A week has passed since I planned to move the turkeys and we finally got it done yesterday.  I decided to move the Red Bourbon turkeys to the larger pen instead of the Royal Palms.  The reason for that is that I would like to sell the Royal Palms and they will be easier to catch in the smaller pen.  We also moved my little wild hen.  My old little white bantam hen escaped from the big pen on Friday.  Buddy tried to keep her from escaping the yard altogether and he ended up killing her.  I could have prevented that if I had been there when she escaped but I was not.  Anyway, she was about 7 years old and I was surprised she lived as long as she did.  The other old hen still in that pen needed some company.  I caught the wild hen who has been recovering in her solitary kennel in the barn.  Steve clipped her wing and we moved her into the larger pen with the old brown hen.  We watched them circle each other and check each other out.  They seemed OK with each other, no big fights or running around.  We then proceeded to the turkey pen.  

We had to circle around and single out the big red tom, dodging the Royal Palms and letting them pass so we could grab the red tom.  I could not hold him the first time I got hold of his neck.  Have you ever tried to hold onto a 30 pound bird flapping his wings for all he's worth.  Course I can't blame him.  He probably thought it was Thanksgiving all over again.  Anyway, Steve managed to get him in a corner, hold down his wings and sort of sit on him.  Then I got the scissors and we clipped his wing.  He was much to big for me to carry.  I held on to his head and tried to assist Steve in picking him up.  Steve held the bird next to his body so that he could not flap those powerful wings and I opened gates so we got him moved to the new pen.  Steve set him down gently on his feet and backed away.  Red Tom just stood there panting and then he puffed up all over and did his little display.  We knew then that he was OK.  Next, it was time to catch Miss French, the turkey hen.  She would try to fly and be even harder to catch than Red Tom had been.  She had been hiding in the shelter while we caught Red Tom but managed to escape when we cornered her in there.  She just hopped up into the air and flapped those big wings.  She stayed among the Royal Palms and tried several times to launch herself out of the pen.  I ended up with nothing but feathers in my hand more than once.  But I told her, "I am going to catch you so you may as well settle down and let it happen!"  Steve ended up cornering her.  He held on but she still had one wing out there flapping as hard as she could.  I then held her against my body tucking in her wings and she stilled.  Steve clipped her wing and I walked her over to the big pen.  She is so fragile and light compared to the Tom.  I thought she would try to fly out of the big pen right away but she did not.  She seemed to like the more open space and just walked around exploring her new space.  Now there are three new residents in the old goat pen and one old resident who no longer has to be alone.  I hope Miss French lays some eggs and has some baby turkeys for us soon. 

We are having an absolutely gorgeous spring day!  I just want to run out and plant flowers everywhere!  I cleaned out my pots of all their dead dried up plantings from last year.  I have some seeds started in the Arizona room and I planted my lily-of-the-valley rhizomes in a pot this morning.

The alpacas grazed peacefully while I worked and cleaned up pots this morning.  Frankie climbed on top on his new shelter.  That seems to be his spot now.  He spends the night up there too.  

Loki got stuck up a tree this morning when he tried to come in the house and Lux was still out.  Loki wanted to come in the house but didn't realize until too late that Lux was out and not Penny.  Lux was pretty diligent and would not give up her post.  Loki jumped down from the tree when I opened the back door but was not quick enough to get inside before Lux was on him.  He made a mad dash toward the fence and up and over he ran to safety.  Lux got her thrill and a bit of exercise for the day. Loki was a little peeved at me later when I saw him in the barn but otherwise unhurt.


We may try to move the Royal Palm turkeys today.  I am thinking of putting Mr. Washington in the stew pot.  He has become very aggressive and tries to attack me every time I have to go in the pen with food or to get eggs.  He is a formidable opponent.  I always keep the feed bucket between us so that he cannot actually make contact with my legs but lately he is slowing down and looking more closely to see if he can get under or around that bucket.  He is such a handsome guy. Too bad his temperament doesn't match his looks.  Maybe he would mellow if he was in a bigger pen.  I don't know.  Maybe we will try to move him before we put him in the pot.


