Windee Acres Farm

Mentally exhausting day...

2011-03-07T21:43:00.000-06:00

Have you ever had one of those days? You plan on getting a lot accomplished, have a few meetings, then you plan to hunker down in your office and focus on completing projects that have those stupid past due flags appearing in Outlook...My day started out like that, and then WHAM!!! In a matter of an hour I was on an entirely different path, not my own doing, and not a bad one, just different than I had intended...Change is good!!! Change is good....But at the end of the day, I was mentally exhausted...and frustrated that I got nothing accomplished that I had intended to get done...Arghhhh....Seems more and more reminiscent of the days of late...

So anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!!! Not much more to say...I know...BORING!!! Would yah get a life???

The chicken's NEW feed pan!!! Now that is news worthy...to the chickens!!! Look at that food...they eat like Kings and Queens...

One of the girls just can't refrain from getting "inside" the pan, while the others look on in total disbelief!!! PLEASE don't poop in there Missy!!!

Wall of snow...it still hasn't melted!!! Send heat...PLEASE!!!

Molly...Queen of the Snow Hill...

Somebody got Nitschke's BALL!!!...nahnahnahnah...

Drifts...Real Big Drifts!!!

2011-02-21T11:49:00.000-06:00

A few video's to see what "getting hammered" in Wisconsin looks like, contrary to what most envision, which is a tailgate party at a Packers game, drinking beer and eating brats (in excess)!!! I suppose that probably is actually the better of the two visions!!!

I have not even tried to start digging out yet...instead, I'm hunkered down and working from home today. I will have to start the "dig" later today!!! Hopefully, the wind will have subsided a bit so as not to envelope us again in record setting snow drifts!!!

Hammered AGAIN!!!

2011-02-20T19:27:00.001-06:00

No, not me...haha...it's the weather hammering us AGAIN!!! And to think we actually could see about half of our property yesterday without any snow on the ground!!! What a tease Mother Nature is these days...Well, that vision is history!!! It's 31 degrees outside with a windchill of 19 degrees, wind is gusting between 35-40 mph and snow is blowing horizontally...so is life in Wisconsin, but seriously, is Spring ever coming???

AH HA!!!...Maggy's the culprit, captured in the act of un-stuffing the stuffed animals...and to think we were blaming Prince Nitschke!!!

Molly sunbathing next to one of her toys she lost somewhere in the snow and has now "re-discovered" after the thaw...

Close-up...is that REALLY grass???

Molly, enjoying some chew time...hmmm...did you take that stick from the wood pile???

An emerging landscape no longer consumed in snow...

What exposed grass we have will be short lived...

Made it through another winter...there is still hope for this little guy!!!

Nitschke eyeing his orange and blue ball...what else???

Undivided attention...

My nemesis...ice!!!

Sloppy, Sloppy Sunday...

2011-02-13T20:37:00.000-06:00

The end to the week brought us very warm temperatures (well, warm is a relative term I suppose)...as I type, it is 42 degrees outside, with winds gusting up to 39 mph...With the warmer weather today came sloppy conditions outside...The snow is melting! The snow is melting! But who's complaining...not me!!! I hope this is the precursor to Spring arriving shortly!!! The dogs wouldn't agree with me, they LOVE the snow and of course, their snow baths...Maggy continues to try and convince me that since she takes so many snow baths all winter, she doesn't need baths during the summer!!! hehehehe...

A little visitor closes in toward my coffee mug...not sure if it was for the warmth or because the graphic of foilage on the mug was inviting???

Second cord of wood was delivered Friday...

Stack one...

Stack two (inside the garage for quick access)...

Stack three in the out building...hopefully this cord will last us well into next Winter!!!

Job completed!!!

Snack time...

Here is a picture of snow melting into slush, which will turn into ice overnight, which will be the cause of me slipping and busting my ass tomorrow morning!!! sorry...no pictures of that!!!

Please, please, PLEEEEEEEASE throw the ball for me!!!

Sensational sunset...

Back again...

2011-02-10T22:16:00.000-06:00

I thought I could keep up with some "blogging consistency"...but it proved too daunting of a task!!! But, realistically, there hasn't been too much to blog about except football and the damn weather, both of which probably will bore most!!! So that being said, I'll keep it short and sweet...

The Packers won Super Bowl 45!!! Go Pack!!!...

And the weather...ahhhh...yes, the weather!!! Gloomy, cold, windy, snowy, icy weather...You know it is really cold when your fingers start to "sting" even though they are inside leather gloves..after only ten minutes outside!!!

"Snow Art" by Wind

Tell me again...how do we get inside the garage???

Our neighbors to the NE of us blaze a trail in the fresh fallen snow...

Calm "after" the storm...

The "Orange and Blue Ball"...

Prince Nitschke...

Close-up of a snowflake on my nose...

Molly took my toy...

I soooo handsome...

Molly with a huge icicle she found "outside" and snuck "inside"...

The chicken's stretch their legs on fresh marsh hay layed down by yours truly!!! They only make it outside if the temperature is in the mid to high teens with little to no wind!!!

Can I PLEASE come in now???

Nitschke keeping a close eye on his ball while he eats...

Balmy temperatures finally arrive this morning in NE Wisconsin...

2011-01-24T06:38:00.000-06:00

This morning we awoke to a balmy 20 degrees with a wind chill of 6 degrees!!! Wow, we FINALLY have some decent weather!!! Well, I guess it is all relative, right???

Yesterday morning, we were still in the single digits in the morning...according to The Weather Channel.com, we were at 2 degrees with a wind chill of -10 degrees when we were up and about yesterday!!! The dogs don't seem to mind it though...but then again, they're labradors, so I guess that explains that!!!

The chicken's definitely realize how cold it has been...typically, they try and come outside when I open their large door to go inside to feed them...but not the last few days...they didn't even show any interest in going outside...and who said chicken's are dumb??? Not me!!! Inside the coop, it has gotten down to 0 degree's, even with the heat lamp that I keep on 24/7...I rolled up some foam and have been covering up the air vent at night to trap the heat inside the coop, so hopefully they appreciate that!!! Russell crows at us when we are inside the coop feeding them, so I take that as a "thank you"!!! I have also been adding additional pine shavings and not removing any because I read that their droppings will compost, thereby generating some additional heat...I continue to learn...

And finally, if you didn't already know....The Packer's are heading to the Super Bowl again!!! Couldn't have been a better team to beat than our friends down South, Da Bears!!!

Just give me a comfy couch, the t.v. remote and I'm happy Molly...

One of many looks from Maggy...This one is her "curious" look...

Would someone please tell Molly to give me back my orange ball PLEASE!!!

Molly tackling Nitschke in the snow...pre-orange ball removal from mouth move...

Frisbee time...I'm such a ham...

Our mini-egg...

Part of our small flock enjoying some sunshine and leg stretching...

Starting My Week...

2011-01-10T21:04:00.000-06:00

Had a beautiful weekend...blue skies both days...and "somewhat" mild temperatures (for da Midwest yah know)...the two-leggers (chickens) and four-leggers (dogs) loved it!!! This morning I was "supposed" to fly to Atlanta and then onto Newport News Virginia...BUT...Old Man Winter had other plans for us...to single handedly wreak havoc on the Southeastern part of the United States...maybe still some bad blood from the South still holding onto so many Confederate Flags...don't know...just a guess!!! Hahahaha....that was stupid!!! Guess I'm listening to "too much" Skynrd these days!!!

Anyhow...whatever!!! Oh wait...forgot to mention the weekend was highlighted by the Packer's beating the Eagle's!!! On to Atlanta next week...woooohoooo!!!

Egg-normous...

Silo horizon...

You going to throw the "orange ball" for me???

You take too long two-legger...I will put my "orange ball" in the chucker MYSELF!!!

Calendar boy!!! The girl doggies love this pose!!!

Protectin' my favorite frisbee during nap time...

Russell Crow enjoying some "out of coop" time...

Happy New Year...

2011-01-06T05:29:00.001-06:00

I hope everyone had a Happy New Year and has kept to all of those resolutions made as you toasted in the New Year! I purposely didn't make any resolutions this year, at least I didn't make any "known", which plays in my favor...because no one will know if I break one! Ha!

And most importantly, thanks to all of you who have not "unsubscribed" to my blog, which is much appreciated! I plan to "blog with cause" this year...perhaps less blogs, but with more substance...well maybe...

I do look forward to getting back into the routine of perusing the blogs of others, mostly those that follow mine, so I have a lot of catching up to do as well as finding some new ones to follow!

For the most part, not much to report from Windee Acres...Chicken's are doing well...we did lose one about two months ago. We have concluded she was ill in some way or another. She had stopped laying (which is unusual at such a young age) and now I look back and recall some occasional problems with eggs, the laying of eggs while roosting (hence building the egg trampoline) and the memorable "nerf egg". In addition, I "think" she was also the one that habitually tried to get out of the coop, succeeding on three occasions, the last leading to her demise unfortunately. So, we are down to five pullets and Russell Crow, who pesters the girls with every chance he gets, including "crowing" at 3am this morning...Wake up!!! Oh, and I'm happy to say, I have actually sold eggs...I'm selling them for $1.50 a dozen to co-workers. My incentive is simply to recover my investment in feed, so we'll see how that goes in 2011.

The weather is and continues to be cold, wet, windy, gloomy, foggy...hmmmm....sorry I've depleted my weather adjective quota for today...but you get it!

And then the dogs...ahhhhh yes, our crew of misfits...our "kids"...the mischeivious four-leggers...which are so near and dear to our hearts...

Nitschke with "his" infamous orange ball...

I want the orange ball!!!

Nitschke...I WANT THE BALL!!!

Does it hurt when I bite your neck...LIKE THIS!!!

Does it hurt YET???

Back-up has ARRIVED!!! Let's tag team Nitschke!!!

I'm not giving up my orange ball!!!

Intimidation look from mama Molly...submissive look from Nitschke...

Look Molly...I still have "my" orange ball...

How can politician's circumvent the "no call" list...???

2010-10-29T20:08:00.001-05:00

Well, according to "me"...unsolicited political campaigning via telephone is no different than an unsolicited call from somebody trying to sell you "something"!!! In Wisconsin, we can sign up to be on the "no call" list...but apparently, politician's are exempt from following the law...Oh well, am I surprised??? Hell no...!!!

But, everytime we get one of these annoying calls, I cannot help but recall one of the funniest prank calls I have heard, thanks to Tom Mabe, a somewhat regular comedian on the Bob and Tom syndicated radio show which we listen to from time to time...

I hope you enjoy his humor...maybe my sense of humor is warped, but how funny would it be if some right wing (okay...left wing too) conservative called somebody up and got involved in this kind of phone conversation...I hope some day I will have the wit to pull something like this off on a telemarketer...

Keeping up the latest tradition...

2010-10-19T21:03:00.000-05:00

which is posting about once a week...

Had a productive day in the garden Sunday, we pulled out most of the remaining vegetation, including about a half-dozen "huge" sunflower stalks, for which I had to dig out with my shovel!!! We'll think twice about where we plant them next year...Only have a few piles to toss in the compost and the weeds will get tossed into my "infamous" burn pile that WILL get burned this year!!!

Jan took some awesome pics of some Bluebirds last week...I'll be uploading some even better shots of them to some of the photo sites to see if they will earn her a prize or something!!!

Can't wait for the end to Day Light Savings Time, even though it will mean getting up even earlier to take advantage of some extra light...Right now, I am lucky to get an hour after work by the time I get home...but hey, at least I have an hour of sunlight to enjoy, so looking at it that way, I'm lucky!!!

