Good Girl Gabby Glows

 Good news.

Gabby is no longer "broken".  No limping, right as rain for the time being.
The vet said we were on the right course with the poultice (thank you Fran from Crossroads Donkey Rescue) and were to continue.  The sad news is I had to pay $200 to find out if we had just stayed the course we would have been fine.

a happy face

Prior to getting our first snow, the word of the day was mud.  Everywhere.

The (early) snow helped with mud control but now we have the famous divots caused by muddy dips in the ground freezing.

St. Francis doesn't mind.

We got the last load of hay for the winter the weekend prior to the holiday.  Whew!  For a couple of geezers, getting a total of 60 bales was a bit strenuous.  Next year I'm prevailing upon the 35-year old youngster to come home from the other side of the state and help.

And to leave you with a smile, here's Sharone making his dinosaur vocalizations (sound up).

The Sagas Continue on the Teeny Tiny Farm

 It may be coming, sooner than we'd like.

The shootout at the OK Corral.

Pippi is in the full swing of roosterhood now, at six months of age, and Sharone isn't too pleased.  The hens aren't thrilled when Pippi decides to exert his manhood and usually squawk.  Sharone comes on the fly to check it out and tells Pips to back off.  I'm hoping it doesn't come to a real showdown when Pippi reaches a year in the spring.

I've probably said it before, but it stands repeating.  Sharone is the perfect roo.  Never bothers us, defends the girls, and is just plain handsome.

  Sharone in the middle, Pippi on the far left.

Yes, as usual donkey water always has, still is, and will forever  taste better than chicken water.

We're still treating the leg mites.  Amazingly it's working.  Rick holds while I slather on petroleum jelly and then dust with DE.  I'm actually seeing areas of nice pink legs.  Although some of the girls still have big "knots";  I have to wonder if they'll ever go away.  

Here's our process:  At 1:00 the girls gather in the porch waiting for free range time (oh yes, they know) so we try to let those who don't need treatment out.  Invariably some of the remaining girls wander into the run so then it's a matter of using a towel to herd everyone into the coop, quickly closing doors and shooing those who are left into the porch where its easier to catch them.  We do have it down to a science at this point.

We lost Stevie last Thursday.  If you remember she was the girl I took to the vet and treated for an infection.  I had been so pleased she seemed to make a recovery.

Little Stevie in 2022 when she first arrived with her buds

She was the last of the three white beauties

And then there's Gabby.  

When the soaking didn't seem to be working any longer, I checked with Fran at Crossroads Donkey Rescue and she suggested a poultice.  

After several days of no change, it was time to call the vet.  She's coming tomorrow.

Random farm scenes --

After a hard rain, the girls skirt Lake Luigi

Here's one of the famous wheelbarrow dumps.  It was quite full of manure, I walked away and upon my return found it tipped over with half the load on the ground.  In years past I could blame Luigi, now I don't know who the culprit was.  Balderdash!

When It Rains...

Hey teeny tiny farm gang
To be honest, I'm really beat and have to get up early tomorrow to work the election -- a loooong day.  So I'm going to sum this up relatively quickly.

It's been a week.

We went out of town for a long weekend the end of October and, of  course, Gabby came up lame again just before we left.  My farrier, who has known the donks for many years, said she'd swing by while we were gone and take a look.  Found nothing.  I asked the housesitter to keep soaking Gabs in the epsom salt water. When we returned she was looking good, and then she came up lame again... (wait for it) on the other foot.  Farrier out, but this time to trim.  A little heat but nothing else.  Again with the soaking.  Oh yea, and a terrifically weepy eye appeared with a tick on her eyelid.  Rick removed the tick, I gave her some warm compresses and waited a day to see if we needed a vet visit.  It cleared up nicely.

Farrier's advice --  just keep soaking.  

Round 1, after less than 5 minutes Gabs dumps the bucket.

Round 2, I set the bucket down to grab the halter and lead line and found Sugar drinking the epsom salt water.  A wee bit left.  Phooey, we're doing it anyway. 

