A-hoy-hoy

We have been... just going. The duck pond leaks, but I think it'll be alright for this summer. The goats are really jump-y---they get into everything!!! They can jump a 4' fence, no problem. And today, Deer jumped into the chicken coop!!!!

We have lost 4 babies, and have 2 in the kitchen right now. I am not sure what's going on, but so far, it only takes half a day for them to perk back up, and are ready to go back, but if I leave them in, they die. *shrug* mostly, they sleep, so it must be kind of stressful in there. We will divide them up, as soon as we get another red light for the other kennel.

The broilers are still alive. I know, I know, but I really don't want to butcher without Tory. She's my excuse, since I know she can't come down here for a while. I am worried about butchering with Eric and Ben, so I may just get up one of these mornings, and have it done by the time Ben gets up (yea, right!). There are 10 left, and they are getting huge.

Henny Penny is doing great. She is a treat to have around here--she follows us all over the yard, and lets us pick her up. She comes when you call, and goes right back into the coop when you ask her to. :) :) :) Oh, and she lays an egg a day. Every day.

Is that everyone? I think Penguin is a rooster. He's not being very nice to Mommie. They seem to have a love/hate relationship. The crested breeds are pecking at each other's crests. Duh, come on!

We seem to have waaaay too many ticks lately, so the guineas will be nice for next year. We'll get them in August, and they should be full-grown and ready to go by spring!!

The garden is... well, it's fenced in and tilled up. Tomatoes, peppers, cauliflower, and eggplant are all I have gotten in so far. But do not fear, we'll do some more... one day. :)

As far as the house goes... I think we decided on getting the windows out/replaced, put up the foam board, and wrap the house. *high-pitched-unnatural* hahahahahahahaha that's the plan, anyway. :) Seems very similar to the plan I recommended last year, but that's not very productive, so I'll keep that to myself ;)

Parenting With Love and Logic has been my sanity-encourager of late. Eric being gone seems to get harder, not easier. I have been HATING Mondays, as Ben has been just--missing his Papa, and I have, too. So today, I Love and Logic'd him until he gave up!!!!!!!!! WHOO!!!!!!!

Not a lot, really

Oh, well, not really.

We are down to one egg-laying hen. She is apparently the smartest one, so that's nice. Eric killed a raccoon on Sunday, thinking it had a chicken in it's mouth. It was a pigeon, so I was bummed; pigeon/raccoon--if it kills pigeons, I say keep the raccoon. It was really big.

Eric got the pond up and running--the filter system has not been tested yet, but we think it should work ;). The ducks finally figured out how to get up into it (it's an old cattle water-er with a liner in it.

The other baby chicks are doing really well. They are not as friendly as the last set, but we haven't spent nearly as much time with them.

The goats are really friendly. Gabby and Deer are wonderful, and will nudge you to pet them (they LOVE a good scratch behind the ears!)

The 10 broilers are loving life--we ran out of time this weekend to finish the butchering, but we did get the garden all ready.

I ended up writing Gurneys an e-mail, asking them to cancel my order. They have all of the information changed for my seeds and plants to be shipped out the 26th of May. :( But, the good news is that I have been given/have found enough seeds to get this garden more than full. I think we'll try to go to the nursery in the next few weeks, and see what they have to offer... for tomato and pepper plants. Oh, and Eric gave me the go-ahead to get Guineas. So I'll be looking into that!

Busy, busy, busy, but oh, so satisfying!!

Butchering, take two! (or 12 in this case)

So here's the skinny on the butchering. Tory, Miah, and Erin all came and helped. Someone that will remain nameless (*cou-me-gh*) talked a wee bit too much, so we got started a little later than we wanted. We took 3 hours for the first 6, and the three of them did 6 in one hour while I went to go get Ben. While in Winterset, Josh saved the day--even though he doesn't speak hysterical woman, he can get you calmed down enough that he can talk you through what you need to do ;) ((The radiator hose popped off and spewed antifreeze (red!) all over the ground))

We opted to put the chickens into the bathtub, and clean them off in there. (All 12) So Ben was able to see them the night before, in the bathtub. There's actually a really cute story.

I wish I had a better camera, or at least a program that would make my camera a little more lovely, but here is my cousin and his fiancee. The reason this is really funny is because his pants are pink-pink, and the top is a lovely purple.