Just a Little of This and a Little of That

As a couple of you have seen fit to remind me in emails, I haven't been very good at updating the blog lately. We've been busy as ever on the homestead, but it seems the past few weeks have been filled with not much more than simply the day-to-day business of keeping on top of things around here. That doesn't make for very interesting blog fodder. But that has never stopped me before, so I decided to go ahead and post a blog entry anyway.

Since our return from a week in the Great Plains, Bernie has stayed occupied welding fencing on the gates, chipping pine for the chicken coop, mowing, and taking vehicles to the shop for recall repairs and things of that nature. My in-laws sent us home with a bunch of zucchini from their garden, and I've been busy shredding it and making Zucchini Bread, Zucchini Cake, Zucchini Soup, and anything else Zucchini I can think of. We managed to put up 5 quarts and 7 pints of dill pickles from our cucumbers and have been eating tomatoes and peppers at every meal. I got a late start putting beans in this year, but they'll be ready to pick and can in the coming week or so.

Big news - at least for me...... my mother is now on-line! She got a fancy schmancy computer and hooked it up with high speed internet. The reason this is important to me is that it means I am no longer the sole blogger on the planet whose own mother doesn't read her breath taking, riveting drivel. It also means I now have to watch what I say about her.

My mealy worms are becoming pupals! I'm pretty sure that excites me more than it excites you. It means that soon I will have little beetles that will breed and lay eggs that will become larva and start the whole process over again - providing my chickens with tasty little snacks and making them love me, or at least pretend to love me so that I'll bring them more snacks. And yes, it really is this easy to make me happy.

The chickens will be five months old in October. That's roughly the magic number for expecting eggs. It's also roughly the magic number for some romantic tendencies on the part of chickens. I do have some concerns about this milestone. Duke is clearly twice the size of the hens. If you've ever seen chickens mate, you may understand my concern. If you haven't, well let's just say that roosters tend to be very aggressive during the process and it's not uncommon for hens to get a little battered. I'm hoping Duke's gentle side comes through with his romantic tendencies.

I've been a little surprised at the number of people who have written to tell me they think I am a little crazy for loving my chickens as pets. Seriously. So, in an effort to make myself appear less crazy by comparison, I offer you this set of videos on YouTube. It's called "The Natural History of the Chicken" and was originally a PBS film, but someone (posting as Ghostmonters) was kind enough to upload it to YouTube in six parts. I actually found it to be very interesting and fun. And after watching some of the people featured in it, I feel certain you will rethink your position on my craziness - at least with regard to my chickens.

We're all fine on the homestead and staying busy. We've got a few projects planned for the following weeks, and I'll be sure to keep you updated on them. I've been remiss in boring you with chicken pictures and videos as promised, so I'll get on top of that too - along with the updates to the website. I hope that will make you love me, or at least pretend to love me. We've established how happy that makes me.

Bee Free,
Penny