A couple of days later I take a good look at one of the chicken's feet.  Crap crap crap.  Scaly leg mites.  Chicken feet should be smooth, not scaly and bumpy looking.  Keep looking.  Five of the six new hens are looking bad.  Could we have brought them home like this?  Could I have not noticed?  I'm guessing yes since our original crew look fine.  So now we're treating them.   For 2-3 weeks.

See a trend here?

To conclude here's Pippi (for whatever reason I now call him Pippi poops) showing off his newfound skills. 

Let's hope the election results do not decimate the country, AND, let's hope there are no more critter surprises.

Peace out.  

Are You Kidding me???

 It's happened all over again.

We now have another roo!  And it's Pippi!

I said to Rick a couple of weeks ago, do you suppose Pippi is a boy?  Based on his large size (hardly a pipsqueak anymore) and his feather features. Sure enough about a week later after morning chores, Rick came in and said you could be right.   Pips had been exploring crowing sounds.

OK, I just got six more girls so Sharone wouldn't be picking on one or two girls and now we've got another rooster!  Plus he's minorly aggressive with his ankle/foot pecking.

I just sent the Michigan Humane Society a message today, explaining the situation.  I asked if he (weird to refer to him as a boy) gets more aggressive or becomes antagonistic to Sharone, can he be returned to them.  Someone asked today if I wanted to try to rehome him through FB and I replied with an emphatic "no!"  Roosters are a dime a dozen and although he's getting annoying I don't want harm to come to him.  I don't think she understood my point of view...

Gabby Gets Owwie

 The saga began last Tuesday.  Gabby looked a bit off at breakfast but I wasn't terribly concerned.
Until later that afternoon.  She was head-bobbing lame.  Of course I picked her hoof and felt for heat.

Damn!

I talked to my farrier.  She suggested epsom salt soaks for a few days before calling the vet. 
Not knowing how cooperative Gabs would be, I dragged Rick out with me for the first soak.  Afterwards he was  able to pick her hoof better and out popped a stone.

Aha!  Stone bruise, not an abscess?

Keep soaking the farrier advised.
I kept at it through Friday and thought Gabby was walking close to normal.

And then we went out of town for the weekend.

I forewarned the house sitter she might be a bit off, but I did not ask her to continue the soaks.  Perhaps a mistake.

Last night upon our return when feeding at dusk she looked pretty owwie.  Well great.  So today I resume the soaking and she looks better.

What the heck!

I'll continue the soaking for the week.

Meet the New Girls!

 It's time to meet the new girls!

The transition was easier than I anticipated and they now follow the daily routine well -- let me knock on wood as I say that.  Well, I should clarify -- the first few minutes of togetherness was quite the hubbub.  Chest bumping (literally), much squawking and bully pecking, even from miss scaredy cat, Pippi!

Sharone has been in heaven from day 1.  More girls!
And because he has more girls to canoodle with, we've got better damage control, so to speak. 

Little Stevie's feathers are starting to grow back from Sharone's "harassment".  We're now at a good ratio with 10 hens to the big boy roo.

I've got names, but there's one I may need a little help with and would like your suggestions.

Let's start with Ethel (Merman).  So named as she was quite vocal early on.

Next we have Riley Rose.

But this is where I need help.  She's a little road runner, so I attempted to find two "R" names.  I started with Rhoda but wasn't happy with that.  Any suggestions?

Fluffy(2) is a beauty.  And this pic does not do her justice.

Fluffy, Olive, Ethel

Sharone, Olivia (Newton John),  Olive, and Ruby Dee(2)

I swear I almost called Olivia and Olive Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum, but didn't want to be disrespectful.  You've got to look at their backs carefully to tell them apart..  And the difference between Storm and Riley Rose is all in the tip of their tails as is with Ruby Dee and Henrietta.  Also I can tell Henrie because she's always in my face jumping for treats.

Let's get a better look at Ruby Dee.  Here she is with Ethel.

So, for this brief moment, all is right with the world.

The Newbies Arrive!!

 The gang of six has arrived!

