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!!!

Hen fruit x 3!

Over the past week we've been getting more eggs! Our hens are starting to lay more and more, which is, as you know, completely and utterly fan-freekin'-tastic! Now both of our AustraWhites are laying everyday, one egg a day. One of our brown egg layers has been laying one nice, rosy brown egg a day and today...one more started laying! Whoever it was, I feel sorry for her. The egg was HUGE! OUCH! It had been broken by one of the hens stepping on it (it was in the middle of the coop floor, so understandable) and had a double yolk. Not something you see everyday! I'm thinking it is probably one of our partridge Brahma girls, but it may take some stakeout time to figure out exactly who is laying what. I'll keep ya posted. This is exciting!

Crazy/wonderful life

One of the things I don't generally talk about, at least blog-wise is much about our personal life here at Saudafell. We are fairly private people, or used to be anyway, and sharing our family situation is something I generally shy away from on the internet. But, with the farm and our family so intricately connected it's hard not to share something once in a while.  From what I've written so far in our blog, most blog readers can infer we have a large family. What is not common knowledge, and what I usually don't share often, is that we got to large-family size fairly quickly - we've only been married for 3 years and have 5 kids, 2 years old and under. We had high order multiples (yes, 4 babies at once) early this year, who are now nearly 6 months old. We have a 2 year old as well who has recently decided that her roll in life is to do everything contrary to what I'd like her to do. And we are beginning to farm. Some people would think we're nuts. Our family, at least some of them, have told us flat out we're crazy for even trying to take on more right now. Some days I honestly think they're right. Why would someone, especially ME (aka Mommy) want to take on a cow, sheep, chickens, dogs and land maintenance to boot? The answer is simple - because we want to. Because it's something to break up the responsibilities of the day. The time it takes to care for the livestock provides a very, very necessary break from baby duties and laundry and dishes. It's cathartic to scrub out a stock tank. It's a fulfilling experience to get fresh, pastured eggs out of a nest everyday. Knowing that our livestock helps to take care of our family provides a small measure of security in a very insecure world. And who wouldn't want a living, non-gasoline using, self fertilizing lawn mower? Honestly, it is pretty awesome.

Lately, both of us have felt like we're being swallowed up by life. Taking care of a toddler alone is a task. Throw in 4 newborns and most people would scoff at the idea that it's even possible to do it all without losing your mind. I can attest that it's possible to do it, and come very close to losing your mind if that's all you do all day, every day. Non-stop. I don't think many people can put themselves in our shoes, but can relate to a point. It's hard to fully comprehend the full scope of what it's like to care for 4 newborns at once. Only a hand-full of people blessed (or cursed...yes, sometimes it feels like a curse) with this many kids all at the same time can fully understand what a struggle it is everyday to just keep your head above water. We have good days. We have bad days. Some days I win a battle, while the kids win the war. I'm at the point now that I need to just pull back from many things that have been in my life for a long time - consistent church activity, some of my strongly held convictions, old routines, and old habits - to fully focus on the 6 most important things in my life: my husband, and baby A, B, C, D & my toddler. I've had so much pent up guilt, resentment and more guilt over what I haven't been able to do, and I finally admitted to myself - I can't do it all. No one can keep up with that pace. No one. If I can care for and nurture 5 kids all day, feed and water livestock, gather eggs and brush a cow down, I call that an accomplishment for the day. What neither one of us can do anymore is live up to outside expectations and pressures. We need to take care of ourselves and our farm. Everything non-essential will be there when we can get to it. Everything else can wait. With all this unrest and busyness in our lives, farming gives us an outlet. It provides something for both of us to do besides babies. Something we can do together, my husband and I. Our land and livestock have a symbiotic, almost spiritual quality to them - we take care of each other, and in turn we both benefit from the arrangement. While I feel like life is kicking me squarely in the head, I never feel overwhelmed when I can get outside to breathe in some fresh air, shovel manure, listen to a rooster crow and talk to the hens. It's almost as though time moves slower. It's an escape from one reality into another, only separated by plywood, plaster, siding and chain link.

My girls haven't let me down!

Lately, I've had the feeling these hens were holding out on me. I was nearly convinced they were stashing their eggs away in some secret nest and one day I'd find about 100 of them in some cubby-hole somewhere. Today I even reorganized our catch-all goat shed in hopes that I'd find something. The shed now looks 100% better, and I even discovered we have goat hay mangers & a couple of tiki torches stashed in there...but, alas, no eggs. The entire time those nosy hens were nonchalantly watching me, while casually scratching away at the ground 5 feet away. I thought I was onto something. One of our Rhode Island Red hens was looking very guilty yesterday when I walked by and saw her on the wood pile. Turns out, my paranoia was unjustified. Two more of our hens started laying today in the cow manger. When I went out to collect one egg I was surprised with 2 more - one brown speckled and one dove brown egg. Aren't they glorious?