Betta Enjoy Them,They Grow Up So Quickly!

~With the arrival of spring and warmer weather we have the always present mosquito larvae in our animals' water troughs. When life gives you larvae, why feed the fish! That is what larvae are good for! Here is one of my Bettas. I have 3. They are like keeping exotic, living art in the house. My Bettas live a long time , at least 2 or 3 years..and I think the last one that died had lived here for 4 years. They are just beautiful. I put them in glass bowls or containers with rooting plants. It is relaxing to watch them. Often I find them cradled in the nook of a root, and though books tell me fish don't sleep, they appear to be thoroughly enjoying the fish equivalent of a recliner! Anyway, back to mosquito larvae. Now that the mosquitos are enjoying the weather by using every possible water source to leave their young in, I am scooping the abundant supply of larvae in my net to feed my Bettas. If you click on this picture ( above ) it will enlarge and you can see the larvae this Betta is about to snap up!

~Quacker update:They are growing so quickly! Remember the ducklings ,all16 came in this litle box?~

~Then all 16 were moved to this plastic bin in the bathroom?~

~The ducklings grew quickly and were moved to my brooding shed!~

~Now, observe the same waterer in the previous picture with above picture in comparison with the size of the ducklings.They are as big as the waterer! These little quackers are always at the water! It is near impossible to keep them dry, and you can see the splashing of food mixed with water all over the outside of the waterer. I clean and refill the water several times a day. I am excited for the day I move them near the pond in preparation for them to start life there...they will be happier about this than me.

~Another Betta, isn't he gorgeous? A living centerpiece, complete with color and greenery.~

I Couldn't Help Myself...I HAD to Be Happy!

~Between storms there were spots of sunshine. I took my camera outside and snapped shots of things around our home that made me happy, I couldn't help myself, they made me be happy!How could the pretty and dainty bleeding hearts ( above ) all in a row not make you smile? "Man is fond of counting his troubles, but he does not count his joys.If he counted them up as he ought to, he would see that every lot has enough happiness provided for it." Fyodor Dostoevsky ~I was surprised one late afternoon a week or so ago to see a Wood Duck fly into the hollowed top of this Cedar snag that has been here near the edge of our pond since we moved in, and before we built our home, 20 years ago. I have since observed the Wood Duck fly swiftly to this snag and disappear into it several times. I am hoping to see the ducklings emerge and throw themselves out of this snag to begin their journey of life out of the hole in the snag. This too makes me so happy."If you want to be happy, be." Leo Tolstoy ~I call this one of the 'secret places' here at Cedar Pond. It is in the wet and marshy places between our home and that of Hubby's sister and her husband. It is so dark and wet and filled with intertwined roots and small trees we rarely venture in, but it is beautiful in its' own way and I have observed wild ducks and my ducks happily paddling in the muck and quite a few Ruffed Grouse, along with many native small birds. Tonight my Hubby and I observed a Spotted Owl perched above this area. This makes us both very happy!"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." Abraham Lincoln ~One of our many rhododendrons in bloom."We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have." Frederick Keonig ~ Little blue-eyed, broken, Candy Cat who does not seem to realize she is not all the average cat is, the sight of her soaking up sunshine by the rhododendron makes me happy."Now and then it is good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy."Guilaume Apollinaire ~White Bleeding Hearts, growing by our front porch!"If you observe a really happy man you will find him building a boat, writing a symphony, educating his son, growing double dahlias in his garden, or looking for dinosaur eggs in the Gobi Desert. He will not be searching for happiness as if it were a collar button that has rolled under the radiator.He will not be striving for it as a goal in itself. He will have become aware that he is happy in the course of living life twenty-four crowded hours of the day." W. Beran Wolfe

"Happiness grows at our own firesides, and is not to be picked in strangers' gardens." Douglas Jerrold ~So don't worry, be happy!~

OOPS! He Did It Again.....

~He did it again. Goth got his own right leg caught up in his right bottom horn. I wrote a post about this July 16, 2008.Goth seems to have learned a thing or two since then because after hobbling around all day on 3 legs he finally untangled his leg by himself.He does well with 3 legs though, he was able to shake his horns at Delilah and hoard all the alfalfa , he was able to hobble fast enough to elude me in my attempt to disentangle his leg from his horn, and finally, he DID actually get his leg out all by himself. Hooray Goth!~

My Husband's Hands

~I love my husband's hands. Hands are one of the first features I notice in a person. Hands and their eyes. I appreciate good hands. Not hands that are beautiful in a worldly way, but hands that are strong and gentle. My husband has strong and manly hands. The hands of the man I fell in love with. Kind hands that cradled our babies, changed their diapers ( yes! he changed their diapers ) cooks for me for the joy of cooking, removed splinters from myself and our children with a gentleness I never possessed. He built our home, built the outbuildings, built animal pens and dovecotes just for me. His hands planted and prune our orchard and gardens. His hands tend the bees. His hands care for me when I am sick. I love the touch of his hands. ~My husband was away for the weekend and as I took Sunday to just enjoy our home, the home my husband built, I became especially grateful for the many things around our home he has made, built, and tended with his hands, and his heart. I am thankful. I love him.

