The Barnyard Buffet

   Evening had settled over the barn, and the animals gathered for supper as if answering an unspoken invitation. At the far end, the old milk cow dipped her head into the blue makeshift feeder, the scrape of grain against plastic echoing softly in the wooden stall. She chewed slowly, patiently, her large frame steady and calm as the dim light caught the curve of her neck. 

   Closer to the ground, a small black pig rooted happily in a heavy metal dish, its back dusted with flecks of feed like golden confetti. The pig’s curly tail wagged with satisfaction as though every bite was a small celebration.

   But the pig was not alone in its feast. Two barn cats, striped and sleek, pressed in on either side. Their whiskers twitched as they lapped at the shared bowls, undeterred by the pig’s snuffling. It was a strange trio to see—cats and pig dining shoulder to shoulder—but in the barn, mealtime was a shared affair, not a competition. 

   From the shadows, a chicken shuffled in, feathers pale against the dusty floor. It pecked here and there, gathering what the larger eaters overlooked, adding to the sense of quiet harmony that hung in the air. 

   The barn smelled of hay, earth, and warm bodies, a mixture as old as farming itself. Each creature seemed content, caught up in the simple rhythm of feeding. For a moment, it was easy to believe the whole barnyard was a single family—different shapes, different sounds, yet bound together by the ritual of supper.

   I took some time off and now I'm going to attempt to get back to this. To say many things have changed in the last 3 years would be an understatement!
   I got married, took my older boys out of the public school they were in and started them in an online cyber school, downsized our 'livestock' to just a few animals and had another baby boy. Of course there has been a lot of other thing, good and bad, that have happened but I'll stick to the basics for now.
   After a hiatus it's time to start again. I'm sure I've lost most of my followers during the time I've been gone but maybe there are a few of you who are still around and interested in what is going on here at Seldom Seen Acres.
   Last fall and early into the winter we lost all but one hen and one rooster to predators. We decided to restock and get 30 new hens. We had decided to buy the chicks through our local Tractor Supply instead of ordering them through the mail for because the weather is still so unpredictable and I didn't want babies in the mail during freezing temperatures. When we called to see when TSC would be getting their first shipment of chicks they said they would be getting them starting the last week of February. I'd already decided that I wanted to get breeds of chickens that will lay a variety of egg colors. Not sure why but I love when I get a mix of browns, white, and blue or green eggs. Thinking we were only getting 15 chicks this week and 15 next week - depending on the breeds the store had available, I spent Thursday afternoon setting up my little makeshift brooder. When we got to TSC, much to my surprise,  there were nine different breeds of chicks there, including Ameraucana and Leghorns. So I could get all three colors of egg laying chicks TODAY!!! What?? that is not what were had in mind when we left the house, Hubby and I agreed to just get all of them today instead of splitting up the orders. Okay that's settled. Now which breeds besides the Ameraucana and Leghorns do I want? The options were Amber-link, Black sex-linked, Black Jersey Giant, and Isa Brown (all pullets) and there were also Buff Orpington, Barred Rock and Cornish Rock straight run chicks. Oh my! If you know me you know I have a hard time with snap decisions, I need time to think. While I was thinking Hubby wandered off to find some other things that we needed. When he came back I told him that I had decided to get 5 of each of the pullets. That would be the 30 we agreed on. But.... they have Orpington and I know we love that breed. Since we only have one rooster we decided it wouldn't be a bad thing if we ended up with at least a couple more so we got 5 of each of the Orpington and Barred Rock as well as the others... Yes, that is 40 baby chicks! When we left the house we had agree on 15 for today... oops. Needless to say, I had to revise the brooder when I got home. Instead of the little brooder box I had set up we had to use the small stock tank.
   The store also had ducklings and I didn't bring any of them home so I think I'm did good.

   

Craziness...

Almost four months, and you'd think I'd have something to write about... or not?
Wow. I don't even know where to begin, really.
Daisy had boy/girl twins on March 5th. *K* named the babies Dana and Dexter.

Bubbles had twin bucks the next day (March 6th) so in three days we had three sets of twins.

Of course both does had their babies at night so no good pictures or video could be taken right away. The lighting in the barn is horrible even in the daytime.

I bought *K* another copper satin doe rabbit to replace the one that died a few months before. Her name is Cindy. She is much larger now but this picture is from the day I bought her.