Swooping in for a fat tadpole dinner...

Well, they're not on a telegraph line Elton, but will the bird bath suffice???

Hey...listen to me...when the two legger tells us to lay down, I'm going to sit....heheheheee...

50 degrees outside and Nitschke boy still finds it refreshing to play in his pool...

Garden clean-up day...sunflowers still standing tall and mighty. in the background...

Who needs night vision goggles...I eat carrot's...

Do you see the size of that root system...???

Sunflowers down along with the fence line...we're gettin' er done!!!

Until next week or perhaps sooner...Peace my friend...R Dean

Finally...

2010-10-12T21:44:00.001-05:00

Well, I'm happy to report...SIX eggs today...okay, do the math...hmmm...six pullet's = six egg's!!! YEAH!!! What an accomplishment!!! We do have six "normal" pullet's after all...

With the deterioration of our "ever so" precious sunlight, it is all I can do to get things done after work!!! In addition to taking care of the chicks, feeding them, watering them, reading to them...LOL, I have been putting in an hour or so of "tractor time", for which really makes me respect farmer's even more!!! Good thing for headlights!!! Have I ever said...geez...I wish I could be a farmer...what a cool life that would be...

Okay, enough of my "rambling"...

Here are some pictures...because without pictures...you know what that means... ;-)

Watch this...I can juggle three eggs...with one hand!!!

A "Black Capped Chickadee" that thinks all the food is his/hers...???

Oh look!!!...more leaves to rake up!!!

Color's of Fall, without having to leave home!!!

And this time with an old barn and silo in the picture...COOL!!!

This ain't trick photography...the pond is reflectin' the Fall colors...

Playing around again with manual settings...

Deck monkey's...

Okay...have popcorn...need movie...geez...our chicken's eat good!!!

Your's truly..."not" fittin' in with my camo-hat, Tractor Supply t-shirt and jean's with burn holes in 'em!!! But at least I wasn't wearing a Bear's jersey in Malone, WI...Give me an f'ing break!!!

I'm contemplating using this for my next album cover...Thoughts???

Or maybe this one...

1/2 bushel of apples $16...beats the hell out of equivalent in-store cost of $35 plus (at $1.49 a pound)...I love livin' in the country!!!

Until later...Peace R Dean ;-P

Foggy Sunday morning...

2010-10-10T07:57:00.000-05:00

Woke up this morning to a wall of fog surrounding us...there is something about fog in the country, mostly in the morning...it just looks so pristine...

Along with the comforting fog, we had three dogs anxious to get outside and eat fresh rabbitt poop, and seven chicken anxious to leave the confines of their coop, one of which continues to get more and more vocal every morning BEFORE there is even a hint of sunlight!!!

Been playing around with manual settings versus always using automatic...

Jan took all of these this morning...and more!!!

Enjoy your Sunday, I plan to putz around the property today...I would start a list of what I need to get done, but then I would feel accountable to make sure I got everything done that I wrote down...nah...I'll pass on that one!!!

Awesome rainbow pics...

2010-10-05T06:21:00.000-05:00

Jan took these over the weekend...

Call it what you may...

2010-10-05T06:01:00.000-05:00

Fall or Autumn, regardless, we finally got into the low 30's, not down to freezing but pretty darn close...which resulted in this beginning of a beautiful sunrise...had to scrape the truck window's off yesterday morning...ahhh, Fall/Autumn weather in Wisconsin!!!

Sun rising above the corn rows...with traces of fog in the low lying area's...

Our normal daily take...4 eggs, 6 pullets...hmmm...the math ain't addin' up folks!!!

Russell Crow struttin' in his pad with two of his girls...

My "make-shift" egg trampoline, out of netting...if this works to save the egg that keeps getting layed at night, I'll build a more sturdy version with legs...

Sunflower party...

Should we be worried about the black spots on Russell's comb??? Does anyone know what it is and why the comb looks like this???

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by the blog!!!

Peace...R Dean
(aka...non-blog rambler today)

Peripheral blogging...

2010-09-27T21:15:00.001-05:00

Remember, without photo's, your blog, for lack of a better word...sucks!!!

So, you learned a new term tonight...not "sucks", you already knew what that meant..."peripheral blogging" from the blogonary (I just made that up)...simply put, the ability to blog while doing something else...in this case, watching the Packers losing to the Bears at halftime...arghhhhhhh...who says a guy can't multi-task???

Well, we made some headway in "draft-proofing" Coop-de-Ville yesterday, and the resident's reported a "less than drafty" overnight!!! The second generation of Coop-de-Ville, "Coop-de-Condo" will begin next Spring when the renovation of the existing 10 x 12 garden shed takes shape!!! The resident's are already clucking with excitement over the news!!! I crack myself up...

More good news, we're getting three to four eggs per day!!! Pretty soon we'll have enough to share with the neighbors...

And finally, even BETTER news!!! Found the source of the "dead animal" stench in the garage (sorry no pictures), a field mouse had gotten inside and for whatever reason...decided to die and started stinking something fierce!!! It's surprising how such a small little shit of a rodent can stink SOOOOO bad!!! When we first moved in, I purchased a few of these electric devices you plug into the wall that emit sound waves that supposedly deter rodents from entering the building...Perhaps it kills them too...not sure, but who cares...one less rodent is a good thing!!!

Doorway framed in to prevent door drafts..."hopefully"

Shuttered window opened up (used attic window with glass on left, screen on right for ventilation)

Nice fit...should reduce, if not eliminate drafts through the window...

"Sponge Bob Egg Pants"...one of the girls dropped him during the night, landed on the "poop" tray...he literally feels like a sponge ball...

Before...

After...mmmmmm!!!

You talkin' to me???..YOU TALKIN' TO ME???

New camo tarp, it's vogue in the chicken community...

The "kids"...looks like they are up to somethin'

Wasp!!! They're the real deal man...not the White Anglo Saxon Protestant type...

Probably our last basket of veggies for the season...

Bucket of garden fresh chicken treats with "bugs on the side"...Lucky chicken's!!!

Sunflower seeds galore...

Nice melon's...no pun intended... ;-P

Peace...R Dean

Tomato Sandwich...

2010-09-19T11:23:00.002-05:00

For any of you not familiar with how to prepare the most "ultimate" tomato sandwich...here is the recipe...it's quite simple, obviously...because it is coming from a man...

-Cut a ripe tomato (any large type will do) into thin slices, approximately 1/4" to 3/8" slices...approximately six to eight slices...

-Toast your bread (my favorite is Buttermilk)...

-After the bread is toasted, remove from the toaster and spread a couple teaspoon's of Miracle Whip onto the toast...

-Next, apply freshley cut tomato's, and for a bit of a bite, sprinkle pepper on the sandwich...

-Finally...enjoy!!!

Bon-appetit...

Sunday Morning Sunrises...

2010-09-19T10:59:00.002-05:00

Got up early this Sunday morning...of course...because I needed to let the chick's out...thought I would share some sunrise pictures with you in case you slept in and missed "your" beautiful sunrise...

There is something to be said about a beautiful Sunday morning sunrise...wouldn't you say???

Enjoy...R Dean aka Sunrise "Sun-tastic"...

It's about time...

2010-09-18T20:28:00.001-05:00

that I got off my lazy ass and posted something...So here it is...

1. We have consistently gotten one egg per day all week!!! Between the hours of 8am and 10am, (we can set our watches) one of the girls is routinely doing her job!!! And contrary to what I have read, the nesting boxes "aren't" tucked away in a dark corner and they still seem to be laying...Maybe our chicken's
are "renegade's", you know...the type that break "all the rules"...and that is just cool!!!

2. We have a chicken that continues to think it is okay to take a crap in the waterer...and that is just wrong!!!

3. Today, I took 3 computer monitor's, two CPU's and two coffee can's of "spent" batteries to our recycle center...I left the recycle center "minus" $62.10 from our checking account...are you f'ing kidding me??? I am all about recycling and feel it is definitely my obligation to do my part...even if it means driving 20 miles to do it, but come on!!! Apparently, my county has decided to turn a recycle center into a profit center too!!! Maybe I'm wrong, but I have a real hard time believing that they don't already make "something" when they turn it over to the recycler's that claim the "good" stuff from the computers and monitor's...and that is just "highway" robbery...I pay taxes...remember???

4. This week, we continued to get more tomato's...between giving more away to friends and freezing three bags of bad one's for the chicks, we still have a couple hour's worth of picking to do tomorrow, and then...we should be done...We even got four more good sized summer squash and a cuke today!!! and that is just awesome...

In closing, adding a few picture's to the blog, because according to my wife, who knows a lot about a lot, says that without picture's, my blog is, simply put..."boring"...hahaha...

Russell Crow and one of his "girls" partying til the sun comes up!!!

And the sun "DID" come up!!!

Nitschke found somewhere nice and soft to crash for the night...

No idea what type of spider this is...but it looks "NASSSSSSSTY"... If I was a betting man, I would bet this one bites...Fortunately...Jan took this picture "outside"...not "inside"!!!

Well, that is all I have to report for now...I know...I lead a boring life, but a happy one nonetheless!!! I'm off to eat a tomato sandwich with mayonaise on toast...and then go to bed!!! And by the way...did you know that nonetheless is just "one" word, and not three??? ;-)

Peace...R Dean

Egging 2 for 4...

2010-09-14T20:51:00.002-05:00

Well...our average is going up...yeah!!!! Jan got another egg today (the non-cracked type...whew)!!! Thanks to all of your feedback, I have taken your advice and increased their oyster shell supplement so hopefully that will help out...

Here are some pics I hope you enjoy!!!

Peace R Dean...

Nitschke crashed...

Cool sky...

Okay...why you takin' a picture of ME???

Random flowers...

Mirror image...Maggy (left) and Molly (right)

I got my eye's closed...okay...where is my surprise???

There it is...!!!

Keepin' an eye on our power consumption...Frugal Maggy...

It's "play time" with da mama...

Snout "close-up"...

Molly girl...aka "da mama"...

Our first pumpkin...

Ah ha!!! Caught in the "act"...the infamous "waterer pooper"!!!

Egging 1 for 3...

2010-09-13T21:31:00.001-05:00

If you know about batting averages in baseball, you know that the more hits you get per times at bat raises your batting average significantly, while in contrast, the less hits you get per times at bat lower's your batting average...Well, I'm feeling like we are heading for a slump (baseball lingo for not gettin' any hits or "eggs")...

Today Jan found another egg in the nesting box, only to discover it had cracked or had been cracked.....ARGHHHHHH!!!!

So now, we are "egging" 1 for 3, which is .333%....not really that impressive, unless you are playing in the Major League...

Well, hopefully tomorrow...better luck...and NO broken eggs...we have egg carton's just standing by to house fresh eggs...

Egging 1 for 2...

2010-09-13T07:13:00.000-05:00

Went to the coop this morning and found this...

A cracked egg... :-(

It was laying beneath the roosting bars, so she layed it during the night...

Yesterday, I noticed the same nesting box where the first egg was layed had the pine shavings pushed around in it, so I figured that we would get another egg yesterday, but I thought maybe she had been startled and would go back later to finish the job...but unfortunately I was wrong...oh well, I'm sure the third one will be in the nesting box when I get home tonight...fingers crossed!!!

Have a great Monday...R Dean

Sunday morning blog...

2010-09-12T11:19:00.001-05:00

Figured I would do a quick post...getting ready to head out to cut and trim the property, at least the former...trimming can take literally 2-1/2 to 3 hours for the entire property, so I break it into quadrants...will be doing the front quadrant "first" which is out front and on the sides leading up to the house...