~Dovecote my husband built for me, with love.~

"A friend is one whom you can pour out the contents of your heart , chaff and grain alike, knowing that the gentlest of hands will take it and sift it, keep what is worth keeping , and with the breath of kindness, blow the rest away." AU

The Bridge of Love ~by Audrey Yeager

The night sky beckons

Through an open window

The wispy curtains flutter

To and fro

And I stand Big-eyed and breathless Almost seeing God Before such hurting sweetness Glittering diamond shards Twinkle from infinity And I dare to dream of more, A promised God-made city How deeply within our hearts Is this magnetic yearning And man has known it In all Earth's troubled turnings A pulling and an urging To join with what's been lost To touch at last, the Father's hand We cry, " what is the cost?" The requirement was appalling And no one had the price Except the Man from Heaven The God-man, Jesus Christ He paid with love-filled pain Underneath the scourge and nails He bowed His head and lifted us And tore the temple veil He alone is worthy And why He loved me , I don't know He took my sin while sinless, And let it bring Him low Now the night sky hangs above Just as it was before And I know the Father listens Because of what my Jesus bore by Audrey Yeager ( written not long after salvation)

~Thank-you Audrey for allowing me to publish your beautiful, heart's song in poetry!~

Market Saturday!

~Our local community center is hosting Lacamas Community Center SATURDAY MARKET !

This will be the first, but hopefully not the last of a Market attempting to promote , encourage, and profit the small holdings in the area. Many in this area grow or raise farm produce, farm animals, or products made from what is grown on their small holdings. I will be bringing things to sell too. Yarn ( above ) and wool batts ( below ) from the fleece of my Jacob sheep.

~.....the last of the little purses I made of my handwoven fabric.....

~ I also spent a fair bit of time today deciding which of my many Frizzles I could bear to sell...and after choosing, rounding up, and dusting them with an insecticide type powder ( poultry dust )..I crated up three Frizzles to sell....a rooster and 2 small hens.

~I have a few dozen farm fresh eggs to sell....~

~...and after a busy winter, my dove population has reached a number that cries for MORE dove pens, and much more money for the Dove & Quail Food, or..yup, gotta sell some doves . I decided on the 4 I could part with and they too were dusted with poultry dust and crated for the market. ~Since this is the very first SATURDAY MARKET, and the weather forecast calls for rain and low temperatures, there might be a small turn-out, but I will dress warm and bring my spinning wheel to spin up more yarn while I visit with friends who also will be selling their farm products. I fully intend to have fun, no matter what, and I hope we continue to do this throughout the year...so if you're in the area, come on out to Lacamas Community Center and browse! Maybe something will strike your fancy and you will buy too!

Chicks Are Here....

~What can I say, the cute factor is here big time at Cedar Pond! Chicks...little, teeny, fluffy, peeping, cute, baby chickens!~

~My order ( yes, ORDER ) of chicks came in the mail today...in a little box too! I ordered 15 Cuckoo Marans , they are the black and white chicks, and 10 Welsummer chicks. Both breeds will grow to lay dark, chocolate colored eggs. ( above, the chicks in their box before I moved them to their brooding box)~

~ I couldn't resist, I let the chicks run around for awhile. Welsummer chick is on the left, the Maran is the black and white chick.~

~It is so amazing to me that as soon as chicks hatch out they are able to drink water, look for food, and all they need is warmth, food and water, and protection. They eat, drink, forage and seek warmth by themselves. Nobody taught them this!~

~My cat proof brooder. See, the very grill you barbecue your chicken on can also be the very grill that protects your little chicks from the house cat...our Miss Marple. Here ( above ) I have placed the chickens in a big Rubbermaid bin with the grill as a cover, and the heat lamps are sitting on top to keep the chicks warm. They will be in this brooder in the sun room for about a week, then I will move them outside to a my big brooding shed.~

~Cuckoo Maran Chick~