - carrying weeds away to the weed pile; filling watering cans; resting in the shade awhile. We talked while we weeded too - so much fun! I probably was as much work as help but I felt important and I learned things that are lasting a life time.

Many gardeners will agree that hand-weeding is not the terrible drudgery that it is often made out to be.  Some people find in it a kind of soothing monotony.  It leaves their minds free to develop the plot for their next novel or to perfect the brilliant repartee with which they should have encountered a relative's latest example of unreasonableness.  ~Christopher Lloyd, The Well-Tempered Garden, 1973

My standards are not their standards with regards to weeds- my garden might embarrass a more sensitive person but the food coming out of it tastes just as good as a garden without a fringe of weeds on the border. I think my new veggie garden will be laid out in blocks - this is a combo of rows and blocks and while it is productive Big T is keen to try something new and I'm happy to go along with that.

Criticizing another's garden doesn't keep the weeds out of your own.  ~Author Unknown

I wish all the folks who taught me to love and appreciate the earth and the good things that grow in it  were around to appreciate the yummy produce!

A man's children and his garden both reflect the amount of weeding done during the growing season.  ~Author Unknown