Took some pics yesterday that I wanted to share...hope you enjoy them!!!

The first water melon from our garden...we're keeping half and sharing the other with our neighbor across the road...

A typical Fall "looking" day, even though it is not officially Fall yet...and it was in the mid 60's!!!

The resident's of Coop De Ville looking for a hand-out...

When are you going to let me go "outside"???

Someone mentioned or I read that when a Pullet is getting ready to lay, their comb gets more colorful...She has the most colorful comb to date...maybe she produced the first egg???

Here is a comparison of our first egg to one commercially purchased...

Only one of our three plum tree's has fruit this year...not sure why...need to read up on it!!!

Buck Elk grazing behind our property...Their rack's are "HUGE"!!!

Chickadee stopping to pose for a picture...

Hummingbird looking for something "sweet"...

Our FIRST EGG!!!

2010-09-10T21:15:00.000-05:00

YEAH.....I went out to shut the chicken coop door tonight and VIOLA....our FIRST EGG!!!

I'm sooooooo....HAPPY!!!! Yes, they "are" egg layer's, Yes, they "will" use the nesting box!!!

I was getting very discouraged, even got down on my hand's and knee's tonight to look beneath the coop to find out if the girl's had layed eggs beneath the coop and not told me!!! What a relief they hadn't!!!

Egg #1 from Egg Engineering at Coop De Ville...

Now...who layed it???

R Dean...

Pumpkin, Melon's, Gourd's and More Chick Questions...

2010-09-08T21:36:00.001-05:00

Check out our pumpkin, melon's and gourd's...our first attempt at the latter crop...keeping our fingers crossed they make it!!! Weather has been fabulous...high 60's, low 70's during the day, dropping down into the high 40's tonight...YEAH!!! Fall is just around the corner!!!

Future "Jack-O-Lantern"...

Nice melon's...

Beautiful specimen...larger juvenile than the one I found last night in the potato box...but I still don't know "what" type it is...

Finally...dinner of yellow squash and onion's in a tomato sauce over spaghetti...mmmmmm...

And last but not least...I came home to find the chicken's or "one" chicken had decided to "poop" in the large water container...he or she must have been sitting on top of it...wondering if they drink the water if that would cause them to get sick??? I hope not, but how do you prevent them from doing that. I have both water stations up on bricks...The smaller of the two was knocked completely over...maybe they were suffering separation anxiety today!!! hahaha...what do you think???

Tater's, Snake's and THE Wind...

2010-09-07T22:27:00.002-05:00

Headed down to the garden tonight... (sounds like the beginning of a country song)...I wanted to dig up our potato's, find out if any of 'em made it!!! And low and behold, VIOLA...after a few soil intrusions from our handy pitch fork, we struck gold!!! Got twenty-four of them after all was said and done (we had to stop because of the darkness), but fortunately, we still have a few plants left to dig up (tomorrow)!!! But with our newfound mother lode came "reptile-mania"...I caught four baby garter snakes and what I think was either a juvenile Eastern Hognose or Western Fox based on its coloring, but I'm not entirely sure, but it was a BEAUTY, all found beneath the hay in our potato patch!!! I gingerly tossed each one out of the patch and into high grass where they "hopefully" found safe refuge.

And finally...THE Wind...Our farm has been living up to its name over the last several days!!! Last night, the wind did a number on our pop-up trailer, breaking the new "shepard hook" aluminum pole that keeps the larger of the two end beds taut. I thought about putting it down, but didn't...Wow, had I known the gusts would have exceeded 40mph, I would have done it in a heart beat...but, everything works out, doesn't it??? Come to find out, the portion that broke this time was the piece I had left over from the last time the pole broke!!! YEAH!!! Fixed with no out-of- pocket expense for the pole or a wasted trip to Green Bay to pick it up!!!

Da lone tomato, left to fend for himself in a world of vegetable profiling by dirty potato's...AHHHHH...

Chicken and duck questions...

2010-08-30T20:12:00.000-05:00

Okay all of you poultry experts...A couple questions for you...

1-Do pullet's only go into the nesting boxes when they are ready to lay??? Our's use the top which is sloped as a stepping stone to their roost...they fly up to the top of the nesting boxes and then fly over to the roosting bars...

2-Do you put your feeding trough outside of the coop or leave it inside??? I have our's inside the coop...but was wondering if I should keep it outside the coop during the day versus inside the coop???

3-Is there a problem having more than one rooster??? Not that I plan to get another one, but just wonder if they would fight if there was more than one???

4-Do ducks roost or do they stay on the floor of the coop???

5-Do ducks use a nesting box like chickens???

Monday morning garden visit...

2010-08-30T07:04:00.000-05:00

Morning everyone!!! Took a brief walk to the garden this morning to pick some veggies...had to stop and capture more shots of our sunflowers, although their life is coming to an end...nonetheless, they are still vibrant and anxious to greet the morning sun!!!

Peace...R Dean

The one in the center has to be close to 12ft. tall...

Good morning Sun...

One of many Cherry's that need to be picked...

Variety of freshly picked tomato's still cool and moist...

Squash, a lone cuke and zuke, all of which are slowing down...maybe another half-dozen of each for the season...

Sunday evening closure...

2010-08-29T21:33:00.000-05:00

Sitting at the computer with a tired one and a half year old (almost) Chocolate lab named Nitschke at my feet as I type our final blog of the past week...We spent our Sunday relaxing...we did NOTHING!!!...Well, we picked up breakfast at Butch's...our favorite haunt in St. Nazianz, ate, took a nap...took the four-leggers out...read...what a great way to end the weekend...Oh...and for you faint of heart...please stop reading now...

Had to pull out Ol' Faithful today, twice...my new name for my vintage .410 gauge shotgun from my Great Grandma Ceile...I was out near the burn barrell this morning about 7am-ish and saw what appeared to be a "very" large chip munk sitting in the dog kennel munching on what I suppose was food stolen from the chicken coop...hmmmm...not a good situation I thought...I have never seen a chip munk out near the chicken coop nor in our kennel, so that was not good...So, I "nonchalantly" meandered back into the house and grabbed Ol' Faithful...When I got back out there, he/she (not sure) was still sitting on the block...(bad decision buddy), just munching away...so, I did what any normal guy would do...I shot him...BANG!!! Bet I woke our new neighbors up....I'm sure they're thinking...HOLY SHIT...he's GOT a gun!!!! hahahahaha...yeah I do!!!

Well, one less rodent to steal food from the chicken coop...Later..(turn's out it was a double donkey day...made that saying up just now)...saw the four-leggers nemesis (and mine) that is digging holes galore on the property sitting high and mighty looking around...mocking us...Unfortunately for him/her, had another Ol' Faithful moment...BANG!!! What a day!!! Two bagger...Score: Two-Legger (2) Rodents (0)

Nitschke just ripped a real bad one...so I'm signing out for the night to go find some Visine and some fresh air...

R Dean aka Rodent Sniper...

I sneezed 304 times yesterday...

2010-08-29T08:19:00.000-05:00

Well, maybe that is a "bit" of an exageration, but it felt like it!!! Weed and grass were the pollen's of choice in our area yesterday and are forecast to be moderate today. I opted to only cut and trim the back part of the property, for two reason's, that is where we spend most of our time and it was the area that needed it the most...pretty sound reasoning for a man, huh??? I timed it and that took me 4 hours!!!

Oh, and before I forget, Nitschke killed another snake...I need to design a badge for him that I can add to the blog for each kill...kinda like the WWII pilots put on their planes for each plane they shot down...Unfortunately (obviously for the snake) but also for Nitch is that we will really have to watch him very closely now when we travel, because up here in our area, the snakes are non-poisonous, but other regions of the country have both...yikes...

Friday night we went to the Manitowoc County Fair to look at livestock and eat junk food!!!

I think next year we are going to try and expand our flock to include a few ducks and perhaps a few Barred Plymouth Rock's. We saw some really cool ducks, one that caught our eye was entirely black...don't know the breed, but very pretty!!!

If I was to make one improvement at the fair, I would have a booth set up in each livestock area that is manned by experts in that particular livestock breed, so people like us could ask questions...

Today we are going to chill, get some more stuff done, but not exert ourselves too much!!! Sunday's are for relaxation or should be anyway...until later...hope everyone enjoys their day!!!

Peace...R Dean

Breakfast time...

Russell Crow enjoying a soft tomato and one of the girl's enjoying a corn cob from last nights dinner...

Wake up call...

2010-08-26T21:10:00.001-05:00

Had a beautiful sunrise this morning, it was in the high 40's, maybe a bit into the very low 50's, but just chilly enough to see your breath and it was MOSQUITO FREE!!!

Wake up call from Russell Crow...

Sunrise series from this morning...

Tomato's, tomato's everywhere...

Swimming in a sea of tomato's...

2010-08-23T21:03:00.000-05:00

Wanted to post some pictures of our tomato harvest to date...Definitely worth the trouble of putting on mosquito repellent, mosquito netting and wearing long sleeve shirts and long pants in 80+ degree weather...

Purple Cherokee Heirloom...

Just picked...Purple Cherokee's on the right...

Variety of Cherry tomato's

Destination...spaghetti sauce and salsa!!!

Yellow Pear's and Chocolate's...

Nitschke officially meets our neighbors...before we do!!!

2010-08-23T20:47:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, my greatest fear became reality!!! Nitschke heard our new neighbors and bolted through the woods, barking up a storm all the way there, preparing to welcome them or perhaps warn them of his impending assault on their Sunday afternoon peace and quiet!!! Embarrassed, I ran after him, hearing him bark so loudly it was echoing in the trees...I can't recall exactly what I said in the heat of that frantic embarrassing moment, but the likelihood it may be a word or two deemed inappropriate language for my blog is a high probability...I went down the back trail, hoping to see him and them not see me running after him (because I am a short fat guy, so running is not my strong suit), then I saw the neighbor walking back toward their home with her dog clutched in her arms...I could only offer a "sorry about that...is everything okay???" Her response..sure!!! Not really a convincing response but it could have been much worse I suppose...By that time, Nitschke must have realized that he was in deep doo-doo and bee lined it back home...He got time out in the kennel for thirty minutes...

I didn't know I wasn't suppose to go to the neighbors house...

Sunflower pictures...

2010-08-21T17:13:00.000-05:00

We had a great harvest of sunflowers this year...here are some pictures...based on my estimates, some of them got up to 12 feet tall in the garden...whew!!!

Egg Recall

2010-08-21T16:47:00.001-05:00

Here is an up to date listing of the companies that are recalling their eggs...

http://www.fda.gov/Food/NewsEvents/WhatsNewinFood/ucm223536.htm

Hmmm...glad we now have our own chickens...we can't wait for egg production to begin so we are in sole control of our egg needs...

If you aren't raising your own poultry yet, perhaps now is a time to reconsider it...for your healths sake!!!

R Dean...

Lucky Lucy...

2010-08-16T07:20:00.006-05:00

Well, Lucky Lucy is coming around after her "close call" with "suspect to be determined"...hahaha...

She is not roosting yet, but instead, she has made the corner closest to the coop door her temporary quarters.

I think, wait, no...I "know" that she lost so many feathers in the "assault" that she cannot fly up to the roost, so hopefully within a few days or a week or two she will have regained enough feathers to fly up to the roost with the other birds.

After the first night of her return, when she would not go into the coop, I actually thought about building her own coop because I thought the other chickens were shunning her...wow...what a knuckle head idea...Jan convinced me otherwise...remember, they are chickens!!!

Today we plan to remove the tarp and enclose the top of the coop run with some plastic netting we purchased at Fleet Farm. Once that is in place, the coop "should" be completely predator proofed!!!