Did I tell you the details?  I posted in a local chicken group that I was looking for 2-3 girls, breed not important.  Anna replied that she had six 3-year old girls (her entire flock) to re-home and she'd give them to me.  Now three years old is a bit past their "prime" but still plenty young to be with us for a while.  So I happily said OK!

They arrived on Friday and are segregated from our hellions in the same area Stevie was recently in. That's why I had to wait for Stevie to be integrated before I could pick up the newbies.  Anyway, of course, the girls were stressed for the first couple of days.

Here they huddled in a corner when I entered the coop.

   Aren't they beauties?

To be honest I'm not up on chicken breeds except for the basic couple so I'll need to do some checking on their heritages. 

In the last two days they have calmed a bit and don't cower when either Rick or I enter.  But we're waiting a few days to fully integrate them -- the thought of trying to corral them after free range time is a bit scary.

I must say Sharone is very  interested and talks to them frequently.

I'm still working on names so if you have any suggestions, toss them out.

 

Stevie Responds to Meds

 So much to tell so I'd better get to it.

We took a mini-vacation just before Labor Day and wandered up to Mackinac City. 

See the tip of the middle finger, just south of Mackinac Island?  That's where we were.
You non-Michiganians may not be familiar with the Bridge connecting the two peninsulas of our beautiful state.

And then we turned east and stayed on Lake Huron.  Fabulous.

However, the news is not all roses.
Nowadays we hire a house/critter sitter to take care of all the menagerie and I left sick Clara in her hands.  She died while we were gone.

Upon our return Stevie started showing signs of illness.  What the double heck??

I only have three chicken vet names in "the area" (all just under an hour away) so I called one and was told, we're leaving the office soon, how quickly can you get here.  Stevie and I drove as quickly as possible to the vet clinic where she was diagnosed with an infection delicately described as "in her reproductive area".  She's on antibiotics and segregated from the other girls.  I was told she'd have a 50/50 chance of recovery, but the good news is she's definitely improving.

However I was not particularly impressed with this vet.  One example:  I was asked what I'm feeding the girls and I stated Kalmbach organic.  Oh, no no no, not a good idea, it's not nutritious because it's organic.

What?!

Just one example of things that were a red flag for me. (home remedies were poo-poohed -- I've seen them work).

BUT, Stevie is getting better.

Note: I actually called the feed store the next day and asked if they'd ever heard of such a thing.  Of course they said no and suggested I call Kalmbach directly.  I ended up speaking to a Ph.D. nutritionist at the company and feel assured the chickens are getting their nutritional needs met.

I do need more girls to fill out the ratio of Sharone to hens and have found a woman who is disbanding her flock and will give me her six 3-year olds.  However, I have to wait until Stevie is no longer segregated so I can give the new girls their own probationary space.

Hopefully more on that to come soon.  :) 

Chicken Antics and Ailments

 After publishing the last post, Henrietta not so kindly reminded me she is not two years old, but is three. 

I stand corrected.

A couple of days after I refreshed one of the nesting boxes with new shavings, the little devil sat there and carefully plucked pieces of shavings out and threw them over her shoulder to the ground.  Now that's a new one around here.  Leave it to Henrie!

 
Pippi is getting big, matching the other girls in size.  But her bravado does not match her size. 

And now for the bad news.
Clara is sick and I've tried all the tricks in my bag.  I've wormed her, re-established  ACV in one of the waterers, put DE in the feed, given her an epsom salt soak, dusted DE under her wings for mites, and most recently given her three doses of colloidal silver (anti-bacterial).  This last trick came from the moderator of a local chicken group who has had chickens for 30 years.  Nothing seems to have an effect.
She's lethargic, moves slowly and rests while the other girls are frolicking during free range time.
But her comb is a nice bright red.
Louise -- any ideas?
I'm stumped.

. And to make matters worse, we're going on a mini-vacation and I'm leaving Clara in the hands of the housesitter.  A wonderful housesitter, but...

Spotlight on Henrietta

 At this point in our little flock, Henrietta is top dog when it comes to seniority -- at only two years of age.

