Bye bye duckies...

It's been a rough time this Spring for my ducks. We lost Ducky to old age, the drakes drowned their brother Rowan (pictured in the pool above) and last week during my brief time home between trips we lost little Ping (the other duck in the photo). Don found Ping half eaten up in the big Sweet Gum tree in the chicken/duck pen. She was only two years old and we suspect a coon got her.

When the drakes drowned Rowan Don insisted we get rid of them, so I listed Puddles and Mr. Bean (AKA Mr. Mean) on Craigslist. A couple days ago I got a response and will be taking them to their new owner tomorrow. In exchange I will be bringing home a five month old rooster that looks a lot like our dearly departed Strayhorn. The owner assures me that, so far, the rooster is quite docile. Her five-year-old daughter plays with their chickens and the rooster eats out of her hand. Since she is in Olive Branch, MS I've decided to name him Oliver. I guess his last name will be Branch!

I do hope Aunt Bernice and Aunt Bertha, the hens, will warm up to Oliver quickly. For a few weeks he will be penned next to them so everyone can get acquainted. Then we'll see how they do together. I will most definitely miss the ducks and hope to get more in the future...just no drakes though! We really enjoy duck eggs...actually prefer them to chicken eggs, so I'm sure there will be more ducks in our future here on Hickahala Ranch.

Until then I have something else to keep me busy...three pygmy goats! I'm picking them up tomorrow afternoon so you know what tomorrow's blog will be about...Obi, Juan and Kenobi!

Killer ducks!

That's right...two of the ducks pictured above are cold blooded killers! The big white one with his head under the water (Puddles) and the dark brown one next to him (Mr. Bean...alias Mr. Mean) committed murder by drowning last night. Don found poor Rowan drowned in the duck pool this morning. Since we keep the drakes in a separate pen, there is no one else to blame for this heinous crime.

Last night's incident leads us to believe that it was Puddles and Mr. Bean (Mean) who jumped Strayhorn and brutalized the poor rooster so badly he wasn't able to recover. Rowan didn't have a chance last night and now we are left with our least favorite foul fowls!

Rowan is now buried at the garden next to Strayhorn and I told Don I didn't want any more male birds. Don, however, wants another rooster. He misses the crowing...says it makes the place feel more like a farm with a rooster crowing. I just hope we find another nice rooster, but I never want any more drakes!

Rest in peace handsome Rowan. You were never a nuisance and that's a quality I admire in a duck...or a neighbor...or...

Farewell feathered friends...

I'm back...again! Don was on vacation last week and I didn't get to post. We had our hands full trying to get the garden planted and taking care of Strayhorn, the injured rooster. We managed to get 48 potato starts planted, two patches of corn, four peppers (two each of two different varieties), green beans and cucumbers. Don also did a lot of mowing and bush-hogging and I did a lot of running in circles!

Sadly, our efforts to save Strayhorn were in vain. He died yesterday and is now buried out at the garden. He will be missed, especially by Don and I. We'll miss his gentle nature...a blessing after the last evil rooster we had (who should have been named Diablo instead of Randy)! We'll miss Strayhorn's afternoon crowing and the soft way he would chide the hens in the evening as he urged them to head for the roost.

I don't know when, or even if, we'll get another rooster. I fear we won't be as lucky as we were with Strayhorn, who didn't have a mean streak like most roosters do. If karma decides we need another one, I'm sure we'll take it in and give it a home.

On another sad note, our duck, Ducky, also died on Mother's Day. I'd noticed Saturday evening when I was feeding the ducks and chickens that Ducky was not herself. She was lying down next to the hutch and didn't come to eat. Normally, she would have been all excited hoping I'd brought fish. Don stood her up, but she just laid back down.  Sunday morning Don went out to check on her and found Ducky with her head tucked like she was just sleeping. The other female duck, Ping, was lying next to Ducky.

She was getting old, we've had her almost eight years, so it wasn't a huge surprise, but we will also miss Ducky very much. She was our first duck and had more character and charm than a lot of people! Don loved the way Ducky would "talk" to us, especially if we had the blue bucket with fish in it, and the way she would wag her tail when she was excited.

So it goes on the farm. It's never easy to say farewell, but we know it is a part of life and accept that there will be farewells...sadness along with the joy that our feathered friends bring us.

Miss me?

I'm baack! Never did I intend to be away for such a long time, my intention was to take a break through the holidays. However, life had other plans for me!

On February 18, 2012 my precious new grand baby arrived early...five weeks early! Her name is Bellatriks Coraline and she is just the cutest thing, as you can see in the photo above. There were some problems and I ended up staying with my son, daughter-in-law and new grand baby for three weeks. All is well now and little Coraline is growing at much to rapid a pace. I'm missing her something fierce and am looking forward to seeing her again the end of the month.

