Cotton-Top Hills

Cotton-Top Family

(not the greatest picture)

Okay, I know we only have two acres but we always feel the need to name things around here so we've dubbed our new homestead Cotton-Top Hills. If you haven't visited you may be doubtful about our hills here in the panhandle, but I promise you we do actually have some. We were lucky enough to find our house nestled amongst some of the canyons instead of the flat plains that mostly dominate this area. Hence, our hills. Now for Cotton-Top...this is actually a type of quail also known as blue-scale quail. Their nickname comes from the little fro fro on top of their heads that must look like a piece of cotton to whoever named it.

To be fair we have lots of wildlife here. We could have named the place Coyote Canyon, Mule Deer Trails, Roadrunner Crossing, Bobwhite Lookout. And as not to discriminate against the undesirables....Rattlesnake Bluff, Rat Mounds, etc. But as luck would have it one day in late spring I looked out our upstairs window to find three separate Cotton-Top families pecking about our side yard. Our hills were alive with these quail with one family having twelve little ones. So I decided on the name that morning.

I tend to go overboard with the naming and have already dreamt up a Cotton-Top logo to display on all our wares that someday we will be gifting to family and friends. I know you can't wait to taste our Mesquite Bean Jelly!! And of course we need a sign at the end of our driveway welcoming visitors and letting them know they have entered our property and that it has a name. Hubby nods his head and thinks it's all a great idea and then quickly gets to work on some pressing project leaving me to dream up my next great idea:)