I bought another milk goat. Her name is Willow and she a half sister to Bubbles.

Then this happened on April 4th! Yeah, crazy, right? But such is life here in North Central Pennsylvania.

... and did I mention that this happened at some point? No, probably not! Kittens! They are cute but I really could have done without.

... and then there was more of this on April 9th...

We had baby bunnies!

The baby goats played in the yard...

Buttercup had a baby boy that *Z* named Buddy, on April 16th.

   So, as you can see there is a whole lot of nothing going on here. Oh, and we built more garden boxes and got the garden area fenced in. YAY! Sounds really nice but I still haven't gotten anything planted in the boxes.
   Life just isn't turning out the way I had planned it, so long ago. It has taken a detour recently. As much as I've always felt I am raising my boys alone, even with their father living here, it is real now. I've known it was coming for at least the last two to three years so it isn't too much of a shock. I can honestly say it doesn't feel much different because he was never present anyhow. He wasn't really interested in any of the projects I was working on or even anything the boys wanted to show him or do with him. Financially things are going to be a little more stressed until I figure something out, but that department has always been stressful anyhow. At least now I know I'm the only one who will be spending, so it'll be easier to save for something, instead of hoping that he didn't spend all of the money I was trying to set aside for something we needed. Its going to take some getting used to but we (the boys and I) will be okay. If any of you have any suggestion on things I can do to make money from home, please let me know.  

The full circle of life here on the farm today...

   This morning I started the day mentally preparing myself to send the last of our pigs to the butcher. All the other times that we've sent pigs to be processed, I haven't really thought too much about it because the intended purpose for raising those pigs was for meat. This time, we are sending two sows that we kept for the purpose of raising babies. The thought of eating them never crossed my mind until recently when our financial situation, unexpectedly, changed. Red is three years old and Peaches (out of Red's first litter) is one and a half years old. They were both really good moms and had big litters (13 to 16 piglets each), so my heart is heavy today as I prepared to send them off to be processed. Once they are loaded onto the trailer and off the property, I will be okay. I will enjoy the meat just as much as I have any other pigs we've raised.

Peaches sharing her last meal with the ducks and chickens.

   Soon after starting my morning chores my heart lightened a little because I realized that Shay (one of *Z*'s goats) was definitely in labor and we would have new babies in a few hours. 

Shay cleaning her new babies.

Shay cleaning her babies.

   Actually it didn't even take two hours. Within an hour of me noticing that she was in labor she delivered a set of twins. A buck and a doe.

   When it came time to load the pigs, Red decided she really didn't want to go for a ride. She squeezed through between the barn door and the trailer and went for a walk about!

Red on her last walk around the farm.

Yep there she goes back the other way!! I was half expecting to see *T* following along behind her with a bucket of feed...

   I was not helping but was told that Red did NOT want to get in that trailer, and it took quite a lot of convincing before she finally did get in.

 

Red finally on the trailer.

I guess Peaches wasn't nearly as hard to load.

Peaches on the trailer.

So, with the pigs on their way down the road, it is time to focus on the new additions. Meet Sage and Sarah!

Sage and Sarah - Shay's twins.

Thursday, October 1st.

There are days I get the feeling T thinks I've sat around doing basically nothing while he has been at work all day. Today I've decided to track my hours.... or at least attempt to.

6:20 a.m. - Alarm goes off.... of course I push the snooze button. Did you really think I was a 'jump out of bed on the first alarm' kind of girl? If so, you are so wrong!

6:30 a.m. - Wake up. Take a few minutes to get out of bed, let the dog out, & see if Z is awake.

6:50 a.m. - Go see if Z is awake & realize I should have come in a few minutes earlier. He is still sleeping pretty soundly! Ugh. I don't like mornings like this. The last few days he's been awake when I got up. I like those days better than having to force him out of bed.

7:10 a.m. - Z is finally on his feet and out of his room! Once he is up, getting him to get dressed and ready doesn't take long. Good thing because the bus will be here by 7:30. He likes to eat lunch at school so most mornings he wont eat anything here.

7:27 a.m. - Bus is here. K is out of bed and running out to tell Z “Good-bye” to which I have to reign him back in because he is in his underwear, no pants. As soon as he realizes it he hurries to shut the door “we don't want them seeing my undies”. No, K, we don't want them seeing you in your undies!

