Dancing In The Dark

This is me outside in the dark with a flashlight that stopped working.  It is raining.  I have been given the assignment to go outside and find Ronny's Travel Mug so that I can wash it out in preparation for 4 AM when he will get up.  Oh, and while I'm out there, can I please stick a rag up the downspout right outside the bedroom window because the rain hits the curve in it and keeps him awake?

I could hear the pattering of rain in the woods all around me, the soft honking of the ducks, the grumblings of the chickens as they huddled next to each other on their roost, facing yet another night of rain.  Goodnight, babies.  Stay snug in your beds.

I was guided back to the house by the smell of bread baking.  It was an invisible beacon.  I came in, shook off the rain and took off my chore boots.  Best way to end a rainy day on the farm:  Snug and warm, with the aroma of bread twined through the house.

I'm sorry, We're Not Interested

Whilst cleaning out the coop I happened to glance over my head and see an early Halloween Present.  "Sorry,"  I said to Mr. Spider.  "We don't celebrate Halloween.  You'll have to leave." 

He was offended straight away and patiently explained to me that he was a harmless Nursery Spider and he only looked scary enough to make me wet my pants.  He told me he was in touch with his feminine side and loved babies.  "They smell, " he said, "like Baby Powder."

With such Winsome Words as this, how could I banish Mr. Spider from his life of harmless baby spider tending?  (Confidentially, I suspect the Hens will eat him later, anyway.)   

What Is It Worth?

If a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, what is an egg in your purse worth?

What Does It Mean, Mrs. Bunny?

Mrs. Bunny has dug and then covered over three burrows.  Usually the digging of a burrow would indicate a pregnancy and preparation for little kits.  But each time I get my hopes up, she fills the burrow back up.  Now, on Sunday, after I had come home from the Kingdom Hall and gone back to check on all the livestock, I was privileged to witness Mr. Bunny performing his manly duties.  I thought "Oh, wow!  Maybe in about a month we'll have babies!" 

But then I noticed this yesterday:

Again, the pulling of fur is usually done to line a nest.  She's never done this before.  And then today, she redug her burrow, dragged some straw down there and looked at me from inside with those scary red eyes. 

"What is going on, Mrs.  Bunny?"  I asked.

But she wouldn't tell me.

I'll guess I'll have to wait and see. 

Even the Chickens Deserve a Clean Coop!

The bustle of cleaning moved outside today.  With the departure of the Golden Comets to greener pastures, their side of the chicken coop was shoveled and scraped and unscrewed and generally left open for storage purposes.  I wanted to erect a wall between the Biddy Section and the Comets Section, but due to lack of lumber some fencing was brought into play, Ronny was called out for cutting with his wire snips and soon the wall was in place. 

The Biddies were not happy about this turn of events.  This was their favorite side to nest on, and now they were being ruthlessly evicted!  I tried to convince them of the superiority of their side.  I formed a tour group and took them through it, pointing out all the luxurious features. 

"To your right, please take note of the feeder.  A hanging waterer will be added before occupancy.  Run your toes through those fresh wood chips.  Ahh, the aroma!  And you will be the envy of every hen in the two available nesting spots directly to your left on either side of your own private entry!"

They remain unconvinced. 

Daybook

While bloghopping today, I ended up on  bandsp.blogspot.com.  There I found something called " The Simple Woman's Daybook".  It's almost like a fill-in-the-blank meditation.  Here is how it goes:

Outside my window...


I am thinking...


I am thankful for...


I am wearing...


In the learning room...


I am remembering...


I am going...


I am currently reading...


I am hoping...


On my mind....


Noticing that...


From the kitchen...


Around the house...


One of my favorite things...


From my camera...

Okay, did a quickie research, and there is a point of origin for this:  http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/.  I like the idea, especially since my thoughts are rarely so ordered.  If you like the idea, pass it on. 

image licensed for reuse:  http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3268/2794286865_4011a82348_z.jpg?zz=1

Ways to Identify Fall

Ways to Identify Fall at Good Enough Farm:  A Scientific Study
Authors:  Nigel Wetwhistle, Octavia Thunderbottom

The theory was propounded that the Season of Autumn can be identified by changes other than the Autumnal Equinox or the process of Senescence*.   Thus a period of observation was begun in which the following indicators of Fall were identified and catalogued.

