Scooter is a small dog of unknown parentage. His mom looked to be a corgi mix. His dad? I’m guessing Chihuahua. It doesn’t really matter. He’s a heart dog, which is a term for a once in a blue moon dog that fits into your life perfectly. Not all dogs are heart dogs. Those of us who have had dogs for many years know that we’re graced by one or two heart dogs amongst the many that we have over a long lifetime. In all honesty, though I love him dearly, he is not my heart dog. I’ve had one so far, and that was Nimbus (she was in my life a few years before this blog.) Scooter is a heart dog for my family. My sons dote on him, he makes my husband smile, and he is the ideal companion for Lily.

Scooter is even a heart dog in a tangible way. Look at his Queen Anne legs.

See that heart?

Heart dog.

I’ve got two workshops coming up on Sunday – a Chicken Keeping Class and an Advanced Chicken Keeping Workshop. Spaces remain in both. Please join us! Not only will I pack a lot of information into each two-hour session, but you’ll also eat homemade cookies,

say hello to the goats,

be asked for butt scratches by Scooter (unless he’s sunbathing),

listen to Lily bark at something (sorry, she’s loud!)

The Beast will swim over to check you out,

Phoebe will ignore you,

these flowers will be in bloom,

and, of course, you’ll meet the girls.

Sign up here.

It’s mid-September in New England. The leaves are hinting at the spectacular show to come.

At this point in time, though, the real drama is at night when you can’t see a thing. There’s a chorus so complex that I have no idea which sounds come from the frogs, the insects, or the birds. I’m sure there are naturalists out there who can parse this orchestra into it’s components. (Leave a comment and let me know what you hear!) But, before analyzing it, simply listen to it as a whole. It’s a full-throttled concert throbbing lustily with life.

Having gone from deafness back to hearing thanks to science and cochlear implants, this nightly chorus is a miraculous thing to immerse myself in. Read more about CIs here.

It gets cold here in New England, but it’s even colder up in Ontario bordering a Great Lake. Last year, my friend Lisa, who lives up there, had issues with frostbite in her flock. The solution wasn’t heat, rather it was ventilation. Lisa’s partner is an architect, and so their new coop is very well designed – and beautiful!

The sloping roofs shed snow, and provide for ample ventilation via the eaves. If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you’ll know how important I think that height and air flow is. This example is ideal.

There are large windows to let in the low winter light. Under the windows are screens for additional ventilation. During inclement weather, these are covered with a board that swings down and latches. There are nesting boxes accessible to the outside, a pop door going into a covered run, and a convenient full-sized door for people.

You can imagine how cozy and yet filled with fresh air, this coop will be in the winter.

I’ll be talking at length about coop design at the Chicken Keeping Workshops this Sunday at my home in Carlisle, MA. Spaces remain. Sign up here!