I started a new batch of chicks this spring--a variety called the Black Sex Link.  The advantage is that you can tell at sight which are male and female.  Unfortunately, we can't keep a rooster in city limits.  The half-grown chicks are such little characters!  My dog Bo doesn't bother them at all.  Of course, he is probably too laid back to protect them, either.  We have red-tailed hawks nesting nearby, and in past years, I have lost chicks to Cooper's Hawks.

When my husband Roy saw them, he said they were my affirmative action chicks.  Black chicks rule!

A peaceful kitty sleeping on a mohair shawl I am trying to knit.
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Bo is sleeping peacefully in the sun-warmed compost pile.

Winter can be tough on Angora goats.  Their origin is in the desert, so they do a lot better on hot, dry days.  My goats are getting older, so they suffer more from the cold.  A covering over their backbone and shoulder blades helps retain their body heat.  Look at Angel in her mohair sweater!  It is ironic that she is benefitting from her own fiber for warmth!

In a hand-crafted nest with mohair curtains and valance!

I have had great success with fall-planted lettuce and kale.  This lovely salad bowl variety of lettuce came from a plant that went to seed in my garden last year.  I scattered the seed in a planter box.  Lots of seeds germinated and I transplanted them this spring when they were just tiny seedlings.  They have all done so well!  I have harvested lettuce every day since early May.  We are getting such great nutrition for free.  Generally, I harvest a few leaves from the bottom, but when I harvested this entire head of lettuce, it fill the sink it was so large!

Stormy is funny.  She has known only kindness her entire life.  However, she thinks it is funny to pretend she is afraid of me--run away!  I have a hard time capturing her to get sheared and this year, I was barely getting started when she escaped.  Look how funny she was with her half-hair cut!  Then, when I caught her again to finish shearing, she was so relaxed because it felt so good to get that itchy winter hair off of her.  She was so relaxed she almost went to sleep.