So here's the story...

Things have been crazy over the past few months. So much has happened I don't know where to begin. For one, the hubby has been crazy busy. Like 16-18 hour workday busy. And what happens when the hubby is away? The kids know. They can almost smell the moment that he walks out the door and...then all hell breaks loose. So mommy here has been going mildly insane and losing all of what's left of her hearing. Nothing big. Who needs to hear? I'll be thankful for this partial hearing loss when they're all toddlers. :)

Our hens decided to stop laying and went through a mini-moult. We couldn't figure out what was going on until one day the yard looked like a chicken exploded. Feathers EVERYWHERE! Since they had just started laying it made absolutely NO SENSE that they started a moult...I mean, come on, they were only BARELY 5 months old. Then, one night, I noticed we were one hen short. My favorite hen, to boot. The only Rhode Island Red who followed me around the yard and had a very lop-sided crop. The ONLY hen that was still consistently laying one egg a day. I noticed the rooster acting funny and all of the hens lingering around the coop after sunset - they never do that. Ever. They usually march into the coop one-by-one, settle in and it's lights out. So, when I saw that I had to investigate. After a head count I noticed who was missing and went looking. I found something I didn't want to - my poor girl drug into the middle of our pasture and literally eaten to the bone by some wild animal. I was sick to my stomach. My poor girl. Turns out skunks are more deadly (and prolific in this area) than we realized. The poor girls were scared into a moult. :( We have since moved them into a more secure spot, given them lots of TLC and extra lighting and we're now getting eggs again. And when I say eggs, I mean super JUMBO sized beauties. These babies are almost too big to fit in our egg cartons. I'm in egg heaven again. And they are spared the stew pot (when we didn't know what was going on we..or I had...contemplated making them dinner), at least for now.

The cow is being a stinker. I didn't ever understand why you'd see old TV shows where they nicknamed their cows "Bossy". I finally understand it. This cow has more gumption than any animal I've ever known. When Honey cow wants something, she gets it. If you're outside, you better watch it. If she's in heat, you're likely to get mounted. If she wants a scratch, you better not be otherwise occupied. She wants what she wants, and she wants it right NOW. Good grief.

She has taken to breaking into the hay room and helping herself. The other night I opened up the barn only to find her staring me down, followed by an enormous belch. Well, hello to you too...sheesh. Cows. I'm not complaining. I love the darn bovine to bits. I didn't think I'd love cows more than sheep. I always envisioned myself as a quiet, docile sheep person. The soft 'baaaing' was endearing, afterall. Who wouldn't love it? And the thought of lamb chops on the table regularly was also quite motivating too...But cows are just, well, addictive. Once you have a good one, you start thinking about getting another one. Unfortunately (or fortunately), we don't have enough land or $$$ to support another one on our small property, so we'll be a one cow farm. Maybe one day when we're moved onto 10+ acres in the boonies I can have my herd of ol' bossies, but for now she'll do.

The sheep are still...sheep. They're more like little ghosts. You don't really know they're there unless they sneak up on you. They are remarkably easy keepers because of their size and don't seem to get phased by much, including the cold, snowy weather we're having. As long as they have a dry place and some hay, they're happy. And they don't even need that much hay. Seriously, they are the perfect homestead animal. Now, if we could catch them they'd be even more perfect, but I'm not gonna get carried away here...

It's been a while!

I promise to post soon. It's been a crazy/insane/hectic time here for us - having 5 kids all vying for my attention + cow/sheep/chickens will do that. :) New posts are a-comin'! Until then, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!