crow and company

We had plenty of visiting going on here at the farm. Brittany and Jonathan came out for dinner on Wednesday,  then my Mom and Step-dad on Thursday and Friday. On Monday and Tuesday, Rusty's sister and family stayed here. Thursday, Brittany and Jonathan were back for Thanksgiving, and yesterday, Friday we went to Rusty's Dad's house to meet up with more family. Then to the airport for some flying.

Quite a bit of socialization for a monk farmer woman.

In the middle of all that, new rabbits were born to two mothers, as well as a fresh batch of hatch-lings. Meanwhile, all the normal work involved to keep things running does not stop. The barnyard folks can't be put on the back-burner. They have daily needs and with them, always come a few surprises. Like a breach of fence security and it rained of course. So it was mucky. Mucky and geese and dogs getting loose, me falling, filling pools, late night feeding, a puppy, cleaning, cooking, running here and there for supplies.

Oh and on Thanksgiving Rusty went out and was successful with his deer hunt and brought a huge eight point buck home. Who is hanging now and needs to be processed packed and put in the freezer.

Big breath.

I haven't forgot you all. I will catch up on some past posts and get back in the groove here. I have missed you. Here are some great photos by my sis-in-law, Beth and my daughter Sophia took. She had a borrowed crazy zoom lens on her camera. So here is a little close-up of part of my week:

Alejandro and Lady Gaga growing and rooting

Sophia

my little nephew holding a black English Angora baby rabbit

my Earl

molt and a roo

my nephew helped with farm chores

moving the geese back... again

adlelei, house bunny

an apple-lier

meet Bear, rescue dog

Blue Clay, TN fainter goat would not faint on demand

Blueberry my dog, came over with Brittany

Another of Beth's awesome photos

I love the help

boys and more boys

Blue Topaz five little English Angora kits

black English Angora baby rabbit

cheep

I taught my nephew how to milk a goat

he is a natural

mixed breed roo

more awesome photography

gossip

"major medical boi" (Aflac commercial)

Moon angry at the paparazzi

the essence of Sophia

Kevin, my Bro-in-law, 2 nephews (one is a little one) and Grandpa pilot

Rusty and the cousins

drama queen ;-)

 

perfection

pre-teens

Beth finds the beauty at the airport

I love my Bro-in-law

up

down

three rides

Sophia's view 1

Sophia's view 2

Sophia's view 3

Sophia's view 4

Sophia's view 5

Sophia's view 7

my view

my view 2

another safe and beautiful landing

thanks Beth

Beth, is a master cook, a super-mom, an awesome photographer, glamorous woman, and a great sister-in-law. Thanks for sharing the week with us kin folk here in W&W WV..

honey you are egging me on to bee a pig

I love bees, and have always wanted to keep them. I met a guy who keeps bees and he says he is part of a small group of beekeepers, who all help each other out. I went to his house tonight to buy some laying hens from him. He asked me if I wanted to see the bees. I said, "yes!" so he took me out back, above his garden to the bees.

I got goose bumps.

Bees boxes lined up. His 10 year old son, kept telling me bee stories. They were great stories too. His dad told me to lean close to the hive box and listen... I heard the low hum. He told me they were regulating the temperature. He talked about scout bees and the queen and all about honey. I was mesmerized.

Oh yes, I want to keep bees. Or I want the bees to keep me. Bees work for the common good. Bees help the earth. Bees are magical creatures. I can learn from them.

And the honey, it is a healing tincture. You want to buy local honey. Because it has everything you need for the area you live in.

Also, I got to pet his very young Jersey calves. I had this strong urge to take them home. Sweet beautiful bottle babies. They have the sweetest faces and big brown eyes. ah.

I met his little girl, she was 4 and made her own clothing designs out of her Mom's clothes. She told me about her pool, and her cat. What a cute age. I told her about my rabbits and she asked if she would be able to hold one. I told her she could hold all of them if she wanted. I told her next time her Daddy came to my house, that she should tell him to take her.