She was a three month old when she came home to live with us from the local feed store.

I would have said she was the biggest bully in the group but seeing the others interact with Pippi, I'm not sure.

I do know she is the first to ask for breakfast in the morning.  While I clean up donkey poo, the girls get to free range for a bit and Henrie is always the first to return to the coop and stand at the feeder, waiting.  If I'm in the middle of other chores in the coop, I bow to her request and get breakfast served up pronto.

I think she knows her name, although I'm more sure Sharone and Pippi know theirs.

 Henrietta fooling around in the hay aisle

Last month I found  6 eggs tucked away in a nicely made straw nest in the hay aisle.  Although not Henrie's handiwork, she felt compelled to join the trend.

Here's a quick clip to show off Pippi's gorgeous coloring.
By the way, she is turning into a little ankle nipper and I'm not sure how to cure her of this.  It hurts!

On a final note, the donkeys leisurely stroll to breakfast, as we all should, I guess.  

We've Moved To Blogger? and a brief Pippi update

 I'm keeping this short.

It's been two weeks since I posted and in that time, Blogpost (the hosting site I used) morphed into Blogger.  I tried repeated to access the blog and finally today I think I'm in.  I think.

I'll post just a smidge and your job is to tell me if it's public/available/accessible.

The big news is Pippi was integrated into the flock last Saturday evening when everyone was in bed and settled for the night.  I simply opened the yellow door separating the two coop areas.  There have been scuffles - the only non-bullies are Sharone (in fact one of his jobs is to break up squabbles) and Clara.  It's slow but progress is being made.  She doesn't skitter away every time one of the big girls looks at her (a slight exaggeration).  And in fact they have roosted together, although not every night.

Pips is the only one sitting, 2nd from left

In order l-r: Clara, Pippi, Storm, Sharone

I'm going to leave it at that for the moment, EXCEPT to say Miss Pippi has turned into a helamonster for Grubblies (Grubblies are oven-dried black soldier fly grubs),  Like mealworms, but not.  In the morning she is literally under my feet for every step and pecking at my shoes until she gets her treats.  She is a bit obsessed.

Dingbat Donkeys

What an odd sight awaited me yesterday morning when I approached the gate for morning feed.
Three dingbat donkeys were napping -- before breakfast!

I'm actually not sure I've ever seen them do that before.  It was odd.

And then we have the episode where I thought little donkey feet were going to step all over me.  No, I was not happy.  Let's not forget they're 300# or so.

I have always thought Gabby to be my beauty girl.  To my eyes, her looks are striking.

 The shape of her face, her coloring, her markings.  I've thought all the donkeys -- Luigi, Francesca, Alice, Sugar, Spice were/are winning in their own way.  But Gabariella is my beauty girl. 

I Am Smitten!

 On July 5, little Pippi joined the wonderful(?) world of our teeny tiny farm.

She was picked up by the Michigan Humane Society, apparently wandering the side of the road.  They estimate her age to be two months and she's such a little thing we're wondering if she's a bantam.  They named her Pippi because she's a pipsqueak.

When I picked her up from MHS the staff person put his hand out, as you would for a parakeet and she climbed on, after which he took his hand to his shoulder and she hopped off.  I tried it too. 

She chatters all the time in a soft voice.  Except when she's provoked by one of the big girls.

She's been with us over a week and she's been kept segregated with the usual screened division in the coop so the big girls (+Sharone) and she can see, smell and talk with each other.  When the big girls went out for free range there was some fresh air visiting.

Last weekend I let her out to free range for an hour each day.

 Oh my, what a grand time she had.  And how hard to get her back in!  It can be difficult to sneak in, grab her and get her back to her side of the coop without having the thundering herd come running to investigate.  And I'm not referring to the donkeys!

Heat Abates But Flies Have Not

 Here in Michigan, the heat wave lingered a long week as it did in the rest of the country.   Although certainly not to the degree as in the west.  As you might guess, the animals suffered more than we did.  Although surprisingly the chickens didn't seem too affected.  Perhaps because we didn't reach mid-90's.  And we do have big windows.  And had fans going constantly.  To assist the chickadees I served up frozen blueberries

and electrolytes.