Other news to report, Nitschke killed two garter snakes over the weekend, he now has four confirmed kills...poor snakes, he just grabs them and shakes the piss out of them, and typically that does them in. However, on Saturday, I took one from him, it looked dead...I tossed him out into the woods but it got hung up on a branch on the sumac tree, about 3 feet from the ground. It actually twisted around the branch, and just lay there, head facing straight to the ground. About an hour later, I saw Nitschke down in that area, so I walked down there, he must have smelled the snake, because if you have ever handled a garter snake, they release a malodorous, musky-scented secretion (it stinks!!!). So he eventually honed in on it hanging in the tree, and it was slowly coming to, it had raised its head and was sticking its tongue out, right about that time, the fearless snake hunter snatched it from the tree, shook it violently and heaved it into the tall grass...Okay Nitschke, it's confirmed, another kill!!!

And finally, a cool book that we found at Tractor Supply..."the joy of keeping chickens" by Jennifer Megyesi. This book seems to be much more thorough than some of the smaller, "magazine style" books we have purchased in the past, and the authors interests parallel ours, self-sustainability and organic living. Her chickens and livestock are raised using the free-range, grass-fed method and other organic farming methods. The only complaint I have with it so far...it was printed in China... :-((

R Dean (cherishing my last day of vacation...)

She's back!!!

2010-08-13T08:38:00.001-05:00

This morning, to my DISBELIEF and FEAR, I saw a chicken "outside" of our new "aerial fortified" coop run...I immediately wondered how in the world it could have gotten out, I must not have shut the coop door. When I got closer, I counted "SIX" chickens in the coop looking out at her, and I immediately realized, our missing "SEVENTH" chicken was back!!! She survived!!! It's a MIRACLE!!! Her new name is going to be Lucky Lucy!!! hahaha... I cannot believe it...But now, the mystery has taken yet another twist...Hmmm...I believe I may have "incorrectly" identified the perpetrator as the red tail hawk, at least we need to be more open minded during the ongoing investigation. Now it is going to involve a four-legger "dog of interest". As I take a look at the coop crime scene again, I'm starting to rethink my original coop crime scene theory that had a red tail hawk swooping down, grabbing the chicken and flying straight up out of the coop, landing on the ground outsided the coop, (where the majority of the feathers were) getting a better grip and flying off with the chicken in its talon's. But, as I noted before, I heard a ruckus out there, but I would have "thought" that had a hawk grabbed a chicken, it would have been squawking something fierce. Now, this is my new coop crime scene theory, I think something startled her, may have been something inside the coop (another chicken or Russell Crow messing with her) or outside the coop (a four-legger perhaps) and she happened to be near the one section of fence that is 4 ft. high and she flew upward and over that section, landing right outside the coop, where either Nitschke or Molly was at the time, and they both, or one of them jumped at the opportunity to TASTE a chicken!!! And I think this happened next...she was so quick and nimble, she was able to elude her "newfound friend(s)" and darted beneath our garden shed for protection. The reason this is now sounding realistic is because Nitschke was snooting around the garden shed immediately thereafter the "poultry assault". I even got down on my hands and knees to look under the shed (literally not much more head room than 10 inches max) but I could not see her. So, the end to a story that turns out to be a happy ending, at least for right now. I don't know if she will make it, but she looks like she is okay, I guess time will tell.

Detective R Dean...still on the case!!!

We lost our first bird...

2010-08-12T21:01:00.002-05:00

On Wednesday afternoon, I heard a noise out near the coop but didn't think too much about it...When I walked up there a few minutes later, to my horror, I found a pile of feathers right outside the coop and only six chickens to be found!!! I was so saddened by what appears to be an "unprovoked" red tail hawk attack!!! At first I was really mad, mad enough that I thought, if it comes back here and I see it, it will be in my gun sight, but my rational side soon prevailed and I realized, it was my fault, not the hawks fault, not the chickens fault!!! I spent all of my energy trying to build a predator proof fortress from the ground up, but failed to cover the coop from aerial predators!!! How stupid...what was I thinking??? I guess I wasn't, so a lesson well learned...My only hope is that she died instantly and didn't suffer too much.

In the mean time I had to quickly rig up something to protect the coop. Fortunately I had a very large dark green tarp for which my dad and I were able to use as a temporary roof for their coop run until we figure out a more permanent solution to enclosing the coop run with a "hawk barrier". We did see a red tailed hawk today, it soared over the house, looking for another free meal I'm sure. But, the tarp that is now acting as both camouflage and aerial protection must have worked because the hawk kept going and never came back, at least from what I could tell!!!

If anyone has any advice on a coop run cover (material's, etc.) or protecting a flock from raptor's, please pass it along!!!

R Dean in mourning...

What a week...

2010-08-10T21:28:00.000-05:00

Just got home from a training session with the United Association of Union Plumbers in Ann Arbor, great time, great people and a great opportunity to learn more about the trade and educate them about our products at the same time. Finally starting to feel better now, on the mend from a staph infection I acquired after I shaved off my goatee of two years (for the training session by the way!!!)...OOOOOOUCH!!! Never again will it leave my face, it belongs to ME, ME, ME!!! So now I'm on two types of antibiotics, a topical ointment, using hot compresses and an occasional vicatin or two, all of which have helped me through this ordeal!!! 8-)

I'll close with some pictures...but not of my poor, sore face...YUCK!!!

They only use the lower roost to jump up to the higher roost...now that didn't work out very well did it???

Chick "cam"

Watermelon "no more"...

Syncronized "grass rolling"...

Cloudy sunrise...

Peeking through...

Fresh picks of the day...

Introducing...Siamese Chick Squash's...

Eleventh generation farm, read on...

2010-08-01T19:42:00.000-05:00

You gotta check this link out, it will make you respect farmer's and their heritage even more than you probably already do, albeit a bit of a sad story...check it out...PLEASE!!!

Went to a garden party, to reminisce with my old friends...

2010-08-01T14:21:00.002-05:00

We just got back from a three hour adventure to our garden (not a three hour tour on the S.S. Minnow)..hehehehe..and whew, what a productive morning!!! Extremely exhausting due to the heat, but very productive!!! We cleaned out the dead leaves and branches in "tomato forest" and did some weeding too so that the fresh air and sunlight can get to the tomato's once again...

It is so hard to believe that just two months ago, our veggies were "just" starting to break ground, and now, it is so lush and green!!! Fortunately, we have only had to water once from our well since early June. Mother Nature has been very kind to our little homestead's garden and for that we feel blessed to have had another successful season so far. We were even able to pick corn today, so tonight we will be eating fresh again, thanks to Jan's garden!!!

Until later...R Dean

June 8th picture of the garden...

August 1st picture of the garden...

Purple Cherokee heirloom's...can't wait to taste one of these bad boys on a slab of cow with a big thick onion!!!

BIGGGGGG...Summer Squash!!!

Papa Zuch and Jr. hangin' out together!!!

Basket of beans and assorted tomato's...the yellow one's are Pear's (see the resemblence to a Pear in their shape)....very tasty!!!

SEVENTEEN CUKES...HOLY COW!!!

Ten ears, two zuch's and three squash...

Ya'll be cool now yah hear...Peace!!!

Can't believe its been 11 days...

2010-07-31T19:38:00.000-05:00

since I last posted...time fly's...Everything is going well at Coop De Ville, the residents seem to have settled in very nicely. Still have some exterior work to do on CDV before I will declare it complete, well really, it probably will never be "completely complete", there will always be room for improvements! The four-leggers seem to be more tolerant of the new residents, however, I am far from letting the chicken's live a "free-range" lifestyle yet, that would certainly foreshorten their lifespan...

Not much more to report, the grass and the garden are growing at warp speed, which we feel blessed about, well at least the garden part. The problem with the grass is if I cannot cut the entire property at least within a few days, it is like starting over again...arghhhh...but we are getting so much free water (from rain) that we will not complain!!!

To say the mosquito's are abundant this summer would be an understatement, it is now second nature to spray your legs, arms and neck before you venture out, so tomorrow morning's garden trip will be an adventure in anti-mosquitoism...but most definitely worth it!!!

Until tomorrow...Peace R Dean

Sunrise series...it just doesn't get any better than this!!!

Russell Crow and his girls...

Pecking around in the morning while a four-legger loiters outside!!!

New 2 gallon waterer for inside the coop...

A look from inside the coop...hmmm...scary looking shadow, kinda looks like Freddy Kreuger!!! YIKES!!!

Tussle time...the four-leggers doing one of the three things they do best...play, the other two, eat and sleep!!!

Nitschke standing in a bucket of water to cool off...he's a nut case!!!

A jam packed garden and still growing...

Garden variety sunflower...

Reaping the rewards of our garden...

The residents of Coop De Ville...

2010-07-20T22:15:00.000-05:00

After over a year and a half of dreaming and talking about owning our own chickens, the dream has come true!! We have CHICKENS, thanks to our friends Steve and Karen who brooded a batch of chicks and held on to some extra's for us until we were ready for them!! On Sunday, we went to their farm and picked up seven Rhode Island Red's, six hen's and one rooster! So, Coop De Ville is almost at full occupancy!!

Nitschke, waiting patiently for the chickens to come out and play...NOT!!

A new resident peeking out from beneath Coop De Ville...

One of the girls checkin' out her new digs...

Inside Coop De Ville...

The residents...

Hey...what? Chicken Butt!! Only Small Farm Girl will get that one!!! ;-)

Outside Southern facing perimeter with field stones placed on top of one foot of chicken wire positioned horizontally on the ground to deter predators...and three feet of chicken wire placed vertically, on top of the livestock fencing to "hopefully" deter a predator from climbing over the fencing...

Western facing perimeter with a surplus of field stones....and some of the "residents" in the background...this is where their roost is located...

Nitschke's week in review...

2010-07-17T21:18:00.002-05:00

The week started out like any other week, get up, take the four-leggers out, throw the ball for Nitsch, throw the ball for Nitsch, throw the ball for Nitsch, drink coffee, walk the property with all the four-leggers (Mag, Mol, and Nitsch) and check on the garden for any "ah ha" we have veggie moment!!

It's me, Nitschke boy...

Fast forward to Thursday...and as noted in an earlier post, turned out to be "atypical", Nitsch found a skunk...and long story short, got sprayed!!! I have yet to find a skunk on the property, but we did however invest in some very good "skunk spray" treatment at Mill's Fleet Farm, it is called Nature's Miracle...see picture below. I have to say it works, I bailed out of here fast that morning of the "spraying" using the "I have to get to work" excuse, so Jan REALLY did ALL the dirty work of getting him back to "dog odor" from "skunk odor", so she deserves ALL the KUDO's, I just bought the stuff, but he smells like a dog again...

Available at Mill's Fleet Farm...this stuff works!!!

Last night, it got even better, well not really! Nitschke was chasing his favorite ball, and when he was bringing it back, he slipped and crashed head first into the step on our deck!!! OUCH!!! Poor Nitsch!!! I have to say, he acts like nothing happened, but truth be told, he lost two teeth...and made a sizeable gash in the wooden step!!! So, that is Nitschke's week in review...we have one more day, but I'm hoping nothing notable or bloggable happen's!!!

Those two white things with red on them are Nitschke's front two bottom teeth and the mark on the right is the "scene of the accident"...

Until later...Peace

Skunked...