He said he would set me up, in his bee network. So I am waiting for the bees. Oh yes, I am.

Today also marked another purchase, a new piglet. We go to pick him up in a week. A brown and white belted, tiny piglet.

So what shall his name be?

heal

Darn these knees! The swelling wont go away. I have so much to do. I have 3 trays of  72 tomato plants, plus another tray with 16 plants. I have squash plants, more broccoli, and green peppers. I have more beans to plant... That is not counting my herb garden!
.
Heal knees... HEAL!

organic tomatoes

plant us

I have finished the romaine lettuce planting, It was planted in waves. We are eating delicious green crispy lettuce every day. It is fabulous. My duckies love it as well. I highly suggest you plant this type of lettuce with your cold crops. It doesn't do well in the heat of the summer, but what an awesome spring harvest, Best part is, we harvest it and eat it within 30 minutes. My labor of love has been fruitful thus far. I even have more romaine seeds germinating! What a giver those seeds are. I have a couple of bowls, filled with dirt and poof, salad. Easy to plant, even if you grow it in containers and even if you thumbs are not green. I promise.

I hobbled up the hill and pulled some garlic for tonight's dinner. Penne pasta and some salad.

baby garlic and romaine

in the garlic patch

garlic freshly pulled up

My poor Deer has an udder giving her trouble. Rusty and I got her flowing last night. She was so cute, licking me while I milked her. The milk looks white, so she should be ok. Today I went in and stripped all the milk on that side again. My goodness she is a good milk producer! Oprah, her kid, is definitely not having feeding problems. Every time I pick her up she does a golden yellow stinky baby turd. Not unlike a human newborn's poo. I then immediately put her down, and out comes the pee. A good sign that she is getting milk. Just like a human baby. My kids gave me plenty of experience for dealing Deer's kids. I am not going to say anything about my udders. Nope, not going there.

My duckling are getting so big! They spend their days now outside in a duck-shangra-la. Swimming pool, shade tent, water, clover and grasses, and fresh greens. They have been upgraded from chick food to flock grower food. Big duckies.

The President Day chicks hang out with the ducks when it is time to eat. But certainly birds of a feather really do flock together. Both flocks are not really interested in the other.

free roaming chickens

that is washington, the cockerel, with his head up

pekin and indian runner ducklings

storm, a runner duck

cloud, a runner duck

duck pretending to be a swan

Evidently, Tractor Supply got some chicks mixed up. I bought 4 Brahma straight run chicks. They grew up and, well, have a look...

2 brahma chicks

2 brahma chicks with some mixed chicks

2 brahmas, and 1 not a brahma

I am not brahma. I am a cornish rock.

So. yes, this chicken was bought with the other brahmas chicks. It is a cornish rock, a chicken bred to be a meat chicken. It will eventually die from it's sheer size. The mortality rate is high, even for their short projected life span. They eat and grow rapidly. This particular chicken can barely walk it is so big. So you are looking at an organic meal. There is one already in the freezer, it was killed by meany pants the Rhode Island Red Roo, or a hawk, but if it was a hawk, why was it left for dead? I have to come out of denial and put the blame where it belongs...

murderer!

If my knees don't heal, I will have to break it to Earl that he will have to be my riding pony. 

Earl

Although, I am not too sure he would want to be a pony or have anybody ride him. I can tell by his body language. :-)  He is such a good boy. I adore him. How about a donkey cart Earl? We can get matching hats.

Well, I guess you might want to take a look at the bunnies, now that I am showing everybody. Here they are with their Momma, Tahoe. They are sweet little puff-balls! It is almost time for them to move out of Mom's house. They are all eating bunny food. Good job Tahoe. I know motherhood is not easy. But we do our best.

That is the farm update. Stay tuned for more... and there is more coming! Just wait and see.

aromatherapy

late spring garlic and wildflowers

wild wonderful ~crow