The REAL sign that spring is here...

Here in northwest PA, we have quite a few harbingers of spring, some more famous than others. Such as Punxsutawney Phil (the groundhog who does or does not spot his shadow), the return of the Robins, the first Snowdrops pushing their way up from the ground, and some even say the return of the Turkey Vultures (this one is definitely the most popular around the hunting crowd)

However, as any true "hound connoisseur" knows the true sign that spring is here is this...



the annual spring shed of the winter coat! And so it was last Saturday as I was bathing the first of my hounds that I noticed the water not flowing as quickly down the drain. Got that unstopped, finished bathing Sampson and started Honey Dew, again gathering fur from out of the drain stopper. Then onto the front porch were they were to dry...

As you can see, one good shake...



deserves another...



and some bassets are pickier then others. This is Dew's way of telling me I missed a spot!



So after they were thoroughly dry and the first flea guard dose applied, with nails all clipped, the pups were excited to go out of doors sporting their new shiny clean coats. For about 10 feet out the back door, where they found a nice section of green grass to roll in!

Happy DOT's all!

Skipped Spring and right into Summer

Wow has the weather been fabulous! The entire weekend and today in the 80's. I love it but everyone else has been "whew it's hot". 9 months we put up with frigid temps, rain and snow, and they can't tolerate 3 days of "nice"weather. Wimps. Just kidding! As my husbands says there is only so much he can take off where as I can keep adding layers.

I did get my peeps moved into a pen in the hen house. I don't know who is more freaked out, the older hens hearing strange noices coming from the pen in the other sections (seriously they didn't want to come in from their yard) or the peeps who now have a wire bottomed pen that they can see the floor wwwwaaaaaayyyyy down there. For the first 30 minutes they tried sitting on one another (the only solid objects besides the feed dishes). Once they saw the food go in they kind of forgot about the "drop".

The pups and I had another nice walk along a trout stream then the river. They had their bath on Saturday, so you know what they wanted to do today? Wade. In stinky river water. They looked up at me with a look that said, "Well it's HOT in this fur coat in this summer-like weather!" They dried off enough to get into the car.

One thing that I came across on the walk was a huge area simply covered with violets. The smell and site was beautiful, and I brought some back just to share with you...

Have a wonderful day!

A nice day for a walk...but not a swim!

"And I say we can make it down there this way!"

Pups and I went for a walk after work on Tuesday. We walked along the river. I know it is hard to tell from the photo but the river bank is really about straight down. The pups saw some ducks down there that they thought might be fun to play with. If we would have tried to get down there I think we all would have gone for a swim!

Happy Dogs on Thursday!

Opening Day of Trout

Opening day of Trout in north western Pennsylvania generates quite a bit of excitement. Fishing gear is laid out a week in advance, strategic plans are made according to where the latest stocking has been reported, which "secret" fishing hole is going to be hit first, scouting of the stream has been done and what bait will be used.

The night prior to opening day every year we take a drive along popular creeks and streams to see how many people are setting up "fish camp". The morning of the opening day the popular trout creek and stream banks are lined with people elbow to elbow waiting for eight o'clock, the official time that you can drop a line and start fishing.

All I can say is the scouting and keeping your fishing hole secret must have paid off as the hubby was the only one at his "secret" hole and look at the haul he brought home...

But you know what was even better than eating fresh trout? The smile on his face!

The Chicken Yard

I can't believe it has actually taken me a whole week to get this posted. But spring is here so there are lots of jobs to be done that take me out of the house and away from the computer. I haven't forgotten all my blogging buddies though that made this winter at least bearable!

Last Saturday, my Dad and my hubby set out to build me a new chicken yard. One that is raccoon proof, and one that allows easy entry into the yard ( unlike the old one that the boys had to fit through the chicken door or when older climb over to get something out of the chicken yard), and one that was finished before the peeps are out of my basement.

One of the nice features is the sliding chicken door that allows me to open it from outside the chicken yard with a simple pulley set up (why didn't we think of this before!). As you can see the girls, Maude, Gertrude, Sylvia, Lucy and Clara, are already taking advantage of the nice weather to cluck and scratch about out of doors!

If you enlarge the pictures you can see that there is reinforced 1x2 wire at the bottom of the fence that actually is buried aways down so animals cannot dig under the fence to get in also. And the chicken door is closed nightly so I am hoping that the massacre we experienced last summer will not be repeated.

This is a shot of the tree that Ben cut down for us from the chicken yard before it fell on the coop and looking down to the back of our house. A neighbor is going to make use of the wood for his wood burner when the yard dries enough to permit access with his truck.

I have already given both Dad and my hubby a big hug and thank you for doing this project for me, but it never hurts to say twice:

Thank you Dad and thank you Kerry for the gift of designing and building the yard! I appreciate it even more knowing that you sacrificed a beautiful day to golf, fish or play with the bows to do this for me!

Longing for the return of Spring Weather

Today It is supposed to get up to 55. Walk time right after work ~ It's a date!

Happy Dogs on Thursday!

Come meet the new residents of One Cackle Way...

En masse...




Checking the camera out...




ymmm, this crumble looks good...



See the striping on their backs? My son sent me a text message saying they look like little skunks....well I will tell you, they sure don't smell like skunks!


This one is my oddball chick...but I think he/she is adorable...

So while the peeps are all warm and fuzzy and cuddling up under the brooder light, this is the reality outside....

...poor daffodils. We are supposed to get four inches today. After the nice day on Sunday I thought this type of thing was behind us. Guess not!

We Have Peeps!!!
(pictures will be forthcoming!)