The Chickens are Restless...

We have been letting the chickens free range on the property. They don't wander very far from the coop. There have been some fights over the past few days and Aaron wondered if the pecking order is at stake. Some of the girls are looking like they've been through the ringer. I mean, on a good day the girls are not an attractive bunch- what with some missing tail feathers and others with bald spots. Some with both!

They really should have been slaughtered in the fall. At least, most of them should have been. But I don't have the right equipment and much less the time required to slaughter and prep 5 birds for the freezer. The previous owners said that if we just took them down to the creek and left them there overnight, the local wildlife would 'take care' of them for us. At the time that plan sounded too much like a warped Tarantino film of Hansel and Gretel on the farm. Though, since we don't have a cock and only hens, it would have to be "Gretel and Her Sisters: Death waits for no chicken". Or something silly like that because chickens are inherently silly. Aaron and I like to refer to them as our mini velocraptors- you get it? It's a play on Velociraptor…. and since chickens are decedents of dinosaurs… Well, anyway, we think it's funny. Perhaps you have to step in enough chicken poop to really appreciate that joke.

When you boil farming down to it's essence, it's really just about poop.

And now here are just some random photos. I hope these are not repeats:

A leopard slug in the garden. Can you see it? It's right in the middle of the photo.

My back porch all lit up for the holidays.

Carl napping on the roof of my truck.

Wiley likes to sit in the wet leaf pile. Sometimes he curls up to take a nap. Weirdo!

A Conspiracy Begins...

Update on Aquaponics

Aaron and I have been prepping the site we have chosen for our testing beds. We've had to dig up the existing plants- Canalillys is what they are. At least I think that's what they are and I'm not sure on the spelling. BUT! We did a ton of work to get the site prepped and now we are starting to install the structures that will be our grow beds. Here are a few photos to show the progress:

Towards the beginning of clearing the space next to the shed. That pile on the tarp are 1/2 of the canalillys that I cut down. After that, I had to dig up all the bulbs.

Here is an example of a canalilly bulb mass. The ground was mostly these bulbs.

The wheelbarrow about 1/2 full with canalilly bulbs. I ended up filling this wheelbarrow up so much that it was in danger of overflowing and Aaron had to come and wheel it away for me.

Aaron spreading the dirt in the area where the grow beds will go. We needed to get the space as flat as possible. We found some old railroad ties that served as a barrier and helped the ground we wanted to use stay level.

After a hard rain, we found out that the roof from the first part of the shed was leaking on the second part and if we didn't fix it, we would end up with water damage. So Aaron got right on fixing and caulking the first roof off and then installed this gutter for the second. (there are two sections to the shed- one is a worksop and the other is mostly storage for  the aquaponics system)

Wiley was a big help.

The gutter installed!

Once the gutter issue was addressed, we got sand and spread it out evenly on our grow site. We used a 2x4 with rope to smooth it down.

After the sand, we laid a weed mat over it to keep weeds from growing up from the ground and messing up the system structure. 

The first grow bed is built and placed where we want it. You can see in this photo that we have started building the second one. It's all finished as I write this, but I can't find the photo I took of it. 

So that's the story so far with the aquaponics system! We are very excited and I have chosen the vegetables to grow in our testing site:

1. Grape Tomatoes

2. Snap Peas

3. Pole Beans

4. Green Onions

5. Yellow Onions

6. Spinach

7. Collards

8. Chile Peppers 

We will grow at least 3 types of each. We don't want to pick a type and have it fail and think all of those kinds of vegetables would fail. 

I do have other news about the farm- just little random bits here and there. We had a big storm come through and it was scary at times. During the evening I was drinking as it got worse and worse. I started to worry about Carl, who wouldn't leave the porch. The wind was really strong and the rain was coming in sideways. I tried putting him in the barn but he wouldn't stay. So, (you know what's coming right?) I let him in the studio. ONLY for a short while till the storm blew over. But… now he thinks it's the place he needs to be and races in every chance he gets. Presently he's sleeping (and snoring) on the other side of this computer on my art table. Yeah, I relented. There is only so much sad kitty face I can take at my door- which, conveniently for him, is glass. He just sits there and watches me with the most distraught look on his face. He's NOT spending the night. Just hanging out for a bit and then I'll take him back to the barn. The other cats have not figured out what's up, and I hope they don't notice him sitting in my window watching them from above.

Wanda One Eye did notice that Carl came into the studio. She noticed because she's always on the porch like Carl is. So then she started begging to come in… along with Wiley who is always wanting to be wherever I am… unless there is a cat to chase.

