The 2012 calendars are available! All the calendars are marked up by $1, and all profits go to Challenger’s House.
I’ll put this up at the top of the entries for the rest of the week for those who don’t read every day or who read via a reader, and after this week they’ll be in the sidebar to the right.
Sights from Around Crooked Acres.
The Begonias on the front porch are still holding strong.
I love Azaleas.
And Hydrangeas.
And… whatever these are. I don’t remember – starts with a “p”, I think. Or has a “p” in the name.
I love how Morning Glories pop up in random locations.
George and Gracie on the hill o’ dirt. I think this was about mid-way through the pond dig – the hill is much higher now.
Gracie racing around and making me nervous ’cause I didn’t want to fall off the dirt hill (though I would have had a soft landing, I guess).
I’m the motherfucking Queen of Dirt Hill, yo.
(Please note that I did not know, when I went out to the back forty, that I would be having a picture taken of me. Otherwise, I would have taken OFF the two-sizes-too-big sweatshirt and put on a cocktail dress and tiara. And waxed my eyebrows and put on makeup and gotten a bikini wax. The point of the picture was less “Look at ME!” than “Look how tall this pile of dirt must be if someone who is five feet, five inches tall can stand on top of it and look like a speck!” That is a lot of motherfucking dirt.)
The ducks are not quite completely grown yet, but they’re just about there.
We’re pretty sure we’ve got two boys and two girls. Why?
Girl. (That splash of blue is just gorgeous, isn’t it?)
Two girls on the left, one boy on the right.
See how his head is turning green from the beak back? These are Rouen ducks, which look just like Mallards.
Another shot of the green.
I think this means we’ll have baby ducks next year. Because what we need in the back forty is MORE birds.
This one is “The Featherhead.”
The Rock Star. She is so pretty, I just can’t stand it.
Young rooster.
Mama hen and her babies.
Another young rooster.
Yet another young rooster. There are about ten of them out there right now, and since you just can’t have that many roosters for the number of hens we have, most of them will shuffle off to freezer camp soon. We decided that this one is going to stick around – he’s really good with the hens and not aggressive toward us.
Angry Muppet (the Silkie) and her babies.
Happy, happy pup.
George, being brushed. That look on his face is one reason Fred calls him a big doofus.
“You has a treat for me?”
::thlurrrp::
Back when the pond was about a quarter of the way finished. I need to get some updated pictures of the pond itself!
Brushin’ time.
Gracie, watching.
George and Gracie, watching Maxi walk by. That tomato plant in front of Gracie is still hanging in there.
Harlan loves a good belly rub.
Patty’s all “Do you MIND?”
Harlan melted right out that bed!
Sally and Everett.
Harlan on the cat tree.
So, I got my new camera and finally took it out of the box earlier this week. Some of the pictures above (the chicken and duck pictures, some of the dog pictures) were taken with it. I really like it quite a lot, and not least because it has a function I didn’t realize it had when I bought it: it has a panoramic function and it is TOO COOL to play with. I used it to get this picture of all the big Peppers atop the bookcases and cat tree in the front room (please ignore what a mess those bookcases are; I seriously need to organize the shelves).
Much like Joe Bob does, if Maxi sees one of us outside she talks to us until we walk over and pet her.
And then she flops down in the dirt and rolls around.
Previously
2010: Have you met Rhyme?
2009: No entry.
2008: Poet! Knowit!
2007: Newt was a total teeny baby this time last year – he was clearly NOT fully grown at that point, as this picture can attest.
2006: Maddy’s new Mommy and Daddy came a-visitin’ yesterday.
2005: Huh. I was wondering why Tom Cullen was snooping around in the stamp drawer
2004: The spud and I stood patiently by while the man chattered at the school employees for several minutes and then my head exploded, scattering brain matter everywhere.
2003: “Jessica Lynch!” I said. “Isn’t she the only POW we’ve ever had in all of history?”
2002: No entry.
2001: No entry.
2000: No entry.
1999: She went in and treated the whole office to a very loud gagging sound (she gets that from her mother), and came out a few minutes later a little less green.
That IS one big motherfucking pile of dirt. Any takers of the excess yet?
Those begonias are fabulous! Oh, and I think that one pot of flowers is vinca. Which sounds a lot like pink; maybe that’s where you were getting the idea it began with P?
Wow! I had no idea the pond would be this big. No wonder Fred didn’t want to dig it himself.
Duckies!
George and Gracie look so white and pretty.
Those “P” flowers are Periwinkles 🙂 Nice hardy Summer flowers.
My Gawd! When you said POND I imagined a nice little round rock pond. What you’ve got there is an Olympic Sized Swimming pool. Since you aren’t going to swim in it what are you going to do with it? Stock it with fish and have a fishing hole? It’s so big you are bound to attract Canadian Geese and THEN you will be sorry. Then you will be forced to buy some Chinese Geese to keep the Canadian’s in order. And those Chinese Geese will scare you and break your eardrums with their LOUD bellows. Just saying.
Ha, funny! I think you just freaked Robyn out!
I love being able to live the farm existence I’ve always wanted vicariously through this blog. What would I do without you and Fred and your willingness to buy lots of livestock? 😉 Any word on Gorgeous Gracie and The Contest She Will Win If The Judges Have Half A Brain Between Them?
The unknown flower is named: Periwinckle (Vinca minor). Yes, I looked it up.
Love the pond and the ducks. Your cats are just too cute.
Hugs.
I too thought of a little pond…that sucker is huge! It does look like a pool, although I don’t think I’d want to swim in it either! I know you probably mentioned it before, but I am too lazy to look for it….what camera did you end up getting?? I love the panoramic shots. I think my camera does that too but I have never used it…maybe it was my old one that did :-/ I need a new toy…it’s been a while since I got one, but I don’t think I will go so far as to have my pet pee on something to get one!
Question(s). How are you going to fill the pond? How do you keep the water from soaking down?
Can you write more about the new camera when you’ve tested it out more? I’m looking for a good camera. How big is it, small enough to bring places or more of a keep it at home? I would like to see a picture of the camera too!
Thank you for putting up with us fans of yours, you know you’re our authority when it comes to everything important, right? Robyns opinion is Law 🙂
Annika in Sweden
I think the plant is actually an impatience…god i cannot spell it….The leaves are very sturdy and shiny.
More like roses leaves.
I just hope you have enough fish to eat all of the skeeters that’ll lay eggs in that pond. I remember one of our four-foot long horse trough holding thousands of skeeter babies….Just saying…
My god woman,can you GET ANY SMALLER? Simply lovely and gorgeous and pretty and cute!
When I first starting reading your blog,which was when you first started your public blog,I thought that you looked so solidly built in your photos. But now,it’s like you are A SLIVER of your former self.
A pretty,pretty sliver…a mere SLIVER OF YOUR FORMER SELF!
First of all – you do look marvelous, and secondly what they are saying about mosquitoes in the warm months is right. You will need to stock the pond with fish, but not necessarily to catch and eat. Cheapest way is to buy ‘feeder’ goldfish from the pet store. They do grow up, and do a pretty good job of eating the skeeter larvae, in my experience with a much smaller patio pond. Damn, that pond is big – it seems bigger than the original one you filled in. Your geese, ‘er ducks, will love it! Maybe they will eat the larvae too. One can hope.
We have the same kitty bed as the one Sally and Everett are in… It’s so soft and comfy! I’d totally sleep in it if I were a kitty!