Okay Barney, What Gives??

Yes, I've received another letter from Bernard's wild cousin, Barney. He is dealing cards on a riverboat on the Mississippi. He's had an unfortunate incident as a result of some time he spent in the back of an 18-wheeler sleeper. I'm thinking it's time to take up a donation for the Barney Patrimony Defense Fund.

Of course Barney is always welcome here at the Cottonwood, where he could spend his time with some REAL chicks.

Barney, Barney, Barney.

Okay, lots of updates in single post

I absolutely can't believe it's been 4 months since my last post. So many new and exciting happenings. Where should I start??

The weather has been a bit screwy this winter, snow then hot, then snow, then hot-- well, you get the picture. What's that annoying saying, "if you don't like the weather in __insert geographic location here___ then just wait 5 minutes!"

Lots of new critters-- 2 ducks, 3 new geese, 3 new turkeys, but no partridge in our pear tree yet.

The ducks were are rescue from a college kid in Santa Fe. They are a mallard and a Muscovy hen, with another Buff American goose. I named the Muscovy Anne, as she is very dainty and well-behaved.

The goose is Bridgette and the mallard we initially named Maurice, as he is a suave little talker who keeps his two females happy. However, we had no idea how "Maurice" would fit in with our other 5 geese-- Squanto, Mr. Joshua, Yvette, Susie and Snarky. Well, we needn't have worried about the health of Maurice. As soon as he got into the pen he began chasing and attacking the ganders and trying to chase the geese into his little harem. Well, we had to change his name. We decided he was much more of a Jean-Claude Van Duck. Yes, he continues to live up to his name.

Our turkey population, too, has exploded. We brought in a White Midget Tom to keep Thelma and Louise company. He is a very sweet and friendly bird who came from a home with 5 toms. He was at the bottom of the pecking order there, so they needed to find him a new home. He is still a bit pecked on looking but has gained confidence as the biggest fowl in the hen-way.

About 3 weeks ago we received our last (and that means last for a while. I've finally got my hands full!) additions-- two turkeys so emaciated and featherless that we weren't sure of their gender or breed until about a week ago. We believe we have a tom-- Sniraga and hen-- Nettie, of the bronze breasted variety. They are both incredibly friendly birds who protect me from Bernard when I come into the pen to feed them in the morning. They are bulking up nicely and very pleasant to the other birds in the run (except Bernard, who deserves it).

The flowers are starting to bloom and we finally had a bit of rain this morning and I can HEAR the weeds slurping it down. The blossoms are out on the plum, pear, apple, peach, apricot and cherry trees. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for no heavy frosts for a bit & hopefully the fruit can set.

The work on the barn progresses slowly, and we are just about to finish the poultry room and move all the chickens and turkeys over for a few months to give their current run a chance to recover from all the grazing. I will miss getting to look out the front window and see my girls, but they will enjoy unlimited access to 2 acres of grass and bugs!

Pictures of everyone to follow shortly....

Thelma and Louise are here....

No pictures yet, but our two turkeys arrived yesterday. They are out in the big pasture with the new geese-- Squanto and Mr. Joshua. Of course they arrived during the biggest snow dump of the year, so they haven't actually SEEN their new yard yet. They couldn't even see their new coop, so I was out with my visiting brother and a flashlight at 9pm catching skittish turkeys and depositing them into their new home. It was a good decision, as the snow was at about 4 inches this morning.

If you were waiting for some fresh powder to ski, now is the time. Not too cold and nice fluffy new snow.

Pictures of the new girls coming soon....

New pictures from the Cottonwood Inn

Here is a picture of the Cottonwood from the Arroyo Seco River, which runs through the end of the new property.
Mr. Joshua and Squanto in front pond.

Picture of new barn as viewed looking east. This was taken about 3 days ago. The windows and doors are now largely in, and it is now a menacing black block of tar paper. Yes, the barn is build from 2X12s.... Locals are calling it the Taj Mahal.
Okay, we just had our first big snow of the year here, about 6-8 inches at the base and 12 up top on the mountain. It looks pretty cloudy this morning, and the forecast is for a bit more snow today. What are you waiting for? Come ski Taos!!
The snow was a first for a lot of the new critters who were all born last spring. Schmoo, Sparky, Snarky, Sid, Nancy, Squanto and Mr. Joshua were all a bit surprised about the situation. All of them seemed to like it, and the dogs managed to find plenty of snow AND dirt. They are only rarely white these days. Here are some pictures of December 12, 2010 at the Cottonwood.