I honestly don't know what to do about Carl. He is an older cat and if I had the extra cash I'd take him to a vet because I think he's got some injuries and issues. I wouldn't mind having an indoor cat but Wiley doesn't make it easy for him. (of course, because since when did Wiley make anything easy for ANYONE?) I guess when it's cold out I'm more of a sucker and tonight it's about 30 degrees. I'd really like to get the barn fixed up so that it's not drafty, but that's more expense. Perhaps Aaron can do it, but we are really trying to just focus on the aquaponics so I don't want to pull him away from that (since he does all the heavy lifting) just for working on my cat barn.

Any ideas?

Oh, and the last thing is that I did a silly drawing of Wanda surviving the big storm we had the other night:

She's not a white chicken, but I didn't have any beige pens.

So Many Activities!

I have no idea where to start so I'm just going to make a list of the things I could write about and then proceed to write about them.

1. Chairman Meow:

I adopted this sweet white kitten that I had met back during my aquaponics training program in September. He didn't turn out to be a mouser so Randy (the owner of Today's Green Acres) said he had to go. I brought him home with me and had his little furry balls snipped off! Muahahahahahaha! Aaron helped me name him Chairman Meow. Since none of our cats know their names, we figured what did it matter if they have silly names?

2. The drive to the farm Today's Green Acres in Alora, Tennessee with Aaron to pick up the aquaponics system that I won. Also on this drive we saw some really beautiful mountains. I'd show you a picture but Aaron didn't take any. He says, "They were very 'Bob Ross-esque' and Sarah would have enjoyed them if she hadn't been on the phone the whole time." Apparently the top part had snow on them and you could clearly see the snow line and it was cool.

3. Digging up a gas line with the tractor! (super fun times!) It didn't turn out as bad as it sounds.

4. Snake skeleton! I found one under the power line tower! It was weird! Wiley stepped on it.

5. The chickens continue their campaign for admittance to the yard to no avail. Their master plan has been (and I suspect will continue to be) trying to run out of the coop whenever I bring them treats and check for late eggs in the afternoon. They are not creatures that anyone would consider very intelligent. I'll be generous and just say that they are smart enough for being chickens. Lucky for them!

6. FOOD LION: A new Sunday morning tradition! We just wander around the store and enjoy the emptiness, the sideshow carnival music, and picking things up and putting them back because Food Lion doesn't have the organic yogurt I like. (Actually, in all honesty, I really love Food Lion. It's true, it doesn't have the vast selection of products that Kroger has; but it is always clean, relaxing, and the music is actually a lot of fun)

7. Carl… oh my dear sweet Carl. He lives on my porch. He moved up there when I did and I love him more and more every day. For those who remember my first cat, Spider, Carl is just like him but yellow.

8. Wanda One-Eye… she's making friends everywhere she goes! (That may or may not be a true statement, but what kind of blog post would this be if I didn't mention my special chicken girl?) Actually, Wanda has been having some mini adventures of her own but that's going to be a blog post unto itself. I have some great videos of her and some new photos.

9. Hilda…. Our fearless hunter! I have a hard time choosing between her and Carl when they are both on the porch wanting attention. She's always up for being held and loves snuggling and nuzzling her head on my shoulder.

Photo update

I will write an actual post either tonight or tomorrow, but for now, here are some photos.

One of the Guineas yesterday evening.

View of the studio from the upper hill last night.

The wood pile this morning. This is mostly from the tree that fell down just before I moved in.

Lucy in a field this morning.

The back of the red barn and what remains of the fallen tree. It will be carved into a bench eventually.

The Resurrection ( A.K.A. The Zombie Apocalypse)

Yesterday my parents came for a visit. My Mom and I were up at the chicken coop giving the girls some table scrap treats. She counted 8 chickens. I said 'no way' and counted 7 chickens. She counted 8 again and I counted 6… then 7 again and, well, eventually we came to the same number- 8.

So it seems either the zombie apocalypse is beginning here in Cookeville, Tennessee with MY elderly chickens or the hen that I thought was a hawk's breakfast is the messiah. This IS the South after all. 

Hawkstrike!

Doesn't "Hawkstrike" sound like a cheesy 80's movie?