The donks preferred the barn much of the time with the fan going full blast 24/7.  Not only did that provide a bit of relief from the temps but also a bit of relief from the flies.  And they are brutal.

Don't know if I've mentioned, everything is happening about a month early.  The pasture opened a month early, the flies arrived in force a month early, shedding started a month early.  Gabs has her sexy summer look and usually she isn't this sleek until mid July.,

This girl sums up the state of affairs last week (seen from the kitchen window).

In other news, Clara adjusted to her saddle pad nicely.

I was a bit worried the heat would affect her more than the other girls, but that did not seem to be the case.  So the question is, will those back feathers grow back when they all molt in the fall.

I am puzzled as to why people seem to find Sharone's name so hard to remember.  You'll remember she was Sharona when she arrived last July.  That name was chosen for two reasons -- the character in the TV series "Monk" and the song by The Knack.  I just changed the 'a' to an 'e' when we discovered his true identity.

And JoannieLu is still acting wonky.  Perhaps it's time to try another pain remedy now that the weather is "normal".  There's no way I would have subjected her to the stress of catching her and applying the essential oil during the high temps.

Here's a fun thing we tried with a neighbor/egg customer.  I suggested we barter eggs for homemade strawberry jam.  She agreed so she has been supplied with three dozen eggs while we got a quart of gorgeous jam and some homemade bagels.  What a deal for both of us!

To conclude let's get a short lesson in donkey tail action.  Sometimes when non equine folks meet the donks they think tail wagging is similar to dogs - a sign of friendliness or happiness. 
Au contraire mon frere. 
It can be a warning sign of  displeasure or, this time of year, it's a fly swisher.  And those tails have been going nonstop lately.

 Stay cool my friends.

Heartbreaking Scene With the Donkeys

 Two days ago, a little before 4:30, I heard the donkeys making a very odd sound.  After all these years around the beasts I know the hungry, angry, scared sounds.  But this one was new.  

Then I heard it again.
I went out to investigate.

As I approached the gate I saw the donkeys (not sure if it was two or all three) alternatively shaking and head nudging something.  To my horror I realized it was a fawn.  Earlier in the day Rick had seen mom and baby in the driveway.  

I have never seen the donks behave this way.  They were totally absorbed, focus intense.  
Clearly the baby was dead.
I quickly walked back to the house to get Rick.

When we arrived back at the donkey yard, we saw the same behavior.  Rick approached and I warned him to be careful; would the donkeys be aggressive to us?  He was able to get them to back away and he scooped up the deer.  Rick laid it out in the field behind the pasture so mama could find it.

Clearly they saw the baby as a predator and that instinctive protective behavior kicked in.  But damn!

Yes, I yelled at them.  And yes I know it was pointless.  But it was a purely emotional response.

What we don't understand is how the baby got into the yard.  The only way was over the four foot fence.  I would not have thought such small a fawn could have leapt so high.

Definitely new territory with the three beasts.   

  

Managing Chicken Pain

If I'm not in a hurry, morning breakfast with the chonkeys is one of my favorite times with the critters.
Hens will come trouncing back into the coop telling me they're hungry and then they really attend to their meal with gusto.

And who could not find the slow methodical donkey chewing peaceful.

What I didn't mention last post is JoannieLu's behavior is a bit off.  When the girls gladly fly out into the pasture for free range time, she often hangs out in the barn alone.  Or I'll find her in a corner of the coop.

But she doesn't act lethargic.  She's eating, although won't get in and scrabble for treats as the other girls do.
Lo and behold I was flipping through the recent chicken magazine yesterday during a car ride and  skimmed an article on pain management.

It specifically mentioned signs of pain as isolation and standing in a corner or staying inside during the day where it's safe.  One of the suggested plans of action is to combine a couple of drops of lavender essential oil in a carrier oil and administering to feet and legs.