The above is a picture of the neighbor's horse and Sparky. Sparky is in love with these horses, and they seem to enjoy the dogs, too. The picture below is the mighty Arroyo Seco River. I know people from other parts of the country will laugh at our river, but it's the only one we have....

New chickens and a new barn!

Yes, I've finally managed to weasel some new birds!! These ladies came to me from a local who didn't want to deal with her chickens anymore and offered them to me. Of course I jumped for joy. Yes, they've all been named-- 2 Wyandottes-- Amelia and Wilhelmina, 2 Rhode Island Reds-- Charlotte and Emily, 2 Buff Orpingtons-- Fancy and Henrietta, and one Americauna-- Venetia. They are still very timid and don't approach me or the other hens too closely, so we firmed up the goose house (added a roost or two, a few nesting boxes and cleaned out the goosy-ness and that is where they are currently hanging out.
The geese have moved over to the large pasture with the puppies (now at 6 and 1/2 months). Tonight at 6 pm they were all resting peacefully around the shores of Largo Gallina (yes, the name for our new pond, located at the shore of Mount Gallina. Cool, huh??) Anyhow, Brantly and I went to pick up the new hens yesterday after sunset, thinking we would be able to hijack sleeping chickens. We did not know about the chicken coop they occupied.... Their set up was like a jungle-coop, and we had to unscrew portions of the coop and crawl through pallets to get these girls. These ladies may have been asleep when we got there, but they were awake and yelling by the time we put them into the pet carrier.
The barn is now in phase 3 (out of 4) and the second floor is finally going up. With a light snow this morning we were wondering if the second floor might have to wait until next week.... However, the weather warmed up a bit and the workers were able to frame up the rest of the job. Now we just wait for the roofing and hope we can beat the snows.
We started some very late winter grass on and around the new pasture. We're hoping to force out the thistles, rather than chemically kill them. We've spoken to several local (and Oregon-based) organic farmers, and have decided this is the best, if maybe slower, method of weed control. Not only that, but the geese have been going after the roots of anything that grows over there, so they will probably take care of some of the weed problem.

The barn is here! The barn is here!

The long-awaited barn is finally taking shape. Not only that, but we've also begun the 2nd pond, for the ungrateful Cottonwood Inn Geese, Sid, Nancy, & Snarky. Those of you who've been here this year have met the rude brood. These rescue geese are not meek and mild, they have no trouble demanding what they want-- and what they want (as I perceive things) is a larger area to roam, a bigger pond, and a barn. Who are we to deny the geese?

The puppies have already been enjoying most of every day over in the new pasture. They like to run through the pond (or Lake Gallina as we have decided to name this august body of water) and up the dirt mound left by the excavation of the pond (or Mount Gallina, as we are now calling it-- notice a trend here?) Of course they are no longer white dogs, but chocolate-coated mud hounds.

Pictures to come shortly for the new Southwestern room, and for the barn, and for the critters, who are now geometrically larger than the last photos we posted.

Cold and crisp!

Yep, winter is here. We've begun construction on the new barn, and are shortly moving the two puppies (now approaching 70 lbs each at around 5.5 months) and 3 geese into the pasture. It's been a long haul, fencing around 2 acres with wire that is buried 8 inches and 7.5 feet high. The barn plans continue accordingly-- we should be up and barn-y by the end of December. It has been cold, cold, cold. That hasn't stopped us here at the Cottonwood-- we've started remodeling on our "Buckaroo" room, which we have renamed the "Southwestern". Why? Well, we felt the changes to the room-- pine flooring, bar seating area, and (drum roll) the new patio off the room, including an adobe fireplace and two person hot tub in a latilla-enclosed rooftop oasis-- embody the Southwest experience. The view from the new Southwestern patio is absolutely AMAZING! The stars go on forever, and the 6-foot latilla fence blocks any street-level light interference with star-gazing. This is the room to have on your next visit. Check back on the website soon for more images....