7:30 to 7:45 a.m. - K and I take the papers out to burn. Today is garbage pick up day, so we set that out by the road too. He is such a good helper – when he wants to be!

During the time we were taking garbage out the big trucks from Hoffman's Farm started coming in. Must be they are going to cut the corn in the field behind Mom's house this morning.

7:45 to 8:30 a.m. - Fed the dogs. turned the eggs that are in the incubator. Now it is time to feed the outside critters. We started with the quail then moved on to the rabbits. We had just started watering the rabbits who are penned outside the barn when K headed for the house saying he was cold. He had shorts and a long sleeve shirt on but that wasn't enough on a morning when its a damp 47°. He never did return to help me. When I got back into the house he was sitting at the counter eating a can of peaches that he had opened all by himself. I guess it only makes sense – If I have to feed the furred and feathered critters, the kidlet must be hungry too.

8:30 to 9:00 a.m. - Clean up all of the toys that are scattered around the house. Not sure how we didn't get to this last evening before bed, but that isn't anything unusual. Sweep the floors. Then go back over the living room and dining room floors with the vacuum. K points out how much more dirt went into the vacuum canister even though I had just swept a lot up with the broom. I explain – again – if he and his brother would take their shoes and boots off as soon as the come in from outside there wouldn't be as much dirt on our floors each day. I swear it is a challenge for them, every day. To see who can track in the most dirt and mud. No worries, boys, your dad has you beat - hands down!

9:00 a.m. - I sat down to have a cup of coffee and check my email....”Somehow” I ended up on Facebook.

9:25 a.m. - I realize the time and decided I better get moving. I still haven't eaten, but that can wait.

9:30 to 10:00 a.m. - I cleaned cat litter boxes while K started to empty the dishwasher. I don't remember what distracted me but I didn't get back to help K. Then all of the sudden I heard Whiskey (the outside dog) barking and I realize that I hadn't taken him out by the barn. I like to do that so he doesn't scare 'my extra kids' who are coming for the day and their mother. Whiskey normally likes everyone but for some reason does not like they kids' mom. He was barking because the other kids are here. I ended up just bringing him through the house and onto the back porch while for now.

10:15 a.m. - Its time for K to start getting ready for school. He is in the afternoon Pre-K class so my Mom will be coming to pick him up soon. She gives him a ride to school on the days that I watch the other kids.

10:40 a.m. - “K you need to get out of the tub. Its time to go”. Typical day. He doesn't want to get a bath but then once I get him in the tub he doesn't want to get out.
Get him out of the tub, start getting him dressed and … Oh NO! … I still haven't packed his lunch!.. I know, I've had all morning, what seems to be the problem? … I throw something together really quick while Mom is helping him get his socks, shoes and coat on.

10:50 a.m. - K and Mom are out the door. They have twenty minutes until he has to be at the school door. Good thing they only have three miles to go.

10:50 to 11:45 a.m. - I spent this time reading to, redirecting and playing with the 1, 2, & 3 year old kiddos.

11:45 a.m. - The three Littles were all so chilled out this morning, I was about to lose them all to naps so I decided I better start lunch before they all fall asleep. Normally we don't do lunch until around 12:30 but today they are all extra tired or something. The three year old sounds like she has a cold so maybe that is why she's tired today.

12:00 to 1 p.m. - Lunch for the kiddos. I folded a load of laundry while they were eating. Got them all down for naps. Cleaned up from lunch.

1 p.m. - I ate lunch and spent some time catching up on emails and a few bloggers who I follow.

1:30 p.m. - Got a package of burger (just delivered to us last night) from the freezer, for tonight's dinner. The beef was raised on my land. The owner has cows but no land, I have land and not enough animals to eat all of the grass. This works out well for all of us.
Changed out the laundry, and put a load of towels into the washer. How does a family of four use SO many towels and wash clothes?

1:45 p.m. - Started writing this blog post. There are hundreds of things I should be doing, other than this, right now but there are three sleeping kiddos in my house so … Shhh.
I did manage to finish the job that K had started.... I emptied the dishwasher and then refilled it.

3:00 p.m. - How is it possible that its time to wake up the Littles! The older kids will be home soon.