2010-07-15T13:03:00.000-05:00

Leave it to Nitschke (our blog cover boy) to find a skunk this morning...I was checking on the garden when I heard him barking, I thought he was out in the corn field because it sounded like his barks were echoing, but when I got there, he was on our property barking at something in the tall grass...I hollered at him to come to me and he did, but with that "look" in his face that he knew he had done something stupid...he got within 25 or 30 feet of me and I immediately smelled it on him..whew..it was BAD!!! I went down to where he had the "encounter" but could not find anything but a the raunchy, musky odor of SKUNK!!!

I washed him down with the skunk deodorizer that I purchased from Fleet Farm, with little success. He went into the garage to stay until Jan could get him back outside to apply more of the formula on him...Hopefully by the time I get home, the odor will have somewhat subsided...

Until later from "skunk-ville"...R Dean

Still rumbling...

2010-07-15T06:08:00.000-05:00

We had some really bad storm's last night, lot's of thunder and sharp lightning...Around 2am-ish, it sounded like we "may" have gotten some hail, not sure because it was raining so hard and the wind was howling!

Need to go down to the garden this morning and check on it, if we had hail, that could do some serious damage, but I'll keep my fingers crossed it didn't!

The storm is passing over Lake Michigan now, so it looks like we should have sun the remainder of the day. On the bright side, we have had to use little water on the garden to date, Mother Nature has been very gracious!

Here a couple pics of the garden I took a couple days ago...

Shiney things in picture are mosquito's...I counted six in this picture...but trust me, there are many, many more of them lurking around the property!!!

We tried adding pieces of wood between the tomato cages to help support them...

PILE-A-WEEDS!!! Better outside the garden than inside...

Reaping the rewards...

Until later...Peace

The end to a great weekend...

2010-07-11T21:08:00.000-05:00

Well, we didn't finish everything we wanted to, but we still had a very productive and relaxing weekend! Yesterday, we went into town to visit the Manitowoc Farmer's market. Although it was a beautiful day to do so, we were a bit disappointed in how little there was to choose from in regards to fresh produce. We "heard" from one vendor (that did not sell produce) that some of the vendor's go to Milwaukee to purchase the produce to sell at the market. That was surprising "if true" because one just assumes that at a farmer's market, one, it is local's selling their own produce, and two, it is grown locally. Anyway, it was still fun, and we persused several shops while downtown. One shop in particular caught my attention, a home brewery store. As I become more well versed in self-sustainability, I become more and more interested in what I can actually make myself instead of purchasing it from the store. Two things that first come to mind, beer and soap, so more to come on those subjects soon!

Today, we worked together in the garden pulling weeds. I pulled weeds from between the rows of tomato plants and Jan pulled weeds from other area's of the garden. It was fun, and like I told her later, very eye opening for me, because I have not been involved in the garden to this extent, she has always done all of the work besides tilling. I truly gained a lot more respect for how hard she has worked the last two season's helping to bring our garden's to fruition! I look forward to continuing to help her!

Hopefully this week, we will wrap up Coop de Ville! We'll keep our fingers crossed! Until we meet again, hope you enjoy the pictures!
Peace...

Sweet Basil and a couple Banana Peppers picked from the garden today...

The makings of our fresh salad's we had for dinner tonight...

Asoapi from Five Bee's Soap Art purchased yesterday at the Farmer's Market in Manitowoc...

One of our Sunflower's in the Strawberry garden...

The SS Badger car ferry coming into port yesterday...

Mosquito's are back....

2010-07-08T22:38:00.002-05:00

and so am I....

Couldn't resist that one...they are bad, and bad is an understatement, they swarm you when you leave the house. Whomever invented the mosquito net, God Bless you my friend!!!

Honestly, can't believe anyone hung around after an absence of three months or close to it, but thanks for not abandoning me...

Lot's to report! Most importantly, the garden is coming along well. Got a bit of a late start, but everything seems to be growing well. The weather has been warm, hot at times with high levels of humidity, a garden's dream! However, something is getting into the garden and eating some of our crop, lettuce and bean's have been the latest victims. I think it is a deer stepping over the 2 ft. high fencing, but Jan thinks it is a skunk that is going beneath it. Do skunks eat vegetables?? I have no idea, but I do know they are near by, we have seen them and smell them on a regular basis.

Next, I'm happy to report that "Coop de Ville" is close to completion. The residents will be moving in very soon (I hope). Stay tuned for progress updates and hopefully some chic pics....

South side of CdV...

"Queen" sized nesting boxes...

Roosting with a view...

Can't wait to get back into the groove of checking out blogs, missed keeping up with everyone!

Until next time....Peace!

Found a cool chicken information site...

2010-04-03T21:19:00.000-05:00

I am really getting excited about embarking on our chicken project. As I continue to peruse the web in search of answers to my many questions, I stumbled upon this site http://www.vintagegardengal.com/

I actually found it by just google searching questions such as "how big should a chicken nesting box be"? And viola...I found her site. She has pictures of her coop and answers questions in a very detailed manner, which is helpful to a beginner. She also has many other things that on her blog, mostly to do with gardening and raising poultry.

Now, onto my next subject...as you know by now, I jump around, it's my personality and seldom is there a rhyme nor reason, it's just because...

Anyway, as I was admiring my shotgun yesterday (I had it with me during my compost project...just in case Mr. Gopher came visitin'), I thought it would be a good idea to check it out, find out more about it, some history. This gun was handed down to me by my father, who had it handed down to him by his grandmother on his mother's side. I feel so blessed because I actually grew up knowing and loving both sets of my great grandparents on my father's side of the family and my great grandmother on my mother's side of her family. That is uncommon for someone my age.
My great grandmother Luceile, whom this gun belonged to passed away about 7 years ago. The gun I am referring to is a Stevens Arms .22/.410 over and under model. The gun has two barrels, one on top of the other, the rifle barrel is on the top and the shotgun barrel is on the bottom. The gun can be switched between the two options depending on what type of game you are hunting. I seldom use the rifle, but instead use the .410 as my "critter eradicator". Thus far, it has proven to be "superior firepower" as Carl Spackler would say...Caddy Shack 1980

So back to the history part. Unlike many products today, the gun is beautifully and proudly engraved (see picture below) with the name of the company and the location of the company. I looked up the company and found out it was established in 1864 in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts. According to the internet, this particular gun make and model was discontinued in 1939. I don't know how my great grandmother came to own it, I'm guessing my great grandfather probably purchased it for her as they were avid hunters when they lived their younger years out in rural Michigan. Nevertheless, I am blessed to have something to remember her by and something to pass on to my son someday! Keeping it in the family is priceless...

Until next time...R Dean (a.k.a. wanna-be Gopher Hunter) checking out!!!

Good Friday day off...

2010-04-02T20:06:00.000-05:00

I really enjoyed my day off today...I tried not to think about work and I didn't!!! Yeah!!!

Didn't do too much today, moved one of my compost piles which I am hoping to till into the garden this fall. I think based on how it looked, I may be able to do it. Moved a pile of mulch also, and noticed mold under the surface of the mulch...wondering if I can use the mulch or if I should add it to the compost...Thoughts anyone?

Have our plan now for the chicken coop...instead of building a standalone coop, we are going to build it in the back portion of the garden shed. I plan to enclose an area 4 feet wide by the width of the shed which is 10 feet, giving it more or less around 40 square feet. I don't plan to have more than a half a dozen chickens to start, so I think that should be ample room. My big concern, which I need to find out about is how insulated I need to have it for the winter...Up here, it tends to get cold sometimes...hahaha...

Outside, I have the run already fenced in and it is approximately 10 ft x 15 ft. We would like to have free range chickens, but until we understand the nuances involved, we are taking this approach.

I watched a webinar the other night sponsored by Grit magazine on raising chickens, and it was awesome. I learned a lot!

We are at war with a GOPHER...

2010-03-28T20:11:00.000-05:00

"License to kill gophers by the government of the United Nations. Man, free to kill gophers at will. To kill, you must know your enemy, and in this case my enemy is a varmint. And a varmint will never quit - ever. They're like the Viet Cong - Varmint Cong. So you have to fall back on superior firepower and superior intelligence. And that's all she wrote."

Carl Spackler

Couldn't resist pulling a infamous quote from the hilarious cult movie Caddy Shack! Got a call from Jan on Thursday, she spotted what she thought was a gopher on our property. When I got home, we went out there and sure enough...MORE HOLES!!! Apparently, the holes I noted finding on the property late last year and blamed on either a fox or a coyote must have been this gopher!!! Murphy's law...kept the shotgun handy all weekend but no sight of Mr. Gopher...

Gopher hunter signing out...

Sunday sunsets...

2010-03-14T21:23:00.001-05:00

I love sunsets...they bring a sense of tranquility and finality to my day...

The week in review...

2010-03-14T21:13:00.001-05:00

Wow...it was so cool to have some extra sunlight today...I can tell you, our pups LOVED IT and we did too!!!

We had a really weird weather pattern this past week...FOG-DOM as I have come to refer to it!!! I honestly cannot remember an entire week of fog ALL DAY LONG, very weird and at times scary when I was on the road with EXTREMELY limited visibility!!!

Brent and his girlfriend came over on Friday night and stayed over, we played Uno and drank margarita's all night...Fun times!!!

Saturday we went over to Oshkosh to visit family. Our trips wouldn't be complete however without the stop at Manderfields Bakery in Neenah...mmmmmm....great bread and the desserts are to die for!!!

Today I spent the morning locating and removing land mines that were laid by the four-leggers during the winter...that is one of the nice things about the thaw...it uncovers the un-mentionables...hahahaha

The remainder of the day was just spent chilling, playing ball with the four-leggers and listening to the geese and crane rock-n-rollin in the fields...

Sunset shining in downstairs...

Foggggggyyyyyy...

More fogggggg...

Coned!!!

Garden minus snow...

Nitschke and Maggy chillin' in what's left of the snow...

Maggy and Molly sittin' in the welcome sunshine...

Maggy rollin' in the grass...

Mouse nesting left from the snow covering...

Mouse-ville...

more mouse trails...

Molly chillin' next to the out building...

Nitschke (top) sitting in what's left of the snow...The woodpile "finally" void of snow cover!!!

Nitschke grazing on rabbit poop!!!

Signing off for now...

Peace...R Dean

Satisfying Sunday...

2010-03-07T18:18:00.000-06:00

Just got back in from taking the four-leggers out for ball chucking and a general romp around the property! The girls cut their romp short as someone up the road a quarter or so mile was shooting their semi-automatic pistol!!! They don't like gunfire...kind of strange as they are full blooded Labs...go figure!!! hahaha...

But me and Nitschke stayed out and played chuck-it so he got his energy burn, but boy was he muddy as all get out once we were done. Thank goodness for a stash of old towels in the garage!!!

Enjoyed our first burgers from the cow, they were awesome!!!

Not much more to report, so "over and out" for now!!!

Peace...R Dean

Sunday morning sunrise...

First burgers from the cow...yummmmmm...

Maggy and Nitschke totally zonked out...modest he's not!!!

It's finally meltin'...

2010-03-06T21:13:00.000-06:00

At least it appears to be...got up in the 40's today...yeah...that's literally a heat wave for us, we sported short pants and tank-tops today...yeah I know...not a visual you want to think about...hahaha!!!

Now that the snow is starting to melt, I was successful at locating and eliminating quite a few land mines left behind from the four-leggers! Mission accomplished!!!

The only problem with the annual melting of the snow is the muddy mess it leaves behind, but...Spring is closely approaching, so I'll trade mud for snow any day of the week, mostly considering it is already March 6th!

Picked up our meat from Newton Meats today, our quarter of the cow came out to 130#'s of assorted cuts of meat, so we're stocked for the year.

Not much more to report for now...so I'll just post some pictures from todays outside adventures...

