As The Barn Turns

And these are the days of our chickens (thank you, Kim) and it is a soap opera in the barn alrighty. The chickens are in high gear churning out eggs, singing their egg song and free ranging in this beautiful weather. It has been extra windy, which they are not fond of, but the warm sun calls them outside to find bugs and cut grass on which to peck through. The next set of girlz to hightlight in the flock are all beauty's who are in the lower pecking order, because they are less aggressive than others and overall a docile grouping of girls who never start any trouble. Generally, these breeds are an all-around great chicken breed to have in any flock. They readily allow touch from us/visitors, and are curious and kind creatures. Cluckingham would not be the same without them. These 7 girlz are farm favorites, and I probably say that about all my chickens. But these really are. 

No big iDeal

Who names a breed of chicken Ideal 236? The Ideal Poultry Breeding Farm does. The breed was developed in the 1960's when this particular farm was trying to breed chickens that had resistance to the deadly Marek's disease. They bred white leghorns, Anconas, and California greys who all had resistance to Marek's disease to come up with this special breed of Ideal 236's. Maybe they had to go through 235 trials to get there, I don't know, but what I do know is the Ideal 236 is a breed that is highly sought after. This breed lays bright white eggs and is considered highly productive when it comes to laying eggs. We are fortunate to have 4 of these awesome and amazing girlz. 

First up,

She has love for everyone 

This girl, Moon Pie. This girl is first up on the feeding station in the barn every morning and evening. She can't wait to see what food or treats we might have brought out to see if she'd like to taste it, but also wants pets - lots of pets please. She's guilty of eating the cat food, and wants first crack at any food, really. And then don't forget to pet her. You have to pet her. If we allowed it, she would probably come in the house and sit on the couch with us, pecking at the dinner plate in front of us. Yep, that would be her. So, no, she's not allowed in the house as I'm afraid she'd run the show because she's so cute and sweet it's hard to tell her no. And she doesn't take no for an answer very well.

Cutie Patooties, Whoopie and Little Debbie
(see their combs?)
Long Neck checking things out. What’s
wrong with yo comb? 

Moon Pie has 3 sisters who look just like her: Whoopi, Little Debbie and Marsha (Marshmallow). 

Marsha, who looks just like her sister.
I bet they play tricks on their friends. 
Hi, I’m MoonPie. Wait, are you Marsha?

These 4 girlz are really hard to tell apart, but you can do so by way of personality and also, their comb. ** Side Note: The comb is the little red rubbery thing on the top of the chicken's head that sticks up (or falls to the side depending on how big it is). It so happens that during snowvid a few weeks back, that 2 of the Ideal 236's combs froze and are now black, necrotic and starting to fall off. Can you imagine that would hurt? I don't know, but they are bouncing around like it's no big ideal. Whoopi and Little Debbie still have some red on their combs, but they are mostly black. I'll report back more on this, esp when/if it falls off. Will it grow back? Will the other chickens make fun of them? 

This Wyandotte is roosting in a sea of Ideals 🐓

The downfall of having such beautiful white chickens is that the hawks can spot them quickly. Often times, white chickens are the first to go when it comes to hawk attacks. Luckily, Moon Pie, Whoopi, Little Debbie and Marshmallow (Marsha) are all fast runners and good flyers, too. This allows them to escape back to the barn as soon as they see a hawk circling the area. When you pick up a dozen eggs here on the Graves Farm, be sure and thank these girls for the bright whites eggs. Moon Pie will be right there to speak to you about that, I promise you that.

A Raisin In The Sun

It was one of those serendipitous moments when we came across someone looking to get rid of their flock who happened to have the most amazing chickens. Yes please. And along with about 13 chickens we got from her (remember those chickens we bought for $3 each, yeah, those) were 4 Ameraucana's. I was immediately stricken with infatuation for these girlz - as their look was unlike any other chicken I have. And I didn't even know they were going to lay me the most beautiful blue eggs that trumps Jack and the Beanstalk's enchanted goose who laid golden eggs. Better than that, my friend, Jack. These girlz eggs are beauty's. And, these girlz are beauty's as well. I ended up gifting one to a chicken lady friend of mine, Jessica, because that's what chicken lady friends do. We share our amazing finds. 

Walter and Walter roosting for the night with a friend

When David and I first saw the Ameraucana's, we could help but notice the sideways little feathers on their face that looked a bit like a moustache. David immediately named one Walter. Before we knew it, all 4 were named Walter, and after giving one to Jessica, we have 3 Walter's now. They are gorgeous thangs and oh so gentle. 

That face 

She has a tiny comb. It’s okay girl. 
You can have a tiny comb. 

