Of course, every day is an Egg Hunt at Castle Argghhh! as the guineas and chickens are free range in the most broad interpretation of the term.
And I do mean a hunt. There are at least 8 chickens in this shot across the barbican to the pond that feeds the moat. They're a little more obvious in this shot. Emphasis on little. And they'll lay just about anywhere, though we're beginning to decipher a pattern, which makes locating them easier. Yes, we know, we could fence them in, etc - but they're also part of our organic pest control, and feed costs go down dramatically as bug availability goes up.
Of course, in some places, rather than eggs, we find mostly meadow muffins.
There are new monsters in the woods, visible flitting about from tree to tree, as a mating pair of newly homeless peafowl found themselves as new residents of the demesne, and seeming to like the place, as they strut about. Perhaps we could interest NBC in a new reality show...
It has been a busy week at Castle Argghhh!, oddly in keeping with the season. We had guests from the Philippines in the early part of the week, as my Rotary Club picked up the Group Study Exchange team at the airport and got them started on their 30 day visit to our district. The work week began badly as it started with a death, but improved as we found ourselves blessed with unexpected life. From the middle-of-the-night sad calls by Little Orphan Annie looking for her best buddy Rest Stop, to suddenly having a great-grand-kid, literally, in that Serafina is the mother of Morgana who is the mother of the newest doeling goat, making SWWBO a great-grandma-by-extension. Unexpected? We had hoped that Sammy and Horus, the billy's, had done their manly duty last fall, only to be assured in February that none of the girls were preggers.
Then, Wednesday, SWWBO walks out to the goat pasture to find Morgana looking at this strange thing which had just plopped forth. Mother and child are doing fine... and yes, they sleep on hay.
I took the time yesterday to go down to the pond, to see if there were any signs of life other than the frogs noisily seeking cute frog-chicks to frolic with. The water is a little murky from the recent rains, but there were ripples here and there from the fish feeding on the waterbugs, out in the deeper waters where the frogs don't hang out.
Spring has sprung at Castle Argghhh!, as the cycle of life starts a turn anew. And that leaves us with the request for assistance.
Names.
The doeling goat needs a name. The peacock and peahen need names. Suggestions?
And I do mean a hunt. There are at least 8 chickens in this shot across the barbican to the pond that feeds the moat. They're a little more obvious in this shot. Emphasis on little. And they'll lay just about anywhere, though we're beginning to decipher a pattern, which makes locating them easier. Yes, we know, we could fence them in, etc - but they're also part of our organic pest control, and feed costs go down dramatically as bug availability goes up.
Of course, in some places, rather than eggs, we find mostly meadow muffins.
There are new monsters in the woods, visible flitting about from tree to tree, as a mating pair of newly homeless peafowl found themselves as new residents of the demesne, and seeming to like the place, as they strut about. Perhaps we could interest NBC in a new reality show...
It has been a busy week at Castle Argghhh!, oddly in keeping with the season. We had guests from the Philippines in the early part of the week, as my Rotary Club picked up the Group Study Exchange team at the airport and got them started on their 30 day visit to our district. The work week began badly as it started with a death, but improved as we found ourselves blessed with unexpected life. From the middle-of-the-night sad calls by Little Orphan Annie looking for her best buddy Rest Stop, to suddenly having a great-grand-kid, literally, in that Serafina is the mother of Morgana who is the mother of the newest doeling goat, making SWWBO a great-grandma-by-extension. Unexpected? We had hoped that Sammy and Horus, the billy's, had done their manly duty last fall, only to be assured in February that none of the girls were preggers.
Then, Wednesday, SWWBO walks out to the goat pasture to find Morgana looking at this strange thing which had just plopped forth. Mother and child are doing fine... and yes, they sleep on hay.
I took the time yesterday to go down to the pond, to see if there were any signs of life other than the frogs noisily seeking cute frog-chicks to frolic with. The water is a little murky from the recent rains, but there were ripples here and there from the fish feeding on the waterbugs, out in the deeper waters where the frogs don't hang out.
Spring has sprung at Castle Argghhh!, as the cycle of life starts a turn anew. And that leaves us with the request for assistance.
Names.
The doeling goat needs a name. The peacock and peahen need names. Suggestions?
Peahens? Call the cock, "Split" and the hen, "Chick". Perhaps as a foreboding of a possible future in the castles cooking pots sometime in the future....
John,
If it's a goat, you ought to name it "Chief". That would fit with a variety of genres...
Happy Easter!
Mrs. Duck gets that a lot, both from Mr. Duck and Aflac. Though she's really not that kind of girl. Mr. Duck and Aflac *are* that kind of male, however.
