GLUTEN

I just updated the Gluten for Punishment blog with a great article that Kiwi wrote!
Go check it out... :o)

Kris has been sick for 8 or 9 days but he is finally feeling better!
I have been in the garden from the break of dawn until milking time every day. And then after milking until dark. It's looking pretty good, but not producing a whole lot. The winter squash have decided that they are going to start growing some more! After weeks of them doing nothing, there is new growth and new baby squashes popping up everwhere.
I am REALLY tired, so I am going to bed. Now.

How we feed our chickens...

Anything banty sized or smaller can fit through the holes in the milk room door.

The Marans eat from under the door. The grown chickens don't get fed anything but table scraps and bird seed.

The chicks get chick starter until they are too big to fit through the door in their cage.
The reason for all this is THE GOATS love bird seed and we had to find a way to keep them out of it.

We saw a REALLY huge chicken snake a couple days ago. I heard a chicken squawking in alarm and told Mooky it sounded like she saw a snake. But, as we were getting ready to go to town, no one went to check. Then, as we walked out the door to leave I heard 2 birds in the same general area just screaming in annoyance, and I told Mooky that they must have seen the snake too. So, his curiosity got the best of him and he went down there to check. And he came back a whole lot faster than he had left! "BIG SNAKE!! Get the gun!" We did go down there with the gun but it was non-venomous and was nowhere near the chicken house or barn so I didn't let him shoot it, much to his disappointment. It slithered up into a cedar tree to get away from us - at least 6 feet high before we went away and left it alone.

Last night we had a 4-H meeting and they told us that if everyone didnt stay to help pick up trash along a two mile stretch of highway, that they would not get credit for attending the meeting. Even at 7:00 pm it was incredibly hot. That kind of heat, along with walking along picking up trash AND running a fever dont go well together. Erinn got quite ill, and I picked her up in the truck after about 3/4 of a mile. The leader said that was "good enough to get credit for the meeting". Sheesh.

And you know what?

People who throw trash out are very selfish.

Produce

Our older Marans are starting to lay some really weird eggs.

The dark color that should be all over the eggs is just on half.
This is a year's worth of peaches. Small, but SWEET!
A year's worth of blackberries.
And a day's worth of eggs.