Get Smart...

Sometimes...we can get a wee bit smarter from the ideas of others

when I noticed that the water in the clay saucers were evaporating a little too quickly...


and although I didn't mind making the rounds to fill the saucers with water...
too often, the bees were left with empty water stations


I went on the internet to see if an idea would pop up for making one's own self watering station

lots of people had this idea and they made me a wee bit smarter
so I took an empty can...
cut a small opening at the top of the can 
(you can see it along the bottom in the photo below)
and filled it with water...
put the saucer over the opening...
and tipped it over so that the water flows out the hole in the bottom into the saucer
the water will stop flowing once it reaches the top of the hole

it works quite nice, thus far
and I don't have to make so many trips out to fill the saucers...
and the bees can have their fill of water

and I don't care that it isn't fancy
neither do the honeybees, and every other small creature that comes along



I needed a trough for my chickens' mash...
and asked my husband to cut me a long stalk of bamboo about 8 inches in diameter...
and about 6 feet long
he then sliced the bamboo into two halves


now, I have two troughs to feed my chickens their mash without it getting scattered everywhere
the curve of the bamboo half keeps the mash in...
and my chickens can line up to eat without getting in each others' way


it works quite nicely, too...
and I didn't have to pay any monies for it
this, too, is not fancy...
but the chickens don't care
in fact, the curve helps them pick up the mash a bit easier...
especially for the rescue hens with burned off beaks from their former life



my husband enjoys giving the goats treats by hand
we have some of the tamest goats around...
even though we keep them out in the wild

we've been asked how we tame them so


we say, it isn't so very hard

all it takes is...
enough of our company...hand-fed treats...and tender care
something a bit foreign to many of the locals here on this island
they think we are a little strange for it
no matter...
one gets back what they put into it



mama Dottie: "come, little puffball...you're lagging behind"


little puffball: "coming, mama!"


mama Dottie: "don't forget to watch for those bad hawks"


little puffball: "what's a bad hawk, mama?"


May your day or night be blessed in God's grace.