blogger flogger

I have been working in the barn all day. I had to clean out a stall for Deer because she is definitely with a kid. I have to keep her in the stall  in case she kids at night. Her milk bag is getting big and she s getting wide.  I am hoping for a doe-ling, as I want another milker and lord knows, one buck is enough. At least for me.

I cleaned up the mucky mess Sling Blade makes. Mud everywhere. He likes to tip over the water buckets. By the way, his stub, or what used to be his tail is getting better. I still think that Earl the Donkey bit it off. Earl is super gentle with us, so I am guessing Sling was being a pain. He was being a pain today while I was trying to work. Shovel up a bucket, he comes and knocks it over. After awhile I gave hm a swat on the butt to get him to move. He didn't flinch. His butt, after all, is like two big ole hams. We may eat him. Organic pork with love.

My chickens are doing great. The new free roamers (my president day chickens) are doing well. Only once in a while I have to go out and remind my Rhode Island Red rooster to chill out. I think he is trying to mate with them, but he is definitely not a romantic. Plus, I am pretty sure they think they are being attacked. If you have seen a rooster jump on a hen, then you know it is very much like an attack. Also, if you have been flogged by a rooster, you know by the wounds he inflicts that it is definitely an assault. Roosters have spurs which grow like knobby knives and are actually a part of the leg bone. Old Meany Pants has gotten me plenty, once when I was bent over with my head in the rabbit hutch checking on the baby rabbits. Whop! I was so mad at him and told hm so. Sophia, now arms herself with a stick. She used to run from him, and he would chase her. Now she stands her ground ready for battle. Rusty however, can grab the rooster in one swoop. He then puts it's head under it's wing and holds the rooster gently as he moves it in a circular motion. He then slowly sets the rooster on the ground and the rooster stays that way for maybe 15 seconds. Long enough. We call it putting the rooster asleep. It works, but not n front of company for some reason.

Sophia has come up with a fun game of chicken racing. Everybody gets a chicken and stands up on the hill. When the race starts everybody lets go of their chicken and off the chickens run. First chicken past the big rock wins. In the last race Sophia's chicken went the wrong way! We cracked up and Sophia mentioned wanting to have a party. So, inspired by the great chicken race, I am thinking of a Summer Solstice party. I can't think of a better time

Tahoe's baby bunnies are doing well. They are now eating their mama's food and drink water. They are so sweet. I like to take breaks to hold the bunnies. Blue Topaz is bred, and in about a week I will set her nest. She bit me hard in the hand the other day. Bella the beagle now watches over the bunnies. She wont let another animal near them, including Earl and Sling! The other day I was stuffing paper towel tubes with hay and had left the door ajar at Blue Topaz's hutch. I went to put the roll in and Bella was in the hutch with her! Just hanging out sniffing around. She is a funny dog. Make no mistake, she owns the bunnies.

The ducks are growing so quickly! I heard a couple of quacks today. I now have eleven ducklings. Which is a good odd number. I always do odd numbers when it comes to my animals. With the ducks, I had 13 hatching, but one died in the egg, add that to Liitle Blackie and I am back to an odd number. Not that I am happy about that. I just notice signs. I think I learned it from my Chinese brother-in-law long ago when discussing how many fish to have in a tank. It also occurs to me now that I am thinking about it that odd numbers happen quite often in the natural world.  It is also a home decor rule. An artist rule as well. The eye sits better on three objects, instead of being conflicted by an even amount of objects. Maybe that is it. Just a little quirk I have.

Rusty went harvesting herbs today, while I did the barn work. He came home with a good bunch of blood root and some black cohosh. It is a good time of the moon phase for harvesting. We believe in responsible harvesting. Taking some and leaving some. We never strip out an area. We love the earth too much. I am glad he came back with the roots. I am going to try some blood root on some areas that I think are borderline skin cancers. Not like melanomas! No worries. Black cohosh is a great natural remedy for joint problems. I am plagued with them. I mostly ignore them, but sometimes when I stop, I get back in my body and feel the pain. So I will give these remedies a try. I will let you know if I see improvement.

I just noticed don't discuss certain things in here. One being my health. Except for the above mention. I may talk about some things in the future. Mostly, I would like to discuss the benefits of living life in the middle of nature and how, the land, the animals, the house, the area, all, in their own way, have healed me. Both within and out. "That which is above is the same as that which is below" that is the basis to regaining my health. People throw around the words, Body Mind and Spirit, so much it has almost become a catch phrase. But really. take them slowly first individualized, then together as a unified methodology to health. For example, you can't just eat all the right things and exercise, but still be spiritually or mentally fractured. You must stir all the pots. I need more spoons! :-)

The murder of crows are still near. 

