Browsed by
Category: Homesteading & Farm Animals

Musings of our Colorful Collection of Farm Animals and Homesteading Pursuits on a Swamp in Central Florida

The Metamorphosis Of Patrice

The Metamorphosis Of Patrice

Comments 0 Comment

*******Please Subscribe To My Blog…..It Really Helps******* It’s not really like the progression from a cocoon to a butterfly….. I don’t think a well-aged Patrice could ever be confused with a lilting fluttery butterfly….. It’s not really anything as sophisticated as Kafka…or Pygmalion…or Midas….. …..nothing that high-brow or sophisticated….. But it’s a metamorphosis none the less….. The migratory patterns from one Patrice to another…while constant and inevitable…becomes painfully evident and totally unavoidable….. Patrice’s devolution has been coming on for awhile…and…

Read More Read More

*One Of The Best Days*

*One Of The Best Days*

Comments 2 comments

*******Please Subscribe To My Blog…..It Really Helps******* Don’t get me wrong…I Love Thanksgiving Day…and Everything it brings to the Table….. It’s a Holiday with the Best of the Family at its Heart….. But the Day After…now that’s Heaven….. No rushing…No cleaning…No cooking…No baking…No aching back and feet….. …..(and for the most part the dishes are “mostly” washed and put away)…(mostly)….. I’ve always enjoyed the crunchy…semi-burned…thoroughly unpresentable nibbles that never make it to the serving tray…and they’re unceremoniously left behind in…

Read More Read More

~A Day Of Turkeys~

~A Day Of Turkeys~

Comments 0 Comment

*******Please Subscribe To My Blog…..It Really Helps******* I thought I’d over-load this post with a bunch of photos of the wild turkeys that call our Swamp home….. They’ve really multiplied recently…and become far less shy….. I recently had to go into the backyard before letting out the hounds…because it was covered with a big flock of visiting turkeys….. They seemed totally unconcerned that I came out and tried herding them over the fence and into the safety of the back…

Read More Read More

Otto Is M.I.A.

Otto Is M.I.A.

Comments 4 comments

*******Please Subscribe To My Blog…..It Really Helps******* I just don’t know where we stand right now….. Last night Otto came into the garage for the night…and he wasn’t looking good….. We call him into the garage every night to keep him safe from the local coyote packs and bobcats and things that go bump in the night….. …..but last night…when Otto came in at dusk…he was looking poorly….. There was a little (very small) splash of blood on one of…

Read More Read More

*Perusing & Pursuing The Pigs*

*Perusing & Pursuing The Pigs*

Comments 0 Comment

*******Please Subscribe To My Blog…..It Really Helps******* Remember the pink bench that we put out in the pig pasture (a.k.a. the goat pasture–a.k.a. the swamp)…so that we could sit and watch the pigs?….. …..It has already come in handy….. *****Sound the Alarms!***** *****The Pigs Got Out!***** *****It’s A Pig Stampede!***** Well…really what happened…was my older daughter hadn’t locked the chain around Beau’s and Ginger’s gate…and they pushed it open…and walked out….. And then they quietly grazed for the afternoon on…

Read More Read More

Blacksmiths Aren’t What They Used To Be

Blacksmiths Aren’t What They Used To Be

Comments 0 Comment

*******Please Subscribe To My Blog…..It Really Helps******* It wasn’t easy….. But we found one….. Our past blacksmith quit on us….. After Claire and then Brave passed…a little bit of time went by…but not much….. When I recontacted him…our farrier said he’d been ill…after an exposure to glyphosates…(not the first time we’ve heard that)….. ~~~Don’t Get Me Started On Round-Up and Monsanto and Bayer~~~ My farrier had a single occurrence Grande Mal seizure…and after that…he decided he was only going to…

Read More Read More

~Pasture Gates~

~Pasture Gates~

Comments 0 Comment

*******Please Subscribe To My Blog…..It Really Helps******* In my lifetime I’ve hung a few pasture gates….. Big horses…unruly foals…strategically placed falling limbs…obnoxious buck goats…(misdirected tractors)…and hurricanes….have all played their roles in the need for replacing farm gates….. Fence line changes have played their part in the addition of more gates…but honestly…it’s usually because a gate gets obliterated by some act of Nature….. …..(or a defiant draft horse)….. And so…my daughters and I have become aficionados at gate placements…re-placements…and installations….. …..and…

Read More Read More

*De-Populating The Roosters*

*De-Populating The Roosters*

Comments 0 Comment

*******Please Subscribe To My Blog…..It Really Helps******* We’ve accumulated too many roosters………….again….. And again………….I don’t think they’re All ours….. …..(damn that suburban farmer down the road)….. I didn’t notice it right away…(or I did’t feel a need to do something about it)…until the roosters came of age…and start crowing their faces off….. …..and then…I realized I’d waited too long………….again….. I’ve found that the older I get…sleep is an easily interrupted luxury…and it’s hard to regain…once it’s been squelched….. …..add to…

Read More Read More

I Never Want To Talk About Dog Fennel Again

I Never Want To Talk About Dog Fennel Again

Comments 0 Comment

*******Please Subscribe To My Blog…..It Really Helps******* …..and yet…here I am….. The big towering dog fennel is mostly mowed down now…and little new fresh sprigs are thinking it’s appropriate to try sprouting back….. I’ll have at it with the bush hog again before the fluffy little sprout-lets can get a foot hold….. I haven’t even had a chance to start on the front pasture…because I can’t shove the gates open wide enough yet to get the tractor through….. The dog…

Read More Read More

***Bugs***

***Bugs***

Comments 0 Comment

*******Please Subscribe To My Blog…..It Really Helps******* Sunny sub-tropical Florida is known for its beaches…resorts…beautiful sunrises over the Atlantic…and equally gorgeous sunsets in the Gulf….. The peripheral edges of the state…(and Disney World)…are idilic vacation destinations for lots of tourists….. Those of us who live here year round…(Not at Cinderella’s castle…or in a beach cabana)…we live in the interior of the state…at various elevations…usually marginally above sea level….. …..(I think we’re at about thirty-five feet above sea level here)….. We…

Read More Read More