My daughter and her family have returned from their Spring Break trip to California.  They brought me some starfish to add to my new bathroom decor.  They'll be up today.  I have missed the grands.  Steve will bbq London broil and salmon.  Can't wait!  Yummmy!

T

Happy St. Patty's Day Everyone!  Are you wearin' the green?  I am.  I got a cute little peasant top in bright green at Walmart for about $6.  I don't wear green alot so the price was right and it's comfortable!

I want to mention the catastrophe in Japan just because it is so overwhelming.  I cannot really get my head around the mass destruction of property and loss of life.  On the other hand, as a student of geology, the forces that caused the quake and the tsunami are totally awesome.  I mean to move an island 8 feet and change the topography!  It is totally amazing  and breath-taking to say the least.  I wake up every morning thinking of those poor people and thank the Lord that our humble home is still standing, that we have running water and electricity and that we have food on the store shelves and at home.  

I finally finished the damn bathroom!  What a relief!  It is not perfect, as I am not a professional painter, but it is better than it was before I painted.  The next project will be painting the master bedroom but I am not ready to start that just yet.  We are having fabulous weather and I thought I would try to get some outside work done.  My asparagus ferns that have been outside all winter are totally brown and dead.  I know from years before that if I cut out all the dead stuff, the plants will start sending up new shoots and will get just as full and big as before.  So I want to do that and clean out the bird baths and fill them up again.  Steve and I were sitting out last evening when a loud buzzing sound startled us.  There was a hummingbird just hovering almost in our faces as if to say, "We're back!"  I love the little hummers!

Our neighborhood is being inconvenienced for awhile.  There is really only one way in and out of our neighborhood and that is over the exit bridge #297 to the I-10.  The day before yesterday 2 tractor trailers collided under that bridge and exploded into flame.  No one was killed but the bridge was so severely damaged that it has been closed to traffic.  Yesterday they weren't even letting traffic go under the bridge.  People had to exit the freeway, cross over and down the other side.  Eastbound traffic, coming from Tucson, backed up for over 7 miles.  People, like Steve, going east had to exit and head west toward Tucson, take the next exit and turn around to get back on the I-10 to go to Sierra Vista.  Steve said the bridge is still blocked this morning.  On the news, they said it may be closed for some time until they can assess the damage.  I don't know how people who live in J-6 are getting home.  They must have to go to Empirita and turn around.  What a hassle!

I took some pictures of my favorite cat, Loki, with my favorite flowers, African Violets, on the window sill.  Enjoy the pics and have a great St. Patty's Day! 

March has come in like a lamb.  We are having record high temps for this time of year and a serious lack of rain.  I hope that March goes out like a lion and we have lots of rain.  Everything is terribly brown and dry.  I just cannot imagine what our fire season will be like if our rainfall does not improve.  I must say, however, that I am really enjoying our sunny days and 80 degree temps.  

Our daughters and son-in-law got all dolled up and went to the SteamPunk Festival in Old Tucson last Sunday.  They certainly looked the part in their western/punk outfits.  The girls look pretty and sassy!  They made the costumes themselves or put the parts together for great effect.  

Steve was very sick last weekend with the bad cold/virus that seems to go through here every year about this time.  He was not up to doing any strenuous farm work for me, but he made up for it this weekend.  He put the strawbale house together for the little goats, put up a new chandelier in the dining room and put together my new "Mobia" treadclimber exercise machine. Now I have no excuse not to exercise.  The machine is in our Arizona room so I cannot beg off because it is too hot or too cold or too rainy or too snowy! Ha!  Now, I'll have to be like the Post office, "Neither snow nor rain nor dark of night...."and do my walking no matter what.  I did try it out for a few minutes.  It did feel pretty good on these poor old knees.  Weight loss here I come! Ha!  

The little goats were leashed and walked to their new pen with the strawbale shelter.  They seem to like it fine and have already been climbing on top.  They are in a position now where they can see whenever any one walks out the back door.  They come running to see what is going on.  I go passed their pen every time I go in and out of the barn so I can talk to them and give them a pat or two whenever I want.  Frankie still doesn't let me pet him much.  He would rather have his head rubbed and butt at me.  Georgie is more friendly and likes to be touched more. 

