2011 UPDATE

This has been a year of closure with the death of Richards' father , he will be greatly missed. It was important for Richard to spend that time to care for his father and closing his affairs. So not alot was accomplished on the ranch this year and last.

We found these great cast iron signs on e-bay at http://stores.ebay.com/Cecils-Collectibles for about $20.00 each, they work well for the rustic look we have going on.
The 31 chickens are loving the winter rye grass and laying about 22 eggs a day between them. I know there are about 3 older hens (4 years old:not laying) that I can not tell a difference from the younger layers (less than a year) . That was when I failed to mark the older hens from the younger ones with plastic rings.
Richards cousin gave us a few dozen fish and the aquatic plants to really dress up the pond. With the powerful filtering system it is really staying clear.
The bath house awaits the next step.... raising of the walls.
We are grateful it has started raining again and hope this is a ongoing trend.
I started placing the insulation in the green house, a very dusty job dealing with recycled fiberglass insulation, I wear a face mask and rubber gloves.
The garden is sleeping . It has been a very warm winter and we have not had a deep freeze. This is the time I get caught up on weeding and plan for the next planting season.



Our son found this little heater for our outside shower . We hooked it up with the hose using adapters to convert the hoses from outside plumbing to house plumbing so the shower head would work. We have it in the chicken coop that shares a wall with the shower.