Peace...R Dean

Early morning dew on the trees...

Sunset shot looking East...

Maggy (a.k.a. Mighty Bird Hunter) caught loitering under a bird house...

Nitschke with an "orange ball"!!!

Piling snow on Nitschke...

Molly relaxing after "her" long day...

Where did you go???

2010-03-04T20:46:00.000-06:00

Oh...I'm so bummed...

I have lost a "follower"...hmmmm...was it something I said, didn't say or simply a lack of interesting things to say??? Probably the latter! Getting someone to follow your blog is like finding a new customer, you do all you can to keep attract them to your product, and if you lose them, trying to get them back is literally impossible!!!

And Lemonade Adventures...Faith, what happened, we so much enjoyed your posts, but haven't seen anything on your blog for a month...We hope you and your family are okay!!!

And last but not least...where is the Dancing Chicken Farm??? It vanished into thin air...Tracey...come back, we miss you...you had so much to say! How are the pups, the chickens...???

Peace...R Dean

Catching up...

2010-03-04T07:27:00.001-06:00

I cannot believe it is already March and we still have SNOW! Not only do we still have ton's of it on the ground, it actually snowed almost the entire day last Sunday, albeit light, but it still SNOWED!! When is it going to stop? I don't want to sound superstitious, but I shaved off my beard this morning, in hope that it would bring warm weather because my facial hair is no longer! I'll keep you posted!

A lot has happened since my last post, maybe not earth shattering, but important to me...so I'll try to bring the blog up to date...

Surgery...

We had the girls spayed two weeks ago and on Tuesday they had their stitches removed. Talk about happy dogs, they were finally allowed to go out together and play, and boy did they play, and play, and play. Nitschke even was able to join in the fun with them by getting beat up! I think they missed beating the boy up, but he enjoyed it and maybe even deserved some of it too! Molly is still suffering a bit, she had a cyst removed from her tail, so she is sporting some stylish gauze as it heals...I call it "tail art" ;-)

Pretending to ignore her tail until the two legger leaves the room!

In vogue!

Birds of Prey...

I got a big surprise recently when I came upon a large eagle on the side of the road, right up the road from our homestead. He or she was eating the remains of some sort of critter right next to the road! I'm assuming the critter, which looked like a coon had been hit by a car, which puzzled me...I had previously believed that they only preyed on living prey, not prey already dead! But having the opportunity to stumble upon a bird of this magnificance was just breathtaking...AND to find out later from some other folk that live around my area that they too had been spotting a pair of eagles was even more thrilling! If I can get some photo ops of them I will definitely post them to the blog! I'm on it!!

Oppossom...

Last weekend I was chucking the ball for Nitschke when all of a sudden he stopped cold in his tracks! He just stared intently into the tree line, so I knew something was there. I started walking toward him and I could immediately see something in the sumac's and it became clear it was a big oppossom. I called him back (probably with great fear in my voice) and he came back very obediently (Nitschke and obedient in the same sentence..kind of an oxymoron)...hahaha...Anyway, I went back into the house for my gun because my first thought was that oppossom's don't come out during the day, so I concluded it must be sick. By the time I got back, it had made significant progress of getting out of dodge, so a couple hisses from me to startle it and it packed it up and headed back into the woods. Kind of a good outcome for all of us, I really didn't want to shoot it anyway!

Candy...

I had to make a quick trip to Port Washington yesterday afternoon for business and came upon a unique little candy store in downtown Port Washington called The Chocolate Chisel. John, the fellow I was meeting for business actually owns the candy store too, and let me tell you, this is no typical candy store you see in your local mall. I got a lesson in "chocolate 101" from Pat, who works at the store and I learned more things about chocolate's than I ever knew existed. Pat was also kind enough to recommend and assemble a beautiful gift package of a variety of chocolates for Jan. I've attached a picture of the artwork, and yes, these are real chocolate candies! If you ever visit Port Washington Wisconsin, make sure you stop by the The Chocolate Chisel to pick out your assortment and peruse the beautiful pewter artwork that John designs and casts himself on the premises!

Backpacker Magazine...

Well, I'll end my rambling for today...but before I sign-off, I have to tell you the most exciting news of all...I just got my annual Backpacker Magazine Editor's Choice Awards Gear Guide Edition...oh yeah...the gear junkie is now happy and content...lot's of cool things this year to peruse, getting really lightweight too, so if you are into backpacking, you can ignore this last rant...because you already knew about it...Made me realize I better get my butt out to the Ice Age Trail SOON!!!

Peace...

Can Democrats Get Loud and Fearless??

2010-02-10T21:38:00.001-06:00

Interesting article by Bob Cesca who blogs for the Huffington Post. I found it to be so true in how he characterizes the Republican Party...as I read it, besides the many conservative acquaintances I've had over the year, two people immediately came to mind, Limbaugh and Beck...

Mouse over the title and it will take you to the link I noted on the Huff Post...R Dean

Is it ever going to stop??

2010-02-09T20:59:00.001-06:00

Took this about an hour after clearing out a foot of snow...shows you how fast it accumulates when the wind is blowing at over 15 mph and how intense the wind is, check out the imprint of the door in the snow! Awesome!!

I love my Sorel's...(if you look closely, you can see the Sorel icon in the middle) they keep my feet warm AND dry, while providing outstanding traction in the snow! Another "must have" out in the country during the winter time!

We have been under a winter storm warning since about 12am this morning and it is predicted to last until 6am tomorrow morning. I left work early today because the weather was so bad, the roads were even worse, barely any pavement visible through the blowing snow...welcome to February in Wisconsin! Once home, I was greeted by over a foot of snow where I usually park the F150 which meant "tractor time"! The snow was easy work for the tractor, but the problem is where to put it...we're running out of room to pile it up. The loader can lift up to about 7 feet in the air, but the piles are pushing the height limit of the loader, so I am having to be creative in finding new places to dump the white stuff, while thinking strategically, because sooner than later...it is going to melt, so it needs to have plenty of room to drain...But for now, I'll just keep re-distributing the white stuff and worry about the melt-off when it comes!

R Dean

Saturday morning chatter...

2010-02-06T08:34:00.000-06:00

Woke up to MORE SNOW!!! Had to dig my way out of the garage, the four legger's just blasted through it!

Today's weather is really weird, it's snowing, but big patches of blue sky. The temperature is 20 degrees "feels like" 8 degrees according to The Weather Channel with 9 mph winds, but I think when snow is flying parrallel to the ground...might be a bit more gusty than that!

We keep saying that we need to invest in wind power out here...the wind NEVER stops blowing! Interestingly enough, on my way to the office, there is a home that just installed one (probably about an 80 or 90 footer) and I heard through the grapevine that the guy is a dealer, so I may stop by there and check out what they have regarding information on that technology.

If anyone can share there insight on wind technology, please...we're all ears!!

Later...R Dean

A frigid Friday night...

2010-02-05T20:30:00.000-06:00

Just came in from taking the four legger's out and it's nasty out there. The temperature is 31 degree's with the wind coming out of the NNE at 14 mph with gusts up to 28 mph, resulting in a "feels like" temperature of 20 degrees! "Feels like" translated into meterological terms is "wind chill"...Thank goodness the wood stove is stoked!

The four legger's love the snow, of which we got a couple more inches this week, adding to the cliff's of snow breeding on our property. It's not like I "don't" like snow, it's more like, is Spring here yet? This is going to be a very messy Spring...Can't wait until the snow starts to melt, the four legger's will be getting hosed off everytime they go out...shhhhh...but they don't know it yet though!

Well, enough about that! Time to go peruse some blogs...

Our source of warmth...

2010-01-31T19:50:00.001-06:00

Before picture...delivered, split and ready to stack!

After picture...approximately 3 hours later...thanks to both of us working, me stacking wood and Jan loading it with our SC2400 tractor

Neatly stacked inside our out building away from the elements.

Still more wood left to stack outside...but it's out of the main driveway.

We had another cord of wood delivered this past week, so we are set for the remainder of the season and well into next winter! We have a wood burning stove that we use as our primary heating source for the house. Although we have central heat, we prefer to burn wood instead, it is more cost efficient than LP gas, which costs about $225 per fill up (depending on the cost of a gallon at that particular time). Up until about a month ago, we had not had to have our LP tank filled for over a year, thanks to the wood burner! But, since we were going to be away for a week and a half, we figured we better fill it before we left.
A cord of hard wood costs $175, split and delivered, and depending on how cold the weather is, we typically use about 3/4 of a cord for the season. If we didn't have the stove, I estimate we would easily go through two tanks per winter, maybe more! This time, we had our tractor to move the cord around. The last several cords we purchased was moved around by the "wheel barrel method"...Needless to say, I'm really loving the tractor A LOT!

R Dean

Waxing Gibbous Night...

2010-01-28T20:54:00.000-06:00

I can't begin to express in writing how beautiful it is out in the country on a clear night during a full moon or in the case tonight, a Waxing Gibbous....We still have a bunch of snow on the ground, but the extremely low temperature's have turned it to a hard crusty landscape with crater like holes scattered about, the result of Sorel's post-holing, all of which brilliantly reflects the moon's white light.

One needs no artificial light on nights like these, the moon reflecting off of the snow is all one needs to see clearly for miles! It's awesome!

Life is good...in the country!

Back into the cold...

2010-01-27T22:02:00.001-06:00

Up close and personal with one of the Blue Men after the show...

She is sooooo impatient!!!

Crashed in the back of the mini-van!

Got food?

Romantic carriage ride...

John "squared" (our carriage driver and his horse)

I don't know why my neck is stiff...

Can I text my friend when you're done with the Blackberry?

Is that my BALL?

Molly and Maggy...Chillin'

Nitschke and his BALL!!

You missed the turn to the doggie park...DUMMY!!!

Some cool art at the House of Blues

Hey folks...we are back from a short jaunt to the Sunshine State and let me tell you, the weather was superb! However, being born and raised down South, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that weather in Florida during January is just a teaser and the worst is yet to come!

Fortunately, we were able to enjoy a couple days of vacation while we traveled to Orlando for business, stopping briefly in TN to visit family. Although the trip had its "hectic" moments, all in all it was fun! We introduced the kids (our dogs) to a serious road trip seen from the back half of a rented mini-van that Jan customized into a cool dog pad of soft blankets and dog toys. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised at how well they behaved in such cramped quarters...Not once did they ask..."are we there yet" or argue about who got to sit next to the window!!! Pretty impressive, huh?

Once there, we picked up our rented RV (or as we came to know it as...Crap Wagon) and headed to Disney's Fort Wilderness Campground. We chose Fort Wilderness Campground because they accepted dogs (THREE LARGE DOGS!!!). I must say, I was extremely pleased, we had a great campsite, the campground was clean, the staff was overly pleasant and it had an off leash DOG PARK!!!!!...

Hope you enjoy the pics...

Peace

R Dean

Nitschke's favorite ball...EVER!

2010-01-04T21:19:00.000-06:00

Jan took this picture of Nitschke...He's obsessed with this ball!!!

R Dean

Blizzard of 2009...

2010-01-03T19:38:00.001-06:00

At least 100 bucket fulls or 500 cubic feet of snow moved!

Our F150 buried alive!

Snow was over the door knob!

West side of the F150...4 wheel drive low couldn't even budge it from this snow entrapment...

Figured we MIGHT have a white Christmas!

Snow day! No school...yippeeeeee!

I'm stuck!

Snow dogs!

Let's build a fort under the tree!

Takin' a breather...

Play hard...rest comfortably in our nice warm house...we're not spoiled though!

