*pin the tail on the donkey

" To carry his load without resting, not to be bothered by heat or cold and always content: these are the things we can learn from a donkey. "  - Irish Proverb

Earlier this year I shared some funny pictures of the donkeys that live on the neighboring property.   You remember, they had their winter coats on. Beautiful they were!

It is nearing the end of a hot summer now and I should give you an update on their latest attire.  The donkeys are all dressed for the season and soon they will surely starting putting on their winter coats so they will be ready when the temps are low.   So this one's for you Kathy (a requested updated)!

(the sun was out in full, so the photos are a little blown out.. sorry about that)

The donkeys can be quite vociferous but we welcome this around our parts since we have animals that need to have predators ran off. We don't actually have donkeys on our property but Mr. Sellers, our neighbor has (many) donkeys that travel the north, south and west sides of our property all the time.  Many folks have asked us if we are worried about foxes and other such predators getting to our chickens and possibly goats.  Since our property has an outer fence around the parameter and then we have an inner fence within our property as well as the constant presence of the donkeys, our answer is always no.   Did you know that a protective donkey has the wherewith all to stomp a dog to death. Yikes. We have to make sure that Frayja  never gets into their jurisdiction! 

One bit of trivia: Do you know where we get the game, "Pin the Tail on the Donkey"? Some donkeys are simply born without a tail, it is not specific to a breed, but simply something that happens.  And there you have it.. the game is born!

Sharing on Farmgirl Friday Bloghop!

*scenic Sunday

 

Around the barnyard on Sunday afternoon you might see these awesome creatures. Well, I think they are pretty awesome.  Meet Mr. Baggins, our other rooster. He is a Light Brahma and sports hairy legs.  Being an avid Hobbit fan, Eric dubbed him Mr. Baggins (aka Mr. Frodo), there ya have it!  Mr. Baggins was jealous that Husan got a bit of limelight here on the Kings Table, so I had to keep the peace and give him due attention as well.

If you have been following long enough, you will remember that both Husan and Mr. Frodo were supposed to be hens.   They are really a lovely addition to our flock! If you read Friday's post you know how I feel about our roosters. :)

Being a mother of two boys, with both being nearly grown and not having any younger ones around anymore.. I love this time. I just pretend this is my little girl and I sing praises while she sits with me.  She is so sweet.

Again, Goldie.  Her comb trips me out and I am often thinking of how cute she might look with a hair comb or velcro hair bow to hold her comb out of her eyes. I will keep you posted on that front.

So peaceful isn't she.  She is one of our three, Barred Rocks.  Some of our chickens have been given names and some not.  I find it hard to name three chickens that look almost identical - how do you keep them apart? Any tips from you fowl keepers?  I mean, I would love to give all of them names because I find that I give more attention to the ones we have named.  (OK. I realize they are just chickens)

Stay tuned for a post on the Donkeys coming soon!

*a life changing sound

Early this morning as I approached the barn to feed the animals, I heard this loud alerting crow of the rooster.  We have two you know, and this particular crow came from Husan.  Once I was finished feeding the rabbits and the Dairy Queens, I headed back to the house for the camera. I had decided that this would be a great morning to record some images of our varied flock.  It seems I ended up with my eye and heart on the roosters this morning.

Knowing the story of Peter and the rooster, it is  hard for me to not think of that lesson when I am in ear shot of the crowing roosters.  The rooster quickly reminds me of God's loving kindness - for it is what Christ spoke of the night in the Roman soldiers took him away.  He clearly spoke to Peter about his denial and the rooster crowing. It played out just as He has spoke it the night before.  Peter indeed did hear that life changing sound just after he denied his Lord on the the third time.  That sound, it was the rooster's crow that Jesus spoke of, that pricked Peter's heart and drew him to repentance.  So now, when I hear the rooster crow it reminds me of His loving kindness.

