Summer Has Arrived!

 Summer has arrived & did we ever get a heat wave with it!

Today is a rainy day & a good day to finally blog!

The gardens are in constant bloom now and I bring the outside flowers in to enjoy all day.

The chicken coop & run was a big job with the guys working full-time jobs.

The cement floor in the coop was done and the construction of the frame, door, & windows came together. The roof will be a steel roof that was ordered & will be installed on the coop & the run when it arrives.

This is the front, it slopes to the back where the ditch is to drain water away.

The two small three-pane horizontal windows do not open but the back one does & inside the solid door, Bill made a screen door for the air to flow through. There is venting all the way around the rooftop too.

Bridget loves to look at them & they like to look at her too!

Here they are together, now the small rooster, yes I had another rooster! Has been rehomed to a farm in Blackville thanks to the group I joined called The Miramichi Chicken Keepers.

So now we have one rooster & four laying hens.

They are delightful to watch & you can see their personalities forming. The Rhode Island Reds were born on May 6th & the Barred Rock were 2+ weeks older than them...so the farmer told Bill as he purchased them off the back of a pickup truck and told him they were three hens! lol 

There is harmony with all the animals & I can come & go from their pen.

They stayed together the first while in their new run & now just run about pecking everything new that is put into their pen.

Christine only saw them once a week and each week was amazed at how fast they grew!

The hen box is hinged and shingled, and the outside of the coop will be boarded and batten made at a mill by Christine's dad.

This is the third year my girlfriend Karen & her husband Jim have come to visit.

They brought her mom to her brother-in-law & sister's new home near Sussex & helped them settle in doing some gardening then came to visit us before heading back to Ontario.

The chickens were too big to be inside this box and were fully feathered & happy to move outside to their new home.

I was happy to see the dust settle finally with them out of the house. I had no idea how much dust they could kick up!

Jim came from a farm & worked along with Bill getting the coop ready for the chickens, this is the door to the coop that they're working on. 

I have only named two the rooster is Rusty & the Rhode Island are all called Reba. lol The other is Barred Rock I've been calling her Henny.

Through research about the Barred Rock, it is said that the females are darker than the males & this photo really shows it!

Karen & Jim enjoyed their time here at Beaver Moon and their help was greatly appreciated.

Karen & I are on the front porch before saying goodbye until next summer.

Safe travels & we'll see you next summer!

Safe travels really mean something here with all the wildlife...

Two weeks ago Donald left home at 2am for his 5am flight out of Moncton, the early morning had very thick fog and he was driving his BMW M3 convertible when he saw & hit the moose!! Lucky him to survive such an impact & it was only three minutes from our home!

The car was still drivable so he took it to Moncton to be on time for his flight to Toronto. 

Driving onto the main 11 highway a transport pulled over & a dead moose on the side of the road.

The next day the radio was announcing for people driving at dawn or dust to be very alert. There has been so much foresting going on right now that it is affecting their habitat. Enough of things that I cannot control.

I made a new pillow for Canada Day, it was from a kids' t-shirt & some fabric from my stash.

It's so nice to have the sunporch back for my morning coffee time. I think the chickens are happy too! 

I'm nearly finished with the Calico Garden quilt & I'm itching to start the How To Build A Scarecrow applique pattern from Lori Holt's new Autumn fabric collection.

One more border then the outer border to finish it off at 90" x 90". This was a big job to do!!

Adding three more chickens that turned out to be two roosters is part of the story of this quilt too! lol

Thank you for stopping by & I want to wish all the Canadians out there a very happy & safe Canada Day!

Travel safely wherever you are and enjoy this wonderful summer and all it has to offer!

Hugs,

Cynthia xXx

Time Has Wings - Six Baby Chicks! It's a long visit today catching up!

 The days are passing quickly into weeks and it has been a month since I've blogged!

The update is so much with the raising of the chicks. It was filled with joy & heartbreak the first few days.

My girlfriend Jocelyne & I picked up six one-day-old chicks, precious Rhode Island reds for laying eggs. They survived the night but by the afternoon three had become paralyzed and passed. I was beside myself with grief. The Alberta son said I should have vaccinated them as they came from a commercial hatchery & the Marek's virus probably weakened them. I was overwhelmed with losing these babies so young. I decided when ordering them not to have them vaccinated a retreat I now carry.

I was told the hatchery was in Ontario & they were flown to Fredericton and then transported to the Miramichi Feeds where we picked them up. So much travel for one-day-old chicks.

I gave them electrolytes in the water & an antibiotic first feed but it wasn't enough for the three that passed away the next day. The other three are doing great!

You can see the wing feathers coming in and this was last week. This week their tail feathers came in!

For the first two weeks, I used the half bathroom as the heated room, now with the weather warmer they have moved to the sunporch & into the playpen that my girlfriend Heather gave me for the Boston terrier puppies seven years ago. Wow, time does fly by!!

