Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend corresponds with our wedding anniversary; so we’re usually off somewhere celebrating.  In the past, we’ve traveled exotic places, seen spectacular scenery, and attended great events.  But this year we decided to stay put; and since we rarely enjoy a Memorial Day weekend at home, some photographs seemed appropriate.

The cats, Sugar and Spice, are the ones I miss first when we travel, but I also worry about them least – they’re pretty self-sufficient.  They’re sisters from the same litter, although you’d never know it by looking at them. 

One reason for staying put this year was to get some ongoing projects done.  One of these was installing an automatic chicken-coop opener.  With it installed, the chicken coop hatch automatically opens when the sun comes up and closes when the sun goes down (this photo is of hardware installation on the hatch inside the coop). 

We figure that the hens are accustomed to laying in the coop by now, so leaving the door open all day shouldn’t be a problem (they shouldn’t start laying eggs outside).  

Even though they get two wooded acres to roam on all day now, some chickens still think the grass is greener on the other side (she’s close to getting a shock from that electrical strand too):   

Several years ago, we built a deck and planted clematis around the support posts.  This year, the clematis finally seem to have established, have reached the top of the support posts, and appear to be thriving.  We planted an early, intermediate, and late blooming variety - the middle one is blooming beautifully for the first time now.   

At least the chickens are enthusiastic about ranging for greens and insects – the goats, not so much.   They seem to think that an occasional mouthful outdoors is fine, and eat the alfalfa indoors instead.  We’re going to have a little talk about that………..

Anyway, one of the big projects for the weekend was building a goat stanchion for Tinker Bell, Honey, and Jewel.  They’re getting so big we need a way to keep them still while trimning hooves, cutting hair, and someday milking!  And we went from cold, rainy spring to hot summer (seemingly overnight) so they really need those haircuts. 

I took photos of all the steps for building the stanchion, and plan to post a “how-to build a goat stanchion”, but for now, here are Jewel Box and Honey trying it out:

The stanchion was actually a little too high for them to climb on easily (but it should be at a convenient height for milking) so a step had to be added.  Those girls sure did get a nice stanchion!

The final project for the weekend was the front border and nook between the garage and house.  I’ve been working on getting the front border landscaped for a couple of years; and it’s almost there.  The nook; however, is still very much a “work-in-progress” - but it’s coming along.