Do you remember a time (depending on your age, that is) when you would see weather vanes with roosters adorning as part of the design?  In the 9th century the pope decreed that all churches must display the symbol of a rooster to point to the biblical account in which Christ claims that “the cock shall not crow” until Peter had denounced him three times (Luke 22:34). This proclamation helped to spread the weather vanes throughout Europe during that time.  Many of the ecclesiastical roosters were later made into weather vanes, due to their prominence on high church steeples in towns, and thus the classic rooster weather vane was established.  I have always loved the look of the rooster weather vane, and I now have this in my "Wish List" on Amazon.

I share this today at Farmgirl Friday's Blog Hop.

*wordless Wednesday

*being brave for maintenance & HONEY giveaway!

We finally got the bee hive all taken care of for the approaching fall and coming winter months.  I knew it was not going to be fun due to the fact that I had some time ago, removed one of the frames from that center supra that I had to work in.

 Unsuspecting. Quiet on the home front. Happy. Content.  - This was the status before I got started changing the furniture around as it was inside their cozy hive.

 Once I took the supra off (which you see over to the right) the free standing comb they meticulously made stayed in place on top of queen excluder (the silver frame thing you see there).  Down below lie the queen, safe and sound.  I did not disturb the "hive" part of their home at all on this visit. I figured I was doing enough damage as it was.

One of the purposes of working the hive today was to remove the queen excluder so the bees can work their way through the hive for food in the winter. You see, the bees all sort of gather together and move in a mass to stay warm during the winter months. If the excluder stays in place this will inhibit the mass from moving easily to feed as needed during those lean times.  

I have carefully placed the supra back on top of the deep which is the area I allowed the queen to lay eggs this past season.   I did rob one more of the frames in the supra, so we got about 5 more pounds of honey. I replaced the full frame with an empty one, of which I feel sure they will have filled in no time.   Inside the supra you can see where the free formed honey comb fell when I lifted it up. What you see in the supra now is the last part, which I was NOT removing on this particular day. I figured I had changed the status of the hive enough already. 

 You can imagine that I did have some crazy buzz bys from several of the honey bees during the course of all that I had to accomplish on this visit to the Beehive. I escaped this particular visit with NO stings (again)! Woot!

Busy. Not missing a beat. Of course, if I had not disturbed them, they may have been working to a different beat.. not the clean up mode. 

 I did end up using my hive tool to remove this from the excluder so I could bring it in doors.  Upon doing this the comb broke more and honey, delicious amber colored hone, oozed from here and there.   These creations are amazing, they waste nothing.  They are busy cleaning up every little speck of the disturbed honey. I put an empty frame into the supra, perhaps they will store this in that frame.

Angry. Disgruntled. Confused. Sideswiped. Disturbed. - Status of the hive when I was done. 
I left the excluder out for them. The housekeeping staff would be out soon to take care of the mess.  We are again, thanking God for the harvest that He provided us with this year through the mouth of a honey bee.  Did you know they regurgitate on two different occasions during the honey making process? Anyway.

In keeping with THANKS, with gratitude, I will be giving away a jar full of raw honey with comb to one of you next Monday (August 29th).  Thanks to each of you who read our blog!


In order to qualify for the random drawing please leave a comment on this post anytime between now and next Monday, August 29th  and I'll announce the winner ( random drawing ) that following Tuesday morning.   If you would like two opportunities in the drawing FOLLOW my blog and post this on your blog to spread the word!  If you follow through Google Reader or receive this through a feed burner, please sign onto the blog and leave your comment in order to get an opportunity to win the pint of unprocessed raw honey!

This was shared at:
Farm Girl Friday Blog Hop
Farm Photo Friday
Show and Tell Friday

*all natural (well almost)

Me.  This was taken about a year ago. My hair was longer. Much longer.  And truth be told... Some time ago, I removed some lines in my face with the photo editor.  I no longer have the original and I do like this photo of me so I continue to use it. I probably like it  more without the lines than with, though, I am learning to embrace the whole of who I am more and more with each passing day!  I love my hair here.  I am far from that right now, however.

