Lilly and her mother Sue are inseparable. Find one in the pasture and the other will be nearby. I can often coax Lilly over to give her a scratch behind the ears but, she will soon return to her mom. When I first arrive at the farm, I often go straight to find these two. Nothing gets my visit off to a better start than to see this pair enjoying each other's company.
In my visit to the farm today, I found Sue singing a lullaby to her little girl, Lilly. What do you bet it was Hey-diddle-diddle?
Daisy is a stubborn cow and when it came time to be moved to a new pasture, she just wasn't interested in going. The old Milker just dug in her hooves and said no, I won't go.
What the girl hadn't counted on was the persistence and ingenuity of Jimmy and Lee the farmers. They hitched up the two new mules, Kit and Kate, to the hay wagon and pulled it over to Daisy.
A few moments later and they were off with Jimmy driving. A quick jog and Lee caught up and joined Jimmy on the wagon.
Off they went with Daisy in tow. It seems that mule power will beat stubborn cow power every time. Remember that the next time you have to move a recalcitrant cow to a new pasture. That's why you read this blog isn't it? The life lessons?
Yeah, say that one five times fast! I dare you, go on… try it. While you untie your tongue, I will just let you know that the sheep at Carriage hill farm are all out to pasture. If you are fast enough to dodge rain squalls, you can see them out and about chomping spring grass. Even the new born kids are getting in on the act.
How is your tongue doing? Ooooh, that doesn't look good. Let me get the WD40 for you.
Barnaby Millstone is an unassuming figure. When I first met him, he was strolling around the farm yard looking like a portly chicken wearing black overhauls. The truth is that Barnaby is the key to success in the hen house. We asked Barnaby about his reputation as a rising star in the egg laying industry.
Mr. Millstone, how long have you been working on the farm?
I was transferred to Carriage Hill in 2008, so it has been three years now. Prior to that, I was the night supervisor over at Epson Hills farm.
That was quite a change, were you intimidated by the move?
Not really, I have been working towards the responsibility my entire career & the move was the natural next step. I was actually excited to join such a well respected organization. The hens here are well known around the farm circuit and I wanted to work with the best.
How have you been able to impact such a well running egg producing machine?
By listening to the hens. They are in the trenches every day & can see what needs to be done to take us to the next level. I put an incentive program in place that rewards the girls with extra cracked corn for every bonafide suggestion they make. Take a look at Gladys over there. She thought that adding a little more hay to each nest would lessen the chance of egg breakage. And she was right. In addition, the nests became more comfortable and the hens are happier. Morale is important. The result? More eggs and more corn for Gladys.
So teamwork is the key to success?
Absolutely! Each of us play a role on the road to success. My job is to guide and facilitate. The ladies in the hen house are the ones that actually produce. Without them, I am just a pretty rooster in a feather suit. When they are successful, we all succeed. That means more corn for Banaby Millstone… and Mama Millstone likes that!
On that note, we ended our conversation. Barnaby was called to the hen house to celebrate the fourth anniversary of one of his best hens. More corn for Edna!
When I was at the farm today, I spotted this mother and kid & thought they looked pretty cute. Then I realized that the mama was on one side of the fence and the kid was on the other. I looked around and none of the farm staff was in sight.
How much could a lamb weigh? Do they wiggle around & make a racket if you pick them up? The fence didn't look too tall and I figured I could lift it up and put it down on the other side without me or the kid getting hurt.
So, I picked the kid up, leaned way over the fence and plopped it down next to its mom. Kids don't wiggle or cry when you pick them up. They just sort of become pliable. Sheep's wool contains a lot of lanolin & when you touch it, you feel like you have some lotion on your hands.
You could say that I performed my good deed of the day and was rewarded with nice soft skin.
I have found the perfect model. Giant big saucer like eyes, blond hair, nice tail, four breasts. Four Breasts? Yup, four breasts or at least one big breast and four teats. Her name is Sue and she bats her big brown eyes when you talk to her. She can pose in the same position for hours and never has an attitude. Ok, almost never. Sometimes she flicks her tail at you when you use too much flash.
Work it Sue! And it is not just Sue. Her daughter Lilly has a lot of potential. Have you ever seen such ginormous eyes?
Lilly likes to be scratched behind the ears and she has a raspy grey tongue. Sue and Lilly are happy cows & live a good life at Carriage Hill farm. We all wish that we had it so good.
Keep up the good work girls. I am sure that we will see you up on a billboard selling milk and ice cream in no time. I'm just glad that I can say that I knew you when…
It has only been six days since they put Ellie into the ground. Not even a week has passed. Not enough time for the shock, the pain or the loss to fully sink in, let alone begin to pass. Still, she had Stella, her oldest and now only child. Stella and her husband, they both needed her. They need her to be there for them, to cook dinner, mend clothes and do the wash. They needed her to make life as normal as possible. Normal? How could that be? Could their world ever be normal again? Little Ellie was dead. Their baby!
