Happy Halloween

I love Halloween.  It has always been one of my very favorite days to celebrate, but I found myself very low-key for Halloween this year.  Even though my children are adults now, I still love to celebrate the day in some way with my boys, but with one of them in California visiting his wife (yes, his wife!) and the other away at university, I found myself oddly uninspired.

That said, though...I just couldn't let this day pass without sharing a few of my very favorite Halloween pictures from last Halloween of my critters.

You remember Reggie, right?  He's a really good sport.
Actually, Pete is, too.






























Reggie and Pete both patiently allowed me to don them in costume. 

 Did you know that goats with wings can dance?

Kai llama made it clear she wasn't going to participate in the shenanigans, however, she did drop in for a brief photo-op, during which time she inquired whether I had lost my mind.

 Roxy, though...poor Roxy.  She just couldn't get out of participating.

She hated every second of it....and, ultimately, wound up just turning her back on all of us.  This is how I knew the photo shoot was over.  She is good at giving me clear messages like this.  Heh.

Chester and Beau, though, were still game for a picture or two.



























  

"Trick or Treat already!  Now can we have some candy, Mom???"

7 years today

7 years ago today, October 26, 2007, I wrote my first blog post.  I titled it: Country Girl Trapped in a City Girl's Life .  I wrote ten paragraphs about how much I wanted to leave my (then) current life and what I really wanted to do with myself.
I posted no pictures. 

7 years later, I live much of the life I dreamed of 7 years ago... a life with more wonderful animals than I ever could have hoped for and a beautiful piece of land to grow all the things I ever wanted to.

I also have backup hard drives with thousands and thousands of pictures stored on them that tell the story of my life since I became a farm girl - all the good *and* the bad.  This blog will never be without pictures again.

Despite all the time that has gone by and all the changes  - some incredibly challenging - that have happened, I still wake up every single day feeling so fortunate to be where I am.  I don't know what the next 7 years will bring, but I hope that I will continue to be able to post a few pictures on my blog every now and then, and share a story about my critters that made me smile.

I just wanted to mark today with a post because 7 years suddenly feels like a long time to me.
Bippity and Thumper (who have grown up on this blog and are now 6 1/2 years old) think so, too. :-)

Don't you just hate it...

Don't you hate it when bloggers suddenly disappear?  One day they are there, discussing their stuff, sharing their lives, detailing their happenings, and then the next - poof! - they are gone...sometimes for weeks (or even months) on end.

Now imagine you are that blogger, the one who suddenly disappeared.  Things might just not be working out for you.  Or, things are simply readjusting and will soon be right again.  As a blogger, you have realized that you require a certain level of peace and focus, two things that enable you to write.  If those things are not there, your writing feels forced and awkward to you. You might, in fact, lose all desire to blog, even though you feel guilty, then, for not doing so. You feel guilty for the sole reason that you want to share your animals.  You want their stories to be told. You need for their incredible personalities and antics to be noted by someone other than yourself - because these beings have brought so much joy that you want nothing more than to share them.  So, every day, you try to find that certain level of peace and focus again.  You know it will return, but sometimes, it takes longer than other times. 

In case you haven't caught on, the blogger described above is pretty much me.  I'm so full of stops and starts right now, I don't know if I'm coming or going. It's not intentional, believe me.  My life is (and has been) undergoing significant change and many days I feel like I am just barely holding on for the ride. 

In the meantime, though, when my head gets really full, and the words get all jammed up inside me, I head to my pasture in search of the sweet furried beings who ground me, and give me the peace and focus that is otherwise escaping me.  It certainly doesn't hurt if the sun is shining, too.

When I sit my hind end down on the slightly muddy ground, my sweet boy, Beau comes to rest his muzzle in my hand.
 

Kai llama, always very curious when I start sitting on the ground again, draws nearer than she used to.

 I remember the days when she wouldn't come within a few yards of me.

She has grown very, very friendly in the last year.  She even lets me "boop" her nose now.

The underside of Beau's chin is incredibly soft. As long as I keep rubbing, he will stand completely still, sighing contentedly every couple of minutes.

And like the many other times, it was so peaceful in my pasture, I felt the weight of my world lift from my shoulders.  It made me want to write about it.

Chester, however, just wanted to nap.
To each his own. :-)

Thank you for reading my stories.

