Grass-less

Ok ... it got to me.  I can't believe I posted MORE photos of those three remaining ornamental grasses, instead of getting off my duff and getting out there and doing something about it.  So I did.

Here's the view from my deck now.  So much better.

And from the street:

Looks like a duplicate.  This one is added for my benefit.

Oh, I'm not anywhere near done with this front area.  You just can't see it from this angle.  But if I turn a bit to the right ...

And if I go stand by that mess and take photos down the fenceline both directions, you see this ...

... and this ...

It'd be so easy to burn it all ... if that VINYL fence wasn't there ... or was welded wire.  Reason # 6,459 to get ride of that ugly fence.

Jodi

Those things that just bug ya...

The mailbox.  The mailbox setup in front of this house was an eyesore.  Yes, "was." 

Why were there two?  Well, ya remember the mobile home I had to have removed before they would loan me the money for this house?  Well, apparently, it had its own address.  And it's caused lots of confusion for people coming to visit.  Not only that, the door to MY mailbox was missing a screw and the door would come off the hinge every time I opened it.  The "reflective" numbers weren't very reflective anymore.  So I took the whole thing apart.  I went to Home Depot and bought a new box and some new letters, and my wonderful neighbor came over to help me put the whole thing together.

Here it is now:

So, another project completed.  This is what I am tackling next, I think.  I hope.  I am SO sick of looking at them.  There were 7 of them, and now I'm down to just three.

Cleaned this area up over the weekend.  That used to be where that giant pile of sticks was.  (Gee, my English sure is good, ain't it?)

And something else that's bugging me.  The door to the storage building ... the hinge doesn't work well, the doorknob doesn't work at all, and this latch sucks, too.

So, not sure what I'm gonna do with that yet, but something.  Eventually.

Jodi

Coop d'Ville

Well, this morning I loaded Reese up in the cab of the truck, and off we went to Weiser.  I never really noticed ... Weiser is gorgeous! 

There was a great little chicken coop on Craigslist that I just had to have.  So ... I scraped together what I could for cash and came up with enough to buy it.  And here it is.  I can't wait to paint it and get it set up.  Isn't it adorable?

Here's the front where the door is.  (No, I haven't taken it out of my truck yet.  Waiting for some help to show up.)

Here's the back of it.

And these things are very special.  They're all over the inside, and several of them on the outside.  Good thing there's not a bee one in any of them.  They will be the first things removed from this.

And here are the happy travelers.  Just thought I'd take a shot in the daylight so you can see their gorgeous colors.

Here's Wilbur. 

Is he not the most adorable thing?

His tail is priceless.  They must have docked it ... and missed a bit.

Wilbur's co-owner, Glenda, came over to see him today.  She was wearing her very cool pig-farmin' hat!  I want one!

Awwww...

While we were up in Weiser, Reese and I swung by someone's house we know.  Any guesses?

And here are some random shots of my house and yard.  I had this backyard looking really nice at one point.  It needs a mowing really bad, and my mower is on the fritz.  I can't put the walking mowers right there because the dog kennel is just to the left.

Remember those three slats in the white fencing that were down?  Well, come to find out, it bugged my neighbor even more than it did me, because he came over today and fixed it.  Look!  Those three slats won't be falling down any time soon.

Here is an absolute eye-sore that is making me nuts.  I really need to take down all but one of these mailboxes and fix the one I leave.  All in good time, my dear.  All in good time.

 

Here's something kinda interesting.  Remember last year ... before I really moved into the house ... I took a bunch of photos of the property?  That was July / August.  Here's the photo of what the front pasture looked like then.

Here's what it looks like now, taken from the same angle.

 

You can certainly see where the water hits ... and where it doesn't.  But at least there's grass growing!

Jodi

Well wouldja look at that?

Nicole sent me pictures of Nitro (the male pup in Echo's litter)!  Here they are!

I can't wait to see him in person ... one of these days.

