Camp

What a place to spend a long weekend. Thanks again to John's folks for hosting us in this wonderful camp. We did such exciting things as napping, fishing and boating. Ahhh.

I'll let the photos tell the story....

~Rachel

May

Big puddles are lots of fun...when you have your daddy's boots on to keep you dry. I think he's just so cute out there. This boy is certainly an outdoor boy and he's spent many an hour during May outside, on the ATV, in the sandpile, weeding in the garden, playing in puddles, shooting the BB Gun, collecting flowers. There's a world of opportunity out there!


On this rainy day we noticed a single turkey who just seemed to think it would be nice to be a chicken. She stood out there, shaking the rain off and staring into the coop for a long time. We have so much wildlife wandering through. Usually right around where that turkey is. They seem to use the bridge to cross Miller Brook at the foot of our driveway and then hug the treeline up to our bridge to cross the stream. Then off into the next big chunk of woods. We had a doe and her yearling son wander through the day before and our resident grey fox was greeting John from the middle of the horse paddock the next night. Many of our neighbors gave up on keeping chickens as the wildlife was such an issue. When we moved in we had a domestic "wildlife" issue so we went straight for the electrified netting. It has been so worth it. It kept out a large dog, and continues to keep out the fox who lives here, the fisher we've watched passing through, as well as any raccoons or weasels, both of which we've seen nearby. The coyote seem to have moved further away this year than they were last year. We had scat daily in the back field last year as well as many a loud howling session at night. Hawks continue to be a threat to the birds with this setup, but our scrappy little rooster took on the last Peregrin that made a try for the birds. The crows who nest in the pines by the barn seem to chase off most of the hawks as soon as they arrive. The chickens head for the coop at the first crow warning call. They are bi-lingual we think!
We got to setting up the pool when the sun came out. I think these boys are a bit confused...sledding or swimming? It's sort of like the front hall which as of late had everything from snowpants to sandals hanging around. The weather shifts in spring are amazing. I'm finally done putting away the snowpants and boots for the season. Summer is just around the bend now.

Happy spring.

~Rachel