It's been a while since I last posted, actually over a month now, so what a better time to jump back into the blogosphere! I'll start by wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

Back on December 8th, we had an awesome blizzard! After everything was said and done, we got about 15-1/2 inches of snow. That, coupled with the drifting that the 40+ mph winds brought made for a very interesting couple of days. It took me almost all day to move snow so we could get out of the house. The driveway was the worst, the snowfall combined with the drifts required several hours of tractor time to clear 200 plus feet just so we could get to the road. Along the way I only got the tractor stuck three times, well, really only twice, the first time I barely made it out of the garage before I got it stuck!

Hope you enjoy the pics...

Peace...R Dean

The day after...

2009-11-27T19:21:00.001-06:00

Not your "average" deer...

I took this pic of one of the dozen or so free range male elks that reside behind us. This guy is big, probably pushing 600 or more pounds...I'm guessing he is easily five feet or more at the shoulders, quite a magnificant specimen of wildlife! I also was able to get another shot of this guy and his buddy, see my new Windee Acres Farm back drop picture at the top of my blog.

We were blessed to be able to celebrate our Thanksgiving today with our son and his girlfriend. Jan out did herself once again and made an outstanding feast of turkey, green bean casserole, butternut squash, corn pudding (all of which came from our garden..except the turkey :-)), mashed potatoes and stuffing, not to mention her "impossibly easy" pumpkin pie which I plan to sample later tonight!

This year, Jan brined the turkey with hard cider and it was sooooo moist, more so than I can ever remember...Kudo's to Jan for another wonderful dinner!

Life is good!

Happy Thanksgiving...

2009-11-26T09:09:00.006-06:00

Maggy

Molly

Nitschke Boy

The two-legger taking a break!

The elk are loving the balmy weather...

It's Thanksgiving and it's 39 degrees and "no" snow in sight! Wow, quite a contrast from last year when we already had a good amount of snow fall at this time. Today is overcast, very damp outside and a good day to just sit back, relax and spend the day with family. We are "officially" celebrating our Thanksgiving tomorrow because our son has to work today, so we are looking forward to that.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone and thanks for stopping by our blog!

Nitschke cam...

2009-11-22T21:23:00.003-06:00

If you have ever owned a Lab, you know they LOVE to...RETRIEVE! When Nitschke retrieves his favorite ball, he has to dunk it in his water bucket...why? Because he's Nitschke! :-)

Remembering Bucky...

2009-11-20T20:55:00.028-06:00

Yesterday marked one month since Bucky's passing and we continue to miss him every day. We know in our hearts that God had a purpose for Bucky and whatever that purpose was, he is much happier now. We hope you enjoy the collection of pictures we posted of him as much as we enjoyed taking all of the pictures and loving him every day we were blessed to have him in our lives.

Social media...

2009-11-20T12:13:00.003-06:00

Hi everyone...for those of you who have continued to follow my blog..thank you so much...I know I have not posted much at all and I appreciate you still following me, even in these times of sparse postings...you still are kind enough to comment on my posts when I "do post". With winter quickly approaching (even though you couldn't tell by today's temperature) I'm sure I will find more face time with the laptop!

Now onto business at hand...

Since all of you are much more accomplished than I am when it comes to blogging, and the overall world of social media, I would like to ask for your input on how much credence you place on negativity that is posted on blogs, specifically when it comes to products and services.

The reason I ask this is because yesterday, I was alerted to the fact that my company had been unfavorably mentioned on a blog. After quick counsel with my general counsel, my counterpart on the retail side of our business and I telephoned the blogger to ask, how could we help him with his problem? We listened intently to his issues and then we provided a couple solutions to his problem and we came to an amicable agreement, so it was a "win-win" for the both of us.

I wonder...had we not been alerted of this situation, how bad could it have become with his 549 follower's possibly commenting or at a minimum, reading the post and then having a less than favorable perception of our company and products?

I feel we did the right thing by acting with a sense of urgency, and I feel it paid off because unsolicited, he posted a very nice note on his blog about speaking to me and my colleague. But, I wonder how much power someone really has in the social media circle, be it complimenting a product or criticizing it. I'm sure it obviously depends on who is making the claim, if it was Oprah, I'm sure it would could be a huge "Tipping Point" for your product or service. By the way, Tipping Point is a great read, check it out!

Do you as social media experts have an opinion? How much credence do you put into others blogs when it comes to products and services? And, considering the power of technology as it is today, for example, Google Alert allows you to put key word searches into this service and get e-mail alerts when your key words are used on the web, companies have so much power at their fingertips that if they don't defend themselves, does that compound the perception, mostly if the company is cast in an unfavorable fashion?

Hopefully the questions make sense and you can share your insight. Please let me know!

Thanks, R Dean "Slowdog"

Bucky's passing...

2009-10-25T19:29:00.006-05:00

Bucky's favorite past time, chewin' on sticks!

On Friday, we lost our beloved Bucky to complications associated to a congenital liver condition...he was six months old. We miss him so much, but we know that he is no longer hurting nor suffering anymore, but instead he is running, playing and chewing on sticks, like puppies should be doing, and knowing that helps the grieving process tremendously...but it still hurts...

Has it REALLY been 2 weeks?...

2009-09-29T05:58:00.005-05:00

Mornings getting cloudier and "cooooooler"...Fall weather is setting in...FAST!

Wow...how time flies! Yesterday, I received an e-mail from Chelsea's mom (Chelsea, btw, is one of Mollie's offspring, the VERY cute yellow lab who has appeared on our blog on more than one occasion!) asking.."is everything okay? Haven't seen much activity on your blog." Well, everything is okay, thanks for asking Kathy! We have just been so busy with the garden, the dogs, etc., etc.! But I guess in reality, a bit of laziness on my behalf should also be factored in there somewhere as well! :-)

Anyway, just wanted to post something quick and let everyone know that I have NOT forgotten about your blogs...I will be doing some overdue "blog visiting and posting" tonight...promise!

Enjoy your day!

R Dean

Spiderweb and the "Crew"

2009-09-14T20:15:00.010-05:00

Find any? No! Not yet..you? Nah...wait, wait...here's some over here...I located the mother lode of rabbit poop!!!
Molly posin' for the camera...

Checkin' out the "web"...and you didn't think dogs could surf...

Now this is true Mother Nature Art!!!

That would make a cool name for a band!!

Some more pics of what I hold dear in my heart...EXCEPT SPIDERS...I squish them...sorry!!! But, I left this one alone...couldn't find the artist...

R Dean

It's Monday night...do you know where your Blogger is?

2009-09-14T19:34:00.006-05:00

I'm back!

I'm back in the saddle again

I'm back!

I'm back in the saddle again

ridin' into town alone by the light of the moon I'm lookin' for old Sukie Jones, she crazy horse saloon barkeep gimme a drink, that's when she caught my eye she turned to give me a wink, that'd make a grown man cry

I'm back in the saddle again

I'm back!

I'm back in the saddle again I'm back!

Okay...I know, I know...enough already of the Aerosmith lyrics...but come on...you cancel an entire tour JUST because you fell off stage at Sturgis...come on...we'll start calling you Stephanie Tyler from now on...

If you can't laugh at yourself, what good is it...right?

Can't wait to catch up on all of YOUR blogs...that is where the COOLNESS and CREATIVITY resides...so I'll keep this short and sweet...hope you enjoy these pics AND the lyrics...I thought they were pretty cool for a Monday night post...the sunrises are really starting to migrate in a South Easterly direction...

Peace...

R Dean

Fog, fog, and more fog...

2009-09-09T05:39:00.007-05:00

When is it going to end...ahhhhhhhh....every morning we are "fogged in"

All complaining aside...at least it provides for some good photo ops...

JD took these...so she deserves ALL the credit...will add these to her photo portfolio, because you never know when we'll need to borrow $24 million dollars and photograph's can be worth a lot of money...right Annie Leibovitz? Money...the root of all evil!!

Anyway...I'll end my goofy sense of humor blog entry here and leave you with this parting message...

Enjoy your life!! You deserve it!!

Peace everyone...

R Dean

Game on...

2009-09-08T21:03:00.006-05:00

Garden ladder to nowhere...with a cuke vine finally climbing it...

" Togetherness..."

Can't wait to sample the cauliflower...among other things!!

Go ahead...might as well finish it up!

We had a surprise awaiting us in the garden Saturday morning...SOMETHING helped itself to one of our melons! I left him a little surprise down there last night...we'll see if he falls for it! I'll keep you posted!

On the positive side...we harvested more veggies as you can see...hopefully the tomatoes will be ready soon...getting impatient!

Friday night campfire...

2009-09-08T20:37:00.008-05:00

Can you see the serpent...?

Fire...so relaxing, so powerful, so destructive...

Cool close ups...

"I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand, walking through the streets of Soho in the rain!"

Welcome back..."to me"! Wow, it's been a few days since I posted but feels like a week..I was kind of in a funk or something..couldn't bring myself to post anything..don't ask me why, just didn't feel like it. However, it didn't stop me from perusing your blogs..which always inspire me! ;-)

Just wanted to share some cool campfire pictures that JD took Friday night...Fire is so cool to watch..it is mesmerizing to me...I don't think there has ever been a campfire that hasn't provided me with some sort of cool visual content, be it a face or in this case, what appears to me as a serpent or cobra coming up out of the fire..Check it out!

It's a beautiful morning....

2009-09-04T05:35:00.010-05:00

Molly the "Corn Dog"

Finally shucked...and ready for the compost bin!

This was our dinner...well not all of it! Just corn, butter, salt and pepper..mmmmmmmm

Freshly picked minutes earlier...

We have had several ears with "multiple ears within an ear"...What causes this? Did we have two types of corn too close to one another? If anyone knows why this happens, please explain...

This is why I love where I live...I'm soooo fortunate and thankful!

Morning everyone...hope you have big plans for your day and even bigger plans for the holiday weekend! Be safe and most importantly, spend time with the ones you love because life is to short not to!

Peace...

The Greatest Prank Call Ever...

2009-09-02T13:11:00.004-05:00

I was cleaning out one of my directories on my office computer and ran across this hilarious prank phone call that Tom Mabe pulled on a telemarketer. For those of you who don't know who Tom Mabe is, he is a regular guest on The Bob and Tom syndicated radio show out of Indy and also plays the part of Donny Baker on their morning show.

This contains some adult language and content, but was okay to play on the public airwaves, so I hope you get a good laugh and think about the next time a telemarketer calls you..oh..the possibilities are endless! :-)

More Fair pics...

2009-09-01T21:02:00.009-05:00

Cows without a tail....kind of like "eyes without a face" circa 1980..Billy Idol

Female Muschovy...a must have after we get our chickens!

Jan and I weren't sure of the breed? Faith..is it a Clydesdale?

Guess what? What? Chicken butt! Inside joke for SFG! :-)

Quick..someone call Ross..I found Marcel!

Okay...I warned you that I had an odd sense of humor..just some "Friends" trivia there..did you get it? No? That's okay...most people wouldn't! Marcel only lasted one season and he was very disliked by the cast....Poor Marcel!

Manitowac County Fair

2009-08-31T21:15:00.008-05:00

Close-up of Native American warrior

Estimated this carving to be about 8ft. high...price tag was $10K

Bear's seem to be popular among chainsaw carvers!

Perfect for the biker in your life!

Another Native American carving

This guy would look awesome sitting on my deck!

Couldn't resist sharing some pictures of some very cool wood carvings done with chainsaws. They had an auction on Sunday, but when we got there, it was packed, so we passed on trying to bid...Maybe next year...will give us a chance to save up for it, because these things "ain't" cheap people, and rightfully so, a lot of hard work goes into one of these pieces of art!

