~ October Farm Update ~

I shall attempt to make a list of all the animals we now have on our small 8.5-acre hobby farm. Bear with me here; it’s a long list. ;)

We have 1 dog named Crockett. I have blogged about him before and praised his cuteness.

We have 4 (soon to be even more) cats.
Grey C. is the eldest and has been with us longer than any of the other animals.
Baby is second, has had 2 kittens and is now expecting again.
Zorro and Tiger Lily are Baby’s kittens. And the cutest you’ll ever see!

We have 3 rabbits.
Hero is the male. I wanted to name him after some hero, but could not decide on one, so I simply named him Hero.
Missy belongs to my 8yo brother.
Bitsy belongs to my 3yo brother.
These three meat rabbits are going to be kept as breeding stock. I know it sounds horrible to some people, but we’ll be eating their offspring. (sorry!)
The plan is for me to train my brothers in how to take care of the rabbits so that they may one day take over the operation if and when I move away.

We have 6 Pekin ducks.
Mason. Named after Perry Mason in that awesome old TV show.
Drake. Named after Paul Drake in afore-mentioned show.
Della. Named after Della Street in… yes, you guessed it. ;)
Stella. Because it rhymed with Della I suppose.
And then come Molly and Dolly. I don’t know where those names came from, but they’re cute.

Then we have my favorite chicken, Ivory, who is a White Polish hen. She thinks she is a duck, following them wherever they go, drinking from their pond, and sleeping with them. She is definitely the funniest bird I have ever seen.

We currently have 34 chickens. I never knew that chickens could be so different from one another in the way they act. They all have their own attitudes and some are so naughty that they shall be sent to The Eternal Deep Freeze soon.

Well, there you have it. Our Cedar Cottage Farm has exactly 45 animals right now. When I am able to get some photos of our new rabbits, I shall post them here.

~ Mara

~ Home is Where the Heart is ~

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This post, Home is Where the Heart is, has been moved to my new blog.


~ Mara The Ornery Biologist

~ Fall Weather ~

I love Autumn! The trees turn gorgeous hues of red, orange, and yellow and the weather is always a surprise. Today was in the 60's with light showers off and on and wind gusts harder than I ever remember seeing before.

This is what the sky looked like today. I find trees against a stormy sky a pretty contrast.

~ Mara

~ Leedle Yawcob Strauss ~

I haf von funny leedle poy
Vot gomes shust to my knee,--
Der queerest schap, der queerest rouge
As efer you dit see.
He runs, und schumps, und schmashes
Dings
In all barts off der house.
But vot off dot? He vas my son,
Mine leedle Yawcob Strauss.

He gets der measles und der mumbs,
Und eferyding dot’s oudt;
He sbills mine glass off lager bier,
Poots schnuff indo mine kraut;
He fills mine pipe mit Limburg cheese--
Dot vas der roughest chouse;
I’d dake dot vrom no oder poy
But leedle Yawcob Strauss.

He dakes der milkban for a dhrum,
Und cuts mine cane in dwo
To make der schticks to beat it mit--
Mine cracious, dot vas drue!
I dinks mine hed vas schplit abart
He kicks oup sooch a touse;
But nefer mind, der poys vas few
Like dot young Yawcob Strauss.

He asks me questions sooch as dese:
Who baints mine nose so red?
Who vas it cuts dot schmoodth blace
Oudt
Vroom der hair ubon my head?
Und vhere der plaze goes vroom der
Lamp
Vene’er der glim I douse?
How gan I all dese dings eggsplain
To dot schmall Yawcob Strauss?

I somedimes dink I schall go vild
Mit sooch a grazy poy,
Und vish vonce more I gould haf rest
Und beaceful dimes enshoy.
But ven he vas asleep in ped,
So quiet as a mouse,
I prays der Lord, “Dake anydings,
But leaf dot Yawcob Strauss.”

~ Charles F. Adams



This is by far one of my favorite poems and I felt the need to share. :)

~ Castles In The Air ~

We all have a castle in the air of some sort. It’s built on dreams, surrounded by wishes, and kept up with hopes. Our castles are always under construction, as each day brings a new idea of what we want for our future.

As we mature we find that not everything in life is perfect; sometimes it’s going to be a little rough and sometimes we’ll feel like we’re walking on clouds. But no matter what happens, we still have our castles. So we lie in the grass looking up at the stars while we build on our dreams . . .

Love & Marriage ~ When two people know for sure they are ready to give their heart to the other for life and take that big step towards marriage. The love of a family is grand, and the love of friends is comforting, but the love of that special someone is worth so much more - even more so when the love of God envelopes them all. The two become one, stay true and faithful, and never say goodbye until death parts their ways.

Home ~ We all have our ideas of what we want home to be like. It’s a haven and no matter if we live in a tiny apartment, or a grand old mansion, it’s our castle. My castle is a large white farm house on a hill, overlooking brilliant green pastures dotted with tree stumps and grey rocks, and a creek winding through the midst. Gardens here, fruit trees there; a perfect picture of peace.

Children ~ They are a blessing sent straight from God. A gift of love from above, a gift to teach us patience, and a gift to remind us that we have a great purpose in life; to teach our children right from wrong and watch them grow to build castles of their own.


Now that I have explained to you my ideas of a castle, do tell me yours for I would dearly love to hear!



<3 Meanwhile we keep building those turrets high, stretching hopes beyond the sky. <3

~ Mara

~ Sounds of the Night ~

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This post, Sounds of The Night, has been moved to my new blog.


~ Mara The Ornery Biologist

~ The Beauty of it All ~

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This post, The Beauty of it All, has been moved to my new blog.


~ Mara