The Canning Shelves

Hubby built me canning shelves today!! He's so glad to have that wood out of the way, and the canned stuff out of the way, and I'm so glad to have this glorious way to see what I still need to be DOING!!

I could use at least 20 more pints of salsa, 20 more qts of purple hull cowpeas, 20 more squash pickles, and I want some plain squash, corn, and more berry jams.

This is GREAT!!

Life is full of joy and sorrow, and sometimes it's all happening at the same time.

Tonight, Rachel invited us to dinner for Coq au vin. We always have wonderful talks while there, the kids get along great, and she has a piano I get to play! Rachel was very gracious with us tonight, because we had a baby bunny that Monty discovered wasn't doing well. He'd gotten chilled during the bad weather today, and Monty had Jessica holding him to warm him and get him back up to par. They were giving him sugar water, and taking turns holding him. We all sat down to dinner, and Jessica had the bunny in her lap. She had decided that she'd keep this one as her indoor pet, and she'd worked out how to get it litter box trained, how it would live in her bedroom, she had it named "Flop" and she was instantly in love.

We visited for a while, and gathered around the piano for conversation and quiet playing. Jessie and her dad took turns with the bunny so she could play a bit, too. Then we sat down to dinner. The Coq au vin was WONDERFUL, the asparagus divine, and the fingerling potatoes were perfect. We were eating and laughing and enjoying ourselves, and I looked over at the bunny beside me. No nose twitching, no breathing - he was gone. Jessica was (understandably) overcome with emotion, and she and her daddy went outside. Rachel followed and got a shovel, and Dad and daughter solemnly said goodbye to Flop in Rachel's flowerbed.

Everyone came back to the table and the conversation slowly started back and worked its way back to laughter. It's interesting how this farm life helps you value and enjoy the little lives of the creatures we enjoy so much, and how it teaches you about things passing away. I know Jessica isn't "over it" and won't be for some time. I also know she grew a little bit today, and she was willing to put in lots of extra time and effort to save this baby. That is such a lesson in denying self, and this bunny was a lesson in taking a risk to love. It is beautiful.

The Garden

Here are a few pics from the garden. Note the baby tomato hornworm - I named him Gozer the Gozarian - the Destructor.

The Ducks

Here are the ducks. They are HUGE!! Only one has a name so far and it is Spot. He has a white area on his neck.

The Puppies

Here are Eduard du Chocolat (Eddy) and Vianne de CoCo (ViVi), our standard chocolate poodles. They are betrothed. Vivi has a pink collar, and Eddy's is blue. He's a milk chocolate color, and she is more of a dark chocolate.

The "Layin' Hens"

I have 6 Americaunas and 7 Black Australorps that I bought in April to be my laying hens. With 6 of us, I figured 12 hens (we got a baker's dozen) would make plenty of eggs for us and the neighbors. Well, still waiting on the BOUNTY of eggs, but after getting the one, I am encouraged. The large black one with bright red comb and waddle is 'Bigmamma.' The grey and tan hen is an Americauna. They vary in color, and are really QUITE gorgeous. I have 4 more girls I've put in the pen with the 6-month-olds. These girls are Americaunas of various colors - 11 weeks old - and are named. White one is Marilyn, golden/reddish one is Pocahontas, grey with black head is Jemima, and mostly grey is Martha.

Baby Chicks

The chicks arrived! I got 250 (plus overages for shipping incidents) pullets in the mail today. They had left off the Japanese Black Bantams. :-(

I have a pic of a buff orpington (yellow) and a silver-laced wyandotte (black w/ white). I also got Rhode Island Reds, gold-laced wyandottes, and barred rocks. They are SO cute, and that's a LOT of chickens!