Yeah, her mohawk is awesome.

Afro is stylin.

Goslings growing, piggy injury, springtime fun

Not too much going on lately, so not much to post.

Arnold turned up limping a couple days ago. He wouldn't put weight on one hind leg unless he absolutely had to. He was eating well, and we couldn't see any obvious sign of injury, so we gave it a day to see if it improved. Luckily, he was better the next day, and is just fine now. Must've just pulled something trying to leap over a log. :)

The pigs have rooted through the woods to the back of their pen, and many places in between. They're doing a great job of clearing the area out, and must be eating the baby blackberries, as I haven't seen masses of them in the pen (they are nearly everywhere else on the property).

The goslings are growing nearly as fast as the blackberries. They are almost fully feathered now, and getting a bit heavy to lug outside every afternoon for their grazing time. We are going to try and get a fence up around the yard this weekend, so they can start spending most of their time outside. Their oil glands are up and running, but they haven't yet preened themselves all nice and water resistant yet. Still end up totally waterlogged. They've been bathing in a tub every day when we take them out. Afro absolutely loves the water, and totally hogs the tub. She has a mohawk Afro now, as her cheek and most of her neck feathers have come in, except for the top of her head and down the back of her neck. It's pretty funny. The goose babies will soon be spending all their time outside. Sweet Boy has proven that he is willing to protect his girls. He lets them know when he sees a hawk, and even went after the cat (hissing at her). Skid appears to be appropriately afraid of the crazy feathered monsters. :)

Everything is finally starting to bloom. There appears to be some sort of cherry tree in the back yard. Go figure. I guess we'll see if it fruits. My columnar apples are just about to bloom. Hoping to get fruit off of both of them this year. The poor old apple tree in the backyard seems to be doing well. We liberated it last fall from the blackberries that were engulfing it, and cut back the trees that were around it so it would get some sun. Poor thing was covered in moss, had very few leaves, and desperately needed a heavy pruning.

Now, freestanding in the sunshine, pruned, it is covered in leaves and getting ready to blossom. We only saw one little lonely fruit at the top of the tree last fall. Perhaps it will do better this year. :)

Heading to the garden show tomorrow with KT and Paula. Should be lots of fun, and I'm probably going to spend waaaaaay to much. That's alright, though. Not like we don't have the room for more plants!

I'm spending the last bit of my day helping out another department, answering phones. Answering phones, staring out the window, and reading blog posts. Not the worst way to end the week. Not the best, but it'll do. Happy Friday!

Two hours

Yep. Took me TWO hours to mow the lawn at the old house. TWO HOURS! Yikes! The lawn is <1/4 acre and would normally take a little over 1/2 hour. We finally got some dry weather and I thought I'd give it a shot. Some of the grass was nearly to my knee, and I finally had to take the bag off because the mower kept plugging up. Soooo... I am reading blogs on the back patio, and LJ is on his way to town with a rake. :) Sunshine today here in rainy ole Oregon, and it is glorious. So what if I will spend another hour raking grass... It is SUNNY! Woohoo!

Roughing it

The pigs have officially given up the pig hut. They don't need no stinkin pig hut. They're rough and tough farm pigs, as opposed to those namby pamby lazy pigs that live in a barn. Nope, these pigs are wild hogs, rooting through the underbrush, leaping over logs (ok, they don't really leap, but they try) and braving the vicious chipmunks. Brave brave pigs. Good pigs. They've made themselves a nice hollow against a rotten log under the cedars. They stayed relatively dry and cozy through the rain and hailstorms yesterday. Smart pigs. Wild pigs. Not too wild, though, to follow me around or take pear slices from my hand. Piggies looooove pear slices. :)

Happy Friday!

Sneaky jays

Have you ever heard a jay mimic a hawk's cry? The Steller's jays around our place cry like red tailed hawks. I guess it is pretty common for them to do this. The ones around our place will get up in a tree near where the juncos, towhees, sparrows, and other birds are eating from the feeders. They make that hawk sound several times, scattering the smaller birds. They then fly down and eat in relative peace, not being bothered by the little birds. Sneaky jays. I've even heard them whine like my dog and make a sound remarkably close to a pig squeal. Don't know what good those sounds do for them though. :)

Jean Auel book signing

So just recently, the final book in Jean Auel's Earth's Children series was released. I was stoked when I saw that there would be a book signing at Powell's in downtown Portland. Never having been to a signing, or even to Powell's, I asked a book buddy of mine how they went. He said to get there very early and try to sit at the front, because they would do the signing in order of seating... Front row, second row, third, and so on. So, I got there super early (like 2 hrs early) because I figured it would be packed. It is Jean Auel after all. I had already preordered a signed copy of her new book for my mom, but wanted to get Clan of the Cave Bear signed for her birthday as well.

So, get there super early, and there was a bunch of folks ahead of me, but only 30 or so. Powell's hadn't set up chairs yet, so folks were ranged on benches and the floor, waiting. They finally got the chairs out and I snagged a second row seat. Sweet! Eventually, all chairs were filled and people were packed in at the back, standing. I think there was around 300 before Mrs Auel started speaking. She didn't do a reading, instead talking about the research that went into the books, and how she got started writing Clan of the Cave Bear. She was very amusing, and her journey towards the final book was fascinating.

After she'd said her bit, she answered questions, and it was time for signing. Did the stupid Powell's employees get up and make an announcement about proceeding? Nope. They just said it was time for signing. It was a free for all. I got pinned between a chick that was trying to put together her phone (which she had just dropped) and a huge hippie that reeked of BO and patchouli and was munching on a granola bar with her mouth open. So not joking. Needless to say, after all my careful planning, I ended up at the end of the line. No kidding, like 5 people from the end. I waited in line for nearly 2 hours (and the stinky dreadlocked hippie was next to me... I was tempted to tell her that you CAN wash dreads. It won't hurt them. Yuck.) Didn't get home until nearly 11pm.

Anyhoo, I did manage to have Jean sign the book wishing my mom a happy birthday. Can't wait to surprise her with it. The ordeal was totally worth it for that, though I doubt I'll ever go to another book signing at Powell's. Not if they're all that poorly organized.

On a happier note, one of my vendors brought me some homemade strawberry jam this morning. Yum! My vendors are the coolest!

Pigs like pears