I love waking up to an outside world with moisture in the air. Tiny water droplets surround me and create a warm blanket to walk through as I engage in my morning ritual. All I can think is, my lettuce is going to love this! The ground has a small layer of moisture preparing itself for the hopes of rain. I breath this sense of calmness before I release the Kracken, I mean fowl. The ducks are already making it quite known that they are ready to come out and face the day. The male mallard runs straight for the pond diving underneath and dabbling for whatever he may find.
The chickens all line up at the watering trough pushing for who gets to be in line first somewhat reminiscent of my 2nd graders. I exit lashing the gate so Ginger can not push her way through and eat all the chicken feed. As I approach "the ladies" Ginger and Butters are side by side standing on their hind legs waiting "patiently" for breakfast. As I feed the ladies Milo, the marmalade cat, jumps up the fence and starts to saunter toward the goat shack. Then he and Marigold deadlock eyes each curious about who the other who shares their color of fur. I can see their heads racing trying to figure out the familial connection. As I exit the goat paddock I think of all I need to get done out here before work, but then I take in a deep breath of heavy warm air and am thankful for the work. Peace.
This has been the week of the long afternoon sun. After cool mornings breaking ice from the animals ponds the sunlight creeps in in the late afternoon. Long, sweeping rays of warmth that we all bask in. Chicken, goat, or human we all enjoy the gift of the sun. I lay down and take a break with my goaty girls for they have given me a gift. A reason to sit down and take a break. I breath in the farmy smell of their fur and imagine this is what goathearders have done for hundreds of years. I trade off and spend time with each of my ladies. Butters goes first. She doesn't really want to let us know how much she enjoys affection and a good rumen rub, but she's getting better. Each day I scratch her a little more. After Buttercup I move onto Ginger and the chickens settle in next to Butters to soak in the rays. Ging is my girl. I can just cuddle up with her and relax. She sits there in the sunshine chewing on big wads of cud. As I give her a nice rumen rub she begins to nod off her head starts to slowly keel over. Now is time to win over the new girls. I join Marigold and Dahlia. Dahlia currently likes short sessions of rumen rubs and scratches, but most of all she just likes to smell and taste you. Getting right up to my nose Dahlia gives me a good whiff. I guess I smell okay because she then proceeds to try and nibble on my finger,
Milo basking in the sun
nose, or ear. After I insist that she not eat me Dahlia moves on and Marigold moves in. Marigold will sit on my lap and if I was obliging she would let me pet her all day long. The warm rays of the sun hit us as I untangle her long golden locks. I look at her and look forward to the time when I can milk her. She too, like Dahlia, likes to get in your face and give you a good sniff. Sometimes she too likes to give a little nibble. I look out at my herd and my flock. Everyone is taking a nap and enjoying the warmth of the rays. As I move to the other side of the house the dogs and cats are all outside too. Milo is soaking up those warm beams which match the color of his fur. Jasper lays out on the porch step letting his black fur work for him. As I lay in the hammock with Milo and Lukiss jumping on me I realize, be it fowl or ruminate or humanoid we can all appreciate these days and lazy afternoons.
Winter has come to Pocket Canyon Farms as the temperature drops with each night. The chickens are all huddled together in the old dog house and snuggling up tight. Jackets I have left outside working are now frozen solid like a board. Now that several nights have past the ground keeps getting frozen deeper and deeper. I had a quail fly out today while changing the food and water. While attempting to "scamper" up the hill in search of the quail I found out just how frozen the ground really was. I was slipping and a sliding all over. This afternoon the sun finally shone bright and warm, at least streaming in the windows it was warm though the frost never left the ground today. This is California and after this past week I am ready for spring already, though I know it is not possible nor close. I check my plants everyday, I win some battles and loose others. Milo, Huey and Jasper don't move throughout the day now. Curled up on a blanket or on the couch they refuse to leave their cosy spots in front of the pellet stove, I can't really blame them. This is a hibernation period at the farm. The best I am getting out of my 14 girls is 2 eggs a day. I grow sleepy in these cold days and feel like a bear who is trying to hibernate, but who just isn't being allowed to. Wait! What is this, Milo has emerged!!! And….well… has hopped up on the table. Alas, his only movement for the day has to be a naughty one. Time to peruse my library and find a book for the evening.
Today winter has definitely come as December has come full force into the air. The vineyards which surround us are no longer brilliant reds and yellows, but a crinkly brown which equals a hibernation I wish I could take. Butters is no longer sleeping on the ground but on top the goat table meatloafing like a feline. The ducks all waddle into one condo now no longer preferring separate lodging quarters. The garden is covered with a plastic sheath to ward off the frost which threatens our tender greens No! Mister Frost that arugula is mine! I'm wearing sweaters, the dogs are wearing sweaters and the chickens are lucky I don't make a few for them. Hello December, you have come in with a bang!
We have 5 new ducklings that have survived the first day of their lives. The last batch of ducklings are slowly being absorbed into the flock. They are getting so big now as they begin to loose their fluff in exchange for feathers. Though the peeping is ongoing I know soon it will turn into quacking, but that's okay because I have new ducklings and I still have some eggs which have piped. As the autumnal sky greets us each day I can't imagine living anywhere else, heck, this place is even mentioned in Grease. The pink clouds dot the sky each evening which isn't full of a grey heaving sky. The life cycles are moving on at Pocket Canyon Farms.
Morning time is busy time at Pocket Canyon Farms. As the sun lifts into the sky ducks, chickens, and guinea hens salute the sky and yell at Mama for food, food, food! They leap, run, and flap out of their cozy beds as fast as they can to their favorite breakfast dishes. Black Swedish like their breakfast on an old cafeteria tray. Brown ducks prefer to eat straight away right outside their beds.
The chickens like an old dog bowl and plant saucer to start their day off right. To each his own I say! The fury of fowl resembles white sharks bursting with attack on a bevy of stellar sea lions basking on shore. The feeding frenzy is fast and furious. Everyone is running around like, dare I say, a chicken with its head cut off. As the excitement dies down the guineas are on clean up duty while the chickens hide in the fig tree and the ducks hunker down for a rest.
I love waking up to an outside world with moisture in the air. Tiny water droplets surround me and create a warm blanket to walk through as I engage in my morning ritual. All I can think is, my lettuce is going to love this! The ground has a small layer of moisture preparing itself for the hopes of rain. I breath this sense of calmness before I release the Kracken, I mean fowl. The ducks are already making it quite known that they are ready to come out and face the day. The male mallard runs straight for the pond diving underneath and dabbling for whatever he may find.
