Winter Haiku's

Shells echo coldly
The future cradled in frost
Spring gives life a home

Springs buds cruelly met
Hoar frost crystals icy grasp
Green leaves held at bay

Clouds missing skies clear
Winters cold chains the white mist
The Sun will free all

Rhyme Time

My name is Lara and my wool is grey
I'm getting plump but its not from the hay
Come April time I'll be on needles and pins
When the lambs arrive I'm hoping for twins!

Azalea's my name and a Cascade sheep am I
Smaller than Icelandic's but a bit more shy
When its warm I like to frolic, run and play
but no matter what I do my wool is always covered in hay

This is Gardenia and she is the new queen of the farm
She is a wonderful mother and tries to keep the others from harm
Molly is her target when she runs in to play
She oft get the horns when Gardenia has her say

Zoe looks quite regal dressed in all black and white
she will have lambs in June if things turn out right
she is a playful girl and kicks her heels up like a deer
she will also Baa at me when ever I come near

Kia and Ava are a close mother daughter pair
one doesn't get very far without the other being there
I will be curious to see how they act when their little ones come due
will two become four or will they start a'new?

Bullies

The Guineas have started bullying the chickens lately, kicking them out of the coop when it is really cold and being general nuances around the food bowls.

Normally I rely on Leopold to be the enforcer to make sure the chickens get their fair share of food and aren't picked on too badly. Unfortunately Leopold has had troubles of his own lately. The cold has given him a bad case of frostbite on his comb and the Guineas have taken to picking at the black parts.

Yesterday I had to go out to the Coop area to rescue poor Leopold from 4 Guineas who were holding him down and picking at his comb (I don't have a picture), there was blood everywhere. I'm keeping a close eye on him and if things get any worse I will have to bring him inside.

When the Guineas stay inside the coop I think they eat the chicken eggs. I can't prove it but for three weeks I didn't get hardly any eggs at all. Next year I'm hoping to get a separate coop for the guineas, I don't like how they bully the chickens.

I'd like to thank Tayet Silverspoon for the Liebster Award.

Here are the rules:

1. Copy and paste the award to your blog.
2. Link back to the blogger that gave you the award.
3. Pick your 5 favorite blogs with less than 200 followers and leave a comment on their blog telling them about their awesomeness and that you have rewarded them for that fact.
4. Hope that they will pass on the award to 5 more awesome blogs.

Awards are nice as they provide an opportunity for the recipient to direct a few of their readers to an overlooked or new Blogger. There are so many good blogs out there that it is easy to miss out on one that is entertaining or provides great information. The blog list on the right side of my page provides a sample of some blogs that I love to follow. The Liebster Award has been making the rounds so I'm only going to award it to one blog, JennyG over at LostArtsFound. I like how she opens her post with a quotation, and she has a uniquely informative writing style - enjoy.

How NOT to Burn a Brush Pile

The brush pile on the edge of the woods has been with us a long time, and it has been growing bigger and bigger ever since the Commander wore out his chipper during the Chipper Wars.

Over time the brush pile became part of the landscape, here you can see Mama Chicken leading her baby guinea's around it looking for treats.

The chickens loved to hang out on the branches as it gave them a break from Leopold's aggressive advances.....

....that is until the guineas decided to join them. The only chicken that liked to be around the guineas was Mama Chicken, but the guineas loved her like a mother...

The wood pile grew and grew until the only way the Commander could think of to get rid of it was to set it aflame. The best time of year to accomplish this task without starting a forest fire was Winter, but I thought the pile had grown too big for even a Winter burn.....

Last Saturday the Commander went outside and found that the wind was calm, this meant he wanted to burn some brush. He started with the brush and wet hay (from the goat barn) that was inside the rock lined fire pit designed for this exact purpose.

The wet waste hay burned slowly and was heavy on the smoke....it was at this point that I left to go to the store.

When I got home the brush pile was gone! I brought the groceries inside and immediately discovered that some thing was amiss. Several of the kitchen and bathroom rugs were outside hanging on the deck railing - they were soaking wet.

A closer inspection of the huge tree that was closest to the brush pile showed it had a scorched trunk and it was still steaming/smoking!