One of the First Such Indicators is the Appearance of Overalls.  Said item of clothing will make a sudden appearance, strangely enough often unaccompanied by the expected socks.  These are the very Overalls which caused the birth of Good Enough farm by inspiring in the female of the household a desire for poultry ownership.  There is no good scientific understanding of the connection between overalls and poultry:  Further study is required.

Additionally, the female of the household will begin to exhibit behaviors which would indicate a sort of "nesting".  This may include the changing of bed linens from a "summer weight" to flannel.  A curious accompaniment to this bed linen changing may be that of mending said linens, as holes which were acceptable at the close of last Fall now become unacceptable.  Particularly high strung females may even break out sewing machines for alterations of existing linens.  This is only of concern if hair pulling and high pitched noises are concurrently produced.

(The pillowcase in evidence is such a strange hybrid production.  Two pillowcases where combined for a functional yet unattractive result.  The female seemed oddly content with said results, indicating a need for a physical exam of the eyes.)

Next, blankets were produced and mended, again with unattractive results.  The goal here seems to be only of halting the further decay of ancient items.  It is possible the female of the species has some sort of sentimental attachments to the items.  A check of the catalogue confirms she has had this particular item in her possession since her early teens.  Her apparent care for the item is belied by the fact that she has washed it and dried it in clear violation of scientific principles, resulting in massive shrinkage.  The female seems to operate under a curious thought process which will bear further observation. 

The final nesting ritual was the washing and drying of every washable item she could lay her hands on.  It is possible that there was some sort of environmental trigger for this ritual as it had been raining for the past few days, making outdoor activities difficult to engage in.

It is the opinion of the authors of this study that these few Indicators may be the tip of the Iceberg and warrant further investigation.  Thus we submit these findings for consideration of a grant to enable the erection of a camouflaged Observation Post and  the stocking of a pantry to sustain the Authors while they continue these vital efforts. 

Thank you for your attention
 
*http://ncnatural.com/wildflwr/fall/science.html

Smaller is Better

My camera is a 10 megapixel camera.  Takes beautiful, crisp, clear photos.  Unfortunately, the file size for the image is something like 22,000 kb.  This seems to give my computer indigestion when trying to transfer it to the Internet.  After doing much research and actually reading the owner's manual, I have come to the conclusion that I must reduce the pixels of the pictures.  So, I selected the 2.1 option.  I went out and took some pictures of nonsense as an experiment.  Now I will try to upload the images and we shall see what occurs:

(Don't hold your breath.)

Mr.  Bunny was very curious about the camera.  I think he wanted to taste it.

Or sniff it.  Yes, it does have that new camera smell, doesn't it?

Mr.  Bunny was very well behaved so I gave him some tomato leaves.
 

 
And here we have the gracious Biddy Hen who sat an imaginary clutch of eggs until they imaginarily hatched.  Aren't they beautiful imaginary chicks?  See, she's teaching them to peck!  Ah, the joys of imaginary motherhood!

Well, it seems I have solved the problem of uploading images.  Thank you for your patience and your support to me in this trying time.  Tune in tomorrow for another exciting day!

I Wonder if They'll Change His Name to Dumpling?

Somebody wants Mr. Duck!  Can you believe it?  Upon His departure the Wall Of Jericho dividing  the ducks and the chickens will come tumbling down and Felicity and Bonhomie will prevail!

That would be true only if your dominant hens were named Felicity and Bonhomie.  *snort*

You got me. 

Chicken in a Bed Pan Pickin' Out Doors For His New Coop*

These were my Golden Comets when they were babies and had little angel wings.  Now they are flying off on those wings to another home up in Brookneal.  Their sale enables me to pay for my chicken feed into next year, and to minimize the stress of egg-overproduction.  Who knew having too many eggs would be such a hassle?  Now I understand why my friend Ann always had a kitchen full of buckets of eggs, eggs lined up on the counter, in the hallway, in the cupboard.  She had the advantage of living on a Real Farm, a Dairy Farm, and a husband who understood the concept of people coming to the farm to buy things.  My husband will not have it.  He is the Original Hermit of The Order Of Anti-Social Hermits and the only solution was to try to "foist" my eggs off onto the Friends, Butcher a set of Perfectly Good Laying Hens, or Sell Them.  So, I sold them. 

