Country Life

There are definite advantages to living in the country. For instance, you can have horses eat your front yard lawn and fertilize at the same time! Yes, there are piles of poop, but the chickens like to scratch the piles to find treats and distribute them into the grass, so I don’t have to do that either. Not a bad deal.

It’s fun to look out our living room windows and see the one or all four of the geldings eating or trotting by. We have electric fence that allows this moveable feast for the horses. Every 10 days or so I move the electric fence posts – they’re called “step ins” because you place a post where you want it and step it into the ground - then I string white electric wire tape from post to post making a pasture fence loop that plus into a fencer that provide the jolt. This gives other grazing areas time to rest and regroup before I let the horses feed on them again. We have fenced off our front door so that we don’t have a curious horse come inside – they are that friendly!

Some weeks ago I discovered that we had a rooster in the hen house. Last fall, Trixie hatch a brood of chicks shortly after our last rooster died. Most of the chicks made it through the winter. They are black, like their mother, so I never thought about any being a rooster. Well, about three weeks ago when doing morning chores I heard a definite cock-a-doodle-do and sure enough there was a rooster in all his colorful glory! I’d been thinking about ordering some more chicks and then thought if we have a rooster sooner or later if I don’t collect eggs we’ll have chicks. Well, about seven dozen and about five different nest of eggs later – no chicks! So, I’m going to toss all the now abandoned eggs and start collecting them daily. Maybe the rooster needs to get a bit more lead in his pencil. At least he hasn’t taken to chasing me like the Honeymooner roosters Ralph and Ed. I think I’ll call him John Wayne, for the actor whose only Oscar came from his role as Rooster Cogburn in the movie True Grit.

Yesterday. Marcia came to visit. We had a wonderful time catching up and had an impromptu BBQ. She brought blue corn chips and homemade salsa and guacamole. The temperature was wonderful as we sat outside and chatted. Ian went back and forth from our conversation to working on his kitchen project – getting the countertops ready for ceramic tile. Later in the afternoon the wind turned cold and both Marcia and I went for our sweatshirts. Then we came inside to watch the Preakness Stakes, as the Kentucky Derby winner was beaten by a nose.

Today, the highs are in the 50s and we have overcast skies. If it would rain I wouldn’t mind, but being cold and overcast just seems so unproductive! Ian lit the corn stove this morning and it’s cozy in here.

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