The trunk wasn't only burned at its base, the damage extended at least 15 feet up into the branches, and several branched appeared to have been burnt clean off the tree!

It seems that WHILE I WAS GONE the Commander decided to burn the brush pile. Things were going just fine until the wind picked up and began to blow directly at the tree on the edge of the forest. The increased wind velocity apparently fanned the flames and the Commander described them as being at least 8 feet wide and 15 feet high at their peak. He said that at one point the tree bark caught fire and he worried about a forest fire breaking out and spreading from the upper branches from tree to tree.

His convoluted story had him running to the sheep barn and using their bucket of drinking water to try and douse the first outbreak of flames on the tree. At some point the Commander had recruited the kids to form a bucket brigade from the bathroom tub and kitchen sink to try and hold off a forest fire (that explains the wet rugs). The Commander said it was touch and go for about 30 minutes as to whether he was going to call the fire department. Did I mention I wasn't home for this debacle?

By the time I got home the brush pile was gone yet the ground where it rested and the trunk of the tree were still smoking. I took a shovel and dug in to the ash pile and discovered that the roots in the ground were still burning! The Commander stayed outside for quite a while to make sure the smoldering embers didn't escape beyond their ashy grave, he used a shovel and a few more buckets of water to extinguish the hottest areas. I wonder if he was staying outside to avoid me telling him; "I told you so!"

Baby Goats.....LIVE!!!

Maverick has done his job here and all the girls are bred so it was time for him to go back home to Pelican Acres.

When I got him home my friend Karen took me to her barn to show me the kids that were born this week, 10 in all from Sunday through today.

While I was there one of her does decided to give birth and I was able to watch the delivery of two more kids. Karen is amazing at handling the birthing process and I was lucky/happy to be on hand to learn from her first hand!

If you want to watch Karen's does giving birth she has a camera set up and you can watch her in action. Click here to get in on the viewing action. As of tonight (Tuesday) there are still four or five more does that are getting ready to give birth, don't miss it!

p.s. When the camera is showing a single doe in the berthing stall the action will soon begin, otherwise you will get a camera view of the flock milling around in the common area .

Pollyanna

I wasn't feeling too well today so once the morning chores were complete the Commander and I settled in by the wood stove and watched Pollyanna. Pollyanna is one of those classic movies that is great fun to watch even if you have seen it several times before.

Old movies are so fun to watch especially when the story is familiar so one has the opportunity to notice the background and the settings. The old kitchens in the movie were great, I loved the wood stoves and hand pumping sinks. The cars were all classics while the woodwork in the homes was breathtaking. I was just engulfed by the atmosphere, so many frilly dresses, decorative hats, ribbons and bows, when did we as a society stop dressing so nicely?

I was entertained for just over 3 hours watching this movie and there was none of the following; no murders, no gun play, no love scenes or nudity, no swearing, no car chases or crashes, nor any infidelity. I did see (or hear) numerous direct references to God and patriotism, I wonder why movie audiences at the time weren't offended the way that we are TOLD (I don't believe it) that folks would be offended today?

The movie (and book) was so successful that the title became a word unto itself.
Pollyanna — n: a person who is constantly or excessively optimistic

[C20: after the chief character in Pollyanna (1913), a novel by Eleanor Porter (1868--1920), US writer]

Since I'm talking movies, if you enjoyed Pollyanna then be sure to check out Auntie Mame. I will never forget the sick feeling I got when Patrick alludes to Mame that he is embarrassed to introduce her to his snobby fiance. A truly great movie.

Taxes

The tax code in Minnesota has changed this year so everyone's property taxes will be going up. This has made me wonder, would I be better off claiming this place as a Farm instead of a normal residential property? Does anyone claim their Hobby Farm as a "Farm" on their taxes?

I have read that if I do go the farm route that I would need to sell something for a profit within three years. I'm sure I can sell something but making a profit doesn't really seem possible in the near future. The cost of hay, grain, minerals, medicine, new stock, equipment, fencing, clearing land, etc..., really puts the "hobby" into the "hobby farm".

The chickens have paid for themselves and the goats may reach break even territory this year as well, but the start up costs won't be made back in my lifetime. I figure that having some physical assets guarding against hard times my be more useful than a little extra money in the bank.