Kitten Jealousy

The barn kitties decided to show their cuteness so I would post about them. They informed me that the goats and chicken get their fair share of blog time and they would like to have their 15 minutes of fame....Please and Meow!
These are the babies of a stray momma that decided to take up permanent residence in our barn. Not long after she had her kittens, I heard a loud meowing in the barn loft. Little Bit here had decided to climb and then fall between all the bales of hay.

I moved 23 bails of hay one morning just to get to a stray kitten that I didn't need in the first place. She has always been the runt and has the funniest looking little smooshed up face. She makes me laugh every day!

I noticed the mother cat seemed to be sick one day and she later disappeared. Not sure what happened to her but I got to play momma after that.

The yellow and white one is by far the gentlest. She loves to be loved on. The boys make sure she gets plenty of attention. The other two are just getting used to being petted but not ready to be picked up.

I learned this first hand when I tried to pick up the gray and white one. I ended up with a few scratches BUT when their mother first disappeared and I started feeding them goats milk and soft kitten food, I couldn't get within 10 feet of them they were so wild.

And of course I have to mention the big baby of the family, Dirt Cat! He's looking for mice in the goat stall. He has had a long road to recovery but he caught a bird yesterday for the first time since he got sick. It made me smile to know he's back to being Dirt Cat, hunter, stalker, bird and mousenapper!

Some New Critters

There are some things that you always have too many of.  One of those things around here is roosters but what did I do today?  I bought another rooster!  The first thing my husband said when I called and told him was, You did what?  Another rooster?  We don't need ANOTHER rooster!  But I convinced him that this was no ordinary rooster, this was a beautiful rooster, a Buff Orpington rooster.  I've never had a Buff Orpington, so of course, he had to come home with me!  Here he is!

He's such a pretty boy!

I can't wait to raise some chicks from him and he seems to be very gentle.  I hope he stays that way.  I don't like mean roosters!

I am still trying to think of a name for him.  I'm thinking Pumpkin because he's the right color and it's the right time of the year but he seems too majestic and royal for the name Pumpkin.  What do you all think?  Any name suggestions?  He's a young guy and will get a bit bigger.  The hens seem to really like him.

I already had 8 young pullets that should start laying at any time but I wanted a few more so I found 6 today.  I was so excited to find what I have always called Fuzzy Faces.  After some research I have found that these are the Ameraucana breed.
My grandmother had one of these hens when I was little and I loved that she laid pretty green eggs.

I asked to make sure and the Amish man promised me green eggs!
  They had 3 of these fuzzy-faced girls for sale and I bought all three of them plus 3 more pretty ladies that look like triplets.

Here's the little hen party they have going on in the hen house.
 They are "adjusting".  My pullets are being a bit bossy but I'm sure they will establish a new pecking order soon and all will be peaceful in their little yard again.  The older hens took a stroll by and checked out the newbies but didn't seem too interested.  As long as they have their own
hen house
..........roost pole,
............................laying boxes,
...............................................feed and water and
...............................................................ROOSTER
then they are happy. They don't ask for much (yeah right!) 
I love my chickens!  All 27 of them.  Now, I better start getting some green eggs soon!

Pear Honey

This is the time of year when some really lucky people have access to fresh pears! We have planted a pear tree but it still has a few years to go before we get any fruit. I usually manage to get a bucket of pears from an elderly lady down the road from us but someone came along and picked all her pears from her roadside tree this year before anyone else had time to pick them! They could have at least left me a few!

I wanted to share this recipe with those of you who have pears to put up this year. This recipe was my great-grandmothers and my mom somehow tracked her recipe down through relatives and made this last year. It is delicious! I love to eat it on homemade sourdough bread (which I have a starter for fermenting on my kitchen cabinet). My kids like it poured over vanilla ice cream.

Pear Honey
6 - 8 cups finely chopped pears
1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple
6 c. sugar
1 T. lemon juice
1/3 c. water
1 (14 oz.) bag shredded coconut (optional)

Peel pears and remove seeds. Chop pears in a food processor until very fine. Mix with lemon juice and 1/3 c. water. Cook in heavy saucepan until pears are very tender. Add coconut if desired, pineapple and sugar. Stir often, will stick easily. Cook until pear honey is thick. Pour into hot, sterilized jars. Adjust lids and bands. Process in hot water bath for 10 minutes.

My Little Transformers

When grandma came to see the boys for Labor Day she brought Halloween costumes. She said she had found them and thought the boys would like them. Like them? Of course they liked them, they were Transformers! Bumble Bee and Optimus Prime were a big hit around here for Halloween.

I was getting shot at in this pic.
and then there was BumbleBee.Did you know that even transformers pout?  I have proof!I don't even remember what he was pouting about, but the eyes say it all!  We had a great time Trick-Or-Treating and visiting.  It's the one time of year we go back to the neighborhood where we lived in town so we have to stand around and talk for awhile at each house.I hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween. Don't forget to vote for Suzanne today! and those of you who won prizes from the Sit Back and Relax Give Away, your packages are going in the mail today!  Stop by and let me know when you get them!

Spooky Broom

You all may have already seen this but I have to share it just in case you haven't and since it is Halloween......

Can your broom stand by itself? YES! and no I'm not crazy! I got an email from work yesterday of a photo of 2 brooms standing in the materials closet. I thought ha-ha, they have those tied up with strings or something for Halloween and I exited the email and continued working. A little later I get a call from the girls at the clinic and they are telling me that they have brooms standing all down the hall and that I should try it to show the boys.

So I tried it and this is my broom! Standing alone! It's been standing here since early this morning.

When I went to pick up my son I showed my aunt and she now has hers standing by her front door waiting for trick-or-treaters. Her brother called me this morning to tell me he stood his up last night and it was still standing this morning.

If you do a search for brooms standing alone, you'll find that this has been happening recently and it is attributed to the magnetic pull of the earth this time of year or something like that.

All I know is it's a pretty neat Halloween trick and my kids loved it. Try it and see if it works! Stand it up and balance it, let it go slowly. It might take a few tries the first time. Once you have gotten it to stand up on it's own, it will be easier each time (until you use your broom to sweep then you have to do the balancing thing all over again).

Now go scare some little goblins!