Strawberries, Veggies, and Spaghetti Squash, Oh My!

The strawberries that we 'planted' are in full swing now! 

I use the word 'planted' in a weird sense... Because of everything else going on at the time that the berries arrived via mail, we weren't able to put them where they're supposed to go. Instead, they landed in the compost pile. They're certainly not complaining about their temporary home though!

Aren't they gorgeous berries! I ate them right after they posed for their picture. 

And our blackberries survived frostbite! They also landed in the compost pile, but then we had some freezing nights. We thought that we had lost them, but they've made quite the comeback! 

We've also gotten the beginnings of a garden started. The peas sprouted beautifully, but the beans... not so much. Granted, we used old seeds. 

And now for something that I'm super stoked about - spaghetti squash! But not just any spaghetti squash, spaghetti squash that some friends of mine had traded with us for chickens. Since the squash was amazing, I saved the seeds and got them in the ground when things were finally warm enough. I can't wait to enjoy these later this year! And yes, I planted mound after mound of these guys. Spaghetti squash is my favorite gourd.  

And of course, Dad needs to have his row of corn. ;) 

Until next time!

SG

A June Morning

And a way to update you as to what we've been up to. :) Be prepared for a wordy and picture-heavy post.

Remember Suzie 'Snicklefritz' Derkins, our house goat? 

Well, these are her brothers 

And we thought that we had our hands full with three new babies. 

As Suzie became stronger and more sure of herself, she became too much for the house. She was practically jumping off the walls and onto the furniture. And she needed to either be potty trained or wear a diaper. We decided that it was time for the goober to join the herd. Once she adjusted to life out in the barn, she found that she wouldn't get into trouble for doing goat things. ;)  

Then, to finish off our horrid kidding season, Jill had quadruplets. o.O 

We were keeping an eye on her all day Thursday since she had been baa-ing incessantly (one of the labor signs to watch for). We figured that since she was acting just fine that she was a ways off from actually kidding. Lo-and-behold, we went out to do chores and there was a baby. From that point on, it happened fast. Emi ran into the house to grab more towels. There were only two kids then. By the time she got back with the rags, there were two more. :P When all was said and done, there were two boys and two girls. All were healthy and ready to greet the world. 

I love this girl's floppy ears! I have no idea where that came from. 

Another one of the quads

And then the other two. 

Like I said, we thought our hands were full with three kids. Now we have seven. :P 

In other non-goat related news, the swallows have built their nest in the barn, lined it with all sorts of soft down feathers and warm undercoats, and have successfully hatched their brood as of :counts fingers: yesterday. 

They're rather sassy little birds

Sleepy Calvin and Hobbes. It's the only time I can get a picture of those two; they're in constant motion!

We're not going to have baby geese this year... Taffy started laying her clutch in January, right in the middle of a really deep freeze. As time wore on, she laid her eggs, but never showed any interest in them. Now we need to find a good place to get rid of the rotten eggs. 

Suzy truly believes that she is a human. She'll follow us, hang out with us, garden with us, cling to us... You get the picture. ;) She's quite the sweetheart though. 

Now, these three boys...  

Loki, Thor, and Samwise. They could be renamed to Casanova, Romeo, and Fabio. :P Since they're still intact bucks, they have reached the age where they can no longer be with the girls, if you catch my drift. So they've been relocated to a different pasture. As we were pulling in from a concert last night, we saw that two of them were standing on a chicken tractor. But where was Loki? Maybe he just couldn't jump up onto the mobile poultry house? Nope. He had figured out how to escape and get back to the barn. Of course it would be Loki that figured that out. :P 

Anyways... That's it for now!

Until next time!

SG