I think this is the first time Izzy and Chloe have occupied the same piece of furniture.  They are rarely in the same space together.  Chloe, being the indoor cat, doesn’t like to share her house with Izzy, the outdoor cat.  But maybe they are starting to tolerate each other a little.  

I was admiring the Bielefelder roosters again today.  They are perching together with the red rooster.  I just love their coloring and markings.  So far they are well behaved too, as described.  

I was also admiring this rooster.  I love the lacing on his chest.  I believe he is a Silver Laced Wyandotte.  So far he is also well behaved.

These white and yellow roosters are not well behaved.  They are treating the hens rather badly.  I haven’t figured out their breed yet as they will not be with us much longer.   

Many of the hens are hanging out in the goat side of the barn with the established (and well-behaved) Faverolle rooster.  He has quite the large harem to protect now.  Unfortunately some of our older hens are getting the brunt of the mean roosters’ attentions.  I am hoping they can stay safe until butcher day.  

Despite my impression of the forecast, it is still smokey here.  Our AQI was still in the unhealthy range again this morning.  You can barely make out the sun in the upper right corner of the photo.  

And this is all of the rain we have received since August 24th.

Despite the smoke we have been pressing.  Tom pressed quite a few apples yesterday while I was at work.  After I got off this morning and we finished the chores, we started up again.  We are pressing in the trailer, partially because there is less smoke in there.  Here are the Asian pears I picked being pressed.  

I have finally learned a good use for these pears.  I had been eating them fresh, but there is only so many you can eat.  Plus we have fed them to the pigs.  But last year I figured out that they make a good base as perry for quince juice.  

So I get a carboy of them going and later when the quince are ripe, their juice is added.  The quince have such a nice flavor and aroma but not much juice.  So this combination works really well.

So here is the new assortment of my carboys.

It is sad that this year I will not be making grape wine.  My wine grapes were getting perfectly ripe, and then they all suddenly disappeared.  I suspect the birds got them.  So now I have learned I need to protect them better as they are close to getting ripe.  Next year, hopefully.

So one great thing about Tom is he always has music with him to accompany his tasks.  Lately it has been KSQM radio out of Sequim (and we are members).  While we were pressing, he alerted me to a song he recognized on the radio.  I stopped to listen.  I had never heard this song before, and it made me laugh.

Sorry about the static.  KSQM comes in better some days more than others on the radio.  But I thought you might enjoy hearing me and Tom laugh.  

Tom had heard it before and had even seen its Bellingham based musician Dana Lyons perform it live. Now I need to purchase this song.   The rhyming lyrics are ingenious.