Good night from a wonderfully sore and wildly tired...
~crow

blogger flogger

near death

Ok maybe the title will get you in and perhaps FOLLOW MY BLOG! I put up a cute little sign and everything. I know you all are reading though, and I appreciate it very much. However, my ego needs the follows. My soul needs to write. Can't we all get along?
 :-)

So, here is the near death as promised. As I was taking the auto egg turner out of the incubator yesterday, I dropped an egg. A duck egg. I quickly put it back in the incubator and did a little duck prayer energy light thing for it. So, tonight, I wanted to candle my eggs before I went on *lock down* and I checked the broken egg. That ducky is still alive. Phew. Now I need to keep it alive. More light, energy and prayers sent. Yes, I can pray and blog. You just missed the pause, while I visualized pure light embracing the egg and saw a good healthy duckling.  No big mystery. You can ask for what you want. God doesn't always say yes. But the asking... that is hope. Hope is the belief that things will work out. Hope sustains the spirit in the worst of situations. Hope does not have to come near death. Hope can be in the same place at the same time with joy. Because joy is hope, only manifested.

I hear peeping in the eggs. It is early for that, but my neighbor Shirl told me his banties always hatched before the others. Shirl is right about many things. He is a simple man. Not stupid, but he lives a simple life. He grows a garden every year, he has chickens, and dogs. He likes to hunt. He cuts and stacks his own wood. He keeps his property neat and tidy. He likes to talk. He is a faithful Christian, He lost his wife recently to cancer. He has grown up children and grown up grandchildren. He is alone most days, working. I see him sometimes during the day and try to catch his eye and wave. I want him to know I appreciate him. I know I have talked about him before. Funny, or interesting at least, I have way much more in common with him than I do with most people.Yes, so the banties are coming early. Everybody else is due to hatch on Tuesday.They are the itty-bitty cream colored eggs pictured below. Shirl didn't think they were fertilized, but he told me to give them a try. I cant wait to see him tomorrow.

most of the chicken eggs were on the turner, the duck eggs I turned by hand

Speaking of chicks... the president day chicks have decided they are big enough to do some free-roaming. During the bad storms that hit the South and came up here in WV, I had moved them to the little red barn. I knew that their temporary housing would not withstand fierce winds. They were confused, but seemed to adjust to the new surroundings. I kept them in there yesterday, because I was not going to be home all day. I like to keep a close eye on outdoor newbies. So today Rusty and I were trying to gather them and bring them back to the temporary run. Well, catching that many chickens proved to be difficult. One panicked cheep-cheeping from one chick makes them all panic. So we decided to just open the door and lead them up. Well, they found some fresh green grass and deep dark moist earth and happily began free roaming. They all stayed nearby and found the coop when they wanted to rest. Like they had been doing this all along! Meany pants, the Rhode Island Red Rooster chased the little chicks. The littles were from a hatch after the Pres Day chicks. So we caught only the young-ins and are keeping them within the safety of the run. The President Day chicks are now free roamers! Tonight is the first night closed up in the coop. Rooster is in the barn perched above Deer the goat's stall. She can take him. The knee bone is connected to the leg bone. So. of course the coop was moved to where I thought was a better place for my chickens. I am always re-arranging things.

Rusty got his portable electric fencing up for the goats so we can pasture them. Of course my buck got out a few times. No brain no pain. But my poor deer's first experience was licking the pretty yellow plastic that held the electrified wire. Zap. In the mouth! It was hard for me to see. She tested it out one more time, then stayed away from it the rest of the afternoon. It was hard to coax her out of the pen to go to her stall. Poor girl. But she has her own place to sleep and I have her food and fresh water waiting for her in her stall. She even had a surprise carrot in there. That eased my guilt. I am pretty sure she is with kid. I am watching her milk bag, as that will be the only sign to tell me she is near ready to give birth. I am hoping for a doeling. One buck is enough. I want the gentleness of the females and of course I want goats milk!

Speaking of goats. I have been talking to a really nice lady who breeds myotonic goats. She just had a doeling born and sent me the photo. OMG cute. Big ears and white with very light cream spots. Her mom is a beauty and I fell in love instantly. I hope she sells her to me. She has several nanny goats that are kidding and she might keep one. I need to write her and see how she is doing. Her, as in her and the goat.

I was going to go to the market to sell plants this weekend, but I think I will give some of my plants another week to mature. The ones that are planted in the garden have found their "legs" and seem to have perked up. I have seeded a bunch more Summer crops and they should be peeking up through the dirt soon. They are now in my warm sun room, germinating. I need a greenhouse. I am going to have one. Watch and see. Oh and there is two rows of carrots planted by moi.

The baby bunnies are growing overnight. They are four different colors. I am unsure of what to call the colors with the exception of one true blue. I will post their pictures up for my rabbit friends to have a look. They are so darn cute. Tiny bunnies, tiny ears and noses and feet. They no longer look like mice. Yoda, their Dad got to spend late afternoon into evening in the chicken run. I was so busy at the end of the day that I did not go to bring him in until dark. Usually he will hop away, not wanting to be caught and brought back in. But tonight, the sun was down and he was out there just still. He was not scared. Just still. Sort of in a bunny meditative state. I picked him up and told him he was a very good bunny and tucked him back in his cage for the night.

All is calm. All is well.

From wild and wonderful West Virginia I send you brightest blessings.
~crow