The lady who bought them has six children, homeschools, and is building a chicken flock.  I would say something, but I am absolutely exhausted from contemplating such a life and am unable.  (Just an idle question here about my spell-checker:  Why is Homeschooling all one word, but Homeschools is broken up into two words? Is it possible that it is not a proper word?  They obviously are not HomeSchoolers.  "I Homeschool.  She Homeschools.  He Homeschools.  We Homeschool.  They Homeschool." )  They will be picking the hens up tonight at hen bedtime, which is perfect.  Shows great sense.  Or no sense of humor.  Because chasing six chickens around the Hen Yard would definitely be funny. 

*apologies to all people who know the real words

frustrated

Okay, I bought this nice digital camera.  It takes great pictures.  It uploads them to my computer with the touch of one button.  But to get them from there to here is apparently impossible.  I have wracked my brain as to what I am doing wrong, or what is not functioning properly.  I could let it attempt to upload for an hour and when I would come back, still not done.  There has to be a way, because I downloaded three images the first time within about 5 minutes.

Good news, however, in that we are downsizing for winter.  I sold six hens today, and that leaves me with five.  Luckily, these older hens do not lay every day so I will not have so many eggs that they overflow into the yard.  Ronny is rarin' to butcher one, but I think I will try to talk him out of it.  And no one wants Mr.  Duck.  He has gotten no replies on craigslist.  Poor Mr.  Duck.  If he could just keep his tackle in his box and stop molesting my hens we would keep him, but even through the fence he lays in wait for an ambush of any unsuspecting hen who gets too close.  Mr.  Duck needs to start thinking clean thoughts.


So, there we are.  Smaller on the farm, but no pictures.  I'll puzzle this out and flood the internet with fantastic images of cats and chickens and ducks and rabbits and miscellaneous images!  Until then, have a nice day. 

Efforts: Unappreciated

Ronny finally made a gate for the Rabbit Pen.  It has hinges and a latch and you don't have to prop it shut with a hoe.  Amazing!  The Rabbits expressed their appreciation by leaning up against it and stretching up as high as they could reach to see if it would budge.  No success.  Then, to top off his magnanimosity, he had me pick up a bale of straw and he scattered it about in their area, thinking they would love it!  They appear unimpressed.  The doe eventually made a sort of bed under the hutch with it, but I think they liked it better without it, because now they spend a lot of time in the hutch, whereas before they lounged around underneath it.  Poor Ronny.

Thunderstorms

I have only this to say:  if every time we have a serious thunderstorm my connection speed slows to 21 mps, how am I to carry on? 
Can I upload images?  No. 
Can I do research about Sir Isaac Newton and his theological inquiries?  No. 
Can I publish this post?  Maybe. 

Let's see. 

Image:  http://hoboken411.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/hoboken-weather-northeast-thunderstorms-july-27-2008.jpg

It's Sort of Like The Twilight Zone

So, the other day Craig asks me out of the blue:  "Mom, what happened in 1619?"
I said, "I don't know.  That was a long time ago.  Four hundred years ago."
He persisted.  "Maybe it was 1519.  What happened in 1519?"
Not to be budged myself, "I don't know.  That was five hundred years ago.  I don't know what happened then."
With the face of an angel, he said, "Well, wasn't that the year you were born?"

You gotta love him.

(I know that explaining a "joke" always takes the fun out of it, but there is logic behind this question.  I was born in 1960, and he morphed that into 1619.  At least that's what I'm telling myself.)

image is The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali, courtesy wikipedia.org

Carrot Cake

I'm sure I have many pithy things to say about this cake.  While I think of them, here is the recipe:

Whole Wheat Carrot Cake

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda  (I did not have any, so I added an extra tsp of baking powder)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups canola oil
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

*Prepare grated carrots first. (You are not allowed to use a food processor for this.  All the family must stand around the counter and take turns grating carrots.  This builds family togetherness and stuff.)

*Then, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 9/13 inch pan or use two round cake pan.  (For some reason I greased a loaf pan and poured the batter in before realizing this was not going to work.  If you do the same thing, it's okay.  It's wrong, but it's okay.)

*In a large bowl mix together all dry ingredients, even adding the carrots.

