Sleeping With One Eye Open

I find that I like routine.  I like things all laid out with no surprises.  You can settle in, knowing what to expect.  Every once in a while, things get shaken up and the routine takes a back seat to change.  The time change always throws me off-kilter.  This evening when I drove into the driveway, it was dark.  I grabbed my DeWalt 20v light and headed outside.

We capture rainwater in large catch basins in the back of the house.  When we have about 300 gallons of rainwater in containment, I'll turn off the water valve to the water trough and I'll carry 5 gallon buckets of rainwater to the trough until full.  Next, out to the barnyard.  Normally the animals are still eating grass in the pasture, but the new time has changed their routine as well.  They are pretty much tucked in for the night.  Let's take a look.  Maybe we won't disturb them too bad.

The hens are up on their roosts in the hen house.  Their poop is shoveled out once a year and used in the garden as fertilizer.  We wait a year, because chicken poop can be quite "hot" and can burn your plants.  One other thing that can be quite useful is the cobwebs that line the rafters and the ceiling.  Believe it or not, cobwebs can stop bleeding.  One time we had a heifer that was de-horned at the veterinarian's office.  Later that evening, she started bleeding - profusely.  We called the vet in the middle of the night, and he told us to find cobwebs and use in place of gauze.  It's been used since ancient times.  One of the reasons it works is that spider webs are full of Vitamin K, the blood-clotting vitamin.  It worked !

We always close the nesting boxes you see on the left side of the photo.  If you don't, some of the chickens will roost on top of the nesting boxes, filling the boxes with poop, making cleaning the eggs the next day a messy chore.

As I walked out of the hen-house, Annie and Buckwheat have settled in on some hay by the barn door.  Some other chickens have roosted on top of a carrying cage.  I was talking about routine earlier.  Animals are no different.  If I come out tomorrow night, those same chickens will be roosting atop the cage...

These same chickens will be roosting atop the woodpile...

I'm planning to burn this woodpile next week.  I'll remove the hens first, of course.

And these same hens will be atop the pile of bricks.  Do you always sleep on the same side of the bed?  Chickens do the same thing.

Clarabull has his own little place where he beds down at night.  This location was previously a big mud hole until we built a roof over the walkway and brought in loads of wood chips.  This area was once avoided and now it is a peaceful place of rest.

Luna, Clarabelle, and Rosie seem to like this spot.  We throw hay out of the window of the barn that they eat on.  Once finished, they tend to stay in this spot as there are fewer mosquitoes and flies that bother them here.  Of course they are in a routine, too.  They equate seeing me walking to the barn with feed and they mosey to the gate expecting to get fed again.  I hate to disappoint, but Tricia's already fed them.


It's hard work laying eggs and making milk, so I'll leave all the animals alone and let them get som shut-eye.  I'll head back indoors, eat supper, and do the same.

Fall Back...

Although the new time change gave us an extra hour of sleep on Saturday night, the shortened days have resulted in two downsides for us.  First thing is, by the time I get home from my "real job", it is already dark.  I have to take care of most of my chores by the light of a lantern, but some chores just get left undone until the weekend as it is just not practical to hold a lantern and work.  On weekends we like to get a late start and begin the farm chores at our own pace - a leisurely one.  Now, all the work that didn't get done during the week has piled up and must get done on the weekend.  First thing on Saturday morning it is staring me in the face urging me to get busy (sort of like Daisy's moo-ing to be milked).

The shorter days prohibit me from taking any pictures during the week.  This blog is sort of like a photo essay and it really helps me to slow down and think about what I'm doing and relish the each day and the lessons and experiences that each new day brings.  Below is a view from the our barn looking South as we were milking the cows.  It was a foggy morning and the neighbor's horses were walking underneath the live oak trees.


Foggy Horses

The second thing that I don't like about the shorter days is the effect that the reduction of daylight has on our hen's egg production.  This time of year egg production always drops off significantly due to the shorter days.  According to what I've learned, a hen requires at least 14 hours of daylight to stimulate their ovaries to release an egg.  It takes longer to accumulate the 14 hours during the fall and winter months.   Therefore, our "egg money" from customers who purchase our delicious eggs drops off directly proportional to the waning daylight.  Oh well, they need a rest too, I guess.  Here are the girls eating some rice while we milk.


Breakfast for the girls and roosters, too

I like to plant things in the garden so that the colors pop in the rows.  A feast for the eyes as well as the stomach, you might say.  Below you can see the lime green of Shangai Greens (bok choi) in the top row, bright green Black Seeded Simpson lettuce in the middle row and the deep red leaves of the Bull's Blood Beets in the near row.

Just ignore the weeds, please.  I'll get to those this weekend!

When heading back indoors, I heard the sound of loud French music being played.  I looked up to see a whole bunch of people on horseback, covered wagons, and horse-drawn buggies trotting in front of the house.  It was a trail ride!  They looked like they were having a good time.  The line of horses went on and on and they were led by a Sheriff's Deputy escort car.  The "caboose" was a flat-bed trailer with two Port-a-Potties on it, being pulled by a truck.  They were well prepared for all contingencies!


Ride 'em Cowboy!

Nice day for a trail ride!



Great weather for a trail ride

At the end of the day I wanted to show you some satsumas on one of our citrus trees that are ripening and should be ready for harvest.  These are a type of citrus that are also called tangerine or mandarin orange.  It is named after the Satsuma province in Japan, where they were first imported from.  We really like them as they are sweet. I've read that their sweetness intensifies after cold weather and a frost, so we might wait a while.

Ripening satsumas

I wish you could smell the blossoms on these trees in the Spring.  I don't know if there is a better fragrance on God's green earth.