Sunday Stills: Black and White

Skeleton Flower gone to seed in the Short Grass Prairie.

Down in the creek, now lush from the rains.

Bird's nest lined with wool.

For more black and white images, visit Sunday Stills!

Return of the Magical Mystery Egg

When we first began keeping chickens, we bought a dozen ceramic eggs to place in the nesting boxes to give the girls the idea of where we wanted them to lay. This might seem silly to those of you who do not keep chickens, but it is a fact that young pullets are just as likely to lay one on top of your head as in the nest box without a little instructional guidance!

Soon we were awash in eggs, and selling them to friends and neighbors. I collected up the fake eggs, which were no longer necessary, only to discover there were now only 11. Our greatest fear was we had accidentally sold one of these great imitations to someone expecting a dozen edible ones! Yet no one would own up to receiving the mystery egg.

This weekend, while digging up some of the composted soil that washed down with the last rain into the creek, Farmer Rick discovered the missing egg! It looks as if it has fooled quite a few egg eaters by all the tooth marks on both ends. I'd love to know how it got into the creek, and where all it's been the last three years! Maybe this has given predators the idea our eggs aren't too palatable!

Where's My Kayak?

Today we finally got a big storm. Real rain. As in over 5 inches! Everything just let out a big sigh of relief. The dry creek ran. Cracked soil expanded, trying to confiscate my sandals as I rushed around checking on the animals.

We'd gotten 3/8 of an inch last night, so this new amount is causing some flooding! Not enough to worry about yet, although Phoebe and Finley were not amused standing in their sheep "pond" this morning. Also, rain blew into the new coop from the unfinished overhang creating a small playa lake in the middle of the pine shavings. The chickens were all standing around looking at it while King Avelino tested the water with a foot and complained loudly.

It's temporarily brought the river back up to something worth kayaking--from near 0 to 260 cfs. Our dry well, however, has yet to see any results. There's more rain in the forecast for tonight and the rest of the week, so we can hope!

Two Finds in One Morning

Yesterday morning we found our first little Cuckoo Marans egg in the new coop. They are known as the "Chocolate Eggers." Yup, the girls are now entering their point of lay. This means Farmer Rick needs to hurry up and build some nest boxes!

Perhaps the more unexpected find, though, was this large stone artifact at the intersection of several of our trails near the new coop, where I have undoubtedly walked right by it a zillion times. I am not sure if this is an early biface or a blank that was to be later made into something more refined.

Several decades ago a nearby field was excavated by the Texas Archaeological Research Lab of UTSA, and yielded many artifacts of Native American encampment. We suspect that our land, too, was a camping ground as we find the dark and angular limestone rocks used in their "ovens" and signs of worked chert. Back when the two creeks flowed, the place where I found this would have been a prime hunting spot.

Many times I've looked here for artifacts, and of course I only did the finding when I wasn't looking!

Water Falling?

Considering we are in an exceptional drought, I was astonished to find water running with beautiful waterfalls in our usually dry creek. As it turns out my neighbor--who has landlocked us, destroyed our privacy along with all his understory vegetation, bulldozed his portion of the creek, and dug a huge pond upstream from us--was releasing water. He told Farmer Rick he was trying to find a pond leak and wasn't going to charge us for the free water. Although our thirsty oak is getting a good drink, it would have been nice if he'd let us know beforehand. Don't you think it would have been neighborly to ask first?