*In smaller bowl, beat together all your wet ingredients.  (If you either are or have an obnoxious friend who insists on unloading their massive quantities of eggs upon innocent bystanders this is the perfect cake to make!  The only logical accompaniment would be a Quiche, which should take care of about a dozen eggs.)

*Combine.  Mix until moistened.  Pour into prepared pan.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.   Insert a knife in center.  If knife comes out clean you are done!  Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes, then cool on rack.  (Or be like me and leave it in the pan and  frost it after one hour with Cream Cheese Frosting.)

I am not including the recipe for Cream Cheese Frosting because I just bought mine in a tub.  I like to make things by hand, but the cake is enough for me.   

image courtesy of  freedigitalphotos.net

I Haz a Happy

Yesterday, while I ran into Lynchburg to care for Vital Matters, Ronny worked on the truck and fixed it.  Never one to suffer from a surfeit of confidence, however, Ronny wanted me to drive around in the car.  I humored him, driving to the Kingdom Hall in the car.  But this afternoon I took a cellphone ("In case you break down"), my Bestest Bubba Head ("He needs to get out of the house"), and cartons of eggs ("What are you going to do with all those eggs?") for a drive.  We dropped off eggs near and far, went to Food Lion and came home again, home again, jiggity jig.  It was great to be mobile! 

The other action happening here this weekend was a camera upgrade.  I traded in my sturdy Crayola Digital for a Kodak EasyShare.  I was really excited to take pictures, but found out to my consternation that it only has enough internal memory for 4 pictures!  So an SD card will have to be purchased for me to be really happy, but until then, feast your eyes on these babies!

I threw a couple of tomatoes in to the rabbits and they happily devoured them.  See how the female is shy and turns her back to the camera?

Here is my messy back yard.  I let the chickens out into the Garden Area since the garden is mostly done.  They were very happy.  I would be happy if they tilled the soil for me so I could plant some grass seeds back there.

Patient B's family was so kind as to give me an egg basket, which I have enjoyed taking out to the coop and filling with eggs.  Aren't they pretty? 

There's my Happy or two for the weekend.  I hope you haz some happy too.

While We're On the Subject....

It's Stink Bug Season.

Time for Stink Bugs in your house, on your walls, on the screens, flying around the light bulbs.  It wouldn't be so bad if they didn't give Craig what he calls "a Gag Reaction."  So, we have to chase around after them and hit them with a fly swatter and hope they don't have time to squirt their fragrant aroma into our living space.

Still, they're better than Love Bugs.  For those unfamiliar with the wittily named insect, Love Bugs live in the Deep South.  Think Live Oaks and Spanish Moss.  Think Every Surface Covered with Bugs Connected to Each Other.  Because once they mate they apparently cannot disconnect.  They fly around and live the rest of their strange lives connected at the hind parts. 

In Florida there is a popular urban myth that the University of Florida created them in the lab through Genetic Manipulation and then they escaped into the Wild to Wreak Havoc.  This is, of course, not true. They were released on purpose.  Everybody knows that!  

Why I Need A Better Camera

There are bugs aplenty at Good Enough Farm.  Ants, termites, beetles, butterflies, mosquitoes, cockroaches, caterpillars, Praying Mantises.  The chickens love bugs so it's good that there are enough to go around.  There are some truly beautiful bugs, like the one I found in the space between the inside and outside windows in my bedroom.  He had crawled in through a hole in the storm window (made by a BB gun from the previous owners which we have not yet fixed.)  But once in he failed to exit and he died there with the moths and the mosquitoes.  It's a battlefield in there, dude.


This bug is a leaf bug.  He is beautiful.  I have him sitting on my shelf in the bathroom just so I can look at him.  Do you want to see? 

And that is why I need a better camera.  He should look like this:

It has to be worth the few extra dollars to be able to preserve and share an image like that! Don't you think so?   We'll have to see what we can do about this.

Curious Interwebs

This is a humorous introduction to today's subject:  The Internet.

It is a strange place, filled with wondrous things.  And it has the ability to transverse Time and Space. One can post something, and someone else can read it instantly On The Other Side of the World.  I happen to think that is amazing. 

This amazes me mostly because someone On The Other Side of the World would bother to read my blog.  My adventures are of a common nature.  I do not write particularly well.  And yet, I have discovered that people from exotic locales have peeked into my pages. 