Dogs with balls....

2009-08-31T20:51:00.006-05:00

Maggy guarding her stash of tennis balls!

It's a rare moment when Molly doesn't have something in her mouth!

Caught in the act...Nitschke with Bucky's tennis ball...

Bucky pouting because Nitschske just took his new tennis ball...

Molly posing for the camera in the kitchen...

As you can see, our dogs LOVE tennis balls...

NoNAIS.org

2009-08-30T09:23:00.002-05:00

Thanks to Sandy at American Way Farm (and her patience for a HTML/Javascript for Dummies person like me)...I was able to add this to my gadget list (see upper right of my blog). Everyone, please check this out, very interesting insight regarding you and I farming in the future...

Sandy..BTW, how do I get a picture of the link to show up like on your blog???

Thanks a million....R Dean

Chillin' in WI

2009-08-29T08:37:00.005-05:00

Brilliant colors...

Hey folks, I'm beginning to think it's true, Wisconsin only has three seasons, Spring, Fall and Winter! It's currently a "balmy" 56 degrees, overcast with wind gusts at 21mph...a typical day that we see in October, not August! Hey, I can't complain, I spent 31 years living in FL and I enjoy this more than the constant heat and humidity!

Today we plan to go to the county fair. I'm excited to learn about chickens so that will be my main focal point, although I do enjoy looking at the other livestock too! My plan is to build a coop first, before the first snowfall and then introduce chickens in early Spring. Not sure what breeds to get, but I figure I can aske a bunch of questions today! I heard Rhode Island Reds thrive in this type of climate.

I'll take pictures...

Peace..R Dean

PS. Couldn't resist another sunrise picture...you know me and sunrises! :-)

Bucky update....

2009-08-27T20:19:00.004-05:00

Bucky enjoys playing with a harness more than his toys...kids..go figure!

I wuv tennis balls....

Good evening!

Just wanted to post a quick note about our little Buckster! Tuesday night we went to see Dr. P and she was very happy to see how Bucky was progressing. Since she started him on his special diet and medication, he is a different puppy..full of "piss and vinegar"! He is playing hard with his big brother Nitschke AND holding his own!

At this time, Dr. P decided to hold off on his vaccinations until his next visit, she wants to make sure he has another month or so to grow more before administering his shots, which in my opinion is fine! I would rather take a conservative approach to ensure his continued good health.

For those of you who don't know, Bucky, our little Black Lab pup has a liver shunt (some of his blood bypasses his liver) hence it does not get cleansed as needed. As Dr. P reminded us, there is no guarantee, but for us, everyday is a celebration of time we get to spend with him.

Oh before I forget.....weigh in...Nitschke is 37 lbs...and Bucky is 27 lbs....whew..little chubby monkee's! LOL

Enjoy your evening...

Peace..R Dean

Yesterday's sunrise...was sooooo cool

2009-08-27T07:01:00.005-05:00

Good morning...

I overslept this morning..didn't get up until 5:30am so I'm trying to cram a lot of stuff into a short period of time this morning. I wanted to post a cool picture I took yesterday morning in landscape mode, where the camera actually stiches together three shots...

More to come later today/tonight, I want to post an update on Bucky's condition (good news...not bad thank goodness)!

Have a fantastic day, and by the way thanks a million for taking the time to stop by my blog and post a quick comment, that really makes my day!

Peace...

R Dean

Blue Sky Green Field Wind Energy Center

2009-08-24T21:55:00.005-05:00

Last week, I took these photographs of Blue Sky Green Field Wind Energy Center which is approximately 25 miles due West of our place. I did some preliminary research about it and found out this farm is capable of powering 36,000 avearage residential homes! It consists of 88 turbines scattered about the countryside. Although I am 100% behind wind power, I have to admit I would struggle with losing my precious view to these lumbering modern day wind mills, which stand 262ft. from ground to hub...the picture of the barn really puts their size into perspective.

R Dean

Excursion to Door County

2009-08-22T06:33:00.003-05:00

Old barn with a rainbow in the background..It was not the nicest day weather wise, but this made for a great photo op!

I wasn't...but the beer was... :-)

My new friend in front of Casey's BBQ & Smokehouse, Egg Harbor http://caseysbbqandsmokehouse.com/default.aspx

Prior to plastic coming onto the scene! They don't make 'em like this anymore!

Old Ford delivery van at Hyline Orchard, Hwy. 42. Best part of the stop was the photo op's!

JD on her way into Hyline Orchard where we quickly found out specializes in "mean and crotchety"! Too bad that some people hate life and feel the need to take it out on everyone else!

Curt's Spice Co. & Oilerie, LLC in Fish Creek

Thursday, I had to make a couple calls in Door County, which is about an hour and a half NE of us. Since it is a vacation destination with many unique little boutique type retailers I asked JD to accompany me. She quickly accepted the offer. Our first stop was Door County Coffee where my first call was. We couldn't resist having Mocha's...mmmmm...very good. For those of you who don't know this drink, it is a shot (or two) of espresso, steamed milk and chocolate! JD can rattle these recipes off as she managed a Starbucks "way" back when. Here is the link if you want to check it out. http://www.doorcountycoffee.com/session_c82d2c7e3665/ We couldn't leave until we purchased a couple bags of specialty blends.

Next stop was the Ephraim Inn in Ephraim..go figure! It's a beautiful sixteen room B&B. I had some business to tend to with the owners. Hopefully one day we will be able to get back up there to stay a night or two. Here is the link if you're looking to stay there or simply interested in checking it out. It comes highly recommended! http://www.theephraiminn.com/

On the way back JD was anxious to stop by The Oilerie in Fish Creek. This is truly a specialty shop by definition as they specialize in extra virgin olive oils and balsamic vinegars. After getting a tour of the store, JD left with six bottles of assorted oils and vinegars and a big smile on her face! Here is the link. http://oilerie.com/

Well, we are going to head out to the garden soon, need to harvest some corn, it's ready..finally!

Enjoy the day!

Peace..R Dean

The Dogs of Windee Acres Farm...

2009-08-19T20:11:00.013-05:00

Chelsea is posin' for the camera...

Chelsea's "post" frog huntin' picture...Isn't she adorable?

I wuv tennis balls...

Chelsea sacked out on the floor!

Aunt Maggy loves her picture taken! :-)

Dis is myyyyyyy toy Nitschke!!!

Maggy and Molly waitin' on Bucky and Nitschke to come out and play....

Kennel Club...

Dis is myyyyyyyy stick!

It's been a while since I posted anything about our pups so I figured, what a great time to do so! They're getting SOOOOO big!! We have also been blessed that a family that purchased one of Molly's yellow lab pup's has stayed in touch with us. She gave us permission to share some of her photo's of Chelsea on our blog. Hope you enjoy the pics as much as we do!

R Dean...

Favre signs with the Vikings...

2009-08-19T06:43:00.008-05:00

Okay..how could I NOT resist saying something about Brett returning to the NFL after what....his second retirement in that many seasons? And plus, I need to get out of "scanty" mode when it comes to my blog postings..right Faith? LOL :-)

For any of you that don't already know or for that matter really care...we reside in WI, not "too far" from the hallowed grounds of Lambeau Field. For me, GB Packer football has not been the same since he left. That said, I have "overnight" changed my favorite colors from green and gold to PURPLE! I

I know, I know, this turn of events (Brett coming back) not me changing colors, has sparked a lot of ill feelings with a lot of GB Packer fans, but oh well...GET OVER IT! In my opinion, hey, if you are forty years old (39 and counting) and can still play with the young bucks AND beat them at their best game at that level..hey, you're my hero Brett! I know this old body couldn't have done it at forty, or thirty, or...!

Rock on Brett...I'll be sporting a new team jersey this season and it will be PURPLE! Who knows, maybe I'll even invest in one of those Viking hats with the horns poking out the sides and see if I can steal a photo beside Ted Thompson in front of the Curly Lambeau statue!

Woooohooooo....R Dean

Weekend weather...

2009-08-16T21:16:00.002-05:00

The weather was brutal this weekend. It wasn't so much the temperatures, but instead the air quality. It hit me really hard on Saturday after spending a few hours trimming and cutting grass on the property. According to the weather pollencast, weed was "moderate" so I guess that was giving me the problems. I must have sneezed one hundred times yesterday!!

When you walk outside, the air is still heavy, even at 9:21pm..which is atypical for the WI climate. Even this morning, the air was heavy when we got up around 5:45am.

Sunday morning harvest...

2009-08-16T20:54:00.005-05:00

We were able to spend about an hour this morning poking around the garden, pulling some weeds, admiring the veggies and even picking some too! We harvested our first ears of corn, and cooked it up tonight for dinner..it was so tender and sooo good! Got more beans, beets, squash, zuchinni, carrots, onions AND some brocolli! We'll be eating good this week!

I'm also happy to say the transplanted tomatoes seem to be coming along well, and the cucumbers are starting to come to life, they have been kind of slow to grow this season, not sure why! Our melon's are growing like crazy and the vines are spreading like wild fire! If they all make it, we'll have way too many for ourselves, so we'll be giving some away to friends and family.

R Dean

Finally Friday...

2009-08-14T07:18:00.007-05:00

Watermelon's...

"Baby" Butternut Squash

"Juvenile" Butternut Squash

First of five or so transplanted sunflowers to open up!

Well, my morning started off fun! Maggy, decided she would go across the road to her Rocket's farm....wasn't that special! So, after herding her back onto our property and putting her inside, I went out to let the pups out only to find that Bucky left me two surprises in his kennel! That was really special!! Wooohooo..what a way to start off the day! Hahahaha.....But then it all got better, as I reminded myself how lucky I am!

Hope you enjoy your day because I will definitely be enjoying mine!

Peace...

R Dean

Garden story...

2009-08-10T20:59:00.006-05:00

Tonight after dinner, we meandered down to the garden as we do every night, eager to see what new treasures awaited us. Unfortunately, the replanted tomatoes aren't looking too good, but we still have hope that they will survive and produce! The good news, we harvested another yellow squash, a bunch of beans, mostly wax, some more lettuce and three more zuchinni's! Very rewarding! We finally have a cucumber coming along as well, so hopefully the next few days of warm weather will really get the garden cooking!

And finally, the most interesting garden story...JD was pulling weeds around the lettuce and noticed a pile of mulch. After moving it around with her gloves, to her surprise it was a nest of what appeared to be a litter of five mice that appeared to be a day or two old. Needless to say, she was very "surprised"! I played good hubby and removed them right away! :-)

R Dean

Thinnin' the maters'

2009-08-09T13:58:00.002-05:00

Our NEW tomato patch!!

Hey everyone..well, as I post this, we are sitting at 84 degrees outside, feels like 92 degrees and with a dew point of 74 degrees according to http://www.weather.com/.

For you weather geeks out there..it's hot and humid!! I have to say, that we are thankful we have air condition! I'm happy to say TODAY is the first day we turned it on! JD thought we should turn it on early and we did, she was right, good idea, it is very nice in our "shades drawn" little piece of heaven! The girls are sacked out and the boys are too! They just enjoyed a bucket of ice cubes, so they are set for another hour or so.

Around 8:30am today, we went down to the garden with our main objective..thinning out our tomatoes. JD ignored the thick foliage inhabited by the infamous "Thamnophis sirtalis" and the "Opheodrys vernalis" and quickly pulled out a half dozen plants, tossing them to me for transplantation. Hopefully both the thinned out plants AND the transplants will continue to flourish! We'll keep you posted!! :-)

R Dean and JD ;-)