Big Pink Farm

In other news, we hired a guy with a backhoe to knock down our dilapidated old garage that served no purpose other than being a safe haven for wasps.  It was creepy and ugly, and we're glad to see it go.  There's nothing in its place just yet, but we are envisioning a day when we have a quaint farm stand there.  In the meanwhile, it's just a crater.  But, oh the possibilities!                      

We've had a lot of trouble with raccoons this year.  I suppose it's about what you'd expect after two relatively peaceful years of the predators leaving our birds alone.  But it doesn't make the losses any easier to bear.  According to my friend Avis, hell hath no fury like a chicken mourned.  She's right about that! 

Never fear, the cat will protect the chickens.  See?  She means them no harm.

Oh, now here's something new to tell you all!  Yes, we have bees now!  If all goes well (and so far it has), we should have honey soon!  Thanks to the Don Meyers Eastern Ohio Apiculture Project (you can google it because I don't have a nice link), we have two beehives in place and a little bit o' learnin' under my belt.  Keeping bees has long been a dream of mine.  The learning curve is very steep, but I'm really excited to be doing this.

Finally, I'd like you all to observe a second of silence to remember our pet duck who died tragically last week at the claws of a raccoon.  We never set out to have a duck for a pet (I mean, really, who does that?), but this silly duck managed to wiggle his way into our hearts.  Poor thing seemed to be confused about his species.  When our dog was in the yard, he would run full tilt to chase him, nip at his neck, and kind of bark like a dog.  When the turkey was his companion, he would follow his every step.  When it was just him and the goats, he would cuddle up to the kids.  And the chickens always made room for him at the feed trough.   We miss him.