 This is me today. This photo reminds me of that childhood nursery rhyme, There was a Little Girl with a Curl....

Anyway- Here I am with my shorter hair in all its glory. Well, almost all of its glory. I do color my hair on a regular basis as I started graying right after high school.  I decided that here in Florida, at least this year while my bangs are short and not fitting in, that I would no longer fight the natural curl.  I did get my hair cut yesterday by a great stylist whom I think I shall keep!  I will be on the road to letting my hair grow back out, but for now this is what I am living with and pretty much loving it!

Have a great week!
Lynnie

*our dairy queens are doing great!

 Nefertiti, also know as Neffie is so loving and affectionate.  She has this way of demanding  your attention with  face.  She is notorious for lifting her long Roman nose up to sniff your breath or sniff your face. Nubians are know as being very social and vocal goats.

This is Cleopatra, also known as Cleo and I can never get any good pictures of her because she is my constant companion.  Stuck to me like glue. My side kick. A leach.  Upon picking her up in Alabama on that first day her personality was obvious and we knew that she was going to be trusting right away.  She took to me without reservation, which I , of course loved.  She is a talker, we will be walking towards the barn at feeding time and call out to them with a "maaa" sound and Cleo will call back, "maaa". It is quite entertaining. 

Bodica, also known as Bodie has grown so much since we first brought her to our humble little farm.  Both Neffie and Bodie were a bit cautious in letting any of us care for them in any way, except feeding of course.  Bodie is just as sweet as the other two dairy queens, but she does not like to put up with getting her hoofs trimmed.  She constantly nips me while I am trimming her. I am constantly correcting her with a firm "no" and a light tap on her head or side.  In the mean time, Cleo is right up in the middle trying to get my attention! 

 We left this dump wagon that attaches to our lawn mower in the barnyard one day and now it has become a permanent ornament as the goats love to hop in and out of it throughout the day as well as take naps in it.  I sometimes lay branches in it as well and they munch them up straight away!

Can't you just see her sweetness? 

Again, I was trying to get some sweet pictures of Cleo, but she was up in my grill. I tried to push her back just a bit so I could get a good view of her in my lens..but to no avail she kept forcing her way back to me.  So, I give you, Cleo (in this fashion). 

Nubian Goats are great for milking purposes (and are a dual purpose goat -meat), and great for the small homesteader or hobby farmer.  You need much less land than you would need if you were raising a cow.  The goats are MUCH easier to handle and manage than a cow - just think of the size comparison!  Your feed to production ratio is much better with a goat.  You are thinking, EW, goat milk!  If  you have ever drank goats milk from the grocer, you are not tasting true goat milk.  If you are interested in the WHY of our choice for Nubian (dairy) Goats as our sustainable source for milk instead of a dairy cow, check this out.

More and more families are starting to get back to the basics or you at least can read some hype on this subject. The decisions our family has made towards sustainability has nothing to do with a whim decision or a sudden concern for our future food source although it is a concern. My dear husband is a survivalist at heart. Much of this comes from his upbringing, who he is and some from his mode of operation in the military.  These things that you see our family taking part in at the present have always been at bay in his mind, the Lord has brought some of it to fruition and some are still on the planning board.  We are enjoying the land, working it (well most of the time), what it brings forth and the ability to share with others as well as store some for a later date.

I was just speaking with a lady last week who was inviting me to join in a co-op that will operate on the barter system.  I encourage you to start one in your area!  This is how they are going to work the barter co-op here: Each person will plant one crop in excess. It will be harvested by that person and the excess will be brought to the meeting place along with every one's excess crop harvest. Each member of the co-op will take what they desire with no money exchanged.  This is such an easy thing to do even with a small suburban lot. There are crops that can be planted year round providing you with many fresh veggies void any herbicides or pesticides for your family dinner table!  Start taking some of the food provision for your family into your own hands, you can do it!


I shared this today at Homestead Revival's Barn Hop! Come check it out!