Jeanne's hands and body shook with the shock of the pain that overwhelmed her. She felt as though she would collapse in the middle of the side yard. She fought with everything she had in her, to remain standing. Falling meant laying on the ground and Jeanne wasn't sure that she would have the strength to get back up. So she simply stood for a moment with both hands holding to the wash line that helped to steady her and kept her on her feet. Eventually, Jeanne felt she could begin to move again and bent to gather more wet wash from the basket at her feet. Along with the clean linens, Jeanne retrieved two wooden pins from the striped bag tucked inside the basket. She used the pins to place the cloth on to the wash line and then bent down to begin the process again. Cloth, pins, line. Cloth, pins, line. Jeanne repeated the simple work cycle until the basket was empty.
Picking up the empty basket, Jeanne walked back to the house where she checked on Stella, asleep on the rug in the parlor. Stella was inconsolable for the first few days but was already beginning to recover. Yesterday morning, Jeanne had seen her pick up her dolly and play for half an hour or so before putting the worn toy down with a mix of guilt and horror on her face. As though she shouldn't have been playing with her sister so recently buried. This morning, her little baby played until she was worn to a frazzle and fell asleep in the parlor. Jeanne thought it might have been a good sign that Stella would be able to recover in time. Yes, Stella was resilient and Jeanne was thankful for that.
As Jeanne passed into the kitchen, she could see her husband, Asa, talking out next to the smoke house with their neighbor about a sow. The two of them look completely normal in the bright sunlight. Dickering over a sow. Maybe things could return to normal someday. Today, she couldn't imagine how.
Here are the links to the entire series of Elli Claussen stories:
Tom could see Preacher Mathews coming down the road to town, his head bobbing and swaying back and forth as his old mare picked its way between the ruts that were all too common during the spring rains. There was no rain today but, that damage had already been done. The ruts and holes seemed to multiply overnight until hardly a square yard of road was left untouched. It wasn't the rutted road that captured Tom's thoughts, rather the preacher heading towards his home on a Wednesday afternoon.
The preacher often joined Tom's family for Sunday supper after his weekly sermon. The Schneider farm stood partway between the church and the preacher's small house two miles further along the road. Tom and his wife enjoyed the preacher's company and had reached an unspoken understanding with the man. Tom's wife would provide a good meal and the preacher could enjoy a couple hours of good company. In exchange, the preacher restrained himself from becoming too preachy during his visits.
As the preacher drew near, Tom doffed his field hat as a gesture of respect.
"Paul, what brings you by today? Jen is fixing supper, should I tell her you will be staying? I think she has a custard setting up in the summer kitchen."
"No Tom, I can't be staying long, I'll need to get into town before long. I do need to talk to you and Jen. Can we go inside?"
Tom called his boy, Arron to come and take the preacher's mare.
"Would be best if we could talk alone Tom."
Tom was a bit surprised by the preacher's request. A questioning look crossed his brow as he turned and led the preacher into the house. The preacher waved away Jen's offer of tea and asked them both to sit.
"Alright Paul, must be something important to have you refusing Jen's cooking. What news do you have for us?"
"Tom… Jen, you know the Clauson family pretty well. If I remember right, your girls play with theirs pretty regularly? Well, their littlest one, Ellie has been killed."
Jen gasped out loud as Tom asked the obvious question.
"What's happened to the girl, Paul?"
"She's been attacked by some wild animal. Asa found her down by the creek earlier today when she didn't come running in for dinner."
"Paul, I haven't seen any coyotes or wolves around the place lately. What do you think got her?"
"That's the problem Tom. I've never seen anything like it and neither has Asa. It didn't go for her throat like either of them would, it just tore into her belly."
At this news, Jen could take no more and left the room. Tom's eyes followed his wife with a look of concern. When she had left, he turned to the preacher.
"It would have to be big to take down an eleven year old girl. There have been no bears in these parts for more than 30 years. You sure it's not a wolf?"
"Tom, I don't know what it was. But it tore up that little girl pretty bad. Asa and Jeanne are in pretty bad shape. I'm going into town to spread the word.
With that, the conversation was over and the preacher got up to leave.
"You might want to keep your young ones close to the house till we find what got to Ellie."
As he closed the door behind the preacher, Tom turned to go to his wife. He knew she would be in the kitchen, busying herself with dinner as she tried to take in the preacher's news. They would have to talk to their son and two girls when they called them in. Tom's youngest girl, Sarah would not take the news of Ellie's death well. The girl was Sarah's best friend.
Here are the links to the entire series of Elli Claussen stories:
The Carriage Hill Mud Hens huddled around their quarterback, Wendell. This would be the last play of the game and they were down by only three points. This wasn't just any game. They were pitted against their arch rivals, the Gamecocks from Holly Meadows.
Sid, their big center took position and stared down the enemy. Sid let loose a low cackle, trying to get the edge through intimidation. He ruffled his feathers in a display sure to set them back.
Then came the signal from Wendell. Sid bent down and picked up the kernel, sending it to Wendell in a perfect hike. With a flurry of cackling and flying feathers, the line went into motion.
The Gamecocks defense came on like a wave but Wendell was ready and left the pocket, looking for an open receiver. However, all of his fellow Mud Hens were covered by the opposing team and Wendell had to run for it.
With just seconds left on the clock, Wendell carried the kernel across the goal line, winning the big game! What a finish! WENDELL HAD WON THE GAME!
But were was the roaring crowd? Where were the adoring fans? The stands were completely empty. Once again, the farmer had picked the wrong time to spread more chicken feed. Wendell was left to enjoy his victory by himself.
tim mcmurdo 