We did have a hawk visit the farm today- in person! She (or he) was beautiful. Mostly white with black flecks all over. The story continues as follows:

It was late morning- or at least what I've started calling late morning- 9:30 AM. And I was gathering all the cardboard and other recyclables together for my weekly drop off. As I was walking up the hill from the main house to my truck, I heard the craziest squawks from the chickens. Sounds I've never heard before- honest panicked sounds. So I put down what I was carrying and start to trot up the hill past the studio to the chicken coop. Then the Guineas started going and I knew something was really wrong. I first checked the coop and roost and counted non in the coop and three inside the roost. Then I went to the run and counted just four. One hen was missing. As I was standing there trying to see if she was hiding behind something, the Guineas got more and more raucous. They were standing outside the chicken run, about halfway up. Honestly, they might as well have been yelling, "Hey! You! Human! Stupid! Come HERE! LOOK HERE! NOT THERE DUMMY! HERE!" So I ran up to where they were and came face to beak with a huge white and black hawk. The Guineas, having done their job, scurried away to some tall grass only to rise up in a chorus of panic once more when Wiley came galloping up the hill to see what all the fuss was about. (Of course this is after his requisite "How to Annoy the Cats Today" activity. And don't worry- he doesn't hurt them. They generally sit around and look down at him from high perches. They stare at him in unison from their various safe spots and adopt the general look of not believing a creature so unpleasant and loud would dare even to exist.)

Anyway, back to the story.

So there I was, face to beak as it were, with this beautiful bird. It looked at me for a few heartbeats before it casually flew off to one of the big trees that line our property; to the chagrin of some local bluejays and squirrels. It's wingspan had to be longer than mine. It was that big. I mean, if I had a wingspan. Which I don't. Ahem…. SO. I went back and double checked the chicken count and found that I was initially correct- we were down a hen. I'm not even upset. I feel very lucky and honored to have had the opportunity to come so close to such a beautiful bird. (The hawk, not the chicken- as lovely as she was as far as chickens go) And if she/he (back to referring to the hawk) were so hungry and needed an easy meal, I can't bring myself to begrudge her that meal.

Many New Things to Say

I couldn't think of a cute title for this one.

The first item of interest is that the other night we thought Wanda One Eye had been murdered! Well, I thought that. Aaron was not so dramatic. We discovered that she was missing as I left the main house and was headed up to the studio where I have now permanently moved to. I went to turn out the barn light and close her door and she was not there! So we grabbed our flashlights and looked all over the farm for her- I even had a scare for few minutes that the rest of the flock were also missing. When I shone the light in the roost, I couldn't see them at all. But when I actually opened the door to the roost and looked up, there they were! All 8 of them lined up wing to wing snug as bugs in a rug. That was a sigh of relief. But Wanda was still missing. As we were walking back down to the main house and I was resigning myself to saying farewell to my little chicken friend, Aaron shined his light under his Jeep and lo and behold! There she was! She was snuggled up next to one of the tires and totally asleep. I was so relieved! I went and collected my sleepy little friend and she made quiet little coos at me as I walked her back to her barn and set her into her nesting box. As a side note, she used to have an actual roost- a lovely limb from the fallen tree that was just the right size for her. But she didn't take to it when she was moved into this new space, so I figure why force her?

This behavior with Wanda is now becoming a nightly occurrence. The next night we found her under Aaron's truck again and the night after that I didn't even wait for her to find a place other than her barn. I just scooped her up as it started getting dark and I put her in there.

Tonight was the silliest. She came into the cat section of the barn while I was working in there and talking to Aaron. She started clucking and fussing under foot so much that I almost stepped on her. So, I picked her up and put her on one of the cat's perches. I put some dried mealworms down for her and finished talking to Aaron. Well, she wasn't hungry but quickly made herself at home and snuggled in for the night. Lucy, Carl's sister, was there too and wasn't sure what to make of this new creature. Lucy is a daytime cat. At night she's almost always in the barn. I never see her during the day but she's in the barn all night long. Anyway, the two sat together for quite a long time just regarding each other. Finally I could not stay and watch this meeting of the minds any longer and left them to their devices. I was not worried for Wanda's safety, for those of you wondering why I would leave a chicken (a clear food source) with the cat (a clear predator). The truth is that the cats could care less about the chickens. The chickens are all bigger than the cats with sharp pointy claws and beaks. And my cats may be many things, but fools they are not.

So there you have it! Thank you for reading!

The Magical Voyage of Carl the Pirate Cat

The latest news from the farm is that our resident Dude (a la The Big Lebowski), Carl, has recently taken a magical voyage as a pirate captain! I was able to take a photo before he shipped out:

Now, I know what you're probably thinking. You're probably thinking, "Hey! That's not a cat in a pirate ship! That's just a cat in a trough in a field!" And on the surface of it, you'd be totally correct. BUT! (Stay with me here-) what you cannot see is that Carl, like all cats, has the power to travel to other dimensions through time and space. And we humans being slovenly, loud, and more concerned with fruitless concepts like jobs and mortgages instead of much more (in the cat's worldview) important activities like licking our butts, napping in the sun, and, of course, traveling through space and time to other dimensions.

