Random Thoughts

Bill and Joann

I know, It has been awhile since a posted an entry on my blog.  Things have been rather busy here lately.  I have had the flu for the last week, and I am finally starting to feel a bit better.  The other sad news here is that my father-in-law was just put on hospice.  My in-laws live in Las Cruces, NM.  He is 87 and has lived a full life.  He played touch football with the young men until he was 70 and could keep up with them.

My DH and his Dad

After retiring as a public school teacher, he went on to a second career doing maintenance  and organization for the New Tribe's Mission flight Training Base in Arizona.  While they were living there he had a huge prison ministry.  He was going into the prisons and doing Bible Studies with the guys.  He would go as many as 5 times a week.  He loved it and the guys loved him.  It was a really good fit for him.  When his Parkinson Disease got to bad he and Mom moved in with one of my husband's sisters in New Mexico.  They have done an amazing job taking care of them.  If you think of it, be in prayer for my DH's dad and his family.

Marbles

NOTE: Transitionless subject change.  When we bought the farm, it came with four cats.  We did not realize that our boss cat, Marbles, is a community icon.  We have people stop in just to check on him.  They have other people that want to know.  What a responsibility!  What will happen when he dies?  He is like 11 years old already!  Seriously!  I was outside this morning taking care of the chickens, when some lady drove in just to check on Marbles.  She was pleased to see him looking well.  She was going to report back to the guys who do maintenance at the prison! No pressure.

The chicks are growing and thriving.  One did die, but it just never grew.  It made it until yesterday.  It was the same size and weight as when we got it.  The others are getting feathers and are about 3 times as big.  My DH made a BIG chick pen for us. I have to move them  later today. They are outgrowing their book shelf coop.  THe space they are in is really a bookshelf laying on it's back.  We have to have a cover on it or they could jump/fly out.  I will take pictures.  We are getting a big batch of chicks tomorrow, so we have to have room for them all under the lights.  I actually like having them in the basement.  I check on them frequently, like every time I go down to do a load of laundry and when I get food out of the pantry.  With a family like ours, that is a frequent happening.

This made me laugh!  Long and hard.  When you are sick, scripture says that  a merry heart is a good medicine!  I took this picture on Friday at one of my stops. (Yes, I went and saw patients despite being sick.  I didn't cough in their houses, and they all gave it to me the week before!)  Can you tell what it is?

It is  made from a metal tractor seat with a hole cut out of the middle of it set on a metal tank.   Can't imagine what that must feel like to sit on when it is cold! It is really a milking stool.  Although it does look like it could double as a chamber pot. They keep it in their garage rather than the barn. I am so glad that I wasn't born into a Swartzentruber family!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Broody Cat or The Cat who Wanted to be a Chicken

Our cat, Marbles,  sitting on 'her' eggs

This is our farm's 'Boss Cat'.  Marble's thinks she owns our farm.  Truly she has lived here a lot longer than we have.  She is not intimidated by Dallas the Dog or anything.  She is the BOSS!  For a long time the chickens would go squawking and run away when she came around.  She is a hunting cat and roams far and near in her hunting expeditions.  I used to be afraid that she would harm the chickens, but now she wants to be one!  'Broody'  is a condition when a hen wants to sit on eggs and hatch chicks, rather than just keep laying them.  Our cat has gone 'broody'!

Chickens scratching in the coop looking for corn

Marbles now comes into the chicken coop and checks all the lower nesting boxes.  She finds which one has the most eggs and climbs in there.  At first, I thought she was just looking for a place to keep warm.  I didn't expect to find eggs under her.  I reached under her and found SIX eggs!  They weren't warm.  She wasn't sitting on them to warm herself.  She watched the hens.  When I filled the hen's water dish she got out and drank with them.  It was funny to look down and see all the chickens gathered tightly around the bowl with a cat squeezed in there also. They have accepted her and don't mind her presence anymore.  We do have three other cats, so it isn't just a matter of her looking for company.

The other cat came out to see what was going on

We spread dried corn in the bottom of the coop most every afternoon to encourage them to till up their straw and compost.  The cat gets down and scratches with them.  She has tried the field corn but she doesn't care for that.  She just joins the 'ladies' and does what they do.

Marbles guarding her waffle from the other hens

We take dried bread and scraps to the chickens most every day.  The cat comes along and finds something for herself from their bowl.  They don't mind her in the least.  She clearly doesn't understand what happens to hens when they are no longer useful!  She has never heard of the stew pot!

Our beautiful fresh eggs

Here is one days worth of eggs from our ladies.  Sometimes we use more eggs than they can produce.  The other day we were waiting around waiting for one more egg so that Michelle could finish her cheesecake project. We have ordered more chicks to be arriving in March.  Stay tuned for more hot chick pictures! (That is, a young chicken under the warming lights-)