In the process of moving the goats I made the mistake of leaving a gate opened.  When Steve opened the other gates to give Buddy access to the entire yard again, he made a beeline for the driveway and out into the world he went.  He visited the neighbors dogs first.  We caught up with him there.  We offered him a treat and he fooled us by heading back to our gate.  Then at the last second he veered off and down the road he went!  Steve and I got in the car and went after him.  I never could run fast anyway but now that I am old it is quite impossible especially on our rocky, hilly dirt roads.  We didn't have much trouble following the massive dog around the neighborhood.  He went into one of the other neighbors' properties and down a hill.  I could not follow on foot so went down the main road and watched him.  He was chasing a big jack rabbit and having the time of his life.  Lucky for us the rabbit started back up the hill and down the driveway.  It was the perfect place to catch Buddy.  We blocked the driveway with the car and I jumped out with leash and treat in hand.  Buddy headed right for me, then dodged and jumped in the car.  I ran around the car and shut my door so he couldn't get out the other side cuz that is exactly what he intended to do.  Silly dog!  I did not give him the treat because he never intended to come to me but I didn't scold or punish him either.  I think he was pretty hot and glad to get home to a cool drink of water.  

I did work on the bathroom trim some more.  It is slow going cuz I have to tape and sand, then paint.  I have more taping to do but I did get about half of the trim done.  The thing is, it is going to take a second coat to look right.  I hope to finish tomorrow or at least this week.  Steve removed the old mini-blind so that I could paint the window frame.  We have a new white blind to put up as soon as I finish painting. And I keep thinking of the next project.... 

What a difference a day or two makes.  We went from snow to 80 degrees in less than 2 days!  It has been sunny and warm all week.  I am still working on my bathroom.  I returned some pictures to the wall and have started stripping the wall around the sink and mirror.  I also bought a space saver today for more storage.  Steve is putting that together later today.  

I am very surprised that the paint color under the old wall paper is almost the same as the new color I am painting the bathroom.  There is original wall paper that is an ugly brown and orange , very '70s, under the old paint.  The old blue paint also has these little red and blue stenciled tulips around the edge of everything.  It takes an extra coat of paint over those before I paint the wall.  I also have decided to paint the trim white instead of leaving it the original beige it is at the moment.  I think it will brighten up everything and make it cleaner looking.  I got a white space saver for that reason also.  I got new white frames for my fairy pictures and am very happy with the way they look now.

My wayward hen has returned home.  Unfortunately for her, the other chickens don't like her any more.  I put her in the pen without Mr. Washington because I thought he was the reason she flew the coop in the first place.  She didn't like being with the other hens any better and promptly flew out again.  Then we had a merry chase.  Buddy does not like or understand any animal not in the right place so he captures them and waits for me to put them back where they belong.  He pounced on the wayward hen and licked her til I came and rescued her.  She was not so anxious to escape from me after that.  I put her in with the hens again.  The next day I noticed that she had a bloody spot on one of her wings.  Then I saw two hens chase her into a corner and proceed to peck at her sore spot.  Once again, I rescued her .  This time I placed her in a kennel between the two chicken pens.  She is inside and does not have access to outside right now.  I'm hoping that she will get healed and then I will try putting her out front in the goat pasture with my two really old bittys (hens).  There are only the two of them and it is more open out there so maybe she will feel more like she is free again and stay there.  

My alpacas have been pretty calm lately too.  Thank the good Lord!  They still have an occasional spinning match but not much running or screaming.  I got a picture of the four of them having breakfast.  Prince is the official "boss" now and so he still stays a little apart from the rest of them.  I fed them along the fence this morning.  They were all in the other side of the pasture and I brought the hay through the house yard instead of through the alpaca pasture so they did not really have the easy option of just following me to the food.  They were on one side of the fence and I was on the other .  They had to figure out that they had to go through the barn to get to where I was.  Prince was the first to figure it out and came running through.  Cimarron followed shortly afterwards.  It took Stewie and Kardigan quite a while to figure it out. I had gone back in the barn and fed the chickens before they were all eating their feed.  That's when I took the picture.  I love it when everything and everybody are in harmony!

