It's A Chicken Swamp Cooler!

Finally got a few burlap bags to hang around the coop, on hot days we wet them down and they act like a swamp cooler--evaporative cooling when the breeze blows.

It'll take a while for the chickens to appreciate their new curtains, for now Dinner and Weedcat are treating them as hostile, chicken-eating aliens and are wailing and running about in a silly manner. Scott and the older hens are much more curious and harder to rattle. After all, it might be food...

It's That Magical Time Of Year...

...fire season. Today we had dry lightning around the valley which sparked at least three fires, two of which are creating tons of smoke--these pics are about 50/50 smoke and clouds. Just before dusk the sky was glowing, it was making the chickens VERY nervous.

Another one off to the right, this one is closer and responsible for most of the smoke in our neighborhood. The local fire crews are right on top of all of them, of course.

Tonight the air is warm, close & still, we'll see what morning brings as far as how the fires are doing. At least the fires up here smell like a campfire rather than a trash fire!

Progress!

Got the front entryway painted, despite all the heat!

Before--on moving day, drab and boring white:

After!

Haven't done the crown molding throughout the room yet, that'll come after the rest of the living room walls are painted. I may end up taking down the crown molding, stripping it, painting it and rehanging it, depending on how ambitious I get. The previous owners slopped all kinds of acoustic ceiling bits on it, plus a ton of paint drips, and applied paint so thickly that it obscures part of the detailing in the wood. The molding at LEAST needs to have the gunk scraped off.

Spent today repairing the back yard fencing so the chickens can safely be allowed to roam the yard. We still have a few spots to finish before it's ready, but it's about 85% there! I'll feel so much better when they have more room and can settle into a more normal routine...also we need to incorporate the chicks into the flock.

Also, we had a HUGE fish fly spend one of the hottest days on our front window screen, he camped there till dark then went on his way.

He was very pretty, I love the grid design on his wings, that ISN'T the screen showing through! I told him he was darned brave to be hanging out at a chicken owner's house...