(Fair warning: this whole post may be fragments and run-ons; my syntax supply tank is empty) I stayed up late last night....... finishing up my grad school paper!! which turned out to be such a delightfully exciting accomplishment that I then couldn't fall asleep till even later despite looming morning chores. with the end result of hickory smoked almonds in my oatmeal instead of walnuts. But hopefully I didn't forget anybody's breakfast on chores. only eight hours till the weekend! I had been thinking I was down to the last three or four hours on the damn thing, but found out yesterday I had more like ten. How did I get to the ripe age of 25 and still not learn to finish my paper before the day it's due? oh well, done done done! now i can focus on studying for my permaculture teacher training!! Yipeee. Happy Friday :)


In other news... the turkeys have started roosting on our porch which is pretty dang cute (though how they can sleep balanced that far off the ground...). Also, it's been so hot that Cecil has been showing off some really awesome sleeping positions, including this one (with all four feet twitching in a dream):
And a couple hours later, this one (which I thought was a pretty good dead possum impression!):

A few quick critter updates!

Burdock is growing up to be completely gorgeous! I think dad must've been a red angus b/c I was expecting a black calf, but instead he's sporting this this handsome deep rust!

The pigs really need to be moved to a larger area of pasture, but in the mean time we've been giving them some weeds from the garden and thinned turnips which they're loving. I love this angle of Laura Jean. Not very flattering I suppose! What silly looking creatures :) We grilled up a smoked ham steak from her previous litter, and OMG I think I shall always keep a pig or two around. Ham is just amazing.

My wonderful little turkeys had their first day of freedom this weekend as I opened up their chicken tractor and let them go exploring! They stay in the tightest little flock, keeping up a constant commentary of peeping as they encounter exciting new things like chickens and the peacock and lots and lots of tasty things to peck at.

I also thought I'd add this pic of Eve the peacock trying to seduce some of the laying hens with his impressive display. He's so fun to watch and seems to be everywhere you look! He's always peeking in a window, sitting on a gable, or strutting in unexpected places. I think I may always keep a peacock around just for shits and giggles.

Cecil McLovin

I figured I'd better dedicate a post to my one and only pet since he's uncontrollably cute! Admittedly I've recently come in second for his attention, but I'm pretty delighted he's so damn happy and busy with interesting activities that he doesn't have time for me! He did come in last night (after a five days of independence!) for some snuggling and raw meat - probably not in that order though :)

Cecil cat's not sure about his first rocky mtn oyster (complements of Burdock the calf). Well, I did forget to batter and deep fry it!

(rant warning)

While I realize I'm not seeing a representative slice of the pop'n up here near Aspen, the state of America's children is none-the-less giving me some serious qualms about our future as a species. I can't tell you how many children are terrified of mud and manure. Since when do kids care about getting their shoes dirty?? On Saturday I was helping a 4 year old girl wash her hands and told her we were trying to save the trees by not using paper towels, and she started cry-screaming because her hands were intolerably wet. WTF? Luckily she wasn't tall enough to reach the paper towels herself, though she did take some leaps at it (not headed for the NBA, this one). She eventually recovered when her tiny little brain was distracted by the shrieking of her horrid compatriots as they detected incoming cake. Turns out I really can't stand entitled Aspen children, especially if they come for their farm-themed birthday party in sparkley sandels and frilly frocks.


On top of this rampant germaphobia, most of our young visitors also seem to suffer from a complete inability to work. I kid you not, it took three 12 year olds ten minutes to move one bale of straw (not hay, this is less than 50lbs) into the goat pen, and the whining was epic. When (I would say "if," but I'm pretty commited to the peak oil theory) the economy changes and cushy jobs are few and far between, our society may very well be fracked. Where are the kids who want to fall in creeks, would give their right leg for the chance to pet a cute animal, and can happily muck some shit-filled stalls?

Growing Season!

Everybody out at Rock Bottom seems to be growing at a breakneck pace! These chickens were insubstantial fluff balls just eight weeks ago, and now they're almost six pounds! We have three batches of chickens going at the moment, and luckily we've had a little practice by this point because there's great potential for chaos. We accidentally spaced the batches a little too tightly on this last group, and the new chicks were ordered to come in the same day the three week old group was headed out to pasture. Unfortunately that Friday was the one rainy and cold day in weeks, and we ended up losing 40 of our freedom ranger chicks to cold. Well, we technically lost them to smothering from the overzealous "huddle for warmth" efforts of of their siblings. Alas! We seem to have a 40/batch trend going here. My favorite old man rancher friend suggested I make a head stone for the chicks reading: "40 Freedom Chicks. Ranching Lesson #106." He's great at putting things in perspective for us, being exceptionally encouraging, and treating us like compentent buisness partners despite some evidence to the contrary :) Too bad none of his good looking sons are single!

In addition to the chickens, the piglets are growing like mad, and I'm hoping all my fence repair will mean larger, greener pastures for them as soon as they're weaned. Burdock the calf is also growing (no longer heft-over-the-fence-able), and is as handsome as can be! We vaccinated him in my home-made livestock chute, and he was the only victim who didn't even flinch. His two older siblings put up such a dramatic fight one nearly gave Caitlin a concussion while she was closing the butt gate! Such spoiled critters.

The laying hen chicks are almost chickens now, though still significantly smaller than their meaty counterparts. As the peacock was recently widowed (some predator was delighted the peahen decided not to roost safely in the hen house that night), he's started making moves on the laying hen chicks. Unfortuntely they don't even bat an eye at his impressive strutting - which I have yet to capture on camera. To most everyone's surprise, "Eve" the peacock has become a well-loved member of the menagerie and visits every corner of the ranch to deliver his eerie calls and class up the place with his good looks. My (mostly-suppressed) animal hoarding tendancies may have been partially responsible for his (unwelcome) arrival at the ranch as I OKed the avian donation. Luckily, instead of becoming yet another unproductive burden for the staff, Eve requires no care and bequeaths us with a great deal of entertainment. Yay!

One of the rabbits gave birth, but I couldn't see them way back in their nest box so I'll just have to take Peter's word for it. So excited for them to become furry, ambulatory, and adorable! We'll have to fix up one of the chicken "tractors" for them soon, and I need to get the third one all ready for my turkeys who are slowly but steadily getting pretty big! A little boy told me the other day that one of the six week old turkeys was the momma bird for it's much smaller siblings, which made me think of how far they have to go before they're actually mom-turkey size. They currently couldn't look much less like their adult counter part, King Louie.

Caitlin and I are finally making some changes to the goat herd which before last week had one productive member out of eight. Charlotte (Delilah's bitchy daughter) is headed for the rainbow bridge (and stewpot) this week, and the two pigmies will hopefully find a new home on craigslist. Deb has some dedicated fans (my sister included), so we're giving her yet another chance at breeding which goes against most everything I learned in grad school about herd management. Grandma Corona is also well loved, so she will be kept as a pet, fed and doctored through her geriatric years. Charlotte, Gray, and Rosie have been replaced with mother-daughter milking team Pomegranate and Persimmon who are far more cuddly (and polite) than anyone else in the herd. They also enjoy my singing (Firework was a big hit on the milking stand this week).