So, as you can now see, Carl is not actually staring at the bottom of that trough. In fact, this is just the beginning of an awesome adventure that will rival the greatest adventure stories of all time! With the power of his mind he is re-creating that trough into a pirate ship and the surrounding field into a vast, tumultuous ocean. And outfitting himself in a tiny pirate outfit which includes (of course) a tiny parrot that will sit on his shoulder and I suspect (knowing Carl) that he'll name it Snack-For-Later.

Upon his (no doubt) triumphant return I will relay the (no doubt) epic adventure.

Saying Hello and Goodbye

The reason I haven't posted in a while is this:

They look so calm and docile, don't they? But in reality they only look like this after a half hour of outdoor chaos. They don't yet know how to walk on a leash and they have the collective attention span of a gnat. Walking them is not actually walking them… they tend to either be running at full speed and pulling against the leashes like it's a personal challenge; or flinging themselves at each other, the guinea fowl, the leaves, Wiley, me, random sounds… you get the picture. They tangle themselves up in the leashes in nanoseconds and once I get one untangled, the other one is on the verge of breaking a leg trying to fling himself over his brother while somehow having gotten himself wrapped up in BOTH leashes.

It all sounds fun and cute when I write it, but there is a serious side to all this. I'll try to summarize. I posted on Facebook a few photos of the puppies announcing that Aaron and I had adopted them. In came all the obligatory Ooohs and Aaahs and "oh SOOO cute!"s. But there was one voice of reason and sanity in the crowd, my Aunt Rebecca. She has been working for the guide dogs for the blind in Northern California for decades now and has a degree in Animal Husbandry. (If I'm remembering that correctly) Anyway, the point is that she's got the experience, the expertise, and the insight to speak knowledgeably about raising dogs. She, along with her sister Shanti, were exceptionally helpful when Wiley's behavioral issues first started coming to the surface. Her comment on the Facebook feed was basically, 'yeah they're cute no doubt, but raising siblings is different and a challenge.' So when a pro like her says something like that, I sit up and start to do research. It took all of 5 minutes for me to read enough online to make me feel like a colossal idiot for not doing this simple research before. Or at least contacting Rebecca and saying, "Hey, you're a smart cookie! Whatcha think about this idea Aaron and I have?"

Well, the truth is that it's a foolish thing to try and raise siblings or even two puppies of the same age together in the same household. What concerns me the most is how these two pups will develop as adult dogs. Here's a quote I found on a trainer's website:

"Dogs MUST be allowed to develop as individuals.  At seven weeks of age, they are ready to look to the outside world for bonding and individuality.  They are ready to leave the pack and move on.  Pups at seven weeks bond easily to the human UNLESS they do not leave their litter.  Maintaining siblings from the same litter interferes with this transfer."

There is, of course, much more to it and I encourage you to do a simple google search on raising sibling  puppies together. The long and short of it is that I had to make the hard decision and re-home Sawyer. I could not ask my brother to re-home his dog Atticus. Plus, of the two puppies, Atticus is the more submissive one and I thought that would be a better fit in the long run for Wiley. I talked it over with Aaron and though neither of us liked the idea, we knew in our hearts that it was in the best interest for all three dogs. So we reached out to a friend who started helping us spread the word about needing a good home for Sawyer. We also decided that if a good home wasn't found quickly, we could take him back to the shelter where we knew he would not have to wait long to be adopted. A lot of people were interested but none could take him so we did end up having to take him back to the shelter. It was an extremely difficult day for me. I sobbed and sobbed and Aaron was stoic for me. The people at the shelter understood the dilemma and were not harsh or judgmental towards us. 

Atticus took it well. He whimpered when we got home and looked around like he was missing something but Aaron spent a lot of time playing with him and taking him for walks around the farm. Very quickly they have bonded and Atticus now only whimpers when he needs to be walked. I'm actually astounded at the transformation that Atticus has taken. Before, with his big brother, he was a meek shadow dog and I couldn't get a fix on his personality. Now we are really getting to know him and he's blossoming into a sweet, fun, inquisitive dog. He's great with Wiley- very respectful and idolizes him in a way. He wants whatever Wiley has and does what Wiley does. If Wiley lies down to sleep, so will Atticus! And the bond between Aaron and Atticus is getting so strong. Atticus likes me and is friendly and cuddly with me, but it's clear that Aaron is the center of his universe.

So that's the puppy story. It's a bittersweet one, but might have a double happy ending. We just heard from our friend Kathleen that someone was interested in Sawyer. Even though he's back at the shelter, we will do what we can to help this person adopt Sawyer. I just hope for them it's not too late. He's a wonderful dog and will be a loving member of any family who is lucky enough to get him.