It's spring, sort of!

It's heading toward spring in Wyoming, which means it's 80 degrees some days necessitating air conditioning and then the furnace runs at night!

We now have six ducklings.  It's warmer this year so they may be able to move outdoors sooner than last year.  Plus, they are growing faster than our last year's batch.  This morning, I noticed some of them "quack" now instead of the "peep" they make when young!  Ducks are a real challenge to raise as they have to be kept out of the weather until they have their adult feathers.  We designed a cage that is 4x4 sitting on an 8x4 platform.  To clean the cage, we just move the cage from one side to the other.  We line the bottom with cardboard and then newspaper and dry grass (if I have time to cut some).  This eliminates the need for "duck wrangling" every time you clean the cage!  Ducks are not really fond of being caught, though they do adapt over time.

The photograph above is of windy Wyoming with
little rain.  The dust blows everywhere.  The wind
has been fierce this winter, resulting in many days
looking like this.


The photo to the right is of yaks we saw on the way
to the ranch.  Yak raising is probably well suited for Wyoming.  The critters are adapted to high altitudes
and cold.

At the end of the month, we will be adding on to our Hut in the Basin.  We need a "bedroom" so we don't have to set up the bed all the time.  Due to work schedules, we usually only get about one day and one night at the ranch, so we don't want to spend time setting up a bed.  Plus, we can use a larger bed if we have more room.  We were trying to get down to the ranch earlier this month, but the last of three failed attempts started with the brake pads scratching on the car's rotors necessitating a return to Casper and replacement of said pads.  So we will wait until later this month.   :)