That takes a lot of nerve!

Karl Kat has been persuing the mice in the ante room of the small chicken house.  He knew they were under the sheet of plywood, but no matter how patiently he waited, they wouldn't come out where he could catch them.  No matter how far he reached into their tunnel, he couldn't reach them.  A very frustrating thing when you are a cat!

Today we gave him some assistance and moved the sheet of plywood.  Faster than a lawyer gets into your pocket, he grabbed a mouse and took it to the door.  I opened the door and he trotted outside with it.  He was gingerly playing with it, batting it about and tossing it into the air as cats sadistically do.  All this commotion caught the attention of a wandering chicken.  The chicken sauntered over to the action and stared at the mouse and the cat.  She made a couple of swipes with her beak in the direction of Karl Kat.  The cat stared back at the chicken.  Evelyne and I stood in the greenhouse and watched the developments.  Before Karl Kat saw what was happening, the chicken had the mouse and was heading away with it.  I am so sorry I didn't have my camera with me.  Karl's expression was priceless.  He couldn't believe that chicken STOLE his mouse!  He looked at the chicken.  He looked at the ground where the mouse SHOULD have been.  He sniffed.  He looked at the chicken again, as she finally pranced off.  I felt sorry for Karl Kat.  Never have I seen an animal look so befuddled.

Don't worry, Karl Kat.  I'm sure there will be other mice.

Happy Thanksgiving

One day a year our attention is drawn to all the things we have to be thankful for.  The other 364 days it doesn't seem important.  For the coming year, lets all spend some time each day being thankful for the good things in our lives as well as the lessons (hopefully) learned from the perceived "bad" things.

Please, God. Not another snake.

This morning I heard a scraping noise like something crawling in the furnace ducts. I thought, "Whatever it is must be huge as it is making a lot of noise.  Oh, God! Please don't let it be a packrat, or worse yet, a big, nasty snake."  I listened intently, walking through the rooms trying to decide which part of the duct system it was moving within.  Then I realized it wasn't coming from the ducts at all, because it was the turkeys on the porch awning! Those big birds are really good flyers and very high minded.

At night the turkeys roost on the supports over the little chicken yard. I went in the other night to close the door on the chickens to protect them from the predators and one of those big white birds pooped on me. Apparently he had me confused with my older sister, Lois.  She is notarious for birds taking aim on her.  Even when there is only one bird in the sky, it will hit that target.

As for the turkeys, it is a good thing they are entertaining and good rodent and bug getters or they could be headed for the oven, regardless of previous Thanksgiving day pardons.

Colony Collapse Disorder and Spun Honey

Scientists and Apiarists have noted in recent years a new malady which affects bees.  It has been called colony collapse disorder and generally happens in the fall.  The bees fly away one day and simply fail to return to the hive.  It is almost like INS came in and deported all of them.  They simply disappear.  No bodies left behind; No warning signs; No apparent reason.  Theories have run the gamut from some type of virus to cell phone towers to pesticides but no definite reason has been found.

Unfortunately, this fall my hive suffered from CCD.  So we are preparing to put the hives in the freezer to kill any pests which may have moved in after the bees moved out.  But before doing that, I decided I would take at least SOME of the honey for our use instead of saving it all for the replacement bees I'm planning to get next spring.

It is mild and tasty honey.

For my birthday/Christmas present to myself this year I got the professional Kitchenaid mixer. (heckuva deal at Bed Bath and Beyond on Friends and Family night--30% off!) I used it today to make spun honey.  WOW is that stuff wonderful.  It brought back memories of my youth when my Mom would buy it at the store and let us have it as a special treat.  The taste and texture of the homemade stuff makes the cost of the mixer a moot point.  YUMMY.  I did share some with my Prairie House neighbor, but I'm keeping the rest for myself!  Selfish?  Undoubtedly.  Delicious?  You Bet!

A very rare bird, indeed.

If you look closely, you will see the very rare goatbird in the tree.
                
                                                                        
This is a rare bird, indeed.  One never knows what will appear at Prairie House.

Pullet eggs

WooHoo!  Our youngest hens are starting to lay eggs.  We are getting cute little pullet eggs in a light tan color now.

We found some milo at the equity in Brewster.  They shipped it to Bird City for us and we put it in the feed bowls for the chickens.  They were thrilled and ate like homeless bums at the rescue mission dinner table.

We are hoping to get a truckload of milo this week sometime.

Those sneaky chickens

Our egg production picked up after we gave them the milo.  We didn't notice, however, because they were hiding their eggs.  We found their hidden nest yesterday with over a dozen eggs in it.  They had been hiding them behind an old wood stove.  We moved the wood stove and took away that enticing nesting spot.  Today the number of eggs in the chicken house has increased, but we still have a long way to go to get back on track at full production.

Food Coop Orders and eggs

Orders for High Plains Food Cooperative closed last night at midnight.  Prairie House had a record month.  We are pleased...now the animals can continue to eat!

Our biggest $$ seller by far was the Jalapeno Peanut Brittle, followed by Evelyne's delicious Angel Food cakes.  The powdered garlic as well as the garlic bulbs were also big sellers.

We only sold 8 dozen eggs and had to squeeze the hens hard to make that.  We ran out of milo and wheat so we put them on a diet of Triticale, a grain which is a hybrid of rye and wheat.  It is very high in protein and a great food for cattle.  The goats love it.  The chickens failed to thrive on it and egg production went to nearly zero.  We discovered the problem is a missing enzyme in the grain which makes the protein unaccessable to the chickens.

We are waiting for the milo to be harvested from the fields so we can get them back on track with their favorite foods.  Hopefully production will pick up in time for the holidays!

Some thoughts on dying

A thought to ponder:

"When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced.

 Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice."

Native American Saying

The when you die part is getting closer each day, I think.  When my brother knew he was dying, he made it known that he didn't want a lot of crying and mourning when he was gone.  He wanted a celebration.  I agree.  And although it is a sin to die with any money in the bank...if there is any left in my account when I go, I want my family and friends to spend it on a celebration, not on a funeral.  Think cruise!

Karl Kat

Karl Kat is the second from the left. (Also shows King Kong, Katie and Krazy Kat.)

Karl Kat is definitely a Siamese breed. When he was born he was completely white with blue eyes. Now he has a golden cast to his coat which keeps getting darker and darker, especially on his head and face.

He just finished rolling in the dirt. Ah! How good it feels!

Our Newest Resident--by her own choice

Our newest resident is a very pretty wild turkey.

Her flock came wandering through a few days ago and she stayed behind. Apparently either the food or the company was better at Prairie House than wandering across the countryside. We thought she would probably wander off in a couple of days, but she has remained here. She sleeps in the tree near where the others roost (on the fence wire which covers the pen for our small chicken house) and hangs out with the others during the day. She is well camouflaged. The others are very apparent and extremely easy to see.

Then again, maybe it was this handsome Tom who convinced her to hang around. I do not know if this might be the same lady who came visiting him last spring. It could very well be her...or one of her relatives.