Even the hens aren't safe from the Dastardly Duo.
Hmm, since this IS the home of the armoury, after all, maybe the peacock could be "Plus"?
LOL!!!
Ducks have to be the horniest of all fowl. If Mrs. Duck avoids them, they go for my poor little hens - but then, Mike and Spike, our two big roosters, will attack the ducks to save the hens.... for themselves.
Nice pic of members of the Castle Arggghhh Dragoon Corps in the meadow.
But, I still don't see no attack Llama...
Or those Irish miniature cows I mentioned.
If you need more chickens, my sisters farm has an overabundance of the fryers. You want some? She has so many that she hopes that the Chickenhawks cull the squabble.
Get enough of them and you can get over the 'we don't eat it if it has a name' squeamishness.
Also, if you haven't already been plagued by them, I'm sure she would GLADLY give you as many of the damned geese that infest her place as you would want. Filthy, nasty noisy things have slimed the whole back yard, pond and dock. Her husband and she had hoped that placing a couple swans in the pond would get rid of them.... no such luck.
No, you can't just go out and shoot them or smash their eggs.... cause the gubmint says that's a no-no.
Soooo, how many geese/chickens ya want?.
And fer goodness sake, get an attack Llama!
We have a Livestock Guardian Dog, Buffy the Coyote Slayer.
I would like some more little banty hens. They are so cute!
No Llama, they can be quite mean. I may eventually get an Alpaca if I can find one that is cheap enough. In the meantime, I hope to grow my little goat herd by a couple of goats a year.
fowl...foul is done to the birds...just pick up a discarded tail feather)Cyan...for the hen.
William for the goat...his friends call him Billy...but I do like Navy.
And...nice little bass pond you have there John. Just another reason to stop by and help clean guns.
Nothing like a Spring kid to welcome the season!!! She is a beauty, as is her colored Angora mom!
Happy Easter and Happy Spring!
"As it appears to be unclear - doeling means... gurl! Not a billygoat, but a nanny. "
So our Federal gubbermint folks are goats?
Afterall, they are busy being nanny(staters) and doeling out tax dollars.......
While that's pretty good, Kevin, what, you bored this afternoon?
Even to those of you who are clueless as to which gender "doe" refers.
No names submitted because, around here, "goat" is synonymous with -- "It's what's for dinner"...
I have a huge solid red oak in my front yard, canopy is over 120' wide, over 300 years old and at breast height or 4.5 feet above grade, she is about 4' in diameter. There is a point where these trees stop growing. The neat thing is this is the place where the hawks will gather when ever the pigeon or other varmint populations get a little too high. The last thing is watching other people when they realize the size of these birds.
Enjoy your Easter!
It was a picture of Vail, Colo. in the middle of winter. Picture a busy downtown, with freshly plowed streets, salted roads, and snow piled upon the busy sidewalks. People walking to and fro; cars tooling up and down the streets. And the majestic Rockies all snow-capped in the background.
And in the middle of the hustle-bustle, there is this pair of mutts, standing in the middle of the street *er* placing an order for some puppies. No one notices the dawggies, except for the photographer. About 30 yards away "daddy" dog looks straight to the camera.
The Caption: Have Your Next Affair At Vail.
BUWAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAH!!!!
AFLAC and Mrs. Duck Make A Prono.... as directed from above by Mr. Peacock.
Willow has potential.
And from all the Navy talk - "Maggie" is in contention for the doeling's name, too...
Our Dear Leader promised everyone a damn Unicorn, and you got yours delivered while the rest of us are still waiting.
"Unicorn" it should be called.
Or, call it "Pirate" after a newly endangered species.
In light of the AFLAC/Mrs. Duck action... I'm suggesting Zack and Miri for the new littles.
Perhaps Hope for the new white baby goat? Or Lilly, as in "lilly-white".
But life on the farm is grand, isn't it? I am so glad for you both and I do love reading about it.
But life on the farm is grand, isn't it? I am so glad for you both and I do love reading about it.
Names...for the peafowl...George and Laura.
For the wee girlie doe, Sue.
Now I'm thinking about this one from Fishmugger -
Once someone gets tawdry, it's all over.
And...you also have to be happy I didn't answer Maggie.
I once got Godwin'd in the very first response to a thread I posted in a politics forum. Somebody declared that a world record.
Forgot an "O" didn'tcha?
"Once someone gets tawdry, it's all over. "
Kinda like calling someone a "Nazi" in a debate? You lose?
That's the corollary to Godwin's Law.
The Law itself being "As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1." Any internet discussion can be substituted for Usenet, these days.
For the doeling, how about Ki-Rin? That's the Chinese version of the unicorn, and these days even the unicorns are made in China...