My statistics show that curiosity seekers from Luxembourg, China, India, Latvia and Sweden have visited Good Enough Farm on at least one occasion!  I mention this not to brag, but to marvel at the way the Internet really is a Web.  It connects points together, people together, lives together in a delicate, fragile thread of numbers and invisible signals. 

So, now that I know you're out there, Howdy, y'all! 

Mechanics Ilustrated

This is an illustration of the Fuel Pump that goes to an 89 Dodge Ram Pickup.  The illustration is faulty, however, as the man's hand is too large.  This fuel pump is GINORMOUS!  Additionally, he has no bandages on his fingers.  Wait!  It looks like he may have lost three of his fingers in the attempt to remove the offending pump, so we will accept this facet of the illustration.

Removing a fuel pump is no easy task.  One must remove all sorts of inconvenient objects in the pursuit.  Little things like gas tanks.  Full of gas.  Hammers, car jacks, boards, grinding tools all were employed.  Coffee was made.  Hot dogs were eaten.  I believe the Lord's Name may have been taken in vain.  Although that may possibly have been a supplication.  One never knows.

After hours of effort the cursed item was revealed and curiously enough it reminded me of something completely different.

One wonders if that's because after they finally got it off the truck they needed a stiff drink. 

image courtesy of hazardkentucky.com

It's Tuesday, but I'm Wednesday's Child

 When we last left The Pickup Truck, it was sitting in the parking lot of the Kingdom Hall with a suspected broken fuel pump.  Today we went over with the Malibu, a small 4 door car, and a towline and chutzpah.  
Ronny hooked up the towline between the two vehicles, I steeled myself for an adrenaline laden ride, and off we went.  


We had walkie talkies but they seemed to be unreliable and all I ever heard Ronny say was "Can you hear me?"  to which we would answer, "Yes".  A more effective question would have been "Did you hear what I just said?"  to which we would have answered, "No."  Nonetheless we made it home with bumpers intact, nerves a little frayed, and a broken down truck.  


Said truck will be resting quietly until Pay Day at the earliest.  I really do prefer to be at home, but I usually like to have the option of leaving.  I am sans option this week.  Oh well.  I shall have to play Pollyanna's Glad Game:  I still have my books and they can take me anywhere I want to go.  Except off the property.  


*Sigh*  I don't think that's how the game works, Laura.  
Sorry.  I was having a grump.  
Toasted?
No, raw.  
Oh my!



Image above:  http://images.thetruthaboutcars.com/2008/09/old_pickup_trucks_workshop_vintage_painting_a_day_.jpg

Man Does Not Live By Bread Alone

Last night Craig had written "bRE^d" (exact spelling, I swear!) on the dry erase board which adorns the refrigerator.  This was not a shopping reminder, but a baking reminder.  So at about 7 PM I set some yeast to proof, whipped up a dough and popped it into the warm interior of the oven to rise for one hour.  But because Man does not live by bread alone, while it was rising we began our Watchtower Study.  We made it exactly two paragraphs before Craig decides he just cannot see the page well and goes to put my "computer readers" on over his regular glasses.  (Craig is very far-sighted.)  I realized I could download the digital copy of the Large Print Study Watchtower and did so, then printed it out.  What a difference in participation!

This time we got through paragraph 9, which is when I get antsy anyway, and the timer went off for the punch down.  This is Craig's favorite part of bread making.  Here is the "proof":  (It's a bread joke, get it?)

We divided it into two balls, rolled it out with a rolling pin (which is a very old-fashioned thing to do, but that's the way I roll.  *snort*!), put it into loaf pans and popped it back in the warm oven interior to rise again.

We finished up the Watchtower and checked out the bread.  I let it sit for another half hour.  I baked it and it came out smelling lovely just as we were getting ready for bed.

I think that was the ultimate way to demonstrate the need for not just physical sustenance, but Spiritual sustenance as well.  It took us all evening to do both, but we enjoyed it.  We took our time, we read verses with British accents and said things like "Never Give Up! Never Surrender." spontaneously when they seemed applicable.  We talked about things to work on, about progress we've made.  It was the perfect recipe for a perfect evening.

Maybe all my Bible Study should be accompanied by Baking. 