So that's what we did today.

Other options cited are using clove oil or arnica, both items in my tool box.  

Let's see if we can get JoannieLu feeling better!

DIY Donkey Waterfall

 The donkey water trough.  Debris can float at the top and gather at the bottom. So from time to time we don't fill it every day and allow the water level to lower so it can be dumped, scrubbed and refilled.  Even if the level is low when dumped, a lot of water spills into the yard.  And the chickens like to paddle around in it, drinking from the puddles.  

So much better than their clean waterer.  Of course, when it comes time to fill the trough, one tends to turn on the hose and continue chores in the vicinity.  Time and again we miscalculate.  And our cup runneth over.

At one time I wanted to create a flow of water down the small hill at the side of our house to a small pond.  I guess this donkey waterfall will have to suffice.

Let's turn to Sharone, the rooster, for a moment.  He does not find it necessary to awaken the world at daybreak (there is a god), but when he hears (human) voices approaching for morning chores he begins to sing his song.

I always thank him for his music.  Such a good boy.

Changing subjects, how many of you have seen the quite cute videos of people giving their dogs a spa day.  Often this includes the dog on its back getting paws oiled, massaged, and lotioned.  Our vet was out recently so I asked about this.  His quick response was "don't do it".  You want your dog's paws to be tough so running or walking on rough surfaces isn't painful.  So there you have it.  Don't do your dog a disservice by duplicating the cute videos.

I'm thinking it might be fun to incorporate a "What are you reading/watching" section if readers would participate.  Let's give it a whirl.  I'll start.

I just finished "The West Wing".  Shown on network television 1999-2006.
I loved (almost) every minute.
Created by Aaron Sorkin (he also wrote the first 3-4 seasons) with a wonderful cast (Martin Sheen, Bradley Whitford, Allison Janney, John Spencer), intriguing storylines, and sensational opening and closing musical themes.  Sorkin also created "Newsroom" with Jeff Daniels.  I have watched that one twice and may go for a third time.  I find it that good.
I did find I had to get DVD copies of The West Wing from the library as the streaming service that offered it wanted to charge me a fee in addition to the monthly fee I was paying. No thank you.
I think I would definitely put The West Wing in my top 10 best TV shows.

I'm also watching Northern Exposure (1990-95) on Netflix.  I'd give that a Very Good rating. 
And finally let me throw in The Vicar of Dibley (1994-2000, but only 3 seasons).  British and always made me smile.  The characters were so eccentric but endearing.  I really wanted more after the last episode.

 So let's hear what your thoughts are on an outstanding show, not just good but outstanding.  

* * * * * * Vegan Delights * * * * * *

Like a thick and creamy pudding.  And oh so good.

 

This and That On the Teeny Tiny Farm

What an odd spring.

Donkeys have been out on pasture since the beginning of the month -- unheard of so early.  Usually the grass isn't ready until late May.  The donkeys aren't bothered by the odd timing, they couldn't be happier.

And today I actually turned on the fans for both the donks and the hens.  To be honest, between you and me, when I powered up the little fan in the coop a cloud of dust to rival the dustbowl flew into the new coop.  Don't worry, I timed it so everyone was out in the run.

A couple of days ago as I walked down the driveway to feed breakfast to the donks, I readied my phone for a video to catch the blast of noise from the three girls - I was 10 minutes late and had heard them yelling at me from inside the house.  Of course, Gabby was a tenth as loud as normal, but you can get a taste.

Let me tell you about Gigi girl.  A couple of weeks ago I saw the early signs of lethargy.  So Rick and I sprang into action and started a 3-day worming regime.  Shortly after she was right as rain.  That's Gig in front.

I'm low on chicken wormer so called our dog vet to see if by any chance I could get some from him.  That started a lengthy discussion about different wormers, how they tackle worms, AND, some info on the so-called chicken vet I went to a couple of years ago.  Let's just say I shan't be returning to him.  Which means now I have no chicken vet closer than an hour's drive.

Anyway, I'm missing my Sweet Pea and am hoping Gigi can become my buddy.

