I milked a cow....

I milked a cow....and I liked it!

Don't tell the goats.

Public Service Annoucement #42

A word to the new chicken owners out there. If you find one or more of your hens like THIS:

Neither of these hens are harmed. They are just silly.

There is no need to run at her waving your arms and shrieking "HEN DOWN! HEN DOWN! MEDIC!!!!"

She's just fine... she's goosin' around in the sun trying to get the maximum sun exposure. They all do it. And if she is violently twitching all around... probably just a dust bath. Just go on about your business.. no need for alarm.

That is all.

This has been a Public Service Announcement by the Hysterical Hen Owners Association.

It's HOT - do you know where your sprinkler is?

Baby, its hot!  Do you know where your sprinkler is?  I do... 6:24am and its on the job.

The Meeps know how to cool off.... with a little swimmin' and a little divin'...

All Meeps in the water!
 

But wait.. didn't I just say not to put ducklings in the water?? Ah yes... but these are Meeps - goslings in the common tongue.. and for some reason they seem to be much more precocious...and they are bigger so they have more body mass to keep them warm.  And it was hot hot hot so no danger of getting chilled when the water is warm and the sun is hot. We took them back inside and put them under their lamp. They were thoroughly meeped out....and fell into a deep meep-sleep.

Stay cool! And get out there and get your sprinkler goin'!

Beans, Beez, Blueberries....and Meeps

Ah... summertime.... a few fun things from today....

Blueberries are ready...

Got our first basket of greenbeans...

The beez are doing great....

And I can't stop talkin' about the Meeps.

These are the 'captive' goslings we took from OD and his crew. The goslings were hatched very late and couldn't keep up with their earlier hatched brothers and sisters.... the last two almost died. So we sccooped them up, brought them in... and we are completely enchanted.

There is just something about geese. When I walk in and say "hey Meeps" they erupt into a heapin,' meepin,' squeakin,' mess of goofin' about. They might think I'm their mommy. Yikes! We took them out for barefootin' in the grass this afternoon. They loved it.

Happy summer everyone!

The Meep Army advances!

Honestly this has been the most ridiculous day and I'm TTTT (short hand my pal and I use to say we are Too Tired To Talk/Type) to explain it all. I"ll let the pictures tell most of the story.

In short, I started the day by digging a hole to China...and ended it with a baby goose rescue.

The Meep Army continued its invasion brandishing its weapons of cuteness and snuggle-ality. They slew us on every front. Seriously - look at this little face:

See how big they are! The baby turkeys were little puff balls but these guys are ginormous!

The little Roman tuft is killing me - how cute is that?

After the initial barrage of cuteness the other day, the Meep Army sent in its rear guard - those held back for the final crushing battle of adorableness.  This is their leader:

I refer to this noble foe as "Little Black Beak"

His cute vortex was the worst to repel.... resistance is futile! This late arrival showed up unexpectedly. Hidden like a Trojan Horse, he hatched out of an egg we thought had been cast out. Fearing he would be chilled as the rest of the enemy forces were out performing training maneuvers, we created an extraction strategy and went in under cover.

We were foiled as the adult geese saw thru our flimsy plot. They didn't buy our story that we were there to inspect the roof for a second. They attacked. We reformed the ranks, immediately creating the "testudo" or tortoise formation and... huh? What? You mean I'm the only Roman legion battle strategy nerd out there? For heavens sakes. 

We used a snow shovel as a shield and we crashed into the enemy lines. While they were distracted by the shield I reached under it and snatched up and took this little one prisoner to be interrogated later. 

He must have been a counter intell agent as he didn't reveal a word about the next wave of invaders...but I ended up giving away all of our plans. It was the little squeaky toy noises... I folded like a lawn chair.


The last assault was executed badly. This final troop arrived on the scene really late and had a hard time escaping his war pod (egg). Infra red revealed he was cool and weak. He must have been "black ops" as his own army disavowed all knowledge. We demanded the prisoner and found him in bad shape when we took him into custody. So I did what any decent farmer would do....


