Visitor to the Coop

I am suffering from a bit of a head cold and have been going around the cottage in a antihistamine stupor.  This weekend I went out to tend to the girls.  While filling their feeder I saw out of the corner of my eye a visitor to the coop.  My mind played a bit of a trick on me for awhile and I thought I was seeing a fifth chicken, this one being very dark.  Part of my brain told me "but you only have four chickens" the other part of my brain was saying, "it must be a chicken, it's the same size and it's eating the chicken feed".  Finally having a lucid moment I realized what I was seeing was not a 5th chicken but Little Black Brindle in with the chicks!  He was being very good and not being aggressive towards the ladies one bit.  I scooted back inside to fetch my camera and got these shots.








Hey!  Who's in my house?





A hasty exit



After sniffing a few chicken butts he was not at all interested in them, just their food and water.  He went in several times to check out the coop.  All seemed to be in order and acceptable.  

I would caution you to not try this at your cottage, with your terrier.  Most terriers have a very hard prey drive and will chase and kill anything that flees.  I think Little Black Brindle is just a very gentle Cairn and loves other animals.  

All's well that ends well at Prairie Cairn Cottage!  We hope you stop back by and visit with us again out on the Prairie.

Audrey   

Thought Provoking Website

Aren't these amazing pictures?  I was looking for some black and white farm type pictures that I might be able to print out and frame for the guest bedroom at Prairie Cairn Cottage.  I found these at the Library of Congress website here.  There are thousands of these pictures.  Some are nostalgic like those I've posted  and some are just plain sad but they are all real. 

I can't help but wonder what kind of lives those kids experienced.  Did they grow up and become someone famous?  Did they have happy lives?  Did that young boy on the left go off and fight in WWII?  Did he make it home?  What about the younger boy in the doorway, did he fight in Korea?  Or was he like my father who enlisted in the relative peace in between WWII and Korea?

I found myself mesmerized by these photo's, you should check them out; but before you go, thanks for stopping by and visiting with me here at Prairie Cairn Cottage.

Audrey

    

Autumn on the Prairie

Autumn on the Prairie are a few warm, golden days followed by tastes of Winter.  This past Saturday brought us our first snowfall of the season.  Construction on the coop ground to a halt and we had a nice leisurely day inside the cottage.  

We took advantage of the lazy day and got caught up on our sleep

We sipped hot apple cider, ate pumpkin bread and played our favorite games

It's my turn to shred the paper!

All in all it was a very enjoyable day.  Sunday was much warmer.  My Ever So Handy Husband was able to get back to construction and I was able to get out in the garden and harvest one of the only crops that made it through this growing season-potatoes.  It wasn't a big haul but there were edible potatoes nonetheless!  I do believe I would have had bigger spuds if I had watered more diligently.

By the way, don't let anyone tell you that you can't use sprouted grocery store potatoes as starts.  I had a well meaning person insist that it was impossible to get potatoes to grow from grocery store potatoes.  Even though I had been planting them for years this way, she would not believe me.  She believed that they inoculate the potatoes to keep them from sprouting and therefore couldn't be used.  I'd say even though this was a meager harvest, it proves that her theory is wrong.   

If you've never grown potatoes give them a try next year.  Come January or February, leave a few of your store bought potatoes in the dark to sprout .  When you are ready to put them in the garden, cut the potato in sections that contain at least one sprout and plant fairly deep then water.  They are one of my favorite plants in the garden.  All you see all season are the green tops and flowers.  It's not until you deg deep into the soil in the fall that you are rewarded for your care.  It's always a surprise to find these treasures hidden in the dirt.

A typical Fall weekend at Prairie Cairn Cottage.  I do hope your days are filled with Autumn splendor and harvest surprises.

Audrey

 

Winner of the Largest Egg Contest

Unbeknownst to me, the girls had a contest to see who could produce the largest egg.  Since the first egg several weeks ago

the first egg!

the eggs have been getting larger and larger.  I went out earlier this week and the hens were in high spirits.  Laughing and talking and and enjoying the day.

 I wasn't privileged to their conversation and wondered to myself what the fuss was about.  That is until I opened the lid to the nesting box and there it was!



head & shoulders above even the store bought!

  I must say, it was not only a double yolker, it was delicious!

Life is full of surprises at Prairie Cairn Cottage.  I hope your days have been filled with fun surprises too.

Audrey

Construction is finally underway

Yes, at long last, the construction has begun for the permanent coop.  And none too soon it seems, later this week we are expected to be near freezing for the nighttime lows and possibly snow.

The girls got a rare treat while my ever so handy husband and I were out on the job site.  This is the first time they got to be free range birds.  Well, they thought they were free range.  In reality, they got to run in the confines of the fenced back yard.  But the yard is ever so much bigger than the 10 x 10 dog run we currently have them in. 

Having the girls, I now understand why being "chicken" means you are afraid.  Anything new in their pen or having the gate to their pen open is new to them and therefore frightening.  But we let them explore on their own and pretty soon they found their way to the yard and then they were in heaven eating bugs, weeds and taking dirt baths.

Hey!  That's my yard!

Life was good at Prairie Cairn Cottage this weekend.  I hope your weekend was good to you as well.

Audrey