We have 2 Walters that are white with tan markings, and then one with grey and tan/beige feathers. Grey and beige are the "in" colors to have together when it comes to interior decorating, and this Walter is no different, as she's always in style. 

Blurry but beautiful 

The 3 sisters give us blue-ish green eggs daily and I can't imagine a flock without them. Their eggs are what make a dozen eggs in a carton 'pop'. They are the icing on the cake, the cherry on top, the fancy in fancy pants. What the Ameraucana's give us each day brings our neutral colored eggs to life inside each dozen eggs we sell. You can't help but look at them and say, "Wow, that Walter can certainly lay a handsome egg". 

All seven of these girlz are gentle, quiet and kind souls. Yeah, Moon Pie is a social butterfly and yet her gentleness is her strength. She wants you to look at her, pet her, and talk to her. Her 3 sisters let her do all the talking for them. They stand back and watch. In addition, all 3 Walter's are allowing us to pick them up and love them now. Sometimes it's these breeds that help me understand if I ever had to only ever have a few chickens (God forbid) - both of these breeds are top of my list. The egg cartons would all be full of white, blue, white, blue, white, blue eggs. But how cool would that be. 

Keep The Faith

The tender topic of Faith, one of our Shetland Pony's, has been in the forefront of my mind since we've arrived back to Gunter a few weeks ago. Faith and I worked hard for many many months to learn to trust one another, and that love is at the core of our relationship. She's a tough cookie at the young age of 3 or 4 ish with only abuse in her background. She has the scars to show what other human beings have done to her, and she had accepted that I meant no harm and only love. We had a good thing going on and I adore her. Fast forward to boarding her (as we left for Houston), and she comes back at square one. I could hardly wrap my head around this. 

I knew what I needed to do after trying to get us back to a good place again, her and I. I knew in my heart of hearts that she needed someone else, and I wasn't her person after all. It's taken me weeks to get to this point. I had the intention of taking her to the auction and finding her a new home, and had gone so far to arrange that. Then, a miracle happened. God decided who would have her. A young couple with 3 sweet children, a barn, acreage/property and faith in God that knows no limits. They asked to buy Faith. 

Family: Oh, is she for sale? Yes, I say, she is. Family: How much? Me: It's about finding her place in the world. Family: We really want her. Me: I need to tell you a few things. 

I then told them her story, and they are all in. I tell them more about her regression and what her needs are to move forward, and they are all in. I tell them she will kick and it can be a dangerous situation, and they are still all in, ready to retrain Faith in a strong and loving way. Faith wants to be the boss. Period. The End. This sweet and strong family pick Faith up on Sunday, after I've groomed her and got her ready for a in-service to the family on how best to not get hurt. They listen intently and watch as I gave a mini in-service on Faith. They are now all-in more than ever. We load Faith up in the trailer, and I tear up. Faith naa's and Hope (Faith's mama) naa's back to her, over in the pasture. Hope and Faith horse-talk to each other and I can barely handle this. They drive off. I cry. 

I've prayed about this for weeks. God, what do I do? He showed me. He made it happen. And just like that, Faith is home. Amy and Cody have Faith, along with their farm-savy children, Dexter, Chole and Levi. 

❤️🐴❤️

Amy called me Sunday night to report that they had the best day ever with Faith. Chloe (Amy's daughter) braided Faith's mane, they made sure everyone was safe, they walked Faith around the barn, taking turns. They took her halter off and put it back on. They showed Faith strength, love and guidance. Amy said Faith did wonderful, and wanted to call me as she was sure I needed to hear this. Faith is home. 

Chloe doing Faith’s hair

She's finally found her home. Thank you, dear God, for answering my prayers. I guess I needed to rescue Faith to get her to this family, is the only way I can console myself right now. Sometimes we want what is not ours to have. Letting go of her has broken my heart, yet God has placed her where she's to be. I'm crying now because I'm in awe of God's glory. It's hard to understand that I'm not where's she's meant to be, and being shown where she's meant to be is overwhelming. Blessings are bestowed upon us all in this case. Faith is now finding who she is, and will reveal her potential to this sweet family. The sky's the limit with Faith. Both our hearts will heal.

Purple Hat Club

That leaves me with Hope and Dora. Two mama mini mares who have both recently raised their last babies (respectively Faith and Diego). They are now empty nesters and two old ladies just living their best lives. I treated them today to a portion of the pasture that they rarely have access to. Hope romped around while Dora watched. They never came back up for dinner. They were having their own version of steak and potatoes tonight at a first class restaurant called the pasture out back. 