An inside day

These are fascinating weather times, I must say. Extended dry spells, potent snow storms, deep freezes, damaging winds, flooding rains...we've had a bit of everything lately.  In case you are wondering, we are currently on the "flooding rains" part of that list.

It has rained so hard for the last 24 hours, even rugged, weather-resistent Kai llama didn't need much coaxing to come under cover for breakfast this morning.

Chester and Beau were insistent that a towel dry was the least that should be offered at this fine establishment.

Mr. Goldy, my stock tank goldfish, has been through some challenges lately. (You can read about how Mr. Goldy came to be at Critter Farm here.)

He went from being snowed in...

to iced in...

to what will, most likely, be flood stage by tonight...

And he has handled it all with the grace and resilience of a true carp.  He is a tremendously hearty dude (and a very special member of the Critter Farm family).  I was surprised when I did the math today and realized that this May will mark his 4th year here on the farm!

Meanwhile, back in the rainstorm, while the big animals stood under cover chewing hay, they all had a good laugh at me trying to muck poop out of puddles.

Though they couldn't quite figure out my fascination with the patterns the downpours are making on their mineral blocks.

That's ok.  I'm not ashamed to say I am keeping myself entertained any way I can until the sun starts shining again.

Oh.  One more thing.  There's a new face here on the farm.

He's very big and very wild and has decided he really likes eating Clyde's food that I keep up at the barn. I'm monitoring this situation closely because there has been some evidence of scuffling in the barn that might indicate a territory war.  I am concerned that shy Clyde might be being bullied and this will not do.  Perhaps this new guy just needs to have someone explain the Critter Farm rules to him?

Juicy farm gossip

Some say it's nothing to be taken seriously.

But chicken tongues are beginning to wag.

The girls of the flock, of course, have been gossiping about it for some time now.

Honey, my chicken-free-spirit, has been hanging out lately around the chicken coop. She hasn't done this in almost three years.  At first I thought she was considering reintegrating herself with the flock and I got really excited.

But then I realized, it's not necessarily the entire flock that she's interested in.

The other hens are none too pleased.

But rumor has it (and, as you can see, some tell-tale photographic evidence exists) that a certain yellow buff chicken and a certain studly rooster have been spending more time than usual together.

It's slowly becoming clear that they have a bit of a "thang" going on.

Honey does all sorts of flamboyant-chicken-things to try to impress Roopert.

I don't blame her a bit; he is awfully handsome.

Roopert, though, generally remains aloof and pretends not to notice.

Except for sometimes, when he thinks nobody is watching.  I caught this shot yesterday through my kitchen porch door. 

He is actually very attentive to her.  Where can all this lead?  We shall see.  Perhaps I should have titled this post: A Belated Valentine Tale?

(Roopert and Honey....sittin' in a tree...K-I-S-S-I-N-G)

How I know things are finally melting

Aside from drippy trees and muddy paths, there are many signs my critters give me to let me know that "the melt" has officially begun.
 

Sure, I could just look at the obvious signs - like dripping fence boards - but I find animal behavior a much more reliable (and enjoyable) indication.

When melting begins for real, Beau and Chester begin to assist with mucking again, instead of hiding in their stall.  One of their favorite mild weather activities is to stand as close to where I am working as possible, barely giving me any space to shovel between their feet.  Of course, they act all like they're not doing anything other than just hanging out, but I know they're secretly messing with me.  I don't mind.

Another indication of the melt is when Pete and Reggie come out from the safety and warmth of their cozy goat house to stand on their look-out towers wooden spools again.

These boys are the proud guard goats of the upper property, where the keep a watchful eye on all the comings and goings occurring in the driveway.  I can tell they are relieved to have returned to duty.

But probably the biggest sign that the melting trend is for real is when Honey (my chicken who left her flock to explore the world as a solitary, free-ranging hen) finally ventures out of her crate on the porch, where she has been under self-imposed house arrest since the snow began.  She does not like snow and she really does not like cold feet.  This girl stays put when it is snowy or below 30 degrees outside.


So, you can see why it's a good sign when she starts doing her walk-abouts again.

After carefully calculating the danger levels of temperature, snowpack and distance...

 

Honey ventured the farthest she had in over a week - all the way to the goat house, where she scratched and pecked and clucked happily, finding her first juicy bugs and worms in days.

Of course, Reggie was at his post and alerted the neighborhood accordingly.


Tomorrow:  Rumors are flying in the chicken coop!