3:30ish - 7:00 p.m. - Three crazy hungry kids get off the bus.
The other kids were picked up.
I made dinner. Everyone ate dinner.
I had Z practice his spelling words for tomorrow's test then K and I went out to start feeding animals, while Z watched tv with his dad.
I still have not located the crested ducks that we let out of their pen last week. I saw them one or two times after letting them out. I'm not sure if my pekin male has chased them all off or if something has eaten them. While feeding the buck goats I see that there is a white duck sitting in the pasture, all by itself. I sent K to herd or carry it back. He was a little leery at first because I've been telling him all summer to never go in the pasture because the bulls were in there. The bulls were sent to freezer camp last week, but K forgot that and was like "Mom, the bull will come get me". Poor little guy. I had to remind him they were no longer here. But I'm glad he knew to question me. He ended up carrying the duck to the fence and I carried it the rest of the way back to it's pen. It is very thin. I don't think its been eating or drinking for a few days. We looked around but still can't see the rest of them. There were five crested, two pekin, a black and white Swedish, and a grey and white Swedish. Maybe they've become coyote dinner.
Just as K and I were finishing up chores we heard the coyotes start howling not far away (at the base of the hill) and K got scared and decided he was going in the house. I have to admit they give me the heebie-jeebies too.

7:00 to 7:35 p.m. -  Bedtime routine for Z and K.

7:45 p.m. - Remember the load of towels are still in the washer... guess I better empty the dryer and fold those clothes so I can dry the towels.

8:15 p.m. - Get a call from my mother saying she forgot she has an appoint and can't take K to school tomorrow. Now I have to figure out how I'm getting K to school tomorrow, or will he just stay home with me and the other kids for the day.

9:09 p.m. - Are you kidding me!?! The towels still have not made it into the dryer! I'm going to do that right now. As tired as I am I should go to bed, but anyone who knows me well, knows I'll still be awake a few hours from now.

If ever you have to fall ...

When I left the house to make my final rounds for the evening, to check the animals, I was not expecting what was to come in the next few minutes!

Let me just say, if ever there is a time when you have to fall, I mean like there is seriously no way of avoiding it kind of thing, pray for the following things...
#1. a soft landing!
#2 that no one is around to witness or more importantly... take pictures!
#3 that no other humans or animals are injured during your escapade!
#4 that you are NOT in the middle of a messy duck pen and right next to the plastic kiddie pool the ducks use as their pond.
#5 that the wind didn't blow hard enough at that one direction, today, to blow the pilot on the hot water tank out.
#6 that you have some really nice soap available to wash your smelly self with.

The same pool only more 'mud' around it, but not the actual ducks involved in this incident.

 

No, my friends, THAT is not really what I had in mind when I left the house two hours ago! I really thought it was going to be just a nice quiet little trek to the barn. Check to make sure everyone was in their proper pens and shut the doors, gates, etc. Come back in, and finish my evening routine.
Have you ever heard about those little things call 'the best laid plans'? Yeah, you got it, they rarely work out well for me either.

Oh, and as for the prayers being answered? Well....
#1 Answered.  I landed in a mixture of about two inches of slimy duck poo and mud. And as if that wasn't soft enough? My arm and elbow landed on the edge of the plastic pool which proceeded to empty all around me and make the ground a LOT softer, and slimier
It was a lot better landing than those rocks, that are scattered throughout the enclosure, would have been.
#2 Answered! Not a soul (except the ducks) in sight. And an added bonus ... it was completely dark outside... so not even my mother (who lives across the road) could have seen, even if she had been sitting at her dining room table. And honestly, I don't think the poor ducks saw much - if any - of the landing... they were too busy running for their lives. Which brings me to prayer #3.
#3 Answered! I somehow avoided any serious injury as did the ducks. I'm sure I'll be sore and maybe even a bit bruised tomorrow but hopefully not too worse for wear.
#4 Let me just say God has a really odd sense of humor some days! :)
#5 Answered! There was plenty of hot water when I got back to the house, so I could get a hot shower ASAP. Maybe I should also mention that everyone in the house was sleeping, so I didn't even have to worry about them seeing me in such a state.
#6 Answered! There hasn't been a shortage of nice smelling, skin loving, goat milk soap in my house since I learned the art of making handmade soaps about 14 years ago.