Thanks to friend J2, I have had a radio in the coop and go in spurts in turning it on for the girls.  Most often we listen to news and music during morning chores.

Oddly enough I don't get much feedback from them as to station preference..

A couple of posts ago I mentioned the turkey buddies who usually are gobbling in the vicinity when I wake up.  I spoke to a neighbor recently who lives two properties away and she said the turkeys come up to the back of their house and peck on the patio door.  As much as I delight in them, she wasn't nearly as enthused.  But she loves hearing the donkeys!

I know you're here to read about the adorable(?) little chonkeys but I must step up on my soapbox for a brief moment.  My pet peeve for some time has arisen again.  Please please please do not wear your "I'm so busy" status as a badge of honor.  Really doesn't cut it with me.  I'm not impressed.

Now I'll leave you with pathetic little donkey faces peeking out of the barn witnessing the rain.

   
    

It Sucks To Be a Chicken

 One of the books I'm delving into this week.

Let me give you a taste of one of the early pages:

Today, there's never been a worse time to be a chicken. Chickens on industrial farms live their lives in cramped cages or perhaps in cage-free facilities, stuffed together on a dusty floor where at least they can spread their wings.  The Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, passed in 1958, requires all animals be "rendered insensible to pain" before being shackled or killed -- all animals except for poultry.

The poultry industry, the dairy industry, the pork industry, the beef industry -- all inhumane.  It's all about the money.  Of course.

At least these seven beauties get to forage in manure and grass -- a taste delight.

As last week's post took a brief look at our inside life, so it goes this week.

Let's take a peek at afternoon naps --

As it happens, morning and evening naps look quite similar.

Turkeys, Orchids, and Eggplant

 Almost every morning, I awaken to the sound of our local flock of turkeys.  I can hear them whether the windows are open or not.  Generally around 6:15 or 6:30 this time of year.  I consider them my morning greeters, although I do not leap out of bed to greet them.  Very occasionally we see them in the back  "yard" wandering through the brush. 

Thankfully most of the time they are outside of the fence, but there's that small percentage of occasions when they've flown inside and we must shoo them out so the dogs can be let out.

Turning briefly to the house interior, my oldest orchid is blooming again!  I don't believe it's ever bloomed two years in a row.  As of today only two blooms have not yet opened.

Don't be fooled into thinking mornings with the donkeys are all excitement and glamour.  On a recent morning when I let them into the compound to wander while I was doing chores, they were as slow as molasses.  Watching this little clip will definitely slow your pulse.

 On the other hand, one can always count on Sharone for a rousing morning greeting.  In fact, usually there are several.

I'm contemplating whether to add two or three hens to the flock.  I've been advised I have a rather small flock for one rooster.  More girls means he doesn't continually pick on the same girls.  No, I haven't conferred with him on this decision. 

*  *  *  *  *  * Vegan Delights *  *  *  *  *  * 

This is a Trader Joe gem.  Before I opened the can I had intended to whip up some rice to accompany it, but I ended up eating the whole thing before the rice came out of the cupboard.  

Scrumptious!

Three Donkeys in a Snowy Spring

 Three days ago spring was abruptly ripped from us and we returned to winter... with a snow dump and moderately cold temps.

Here's what Friday's lunch looked like.

And I've never seen curvy icicles...

Thankfully since Friday 95% of the snow has melted and today we topped out at 58 degrees.  Yippee!

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Passing on a lemon curd recipe for Vitamix blenders.  If you own one and like lemon, this is the best.  I have to stop myself from just eating it out of the dish.  Not vegan because you use eggs, but you can easily sub a vegan butter (I used Earth Balance).

Vitamix Lemon Curd

It's amazingly easy and quick.  

As one cook stated, "Here’s the trick of using the Vitamix– a high speed blender heats the lemon curd ingredients to a safe temperature for eating. You CANNOT use a basic blender to accomplish the same goal. It simply won’t “cook” the eggs to a high enough temperature for safe eating."

I've schmeared it on english muffins, toast, and pound cake.