Surprises of the good kind

On Friday night, Ben saw a mountain lion on our road!

With the rainwater, the concrete looks beautifully glassy and reflects the sky

 The framing continues at a rapid pace and it has been thrilling to walk through the house as more and more of it pops up. The builders could not work on the house today, because we got some rain. What I'm really excited about today is the chicken coop, especially in light of the mountain lion neighbor.

I let the flock free-range, but soon I'll at least have the option of leaving them in their new big run, if the mountain lion discovers them. Those chickens are going to be so safe, so warm, and so happy. And they'll look good doing it. :)

Putting the roof pieces up on the chicken coop!

Dramatic weather today, changing from sun to rain then sun again. And then a surprise hail. Sya sits comfortably on our coop lumber, with the house in the background. They are framing the sides first, then they'll connect them.

I also found Ben nesting in the wild.

Beautiful Little Hawk on her chosen nest.

 For a few days I've been sad because I thought my chicken Little Hawk was missing. This morning, though, she suddenly appeared, glossy with rainwater, fluffing her feathers dry in the sun, and looking for food. She had been brooding! I sneakily followed her, and she disappeared into her nest at the base of an oak tree. She had sat on those eggs, with no roof above her head, all through the night while it rained on her. I put a makeshift little roof over her so now she'll be dry. I'm so amazed and so glad she is ok. I'll move her to a proper brooder box when the big coop is done. Haven't counted her eggs yet.

Sunset from the "party deck," our name for a special spot with a gorgeous view towards town, but no actual deck (yet). How lucky are we?

If you know what this is, I would love to know. I don't remember this wildflower appearing last year! It was one of many surprises today.

This is why I love chickens. Look at that. This is one of the eight newest babies. She's a bantam cochin.