I've also made a decision to fence off a portion of the back pasture and allow them access to the back barn - all their own. This barn will be perfect for the two of them to keep them warm and dry. It will also allow me to place mama and papa donkey in the adjacent pasture and they can all hang out together (with a fence between the donkeys and mini's). Currently, the donkeys are up front in the pasture by the road still enjoying their round bale. And treats. I love to indulge them with treats. I mean, I have to. While we were in Houston, Angela and Paul set a high standard of regular treats for them. 

Speaking of seniors, Winston is rocking the world of old dogs living large. He's slow, but he knows and smells food immediately. He doesn't miss a meal. And when Angela and Paul drop by the farm, his tail almost wags off. I think he's secretly their dog who just happens to live here at the Sunshine Senior Resort. Winston adores them. 

Wait, which toy was I playing with 

Everyone loves Winston. He's just a happy go lucky kind-of-guy, and we are the lucky ones who found him. He was brought into our lives and it was meant to be. Winston has upgraded his accommodations to the laundry room as I've mentioned he figured out how to use the doggie door. He loves sleeping inside that room with the cats. He barks at them. No wait, he Woofs at them loudly. He's all bark, while never getting up - and the cats are starting to figure that out. 

I love your scent

OMGoodness! I have the best news to share with you. David began tasting some foods. Not alot. Just a few. It's a random thing, but when he finds he can taste something, his eyes light up, kind of like the pinball machine that has multiballs and extra flippers that keep all the balls hitting the zones that light up the color cabinet in front of you. That's David - with his eyes flashing and blinking and his smile as bright as the lights when you hit the jackpot - he's tasted food. It's still hit or miss, mostly miss right now. But just the fact that he gets random tastes here and there is a reason to celebrate.

What's not to celebrate is the increasing issue with his hernia. I don't see how he's going to make it another month to be cleared by his oncologist for surgery with a general surgeon. I'm afraid it will be considered emergent before then. David is wishing for hernia surgery like tomorrow. But, we will see what life will being in regards to this. There's many moving parts since he's finished up chemo and radiation only a month ago. Is his throat healed enough to be intubated? Is his body up to surgery at this point? This is a ticking timer that we do not know when it'll go off. I'm sure the hernia will keep us posted. But time is ticking on it, that I know for sure. 

David is still in recovery mode and is making progress, slowly. Yet, he's not only making progress physically, but his outlook on life has shifted. I find that he's honing in on what's important to him and what he wants to do in life. He's made some big shifts lately like selling his 68 Chevy truck. He's selling a couple of his BBQ grills/smokers to buy the exact one he really wants. He's fine tuning his things. He's found that his stuff owns him, and reducing the amount of things he has frees him. It frees him in life of responsibility - and it frees his mind of clutter, as it's that much less to maintain these things and spend energy on them. No doubt, we have enjoyed the 68 Chevy truck and had many adventures in it. But it's time to move forward, and we were able to sell it to someone who is just as excited about it as we are. That in itself made it all worthwhile. We know we can't hold onto all these things forever, and determining when to let go is key. It's time to let go of some things, and we know it. We are all-in. This season of life is a new gift, and we are going to unwrap this gift a little differently than we have before. Less is more. We are fine tuning life to have the things we love, want and need around us. And many things will serve others more than they are serving us. We honor this. Letting go feels good. This new season of life will bring new adventures and new ways of thinking. We just have to be willing to see it, do it, and live it.  

Porch Time

One thing David and I decided to invest in is more comfortable lounge furniture on the front porch. Our little farm house is best served with time out front, rocking in a chair, listening to nature and watching the chickens all around doing their chicken things. We often want to sit out on the porch and relax, but our willy-nilly chairs and rockers have never really hit a homerun for us. We didn't have to spend alot of money to find just want we needed, and we sit-tested many chairs and rockers and picked out a few that were just our size. 

Our little house

We also decided on sod placement around the house - and some in the back pasture. This can be challenging with chickens and dogs who tend to accidentally destroy new sod. But we are hopeful the grass "will take". I've been doing my part to keep it watered, and luckily, mother nature is going to help me out with that this week. Rain is coming. Then we had the trees trimmed and although we've mostly trimmed them in the past, they really trimmed the trees. Those types of decisions are things David and I think long and hard about because we only have so much shade around here. So balancing out tree trimming vs the desire for shade is a fine line we walk. All in all, it's things like this that make us feel like Spring has arrived. The farm looks and feels Spring-ready and we spent Sunday afternoon giving it all a test run sitting, rocking and visiting with friends on the front porch. 

Avocado Boy

Wait, I won't be able to close without posting Brooks. What was I thinking. 

Avocado purée. He did a gag on the first bite. 
Who thought this was a good idea to
put this in my mouth 🧐

Feet. The new BFF. 

Peace, Love and Light,

Cyndi