There was a farmer from northern New Brunswick selling chicks, ducks, & turkeys from the back of his truck. We had seen him each time we were at Miramichi Feeds & Jocelyne & I saw him the day we picked up the chicks. Long story short - Bill purchased 3 Plymouth Barred Rock chicks from him to make our Hen House of six hens. These chicks were 2 1/2-3 weeks old and very hardy chicks!

The washroom was too warm for them so their bin was set up in the hall with the cozy warmer on top.

What a difference having farm chicks versus hatchery chicks, these girls are so calm, maybe it is the breed? These chicks are going to be lovely when they mature!

They have such big feet! I have never been this close to chicks and this is new for all of us, so far so good.

Here are today's photos!

This is the setup for the next couple of days. Bill is building a big box with a divider between them so they can mix & mingle to get to know each other. Then the divider will be removed & hopefully, it will be a peaceful pecking order in this flock of six chicks. There is a approx 3-week difference in age so it should not be too bad...I hope.

It has been quite the production for Bill & Donald in the woods to remove trees & have a landfill brought in to raise the area and level it out.

Here's the area where the Hen House & covered run will go. The cement floor for the house has since been poured.

Several trees were removed from this area next to the firepit/barbeque pergola, which is just beginning stage, the Hen Hous area is first. The chicks will be in the house for several more weeks.

The treed area to the left will be fenced for their outdoor forging & the path down the center is for walking. This area is very close to the house and the front porch, so we can watch & listen to the hen's party. lol

At the site of the barbeque pergola, Mitchell and Nicole were visiting from Alberta this long weekend along with our friend Mike from ON, for their annual, guys' fishing trip. Mitch levelled out the area while he was here, spending time playing on a digger. lol

Wood was stacked everywhere from the cut-down trees & the bad wood was burnt. I made another orb from the leftover dried grapevine.

Bill & Donald are also making a small lean-to for coverage for firewood & small recreational vehicles.

 

This little Rhino has been so handy & now it can carry a big jug of water to water the different gardens.

The grapevine and herb area will be coming to life soon. All three birdhouses are occupied and the birds love to sit on my clothesline even when I am hanging out the laundry, they hang on & move with the line moving. lol

It was a busy weekend with the fishing trip to Upper Oxbow NB. Here are some excellent photos of that adventure for the guys.

The guys at the lodge having breakfast together. The day before, between the 5 of them they caught 200 plus fish!!!

Bill with his striped bass.

Mike with his striped bass.

Donald with his striped bass.

Mitchell with his striped bass.

Nicholas with his striped bass.

A weekend filled with memories and all those fish stories too!

I was gifted a lovely surprise from Mike's wife Carrie! She really surprised me with this!!

Welcome to our Coop! This is so sweet & unique, just like Carrie!

And the hat on the hen is interchangeable!!

OMGoodness it is so cute and fun, like dressing up my geese, only indoors with the fun hats!

Thank you, Carrie, it is the bee's knees!!

I've done some crocheting with Lori Holt on Granny Square Circles, new to me!

This is a little runner as I used Dollar Store mini yarn & a 2.5 crochet hook. I love how the yarn colours coordinate with her fabrics!

I finished & quilted a table runner with her house pattern kit, I made two more & joined them together!

The backing is from the Calico Garden collection of Lori Holt. I'm working hard to finish the Calico Garden quilt that finishes at 90" x 90", her colour pallet is so happy and colourful. It is so out of my primitive, historical reproduction comfort zone & I love it!

Lori Holt, to-do list when I'm finished with Calico Garden. It's called How To Build A Scarecrow!

Donald's Mother's Day gift is beautiful but I will bring it in this fall before the frost, it's a zone 6 & I'm 4b.

I think the bee's will love it!

The sun porch is livable again with winter behind us! With eight windows and a garden backdoor warming it up nicely on sunny days.

This is Rexton's favourite spot even with the six chicks invading the other end of the porch.

She is turning 10 years old next month & is as playful as ever. 

This was the first photo I took of her when I saw her. Rexton was a rescue cat from the Bonar Law farm in Rexton NB. Yes, I named her after where she was found, she was such a sweet kitten, look at those back legs & her Manx tail, what's not to love?

There is a window screen placed on top of the metal grid...for good reason, I could see her with the arms reaching in if given the opportunity!

Bored with the chicks, she's watching the outdoor birds. lol

Now they have her attention again. I'll be happy when the Hen House is done & they are large enough to go in it, I'm sure they would like that too as I'm bringing in clumps of grass & dirt for them every day.

I made three more chicks from the Chicken Salad quilt fabric. They are going on a birch ladder that is going to be made to decorate the outside of the Hen House. lol

Thank you for stopping in, life has surely gotten busy living and caring for the 9 pets in the house.  As the saying goes, 'This too will pass' just as summer is in full force.

Take care, wishing you health & happiness always!

Hugs,

Cynthia