Not Exactly How I Planned It

Today we were up bright and early to get ready for Service.  We made it out the door early.  We were heading on our way down the back roads to the Kingdom Hall where we meet.  We got to within sight of the Hall and the truck just shut down.  I drifted to the Stop Sign and got her started again, but she cut off again right at the entrance to the Parking Lot.  I drifted in and into the first open space.  I tried really hard to concentrate on the Meeting for Field Service.  I did well for most of it, although Craig kept getting his cell phone out so he could call Ronny.  We made it to the end and I used the Kingdom Hall phone (so Caller ID would tell him who it was) to call the house, hoping he had not left yet for--wait for it--Tennessee.  He was still home and I just let him know what had happened and that I would probably get one of the Friends to take me home since I didn't trust it.  I forgot all about it then and we had a good morning in the Ministry, mixing it up with a little bit of house to house and some return visits.  I have to say that I love the Friends and they encourage me and inspire me to keep going! 

Now, I had planned to spend the afternoon running errands: chicken feed, straw, etc.  You know, farm type stuff.  But that was all wrecked now.  But Bless My Sisters, on the way back to the Hall we stopped at Carson's and I was able to get my feed and some Gas Tank Treatment in case I had gotten water in the tank yesterday when I put in gas.  I suspect they had ulterior motives, however, since I had to wait for them as they all lined up at the Deli Counter in the back of the Hardware Store.  They reminded me of the rabbits lined up at the fence looking for a treat! 

When we got back to the Hall, why there were Friends doing some yard work, and my Hubby was there talking to a young brother who was recently re-instated.  It was good to see.  The truck started and shut off, started and shut off and we agreed it was probably the Fuel Pump.  Bummer.  We parked it in the back and went home.  I would like to mention that the third time I moved the 50 pound bag of feed was not as easy as the first two. 

So, my Day did not go as planned.  But it was good and I saw Jehovah's love reflected in the faces of all my brothers today.  I don't know what could be better than that. 

Mosquitoes

I am not a particularly squeamish person.  I can handle the sight of blood, vomit, maggots, any disgusting thing you can think of.  I regularly work with poop from various types of animals.  That said, I found something last night that absolutely grossed me out.

It was a little warm in the house, but cool outside, so I opened a window and put a fan in the window to blow cool air in.  I started a bath for Craig, and when I came back in to shut the water off there were hordes of teeny tiny mosquitoes in the bath water and in the sink.  These suckers were so small they could fly right through the mesh of the window screen!  I've never seen anything like it!

I had to go shut the window and turn the air conditioning on, empty the tub, do teeny tiny mosquito carcass removal.  So much for relaxing bedtime rituals!

Bits and Bobs

"I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille!"

 "Um, that's close enough."

  

"Do you mind?!"

"I'm taking a bath!  Sheesh!"

"She can't see me, can she?  I'm a good hider!"  (Can you find Mr. Bunny?)

"Labor Day"

After spending the morning in a rather fruitless telephone adventure, I went out to the chicken yard this afternoon for some more rock picking.  Besides using them to fill in the trench in the driveway, I trip over them all the time, or step on them in my imitation Croc's and they hurt the bottom of my feet.  I had previously de-rocked 3/4 of the area immediately in front of and behind the chicken house, so today I did the other 1/4 of that area.  Now, you probably think I'm exaggerating on how many rocks we have.  And I probably am.  Not.  I have photographic evidence of just today's pickings.

Not quite half full, but still not a shabby amount.  I still have to take that up and dump it, then continue on around to the rest of the chicken yard, then the rabbits, a quick once over of the ducks yard, then finally the garden area.  It's much better doing this work now that it is a bit cooler, although the mosquitoes*  make it difficult for me to actually appreciate the difference.

One of the chickens got curious about all the fuss over the wheelbarrow.  She pecked a little and hopped out.  "Humans.  I'll never understand them!" 

Makes two of us, little red hen. 

*correct plural in English.  Spanish plural would be mosquitos.  I checked. 

I'm Elmer Fudd

Well, this afternoon Ronny went out to play with his pet ducks.  In his underwear.  "How a duck in my underwear I'll never know!"  Because when you live this far off the beaten track you can do that.  And then he went over to look at the Rabbits.  He asked a question I had been dreading:  "Is there any identifying mark to tell which is which?" 

