Good evening fellow travelers. Chick week behind us, we're now thinking spring thoughts here on the farm. Piglets to come soon, more chicks (and hopefully geese) in a few weeks, planning for planting the pastures (so many beets!), getting a new kitchen together for the sausage making to come. Busy!
Important to enjoy the present though. Of all the things on the farm, this is an easy one. There is ALWAYS something to enjoy. The opposite of the tiny tragedies, I think, are the daily pleasures. Maybelline does this loony purr-squeal when you scratch her back. Always charming. I still love gathering the eggs - it's like winning big at the Easter hunt every day. And the geese are always up to something. Here they are enjoying their evening snack late this afternoon.
I've been daydreaming about what else we could have on the farm. We certainly need to get better at pigs - we're still very young at them and learning stuff everyday. The chickens seem mostly in hand. I had a little head start on those kids from a childhood of chickens and 4-H participation.
But - once you get the farm, it seems like it would be really cool if you had....all sorts of things. Shall we daydream together?
I have my tiny heart set on these cows. I've said out loud that if we can get the kitchen set up for the sausage making and get the pigs to a steady spot, then I'm interested in a small herd of these beauties. I'll just going to start picking out names now.
A feature of the master plan is to have a place where people can come for a visit and see the animals enjoying their animal lives. I'd love to watch these guys enjoying their animal lives.
Part of the pork pitch is that the Queen of England's family keeps a herd of the Old Spot pigs for their pork. AND they keep a herd of these Highland cattle for beef. See? It just fits so nicely.
My darling sister-in-law sent me a picture of Sebastopol geese - snowy beauties. I've admired them before and they would really add something beautiful to the place. I think the pigs are awfully pretty but maybe in a different way. Eye of the beholder and all.
I'm fascinated by geese in general. I'm not sure what use they are really but they are mostly self-sustaining so I think we are all winning so far.
Lots of fence building and market research to check off the list before we bite off more, but a cold day in February is built for dreaming. Especially of tiny fuzzy cows that smell of hay and sunshine.
Hope your Wednesday isn't too big a hump. Best - HP