Saturday, July 28, 2007

From the 'auld sod' - Eastern WA

Here's the lovely coop we built to match the pole barn/house. The main coop was 4x8 and 6ft tall in the front. It had a giant picture window to let in what light there was in winter. We had 7 hens and 2 roosters in it, all banties.
Here's Hrifla, our Icelandic horse. She was nearly 3 in this picture, but wouldn't have gotten much bigger. She was wild, right off the range when we brought her home, but by the time she went to her new home she learned to come running when I held her halter & lead rope up. She could walk over any kind of surface, like plywood and tarps without spooking. We could sit on her, put Mark and the kitties on her back, and she walked right into the trailer like a pro. Having her was a great learning experience, but you can see from the mud in the background the kind of damage even a small horse does to a pasture.

A flock of wild turkeys used to drop by for visits. Having a creek bottom full of cover and things to eat made it a great wildlife habitat. These guys would sometimes drink out of the birdbath and rest in the shade in the yard. We had fun 'talking' to them during mating season.
And Mark the nature bird! He loved wading in the creek when we could find a shallow sandy bank for him. He'd go in deep enough to almost swim (which parrots can't do) so we'd have to make sure we could nab him quick if he floated off downstream.

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