So ... Glenda came over last night.  She owns the other 1/2 of Wilbur.  She was at a fair in Oregon, and won a "guess the weight of the sow"!!  Well, she took her winnings and invested it in feed for Mr. Wilbur!  So now we have a bunch of feed for him and won't need anything any time soon.  We briefly talked about a better way to feed him, since I am not keen on the idea of getting in the pen when he is larger and more aggressive.  Well, Glenda solved the problem!

I introduce you to ... the SLOP SLIDE!

Here it is in use:

 

 

Oh, and look who showed up today.  I swear these girls laugh at me.

  

I love this stuff...

And here's my girl....

Good nite, all!

Jodi

I hope it was painless ...

Got home tonight, and the ducks got through the last patch I put at the foot of the gate that goes out to the irrigation canal.  They've done this before, and I've grabbed a dog and got them back.  Last night, however, they would not get out of the water.  Echo and I worked quite a while (me with grain), and the ducks had us both running in circles.  They have learned that the dog can't swim upstream.  So ... I was completely frustrated, and so was Echo.  So I left them there.   Later on, I went back sans dog, and just grain, with the same result.  The two owls up on the telephone pole were sure putting on a pretty show for me.  So I left both gates on my canal open, and the gates to the backyard open, and the gate to their duck area open.  I woke up this morning, and nothing.  They are nowhere to be found. 

You know ... pluck them!!  I have provided them with a good life since they were little.  They have a nice grassy area to hang out in every day.  Full flood irrigation at least twice a week.  A large barrel full of water for them to swim in.  All the bugs they can eat.  Good grain daily.  Leftover bread at least twice a week.  Scraps of veggies and thing.  Their wings were neatly clipped.  And all they wanted was that damn irrigation canal.  Every day.  I fought that since the day they figured out it was there.  And all I wanted was some eggs.  And they never even gave me one.  It'd be cheaper and much less of a hassle to go buy some.  But ... now I don't even want any damn duck eggs.  Chicken eggs will do just fine, thank you.

If they are in their duck house when I get home tonight, I'm serving them with their eviction notice.  I don't want any ungrateful ducks here anyway.

I guess I should take some clicker herding training lessons.  With how lousy Echo and I did at our last trial, and now we're not even able to round up a few lousy ducks, I'd better break out that vacuum and start workin' on getting a good grip on Echo.  We coulda had duck soup last night if I was as talented as my clickercrackhead mentors.

P.S. You're welcome, Mr. and Mrs. Hooter

A different kind of trial ...

So I was looking at my place tonight, and taking a few measurements to see what I could fit here at my place, and being that my place is really too small to fit a sanctioned course, I have been brainstorming. 

What about an armchair trial?  What about a trial where you stand on my deck, and you need to whistle your dog around the course in my pasture?  Novice could stand in the center of the pasture, Intermediate could stand on the fenceline, but Advanced needs to stand on my deck with the beverage of choice in their hand.  All whistles.  Any spoken words cause a disqualification.  Yeah.  That can be the morning trial.

The afternoon trial ... all the handler names go in one hat ... all the dog names go in the other ... and a drawing is done.  You then have to run the dog you draw in the class the dog was run in from the morning, and all handlers will have to learn their new dog's whistles over the course of a liquid lunch.  Again ... same setup as the morning.  No spoken commands. 

Cash prizes.  No sanction (obviously).  No ribbons.  No fancy prizes.  Just cash.

The course could resemble an agility course of sorts.  A few poles to weave the sheep through (known as a serpentine), send the sheep up and over an A frame of sorts, push the sheep up on to the hay table, etc.  Hmmm ... I might be on to something here.

Spring.  Late spring.  Everything should be green by then and photos will be nice.


The first annual Knotty Pine trial. 

If I can find someone to build me a ramp to go up on to my deck, we can add that to the course! 

Hmmm ... this might be fun.