Wow!  It's Christmas!  Not really but we did wake up to a snow covered landscape!  It was gorgeous and short lived!  Thank goodness!  Actually, I went into panic mode yesterday afternoon when the weatherperson said snow level was going to be down to 3000 feet. We are at 4800 feet.  So I went to our trusty Walmart and bought 3 packages of firewood to supplement the  logs we already have and got a couple bottles of water, just in case.

At 3 am I got up for my usual trip to the bathroom and checked outside.  Nothing, nada, zilch!  No snow, no rain, just wind, wind, wind!  The blasted weatherman got it wrong again.  At 6 am it was a different story.  It was a whiteout!  I couldn't see mountains behind us nor in front of us, just white.  Big white snowflakes were blowing in sideways.  The alpacas were covered and the goats were no where to be seen.  They were hiding in their warm little shelter.  They didn't stick their little noses out until I went out to feed them.  They did not like the white wet stuff at all.  Poor babies!  I know just how they feel.  I was so thankful it was Sunday morning and no one had to drive to work in the horrible conditions.  I could take pictures in my pjs, make myself a strong cup of hot tea and kick back and watch the blizzard from my cozy Arizona room. 

I spent the day prepping my bathroom and painting it.  I had to remove old wall paper which took a couple of days.  I also sanded and taped, then put on 2 coats of soft blue paint.  Steve helped toward the end by painting the last wall and then cleaning up after.  We still need to remove wallpaper over the sink area and paint around the tub.  I would like to get a new vanity to put in there.  We plan to check prices on those at Lowes on Tuesday.  I need new tires on my SUV and we plan on shopping while the tires are being put on.  It will be like having a new bathroom! Ha!

We had another of our "Praise the Lord" sunrises yesterday.  Enjoy!

We moved the alpacas on Friday and got the goats on Saturday.  At first I thought the alpacas were doing fine but then Prince started chasing and fighting Kardigan.  They ran up and down the pasture and in and out of the shelter and over fallen trees until Kardigan stopped.  Then they would do their alpaca screaming and spitting and neck wrestling until they were both too exhausted to move.  I do not want any animals injured.  I do not want any vet bills.  I noticed the first 2 days that this fighting started right after feeding.  So I decided to move 2 of the feed bins to the other side of the shelter.  Maybe if they were not so close they would not feel the urge to fight for dominance so much.  

It did seem to help some.  Kardigan would eat and then run and hide at the far end of the pasture.  He would stand between the fence and some prickly pear cactus watching Prince.  If Prince came after him, he would run again and hide in the fallen log pile.  Then they seemed to come to a fragile peace.  Moving the feed bins made a difference and maybe Prince got tired as he is about 3 years older than Kardigan.  I also noticed that Kardigan started standing close to Cimarron, sort of to the side and behind him.  Then both of them would raise their heads and start to spit whenever Prince came near.  But Cimarron lit into Kardigan a couple of times too, mostly near a feed bin. 

Today there seems to be a tentative peace going on.  Prince is usually at one end of the pasture by himself and the other three are at the other end.  Kardigan stays close to Cimarron and Stewie follows them or sneaks over to the shelter to get his fill of the food while the rest of them are watching out for Prince.  They all jostle for positions at feeding time.  As if I put more food in one bin than in another!  Ha!  I am glad they seem to have settled down.  I was thinking of things to do to stop the fighting and prvent injuries.  I could isolate Prince, put him back in the front yard or side yard, get him neutered (expensive) or sell him at auction for dog food.  I don't really want to do any of those things.  So I hope they keep the peace.

I also tried to make some more rolags and did a little spinning.  I think I am using the second cuts though because the spinning is not going well.  The yarn keeps breaking. The other thing that is really aggravating is that there is no humidity here.  The wind has been blowing, I mean gale force, for days and it makes the fiber very dry and fly-away and static-y.  I tried using "Static Guard"  but it doesn't help much.  I decided I need to wash some better fleece, preferably from someone's blanket, and try again.

Steve wants to build a straw-bale shelter for the new little goats.  Then I can move them from the front pasture to one next to the barn on the northwest side of the house.  I don't like where they are now cuz I cannot see them easily.  If I move them I will be able to keep a better eye on them and I won't have to go so far to feed them.  They are so cute!  I like to look at them.