Life Transplanet

Well the city council has decided to put it back on the agenda for Feb 16 where they will hear public input and vote.

We are on a chicken rollercoaster.

We are getting very indifferent on the issue. Either situation isn’t completely desireable. The current code isn’t good but the proposed code is almost worse because of all the micromanagement and bureaucracy.

Reminds me of a saying. “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’”

This weekend Britton and I did quite a few fun activities. We went to the Weld County Fair to see the chickens and other livestock. There were some bantam chickens that were about the size of robins. They even had what looked like little robin-eggs. We saw chickens that were nothing but fuzz and huge turkeys.

How many turkeys do you see?

Interesting looking chickens and tiny egg

Then we saw the cutest thing: a baby pygmy goat. Pygmy goats are smaller than most mid-sized dogs and so the baby was only about 6 or 8 inches off the ground. I have decided that if we have goats in Puerto Rico, they  will be of the pygmy variety so that they can’t jump as high (in addition to the cute factor!).

Full grown pygmy goat

Baby Pygmy

The fair also had a car show which I thought was an interesting juxtaposition of rural and urban, but that is kind of what Greeley is -a fairly large city in a largely agricultural county.

This weekend we also went over to our friends’ house and played Rockband. On Sunday we visited Britton’s family and had an outdoor bbq. The weather was perfect and so I went with my niece and nephew, Schnoodle and Britton’s parent’s dog for a long walk.

Our nephew wanted us to put a picture of him on this blog dressed up in his full get-up: a terrorist/foreign soldier. Isnt’ it interesting what kids like to play dress up as. Quite the sign of the times…Still, he looked pretty close. I think he looks like he could be an extra in a Cuban revolution movie!

Lily-bloom profusion

I just noticed the lilies are blooming again! I can’t believe  how the  time goes. We are already half-way through summer! When you grow things you really notice the seasons. The chickens are getting big and should start laying some time in August I am guessing. I can’t wait to see a green egg! That’s what the Americana is supposed to lay. The other two are brown-egg layers.

Holding the New Hampshire Chicken in the air

Britton and I have a three day weekend starting tomorrow which we are really excited for. He has been working so much on the little rental that this is really the first moment for a break (and we’ll still be doing odds and ends). I am not too sure what we’ll do for the Fourth, but I’m sure we’ll think of something.

Orange Hybrid Lily After a Rain

This is our evening treat out our back door. The white chicken puts herself to sleep in the fancy coop before the young girls do. They like to hang out on the back porch with us for a while before bedtime. Here’s Kitty and the chickens at sunset.

Kitty and Chickens

Hanging out at Sunset

The late-May early June harvests here in Greeley mainly consist of garlic, strawberries and lettuce, which is fine with me. We’ve been eating salads and putting the lettuce leaves on sandwiches, using the garlic scapes in all sorts of foods and eating strawberries from the vine.  We planted the seeds that have to have warm soil like watermelon, cucumbers, peppers and cantaloupe so we will look forward to their harvest as well. So far everything has been growing great using organic techniques. Here’s a few shots from the yard.

Garlic Scape

This garlic is huge! As thick as my thumb

Lettuce in our garden -mostly volunteers from last year

Strawberries straight from the garden

The girlies in the yard

We’ve seen a fox out back in the land behind our house and are a little bit worried for our chickens since they roam freely. So far the fox hasn’t seen them and I hope it stays that way. We also have eagles and hawks all around. I know why some people build chicken runs with chain link covers!