Now I knew one was a boy and one was a girl.  We had sexed them before purchasing and  I looked up a tutorial on how to do so myself and had re-sexed them so I knew for myself what I was looking for/at.  But I had not noted which was which.  Now with the question asked I had to catch one so we could take a look. 

You may recall my rant on Rabbit colonies.  While we do not quite have a colony set up it's pretty darn close.  Instead of just reaching inside a hutch I had to chase down my quarry.  Under the hutch, behind the hutch, between the logs--Oh, look, here's a leaf--Snatch! 

A gentle squeeze in the general area brought sex organs into view and we were fairly certain that was the boy, although I was disappointed at the lack of testicular development. (I will admit, however, that being yanked up into the air by a giant might send anyone's testicles into hiding!)  The supposed female was a much harder catch--and yes, I had to catch her just to be sure we were doing it right--but she eventually ran into the hutch for protection, at which point I shut her in, lifted the lid and voila!  A much smaller protuberance with a triangular opening at the end and certainly nothing that could be described as testicular.  One must be sure of these things, you know. 

Now we know that the one with the lighter colored nose--the much friendlier one who has a colossal appetite--is a boy.  The darker nose--much more skittish and shy--is the female.

Happy New Year!

I found this quote in an issue of the Watchtower Magazine from 1958:

"In ancient times the years ran from fall to fall, meaning that their new year started in the fall. How did this practice come about? Well, it is logical to believe that it started with Adam, and if it did, then it is logical to conclude that he was created in the fall. He would naturally count time as it related to himself, numbering his years from the time of his creation. After he had lived one year, a new year would start for him; hence for him a new year would start at the time of each anniversary of his creation. His immediate family, and later all their offspring, might very logically come to adopt that same time as their new year. In that way the ancients might have had fixed for them their practice of counting their years on the basis of Adam’s time of creation; and if that is true, and since they did count their years from fall to fall, we may believe with logic that Adam was created in the fall of the year."



With this in mind,  I think Fall is a better time for new beginnings than January.  There is something invigorating about the season.  The heat of Summer is falling away, the days are crisp and clean, there are often refreshing breezes.  There is a sort of Cleansing Away in preparation for Winter. 

Many Institutions start their Fiscal Year in the Fall.  Jehovah's Witnesses start their Service Year on September First.  We get to shake off the good intentions not followed through with, the depressions or lack of a good routine of Bible Study and Begin Again.  I am grateful for the continued opportunity to work on my Christlike Personality, My Bible Study, My Being of Usefulness to Others.

Being of Usefulness to Others covers a lot of ground.  Covers my household, my Ministry, my relationships with Friends at the Kingdom Hall.  Wow.  I'm glad I've got a whole new Year to work on it all!

Harvest of a Different Sort

While I was hanging the laundry this afternoon, I encouraged Craig to feed the rabbits some Yard Treats:  grass, leaves, etc.  So he sat on the ground and fed the one rabbit through the fence.  One leaf at a time.  You could hear the crunch of each bite of the leaves as they slowly folded and disappeared.  Craig sat there for 15 minutes before he ran out of interest. 

This was a harvest I never expected with these rabbits.  I never thought they would teach Craig how to engage, one on one.  To focus on another life form without fear or trepidation.  I think our animals have given us more than we ever expected.  They supply eggs, meat, company, entertainment, and therapy!  It made me reflect on the time Adam spent in the Garden of Eden before Eve.  What a blessing that must have been.  He must have learned nurturing and tenderness, selflessness.  It is amazing what Jehovah's Creation can teach us if we will just take the time to harvest. 

Mister Toad's Wild Ride

While I was doing the dishes after lunch and enjoying my view of the Chicken Yard, I noticed a wild race in progress.  It appeared that one of the chickens had found Something of Great Interest and was carrying it around in her beak.  Now, you may know that chickens cannot abide for one of them to have something and not share, so they pursued this hen like madmen.  In the Coop, Out the Door, Under the House, Near the Rabbits!  Around and Around they went until....they gave up. 

At this point I went out to investigate for myself, for I myself cannot abide the non-disclosure of Things of Great Interest, and took my camera.  She led me a Merry Chase, and then Having Had Enough, dropped her prize and ran off.  Do you want to know what it was? 

Ah, what a Treasure! 

No sooner had I closed the gate behind me than she had picked it back up and They were Off!  Who needs Satellite Television when you've got chickens?