My daughter has had some scary health issues and I've been worried sick, but it appears that she is going to be okay. She sees her doctor Tuesday to get finalized results from her last test and they will discuss any further treatment that might be necessary. It is such a relief to know preliminary results were good that I've felt like the weight of the world has been lifted from my shoulders.

Sadly, my dear aunt is losing a long and difficult battle with lung cancer. She's been in the hospital and we are hoping she will be strong enough soon to go home for the remaining days of her life. She is a very sweet person and very dear to our family. It's heartbreaking.

My mom was also in the hospital a few weeks back. She had my sister take her to the ER as she was having heart issues. Her BP was high and would shoot up every time she stood. They kept her overnight for observation and let her go home the next day. We're not sure what is going on, but I'm hoping she will see a cardiologist in the near future.

As for daily life here on the farm we've had some ups and downs...mostly downs this year. Right now we have three dogs and a rooster being treated for injuries. Strayhorn, the rooster, has had it the worst. Two weeks ago the three drakes (my ducks Puddles, Rowan and Mr. Bean) attacked Strayhorn during a storm. I heard the ruckus and headed out in the rain to rescue him. He was lying in the pen wet and limp as a dishrag.

Poor Strayhorn lost an eye and had two big wounds on the back of his neck and under one wing. It has been quite a battle to save him. We even stayed up until 4 a.m. one night tending to him. Strayhorn has been living in the house since then, but should be ready to move outside in the next few days.

We've had water leaking through the ceiling in the den and went without running water for over a week and had a cat (Siobhan) go missing for a week. We spent many hours searching for her over the course of that week and then she just showed up at the front yard gate as if she'd never been gone!

To top things off my kitty, Possum, went into heat the morning we were going to take her to the vet to be spayed! She'll be going tomorrow, but we don't regret waiting so long. She provided us with a lot of much needed laughter last week with her meowing and rolling around on the floor. We were the only ones laughing though...the other cats and dogs were freaked out by her odd behavior!

Two out of three ain't bad...

As I've stated before, we are into recycling. The phrase "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" is always in the back of my mind when I'm shopping, cleaning, gardening, etc. Don doesn't think the "reduce" part works well when I'm shopping, but what does he know!

One of my favorite places to shop is the Goodwill Store. Buying second hand is a great way to reuse and recycle! Pictured above are a few of my most recent Goodwill purchases. The little cabinet will go into my laundry room. It has a door on the bottom and I plan to store cleaning supplies in and on it. Or, I may use for my cat collectibles since the laundry room has a cat theme going on.

The rooster and hen salt and pepper shakers will go into my kitchen. My decorating theme in there is roosters and my mother-in-law got me hooked on collecting rooster/hen salt and pepper shakers. She has a lovely collection of vintage shakers. I was delighted to find the Lenox shakers above as they will make a nice addition to my collection.

The Kirk-Stieff pewter coffee/tea set isn't something I normally collect, so I'll probably resell it on Ebay or in a yard sale. It was such a unique set that I couldn't resist (thus my failure with the "reduce" part of recycling).

After the thrill of finding these reusable recycled items I enjoy getting online and researching them. I like to jot down what I learn (manufacturer, manufacturing date, value) on a strip of paper and attach to the bottom of said item. That way, when Don complains that I'm a hoarder (I'm not...I'm a collector) I can show him that my treasures truly are treasures!

As for the "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" thing? I'm working on it!

RIP Aunt Rosie...

About a year ago I saw an ad on Craigslist of two chickens being given away. One was a rooster, the other an older Rhode Island Red hen. I can't pass up free critters and was needing a rooster after mine lost his head (literally). So I drove to Strayhorn and picked up the two free chickens. The rooster I named Strayhorn and the hen was named Aunt Rosie (I name all my hens "Aunt"...I don't know why, but it just seems right).

Aunt Rosie was already an old girl when I got her, but I was happy to provide her with a comfortable retirement home. She never laid us an egg, but she was a pleasant chicken and got along with the two other hens, Aunt Bernice and Aunt Bertha.

For the past few days Aunt Rosie has not been herself. I knew the end was near when she refused to eat and wouldn't stand up. She just sat in the shade and dozed. We debated on whether or not to end her suffering, but she didn't seem to be suffering and, when Don went out to do the deed, she was standing up and clucking so he left her alone.

Yesterday morning Don found her dead in her little house. She seemed to have passed away in her sleep. I'm sure the hot weather had something to do with her passing, but mostly it was just old age. Now she is buried in the garden. Rest in peace Aunt Rosie.