I put him in my bra. 

Ladies, I'm here to tell you that your bra is the best place for little creatures who need a warm up. Fellas, go and find your woman. You can explain a lot of things but not a goose in your briefs. I say no more about this. 


Back to our prisoner - we got him warmed up and he's drying under a warm light in the basement. The adults didn't want anything to do with him - probably because he was so late to hatch and the other babies are already up and around. We'll see if they will take him tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm swooning over the little lumpkins. 


And for some reason, I had a hard time doing the dishes today.....

I don't think any explanation would be adequate for this. 

More from the cuteness battle front tomorrow....

So many cute things....

 The Meeps on the move - so much toddlin' around today!

Today was sweltering. I was glad for this longest day just so I could get up and out early to get a few things done before the heat was too bad.  I finally packed it in at 3pm when I realized I hadn't eaten my second lunch. So I went in and had pie. And ice cream.  

I try to get the 'hard stuff' done in the early morning. Mostly I've been weeding and getting this and that done while I have a bit of a lull...which won't last but a day or two. But I couldn't hardly get much done today with all this cuteness going on! 

So little! What an adorable bit of fluff!

The Meep Attack has continued and we have 6 little fluffy goslings out there. To my admiration all four of the adults are taking care of the babies as a team. Several of the  little ones went and snuggled under Penny (who's eggs have not hatched) while Cindy Lou tended to the last of her eggs. Then OD and Junior (the ganders) took four of the six out to splash around in the upside down lid filled with water and to show them where to get some yums. They pecked at the chick feed and struggled with pulling up blades of grass - mostly they pulled themselves down. I could watch them all day. They had a lot of fun and nothing is cuter than a little gosling when she yawns.

We'll have to take up the rest of Cindy's eggs either tonite or tomorrow. Penny didn't sit down until about 4 days after Cindy so we will give her a few more days. Eventually the mommas will know the eggs won't make it.. or they just have to concentrate on the live, hatched chicks..and they will get off the nests. Cindy was up for most of the day - so we think she is done with the eggs. And she needs a clean nest for her babies.

Jungle poults - so much to see in the world

On top of that, I let Turkey Momma take the poults on walkabout in the front garden. They loved it and could enjoy the cool of the grass. The Whole Wide World was like a jungle to the little ones...and Turkey Momma was glad to get outside. Letting the poults out while they are this young is a risk - they don't have their immune systems built up...but it was so hot they needed a break.

But wait - there's more... the ducklings crammed into a tub and splashed around. They loved the splishin' and the splashin.'  They are almost all feathered out but they are still cute.

Rub-a-dub-dub, four ducks in a tub

When I finally quit for the day, one of our inside cats, Peeper, told me to relax.... so I followed her lead and we watched some shows online at hulu.

 Peep beats the heat by reclining her in favorite chair all day

The only one who wasn't cute..... was OD. This daddy gander wants to kill me now more than ever.... but I still love him. Very much.

I ain't gettin' near that.. but one day.. maybe one day....

OD, why can't you just accept my love and snuggle me!?!  He's so protective of the little ones that he actually attacked, with malice, a bale of straw. For heavens sakes.

Ready for the heat tomorrow?  Keep cool everyone!

What to do with all those thistles....

What's more fun that a barrel of monkeys?

A buncha goats and a wheelbarrow full of thistles!

Hey Vita! How's them thistles?

Everyone went hog wild when I rolled my trolley full of thistles into the goat yard. I just yanked the thistles out of the garden and it was pure pandemonium. While you shouldn't let them run wild, thistles are actually pretty good for your soil as the roots can go pretty deep...which loosens my bad soil and allows water to get deeper into the subsoil. 

And the best thing about this kind of "weed-n-feed"... its free, baby! Even if you don't have goats, your clucks will love just about anything you pull out of your garden. What they don't eat will get scratched up.. then just rake everything up and throw in the compost pile. Easy peasy!

Happy weeding everyone!