You know, we decided to start this blog so the people at home – our friends, family, church members – who kept requesting that we “let them know what we were up to”, could indeed see what we were up to. We now have over 100 followers on social media of some type… I realize that this is not huge in the grand scheme of things, but for us it’s amazing. 102 people follow us on Face Book, a couple dozen people follow this blog by having it e-mailed to them, and 30 some just follow it directly on WordPress. I just want to thank family members, who indulge us by reading – because they have to, and friends, old and new, who have supported us in this adventure. It’s always such a great feeling knowing that you are following along and rooting for us; rejoicing when we get something right, and sympathizing with us when things go awry. Thank you so very much! Now… on with our regularly scheduled programming. Continue reading
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31 Friday Aug 2018
Monday I said that I was going to be gone; I’m in Phoenix at a workshop with the Arizona Association of REALTORS®, so I was holding back on what happened over the weekend. I’m sure you’re all wondering how it all went. Well, even if you’re not, I’m going to tell you anyway! We learned some things, we remembered some things, and we decided that we’d make some changes before we processed the RR#2’s. It was a really long day and we were just both so happy when everything was done and over. I won’t get into the nitty gritty of everything because we’ve already done that once and you can look it up on earlier posts if you want. There is still going to be some talk about the process, so if you’re sensitive to that sort of thing, you may want to just skip this post. 
I’m not going to do the weekend update until later. I’ll be traveling Wednesday and want to have something that I can talk easily about while I’m gone. I’ll be leaving for Phoenix tomorrow afternoon for a workshop over a couple of days. I’ll be back Thursday afternoon, but will definitely have time in the late evening, Wednesday to post. So I am not anticipating losing a day. Anyway, let’s talk about today and why these goats really, really, really want to come through the gate. 
So, today was preparation day. Tomorrow is processing day. Not a favorite day, but a necessary one. We’ll be processing 15 birds and Sue spent some time today setting up the accoutrements – as much as she could, out of the weather. It was rather a drizzly day today and you can’t leave the plucker and the scalder out in the weather – both electric, right, so just wouldn’t do. She’s got them set up in the car port and tomorrow we’ll put the kettle on for the scalder, lay down a tarp, hang up a tarp, gather some chickens and say some prayers. 
Someone asked me recently, “What are the chores that you’re always talking about?” So, I guess if you’re not familiar with farm life, you might not know what those entail. So I thought I’d just talk about what makes up chores here. When I was growing up, my brother and I shared in the chores. I remember that we fed the dogs and cats, when we had horses, we fed teh horses and cleaned their stall, we fed the rabbits, we may have fed the cows occasionally, but mom was usually milking and she would feed them at the same time. I think as I got older I would strain the milk and put it in bottles. Our chickens and ducks were in an aviary, so I don’t think we had to put them in, and I don’t really remember feeding them – but we would sometimes collect eggs. Mom kept track of what to do and when… if we had baby cows, mixing up the formula and giving them their bottles where often on the list. We didn’t do chores in the morning, unless it was the weekend, only in the afternoon/evening. For me it went: piano, homework, chores – then more homework if necessary. It’s different for us here though. 
Sue told me the other day that she thought the posts were generally positive – and I’m really glad that they seem to come across that way. Today, however, I’m just not feelin’ it. Although I don’t have any thing “bad” to report, I – personally – just have a general feeling of malaise. You know, it’s Monday and it was the longest, short weekend I’ve had in a while. I’m sure it’s just because I am dealing with some lingering effects of Shingles – and its got me a bit out of sorts. So, while I’m sure this will be a fine post, it probably will not be effusively upbeat. Guess I’m asking for your indulgence, at this point. 
…the number three. We’ll add chickens any chance we get! Who doesn’t need more chickens? Just three more, please. Today we’re going to pick up three Easter-Eggers from a church friend who is moving to Georgia. His wife is getting transferred, so they are picking up and heading East. They are the family that gave us the four hens earlier this summer. Well pick them up soon and put them in with
It’s Wednesday, traditionally a short post. Let’s stick with tradition, then. After the crazy Monday, things have been rather quiet around here. As long as you don’t count the chicken escapee, who we just can’t catch, and the mower deck detaching itself from the tractor. Just normal days, really. Let’s catch up.
” fans out there? If you’re not familiar with the shorts and movies, I recommend you look them up for a wonderful bit of silliness! I was thinking of this title earlier today; sometimes I start thinking about what the blog will be about quite early in the day, and this title just kept jumping to the top of the list. Then, as the day progressed and I was getting updates from Sue, I wondered if I’d be able to continue to work with it. Well – we’ll see how we do when we get down to the end. Some interesting things happened today. Ready to take a gander? 
Or at least the chicken tractor. That’s what we did before I went to work today. Sue thought it took longer than it should, but I thought we did it in pretty good time. The reason we did this? The banties were getting water in their coop on a regular basis and it wasn’t drying out in between the rains very well, so it was getting rather yucky in there. Sue had already taken out all straw from inside and they were left with just the bare floors, because they’re way old enough just to roost up on the roosts, and they were fine with that, but it smelled dank and musty – not a healthy environment. So Sue wanted to lift it off the ground, let more air circulate to dry it out (it already looks better and smells cleaner), keep them off the wet wood that’s underneath, and also provide them with a larger protected area of shade. So we lifted the tractor today and placed it on 1 large cinder block, plus a 1/2 block. That raised it enough that the chickens could get in underneath – maybe their food and water can go under there as well – in the front section where it’s easily accessible and can stay dry and cool during the summer rains and heat, then the water might not freeze in the winter. 
Wing and a Prayer 