We live in the U.S., so of course this is a U.S.-centric blog. I use Fahrenheit as opposed to Celsius when I’m talking about weather temp in degrees, I use feet and inches, rather than metrics, I refer to the U.S. calendar when I’m talking about seasons and holidays. So, I hope that doesn’t offend anyone too awfully, but if you’re reading this blog, you’ll just have to put up with it I suppose. The reason I bring this up, is that tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. and I think I’ll probably be talking about thankfulness today. 

Last year I tried to follow a thankfulness calendar while I was doing blog posts, and that didn’t seem to work very well  because we’re not a daily blog. So I didn’t want to try that again this year. But I thought I should take a moment and just list some of the things that we are thankful for, not just now at this time of year, but every single day!

• We are thankful for the opportunity to live on this amazing land and try to do our best to preserve and nurture it.
• We are thankful for our amazing neighbors who give us their support in so many different ways; through purchasing eggs, lending a hand wherever it’s needed, to simply giving us a wave and a smile as they pass by, or taking a moment to quack with the ducks – all of this helps us continue to do what we’re trying to do here; even if it’s just helping us to smile in the middle of the day.
• We are thankful for family and close friends who give us their love and continue to be a great source of moral support for this endeavor.
• We are thankful for all of YOU who read this blog and let us know that you enjoy it!
• We are thankful, always, for the rain, the sunrises and sunsets, the glorious night skies and all the wondrous vagaries of nature that keep us on our toes.
• We are thankful for the silliness of chickens, the beauty of geese, the raucous laughter of the ducks, and the amazing colors, shapes and sizes of the eggs we are given.
• We are thankful for this “quiet” time of year that allows the chickens, ducks, and geese to replenish their bodies so that they can, once again – in the spring, begin to bless us with an overabundance of eggs.
• We are thankful for the stubbornness of goats and their little tales that wag to let us know that they’re just kidding. 🙂
• We are thankful for our constant companions, the dogs and cats and those other little ones who have gone on before us. They remind us of what dedication and love can be.

• We are thankful for the fantastic creatures that roam the land and never cease to captivate us when we stumble upon them. The deer, the javelina, snakes, spiders, vinageroons, multi-colored grasshoppers, and brightly decorated butterflies – not to mention the myriad birds and bats that call this neck of the woods home year round or for just a season.
• We are thankful for the days we get so much accomplished and for the days we take time to have fun.
• We are thankful for when we are reminded that even baby steps are taking us closer to our goals.

For all these things, and more, we should give thanks each and every day. “Give thanks, with a grateful heart; give thanks, to the Holy One! Give thanks, because he’s given Jesus Christ, his son. And now, let the weak say I am strong, let the poor say I am rich. For what the Lord has done for us, give thanks.” (Henry Smith) No matter where you are on God’s Earth, I wish you a happy day of Thanksgiving, tomorrow and every day…. and, hey~
Thanks for reading!

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Today’s Weather: Beautiful, crisp, clear, fall day. evening is giving us a just slightly short of full moon (waxing gibbous 96%). High today was 70°. Currently, at 5:54 p.m., it is 61° with 34% humidity. Overnight low will reach 38°. Slightly cooler tomorrow, for our holiday; with a high of 64° and overcast. Sunrise was a very late 6:53 and sunset a very early 5:17.

Egg Report: Tuesday – zero goose, zero duck, 9 chicken.  Wednesday – zero goose, zero duck, 18 chicken. Lately, when we’ve had those higher numbers (14, 16, 18) it’s usually due to our banty hens doing a bang up job of laying. They kinda skew the numbers though; their eggs are so small they are almost on a 2:1 ratio. Two banty eggs for every 1 regular chicken egg. True story.