School started...

School started last Monday.
Long days with energetic and sometimes crying children.
100 degree temps keeping everything hot and dry.
I'm pooped!

I hope to find some energy to take photos and blog soon!

Lorilee

All My Chickens continued

Gottlieb is back to normal. This is what he looks like crowing. Lenny, the other roo, has a new home with my friend Martha!

Before he left, he shared some watermelon with Buffy!

Scarlett is really cleaning out the rind. I have been getting some small eggs. By the looks of her comb and wattle, she is mature enough to be laying. This evening, I had 2 small eggs and an almost white egg. My older girls (Holly, Blossom, and Lily) lay brown eggs. Buffy and Gretl's combs and wattles don't look "mature" enough to be laying. I'll have to try and watch them closely this weekend to solve the egg mystery!

Madeline and

Matilda have been promoted to sleeping in the coop with the big girls and the roo. I slip them in through the laying box door when it is pretty dark, and they are all settled for the night!

Next time.... Who is laying eggs?

Y'all Come Back,

Lorilee

"All My Chickens" the daytime drama continues.....

It has been awhile since I've posted about the chickens for which Cackleberry Cottage gets its name, So I thought I'd fill everyone in on the latest highs and lows of the chicken run. The south Texas heat makes for some hot chickens, actually hot everything! The flock spends the day panting!

They walk around with their beaks open and their wings held out!

Scarlett, the production red that I brought home in March, laid her first little egg!

I let them out into the garden one evening for a change of pace, but the "youngsters" (those brought home this spring) still didn't wander far from the run's gate. The 3 older girls, Holly, Lilly and Blossom were all over the yard! Gottlieb, the rooster above, is being ostracized. We went out one evening to find him alone, out of the coop with a bloody comb! He has stopped crowing, runs from the others and tries to fly to my shoulder like he did when he was a youngster first introduced to the mean big girls! I feel so badly for him. I've put an anti-pecking salve on his comb and head. I miss my proud boy!

I also brought home 2 new young Ameraucana poulets. They are settling in pretty well. I have a little space set up for them within the run so that the bigger chickens can't harrass them. Little Gretl (barred rock) is showing her mean side! She likes to chase them since she finally has someone lower in the pecking order than herself! I have named them Matilda and Madeline since the first Matilda and Madeline had to be re-named after we discovered they were roos. Matilda and Madeline were quite wild at first. They have become quite tame and run to me when they are afraid.They will sit on my lap happy to be stroked and cuddled. They spend the night in a large dog crate inside the barn. I place it in front of a window. (Sorry, no photos of them in this post)

Lenny, the other roo (above) should be going to a new home soon. I am hoping that will help bring Gottlieb out of his banished state. Gottlieb was always above Lenny in the pecking order, eventhough he was less assertive!
When we return....Will Gottlieb be accepted by the flock again? Will Gretl get over her jealousy? Who will lay the next egg? Join us for the next episode of "All My Chickens"!

Y'all Come Back!

Lorilee

To Grandmother's House we went

Brian (teenager) and I went to my Grandma's house to help clean inside her kitchen cabinets. It has been awhile since I've helped with that job, but it was a summer tradition when I was growing up. She was in a "cleaning out " mood and gave me several boxes of dishes, AND she still has LOTS in her cabinets! Above are some Fire King saucers.

-glass coasters,

Forest Green glasses and pitcher,

Queen Mary bowls, (Grandma used these for homemade icecream!)

Old Cafe bowl,

Queen Mary divided dish,

Forest Green, but I don't know the pattern...

blue cups and saucers, another pattern I can't identify...

more bowls, this time I think the pattern is Burple,

A bowl marked "Maddux" and 1959...

Opalescent Hobnail dish,

Jelly or jam serving set,

Covered Compote.

I think I inherited my love of dishes from my Grandma Bessie! If I have any patterns incorrectly identified or you know a pattern that I didn't identify, please let me know.

Y'all Come Back,

Lorilee

Cat vs Mockingbird

Beasty, a.k.a. crazy cat, loves to spend time outside.

He likes to roll in the dirt.

He likes the warm sun on his tummy!

But the mockingbirds don't like HIM, so he comes running to be let back indoors! He really isn't much of a tough guy!

Y'all Come Back,

Lorilee

Leaving "the valley"

There are several of these little roadside stands along the highway leaving Harlingen heading north. As the sign indicates, they sale a variety of items!

Lots of colorful pottery,

unique chimineas,

and interesting metal sculpture. We came home with a watermelon and a piece of metalwork for the yard. I can't believe I haven't taken a photo of it yet. That will have to be another post!

It was my first time to have to stop at a Border Patrol Check Point! My husband has to stop everyday on his job.

We came home through Corpus Christi. We passed by a Barnes and Noble Book Store. Well, we didn't pass by, we stopped and spent several hours browsing! We ate dinner and then headed home. We had to stop to get a photo of the "Blue Ghost", the USS Lexington. I have toured her a couple of time. It is a great tour.

We arrived home around midnight! Our bed felt wonderful after a long enjoyable day!

Y'all Come Back,

Lorilee