Sunday 20th

New arrivals ... only two days old!


Every year we buy a bunch of chickens (this year 42 -- 12 laying hens and 30 for the dinner table). When I lived in the city I'd go down and buy a dozen eggs and a package of chicken but that's too easy. Instead we now "invest" in the real thing. I know eggs and chickens purchased in the store come from the "real" thing but believe me there is a distinct difference. The taste and the quality of the meat is ever so much better and the eggs .... well, the eggs are magnificient!

Do you know why the quality is so much better? They eat bugs, grass, and weeds. We let them roam the yard and at dusk they head back home.



I have to laugh now because my inital reaction, the first time I was involved in "processing" chickens, was one of "I don't want to do that!" But after 12 years of doing what needs to be done I'm OK with it now.

Have a wonderful day,

Sunday 31st

Flowering Maple






A recent addition to the horticulturist side of our nature.

thursday 17th

Hello all, had a full day of heat and humidity -- sorry but I'm not a big fan of either of those attributes of summer time. So in an effort to be brief and informative at the same time I decided to share a bit of last winter.




Click here for larger view of this image in a separate window

Wednesday the 16th

This lovely young lady is our daughter, Kristin, during her visit last year and she's cuddling with our very affectionate cat, Socks. Krissy lives in California and she's planning on a return visit with us at the end of this month which we're looking forward to.

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A larger image of Krissy and Socks can be found here. I'm taking an opportunity here to practice a little bit of my new found hobby -- HTML.

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We actually have five cats which sounds like an inordinate amount of felines but since we live in the "country" cats are somewhat of a necessity to keep the rodent population down. When I was single and a city boy I never had the "opportunity" to take care of any form of pet ... well, I had a fish bowl and managed to keep them happy but that was the extent of owning pets. My wife, however, grew up on a farm and dogs and cats are not only pets but also "helpful" friends.

Our dogs serve as our "alarm" system for unwanted intruders -- not human intruders. Never have had any problems with someone intruding on our property or possessions. We never lock our doors on the house nor cars. This reminds me of when I was growing up in the late 50s and early 60s and my parents never locked the house. Living in the country does provide some innate security from prowlers (human) but there are plenty of non-human, noctural, creatures that wander around unhindered -- bears for instance, but that's another story for later.

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And then there's Jake, our "indoor" dog, our constant companion and friend.




I'm afraid I've run out of day and it's time to "hit the sack". Good night all.

Tuesday the 15th

Just taking pictures outside and enjoying an absolutely perfect day and I noticed this "creature". He/she is taking a break from their job -- devouring mosquitoes.


Dragonfly
Actually, the dragonflies are harmless but to humans but I didn't know that when I first moved to Minnesota. I grew up in big cities and the only flying creatures that I recall were flies and bees -- a lot more flies than bees. Somewhat of a sheltered life because the rest of the world has a larger assortment of insects and bugs then I was ever aware of and certainly nothing like the varieties that exist here in northern Minnesota.

More about bugs and insects later ... not that they will necessarily be the main attraction in my blogs -- at least I certainly hope not.

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And now for another one of our "favorites" -- the hummingbird! We've got 6 of these little guys and gals constantly buzzing around the house enjoying themselves.



Hummingbird

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The finale ... beautiful blue sky, pine trees, wild flowers, what more could you want out in your front yard?



Our front yard